I don't own Ben 10 or DC

Chapter 31 - Cornered

…

Unknown; Unknown; April 3rd 2019; 8:06AM

Albedo loved Kryptonian-DNA more than anything, their power and brain-capacity made it worth being kept from obtaining his Galvan form. Their minds had the dimensions capable of utilizing all of his natural intelligence and their bodies didn't crave food, water, oxygen, sleep, etc. With an Omnitrix that never times out, he could use his Kryptonian form to whatever extent he chooses, and even evolve further if he needs. Still, knowing how powerful he was in that form made tedious small things all the more aggravating.

For example, waiting in an elevator as he, Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, and Black Manta made their way ten-stories down into a secret facility for the Light's most illegal prospects, was incredibly boring when he could perceive microseconds.

As the metallic doors slid open, their guests had already been waiting twenty minutes for them to arrive, "Finally, some of us have entire countries to run, Luthor," Queen Bee flipped her hair and folded her arms.

"Settle down," Vandal took the lead walking into the room as Albedo, Deathstroke, Black Manta, Lex Luther and Queen Bee gathered towards the arriving party, "I believe it's time we conduct business."

Black Manta unclasped his helmet and removed it, holding it under his arm, "Last night our partner and my son were attacked by the heroes; Manhunter's niece, the Ms. Martian, mentally scarred my only son. We've accelerated our plans," his tone was brutal and holding back impressive amounts of bloodlust.

Lex caressed the lining of his pure-cotton two-piece suit, "We're taking Ben Tennyson and the Martian in one go; Manta gets to do whatever he wants with her but, the shape-shifter is ours."

Queen Bee took a glance around, "Well? Where is he? Don't tell me he's late too."

"Nonsense…" from the far corner of the room, the ground shook with the steps of a hulking behemoth; once the dim lights revealed his appearance, Queen Bee bit her tongue as inconspicuously as possible. Vilgax was over ten feet tall, he had sleeker more advanced black-armor including a respirator covering his mouth; his most noticeable feature was his sharp-claws, they were red-hot leading to burning cracks running up his arms underneath his armor, "I am bound by my word."

Lex Luthor clapped his hands together, "Wonderful; we've calculated their most likely refuge after one of our agents destroyed their main base of operations."

Albedo spoke up quickly, "I should note, we don't want to attract the attention of Earth heroes; we get Tennyson and get out, no funny business."

"Yes," Vandal responded, "I agree, that's why I'm tasking Deathstroke to go along and make sure everything goes smoothly."

"Fools," Vilgax muttered, "Nothing is smooth with the Tennyson family."

Queen Bee cleared her throat, "That's why I've arranged for a favor with one of my… toys in the United Nations committee; while Captain Atom is busy handling our partners arrival on Earth, almost every other Justice Leaguer will be occupied by lengthy board meetings," she fixed the sleeve of her obviously expensive blouse, "Which means when the target returns to the Hall, we'll know and he'll be alone."

Lex stepped into the circle confidently, adjusting his tie, "Vilgax the conqueror," he spoke up confidently looking up and catching the crimson glare of the alien warlord, unphased by this he continued, "I'm a fan of your work, we've all heard the stories but, what we need to know is that you'll produce results. What's different now than it was five years ago?"

He was taken aback as Vilgax knelt down to eye level with the billionaire, releasing a pressurized burst of air from his respirator causing Lex to stumble back a step, an unconscious drop of sweat forming on his brow, "With all due respect," he added in at the last moment.

Vilgax pulled back a bit, "I fell victim to Ben Tennyson's accursed Celestialsapien transformation; this time, I've been told he uses pitiful fusion transformations."

They all seemed at least a bit confused so Albedo took it upon himself to clarify, "When Ben combines Alien X with another species, it dilutes his cosmic-might; he becomes vulnerable."

"Vulnerable?" Lex scoffed, "A half-Way Big half-Alien X combination creature does not sound vulnerable."

"You think too highly of him," Vilgax turned away and walked back into the shadows, back to whatever quarters they set him up with.

Lex was confused, "Don't turn your back on me!" he raised a fist at the shadows where he couldn't even see the alien conqueror, he was stopped by Albedo grabbing his arm.

"If you value your life, you should stop; and if you think Ben Tennyson is going to turn into a hundred-foot-tall Celestialsapien after what I put him through in New York? Then you aren't as smart as I gave you credit for," Albedo made his way back towards the exit, the mission was in less than twelve hours; the big CEO's and leaders were headed for flights that would put them all in different countries. A solid alibi for what they were about to do so publicly, everything looked like it would be going according to plan.

…

New York City; April 3rd 2019; 9:32AM

"Secretary Tsang and I are so glad you accepted the Reach's invitation to meet, Captain," The Ambassador held his hand out for Captain Atom to shake appropriately but, he only glared back with his crimson eyes. He raised a brow and glanced at the crowd of reporters and press, flashing cameras going off from the front row.

He forced a smile and shook the bug's hand, cringing at the knowledge he had, "The Justice League always promotes peaceful diplomacy."

The Ambassador smugly shrugged, "And should 'diplomacy' fail, you have your sanctioned meta-powers to enforce peace," he gave a sinister grin as the crowd openly waited for a response.

Atom returned to a glare and retracted his hand, "That's not how we operate but, we can discuss this in private."

The Ambassador rolled his eyes, "If you insist," he was motioned off the stage by Captain Atom and Secretary General Tsang as just about every reporter on the scene spoke up for questions in hopes to get some sort of response.

…

"Private?!" G. Gordon Godfrey screamed at his camera-crew on stage for his GBS News Cast live from New York City; he fixed his tie and stepped back dramatically, "A private meeting? Is this a late April Fool's day prank?!"

He was live to millions but, in the room it was just a handful of people watching him spread conspiracy propaganda, "Just another ploy for the Justice League to hide their true agenda from you, the people!"

He pointed directly into the camera and sighed, "I don't know why you're surprised folks, after all most of your heroes wear masks!"

…

Taos; Star Labs; April 3rd 2019; 10:00AM

After the considerably traumatic events of being kid-napped by Aqualad and experimented on by the Reach, whom have now allied themselves with the American government; the Justice League has tasked Black Canary with giving psychological evaluations to all of the main children involved with the team directly.

In the narrow hall just outside of Dinah's makeshift office, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Impulse, Wonder Girl, and four other kids who were especially tormented by Black Beetle during the escape, all sat impatiently waiting in an impossibly quiet office building. Impulse was clearly one of the most nervous amongst them, unconsciously tapping his foot at thirty miles-per-second it caught the attention of several of them.

Beetle happened to be sitting directly next to him and so he responded first reaching down and slapping his knee lightly, "Oh," Bart chuckled, "Sorry…" it only took a few seconds of silence for his hands to anxiously tap away at his thighs at the same pace.

Jamie was about to scoff and say something sarcastic when the door to the office swung open slowly, "Thank you, Tai," Dinah smiled and led a young Native American boy to his seat next to the other four civilian abductee's, "Virgil?" An African American boy, no older than fifteen, stood and dusted off his pants, playing of his blue snapback.

They both sat at opposite ends of a large wooden-desk, she started the session first, "Virgil, I know you've been through a lot but, I'd like to ask you a few questions about your abduction."

He frowned, folding his arms over his chest, "Here's one," he muttered waving his hand toward the camcorder set up facing them in the corner, "Why am I on camera?"

She giggled, "To make sure I remember what you say," she formed a more serious expression putting her fingers together, "I'm speaking to everyone, to not only provide counsel but, to figure out what exactly happened; perhaps even get insight on why the Reach chose you."

He scoffed, leaning back in his chair, "I don't know why the chose me but… I know they wanted to break me."

She grew a tad worried, "Why do you say that?"

He reached over and grabbed a paper-clip from a cup on the edge of the desk, playing with it between his fingers as he spoke, "The tests… they started out small, little static shocks but, they just kept upping the juice until it felt like I was being eaten by lightning."

She was silent for a moment until he spoke up again, his head down in shame but, his eyes up meeting her own, "Still, I was one of the lucky ones; those alien creeps didn't seem to like the results some of the other kids, some kids I never saw again." He choked for a second before shaking the feeling off, standing up, and slapping the paper-clip back on the desk, "When can I go home? My Dad is probably worried as hell!"

Dinah put her hands up in reassurance, "It won't be long, please, have a seat with the others in the hallway…"

He closed his eyes and took a breath, stepping away leaving the clip behind as he walked towards the exit; Once he'd left, the aluminum paper-click sparked, sending out a tiny-magnetic charge that pulled the rest of the paper clips from the cup a few inches away.

She saw this and leaned back, sending out an exasperated sigh, dragging her hand down her face, "Next."

…

Gotham City; Warehouse District; April 3rd 2019; 8:49PM

Ben and M'gaan piloted the Bio-Ship over the waters until they made it to land, setting her down on the roof of the same building they'd been letting Ken live in; with them was Nightwing, Mal Duncan, Superboy, Spiritus, and Wolf.

"Nice!" Mal announced as he hopped onto the concrete, "Perfect cover for our new digs; on the outside it's disgusting but, on the inside…"

Ben unlocked the padlock, pulling open the shutters revealing a three-story facility built more like a jailhouse than a hide-out; there was only one ceiling, each level accessible via catwalk and stairs. M'gaan sighed as she remembered exactly how it looked once the lights flickered on, "It's not much better, Mal."

One of the metallic doors on the second level swung open, Ken stepped out in a black-and-white t-shirt and jeans, leaning over the rail looking down at them.

Mal scoffed looking around, a few spare couches lying in the middle of the room, a computer set-up Ben put together from technological scrap, it certainly wasn't Mount Justice, "April Fools, right? This is our new HQ?"

Ben sighed as he booted up his computer monitor, "I was going to upgrade some of the tech, maybe buy a microwave…"

He closed his eyes, shaking his head as he made his way back to the shutter door pulled half-way down, "Uh-uh, no way, I'm going to find other living arrangements," Mal protested making his way out into the street.

"Need a ride?" Superboy asked folding his arms.

Duncan pulled his phone out, "I was gonna Uber…"

As he left, Ken made his way down to the ground floor whilst the others gathered around the computer set-up, "Look," Nightwing announced, "This isn't HQ, from now on we're operating out of the basement of the Hall of Justice; this is just a place to sleep for those who lived in the mountain."

"It's fine," Superboy announced kneeling down as Wolf lied down on the ground next to him, petting his head.

Nightwing put a hand on Spiritus' shoulder motioning to her and Spiritus, "I know there's a lack of privacy but, there's enough room for everyone to get their own quarters."

Spiritus gave him a solemn smile, "It's okay, it's enough for now, there are more important things to focus on."

"We've been through it this past few weeks, why don't the three of you go to the Hall and pick up the boxes of your stuff we salvaged," he gave a slight chuckle referring to M'gaan and Superboy as well, "Might make this warehouse feel more like a ware-home."

"Right," M'gaan looked back down to her feet, in deep thought of some kind, that was until a soft hand on her shoulder brought her out of her daze.

"Do you want me to come with?" Ben asked.

She seemed distant, uneasy, she only gave an unenthusiastic shrug, "Sure."

"Can I come!?" Ken shouted from the second story, having overheard their conversation; he leapt over the railing and landed perfectly on his feet without any strain.

M'gaan didn't even look in his direction, walking towards the exit and back to the Bio-Ship leaving Ben to answer his question, "I don't see why not…"

"Cool, I've never been!"

Ben started walking towards the same exit following M'gaan, "It's not all that great."

…

Taos; Star Labs; April 3rd 2019; 10:42AM

Black Canary called in the next patient to be evaluated as Impulse walked out and Jamie could no longer keep quiet, grabbing Bart and turning the corner out of sight from everyone else, "W-What did you tell her, ese?"

"About you betraying man-kind and bringing on the Reach apocalypse?" He utterly terrified Jamie with his serious tone and scolding body-language, which suddenly flipped upside down as he placed a hand on his armored shoulder, "Nada amigo, see I don't actually know what turns you. For all I know telling the League is what turns you to begin with so, I say we say nothing to no one."

Impulse folded his arms smugly, having thought of a decent strategy for now as the Scarab spoke up, "This is good… Now kill the Impulse so he cannot change his mind!"

Beetle grabbed his head, fighting with the Scarab's less appropriate thoughts, "Keep quiet."

"Exactly," Bart responded assuming he was the one being spoken to; he wrapped an arm around Jamie's shoulder and walked back to where the others were waiting, "Stick with me blue, and I'll keep you from feeling the mode."

…

Hall of Justice; Washington DC; April 3rd 2019; 9:24PM

Inside the main lounge of the Hall, where Roy first split from the group and the team was formed five years ago, Spiritus typed away on the main console setting up the perimeter defenses which had been shut down in favor of museum security alarms.

M'gaan and Conner shuffled through boxes that had been piled up in the middle of the room, looking for any remains of their belongings hoping to find something completely unscathed. Tension was in the air, Ken could feel it; waves of guilt, remorse, and confusion flowing off M'gaan like an ocean. He leaned back in the same lounge chair Ben had sat in all those years ago, his father noticed and couldn't help but reminisce.

This clone looked so much like him when he was a teenager when he first befriended Kevin and started hunting DNAliens, it was uncanny. He wanted to let Ken figure out his watch on his own but, maybe when he turns eighteen he'd reboot his Omnitrix and give him access to the more efficient one he self-destructed, if he doesn't figure it out himself first.

…

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Hall, three figures materialized in the center of the lobby; Vilgax, Albedo, and Deathstroke appeared with a flash of blue light.

Albedo's crimson cape draped behind him as he floated off the ground, using his x-ray vision to scan the building, "They're here but, they have two others with them. Superboy and some child…" he stopped as his eyes narrowed and his jaw swung open, "Some child wearing an Omnitrix!"

Vilgax chuckled and tightened his clawed fists, "Perfect."

"Why don't we get their attention?" Deathstroke suggested pulling a metallic device from his belt and placing it on the ground. It implanted itself into the concrete and exploded with yellow-light, sending a beam up through the ceiling and into the air around the entire building forming an indestructible bubble.

…

Ben picked up a box of things he knew were from M'gaan's room and dropped them on a table where she'd been leaning, clearly lost in thought, "Are you okay? Ever since the mission you've been…"

"I'm fine," she muttered, grabbing his hand, "I did something awful though… something I'm not sure I can explain yet."

He raised a brow, returning her grasp with his own reaffirming one, "Whatever it is you did, you can always talk to me about it," he chuckled, "I'm the last one to be judging lately."

She giggled a bit, prepared to retort, "That's so-"

"Look out!" She was interrupted by Ben as an intense explosion coming from the far wall blew apart massive chunks of concrete and steel; Ben quickly pushed M'gaan over and threw up a wide mana-shield blocking debris from hitting anyone. She stood quickly regaining her composure as from the smoke came twin beams of heat striking the shield and shattering it completely.

Ben's eyes flashed bright blue as did both of his hands; M'gaan and Superboy did the same with Ken stepping back, forgetting he was wearing an Omnitrix.

As the fumes dissipated, Albedo stepped through in his gleaming black and silver Kryptonian suit crushing a piece of rubble with a single step; his silver hair, and crimson Omnitrix symbol gave away his identity immediately.

"Albedo!?" Ben shouted with venom spitting from every word, "I thought you got your revenge, you broke me, we get it!"

He chuckled and he took a few steps forwards, "You disgust me with your inflated ego; not everything is about you!"

Ben scoffed, "And that form? Just because you found a way to scan Superman doesn't mean-"

Rhythmic thuds came from within the Hall, beyond the hole he'd made on his entrance; red hot claws seared the drywall as a squid-faced armored behemoth stepped into the room besides Albedo. Behind him Deathstroke hopped over what was left of the dry wall but, all focus was on the first two.

"You!?" Ben shouted furiously as Ken stepped up next to him.

"Who are these guys?"

"M'gaan! Take Ken and get out of here," Ben shouted over his shoulder crossing his watches; emerald electricity shot across his body like lightning. His skin turned black as night with specks of light, distant stars, sprinkled across the darkness; white armor formed over his forearms, head, and upper-torso; as well as green nuclear containers covering his wrists and ankles.

M'gaan grabbed Ken by the shoulders and pulled him back as Atomic X and Superboy took the lead, "Jumping right to business, are we?" Vilgax took a step forwards, passing Albedo, "No greetings for an old friend?"

"I'm going to do what I should have done five years ago!" Atomic-X flew forwards with intense speed immediately tackling Vilgax through the hole in the wall and into another room.

"That just leaves us three to dance, doesn't it?"

Superboy put his arm over M'gaan whom had stepped in front of Ken both willing to fight for their lives to protect the younger of their group, however; they remembered who he was when an explosion of green-light went off from behind.

A tall black humanoid with long plug-like antenna, one singular green-eye, and a set of sockets for fingers, cracked its knuckles, "Actually, I think you counted wrong."

Superboy leaned toward M'gaan briefly, "Who gave him access to Feedback?"

She sighed in defeat, "Ben does whatever he wants these days…"

…

Vilgax was being throttled by Atomic-X, almost no contest; he had the conqueror pinned to the ground with chaotic emerald-energy flying about; Atomic X's grip was only broken when Vilgax shot two beams of burning energy into his chest, forcing him back on his heels and allowing the tyrant to stand.

"I told you that no prison could ever hold me!" Vilgax threw up his left-forearm summoning the Shield of Ziegel to deflect a blast of cosmic radiation, however; his shield was cracking by the second. Eventually, the yellow hard-light construct that was once his shield shattered like glass; Vilgax was only spared by aim-dodging the blast as it destroyed his defense.

He dashed forwards in the split microsecond Atomic-X needed to recover and spot his opponent, instead he was full body tackled through four sets of dry wall each room they destroyed being a different exhibit, until they were in the Museum of Justice. Carrying a plethora of relics and souvenirs from past missions, it was all torn apart as Vilgax right crossed Atomic-X through seven glass-cases each with older versions of the League's costumes displayed. He hit the wall where Vilgax rushed in, summoning a neon-crimson blade from his knuckles, plunging his forearm into the fusion's neck with the blade centimeters from his face.

"You've grown soft in times of peace," Atomic-X pushed him off gaining some ground to left cross Vilgax in the face doing no visible damage to the Chimera Sui Generis as he simply back handed the alien-fusion through the glass case containing the adapting android Amazo's disassembled remains. He shook his head as Amazo's arm fell into his lap, "And these fusion transformations are weak, what a novelty."

Atomic-X teleported from sight, reappearing against the yellow energy-field outside of the Hall of Justice, without a word, he reeled back and pounded on it sending an explosion of light in every direction. Alas, no damage was done and they were still trapped; Vilgax floated up slowly to eye level with him, "Trying to escape, how cowardly."

Atomic-X growled and turned to face him, "A lot has happened since we last met; this time I will kill you and I won't lose a single damned night of sleep over it!"

…

Superboy jumped Albedo from the back putting him in a headlock whilst Feedback used his antenna to plug into the full-blooded Kryptonian under each shoulder; the Conductoid focused his power and electrocuted him without harming Conner.

Albedo stood unharmed from the assault, grabbing the antenna and gently yanking Feedback through the air where he was met with a left jab that sent him into the far wall. M'gaan took a step back, hesitating and unsure of what to do next, still in a tizzy from their previous mission.

He used his immense strength to effortlessly unclasp Superboy's grip and toss him overhead into M'gaan sending them both toppling to the ground, "Honestly, this is beneath me…"

Conner stood and got into a fighting stance, "Three losers," he caught one of Superboy's punches with ease, "One of you only half of what I am," crushing his wrist, he backhanded him into a display case for the retired Guardian armor. Feedback pulled himself from the hole he'd made in the dry wall, cupping his hands together and collecting massive amounts of electricity.

"Another one just a novice with a device that I constructed," he took the wave of sparkling blue electricity to the chest without feeling even a tingle of discomfort, "and a Martian too in her own head to help out," he finished by firing beams of heat at her feet, sending he tumbling back as the fire broke out on the carpets.

Superboy crushed a golden-helmet between his hands and discarded it, approaching M'gaan, "What is up with you? Get in the game and brain blast him or something!"

M'gaan looked up at Superboy as he approached Albedo with Feedback doing the same; she got to her feet and looked down at her feet, memories rushing in of the horrible thing she did with her powers. Even when she thought she was justified she was wrong; how could Ben do this? Ripping the very personality from someone and shredding it? More importantly, how does he do it and keep going?

…

Vilgax and Atomic-X collided above the Hall of Justice, emerald-green and bright-crimson flashes swirling against the night sky as they flew in circles, gaining momentum to strike the other over and over. As they came in, both moving at close to the speed of light, their fists connected sending a shockwave out across the entire city around them.

They were stalemated when the smoke cleared, in mid-air pushing against the other; Vilgax reached out as if he was going to punch with his left, instead a beam emitted from the Ruby Ray of Ulo blasted directly into the hero's eyes. As Atomic-X recoiled, his grip was loose enough so that he could receive an uppercut that propelled him into the shield. Its binding energy sent yellow electricity all around him, shocking him immensely; he floated forwards, huffing for another breath as smoke leisurely drifted from his armor.

"Is that the best the great Ben Tennyson can do?"

Atomic-X tightened his jaw as cosmic energy sparked around each of his fists, containing all the power of a hundred exploding stars, he rushed forwards to attack. Managing to make impact with a jab into Vilgax's solar-plexus followed by a left uppercut but, before he could be sent flying by the impact Atomic-X grabbed the warlord by the ankle and flew down swinging him overhead and into the roof. After collapsing through three levels of the building, Vilgax pushed a porcelain toilet off his lap and stood in the men's restroom.

He dusted the drywall dust from his armor as a fist came plunging through the plaster, grabbing Vilgax by his collar and punching him with a cosmic shockwave, sending him through the building passed Albedo.

…

Superboy jumped to right-cross Albedo in the face, missing completely as he dipped his head to the left, "You aren't any match for me," he grabbed the recovering Conner by the back of his black-tee and tossed him into Feedback, tumbling into a heap.

After a few seconds, an aggravating beeping sounded-off from Feedback as his transformation ended with a crimson flash of bright light. Ken squirmed beneath Superboy whom shook his head and picked himself off the boy promptly; the half-Kryptonian only needed a few minutes to recover before reentering the fight.

Ken approached his mother, whom just stood and watched, "You're the strongest telepath on Earth! Why aren't you doing anything?" he shook her by the shoulders but, all she could see were flashes of Nightwing and Aqualad's deal; knowing exactly what long term effects what doing what she did to him would have on his physical brain, "Fine, then just sit there."

Ken turned back to Albedo currently throttling Superboy with one hand, floating ten-feet up, with a bright smile, "You may have been half of me but, it only took a small percent of my strength to-" he was cut off as he turned and caught an oozing neon-green orb of energy which exploded in his hand.

He turned his head down noticing a chubby little gummy-bear running around and expelling tendrils to eat chunks of rubble as he did, "A twelve-year-old Gourmand?" he turned and pulled Superboy closer to his face, "Pardon me," he tossed him another display case, shattering it.

Upchuck ducked behind the seven massive statues, catching his breath as he placed his back against Superman's iron heel, "I didn't build that watch so you could go running around playing hero with it, boy!"

He gasped as Superman's entire hundred-ton iron statue was lifted off the ground, revealing Upchuck's hiding spot, "In fact, I'll be happy to take it off your hands!" With his hands occupied on lifting the statue, he shot his heat beams directly for the center of his pudgy-green head. On instinct, he opened his mouth to gobble up the attack but, instead of having the back of his head torn open, the energy disappeared into his gut. After all, his species shares an entire pocket dimension which allows them to eat with no limitations.

Suddenly, Upchuck lost sight of him, the statue came crashing down into pieces, crushing several displays and artifacts; in a silver-blur of speed, Albedo appeared behind Upchuck, picking him up and quickly slapping his Omnitrix. M'gaan snapped from her delirium when she witnessed Ken held by the throat thirty feet in the air.

"I told Luther you were a bad idea, that I was superior to anything he could make in a lab! But he insisted that you had purpose, that you were worth creating… what a joke, you'll never be what I am!" He tightened his grip on Ken's throat.

Ken choked, "I-I have s-something you d-don't!"

Albedo chuckled and reeled his fist back as his eyes lit up crimson, "Oh yea? And what's that?"

M'gaan floated up from behind wielding Superman's ten-ton iron boot and his even heavier head from the statue he'd destroyed earlier, "Family!"

Albedo backhanded the boot away, crashing down amongst the wreckage but, failed to deflect the iron-bust smacking him through the wall and outside of the building. In mid-air, M'gaan levitated over to catch Ken by the arms, landing them both safely.

"Thanks!" He announced with a grin.

M'gaan put her arm out and turned around, "It's far from over," in the smoke two crimson eyes flashed through the debris, an angry Kryptonian was the last thing they could deal with right now.

…

Atomic-X teleported around, jumping from spot to spot in the airspace between the Hall and the dome, his tactic was to confuse Vilgax and take him off guard. Once Vilgax finally lost sight of him, even for a brief instant, it was enough for him to fire a wave of cosmic-radiation into his back forcing him up into the shield.

Instead of being fried by the electricity of the dome-trap, Vilgax stopped himself and pushed through the energy wave, "You wield the most powerful device in the Universe, possibly even the Multiverse, and you squander its potential…"

He reached through the blast and grabbed Atomic-X's hand, crushing it within his own, and kicking him back through into the center of the hall where another battle was being conducted.

They landed between Albedo entering through a hole in the wall and M'gaan and Ken on the other-side; Superboy was unconscious and M'gaan was very clearly off her game, "Helping people, stopping natural disasters, fending off foes… and what good does it do you?"

Albedo stopped his assault knowing he wouldn't want to miss this; Atomic-X threw a right cross, left hook, and jab combination but, the final blow was caught and the others caused no damage. Vilgax fired his own crimson beams of energy from his eyes into his chest knocking him back through a row of displays, the last standing ones for that matter.

Even a sparkling shield made of dimensional-energy could keep Vilgax from coming down with planetary force, slamming his fists on the shield sending a shockwave omnidirectionally. M'gaan grabbed Ken keeping him from being blasted back, every window in the Hall was blown out by the force as well.

Vilgax broke through the shield and grabbed Atomic-X whom used all of his strength to pry him away but, failed as the relentless hay-makers began, shattering his armored head, "Weak, feeble," he spoke through every single punch, "waste of potential!" He came down with a final fist billowing with crimson energy as it clashed with his head it created yet another explosion, shaking the stability of the entire hall.

After the dust settled, Atomic-X was on his back and Vilgax stood over him with an armored-boot firmly planted on his chest, "For all your efforts, what have you now? No family, no friends, and not even the power to stop the one that took them from you."

M'gaan stepped forwards, a tear slipping down her cheek as her eyes illuminated lime-green, "I'm his family, you beast," the ground around them shook as Vilgax turned his head, not very impressed.

Ken looked down to his watch but, whatever Albedo did, it put his Omnitrix in recharge mode; The young Martian was still a powerful telekinetic, even if she couldn't invade someone's mind at the moment, she could still-

A burning sensation shot through her like lightning, paralyzing her body and sending her into convulsions until she collapsed unconscious, Vilgax spotted Deathstroke holding Amazo's head and a taser in either hand before turning back to Atomic-X.

A bright flash of crimson forced him to transform back into his human state, "A Martian and a clone of yourself, don't honestly expect us to believe you consider these peons family?" Albedo approached with no one to stop him.

Ben didn't answer, he tried his best to stand but, was pinned still by a seven-hundred-pound armored asshole, or at least that's how he'd put it. His eyes shun bright-blue and a tornado flushed around them, not effecting either villains, "I would be afraid to use my full power too, if I was facing someone who could absorb my very essence."

The tornado died down and Ben closed his eyes, accepting defeat as he was pulled off his back by his arm,"Then do it, kill me, end it already!"

"I want so badly to kill you now but, my goals are unsurprisingly beyond your scope."

Deathstroke pushed himself from the support pillar he'd been leaning on, it crumbled behind him as he walked away like it were made of dust, "What about the kid? Should we take his watch back?"

Vilgax electrocuted Ben with crimson energy, surging through his body and knocking him unconscious; Albedo scoffed looking back toward the child, he didn't seem nervous or afraid more like, a cornered animal, "He's got some fight in him, let him keep the thing; I wasn't really putting in all my effort when I made it anyways."

Deathstroke grabbed M'gaan by her hood and dragged her towards his comrades; Ken practically memorized the black and orange mask that stared back at him coldly. They gathered together with their captors in tow and vanished with a blue flash of light, some sort of teleporter clearly.

Ken remained calm, even as the building begun falling apart around him, as though it was in his instincts, he gathered up the injured Superboy and sprinted his way to the main entrance just barely making it out.

…

Less than half-an-hour later, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, and Black Lightening were on the scene just outside the force-field generated by Deathstroke.

On the other-side, Superboy was propped up against a slab of concrete holding his side and barely conscious, the heroes were striking the field individually, dark-electricity, nuclear-energy, and mystic lightning all had no effect on the force-field.

After finally having his watch restart, Ken transformed into Heatblast, trying his best from his end, "Altogether!" he shouted as Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, and Heatblast all used their most powerful attacks on the field. Two punches that could topple mountains and a beam of heat as hot as the surface of the sun, not even a scratch was put on the shield.

As Captain Atom scratched his head, tanks rolled up as well as military officials and convoys, the sounds of helicopter wings chopping through the air caught their attention. The Ambassador and General Tsang landed and nonchalantly strutted over with a cocky nature on the alien's part.

"Perhaps I might be of some help?" he reached out and placed a beetle-shaped device on the shield without being electrocuted; the device hummed as the shield slowly dissipated, shutting down completely. The device landed safely in the Ambassador's hands, "There, problem solved."

Heatblast transformed with a flash of red light as Captain Atom growled, glaring at them, "Thank you," he muttered through his teeth, "Ambassador."

As Tsang and other members of his staff including General Eiling of the United States Military approached the situation as the alien continued, "Such a shame your 'Hall' was destroyed… I suppose it is fortunate you have your other headquarters, the one in orbit above us now, what is it you call that one? The Watchtower?" he coyly grabbed his chin pretending not to remember its name.

Secretary General Tsang stepped in between them with his hands out, "What?!"

Ambassador shrugged, "Sorry, was that information not for public consumption?"

Captain Atom sighed as Marvel, and Lightning stepped forwards behind him, having his back as the news reporters surrounded them, taking pictures and asking questions. An Ambulance came to take Conner to the nearest hospital, even with his accelerated healing and durability, it would take days or even weeks to recover.

Ken watched as it all happened, putting his head down and sitting on the curb with a pout. He was alone now, his father was gone and his 'mother' was gone too, if he could even call her that. He was still figuring out who he was and who he wanted to be and just a normal kid with two normal parents definitely isn't it.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Lex Luthor's business card, everything was falling apart, and he needed someone to show him who he was, who better than the person who created him? He looked toward the street-corner where sat a lone telephone booth…

…

Gotham City; Warehouse District; April 3rd 2019; 1:19AM

"Did you hear that folks?!" Godfrey ranted once again in his tiny studio, broadcasting across the nation, "The Justice League has a literal eye in the sky, spying on the very planet they proport to protect!"

He paused and closed his eyes, smiling, "Thank God for honest, respectable visitors from the stars like The Reach and wise elders like Secretary Tsang, who has invited the Reach as guests on Earth."

Nightwing shut the TV off, sighing as they all realized their failure, "So, now it looks like we're operating directly off the Watchtower."

"How is Superboy?" Spiritus asked as Nightwing turned back to his team.

"He's in pretty bad condition but, we have the best and brightest at Star Labs treating him, solar-lamps twenty-four-seven, he'll be fine… eventually," Nightwing looked down and rubbed his neck, "Power Girl wont leave his side, so we're down four of our heaviest hitters."

"We need to figure out who took them and why?"

Beast Boy chimed in, "All the security footage was destroyed… along with the building."

Suddenly, an alarm blared in the facility as a black and blue blur sped into the room stopping in front of them and immediately changing back into his human form, with a green-light instead of red, Ken was quick to answer questions.

"Ken?" Garfield questioned.

Dick ran forwards, grabbing him by the shoulders, "Are you okay? Information gathering's been a little tough, we thought you might've vanished too."

"I'm fine," he brushed them off smugly, none of them noticing his quick transformations, "But, I know who took them. It was Vilgax."

…

Taos; Star Labs; April 3rd 2019; 3:49AM

Black Canary, Captain Atom, and Nightwing along with two Star Labs scientists, Caitlyn Snow and Cisco Ramon, discussed the day's events in a secluded room within their facility, "The Reach used our secrets against us, beat us without firing a shot," he leaned back against the wall with a long sigh, "Even offered to give us all the inter-galactic information on Vilgax's break out they could find, and I couldn't find a reason to say no!" he threw his hands up in frustration.

He looked over to Black Canary with a solemn, hopeful look, "I hope you have some good news…"

"Some answers at least, with the obvious exception of Blue Beetle, the Reach abductees are of two types, those with a known super-power or those with the potential to develop one," she held up Virgil's statically charged hunk of paperclips as evidence. "I think we now know what a meta-gene is; a genetic anomaly that allows certain people to develop abilities when exposed to dangerous or life-threatening environments."

Everyone turned to her, this news was quite unsettling because of what it obviously means for their enemies, "I believe The Reach is interested in Earth because they seek to cultivate this ability and weaponize it."

"Makes sense," Nightwing elaborated, "A living army of weapons, that's something that would draw both the Reach and the Krolotaens to Earth."

Cisco spoke up, clearing his throat, "Also thanks to the Light putting Earth square in the intergalactic spot-light, right?"

They all raised their brows at him for a moment, "C-Cisco…" he held his hand out at Captain Atom to shake, "Cisco Ramon, you see, I'm the head engineer here and I helped put together the zeta-shield."

Nightwing folded his arms, "I read your file, you didn't just help, you built the entire thing yourself. The scans we got from Adam Strange would have impossible on Earth if not for you."

Atom watched Nightwing and turned, shaking Cisco's hand, "Thank you, son."

"It's an honor, sir," he shook the hero's hand for far too long until he pulled back, "The thing is, the reason im interrupting like this, I'm being pretty dumb I know but-when-i-get-nervous-tend-to-chatt-" he received an elbow in the ribs from his female partner.

They all gave each other curious glances, "What I mean to say, is that I think I know a way to track down their ship no matter where they go hiding."

Before anyone could react, before anyone could even rejoice in this news; the door swung open and Blue Beetle came barging in, seeming disoriented, "Blue?" Dinah asked as sweetly as possible, immediately noticing his mental-state.

"I-I'm sorry, I've been hiding something but… I can't," Impulse rushed in with super-speed putting hands on his shoulder and trying to talk him off the edge.

"Blue, Blue, Blue? What happened to keep quiet? Let's go back to our rooms-?"

"Stop, Jamie Reyes, this is a tactical error!"

This final plea from the Scarab pushed him over the edge, if the evil armor that's trying to take over the world thinks this is a bad idea, it must be the right way to go, "No! Time for the truth," he stepped forwards and addressed Captain Atom directly, "Impulse says that some time in the future, I betray Earth and bring on the Reach apocalypse."

His armor crept back on his command, folding back into his body as he turned so everyone could see the beetle pinching his spine, "That's not a future I can live with… so whatever it takes, get this thing the hell off of me."

…

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