Hello there.
My name is TheOrangeTurtle (obviously) and this here is my first crossover fanfic, between Ben 10 and Justice League, a rather popular pairing on this website, isn't it? From the get-go I'd like to point out that Ben isn't the main character, but rather a self-insert with an Omnitrix. And he's been in the universe for a while, you'll get glimpses of his past throughout the story and then there'll be a collection of chapters describing his arrival up to the beginning of this story later.
While you're here, go check out my other stories, A Sinister Past and a Promising Future and The Vitruvian Man. You can find them in the X-Men and Justice League archives, respectively.
That's enough from me up here, on with the story!
Starcrossed
I goomba stomp one of the Thanagarians, slamming his head into the ground, some blood pooling around his head from his broken nose. I duck my head as his partner attempts to hit the back of my head with his mace. While the Thanagarians arm is still extended I reach out and grab it by the elbow, bringing the Thanagarian in and elbowing him in his exposed side, forcing the air out of his lungs.
I then judo flip the Thanagarian, tossing him on top of his friend, and before he can recover, I stomp on his chest, knocking him out.
I sigh deeply and look up to see more Thanagarians flying around, some swooping down to no doubt mess with civilians. Dammit, I hate my memory.
Crash course: I woke up at home eleven years ago, but there was something off about it, I couldn't put my finger on it. Granted, the Omnitrix on my left wrist definitely stood out. And the fact that I was ten again had me asking questions. Shortly after, memories of the me from this universe come in full-force, and I find out I'm in a variation of the DC Universe months later, specifically the DCAU with Justice League/Unlimited. Problem is, whatever brought me here messed with my memories. While I know things like the identities of the heroes and whatnot, I don't remember the shows clearly, just rough memories.
For example: I knew one of the Justice League would betray the team and their people would invade, but I didn't know which one. But now I remember everything about the invasion. It seems that when the time comes, my memories are unlocked.
A knife embeds itself into the street in front of me, bringing me out of my musing.
Looking up, I see a squad of six Thanagarians coming at me, one with a heavy laser cannon, three with their trademark maces, one with an axe, and another with a small arsenal of blades on her person. She's the one who threw the knife at me.
Bringing my left arm up, I place two fingers on the touchpad of the Omnitrix and begin to dial through, eventually finding the alien I want for this situation the touch pad separates into two halves, the Omnitrix core popping up. I slam the dial down and feel my body shift as a flash of orange light blinds the Thanagarians. Once it dies down my human form is replaced by an Aerophibian, more commonly known as Jetray.
My body is a humanoid manta ray-like alien. I have primarily red scales, with some black, lighting shaped markings around my shoulders leading to the orange Omnitrix crest on my chest. I have black outlines around my face and yellow horns protruding from my nose. There are gills under my arms and yellow patagia as well, which allow me to fly in the air and glide through the water. I also have a prehensile tail, my fingers and toes become three claws on each limb.
The Thanagarians all widen their eyes in surprise. I smirk as I quickly fly through them, sending them scattering about. I then turn my head around midair and fire my neuroshock blasts at the one with the cannon, causing his muscles to lock up and the cannon to be dropped.
Oh no.
He was prepared to fire the cannon when I shot him, meaning the energy's built up in the barrel, and if it hits the ground it'll explode, causing who knows how much damage to Seattle.
One of the Thanagarians hits me in the back of the head with his mace, disorienting me and letting two of his friends capture me, keeping my arms pinned to my sides. While I struggle, I see the cannon falling in what seems like slow-motion.
Oh, this is gonna hurt.
"Pots eht nonnac!"
The cannon stops midair before slowly lowering to the ground, the energy staying frozen.
Me and the Thanagarians stop our struggling to see two people coming floating down from the sky. The one who stopped the cannon is a man around his late forties to early fifties. He wears a nice, form fitting black suit, a white dress shirt and bowtie as well, a yellow vest between the jacket and shirt. He has a moustache on his face and strong blue eyes that watch all of us. His gaze flickers with a flash of anger once his eyes land on me, but they quickly become neutral again as he looks at the Thanagarians.
The person next to him causes my stomach to drop and makes my heart feel heavy.
She's a beautiful girl. The most beautiful girl in my eyes. Sadly, she kinda hates me.
The girl wears black leggings with dark purple thigh-high, high heels. She wears what I'd guess to be a white corset, a navy-blue dress jacket over it, and a black choker with a red gem in the center around her neck. She has long gloves on that reach up to below her shoulders and are connected to rings around her middle fingers. She has similar ice blue eyes and long black hair with bangs. She does her best to avoid looking at me.
While they're still distracted, I manage to turn my head to the right and hit one the Thanagarian with a neuroshock blast pointblank at his face, knocking him out.
I thrust my wings out, throwing the Thanagarians off of me and fly down, landing next to Zatara. "Thanks for the help."
"I didn't do it for you," he replies with a clipped tone.
The Thanagarian with the blades brandishes two swords. She aims one of them at the magicians. "You would dare stand with this criminal?"
"We aren't standing with him," Zatara replies. "We're here to stop you. Simple as that."
The Thanagarian grits her teeth before raising her blade high. She then points it down at us, the five of them swarming us.
As three of them come at me I transform into my Tetramand form—which I call Hecatoncheires—and clothesline them with three of my arms, knocking the smallest of them out instantly.
Hecatoncheires has the gladiator look about him. Black pants and a golden belt, golden bracers covering my shins. A golden harness around my chest, the Omnitrix crest in the center of it. All four of my arms have golden bracers around my wrists, and black fingerless gloves. My ponytail flows in the wind as my four orange eyes glare at the Thanagarians. There are some black lines on my face, one going from my neck to below my mouth, and another from the back of my head to between my top two eyes. Oh, I'm absolutely massive too, twelve feet tall, actually.
From the corner of my eyes I notice the one with blades fighting Zatanna, the mage keeping her distance with back to back spells, keeping the Thanagarian pinned.
Zatara looks to be having an easier time with his Thanagarian, using specific spells to counter the winged alien.
The bigger Thanagarian recovers from the clothesline and swings his warhammer into my back, causing pain to erupt from the point and forcing me to stumble. I don't like Nth metal, it's capable of doing things it shouldn't, and that scares me.
He goes for another swing, this one aimed at my head, I grab the hammer by the handle and lean my head back as the other one swings at my neck with an axe. With my lower left arm, I grab the smaller Thanagarian by the arms and pull him in at the same time I pull in his larger comrade, the two slamming into each other, their helmets rattling from the impact. I risk a glance to see the female Thanagarian gaining ground against Zatanna, so, I toss the axe wielding Thanagarian at her, causing the both of them to fall to the floor in a heap. Zatanna walks to them and hits them with a sleep spell, taking them out of the fight.
During those few seconds when I was watching Zatanna, the bigger Thanagarian punches me in the face with his Nth metal gauntlet, surprising me and forcing me to let go of the warhammer. He then goes for another swing. "Ezeerf," Zatanna says.
The Thanagarian stops mid-swing, his eyes darting around. Getting up, I take off his helmet and bonk him on the head lightly—for a Tetramand—knocking him out, but his body stays in position.
Tapping the Omnitrix crest on my chest, I transform back to normal in a flash of orange light and look at Zatanna with a nervous smile. She just avoids eye contact and goes to stand with her father who had defeated his Thanagarian a while ago.
Not liking the awkward atmosphere, I turn around and look at Zatanna. "So, what're you guys doing here?"
Her father just glares at me, standing between the two of us. "You know why."
I grit my teeth in anger and clench my fist. "Are you seriously still on that!? It was two years ago, Zatara! Move on! I did."
Except I didn't, but they don't need to know that.
His glare intensifies and Zatara stomps towards me, his finger out ready to poke me in the chest.
Before he can get close to me the Thanagarian ship in the sky creates a giant hologram of Hro Talak, the general of this invasion. "Attention humans," he begins. "I am Hro Talak, the Thanagarian general in charge of this occupation. I have an announcement to make: as of this moment your "Justice League" has been captured and imprisoned. To any and all…metahumans," he says with disgust. "Surrender now. Any further resistance will be met with lethal force. That is all," and the hologram is gone.
"Omnitrix, do you know where that transmission came from?" I ask, bringing the watch up to my face.
"Scanning…" the Omnitrix replies in a synthesized version of my voice. "Metropolis, New York. The Thanagarians most likely have the Justice League imprisoned on one of their ships in the area."
"Yeah, makes sense. Metropolis is Superman's city. But the defenses there have to be tough," I look at the Omnitrix, a smirk growing on my face. "Nothing I can't handle."
"You can't be serious," Zatanna speaks up, replying to me for the first time in years. "Do you really think you can take them all on? That's a suicide mission."
"Not for me it isn't," I sigh deeply and look at them. "What are you two doing in Seattle, anyway? If I might ask again."
Zatara narrows his eyes. "Again, you know why."
He's right. They had a show here, sadly, the invasion kind of derailed those plans.
"Look, you heard him, if you continue to fight, you'll be executed. You two should get out of here," I say.
Zatara folds his arms. "And you'll keep fighting? Why should we stop when you'll continue?"
"Because if I do get killed (which won't happen) I can at least trust you to take care of Esmeralda and be there for my parents. And if either of you were to die, well, our already atrocious relationship would just plummet even further, wouldn't it?" I take a deep breath before looking Zatara in the eyes. "Look, you may not care for me, but I still care for you guys. So please, stop fighting."
Zatara's eyes soften. He looks at Zatanna from the corner of his eyes before sighing, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Always the stubborn one," he whispers. "We won't go into hiding. But we will continue to help people, get them out of the grasps of the Thanagarians. That sound good?"
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and smile softly. "Yeah, sounds good."
The two walk past me, avoiding further eye contact. As they fly away Zatara turns around. "What do you have planned?"
As they walked by, a Thanagarian around my body shape catches my attention, the one with the axe. "You ever watch A New Hope?"
Metropolis
Crash course: I remember everything about the TV series Ben 10. Well, everything up to Omniverse. There are some vague memories about another series after, but it hurts when I try to think about it.
Which is why I know my current form, Icarus, has either never been shown or is probably entirely new. Icarus is an Ikathan, a species of bird-like people who look almost exactly like Thanagarians at first glance, but there are some key differences between the two species. First, Ikathans have heterochromia, the right eye is blue while the left is red, and we have markings of the opposite color around each eye. Red markings around our right eye and blue markings around our left. Thankfully, this Thanagarian's helmet covers the markings. The second thing is that Ikathans have other powers, hydrokinesis and pyrokinesis.
Before taking his armor, I transformed into another alien, Head Case. Head Case is a rather simple looking alien, a head sized black orb with a face that looks like a skull, the top of the head is clear, showing the brain of the alien. He also has a tail that can split into four separate, thinner tails, with them I can read the minds of anyone I touch with them. As expected, the Thanagarian had formidable mental defenses, I had to drag him away into a secluded alley to avoid being caught by any patrolling Thanagarians, but eventually I broke through his defenses, allowing me to keep covering as him for as long as possible.
As I near the Thanagarian ship holding the Justice League the communicator from the Thanagarian in my ear comes to life. "Soldier, why are you returning without proper authorization?"
I strain my voice as I continue flying in an "injured" manner. "My team was unprepared when dealing with a group of metahumans," hey, it isn't a lie. "I require your assistance."
"Why this ship? Our data says you were on the other coast, why must you come all the way here for reinforcements?" The voice continues.
"My captain ordered it. Who am I to disobey orders?" I reply.
The line's quiet for a moment, causing fear to bubble up in my chest. It then evaporates as a hangar door opens. "We will have a team waiting for you in the hangar," and the communicator is dead.
I take a deep breath and fly to the hangar, dipping dangerously as I near it, but I make sure the actions aren't exaggerated. I drop on the floor in front of the Thanagarian party waiting for me, a whole bunch of others walking around in the hangar, talking, and preparing their attack ships.
Two of the Thanagarians walk over and help me up by grabbing my arms. The one on my right pats me down before supporting my weight. "Are you okay, Kra?"
I grumble a bit, making my voice as close to Kra's as possible. "I'll be better when I can get back out there."
The Thanagarian laughs and slaps my back. "As expected of you, friend. Come, the captain of the ship requests your presence on the bridge, then we can talk about your reinforcements."
I can work with that. Changing forms now to go look for the League would be a bad idea, what with all the Thanagarians here who'd be on me faster than I can blink. Alright, when things get quiet, I'll knock these guys out and commence the rescue. Let's hope my cover lasts.
We exit the hangar, the hallways filled with Thanagarians left, right, and center. The Thanagarian helping me turns to me. "The group who bested you, what were their skills?"
"Two mages, a human with exceptional skill, a flier with some weird energy blasts, a telepath, and one with super strength," again, technically not a lie.
One of the bigger males behind me hums. "We'll need a kill squad for them."
As we walk by, I see two Thanagarians standing diligently in front of a door, their weapons ready to fire at a moment's notice. "What are they guarding?"
"The "Justice League" is behind those doors," one of the guys with me answers. He scoffs. "Tales of their strength are told across the universe, and yet, they were defeated so easily. The universe must be weaker than we thought."
Found them, now I just need to find the right moment to attack.
Ask and ye shall receive. We enter an elevator, the four of us being the only ones in it. Just before the doors close a voice calls out. "Wait!"
The big guy's arm shoots out and stops the doors from closing. We wait for a few seconds as the Thanagarian finally enters the elevator. Crap. It's Kra's brother.
He looks around, his eyes then widen once they land on me. "Kra! What happened to you, brother?"
I grunt. "Nothing," gotta keep my answers quick and simple, if I say more than necessary my cover's blown.
The guy to my right chuckles and shakes his head as the elevator begins to rise. "Always the proud warrior, aren't you, Kra?"
Kra's brother shakes his head in annoyance. "Must you always be so proud?" He looks forward, standing in front of me. I'm surrounded, better get my arm ready to slap the Omnitrix crest hidden under the armor.
"Why are you here, Kra?" He asks.
"Reinforcements," I answer.
"From all the way over here?" His brother questions. "Weren't you on the other side of this continent? Why come all the way to this specific ship?"
"My captain ordered it," I answer again. I scratch my chest with my hand, ready to slap the Omnitrix.
Kra's brother whips around, a knife to my neck. He glares at me with hard eyes. "See, I knew you were coming, "brother", I was the voice on your communicator," I widen my eyes in surprise. "Take off his helmet," he orders.
The large Thanagarian behind me complies, tearing the helmet off of my head, revealing Icarus' blond hair and very not Kra-like face. "Got me," I quip.
Using my pyrokinesis, I heat up the elevator, giving the four first-degree burns. The suddenness of the attack also sends them all flying back, slamming into all four walls of the elevator.
I slap the Omnitrix and transform into my Necrofriggian form, Big Chill.
My wings are currently wrapped around me, giving me the appearance of a phantom with a poncho. Under the covers I have a thin, black body, cyan patches on my arms, shoulders, legs, back of my wings and neck that resemble ice chunks. Each patch has thick blue outlining. My torso is made of three plates, one resembling a chest—the Omnitrix crest on that one—one below that plate, and a third looking like my stomach. My face has blue cheeks and underjaw, a mouth in which my teeth are constantly showing and orange eyes with dark orange spots. The top of my head has a Y shaped marking that extends over the scalp as well. I have three claws and a thumb on each hand, and two toes and a toe-like extension on my ankles.
I phase through the ground and float down to the first floor of the ship. I phase through the elevator doors, thankfully I'm also invisible, so the Thanagarians waiting for the elevator don't see me.
I walk through them—some letting out involuntary shudders—and head towards the doors to the prison holding the Justice League. I then walk through the door, finally seeing the Justice League in person for the first time since arriving here. And man, it isn't the best way to meet your heroes.
In a room filled with red sun radiation Superman, the Man of Steel, sits down, his face downcast. Wonder Woman, Princess of the Amazons, is in another cell, bound to a pillar by her own Lasso of Truth. Next to her is the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive and an old friend of mine, in a room with gravity generators, holding him down and stopping him from using his impressive speed. Across from Flash is the Martian Manhunter, The Manhunter from Mars, trapped by metals he can't phase through, he's also in his natural form. Nearby him is Green Lantern John Stewart, the Emerald Soldier, his Power Ring gone, the Thanagarians leave him in simple shackles. And in the last cell is Batman, the World's Greatest Detective, his belt missing, and his arms shackled. Like Superman, all of their gazes are downcast, a strong sense of defeat hanging in the air.
From the other side of the door I hear the intercoms activate, informing the ship of my presence. Gotta hurry.
I turn around and use my ice breath on the door, freezing it solid.
While I do that the League members who can raise their heads, looking at each other in confusion before trying their best to look at me.
After freezing over the door, I turn around, walking over to the closest cell, which happens to be Superman's. As I stand outside of his cell his eyes widen slightly in recognition. "You're Triumph," whoa, Superman knows about me? "You're here to rescue us?"
I roll my eyes. "No, I'm here to gloat," I sarcastically reply.
He shakes his head and chuckles. "Yeah, dumb question."
I transform back to my normal form. From my utility belt I grab some gear to help me hack into the door. I place a small, square device on the keypad next to the cell bars. The device beeps and goes through a few colors before settling on orange. A holographic screen pops up from the Omnitrix, showing me that I now have full access to Superman's cell. Some button presses later, and the red sun radiation deactivates. I then open the bars and walk in to help Superman up. "How're your powers looking?" I ask.
To test himself, he punches the wall next to the console. It dents from the hit, but he winces and shakes his hand. "It might take a minute for them to come back fully."
I nod before grabbing my skeleton key, walking over to Wonder Woman's cell. It's much simpler, probably because they don't see her as big a threat as Superman. Big mistake. As I walk in her cell, she gives me a dazzling smile, one that causes my insides to tumble and my face to feel like I'm Heatblast right now. So glad I have a lower face mask.
"So, you're Triumph? I've heard tales of your skill. It seems they're all true," Wonder Woman compliments as I loosen the Lasso of Truth and give it to her.
Oh, even Wonder Woman knows about me. Awesome. And she complimented me. Awesomer.
We exit the cell to see Superman trying to pull apart the bars of Batman's cell, but due to his diminished strength it might take some time.
The ice and door explode inwards. Once the dust clears, we see a dozen of Thanagarians waiting for us, a fat one with a smoking laser cannon in his arms.
Time we don't have.
I toss the skeleton key to Superman. "Release the others! Wonder Woman and I got this!"
He nods and goes over to Flash's cell.
Wonder Woman flies in front of Superman, her bracelets raised up and deflecting laser blasts at some of the Thanagarians, taking them out.
Deciding to let the Omnitrix recharge, I weave amongst the Thanagarians, hitting them in their pressure points as I move among them. I duck a punch from another, causing him to hit an ally in the back of the head, said Thanagarian blindly swings his mace, hitting his friend. Nice.
One of them tackles me, causing me to skid along the floor. He raises his mace up, ready to slam my face in. A red blur tackles into him, slamming the Thanagarian into the cell Flash was just trapped in. He then grabs the other unconscious enemies and puts them in the room, he then activates it, trapping them.
I get up on a knee and take some deep breaths, even with my enhanced durability that hurt.
A red gloved hand appears in front of my face. Taking it, I'm lifted up by Flash. "Thanks for the save, man."
I clap his hand, Flash helping me up. "No problem. But now you owe me another one."
Flash grumbles in annoyance.
Looking up, we see the big Thanagarian's the last one so far, more no doubt on their way, and he's charging his cannon up. Can't let that happen. I quickly transform into my Crystalsapien form Chromastone.
I have a silicon-based body in this form. Most of my body's purple, some dark lines and spots scattered throughout. My hands and face are magenta, as well as the horn sticking out of my head and the six magenta crystals on my back and two on either side of the Omnitrix. My face consists of a mouth and a singular, orange eye.
As soon as the cannon fires I fly in front of Wonder Woman, my arms crossed as I absorb the energy.
The Thanagarian realizes that his laser cannon isn't doing anything harmful, so he stops to see, but that was his mistake.
"Boom, baby."
I fire a powerful blast of rainbow-colored energy at him, slamming him into the wall and knocking him out.
"Nicely done," Wonder Woman compliments.
"Thanks," I bashfully reply.
"Triumph," Superman calls out. "What do you want me to do with this?" He holds out the skeleton key to me.
"I don't really have any pockets so keep a hold of it for now. We gotta get going anyways, more Thanagarians are coming," I reply.
Superman nods and tightens his grip around the skeleton key. "He's right. And I don't think we can hold them all off with how we are now."
I walk past the group and blow a hole through the side of the ship. "Superman, this is your city!" I shout over the rushing air. "Think you can find us a hiding spot?"
Superman nods as he floats out of the ship, him and Batman grabbing each other's wrists. "I might know a place. Follow me."
Martian Manhunter flies out of the hole bringing Green Lantern and Flash with him thanks to his telekinesis. Wonder Woman turns to me and offers her hand. Confused, I look at it before her silent request makes sense.
"Oh," I float in place. "I can fly."
Wonder Woman hums in interest. "More and more interesting," a laser bolt barely misses her. "We should go."
I nod as the two of us fly out of the ship to join the others, no doubt heading towards the dry cleaners Superman is leading us towards.
A few minutes (and some close calls) later, the seven of us arrive at the dry cleaners. We land in the alley behind the building. "You guys go in, I'm gonna keep 'em busy," I say.
"You sure about that?" Green Lantern asks.
I smirk. "Yeah, I'm sure. If I'm not back in ten minutes leave."
Without waiting for a response, I run out of the alley and fly away, catching the attention of nearby Thanagarians.
They shoot me with their guns, giving me more power to shoot back, taking a few of them out immediately. Alright, ten more to deal with, nothing I can't handle.
I land on the ground and transform, the flash of light blinding my enemies. I become a small primarily white creature with a black line going down my body vertically, splitting it in half. There are some circular indents on my wrists, the inside of them being orange as well as the inside of my mouth and my rectangular eyes. There's what looks like a giant MP3 on my back and headphones around my ears. On my ankles black and white rectangular designs. The Omnitrix dial on my chest.
This is my Sonorosian form, Echo Echo.
"Catch. Me. If. You. Can." I taunt.
The Thanagarians swoop in, their weapons raised, ready to pulverize me. I smirk as I shout at their incoming forms, the soundwaves causing them all to jerk back and futilely cover their ears. Some feathers are actually knocked off of their wings.
I cease the shouting and run away. One of them recovers faster and flies after me, slowly catching up. She tries to reach out for me, but as soon as her hand is even an inch away from me, I quickly duplicate, me and the clone running opposite directions. The Thanagarian is caught by surprise, meaning she didn't see the car she just flew headfirst into, knocking her out.
The other nine come flying towards me and the clone, surrounding us as their wings flap, keeping them midair. One of them aims their mace at me. "Surrender, shapeshifter! And face your punishment for assaulting soldiers of the great army of Thanagar!"
I pretend to think it over. "Hm. No."
Me and the clone create duplicates, and those duplicates create duplicates, now there are eight Echo Echoes. Again, me and the clones hit the invaders with one quick burst of sonic energy—managing to get one of them down—before scattering.
Me and the clones run around the streets of Metropolis, deftly avoiding the weapons of the Thanagarians. Sometimes, we'd use our sonic screams to either push us upwards or to defend against our attackers. Eventually we manage to take most of them out, there's one left standing. Well, standing is being generous. He's leaning on his spear for support, breathing heavily and his wings are drooping low.
My clones and I surround him, looking at each other and nodding before hitting him from all angles with a unified sonic scream. He roars in pain as he clutches his ears, but that does nothing to protect him from the attack. Eventually, he falls over.
"Look." One of my clones points out.
Looking up, we all see a group of Thanagarians coming down. I absorb the clones and quickly transform into my Kineceleran form, XLR8. I'm a blue raptor-like creature with a relatively short tail that switches between black and blue. There are black orbs on my feet that act as wheels. The rest of my skin is blue, with a natural conoid helmet around my head that ends in a rather sharp point, when my visor comes down it reveals a V-shaped orange screen. I wear a primarily black skintight suit with an orange chest and short sleeves, the Omnitrix on my chest. My hands are claws and I have rather sharp elbows.
Without any preamble I use my super speed to get out of the area, leaving the Thanagarians behind in my dust.
I quickly stop to stand next to Flash as the Justice League stands around in the center of the dry cleaner. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern jump in shock at my sudden arrival. "Hera, that was almost as fast as the Flash."
My visor raises to reveal a large smile on my face as I give said speedster a smug smile. He just shakes his head with a smile. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, what was all that screaming outside? Is Black Canary here?"
"Nah, it was one of my other forms," I reply as I change back to normal.
"Do you always gotta blind us when you do that?" Green Lantern mumbles.
"Sorry, it's how this thing was made," I reply. "So, what're you guys standing around for?"
"The whole city will be covered by now," Martian Manhunter announces.
"Maybe they'll all get tired and go home," Flash quips. We all look at him.
"Seriously?" I ask.
Flash shrugs. "A little optimism can't hurt at a time like this!"
"This is the voice of the Thanagarian Occupational Authority. The Justice League are escaped prisoners and violators of our martial law. They are to be considered an enemy and dealt with on sight. Any person or persons found aiding or harboring them…will be summarily punished," A voice from the ship announces.
I look at Flash with an arched brow. He just slumps. "Something like that, yeah."
Batman speaks up, sounding just like Kevin Conroy. "We're going to have to go underground for the time being. Keep low and think of a plan of attack."
"How exactly do we hide when the whole city is looking for us?" Wonder Woman asks.
I look down at my black, orange, and white armor. "She's gotta point. We do kind of stand out in these," I look at Superman. "Some more than others," he walks forward and hands me the skeleton key. "Oh, thanks."
"He is right," Martian Manhunter agrees as he studies a coat from a nearby rack. "They're looking for our costumes. But without them, we are ordinary citizens," as he speaks, Martian Manhunter shifts into a human form, wearing the same coat as the one he's studying.
"Hold up," Green Lantern interrupts. "What about our secret identities? While I do trust all of you, what about him?" He asks, pointing a thumb at me.
I narrow my eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, sure, not like I saved your ass or anything."
Green Lantern turns to glare at me. Before anything could escalate Flash stands in between us. "Hold up! Guys, this is Triumph we're talking about, he's been in the hero game since he was ten! We've worked together a few times and know each other's secret identities. And guess what, he hasn't outed me."
Green Lantern calms down but isn't entirely convinced. Sighing in annoyance, I press a hidden button on my neck, my face mask and goggles receding. I look in the mirror nearby to see a handsome (not biased) black haired, blue-eyed young man. Twenty-one years of age, but the story behind my eyes may reveal my true chronological age if someone knew what to look for.
I look at the others, specifically Green Lantern. "My name's Eric Mercer. Nice to meet you," I offer my hand to shake. He looks at it before nodding and shaking my hand.
Batman nods in agreement before stepping into the center of the group, taking off his cowl, revealing a man in his late twenties to early thirties with black hair and piercing blue eyes. "Bruce Wayne. Flash is Wally West. Superman is Clark Kent. Green Lantern is John Stewart. Wonder Woman is Diana Prince. And Martian Manhunter is J'onn J'onzz."
Flash takes off his cowl, revealing a young man in his mid-twenties with red hair and green eyes.
Diana ruffles Wally's hair. "Red hair, it suits you."
Wally looks at her with a smile. "You really think?"
Bruce throws a jacket at Wally's head. "Get changed."
A few minutes later we're all changed into other clothes. Clark wearing a blue business suit and glasses. Diana wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and jeans, her hair tied up in a high ponytail. John's wearing a skull cap, brown hoodie, and brown pants. Bruce is wearing a leather jacket and grey pants and turtleneck shirt. Wally's wearing dark jeans with a brown jacket, a white shirt under it.
I change into black jeans and a white t-shirt, two hands on it, both raising one finger, a red and black jacket over the shirt. "How're we gonna do this?" I ask.
We go outside, standing in the alley. Bruce peeks his head out, checking for the coast.
"We need to split up. They expect seven of us," John strategizes. "Who's in what group?"
"We need to get to Gotham," Bruce speaks up. "We can regroup at my house there. Try not to draw attention to yourselves."
He then turns around and studies the group. "Diana, you're with me. Clark, J'onn, and John, you three move together. Eric, make sure Wally doesn't mess up."
The speedster grumbles as Bruce and Diana leave the alleyway. A few minutes later, Clark, J'onn, and John follow out of the alley, leaving Wally and me as the last ones.
While we wait, Wally turns to me. "So, how've you been, man? It's been a while since we talked."
I raise my sleeve to see that five minutes have passed since the previous three left. I get up from the wall and start walking, Wally following. "Yeah, it has. I've been busy with things, Animo and the Forever Knights have been a pain lately, but this invasion put that on hold," I reply.
"You need any help with them if they're still a problem after this?" Wally asks.
We both avoid eye contact with Thanagarians walking amongst the street, making ourselves as small as possible. "It'd be appreciated, yeah. Thankfully, they're two separate things," I answer. "What really worries me is Hex."
"Yeah, I heard he's been missing. Any ideas?" Wally asks.
I shake my head, annoyed at my lack of headway on finding Hex. "Nothing. I've even tried contacting Charmcaster, but I can't reach her."
"She's on that anti-hero team, the Outlaws, right? With Red Hood and Artemis?" Wally asks.
I nod.
Wally and I duck in the bushes as we see a checkpoint around the edge of Metropolis, Thanagarians keeping an eye out for anyone out when they shouldn't be. While I plan a way to escape, Wally turns to me. "Have you tried asking Zatara? Or Zatanna?"
My planning comes to a screeching halt. With a blank look I turn to Wally. "Seriously?"
He raises his hands in surrender. "Hey, can't hurt to ask, can it?"
I narrow my eyes. "Yes, yes it can, Wall. They hate my guts; I wouldn't even try asking for help from them to find my sister's pet cat, Nova."
"Yeesh, whatever you did had to have been bad then," Wally mutters. I feel a pang of hurt and guilt at that. He really has no idea. Wally claps his hand on my shoulder, again, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Alright, Gotham isn't that far from Metropolis. Transform into XLR8 and we can get there in a few minutes."
I nod and pull back my sleeve, bringing up the Omnitrix and dialing towards XLR8. "Ready, set, GO!" Wally shouts.
In rapid succession I transform into XLR8, Wally and I then run through the checkpoint, pushing any Thanagarians unlucky enough to be in our path out of the way. Moving faster than they can react, the two of us run towards Gotham, ready to strike back against the invaders.
Wayne Manor, Gotham
Wally and I skid to a halt in front of the massive doors of Wayne Manor.
What would have been a few minutes ended up being longer. As we ran from Metropolis to Gotham, Wally and I would occasionally stop and help civilians on the way. Eventually all of that helping people stacked up, and an hour passes like that.
Immediately after I transform back to normal the doors open, Alfred Pennyworth standing atop the staircase and looking at the two of us. "Ah, you must be Masters West and Mercer. The others have been waiting for some time now."
I look back, keeping an eye out for any Thanagarians. None. Good. Alfred walks up to a grandfather clock, changing the hands to match a specific time, leading to the grandfather clock swinging outwards, a metal door behind it. Alfred bows his head and motions for us to walk past the metal door as it slides into the wall. The three of us walk down the stairs, leaving Wayne Manor and entering the Batcave.
As we go down, I pull my phone out of my pocket, opening the contact list and scrolling down, Zatara's and Zatanna's names at the bottom. My finger hovers over the call button for Zatanna, but we reach the bottom of the stairs. With a sigh, I lock the phone screen and put it in my pocket.
"You're late," Bruce's voice echoes.
"We're here, that's all that matters," I reply.
The three of us walk towards the batcomputer, here we find the others standing around, Clark leaning on the computer. As we walk towards them Wally looks around in awe, his gaze sticking with the dinosaur animatronic. "Hey, that's a giant dinosaur," he says in awe.
"And I thought Batman was the detective," Alfred dryly remarks, bringing a smile to my lips.
"We were just speculating why the Thanagarians are really here," J'onn explains as Wally joins us.
"Obviously not to protect us," Clark says.
"But if the Gordanians are nowhere near Earth," Diana wonders. "Why do they need to build that force field?"
"If it is a force field," Bruce comments.
"If I had access to their tech, I could transform into one of my smarter aliens to maybe see what they're doing," I say.
I notice Bruce's eyes narrow as he looks at the Omnitrix. I'm gonna have to deal with that in the future, won't I?
I smell another presence.
"I can tell you what it is."
The seven of us turn around to see Shayera Hol, Hawkgirl, and the reason for this invasion.
Clark glares as he takes off his glasses. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here."
"We should thank you, saves us the trouble of having to hunt you down," Diana says.
I practically glide across the floor, standing in front of Shayera, tilts her head back as I transform into my Petrosapien form, Diamondhead.
I wear a tight, black, sleeveless suit, the chest and back are orange. I also have an orange and white belt, the Omnitrix dial on it. My body is made of pale green diamonds, my eyes orange. There are two giant diamond shards sticking out of my back and two smaller ones sticking out of my chest, the back of my head is also a sharp diamond edge. My forearms are massive, and I stand over seven-feet-tall.
With my right arm, I shift it into a blade and touch the blade to her throat. Thanks to her I ran into Zatanna and Zatara again, opening old wounds I thought I got over. I'm really angry right now.
"I didn't come here to fight. I came to help," Shayera slowly, and carefully pleads.
Wally scoffs. "Hawk-people all over the planet? Martial law? I don't think we need any more of your help."
Shayera looks at me with a pleading look. Relenting, I lower the blade and step aside, but before she takes another step I whisper in her ear. "One wrong move," my blade hovers over her wing. "And slice."
Shayera takes a deep breath before walking towards the League. "They're building a hyperspace bypass. When it's active, it'll destroy the planet and everyone on it," she explains. She then walks over to Bruce and hands him a purple device. "Here. This has all the information on the project," she sighs as Bruce glares at her. "Believe me; I didn't know the magnitude of Talak's plan."
Bruce doesn't take his eyes off of her as he takes the device. "We'll check it out," he turns around and heads towards the batcomputer. "There's the door."
Diana, Clark, J'onn, and Wally avoid eye contact with her as they walk past her. I stay where I am, ready to retaliate should she attack. I then notice her talking to John, shards are built up with my right arm as I watch, but don't listen.
She then gives him a green ring and leaves the Batcave. The two of us watch her leave. I walk over next to John and look at the ring in his hand. "Is that what I think it is?" I ask, pointing at the ring.
Indeed, it is. John puts the ring on, his Green Lantern suit appears, and he floats in the air as a green barrier surrounds him. "Okay, that's cool, I'll admit."
John cracks a smile as the two of us go over and join the others, Bruce looking over the data given to us by Shayera. On the screen a simulation of Earth surrounded by crackling energy can be seen.
"Ingenious," Bruce mutters.
"Yeah, I'm impressed," Clark says with a bored tone as he takes off his glasses. "Let's go wreck it."
"How," John asks. "It's behind a force field."
I tap the Omnitrix, transforming into my Galvan form, Grey Matter.
I'm now a six-inch tall, gray skinned, frog-like alien wearing an orange suit, the neck, gloves, belt, and opened toed boots are black. The Omnitrix dial on my back.
The others look at my new, small form with arched brows. Wally smiles and leans towards Diana. "Oh, this guy. He's probably Eric's smartest form."
I study the simulation for a moment. Understanding it immediately, I hop around the keyboard, inputting commands that creates another simulation. This one has animated, showing the bypass, a distance away some chibi Thanagarians are smacking computer keys. "The bypass is too dangerous to have a force field operated by a crew when on-site. Chances are, they have a remote broadcast signal keeping it active," the Thanagarian flagship then appears, a section highlighted. I hop off the keyboard and transform back to normal, a smug smirk on my face. "Boom."
Bruce glances at me for a moment before turning back to the computer. "Go shut it down," he orders. "I'll take care of the bypass."
Wally folds his arms and looks at Bruce with an arched brow. "That thing's the size of a city," he points out. "What're you gonna do? Throw batarangs at it?"
Bruce doesn't even blink, but I swear there's a flicker of a smirk on his face. "Something like that," he gets up, heading towards his suits. "Proximity sensors were triggered a moment ago. Suit up."
Wally and I grimace. Maybe our arrival wasn't as stealthy as we thought.
He and Clark spin around at superspeed, once they stop, they are now wearing their suits. Diana and Bruce hide behind some covers, changing into their suits. Martian Manhunter simply shifts into his semi-natural form.
I input some buttons on the Omnitrix, my light armor appearing over me.
The bottom half of my armor is mainly black, the soles of my boots are orange and so are the knees, black V's on the center of my knees. I have a black and orange utility belt around my waist connected to the suit, no buckle in the center. For the top half, my abdomen is white, the bottom of the white is pointed, and it stops between the pouches of my belt. The chest is black. From my shoulders down to the bottom of my chest are two angled lines in the shape of an hourglass, looking like the touchpad of the Omnitrix. My shoulder pads have four orange circles on them, two on the front and two on the back. Long sleeves that stop mid-forearm, and fingerless gloves with orange knuckles covering my hands.
With a press of the hidden button on my neck, my face mask covers my lower face, four, thick orange lines on either side, tilting upwards. My black tinted goggles resting on my temples, ready to cover my eyes with another push of a button.
Batman and Wonder Woman join us. "They'll be here any minute now. Hide."
A few minutes later, a group of Thanagarians—a dozen in total—break into the Batcave. They float down the stairs and land in an open area. The leader looks to his people, two with heavy cannons, others with axes, swords, and maces. "Spread out. They're hiding somewhere," he orders.
From the shadows, Green Lantern fires a laser that cuts off part of the barrel of one of the heavy cannons. "Nuh uh."
From up above, I drop down and land feet first on the other Thanagarian with the heavy cannon, slamming him onto the floor. "Oh, how I love proving bad guys wrong," I add.
One of the Thanagarians aims his gun at Green Lantern. His eyes glow with an emerald fire as he floats above the shot, shooting the invader in the face.
The Thanagarians take flight, using their natural skills of flight and weapons to their advantage. It doesn't help.
Wonder Woman's Lasso wraps around one of their ankles, she then heaves back, launching the Thanagarian backwards. Martian Manhunter rises from the floor, his arm out and clotheslining the Thanagarian, taking him out of the fight.
Flash would run through the soldiers, hitting them with a barrage of punches as he does. One of the invaders has Flash in his sights. He goes for the shot, but Superman's sudden appearance tosses his plans aside. The Last Son of Krypton grabs the gun of the Thanagarian as it powers up, crushing it and his hand, causing the bird-like alien to shout in pain.
"Let's use our inside voices," Superman says. He then punches the Thanagarian into a stalactite.
Two more try to shoot at Flash, but the Speedster avoids the shots and runs around them. He then stands behind them and spins his arms around, creating a tornado that sends the two flying into the giant penny. It falls on top of them. Flash then speeds over and stands on top of it. "Tails, I win," he quips.
Batman swings from the ceiling of his cave, kicking a Thanagarian in the face. He lets go of the line and as he falls, he throws three special batarangs at the Thanagarians on him. They look down at the batarangs embedded in their armor, not noticing the blinking red. They sneer and look at Batman. "Your weapons are pitiful," one of them gloats.
"Wait for it…" Batman replies.
Behind him, hundreds of eyes can be seen in the shadows. A swarm of bats comes from the shadows, swarming the Thanagarians. The three drop down, becoming unconscious, bleeding bodies.
The two Thanagarians against me aren't too much for me to handle. I jump between the two, deftly avoiding their swinging blades. I land on my hands and spring back up, kicking one of them, his head slamming on the ground. I lean back, avoiding the blade of the other one. I then step into his personal space and grab the Thanagarian by the wrist, keeping the sword raised between the two of us.
"Sorry," I quickly say.
The Thanagarian looks at me with a confused look. His eyes then widen considerably as my knee connects with his crotch. He drops his sword and slowly falls down, his hands cupping his crotch. "Ow…" he mutters before falling unconscious.
After tying the invaders up, the seven of us exit the Batcave, walking down the stairs of Wayne Manor, we see Alfred sweeping the countless glass shards. "Mind the glass, sir," he warns us. While the message is serious, the playfulness behind it is clear.
We stand nearby the shattered windows, the Thanagarian ship waiting outside. Batman turns to look at Green Lantern. "I want you, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Triumph to go to the command ship and shut down the force field."
"And us?" Martian Manhunter asks, referring to himself, Flash, and Batman.
Batman turns to him. "You're going to help me retake the Watchtower."
Flash told me all about it on our run here. I've always wanted to see it, too bad Batman's gonna wreck it. Ah, well, we'll get another one.
"It's crawling with Thanagarian soldiers," Flash points out. "How're you planning on getting inside?"
Batman points at the ship. "With that."
The seven of us walk through the broken windows, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, and I walking ahead. I turn around and give the three a two-finger salute. "See you later."
I activate the Omnitrix and transform into Icarus, the four of us taking flight towards the Thanagarian capital ship.
About an hour later we approach the flag ship, and they see us coming. If they swam of fighter jets is any indication.
"Pretty bad odds," Wonder Woman comments.
"Yep, looks like it," I reply.
"Yeah. They don't stand a chance," Superman agrees.
Green Lantern stays silent as the swarm comes upon us.
Superman and Wonder Woman move in first, destroying any jet that gets in their way. Green Lantern and I stay behind, destroying any stragglers with either willpower-fueled blasts from Green Lantern or fire and water blasts from me.
Because of their power, most of the jets see Wonder Woman and Superman as the bigger threats, something Green Lantern takes advantage of. During the chaos he sneaks by, destroying the occasional jet and cuts his way into the ship.
One of the jets attempts to sideswipe me, I just flip under it, my hand dragging alongside the bottom, heating up the metal, causing it to crash.
Lasers slam into my back, causing me to cry out in pain. I turn around and glare at the jet that managed to shoot me in the back, the pilot looks at me with wide eyes. Flourishing my wings, I shoot forward, I then slam into the jet, my hands on the points where the glass meets the cockpit. Using my hydrokinesis, I quickly flood the jet, forcing the pilot to eject from his vehicle. I fly up and grab the Thanagarian by the legs, throwing him down and slamming him into his jet.
With flame covered fists, I fly back with Wonder Woman and Superman, the three of us standing in a triangle formation and destroying many of the fighters.
After destroying a few with his heat vision Superman turns to us. "Get in the ship! I can handle them!"
The two of us nod and fly towards the bridge, on the way, Wonder Woman grabs an unlucky fighter jet and uses it as a shield as we near the bridge. She slams the jet into the hull around the bridge, creating a hole for the two of us to fly in. It's quick, the two of us defeating the bridge officers in the bridge. Wonder Woman picks up a fallen sword from an officer.
We exit the bridge, the engineering being our goal. Sadly, we find two different paths. Wonder Woman looks at me. "I got left, you got right?"
I nod as I slap the Omnitrix on my chest. I become my Arburian Pelarota form, Pinball.
My skin's a pale white, it also happens to feel like marshmallow, with a black forehead and a black line going from my back up to below my black lips. Yellow armor plating across my back, shoulders, back of my arms, and hips. I have claws for toes and fingers. The Omnitrix on my forehead.
Wonder Woman studies the form. "Interesting. What can this one do?"
I grin as I clench my fist. "I call this guy Pinball. His name's self-explanatory."
Wonder Woman smirks. "I do love a game of pinball," she comments. Wonder Woman launches down her hallway, the sound of combat soon following.
Grinning, I roll up in a ball, my natural armor showcased to a group of incoming Thanagarians. The four of them stop moving and aim their guns at me. The lasers impact with my shell, leaving scorch marks. I roll in place for a moment, and then I launch forward, knocking the four around like bowling pins. Strike.
Bouncing around the hallway, I slam into Thanagarians in my way, knocking them all out and slamming them into walls, ceilings, and floors. Thanks to my speed, durability, and…bouncability? They don't stand a chance to slow me down.
I stop rolling to see the doors to engineering in the distance, a group of Thanagarians between me and it. I smirk again as I roll in a ball, but a roar forces me to stop and uncurl. Looking up, I see Hawkgirl fighting the Thanagarians. Well, not really a fight, more like a one-sided beatdown in her favor.
Due to the surprise and her superior skill, the Thanagarians are swiftly defeated. I walk forward, Shayera whips around and aims her mace at me. Once she sees the Omnitrix crest on my forehead she slowly lowers her mace. "You're…Triumph, right?'
I try my best to nod, but the lack of neck makes it hard. I notice a smile play on her lips. I sigh deeply. "Yeah," I then glare at her. "I take it you're helping us now."
Her face becomes serious again. "I want—no—need to help turn off the shield controls," her face becomes downcast. "And I want to atone for what I've done. Things most definitely won't be the same after this, but I want to fix what I can."
I study her for a moment before letting out a breath. "Alright," her head shoots up in surprise. "Just don't stab me in the back, okay?"
She gives me a determined nod. "Okay," she turns to the doors, me walking next to her. "What's the plan?"
"You go in, keep whoever's in charge busy, but don't stay too close to him. I have a plan," I answer.
The two of us enter the shield control room. Once inside, we arrive just in time to see Hro slam the flat part of his axe into Green Lantern's forearm, breaking the limb. With a scream of pain, the human Lantern falls to his knees. Hro then pushes the advantage with an uppercut, sending Green Lantern across the room, he lays still on the ground.
As this happens, I stealth my way around the room, getting in a good angle on Hro.
Hro stalks towards Green Lantern's prone form, his axe raised, ready to swing down.
Shayera runs forward. "Hro! Enough!" He turns around to glare at Shayera. She slows down and walks towards him, standing just a few inches away from Hro. "The fight's over. You're a soldier, not a murderer."
Hro pauses before backhanding Shayera away from him. "I'm a fool for ever loving you!" He shouts.
My vision tints red as I curl up and quickly roll towards him before he can continue hitting her. Thanks to my speed, Hro can barely react as my massive form collides with him, slamming him into the wall.
With a grunt of effort, Hro manages to push my still spinning form back. He then hits me with his energy-enhanced Nth metal axe, actually managing to cut my shell. I back up and uncurl, staring at him with wide eyes as I feel blood pour from the wound.
Okay, Pinball might not work.
I tilt the dial on my forehead before slamming it.
With another, smaller flash of orange light, my form shifts, but the change isn't as extreme as changing species. Instead, my white skin becomes a bluish gray, the yellow plates become metallic, and cylindrical studs grow on them. The Omnitrix dial on my forehead grows four extensions.
But Ultimate Pinball might.
Hro snarls and points his axe at me. "So, you've changed your color? Doesn't mean anything."
I smirk, my sharp fangs easy to see. "Oh, it means a lot," I turn to look at Shayera and Green Lantern. "Yo! I'll keep Birdman busy! You two deal with the shield, yeah?"
Green Lantern and Shayera look at each other quickly before nodding.
I look back at Hro, just to see him coming at me, his axe ready to swing. Reacting quickly, I curl up. The axe connects, the energy sparks back and hits Hro, causing him to shout in pain as the energy burns his skin.
I then spin in place before launching forward, slamming into Hro again and slamming him between myself and the wall, I can hear him cough up blood. I then roll away, leaving Hro to fall onto his hands and knees, letting him catch his breath.
I go in for another hit, but he sees it coming and takes to the air, glaring down at me. "Aerial superiority! Surrender!"
I uncurl and look around, my vision landing on something useful, I smirk. Oh, he's in for a surprise.
I curl up again and I go near full speed at a console to my left. Hro watches in confusion, but his eyes quickly widen in surprise as I bounce off the console and wall and come flying towards him. He barely dodges, my massive, metal form slamming into his wings.
Hro shouts in pain and falls down, his wings drooped down as he recovers. He gets up with a heave and swings his axe at me, energy shooting at me in an arc. It bounces off of my shell, coming back at him.
Hro's caught by surprise again, barely avoiding the returning energy arc, clipping the bottom of his wings.
I then spin in place and extend the spikes outside of my shell, tearing the floor below me apart. As soon as Hro lands, I speed towards him, my spikes leaving deep, but non-lethal gashes along his chest. I bounce off the wall and come spinning in again, angled in a way that has my back spikes aimed at him.
Hro barely dodges my spikes and swipes the energy arc again, this time destroying the wall I'm heading towards, causing me to be imbedded into the under layer. My spikes and momentum keeping me trapped.
Hro comes in and grabs me by the spikes, gritting his teeth as I slowly stop moving. With all of his strength, he throws me out of the wall, sending me flying across the room. Midair, I uncurl and slam on the floor, my weight keeping me down.
Hro comes leaping at me, axe raised high with a roar. Reacting quickly, I transform into Hecatoncheires. With my lower right arm, I grab Hro's arm, stopping his momentum. With my upper left arm, I hit him with a strong left hook, the connection of my fist with his helmet echoing throughout the room.
The general falls limp in my arms, moaning in pain as I toss him aside.
I turn around to see Green Lantern and Shayera, her hands atop his, lowering the lever for the shields, deactivating the protection for the bypass.
With a smirk, I look out to see the Watchtower come roaring in from the sky, slamming into the bypass. The resounding explosion temporarily deafens the three of us. Once the explosion of light and dust settles, we see the smoking crater of what was the hyperspace bypass.
Shayera gives the both of us a satisfied, yet sad smile. She then looks down with a sad expression.
'Right, she did kinda screw over her own species,' I think.
I hear a multitude of running footsteps coming towards us. "Incoming," I warn as I turn around.
The three of us stand together. Green Lantern raises a shield, Shayera hefts her mace, and I crack my four knuckles.
While I am ready, I'm not going to exactly fight. Besides, in three, two, one…
Shouts of pain come from behind the Thanagarians. They all turn around to see many of their comrades fighting a hopeless battle against Wonder Woman. She has some bruises across her body and some blood pouring from her wounds, but that doesn't stop the massive smile on her face. She swipes the sword in the air, blood on the blade splattering off it.
"So, who's next?" She asks, raising her blade.
The Thanagarians look ready to fight, most looking at Wonder Woman, a few keeping their eyes on us.
"Stand down!" Hro's heavily beaten and bloodied form shouts. "Lower your weapons," his men quickly obey.
One of them darts their eyes around, his gaze lingering on me, fear in his eyes. "Commander?"
"Our mission is a failure," Hro announces, his voice hollow. "There's no more reason to fight. Let them go," everyone else gives him incredulous looks. He ignores them and limps towards Shayera. It's cliché but if looks could kill, she'd be dead. "I hope you're proud of yourself. It'll take years for us to rebuild elsewhere."
Shayera just gives him a blank look. "Then you'd better get started."
The four of us walk past the Thanagarian's, no one making a move against us as a silence falls over us.
I transform back to normal and glance at Shayera from the corner of my eye. Like the saying goes: we've won, but at what cost?
Seattle, Washington
After the victory I wait for the Omnitrix to recharge, thankfully it isn't a long wait, five minutes. After it's done recharging, I transform into Jetray, but before I leave Batman tells me to come to Wayne Manor tomorrow at around 5:00 PM EDT. I agree, and after some goodbyes I head back home.
I land in my backyard at home, quickly transforming into Big Chill. I then walk forward and phase through the windows, entering my home. One bright flash of light later, and I'm back to normal in my home.
I take a deep breath and take off my goggles and face mask. Almost immediately two arms wrap around me tightly, a head digging into my chest. "You're okay!" My thirteen-year-old-sister, Esmeralda shouts. "I was so worried when you wouldn't pick up my calls."
Our parents are off in vacation in Ireland, so, they had my sister stay here with me for the time being.
I smile and rest my head on hers, hugging her back. "Of course I'm fine, I'm Triumph, nothing can ever beat me," I boast.
She backs up and flicks my nose. "You're such a geek," she giggles.
I back up and walk towards the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and drinking it all in two massive gulps. I toss the bottle in the bin and turn to Esmeralda, a serious look on my face. "But seriously, you're okay, right?"
Esmeralda nods. She raises her hands, magical energy emitting from them. "It was hard, but I was able to keep up a spell making the house seem unimportant."
I smile and ruffle her hair. "Nice! Keep it up and you'll be shifting reality at your whim!"
Esmeralda rolls her eyes, but a small smirk, just like mine, is on her face. She then sobers up. My sister fidgets and looks down.
I walk over to her and lift her head up by her chin, looking her in the eyes. "What?"
"They came to check up on me."
My eyes narrow, I'm confused as to who she's talking about, but then it hits me like a freight train. My eyes then widen in surprise before becoming blank, my emotions in turmoil. "Oh," I dumbly reply.
"What-what happened between you three?" Esmeralda asks.
I sigh deeply before throwing my arm over her shoulder, bringing the two of us to the stairs, heading towards our rooms. "It's…difficult," we stop in front of her room. I lean down and kiss her forehead. "Good night."
She pouts cutely. "You never answer that question," she sighs as I give her my rare, winning smirk. She hugs me again. "Good night. Love you."
I walk over to my room, my armor fading away. "Love you, too."
I take off my shirt and change into my pajama pants. With a sigh I flop down onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Am I gonna do it? No, I shouldn't. She hasn't replied to my messages in years. Maybe she blocked me. But if she did, wouldn't it tell me? I can't message Zatara, I'm one hundred percent sure he's blocked my number.
But I'm worried. While they did agree to stop fighting that doesn't mean the Thanagarians would just stop going after them.
Doesn't help that I still care for her, even if she broke up with me two years ago.
God, I'm sad.
With another sigh, I reach out and grab my phone, unlocking it and wincing at the brightness. I open the messages and see some from Dick and Kory wondering how I am during the invasion. Another from Victor as well, same topic.
I scroll down a bit and open the conversation with Zatanna. Scrolling up for a while I see messages sent by me, all seen. Going higher I can see the last text message she sent me. Not wanting to open that can of worms, I scroll back down, and bring up the keyboard, but my thumb hovers over the letter H.
With another sigh of annoyance, I exit the messaging app and slam my phone on the cabinet next to my bed, shattering it. I'll transform into Clockwork tomorrow and fix it.
I turn over, afraid that if I keep looking at the wreck of my phone, I'll be tempted to just send the message now. Besides, it's midnight, she'd probably be angry at me for sending a message this late.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes, sleep overtaking me.
Wayne Manor, Gotham
The next day, I arrive at Wayne Manor a whole thirty minutes before I'm supposed to.
When Bruce sees in the main foyer he nods in greeting. Before a conversation can ensue, Alfred returns with Clark, Diana, and J'onn, all in costume, in tow. Bruce then has Alfred lead me to a nearby room, where a television on a news network is focusing on the efforts of the Justice League during the invasion.
Later, the other members arrive, with Wally being the last, of course.
Right now, six of the original seven are in a private room in Wayne Manor, discussing Shayera's future status in the League.
Speaking of Shayera, she's sitting next to me, wearing simple blue jeans and a white shirt with holes in the back for her wings to come out of. She's a red haired, green eyed woman who looks to be late twenties to early thirties. A common age for most of the League, actually.
The two of us are sitting on a couch watching the news, an awkward silence hanging in the air. Not liking it, I turn to her. "L-look, about what I did as Diamondhead in the Batcave yesterday…" I begin, catching her attention. I scratch the back of my head and look down. Esmeralda always said I was bad at apologizing.
Shayera seems to understand my plight and puts a hand on my shoulder, a calm, forgiving smile on her face. "Water under the bridge. Besides, if our roles were reversed, I probably would've done the same."
I smile in gratitude. The news then focuses on some other heroes that fought during the invasion, and would you look at who they're focusing on now, Zatara and Zatanna.
I let out a breath through my nose as I lower my head, ignoring Shayera's curious gaze. Smacking my knees, I get up and pull my repaired phone out of my pocket. "I gotta do something," I murmur. I walk away and unlock the screen, opening the messaging app again and open Zatanna's conversation.
Again, I hesitate to continue, but with a deep, calming breath, I continue.
Me: Hey, I know you aren't happy with me. You haven't been for a while-
Is that really wise to put in there? Probably not. I erase the second sentence.
Me: Hey, I know you aren't happy with me, but I gotta know if you and your dad are okay. It doesn't have to be much, all you gotta do is send me a simple reply, thumbs up, "we're fine", something like that. I'm worried. Thanks.
My finger hovers over the send button.
"You should do it."
I turn around to see Shayera looking at me from the couch. "Zatanna's a beautiful girl, you're a handsome guy, it's an obvious match. And if it makes you feel like this then you should do it, damn the consequences."
I smile, despite my inner turmoil. "And how'd you know it's Zatanna?"
She nods towards the TV. "How you reacted to her on the news. Your mannerisms tell a lot also," her eyes become sad. "Just, don't mess up, alright? Love's a dangerous thing to screw with."
I scoff. "Yeah, I know," I look at the message. With one deep breath I hit send.
Shayera looks at me confused. Before she can ask her question, Alfred walks into the room. "Excuse me, Ms. Hol, they sent for you."
Shayera gives me one quick nod, an apprehensive look on her face.
I nod in return, giving her a thumbs up. "You've got this."
She walks forward and gives me a hug, one I reciprocate. "Thanks, Eric."
She walks out of the room and heads towards the meeting room, the doors closing behind her.
Alfred and I stand around in silence. We then make eye contact. I point to the door and then my ear. He smiles and walks forward, placing his ear on the door. With a smirk, I follow, doing the same, and thanks to my enhanced hearing I can hear everything.
"Hawkgirl…" Superman begins.
"Before you start, I have something to say," she interrupts. Shayera then takes a deep breath. "I came to this planet as a patriot. I had a mission and I carried it out. What I wouldn't know is that I would come to care for Earth, and her people," Shayera pauses, no doubt looking at each member of the team. "That I'd come to care for all of you. I've spent the last five years torn between my feelings and my duty. I won't ask you to do the same," one more dramatic pause. "Therefore, I am resigning from the Justice League, effective immediately."
I can hear Shayera coming towards the door. Reacting quickly, I speed over to the waiting room, colliding with the couch and nearly knocking it over.
A moment later, Shayera walks out of the meeting room, saying something to Alfred before standing in the doorway. I get up and walk to her, giving her one more hug. "Good luck," I say.
"Thanks," Shayera replies.
Shayera gets out of the hug and leaves Wayne Manor, off to do her own thing for some time. Shortly after, Green Lantern walks out, barely acknowledging me and Alfred.
The butler is then called into the room, a few seconds later he turns around and looks at me. "It's your turn."
I take a deep, calming breath before walking forward, clapping the butler lightly on the shoulder as I pass by him. "Thanks, Alfred."
I walk in the room to see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and the Flash sitting around a round table, the five looking at me as I enter the room.
"Now then," Superman begins. "What to do with you."
And that's the end of the first chapter to Triumphant! Which also happens to be my first crossover fanfic, go me!
It's pretty obvious that this story's inspired by Incredible Muffin's Ben 10: Unlimited, a classic regarding Ben 10 crossover fanfics. As well as some ideas from Sandman Unlimited. But, of course, there are many original ideas and differences in the story, such as how long Eric's been here, and his past. Especially his history with our favorite Italian Homo Magi, father-daughter duo. More on that later.
Something I'd like to talk about, original aliens. Now, I've read a good amount of fanfics from the Ben 10 part of fanfiction, but I still don't know what people think of original aliens, but there's gonna be a few in this story, Icarus being one I enjoyed making. Unless someone else did, then shit. I'd also like to talk about the alien names. Some have the same names as their original counterparts (Heatblast, for example) while others have new names, (Four Arms as Hecatoncheires). First time transformations are always explained, but yeah, keep an eye out for new alien names. By the way, Hecatoncheires and Icarus won't be the only ones based on with names based on Greek myth. And the holograms for the aliens is like Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, no face symbols from Omniverse.
And now to talk about the story's structure. There'll be chapters based on the episodes (such as this one) original chapters, and flashback chapters. Original chapters will be 10,000 words minimum and will either be completely original or my way of inserting another variant of the DC Universe into this story. Flashback chapters will focus on Eric throughout the years up to this point. Oh, and the Ben 10 villains in this story? Their presence will also be explained, don't worry.
Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people!
