Justice Era: Dark

by G O G E T A 9 0 0 0

Ben lost everything and everyone he loved but, with Vilgax still after him, he'll need the help of the Justice League and their proteges. Can Ben kill Vilgax once and for all? What new adventures await him in this strange new world? We're entering a much darker, more dangerous era than ever before. Can Ben face this new darkness? Season 3.

22. Happy New Years 2019

The events of Season 1 (Ch 1-21) are set in 2013; Season 2 is set in 2019; Five Years Later.

This chapter contains minor Drug and Alcohol abuse.

Taipei; January 1st 2019

A single U-Haul truck sped down the long icy highway by itself, not a person or truck stop for dozens of miles; the driver was a regular man wearing long robes that somehow did not impede his driving. The back contents of the vehicle were hidden from view but the man in the passenger seat gripped his rifle for dear life knowing exactly what their cargo was.

"You think he can transform while frozen?"

The driver scoffed at him, "Why do you think he's frozen in the first place?"

"Right, this is just the first time I eva delivered any live cargo," he peered into the back for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing, "Specially not one with that thing on its wrist; ya know, I heard it could go off like a nuke!"

The driver smiled, "And I heard they saw a flying pig floating around the Hall of Justice but, ya don't see me believin' that junk…" their southern drawl clearly proved them to be foreigners, very foreign at that.

From a top a bridge a man wearing a dark cloak, covering his well-built muscular form and face, raised his forearm and spawned an emerald holo-screen detecting an Omnitrix core signal; he'd only spent hours as BrainMatter attempting to track the core's energy signature from so far away but, he'd finally caught up with it. He deactivated the hologram and narrowed his eyes as the truck slowly approached; as it passed under him, he spared no time leaping down and using bright blue mana platforms to land on the truck's hull.

"Gotcha," Ben noted as he threw his cloak to the wind and lined his fist with mana-energy and attempted to punch directly through the thin sheet – metal. His fist bounced off the hull, noticing it was protected by some sort of energy field nearly causing him to lose his grip. As he held on for dear life he simultaneously pulled an egg-like device from his belt and placed it on the roof. The egg opened up unleashing a high-pitched whine that disrupted the force field and allowed Ben to punch directly through it, ripping a person sized whole in the truck.

He just barely caught sight of the glowing green light hidden behind a curtain of some sort; he narrowed his eyes before a crimson beam flew through the truck directed at him. "Contigo!" a blue shield formed in front of him blocking the blast but, knocking him through the air and off the roof of the truck. He formed a mana-leash that attached to the truck allowing him and his energy platform to float behind, keeping it in sight.

An assassin kicked open the rear door to the truck and aimed a RPG sized laser-cannon over his shoulder, "I hate to do this, really, I admire your work!" he shouted through his black and orange face mask that only revealed his one good eye.

"We aren't in the same line of work!" Ben shouted as his platform morphed into a floating bubble around him hooked on to the trucks bumper.

"Oh, I know exactly what kind of work you dip into these days, gotta satisfy your habits somehow, right? I totally get it!" He fired the cannon discharging a beam of energy that, instead of hitting Ben's protective spell, slashed through the bumper and severed the hero's connection to the truck. His spell dispersed and he flew through the air, quickly hugging his chest and layering his epidermis with a thin layer of mana to protect himself from the road-rash.

After he ceased his tumbling and rolling, he was face down on the asphalt, "Damn it!" he slammed his fist down on the road sending small cracks through the street, and as he stood he noticed the truck was long gone. It took weeks to find the Omnitrix core while not in use and unless it's activated, it'll take several more weeks to do it again, far too long.

…

Tokyo, Japan; January 1st 2019

Ben didn't exactly enjoy his living arrangement currently but, he managed as well as he could; he didn't need anyone else nor did he want anyone else around. It would only lead to more death, Ben shook the thought and pushed the wooden door open to his two-room studio shack. Small but, livable, there were wrappers scattered across the floor from different meals, dirty pots and pans in the dry broken sink, a small TV propped up on two milk cartons, and a cot in the corner. He approached the small table where green-sticky leaves were scattered across it and empty bottles of liquor piled up around the table across the floor.

Ben gripped the bottom of his bong and ignited the small lighter in his hand, filling the glass with smoke only to suck it all into his lungs for a brief moment before exhaling completely. He sighed with smoke bellowing from his lips, spreading the fumes of marijuana throughout the room; he reached for the remote and turned the TV on to channel 52, the American news station he'd always tuned into.

"This is Cat Grant reporting live from ground zero where hundreds have gathered to mourn the tragic attack which today marks the third-year anniversary of; on this day, January 1st 2016, our hero Ben Ten battled his longtime rival known only by the public as Negative Ten and failed to stop a rampage that ended with the lives of 5,476 Americans." Ben downed a glass of whisky and launched the empty container at the TV shattering against the wall, missing completely. He groaned and ran his hands over his beard which had grown over the last several years and hadn't been trimmed in months.

He closed his eyes in frustration wanting to crush the TV simply for reminding him of his tremendous failure but, knew it was his only source of public information and entertainment. He stood and moved to grab another glass from across the table noticing a sharp pain in his right arm. He peered over his shoulder and discovered a long gash across his shoulder and upper-back, "Shit," he muttered grabbing the neck of the whisky bottle and slowly pouring it over the wound.

He grit his teeth and looked away in agony, breathing through his tightened jawline, "Bruce always did made it look glamourous, didn't he?"

Ben jumped, tumbling over the small table in the center of the room and aiming both of his ignited aura palms in the direction of the shadowy figure that lurked in the dark corner of his shack.

"Stand in the light!" He shouted as a man stepped out from the opposite corner, one which he was not aiming at; he rectified this quickly by aiming his hands in the correct direction.

The man was clad in silver body-armor with a dark turquois bird on the chest and a domino mask covering his eyes; he folded his arms and leaned against a support pillar in the light from the sunset peaking through the window, "You look like crap."

"Robin…"

"It's Nightwing but, you knew that," he muttered with a glare.

"What do you want, Dick?" Ben asked lowering his guard and reaching for his bong once again as Dick nearly looked away in disgust.

He sighed, "I was supposed to be investigating a string of assassinations leading from here to Taipei and back; how surprised do you think I was when my strongest lead led me right to your doorstep?"

"I asked what you wanted Dick, not your life story," Ben lit the end of the bong and inhaled another cloud of smoke.

"You're a killer now? No better than the people you used to stop?"

Ben looked up from the glass apparatus before setting it down; "I kill drug-lords and other assassins, gotta pay rent somehow."

Nightwing glanced at the pile of liquor bottles and rolling papers, "Something tells me that's not all you to pay for these days…"

Ben picked up a bottle of whisky and downed a gulp before whipping his upper-lip, "The hell is your point?"

"Unlike you, I never stopped putting criminals behind bars and if you didn't notice, that includes you now too," The vigilante stepped forwards putting a finger in Ben's chest before the former-hero slapped it away.

"If you're gonna kick my ass? Do it already, I haven't got the time to waste, no jail, you or the League has, could hold me," Ben turned and placed a hand on the glass window and watched the horizon set over the mountain range miles away.

"I didn't come to arrest you or beat you up," He continued as he threw down a picture on the table juxtaposed to himself, "I came to ask what the hell it is you're doing?"

"Trying not to hurt anyone I actually care about," he muttered as he looked down and shut his eyes only seeing the lives of thousands fall beneath his enormous feet.

"I'm not going to try and convince you that what happened that day wasn't your fault, you've come too far to let that go now; I will ask something else though," he slapped a finger down on the photo without taking his glare off his old friend, "I'm going to ask you to let it go, one last time, move on before I or the League have to step in… officially; we've given you plenty of breaks, but killing, that is off the table."

"And if I refuse?"

Nightwing sighed and removed his finger, "You'll have an ARGUS assault team and a JL tactical group knocking down your door; and nothing you've done in the past will be able to help you."

Nightwing turned around and reached for the handle to the shacks loose wooden frame, "Oh, and by the way, we can help locate that clone you're looking for…"

This caused Ben to drop his bottle although, it didn't shatter, he spun around and found himself alone in the shack with nothing but stagnate smoke and his shadow, "Always hated it when he did that," he looked down at the photo on the wooden table and slowly picked it up as he sat in a nearby stool trying to process his next decision.

The photo would have drawn tears if he hadn't been so intoxicated; it was the Team on New Year's Day just after saving the League and the world from Vandal Savage including the entire Justice League towering behind Wally, Artemis, Aqualad, Superboy, Robin, Zatanna, Rocket, M'gaan, Veronica, and himself; all wearing their tattered uniforms and smiling so brightly, it had been so long since he'd been happy, could he even smile anymore?

He peered towards the small room in the shack that acted as his bathroom where a bright, near neon, green dusty jacket hung and his vision focused on an unused electric beard-trimmer, unplugged and neglected to the side.

"Maybe… it's hero time again?"

…

Gotham City; January 1st 2019; Underground Sewer System.

Footsteps echoed through the dark tunnels as Conner sprinted through at super-speeds, analyzing his surroundings until he spotted something on the ground and came to a quick stop; grey-slime, he'd seen it before and recognized it. He looked around and noticed his breath in front of his eyes, it was a cold morning so, he wasn't surprised. He scanned the rest of the tunnel with his infrared-vision and sighed, nothing but muck and grime; unbeknownst to him, a slithering tentacle reached up from below the murky waters quickly wrapping around his ankle. It quickly spread across his body around his chest, pulling him into the hands of a giant familiar creature made seemingly of mud or clay, "Ha, you always fall for this gag!" Clayface shouted confidently as he gripped Superboy by the sides.

The disgusting creature pulled him into his chest wrapping his body around him and attempting to absorb him into his semi-liquid body, "Struggle all ya want, kid!" Conner attempted to pull away but, had no traction to speak of, "Even a Kryptonian has to breath!"

"Let him go!" A voice announced from the darkness as two women sprung down from above; Miss Martian revealed her camouflage and forced the beast apart with telekinesis, freeing Conner whilst another woman, about the same age, sent a pink energy-leash out grabbing him by the torso and dragging him away from the monster's grasp.

M'gaan landed on the cement sidewalk left to the sewage looking about the same only, she sported a pixie cut rather than her long crimson locks. Veronica landed next to her in her glowing Anodite form, only, her hair had grown out to below her waist-line and she wore a skin-tight energy containment suit stretching across her body to her ankles and wrists.

"Delta squad; we've located the target, converge on our signal," the Martian said through her telepathic link.

"We can play at this all day, Missy!" Clayface shifted and morphed his right-hand into a large, spiked, club and motioned towards them, "Nothing you can do hurts me," he confidently spotted as his other hand followed his right's example.

Suddenly, from the shadows, two shuriken flew and struck him in the back electrocuting him severely, however; it didn't even singe his structure as his head morphed behind him to address the attacker, "That don't work anymore, Ha!"

Superboy pulled a silver pill from his jean-pocket, "Than try this!" he quickly flicked it into Clayface's now roaring mouth causing him tow swallow it. It exploded a second later as rushing cement flowed from his eyes and mouth, soon engulfing the rest of him and turning him into solid cement.

"Distraction went off as planned, thanks Robin," Superboy smiled as Tim Drake stepped from the darkness in a new and improved Robin costume with armored plating, a darker crimson and black aspect, ditching the yellow altogether, and a staff laid over his shoulder.

"Thanks," he said, "Just glad it worked."

Suddenly, through a nearby rushing sewage-water pipe, a green alligator with a red and white collar splashed into the water and morphed into a green human-monkey hybrid boy. He sported a crimson spandex outfit with white trim and a long simian-tail, "Is it over already?" he whined, "I didn't even get a souvenir for the trophy room!"

A bug-like armored man flew down from above with insectoid-wings retracting into an ocean blue and black armored suit covering him head to toe, "Dude!" he pointed at the green-boy and snarled, "I think that smell qualifies."

"Delta squad to Cave; mission accomplished," Veronica relayed through communication link in her ear.

"Good job, Delta, head on back, Nightwing out."

…

Mount Justice; January 1st 2019

Nightwing sat solemnly at the main computer of the Cave; analyzing the data from Clayface's escape and ordered a task force to come secure his statue-body and place him on high-security in a specialized cell underneath Arkham Asylum.

"Recognized; Miss Martian B06, Superboy B05, Spiritus B09, Beast Boy B17, Blue Beetle B19, Robin B14."

Nightwing stood from his seat and turned to face them as they passed a casually sleeping Wolf in the far right of the holo-ring; Superboy snarled at himself and wiped the sludge off his new long-sleeved tee, "I'm hitting the showers," he monotoned as he headed for the corridor.

"Sounds look a good idea," Blue Beetle stated as his armor retracted around his body and left a teenage boy, around fifteen, in a red hoodie and jeans pinching his nose at Beast Boy, "For you, ermano."

Beast Boy sniffed his pits and flicked some sludge from his tail casually as he nodded and headed after Superboy, meanwhile; Veronica, now going by Spiritus, and Tim approached Nightwing.

"Good job, guys," He greeted with gratitude but, they humbly protested.

"I didn't do much," Tim added, "They did all the heavy lifting."

"I'm just glad it wor-" Veronica was interrupted by a holo-screen appeared with an alert from the Watchtower where Captain Atom broadcasted his message from.

"Emergency alert; the United Nations head-quarters is under attack," along with his image, video footage of the attack on the U.N building appeared in a smaller screen next to him.

Vernoica approached and sent her fingers flying over the keys of the central computer, "Beta is only two blocks out, should I deploy?"

Nightwing nodded, "Captain, the team's Beta squad is in the vicinity, ETA; 3 minutes…"

…

New York City; January 1st 2019

Through a destroyed hall-way of the United Nations headquarters, three police officers with high-powered rifles lined up to take fire at the intruder and attacker; they didn't even manage to get one shot off before a massive steel hook flew and knocked them all over in a heap, they were unconscious before they hit the ground. The steel hook retracted slowly via chain-link towards its owner who wielded a massive hook firing rifle that fit perfectly into his wide grip. He stood eight-feet tall with leather armor and pants, multiple belts with metal spikes across them and a raven-black mohawk hanging down his neck.

"Abaska eazy helko! Gabsa oj haka, keezy krolo," He spoke in an alien language before walking passed the down guards and towards the office labeled 'secretary general Tsang.' Two other officers backed into the officer and shut the door, locking it and putting Tsang behind the line of their weapons. They waited several seconds before two thuds knocked the entire wall down instead of just the door, the officers open-fired their rifles while the bullets simply bounced off the alien's chest as he stepped through the smoke.

"Qari? Qari!?" He stepped forwards and put his finger over the barrel causing the rifle to explode and knock out the officer, "Habska helko krolo, qelelo uno haska krolo…"

Tsang backed towards his desk slowly with his hands up and sweat dripping down his temple, "P-Please, I don't understand!" he pleaded, "I don't know what you want!"

The alien hunter looked agitated but, understood as he placed a single finger on a small disk on his built; it lit up green and made an undiscernible noise, "Translating."

"So, that's how you wanna play it? Fine, the contract calls for the main man to put on a show for the locals," He stepped closer and repeated himself, "Surrender or die."

"Contract? Show?" Tsang muttered desperately not at all understanding the situation at hand.

"Die it is," the hunter reached for his serrated-blade hanging across his back before suddenly, from thin air, a woman leapt over him gracefully and landed between him and his prey before unleashing a sucker-punch to the abdomen creating a shockwave that shattered the windows around the office instantly. The woman was a young girl, wearing a sleeveless black tank top with two golden 'W's' across the chest and red spandex pants leading to normal running shoes around her feet. The hunter was sent to his knees but, looked up and began recovering fast.

From the broken window, another woman jumped in and rolled to a stop next to the secretary general, "Wonder Girl, keep him busy, I'm getting the general to safety!"

Wonder Girl punched her palm with a glad smile, "All over it, Batgirl!"

"If you have any trouble, she'll be here any minute now!" Batgirl led Tsang to a secret elevator hidden behind a tapestry hung next to a book shelf before pushing him and getting in herself, taking them down the shaft in seconds.

"I don't need her, I can take care of this all on my own," she turned back to the massive alien who stood three feet taller than her now and cracked her knuckles, Okay, big guy, let's see how much punishment you can ta-" she landed a right-straight to his cheek, however; it did little to nothing since he took half a second to reach out and grab her face viciously throwing her back through the hall he entered from.

"Quari? Keezy fem thinks she can take down the main man? Quari!" He nonchalantly walked forwards and approached the elevator casually, leaping down the shaft and crushing the elevator with his weight alone. Batgirl and Tsang nearly tripped from the force of his landing, "Where are we going?"

"We can get you out through the general assembly building!" She quickly tossed a small orb at his feet which exploded with massive amounts of purple smoke enveloping the entire corridor they were running through, he swiped his hand through it and noticed that they'd vanished.

In the general assembly hall, Batgirl ducked beneath a steel hook flying over head and retracting back into the smoke; he stepped through and walked towards them until a Wonder Girl flew from behind and knocked his legs out from under him, "Hold it, ugly! We weren't done dancing!" she landed and hopped back and forth in a boxing stance.

"Keezy fem!" he shouted.

"Yea, yea, 'keezy fem'," she repeated, "I've been called worse… I think?" She ducked as he sent a wild left-hook overhead before dipping back to avoid an uppercut from her. She followed it up with a round-house to his face which knocked him stumbling back, she ended the combo by using a golden-lasso to tie him up and bind his arms to his side.

He gave a sinister smile and laughed, "keezy fem…" he grabbed the rope and tugged with casual strength pulling her in uncontrollably; she was crossed in the face and sent into the high-rise ceiling before letting gravity drag her down into the empty stands.

Batgirl noticed and looked to Tsang, "When I move, run," she immediately jumped over the podium she was using as cover and Tsang took off towards the exit. She avoided his grasp by jumping over it, used his shoulders as a spring board, and landed behind him before backing way tactically. The hunter flipped a table and pursued her only, stopping when he noticed the bombs she'd placed on his shoulder-blades during her maneuver. The explosion clouded his vision briefly but, did little else while he swatted her to the left knocking through a set of chairs.

Wonder Girl flew in and attempted to ram him from behind but, he saw it coming and ducked grabbing her by the leg as she passed by, and swung her around hitting the recovering Batgirl in the chest sending them both down.

"Where is she?" Wonder Girl asked as she rubbed her head in pain, likely having a concussion.

"She said she was stopping a flood in Haiti, she'll be here any… shit!" They both looked up as the hunter jumped down and cut off Tsang before he could reach the exit, "Now, habsko krollo, time to die…" He grabbed Tsang by the arms and began to pull.

"No!"

Instead of a gruesome murder scene, Tsang was torn apart but, only revealed circuits and wires spilling out instead of human-intestines; in the center of the android-like body was a tiny green imp-like alien creature.

"Ew," Wonder Girl spat as she watched the events unfold.

The hunter pressed a beacon on his belt and used a small sphere to contain the small alien creature; strapping it to his belt, "The main man's contract is done!"

The sky shook and the buildings followed, the roof exploded raining down debris and a single figure as she slammed her heel into the ground at his feet; she was dressed in a white spandex suit covering her entire body aside from her red boots, gloves, cape, and the cleavage revealing hole in the suit's chest, "Lobo!"

"Damn, Kryptonian fem found me again," he shot his hook weapon but, wasn't surprised when she caught it with two hands and yanked on it with her teeth grinding. He was pulled by his heels until he let go of the handle, hitting her in the face with a four-foot long alien gun knocking her on her back until she rolled to her feet again. This was all the time Lobo needed to summon his vehicle which fired a beam into the side of the building causing an explosion of smoke to cover his exit, "See you again next time, keezy Kryptonian!" He hopped on his hovering alien-bike and sped away, soon reaching light-speeds disappearing through space.

She stood and rubbed her head, "Damn it, a minute too late; I hate him so much…"

"What took you so long, Power Girl?" Wonder Girl shouted as she passed 'Tsang's' torn up mechanical body.

"It's fifteen-hundred miles from Haiti, okay; I'm only so fast!"

Batgirl knelt down beside the robotic-corpse and examined it closely; Wonder Girl sighed and looked out into the night sky, "I think clown-face was some sort of alien!"

"He is, Superman and I have run into him in the past…"

"And that's not nearly the creepiest part," Batgirl noticed the small controls in the Tsang-suit and narrowed her eyes in honest suspicion.

…

Watchtower; January 2nd 2019

"Recognized Zatanna A25, Rocket A26."

The two newest League members walked into the main orbiting base casually as they were currently discussing the issue with Lobo and the secretary general. John Stewart, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, and a scientist in a white lab-coat stood on one side of a holo-screen whilst Superboy, M'gaan, Nightwing, and Powergirl stood on the other representing the team in this discussion.

"The big guy, Lobo, is an inter-galactic bounty hunter; extremely dageours but, not likely to return," Stewart pointed out with a green-hand construct pointing to the screen, "This one though, is a Khrolotaen and Khrolotaens always travel in packs…"

"Meaning more of them are on Earth," Batman deduced.

"I think my friend may have some information on that," Manhunter stepped to the side and allowed the scientist to step forward, "I do not believe you have met Adam Strange of STAR Labs interstellar initiative; he is the scientist responsible for the technology we use for our Zeta-Beam teleportation."

"I was wondering why a stranger was allowed on the top-secret head-quarters," Superboy thought to Supergirl and M'gaan with the telepathic link.

"A few months ago, I was working on a routine zeta-beam upgrade when something went… wrong; I was accidently transported half way across the galaxy," he continued with caution as he took a few steps forwards, "I landed on a planet called Raan, there was a scientist there, Zardac, who was conducting his own experiments there on enhanced, very enhanced, zeta-beam technology, it took weeks to establish even basic communication but, eventually he was able to make me understand that someone had stolen his zeta-beam specs."

John Steward stepped towards Adam with passion, "Fits the Krolotaen M.O, their entire culture revolves around stolen tech."

Adam Strange continued, "Zardac detected a transmission from a single location on Raan to multiple locations on Earth; he was attempting to trace those when he accidently sent me to Raan," he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small high-tech disc, "He gave me this, it detects trace zeta radiation and can pinpoint all the locations where Krolotaens have beamed to Earth," the small disc projected a spherical hologram of Earth with the locations highlighted across it.

"Then I'm ordering a two-pronged attack;" Captain Atom stepped forwards next to Strange, "We'll stage simultaneous raids on every Krolotaen target on Earth while a contingent of Leaguers travels to Raan with Strange here to cut the Krolotaens off at the source."

Adam cleared his throat, "Uh, we may have a problem with that second prong," he shifted the hologram to a wanted sign in an alien language, "Totally don't know why but, earthlings are persona non grada in Raan's corner of the Galaxy; and these six Leaguers and these six Leaguers are wanted criminals," He displayed an image of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl fighting in space.

"What!?"

"Batman! It's the missing sixteen hours!" Nightwing proclaimed.

"Agreed," Batman said, "Five years ago, Vandal Savage took complete mental control of the Justice League; these exact six Leaguers went missing for sixteen hours."

"Incredible, I never would have thought that he sent us into space…" John Stewart was flabbergasted as watched the scrolling wanted signs for himself and the other League members, "I'll alert Hal, he and Gai Gardner on Oa with the Green Lantern Core."

"Meanwhile," Atom continued, "We have fifteen other active Leaguers to send to Raan to investigate."

Strange scoffed for a moment, "You aren't getting it… there's a planetary watch alert for every Leaguer," Zatanna, Rocket, Captain Atom, and other faces flashed on the holo-screen in Strange's palm.

"Not all of us are Leaguers, I can send a squad to handle the Raan end of things and to find out more about those missing sixteen hours without causing an intergalactic incident," Nightwing stepped forward motioning behind him to those standing the team's side.

"Who do you have in mind?" the Captain questioned as Nightwing turned back to his friends.

"I was thinking Power Girl, Superboy, Miss Martian, Beast Boy, and I asked for one more favor… from an old friend…"

Batman raised his brow, "Who?"

"He should be here any…"

"Recognized Ben 10,000 B01," they were all shocked at the alert echoing through the Watchtower as they turned to face the Zeta-Tube igniting and spitting out a bright light. A tall man, almost a foot taller than they remembered, stepped through the light sporting a bright green jacket, denim jeans, two wrist gauntlets, gel slicked back hair, and a trimmed beard lining up perfectly with his jaw line.

"Hey," he waved nonchalantly as M'gaan's jaw almost dropped at his sight.

"Ben?" Batman announced, "How did you get your credentials back into the system?"

Nightwing stepped up to take the blame, "I added them; we need his muscle and his tactical mind if we're sending a team off world, he's the only one with experience on multiple foreign worlds. His Biomnitrix could also come in handy for translating and camouflage," he took a few steps forwards and put his left hand on Ben's shoulder while exchanging handshakes with his right, "I was glad to get your call, are you sure you're ready to get back into this?"

Ben looked over the faces of sadness, confusion, alertness, and nervousness but, none of fear or anger; it was clear that Nightwing had kept his escapades in Japan to himself. If that was the case, then he had no problem leaving that life behind, "More than ready; I'm done running, if there's nothing I hate more it's dangerous aliens invading my home."

Batman narrowed his eyes at his former protégé, "Nightwing…"

Dick stepped forwards, "As soon as I was given the basics of Adam's story I knew Ben was the right guy and now that I know the logistics? I know I made the right decision."

Ben put a hand on Nightwing's shoulder and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to all of you for leaving, it was the cowards way out; but I can assure you I've never been as sure as I am now that saving lives here is the only place I can redeem myself."

The rest of the Leaguers were silent for several minutes until Batman gave Atom a nod, "Well," The Captain sighed, "I trust Nightwing's judgement as the team's leader and with Ben's track record, I guess I formally reinsert you into the team, effective immediately."

Ben stepped forwards and extended his hand to Captain Atom, "Thank you, you won't regret it."

Atom was slightly taken aback but, still took his hand and shook anyways, "Alright, I'll let Nightwing take your assignments from here."

They turned towards the exit as Zatanna, Rocket, Nightwing, Ben, M'gaan, and Superboy crossed paths and gave each other a warm smile, "I can't say it wont be interesting having you back, Ben, the team has missed you" Zatanna mentioned as the shapeshifter rubbed the back of his neck, "And as for what you said about not being Leaguers, you know the three of you always have an open invitation to-"

"We know, Z," Nightwing interrupted.

"I think we're all pretty happy…"

"Where we are," M'gaan finished giving Ben an uneasy glare, he hadn't noticed yet but, was likely choosing not to.

…

Mount Justice; January 4th 2019.

Wonder Girl, Robin, Batgirl, Superboy, Wolf, and Blue Beetle were all gathered together on the holo-platform with Nightwing standing front and center facing them all, "It's all hands-on deck," he announced as blue-prints and specs of different locations appeared on the screen floating directly behind him, "The League and team will hit all fourteen Krolotaen zeta locations at once, your priorities are to destroy all zeta-tubes or platforms and search for any humans the aliens may have abducted."

"Aren't we a man or two short? Where's Spiritus?" Beetle questioned.

"Different mission," he responded, "Don't worry, we've got someone else you might recognize coming in," as if on Nightwing's que the Zeta-Tubes fired up once again causing them all to turn their heads and watch with suspense.

"Recognize Ben 10,000 B01."

He stepped through the light with a smile, "Heh, some new faces and a few old, how's it going?"

Blue Beetle nearly blew a blood vessel, "Are you? Is that? It can't be him…"

Ben raised a brow with a confused smirck, "…It, uh, is?"

"The Ben 10? You defeated Vilgax! And the entire Justice League! And Negative 10!"

He cleared his throat and corrected, "Well, I go by Ben 10,000 these days but, yea that's me."

Nightwing clapped his hands together catching everyone's immediate attention, "He's been gone a while but, he's back now and that's all that matters; he's a part of this team just like any one of you," he received nods from everyone including the star-struck Beetle and Ben before continuing.

"Alright, as I was saying, The League and team will hit all fourteen Krolotaen zeta locations at once; your priorities are to destroy all zeta-tubes or platforms and search for any humans the aliens may have abducted. As usual I'll be ops manager coordinating things from here."

"Ops manager?" Ben muttered having been out of the loop for so long.

Nightwing continued, "Wonder Girl and Batgirl, you're Alpha; Superboy and Wolf, Beta; Robin, Beetle and Ben 10K, you're Gamma."

"Alpha? Gamma? Thing's sure have changed…"

"Alpha, youre assignment is Philadelphia; take the super-cycle and deploy," The two girls nodded and turned on their heels heading for the loading bay.

"Beta, you guys are Vladivostok; take the Zeta-Tubes to approximately two blocks from target," Superboy and Wolf took off towards the zeta-tubes.

"Gamma, you guys are New Orleans; Ben, prep the Bio-Ship and head over. The coordinates will be downloaded into the ships nav-gear," Ben nodded as Tim looked down a bit.

"Robin, you're running Gamma, tonight."

Tim turned with wide eyes under his domino-mask, "Dick, I've never run a squad before…"

"Making this a good opportunity to get your feet wet as field leader."

Tim thought for a second and narrowed his eyes, "Because it's Gamma and you're not expecting trouble or because we're stretched thin and you've got no choice?" He turned without a word and headed for the Bio-Ship landing pad.

"Just… don't die, okay?" This caused Tim to widen his eyes as he recalled the reason he's the third incarnation of Robin and not the second, "No unnecessary risks to the squad, that's an order."

…

New Orleans; January 4th 2019

The Bio-Ship approached an abandoned junk-yard in camouflage mode as it descended from the shore-line only a few blocks south of it, they read the data on the zeta-readings and noticed their target was a tool shed in the center of the yard, "A tool shed?" Beetle announced in disbelief, "There's barely enough room for zeta-tube in there."

Tim sighed, "Looks like we got the soft gig, as per usual for Gamma."

Beetle sat back and placed his hands behind his head leisurely, "Yet, I'm strangely okay with that," he looked around as if hearing something, "Yes I am, Yes I am, Yes I am!" He argued with himself oddly but, no one payed much attention to it at all for whatever reason.

Ben stared at the approaching target and cracked his neck, "Don't be tricked by what you see; for all you know this could be bigger than any one of us, that's why we have teams."

"What could be bigger than you?"

"A lot of things," Ben responded solemnly as Robin nodded and tapped the 'R' symbol on his armor revealing a holo-screen projection from it showing Nightwing's face.

"Gamma squad to cave, we're in position."

Nightwing responded, "Acknowledge Gamma, all team squads and Justice League units are in place and ready; it's go time."

The Bio-Ship's back exit melded open with Blue Beetle forming insectoid wings and flying out first followed by Ben hoping onto a turquoise mana-platform with Tim, hovering down to a stack of trashed cars.

Blue Beetle landed behind a single SUV for cover before forming a sonic-canon out of his arm and turning with a blast of sound that obliterated the tool shed in seconds. Tool-boxes, ladders, hoses and an assortment of other normal items flew about landing around the shed's remains; Ben leaped down and landed in a sprawl walking towards the wreckage where he looked down to find a small red box, kicking it over and watching a random assortment of screw-drivers and wrenches topple out.

"This is an actual tool shed, I don't see any advanced tech here…" Ben announced up to Tim and Beetle.

Robin turned and pressed a finger to his ear, "Gamma to cave, theres no zeta-tube here, no Krolotaens, no secret entrance."

"Watchtower sensors are still picking up trace zeta radiation from the sight."

Robin pulled a small radar from his utility belt and watched as the signal was located on screen, "Confirmed but, the radiation is coming from… below the water line," he looked up at Beetle and back to Ben, "You're up."

…

Seconds later they were feet from the water on a small boardwalk with the junk yard less than a block from them in the background, Ben looked down and took a deep breath, "Alright, here goes nothing," he crossed his two watches across his chest and bright luminous emerald light exploded out. When it dissipated, what was left was a cross between a Petrosapien and a Piscciss Volan; a tall humanoids fish creature made seemingly of diamonds with razor sharp teeth and a long piranha-like light hanging from his forehead.

Blue Beetle stepped up next to him with a fan-boyish smile, "I read all about your fusion-alien's, you called this one DiamondJaws, didn't you?"

DiamondJaws sighed, "Yea, I did," he looked down and dived head first into the freezing waters, swimming towards the wall which made up the ground he'd dived off of; covered by a long layer of sea-weed was a tunnel leading to a small disc-like entrance opening and closing automatically. He notified the team and they both dived under with Tim using an air-breather and obviously Beetle's suit allowing him to breath safely underwater; DiamondJaws swam through the tunnel and approached the door only looking to Tim for a moment before receiving a nod and proceeding to tear open the door with his diamond-hard amphibious-hands.

The tunnel beyond was high-tech and sported alien-designed lights leading the way towards the entrance to a facility far larger in scope, they all swam towards what looked like a pocket of air at the end of the tunnel, once they reached it they popped their heads above water to find what would shcok them beyond belief. Forget a single or multiple zeta-pads, this facility was a massive underground base with hundreds of Krolotaens roaming about completing multiple tasks and communicating with one another; the entire base was lined with highly advanced Earth technology and alien technology from multiple worlds. A small group of the miniature aliens were standing on a single pad when the beams teleported them away to an unknown location, DiamondJaws dipped underwater and transformed back into his human self to avoid the light giving away his position before following his teammates into0 the facility.

They took cover behind under a bridge of wires, cords, and tubing while still examining their surroundings, "Gamma to cave, we hit the motherload; huge base, alien tech, multiple zeta-platforms, and more Krolotaens than I can count."

"Acknowledged, we'll send back up, till then lay low…"

"That may be a problema, esse," Beetle's Mexican slang was ignored when Tim looked up to himself and his team projected on a security camera with an alarm beginning to sound around them. The Krolotaens were observing it and looking around to find the source, shouting and growling as they finally found them, pointing them out. As they did, hundreds of them began crawling over the main-structure of the base towards the intruders releasing a loud gurgling noise as they did.

Beetle looked over to Tim with his most ironic expression he could form, "Soft gig, huh?"

Tim hopped on the small bridge of cords and spun his staff around preparing for battle, "Form up! Blue, you have our six; Ben, change into something durable!"

"Si, ermano!" Blue formed a sonic cannon as his left arm and a long beetle-like horn-sword as the other whilst Ben crossed his arms and transformed with an explosion of light stunning a few of the approaching horde.

"HeatHazard!" This alien was obviously a combination of Heatblast and Water Hazard having a Pyronite's lava-rock skin with a torso of coruscation-like armor resembling an Orishan's shell; his hood contained a blazing fire with two holes in the top fuming with orange flames. Using his control of the elements he fired a blast of pressurized water into the crowd of Krolotaens knocking their main assault force back while Tim jumped over-head and launched smoke bombs at their feet to cover their counter-strike.

Once in the middle of the fray, Tim used his taser-staff to both knock away enemies and electrocute them simultaneously, he round house kicked one into the three others before using his staff to uppercut another in one swift motion. HeatHazard blew orange flames into the crowd to keep them at a distance with one hand while using the node in the palm of his other hand to knock them back with water-blasts. Blue Beetle knocked any who came in close combat proximity away with his sword-hand and used his sonic-canon for long range offensive attacks.

Blue Beetle flew up into the air and began an aerial-offensive strike with two sonic-canons attacking from a distance knocking away any who came anywhere close to the other two heroes. However, when the Krolotaens caught sight of Blue Beetle flying above them, they started shouting something in a fearful clicking and growling before they all began retreating at once almost screaming in terror as they teleported away. One of them atop the teleporter screeched a high-pitched whine and pulled up an alien holo-screen before typing commands into it.

"They really don't like you! I'm jealous," HeatHazard announced as he tore a Krolotaen off of himself and blasted it away with a water-attack.

"He said what!?" Beetle announced looking at the Krolotaen typing in the holo-screen.

"I said I'm jealous, don't take it to heart!"

"Not you, him!" He pointed at the alien as Tim suddenly became curious.

"Wait? You can understand this screeching? How?"

Beetle sofended his expression, "I don't know exactly but, heffe over there is ordering all Krolotaens off world; he's setting this base to self-destruct in four minutes!"

"Than we're getting out, anything else we should know?"

They all grouped up with Ben transforming back to normal and forming a mana-shield all around them effectively sealing them away from the attacking Krolotaens left, "He said something about sacrificing the play things below…"

"Ugh, the abductee's!"

Beetle stepped forwards, "Three minutes thirty, esse, than boom!"

Tim pondered for a moment before looking around, "Say the word and I'll teleport us out!" Ben announced as Tim continued his decision making.

"Nightwing said no unnecessary risks to the team but, this is necessary," Tim looked around frantically, "Below! We have not get below!"

"There!" Ben pointed out a set of tubes where Krolotaens were jumping out and escaping.

"Beetle on point!" He used his armor to meld his arms together forming a massive ram to pile-drive through the string of Krolotaens in between them and the tunnels. Knocking them aside and landing in the level below where half a dozen humans were held in a large cage. Robin and Ben followed suit as Beetle was then instructed to grab one of the Krolotaens as a hostage; he grabbed one by the neck and ran towards the cage with Robin in front.

"Thank god! It's Robin! The boy-wonder!" They shouted in relief.

"Ben, open it up!" He gave Tim a nod before crossing his arms and turning into a Fourarms and Humungousaur hybrid, "Fourmungousaur!" He reached out and ripped open the cage as the humans inside cowered in terror screaming for him to spare them. Once it was wide-open though, and Ben had transformed back into a human; they were relieved of their fear and began to worringly smile.

"We're sorry, we didn't mean…"

"It's fine, I get that a lot," Ben turned to Tim and cracked his neck, "Are we ready to get out of here?"

Tim looked around and noticed they had the abductees and a Krolotaen in tow, "We got it all, let's get out of here, now!"

Ben clapped his hands together as his eyes flashed bright blue, "Abeo Exorior!" a massive blue dome swallowed the hostages and heroes alike generating from the center of Ben's hands and within seconds a bright flash ignited leaving only a small plume of smoke in it's wake.

…

They appeared half a mile away from the junk-yard they arrived at looking themselves over carefully ot be sure they didn't leave anyone or anything behind. Ben stumbled back and held his head, "I haven't done that in a while…"

Seconds later, Tim looked around and wiped his brow with relief, "Maybe they didn't destroy the compound after a-" mid-senbtance a massive rumbling shook the foundation of the ground beneath them as a massive fireball formed a mushroom cloud in the skyline before them. The base had exploded along with two square-blocks above it, the abductees held each other to keep them from falling over due to the quake the explosion had caused.

"Uh, dude…" Suddenly, Blue Beetle pointed up where he saw silhouettes in the moon light approaching from above; Superman, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Zatara, Dr. Fate, Red Tornado, Icon, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and John Stewart floated down as Flash, Rocket, Plastic Man, The Atom, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Batman, and Aquaman approached on foot.

The Super-Cycle drove in with Superboy, Wolf, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, and Nightwing piloting with a smile and crossed arms, "Yo! Way to get your feet wet!"

Tim flashed a smile back as they all gave each other congratulatory grins and hugs.

"Hey Ben!" Superboy shouted with a smile, "How's it feel to be back in the saddle?"

He looked down for a moment before scratching his chin, "Like I never forgot how to ride the horse!"

…

January 6th 2019; 900,000 Light Years Away; Raan.

Ben, Superboy, M'gaan, Beast Boy, and Adam Strange all zeta-teleported into a strangely colorful laboratory with odd plant-life and creatures around them, "Woah," Beast Boy was the first to announce.

"Zeta-squad, welcome to Raan."

…

…

Hey everyone, Gogeta here, so this is the first episode of Season 2 of the Justice Era. Updates wont be frequent but I hope you stick a long for the ride.

BTW I have been remastering older chapters, so far up to chapter 6, for better quality and grammar adjustments. This will continue until I completely edit this story into a more professional one.

Thanks for 166,000 Reads! Keep reading and reviewing!