Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or Young Justice.
Humanity
Over the last month, Ben and M'gaan found they enjoyed nothing more than spending time alone together; just lying on the steps to the main-hall of Mount Justice was the most peaceful time in their lives. During the hours just after school, they didn't have to hide their relationship or pretend to be platonic in an unconvincing manner, Wally, Dick, and Artemis lived in another city so they only came by later on after they'd gone home for some time first, Kaldur spent a large amount of time in Atlantes if not out with Aquaman, and Superboy simply stayed in one place inside the cave not leaving the couch or garage for hours at a time. M'gaan could freely lie her head on her boyfriend's lap and allow her long crimson-hair to spread out across his legs while he gently brushed his fingers through it with a rhythmic-tone. Ben felt nothing but pure bliss in these moments, he loved them with everything he knew; it took his mind off of all of the stressful things in life and allowed him to focus on the small things that made him happy.
Suddenly though, he felt hot, like a distant flame was heating them up resembling a camp-fire. Soon, he was sweating from head to toe but he didn't want to get up from his position or open his eyes, he was too comfortable until, the heat grew to an intolerable level, to a level he knew would make M'gaan frail. He slowly opened his eyes as everything came into view and took in the sights around him; everything was on fire, even the water somehow managed to stay combustive. A fourteen-foot tall silhouette with glowing crimson eyes stood just at his feet, he glanced down to his lap noticing M'gaan was gone turning his head upwards he realized what had happened. The silhouette had a lifeless body with long red hair impaled on his claw; tears welled in his eyes as he jumped back and slapped his wrist but, he felt only his skin.
The Ultimatrix was gone but, it hadn't gone far as he looked up and the silhouette faced his forearm up dawning the Ultimatrix on his wrist; Ben tried to summon his mana instead but, he couldn't manifest even the smallest amount, let alone an attack strong enough to injure this foe.
Ben stumbled back utterly terrified; it was happening all over again, he couldn't do a thing this time, not even lash out in anger. He tripped backwards landing on his hands as the figure took a step or two forwards Ben could feel the heat of the flames, his entire body shook in terror, he tried to get away but no matter how far he crawled the enemy was still just a few feet away.
Suddenly, Ben heard voices shout from behind the figure; he glanced around it and through his tears finding Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Manhunter, Aquaman, and several others in a fighting stance with enraged looks. The entire Justice League stood prepared to battle the demonic shadowy presence, "You think they'll make a difference this time?" his voice was deep and raspy at the same time but, it haunted his every day anyways.
The figure tossed the lifeless body of M'gaan M'orzz from his hand into the fire beside them and turned around facing the Justice League as the setting instantly changed; every single member of the League was brutally mutilated in a pile as the figure turned around once again to face Ben, "They. Will. Not."
Ben fell to his hand and knees and attempted to keep the contents of his stomach from spilling; he dry heaved several times with spit spilling on the floor in front of him before looking up at the scene around him. Superboy, Kaldur, Artemis, Robin, and Wally had at the entrance and were ready to avenge their elders; they seemed enraged but, they didn't even notice Ben or hear him.
"Just run! Please! Run away!
They didn't hear him as they ran into battle using every weapon and skill at their disposal, nothing even grazed the figure as he simply murdered them one after the other; impaling Superboy, decapitating Robin and Artemis, frying Kaldur with his heat-vision, and tearing Wally's legs out from under him. He could smell the blood in the air as he backed away into a nearby corner with tears streaming down his face, tucking his cowering head into his knees.
The shadowy figure manifested in front of him, crouching down next to him and placed a single clawed finger on Ben's chin, pulling his head up to meet his demonic red eyes, "I always keep my promises, Ben Tennyson."
...
Mount Justice; October 25th; 5:07AM
Ben flew up from his position in bed, panting loudly and drenched in sweat; his entire half of the bed was soaked and he was having trouble breathing. He felt his neck searching for his pulse beating rapidly and he had never been so relieved to wake up from a nightmare before; he felt a hand press against his as M'gaan opened her eyes to face him from her side of the mattress.
"I'm sorry, I didn't wake up in time to-"
Ben looked down holding his head, "It's fine, i didn't mean to wake you in the first place."
She sat up and gave a solemn look as she rubbed her eyes in the cutest way possible wearing nothing but one of Ben's black t-shirts with an emerald stripe down the center as she reached out and grabbed Ben's hand again, "Here, let me..." she reached up and grabbed hold of his head, rubbing his temples as her eyes illuminated bright gree in the darkness, she wiped away all negative emotions and felt all of the pain as she did.
"They're getting worse, aren't they?" She asked as she leaned his head back into her lap.
He sighed and closed his eyes as she sent soothing waves of euphoria and dopamine into his psyche, "And more frequent," he grabbed her hands and looked up at her through a corridor of crimson hair that hung down around her face, "You feel asleep here again," he said as she smiled.
"You were so comfortable," she gave a smile that warmed his heart, so cute and endearing, he couldn't help but smile.
"Do you want me to take you back to bed? I could carry you," he offered but she shook her head as her hair danced with her motion.
"I think I can spend the whole night here, it's not a big deal," she smiled wider as he cuddled into her lap, "Think you'll be able to get back to sleep? Or do you think you'll have another nightmare?"
"I only wish they were nightmares," Ben sat up and dragged his hands down his face and slowly looked into her eyes, "They're mental attacks from Vilgax's imagination, he's showing me what he want's to do to me every other night. Until it's over I'm completely convinced it's real, that's what Veronica told me anyways."
M'gaan looked down at the bed and then back up to Ben, "Do you need to talk about it?"
"I'd rather just keep it between us; like you said, I can't have the League thinking I'm mentally unfit to lead," he placed a hand on her face and smiled, "It's fine, I just dont think i can sleep anymore tonight is all."
M'gaan hesitated for a moment "Are you sure?"
"Yea," he leaned over and pressed his lips against her as she closed her eyes, "Just go back to sleep, i'll be fine."
"If you want i could get up with you make breakfast," she yawned loudly as her eyes drooped.
He placed a hand to her forehead, "Nah, i'll be fine, Somnus," the incantation quickly allowed her to drift uncontrollably into a warm slumber, she fell back into the pillow and cuddled the blankets like a child, she truly was the sweetest girl he'd ever met.
He looked at the clock, five-thirty in the morning, that was enough sleep anyways; he stood and slipped on a pair of pants and walked out of the room, the spell he used was guaranteed to keep her asleep for at least five more hours so, he didn't need to worry about waking her on his way out.
…
He walked out into the main-hall where the lights were already on, in the center of the room was Veronica, sitting in a meditative position as her violet skin illuminated the entire room like a miniature star, he stared for a moment until clearing his throat causing her to break her concentration, "Oh, it's early, I didn't expect you up," she spoke without opening her eyes still meditating.
"Couldn't sleep," he raised a brow and walked around her towards the kitchenette, "What're you doing anyways?"
She opened one eye to watch him, "Trying out a spell that locks dimensional barriers; no luck though, I'm just not strong enough," he reached for the fridge and opened it letting out a long yawn and grabbing the orange juice.
"I could have told you that; spells as advanced as that dont work, even experienced Anodites have trouble completing them, neither of us could perform one," he drank right from the bottle, sipping down a large amount before pulling away and burping, "One way or another, he'll come and this world wont be ready..."
He walked passed her as she slowly floated back down to her feet, "You'll beat him though, wont you?"
He stopped and chuckled with his back facing her, "I'm Ben Tennyson... I can do anything," he sounded as though he was confident but, she couldn't see the doubt in his eyes, the fear, the unsure frown he truly had on. He wiped the uncertainty from his face and put on a fake smile, "I'm going to train here though, mind if you meditate out of the holo-ring?"
She smiled and stepped out of the way, "Of course," she could tell through his emotions that he wasn't as confident as he let on but, she couldn't pry after only knowing him for such a little amount of time.
...
Mount Justice; October 25th; 11:44AM
Ben focused his mana in the center of the holo-ring whilst the others trained at the same time; He listened to the sparing going on around them as M'gaan, Artemis, Robin, Superboy, Wally, and Kaldur all went toe to toe with one-another around them. Captain Marvel and Black Canary stood by and watched as M'gaan and Kaldur were taking on Conner and Wally whilst Artemis and the boy-wonder swapped hands alone on the opposite end of the ring.
M'gaan blocked one of Wally's punches and redirected the force to the side and used her opposing hand to grab his wrist and flip him overhead onto his back. This lasted a mere two seconds as he back-sprung onto his feet and threw a jump round-kick which nearly caught her in the face if Kaldur hadn't interjected with his right-forearm, however; this was short lived when Conner grappled Kaldur by the waist and leaned back to the ground pile-driving the Atlantean onto his back.
Wally slipped down and swept Kaldur's feet out from under him, before M'gaan tried round-housing him to the ground being foiled by Wally ducking beneath the attack and grabbing her foot by the ankle and twisting it in such a way that wouldn't break it but, sent her spinning into the air and landing on her stomach. Kaldur had already stood and use this as an opportunity to drop-kick Wally onto his back before leaping into the air for a face-stomp which was expertly avoided by the speedster rolling over and flipping to his feet. Conner came in sending three jabs to the face being deflected with his dense forearms which he used to grab one of the Kryptonian's fists and pull him to the ground before watching him roll back to his feet.
Black Canary clapped and stepped into the holo-ring as they all paused their movements and faced her out of respect for their trainer, Captian Marvel approached the team with Black Canary following close behind, "Well, it's been a pleasure helping train you, all of you; we've enjoyed being your 'den-mother' this week."
"How come Ben doesn't have to train!?" Wally shouted wiping sweat from his brow and pointing over at the floating Tennyson mediatating in the center of the ring.
Canary put her hands on her hips, "Ben has been here since six-in-the-morning, he trained four three hours before doing some sort of energy control training," Ben spoke up correcting her before she could finish.
"Five in the morning, actually, and it's mana concentration; it helps fortify my mind and my body."
Wally stomped his foot, "Still, not fair if you ask me..."
"It's a good thing no one asked you then," Artemis chuckled as the teleporters fired up behind them.
"Recognized; Zatara 11."
From the tube stepped a middle-aged man with a handle-bar mustache wearing a classic twenties magician-esque tuxedo with a long top-hat and cane to match; he immediately turned to the command pad not far from the entrance tube and began typing away until it accepted his request.
"Access Granted: Zatanna Zatara A03; Authorization Zatara 11."
The tube exploded with lights and particles once again as this time a teenage girl, around thirteen years old, walked through wearing a button up white blouse, navy blue skirt, dress-heels, and raven black hair hanging down to her shoulders. She folded her hands behind her back as M'gaan approached with a kind greeting, "Zatanna, this is the team," Zatara waved his cane over at the group of teens, "Team, my daughter Zatanna."
"Hi! I'm-" M'gaan was interrupted by Dick leaping forwards and finishing her sentence.
"Robin!" He cleared his throat for a moment before continuing, "I mean, I'm Robin, she's M'gaan and that's Wally, Artemis, Ben, Kaldur, and Conner."
They each gave a warm smile and a wave, "Welcome to the cave," Kaldur added casually.
"Uh, thanks," She responded nervously, looking towards her father for a moment.
Dick rubbed the back of his neck and stuttered, "Are y-you joining the team?" His hopes were shattered by Zatara dropping his cane inbetween the two and adding himself into their conversation.
"L-Lets not get ahead of ourselves; this is… strictly a visit," he nervously panned back to Black Canary for support but, wasn't granted much, "Although, I am sorry we missed the training, it's something that Zatanna could have benefited…" he trailed off speaking to Canary whilst the teens looked to one another.
M'gaan initiated her telepathic communication on the shallowest of levels to avoid any invasion of privacy, displaying this message to her fellow team-mates, "Does anyone else get the impression that we're still on probation with Zatara?"
"Not just Zatara," Conner pointed out, "Why is Marvel still hanging around?"
Artemis sighed internally, "Because they clearly don't trust us to handle a threat ourselves."
Kaldur agreed and stepped forward into the nigh-huddle they'd formed, "Almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenor as our supervisor…"
Robin scoffed mentally, "Yea, at least he trusted us!"
Conner physically raised his hands in protest, "If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him! He was a trader, that machine nearly got all of us killed!"
"Uh..." Ben pointed at Zatanna who was staring at them with a confused glare; obviously noticing their gestures as if talking aloud.
"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" She asked aloud which turned the heads of the entire team including the Leaguers, "Because I can't decide if that's really cool or really rude."
Conner gave an eye towards their superiors which were just as curious as she was before groaning loudly, "Alright fine! We were talking about Tornado; it's been weeks since his attack and the league hasn't told us anything."
Canary frowned, "The League is searching for Red Tornado and the androids that invaded the cave as well as their creator, Tio Morrow," she continued as they all turned to listen, "Batman has made tracking their location his top priority."
Ben gave a coy smile and folded his arms, "Yet, you've found none of the above."
"Not yet," Canary corrected, "But, Red Tornado was Justice League; The Team will not pursue this."
Zatara cleared his throat and interjected passively once again, "Why don't you give Zatanna a tour... of the…" he looked around and searched but, took several seconds to notice her laying with Superboy's pet Wolf in the corner near the exit tubes, "Cave."
"Cool!" Captain Marvel noted as he approached but, before he could offer his tagging along, Conner stepped in.
"Actually, I was hoping you could take Wolf outside; he could use the exercise!" Marvel looked down at Wolf for a moment before smiling widely, "We'll join you in a few."
"Sure, sure; I can do that!" he turned and ran casually towards the back-exit, "C'mon, Wolf!"
Conner, Wally, Artemis, Ben, Kaldur, M'gaan, and Zatanna all headed down the corridor from the main-hall leading to the kitchenette and living space to commence the 'tour' when the magicans daughter ran up towards the front of the group next to Ben, M'gaan, and Kaldur.
"We aren't actually taking a tour, are we?" she asked with a dull exasperation in her tone.
"Nope, we're finding that android," Ben replied stopping and turning to his team for approval receiving nods from his friends in response.
"Oh, wow, out loud and everything," She sarcastically chided.
"What about new girl?" Wally reasonably questioned until Dick shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm sure she won't tell, will you?"
She shrugged looking back at the room where Zatara and Black Canary boringly discussed League business, "I won't tell if you don't; I could really use some action since my dad never lets me out of the house to begin with," Zatanna was genuinely ready to join a super-hero team of people in her own age-group after her fathers strict rules since becoming a teenager.
"Strength in numbers?" Dick added generously.
Ben shrugged, not caring wither way, "Whatever, sounds good to me; M'gaan, think you can prep the bioship for us?"
She hopped giddily and gave a joyful clap, "Duh! It's been weeks since she's been out of the hangar!"
…
The Team plus Zatanna was now fully strapped into the Bio-Ship and flying three-thousand feet above the city when an incoming communication beeped on the pilot's console; M'gaan quickly answered telekinetically, "M'gaan, the Bio-Ship wasn't authorized for takeoff."
M'gaan thought on her toes for a moment before responding giddily, "We're kidnapping Zatanna," she received looks from the entire team awkwardly trying to correct herself, "To show her Happy Harbor, I mean."
There was a brief moment of silence until Canary reluctantly responded, "Roger that… have fun?"
The communication halted there as the team now focused on their real objective, tracking down Red Tornado; "Where are we going? Batman is the worlds greatest detective, and he's searched for Tornado in every logical location," Robin turned to the rest of the team, "If we're going to find him we're going to need an illogical solution... a truly dumb idea."
The entire team turned their heads over to seat where Wally sat looking out the window until, he noticed and shrugged his shoulders, "Now that you mention it," he gave a coy smile as they listened for his explanation.
...
Unknown Location
A tall man with brown hair shun a laser-scanner into the eyes of two even taller androids which had been shut off and rendered stationery. Their hide out seemed to be located somewhere underground but was, so well hidden it would be hard to tell. He routinely scanned both eyes of both Red Inferno and Red Torpedo; the fire and water manipulating androids respectively. He soon pressed a single marker on the scanner he held and they both lit up with crimson light in their eyes.
"Look, Tornado, your brother and sister are both online," A strapping man with dark hair and a twenties curled mustache wore a long white lab coat while he fiddled with the insides of Red Tornado which had been immobilized and left strapped to an operation table, "We'll have you up and running again too, maybe even turn your voice box back on." He turned around with a layer of cords setting them down on a workbench behind him.
"As soon as I'm done copying and downloading your memory files," He pulled up a chair and plugged Tornado's brain into a nearby computer, "In the meantime, why don't I tell you a story?"
…
Belle Reve Parish; Louisiana; 2:33PM
"Warden Strange owed us a favor for stopping last months break out," M'gaan noted aloud referring to a solo mission her and Superboy had taken part in not too long ago involving being fake prisoners in this very penitently to stop the referred to breakout, "In return he gave us 5 minutes with you," she slapped her hands on a cold metal table in a small interrogation room with a single pane of two-way glass separating the security from them.
The entire team was behind her as Superboy was the nearest to Ivo aside from M'gaan, "Spill Ivo, how do we find Tio Morrow and his Reds?"
Ivo, the short ginger scientist from the battle with Amazo had been captured not long after the android was fried; he'd been held here since, "Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?"
Wally stepped forwards, "Because, you're his biggest competitor in the evil android game; who better to keep track of what he's up to and where?"
Ivo raised his hand to his chin, "Ah, I see your point, than let me rephrase; why in the world would I tell you where to find Morrow?"
Kaldur stepped forwards and nodded to M'gaan, "He knows, do what you must."
She knelt down beside him and reached out to his mind telepathically; her eyes lit up neon green as she attempted to strip the information from him.
"Oh please!" Ivo shouted breaking M'gaan's link too easily, "As if I've never faced a telepath before!"
Zatanna stepped out from behind the group and approached Ivo from his right-hand side, "Esab terces eht fo noitacol eht laever!"
Ivo's eyes widened as his mouth moved uncontrollably, "Morrow's base is located in a secret under-ground bunker beneath Yellow Stone National Park; 100 meters south of Ol' Faithful," he blinked a looked around, "Wait... what just happened?"
...
Yellow Stone National Park; Wyoming; 5:12PM
"Download complete," Tio Morrow used a remote hooked up to a lever-system to lower down a metallic-canister from above the laboratory as it reached the ground and opened itself; it revealed a fourth android, taller and bulkier than Red Tornado or his siblings.
"Time for the uploads," He basked in his glorious triumph before clearing his throat, "But first, introductions; Red Tornado, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, meet your bouncing baby brother, Red Volcano!" On the half-opened canister sat the android in question which was a darker maroon-red with highlighted glowing yellow markings running across his body leading to a symbol on his chest standing for 'volcanic eruption.'
"This Red wont bother infiltrating the heroes, he'll simply destroy them, with the help of your memories," he plugged Volcano in and began typing access keys into the main console, "Finally the inventor has created a machine that transcends the need to be human," the scientist programmed a remote and pulled it from the computer console before facing Red Volcano, "No more Pinocchios."
The android sat up as his eyes flashed crimson and the outlines of his joints followed the same example, he faced his creator and slipped his feet on to the ground, standing at a whopping seven-feet tall, he immediately grabbed and crushed the remote in Morrow's hand before grabbing his other free hand restraining him, "Hello, father."
"Son, you're hurting me…"
Red Volcano responded with a coy remark, "Yes, but, pain is so human," before stretching Morrow like silly-putty, "And per your programming, I've transcended any need for humans," he easily ripped Tio Morrow's arms from their sockets revealing wires, sparks, and circuits instead of veins and blood.
"No more pinocchios," he reached out and crushed Morrow's robotic head with his heel before spinning around discarding his arms to the side, "Did you know father was an android?"
The other three androids gave silence as a response easily confirming they weren't aware, "Ugh! Humans are annoying," he stared down at the crushed robotic face of his former father with an annoyed glare.
…
The Bio-Ship flew above the ground only a dozen or so miles from the massive national park at descending speeds of over 800MPH, it's camouflage mode allowed them to approach the underground base of Tio-Morrow undetected; "Black out all external communication, soon Canary, Zatara, and Batman too I imagine, will be made aware of our little visit with Dr. Ivo," Ben smiled and glanced over noticing Robin's blushing stare at Zatanna.
"Look," Robin announced as M'gaan followed Ben's instructions, "I'm trying to be as nonchalant as possible but…"
Zatanna interjected with her response, "Why? Be as chalant as you want," receiving a short blush from the boy-wonder which cut off his train of thought.
Artemis intervened motioning towards Zatanna, "I think we're all just trying to get a handle on the majority of your powers…" She received a raised brow from the magician girl, "Like, can you teleport us to Morrow? Or the Red's to a jail cell? Or disable their powers?"
Zatanna continued her questioning herself, "Or create world peace on Earth for all time?" he sighed and looked back to the window, "Even Zatara couldn't do all that and I am no where near my dad's level of sorcery."
They blinked for a moment as she smiled nonchalantly at Robin, "What's our ETA to Yellow Stone? I'm way passed ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor," Superboy shouted.
"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Kaldur asked as Conner turned hastily with an angered expression.
"Aren't you?!"
"I am not convinced, and even if I was, it makes him but the victim of his creators programming," Kaldur narrowed his eyes at Superboy, "Certainly he deserves the opportunity to prove he is more than the weapon others designed him to be," He clearly referenced Conner's own escape from Cadmus' mental brainwashing.
Superboy closed his eyes and understood, keeping quiet and turning back around to face the team in silence.
...
"Listen to me my brothers, my sister, I have been downloaded with all of your memories, fathers too, although, he left out the part about being an android," he was obviously irritated at that but, still continued otherwise, "But, he did program me with his plan, our destiny," he tapped a computer console and brought up schematics for the depths of Yellow Stone including the volcano lying within.
"There is a semi-dormant super-volcano beneath Yellow Stone; Father gave me the power to activate it in three stages, the eruption will decimate the planet and kill millions, trapping the rest in an impenetrable cloud of ash," he turned back to his siblings whilst the holographic screen displayed his words perfectly, "While humanity struggles to survive we four will build a Red army to make this Earth a perfect planet."
Suddenly, the phone on Morrow's work-shop desk begun ringing, Red Volcano sighed and stepped over modifying his voice before answering, "Morrow?" the voice on the other end asked, "It's Ivo."
"I'm here Anthony, what do you wan't?" Volcano's voice perfectly mimicked that of his creators, pretentious and disinterested.
"Reluctantly, to warn you," he continued looking back at the corrupt Warden Huge Strange that allowed him to call his competitor against prison policy, "The children have learned your location; I dont believe they've told their elders and betters but, they're on their way."
Red Volcano turned to Tornado standing across the lab and spoke in Morrow's voice, "Perfect."
...
"Stealth mode," Ben announced dialing up a hologram and slapping the dial emerginf from the emerald light as Ghostfreak; Wally and Artemis tapped their chests and allowed their uniforms to meld into a black and grey variant. Aqualad did the same only he tapped his Atlantean belt to activate the change whilst M'gaan simply used her mental prowess to shift her organic-clothing's appearance.
The bay-door to the Bio-Ship melted open as Ghostfreak approached the grass, "I'd recommend staying put," but before he could continue she gave a coy smile in response.
"Is that an order?"
"I suppose you'll have to do whatever you see fit..."
"Cool," she noted as she lifted her hands and closed her eyes, "mrofinu ym otni tiftuo ym egnahc," a mystical smoke enveloped her body and, in its wake, left her in a traditional magician's outfit similar to her fathers only outfitted for a woman and missing the top-hat clad with stiletto heels.
They immediately dashed into the woods leaving the Bio-Ship in camouflage mode and using their stealth training to remain hidden, however; they couldn't avoid Morrow's advanced surveillance system.
…
Red Volcano and his siblings watched the camera feed as the Team of eight dashed through the forest-terrain, Volcano turned to Red Tornado and would have smiled if not for his robotic face, "Brother, prove yourself a loyal Red and kill them for me."
Tornado couldn't respond without his voice-box active but, gave a short nod in response anyways, still obviously apprehensive.
…
Robin, Ghostfreak, and Artemis approached in the front with the others lining up behind them; the boy wonder pulled a holographic screen up scanning the terrain below, "Ivo was right, there is definitely something down there."
Ghostfreak phased through the ground for a minute before phasing back up, "Looks like a bunker to me but, it's empty..." he gave a nod and everyone leaped forth and began sprinting across a relatively flat plain. This is when they felt massive streams of wind pushing across the landscape and bringing them to a stop.
Red Tornado floated across from them in a cyclone of his own creation blocking their entrance to the rest of the plain, he folded his arms with a silent glare and formed eight more tornado's similar in speed and height to his own all around them trapping them in hurricane force winds.
"Why Tornado!?" M'gaan shouted aloud, "Why are you doing this?" Her only answer was the massive winds growing stronger than before as she finally noticed what his angle was, "Message received?"
Ghostfreak and Superboy nodded to her and continued, "Who cares why? Nail em!" Conner shouted and leapt into the air with rage attempting to strike Tornado head on but, was caught by a spinning vortex of air, spun around, and sent hurtling towards the ground at super speeds.
Ghostfreak slapped the Ultimatrix and transformed into a bipedal tiger creature with sharp fangs and a single claw extending from his knuckles, "Let me tell ya something Red Tornado! Evil android that's been a traitor in the Justice League for decades! Rath does not like being betrayed by a traitor like you!" Rath sprinted on all fours at the android before leaping at the android who responded by catching the tiger-alien by the neck and slamming him into M'gaan who was floating in the air not too far attempting to use telekinesis but obviously failed when she plummeted to the ground with a four-hundred pound tiger. As they both fell to the ground, M'gaan realized their situation and used her levitation to grab him by the armpits and carry him to the ground gently.
"I could have handled that! Nobody can beat Rath not even gravity!" Rath shouted as he turned his attention back to Red Tornado as he caught several shuriken and arrows from Robin and Artemis, discarding them with wind.
"This guy isn't so tough!" Rath sprinted towards the android as he used his aerokinetic powers to pull him from his feet and bring him to eye level, several hundred feet up, before right hooking him in the chin sending him hurtling uncontrollably at the ground, carving a trench with his body where a green explosion marked his defeat.
Artemis and Robin launched multiple explosive projectiles at the android but, only watched them get redirected and launched into the ground at their feet; they were knocked out cold by their own explosions when Wally noticed this, "You're not the only spin-doctor in these parts!" he then spun around in place at super sonic speeds creating a grey and red vortex of wind that expanded upwards towards his target. M'gaan in her camouflage mode snuck up behind Tornado and attempted to sneak attack him when he turned and expertly caught her fist in his hand before launching her at the ground, hitting Kid head on, and knocking them both unconscious with the impact of the ground.
The only one left was Zatanna who attempted to prepare a spell but, was immediately cut off when Tornado sucked the oxygen from her lungs and quickly rendered her unconscious as well, she fell to her knees in seconds before toppling over. The surrounding wall of cyclones dispersed leaving only the one he used to levitate in place.
He watched their motionless bodies for a moment until he heard the sound of uprooting rocks behind him, "Impressive performance, brother," Volcano announced as he lifted himself to eye level with the floating android via rock-pillar, "But, we both know that's all it was; I have all your memories plus, a next-gen processor," he motioned to a stone tablet in the ground with the words 'PLAY DEAD' carved into it.
"I know your next move before you do!" He ripped a massive chunk of rock from below the message in the ground and levitated it above himself, "Pff, blowing a message into the rocks?" he launched it at the now recovering teen-heroes whom braced for impact from large boulders.
Superboy and Aqualad leaped into the air and crushed what they could to reduce the impact while M'gaan used her telekinesis to move other debris with her mind from hitting anyone. The others scattered and managed to dodge between the projectiles when they noticed Tornado taking off in the opposite direction towards the underground base.
"Red Tornado is getting away!" Zatanna shouted while Artemis pulled three arrows back on her draw-string.
"Is he abandoning us!?" She exclaimed while launching her arrows at the enemy who took them head on and barely flinched.
"I refuse to believe that!" Kaldur formed two machetes in either hand in preparation for a fight. Wally speed up Volcano's pillar and aimed a super-sonic right hook which missed and ended with a sucker-punch to his own chest sending him 40-feet to the ground, tumbling to a halt, "You stand no chance against me, humans."
M'gaan flew forwards with Superboy leaping beside her, "We're not humans!" they both attempted to attack Volcano but, didn't even get in proximity when two arms of solid stone extended out and clapped them together with a powerful shockwave.
"You're right, I believe the more appropriate term would be, meat-bags!"
Ben held his head as he pulled himself from the trench Rath had created, he quickly summoned a hologram and slapped the dial emerging as a large bulky yellow-armored creature, "Armodrillo!" he lifted his hands as his sharp-fingers retracted forming two jack-hammers as fists and slammed them into the ground creating tremors that extended out and shattered Red Volcano's pillar. He fell eighty-feet but, landed on his feet without so much as bending his knees.
"You're manipulation of my element is rudimentary at best; you should quit while you're ahead," he lifted a palm and his eyes shun crimson as the ground beneath Armodrillo formed a twenty-foot fist and grabbed him pulling him underground.
Red Volcano lifted his hands and raised a massive pillar of rock beneath him once again as the boy of steel attempted a sneak attack but, he too failed when the android gripped him by the neck forcing him to a choking-halt; Volcano caught one of Robin's shuriken in one hand, exploding in his face with no damage, and held Superboy by the throat in the other. He dropped the half-Kryptonian a few feet and punted him in the side of the stomach sending him into the air where M'gaan hastily caught him before he hit the ground.
Suddenly, several orbs of red-hot flames smacked Volcano in the chest followed by a massive pulse of water that pushed him back on his pillar of stone, "What?!" Red Inferno and Red Torpedo approached with Red Tornado close behind them, "Brothers, Sister, Stop!"
"We are not human; however, we still have the ability to chose how we exist and in what light we are remembered," The female android noted as she bombarded her brother with pillars of fire with fire almost as hot as the Amaterasu.
Red Torpedo summoned water from thin-air and kept blasting Volcano with pressurized liquid strong enough to cut steel, "You may wish to destroy the humans but, we wish to protect them," his assault was combined with Red Tornado's who used pressurized air from different directions to keep Volcano guessing.
Volcano had enough and quickly lifted two boulders with his mind, accurately propelling them at Torpedo and Inferno respectively. They were both knocked to the ground and pinned beneath the heavy stone as Tornado continued his aerial assault; "I have had enough of your treachery, brother!" he shouted as a fist made of stone reached out from below attempting to grab him in mid-air; Tornado flew up to avoid this but was caught by the legs and pulled to the ground. Both of his metallic legs were crushed in the process leaving him handicapped; he was taken off guard when an explosion of rubble came from underground as Armodrillio flew up wards with a spinning drill for a fist.
Red Volcano caught the spinning drill inches from his face with both hands and just barely tossed him over head into the ground where a green-light reverted Ben into his human form; He shook his head and looked up at his friends being beaten by this unfriendly foe, "Alright, I wont be going easy on you this time!"
Red Volcano turned as he noticed a green shimmer behind him, he faced an odd creature with a body made of some brown substance with yellow markings crossing over it; it had spiked shoulder-blades and pincers for hands though, Its most obvious feature was its metallic head floating in between its shoulder blades, "Loadstar!" his voice was synthetic and almost artificial like it had been generated on a computer.
"Red Tornado recognizes this creature, you think magnetism can defeat me, meatbag?"
He paused for a moment before giving a sigh, "Well, I guess I'll find out!" He sent waves of magnetism towards the android who could feel the gentle pull but, resisted it without effort.
"You aren't made of metal, are you?"
"My body is made of a space age polymer; not an ounce of metal on me," he knocked on his chest confidently as Loadstar gave another sigh.
"Well, If Loadstar can't manipulate you, I'm sure Way Big will take care of everything!" Load Star ceased his attack and slammed the dial on his chest allowing the DNA rewriting device to explode with emerald light but, instead of a massive To'kustar appearing, a large, bulky, reddish-brown alien with rocky skin, a giant mouth and a molten lava planet core at the center of his body stood in Loadstar's place.
"Wha?" He announced looking himself up and down, "I'm like a living planet? How am I supposed to know what this guy even does?!"
Red Volcano sighed, "A meatbag will always be a meatbag," he lifted a massive house sized boulder up from the ground and hovered it above the new alien transformation, "Good riddance," he announced as he dropped his terrakinetic hold on the boulder allowing it to plummet towards the ground. The new alien lifted his hands in defense, blocking his face before anything else but, before it could hit him the alien's hands lit up bright green causing the massive boulder to stop in its tracks.
"What the?" He looked up and noticed he'd stopped it, "Hey, I can remember things, this guys is a Galilean from the planet Keplorr; and he controls gravity!" he motioned his hand at Volcano who took a step back as the massive rock was flung at him with impressive speed. Red Volcano used both of his hands to shatter the rock into pieces before it hit him, gripping the smaller debris with his terrakenisis and firing them back at Ben like bullets.
The creature lifted his hands out as the projectiles changed course from hitting him and begun orbiting around him like a planet around the sun only, with much greater speeds; he launched them back at his opponent who shielded himself with his arms, "What kind of trickery is this?"
"The Gravattack kind!" He used his control over the fundamental force of gravity to pull Red Volcano off his feet and through the air, landing between the palms of his hands; he used his power to tear the android's arms off its torso discarding them to the side before allowing his torn apart body to orbit him, spinning around his planet-like head until he dropped him to the ground.
"How does it feel to be beaten by a meat-bag?"
Volcano was silent for several seconds as he took one last solemn look towards his fallen brothers and sister, "Father would be so disappointed…" his eyes lit-up bright crimson once again as rumbling begun underground causing lava to splutter from the top of the Yellow Stone Volcano. It trickled and poured out of every crevasse slowly making its way down the mountain side, Gravattack took a step forward and crushed his head after noticing what he'd done.
Gravattack transformed back into Ben as the group gathered together quickly to watch the super-massive volcano begin its eruption, "Listen! We're on the verge of a stage three super massive volcano eruption, there's no turning back from that!" Wally shouted over the earthquakes and lava explosions, "Something needs to stop the already pressurized magma!"
Red Inferno toppled the boulder pinning her and stood up, she faced her brother, Red Torpedo, and took a moment looking down; he had been completely crushed, there was no hope for him. But, there was still a way for her to fix this situation she aided in creating, "I will travel inside and force the magma down with my control over the element."
They all turned to face her with shocked expressions, "Thank you," Zatanna exclaimed, "But, won't you be destroyed?"
"My existence began with the motive of aiding humanity, perhaps it is appropriate that it should end that way as well," Her mane of fire lifted her off the ground and quickly propelled her over the Volcano where she looked down and analyzed the boiling lava below. Without a second thought, she pencil-dived into the flames where she disappeared from sight; Wally looked up at the massive cloud of ash and soot taking over the night-sky.
"We still have a problem!" the speedster shouted, "We need to vent pressure fast, that ash cloud will cause a worldwide nuclear winter unless it's diverted!" Wally lowered his goggled over his eyes before activating their scanning feature rushing over to Artemis and coming from behind her, taking his goggles off.
"What are you-" she asked slightly blushing at his proximity as he slid his goggles over her eyes.
"Aim and fire!" Wally sped over to Ben, "We need an alien with wind powers, someone who can fly into the upper atmosphere and divert the smoke into space; otherwise its going to be a very cloudy-day for the next century!"
"I don't have an alien like that, Terraspin doesn't have even close to that kind of power and he's the only one i can think of!"
"Well, think harder!" Wally shouted as M'gaan looked around not knowing how else to help, she had an idea but, it might not work at all, still; she had to try.
"Ben..." She said calmly with a frown as she gripped him by the shoulders, "If you can't stop this than there's no point in preparing for Vilgax at all, he's going to kill all of your friends! Everyone you care about! He will take me from you and there wont be anything you can do about it!"
The nightmare of Vilgax brutally murdering his entire team flashed in his minds eye, the lifeless face of his friends but, the most prominent memory was M'gaan being impaled and tossed aside into a fire, he couldn't take it, Ben's mental psyche snapped. A blue energy surged around his body engulfing the surrounding area with intense winds; his body levitated into the air slowly as the blue energy covered his skin, completely covering his prior appearance in mana. His head exploded with a bright turquoise mana-fire, he floated higher and higher into the air until he was hundereds of feet in the air, he looked around almost confused, "So much... Power; why wouldn't Gwen have wanted this? I think I can defeat Vilgax all by myself now."
M'gaan used her levitation to float up to eye level with him, "Ben... can you hear me?"
"Of course I can, M'gaan, look I can do anything now!" He gestured towards the cloud of soot slowly spreading and foucsed only a small amount of his energy, "Tur-Bo!" Ben's voice boomed throughout the national-park, so loud that it caused the team to cover their ears from the intense shout; simply speaking these words caused a massive wave of blue energy to spread across the horizon in all directions. A magnificent vortex of intense blue winds appeared around the smoke as it began forming a cyclone that easily funneled the smoke into space where it slowly dissipated from lack of oxygen. The cyclone continued to spin until there was no smoke left, "See?"
M'gaan gave a concerned smile, "That's great, Ben, now transform back for me?"
He paused and looked down to his hands, "Why would I ever change back? I can do anything, I can feel everything!" he floated over and gripped her by the shoulders lightly, "I can stop Vilgax now, this is great!"
She frowned, "I saw your memories of your cousin," she spoke treading on thin ice as he frowned with a solemn sadness, "She gave up this power for a reason, you aren't you, you aren't human; I fell in love with Ben Tennyson not a nomad Anodite..."
"But... I am an Anodite! I've always been one!" his aura surged and the ground below shook with incredible force, "You don't love me now? Is that it!?" the flames that engulfed his skull exploded and reached out wrapping around the Martian's arms pining them to her side.
The team below became uneasy, getting into fighting formation as Ben caught notice of them, "Don't pretend to be capable of stopping me!" he reached out as the ground below them begun to animate as the ground morphed into tentacles, wrapping around their legs and arms, trapping them all including Zatnna.
"Can't you get us out?" Robin shouted as Zatanna struggled in her trap.
She shook her head looking back up at them, "He just might be the most powerful mystic on the planet, not even Dr. Fate could break spells like these."
"Ben..." M'gaan announced as he turned his attention back to her and narrowed his eyes, "Remember where we first kissed?"
"What?" he asked in confusion but, she continued anyways.
"Do you remember?!"
"I... It was at the Metropolis Observatory..."
"Right!" She struggled for a moment and continued, "You told me that I wasn't Megan; I was M'gaan!"
He looked down at himself again, staring at his hands with a longing sadness, unsure if he was who he thought he was, "You aren't this person, you're Ben Tennyson!"
He looked back up at her with tears in his eyes, slowly dripping down his face; the restraints that trapped the team below crumbled into rubble as they all aimed their gaze upwards, "What about Vilgax?"
"We'll find another way to stop him, I dont know how yet but, we'll think of something, I promise!" M'gaan smiled as the energy binding her dissipated and Ben floated toward her, placing his head in her shoulders as they floated down towards the ground together. Once his feet touched the Earth his energy form dissipated and left Ben Tennyson in M'gaan's arms, with dry tears on his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, everyone," they all gave unsure looks, knowing what he was dealing with and quietly accepting his apology, "I'm sorry..."
...
Lex Luthor stared at his holographic screen with a content smile, "This data is exactly what I needed," he walked over to yet another screen and played with the data on that one before giving the same smile.
"I'm unsure why you still need this project Amalgum," Albedo sat up and grabbed a chili-doused fry from the paper-bag on his white porcelain desk, "My Omnitrix is already superior and it's on the side of the light..."
"You may be on the side of the light, Albedo, but your motives are your own," he turned to the Galvan with a frown, "We need a creature that will be loyal to us and only us."
"Wise answer," Albedo chuckled and stuffed another fry in his mouth.
"There, I've done it; I've successfully combined the DNA sequences," Albedo stood when hearing this and sipped on a soda as he looked at the screen where the predicted creature spun on a three-sixty display.
"Problem?"
Albedo chuckled once again, "No, no problem, just a bit of nostalgia is all..."
...
Remastered
7/17/18
;)