BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. HOWEVER, MY PILLOW BELONGS TO ME, AND I CRY INTO IT BECAUSE I DON'T OWN BEN 10 OR JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED.
I'm not going to lie, this episode annoyed me. Not because it was bad, far from it; it's just that we were introduced to a guy that seemed all right, only to have him totally dumped on because he accidentally did a bad thing. Luckily, fan fiction exists, so I'm going to change that; go me!
Ben 10 Unlimited
Chapter 30
Dead Reckoning
Nandeparvak, The Himalayas
Within the innermost sanctum of the temple of Nandeparvak, the Master of the order of monks waited for many things. The next level of enlightenment was usually what he waited for, but today, he awaited something a little more tangible—in a manner of speaking.
"I know you are here, Boston Brand," the Master said in a gravelly voice.
In front of him materialized a pale-skinned figure that floated in the air. His skin was drawn back, giving him a skeletal appearance, and his skintight, red outfit did nothing to hide his emaciated form.
"What's the point of being a flippin' ghost if you can't even sneak up on people?" Boston Brand, AKA Deadman, asked in a thick, Brooklyn accent, "For that matter, what's the point of me being a ghost, period? It's been over a year since I caught the man who murdered me."
"So," the Master said, not even opening his eyes, "your work here is done? You are ready to pass on to the next level?"
"I don't know what 'ready' means," Deadman said, "but I feel like I've done my time."
"And yet," the Master replied, "here you are."
"Here you are?" Deadman echoed, "What kinda lousy wisdom is 'here you are'?"
"If you seek knowledge, you have but to ask."
"I've avenged my own death," Deadman said, then asked, "Why am I still here?"
"Your destiny is not to avenge your own death," the Master said slowly, "your destiny is to avenge mine."
"What?" Deadman asked.
…
Outside the temple, a single sentry stood watch over the entrance, despite the raging blizzard. Like most nights, nothing moved, save for the snow; this was as it should be. However, the stillness was broken by a sudden light that appeared before the warrior. From the light stepped several people; though the warrior did not know their names, he could feel the negative energies that flowed from them.
The first people through the magical portal was Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Devil Ray, Atomic Skull and a large, orange-skinned woman named Rampage. Next came a purple-haired woman in a thin, revealing dress. This was Tala, the former head of the magical branch of Cadmus. She gestured with her hands; with that gesture, the portal opened wider, and dozens of Devil Ray's troops marched through, weapons ready.
"Grodd never sends us anyplace nice," Devil Ray complained.
"This humble one begs your forgiveness," the sentry said, drawing his sword, "but to enter this sacred place, the right must be earned."
Devil Ray's smirk was hidden by his helmet, as he pointed his stinger-launchers at the man and killed him with a single shot.
"Keep the change."
…
The monks within the temple looked up, startled, as several heavy blows rang against the entranceway doors. With one final strike, they shattered, and the monks could see a satisfied Rampage rub her fist with her other hand before leading the other villains inside.
The monks offered no resistance, backing away submissively; if anyone had checked their faces, however, they would have seen a grim resolve flit across their features. As the villains reached the central building of the temple, a single monk, a young boy, stood in their way at the top of the stairs.
"This humble one begs your forgiveness," he said calmly, "but no outsider is permitted in the temple of Nandeparvak."
Luthor nodded at Atomic Skull, who walked up to the boy and raised his fist.
"That's cute, kid," Atomic Skull said, "now get out of the way or I'll spank you."
The boy didn't move, so Atomic Skull threw the punch; to the surprise of everyone, save the other monks, the boy caught the villain's fist in a single hand.
"This would also not be permitted," the boy said, before performing a back-flip, which turned into a kick to Atomic Skull's jaw, sending him flying. However, the young monk wasn't done; he jumped into the air and sent Atomic Skull colliding into the ground with a simple push.
"Little Bruce Lee's got your number," Devil Ray chuckled, "Lucky thing you got us for backup."
"This humble one would not presume to fight you alone," the boy said, a small smile on his face; all around him, dozens of older, more experienced monks surrounded the villains. Devil Ray's troops looked around in worry; if they were just as skilled as the young boy, then they were in serious trouble.
The supervillains, on the other hand, weren't that concerned; Rampage in particular seemed almost happy.
"Now things are getting interesting."
Lex Luthor barely even glanced at the monks. "Take them down."
The two forces collided. Devil Ray's thugs proved no match for the monks' skill, though the supervillains were able to fight off most of their attackers. A few monks dove at Luthor, who stood by Bizarro and Tala, the latter of whom created a mystical dome that deflected the attacks. Still, even with the powers at the villains' disposal, they were slowly being overwhelmed; Luthor turned to Bizarro.
"Bizarro, you despise me, right?"
Bizarro nodded. "Uh-huh, Bizarro hate Luthor; he do anything for him."
The twisted clone had gone through a strange mental phase recently; everything he felt had the opposite reaction, and any order had to be given with the opposite meaning in order to get what Luthor or Grodd really wanted.
"Good," Luthor said, then corrected himself, "I mean bad; anyway, take care of those monks."
"Okay." With Bizarro added to the fight, the tide quickly turned in favor of the villains. With most of the monks distracted by Bizarro, Devil Ray joined Luthor and the sorceress at the entrance to the inner sanctum, which opened.
The Master stepped forth, leaning heavily on his staff; Deadman phased through the roof, his incorporeal body not allowing him to interfere… for the most part.
"Stand aside or you're dead," Devil Ray commanded.
"In the fullness of time," the Master said, opening his eyes, "we are all dead."
Rather than get into a philosophical debate with the old man, Devil Ray fired a barrage of stingers; in an incredible display of hand-eye coordination, the Master caught each shot on his staff, then gave a small smirk. Deadman wasn't so restrained, pumping his fist and cheering, even though no one but the Master could see or hear him.
"This is not the way to end my life," the Master commented.
"No," Devil Ray agreed, "an old man like you should be buried!"
He raised his stingers to fire explosive shots at the ceiling of the sanctum, bringing a good chunk of the structure right on top of the Master. For a moment, nobody moved; then, in a fit of rage, the monks attacked. Even the ones who had been injured were putting everything they had into their assault, determined to avenge their beloved Master. Still, overcome with grief and anger as they were, they failed to notice Luthor and Tala enter the sanctum.
Deadman, on the other hand, did notice, but he was too grief-stricken to care; he floated down to where the Master was buried, trying to dig him out, but forgetting that he couldn't directly interact with the physical world. When he did remember, he phased through the rubble until he found his friend; to his surprise, the old man was still alive!
"Do not…" the Master broke off in a fit of weak coughs, "Do not waste your time, Boston Brand; this portion… of my journey has… come to an end…"
"But…" Deadman couldn't bear to see the old man go.
"We… will meet… again…" with those words, the Master closed his eyes one last time.
Deadman bowed his head in sorrow, before the sound of flesh hitting flesh caught his attention; he turned to see Rampage swatting aside a handful of monks like they were nothing. However, Rampage had just made herself a convenient outlet for Deadman's rage… and his vengeance. He flew towards her and, when his incorporeal body touched her, went inside of her.
That was the one way that Deadman could interact with most people; he could possess any living being and use their bodies and, if they had them, powers as his own.
Once he was in control, Deadman/Rampage ran at Devil Ray, the man directly responsible for the Master's death, and hit him at full strength. The blow knocked Devil Ray right into the sanctum, where he landed on top of Lex Luthor.
"Rampage, what's wrong with you!?" Luthor demanded, as he got out from under Devil Ray.
For a moment, Tala's eyes glowed purple, her magic allowing her to see what was truly behind the attack.
"She has been possessed," she said, before gathering a ball of purple energy in her hands, which then divided into two large bands; she hurled those bands at her possessed associate and, while they did no harm to Rampage, they took Deadman with them as they passed.
For the first time since becoming a ghost, Deadman felt pain; even with that unpleasant surprise, he knew that he couldn't be destroyed; all he had to do was wait until the spell wore off. Still, it lasted long enough for Luthor and his team to approach a large, three-faced statue and remove the golden sphere that hovered between its palms.
"This is it," the sorceress said almost reverently, "the Heart of Nandeparvak."
As soon as she removed the Heart from its resting place, the fight outside ceased; every monk froze and then collapsed, as a green globe left their bodies, then floated into the Heart. Even through the pain he was in, Deadman could hear the agonizing screams of the monks' souls; he would have taken that sound to his grave, but he was already dead.
"We have what we came for," Tala said arrogantly, "it's time to leave."
With a flick of her wrist, all of the villains, as well as Devil Ray's troops, disappeared in a flash of purple light. When they left, the spell binding Deadman finally faded, and the ghost sank to his knees in despair.
Everyone he'd cared for in this place was gone.
…
Secret Society HQ
Grodd had waited patiently for his associates to return for several hours, and finally, his patience paid off; in a flash of purple light, the supervillains he'd sent to Nandeparvak arrived. He barely glanced at them, however, his eyes fixed on the golden sphere in Tala's hands. The sorceress approached the gorilla and knelt before him, holding up the orb.
"I have done as you asked, Lord Grodd."
Luthor didn't even bother hiding his disgust at the woman's behavior. "Get off your knees, woman!"
"Not until my master says so," Tala said, adding a purr to the word "master".
"Excellent work, my dear," Grodd said, taking the sphere before saying, "You may rise."
"You're pathetic," Luthor said derisively, "debasing yourself like that."
"I owe Grodd everything," Tala told him, moving closer to the gorilla, "I would still be trapped in that mirror, or worse, enslaved by Cadmus if he hadn't freed me."
During one of her projects at Cadmus, Tala had been tricked by the ghost of her mentor, Felix Faust, into transferring his soul from a mirror and into a suit of Olympian-forged armor. The cost, however, was that Tala had taken Felix's place in the mirror; Tala had wanted revenge at first, but Felix had been defeated by Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, so the point was moot. Later, Grodd had snuck into Cadmus after the confusion that the Brainiac incident had caused and freed her. Since then, she had been his loyal servant… among other things.
"When Giganta gets out of prison," Devil Ray commented, when he saw Tala wrap herself around Grodd, "she ain't gonna appreciate you hanging on to her boyfriend like that."
"That's her problem," Tala said cattishly, before rubbing Grodd's chest, "Giganta's not nearly enough woman for Grodd."
"True," Grodd said with a lecherous grin, as Tala began to purr again. For a brief moment, Luthor considered drawing his pistols and killing both the ape and his companion right then and there, but he knew that one of the other villains would kill him afterwards.
"If you're quite finished demonstrating what an alpha-male you are," he said instead, "maybe you'd care to explain what you intend to do with that thing."
And I mean the orb, he thought privately.
"I already told you," Grodd said, his arm still wrapped around Tala, "but you won't accept it; you don't believe in magic."
"It's not a matter of belief," Luthor clarified, "I'm just not accustomed to working with something I don't fully understand."
"As long as the amplifier you built for me works…" Grodd began.
"It does," Luthor interrupted.
"Then consider this an exotic power-source," Grodd finished smoothly, "You don't need to understand anything more."
"You can't produce a carrier wave of the amplitude you're talking about with this building's cloaking field generator!" Luthor protested; over the last few months, he had deduced that Grodd wanted to send out some sort of energy across the globe, he just didn't know what kind of energy, or for what purpose.
"So you've convinced me," Grodd said calmly, "I don't intend to use our field generator."
"You're planning to build one!?" Luthor demanded, incredulously.
"Luthor, Luthor, Luthor," Grodd said, like he was talking to a child, "Why build, when we can take what we want?" he glanced at the other villains.
"Gentlemen, shall we go?"
…
Nandeparvak
Deadman hadn't grieved for long before he felt a presence behind him; when he turned, he saw a spiral of white energy and a pair of pink eyes and lips behind that. Instinctively, he sneered; he and this particular deity had never gotten along very well.
"Rama Kushna," he said, "just like you to show up too late to help."
"Your impertinence is refreshing as always," Rama said in her melodious voice, "But have a care; the gods are capricious."
"What do you want from me?" Deadman asked, ignoring her warnings like he always did, "The Master is dead; they're all dead!"
"Do not presume to lecture me on the nature of reality," Rama warned, "The monks have not yet passed from this world."
"They're in some kind of coma?" Deadman asked, hope springing to life within him.
"That is as close to the truth as you are capable of comprehending," Rama said, before her voice became commanding, "You must retrieve the Heart of Nandeparvak, or they will remain in their current state for all time. I have spoken."
In a flash of light Rama, or her avatar, vanished, the only sign of her presence being the spinning wind chimes within the sanctum.
How the heck am I supposed to do that? Deadman wondered, I think I'll need some help…
…
The Watchtower
"Are we done yet?" Ben whined, as leaned away from his computer terminal.
"Yes, that's everything," Batman said, "All reports are filed."
"Yes!" Ben cheered, jumping out of his chair, "Sweet freedom, how I've missed you!"
"I knew you hated Watchtower-duty," Superman said, amused with Ben's antics, "but aren't you overdoing it a bit?"
Ben shook his head. "Dude, the only thing about this that makes it better than High School is that no one is shooting spitballs at me." Ben's eyes narrowed, "Unless Wally is here, too; then it is like High School."
Truth be told, no one in the room liked filing reports, but it had to be done; Ben just got rid of his frustration and boredom by acting immature, just like Flash.
"Well, now that we're done," Wonder Woman said, standing up, "what do you guys say we get something to eat? We hardly ever spend time together when we're not working."
Ben had to agree there; at the end of the day, most Leaguers were too tired to hang out with each other when not in uniform, though Ben did make a conscious effort to do just that with every Leaguer. Aside from the Leaguers who lived together, like Ben and Kara, or Ollie and Dinah, there wasn't a lot of socializing, even among close friends.
"Sounds like a good idea," Superman said, "But I'm tired of cafeteria food; and no," he said, directing a glare at Ben, "we're not getting smoothies again."
Nearly every time Ben had socialized with the founding members of the League, he had somehow convinced them to go for smoothies. Ben only stuck his tongue out at Superman's comment.
"I'd like to," Batman said, "but I've been away from Gotham too long."
Ben and Superman rolled their eyes; Batman could be such a workaholic sometimes. They would have said something, but Wonder Woman beat them to it, laying her hand on Batman's arm.
"Bruce…" she said, and then did something neither Ben nor Superman had ever expected to see; Diana tilted her face downwards, stuck out her lower lip and batted her eyes.
"Is she…" Ben whispered.
"I think she is," Superman whispered back.
Batman stared at Wonder Woman for a few seconds, then turned to Superman. "Where would you suggest?"
Ben's jaw dropped; that had worked!?
Superman had gotten over his own shock much faster. "Well, I know a burger place in Metropolis that has the best fries on the East Coast, and milkshakes are so thick—I need ya help!" He suddenly shouted in a different accent.
"Oh my God, he finally snapped," Ben said, taking a step back, "I always thought it would happen to Batman first!"
"It's a matter of vengeance," 'Superman' continued, "Now, don't be alarmed, but I'm not really Superman; I'm actually…"
"A ghost," Batman said, "inhabiting his body."
Ben suddenly had a flashback to when Ghostfreak had attained sentience and escaped the Omnitrix when he was ten, and how the ghost-like alien had possessed various people. Batman, however, didn't seem alarmed.
"Is that you, Boston?" the Dark Knight asked.
"Hiya, Bats," 'Superman' waved, then spoke to Wonder Woman and Ben, "When I'm working, people call me Deadman."
"You know this… ghost?" Wonder Woman asked, while Ben was still getting used to the idea; he'd met ghostly aliens, but not an actual ghost.
"Yeah," Deadman/Superman answered, "Batman helped me solve my own murder a while back; now I need your help again."
"Superman better be okay…" Ben warned, not entirely comfortable with someone possessing his cousin-in-law, or anyone, for that matter.
"Relax, kid," Deadman/Superman said, "he doesn't even know I'm in here."
"We can't see or hear him otherwise," Batman explained, "Once he leaves, Superman will be fine."
"It's like he says," Deadman/Superman said cheerfully.
"Why are you still around?" Batman asked, getting to the point, "I thought once your murder was solved, your exile from the afterlife was ended."
"You and me both," Deadman/Superman said ruefully, "You know how they say no good deed goes unpunished? I guess I shot my mouth off to the wrong deity."
"If that's what it takes to get exiled from the afterlife," Ben commented, "then I'm probably never gonna get there, either."
"What's this about?" Wonder Woman asked, while lightly smacking Ben upside the head for getting off-topic.
Deadman/Superman turned grim. "A bunch of supervillains busted into Nandeparvak and stole a mystic totem filled with the souls of hundreds of monks… and they killed the Master."
Ben and Wonder Woman glanced at each other; neither of them knew what or where Nandeparvak was, nor who this "Master" was. It did have meaning for Batman, however; he turned around and placed his hands on the table, his head bowed.
"Batman?" Wonder Woman approached him, placing her hand on his; the Dark Knight gave her an almost imperceptible nod, showing that he knew she was there, and that he was grateful.
"He knew the Master even before I did," Deadman/Superman told Ben.
"He was one of my martial arts teachers, when I was training for… this," Batman said, gesturing to his cape.
Ben could only nod; he knew from experience how hard it was to lose someone, and Bruce had gone through the same thing. Now he'd lost someone else.
Deadman/Superman stared at his hands. "With all the power in this body, it'd be easy to punish the people responsible, if I could find them."
Batman straightened up and gave Deadman/Superman a sharp look. "That's not the Master's way… or yours. We'll find them and see that justice is done, not vengeance."
"Yeah," Deadman/Superman said reluctantly, "fun to think about, though."
Privately, Ben agreed; before visiting his home universe, he'd had the occasional fantasy of what he would do to Vilgax if he ever got his hands on him. On the other hand, he knew what kind of trouble seeking vengeance could get someone into.
Batman led the group out of the room, while Wonder Woman spoke to the ghost.
"Let's go up to Ops and see if you can't pick the bad guys out of a photo array."
…
An hour later, after explaining the situation to Mister Terrific, Deadman/Superman had identified all of the villains, save one.
"And you're sure that isn't the sorceress?" Wonder Woman asked, gesturing to a picture of Circe, a Greek deity and sworn enemy of Wonder Woman.
"Nope," Deadman/Superman said, "but all the rest of 'em are right on, though."
"This is the first sign of Luthor since Shayera and I saw him on Blackhawk Island," Ben commented, looking at Luthor's photo.
"What's he up to?" Batman wondered aloud.
"This seems like it might be bigger than Luthor," Wonder Woman said, "Agent Faraday told me Devil Ray escaped from prison a few days ago, and now Bizarro shows up again? And all the odd teams of villains…"
"Whose brains go 'pop' when we try to make them talk," Ben added.
"Do you guys remember what J'onn was able to pull from Giganta's mind before it shut down?" Mister Terrific asked.
"Grodd," Batman answered.
"Think he's put together a new Secret Society?" Wonder Woman asked.
"If he has," Batman replied, "he's doing a better job of keeping the secret."
"Considering how you guys beat the first one," Ben commented, "I guess he'd want to lay low for as long as possible; the question is, how do we find them?"
"I wish I could help," Deadman/Superman said dejectedly, "I can feel the psychic screams of the souls they stole, but I can't pinpoint a location; all I get are images of Africa."
Batman and Wonder Woman immediately stared at him, while Ben and Mister Terrific looked at each other, the answer starting to come to them.
"I know," Deadman/Superman said, "a continent doesn't much narrow things down, but it's all I can…"
"Gorilla City!" Wonder Woman interrupted.
"The monkey went back home!" Ben said. Batman rushed to a communications terminal and punched in a code.
"Solovar," he said to the city's chief of security, "this is Batman."
"What a coincidence," a deep, yet refined voice said, "I was just about to call you."
"We wanted to give you a heads-up," Batman said, "We've got reason to believe that Grodd's headed your way."
"You don't say?" Solovar said sarcastically, "That might explain the army of supervillains attacking the city."
While the other Leaguers looked concerned, Batman asked, "How bad?"
"All but taken over," came the response, "They're already holding the central control building; we could use some help if you have any to spare. Can't chat, I've got…"
The transmission was cut off by what sounded like an explosion.
While the worry in the room got worse, Deadman/Superman asked, "What's Gorilla City?"
"A hidden city of super-intelligent, talking gorillas with technology far beyond anything humans have created," Wonder Woman said, straight-faced.
"No, really?" Deadman/Superman asked skeptically.
"I had the same reaction when I heard about it," Ben said, "but it's true."
"You're the ghost from the Himalayas having trouble believing all of this?" Wonder Woman asked.
Deadman/Superman shrugged. "Point taken."
"Let's go," Batman said, heading to the teleporters, "we haven't got any time to waste."
"All right!" Ben said, pumping his fist, "Let's go save the monkeys!"
…
Africa
In a flash of light, the heroes arrived in front of a large mountain, but there was not Gorilla City, much to Deadman/Superman's confusion.
"You know," he said, "when they beam down on that TV show, they never miss."
"We didn't either," Ben, now as Heatblast, said, "There's a force-field and a cloaking device hiding the city."
To prove the point, Wonder Woman pressed her hand against what looked like empty air, but then the air rippled like water before their eyes. Deadman/Superman flew into the air.
"Looks like a job for Superman!" he said, then began punching the force-field; even with Superman's strength, however, it didn't break.
"You're wasting time," Batman said, "Go in as a ghost, find the central control building and shut down the shield generator. Ben, go with him; one of your intangible aliens should be able to pass through. Once it's down, we'll move in."
"Okay, sure," Deadman/Superman said, before turning to Heatblast, "You ready, kid?"
"Give me a second to change," Heatblast disappeared in a flash of green light, "GHOSTFREAK!"
"Is that some kinda jab at me?" Deadman/Superman asked, after taking in Ghostfreak's appearance.
"Just shut up and follow me," Ghostfreak said, going intangible and flying through the shield.
"Yeah, okay," Deadman said, before exiting Superman's body and following.
"—you have to eat them with a spoon," Superman said, finishing his original sentence, before looking around, "What am I doing in Africa?"
…
Within Gorilla City, Deadman followed Ghostfreak, both of them reluctantly staying out of the battle that was still raging between the supervillains and the gorilla armies. The futuristic city itself would have been beautiful, save for the smoking ruins of the buildings. Like all Justice League members, Ben had studied the layout of Gorilla City, in case they ever needed to come to their friends' defense; as such, Ghostfreak quickly located the central control building, and both heroes phased through the roof. Deadman saw Atomic Skull patrolling a corridor and quickly possessed him.
"Hey, kid," he whispered, "you there?"
Ghostfreak, who had turned invisible once he'd entered the building, materialized in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm here, but I'm gonna stay invisible until we find the shield controls; don't worry, I've got your back."
Deadman/Atomic Skull shook his head. "No, I've got another idea; I can handle this, and those gorillas outside need help more than I do."
"You sure?" Ghostfreak asked.
"Yeah," Deadman/Atomic Skull said, "now go!"
"Good luck," Ghostfreak whispered, before flying out again.
Once he was gone, Deadman/Atomic Skull made his way to the control room, where he found two of Devil Ray's troops keeping watch.
"You two," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, "Devil Ray wants you outside, now!"
The men ran off, giving the possessed villain time to look around.
"You'd think there'd be a big red button or something," he said, then charged his fists with radiation, "ah, to heck with it."
After a few seconds of smashing, the cloak and the force-field fell, allowing the three Leaguers outside to enter.
He had no idea if he had succeeded, but Deadman/Atomic Skull knew that this room was important to the villains, so he kept smashing, only stopping when he heard a voice behind him.
"Skull, what do you think you're doing!?" Grodd demanded; beside him, Luthor raised a pistol, while Tala's eyes glowed.
"I gotta say," Deadman/Atomic Skull said, "I don't have good answer for ya."
"It's the ghost," Tala said, "he's here again!"
She raised her hands and blasted her possessed comrade, knocking Deadman out of his borrowed body.
"But this time," Tala said, "I will take care of him for good."
Despite her claim, Tala couldn't destroy Deadman, only cause him pain; again and again she tried to erase the spirit, but nothing worked. In fact, Deadman was beginning to fight back!
"I cannot destroy him!" she snarled.
"Can you at least get him out of our hair for a bit?" Grodd asked.
"Yes," Tala said, then raised her hands, "I banish you from this place, spirit!"
A pulse of purple energy knocked Deadman out of the building; he tried to get back in but, for the first time since dying, he couldn't phase through the walls!
Back inside, Luthor examined the wrecked machinery. "We lost power to the shields for forty-one seconds before the backups kicked in; we have to assume…"
"That the Justice League is here," Grodd said, pointing at a monitor, which showed Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman entering the city, "They're headed this way; we need more time to complete our work, then it won't matter."
"I'm on it," Luthor said, then called out, "Bizarro!"
The twisted clone entered the room and stood at a slouched attention.
"Superman is your best friend," Luthor said, "do you understand?"
"Bizarro understand. Superman am friend; Bizarro must kill him." With that, he flew off.
"That should keep some of the pressure off," Luthor said.
…
The heroes wasted no time, taking down any supervillains they could see; the villains were taken completely by surprise, and hesitated in their assault. This allowed the gorillas to counterattack; now that their enemy had lost the initiative, they were able to use their superior technology and physical strength to push back.
Batman threw an explosive batarang at a weakened portion of a wall, collapsing it on top of a squad of Devil Ray's troops, while Wonder Woman kept him safe from gunfire, deflecting the shots with her bracelets. She turned to fend off another squad of arriving soldiers, but stopped when Cannonbolt arrived, running them over.
"Where's Deadman?" Batman asked.
"How should I know?" Cannonbolt asked back, "I can't see the guy and—hang on." He turned to see Doctor Polaris, who was tying up a group of gorillas with a metal beam. In a flash of green light, Cannonbolt disappeared.
"BULLFRAG!" the alien shouted; he was a tall and muscular frog-man with three-fingered hands and two-toed feet, wearing a black-and-green jumpsuit. On his grinning face was a pair of triangular green sunglasses.
Bullfrag opened his mouth, and a long, thick tongue shot out, the sticky tip striking Polaris on the back of his head. Bullfrag then jerked his own head back, whipping the villain into a tree, before letting go and withdrawing his tongue.
"That was disgusting," Wonder Woman commented.
"Yeah," Bullfrag said, "remind me to use mouthwash later." Then he crouched and jumped twenty feet into the air to catch Silver Banshee in a spinning kick.
The battle soon turned into a brawl; the chaos had dissolved any battle formations either side might have had, and it was every fighter for themselves. This worked for the Leaguers and the gorillas perfectly; one-on-one, or even against small groups, they had the upper hand.
The only time that it looked like the battle would have gone in the villains' favor again was when Bizarro entered the battle, but Superman was able to beat him after a few minutes; normally, the clone was harder to beat, but his continued mental deterioration caused him to lose much of his remaining coordination.
After that, the heroes just walked through their enemies, barely breaking a sweat; Bullfrag had turned into Spidermonkey, and was now swinging from building to building, firing globs of webbing at any enemy he could see, making them easy prey for his allies. He saw Rampage tackle a gorilla to the ground, about to crush him with her enhanced strength; he dove at her, disappearing in a flash of green light.
"ULTIMATE SPIDERMONKEY!"
Rampage looked up at the deep voice, just in time to get a three-fingered fist to her face. Once he was sure that Rampage was out, Ultimate Spidermonkey helped the gorilla to his feet; to his credit, the gorilla only raised an eyebrow at the alien's appearance, before shoving him out of the way to shoot one of Devil Ray's soldiers, who had been aiming at Ultimate Spidermonkey's back.
"Now we're even," the gorilla said, and Ultimate Spidermonkey recognized the voice; it was Solovar!
In another part of the city, Deadman tried to figure out how he could help; the battle was so chaotic that anybody he possessed would probably get knocked out a few seconds later. Finally, he saw Wonder Woman take down a squad of soldiers, before deflecting a barrage of stingers from Devil Ray. For a moment, Deadman saw red; here was the man directly responsible for the death of the Master!
He dove at Wonder Woman, quickly possessing her, then marched towards Devil Ray.
"You killed my teacher," Deadman/Wonder Woman snarled, "my friend!"
"You'll have to be more specific, lady," Devil Ray said, backing up while he fired, "I've killed a lot of people."
"The old monk!" Deadman/Wonder Woman shouted, before punching Devil Ray across the street, where the impact created a small crater. Deadman/Wonder Woman flew over to Devil Ray, whose armor was cracked and pitted; his breath was interrupted by weak coughs.
"What are you waiting for?" Devil Ray asked, as Deadman/Wonder Woman picked him up by his vest, "You want revenge, take it."
"… No," Deadman/Wonder Woman said, tossing him to the ground, "That's not what he would have wanted."
Deadman left Wonder Woman and flew off, while the Amazon looked around, confused; it took her a moment to realize what had just happened.
"Next time, ask permission!" she yelled.
…
Within the deepest part of the control building, Grodd and Luthor worked frantically at a circular station.
"Tala," Grodd said, holding out a hairy paw, "we're ready for the Heart."
Tala gave the orb to him, which he placed at the center of the station; when he did, the orb began to glow.
"Good, now all I have to do is install this mind-control module," Luthor said, then placed a helmet-like device over the orb, "and now, you can project your will over the entire world… present company excepted, of course."
Luthor felt a little smug, having figured out that Grodd wanted total domination of the minds of everyone on Earth.
"Actually, that's just what I wanted you to think," Grodd said, much to Luthor's surprise, "My true plans are far more grand; Tala?"
The sorceress raised her hands, and a small, rectangular device was magically teleported into them. Luthor examined the object curiously.
"Some sort of genetic reconfiguration matrix?" he asked, unsure of why Grodd would want something like that.
"You show impressive intellect," Grodd said condescendingly, as he installed the device, "for a Homo Sapien."
Grodd grinned as the station grew brighter. "Using the massive carrier-wave that, thanks to you, Gorilla City's shield-generator can now produce, I'm about to send a signal that will rewrite humanoid DNA. A devolution ray that will turn every man, woman and child on Earth… into an ape!"
…
Batman had just kicked one of Devil Ray's troops into another, when Superman and Ultimate Spidermonkey approached him; Wonder Woman was only seconds behind them.
"Are you all okay?" Batman asked.
"Yeah," Superman said, "let's wrap this up."
Before they could do anything, however, a wall of blue-and-gold light rushed at them; out of reflex, Wonder Woman threw a punch as it passed through them. Much to her shock, she emerged on the other side as a gorilla!
"Oh, come on!" she groaned.
Batman and Superman were similarly affected by the energy; both had turned into apes, their costumes bulging from their increased mass. The only hero who was unchanged was Ultimate Spidermonkey, who looked around at his friends, then raised his arms.
"Ha! I win!"
Batman glared at him, then pointed at the control building. "Come on, we might still be able to stop this!"
…
Within the control building, Luthor looked at his transformed hands and grimaced; even Tala, who was devoted to Grodd, looked upset.
"Why am I not surprised?" Luthor deadpanned, as the device began to emit bolts of mystic lightning around the room.
"Grodd!" The villains turned around to see the four heroes charging at them, Superman leading the way.
Luthor aimed his pistol, but Grodd pushed it down.
"Don't bother," Grodd said, "it's too late."
Superman deflected a bolt of lightning, before yelling, "Tell me how to stop it!"
Grodd ignored him. "Get us out of here, Tala!"
The sorceress raised her now-hairy hands, her magic making herself and all the other villains who were still able to fight disappear.
Superman was able to make it to the machine, but Batman, Wonder Woman and Ultimate Spidermonkey were too slow, the lightning knocking them back. With no time to come up with a better plan, Superman ripped the control station, the Heart still inside, out of the floor and hurled it up through the ceiling, then sent a blast of heat-vision after it; the device exploded and, had anyone who was sensitive to such things been there, they would have seen hundreds of green spheres float away.
Superman, as well as the other heroes-turned-apes, began to revert back to their original forms; as they did so, part of the machinery fell and exploded at Superman's feet. Weakened as he was by the magic lightning, he blacked out.
…
"Superman…" the Man of Steel opened his eyes to see a blurry Wonder Woman and Ben, "Superman, can you hear me?"
"Quick, do you have a craving for bananas?" Ben asked, earning himself another smack upside the head from Wonder Woman.
With a grunt, Superman heaved himself into a sitting position. "Is everything okay?"
"Well, I'm sort of missing Flash's obligatory joke about how Grodd made a monkey out of us," Wonder Woman said.
"Just couldn't let it go unsaid," Superman said, smiling.
"Obligatory," Wonder Woman repeated.
"I was going to say it," Ben added, rubbing his sore skull, "but Batman gave me his glare."
Above them, Deadman slumped, his expression depressed.
"That's it guys, yuck it up," he said, "you saved the world, but I failed; everyone in Nandeparvak is gone… forever."
He glanced up as Solovar and a few of his troops entered the building, while Ben turned into Snare-Oh.
"We're in your debt again, Justice League," Solovar said, "This is the second time that Grodd has threatened both our societies."
"If only he and Luthor hadn't gotten away," Superman groused.
"If it's any consolation," Solovar said, "we've picked up nearly a dozen of his super-powered cronies, with more to come, I'm sure."
With the heroes distracted by the gorilla, only Deadman saw the staggering Devil Ray enter the room and aim his stingers at Wonder Woman. Acting fast, he possessed Snare-Oh and rammed the Amazon with his shoulder; she stumbled out of the line of fire, where Deadman/Snare-Oh was hit instead. The shot didn't hurt his cloth body, so he extended a few of his bandages out towards the villain, wrapped him up and swung him overhead, where he collapsed in a heap.
"Nice work, Ben," Wonder Woman said, surprised by her friend's reflexes.
"Actually, that was me," Deadman/Snare-Oh said, "The kid has no idea what just happened."
"I was wondering where you'd gone off to, Boston," Batman said, "Thanks for all you've done."
"No problem," Deadman/Snare-Oh said, feeling a little better having saved at least one life today, before he felt a familiar tug on his spirit-form. "Hey guys, I'm getting called by one of my deity buddies; I'll catch you later, okay?"
Without waiting for an answer, he left Snare-Oh and floated into the air; Snare-Oh shook his head and looked around.
"Okay, what did I miss?"
…
Deadman felt himself being pulled along the mystical plane, though he had no idea where he was going.
"Boston Brand," came the voice of Rama Kushna, "you are to be commended for your actions today. You were gifted with power to balance the scales of karma, and you have done so admirably."
"Now I'm being thanked for failing?" Deadman asked, "I thought I was supposed to save the monks, not let 'em die."
"You are to be rewarded," Rama continued, "For your service, your exile is over."
"No!" Deadman shouted, "I don't deserve it! I don't care if I get to cross over if it means hundreds of people had to die!"
Rama paused, as if she were listening to another speaker. "Perhaps you would be convinced that you are deserving if I showed you the results of your efforts."
In a flash of light, Deadman disappeared.
…
Secret Society HQ
The remaining villains had all gathered in the main conference room, and none of them were happy. At the head of the table, Grodd withstood their glares with stoicism.
"Since there's only one monkey left around here," Lex Luthor said from his position next to Grodd, "I'm assuming that Justice League found a way to stop the carrier-wave."
"There's more than one way to peel a banana," Grodd said, "Next time…"
"I wasn't going to do this for another few weeks, but seriously," Luthor interrupted, as he stood and pointed a pistol at Grodd, "Turning everyone on Earth into apes!? That was your 'master plan'!?"
Luthor fired into Grodd's chest, sending the ape to the ground. He was still alive; Luthor didn't want him dead quite yet. He turned to the other villains.
"Listen up! From now on, I'm in charge of this operation; anybody got a problem with that?"
From the looks of approval, he doubted that anyone would be turning against him anytime soon; he felt a pressure on his arm and found Tala leaning against him.
"No problem at all," she purred, "baby."
…
Nandeparvak
Deadman opened his eyes; even though he was dead, he still rubbed them to make sure that what he was seeing was real.
All around him, the monks began to get to their feet, helping the ones who'd been injured earlier. If he had been alive, Deadman was sure that he would have been weeping in joy.
"When the Heart was shattered," Rama's voice echoed in his mind, "the essences of the monks were set free; their souls have returned to their proper vessels."
Deadman nodded absently; he was too distracted by another happy sight. The Master was alive, too! He required the help of two other monks to stand, but once he was up, he needed no further aid; the Master smiled up at Deadman.
"No one dies in Nandeparvak," the Master said, "I am proud of you, my friend, for the scales are once again balanced; you are ready to pass on to the next level."
Deadman felt a hand rest on his shoulder; he turned to see a woman with milky-white skin, with black hair, lipstick and makeup. She wore a black ankh on a necklace, as well as a black top and pants.
"Hello," she said pleasantly, "I'm Death; I'm here to help you move."
"Move where?" Deadman asked. Death gestured upwards.
"On," she said simply, then nodded at the Master.
The old man nodded back, then turned to Deadman. "Goodbye, my friend."
Deadman felt himself moving again; Nandeparvak disappeared in a white light, as Deadman felt something he hadn't in a long, long time.
Boston Brand felt at peace.
Okay, so while this followed the episode a lot, there were a few things that I changed, and a few things that I absolutely HATED about this episode.
First, Tala acting like a, well, I don't like to be so rude, but she acted like a slut. Even when I was a kid, seeing this episode for the first time, I knew what Tala and Grodd were doing, and all I could say was "ew".
Second, I decided that Deadman didn't deserve getting punished further; besides, we never saw him before or since, so I decided to let him pass on. Also, I used Neil Gaiman's character Death from his Sandman comics.
I DO NOT OWN SANDMAN OR ANY CHARACTERS THEIRIN.
Third, and this almost made me put an axe through my TV the first time I saw it: Grodd's plan. Seriously, I can't believe it; all that buildup to some endgame plan, and it was turning everyone into apes!? That's just stupid! It's Silver Age-level stupid! If I could, I would jump into the TV Persona 4 style and shoot that damn monkey myself! Honestly, Grodd; your plan was just… no. No. No! No! NOOOOOOOO!
Okay, I'm done. Next up is "The Great Brain Robbery"!
The target is ray-shielded, so you will have to use muffin torpedoes.