Bellwood January 4, 01:00
A red portal appeared in the middle of a dimly lit room, various tomes, ancient books, scrolls, and other stolen artifacts ranging from magically imbued accessories, enchanted swords, several mystic charms, and even alien technology were scattered everywhere, some can be found lying on the floor, others were neatly placed at the study table, while some were in the shelves, lazily placed.
Ben walked out from the portal and carelessly tossed the necklace away in a nearby couch, he removed his hood and the glamour charm he's been wearing, revealing a tired and annoyed face
"Dammit how did I miss that!?" said Ben while groggily walking towards the couch with the necklace
He then sit in the couch eyeing the artifact, he then hold the artifact and inspected it near his face
"I should be more careful next time, no more going all commando and stuff", and with a sigh, he laid his body in the couch
"Sleep now, study later" said Ben tiredly while his eyes slowly closes, now being slowly engulf in the feeling of slumber.
Happy Harbor, Mt. Justice January 4, 01:00
The Team returned home through the hangar and went straight to the briefing room
"Report" said Batman in a stern tone
"The mission was a failure, and the culprit got away" said Nightwing, but Batman can tell from his facial expression which was expertly hidden and tone that was calmly spoken that he was ashamed
"How many were stolen?" said Batman
"Only one, the devil's heart" answered M'gann
"But why just one?" asked Jamie
"yeah, I don't get it too either" said Garfield
"Maybe he only had enough time to steal just one?" said La'gaan
"I don't think so, when I saw him, he was just focusing on getting the devil's heart", "But why?" said a skeptical Connor
"Who's the culprit?" said Batman
"That we don't know, I've never seen him in any criminal records or news reports, not even the League's Database" replied Nightwing
"Whoever our mysterious guess is, he sure can do one heck of a beating, my side still stings" said Garfield while rubbing his right waist
"Explain" said Batman
"The thief blasted Garfield with a green laser, from Garfield's previous position and condition, I say he was stunned" said Nightwing
"The blast also came out from the thief's staff" added Jamie
"For now, I'll get Doctor Fate to look into this, dismiss" and with that, the holoscreen went off
"Well… I don't know about you guys but I'm going to hit the hay, you comin' M'gann?" invited La'gaan
"Sure, let's go" answered M'gann
And with that, the two went out of the briefing room, the rest of the Team also headed back to their own rooms and called it a night.
Morning came in at Mt. Justice, Wally, Dick and Connor were watching the news at the Team's Lounge with a male reporter discussing the event
"Aliens have managed to infiltrate the UN, several UN members and officials are now skeptical towards the recent event, further mistrust has been growing inside the UN with paranoia taking over, and on other news, a heist occurred in the New York City Central Museum"
The scene changed and a female reporter was in the scene of the crime while being near the damages
"Chaos is everywhere as we can see here, the police says it may have been a metahuman criminal who broke in and managed to steal the precious Indian artifact known as the Devil's Heart, detectives are still trying to trace the criminal's identity while figuring out the thief's motives on why they stole only just one"
The scene changed and now we see the previous male reporter on the station
"Thank you Catherine, on recent events, Indian government officials have come to the United States to talk about the missing artifact…" Wally then turned the TV off.
"So… how'd you guys managed to lose both the fight and the artifact?" questioned Wally
"It's complicated" said Connor with a shrug
"He seems to have an arsenal of different powers when we confronted him, although he has a staff that lets him use his powers, and a satchel that has assorted things inside it that provides him with excellent distractions, Batman also said he'll go get Doctor Fate to look into this, with both of those cases, I guess our mysterious guess uses Magic" answered Dick while putting together all that he about their previous encounter
"Ha! Magic's not real, for all we know, that guy just has an advance weapon that looks like a staff!" exclaimed Wally
Garfield then entered the Lounge
"Sup you guys!? Have you heard about the news where an alien bounty hunter managed to infiltrate the UN to take down a UN official who happens to be an alien!?" exclaimed Garfield
"Yeah, an alien bounty hunter named Lobo managed to get inside the UN building, his target was a Krolotean disguised as a human UN member" answered Connor
Dick reached his fingers on his left ear where his communicator is located "Mission briefing in 3"
The Team was assembled in the briefing room
"Traces of Zeta particles can be found throughout Earth, we suspect this is the process the aliens have been using to infiltrate the planet, since the League are off limits to some intergalactic territories, this will be a covert mission, Miss Martian, Beast Boy and Superboy will be going to planet Rann, meet with Adam Strange, he will explain the situation" briefed Batman via holoscreen
With that, the three left the room and went to the Zeta Tubes
The remaining members, Wonder Girl, Nightwing, and Kid Flash stand ready for their missions to be given
"You will be escorting several alien techs to STAR labs, reports indicates that this alien techs have been around since the 18th century and have just been recently discovered accidently, because of the sensitivity of the mission, more of the Team members will be joining in, rendezvous at Boston and deliver the package at Metropolis STAR Labs" and with that, the holoscreen went off
The Team then went to the Zeta tubes to be transported to Boston.
Boston January 4, 10:00
The Team has arrived at the rendezvous point, upon closer inspection at the STAR Labs building, a singular truck was parked and guarded by military soldiers equipped with STAR Lab's latest energy rifles.
"Welcome, I'm Burton Thompsons, head of security in STAR Lab's Taos branch, as you may know, the alien Tech came from an Egyptian expedition sponsored by STAR Labs, a random seismic activity happened and the tomb almost collapsed, some of our best scientist were trapped and called for help via radio communicators, while they were waiting for help to arrive, they saw an entrance that they haven't seen before entering the tomb, they discovered several artifacts we suspect extraterrestrial in origin. We delivered the alien techs at New Mexico's STAR Labs branch but we were unable to run full tests since the Tao's STAR Labs branch specialize in advance medical research, we delivered it here via Zeta Tube to keep it secure, we can't deliver it straight to Metropolis since the Metropolis's STAR Labs Zeta tube was damaged and wasn't fit to be operational"
"Don't worry, we'll take it from here" said Nightwing
He was given a nod by the head security
"These soldiers will be with you to provide you with additional backup if the situation becomes too heated" said the captain while gesturing to the military personnel around them
Nightwing gave him a nod, he then went back to his team
"Remember, this mission is a high profile one, the truck will be travelling inside Massachusetts to New Jersey, while in Massachusetts, we'll be surrounded by civilians until we get to New Jersey where our route will change from urban to rural"
The Team gave him several words saying they understand before riding, Wonder Girl was atop of the truck, while Kid Flash was on the road using his speed to catch up to the truck, Nightwing was currently on his own Batcycle.
Ben was currently sitting on his work bench, studying the artifact's mystic abilities, within the table were several ancient scrolls, an Indian history book and a laptop
"Whoa! This one actually traps a demon's essence!? How cool is that!?" said Ben towards the computer
"I guess it's pretty amazing, I mean, trapping sprits is one thing, but to trap a demon's essence? That seriously needs some serious enchantments, not to mention a proper way to dispose it" said a young lady the same age as Ben
She has a red hair tied back into a ponytail, forest green eyes, fair skin and was quite beautiful even from the computer screen, her name was Gwendolyn Tennyson or Gwen by her friends, she and Ben are cousins, both possessing magical abilities and practicioners of the mystic arts
She specializes in Aether manipulation or Mana Manipulation, Gwen is a powerful sorceress and an excellent university student, though, she doesn't like to be involved with Ben's 'adventures', she does provides him with intel and other tips, she currently possesses a captured Green Lantern ring and a stolen Pink Lantern ruby, this two were enough to peek her interest unlike her cousin who has been 'studying' other artifacts illegally
"By the way, STAR Labs just uncovered an artifact from Egypt, their reports says it's extraterrestrial in origin, they're currently delivering it to the Metropolis STAR Labs" said Gwen
"Well… I'm heading their now" said Ben while grabbing a piece of toast with butter
"You forgot to eat your breakfast didn't you?" said Gwen smiling while folding her arms
"Uhhh…. No… this is just a snack..?" said Ben trying to come up with a convincing lie
"Of course" Gwen gave him a tone indicating that she's not buying it
"Okay..! So I forgot to eat breakfast, big deal" said Ben while chewing toast
"Ben, you're seriously going to steal tech away in a moving vehicle guarded by trained soldiers who are armed with state of the art energy rifles and 3 heroes" said Gwen in a concerned voice
"Heroes?" asked Ben while grabbing milk from the fridge
"The league deployed 3 junior members, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Nightwing, if my calculations are correct, more will be joining in" replied Gwen
"I can handle them!" said Ben smirking
"Just be careful ok?" said Gwen before going offline
Ben was now on his Animagus outfit, waiting on top of a skyscraper to ambush the convoy, he was currently devising plans and actions to steal the artifacts and an escape route should his plans fail, Ben squinted his eyes under his hood and saw his target, four military Humvees are guarding the truck's sides, a blonde girl was atop of the truck, a reddish blur who Ben recognizes as Kid Flash, and a motorcycle with a striking resemblance to that of Batman's themes for his transport driven by Nightwing
"Should I go all stealth or go straight on? They're small in numbers, but they look to be pretty balanced" asked Ben to himself
And with that, he flew off of the building and towards the convoy, he turned himself invisible and intangible in front of the approaching truck, he phased through the truck and is now inside its cargo, there were 2 spec ops snipers wearing night vision goggles guarding the cargo, Ben gathered his focus, and produce a green concentrated beam, stunning both the spec ops at the same time, knocking them out cold, Ben's mission was a go
He searched the cargos by accessing to its minicomputer panel attached to the wall, currently, the artifacts are no bigger than a baseball ball, the artifacts are spherical in shape with a white crystal like appearance and several black circuit designs covering some parts of the artifact, there are currently 3 artifacts on the convoy, sealed inside several secure boxes with different passwords
Ben can't hack the boxes in his current situation since he may risk getting caught, he would just instead deactivate the tracking device in the boxes, carry the boxes with him, and hack the password back to his safe house
To get out, Ben will now execute part 2 of his plan, doing major damage, the plan was simple, Ben would make a clone of himself, since he can't turn the boxes both invisible and intangible, he'll just have to turn himself invisible while carrying them, make the clone burst out of the truck's cargo, the clone provides a diversion, and the real him could just waltz out of the scene of the crime undetected, simple yet complicated at the same time
With a deep breath, he made a silicon based clone of himself, made the exact boxes he stole through the use of an illusion spell and handed it over to his clone, then made himself invisible
"Any signs of-" before Nightwing could finish his sentence, the cargo area of the truck burst with fire
Ben then came out carrying with him the boxes
The truck and Humvees stopped in their tracks, the soldiers came out of the Humvees and activated their weapons, Ben's clone ran several meters away from the truck, the heroes and soldiers followed suit
Kid Flash managed to block the escape route of the clone "Going somewhere?" jeered Kid Flash
Wonder Girl, Nightwing and the soldiers made a circular formation around the clone with their weapons aimed at him, the clone put the boxes down and put his hands in the air
"Freeze!" said the soldier
"That's actually an excellent suggestion!" said the clone
His arms bursts with a powerful blizzard attack, freezing half of the soldiers and incasing them in ice
"Fire!" said the soldier's leader
"Another excellent suggestion!" Ben then surrounded himself in a ring of fire that's rapidly expanding out
The soldiers felt the intense heat and withdraw to a safer distance bringing with them their frozen comrades, Kid Flash circled the clone and made a giant tornado to suck all the oxygen out from the fire, when the fire died down, the thief was gone
"Where'd he go!?" he searched between his field of vision until he looked at his back
"Sup!?" said Ben then using a powerful lighting spell against the speedster
Kid Flash screamed in pain and collapsed
"Kid!" said Wonder Girl
"Relax, he's not dead… yet" said the Ben clone in a careless tone
With a battle cry, Wonder Girl charged at the clone, Nightwing provided support by throwing several flash pellets that would momentarily daze foes, the clone sidestepped, making Wonder Girl miss her attack and landing several meters from him, she charged again but this time, it would be an aerial attack
Ben has been observing several people whose powers are based on high level physical strength, they're always immobilized by the goo, the clone then threw a disk towards Wonder Girl, the next that came out was the goo, it quickly entangled her, she tried to pry the goo off of her but with no tangible contact, it would be impossible to pry it out by brute force, Ben was about to electrify her when several boomerangs managed to get the clone's attention
The boomerang were flying towards him, with a simple hand gesture, the boomerangs stopped midflight
"Is that all can do? Throw stuff?" said the clone taunting Nightwing
Nightwing smirked and there was a beeping sound, the clone eyes went wide, the boomerangs were rigged to explode, the explosion caught the clone, blasting him several feet away, although the clone didn't sustain much damage, the clone was now covered with dirt
Nightwing threw another boomerang, this time Ben was ready, the boomerang was near him and he braced himself, the boomerang didn't hit him and instead made a curve around him, the clone was about to say that he miss but when he followed the boomerang's trajectory, he knew that he wasn't aiming for him, but to Wonder Girl
The boomerang sticked to the goo and exploded with a cool smoke, Ben's goo was now frozen and through Wonder Girls strength, managed to break herself out, Nightwing and Wonder Girl came at him, throwing punches and kicks, the clone dodges any parries using his staff, Wonder Girl was slow but has the strength to seriously damage him while Nightwing was agile and fast but lacks the brute force to do any real harm to him thanks to his charms that provides him with an invisible armor.
"You're pretty good" said Wonder Girl to the clone
"You're not bad yourself" said Ben
"You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! That's cute~" mocked Wonder Girl
Ben was both dodging Wonder Girls powered attacks and Nightwings barrages of kicks and tricks
Nightwing charged at the clone, Ben was ready to electrocute him, Nightwing then turned his charge into a jump and threw several smoke pellets on the ground, shrouding the battlefield, the clone can't see anything and it was hard to breathe, he was then hit by a powerful punch in the stomach by Wonder Girl from the smoke, launching several feet's away and hitting a nearby van in his back while in the process
The clone moaned and was unable to get up, the soldiers circled him with their weapons aimed at him
"Don't move!" ordered a soldier
Nightwing came to see if Kid Flash was ok
"What happened?" said Kid Flash while rubbing his head
"We won! Score 1 for the good guys!" said Wonder Girl cheerily
"Come on, let's go before we lose the thief again" said Nightwing while supporting Kid Flash by the arm.
The 3 heroes went to their fallen foe
"Who are you?" questioned Wonder Girl
"Me? Oh, I'm just a nobody" said the clone
"Who do you work for?" questioned Kid Flash
"Nobody" answered the clone
"Well it's been fun but I have to be going" said the clone weakly
"And how are you going to do that!? You're weakened! We beat you!" shouted Wonder Girl
"Not exactly~ " said the clone until it burst in a small puff of smoke
"W-What!?" exclaimed a confused Wonder Girl
"Dammit! He got away! Again!" yelled Kid Flash
"Look, at least he left the artifacts, our mission was to guard them" said Nightwing pointing at the boxes on the middle of their circle formation
A soldier went to grab a box but was unable to hold it as if the box itself were a hologram
"What the-!?" said the soldier, the boxes then vanished into thin air like a mirage
The heroes and the soldiers were shocked upon seeing this.