Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or Young Justice
Harm
Universe - Ben Prime
Earth; Orbit; October 31st 2013
Verdona was a very powerful woman, she could crush stars inbetween her finger tips under the right circumstances but, now that she was meditating in the dead of space, projecting her mana across an entire planet just to shield it from him. She took a glance out at the stars, she could sense impending danger but, what else could be done? They were beautiful, scattered across the expansive sky-line.
"Quite a view, Isn't it?" She asked aloud.
A large figure with crimson glowing eyes floated forwards, "There is good reason behind my need for total domination over it."
"I always enjoyed exploring rather than dominating," she contemplated her past for a moment before shrugging, "Or did I? Who knows, it's been a while since I've had all my marbles!"
Vilgax grimaced, "You know what I'm here to do, do you not?"
"Killing me will not give you Ben Tennyson," she stated firmly, "It's just a fact, so you can use your fancy plasma-weapons to scatter me to the winds..." she glanced over her shoulder with a sigh, "And you can ravage this planet, tear it asunder; it changes nothing," her meditative form came undone as she turned to face the war-lord, "In a few thousand years, you'll get it, domination and destruction won't get you what you want."
Vilgax placed his hands behind his back, "True, I won't be accomplishing anything by killing you and taking this planet," he paused for a moment as a smile gleamed across his wicked face, "Because, I know where Ben Tennyson is and what I'm truly here for is the key to getting to him!"
Verdona was protected by a charm that surrounded her constantly, coming into view as Vilgax struck at her, shattering the pink field with a single swing; he kicked her with immense force directly in the chest, sending her hurtling into the moon; shattering it into city-sized pieces. He flew after her, grabbing her by the hair and swinging her into a large piece of what was once the moon, keeping his grip around her mana-tendril hair.
"You're perfectly right! This planet has nothing to offer Vilgax! However, I know it will unnerve Ben Tennyson for him to find his home world destroyed," Vilgax pulled her up to eye level where she struggled, pulling on his grip, "Before I kill you, I'm going to destroy the planet where your grandchildren grew up."
Verdona narrowed her eyes as he pushed her toward ground, still holding her hair, "You've weakened yourself by trying to buy this back-water spare time, however; this was inevitable."
Vilgax pressed a single button on his gauntlet which remote controlled his small-city sized flag ship, aiming its main cannon for the planet, and firing a beam of red energy directly into the center of it. The explosion took a few seconds as the core imploded and tectonic-plates were vaporized, the population likely didn't feel much of anything, not that it made the Anodite feel any better.
"This changes nothing," she said from her knees, staring out at the rubble of what was once her husband's home.
"No, but this does," He activated a second button, this time on the gauntlet that held Verdona down, where a cackling white electricity sparked, Psyphon called them even more effective than the energy-absorption machine I used on the Daagon."
"AGH!" Verdona shouted to no one, tears streaming down her face as her very life essence was drained from her head; slowly her body faded, flowing into Vilgax like a vacuum.
"Perfect!"
He glanced around, patting himself on the back for a job well done, he tapped a single command on his gauntlet which teleported him to his ship; as his molecules were reassembled, he arrived in the boiler-room of sorts, massive coils powering his ship surrounding him. He approached a single console with two grips, designed specifically for what he was about to do, gripping both handles, he exploded with energy as violet light engulfed the entire ship, giving it a pink-hue. It wasn't the ideal color-scheme but, now his ship could cross between dimensions just like a powerful Anodite; Ben Tennyson was a dead man.
...
Universe DC52
Mount Justice; Happy Harbor; October 31st 2013; 10:52AM
It had been about two days since Ben had his conversation with Professor Paradox and made his decision to kill Vilgax; he hit the streets in Detroit, New York, San Francisco or basically any city that didnt have a designated Justice Leaguer to get in his way, taking down enemies without his Ultimatrix. He hadn't needed it since the simulation, not really, it had only ever caused problems for him so, if he could find a way to be a hero without than, what reason could he have to transform again?
There was another thing, he loved it. The adrenaline, the mortality, his bare fist cracking someone's jaw; it was a rush like he'd never had, better than alcohol, better than weed, better than going hero, even. But, the longer he did it the harder it was, he never overly excelled at hand to hand combat, he took self-defense classes for three years between sixth and ninth grade and had been training for the majority of the last two years with Kent and the Team, it wasn't enough though. He came to Black Canary, as she was their den-mother for the week spite Captain Marvel still hanging around, to help him train and spare; he couldn't ask Batman or Green Arrow, they'd have some sort of issue, one way or another but, Canary was always very open minded and her psychology back-ground helped to see things in a different light.
Ben and Dinah were in the center of the holo-ring in the mission-room; him with a skin-tight black shirt and shorts to match, and her in her regular black tank-top and leggings. He threw a quick jab but, her forearm redirected it to the left, using that opportunity send a palm-strike to his chest 'gently' shoving him back five or ten feet, "Remember, you have to keep your feet planted, I could have put you on your rear at least three different way there," she placed her hands on her hips as he stood.
"My bad," he gave an unconsciously concerned glance down to his hands which she noticed; he had wrapped his knuckles thoroughly in fighting tape, disguising injuries with his new found interest in combat but, it was also slowing him down, every punch hurt like hell and Canary noticed.
"Oh, and one more thing," she got into a fighting stance in front of him, which he took as a sign to get in his own position; putting his fists up to eye level with hers, she quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him in close, "These aren't wrapped right..." He was too caught off guard by her pulling him in that by the time he recovered seconds later, she had already torn off his bandages with a gasp, "Christ."
His right hand was bruised, almost wrist to finger-nail but, the most purple and bludgeoned area was around his knuckles; she'd seen this before, in Oliver, in Bruce, in a lot of fighters addicted to fighting but, never in someone so young.
"How did you get these... so quickly?" She asked nervously, she'd seen his hands fine just before he left after the simulator and now...
"Don't worry about it," Ben yanked his wrist back along with the untied bandages.
"I will worry, what... or who, are you hitting this hard?" she noted the severity of the injury once again taunting him.
"Let's just keep training..." Ben muttered ignoring her question.
She crossed her arms across her chest, "No," she took a step back, "Not if your using the lessons I teach you to deliberately hurt people."
"I don't do anything you haven't done yourself; besides, I only beat on criminals, bad people," He tried testifying to his good will, justifying his actions but, she wouldn't have any of it grabbing her towel from the ground and making her way to leave.
"You don't get an injury like that from just knocking out a few guys, don't pretend you've shown any sort of restraint in the last few weeks," she was about to leave when an alarm begun blaring like a siren, flashing red through out the base. Canary pulled the holo-screen up in front of her with a wave of her hand, "It's the proximity alert, for the Watchtower, something just blew past it and is heading for Saint Louis, only four minutes until impact!"
"That's not enough time..." His eyes shun bright blue as electricity shot around him, surging from his body and with a flash of light he vanished; teleported away at half the speed of light.
St. Louis; Missouri; October 31st 2013; 11:22AM
Appearing from thin air with a blue glow, Ben floated to his feet just feet from the bay as he looked up into the sky and could clearly see a large enough object resisting the temperatures of reentry-heat, striking the city at that speed and trajectory would surely shred entire city-blocks, hundreds would die; no choice this time, Ben popped the dial of his Ultimatrix and slapped the faceplate down whilst simultaneously jumping into the water. At first there was silence as the object grew closer to the city with every passing second, people ran, some just stood and watched until a green glow illuminated the entire bay releasing a massive white humanoid from the murky water and placed his hands on his forehead and planting his feet into the mucky sand. The object slammed into Way Big's palms and pushed him back nearly causing him to destroy the ship-yard but, he caught it none-the-less, leaving a deep cut on his the inside of his hand. He analyzed it for a moment, narrowing his truck-sized pupils, "It looks like... a ship?"
"Ben!" Superman shouted as he appeared with the boom of the sonic-barrier breaking, flying up to eye-level with Way Big, "I was dealing with a Tsunami in Taipei; Thank goodness you were closer than I was."
"I think it's a ship, gave me a gnarly cut," his voice boomed over the entire city as they marveled at the sight of Way Big surrounded by Captain Marvel and Martian Manhunter also arriving moments later, it became a casual spectical.
"It looks..." Superman floated closer staring intently with his powerful eyes, "It shares a striking resemblance to the pod I was sent to Earth in, it could be Kryptonian! I can't see inside, which only supports my theory."
"What should we do with it?"
"I'm going to clear it with Batman first then I'm going to take it to my Fortress; I have the technology there to scan it properly, for now put it down on the dock."
"Sure thing."
Way Big slapped the Ultimatrix and transformed back into his human form, fixing his soaking wet clothes, "Great, i have lake-water in my-"
"Ben 10, right?" Suddenly, a storm of reporters surrounded him, news vans arrived on scene, and the proper authorities shortly after, "Any comments on what just happened?"
He tried to maintain composure, "Uhh, It could have been worse but, no one got hurt and that's what counts, i guess," he attempted to push past him as a flurry of questions bombarded him, refusing to transform again.
"Are you involved with Ms. Martian?"
"What of the reports of some sort of super-hero side-kick team?"
"How do you handle the allegations that you've been spotted assaulting criminals in multiple cities?"
Ben turned around startling everyone, "Which one of you said that?" he looked out into the crowd, "It's not true, no comment," a camera light flashed into his face stunning him for a moment and exposing his shredded knuckles.
"Where did you get those injuries?" "Do you have any comment against these spottings?"
Suddenly, a dome of mana shun over him as it grew larger and more expansive it also pushed back the crowd as they could all see his enraged blue eyes, "I said no comment!" a twister of energy engulfed him from the feet up, dispersing the shield and teleporting him away.
...
Mount Justice; Happy Harbor; October 31st 2013; 5:45PM
"Has anyone even thought about looking inside?" Ben asked as he sat on the kitchen-counter, he reapplied his fighting tape but, M'gaan was currently wrapping his newer wound on his palms; Red Tornado stepped forwards upon hearing his question.
"I was told by Superman to keep you informed if they require your expertise with extra-terrestrials."
"I'm the one who caught it; I should be the one there to see them open it!" Ben demanded shifting his hand and causing M'gaan to graze his wound, he pulled for a moment but, she just chuckled and looked into his eyes from behind her crimson bangs, "Quit fidgeting, would you?"
"Hey, I have a lot on my mind, there's a good reason I'm not going to this dance-thing," he scoffed.
"You don't attend the school that's hosting the dance," she finished her patch job and stepped back, "But, i'll be sure to see you before the night ends!"
"Sounds good to me," Ben smiled, thinking of the work he could do in these hours, but if he wasn't going to use his transformations, maybe he'd need a mask? He'd never used one before because of his shape-shifting nature but, perhaps it was best to keep allegations at rest about his activities.
"Well, I figured I'd do a patrol or... something," he rubbed his neck awkwardly, "I'll figure it out."
"As long as you're done by eleven?"
"Yea, that sounds fine, I'll meet you here."
"Recognized: Artemis B07; Zatanna Zatara: B09."
Artemis and Zatanna entered through the zeta-tubes at relatively the same time, coincidentally; meeting eyes as they strutted in full costume, "Nice costume, Zatanna," she looked the sorceress up and down as she now sported fish-net stocking, gothic purple make-up, and a pointed hat.
"Ironic and adorable; couldn't resist!" She waved her hand at Artemis, "Look at you, Vampire?"
Her red-cape and black outfit could have been many things, a vampire included but, she was obviously not very dedicated, "It was just something I threw together, I wasn't gonna go but, i'd rather be bored than lonely so..." her gaze drifted to Ben as he and M'gaan separated from a conversationm "Ben! What're you dressed as?"
"I'm not going..."
Artemis raised a brow, "Really?"
"Yup, i'm going 'out' if you catch my drift," he put air quotes for significance around the word as he said it, "Wanna come?"
She looked back at Zatanna whom had joined up with M'gaan and Superboy as Captain Marvel entered the room via zeta-tube as well, "Actually, that sounds way better than anything that could possibly happen at a school-dance."
"Great, let's gear up, then," he guided her away from the group as they both aimed for the armory where costumes and weaponry was held for their use.
"Let's," she repeated looking back to see if anyone heard them, "What does that mean?"
Ben pulled her through the corridor and into the armory quickly closing the door behind him, "Don't tell anyone but," he pulled his fighting-tape back and showed her the damage he'd done to himself already.
"Oh, jeez," Artemis grabbed her forehead, "You've really been hitting the pavement..."
"Yea, but," they both realized she was holding his hand and standing very close to one another at the same time; he retracted his hand on instinct and passed her toward the racks of different shaped shuriken, "I've been doing it bare-handed and i'm starting to pay the price, in more ways than one..."
"Are you asking for fashion advice?"
"I wouldn't call kevlar and some sort of mask to hide my face 'fashion' but, if that's what you wanna call it, sure," Ben folded his arms with an almost comical attitude.
Artemis slapped his arm playfully, "I'm only teasing..." turning to face the wall of gear and assorted armors, "But, I think we could make this work."
...
Rochester; New York; October 31st 2013; 7:52PM
In an ally-way adjacent to two buildings, five men pulled into narrow path in a white van, each one armed with assault rifles; "Great, now how do we get in?"
"Boss always has a plan," the hired man on the left responded as two of them pushed a large green dumpster out of the way as bags of trash toppled over revealing a back-door left unattended, "Bingo."
"Get the door open, I wanna be in and out of there in two minutes," the largest of the group shouted in a whisper, as they hustled to grab the crowbar from the back; each and everyone of them stopped as two sets of head lights beamed out from the street, catching the men off guard and drawing all of their attention down the ally.
"Cops?"
"I don't see any lights," they all reacted as the largest man put his hand up, signaling them all to aim their rifles at the source of the lights. What they weren't expecting was a figure to leap down from above, silhouetted by the light and hidden by the element of disguise, the female figure came down on a man slamming her bow down into his rifle, putting the barrel faced down, and allowing her to grip the weapon smacking him in the face with it and breaking his nose.
"Who the hell?"
Another figure, equally hidden, flew from the shadows without restraint kicking another man's kneecap out sending the sickening snap through the air like a warning, "Kill them!" they frantically moved to grab their individual smaller pieces from their belts and holsters. Ben quickly grabbed the wrist of the man who probably wouldn't be walking anytime soon as he reached for his belt, twisting his wrist and pounding the side of his face, once, twice, three times until he was finally down, face in the mud.
Artemis didnt hesitate to push their injured friend forward giving her the opportunity to pull an arrow from her quiver, firing it into the man closest to the van pinning him by his shirt to the white aluminum hood. She turned her attention to the other two men, ducking under a right cross and hand delivering an arrow into the opposing mans thigh before turning to finish off the first assailant with a left-hook that knocked him back first into Ben.
The half-Anodite turned quickly wearing a skin-tight long-sleeved grey under-armor shirt, a belt with little purpose other than to hold up the green cargo pants tucked neatly into his combat-boots, he swung his gloved fist knocking out the dazzed man who Artemis had sent his way before turning to the man pinned to the hood of the truck. All of his rage, his anger with Canary, his anger with Batman, the reporters, Vilgax, all of it came out as Ben grit his teeth and grabbed the man by his collar. He needed something to pull on so that every fist impacted with the double the force, the windshield cracked with his skull being forced through it, the hard way, "Agh!" He shouted through the mask that covered his nose, mouth, and chin area; his last fist never made it as Artemis had caught his arm with hers, giving him a concerned look.
He was instantly alerted to his surroundings again, as if coming out of a trance, he looked around allowing the man to slip down the side of the van, toppling over into the dirt, "We have to go," She stated firmly, it wasn't a request, she practically led him back to their respective bikes and sped off as the police were not too far behind.
...
Artemis raced through the city along-side Ben, whom was probably still shaken up as he was lost in thought, staring out at the road as they drove; eventually, the archer pulled into an abandoned parking lot of some museum, it didn't matter because Ben followed and that's all she wanted, "Hey, so, you going to talk about that?"
"I'd rather not," he announced, removing his mask and taking a deep breath of fresh air.
"Well, if you don't tell me, I'll stop helping you out," she got off her bike and put her helmet on the seat, "And I really hope you tell me because this is a lot of fun."
"Canary doesn't approve of the way I'm taking down the bad guys," he gave a long sigh, "She thinks I'm taking out some unresolved issues on these guys and they don't deserve that."
She looked down to the asphalt, "What do you think?"
"I don't know, I lose myself in it, ya know?" He remembered the rush, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins, "Like everything else fades away-"
"And suddenly, the person your punching is exactly the person you want to see hurt the most..." Artemis finished.
Ben gave her a look, she had finished his sentence, "Sometimes it get's hard, when you breed violence into your life, it becomes second nature and suddenly, you realize you're the one that's being cruel."
"Did we just become best friends?" Ben asked putting a hand on his helmet.
Artemis chuckled, "Misery loves company."
"Harm feels conflicted," a voice grabbed their attention as Artemis gripped her bow quickly, "Testing Harm's powers against you may be entertaining but, Harm wonders if it will even be a test at all."
In the middle of the lot stood another man, how they didn't notice him was beyond them but, he had paper-white skin, long raven-black hair, and denim jeans with a sword-sheath strapped over his shoulder, "I know its Halloween, bub, but I'm seriously not in the mood for 'trick-or-treat,' got it?" Artemis replied stepping away from Ben with an arrow trained on him.
"Got it," He narrowed his eyes and raised his sword leveling it with his sight-line.
"Fine! Just a warning shot," her aim lowered and Ben watched as an arrow flew toward his shoulder at two-hundred miles-per-hour only it never hit it's intended target, being cleaved in two through the shaft, the man didn't even use both arms to swing; suddenly, orange lightening cackled around his blade as it was still pointed at them.
"Uh," Artemis backed toward the bikes.
"Just a warning shot, then," his sword fired off a bolt of electricity aimed for the archer's head only Ben stepped between them with a mana-shield stopping the force head-on; Ben turned back to face his comrade.
"So, what now?"
"You could transform into something," Artemis put a hand on his shoulder as the energy pushed back on his shield, forcing him back on his heels.
"Right," he looked quickly to his wrist, "And, let's say that's not an option, then what?"
She didn't fully understand but, groaned managing to at least come to terms with him being incapable of using his watch for one reason or another, "Then, we split up! You go that way," she pointed off in the opposing direction as the lightening shattered his shield and flew passed him. They took off in opposite directions, Artemis drawing his attention to her with a few arrows, easily chopped apart but, did give Ben enough time to give his approach some thought.
"Corona!" a blue plate of mana ten-feet wide and long formed above 'Harm,' dropping it on him as this distraction gave way to both Ben and Artemis having access to close quarters, where the sword could be managed, where they had the two-to-one advantage. Artemis swung her bow which he blocked with the broad-side of his blade, Ben sent a right hook at the same time but, it was effortlessly caught in the palm of Harm's hand, his wrist being twisted significantly; Artemis broke the struggle between bow and blade, ducking under a swing and attempting to sweep his feet out from under him, however, his legs didn't budge until he moved them to stomp on her head which she narrowly avoided.
"Skills imply instruction from Green Arrow and possibly Dr. Fate, or some other lesser known sorcerer, offing these two will provide significant practice for when facing their predecessors..." He swung his boot into Ben's chest, sending him through the air and onto his back, sliding to a halt twenty-feet away.
"Okay, getting some really super-villain vibes here!"
Ben sighed in response, "You're telling me," he rubbed his chest where the kick landed, feeling there would most certainly be a bruise later-on, "Pontem Contego!" he swung his open hand at the motor-cycles where they were enveloped in mana, lifting into the air and, flying straight for Harm as guided by the Anodite.
He only smiled in response, "Harm is not impressed," his blade lit-up with electricity once again strengthening it as it shredded steel and iron with ease, walking through the flames of the destroyed bikes ominously.
"We get it! Your name is Harm!" Artemis became frustrated as Ben jogged beside her, vacating the lot while they had the chance; the archer sent arrows behind her as she ran, if nothing else than to distract him. They turned down an allyway, running through it aiming for the end until Artemis caught sight of a young girl on the fire-escape they were passing.
"Go inside," Artemis whispered but, instead of listening the girl waved her to come up and vanishing up the stairs leading directly to the roof, "Wait, this way!" she shouted at Ben whom back tracked leapt up grabbing hold of the handle-bars; it was hard to notice how athletic he'd become in the last month since discovering his nemesis would return.
They made it to the roof where Artemis turned in three-sixty but, couldn't find the girl, "We're sitting ducks!" Ben looked over the edge of the roof as Harm approached the ladder, he didn't hesitate to fire a bolt of blue-mana from his finger into the rusty screws that kept the entire structure in place, without them, the entire fire-escape collapsed down in a heap of metal, seemingly trapping their enemy, "That should slow him down."
"There was a girl up here, I saw her," Artemis continued looking even as Ben could hear Harm recovering and slicing through iron-stairs.
"We need to focus, this guy has his eyes on us now, so we either take him down or disappear," Ben grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, "Which do you prefer?"
She watched as his hands flew from below gripping the ledge and pulling himself over onto their ground, "Round two, then?" He announced swinging his blade playfully.
"Not really!" She swung in with her bow being once again stopped by the end of his sword, only this time she pressed down on the grip sending out a bright flare that stunned the swordsman and sent him stumbling back. Ben flew in from the right with a clean strike to the face, followed up with a left hook, and an uppercut; each hit layered with mana to strengthen his attacks, in this way, Harm being super-human was definitely a good thing. Ben didn't let up, he couldn't, he ducked beneath a swing which would have taken his head off if he'd miscalculated by even half a second, "Eradiko!" he grabbed Harm by the coat and shocked him with blue mana-electricity, sparks and surges flying about as smoke started to form.
At first, Artemis was worried what Ben would do to Harm but, the tables were quickly turned as Harm's orange energy was thrown into the mix, over powering Ben's magic with his own more chaotic power; Harm gripped the alien-hybrid's hands and sent an even more intense shock through him, only being stopped after his agonizing scream scared Artemis into firing off an arrow, which did manage to clip the distracted attacker's cheek. Yet another brutal kick to the chest sending Ben tumbling back into his friend's arms.
Harm dug his mystic-sword into the rooftop gravel, planting it firmly, "Harm doesn't need his weapon to finish this."
"Not smart!" Artemis pretended to through her bow away, as if she were going to engage in hand-to-hand combat, once again but, instead she pulled a collapsible cross-bow from her belt, which she could now wield and fire with Ben hanging from her opposing shoulder. The arrow she did fire, he caught in one hand before it hit his face.
"It needs to try harder," Harm didn't notice the emerald-tip flashing before an explosion of quick-dry concrete surrounded him, giving him no traction to move.
She wanted to honor what she decided to do with Ben but, definitely didn't have the chops or the tools to beat this guy by herself; looking off across the rooftops she spotted the girl once again, this time she could make out her features of blonde-hair in an over sized baby-blue parka, waving her over across several buildings; "Not many options, okay," she dragged Ben to the ledge and dumped him over the edge leading to the closest rooftop. He groaned in pain when he hit the ground, struggling to stand, "Sorry, but I can't do this alone and you're really heavy..."
"S'okay," he muttered getting his feet under him, "Let's move," Artemis took off with Ben following behind, clutching his chest where the burns were still settling from Harm's magic; they looked back and the cement casing was already empty, broken apart enough for him to obviously escape; he hadn't gone far but, there was more than one way to crack an egg, "Facio Gravis!" Ben swung his hand behind him activating the spell which pulled Harm down to his knees for several seconds.
"That should give us a few min-" he and Artemis backed away slowly as Harm stood, struggling slightly but, standing none-the-less, "Moments."
Artemis hopped another ledge landing on the adjacent rooftop as Ben followed suit, landing and rolling to his hands and knees, he watched the gravel as he painted it red with blood from streaming from his lips, "Well, what was that supposed to do?" Harm took several weighted steps before getting his stride back with a sinister grin.
The shape-shifter pulled himself up and didn't look back, "It's supposed to increase his gravitational pull by around ten times."
"I don't think it's working!"
They made it to the edge of the rooftop only, this one had no fire escape and the next building was a block over, the shop across the street had a bright neon sign that read 'Abel's House of Secrets,' only the 'Secret' part was flashing as it obviously hadn't been repaired; Ben held his palm out and tried to force mana-tiles for them to escape on but, with no warning Harm's sword flew through the air, spinning around like a boomerang, and slicing the palm of the Anodite's hand, "Agh!" he shouted holding his wrist in pain as the blood seeped from his wound.
Harm watched with a grin as the hilt of the blade landed perfectly in his hand, "Maybe now would be a good time to transform?"
Ben quickly closed his hand to attempt to stop the bleeding and pulled his long-sleeve back to stare down at the Ultimatrix, he couldn't do it, he couldn't summon a hologram, he just couldn't, "No!" Ben shouted standing and turning to face his opponent.
"AHHH!" Harm roared and plunged his blade into Ben's shoulder suddenly, pushing him into the brick ledge, "How did it know!?"
Ben grabbed the blade that dug deep into and through his shoulder blade, "K-Know what? he stuttered.
"Don't pretend this is a mere coincidence, that the it's would manage to convene on Harm's very roof! On Harm's own home!"
Artemis came from behind swatting him in the neck with her cross bow, "This is your house?!"
"W-we didn't k-know!" Ben shouted through clenched teeth, trying his best not to pass out.
Harm had enough, pulling his sword from Ben's shoulder and whipping him across the temple, knocking him out; turning to Artemis, he raised his blade to eye level, "Harm is done playing games," he swung his sword through the air sending a shockwave that knocked the blonde-archer on her ass, she groaned trying to stand but, was shocked by orange energy before following Ben deep into unconsciousness.
...
When Artemis could finally think clearly again, she was restrained, her eyes creaked open slowly allowing her to view the room she was in; cold and dark were the first two things to come to mind but, also unkept. The room was filled with empty boxes, discarded newspaper clippings, and a box-TV sitting on an old milk-crate with CCTV footage of Ben tied up in another room.
"The it's test my patience," Harm announced himself from behind as Artemis pulled on her binds, "Harm had to seal the other it's wounds, tedious and unnecessary work."
"Then kill us and be done with it!"
"Harm certainly plans to," he placed his cold hands on her shoulders from behind, sliding them down her arms slowly, "It has to tell Harm how it knew of Harm's domicile!"
"You just talking is giving me a headache; we didn't know this was your home, we were running from you, this is the last place we would want to be!"
Harm took his hands from her quickly, moving to the other side of the room; "So, a mere coincidence then? Harm doesn't-"
"Stop playing make believe, it's obvious your partner led us here!"
Harm raised a brow and whirled around to face her back, "Harm's heart is pure; Harm has no partner."
"The blonde girl? Blue hoodie? She was waving at me, she's the one that led me up the fire escape and through the rooftops!" Artemis practically screamed, trying her best to wake Ben on video whom was slowly starting to come around. Harm turned back around in deep thought, facing away from the cameras as she watched Ben finally wake from his injuries.
...
"Huh?" Ben gasped as he looked around, recalling everything that happened before he passed out, "Oh, right," he looked down and noticed he was all stitched up and tied to a wooden chair, "Liberatio!" he shouted in a whisper as blue light lined the ropes and the seat dismantling them both. Ben stood and dusted himself off, he could feel the soreness of his wounds, his shoulder was killing him, he'd pass out again soon if he wasn't careful, he turned and looked around him and analyzed his surroundings.
"Okay, this is super creepy," he was in a little girl's room complete with white wooden furniture, a bright blue wallpaper choice, pink comforters and stuffed animals decorating the queen sized bed; Ben investigated further approaching a dresser with picture frames scattered across it, facing down against the wood. He picked them up and dusted them off with his hand, it was Harm obviously before he was evil, with a tan and normal clothes, and a girl he didn't recognize. She was definitely beautiful but, a bit on the young side, maybe middle-school?
He put the picture frame down on the bed and sat for a moment, giving thought to his next action, if he waited for Harm to come back, he would risk another confrontation which he wasn't quite prepared for, on the other hand, he could catch Harm off guard by sneaking out and finding Artemis. As he made his way to the door, a spirit of some sort manifested in front of him blocking his path; he stumbled back into a lazy fighting stance, ready to act but, not to fight.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Secret," she muttered in a raspy voice, looking over at the picture face down on the bed.
Ben's eyes widened, "You're... you're the girl from the picture, right?"
"Secret," she floated across the room and stood in front of the standing pictures on the dresser.
"Are you like... dead?"
She looked back at him before seeming ashamed and pulling her gaze down to her feet; he frowned in response to this, as anyone would as the pieces began to come together, "And I'm guessing Harm is the one that... did it."
"Secre-"
Ben scoffed interrupting her, "Secret, right, of course," he stepped across the room away from her, putting a hand on the door and listening beyond it into the house; he could hear mumbling from Harm and Artemis, a back and forth dialogue of some sort. That's when he heard the door swing wide open from across the hall, quickly tucking himself around the door frame so that he'd be the last thing Harm noticed when stepping into the room; the door was kicked off it's hinges as the tall-man stepped into the room analyzing the rope and broken chair.
"Trickery!" He shouted as Ben noticed he didn't have his fancy-sword with him, he waited till Harm spun him around to jab him in the nose as hard as he could, following up with a flurry of right cross, left hook, right hook, elbow-uppercut; just as Ben was tiring out, he managed to knock the killer into the dresser knocking the pictures off the shelf, breaking a good majority of them.
"No!" He shouted picking up the pieces as Ben backed out of the room quickly.
"Finally!" Artemis shouting as Ben came in and swiped his good palm over her restraints, dismantling them even easier than he had before.
"Sorry," he noted as he pulled her ties off and helped her up, "I don't know if you knew this but, I had a rough night."
She gave him a glare for his sarcasm as they entered the hall and found Harm discarding the pictures and moving for the door; "Run!" Ben shouted pushing her into the hallway and forcing up a mana-shield which Harm shattered with a single punch.
Artemis ran through the hall and down the stairs where she found a kitchen; on the counter was her cross-bow, still loaded. She grabbed it with a smile and looked around for anything to improvise with, that was until Ben flew back first down the stairs, crushing the dry-wall with his impact; she grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up onto his feet, "No time for a nap!"
He caught his balance and Artemis quickly opened the door that led to the yard, "I have an idea, get outside, now!" She moved into the kitchen and flipped all the burners on, reaching under the sink and finding the gas tank where she untwisted the cap letting it all flow out into the air; as she fled the kitchen she watched as Harm strolled into the room with his sword already unsheathed at his side.
"Shit," she ducked for the door and aimed her bow for right in-between his eyes firing the arrow within which he caught with two fingers smugly; this cocky nature slowly fell away as he sniffed the air and realized the gas was running, which led him to look down to the projectile in his hand where the tip was already burning.
"Clever, bitc-"
Artemis closed the door and jumped across the yard tackling Ben to the ground as a massive gas-explosion ignited in the room, sending a wooden stool through the windshield as well as shrapnel from the stove shredding the old-barbecue next to them. As the ringing in their ears flooded out, and smoke billowed up into the sky from the kitchen, Ben coughed opening his eyes as Artemis did exactly the same, pulling her face from the crook of his neck, where they both realized they were inches from one another, they could feel their breaths on their cheeks; the blonde blushed immediately without meaning to, trying her best to keep her composure.
"Hey," she muttered.
"Hey."
"Hey!" They both turned at the third voice announcing itself from the blown-apart door way; Harm stood completely unharmed and shirtless, his skin still smoldering from the heat but, it didn't seem to bother him.
Ben turned on his side, then to his stomach, in an attempt to push himself up; Artemis stood much easier though, getting up practically just to defend her friend; as Ben was getting to his feet he found a small grave in the corner with a stone carved with the words, "Here lies Gretta; beloved sister?" He read aloud.
Just as he read this, the same phantom from before rose from the dirt of the grave, forming the shape of the girl, "Secret."
"Wait? You're Gretta? And you're dead?" Artemis asked as she took a step back, almost toward Harm before realizing she had no where to go, "Who did this to you?" Artemis asked as Ben clutched his fist, turning to face Harm with an empty look in his eyes.
"It was him," he muttered as Artemis turned to face him again, "It was his own sister, and he killed her."
Harm was shocked at first but, only smiled, "The it's pieced it together from the pictures and now they use magic to project Harm's only beloved sibling before him!"
"Us? You did this! To your own sister!" She shouted back at him but, his smile never wavered, "And you're proud of it? And you had the gall to write beloved!"
"Not gall, only truth, Gretta was the only thing Harm ever loved, and his heart had to be pure for the sword to accept him; so she was excised like a cancer, removed from the equation!" Harm stepped forwards and held his blade out toward them.
"One problem," Ben announced looking away from Gretta and back at Harm, "I haven't cast a single spell since we got out here..."
Harm's eyes widened as a sudden tense pressure engulfed them all, Artemis looked back slowly as Gretta stepped toward her former-brother; his hand shook and the blade followed suit, "No! That's not possible!" she stepped passed the two heroes and plunged her own ethereal chest into his blade with a scowl on her face, frowning intently at him, "Harm is not sorry! I'm not!" He wavered, the sword shun brightly shocking him as the sheath flew in unscathed from the house, tucking itself in and digging itself into the dirt of the yard for the next worthy being.
Artemis smiled and crossed her arms, "Face it Harm, you wanted to know how we found this place? Your secret is out!"
"No!" he shouted as he grasped at the blade, it didn't even budge from it's spot as he pulled, "Harm's heart is pure!"
"No, it isn't," Ben muttered as he stepped from behind Artemis, "I have never met anyone as unpure as you are, right now!" He put his foot against Harm's shoulder and pushed him back against the doorway, grabbing the hilt of the sword, it surged with energy and released itself from it's sheath for him, as he raised it above his head, "You killed your own family, for this thing?"
"I had to be pure! I needed the sword to accept me! I had to be pure for the sword to accept me!" Harm shouted as he scattered under Ben's heel, his strength vanished and his endurance diminished; Ben over looked the blade, as light as a feather now, it cackled with blue-electricity which projected light into the yard.
Harm put his hands around Ben's ankle but, couldn't push against him, "Please, I'm sorry!"
"No," he muttered, "I know exactly what needs to be done here," Ben took his foot down as Harm kept his hands out, keeping the light from glaring into his eyes.
Artemis stepped forward, "Ben, what're you gonna do?"
Gretta stepped forwards and put a hand on Ben's shoulder, shaking her head, "Fine," he narrowed his eyes down at the pathetic man before them, trying to imagine some world where he doesn't continue doing evil but, he couldn't; he then tried imagining a world where his first kill, the day he decided to cross the line, was for this piece of shit. For a low-life he didn't even know, he couldn't kill him either, the only person he could do that to right now is Vilgax and he's not here.
Ben kept the blade above his head as he looked back toward Gretta, "I can't just let him go either, though," she raised her phantom brow as he stepped forward and slashed the blade downward.
"AGH!" Harm shouted in agony as his right hand flopped to the ground, blood splattered across Ben's face and at Artemis' feet; both she and Gretta were horrified by both the situation and what Ben had just done.
"And for the rest of your miserable life," Ben sheathed the sword in its holster still stuck upright in the ground, "I want you to look down at your arm and remember what I did to you, in all your most private moments, I want you to remember where killing and destroying got you, do you hear me?"
"Yes! Please! I'm sorry!" he shouted facing the dirt clutching his severed forearm.
"Don't tell us!" Ben shouted back at him, "Tell her!" he pointed back at the ashamed ghost still standing before them, although; not shame for her death but, shame for what has happened to the brother she once knew.
He looked up into her broken-hearted eyes, "I-I'm sorry," he mumbled for the final time, letting tears stream down his face.
Ben turned to Gretta with a solemn expression, "We'll make sure you get a proper burial," he looked down into her eyes with a smile, "I'm sorry this happened to you."
She gave him a warm grin, having finally gotten justice for her murder, she waved one last time at him, "Secret!" she shouted playfully as she vanished, faded into thin air.
Artemis wiped her brow, "Wow, just, wow," looking around at everything that just happened, it was all quite overwhelming, "What should we do with the sword?"
Ben looked up from where Gretta was, "We'll have Dr. Fate swing by, or maybe Zatara; they'll figure it out," he approached the wooden fence and kicked a few of the planks out so that he could face Abel's House of Secrets once again, the 'Secret' part still flashing, "I guess it was the last thing she ever saw..."
Artemis stepped through the hole after him, "This is really, really depressing."
They heard sirens going off in the distance, the police were responding, finally, to the explosion they'd caused in the kitchen and Harm would be arrested for the dead body in the buried in the yard among other things; "There's a safe house we can head to, clean up, call the League."
"Sure," Ben announced, he looked at the time, it was well passed mid-night and so he'd already missed M'gaan coming home from the party but, she'd understand once she found out what happened to them.
...
Rochester; New York; November 1st 2013; 1:15AM
"Recognized, Ben 10 B01; Artemis B07."
Ben and Artemis entered the studio apartment, acting as a safe-house, to store extra weaponry, first aid, money, passports, and anything else they might need on a moment's notice, "So!" Artemis turned around and walked backwards towards the sink, pulling her cowl back and off of her face, "Ben 10 can throw down!"
He chuckled a bit as she dampened a dry rag, filling the sink with water as she did so, "Yea, I've been training but, I don't know how far I'll get."
"What does that mean?"
"Canary won't train me anymore, remember?"
Artemis exhaled and laid the rag back on the sink, "I'll train you," she said bluntly.
"You?"
"What the hell does that mean?" She folded her arms as he took his shirt off revealing many different cuts, bruises, and wounds that would need far more medical attention than she could provide but; beyond that, she could see his entire chest as his shirt pulled over his head, he was more toned than she ever remembered, then again, she didn't remember ever seeing him take anything off before this.
"I don't play nice," he tossed the shirt to a shelf nearby, "I have issues, or so I'm constantly told."
Artemis took a step forward with the rag, approaching his shoulder wound from Harm's blade with the wet-rag, "A lot of people have issues, Batman has issues, Canary has issues..."
"Not issues like mine," He gave her a frank smile, forcing it out of a dark moment, "It feels good, to take it out on people, to let the devil out..."
"Are you satisfied after tonight?" She chuckled and turned back around dipping the now bloody rag into the water, letting the crimson mix with the pool.
"That's just it; it never get's old," he looked off thinking deeply of something or someone, "There's only one thing that will solve my problem, and that's killing Vilgax."
Artemis put the rag down again and sighed tapping the sink with her palms, "Are you gonna do it?"
The room was silent, the cars could be heard outside and the creaks in the walls echoed like a roaring in the tense moment, "I don't know, yet, every time I take a beating, I get closer to my answer though, i can feel it."
Artemis pulled the top of her costume off over her head, leaving her in nothing but a tight black sports-bra, "Then let's fight right now. I wanna hear your answer."
Ben chuckled and stepped back, "I'm not gonna fight you," he implored.
Artemis pulled her hands up into a fighting stance, "I won't hold back like Canary, promise."
"I am not going to-" Ben was interrupted when a fist jabbed him in the nose, sending his head back for a second as he wiped his nose to make sure he wasn't bleeding.
"I said hit me, damn it!"
She watched this time, looked deep into his eyes, as he snapped and his expression went dead; he cracked a smile at her, as if he wasn't expecting this but, it wasn't unwanted. He quickly jabbed at her in response, she pulled back to avoid it but, he rushed forwards, swinging his opposing hand for left hook which she blocked with her forearm, grabbing it with her other hand and twirling into his close quarters and elbowing him in the chest. He swung over her as she ducked but, couldn't avoid his uppercut which caught her in the nose, halting the fight.
"I'm sorry," he noted for a moment, holding a hand out but, not expecting her to slap it away like an animal.
"Hit me again," she huffed, getting back into her fighting stance, she whirled around side kicking Ben in the chest, he fell on his back and rolled over his head and back to his hands to face her; he stood where he swung at her quicker, more precise, he was giving it more effort than the first time clearly. She managed to stop it with her forearm, extending that arm into his face where she attempted to punch him but, missed as he grabbed her and knee'd her in the chest. This time it was her who swing wildly, Ben dipping his head back to avoid it, their sweat beginning to form at their feet, he grabbed her wrist and turned under it twisting her through the air and onto her back.
Ben came down and grabbed her by her sports-bra, pulling her into a position he could punch her from but, he didn't; they stared blankly into each other's eyes, feeling the adrenaline and the lust flowing out around them, their sweat glistening off their features, the feeling of pain burning across where they'd been hit. It overwhelmed them as Artemis pulled Ben in connecting their lips, they knew it was wrong but, that's what made it feel so right; she swung her legs up and gripped him by the neck and shoulders with her thighs, bringing him down hard on the mat, face up as she straddled him at the waist, pulling her sports-bra off completely revealing her bare-chest to him.
Ben wouldn't make it back to his room in Mount Justice that night, they'd gone too far to stop now, this would certainly complicate things for everyone involved but, for now? It felt unbelievable.
...
...
…
Somewhere in Deep Space; Unknown; Unknown; Unknown.
A violet portal of energy opened up in the void of space, without light for millions of miles, the mystical entrance was the only thing illuminating the massive flag-ship that came through only seconds later; it looked damaged, with sparks flying across every inch of it, traversing through dimensional gate-ways with a ship that spans miles in length obviously doesn't do well for an 'FTL' engine.
A black and red drone flew through the corridor inside the ship, leading to the main control room; he floated up to the large throne looking down at a mechanical crew, "Master! The portal has caused significant damage to ships engines and thrusters, as well as the main weapon systems."
The ominous figure looked down on the foot soldier that should have been more afraid but, was programmed otherwise, "How much damage?" the figures deep voice bellowed in a mumble but, it was still audible enough to understand.
"Not only is Light Speed travel no longer available but, we've landed just outside of Earth's Solar System,"
"How long?"
"To return to Earth? Two full months by my calculations," The soldier announced without hesitating, "The ship should arrive in time for Earth's 'New Year' celebration."
"Then," Vilgax began, "I will celebrate appropriately by raiding yet another Earth which Ben Tennyson holds dear!" He stood from his throne and stared out at the single star in his sight-line, the Sun that heated the air his enemy still breathed, "And when I've taken from him everything that he loves, I will tear off his arm and hang it on my trophy wall!"
…
Remastered 2/8/2019