BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. THE ONE RING DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, EVEN THOUGH I FORGED THE STUPID THING FOR SAURON… BUT HE STILL HASN'T PAID ME FOR IT, SO IT MIGHT AS WELL BE MINE!
This is one of my favorite episodes for the Secret Society arc. It had a bit of a "Lord of The Rings" feel to it, along with a whole lot of "He-Man". Plus, there's a giant monster attacking Japan, so it's just full of 20th century cheesiness. Huzzah!
Ben 10: Unlimited
Chapter 25
Chaos at the Earth's Core
Tokyo, Japan
Throughout Tokyo, people fled as two giants wrestled throughout the city. One giant was a monster, a mutated turtle easily capable of crushing a building. The other giant was an alien from another universe.
"I am so having turtle soup after this," Way Big grunted, "just to spite you!"
The turtle only roared in response, then punched Way Big in the gut, doubling him over. The creature then brought its clawed arm over his head, intending to bring it down onto Way Big. However, the alien hero blocked the offending arm with his own, then hurled the turtle over his shoulder and towards the coast.
When the turtle hit the street, the shockwave sent a few pieces of debris falling towards some frightened civilians; fortunately, Green Lantern had been following the battling titans, using his ring to keep people out of harm's way.
The synthesized voice of S.T.R.I.P.E came from the Ultimatrix dial. "The trap's all set guys; hurry it up!"
"Stow it, S.T.R.I.P.E," Lantern shot back, "and get in position!"
Way Big stumbled back after the turtle clocked him in the jaw, then was sent flying even further when the creature hit him with a blast of energy from its mouth. Before the monster could capitalize on its advantage, a blast of white energy struck it in the chest, knocking it on its back. Way Big looked up to see the person who had helped him; it was a young woman with blond hair, wearing a red, white and blue outfit with a few stars scattered across it. She waved at Way Big with a golden, hooked staff, the source of her powers.
"You're welcome!" Stargirl cried out.
Lantern and Way Big weren't the only heroes on the scene; S.T.R.I.P.E and Stargirl were also a part of the team sent to Japan. Stargirl had joked that the team was made entirely of people who relied on some gadget or something to give them their superhuman abilities, and the others had agreed; even Ben, with all of his aliens, was just a normal human without the Ultimatrix.
Way Big was yanked back into the present when the giant turtle roared and tried to stand. Stargirl used her staff's energy to surround the creature in a field of white energy that connected to her staff, and tried to pull it into the air. However, the creature was simply too large; Stargirl was only wasting energy.
"Wait for Lantern and Way Big, Supergirl," S.T.R.I.P.E admonished, as he flew near her, "You'll give yourself a hernia!"
"I've got it, Pat!" Stargirl grunted, as she referred to her stepfather by name.
On the ground, the turtle spat out another blast of energy, severing the beam emitted by the staff; surprised, Stargirl flew out of control, and would have hit a building, had Way Big not caught her in his giant hand.
"Now we're even," Way Big deadpanned.
S.T.R.I.P.E, no longer distracted by his stepdaughter being in danger, shot several energy-blasts of his own into the back of the now-standing turtle, forcing it to its knees; in response, the creature withdrew its limbs and head into its shell, while jets of fire shot from the holes where its limbs would be, propelling it into the air and towards its attackers.
"Okay, I didn't know he could fly," Way Big said, "let's go!"
S.T.R.I.P.E, Way Big, a now-flying Stargirl and Green Lantern, who'd finally joined them, led the creature out to the bay, where a single cargo ship was waiting. It hadn't been hard for Lantern's ring to analyze what had turned the turtle into a monster, and it had been even easier for Grey Matter to whip up a chemical to reverse the effect. The only downside was that the chemical was harmful to humans; thankfully, the gas quickly dissipated, but they still needed to get the creature away from the civilians. They had synthesized a large amount of the gas and placed it on an old cargo ship; all they had to do was lure the creature there.
Way Big got to the stern of the ship, while the other three heroes flew above it, waiting expectantly.
"He's almost in position," Green Lantern said, "on my signal…"
"As if!" Stargirl interrupted, "Big boy's mine!" then she took off, heading straight for the flying turtle.
"Courtney!" S.T.R.I.P.E tried to stop his stepdaughter, but it was too late.
Stargirl shot a beam of energy from her staff, but everyone could see that if the beam hit at its current angle, the turtle would have been forced away from the trap. Thankfully, a red-and-blue blur slammed straight down into the turtle, forcing it onto the deck of the ship. It tried to rise, but received a punch in the face, courtesy of Way Big.
"Now, be a good monster," Way Big taunted, "and take your medicine!"
Once he was sure that the monster was going to stay on the ship, Green Lantern used his ring to pop off the lids of the containers holding the chemical. For a few seconds, a purple mist surrounded the ship and the turtle, but it faded after a few seconds. When it did, a small, normal turtle sat on the ship, looking confused.
Stargirl, however, wasn't concerned with the turtle anymore; she was glaring at the person who'd stolen her thunder. The newly-arrived Supergirl, however, either wasn't aware of the dirty look, or was ignoring it.
The heroes made their way back to the shore, where crowds of people were cheering; while the cheers were directed at all of them, the specific targets were Supergirl and Way Big. One thing that had surprised Way Big was that in both this universe and his own, the Japanese had always called Way Big "Ultraman"; he never did find out why.
As Way Big turned into Diamondhead, to avoid stepping on anyone, Supergirl waved to the crowd as she landed.
"Arigato, thank you, arigato."
"Arigato," a sneering Stargirl said to no one in particular, "whatever; who does she think she is?" She glanced at S.T.R.I.P.E when a swarm of young girls, all wearing versions of Supergirl's old costume, surrounded the Kryptonian, "How did she get here, anyway, and what's with all the wannabe's?"
"They're probably here for the convention," S.T.R.I.P.E answered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
"Convention?" Stargirl repeated dumbly; sure enough, a large building across the street was covered in the crest of the House of El, as well as pictures of Supergirl as an anime character. Stargirl was shaken out of her daze when Green Lantern grabbed her by the arm.
"When we get back to the Metro Tower," he growled, "you and I are going to have a talk about grandstanding."
"Tell that to her!" Stargirl snapped, pointing to Supergirl, who was talking to several civilians, along with Diamondhead, "That little show-off stole my thunder!"
One of the young girls, having heard her, ran up and kicked Stargirl in the shin.
"Don't you talk about Supergirl!" she yelled, "Supergirl can melt you with her eyes!"
"Big whoop," said Stargirl, rubbing her sore shin, "my stepdad is a mecha!" she jerked her thumb at S.T.R.I.P.E, who waved.
The girl scoffed. "Ha! Mecha is so last year!" then walked away. Stargirl glared at a chuckling Green Lantern.
"She's very big in Japan," he said.
…
Somewhere Over the Arctic
After the Leaguers had finished up in Japan, they boarded their Javelin; Supergirl had joined them, having just finished at her convention, a fact that sat very poorly with Stargirl. Normally, the Leaguers would have teleported in, but the teleporters on both the Watchtower and Metro Tower were both down for maintenance, so they needed to take a Javelin. After some mock-begging, Supergirl finally got Green Lantern to let her pilot, reminding Ben of the first time that he, Supergirl and Green Lantern had been in a Javelin together. Although the lack of teleporters was annoying, this did work out for Ben.
"Hey, Kara," he said, as he moved to the front of the Javelin, "do you think you could drop me off at the Fortress? Superman wanted to talk to me about something."
Supergirl looked at him, confused. "What's so important that you can't just talk to him?"
Ben shrugged. "I don't know; all he said was that it was important."
That was actually a lie; it wasn't Superman that needed to talk to Ben, but the other way around. He had sent Clark a text message, so as not to be overheard by Kara, asking to see him at the Fortress for something important, but hadn't specified what.
Supergirl raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else to Ben; instead, she turned to Green Lantern.
"So, why can't we just fly straight back to the Metro Tower?"
"Over the North Pole is the straightest route," Green Lantern said, then added teasingly, "rookie."
Supergirl's only response was to stick her tongue out at the older Leaguer.
Behind them, Stargirl was glaring daggers at Supergirl, while S.T.R.I.P.E sat next to her, reading a pamphlet he'd picked up at the convention, much to his stepdaughter's irritation.
"She's always 'blah, blah, blah, my cousin', or 'blah, blah, blah, my boyfriend'," Stargirl quietly griped, "She thinks she's so great, just because she's Supergirl!"
"If you ask me," S.T.R.I.P.E said, with his helmet removed, "the important thing is that we all pull through."
"Shut up, Pat!" Stargirl punched her stepfather's armored arm, "It wasn't World War Three, it was a giant turtle!"
S.T.R.I.P.E leaned in close. "If I was you, I wouldn't talk about someone behind their back, when they got super-hearing."
Up in the cockpit, Ben saw that Supergirl was a little upset; it was the smallest of frowns, but Ben and Kara had spent so much time together that he was able to notice it.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly.
Supergirl shrugged. "It's Stargirl; she's just talking about me."
"I suppose you're not upset because she's complimenting you?"
Supergirl gave him a small smile. "No, she's talking about how I act superior; do I act like that?"
Ben grinned at her. "Well, you are dating me; you have a right to act superior."
When he was younger, Ben would have actually meant an arrogant statement like that; now, however, he only meant it as a joke. A joke that worked, because Supergirl gave him a playful slap on his arm.
The mood changed, however, when the Javelin suddenly jerked downward towards the ground. Green Lantern, who'd been standing, gripped the back of Supergirl's seat to keep from falling over.
"Kara," he said, "easy on the yoke!"
"I'm trying," she replied, as she struggled with the controls, "I'm not doing anything!"
Before anyone could do anything else, the Javelin was forced into a hole in the ground that opened up directly beneath them. There was a brief flash of light, and then they were gone.
…
Unknown Location
The Javelin fell out of the sky, then crashed, digging a deep trench on a forest floor. When the remains of the Javelin finally came to a stop, the heroes slowly got out and took note of their surroundings. Instead of the ice and snow that had been around them, enormous trees were on all sides.
"Well, this is… unexpected," Ben said, before turning into Humongosaur, just to be safe.
"Understatement of the week for us, kid," S.T.R.I.P.E commented. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Stargirl both raised a hand to their respective communicators.
"Watchtower," both said, before turning to look at each other.
"Be my guest," Stargirl said snidely. Ignoring her tone, Supergirl went back to her communicator.
"J'onn, it's Supergirl, please respond." She waited for a moment, before turning to the others. "Nothing, not even static."
"Huh," Green Lantern, looking at his ring, "my ring says we're still at the North Pole."
"Who's North Pole?" Humongosaur asked, "Because it isn't ours." He pointed in front of them, and they all saw that the surrounding area was one giant sphere. There was no sky; instead, there were mountains, forests and lakes above them.
"How is that even possible?" asked Stargirl.
"My guess is that we're way underground, maybe the center of the Earth… somehow." Green Lantern explained, "Which explains why those lakes above us aren't raining on us; the gravity is equalized."
"Well that's all fine," said Supergirl, "but where's the exit?"
As if in answer, a growling noise caused the heroes to turn; close to them were over a dozen velociraptors, ridden by humanoid reptiles, each wielding what looked like energy-weapons. From the way they were reacting to the Leaguers' presence, they weren't friendly.
"I'd say the exit is through them," Green Lantern answered.
"Hey, Humongosaur," Stargirl said, "you're a dinosaur, right? Can't you talk to them?"
"I doubt it," the dinosaur-like alien replied, just as the reptile-people opened fire. Green Lantern, S.T.R.I.P.E and Stargirl returned fire, while Humongosaur charged forward, the energy-blasts barely even scratching his thick skin.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Supergirl remarked, as she dashed around a charging dinosaur and punched its leg. However, instead of being thrown through the air, Supergirl recoiled, clutching her fist in pain. That's when it hit her; normally, she could feel her power coursing through her, but here, she could only feel a fraction of her strength!
Barely dodging a return strike from her opponent, Supergirl rushed over to the other heroes and called out to them.
"Guys, I have a problem!" she yelled, "My powers aren't working!"
Humongosaur's eyes went wide, even as he kicked a lizard-man into the air; Supergirl was their heaviest hitter, and now she was powerless? This was bad; if her powers were taken away, who knew what else could be wrong with her? Stargirl, however, didn't seem to be worried.
"Aww," she said, as if Supergirl had come to them with a paper-cut.
"I'm serious!" Supergirl said angrily, "I'm at half-strength, maybe less!" She looked up, just as a velociraptor leaned forward to bite her head off.
"ULTIMATE HUMONGOSAUR!" the dinosaur turned at the noise, just in time for a volley of energy-blasts to send it flying.
Supergirl smiled in thanks, while Ultimate Humongosaur nodded, then turned to blast a few more dinosaurs that tried to sneak up on him. Supergirl took cover behind a boulder, then looked up and saw a flock of pteranodons, complete with more riders with guns, flying towards them.
"Heads up!" she yelled to her teammates.
Ultimate Humongosaur transformed back into Humongosaur, then into Jet Ray; he flew into the air alongside Green Lantern, Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E, blasting an enemy with neuroshock beams. The other three were laying waste to their own opponents as well; the fight was going fairly well, so Green Lantern turned to Stargirl.
"Cover Supergirl!" he barked, then flew off.
On the ground, Supergirl was sprinting away from a pair of pterodactyl-riders, while simultaneously trying to fly; sadly, her powers were so diminished that she could barely fly a few feet before landing hard. She took off running again, while Stargirl flew above her with a superior smirk.
"What are you waiting for?" Supergirl demanded, "Zap 'em with your staff thingy!"
"Oh, may I?" Stargirl asked sarcastically, "Because it would such and honor to help the great Supergirl out of a jam."
Supergirl couldn't believe that Stargirl was doing this now, in the middle of a fight; she looked behind her and saw the enemies closing in. She looked back at Stargirl.
"Come on!"
Finally, Stargirl raised her staff and took down both riders with a single blast of energy; she gave a condescending smile to Supergirl, who glared at her.
"You are so loving this," she accused.
After a few more minutes, the lizard-people decided to retreat, and the Leaguers regrouped; S.T.R.I.P.E put an armored finger to the side of his helmet, and the optics began to glow a little brighter.
"I'm scanning the area," he said, then nodded, "Yep, that's the last of 'em… oh, wait."
Behind them, a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomped up and roared; however, just before it attacked, a series of gunshots rang out, and the dinosaur slumped over, blood pouring out of the bullet-wounds in its head.
Behind the dinosaur, standing on a rock, was a human man; he was heavily-muscled, with some armor on his shoulder and arms. The only other clothing he wore was a loincloth and a metal helmet; on his hip was a sheathed sword, while a smoking gun was held in his hand.
"Travis Morgan," the man said, by way of introduction, "Warlord of Shamballah; I've been expecting you."
…
Shamballah
After about an hour of following Morgan, the Leaguers arrived at a large fortress of wood and stone. Surrounding the walls were hundreds of men and women, sparring against each other with swords, spears and other medieval weapons. They only spared a glance at the heroes before getting back to their duties; obviously, times were bad enough to not let them satisfy their curiosity.
Morgan led them into a room with a circular table, and gestured for them to sit; they were soon joined by Morgan's wife and queen, a beautiful woman named Tara, who only nodded in greeting. Morgan took off his helmet, revealing long white hair, as servants brought in a few plates of food.
Ben decided to take a chance and turned back into his human form; he had received looks of surprise from Morgan and Tara, but wasn't asked any questions. As the heroes began eating, Morgan gave them a much friendlier smile.
"Welcome to Skartaris, the center of the Earth," he said, "sorry I can't put out more of a spread; times are tough." He gestured to the plates which, while large, didn't have a lot of food on them.
For a moment, the heroes felt awkward, taking food from people who didn't have much, but Green Lantern broke the tension.
"Morgan, I don't believe you brought us here just to feed us."
"We are in dire need," a new voice replied; a woman entered the room, clad in green robes and had white hair very similar to Morgan's.
"My daughter, Jennifer," Morgan told them.
"Our world must have champions," Jennifer continued, "I used my magic to reach out and bring you here to the center of Earth."
S.T.R.I.P.E shook his head. "I'd call the whole thing a load of crab cakes if I wasn't here to see it; and even seeing it, I still ain't a hundred percent."
"I've seen weirder," Ben told him, "trust me."
Morgan rose. "If you want something to believe in, come on."
The Warlord led them outside, where they saw dozens of men and women training; unlike the ones at the front of the fortress, these ones were thin, and held their weapons uncertainly, as if they didn't know what they were doing.
"Geez," Stargirl said, "you call that an army?"
"Most of these folks have lost everything to Deimos," Morgan said sternly, "so, you know, feel free to dump on them."
"Real nice, Stargirl," Ben said sarcastically.
Stargirl looked guilty. "What I meant was…"
"She means we'll do everything we can to help," Supergirl interrupted.
Stargirl gave her a glare, but it was halfhearted; she knew what she'd said was wrong, and that Supergirl was right. It didn't make her feel any better, though.
As Supergirl walked away, Green Lantern turned to Morgan. "Tell us about Deimos."
"He's a nasty wizard," Morgan answered, "and those were his dino-troopers you met earlier. He used to try and shake down a kingdom here and there, but a few months ago he started this big push to take over the world."
"Let me guess," Ben said, "that was about the time he got his hands on energy-weapons? Because, let's be honest here, those seem a little advanced for this place."
Morgan nodded. "All of a sudden, the wizard's gone high-tech; he's not smart enough to figure out that kind of thing, so somebody's supplying him. Back when I was in the Air Force, that energy-weapon stuff was science fiction."
"That explains why Morgan the Barbarian packs an AutoMag." Said Green Lantern.
Morgan smiled in remembrance. "I came through the same portal that you did and made myself at home." His smile faded, and he gestured to the people training. "Look around you; these are some of the last free people in Skartaris. Deimos has us pinned between his army and the Great Stone."
"Okay, I'll bite," said S.T.R.I.P.E, "what great stone?"
Morgan gestured to the mountain that part of the fortress had been built into. "The monks keep it in tabernacle deep inside the mountain; they say it's got magic properties. Deimos wants it bad."
Morgan led the others towards the mountain, but Ben made a slight detour; during the conversation, Supergirl had made her way over to a small pile of boulders, and was testing her limited strength as she listened. At her present state, she could only lift the smaller ones; she was probably only two or three times stronger than Ben was now.
"Hey, Kara," Ben said, "come on; Morgan is showing us the magic rock." He noticed that his girlfriend was upset again. "You okay?"
"Just frustrated," Supergirl answered, "I hate not being at my strongest."
"It's okay," Ben consoled her, "as soon as we get out of here, I'm sure you'll be at a hundred percent in no time."
"I'm not worried about that, Ben," she said, "I'm worried about what happens if I meet the guys who are giving the dino-guys those weapons; I'm not sure I want to."
…
Deimos' Camp
Throughout the camp of the wizard, dino-troopers toiled and trained, preparing their weapons and themselves for the battle that was fast approaching. At the front of the camp, the guards allowed a party of wounded scouts entrance. As their wounds were treated, the leader of the party limped over to the tent in the center of the camp. He entered and bowed low.
"Lord Deimosss," he hissed, "the alien force essscaped usss."
Deimos, a thin human with gray skin, oily black hair and a goatee, didn't even look at the scout.
"Describe them."
The scout looked nervous. "My lord, it happened ssso fassst…" he was interrupted when Deimos lashed out, a backhanded strike sending the scout to the ground.
"How many were there?" Deimos asked, his voice calm, but with a trace of anger in it, "Did they have weapons? Did they address each other by name?" he drew the sword at his side and gently placed the point against the scout's throat. When he didn't answer, Deimos raised the sword to execute him.
"One wore a coat of armsss!" the panicked scout shouted. Deimos slowly lowered the sword and gestured for the scout to continue. Quickly, the scout traced out a triangle on the dirt floor, then an S inside of it.
Deimos nodded, then raised his arm; a beam of light shot out of the silver gauntlet. With a scream of pain, the scout was vaporized. Deimos studied the symbol on the ground for a moment longer, then turned to a darkened corner of the tent.
"Well?" he asked, "You're my military advisors; do you recognize this crest?"
"Yes," said Metallo, as he and another supervillain, Silver Banshee, stepped out of the shadows.
"I know it well."
…
Shamballah
Travis Morgan led the Leaguers into the temple, which seemed to be carved out of the heart of the mountain itself. Ben was amazed; even with modern technology, it would have taken decades to make such a sprawling area. The temple must have been the size of a small city!
When they finally reached the heart of the temple, Morgan opened up a large door; behind it stood a pair of monks, as well as a large man with dark skin, as well as a spiked mace that replaced his right hand. The three people stood in front of what was could only be the tabernacle. The large man turned and smiled.
"Morgan!"
"Machiste!" Morgan, his face alight with joy, ran up to the man, then turned to the Leaguers, who looked confused. "Best guy I know," he explained, "and the king of Kiro; he also knows more about the Great Stone as anybody. Machiste, these people are members of the Justice League; they're here to help."
Green Lantern reached out with his right hand to shake Machiste's, but then noticed the mace, so he settled for raising his hand in greeting.
"Hey."
Machiste apparently decided to get right to business. "When the Black Death came upon me, my case seemed hopeless; that is, until the monks placed me before the Great Stone and let me bathe in its rays."
"It can heal people?" asked Ben.
"Only for the most desperate," Machiste replied, "it can either cure or kill."
Morgan stepped in. "And Deimos isn't the healing type."
Machiste walked up the tabernacle and spread his arms out, as one of the monks pulled a lever.
"Behold," he said, "the Great Stone!"
The doors opened, and a bright, green light shined forth, but to the Leaguers, it was anything but healing. They all knew that stone; it was Kryptonite! Immediately, Supergirl fell to the ground, the radiation sending her into unbelievable agony. Ben turned into Bloxx and turned himself into a dome, protecting her from the Kryptonite, while Green Lantern and S.T.R.I.P.E flew up and closed the doors.
Once the light faded, Bloxx turned back into Ben and held Supergirl close; he knew that the more Kryptonite, the worse off a Kryptonian could get, and that piece was as big as a Javelin!
"Are you okay?" Stargirl asked, genuine concern in her voice.
"I've never seen a piece of Kryptonite that big before," Supergirl said, her voice shaky, "if this place wasn't messing with my powers… I'd be dead already."
Ben hugged her tighter; it was by pure chance that Kara was alive right now. He felt Supergirl take a deep breath.
"I'm okay, Ben," she whispered, "it's all right now."
As Ben helped her to her feet, the group heard a growling behind them; they turned to see a panther, covered in cuts and scrapes, limp towards them, before turning into a young woman with feline eyes. She stumbled forward and would have fallen, had Morgan not caught her.
"Shakira!" the Warlord sounded panicked; this woman was obviously a friend of his.
"D-Deimos is here," Shakira said weakly, "it's the end."
Leaving Shakira in the care of Machiste, who retreated further into the temple with the monks, Morgan and the Leaguers rushed outside to the walls of the fortress; beyond them, a vast army of dino-troopers, thousands strong, marched. At their head, riding a horse, was Deimos himself.
The enemy soldiers were armed with swords and axes, as well as large energy-weapons; scattered among the soldiers were large beasts, with enormous energy-cannons mounted on their backs. All of them, even the beasts, looked hungry for battle.
Morgan joined a large group of his warriors near the front gate and drew his sword.
"FOR SKARTARIS!" he roared, and the gates were flung open; he and his men charged forward, slaying foes with every swing of their weapons.
On the walls, lines of men fired arrows into the horde of dino-troopers, while Green Arrow kept them covered by a shield from his ring. S.T.R.I.P.E flew around the battlefield, targeting the large beasts before they could do too much damage. Stargirl did something similar, but targeted groups of infantry instead. Ben had turned into Cannonbolt, and had launched himself off of the walls, knocking aside enemies like so many bowling pins.
"Let's get this done," Green Lantern said, "Supergirl, you stay…" then he saw the Kryptonian leap off the walls with a battle-cry, a borrowed sword in her hands. "…fine."
Across the battlefield, many of Morgan's soldiers had found out how to use the energy-weapons that their fallen enemies had dropped, and the dino-troopers found themselves fighting enemies who were not only well-motivated, but also well-armed.
Seeing his troops being pushed back, Deimos unleashed a trio of massive worms, each one with a mouth full of wickedly-long teeth. For a brief moment, Morgan's warriors looked like they would break, but Jennifer, her eyes glowing with barely-contained magic, conjured a massive demon of fire. A few seconds later, the charred corpses of the worms fell to the ground.
Cannonbolt was in the process of taking down a squad of soldiers, when a chilling wail echoed across the battlefield. He turned to see a few of Morgan's men dead, their bodies reduced to desiccated husks, and his eyes went wide; he only knew one person who could do that with a scream. He searched for a moment, before he finally saw a woman, her black and white costume seemingly a part of her skin; her face looked like a stylized skull, while death-related motifs adorned her body.
"What the heck is Silver Banshee doing here?" Cannonbolt asked himself. He was going to make his way over to her and stop her, but was blocked by a dozen troopers.
"I don't have time for this," he muttered, then disappeared in a flash of green light; in his place stood a large tick, the size of a car, his exoskeleton a dark gray color, and two black and white spirals for eyes. The Ultimatrix symbol stood out on a collar at the base of his head.
"HYPNOTICK!" he yelled out in an echoing voice, then glared at the now-nervous troopers.
"You are getting sleepy," Hypnotick intoned, the spirals in his eyes starting to spin, "very sleepy."
After a few seconds, the troopers were all snoozing, oblivious to the war being waged around them. Hypnotick nodded, satisfied with his work, then crawled over to the nearby Green Lantern, who looked upset.
"Lantern, I saw Silver Banshee a minute ago," he told him, "how did she…?"
"I don't know," Green Lantern replied, "I stopped her, but she got away; anyway, we don't have time to be chasing one person, we've got a war to fight!"
"Got it," Hypnotick said, before transforming again, "WATER HAZARD!"
…
Inside the temple, Deimos and a squad of his best troops made their way to the Great Stone; it had been fairly easy to slip inside, the chaos of the battle being a wonderful cover. As he made his way to the tabernacle, he smiled; everyone thought that he wanted the Great Stone for himself, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. All he wanted was to rule Skartaris; when that strange man, Metallo, offered him victory in exchange for that stupid rock, how could he refuse? Plus, he had been given magic bracers, to give him real magic, not the cheap tricks he'd used to control the superstitious dinosaur-people.
As he marched into the tabernacle, he turned to one of the troopers. "Tell the outworlder to come get his rock."
Before the trooper could reply, a bright blast of energy sent all but Deimos to the ground, and Stargirl flew forward, slamming the wizard into the wall.
"You need a new plan," she said, pinning Deimos with her staff.
In response, Deimos blasted her in the face with his bracers, driving her back.
"My magic is strongest, girl."
Stargirl deflected the next few shots with her staff, before sending a pair of energy-bolts into Deimos' bracers, destroying them.
"Your breath is strongest dude," Stargirl said, holding her staff behind her head, "that's about it."
She didn't see Metallo sneak up behind her and grab the staff, holding it up against her throat. She was no match for Metallo's strength, no matter how much she struggled. Deimos slowly walked up and cupped her chin in his hand.
"Such a pretty child," he said, "but then, they're always pretty when I begin."
"DEIMOS!" the three people in the room turned to see Morgan at the entrance, his helmet gone and a cut on his forehead; he raised his sword. "You and me, pal."
Deimos smiled evilly as he drew his sword. "Morgan; I was hoping to kill you today."
The two men clashed, but it was obvious that Morgan was the better fighter; still, Deimos was tenacious, and their battle led into the lower levels of the temple.
Using the distraction, Stargirl lifted into the air and flew backwards, slamming Metallo into a wall; he wasn't fazed, however, and grabbed her by the throat. He brutally slammed her face into a pillar, then let her drop; he didn't know if she was alive, and he didn't care. Instead, he made his way to the door containing the Great Stone.
"Touch it and you're tinfoil!"
Metallo spun around to see Supergirl, her hands on her hips and a cocky smile on her face. Metallo walked towards her, the slot on his chest opening to reveal a large piece of Kryptonite, much bigger than any he'd ever possessed before.
"At this distance," he said, "the Kryptonite that powers me would bring even your cousin to his knees."
Supergirl's smile didn't waver. "I'm immune to Kryptonite here, metal-mouth; give up!"
Metallo only sneered, and fired a beam of Kryptonite-powered energy at her. Supergirl rolled out of the way, picking up Stargirl's staff and leveling it at the villain.
"If you're immune, love," Metallo laughed, "why do you need that staff?"
He saw Supergirl's expression become nervous, then he charged; just before he reached her, Supergirl brought the weighted head of the staff down where Metallo's shoulder met his torso, nearly severing the limb. Then she turned and ran. Metallo looked at his arm, which now only hung by a few wires, and yanked it off.
He was going to kill that girl.
…
Deeper inside the temple, Morgan and Deimos were locked in combat, and had been fighting nonstop for several minutes. Finally, Deimos got a lucky strike in, knocking Morgan to the ground and sending his sword skidding across the floor. He tried to stab the downed Warlord, but Morgan inched out of the way; he then kicked the wizard behind him, causing Deimos to drop his sword and near Morgan's own. The two picked up the other's weapon and resumed their duel.
They made their way up a flight of stairs, with Morgan higher up. When Deimos tried to stab Morgan's foot, the Warlord dodged, placed his boot upon Deimos' blade and snapped it in half with his own. He leveled his blade at Deimos, who laughed.
"You think you've won?" the sorcerer demanded, "No, freedom-loving Warlord; you will never unite the lands and bring peace. Justice is a foolish dream!"
Morgan lowered his sword. "Maybe so, wizard; but it's the one dream worth fighting for."
Seeing an opportunity, Deimos rushed forward, hoping to gut Morgan with his broken blade; Morgan, however, saw it coming and neatly sidestepped. Deimos lost his balance and fell off the stair, falling into the bottomless chasm below.
The war was over.
…
Ben, now as Chromastone, flew into the tabernacle, where Stargirl was slowly getting up.
"What happened?" he asked.
"It was Metallo," Stargirl answered, "he got the drop on me, and then Supergirl was fighting him and then they ran off."
Chromastone's eye went wide; even with her newfound resistance to Kryptonite, Supergirl was bound to get overwhelmed by Metallo, who'd had his body rebuilt specifically to fight Kryptonians.
"Come on," he said, "we have to find her!"
…
Supergirl had led Metallo throughout the fortress, dodging Kryptonite lasers and trying to make Metallo's life miserable. Unfortunately, she could feel the poison from the Kryptonite eating away at her. She was getting weaker by the moment, but she refused to give up.
Ben wouldn't give up, she thought, and neither will I.
She scooped up a fallen energy-pistol from a dead dino-trooper and hid behind a collapsed part of a wall. She waited until Metallo turned the corner, then fired a trio of shots; sadly, that was all the power the pistol had, and before she could find another one, Metallo's chest-laser sent her hurtling into the air, where she landed on the parapet. She couldn't even gather the strength to stand; all she could do was crawl away.
"You lied, little one," Metallo said, as he casually walked up to where Supergirl lay, "I can see the illness creeping over you."
Supergirl tried to lift a fallen sword, but could only hold it up for a few seconds before letting it fall. Instead, she snatched up a dagger and hit it in the folds of her cape, just has Metallo grabbed her by the front of her outfit and lifted her up to his eye-level.
"You have none of Superman's strength," Metallo gloated.
"But I've got brains," Supergirl replied, jabbing the dagger into Metallo's chest, slicing through the wires keeping the Kryptonite in place. With a thud, the green rock fell to the ground, and Metallo froze. The only thing that could move were his eyes and his mouth.
"I can't move without my Kryptonite battery," Metallo said, then glared at Supergirl, "but it's still killing you."
"I… won't… quit." Supergirl said weakly, trying to force open Metallo's fingers with her dagger.
"You won't have to," said Stargirl, as she and Chromastone flew up to them. Stargirl wrapped the Kryptonite in white energy from her staff, and hurled it to the other side of the fortress, far enough away so that it wouldn't affect Supergirl.
"Hey, Metallo," Chromastone said, landing next to him, "hands off the lady." He then transformed into Rath and used his large claw to sever Metallo's hand at the wrist; he caught Supergirl in one hand as she fell, then backhanded Metallo off the wall, where he landed with a crash.
Supergirl smiled at both of her friends.
It was over.
…
A few hours later, Morgan and his family appeared before the victorious army, smiling as they cheered for their Warlord. After a moment, he held up his hand for silence.
"Will there ever be another time such as ours?" he asked rhetorically, "The Great Stone is safe! Deimos is defeated! Now and forever, Skartaris is free!"
The crowd erupted in cheers.
…
In the lower levels of the fortress, the Justice League was interrogating Metallo; rather, Green Lantern, Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E were doing the interrogating. Supergirl was lying on the other side of the room, recovering from her exposure to Kryptonite, while Ben sat next to her. Metallo had been turned away so that he couldn't see Ben in his human form, and Ben had made sure not to speak; he didn't want Metallo recognizing him as the guy who'd knocked him out of a window three years ago.
Supergirl, meanwhile, was just glad that the Kryptonite that Metallo had used was now in a containment field, courtesy of Green Lantern's ring, and that they would be going home soon. She watched Green Lantern stand in front of Metallo and wave the Kryptonite in his face teasingly.
"John Corbin," he said, "alias Metallo; fancy meeting you here in the center of the Earth, muling Kryptonite with Silver Banshee." He glanced at the Kryptonite he already held. "You could pretty much run forever on this one little chunk." Then his tone turned menacing. "And without it, what do you have, fifteen minutes of reserve power? Ten? Tell me, why do you want so much? There's enough in that tabernacle to satisfy a hundred Superman-haters!"
"There's a scary thought," Supergirl murmured, and received a comforting hug from Ben.
"You won't get anything out of me!" Metallo snapped.
"Pretty soon, you aren't gonna have the breath to talk," Lantern shot back, "Who knows? Five minutes? One?"
"All right!" Metallo shouted, panic in his voice, "I joined forces with—AAAHH!"
Sparks flew out of Metallo's head as he screamed in pain, and then was silent.
"Whoa, Nelly!" S.T.R.I.P.E exclaimed. Ben walked over and waved his hand over Metallo's eyes.
"This can't be Silver Banshee's work," he said, "she doesn't have the scientific know-how to pull off something like this; someone else must have wanted Metallo to keep quiet."
"But who?" asked Stargirl. Before anyone could make a guess, they heard the sound of boots stomping, then they saw Morgan walking towards them.
"You'll take that… thing with you?" he asked, pointing at Metallo.
"Definitely," S.T.R.I.P.E said, "and the Great Stone, too. We'll have GL whip it into the sun." he jerked his thumb at Green Lantern for emphasis.
"Wait!" Supergirl limped forward; Ben moved over to support her if she needed him. "This is the one place that Kryptonite can do some good."
"That is a fact," Morgan said.
Ben looked at Supergirl. "Are you sure? What if someone else comes down here, looking for something to kill you with?"
"Ben has a point," Green Lantern said, "so the only way I'll let the Stone stay here is if we seal the portal to Skartaris permanently."
"Fine by me," Morgan said, as his wife and daughter walked up behind him, "I got everything I need right here."
…
The Arctic
After saying their goodbyes, the Leaguers made their way to the portal and flew out, Ben carrying Supergirl as Astrodactyl, and Green Lantern carrying Metallo's body with his ring. Once they were out, Green Lantern spent an hour burying the portal under ice and stone. Finally, he stepped back.
"There," he said, wiping his hands, "I doubt even I could get back through."
Stargirl turned to Supergirl; during their last hours in Skartaris, as well as waiting for Lantern to finish, the two young women had had a long discussion. Stargirl had put aside the petty grievances she'd had against Supergirl, and the two were on their way to becoming fast friends.
"So, how're you feeling?"
Supergirl smiled and slowly lifted up, her powers returning quickly.
"I think I'm good," she answered, then turned to Ben, "hey, Ben, didn't you have something to talk about with Superman?"
"Well, yeah," Ben admitted, "but you're more important!"
"Aww," Stargirl said, elbowing Supergirl, "he's a keeper."
"Yeah, he is," Supergirl said, before turning back to Ben, "and you don't have to worry; I'm fine, I swear."
Ben nodded, relief evident on his face. "Okay, Kara; I'll see you at home later, okay?"
"Okay, Ben," Supergirl gave him a quick kiss, then flew off, Stargirl close behind her.
"Courtney!" S.T.R.I.P.E yelled after her, "You slow your butt down!"
"Ugh," Stargirl complained, "my dad."
"I know," Supergirl commiserated, "Superman tried to keep me on the farm; made me hide there for three years."
"Big deal," Stargirl shot back, "I've still got a curfew; enough cosmic energy to trash a city, and I can't stay out past ten!"
"Three years," Supergirl replied, "on a farm… in Kansas!"
Back on the ground, Green Lantern turned to Ben. "You sure you need to talk to Superman now?"
"Yeah," Ben said, "it's about something I've been thinking about for a couple of months now."
Lantern nodded. "Okay, see you on the Watchtower soon."
Ben, now seriously affected by the cold, turned into Heatblast and rocketed off towards the Fortress of Solitude.
As they flew off, Green Lantern addressed S.T.R.I.P.E.
"We'll have J'onn probe what's left of Metallo's mind," he said, "I want to know what he was going to say."
S.T.R.I.P.E looked at Metallo's unmoving form, and felt a chill that didn't come from the cold.
"Something's going on, ain't it?"
…
The Fortress of Solitude
As Ben walked through the hallways of the Fortress, he remembered the last time he was here. It had been on Clark's birthday, and he'd fought against Mongol alongside Batman and Wonder Woman. He remembered that plant that made him dream about what he wanted the most, and how breaking free from its influence had forced him to give up everything he loved. It was definitely one of the worst moments of his life; thankfully, Mongol was gone, placed in a prison guarded by the Green Lantern Corps, and Ben wouldn't have to worry about him again.
Still, Mongol's attack did give Ben one bright spark in his life: Kara. It gave her a chance to show Ben just how much she cared; that eventually led to their relationship, and why he was here now.
Ben was shaken out of his musings by the sound of a woman's laughter, then ducked as a blur almost collided with him. He looked up to see Lois Lane floating in the air, standing on a hoverboard. Ben smiled; he'd made that hoverboard using Grey Matter and Upgrade for Clark's birthday. He knew that Clark could fly on his own, but he'd loved using a hoverboard as a kid, and thought that Kara's cousin could use some more fun in his life. Apparently Lois, who had been visiting the Fortress a lot over the last few months, thought it was fun, too.
"Hey, Ben," she said, "what brings you here?"
"Relationship stuff," Ben replied, glad that he could talk so freely with Lois; after Superman had told her his secret identity, Ben had done the same. The look on her face when she found out that the kid that saved her from Metallo had done it again as an alien had been priceless.
"Ooh," Lois said in mock-seriousness, "is it something juicy?"
"It might be," Ben answered, "and it's a good thing you're here, Lois; I might need you to keep Clark from killing me."
"Why?" Lois asked, her tone becoming serious, "You're not breaking up with Kara, are you?"
"What!? Of course not!"
Lois sighed. "Okay, then I doubt Clark would kill you, no matter what it is."
The two moved into the main room of the Fortress, where they found Superman working on a computer.
"Hey, Clark," Ben called out, "with so many people coming and going, don't you think you should rename this place? 'Fortress of Solitude' doesn't really apply anymore."
Clark stood up and smirked. "But it does have a nice ring to it; now, what is it that you wanted to talk about, and why are you so late?"
Ben told both of them what had happened that day, including about the giant piece of Kryptonite. Both of them were concerned, but were somewhat mollified when Ben told them that the portal to Skartaris was closed.
"And Kara's okay?" Clark asked, the over-protective side of him coming out.
"She's fine," Ben confirmed, "do you honestly think I'd come here if she needed help right now?"
Clark sighed in relief, while Lois grinned from her seat on the arm of Clark's chair.
"What?" Ben asked, not sure if he should be nervous about the smile.
"You just earned serious points with your future in-laws," she said.
Ben chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"Ben, what's wrong?" Clark asked.
"Well, it's about Kara," Ben started, then backed up slightly as Clark leaned forward, "I think I… that is, I'd like, um…" sweat started to break out on the back of his neck.
Lois' curiosity was growing, and she was getting impatient. "Spit it out, Ben."
Ben took a deep breath, let it out, then opened his mouth.
"I'd like your permission to marry Kara."
Now, if you can pick your jaws off the floor, some things need to be said.
So, I'd like to make a couple of announcements. First, Hypnotick is the last original alien that I will make for this story. I may make some new ones in the sequel, but he's going to be the last one in this story. Also, I should let you all know that I don't watch Omniverse, so I wasn't aware that one of the Nemetrix aliens is also called Hypnotick, the name was too good to pass up. The design of the alien is mine, but the name belongs to Man of Action.
Hypnotick can hypnotize people, then crush them with his bulk. People can resist his powers with enough willpower, and he isn't that fast, but he's good for taking out groups of minions.
I also decided not to make any more Ultimates, because at this point, Ben has 10 of them. He has to have some sort of 10 going on for him; he's Ben 10, for crying out loud.
So, Ben is now seriously thinking about marriage; now, I know that they are still pretty young, but they've been going out for almost three years now, and living together for almost two. Considering how close they are now, I wouldn't be surprised that Ben is thinking about marriage.
Also, unlike when he asked Kara out, he talked to Clark first; it's probably better for his health that way.
I'm king of the muffin!