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.

32. True Colors

I don't own Ben 10 or DC

Chapter 32 – True Colors

…

"How does it feel to lose, Ben Tennyson?"

Ben's eyes creaked open, he passed out after his battle with Vilgax in the Hall of Justice and had no idea where he'd ended up; he knew he wasn't dead because he was still in tremendous physical pain. His arms and legs were bound apart vertically, each limb tugged in every direction, this set-up felt familiar as if he'd been here before.

"To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail none-the-less," Vilgax was in the shadows, hidden from sight letting his deep voice cut through the shadows as did his glowing crimson eyes, "It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly; I ask you to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives all the same."

He stepped into the dim-lighting, raising a claw up to eye level with the human, "And now it's here."

"Destiny is relative," Ben muttered nonchalantly, his chest hurt and it was hard to breath, a spinal injury for sure, "Erghh, and subjective too if you think about it," he tried to move while he talked but, his body was too beaten and something was blocking his magic.

"So, the Light needs M'gaan but, you need me? Is that it?"

"On the contrary, I had little to gain from this," He grumbled, making direct eye-contact with Tennyson.

He scoffed, "Little to gain… you've been trying to kill me since I was ten-years-old!"

"You meddled in affairs greater than you could comprehend," Vilgax pulled out his long-sword from its sheath, staring at it up and down to make sure he hadn't chipped it, "You needed to be eliminated."

"I was a child! We were children and you hunted us."

He put his sword down after hearing this, looking down to the ground, "I did what had to be done," He put the sword back in its sheath and swung it back over his shoulder.

A few seconds of silence followed as Ben took a deep breath in and looked into his memories, "Have you and I ever really had a full conversation?"

Vilgax looked away, he didn't answer.

"Like have we ever actually talked? You've got me here, I don't see any weapons or knives or guards…" Ben felt relieved that he could say this, looking around at the empty room, "Let's talk."

"What could you possibly have to say to me?"

"Well I love the armor," he looked him up and down from his position suspended by his arms and legs, "Really threatening."

Vilgax scoffed and almost turned around remembering how foolish this 'hero' could be, he was about to leave the room before Ben suddenly regained a serious tone, "Do you even remember them?" This stopped him in his tracks, turning back to face his arch-nemesis, "the Tennyson's sure… but what about the others?"

"I remember every face I drain the life from," he looked down for just a moment, almost shameful, "Every action I take; no matter how violent or how cruel, I take them for the greater good of the Universe."

"You chased a ten-year-old across the planet for three months straight for the greater good of the Universe?" He paused as he clenched his jaw, talking through his teeth, "You killed my family and wiped out my home-world for the greater good of the Universe!?"

"I was consumed by rage, my confinement granted me clarity I've never experienced before; I feel as if it's the same clarity Azmuth spoke of."

Ben widened his eyes, "Oh yea? Five tiny years in solitary and suddenly you come to you senses. Why do I doubt that?"

"There are significant methods that I could have used to end your life without condemning the innocent," he paused and closed his fist, keeping his gaze down at his feet, "Even if you refuse to believe me, I do regret my transgressions against the Universe in pursuit of domination."

"Then why?" He questioned, "Why did you kill everyone I loved?"

"Because I had to!" He shouted, suddenly making eye contact with Ben and stepping closer, "Because you were just a boy and you were humiliating me, time and time again!"

He was completely calm, looking away and putting his hands behind his back, pacing in front of him, "I know now my true purpose is to fix the damage done to the Universe by it's ungrateful tenants."

"That's rich, Vilgax the Conqueror wants to save the world, everybody!"

"Over population, political strife, war-torn star-systems, entire sectors of space at conflict with one another," he closed his eyes, picturing it now, "I see the same problem here and I realize I'm the only one who sees it."

"And you can fix all of that?" Ben scoffed with a wide grin, chuckling, "Just because you have one planet, which you abandoned by the way, prospering doesn't mean taking over the entire Universe will be the same thing!"

"Once my true goal is fulfilled subjugating both of our Universes will be child's play," the smile on his face as he turned away was unsettling, "I satisfied my deal to the Light by delivering you here, I never promised to guard you like a dog."

"Deal? What deal? What did they promise you?"

"Once you escape from those bonds, you'll go looking for your Martian. She was taken to another facility, I wasn't informed," He approached the exit as Ben couldn't see but heard a metallic door swing open.

"Why are you helping me? The hell is wrong with you?"

"You are essential to my plans, aiding the Light in killing you obstructs those plans," he stepped through the door before it closed, he could hear, "Our final battle is yet to come, Ben Tennyson."

…

Taos; Star Labs; April 8th 2019; 8:57AM

Veronica had never been on a tactical mission quite like this one before, floating through the veins of a human-body at microscopic size, was very much a new concept to her. She didn't even know she could shrink to this size until she actually tried, "Come on, Spiritus, time waits for no man!" another hero shouted swimming through the bodily-liquids a few feet, or micrometers, ahead of her, "… or woman."

"Sorry, Dr. Palmer," she swam forth, taking his side as they both analyzed the inside of the human body; taking a right through a 'corridor' they passed what looked like a living sea-weed.

"Dorsal root ganglion… fascinating!" The Atom moved on, making his way to the target leaving Veronica to analyze the organic flailing ganglion, reaching out to touch it as it twitched, "Ah-ah-ah, Spiritus, no touching the ganglion," she retracted, swimming after him as they approached a massive sharp blue-claw imbedded beside the spinal-cord.

"Sorry, it's just being here is pretty cool!"

Once they spotted the target, they stopped to look up at it, digging its way through the skin and into the muscles within, Atom nearly fogged up his helmet in awe as he spoke through his communicator on the other side, "We've reached the sight of the incursion."

"Let's start together," he pulled a weapon from the strap on his back, loading it with some sort of capsule, "I've got the six-hundred nanometer emitter."

He aimed his canon up at the structure as Spiritus held her hands up at the same spot, "Eradiko!" as her beam begun cutting through it, they yielded success as smiles grew across their faces.

"You see?" Atom spoke up, "Most problems can be solved by reducing them to their smallest components," as he finished his motto, something strange started to happen; from the gash in the claw, that would have severed it in just a few minutes, blue insectoid-eels swarmed out towards them.

Atom furrowed his brow, "It's generating its own anti-bodies!" he looked over at Veronica and stopped firing, "Keep going, I'll hold them off."

He aimed his weapon and started firing at one after the other, vaporizing them with the nano-emitter, however; it slowly became harder and harder to fend them off as they grew in numbers the wider Spiritus cut through.

Atom suddenly grew, still being in the veins of a person but, he now towered over Veronica and was about as tall as the beetle-claw; he smacked hordes of them away, clapped crushing others between his massive palms, and swatted them as best he could.

"There are too many!" He shouted, "We need to abort."

Veronica ceased fire and formed a bubble around herself, keeping the anti-bodies from getting near her, "Shrink back down, you're too big for micro extraction!"

Atom slowly shifted back to his original size parallel to Veronica's as they both swam through the veins avoiding the attackers at any cost; Atom looked back over his shoulder as the Anodite pulled him through towards their exit, he noticed that the anti-bodies were melding over the gash they'd put in it, healing the wound, "They're repairing the damage, we've accomplished nothing!"

As a massive horde of anti-bodies approached at high-speeds, Ray tapped the communicator in his helmet, "Atom to Dr. Cross, prepare for extraction."

They reached a dead-end before turning their backs and firing their weapons to keep the insects away for as long as possible but, it only took a few seconds for them to wrap around the nanometer emitter, decaying it on contact into dust.

They surrounded the heroes as Atom raised his voice into his com-line, "Extraction! Now!"

A massive silver-tube came in from above, sucking them out and into a massive canister; it wasn't until Dr. Cross emptied the syringe onto the floor that Palmer and Veronica could retake their original full size, expanding into a surgery-room. Jamie was laid face down on a metal-table and the incursion was the Scarab, their attempt to remove it from the inside was a failure.

Jamie wiped the cold-sweat from his neck and forehead, "What happened in there?"

Atom looked sympathetic and quite worried, "There were… complications," he said looking back to Veronica.

"You were warned, Jamie Reyes, this Scarab could not allow a tactic like this to succeed."

Jamie almost punched the table, turning over to face them, "What about the Scarab, can you remove it?" he had to ask, he couldn't trust that thing in his head.

Atom took off his helmet and unstrapped the weapon-holster, "I'm afraid the integration with your bio-signature is too complete, its defenses too thorough;" he looked the boy in the eye with a serious expression, "Jamie I don't believe that Scarab is ever coming off, not while you're alive."

…

New York; New York City; April 8th 2019; 11:34AM

"The question isn't whether our 'world's finest' are really the galaxies most wanted," Godfrey explained in his dark stage-room, the camera pointed directly at him, "It's not whether they've been using secret under-cover covert operatives against targets of their own choosing, its not even that these inter-stellar hoodlums have their own eye-in-the-sky watching down us at this very moment!"

He slammed his hands down on the desk for emphasis, standing up as the camera followed him, "No… Good ol' G. Gordan proved all of that a week ago," he fixed his tie and stepped around the desk, "So the question is this: how long are you going to stand for this and do nothing to check these lawless heroes?"

He gave a loud groan, leaned against the desk and folded his arms, "Don't worry, I'll wait, take your time; if you aren't in a hurry than why should I be?"

He motioned up toward a green-screen where on live broadcast displayed a news clip of Lex Luthor shaking hands with the Ambassador, "Meanwhile, Earth's true benefactors, The Reach, have been working openly and willingly for the betterment of all man-kind, for example, they've partnered with LexCorp Farms and noted philanthropist, Lex Luther to increase food production; they've even agreed to allowing open tours," he put his hands behind his back with a smile.

"Trust, openness, and an end to world hunger," he put his hands on his hips, "Why didn't the Justice League think of that?"

…

Gotham City; Warehouse District; April 8th 2019; 11:40AM

Gathered together around a small monitor, Nightwing paused Godfrey's report and turned toward Mal Duncan, Robin, Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, Impulse, and Shifter. Ken had given a lot of thought to what he wanted to be called in the field, and it certainly wasn't going to be Ken Ten. He'd talked to Cassie about it, as they'd been spending much more time together, and she suggested the name which fit him pretty-well.

"Obviously, any partnership between the Reach and Lex Luthor only spells bad-news," he put the remote down and folded his arms, "So, alpha-squad is going undercover to recon Lex-Corp farms; Robin, you'll be running alpha."

Tim raised his brows, glancing around, "Me? Run alpha?" he quickly regained his composure and looked back toward Nightwing, "Right, who's on the squad?"

Dick narrowed his eyes in thought, "We need a small squad; Shifter, Wonder Girl, Impulse, and lastly Arsenal," he motioned to the ginger who stepped into the light from behind a crate, "but, you'll need to dress lighter, nothing that wont fit under civilian clothing."

Arsenal, also known as the Roy Harper, who defected after being frozen for eight-years, was already building muscle in the weeks since he left the hospital. He shaved his entire head of hair off and now wore crimson body-armor much like Red Arrow only thick with weapons. He sported two glock-19's placed in either boot-harness, another glock-43 on his belt alongside a line of miniature explosives and strapped to his back were two cannons of different variety. This along with the many knives he had stored across his armor and the robotic prosthetic, the name Arsenal now suited him very well, "One question, why are we all meeting in this dump?" he asked obnoxiously.

They all turned to him, giving him looks of confusion at his obnoxious response, Nightwing looked him in the eye, "With the Cave and the Hall of Justice destroyed, we don't have many other options…"

Roy raised his brow under his domino-mask, "Except for the Watchtower? It's national news now, you can't pretend it doesn't exist."

Nightwing folded his arms, "Only the League and senior members of the team are authorized for the Watchtower," he narrowed his eyes, glaring at him, "You don't qualify."

"Good to know where we stand…"

Ken had heard this entire confrontation, he still wasn't completely over Roy's dismissal of him at the hospital, and certainly wouldn't consider him a friend but, at this point he seemed to be the only one asking bigger questions.

While on the topic of questions, Ken couldn't help but approach Nightwing as everyone dispersed to prepare for the mission, "Hey, have you heard anything about Ben?"

Nightwing raised his brow, "No, sorry, the League is working as hard as it can to get your parents back."

He shrugged in response, "It's not such a huge deal, he'll be fine."

As he walked away, Nightwing noticed something odd about his speech patterns and since when did he stop calling Ben 'Dad'? I guess those are questions for later.

…

Smallville; Kansas; April 8th 2019; 1:00PM

"Welcome to LexCorp Farms!" the tour guide announced as she drove the long tram through a row of tall crops and into the facility, coming to a complete stop.

Ken, Bart, Cassandra, and Tim stepped off the cart in their civilian clothing, taking a look around at the massive greenhouse, "We've just entered one of our hydroponic domes!" she said happily, as the entire crowd looked around, "Where LexCorp and the Reach are growing the food of the future!"

As Bart walked side-by-side with Tim, Ken found himself walking beside Cassie whom was looking straight up at the dome, looking for anything suspicious. Her eyes widened when she felt a warm sensation wrapping around her palm and fingers, she looked over already blushing at Ken who didn't break his focus on the tour-guide.

"It'll be less suspicious if we pretend to be… like… a real couple or something," Ken muttered, a small curve at the end of his lips.

She turned her head away, blushing but most definitely not letting go, "Keep it up and you might not have to pretend."

A tall man in the front in denim overalls and a white-tee exclaimed with concern, "This could put the rest of Smallville's farmers out of business," he folded his arms.

She didn't waver though, "Not at all!" she practically shouted, "Once perfected, LexCorp and the Reach plan to share their formula with the rest of the agricultural world!"

The man didn't like this answer but, she didn't wait to see his response before turning around and leading the group further towards long white tables each placed with baskets of fruit and vegetables, "Please, enjoy this freshly grown Reach enhanced produce!"

Tim approached the guide, "Genetically enhanced?"

She giggled with an obvious Canadian accent, "Oh, no, no, no! There's been no tinkering with genetics, rest assured. The Reach have advanced technology that can bring out an organism's full potential!"

Ken and Cassie quickly separated as they all approached the tables, looking over but not daring to eat a single of the fruits or vegetables. Tim grabbed an apple and placed it in a zip-lock bag, tucking it away; he turned to Bart who had already eaten half of a banana, "What? I'm maintaining cover."

Tim shook his head as Roy nudged his shoulder, shifting focus to the massive containers where they obviously concocted their chemicals that made their drink, these containers led to pipes that would spray every plant in the entire greenroom.

Tim tapped the tour guide on the shoulder, "What's in those vats?"

"Just water, nutrients, and a little Reach/LexCorp love!" She pointed off to the next room where everyone followed her, "Next stop are pluots! That's right folks, pluots! In April!"

Tim took this opportunity to get out of sight until public closing of the facility, "Time for a bathroom break," he led everyone towards the public restrooms except for Bart whom went to follow the group.

"Nah, I went before I left-" he was dragged back towards the restrooms by Cassandra, he protested, "C'mon they don't have pluots in the future…"

…

Metropolis; Central Hospital; April 8th 2019; 4:40PM

Dick, Kara, and Wally all stood in the room with Conner, whom was attacked less than a week ago by Albedo, lying in critical condition under UV-sun lamps in a luxury hospital room funded mysteriously by Wayne Enterprises.

The doctor flipped through his charts, adjusting his glasses, "Well, he's definitely healing but, this hospital has treated Superman before, and his metabolic cell regeneration is nowhere near as slow as-"

"Will he wake up?" Kara asked cutting him off looking back down at the comatose Kryptonian with tubes going up into his nose and brace around his neck.

He sighed, "Of course he will… he's him," he jabbed his thumb behind him where his black shirt, emblazoned with the crimson shield from the House of El.

Dick folded his arms, "A better question would be when?"

"You'd be right, his concussion is healed but, his body is Kryptonian so it doesn't look like he'll be waking up completely until the rest of his body heals as well," flipping through the paper-work attached to his clip board, "Which could be another few days, a week tops."

Wally put his face into his hands, giving a long exhale as the doctor finished up, "I'll be back again in the morning for another diagnosis, I'll leave you three to yourselves."

"Thank you, Dr. Grace," Dick said as she exited the room.

It was quiet for a few seconds as Kara sat down and held Conner's hand, "First the Light turns Aqualad, then they take Artemis from us, and now this?"

Wally looked Dick in the eyes who couldn't bare his guilt imposing stare, "They're stepping up their plans, what are we going to do?" She asked.

Dick looked out the window, facing the city where LexCorp had bought billboard advertisements for the Reach drink, "I…I don't know," he muttered, "First we have to get Ben and M'gaan back, let Conner heal, we need all hands on deck if we're going to take offensive measures."

He turned and looked at Kara, "Take your time with him, if we're desperate, we'll call," she nodded in response giving him a smile.

"And I'll answer."

Wally and Dick made their way out of the hospital room, walking through the hall, he couldn't keep from asking for even a second longer, "How's Artemis?"

Dick didn't look from his path to the elevator, "Last contact was made right before the extraction last week, I'm sure she's fine," this obviously wasn't good enough as he pressed the 'down' button.

"Are you sure? Because lately it doesn't seem like your sure of much," the doors opened and an empty cabin welcomed them, "And what about M'gaan and Ben?"

The doors closed in front of them, leaving them to talk more freely, "Vilgax attacked the Hall of Justice and-"

"Woah," Wally pressed the 'emergency-stop' crimson dial halting the entire elevator, "Who attacked?"

"Green Lanterns report a break in at the station where Vilgax was being held," he looked away with a more solemn stare, "Guy Gardner was murdered and Vilgax was set free; that was almost two weeks ago."

"It's not a coincidence that he waited, is it?"

Dick chuckled, "It's never that simple and he didn't kill Ben on the spot for a reason too; why they took M'gaan is beyond me…" he reached out and slapped the dial again, turning the elevator back on as it descended.

"Vilgax obviously isn't planning on just attacking Earth randomly like he did before-"

The doors opened as Wally interrupted him, "You'd better hope not; Ben defeated and all of Earth's greatest heroes in a different Galaxy, it wouldn't be much of a battle this time around," he left him to think as he walked out of the hospital.

…

Western Mongolia; Unknown; April 8th 2019; 2:30PM

Sportsmaster stood in a dark room, lit only by five monitors, he waited for nearly ten minutes after the assigned time he requested but, these weren't the type of people you could scold for tardiness.

Suddenly, the images of Queen Bee, Lex Luthor, Albedo, Klarion, and The Brain were individually displayed across the small circular room; Vandal Savage and Black Manta opened the door beneath the screen, "Thank you for your patience, Sportsmaster."

"Let's get on with it," he said only slightly muffled by his hockey-mask, "The Cape-Canaveral op, Manta's son Aqualad killed my daughter Artemis," it almost sounded endearing, "without my permission," almost.

"As the Light's enforcer, I expect reparations," he folded his arms.

Lex Luthor grew a saddened expression, "We grieve at your loss, and we've given significant monetary compensation."

"And normally I'd be fine with that but, this goes to the heart of my rep," he pounded his armored chest for emphasis, "If people find out I took a pay off they'll think I'm a cheap punk."

"Then what do you suggest, old friend?" Vandal asked finally.

"You know the code, an eye for an eye, a kid for a kid."

Manta immediately disagreed, taking a step forwards, "No one touches my son!"

"Agreed," Vandal responded holding a hand out to calm Manta, "The death of Kaldur'ahm is a non-starter."

"Fine," Sportsmaster put his hands behind his back, "If the minnow is under the size-limit, I'll go fish for the whale," suddenly, he swung his arm throwing a metal-hurling-disk directly for Black Manta's head, however; it exploded mid air being struck by another projectile.

Sportsmaster turned to face the other side of the room where in the exit Deathstroke casually sat, holding a smoking Smith&Wesson.

"I see you didn't waste any time hiring my replacement, old friend," Sportsmaster frowned.

Vandal dusted off his shoulder, "Fortune favors the prepared."

"You don't say?" As if on cue, an explosion blew a hole in the side of the building, shutting off half of the Light's screens; a helicopter lowered itself stationary allowing Sportsmaster to leap into it.

Deathstroke tried firing his gun out at the helicopter as it sped away but, he didn't hit his target, they'd gone too far too quickly.

Sportsmaster sat down in the passenger seat with Cheshire piloting the craft, she looked over at him as he pouted but, said nothing. He scoffed at the grin her mask gave him and the eyes he could see glaring, "Don't look at me like that, little girl, honor demanded I make the request! They denied it! Now I'm free to seal my rep by killing Manta."

She shook her head looking back toward the waters, "And you can have your precious vengeance against Aqualad, tell me that doesn't put a smile on your face!"

She turned to look back at the mountains as they flew back towards the air-port; she smiled beneath her mask but, the massive grin on her mask made it all the more ominous.

…

Smallville; Kansas; April 8th 2019; 6:02PM

"Ugh," Bart groaned from one out of the three bathroom stalls they'd been hiding in for nearly three hours, "Can we please get on with the mission already!"

Tim sighed loudly from another stall, "Fine, yes, commence," he said both verbally and through the coms to Cassie who was in the ladies-room. Two stall doors swung open with force as, from the middle stall an explosion of green light flooded the room, through the cheap doors a phantom floated through.

"Shifter," Tim addressed, "Don't you think you should save your transformations for if we need them?"

Ghostfreak turned back towards them, "Actually, uh," his raspy voice hissed when he was lying but, they couldn't tell, "Ben unlocked some settings for me, I can change on command now."

Impulse activated his stealth-mode as did Robin and Arsenal, they made their way out of the restrooms where they rendezvoused with Wonder Girl with her normal hero-ing outfit save for black pants instead of red.

They retraced their steps and found themselves back in the center of the factory where they held the canisters of the chemicals they doused on the produce; Robin pulled up a holo-screen projecting the known security cameras in the area, pointing them out for Arsenal to fire a cross-bow projectile inches from each of them without being seen, sending the footage on a wireless loop.

With freedom to roam Ken transformed into XLR8 as him and Impulse dashed around meeting with the others at an access hatch, one which led to the source of the large canisters. They spotted a group of guards but, they hadn't noticed them yet, so Robin ordered them to swing-wide and avoid them.

They crouched down behind a rack of plants being infused with extra-terrestrial chemicals; the Reach scientists were working away, speaking in their own native 'clicking' language which no one on the team could understand.

An explosion of green light caught the attention of one Reach scientist but as she turned to face it, there was no one there, the racks were empty; Grey Matter hid behind a leaf in the pot of a plant in a rack at eye level with Robin, "Hmmm…" the Galvan rubbed his chin, analyzing the situation, "That look like Thiamine and that looks like normal old carbonated beverage," he looked over to the left and saw them dipping into a vat of pink crystals, "Ah-hah!" Grey Matter announced in a quiet enough whisper, "That is the additive you need to sample."

Robin nodded and dipped away from the group just before anyone noticed, Impulse was the most confused, "Hey, where did he-"

He was embowed by Arsenal who put his back to a rack of potted plants and shushed the speedster; they all watched from around the corner how he stealthily grabbed a sample of the additive and vanished without them noticing.

"We got what we came for," He announced reappearing before them like magic, although he just made sure no one saw him approach, "Let's go."

Grey Matter jumped into the palm of Wonder Girl's hands as she sprinted next to Arsenal and Robin, Impulse sped passed them towards the exit. They turned the corner where two guards stood, their rifles were on the ground and they were practically not paying attention.

"Two guards and a door hack and we're home-free," Robin stood to begin the final steps when Arsenal grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back into hiding, "What?"

"Wait for it…"

Suddenly, explosions went off all over the greenhouse, setting fire to most of the equipment and scaring off the guards, "You blew the lab?! But this was a covert op! What were you thinking?!"

Roy chuckled, "That I'm not about to let Lex Luthor and alien-space-buddies poison the Earth just because we don't know what type of poison their using," he grinned and turned away, "Plus, I enjoy making Lex's life miserable."

…

Lex sat comfortably at his desk in his tower hundreds of miles from the incident but, the alarm was still brought to his attention as Mercy turned on a set of twelve-television-screens displaying the CCTV footage being completely normal, "Now that placid scene seems unlikely… I say we've been hacked, try a system override."

She grabbed the remote and pressed a button or two, a brief flash of static and suddenly the real scene of flaming plants, smoking labs, and teen heroes talking frantically amongst themselves.

"Now this makes more sense," Mercy immediately went for her phone to call in security, however; he stopped her, "No, Mercy, no guards; with the young one there and the last person I want him fighting is me."

She hung up without hesitation, "Just sit back and enjoy the show."

…

Impulse came in at nine-hundred miles-per-hour shoulder tapping a guard into the wall, cracking the concrete with his body; he turned on a dime to kick the only other guard with the same speed, sending him onto his face.

"Guards are cleared," Bart announced.

Wonder Girl ran up to the keypad and held Grey Matter out as he began typing in numbered codes to unlock the door and set them free; Robin followed close behind, watching as he did, "You just don't get it, do you? You went off mission! That was a huge mistake."

Suddenly, a deep voiced bellowing came from above, clicking with the same ominous tones only speaking full English, "It's far from the worst decision you've made today…" Black Beetle floated above them with his thrusters keeping him twenty-feet-up.

Wonder Girl turned and jumped as a black-metallic staple pierced the concrete and keypad, destroying their way out; Grey Matter fell to the ground as she lost sight of him when Beetle dropped his full weight to the ground, shaking the entire building.

Robin pulled his bo-staff as it extended, he swung it around hitting Beetle In the chin but, not having any effect; he turned and jabbed him with the end which electrocuted him, "My leg still hurts from last time."

Beetle grabbed the staff and snapped it in two, "I'll make sure it never hurts again!" he pounded the ground attempting to crush the boy but, he missed only hitting the ground like a gorilla.

A green explosion signified Grey Matter transforming into Diamondhead as Wonder Girl stepped up next to him, "I like you when you're bigger…" she immediately blushed clasping her own mouth, "That's not what I meant!" they jumped in opposite directions dodging a wave of sonic-energy.

Impulse tried running laps around the Beetle, throwing punches and jabs at mach-three hundred, knocking him off balance as he used his suit to analyze his running patterns. Catching him off guard with predictive calculus, he backhanded the speedster into a rack of growing tomatoes.

"I may not move as fast as you but, my Scarab processes things faster than even you can run."

Arsenal pulled both of his glocks and aimed them up at Beetle as Diamondhead formed jagged stubs prepared to launch a crystal-assault; they knew they stood no chance, the only one who hadn't been completely humiliated by this beast was Arsenal which is why he was pointing pistols at him.

"You've surrounded me," he chuckled as his suit adapted, "What ever will I do?" he chided as formed a plasma weapon with one hand and a staple gun in the other; he effortlessly took the bullets without even feeling them, turning and firing a staple gun at Robin keeping him too off balance to fire explosives. Using the plasma cannon, he fired it at Wonder Girl who used her blessed bracelets to defend against the beam.

Diamondhead took this opportunity of distraction to take a few steps back, he narrowed his eyes and transformed into XLR8, sliding his visor down, he dashed forwards at ten times the speed of sound, circling the fight as Beetle followed with his eyes, "Didn't you learn?" but before he could attack a flash of green stunned him.

Using this to his advantage and the momentum of running as XLR8, he rolled into an impenetrable orb as Cannonbolt flew hitting Beetle in the face and bouncing away. Ricocheting off the walls like a pin-ball machine and striking from a different direction.

Just as Cannonbolt could tell Black Beetle was about to counter, he transformed again mid-air, this time into Fourarms landing a right-straight at four hundred miles-per-hour; the Tetramand rolled to his feet as Beetle forcibly ascended off his feet, plowing through the dry-wall and disappearing into the facility.

Impulse and Robin joined them as Fourarms jogged over to the door and sent a few powerful punches, denting the metal and punching it clean off its hinges; he transformed again into his human form as they approached a massive field of wheat and corn.

"Ken, that was amazing," Cassandra insisted, gently touching his arm, "When did you get so good with your powers?"

The speedster of the group sprinted around the facility ten times, interrupting them with morbid news, "Did a quick recon, want the options? Corn-field or corn-field?"

Robin didn't think twice, "Cornfield," they all started sprinting into the field aimlessly.

…

Pacific Ocean; Unknown; April 8th 2019; 6:49PM

"Here, I've brought visitors, my son," Black Manta removed his helmet as he stepped into the room with his comatose lineage; Kaldur laid in bed staring up at the ceiling blankly, nothing really in his mind at all, "Robbed of life; I will get my revenge on the Martian witch who did this to him!"

Vandal smiled pulling from the hallway M'gaan, trying her best to be dignified with a Belle-Reve control-collar on; Manta's eyes snapped on sight, rushing forwards and grabbing her by the cape. He pushed her against the wall and summoned a silver-blade from his armored-forearm, "Take a minute to think, my friend," Vandal announced, "She is the only one in the world that can fix what she did to your son."

M'gaan said nothing and looked away as Manta lowered his arm, "How… long…"

She raised a brow, whispering, "What?"

"HOW LONG?" He thrusted his blade into the metal-wall, cutting through it like butter.

She frowned, being disgusted with his tone she decided to assume what he meant, "I tore through his memories one by one, I'll have to reconstruct them the same way; its easier to destroy than to create, it'll take days… or even weeks."

He let her go completely, pulling his blade from the wall and backing away, "You get seven days to fix what you did."

"I don't even know if that's possible…"

"Than you'll die and I'll find someone else to pick up where you left off," Manta left the room without another word as Vandal pressed the center button on a control pad electrocuting her until she collapsed, she could hear guards being ordered to watch her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

…

Wonder Girl grabbed Tim by his arm-pits lifting him off his feet and into the air; Ken put his hand on Bart's shoulder as they stopped, "Prepare to go hyper-sonic," he transformed with an explosion of emerald light as Stink-Fly, using his insectoid-wings to carry Arsenal away, "Go!"

Impulse nodded and dashed off, easily hundreds of times faster than sound; they were almost home free when suddenly Black Beetle came from the night sky, hidden by darkness, wrapping his arms around Stink-Fly, hugging his wings tight causing them both to plummet towards the ground. Shifter dropped Arsenal for fear of him being crushed into paste but, the seasoned vigilante used his prosthetic to grapple to Wonder Girl's ankle.

They uprooted metric-tons of corn and dirt as they formed a massive crater below, "Ken!" Cassandra shouted as her and Tim shared a brief look, nodding as to turn around and go after them. Impulse noted this from the ground as his friends turned back, he did the same.

As she came closer to the ground, Arsenal un-grappled and pulled a capsule from his belt, popping it into his cybernetic-elbow, his palm opened up much like Lex Luthor's Mercy android, firing a beam of crimson energy into his back. The laser carved through his suit but, didn't pierce it completely, seeming to only burn his armor and nothing more.

"What a nuisance," he formed a cannon and fired off a beam of blasma nearly taking Arsenal's head off as he ducked back.

Beetle held the bug tighter, attempting to break his bones and crush him, "Let him go!" Wonder Girl swooped from behind grabbing him in a headlock which, didn't seem to faze him. Robin pulled explosive shuriken from his belt to hold as he didn't have a clean shot, Impulse suddenly created a vortex around them to try and disorient him simultaneously.

From within his bear-hug, Stink-Fly changed into Diamondhead, swinging his thick arms and breaking the Beetle's grip; this freed Black up to grab Cassandra by the tank-top throwing her overhead into the Petrosapien, planting his feet as he caught her.

Black Beetle was more focused on the Omnitrix user as miniature explosions detonated on his back; the vortex became thinner and more concise as Impulse sped up, picking the giant up off his feet with the updraft. His right hand formed slowly into a studded mace, bringing it down and crushing the Earth; rupturing the ground, sending cracks across the crater causing Impulse to lose balance.

Black Beetle dropped to his feet with a smile as Bart tumbled into the dirt behind him, "Now, stay nice and still…" he formed a beetle-horn blade out of his left hand as he ominously strutted towards Diamondhead, "While I cut that watch off your corpse."

Diamondhead put his hands out, defending Wonder Girl behind him, as Tim ran out of explosives and felt utterly useless against this Reach agent; Impulse looked up but, could hardly see the battle anymore to begin with, Arsenal popped another cartridge in his elbow and pointed his weapon at Black Beetle.

"Adfishio Potentia!"

Before Black Beetle could reach Shifter, a powerful beam of pink-mana energy hit him from the left knocking him through the corn, digging a trench with his body as he gasped from the impact.

They all turned as a tall, glowing, goddess-like figure floated down with an intense violet-aura, "Stay down!" she shouted as her long flowing hair fell below her ankles.

"Who the hell-" Wonder Girl shouted as Beetle grew wings and flew up to meet her altitude.

"You returned with more power… I see," Black Beetle narrowed his eyes remembering this figure from the liberation of their slaves last week.

She raised her brow, "That wasn't me! but, you're going to wish it was," her aura expanded and became more chaotic, exploding with mystic lightning carving through the ground around them.

He formed an eight-foot plasma-cannon out of his two arms and his chest plate, lighting up with a hum as he smiled sinisterly, "Don't joke! You couldn't even scratch me before," his weapon was fully charged, firing it off nearly pushed him back in the air.

She formed a shield of sparkling pink-mana, lifting a single hand as the beam collided with her defense, the shield standing strong without a single crack, "You should listen better, I told you that wasn't me!"

The beam was dispersed with a boom of energy, sending a shockwave out across the field leaving Black Beetle confused, the cannon shifted back into two-arms as he floated back. It was his most powerful attack, it could vaporize entire mountains but, it did nothing against her.

"Facio Gravis," Beetle was suddenly forced to the ground, hitting the dirt with his knees, he was heavier now, at least by ten or twenty times, he struggled to even look up as she floated down putting her heel on his head, "Tempestus Impaetus."

From the sky rained a bolt of lightning, carrying over one-billion joules of energy into Black Beetle's body with one jolt; he screamed in pain as smoke drifted lazily off his armor, "I would retreat if I were you."

She lifted her spell as he suddenly felt lighter and less pinned, he stumbled back still looking like he was going to pounce on them but, he didn't. He formed his insectoid wings and flew up, leaving the battle entirely.

"Woah, she's hot," Arsenal noted being elbowed below the ribs by Tim as they all made their way to the center of the crater, "What? You're going to pretend to be modest?"

Diamondhead and Wonder Girl approached from the other side as even Bart pulled himself from the ground for answers, they were all shocked by her display but, none more than Ken.

"Hey, you're… you're just like him," he approached her at eye level, raising a hand to poke her face, she raised a brow at him with a confusing expression.

"Ben," she muttered recognizing the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, "Oh, I'm so happy I found you!" before anyone could correct her, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping him in a tight embrace.

Even though the situation was more than serious, Cassandra couldn't help but be just a little jealous; "It's been so long, I tried to use Gwen's spells but, it still took me all of this time to find you."

Diamondhead kept his arms out, not returning the hug considering he didn't know who was hugging him, "I'm not-"

"Why are you still in that silly form?" She noted, turning her head with doubt, "And using an older model? That's just-" she slapped the Omnitrix dial on his chest stunning Ken but also transforming him back into his human form.

She now stood nearly half-a-foot taller than him, "Hey, how did you do that!" he shouted as she quickly grabbed his arm, lifting him up over her head.

"You aren't Ben Tennyson," she growled as her aura reignited, sending sparks across her skin, "Who gave you this watch?" she held him up so that his arm was at her eye-level, "Why are you so short?!"

Everyone got into a fighting stance as Ken was held uncomfortable up above the ground, "Let him go," Cassandra demanded. The Anodite was curious, this seemed like the right place…

"Oh, I hope I didn't do that stupid spell wrong, who knew Gwenny's magic books could be this complicated," she tossed Ken to the ground without looking, stepping away from them and looking up at the stars, tracking when she might be by the position of the stars.

They all watched, what would they do? Fight her? She just took down Black Beetle without even breaking a sweat, if she could sweat at all, "You there," she turned and pointed at Tim, "What year are we in? Earth calendar."

He took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck while Cassandra helped Ken back to his feet, "It's uh twenty-nine-teen," he noted.

Bart put his hands on his hips, strutting over to her, "April, if you need specifics, I'm a fellow time traveler so maybe I could be of some assistance…" he couldn't be more obviously hitting on her if he tried.

She turned with an excited look, "So, you must be familiar with cross time-line excursions and alternate causality string-theory, then?"

He looked away, his chest deflating a bit, "Uh, maybe we should call Nightwing."

…

Kent Farm; Smallville; April 8th 2019; 10:33PM

"Thank you for the use of your farm, Mr. Kent," Nightwing noted as the Anodite stood passively in the entrance-way looking up at the stars, "Until we know more about who she is, we cant afford to bring this new girl to our HQ."

Johnathan Kent, also known as the man who raised Superman, chuckled at this, "Well, she's not the oddest thing we've had in this barn…" he reached over and wrapped his arm around Power Girl's neck, "Plus, any excuse to see one of my kids is good enough a reason, to me."

She giggled as he rustled her hair, "Pa…"

He left them to their own devices, passing the glowing woman on his way out, trying his best not to stare; she turned as he did to face the rest of the team being Nightwing, Power Girl, Shifter, Arsenal, Wonder Girl, Robin and Impulse.

"Well, if you guys are done talking," she was a tad abrasive but, it wasn't coming off as rude… at least, not yet, "My name is Sunny and I don't know how much you all know about my Universe but, I'm looking for Ben Tennyson."

"We figured," Ken stepped forwards taking the lead instead of Nightwing, "He isn't exactly around, right now."

"Well, where the hell is he?"

"Not… exactly… around!" Ken getting notably aggravated for less than he remembered Ben ever being.

Nightwing stood between them, putting a hand out to break their eye contact, "Let's slow down a bit; Ben Ten Thousand was captured by Vilgax and Albedo last week and we still can't find him," he folded his arms and sighed, "If you are who you say you are, than you'll know what that means."

She widened her eyes, confused, "What? Vilgax took him? That's impossible, I'd know if he were dead…"

"That just means he's not dead," Power Girl wasn't too interested in the conversation, thinking more about Conner than anything else, petting a cow which obliviously munched on hay.

"Why the fuck would Vilgax take Ben and not kill him, that doesn't make any sense!" She turned around and approached the exit again, putting her hand on the wooden door-frame.

Ignoring her lack of restraint with her language, Nightwing shrugged towards the others, taking a few steps in her direction, "Maybe we could be of more help if you told us why you're looking for him?"

She turned with a tear brewing in her left eye, her eyes shun pink and her energy slowly melted into her skin; the same way Veronica had always done only, her human-look was far different. She had long straight black hair down to her lower-back, dark-blue eyes and a violet blouse paired with denim jeans, her chest was also quite a bit bigger than Veronica's causing both Arsenal and Tim to stare.

"Sorry, I was a little shaken from the spell I used to get here."

Robin chuckled, "Getting from one Universe to another would do that to you."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, scoffing, "Uhhh, I didn't just travel through space, I also traveled through time!" This caused everyone's eyes to widen, "I'm from ten years into the future, in my home Universe, and I need to stop Vilgax before he takes control of the Multiverse."

They had never heard such stakes before, the Multiverse? Infinite realities with infinite outcomes, was she being serious? She stepped through the group of heroes and grabbed Ken's hands into her own, "I have to find Ben Tennyson or all of reality is utterly doomed."

"The Justice League will need to confirm your story," he leaned over to Kara whispering in her ear, "Let's get Veronica down here to check this out…" he turned as they began mingling again, Nightwing grabbed Robin's attention with a simple signal, "So, other than her, how did the mission go?"

He almost groaned audibly, "Arsenal… he…" he looked back over, remembering what Roy had been through over eight-years and decided, against his best-interest, to give him a break, "He's a little rough around the edges but, all-in-all it worked out I guess, we got a sample of the alien additive," he pulled the zip-lock from his belt, showing it off.

"Can't ask for more," Nightwing smiled, giving Tim the credit he deserved, "Good work."

…

LexCorp Farms; Smallville; April 9th 2019; 3:22AM

Lex Luthor led Vandal Savage through his facility, as a line of Reach soda-drinks were factory prepped and sent down an assembly-line, "All-in-all, the damage was minor, and the most profitable part of the business was left untouched and seemingly undiscovered."

He opened a door and led Vandal through to see thousands and thousands of bottles being prepped for shipment, "The crops have been harvested, distilled, and shipments are being distributed to needy-nations and soon will be available world-wide," he grabbed one off the line and looked at the wonky-label made to target the child-demographic.

"Funny how one little bottle contains everything the body needs," he gave Vandal a sinister grin as he put the drink down and walked over to the back office, passing even more bottles, "And, of course, I kept tabs on my pet-project."

"How is he progressing?" Vandal asked.

"Wonderfully," he responded as he walked into the room, passing a teenage-boy standing idle on the side, "The watch has integrated with him and taken over, he's practically trapped in his own body."

Ken stood staring blankly into the distance, as Vandal waving his hand in front of the boy's eyes did nothing to stir him, "And this watch will keep him under the Light's power?"

"We don't get a remote control, if that's what you're asking," he stood up and pulled out a drawer with pictures of all of the kids taken by the Reach including Virgil and four others, "But, I believe he can lead us into the future."

"Did the children procure a sample of the additive?" Vandal asked, looking back up at Lex.

"As anticipated," Luthor noted, resting his chin on his hand, "they're quite effective."

"Indeed."

Vandal looked down as Lex pushed the sheet with the pictures taken of the new meta-teens toward him, "We really must form one of our own."

…

Three things:

Ken does not have Master Control; Lex took the time-limiter off and gave him the code for switching between aliens, that's all.

The Light can't control Ken the way the Reach control Blue Beetle in the show; its more like Roy in Season 1 where he just did things based on prior programming.

Sunny might be out of character since we've only ever seen her once but, this is my take. She's here for something way bigger than the Reach, the main S2 plot.

Yes, that was Thanos' line from Infinity War.

No, I won't apologize.