And we're back with the canon of Justice League Unlimited! This chapter's gonna be the first time I implement an idea of mine I've had since I introduced Shadowcat in my X-Men story A Sinister Past and a Promising Future (again, go check that out). You'll see what I'm talking about when it comes up.

I've also decided to include fun facts of either Justice League or Ben 10 whenever I can. These are facts that you may or may not know.

JLU Fun Fact 1: The Flash's first speaking role in JLU was in the second episode of the second season,titled "The Ties That Bind". It's the episode where he helps Big Barda and Mister Miracle on Apokolips.

And now to reply to some reviews!

BulletstormX: Nah, I really don't have anything planned for that. By the way, I found the story you're writing with free man writer. It's great! Keep up the work!

Beast Mode92: Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it. Yeah, funnily enough, character interactions are something I'm not so sure of, but I try my best to make them different from each other and authentic. And Ben 10 Unlimited and Dial are two big inspirations for this story, so that final sentence really helps my spirits. Thank you.

That's enough from me up here, on with the story!


Initiation

Eric

As I lean on the wall a few heroes have come up to introduce themselves to me. Such as, the Elongated Man, who's a pretty nice guy, if a little awkward. Mr. Terrific, he's just as smart as I expected. Vigilante and Shining Knight, two…quirky guys, but they deserve to be up here, no doubt. Fire and Ice, the former and I getting along quickly thanks to our similar heritage. And then there's the Question, who listed off my name, address, and everything he knows about the Omnitrix. Not surprised, but kinda scared.

For the next few minutes, the Founding Six would teleport away and come back with either one hero or a group of heroes. I then notice Flash teleporting up with Zatanna, Zatara, Dr. Fate, and Cyborg.

Cyborg notices me quickly and waves as he walks over with Zatanna and Zatara. "Triumph, yo!" He shouts, catching the attention of many heroes.

Some turn to look at me, causing me to blush in embarrassment and try to get the wall to eat me. It doesn't work.

The three walk up to me, Cyborg pulls me from the wall and claps my shoulder hard. "What's up with you, trying to hide from your old pals?"

My eyes dart around. "I'm trying to not make a scene, but a certain cyborg isn't getting the memo."

Zatanna rolls her eyes in amusement. "C'mon, Eric, you've known Victor for years. We all know how loud he is."

"You're damn right!" Cyborg shouts, again drawing eyes towards us.

I groan and try to shrink. Maybe I should turn into Nanomech, get outta here.

Zatara laughs. "Careful, Zatanna, remember one of Batman's rules?"

She groans in annoyance and rests a hand on her forehead. "No secret identities on the Watchtower," she then turns to me with a smile. "Meet anyone interesting?"

I shrug. "Yeah, there's the Question," I nod in his direction, the three look at him.

Cyborg shivers. "No face. Creepy."

"Creepier is that he listed my name, address, and everything he knows about the Omnitrix. Which happens to be a lot for someone I've never met before today," I answer. "There's also Fire and Ice."

They look at the duo, Cyborg wolf whistles before elbowing me in the side. "Niiice."

I shake my head in annoyance.

"Oh, what's interesting about them?" Zatanna asks, still looking at them with narrowed eyes.

I notice Cyborg and Zatara sharing a smirk. I raise an eyebrow at that but choose to ignore them. "Well, their powers are opposite to each other, yet they work together really well. Fire's Brazilian, too, so there's some camaraderie between the two of us I guess."

"Hm," Zatanna hums with narrowed eyes.

Zatara chuckles before taking his hat off of his head. "I'll let you kids catch up. I'll go talk to heroes closer to my age," and with that, Zatara goes and introduces himself to Dr. Mid-Nite, Wildcat, and Hourman, while catching up with Dr. Fate.

"I'm a social creature, so I'm gonna do the same. See you guys in a bit," Cyborg says before walking towards the crowd and talking to a large group of heroes.

I shake my head. How he can be so social, I'll never know.

"Oh, this is awkward," Zatanna whispers. I look at her, but my mask hides my confused face. She points to her left, where I find Constantine sitting alone.

"What's he doing here? He was offered a spot on the League?" I wonder aloud.

Zatanna does a so-so motion with her hand. "He's a reserve member. Wonder Woman realized how useful he'd be, but his past actions and current disposition stops him from getting a full membership."

"Oh. Wait, why's this awkward? Aren't you two dating?" I ask.

Zatanna grits her teeth. "We had a pretty bad argument a few days ago, haven't really talked since."

"What about? If I can ask, that is," I hastily add.

"I want to find Nick and make him pay for betraying us, but John just wants to move on and go back to doing what he does best," Zatanna says angrily.

"Which is…"

"Conning people," Zatanna answers. "I thought by dating him that'd take him out of that life. Guess I was wrong. Stupid Zatanna."

I lift her face up by putting my hand under her chin. "Hey, you are the last person I'd call stupid. If anything, I'm the moron."

Zatanna smiles and backs up a little. "Thanks, Eric. God, I was being such a bitch to you not too long ago wasn't I? Sorry."

I shrug. "We're okay now, so it doesn't matter."

Zatanna looks over in Constantine's direction and flinches. She then turns around and grabs my elbow, pulling me away from the wall. "C'mon, let's go talk to people."

"I've introduced myself to enough people, I'm fine," I argue, trying to plant my feet down.

"Doesn't matter. You're on a team, get to know your teammates," Zatanna counters.

She's pretty intent on moving, curious. I look behind me to see Constantine glaring at us. Ah, she wants to get away from him. I sigh and manage to plant my feet, forcing Zatanna to stop. She turns around, ready to say something about socializing, but I interrupt her by walking forward. I see Zatanna smile as she walks with me, her hands still around my elbow and her body pretty close to mine.


Over the next hour we meet many other heroes. Well, Zatanna meets them, I'm just there. Metamorpho, who's a pretty funny guy, his powers are cool, too. Vixen, who has a razor wit, but her wit probably couldn't compare to Zatanna's, magic girl can be sharp when she wants to be. Black Canary, a friendship quickly forms between the two. And then Zatanna meets the Question, and he does the same thing to her, listing off her address, full name, and what he knows about her powers.

After that, the two of us sit on a nearby bench. I begin to get fidgety seeing all of the people—heroes and technicians in one place. Zatanna looks down with a furrowed brow. "I-how…" she trails off, at a loss for words.

I shrug my shoulders and smirk. "Told you he was creepy."

"Yeah," she whispers. "You think he can help us find Nick and the Charms of Bezel?"

"Probably. I don't know how he deals with magic items, but he's pretty good at finding people. Wouldn't hurt to ask," I say.

"No, it would not," Zatanna agrees.

"Make any friends?" We look up to see Zatara walking towards us with a smile.

Zatanna nods as the two of us get up. "Well, I did, at least. Triumph here was standing around awkwardly as I introduced myself."

Before Zatara can reply Superman steps up from an elevated position, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern—who decided to shave his hair and grow out his beard—standing next to him. Once everyone quiets down Superman begins to speak.

"Each of you brings something different to the table. Strength, speed, stealth, whatever-"

I chuckle, Zatara and Zatanna looking at me before they both roll their eyes in amusement.

"-But we're all equal in at least one way. Each of us is willing to make the sacrifices a hero needs to make," Superman's eyes sweep over the crowd, and I swear they focus on me when he looks at us. "Even the ultimate one."

I feel a twinge of pain. Memories of Vilgax's attack on the alien planet three years ago coming to mind. No, bury those thoughts, Eric, now isn't the time.

"Since there are so many of us, we can do more than just put out fires, both literal and figurative. We can be proactive; we can do some real good in the world, but we're going to have to be organized," Superman then gestures upwards, our gazes following to see Martian Manhunter in a control area. He nods with a small smile on his face. "J'onn will be up here, keeping an eye on everything; he'll be the one to decide who's going where and when. I know a lot of you are used to making those decisions by yourself, but from now on, we have to be more coordinated than that. We can't be cowboys anymore," Superman then smiles. "Or cowgirls."

A few heroes laugh or chuckle at the joke, Zatara and Zatanna included. Superman and the other founders then step back, allowing for us to continue our conversations.

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Batman talking to Green Arrow, but I don't listen in on it, I remember the gist of it.

"Zatanna," Zatara begins, catching our attention. "Are you ever going to talk to Constantine?"

Zatanna sighs and folds her arms. "At some point, Dad, problem is, he's hard to get trapped in a private place. Doesn't help that he doesn't like to talk about his emotions," she then looks at me from the corner of her eye with a smirk. "Like a certain someone."

"Hilarious," I deadpan.

"I just think you need to talk to him, and soon," Zatara advises. "If you want this…" he pauses, searching for the right word. "Relationship of yours to work, communication is key."

"What am I supposed to do? Force him to listen?" Zatanna says. I can tell she's becoming uncomfortable with this conversation. Either because of the people we don't really know being around us, or me being here, I'm not sure.

"If you must, yes," Zatara nods.

Zatanna sighs before looking over in Constantine's direction, Metamorpho and Atom Smasher awkwardly walking away from him. "Yeah, okay, I'll take your advice," she then perks up. "But did you make any friends?"

Zatara nods. "Dr. Fate and I have used this opportunity to catch up. But yes, I made some new friends. Wildcat, Dr. Mid-Nite, Aztec, Dove, and Obsidian being some of them."

"Nice-"

"Captain Atom! Kara! Triumph!" Green Lantern barks, interrupting Zatanna.

They both turn to me, Zatara puts a hand on my shoulder. "Good luck."

Zatanna just gives me a thumbs up. "Have fun~"

With a nod I walk by and leap up to Green Lantern, using the wall to help me up. Just as I stand in front of him Captain Atom and Supergirl land next to me. "What is it?" Supergirl asks.

Captain Atom's a tall man, his body almost completely silver. He has red gloves and boots, black outlines on them, and there's a red and white star-shaped symbol on his chest.

Supergirl's a young woman around eighteen years old. She wears a white, short-sleeved shirt that shows off her midriff, the House of El symbol on the center of the shirt. She has white gloves, a short blue skirt, and a red cape.

My memory has that funny feeling, the same one I had just before the Thanagarian Invasion. Looks like I'm about to get an info dump.

Green Lantern turns around, leading the three of us to the Javelin bat. "Any of you ever been to Chong-Mai?"

"It's on the State Department's "no travel list"," Captain Atom replies like a military man would. "It's a Class Three felony for American citizens to go there."

"I almost caused an international incident last time I was there," I reply, ignoring the glances from the others.

"Is it anywhere near Daytona Beach?" Supergirl asks. The three of us groan.

And that's what I need.

Giant radioactive robot threatening the place. The military tries to hide it, but they do a piss poor job at it. Doesn't someone else join in on the mission?

The four of us enter an elevator, the doors then open to reveal the Javelin bay, a massive fleet of new and improved Javelins all over the place. Civilian crew runs around, checking the jets as I notice another group of heroes going in a Javelin. Wonder what they're gonna deal with.

With my senses I hear someone coming towards us. I turn around to see Green Arrow running up to us, finalizing my memories of this first official Justice League mission.

Green Arrow's suit is three different shades of green. The outer part of the top is dark green while the inner part is a light green, and his pants are a shade of green in between the two. He has two dark green gloves that stop just below his shoulders and a green archer's hat with a feather in it. He also has on a dark green domino mask and a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.

"You're not gonna leave me on Mount Olympus?" He whines. Not sure how I feel about him now, maybe he'll grow on me.

"You can go the way you came," Green Lantern responds.

"Uh, no. No one's playing pinball with my molecules again," Green Arrow replies.

Green Lantern rolls his eyes. "Alright, we'll drop you off after we're done."

The four of us continue towards our Javelin, but I notice Green Arrow hesitating. "Yo, the sooner you come with us the sooner you can leave."

Green Arrow takes a deep breath and nods before continuing towards the Javelin, the two of us walking together. "You're Triumph, right?" He holds his hand out. "Green Arrow, nice to meet you."

How many people know about me? I mean, I'm not a, how would I say it? Silent superhero like the Question or Vigilante. Then again, I don't really look myself up, seems like a pretentious thing to do. I shake Green Arrow's hand. "Yeah, Triumph. I've seen your work, you're good."

Green Arrow smiles and scratches the back of his head. "Heh, thanks," the two of us then sit down in the Javelin. "Where're we going?"

"Chong-Mai, radiation's acting weird over there," I answer as Green Lantern powers up the Javelin.

Supergirl leans over Green Lantern's shoulder. "So, you're gonna let me drive, right?"

Captain Atom becomes worried. "Whoa, wait a minute. Has she been certified in a Javelin?"

Supergirl sits down and sticks her tongue out at him. "Why don't you take the stick out, Corporal?"

"It's Captain," Captain Atom corrects. I shake my head as Green Arrow gives her a thumbs up.

As the Javelin takes off, I get a good look at the Watchtower II. I see a giant white and gold pillar with an incomplete ring around the top floating in space, multiple smaller annexes floating around it.

Damn. It. Is. Beautiful.

As we fly towards the planet, Green Arrow leans forward, peeking over Captain Atom's shoulder. "Is that a containment suit?"

"Uh-huh, I'm not flesh and blood anymore, just living energy."

I feel some camaraderie with that. While I am flesh and blood most of the time, some forms, like NRG and Echo Echo, are living energy, just in different forms. And it's one hell of an experience.

Green Arrow leans back in his seat with a frown. "That wouldn't be nuclear energy, would it?"

Captain Atom looks over his seat to look at Green Arrow with narrowed eyes. "With a name like "Captain Atom", what do you think?"

"I think you're what I marched against back in college," Green Arrow replies as he crosses his arms.

I lean back in my seat and close my eyes, mentally groaning. This is gonna be a looong mission.


Zatanna

A few minutes after Eric leaves, Dad goes and talks with Etrigan, another old friend of his. I've met Etrigan a few times, and other than his odd need to rhyme everything he's a pretty cool guy. Or as cool as you can get when you literally spit fire.

Now what?

I look over to see Cyborg talking with a few heroes, Gypsy, Huntress, Ray, and Hawk and Dove. Looking up, I see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash talking with Martian Manhunter over at his station.

"Hey, Zatanna!" I look over to see Black Canary walking towards me, Vixen, and Fire and Ice with her. "Not sure if you were able to eat back down on terra firma, but we were wondering if you'd wanna eat with us?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Yeah, why not, haven't eaten anything since last night, anyway."

The five of us head over to the cafeteria. I think. I have no idea where it is, we're just following Black Canary.

"So, you girls find anyone interesting up here?" Fire asks, a smirk on her face.

Vixen smirks. "Oh, there's someone I've got my eyes on all right~"

Black Canary shakes her head in amusement while Ice groans and rests her head in her hands. "You're really gonna start a conversation with that, Bea?"

Fire leans back and rests her head on her partner's shoulder with a smile. "What better way to know your co-workers than to find out who they have the hots for?"

Ice groans at that pun. "How are we friends?"

"I answered, you guys?" Vixen says as we walk through a door, a science lab on the other side. Definitely not the cafeteria.

"You didn't really answer, Vixen," Black Canary replies as we continue down the hallway. We then find a map to find we've still got a ways to go for the cafeteria. Who designed this place to have the bridge so far from the cafeteria?

Vixen rolls her eyes. "Fine. Green Lantern. You guys?"

Fire hums and thinks about it. "Triumph's pretty cute."

I feel a pit in my stomach.

"Bea, he wears a mask over the bottom half of his face. And he has goggles that cover his eyes," Ice points out. "The most you could see would be his forehead and hair."

Fire shakes her head. "Let a girl dream, Tora. Besides, I just wanted to mess with Zatanna," that catches my attention. I look to see the others looking at me with smirks on their faces. "I mean, did you see them back on the bridge? Definitely together."

I shake my hands and head. "Oh, no. Eric and I aren't together anymore."

Oh, I just said his real name. Crap.

"Eric, huh?" Vixen says with an arched brow.

"Together anymore?" Black Canary adds.

I groan and slump my shoulders as we finally enter the cafeteria.

This is gonna be a looong day.


Eric

Chong-Mai Countryside

The rest of the trip is rather silent, but thankfully it's short, the positives in having a space station, it's pretty quick to go anywhere on Earth with a Javelin, especially if your target location is facing the Watchtower.

Green Lantern lands the Javelin, and the four of us walk out, Green Arrow opting to stay inside. "Holy crap," I mutter. In the distance we can see scorched earth going on for several miles. Looks like someone had a straight line of nuclear explosions.

"Looks like we missed the party," Supergirl comments.

"That's too bad, Triumph here could've showed off his dance moves," Green Lantern replies, smirking as I glare at him.

"You can't tell 'cause of my goggles, but I'm glaring at you right now," I say in a low voice.

"You can dance?" Supergirl asks.

I groan. "Lantern."

He chuckles and shakes his head. "We'll do recon. If you see anything, don't try to engage."

Captain Atom stands up straight. "Roger that."

The three of us look at him with arched brows. He really is a soldier through and through.

"Uh, you can just say okay," Green Lantern says.

"…okay," Captain Atom walks off, me and Supergirl follow.

We don't get far.

"Get down!" Green Arrow shouts.

We reflexively do as he says. Green Lantern then puts up a barrier, protecting us from a rocket. More rockets and some bullets then collide with the shield.

"State Department sure was right about them not liking foreigners," Captain Atom comments coolly.

"It's crazy!" Green Lantern snaps. "No reason for it!"

Supergirl cracks her knuckles. "I'll give 'em a reason!" She goes for take-off, but I quickly put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's not. Things could get worse," I advise.

"Triumph's right," Green Lantern agrees. "We came to help them, not to fight."

Green Arrow runs up to us, avoiding rockets and bullets fired at him. "So you're just gonna stand there until they run out of RPGs? If this radiation thing is as bad as it looks, there's a lot of people out there that are gonna get fried."

"GA's got a point, too," I admit. "I've got this."

I dial the Omnitrix and transform into XLR8. I then run around the shield and grab the weapons off the soldiers, both in their hands and on their persons, disarming them in no time. I stop in front of the team as Green Lantern drops the shield, the weapons in my arms.

I raise my visor and smirk. "Sorry, but I'm a little too quick on the draw."

Supergirl and Green Arrow both groan. "Seriously?" The former asks.

I shrug. "Best I could come up with on the spot," I then transform back to normal.

The sound of a helicopter stops any further conversation. The five of us then get in fighting positions, but we calm down as some soldiers and an old face come out of the helicopter, none being hostile.

"My apologies for the fireworks," says General Kwan. "Colonel Kim here was just a farmer before the revolution; he doesn't know who you are," he then smiles, but it's obviously fake. "I'm General Kwan. I am most flattered that the Justice League has honored us with its presences, but I must ask why."

Green Lantern steps forward. "You had some kind of nuclear accident."

The general waves it off with a smile. "A minor problem. It is fully under control."

Green Lantern isn't convinced. "If it's all the same to you…"

"It's fully under control," the General repeats, his smile disappearing and a dangerous glint in his eyes. "If it's all the same to you."

I then step forward, a predatory smirk under my mask. "Hey there, Kwan, how are ya?"

The General's eyes widen in surprise before narrowing dangerously. He grits his teeth, and if I listen carefully, I can hear him grinding them. He then takes a deep breath and his fake smile returns. "Ah, Triumph. How…good to see you again. I assure you, there is no problem. Thank you for coming. Now goodbye," he then about-faces and walks off.

"He was there when you almost caused an international incident?" Supergirl asks, floating next to me.

"Yup," I answer. I then turn to Green Lantern. "So, what now?"

Green Lantern sighs in annoyance. "Let's regroup at the Javelin. I gotta call J'onn."


The sun begins to set as the five of us sit in the Javelin. Green Arrow in the back, fuming, Supergirl looks like she's one bad look away from melting the jet with her heat vision, Captain Atom sits straight, ready to receive new orders, and I'm just sitting in my seat, fiddling with the Omnitrix. Green Lantern's talking to Martian Manhunter on the communication screen.

"I'm telling you, J'onn, it took all the restraint I had not to part the guy's hair with my ring," Green Lantern says.

"You did the right thing," Martian Manhunter replies, his face somehow becoming more serious. I'll have to take lessons from him about stoicism. "But the problem is not under control; it's getting worse."

"Don't you get it?" Green Arrow says, causing Green Lantern to turn around and look at him as he walks up. "They don't want anyone to find out about the accident; and they don't care how many of their own people they have to lose to keep quiet!"

Green Lantern gives Arrow a steely glare. "This isn't your concern!" Green Arrow clenches his teeth before walking off. Goodbye, Geiger counter. "He does have a point. Maybe the four of us should go back and-"

"No! We can't just do whatever we want; when we formed the League, we agreed with the world's governments that we'd have to respect each government's wishes," Martian Manhunter sighs. "No matter what we may think of their policies," he then pauses for a moment. "The General recognized Triumph, yes?"

I walk up next to Green Lantern. "Yeah. When I came here a few years ago I found this weird giant robot they were working on. Because I wasn't supposed to be here, and the General didn't want the robot to be public knowledge we made the agreement that I'd keep this under wraps, and he wouldn't announce my presence. Looks like that didn't work."

"You know what they were gonna use to power this robot?" Green Lantern asks.

"Well, they have a radiation problem right now, don't they?" I reply.

"Lantern! Green Arrow's gone!" Supergirl shouts.

"And so is the Geiger counter," Captain Atom adds.

There it is.

Green Lantern groans in annoyance as the four of us exit the Javelin. I then transform into Icarus and the four of us take flight, searching for Green Arrow and the Geiger counter.

Thanks to my enhanced senses and Supergirl's super senses, we manage to locate Green Arrow firing explosive arrows at a giant, nuclear powered, robot. The robot is two shades of red, with cannons for arms and a flaming skull for a head. Heatblast is gonna have some questions for this guy.

The robot aims its cannons at Green Arrow, but Lantern swoops down and scoops Green Arrow up. "There's some people over by that cliff!" Green Arrow points at a group of people, civilian and soldier alike, cornered at a cliff. The only thing stopping them from getting outta dodge is the giant crevasse in front of them.

"I'll try to drain it!" Captain Atom shouts before flying off towards the robot, Supergirl right behind him.

"I'll help the people," I announce. I run forward and dial through the Omnitrix. I could use Bloxx, but with all the earth and stone around us I have a better idea. I slam the core down and become my Basalt form, Rocks.

I become a seven-foot-tall crystalline golem. My legs from the knees down, my forearms and hands, my shoulders, my chest, and head are yellow, while the rest of my body is a darker shade of yellow. I have dark yellow spikes jutting out of my forearms and three claws on each hand. The Omnitrix crest is on my chest.

I then slam my foot down; a massive stone bridge shoots out from the ground beneath me and connects to the other side of the crevasse. "Come on! I don't know how long you have!"

The first person tentatively puts his foot down on the bridge. Finding it sturdy he nods before turning around and waving his arm, the others running across with him as fast as they can. I notice someone fall over, so I quickly run against the crowd, helping the person up and pushing people forward.

The robot then comes towards us, Supergirl and Captain Atom on its tail. During their fight I notice Captain Atom draining energy from the robot, weakening it, and causing the robot to fall to its knees. But it also looks like too much for the Captain as well, since a small explosion bursts from his hands, sending him to the ground.

Supergirl flies down to check on Captain Atom, after that, she attacks the robot that can more than handle her. It smacks her into a hill. She shakes her head to clear it before flying towards us, instead of the robot, surprisingly enough. She goes to the other side and lifts a truck full of soldiers across, giving me a quick smile as she floats by.

A few steps later, and the walking nuclear reactor's practically on top of us and the people haven't all crossed the bridge yet. Damn, how many people are there? I look to see the numbers thinning.

The robot points one of its cannons at me, it then glows for a moment before firing. I quickly stomp my foot, brining up a stone wall, Green Lantern also protects me with a bubble as he flies closer to me. But the shield begins to crack, and then break entirely, and my stone wall doesn't do any better.

I move as fast as I can, but it isn't fast enough. The beam slams into my side, causing my right leg and arm to shatter, pain explodes from my side. As I fall, I slam into the cliff wall, shattering part of my head and breaking off my left forearm.

I then slam into the ground, more parts of my crystalline body scattered throughout.

As my vision fades to black, I notice the robot continues to walk, ignoring us for the time being.

"TRIUMPH!" Supergirl shouts.

It's the last thing I hear before everything fades to black.


Zatanna

"What is up with you and Triumph anyways?" Vixen asks as we sit down to eat our food.

Oh, dear mother of God.

I look at Vixen as I twirl my pasta with my fork. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you two were pretty close when you were walking around introducing yourselves," Vixen elaborates. "Yet earlier you claimed you two weren't together anymore."

"I just grabbed his elbow to drag him along," I shoot down her theory. "In case you couldn't tell, Triumph isn't the most social of people."

Ice hums as she sips her drink. "She's right. When Bea and I went to go talk to him he didn't say much. Well, not until he found out Bea was Brazilian, that is."

Black Canary arches a brow. "What, he's got a thing for Brazilians?"

Fire just waves it off with a smirk. "Nah, he just thought it was cool there was someone else who's similar to him."

Vixen nods. "I see what you mean. That Cyborg kid? He's cool in my books. But that still doesn't answer my question, Zatanna."

I furrow my brow in confusion. "What do you mean? I thought that more than answered the question."

"It explained why you were wrapped around his arm at first, yeah, but it doesn't explain why you kept your grip. Or what you mean by anymore," Black Canary adds.

I could say a spell, get me outta this mess. But that's a temporary solution, and they'd just hound me for answers. Vixen especially if her powers really do let her get animal traits. Huh, kind of reminds me of Eric now that I think about it.

Vixen then cringes and gags in disgust. "What is that smell?"

The four of us look at each other, confused. "What smell?" I ask.

"Alcohol and cigarettes."

I groan and drop my head. "Is he blond with a trench coat and a dress shirt?"

Vixen looks at the doors, the others following her lead. "Uh, yeah. How'd you know that?"

"He's kinda my boyfriend," I answer.

"Oooh…" they all say.

"What's he doing?" I ask, keeping my head down.

"Looking around," Fire answers. "Oh, he saw us. He's coming this way."

I mentally sigh. Dammit, Z, why do you keep running? Remember what Eric said, "if you got a problem, run headfirst into it, it has to give up at some point."

Wait, last time Eric followed his own advice he gave himself a concussion running into that steel wall headfirst for ten minutes straight. Don't follow his advice!

I put my fists down on the table and get up, turning around to come face-to-face with John. He steps back in surprise. "Uh, hey luv. We need to talk."

"Yeah, we do," I say. I turn around and face the girls. "Don't touch my food."

I walk ahead, John following me. I take a deep breath as we walk out of the cafeteria. Once in a private area I turn around to face him. "What is it?"

"I'm breaking up with you."

"Che? (What?)" I ask, reverting to Italian in the moment.

"I'm. Breaking. Up. With. You," John repeats, slower this time. Doesn't do anything to help the pain in my chest.

My hurt quickly makes way for anger. "What?"

John sighs in annoyance before lighting a cigarette. "I was pretty clear, wasn't I?" He doesn't even wait; he just leaves me alone in the secluded hallway.

I blink back tears and sit down next to the window next to me, looking out at the Earth below us. I look at the door John just walked through. He really just did that. Just broke up with me and left.

Who the hell-

Me. I did that to Eric three years ago. Holy crap, I think I know how he felt now.

With a deep breath, I get up and walk through the doors, walking past the other girls. But Vixen stops me. "Hey, you okay? Blond boy just walked out looking kinda angry. What'd you two talk about?"

"Nothing," I reply. "I'm heading home."

"Uh, okay. If you wanna talk we're here," Black Canary says.

I nod and walk out of the cafeteria, the teleporters being the only target on my mind right now.

Gotta get outta here right now.

Dammit, today was supposed to be awesome.


Eric

I groan in pain as I open my eyes. I slowly get up, but my right side and head explode in pain. I drop down and hold my head in my left hand, trying to not scream in pain.

Hold up, I broke apart, how aren't I dead? Question for another time.

Slowly, I reach over and dial through the Omnitrix, pushing the core down and transforming into Swampfire. My head and right side of my body immediately feel better. With a sigh of relief, I get up and look at the stars. Doesn't look like I was out for long, but with a nuclear deathbot out there, anytime not spent fighting it is way too long.

I look up, the cliffside meeting me. I slam the Omnitrix crest, transforming into my Arachnichimp form, Mono Araña, Spanish for Spider Monkey.

I become a small, monkey-like alien with four arms, two pairs of orange eyes, two legs, three fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot. I have blue fur over a dark blue center and a dark blue face, I also have a dark blue tail with two light blue stripes near the tip. I have two orange and white sashes on my chest, the Omnitrix crest in the center of it.

Using my wall crawling powers, I scale up the cliff side, humming to myself the Spectacular Spider-Man theme the entire way. I then reach the top to see the area around me looking pretty scorched. Hope everyone got out okay.

I then look in the direction of the Javelin. Hope it's still there. Using my speed, strength, and agility, I maneuver through the forest and burst through the trees a few minutes later, the Javelin in front of me.

While leaping through the forest I hear shouting from the Javelin. Once I break out of the forest, I shoot a web line at the Javelin, momentarily pausing the argument. I then heave myself forward, flying towards the Javelin, but Captain Atom's arm appears out of nowhere and clotheslines me.

I cough violently and quickly raise my four hands in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up! It's me! Mono Araña!"

"Yeah, that means nothing to us," Green Arrow says, an arrow aimed at my top right arm.

"Identify yourself," Captain Atom demands, his fists glowing.

Supergirl pushes past the two and helps me up, she then pulls my sash forward, forcing it into their faces. "Look! It's Triumph! That's just the name of one of his forms."

They both look to see me nodding vigorously.

Green Arrow lowers his bow and arrow. "That's one hell of a form. But Mono Araña? That's Spanish, right?"

Supergirl lets go of my sash, letting me transform back to normal. "Yeah, Spider monkey would be the translation."

Captain Atom has an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about attacking you, it won't happen again."

I have this nagging feeling in the back of my head.

Supergirl quickly hugs me. "I'm glad you're alive. I definitely wouldn't want to be the one to tell Victorious her brother died."

I shrug. "It's all cool," I look around. Well, may as well play the part. "Where's GL?"

Their smiles are quickly replaced with frowns. Captain Atom steps aside, revealing Green Lantern's unconscious form laying down in an infirmary bed. He's got cuts, bruises, and burns all over his body. Some of the bandages are rather red from the blood they absorb.

I feel my eyes widen. Holy crap, that's a lot of damage.

"What do we do now?" Captain Atom asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"We finish the mission," I reply. "A frontal assault isn't gonna work. We need to find some people who worked on it, get them to tell us its weaknesses. I mean, you wouldn't build anything that powerful without a failsafe, you know?"

The others nod in agreement.

"I saw some guys in hazmat suits in the village nearby. They should know something," Green Arrow informs us.

"Thought you weren't on the team?" Captain Atom growls.

This isn't happening. "Whatever problems you two have now, toss 'em aside. Right now, we gotta save Chong-Mai. All of us. If you wanna duke it out later, go ahead," I quickly say.

Captain Atom stares at me before turning to Green Arrow. "Okay, but I'm gonna be too busy to cover your sorry ass."

Green Arrow shrugs. "Wouldn't ask you to."

I sigh in annoyance. "This better not interfere with the mission," I mutter as the four of us leave the Javelin.


The four of us arrive at the smoking ruins of a village, which brings a memory to the forefront of my mind. Push 'em down, Eric.

We see some soldiers standing with men in hazmat suits, using Geiger counters to scan the area, they mutter to each other in worried tones. They then take a step back when they notice us approaching them.

"What are we up against?" Captain Atom asks one of the men in a hazmat suit.

The man doesn't answer, so Supergirl steps forward. "He asked you a question!"

"Don't answer them!" A soldier interrupts. "That's classified inform-" He is then interrupted by Supergirl lifting him up by the front of his armor.

"I've just about had it with you guys!" She glares at him. "You've got to the count of five. One. Four," her eyes begin to glow red; the soldier's uniform begins to smoke.

"I'd speak up if I were you," Captain Atom says.

"Yeah, getting burned isn't fun," I add.

"It was supposed to be our protector," the hazmat-wearing man sits down and removes his helmet. Oh wow, those are some bad burns. "It was supposed to protect us from the foreigners," Supergirl puts the soldier down thanks to the answers. The soldier runs away.

Green Arrow kneels down in front of the hazmat-wearing man. "But then you lost control of it, is that what happened?"

The man nods and looks in the direction of several others in hazmat suits. One of them pulls out the gray rods we need to win. "We have carbon rod dampeners. But we couldn't get close enough to put them in."

"Where's it's reactor?" Captain Atom asks.

"The front of the upper torso. But it's too hot; you won't make it."

"I'll worry about that," Captain Atom replies.

"And you won't have to do it alone," I begin. "I've got a plan.


We fly in the direction of the robot, Supergirl flying Green Arrow and Captain Atom flying me over. We land far enough that it doesn't see us.

"So, what's your plan?" Green Arrow asks.

"I'll take some of the carbon rods, Captain Atom will take some of the others. Green Arrow, you'll keep some here, with your skill you'll be our backup just in case CA and I can't get our rods in," I say.

"And me?" Supergirl asks.

"Back up Captain Atom. Got it?"

They all nod.

Green Arrow looks at me. "How're you gonna get up there?"

I walk a distance away from him, dialing the Omnitrix and finding the right alien, the core pops up. "Like this!"

I slam it down, becoming my Prypiatosian-B form NRG.

I'm a giant, walking, green-teal oven with a grill showing red energy. My head, shoulders, forearms, and legs below my knees are dark grey while the rest of my body is light grey. The chest of my suit has the Omnitrix crest on it.

"Uh…you're an oven?" Green Arrow asks with an arched brow. "That doesn't look very aerodynamic."

"Ah, but it's what's on the inside that counts, comrade," I reply.

The lock on my chest rotates, the Omnitrix crest floating off of it. NRG's true form of a red, tall being, wearing a thinner containment suit made up of two straps connected to some shorts. Some bracers on my wrists, elbows, ankles, and knees. Of course, my clothes are black and orange and the Omnitrix crest is on my belt.

Green Arrow turns to Captain Atom and looks at me. "Are you two sure about this? If you get too close, the heat could fry you."

"I know," was Captain Atom's reply.

"I've been through worse," I reply.

The three of us go to move out. "Captain!" Green Arrow shouts. Captain Atom turns around to see Green Arrow's hand extended out. Captain Atom looks at it for a moment before shaking it.

Good, won't have to worry about them anymore. "Alright, let's take down a robot!" I shout. The three of us fly towards it, Green Arrow stays back.

"Try to distract it!" Captain Atom calls out to Supergirl. "Triumph and I can use that to try and get in a rod!"

"Roger that!" Supergirl replies. She winks at Captain Atom's raised brow. "Hey! Butane-breath!" The robot shoots at her, which she expertly dodges.

I grab one of the rods under my other arm and swoop in, ignoring the igniting air around me as I try to get the rod in. The robot swings at me, I barely dodge it.

Captain Atom swoops in, flying through the pain of the flaming air. He gets close and tries to put in one of his rods, but the robot looks down and manages to hit him with a blast, knocking him down to the floor and causing me to drop my rods.

"Mierda!" I shout as I fly down, grabbing as many rods as I can, but the robot aims one cannon at me, the other at Captain Atom. Both cannons fire simultaneously, sending me to the ground and Captain Atom into the bottom of a crater.

I groan in my crater and lift my head up, just to see that I only have one of my carbon rods left. Great.

From my right a silver and red blur shoots up in the sky, radiation trailing off of it. Oh, crap. Captain Atom quickly hits the lower atmosphere, and then explodes in a blinding flash of light. The three of us look up in horror.

Supergirl's the first to recover, she charges at the robot and hits it, but the robot just slams one of its arms into her, knocking her into a hill.

I grab my last carbon rod and fly up, parallel to the robot, dodging blasts from its eyes. I then fly over to the right side of the robot, but this time it manages to hit me with its arm, knocking me into the same hill as Supergirl.

"Hey, having fun?" Supergirl says as she helps me up.

"We need a new plan," I say, walking forward and looking at the robot as it shoots at Green Arrow.

From up above I notice a green arrow (not the hero) flying through the air, half a carbon rod tied to it. It then collides with the targeted point of the robot, a small explosion coming from the connection.

The robot roars as the fire around its head goes out, revealing a metallic skull underneath.

Supergirl and I look at each other and nod. We both fly up, our arms reared back, we then uppercut the robot, decapitating it. I then spin around and shoot a beam of energy down the neck, destroying the chest. We both look to see Green Arrow sitting down, he gives us a tired wave.

First mission with the Justice League: Success.


Watchtower II

After defeating the robot, the three of us search the area for Captain Atom, but we don't find him, much to the worry of Green Arrow and Supergirl. I sigh deeply and lead the two of them to the Javelin, explaining that we'd do better with more of the League to help search.

I then pilot the Javelin up to the Watchtower, once there, Green Lantern and Arrow are taken away to the medical bay. Right now, I stand at the base of the ramp of the Javelin with Supergirl.

"Today was eventful," she says.

"Yeah, it was. You did good, keep it up," I compliment.

Supergirl smiles bashfully. "Oh, thanks!" She then looks down and plays with her glove. "How's Victorious?"

"She's fine," I answer. "How do you know her, by the way?"

"About a year and a half ago she accidentally teleported to Metropolis. Intergang was dealing with some magic stuff and I guess it pulled her over. We then took them down with Batgirl's help and the three of us hung out after that. She's a good kid," Supergirl says.

I nod, a faint smile on my masked face. "Yeah, she is."

Green Lantern comes through the doors of the hangar, coming towards us in a hoverchair, bandages still around his person but his condition is definitely improved.

"Come with me, there's someone who probably wants to see you two," he says.

The two of us follow, Supergirl looks confused while I smirk.

After a few minutes of walking and getting to know our base, we arrive at the science wing, here League members can meet their technological or chemical needs. I should come here sometime, maybe I can improve my gear. We then stop in front of a window to see a multitude of people in radiation suits manning a machine pumping blue energy into a silver suit with red gloves and boots.

"Is that…?" Supergirl trails off.

Green Lantern nods. "J'onn had a team pick him up right after it happened, so he didn't lose much of his energy. "

Supergirl and I let out sighs of relief. Seeing him blow up was definitely something I never wanted to see, even if I knew he was gonna survive. The half-filled suit then weakly gives us a thumbs up, something we reciprocate.

"At least he got a new suit out of it," Supergirl quips.

"True," I agree. "Let's just hope this one's tear-proof."

"All right, Triumph, you've had a long first day," Green Lantern says. "Why don't you head back home and get some rest. We'll bring you back up tomorrow."

I nod and begin to walk away, I then raise a hand, two fingers up. "See ya then."

I walk through the Watchtower, removing my goggles and greeting League members and civilian staff I walk by. After a few minutes I walk by the locker rooms, I then notice Batman leaning against a wall. This has always been one of my favorite convos, may as well stay to hear it. I lean against the wall and peek around the doorway, trying my best to hide. Green Arrow comes out of the showers, a towel around his waist

"Well, if it isn't the monster killer," Batman says with a small smile on his face.

"I was lucky," Green Arrow waves off. "So was everybody else. Still don't think I belong up here."

"That's the point," Batman says, catching the archer's attention. "Someone like you will keep us honest."

"Gee, Bats, I don't know; don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good radiation burn as much as the next guy, but I don't think… that…" Green Arrow trails off.

With a smirk, I follow his gaze to see the beautiful Black Canary slowly putting on her boots. I look back at Green Arrow and I think I see some drool pooling in his mouth. I'd have to get closer to make sure.

"So, see you around?" Batman rhetorically asks.

Green Arrow smiles. "You just might."

I bring my head back and shake it in amusement. "This might be fun," I turn to see Batman standing right next to me. "AI!"

I swear Batman had a small smirk of satisfaction. "Did Green Lantern tell you to come up here tomorrow?"

I put my hand over my heart and take some deep breaths. "Yeah, what for?"

Batman and I begin walking towards the bridge of the Watchtower. "Your position in the League. We haven't worked with you much, but your history and actions during the Thanagarian Invasion do more than speak for itself. Many of us feel you should be rewarded."

"What kind of reward?" I ask.

"You'll find out tomorrow," Batman answers cryptically.

"Okay… Hey, do you know where Zatanna-" I look to see Batman's now gone.

Like, literally gone. I looked away and then back and he's nowhere in sight. Wonder if he can teach me how to do that. I'll ask tomorrow.

"Hey! Triumph!" A voice says, stopping me from going to look for Zatanna. I turn around to see Vixen running towards me. Wonder what she wants to talk about. She then stops in front of me and I can see the concerned look on her face. "You're close with Zatanna, right?"

"I guess, why?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"You see, earlier when the five of us were eating—me, Black Canary, Zatanna, and Fire and Ice—there was this blond guy who smelled like cheap booze and cigarettes who walked in," she says. Oh, Constantine. Why do I feel like this didn't end well? "And they went off to talk privately, but then he came back looking all mad, and then Zatanna came back and was pretty distant. She left the Watchtower almost immediately. You know what's up?"

"Maybe. Why are you asking me?" I wonder.

"Because you two are close," Vixen answers.

"We were close, now it's kinda awkward," I whisper. "Yeah, okay, I'll talk to her. Thanks for telling me."

Vixen smiles and walks off.

I walk over to one of the teleporter pads. "Seattle, please," I tell the technician. She nods and inputs the coordinates.

All right, time to see what's up with Zatanna.


Seattle, Washington

One game of molecular pinball later and I'm back home, standing on top of the Space Needle. I look over to see the sun setting. Perfect. I pull out my phone and open the conversation with Zatanna.

Me: Hey, Vixen told me something happened with you and Constantine. If you wanna talk, come on over to Seattle, I'm on top of the Space Needle.

I wait a few minutes for a reply. Instead, Zatanna appears next to me, wearing black sweatpants and a long-sleeved, black Triumph shirt with a yellow Omnitrix symbol on it. I look to see her makeup running down her face thanks to some tears.

Once she sits down next to me, I reach out and wipe the tears away. "He broke up with you?"

She nods.

I think back to three years ago, when I was in similar shoes, thanks to her, funnily enough. "It sucks, I know."

Zatanna cries silently as she rests her head on my shoulder.

I sigh and look at the setting sun, the sky becoming a mix of orange, blue, and purple.

Dammit, today was supposed to be awesome.


And Initiation is done! Now, I realize Zatanna's relationship with Necro and Constantine went by pretty fast, but I kinda just wanted to get it over with. Besides, those relationships weren't meant to last in this universe, especially the one with Necro.

Next chapter will be an original chapter followed by "For the Man Who Has Everything!"

I'd also like to mention that Zatanna's pov was the idea I've implemented. My three stories I'm currently writing are all in first person, but they'd occasionally become third person when focusing on other characters. But when writing Shadowcat in my X-Men story I had the idea of the significant other becoming another viewpoint for the readers, particularly as a way to see the main character from another point of view. For Shadowcat and Donna Troy (who's the LI in my Teen Titans story) they won't get pov sections just yet, 'cause their relationships with the MCs aren't the deepest, whereas Zatanna and Eric had a pretty deep relationship, which is why she's already got a pov. Tell me what you think about it in the reviews! Oh, and please tell me if the Italian for "What" is "Che" or "Che cosa". I've looked it up and got two different answers. Thanks.

I've gotta say this really quick, though: thank you, all of you, for your support of this story. Immediately I can already tell that this story, in its first two chapters, already has more traffic than my other two, and all the reviews so far have been encouraging in one way or another. So again, thank you so much, and I do hope you stick around for the ride, 'cause it's gonna be one hell of a trip!

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!