I don't own Ben 10 or DC.
Chapter 34 – Old Man Tennyson
Gotham City; Warehouse District; June 20th 2019; 11:22PM
There was a panic rushing through the very small and ill equipped superhero base, the Justice League was still on Rimbor and the team had just suffered a devastating loss to the Reach invaders; Nightwing stood in front of worried, angry, and injured teenagers as they were treated for wounds the worst of which was Ben Tennyson himself.
He sat passively in an armchair as Barbara Gordan, Batgirl, bandaged him up, his left arm missing from his body… again. He stared out into the distance, the bags under his eyes forming the moment he begun to crack under the pressure.
Without Batman, Dick was stumped, he took a deep breath and tried not to let the tears swell in his eyes again, "Everyone calm down, listen up," he shushed the chatter and complaining as they all focused in on him; the room was filled with heroes, among them were Ben missing an arm, Power Girl impaled by a beetle-horn and recovering, Batgirl, Superboy, Beast Boy in tears, Robin standing by his brother-figure, and Wonder Girl covered in blood but, not her own, shaking in the corner of the room with her knees tucked into her chest.
"We just took a hit…" he started bluntly, "I…" he choked before taking a breath and continuing, "I'm not exactly sure how we come back from this one…"
There were significant missing faces among them and traumatized expressions plastering their faces, "We lost M'gaan, Wally, Tigress, Kaldur, and Spiritus among others; Blue Beetle and Shifter have officially joined the Reach and the Light respectively against their wills, forced to-" he stopped, glancing over at Cassandra and Kara before closing his eyes, "We don't have any word on the Justice League, all communications have gone dark, we should assume the worst."
Kara spoke up in a mutter, "You mean… you can't-"
"Until further notice we should assume the trial on Rimbor ended in the League's execution…" Nightwing stopped and opened his eyes, "The Reach plan to take over the planet and Vilgax is about to seize control of the Multiverse; I don't know about all of you but, I don't plan on lying down."
Ben looked up and recognized him for the first time, looking into his eyes, "No."
"What?"
He stood, yanking his stump away from Batgirl's grasp, he showed his long, torn and gashed arm where the Biomnitrix used to be, "I'm done," he turned around as everyone kept to themselves for the most part, still in shock and mourning.
"We can still do something, even if it means we sacrifice everything, we still have a chance to try and you won't even-"
Ben turned around, aggressively getting into Dick's face backing up into a small table, "That's right, Richard, I won't even…" a tear slipped down his cheek, "I'm tired… I'm so tired," he suddenly reached out and embraced one of his oldest friends, "I'm so… tired."
Dick reached around and patted his back, as he slowly took a step back, "I'm done, I've got nothing left in me, Vilgax took it all," he opened the door to the base, walking out into the muggy summer air, "I'm done," he grabbed the handle and closed the door behind him, vanishing into the night.
Nightwing never saw or heard from him again, he turned around at the grimacing and horrified expressions of the children he employed, "What have I done?"
…
Metropolis; December 23rd 2029; 6:23AM
No matter how exhausted he was, his half Kryptonian genes kept his stamina up and allowed Conner to run through six miles of back allies in under ten minutes trying to avoid capture, "Stop!" a filtered voice shouted aggressively from above, firing blue energy blasts into the shadows.
Superboy, the former hero, pulled on the collar of his black long-sleeved t-shirt, no longer sporting the insignia for the House of El, now an extinct house. He rounded a corner quickly only to be met with a crystal-structured fist that knocked him into a dumpster, denting the steel with his back on impact.
Diamondhead stepped out from the darkness, a green flash signified the transformation of a watch user, "Sorry, Conner, but it's against the law to have any unregistered powers, you knew we were coming."
Conner spat a bit of blood into the asphalt, using the crushed dumpster to support him; he watched as an armored figure landed from above.
Blue Beetle transformed his hand from a sonic-cannon into a plasma-rifle, "Secretary General Lex Luthor doesn't like to be kept waiting," Ken's voice was monotonic, he clearly wasn't in control of himself.
Conner looked into Blue Beetle's eyes, "Jamie? Are you even in there?"
Beetle chuckled, "He is… he doesn't talk much anymore."
"So, the Reach and the Light think they can stop Vilgax from taking Earth if they work together? I wonder how long until they betray each other and self-destruct?" Conner laughed a bit, wiping the blood from his lip, suddenly cackling loudly, his voice echoing off the walls of the surrounding buildings.
He laughed until he was silenced by a navy-blue beetle-horn piercing his chest through to his back carving into the dumpster behind him. Blood splattered on the ground and his armor as he pulled the blade out and Conner toppled to the ground in front of him, "Tell Kara I said hello," he whispered as the last thing he heard as he took his final breath was a taunt towards the lost love of his life.
…
National City Airport; California; December 23rd 2029; 10:45AM
"Breaking News: After the new anti-hero legislation passed in 2023, enforcers of the United States government as well as supporters of the U.N. have taken their final criminal off the streets," Cat Grant spoke from a news room in Metropolis where the censorship administrator sat not far from the anchors to ensure they didn't say or do anything off script, "Superboy, also known as Conner Kent, is now among the terrorists found dead at the scene where Blue Beetle had this to say."
The camera switched to a feed from the scene, "After the news of what the Justice League did across the Galaxy and their fate to a foreign justice-system, I knew I had to stand up for what was right and bring down the criminals masquerading as our heroes."
It switched back to Cat Grant who smiled but, showed visible fear and concern for the wellbeing of the world, "I think I speak for all of us when I say I couldn't agree more…"
Ben choked down his whiskey before sliding the terminal bartender enough for the rest of the bottle; he looked up at the TV where Conner's corpse was being bagged up and the faces of Captain Marvel, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Power Girl, and Black Lightning, whom had all been found at identical crime scenes in the last year alone, flashed on screen.
Looking down into his liquor, he saw his reflection and barely recognized himself; his beard had grown out a bit and he was dressed in sunglasses and a trench coat, even indoors, to keep from being recognized. He wasn't sure how well it worked though, he was only there to smoke some good weed and drink some good drinks before he left the country for good.
The bartender had been eyeing him for nearly fifteen minutes, if he wasn't so drunk he would say he was made; it wasn't until six men entered the small airport bar with rifles a few minutes later that he was sure. Sporting S.W.A.T gear, they screamed maneuvering codes to each other as they got in position around him taking aim at the back of his head.
"Get on the ground! Hands in the air!"
Ben didn't move, he just looked down into his glass, "If you don't comply, we have the authority to use deadly force!"
The bartender and the other customers ran for the lives or took shelter under tables.
"So do I," Ben's eyes shun bright blue as he spun around forming a mana-shield in front of his hand deflecting thousands of rounds fired from the first three as the others stepped back to cover their partner's six o'clock, "Eradiko!" three bolts of mystic energy struck the attacking soldiers through the chest, killing them instantly as the others moved in and began firing.
He ran forwards with his shield taking the hits to allow him to ram the solider in the middle, knocking him onto his back where he was pinned by Ben's foot as he swung around launching a mana disc that slit the closest soldiers throat, toppling him to the ground in a bloody, choking, heap. The final remaining rifle wielder tracked the disc as it flew through the air around him but, was far too slow to stop it from decapitating him.
Leaving the last one at Ben's mercy under his boot, the disc flew right over his shoulder and stopped centimeters from the officer's neck, "Please! I was just following orders!" he covered his blood splattered goggles with his hands and whimpered, "Have mercy!"
Ben huffed and reached down with his one good arm, grabbing him by the collar of his bullet-proof vest, "Where was the mercy when the blood of my friends and family was spilled on the street?!" shaking him vigorously, the adrenalin had both woken him up, and stirred his emotions, "When you hunted them down like animals!"
"I didn't have a choice! Please!"
Ben dispersed the mana-disc and took his boot away, stepping over the broken glass, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and walked away. In the end, he wasn't a killer, he never wanted to be a killer; even when he was consumed by rage towards Vilgax he couldn't finish the job. Even after everything he was still a good person, only he was watching helplessly as the world was poisoned by Reach brainwashing, legal servitude, and corrupt military manipulation.
He sighed loudly as he heard the man, still lying on his back, unholster his glock from his hidden boot strap and aim it at the back of Ben's head. A tear slipped down his cheek as he turned around and put a mana bolt through his skull before he could pull the trigger, in one swift movement.
He heard his head hit the ground and stood there, in an empty bar, looking around at what society was becoming, he couldn't believe his worst nightmares were coming to pass.
…
Berlin; Germany; February 15th 2044; 5:15PM
"C'mon, Meloni, push!" Barbara Gordon, now wheelchair bound, held the speedster's pregnant wife by the hand; even though her husband had been thrown in the discipline camp, she was still due to have a baby either way.
Ben watched from the doorway as two nurses assisted Barbara in delivering the child, "AGHHHH!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, pushing and crying as the pain of giving life was unbearable. He'd been tasked to watch them by one of his last living friends, the son of the late Barry Allen, and he couldn't bring himself to break his promise. Even with a portion of Barry's speedforce, Don Allen couldn't escape being captured by Reach forces last month and his last words were to keep his wife and child safe.
Meloni was quite beautiful, and the memories of the time they'd spent as a make-shift family, living in secret and hiding from the governments of the world for decades; he frowned and took a long swig from a bottle, getting liquor in his now greying beard. Don, Meloni, Barry, Barbara, and himself were the last ones left from a generation of the righteous and free. Ben could see the Reach brainwashing drinks and subliminal training taking its toll on society, on people.
He wiped his beard with the sleeve of his black suit jacket, dressed like he were going to a funeral, "AGHH!" she pushed for the last time as a baby's frightened whales snapped Ben out of his fog.
"It's a baby boy!" one of the nurses announced, "A healthy boy!"
He approached as suddenly the nurses rushed to Meloni Thawne's side, touching her forehead and holding the baby; she demanded they hand him to her as they took action.
Barbara looked the woman over with her new dark-wear tech, contact lenses that provided analysis on objects in sight, as well as communication, video, audio broadcasting, and more. The x-ray scan of her body showed major organ failure, "We need to prep her for surgery, right now," Barbara announced as the nurses rushed around her.
Time slowed down for her, holding her child close to her, where she whispered with her last breath, "My baby, my Bart… Bart Allen…" she nuzzled his crying and bloody form close to her as she saw the light, and passed on to the next world where she would soon see long lost friends and family.
She flat lined as they took Bart away, handing him to Ben and attempting to resuscitate her; they shouted medical jargon and pounded on her chest, everything went dull around him looking down at the baby in his arms, "You're it," he said to himself, "You're the last one."
The baby grabbed his finger and clutched it tight, the last hope for humanity in the form of a single speedster child; they took the blanket and slowly flipped it over Meloni's face, moving away from the bed to mourn and prepare her burial. It took nearly an hour to clean, disinfect, feed and nurse the infant before it could be left alone to sleep.
Ben stood at the sink as Barbara rolled up to a kitchen table; the hideout they were using was an old facility Ben had formed during his time as a mercenary before things took a turn for the worst. It was in a rural neighborhood, very ordinary place, it was somewhere the new Justice League couldn't find them.
"How are we supposed to tell Don?"
Ben took a small plastic bottle of whiskey from his inner jacket pocket, emptying it into his mug, "The same way we told him about his sister."
A silent tension filled the room until she changed the subject, "I scanned Bart, he's definitely a speedster, he'll be running around by the time he's six," he turned and filled his cup with coffee over the liquor as she spoke to him.
He sighed and turned to the table grabbing the remote to unmute the television playing behind them, "I'll prep the dampening implant in the morning," he responded casually without emoting even a little.
He handed Barbara a fresh cup of coffee free of the Irish-kick as he sat down across from her; the news played in German but, their dark-wear translated for them, "German forces have just officially surrendered to unsurmounting enemy powers; the Reach and the Justice League are united in bringing Germany into the Reach empire for the glory of our Ambassador."
"You know what this means?" Ben muttered without looking away from the TV.
She sighed and closed her eyes, taking a long sip from her mug, "We have to move again but, so soon? Is Bart even capable of traveling?"
"He'll have to be," Ben took a sip himself as he turned back to her, "Where next? The Netherlands?" He threw up a virtual map on his dark-wear, one nobody could see but them through their contacts.
She swiped the globe from her point of view, highlighting another base in Hong Kong and pointing it out to him, "China is still safe for now, I say we hide in plain sight here, along the Shenzhen Residential District."
"For now? Barb…" Ben dispersed his view of the map as did she, "I don't recognize this world anymore," he looked up with a solemn expression, the wrinkles forming around his eyes telling a story of his slow decline into seniority.
"Neither do I," she agreed, sadly, "How could we have let it get this bad?"
"Nobody let it happen," he responded chugging down the last of his coffee, "We just couldn't stop it."
…
Greece; Europe; January 19th 2059; 3:20PM
"Bart?!" Barbara used her electric wheelchair to move through the small efficiency smoothly, shouting for the boy she'd been tasked with raising for the better part of twenty-years, "Bart!"
Down in the basement, a brunette-headed teen fiddled with wiring and two large batteries, he wore nothing but safety goggles and took them from over his eyes when he heard her calling for him, "Just a sec!" he looked back without putting the goggles down, clipped the last wire where it needed to go, "Shway."
"Bart?!" Barbara folded her arms as she parked outside the basement doors, which did have a ramp for her to use had he not locked the door; she was almost worried as she pounded on the door one last time, "Ba-"
"Whats up?" Suddenly he was in her face as the door swung open.
She looked behind him down into the workshop where tools and bolts were scattered across the floor, "What have I told you about rewiring the house without my permission?"
"Relax, B-G, I'm just stealing a little power from the city's grid, all crash," he wiped the grease from his hands on his white t-shirt without looking causing her to scoff.
She strong armed him and rolled passed him, moving down into the workshop, "We don't need extra power or extra attention," she reached down and grabbed two plugs that connected the house to a machine built atop a wooden desk.
"Wait, don't!" he reached out and stopped her, "I need it to send out a signal, alright?! If you unplug it now, you'll fry it."
She stopped and turned to it, she was a programmer not an engineer but, she could tell she was looking at a make-shift radio, circa 2030. Turning back to him she sighed, "So, the truth comes out."
Bart gave a long sigh, sitting in the chair he was using to work on the radio, "If I can get a signal into space, maybe the someone out there can help-"
"Just… stop, Bart, there's no one out there," she rolled closer, biting her lip out of anxiety, remembering the day Vilgax slaughtered the Green Lantern Corps and gave Lex Luthor control of the United Nations, "Anyone who could have helped is long gone."
He looked to his shoes, touching the tips together, "I have to try… I can't just walk around like this is all… normal."
She clutched her skirt, "I know it's hard but, you can't do anything about it, you'll just die like the others," she closed her eyes mustering the strength to lie to his face, "You just aren't special."
She rolled passed him back towards the entrance; he frowned, his eyes targeting the receiver for his machine, "I don't need to be!"
"Bart, don't!"
He quickly flipped a switch on his make-shift on radio, powerful enough to send signals into deep space and back; every light in the house exploded, Barbara's chair stopped, and the basement was shrouded in darkness. Otherwise, they were fine but, that was until Barbara finally caught a glimpse of light but, it wasn't what she expected.
Bart was holding his arm trying to keep it tame as it vibrated intensely at super speeds, generating bolts of golden electricity simultaneously, "Barb?" he asked with an incredibly worried expression.
"Shit…" she tried the controls on her chair but, the motor was fried completely; through the small windows near the ceiling of the basement, flashlights shun through as men in black-padded armor wielding rifles and invading the mundane neighborhood in less than a minute.
The front door was pounded on relentlessly, "This is the police! Open this door now!" before even finishing the sentence, they were already preparing a battering ram.
Bart finally managed to calm his arm down, looking frantically to his mother-figure, "W-What's happening?"
She wasn't going to attempt to explain, she couldn't get them out in time without stalling and there was still a shoot on sight order out on her, so she had only one option left. Opening up the padded armrest of her wheelchair, she stuck her finger in a socket which activated an automatic mechanism in the chair. Extending out incredibly and wrapping around her legs, biconically enhancing her strength and agility as well as restoring her ability to walk. She stood as the brace tightened around her waist, wincing as it drilled itself into her spine, this was not something she could take back.
"BREACH! BREACH!" both living room windows were flooded with tear gas from canisters that shattered the glass with a single shot; the door snapped off the hinges as twelve men filed into the room with precision.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
They swept the house as Barbara stepped back and reached under her seat, grabbing a tattered yellow belt with compartments across it, swinging around her torso like an ammunitions belt, "Stay here, hide."
"What're you going to do?! Don't just leave me!" his eyes showed true fear of a young teenager afraid for his life but, she couldn't box herself in the basement, she needed to act.
"It'll be fine, stay here, hide and don't come out until I say," she held his shoulders as she slowly let go, backing towards the door, it was the first time he'd really noticed the grey in her hair now that she was at eye level.
Her boots clanked on the ground as she walked but, some-how she still walked with enough grace to keep quiet up the stairs; she used her contacts to scan the room, she could see them but, they couldn't see her, not yet at least. She looked up, reaching for a classic grappling hook and taking aim at a large air conditioning shaft.
"Dark-wear is negative on this room!" one soldier shouted, pounding on the basement door, "X-ray's useless, get the-"
He turned and his partner closest to him was gone, "Alpha four?" he called for his squad mate but, no one answered. From above a figure dropped down with the force enough to break someone's neck, kicking the man face first into the wooden floors, breaking planks of wood with his nose.
Another solider turned into the hall, "We've got one!" He took aim with his rife but, before he could even pull the trigger she ducked below his line of sight and plugged the barrel with a shuriken from thirty-feet away. Sprinting into close-quarters she jumped him, knee first which cracked his chest even through his body armor, sending him through the room into the wall.
She approached the open room where the other nine men waited for her; she looked down at a device she pulled from her belt, about the size of a pack of gum and blinking bright red. Who knows how far he is, she couldn't wait; she threw a throwing star into the wall from out of sight, taking it as a distraction they ignored it.
Little did they know the device opened up and emitted a powerful sonic blast, stunning everyone in the room, letting go of their guns to cover their ears. Placing a breathing device over her mouth, she took a deep breath and jumped into the gas, the dark-wear kept the sting from her eyes but, her breathing was still strained.
She came in unnoticed, sweeping a man off his feet with a quick kick to the back of the leg, flipping him through the air into another soldier, giving her the opportunity to advance. Not bothering to avoid crushing the downed man's arm with a step as she turned the corner into the kitchen where one soldier was ready to open fire. He pulled the trigger but, she dipped out of the way with her now enhanced reflexes, turning and knocking the barrel of the gun pointing away with her forearm. She jabbed him once in the face as he stumbled back, receiving a bionic kick in the chest that sent him through a row of cabinets, shattering dishes and wood.
She looked through the walls with her dark-wear, two more approaching from around the corner, she sighed and reached down, grabbing a discarded hand-gun from the last solider she'd disabled.
She didn't hesitate to shoot through the walls as they approached, hitting their legs and likely crippling them. This allowed her to round the corner pistol wiping one soldier so hard in the head that his skull cracked the dry wall of the narrow hall as he fell unconscious. The other man clutched his leg whilst his partner was dispatched but, quickly recovered and took a swing, missing as she broke his nose with a jab. He screamed, falling back, she took a look around and pointed her glock, shooting him in his other uninjured leg for good measure.
She pulled the weapon apart, tossing the pieces aside as she strategically made her way back towards the entrance where there was no doubt more men waiting.
Meanwhile, down in the basement, Bart heard male screaming, shattered glass and furniture, and the loud cybernetic mechanisms of her armored legs. He couldn't just sit around, he had to do something, he had to at least get away; he looked down at his hands, his fingers vibrating erratically, no matter how hard he tried to focus it.
He got out from beneath the wooden desk he's built the radio on and tried to use whatever power was surging within him, instead of doing anything useful, he ran into a concrete wall at forty-five miles an hour.
Barbara broke a man's wrist and flipped him over head onto his back, snapping his arm as the loud thud caught her attention, assuming the worst, she turned toward the basement, "Bart…"
She took one step before she felt something dripping from her lips and her body was frozen in shock; touching her chin without looking down, she pulled her fingers back and gazed at the crimson liquid suddenly pouring from her. It was seconds later that the choking started, blood building up in her mouth until she couldn't breathe anymore. A vibrating yellow-suited hand pulled out of Barbara's back with a crimson shred of lighting and a splatter of blood that followed.
"The famous Batgirl," a cocky tone chided as he placed his bloodied hand on her shoulder, keeping her from toppling over in pain, "I was sure you were killed at least thirty-years ago but, here you are."
She fell to her knees choking, falling over as blood pooled up around her, "Excuse me, here you were."
The Reverse Flash took a few steps around the house, glancing around, he could feel something, something he hadn't felt since… it couldn't be, "Another speedster is in here," Eobard flexed his muscles and in a flash of crimson lightning, blitzing around the house, he made his way into the basement where he found the recovering Bart.
"As I live and breathe, an Allen I still haven't killed," he could feel that the boy was inexperienced, so his arrogant nature got the best of him. The frightened boy backed away, tripping over the cord Barbara had tried to unplug earlier, collapsing onto his tailbone.
"You don't know how to use your speed, do you?"
Bart shuffled away, "You're a part of the Justice League… What did I do? I'm nobody!"
With an ominous strut forward, Eobard's eyes flashed crimson red and his voice vibrated frighteningly, "Oh, Bart, you have no idea how wrong you are," he lifted his hand, which too vibrated, aiming for the center of his chest.
Bart saw his very short, fifteen-year-old, life flashing before his eyes as the sparking red lightning approaching his heart; however, from upstairs, automatic gun fire suddenly broke out. Thuds and screams echoed as the speedster stopped and glanced towards the basement entrance, "Hold that thought," he vanished in a flash of red, leaving Bart frightened and almost hyperventilating.
Reverse Flash entered the room as any speedster did sending a gust of wind through the living area; all of the remaining soldiers were dead on the floor, one figure in a trench-coat still alive, leaning over a body and practically shaking.
"Barb? BARBARA?!" he shook her corpse but, her eyes slipped to the side, staring out into the distance as the light faded behind them.
Eobard raised his brow under his cowl, "Don't tell me, another one of you survived?" he put his hands on his hips as the figure shook, holding the collar of the former vigilante's shirt.
"Please… don't leave me too…" he muttered as tears slipped down his cheeks, he closed his eyes realizing that his words went unheard.
Tapping his foot impatiently, Eobard took a step forwards, "Look, I-" before he could even start his sentence properly, the figure turned and took aim with a weapon pultruding from the wrist of a prosthetic arm. Before even he could react, the speedster was knocked off his feet by a blast of blue concussive energy; his back cracked the dry wall as he hit the floor groaning.
The mystery man took down the hood of his trench coat to reveal a full head of grey hair, long since loosing its color, his skin was wrinkled and there was a scar running down his right eye, which he kept closed. Ben Tennyson made his way through the house, passing the barely conscious speedster, he looked around as he rushed down the stairs, finding Bart back under the desk, terrified of him.
"I swear I won't send the signal again! It was an accident, I didn't mean-"
"Shut the hell up," he grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up the stairs, yanking him along as he flailed up the stairs.
Eobard was barely supporting himself against the wall, huffing at being hit with such a strong kinetic attack, "A speedster weapo-" he was interrupted again by another concussive blast that sent him through the window into the yard.
"Put me down!" He ignored the kid as he opened the door to a white van, tossing him in and shutting the lock in his face. He got into the driver seat and tried the ignition which worked on the first try, the van seemed old on the outside but, still had decent modifications to its acceleration and dashboard. This infuriated him as he knew what he had to do, he closed his eyes focusing a blue spark across his body, like a bolt of electricity shooting from his eyes to his cheeks. Flickering like he was struggling to summon it, "Come on…"
Eobard recovered and shook his head, "That was…" he stopped himself as his eyes went wide; he didn't hesitate to zip off leaving streaks of crimson lightning behind him, turning the alley corner he cut the van off before it even hit civilian streets.
"Come on…"
Suddenly, the sound of chopping air echoed across the sky as bright lights shun down on them; the van was out in the open now as four military-grade helicopters with highly-advanced weaponry aimed their rifles down.
Trucks and Police arrived in the streets on either side of the alley-way, "Hold your fire! Do not shoot!" Reverse Flash shouted with his hands out approaching the front windshield.
Ben still had his eyes closed, the cars self-driving mechanism allowed him to focus whilst stopping the vehicle appropriately; his prosthetic lit up bright blue as his eyes shot open, "Abeio exorior!"
The van was engulfed by a dome of dim-blue mana, surging with wind and electricity as light enveloped everything within the dome. The energy vanished along with the van and its occupants, Eobard was stunned at who he saw in the driver seat, it couldn't be.
Two figures fell from the sky, breaking the sonic barrier and cracking the asphalt of the street with their landings; Shifter as Chromastone and Blue Beetle disregarded their surroundings as they arrived, "What happened?" Shifter asked turning to Eobard.
"We thought he was dead but, he was here and if he's with Bart Allen," He was talking to himself, thinking at several trillion times the speed of any regular person; his thoughts were interrupted when another bulkier figured landed, hitting the ground with a much more intimidating sound.
Black Beetle scanned the area, "Why did you let them escape?" he approached, still deciding whether he needed to form a weapon or not.
Eobard took a step forwards like a normal person, still stunned, "The man who got away with the last Allen… it was Ben Ten Thousand."
Black Beetle quickly formed a beetle-horn, "That's impossible, lie to me again and it'll be your head."
"You have a lie-detector in your suit; threaten me again and ill take your heart before your armor can process a picosecond," they were mere head to head as Chromastone separated them.
"If Ben Ten Thousand is alive, it won't be for long."
…
Nuuk; Greenland; January 19th 2059
In the middle of a small park, without warning, a van materialized in midair, immediately being pulled down by gravity, hitting the ground with force enough which shattered every windshield and took all four tires off the body.
Ben practically choked, kicking the door open and collapsing onto his hands and knees, spitting up blood and coughing violently into the grass. There were only a few bystanders but, they minded their own business, turning in the opposite direction to get away from the situation.
Bart held his head, not nearly as disoriented as the driver, he opened his door and stepped out into the park looking out at a fountain that sprayed water in a whimsical design. He rounded the corner and looked over at the passed out old man in the grass, he'd just saved his life but, he didn't seem like much.
Without warning Ben awoke with a gasp, pulling his head out from under water, he looked up from inside the fountain where Bart stood dry and judging him.
"What?"
Ben stood looking around and ringing his shirt at the same time, "Who the hell are you?"
"A friend of Barbara's," he stepped out of the fountain and searched the park for his… van. Destroyed and now the engine was smoldering too, "We need to leave, before they find us."
"You mean the Justice League? The good guys?"
With a long sigh, Ben turned back around to face the teenager, "I told her to tell you when you were ready… she's the smartest person I ever knew and if she didn't think you were ready to know…" he walked passed him towards the van, he still needed something from the trunk.
"Are you serious!?" Bart watched him walk away, following behind out of panic, "I just lost the only person who ever cared about me! The entire Justice League is looking for me because I'm so special but, that's not important?!" he was shouting now, had people not been so conditioned, they would have swarmed with curiosity. Now, they fled any scene such as this one.
"Don't talk to me about what's important, kid, I know what important is," he popped open the trunk of his van and pulled a metallic prosthetic arm just like the one he was wearing. It was only just now that Bart was realizing how fried the arm was, still smoldering and brown. He yanked it off, wincing in clear pain, and tossed it aside, "You need to be kept safe, that's all that matters."
Bart watched him clamp the new prosthetic to an otherwise amputated stump, it lit up upon connecting with his nervous-system and mana energy; glancing back into the trunk he grabbed the only thing left, rum. He closed it up and walked away, but Bart didn't follow, planting his feet instead and frowning.
"We have to go, now."
He raised his brow, "I'm not taking another step until I at least know half of what the hell is happening!"
"Life! Life is happening, kid, all around you; people fight, and they lose and then it's over and you're living in what's left!" He waved his bottle at him before taking another long swig, it didn't get him drunk anymore, it only numbed the pain.
A tear formed in his eye, looking away with shame, "I knew your father…" catching Bart's full attention, "And his father before him," he took a breath and sighed, "I made a promise to keep you alive and I'm going to keep it, so either come with me or I'm taking you by force."
"No, I'll go…" he looked off, "If you tell me one more thing."
Ben didn't answer, he just raised his brows and took another long gulp, "Am I speedster? Like those terrorists from all those years ago?"
Ben grabbed his wrist and yanked him closer focusing intently on the center between his veins, "What? Did you fry it? Some sort of EMP?"
"The hell are you talking about?!" he yanked his arm back.
"Bart, the history you've been fed is a lie," he looked around frantically, panicking, "I can't do this here, even with my protective charms, they'll find us."
"Fine," Bart agreed, humoring him, "Then what do we do?"
"I know somewhere we can talk," Ben felt his jacket for a second, feeling through different pockets, "Hold…on…" searching through the inner workings of his trench coat he finally pulled an ankh-shaped key, "Follow me."
He nodded in response as Ben turned the key out in the open, forming a golden construct which acted as a gateway letting Ben and Bart slip through unnoticed.
…
Pocket Dimension; No Time.
When Bart's senses returned to him, he found himself in a small room with a fireplace burning in the center and two juxtaposed velvet armchairs; taking off his cloak, Bart finally saw the scars running down his neck and collar bone as he took a seat.
"Make yourself comfortable, there's a lot to tell," he sat down in one of the chairs and took a sip from his bottle, before looking down at it in his mouth and presenting it to him, "Want some?"
"I'm only fifteen," he muttered, still gazing around at the ornate design of the small room.
He shrugged and continued downing the drink as Bart took a seat; it took a long while, skipping over more gruesome details and less important ones. He knew what Bart was destined to do or when he was destined to go but, it didn't matter; Bart Allen travels back in time to save the world and it does nothing.
"So, I'm apart of a family of super-heroes?"
"Yea."
"And you were one of those heroes, you were that Ben Ten Thousand guy?"
He winced, shaking the liquor in his bottle, "I was," before taking another long swig.
"If I'm the last speedster than who was that back at the house?"
Ben scoffed, "I didn't say you were the last speedster, I said you were the last of the speedster legacy; Eobard Thawne comes from the year twenty-four seventy-six and he is not a part of that legacy."
Bart stood up, walking towards the fire and sitting down, sometimes Ben forgot that he didn't feel temperatures the way normal humans do, that ability was still intact, at least. He grabbed a poker and narrowed his eyes at the wooden fire, "And if you have all that power you were just talking about, why not use it? To fix everything you say is wrong with the world?"
"I can't…"
"Why not?"
"Because… I can't…"
Bart took the poker and tried messing with the fire more, to make it smolder but, whatever mystical properties it had kept it tame and peaceful the entire time.
"You said you lived in Mount… what?"
"Mount Justice, Happy Harbor? Seriously, what do they teach in those dumb academies?"
He frowned and dropped the poker, "Whatever they want us to know, I guess," he stood and turned around, "Atomic particle disassociation."
"Uh, what?"
"Mount Justice, it was made during the turn of the millennium, I remember reading those 'terrorists' used nuclear power to run their huge bases."
Ben looked to the ceiling for less than two seconds, "Yea, they did, so?" he looked down at his bottle, he was running low but, he took another sip anyways.
"Time machine technology was all banned like twenty-five years ago but, if we can get our hands on a power source like that?"
"Stop talking," Ben closed his eyes and held his head with his prosthetic arm.
"No, listen," he took a few steps in front of him, "I could build a machine, I've done it before and with that power source, you can jump back and warn everyone-"
"It won't work, you tell the entire Justice League and it doesn't do jack shit, I know because this plan you're talking about already happened and it failed," he kept his eyes closed, "There's a reason I made that promise to your father, and it's because he already watched you die once in the past."
Bart was shocked, to say the least, he fell back into the armchair, running his hands through his hair and staring between his shoes, "What do we do? I mean, how do we-"
"I keep you safe, I keep my promise, we keep our distance."
"And so that's it? You aren't even going to try?" Bart looked him in the eye spite him trying to avoid it, "You're the first person I've met that even talks about my dad, let alone actually took part in the justice-era," he looked away, trying his best to keep his composure, "You won't even try?!"
Ben stood up drinking the last of his booze and looking at the empty glass container, "See this bottle? It had a lot in it when it got in here but, now its empty; this is how I was when I arrived in this Universe forty-five years ago."
He looked around, tears welling in his eyes, "And over the years… one thing after another, I…" he choked, turning with sudden rage and shattering the bottle against the far wall, sending chards of glass across the crimson carpets, "I'm broken."
Bart was incredibly intuitive, he understood what was going on, every question he asked was like a post-traumatic flashback for him, seeing the memories of his past life couldn't be easy for him.
"You said you lived through everything when I go back, right?"
He huffed and put his hands on his hips, "Yea, I guess."
"Why don't we just send you back instead?" he reasoned, standing up to meet eyes with him as best he could from nearly a foot shorter, "You would know so much more than I do! And you'd already be familiar with everything."
Ben looked down at his arm, glowing and humming ever so lightly with their shadows dancing across it from the whipping fireplace; he didn't have the heart to tell him, not yet, "That… could work."
He smiled down at the speedster, giving a long sigh as he continued, "We just need to get to the United States…"
"Harder than it sounds; this key only takes us in and out," he patted his jacket pocket as he sat back down.
"I could run us there?"
"You don't know how to do that," Ben mentioned, "And if Eobard even thinks he senses another speedster, he'll snuff them out."
"What about you, you could teleport us," Bart noticed as Ben glanced down to his prosthetic for a moment, subconsciously; narrowing his eyes, it wouldn't take much longer for him to piece whatever was going on together.
"I'm not exactly the hero I was," he grazed his scarred arm with the silver-metallic fingers of his prosthetic, "I can get us close, I guess…" he instinctively looked for his bottle and was disappointed when he remembered he'd used it to make a point.
"Then, what are we waiting for?"
"I'm starving…"
…
Nuuk; Greenland; January 19th 2059
Ben and Bart sat down at a table in a quaint diner which was open twenty-four-seven; "They were called smoothies and they were the best."
Bart took a glance around at the empty room, something wasn't right, "How did fruit, vegetables, and milk ever taste good?"
A waitress approached almost shaking, holding her pen and pad, "C-Can I start you off with anything?"
Ben spoke up first, "Yea, I'll have the burger and fries; he'll have a… he'll have eight cheese-steaks."
"I can't eat all of that," he said as Ben put his hand up, motioning the waitress to nod nervously and walk away, to the back of the kitchen.
"Feel out your stomach, you're a speedster now that you fried my dampener; you haven't used any speedforce but, I'm betting you're still working up an appetite," Ben folded his hands and glanced through the window into the kitchen where he saw no waitress or chef anywhere.
"Is something going on?" Bart asked turning his back and looking out at the empty diner.
Ben closed his eyes, "Damn, I was hoping to get something in me before this happened," he stood and jumped over the counter-top, landing on the waitresses' side of the restaurant, "Come on, grab something."
"I don't think she's going to be happy about that…" Bart raised his brow and leaned back in the booth.
Ben took some French-fries off a left-over plate and stuffed them into his mouth as he continued to talk anyways, "Nope, she just locked herself in the freezer so, I think we'll be good."
"What?!" Bart stood suddenly and looked into the kitchen where the silver-box was clearly shut and locked, "Did she call the cops?"
"Yep, it'll take like at least five minutes for them to get in touch with the Justice League," he opened a cabinet and found two bottles of rum, it wasn't exactly a stocked bar but, he made due.
"What do we do?"
Ben popped his head over the counter as if it should have been very obvious, "Uh, eat?"
"You aren't afraid of them?"
He chuckled, looking back under the counter for more food, "There's only one person left in the Multiverse that scares me, and he won't be joining us."
"Right," Bart folded his arms and sighed, being tossed a lough of bread which landed in his arms.
Ben heard it first, like the sky was cracking open, a sonic boom echoed through the city which was already locked down due to a curfew in place, likely the reason Ben and Bart were reported.
Landing with enough force to crack the cobblestone streets; Blue Beetle, Black Beetle and Chromastone hit the ground at the same time, each facing a different direction strategically.
Bart wasn't so terrified, until a flash of red lightning flooded a juxtaposed alley; he backed away as Ben took notice, the evil speedster was the one that had taken his only parental-figure from him, "Don't worry, kid; they're on foreign soil, there are rules…" He swished the rum around in its bottle, taking a long gulp and making his way out of the exit.
"Over there," Shifter announced, transforming with a luminescent glow, changing into a massive hulking Vaxasaurian behemoth.
Black Beetle formed a sonic cannon out of his hand, "Surrender quietly and the execution will be… humane."
Eobard narrowed his eyes, "I want the kid, you can have Ben Ten."
"Haven't been called that in a while," Bart practically cowered behind him, "Let me ask you something, Black, when Vilgax comes knocking, what's the Reach going to do?"
He frowned, "We'll throw your friends at him," he stepped aside motioning to the fully subjugated Blue Beetle and Shifter, "And if they all die and the Universe is consumed, what difference will it have made?"
Ben chuckled, running his hand through his hair, "That would be your opinion; see, I can tell your superiors are terrified. So scared, in fact, that they formed their own Justice League out of scraps…" he was certainly drunk and rambling but, he had a point, "Guess the real question is, how long until they kill each other?"
"Funny," Blue muttered, forming a beetle-horn out of his left arm, "That's what your Kryptonian friend said… right before I killed him," he noticed the visible rage in the Tennyson's eyes, "With this hand… or was it the other?" he joked, taking the death of his friends lightly, "It was a long time ago."
Ben glared at both Beetle's, not even giving his Omnitrix wearing clone the time of day, he gave a short chuckle whilst looking at the ground. Turning on a dime, his eyes exploded with blue light, "Chant of Toth!" a blue barrier formed between the heroes and villains, it forced them back by pushing with unrelenting force.
He grabbed Bart by the wrist with his smoking prosthetic, "We have to go!" sprinting through the park, they turned down an alley where Bart could feel himself outpacing the older hero.
"I can't leave you behind, you have to teleport us to Happy Harbor!"
Humungousaur reeled back and slammed his massive fist against the defensive charm, shattering it before the armored duo located the pair in seconds only a few hundred feet away. Forming random mana discs, the colliding force sent the armored fliers back, however; the stomping dinosaur would have their heads in a few seconds charging through the attacks.
Ben clapped his hands together as Reverse Flash dashed for him with his arms out.
"Eo Recedentia!"
Zipping passed the flash of turquoise light, Eobard kicked himself looking into his empty grasp, "How the hell do we keep letting them get away?!"
Shifter transformed back into Chromostone, levitating off the ground, "It doesn't matter, we know just about where they're going."
…
Charleston; West Virginia; January 19th 2059
They landed in a heap, Ben's arm was fried completely, brown and corroded like an overused battery, "Ben?" Bart huffed as he got to his feet, looking down at him coughing up blood into the grass, he got to his hands knees before the prosthetic failed him. Hitting his head on the ground with a thud, he passed out from exhaustion as he felt Bart or someone tending to him.
When he came around, he immediately felt his breathing was sharp ad painful, it took several seconds to realize he was in the backseat of a truck, "Oh, good, you're awake…" he muttered, in the drivers seat, steering through the road on a backwoods highway, "Teach me to run with people, and other stuff a speedster can do."
"Listen, kid…" he looked around, coughing for a second, "Did you steal a car?"
Without receiving an answer, Ben gave a long exhale and sat back in the seat of the truck, realizing the kid probably had steadier hands than he did at this point, "I can't teach you anything, I can barely protect you as it is," he erupted into a fit of coughing, feeling out his aching joints.
"As far as I can tell we're in West Virginia somewhere; I need you to help me get to Rode Island," he kept his eyes on the road, steering without faulter.
"Don't you understand that they know where you're going? There are only six or seven places on Earth that still use nuclear cores," he took a deep inhale, feeling out his back with his one arm, "the East Coast is Blue Beetle's territory…"
"You didn't tell me you were dying…"
There was silence, tension so thick that it could be cut through with a butter knife, "Look, I don't owe anyone an explanation."
"Such a nice guy…"
"Hey!" He sat up as best he could, forcing down a cough, "I never asked for this, okay! Barry never asked for this, Barbara never asked for this, and they are six-feet under the ground!"
Bart narrowed his eyes at the sound of his adoptive mother's name, "Because I suck at this; bad shit happens to people I care about, understand me?"
"Then I guess I have nothing to worry about."
Ben shook his head, sitting back again and holding his head, "No… you should be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life."
Understanding his meaning, Bart didn't respond, he was glad to hear that he cared but, it didn't make him feel any better.
"You know what this means, don't you?"
"I'm the one that has to go back…"
…
Stopped at the side of a dirt road, Ben propped himself up against the truck as Bart stood in the middle of the dirt field; "Make sure to keep your legs running at a consistent pace, the speedforce does the rest," he bit down on a burger they clearly got by some fast food joint, "Just like driving, focus on what's in front of you with your eyes at all times, your perception of time will change when you do."
Bart huffed, stretching his legs and arms rhythmically, "Speedsters don't really need to stretch either…"
"I figure, I'm just super nervous, I'll be running at like three-hundred miles an hour, if I trip on a single pebble, I will definitely feel the mode."
"Like I said, it's a lot like driving, get the hang of it once, you get used to it; reactions become automatic."
The teenage speedster reminded him much of Wally West when they were kids, the newest generation of heroes, the last generation of heroes. He lowered high-tech wind sheer goggles over his eyes, taking a running stance with two hands touching the ground, and focused on his line of sight.
"Three, two, one; go!"
He took off, faster than Ben expected, moving at nearly Mach-two with a trail of bright yellow lightning, he picked up dust and dirt behind him with every single step; he could feel the vibrations, he could feel the wind on his face. This was a feeling he's never experienced but, he'd never felt so free before in his life, "Now, dig your heels in and keep them in a tight-formation, running in circles!"
Bart did exactly that, increasing his speed beyond Mach-four, he ran round and round until the collecting dust formed a massive fifty-foot cyclone of dust just a few hundred feet away.
"He's a freakin natural… I'll be damned."
Looking up at the massive cyclone, it suddenly lost stability and collapsed as Bart sped to a halt in front of the truck, putting his hands on his knees, "Did you see that?!"
"I don't think any speedster has ever gone that fast on their first run, not even your grandfather."
This put a wide smile on Bart's face, he quickly zipped passed him grabbing the burger from his hand just before he took a bite, "So shway! You were right, I am starving!"
Ben sighed as his burger was devoured in front of him, figuring the kid needed the strength more than he did, "In the past, Star Labs developed high metabolic food for speedsters; you'll be able to eat like a normal person over there."
"How long until we get where we're going?"
"Still another nine-hour drive; plus, bathroom breaks, training, trying to buy food without being noticed," Ben opened the door with one hand, taking a seat on the passenger side.
Bart had all but completely inhaled the food, glancing into the rear-view mirror which happen to give him a glimpse at Ben, resting his eyes.
"So, that prosthetic thing was, what? Power adapter?"
He kept his eyes closed, "Ryan Choi called them, uh," he furrowed his brow in thought, "Omni-Arm…" he remembered snapping his fingers, "They were made to help channel my Anodyne side."
"The blue-magic," Bart reaffirmed, strutting around the car to sit on the hood, "It's killing you, isn't it?"
Ben opened his eyes, looking out the front windshield, up at the stars glistening without the lights of a city to hide them, "Not really… I'm only part Anodite but, I wasn't born with a gift that lets me use these powers."
"The, uh, spark?"
"Right," he sighed, "After the justice-era ended, I needed both arms to protect myself, so I commissioned ten arms; that was the last one."
Bart narrowed his eyes up at the sky, "Every time you used one… it brought you closer to…" he sat up on the hood turning to look through the windshield, "You used two arms just to protect me?"
"Five, actually, but you were too young to remember me using them."
He got off the hood and turned back around, putting a hand on the door which was still wide-open, "You were there… the whole time?"
"Most of the time, Barb did all the heavy lifting," he gave a long strained sigh, "You were always on the move and I always followed; these last five or six years were the most peaceful I've seen in such a long time."
"What was my father like?"
Ben raised a brow, glancing at him with one eye still closed, "He was a good person, a good friend…" he looked back out at the stars, "One of the best fighters I ever knew."
"He fought in the wars?"
Ben almost smiled, "There wasn't really a war… just, one really bad day. I was on the run with your grandfather, your father, and Barbara for nearly thirty-years. I knew your aunt too," he pointed out, "But, she died very young."
"That's too bad…" Bart muttered, as weird as his life had been, he'd never known what having an aunt was like, or cousins, or friends to hand out with. Up until he was eleven years old he was moving from country to country every few months, never even unpacking his suitcases at times.
"If we can undo this, will that mean I'll cease to exist?"
Ben didn't hesitate to respond as he shifted into the driver seat, "No, time travel doesn't work that way, if you do manage to fix things, you'll be stuck in 2013 until 2029 when STAR finally perfects time travel."
"Wow, sixteen years to see the fruits of my labor, talk about feeling the mode; but, I guess since its time travel, I can just return to when I left."
"You're a brilliant kid, Bart," Ben answered, "The Allen family has been filled with geniuses, the training we did today, I have hope that you can really change things."
Bart sat in the passenger seat and closed the door as Ben buckled his seatbelt and turned the keys in the ignition, "What should I know about the future?"
"There are some things I cant tell you or else you'll mess it up," he took a few minutes to think, silencing Bart as he pulled on to the highway and beginning their trek by placing the vehicle on cruise control, "I guess we should start with Blue Beetle, he's the key to this; if we can keep the Reach from taking Blue Beetle, you'll set off a chain of events that will significantly alter history. Hopefully, for the positive."
"I don't really know anything about him, though…"
Ben shut his eyes, knowing the car was advanced enough to keep driving straight without constant attention, "Blue Beetle is a programmed set of armor that needs a humanoid host to function as a soldier for the Reach."
Bart cringed, "Like some sort of parasite."
"Yea…" flashes of memories crossed his memories as his eyes shot open again, "His name will be Jamie Reyes; befriend him, get to know him, he was actually a pretty cool kid, you two got along."
"Befriend Jamie Reye," Bart noted to himself, "Got it!"
"How does it start, how does Jamie turn?" Bart questioned, "How does-"
"Time travel is fickle, if I tell you those things you could change certain events in a negative way, I can't tell you exactly what starts the apocalypse." Ben put his hands back on the steering wheel, "But, fixing Blue Beetle should stop events that lead to it."
Bart took a deep breath and reclined his chair back more, "This is going to be way more difficult than I thought…"
"You were pretty convincing the way I remember it…"
"How do I… How do I die?"
Ben exhaled before responding, "I can't tell you that either."
The closer they came to Rhode Island, the more fear crept into Bart's chest.
…
After over a day of traveling, stopping for meals and training; Bart and Ben had reached the massive abandoned crater that once was Mount Justice, many decades ago, destroyed in an attempt to stop the Light.
"Alright, let's go," Bart quickly opened his door and got out of the truck, facing a dirt road that led into the crater; he suddenly heard a thud as Ben had collapsed from the car seat into the dirt, coughing violently.
"Come on," Bart sped over, helping him up and dragging him safely across the crater into the center. Ben collapsed to his hands and knees this time as the speedster wasted no time in searching the area, collecting abandoned scrap metal, using his genius intellect and speed combination to quickly construct something big. Slowly, a pod was built from the ground up, blur by blur with zips of lightning flying around the silver vehicle; in less than twenty minutes, it was fully constructed with a rusted exterior.
Ben coughed and looked up, "Stop, wait…" he could barely speak, trying to regain his strength, "My protective charm…" his magic was fading fast, he couldn't maintain the protective spell keeping their dimensional energy hidden from the likes of Reverse Flash.
Bart used the speedforce to search the entire crater, a quarter mile in diameter, zipping around through out the area until he stopped, using his wind shear goggles to scan the ground, "Here we go, abandoned but, not forgotten."
He vibrated his hand, just as Ben had taught him, phasing through the dirt, pushing all the way down until he was at shoulder length. His eyes widened when he grabbed hold of what he was looking for, "Got it."
He pulled his arm out, still stressed from using the technique; the core was contained by a silver protective sphere, lying dormant for almost half a century, it could still power an entire city block for ten years, as volatile as it was, it was indeed powerful enough for his machine.
He zipped over to his machine as Ben looked away, it was too late, they'd be here any moment; "You have to go now… I wish I could go with you."
"Sorry, pops," Bart announced from within the machine, tossing a wrench aside and closing a hatch having properly attached the core, "Sorry, only seats one," they both looked up where a thundering boom exploded above them in the clouds of ash that layered the planet and kept sun-light from naturally gleaming through. Explosions still occasionally rocked the planet from orbit as the two armadas constantly battled one another for the slightest edge.
"You understand the trip to the past will fry the machine's circuitry, this… this is a one-way ticket," he stepped closer as Bart Allen stood up and motioned to their surroundings.
"Well aware," Bart stated, "Besides, does this look like a future worth returning to?"
Ben didn't respond.
Bart sighed and cracked his neck, "Welp, I better get in character, Ben Ten Thousand…" he sped off at super-speed to change into the outfit Ben had described from the past.
"Please, don't call me that, I'm not that person anymore," motioned down and rubbed his wrist, feeling out the long scar that ran down his forearm where an Omnitrix once sat, "Stopping the Reach and saving Blue Beetle, that should be enough to set the world on the right track," Bart sped to halt in front of him clad in friction-proof white and red spandex and updated goggles, "But, that's not all that needs to be done."
Bart nodded and tucked away the orb, lowering his goggles over his eyes, "I know, Benjamin, big mission, lots to do…" he took a step closer to Ben and looked to the side, "So, I guess this is it?"
"Yea… don't worry, I'll be fine," He put a hand on his head as he suddenly closed his eyes and rushed him, embracing the older man tightly, forcing the tears welling in his eyes back, "Thank you, dad…" whispering the last part, he stepped over to the machine behind them and sat inside, as the blue electricity surged around it, exploding with light and whisking him through the time stream, he was gone.
Ben looked around, feeling the oncoming threat, he strutted over to the adjacent cliffside, overlooking the black oceans, he closed his eyes as the familiar sound of multiple inbound projectile landed behind him.
Black Beetle, Blue Beetle, Reverse Flash, Shifter as Big Chill, Sinestro, and Black Adam all landed surrounding him and cornering him against the cliff.
"He's already gone…" Eobard noted, grunting.
Big Chill took a few cloaked steps forwards, "It doesn't matter, we finally found Ben Ten Thousand, the last hero on Earth."
"You were once like a son to me," Ben mentioned, closing his eyes and facing the snowy, soot covered cliff.
"Is that supposed to warm my heart?"
"No, it just makes it harder to do this…" He didn't hesitate to let all of his mana out at once, his skin was consumed by blue energy and his skull was lit ablaze with mana fire. This transformation sent a field of raw energy around him, exploding outward as he slowly floated into the air.
They were all pushed back, skidding back on their heels to keep from being over powered by the raw wind current and shockwave energy; Big Chill narrowed his eyes, Ken had seen his elder's full power before and this was pathetic in comparison, he was weak and the strain this was putting on his body would kill him without question.
He sent six mana constructs out simultaneously attempting to keep them all at bay with one attack but, Sinestro, Blue, and Black Beetle all broke free quickly enough. Using a golden-hammer construct, he bashed the energy being into the ground, the only thing between him and the attack was a thing mana shield.
This attack freed Black Adam, Shifter, and Reverse Flash who sped away, running the perimeter as Ben managed to shatter Sinestro's hammer and return with an energy bolt to his chest, sending the fear-monger away from the cliff, hitting a rock-formation behind them.
"Facio Gravis!"
This spell affected them all as they recovered, increasing their pull towards the ground by at least a hundred times; "Galeas Disruptus!" a cyclone of wind formed around him, keeping them at bay even more effectively, however; it only had limited success as they only took seconds to recover.
In no time, Black Adam, Black Beetle, Blue Beetle, and Sinestro resisted and pushed forwards towards him; he was losing stamina quickly as some things blurred. Shifter transformed into Diamondhead, forming three-inch spikes from his feet, using the leverage to press on.
As they all approached, faster and faster, Ben saw his entire life fly before his eyes; Getting the Omnitrix, the best Summer ever, his years as a plumber, as Kent's apprentice, as a member of the team, as an outcast mercenary, as another part of the team…
Black Beetle was the one that got close enough first to plunge a beetle horn through Ben's chest as he choked on his own blood, he saw M'gaan, clasping his hand, holding him tightly the night they first kissed.
Black Beetle pulled his horn from the defeated hero's chest as he stumbled back. The Metropolis Planetarium, Ben could still picture the stars in the sky that night, that night was terrifying at the time but, looking back it was the perfect night.
Beetle took a step forwards and without a word, kicked the hero in the chest hard enough to end him off his feet and over the cliff; as he fell and the life drained from his very body, he remembered the happiest moment in his life.
"12:00AM; Midnight, January 1st 2014; Happy New Year's, Justice League."
Ben and M'gaan embraced for a moment, pulling away after a much needed hug, they looked into each other's eyes close before the Martian spoke up, "So now that everything's settled?" She asked as he placed his hands on slim her waist.
"I can finally be happy," he noted as they came together for a kiss which melded their lips together naturally.
"How sweet," Wally chuckled as Artemis grabbed his wrist, "What're you-" she pulled him towards her for a surprisingly passionate kiss on the lips before pulling away and hugging him tightly.
"Something I should have done a long time ago…" she whispered as they continued kissing.
Wally held Artemis' hand for a moment before pulling away with a smile, "I think this needs to be documented, the ultimate souvenir!"
Using his super speed he dashed off and returned with a camera, "Everyone get together, and Artemis leave your arm out…"
They were all too happy to not want to participate; Veronica, Superboy, Robin, Zatanna, Aqualad, Rocket, Ben, M'gaan, and Artemis with her arm open, all huddled together with Wally holding the camera from a fifteen-feet away, "Say, child endangerment!"
They all chuckled as Wally clicked the trigger and used his super-speed to zip through the room into Artemis' arms before zipping back and catching the camera before it even started falling.
The same picture Dick Greyson had given him just before everything went to hell; as he bled out, he hit the water like it was concrete from a hundred-twenty feet up, slowly submerging into the darkest depth of the ocean.
Ben couldn't help but smile thinking his last thoughts before drifting off, "And thus ends the story of Ben Tennyson, what a pointless tale to tell…"
…
A look into an alternate reality, one that very truly could come to pass… Old Man Tennyson takes some elements from Logan 2017 and the Old Man Logan story all owned by Marvel.
This timeline is one where Bart goes back but, Sunny does not. Resulting in the future you just read, could Sunny change things? Or will it all be for not?
Remember, there's a fifty/fifty chance this could happen, so don't go saying I told you something for certain.
Keep reading and enjoy.