BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. APPARENTLY, THE SOCK-PEOPLE OF SOCKTOPIA SAY THAT MY SOCKS ARE NOW EMANCIPATED, AND THUS DO NOT BELONG TO ME, EITHER.

Hello, everyone! Wow, it's been a while, huh? I know that a lot of you were chomping at the bit for the next chapter to come out, and here it is!

Ben 10: Unlimited

Chapter 29

Patriot Act

Washington DC

Amanda Waller was not a woman who took things at face value. If she had been, she wouldn't have been made head of Cadmus; as a result, she accepted General Eiling's invitation to lunch with a grain of salt. She doubted that Eiling had invited her just to catch up; still, that didn't stop her from being polite, even friendly, to her former colleague.

"Wade," she said warmly, as they sat down in the café, "you look well; the last few months have been good to you."

Eiling only nodded, then waited for their food to arrive before speaking. "Mrs. Waller, due respect, this reassignment is a joke; never thought I'd become a desk drone."

After Cadmus had been discontinued, most of their people had been assigned to non-vital tasks; General Eiling had been placed in administrative work, something he hated. Considering how dangerous he and Waller were considered in the minds of the government, it surprised Eiling when it only took him a month to arrange a meeting with his former boss; it would be much more surprising if there wasn't a team of snipers aiming at both of them, courtesy of the CIA, in case it was decided that they needed to be stopped.

"I can't help you there," Waller said sympathetically, "Langley all but scrapped Project Cadmus and insisted on your transfer. We're lucky we're not all in jail."

It was true; after the evidence of their activities came to light, many of the Joint Chiefs had wanted most of Cadmus to face incarceration; some were even calling for execution. Surprisingly, the Justice League had asked for Cadmus to be shown leniency; if they hadn't, there was a good chance that Waller would have faced the firing squad.

"Look," Eiling said, "the only mistake we made was trusting Luthor."

"Wade, you know better than to dwell on the past."

"I'm talking about right now," Eiling jabbed the table in emphasis, "The Justice League is still the single greatest threat to global security."

"I used to believe that too," Waller said, glancing down, "but remember, we used to say the same about the Soviets. Our enemy's never as evil as we imagine; and maybe we're never quite as good."

"Nuts," Eiling glared at her, "don't tell me the bleeding-hearts in Congress got to you."

Waller gave him her old, superior smirk. "I'd eat them alive."

"You would, too," Eiling smiled, "you've got some on ya, Amanda."

"Then listen to me," Waller said, leaning forward, "I'm not the League's greatest fan, but their intentions are good; I can work with them."

"What if you're wrong?" Eiling asked, "What if the metahumans and the aliens aren't on the side of the angels? We won't have any way to defend ourselves. Look what happened last year; Superman and that shapeshifter walked into Cadmus tossed our best men like a salad."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," Waller said, frustrated with Eiling's stubbornness.

"What's to stop them from doing it again?" Eiling asked, "They're all orbiting us with a space weapon, 'supposedly' decommissioned; that's a much bigger threat than the Russians ever were. If we'd rolled over like this with the Soviet Union, given up our nukes…"

"We'd all be living under a red flag," Waller finished.

"Yes, ma'am, you better believe it. After all our work, what did Cadmus accomplish? You get a reprimand, I'm pushing pencils, and the League gets another base here on Earth, that Metro Tower," Eiling took a breath, "When one side loses ground and the other side gains, that isn't a truce, it's a surrender."

Waller stood up and glared at Eiling. "It's a different world, General; learn to live in it."

She turned to go, but Eiling grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry, Amanda; I got carried away, but there's one more thing you should know."

Waller sighed, but knew that Eiling would tell her, even if she tried to leave. "What is it?"

"I assume you know about the wedding?"

"Between Supergirl and the shapeshifter?" Out of all of Cadmus, Waller alone knew the identities of the Leaguers, but she wouldn't tell anyone. "What about it?"

"I had some of our now-jobless eggheads run a few simulations," Eiling said quietly, "and they found out that if those two ever had a child, there's a good chance that it could be more powerful than either of its parents."

Waller frowned, remembering something she'd heard from Professor Hamilton. "But I thought that Kryptonian DNA was incompatible with any other species, making a child impossible?"

She also made a mental note to find out who had told Eiling this, and have the NSA do an investigation on any other activities they might be involved in.

"That's what I thought," Eiling said, glad that he'd caught her attention, "but those eggheads had another theory: that device that the shapeshifter uses might act as a 'genetic bridge' and allow a child to be possible."

Waller was silent for a few minutes, lost in thought, before she answered. "I've met the shapeshifter before, and I've seen how he acts; he's not the kind of person to betray anyone, nor attack the innocent. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that he's one of the greatest heroes I've ever seen."

"So?" Eiling asked.

"Someone like that would raise his children to the same standards," Waller said, then turned on her heel and left, but not before calling out, "It's not just what you are, General, but who you are."

…

The Watchtower

After their wedding, Ben and Kara spent most of the last month touring Europe for their honeymoon; though they loved being superheroes, it was nice to finally act like normal people for a while. Still, neither liked staying out of the action for long; less than a day after coming back home, they were back on the job.

It was great timing; Supergirl, as well as most of the League, had been assigned a deep-space mission, helping to stop a sun from exploding. The system the sun was in wasn't inhabited, but the explosion would have propelled several moon-sized chunks of debris straight at Earth.

Ben had wanted to go on that mission, but with so many heavy-hitters away, Mister Terrific wanted him to stay, just in case. And so, Ben was stuck on the station, watching movies with Vigilante and Shining Knight.

Still, it appeared that Mister Terrific's caution was warranted, because his voice came in over the PA.

"Ben, Green Arrow, S.T.R.I.P.E., Stargirl, Vigilante and Shining Knight, report to the bridge."

Ben, Vigilante and Shining Knight raced to the elevator.

"Ha!" Vigilante laughed, "The exact second the movie's over, we get a mission; dang if that ain't lucky."

"I still say this Clint Eastwood dishonored himself when he refused to—what was it?—Play by the rules?" Shining Knight said.

"Dude, that's how movies go," Ben said, "the hero does what's right, not what he's ordered to do."

"But his proper duty is to his police captain," Shining Knight responded, "I see why they call him 'dirty'; he besmirches his order."

Vigilante raised an eyebrow. "Sir Justin, if you want to be watching stuff on my big TV with the five-point-one surround sound, you had best watch what you say about Mr. Clint Eastwood."

"Listen to the guy," Ben said in mock-desperate tone, "it's not worth losing the TV!"

Vigilante laughed, while Shining Knight only scowled as the elevator stopped, allowing the three to meet up with the other heroes called, as well as Mister Terrific.

"Most of our resources are in deep space," Mister Terrific said without preamble, "we're shorthanded."

"Great," S.T.R.I.P.E. said enthusiastically, "I'll take a real assignment over Watchtower-duty any day."

"So, who's up here with you," Green Arrow asked, "Steel?"

Mister Terrific shook his head. "He's with Vixen, checking out an explosion in the Aleutians; Flash and J'onn aren't finished in Madagascar."

"You're spreading us a little thin," the archer commented.

"We go where we're needed," Mister Terrific said, then raised an eyebrow, "Did you second-guess the Martian like this?"

"Sorry, my bad," Green Arrow apologized, "you're the big-picture guy."

"Don't worry, I've got it all worked out," Mister Terrific gestured to the teleporters nearby, "It's just one mission in Metropolis; I need you people to fill in for Superman."

"Cool!" Stargirl said.

…

Metropolis

As it turned out, the assignment was not cool. People didn't need rescuing, and a villain didn't need to be stopped; instead, it was an annual parade through the city's streets. Apparently, Superman attended these parades, but since he was in space, he had asked some of his teammates to fill in for him. That meant that most of them stood on a float, waving at the crowd; Vigilante rode alongside them on his motorcycle, while Shining Knight was atop his winged horse.

This annoyed several of the heroes for different reasons. For Stargirl, it was because she thought she was going to fight some villain that only Superman fought; for Shining Knight, it seemed a frivolous use of his service, and for Ben, now transformed into Shocksquatch, it was because ever since he'd become famous in his own universe, he hated the paparazzi.

Shining Knight voiced his discontent the loudest. "I'd slay the ogre Blunderbore all over again rather than put myself on display in this manner, even though that ogre turned out to be…"

"Morgaine La Fey," the others finished.

"We've all heard the story, eh?" Shocksquatch said.

"'Tis a good story," Shining Knight defended.

After a moment, Stargirl took her turn to complain. "So, what, since we don't have powers it takes six of us to replace one Superman?"

"Shocksquatch has powers, don't he?" Vigilante asked.

"Not really," Shocksquatch admitted, "I just turn into aliens that do; the Ultimatrix has powers, not me."

"Um, excuse me?" the heroes turned to see one of the police officers on the float with them walk up, "I just wanted to thank you Justice League guys for turning out in force; it means a lot to us."

"Hey, we can't thank you enough," Green Arrow said, shaking the man's hand, "You're the real heroes."

"It's you the people come to honor," Shining Knight said from beside the float.

"Great," Stargirl complained, "now I'm petty."

"Hey," Shocksquatch said, gesturing to the sign above their float, "see where it says 'Heroes, One and All'? That's what it's all about; the crowd doesn't care who can bench press a mountain, or shoot lasers out of their ears. They just want to say thanks to the people who help them, eh?"

Mollified, the Leaguers waved to the crowd with much more enthusiasm. However, Shocksquatch wasn't completely correct; some of the crowd still grumbled over the absence of their city's hero.

"Where's Superman?" an elderly woman asked crossly.

"How come the only good one here is the yeti guy?" asked a man.

"I didn't come here to see some stupid cowboy," one young boy said.

"I don't think that Vigilante guy is a good role model," said another man, "he uses guns, for crying out loud!"

"Our adoring public, eh?" Shocksquatch whispered to Stargirl, who snickered.

…

Cadmus HQ

Outside the only partially-functioning Cadmus Headquarters, a guard stopped an approaching car; he looked inside, only to snap to attention when he saw who was driving.

"General Eiling, sir; what brings you back to Cadmus?"

Eiling gave his best disarming smile, which was more of a grimace. "I just came to collect something I left behind."

The soldier saluted, which Eiling returned, then opened the gate for the General. Once Eiling got inside the building, and in the section he wanted to go, he waved over two soldiers.

"I want you men posted at the entrance to this wing," he ordered, "Nobody in or out."

"Yes, sir!" both men rushed to their post.

Eiling shook his head; he hated what he was doing, but he was left with no choice. Waller had been the only one who still had the pull to help him go after the League, but she'd shown him that she was clearly on the League's side. That left him with only one option; ironically, he would never have found out about it if he hadn't been stationed as an administrator.

Although Cadmus had been shut down as a program, the technology and artifacts they had stored were too dangerous to move or tamper with, so the building and its security were still left in place. This meant that what Eiling was after was still here.

He had read about a super-soldier serum that the Nazis had created at the end of World War 2, but the only finished sample had been stolen by an American spy. Eventually, that formula had wound up at Cadmus, though any attempt to duplicate the serum failed disastrously; fortunately for Eiling, they still kept the original sample.

Eiling made his way to the vault, but the security panel didn't accept his code; he was momentarily stumped, until a man in a white coat approached him, along with another soldier.

"General," the scientist said warily, "what are you doing?"

"Hello, Dr. Anderson," Eiling said affably, "I left my reading glasses in the bio-vault and can't seem to get back in."

Anderson looked at the security panel. "That code was changed months ago; you're not authorized."

Eiling's expression hardened, but otherwise didn't move; when the soldier tried to reach for him, he whipped out his pistol and smashed it against the man's temple, knocking him out. He then pushed Anderson against the wall, holding the pistol to his face.

"The new code," he growled, "now."

Fearful for his life, Anderson quickly punched in the code, allowing Eiling access; the General pushed the scientist inside, then forced him to open up the inner door. Once that was done, he shoved Anderson away and found the serum.

"General, no!" Anderson pleaded, "That formula is unstable!"

"I read the report," Eiling said uncaringly.

"So you know about the horrible disfigurations that the test animals…" he was cut off when Eiling pointed his pistol at his face.

Eiling didn't try to stop Anderson as he rushed past and hit the alarm.

"Too late now," he said, rolling up his sleeve.

In less than a minute, a squad of troops rushed into the vault, weapons drawn. As they approached the inner doors, an empty syringe fell to the floor and shattered; the men looked up to see General Eiling shiver, while his body seemed to bulge.

"Shoot to kill!" Anderson yelled, running in terror, "Do it while you still can!"

The soldiers opened fire, but it was too late; Eiling's body doubled, then tripled in size, while his skin turned a sickly brownish-purple, like a bruise. His lower jaw jutted out, and his lower canines turned into dull fangs. His body was now a mass of rippling muscles and bulging veins, his skin thick enough to deflect even the energy-weapons that the soldiers used on him.

Eiling ignored his attackers for the most part, only shoving them aside when they got in his way; the last one was backed up against a wall, and Eiling simply grabbed him in one massive hand, while blowing a hole through the same wall.

"D-don't kill me!" the soldier whimpered.

"I wouldn't kill you, soldier; you're just doing your job," Eiling's voice was the only thing that had stayed the same; he gently tossed the soldier to the ground, then leaped hundreds of feet into the air, towards Metropolis.

"And now, I'm going to do mine."

…

Metropolis

The crowd cheered as another flash of light lit the air, courtesy of Stargirl, who bowed; after a while, the heroes really warmed up to their "mission" and were starting to have fun.

"Stargirl, ladies and gentlemen," Vigilante announced, "the All-American sweetheart!"

"Wow," Stargirl said, flying next to the cowboy, "you really know how to work a crowd!"

Vigilante shrugged. "Shoot, if I'd brung my guitar, I'd have 'em eating outta my hand." He then went back to his showmanship. "And here is one of the man's million forms, Shocksquatch!"

The yellow yeti grinned, then shot a bolt of lightning out of his mouth straight up into the air, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

Vigilante tipped his hat to the alien, the drove next to Shining Knight. "And what do you got to say to the Shining Knight? Sir Justin is a real live knight from back in the olden times of King Arthur and them."

That got a few "ooh's" and "ahh's" from the crowd.

"Friend, I am no mare at auction," Shining Knight said crossly, the only one not getting into the spirit of things. He moved his horse up ahead, but Vigilante got an idea; he slapped the horse's rear, startling it and causing it to fly into the air.

"How about Sir Justin's horse, Winged Victory?" Vigilante said to the crowd, "And his magic sword, a gift from Merlin the Magician hisself!"

Knowing that he wasn't going to get out of it, Shining Knight sighed and drew his sword, letting the sunlight reflect off of it. Despite his reluctance, he did cut a dashing figure, and several women in the crowd actually swooned.

The moment was ruined, however, when a shadow fell over the knight, who looked up to see something headed straight for him! He directed Winged Victory out of the way, as whatever it was hit a giant balloon of Superman, before hitting the float behind it. The Leaguers moved the people away as the smoke cleared, revealing a purple monster in tattered green pants, hefting a chunk of the float over its head.

"Freeze!" a police officer yelled, while he and several others drew weapons, while the crowd quickly ran for their lives.

"I'd listen to the man," Green Arrow said, nocking an arrow, while the other Leaguers readied themselves.

"I was hoping for a challenge," the creature said, "Where's Superman?"

"He's busy," Shocksquatch said, electricity crackling around his hands, "Can I help you, eh?"

"Yeah, hold this for me." The creature hurled the chunk of float right at Shocksquatch, knocking him off his feet.

"Open fire!" one of the cops yelled; the police, as well as Vigilante, opened up with their pistols, while S.T.R.I.P.E. fired small rockets from his hands, Stargirl sent beams of energy, and Green Arrow fired several explosive arrows. Despite all of that, the monster just stood there, unaffected by any of it.

"Go ahead, boys, pour it on!" the monster sneered, "I can take it!"

The whinny of a horse caught his attention; he looked up to see Shining Knight bearing down on him. The monster picked up several small cars and hurled them at the knight, but missed; instead, they hit some bleachers that had been set up for the parade, causing them to collapse onto several nearby cars, some of which still had people in them. Shining Knight immediately pulled back to rescue the civilians; he drew his sword and hacked through the debris like it was butter, then pulled the first driver out.

"There was a family in the blue car in front of me," the man said.

"Get to safety," Shining Knight commanded, "I shall find them."

Vigilante had just reloaded his pistols and was drawing a bead on the monster when a rock flew past his head. He turned to see several young boys hurling stones and pieces of debris.

"Get out of here!" a boy in a red sweater yelled.

"Yeah," another boy in a beige shirt shouted, "take off, you big wuss!"

"Where's your parents?" asked Vigilante, running up to the boys.

"I don't know," the boy in the sweater answered, "Run off, I guess."

Vigilante knelt down to their eye-level. "Listen, I need you fellers to do a very important job, so you're all my deputies; now, go ride herd on that crowd and get 'em somewhere safe!" he pointed to a small group of people who were rooted to the spot by fear.

The boys nodded, then ran off, shouting at the civilians and getting them moving. Satisfied, Vigilante sent a withering barrage of bullets at the monster.

"Hey, shapeshifter," the monster said, pushing several officers out of the way as Shocksquatch got back up, "General Wade Eiling would like a word with you."

"Eiling?" Green Arrow asked, "From Cadmus?"

"What happened?" Shocksquatch said, a taunting smirk on his face, "That beat-down last year leave you with superhero issues?"

"I'm protecting my country," Eiling snarled, then punched the alien hard enough to send him flying down the street, "I'm going to show the world that you aren't the only superpower on the block; that there's someone who can stop you." He gestured to a few of the remaining people, "I'm here to protect them from you."

He moved towards Shocksquatch, but S.T.R.I.P.E. intervened, tackling the mutated General into through a window. Green Arrow dodged flying pieces of glass, then reached for his communicator.

"Mister Terrific, we need backup!"

"Everybody's in play somewhere else," came the response, "Everybody; I'll see if I can scrounge a few reserve Leaguers."

Green Arrow sighed, then ran back into the fight, which turned out to be going badly for the heroes; S.T.R.I.P.E.'s armor was rent and torn, the chestplate completely gone, while Ben, who had turned into Fourarms, was being turned into a punching-bag. Despite the red alien's formidable strength, he was just outclassed by Eiling; with a yell, the General hurled Fourarms all the way to the other side of the city, the impact knocking him out.

While the shapeshifter was Eiling's priority, he saw no reason not to kill a few of the other Leaguers first.

"He said I had superhero-issues," he said, raising his fist to crush S.T.R.I.P.E., "Well, I'll give him Eiling-issues."

Just before his blow connected, Eiling felt a heavy impact on his back, sending him flying into the side of a skyscraper. Though the injury was minor, Eiling glared hatefully at the person responsible; it turned out that it was the young boy in red sweater, who had gone into a nearby construction site, climbed into a crane with a wrecking-ball and used Eiling like a piñata. Enraged, the General jumped down and smashed the side of the crane, nearly toppling it.

"Eiling…" S.T.R.I.P.E. said weakly, "don't do it!"

He activated the thrusters in his feet and tackled the General, but in his weakened state, he was quickly beaten. Fortunately, Stargirl showed up and distracted Eiling from killing her stepfather.

Meanwhile, the boy in the crane had been rattled by Eiling's attack, and with the crane now tilted, he lost his balance and fell out.

"Hang on, little feller!" Vigilante drove his motorcycle up a fallen steel beam and caught the boy in mid-air, much to the boy's friends' surprise.

"Pretty fancy riding, cowboy," the boy said, "whatcha got for an encore?"

"Never you mind," Vigilante said, "now get this area clear of civilians! Scoot!"

The boys ran off to shoo away a few reporters, while Vigilante turned his motorcycle around; he revved the engine, then drove full-speed at Eiling, who was still battling Stargirl.

"Stand back, darlin'!" Stargirl flew out of the way, as Vigilante stood on top of his bike. "Yee-hoo!"

He jumped backwards and fired into the motorcycle's gas tank, just as it hit the General; the bike exploded, sending Eiling flying. At first, Vigilante thought that might have been it, but Eiling got back up a moment later.

"You lousy bush-Leaguers; I'm running out of patience!"

"You, too?" Stargirl asked, using her staff to wrap Eiling's torso in white energy and flew away, Eiling in tow. "We're taking this someplace else; haven't you ever heard of innocent bystanders?"

"Ever hear of acceptable losses?" Eiling retorted, "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs; this country's halfway down the toilet because of you super-powered types!"

Stargirl turned in mid-air and glared at him. "For the record, I don't have powers, potty-mouth; it's my staff!"

Instead of responding, Eiling grabbed the solid energy and pulled, sending Stargirl crashing into the city streets; despite her golden staff making her tougher than the average human, the impact was still more than Stargirl could handle. She could barely raise her head as Eiling walked up and lifted her by her hair.

"In that case, Miss," he said, "you're just another egg."

…

Groggily, Ben woke up from where he'd landed; even with the Master Control, he still turned back into a human when knocked out, but thankfully, there was no one around to see his human form. He raised the Ultimatrix and contacted Green Arrow.

"Arrow, what's going on?"

"It's bad, kid," came the response, "Vigilante and I are the only ones standing; Eiling almost killed Stargirl, but Shining Knight saved her, but they're both down. Get over here!"

"Be there soon!" Ben said, before transforming. "JET RAY!"

…

"You hit 'im high," Vigilante said, twirling his pistols, "I'll him 'im low!"

"Whatever!" Green Arrow replied.

Both men ran forward, but their weapons did nothing but annoy the General, who raised one foot and stomped down, creating a tremor that Green Arrow managed to dodge, but Vigilante was sent flying headfirst into a car, knocking him out.

"Vig'!" Green Arrow cried out.

"I found your reinforcements, GA," Mister Terrific said over the communicator, "I'm teleporting them in now."

"Got it; thanks, T." Green Arrow turned to Eiling. "Well, you wanted a fight, and now you've got…" he slumped when he saw who had just teleported in, "The Crimson Avenger and my ex-sidekick."

"Ex-partner," Speedy corrected him.

"Speedy, we gotta do this now?" his mentor asked.

"Ooh, now I'm scared," Eiling said sarcastically.

Before either archer could make a snappy comeback, the Crimson Avenger, a man in a red trench coat, mask and hat, pulled out a gun and fired a concentrated stream of tear-gas. The General yelled in pain as the gas got in his eyes, but quickly recovered and clapped his hands together hard enough to create a shockwave, dissipating the gas and sending the red-garbed man flying. Green Arrow and Speedy unleashed a barrage of arrows, but they didn't even slow Eiling down.

"Ollie," Speedy asked, "how many guys has this doofus taken out?"

"That would be… all of them," Green Arrow admitted.

"You annoying little twerp!" Eiling yelled.

"I think he means me," Green Arrow said calmly.

"Oh," Speedy replied coolly, "for a second, I was all mad."

Eiling stomped on the ground again, causing Speedy to stumble; he recovered, but lost most of his arrows, save for one he really didn't want to use.

"Still got your quantum arrow?" Green Arrow asked, firing off his last explosive.

"Yeah," Speedy said, "but you said…"

"This is an emergency!" in one synchronized motion, the two archers drew their last respective arrows and fired. A blue line of energy connected them and caught Eiling in the center; the coil of energy wrapped around the mutant before exploding in a massive blast of energy. The shockwave sent the archers flying; they got back up, praying that it was over.

It wasn't; though he was hurt and panting, Eiling still stood tall, and he was mad.

"We are so dead," Speedy commented.

"Probably," Green Arrow agreed.

With nothing left in their arsenals, the two men charged, knowing they didn't have a chance. They were right; Eiling knocked them both out with a single blow.

"IS THAT IT!?" he roared, "IS THAT ALL THE MIGHTY JUSTICE LEAGUE HAS TO OFFER!? COME ON, WHO ELSE WANTS SOME!?"

He was answered when a neuroshock beam hit him in the back.

"You want a challenge?" Jet Ray demanded, "Well, you've got one now!" in a flash of green light, he transformed.

"HUMONGOSAUR!" another flash, "ULTIMATE HUMONGOSAUR!"

Eiling charged, but was intercepted when Ultimate Humongosaur spun around, bringing his spiked tail in contact with the General's face. The blow stunned him long enough for Ultimate Humongosaur to spin around again and deliver a wicked uppercut.

"That was for S.T.R.I.P.E.!" he yelled, before turning back into Humongosaur, then transforming again, "KICKIN' HAWK!"

Eiling tried to punch him, but the bird-like alien nimbly dodge and kicked him in the stomach.

"That was for Stargirl!" another flash, "GRAVATTACK!"

The orange, rocky alien changed Eiling's gravity, sending him hurtling upwards, then increased the gravity a hundred-fold, smashing the General against the ground.

"That was for Shining Knight!" another flash, "NRG!"

Before Eiling could get up, NRG sent a concentrated beam of radiation right into his face.

"That was for Vigilante!" another flash, "ECHO ECHO! ULTIMATE ECHO ECHO!"

Ultimate Echo Echo detached two of his disks and threw them at Eiling, where they multiplied until a ring of them surrounded the General.

"This is for the Crimson Avenger!" he took a deep breath, "Sonic… Doom!"

Eiling fell to his knees as the devastating sonic assault hammered him. Ultimate Echo Echo turned back into Echo Echo, then transformed again.

"SPITTER!" a green alien with a small body and a large head opened its mouth and covered Eiling in disgusting goo, then transformed again. "AMPFIBIAN!"

"This is for Speedy!" Ampfibian sent a wave of electricity at Eiling; however, the goo from Spitter was extremely conductive, so the effect of the attack was greatly enhanced.

As Eiling fell to his knees, smoke rising from his body, Ampfibian transformed again. "RATH! ULTIMATE RATH!"

"Let me tell ya something, General Wade Eiling!" Ultimate Rath shouted, "This is for Green Arrow!"

Ultimate Rath grabbed Eiling's wrist and spun in a circle, building momentum before launching the General into the air, then launched his missile-claws, sending Eiling even higher. Ultimate Rath turned back into Rath and transformed one more time.

"WAY BIG!" as Eiling hit the ground, Way Big raised his foot, "And this... this is because I don't like you!"

With yell, Way Big stomped down, the shockwave making the entire city tremble. Stepping back, Way Big saw the results of his handiwork; Eiling was broken, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, but he was still alive.

Way Big turned into Diamondhead and walked up to the fallen General. "You still think that the Justice League is a threat to the world, even after everything we've done? We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't want to help people. We will never threaten you."

Eiling's eye cracked open and mumbled something unintelligible; Diamondhead leaned in close.

"What was that?"

"It isn't you I'm scared of," Eiling wheezed, "but of your children."

"What are you talking about?" Diamondhead demanded, suddenly grateful that no one was around to hear their conversation.

Eiling didn't answer; he had already slipped back into unconsciousness. Diamondhead stepped back, then saw several trucks driving towards him; Cadmus trucks. Diamondhead shifted his arm into a blade, not sure what was happening; he liked it even less when Amanda Waller stepped out of one of the trucks.

"What are you doing here?" Diamondhead growled.

"I'm not here to fight," Waller said, holding up her hands, "I'm here to get your people to a safe location until the League can pick them up; I'm also here for him." She gestured to Eiling. "I'm hoping some of the ex-Cadmus scientists can get him back to normal; I'd appreciate it if you came with us."

Diamondhead looked at her, then his fallen teammates.

"Okay," he said, "let's go."

…

Cadmus HQ

Though officially shut down, Cadmus still had excellent facilities, and the heroes were taken to the infirmary, where they were all assured that they would make full recoveries.

Eiling, on the other hand, would take months to recover; while his body could heal much faster than a normal human, it would still take a while, and due to his transformation, the doctors couldn't help him much, since his physiology had changed so drastically.

"Can he be turned back to normal?" Ben asked Waller, as they observed the sleeping super-soldier.

"We're working on an antidote," Waller said, "but that could be years away; I was hoping that your Ultimatrix could speed the process along."

Ben shrugged. "As long as you tie him down."

He walked up to Eiling and pointed the Ultimatrix at him. "Ultimatrix, can you fix him?"

"Human DNA has suffered extreme modifications," the watch replied, "Subject's DNA is in flux, condition is critical; do you wish to repair?"

"Yes," Ben said; he might have tried to kill his friends, but Ben wasn't going to let anyone die if he could avoid it.

A beam of green light shot forth from the Ultimatrix; a few seconds later, Eiling was back to his old self, though he was still unconscious. On a positive note, his injuries were completely healed.

Ben walked back to Waller, but swayed as a rush of dizziness hit him; Waller quickly steadied him.

"Are you all right?" she asked, actual concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Ben said, straightening up, "doing that sort of thing just tires me out for a bit; I'm fine."

"I should apologize," Waller said, "Eiling came to me earlier today to voice his grievances, but I never thought that he'd go this far."

"Is that the only thing you're sorry for?" Ben asked, eyes narrowed.

Waller sighed. "I'll admit, I was so frightened of what the League was that I forgot who the League was; your team is full of people who would give their lives for this country, for this entire world, without a second thought. I know it doesn't mean much, but the League has my support."

Ben was surprised; a year ago, this woman had been hell-bent on destroying the League, and now she was giving them an OK? Then again, Ben had made a lot of friends out of people who wanted to kill him, so it shouldn't have been that big of a shock.

Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Eiling said something before he got knocked out."

"What was it?"

"He said he wasn't scared of me, but of my children; what did he mean?"

Waller sighed. "Eiling told me something today…"

…

The Watchtower

Several hours later, Ben stood by a window on the Watchtower, staring down at Earth; he kept going over what Waller told him in his head. Would his kid, or kids, be more powerful than either himself or Kara? True, he had met Ken during the Chronos incident, but he hadn't been around long enough to see just how powerful his son really was. If he was really more powerful than either of his parents, he could see why Eiling would be worried.

It'll never happen, Ben swore to himself, Kara and I will raise our children right. Besides, between my family genes and Kara's, our kids will have 'being a hero' hardwired into their DNA.

Ben had other worries, though; what if someone else decided that Ben's children were a threat? What if they tried to attack his family? He knew Kara could handle herself, but what if neither of them were there and their kids were attacked?

"Ben!" a familiar voice caught Ben's attention, and he soon found himself wrapped in his wife's arms; he found his worries easing away with her embrace.

"Hey, Kara," Ben said, kissing her before asking, "When did you get back?"

"A few minutes ago," Kara replied, "I heard about what happened in Metropolis; is everyone all right?"

"Yeah, they got moved to the Watchtower about an hour ago. Stargirl got the worst of it, though; she'll be out of action for a few weeks."

Kara winced. "What about Eiling?"

"I beat him, then used the Ultimatrix to turn him back to normal."

"I don't think he was ever normal," Kara said with a smile; Ben smiled back, but it quickly faded. "Ben? Is something wrong?"

"Just… thinking about the future," Ben said, holding her a little tighter, "I'm a little worried, I guess."

"It's not like you to worry about stuff," Kara said, noticing Ben's anxiety, "Hey, it's okay; we can handle anything, whatever it is, right?"

Ben took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right; there's nothing we can't handle."

"Right, so no more worrying about the future," Kara said, then started pulling him to the teleporters so that they could go home, "After all, the future's a long way off."

Ben found himself smiling; she was right.

The future was a long way off.

I'm baaaaack! I know that you were all practically screaming at me to get another chapter out, and as of now, this will be the only story I focus on. I just needed a break, to let my creative batteries recharge. As of now, expect 4 chapters to go! That's right, we're in the final countdown *hears music* what was that? Anyway, I hope you liked this, since this was the first time I really wanted Ben to just dominate a fight. Never let Ben get angry while he has the Master Control!

The Muffin's back in town, the Muffin's back in town!