I don't own DC or Ben 10.
Chapter 34 – Runaways
…
Taos; New Mexico; Star Labs; May 13th 2019; 1:05PM
Virgil hated wearing wires all over his head, he felt like he had noodles for hair but, even worse, he felt like a lab-rat; he reached out with his new power, control over electricity, gripping the lid of an aluminum trash-can and pulling it into the air above them. This was difficult for him, manipulating his power in such a way was still very new to him as sweat formed across his brow.
"Not just the lid, the entire can, please."
A scientist from behind a pane of glass spoke stoically through the loudspeaker into Virgil's testing room; he finally snapped, launching the lid carving into the concrete wall and ripping out his wires.
"That's it, doc! We've been at this for five hours straight! How about a lunch break?!" he shouted back as all of the other subjects in the room turned to hear his response.
An apparent sigh came through before his answer, "Fine, take twenty-minutes."
…
Virgil and Tai walked through the dull halls of the facility followed by two other test subjects; the former nuclear accident, Neutron, and another young abductee, a Japanese girl who couldn't speak a word of English but, managed to fit in quite well with the boys.
"You heard me!" Muffled shouting came from behind the door of an office; it was Eduardo's Father's office, and it was where they would usually go to hang out during breaks, "I'm sick and tired of the testing, we all are!"
Tai gave a long exhale, "They're at it again."
Virgil looked back at him as they all approached the door, giving them space to work out their argument, "Hijo, you must be patient!"
"Why?! So, we can prove your theory?!"
His father slapped his hand down on his desk, raising his voice, "Si, Eduardo! I spent twenty-years working on my zeta-technology and now my son has teleportation powers? This cannot be a coincidence!" He held up a file directly relating to his son's condition, "The meta-gene the Reach activated in your body must be opportunistic; taking advantage of whatever is present in the subject's system."
Eduardo pounded his fist into the desk, "Only the subject doesn't care! I want a cure, not an explanation!"
His father scowled, "You have only yourself to blame," sticking a finger in his son's face, "None of this would have happened if you hadn't run away from your Abuela's home in Argentina."
He backed down and scoffed, "I thought I wanted to be with my father; what a mistake that turned out to be," he couldn't see the disappointment on his father's face as he turned and walked out of the room, facing his friends in embarrassment, still fuming.
Neutron chuckled, "Oh, hey, Ed, we were just, uh, passing by…"
"Didn't hear a thing," Virgil insisted.
"Doesn't matter anyways," Eduardo stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking down to his shoes, "Same old, same old."
Virgil grabbed his shoulder and pulled him towards the snack machine, "C'mon, we only got fourteen minutes left on break and you know how Willchocks gets when we're late."
As they strutted through the halls, Tai threw his hands up, "This is ridiculous, Star is as bad as the Reach and worse than home."
Neutron chuckled, "Come on, there's no way this as bad as the Reach."
"Whatever, Neu; I just know I can't take much more of this place," he was stopped in the middle of his thought by Virgil pushing against his shoulder, looking around suspiciously.
He leaned in so they could all hear with a satisfying grin, "You won't have to, cause we're busting out, tonight."
…
Eduardo Senior and another scientist were waiting in front of a zeta-tube as it activated from the other side, flashing bright yellow and transporting two dozen crates into their lab.
"The crates from the Hall of Justice have been transferred for temporary storage," Eduardo overlooked the shipment with a clipboard, "Amazo body parts salvaged from the Hall of Justice after it was destroyed."
"Should I get these squared away into the fault?"
After checking a few boxes on his package receipt, he nodded, "Yes, right away."
…
Taos; Star Labs; May 13th 2019; 7:29PM
"Alright, that's enough for tonight; we pick back up tomorrow morning at exactly o-six-hundred hours," the voice was a relief but, also incredibly annoying being told when they were allowed to stop. For them, this entire situation was unbearable; constant testing, extremely limited contact with family, and the food sucked.
The Japanese girl looked around in confusion, as everyone around her had stopped, she followed their example, "Asami-san, kon'ya wa kore de jūbundesu. Asunoasa, chōdo o - 600-jikan de mukae ni ikimasu."
"Saigo ni!" Asami sighed with exasperation, stepping off the treadmill.
Neutron approached Virgil as he pulled the wires from his hands and head, "Please tell me you aren't serious about running."
Virgil chuckled, unzipping his jumpsuit, "Running, escaping, whatever you wanna call it, we're gone."
Tai and Eduardo did the same and Asami saw this, taking it as her own que to follow their example; her black long sleeved blouse, denim shorts, and leggings were far more breathable anyways.
Neutron tore the sensors from his own head, "This is serious! I nearly destroyed Central City! My powers may be gone now but, what if they come back?" he turned to the others who also disrobed their bulky jumpsuits, straightening the wrinkles of their clothes beneath, "What if they escalate out of control all over again?"
Eduardo gave Tai a judgmental look, obviously not completely disagreeing but, they turned their attention back to the conversation, "What if your powers get of hand, you cant even control them now?!" he turned from Tai and looked back at the others collectively.
They were all looking at him as though he was another employee or scientist; it didn't matter, nothing else mattered, they just wanted to be free again.
"Look," Neutron reasoned as Virgil and Asami grabbed their duffels, "I know Wilchochs is a pain, Star is a pain but, they're just trying to keep us safe or," he paused and looked down almost in shame, "Keep the world safe from us."
Virgil raised his brow, silence wasn't his strong suit and nothing Neutron just said changed his point of view, "I'm outta here," he turned and walked away without addressing any of it.
"Oh, yea!" Tai agreed.
"Adios," Eduardo followed the other three out of the testing area leaving Neutron alone to unzip his jumpsuit and return to his bunk.
They turned to Asami staring at them as they all went for the wrong door, the exit leading to the rest of the facility, not their dorms, "You coming, Sam?"
"Simimasen?"
Tai came from behind, putting his hands on her shoulders, "That might mean yes…" he lightly guided her toward the exit with them, never changing her stoic expression.
They were halfway out the door, headed for the building's exit when suddenly loud blaring came from every direction; red lights flashed as the fire-alarm had been pulled by Neutron who glared at them from the corner of the room.
"I'm sorry but, I can't let what I did to Central City happen to anyone else."
They didn't have time to curse at him, they turned and ran with Eduardo pulling Asami by her wrist; they turned the corner where they finally made it to the exit, and they did it before any of the guards.
Virgil slammed his shoulder into the door but, it didn't even budge; "The alarm's put the whole place on lockdown!"
"Now what?" Tai asked.
"No idea," Virgil rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Eduardo almost pulled his hair out, "Well, what was the original plan?"
"I just figured we'd walk out! I didn't have a plan!" he thought for a moment, looking around, "Hey! Ed can teleport us out!"
"Haven't you been paying attention?! I can only take myself and I can only go along sight-line!"
Virgil smacked his forehead as they heard footsteps from down the hall, thick-boots stomping the ground in a group, "Then Tai can grow all huge and rip the roof off the building, pull us out, right?!"
"Wrong!" Tai looked his hands over nervously, "I don't know how to activate… it, it just happens!"
Three guards rounded the corner, weapons at their hip as the alarms still rang, "You four!" he shouted, holstering his glock after seeing the group of kids, "I'm escorting you back to your dorms."
Eduardo looked at his friends and back to the guards, "I don't think so…" he vanished in a flash of yellow light, just like the zeta-tubes, appearing behind them and forcing them to turn completely around to face him, "Over here."
Asami closed her eyes as her body suddenly gained a glowing purple aura, without warning she was projected forwards, launched like a projectile, hitting all three men at once with her body knocking them to their backs.
The biggest one, speaking for the other guards, stood up grabbing them by their collars and lifting them up, "This is for your own good!" he shouted over the alarms.
Virgil scowled, "Heard that before," he used his power to grab the fire-extinguisher prepped next to the exit, blue-electricity wrapping around it and bashing it over the head of the adult, knocking him unconscious.
Tai exhaled, "Okay, now what?"
"No idea," Virgil said once again.
They all brought their attention forwards when the door swung open; they were astounded but, immediately hit the deck, clutching their heads for safety as a stream of fire flew passed them, creating a wall between the approaching staff and the exit.
They all turned back as Heatblast transformed back into Ken with a blinding flash of light, "What're you guys waiting for?! Let's go!"
They didn't hesitate to haul-ass out the door passed the walking firepit, as they all filed out into an open parking lot, the Pyronite proceeded to seal the doors shut behind them by firing a beam that fused the brick and door-hinges together, disabling it.
"Appreciate the assist but, now what?" Eduardo asked.
Ken transformed back to normal and pointed in the direction of the open road, billowing with cars coming back and forth, "Just a few blocks down there's a bus station; once we're alone I can call a friend of mine," he explained.
He started towards the sidewalk in a hurry, "That door won't hold them forever, c'mon!" they only hesitated for a minute or two before following, Asami being the only one that truly had no clue what was happening.
…
War World; May 13th 2019; 10:15PM
Lex Luthor looked impatiently at his expensive Rolex, standing in the center of a massive silver room filled with dozens of carousels containing stasis pods, capable of freezing someone in suspended animation to keep them as irreversibly docile prisoners, however; the only current prisoner was Mongul, staring out into the room with almost a frightened glare.
With Mercy accompanying him, it seemed most came in pairs. Across from him was Queen Bee with Psimon, Black Manta with Tigress, Vandal Savage with Deathstroke, Klarion with Abra-Kadabra, The Brain with his ape-servant, and Albedo on his own in his Kryptonian form. All seemed rather frustrated, having been summoned by their newest ally, they teleported all the way from Earth just to meet with him.
"Vandal, what are we doing here?" the Queen asked without taking her eyes off of her nails, inspecting them for protection, "And how is it someone has enough sway to summon even you?"
Vandal exhaled slowly, "It was an agreement made in exchange for his help retrieving the Martian," he turned with his hands behind his back, "He asks for but a moment of our time."
"A 'moment' passed a long time ago, where is he?" Manta demanded.
Albedo lifted into crossing his legs, sitting on the air and levitating into a seated position, "This vessel spans thousands of miles, it's not exactly efficient for one being to travel through out it."
"Patience," Savage responded, "We outfitted the zeta-tubes that brought us here to be off the League's radar and away from their satellites, so we have all the time in the world."
Klarion nonchalantly stepped forwards, "Or at least we do; mortals, am-i-right?" he nudged Vandal in the arm but, didn't get any response, just a grunt, "Spoiled sport."
Suddenly, the doors on the far wall slid open revealing Vilgax clad in his black armor, strutting through the room, "I appreciate you all joining me here today."
"Yes, well, what is it you'd like to discuss with the Light?" Lex asked bluntly.
As Vilgax continued to approach, he spoke, "I would like to propose an offer you won't be able to refuse."
They all stayed poised to listen on, as the tyrant walked closer, into their circle but, keeping his attention on the stars from the glass window hundreds of feet away, "Your initiative is brave but, far too small minded. Bringing order to just one planet is not nearly enough to rectify the disease that plagues this Universe."
"What are you implying?" Bee asked, finally lowering her hands and focusing on him.
Savage asserted himself, "What is your proposal?"
"A change in leadership; following me on my quest will guarantee complete dominion over reality itself, every reality."
They all exchanged uncertain looks, confused expressions being passed around like a drug at a party, the way his tone was projecting was ominous but, Vandal wasn't intimidated, "Are you attempting to usurp my position?" his voice was firm but, clearly growing with rage.
"You cannot see beyond your mortal scope, only divine direction will guide you to salvation," Vilgax looked down as his eyes flashed crimson, "Your position is irrelevant, however; your resources would be useful."
"I have lived a thousand lifetimes," Vandal uncrossed his arms from behind his back and carelessly took a step forwards, proving he wasn't afraid, "And I've seen far more threatening things in that time than you."
Without warning, Vilgax backhanded Vandal Savage, blind siding him and sending him across the room hitting the inside of an empty stasis pod. He stood and attempted to sprint for the exit but, he froze mid-step as he was put into stasis; Deathstroke aimed his glocks, Manta's eyes flashed crimson and Tigress took aim with her crossbow, Psimon stood in front of Queen Bee as to protect her and Mercy opened up her arm aiming her energy-weapon up at him.
Tigress physically stood at the ready but, she was present when Vilgax throttled the Justice League five-years-ago; she knew what he could do, and she certainly wasn't prepared to face him now. She had almost forgotten how frightening he truly was.
"If you truly believe you have the power to survive what follows this attack, by all means," he left himself open as Klarion stepped up.
"I'm betting I could make a dent," Klarion's chaotic magic sparked like electricity, firing off around his palms as he approached, ready to fight with Vilgax. He didn't truly have any sort of aggression for the war-lord but, he had plans with Vandal so what better way to have fun than tangle with the person whose getting in his way? Being the most powerful one there, even Klarion wasn't sure he could win the battle, so he weighed his options for only a few seconds.
Albedo floated passively, not taking any action, he was more interested in Vilgax's overall goal.
Lex Luthor was the one who stopped the conflict before it began, raising a hand and using the other to caress the trim to his two-piece cotton suit, "Let's not be over dramatic," he took glance over at the frozen immortal, "Vandal was determined but, conceded and frankly, close minded. Set in his ways," they all watched him give his pitch, slowly lowering their weapons, "Why don't we, at the very least, hear him out; he did bring the Martian to heal Kaldur'Ahm."
Black Manta looked away for a moment, disengaging his helmet-based weapon, "Let him speak," he said after a few seconds.
The others followed his lead, taking a moment before an intense battle ensued; a burst of pressurized steam was released from Vilgax's respirator as he spoke, "My plan is to gather together four relics that will grant me access to power beyond your dimensional comprehension. If you aid me, you too will have a portion of my cosmic might."
"How much power are we talking here?" Queen Bee asked boldly.
Klarion simply scoffed, "Yea, I'm already a reality bending wizard, I'm not in the market for a power boost," his feline familiar meowed in agreement on his shoulder.
"Not just any power boost; enough raw power for you all to hold the planet in the palm of your hands, altering time and space will be second nature; why be kings when you could be gods?"
Tigress tightened her fist at her side at the sound of this, this was bad, very bad.
Lex adjusted the cuff to his suit, "I don't know about the rest of you but, standing atop reality itself sounds incredibly enticing," Queen Bee agreed with him as Klarion looked his nails over.
"I guess playing with reality on a bigger scale could be fun," he took another few seconds to think, childishly announcing, "I'm in!"
Albedo narrowed his eyes, staying completely silent as they all discussed; he watched them, applauding the idea, fools. He looked into Vilgax's eyes, he could see it, the familiar look he'd seen before. Promises he never intended to fulfill, and four relics? He could only be referring to one thing, spread across infinite universes.
"You don't honestly intend on doing this, do you?" Albedo asked, speaking up for the first time, he touched his feet to the ground and folded his arms across his chest, "We would be tampering with forces beyond our control."
Vilgax took a deep breath through his respiratory device, "You would be surprised at the truth I've seen, existence itself needs correcting."
"That isn't your job, you'll slaughter trillions…" Albedo muttered using his enhanced Kryptonian brain and Galvan intellect to deduce his full-scale plan, "That isn't balance, it's genocide, on an inter-galactic scale."
"The hardest decisions require the strongest wills…"
"Who cares?" Klarion whined, "Let 'em burn! So long as we get a spot-on top of it all."
Queen Bee tossed her hair behind her shoulder, "I can't believe I'm saying this but, I agree with Klarion."
"I will keep our partners in good graces, for now, should I need their resources they may prove useful," Vilgax turned around and focused on the harness over his forehead, controlling the space-station mentally, "My new ship will allow your zeta-beam technology to take you anywhere in the Universe you need to go."
Black Manta spoke up with an echo from his helmet, "And what exactly is it that you need us to do?"
"I need your organization to find the Map of Infinity."
Albedo didn't show any sort of emotional response but, in his heart-of-hearts he knew this wasn't right, no matter how bad things were, this was plain immoral and wrong. Being a Galvan, Albedo understood the Universe better than most and knew that balance must be kept, one side can never tip too far to the other, too much positive or negative is never a good thing. Vilgax completing this plan would shatter the foundation of that balance itself, and the Light would get nothing inreturn.
Tigress felt sweat forming over her brow, under her mask, visibly becoming nervous yet, keeping her composure as best she could. A mortal standing on top of existence. Was that even possible? It doesn't matter if it is or isn't, Vilgax believes it is and he'll tear the Universe apart trying to prove it.
…
El Paso; Texas; May 13th 2019; 10:32PM
Jamie sat with his legs crossed on his bed, he had the window open to let the cool mountain air in while he studied; books splayed out across his sheets, opened to different subjects, he only stopped when his communicator rang with 'NW' flashing on the front-screen.
He answered and laid back, "Yea?"
As he listened, he looked around absorbing what he was saying, "I'm not too comfortable with this, Nightwing, one of those Star-kids is my buddy, Tai."
Nightwing responded on the other end, "That's what I'm counting on, you can talk to him and convince him that, until we kick the Reach off Earth, right now Star Labs is the safest place for them."
Jamie sighed audibly, taking a breath and sliding his feet off the bed, stretching them, "Alright, fine, I'll go talk to them," He punctuated his sentence by hanging up.
He walked up to his open window as his Blue Beetle armor seamlessly shaped over his body, forming over his entire person and sprouting insectoid wings that allowed him to leap into the air out the window.
…
Taos Bus Station; New Mexico; May 13th 2019; 11:02PM
Ken hung up the pay phone and turned around, looking for anything suspicious before turning back toward the bus-stop and crossing the street.
The building was completely empty by this time, leaving Virgil, Eduardo, Asami, Tai, and Ken to catch their breath; as he walked in, he zipped up a grey and black jacket from the cold desert air.
"Did you call your family?! No way I'm going back to mine…" Tai protested standing by the door and following Ken towards the benches where Asami, Eduardo, and Virgil waited.
Ken smirked, "I didn't call my family, I called a friend whose gonna hook us up."
Virgil threw his hands up, "Can we, uh, arrange for me to just be dropped off at my place? I know the Reach were targeting runaways but, they got it wrong, I was grabbed at a train station waiting to meet my sister…"
"I'm sure we can work it all out once your far away from Star Labs," Ken sat down next to Asami who still looked distraught, not understanding anything they were saying must have been frightening, "Wareware wa koko de matsu tsumoridesu, soshite, watashi no yūjin wa wareware o tasukemasu, anata wa ima anzendesu."
Asami smiled, "Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu."
"Dude, you speak Japanese?" Eduardo questioned.
"And thirty-three other languages," he nonchalantly shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, "Is that weird?"
"Who cares? Just wake me up when it's time to go," Tai muttered leaning over on his bench, using his arms as a pillow.
Eduardo was pacing though, "Is your friend going to help us get a cure?"
Ken raised his brow, "Virgil told me you guys would be sneaking out and I knew something would go wrong, so I came to help out," he stood up and walked to the window, peaking out the blinds, "I don't know anything about a cure or if reversing genetic tampering is even possible."
Virgil approached a vending machine whilst holding the conversation, "I don't know, the Reach may be evil but, I like my powers," he sent a charge of electricity into the machine convincing it to spit a drink into the compartment, "I'm good just like this," he popped open the cap and was about to take a long gulp.
"Dude!" Eduardo shouted, "That's Reach!"
Virgil did a double take before spitting the liquid from his mouth, tossing the can across the room; as the silence picked up, Asami noticed movement outside, standing and approaching the doors to confirm it, and she was right.
"Yabai, koru!" she shouted at Virgil as Ken immediately dashed over to her side watching soldiers line up outside of the station, across the street in tactical positions.
Eduardo followed, "Cabernero, Willcochs is here…" he grabbed Asami and shoved her down with him, to keep out of sight.
Virgil moved to Tai's bench, shaking him in an attempt to wake him up, "Tai, Tai, c'mon man you need to wake up."
Ken was about to transform when suddenly a bright golden astral form manifested around Tai lifting him off the ground, seemingly still asleep, growing ten… twenty… twenty-five feet tall, large enough to tear a hole in the ceiling.
The doctor and the guard Virgil knocked out were approaching the building to search and seize the children, like property, when a massive bland humanoid figurer ripped open the ceiling, holding it over-head.
"This was not in the briefing," the guard said.
Tai proceeded to toss the massive chunk of concrete across the street, beyond the line of soldiers, without much effort. Willcochs lost his balance as he tried to adjust his glasses, "H-He's never created an energy form this large before!"
As the soldiers pulled their weapons, aiming up at the humanoid, the main guard shouted at them, "They're kids! We're here to protect and contain them, not hurt them!"
Suddenly, a flaming blue object flew into view as Blue Beetle took notice of his friend in the center of a massive energy being, "Okay… not what I expected…" he looked down toward his friends and the ones pointing guns at them, "Everyone just relax, I have this under con-" he was cut off when Tai used a massive astral fist to smack him into the ground, cracking the pavement with his metal-head.
Tai scooped up Ken, Asami, Virgil, and Eduardo before stepping over the walls of the bus station and into the grass, jogging slowly through the streets with loud quakes from his every step. Ken transformed into Ghostfreak and slipped through his grasp, floating over in front of his face, "Tai! Wake up!" he shouted.
"I don't think he can hear you," Virgil responded.
…
Ben slammed his fist into the crystal-rock structure that created the outline for the Watchtower's holographic projector, currently attempting to locate Black Manta and his crew. He had no success as Spiritus and Sunny floated and landed behind him, "Somehow, some way; this Manta person is blocking my ability to sense individuals," his cousin explained.
"The water and the metal; inorganic materials can block out mana," Ben swiped the display away with a fury, turning around and passing them both, "in a giant metal ship moving constantly at the bottom of the ocean? Even Grandma would have trouble finding her."
"It's not exactly slippery smooth down there, Ben, what are you going to do when you find her?" Veronica asked turning around.
He narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip, "You just need to make sure she's done her best to fix what she did to Kaldur… then you leave the rest to me."
Leaving them on this ominous note was stressful enough but, still being incapable of helping was worse.
…
"Everyone stay calm, the situation is under control!" Blue Beetle shouted to the men below still pursuing with loaded weaponry, he was more focused on keeping them safe neglecting an astral fist coming down and implanting him into the concrete.
The ethereal humanoid cut and run, turning on his heels and sprinting off into the mountains, in less than a minute they were out of sight as the STAR security was about to pursue when Blue Beetle dissuaded them.
Holding his chin, he shook his head, "Go back to STAR Labs, you're only making things worse, I'll make sure the League helps them," his jet-back exploded sending him back into the air, nearly hitting super sonic as the body was easy to spot from above.
Ghostfreak trailed Tai trying to wake him physically from within but, failing helplessly as he watched him sprint away with friends in tow, "Alright, if I can't wake him up with my voice…"
An explosion of light went off in front of them, light so powerful it stopped even the giant ethereal spirit-form; even a young To'kustar was still a threatening one. Now over a hundred feet taller than Tai, Way Big put his arm down putting a massive wall in front of them.
"You guys just need to trust me!" Ken shouted from the voice of a bellowing giant as the sky tore open and Blue Beetle landed in front of them, cracking the gravel with his boots.
"He's right! We need to go back to STAR Labs and work with the League!" Beetle's voice was filtered and couldn't be recognized by Tai, specially not in that state.
Tai calmed himself as slowly lowered to the ground as his meta-physical avatar faded away, leaving him toppling into Eduardo's arms. Ken took this moment to transform again, this time back into his human form, "W-What?" Tai shielded his eyes from the emerald flash, "Awe man, not again…"
Blue Beetle took a step forwards with open arms, "You have to put your faith in the League and Star, at least for now!"
Suddenly, Ken's eyes sharply narrowed as if something had taken command of his demeanor, "No way, I just risked my ass to save them from your so called 'protection' they just want to study your powers and make you a weapon."
Jamie recoiled, "That's not true! What are you talking about? You're on the League's side too, Shifter!"
He chuckled, "I'm on my own side, no more people telling me what to do; where to sleep, when to eat, when to train," he shook the memories of training with his pseudo father away as he turned back to the others, "I helped you escape because I thought you wanted freedom!"
"Listen," Virgil interrupted, "I just want to go home to my pops…"
"And I need a cure," Eduardo added.
"I need to be as far away from New Mexico as I can get," Tai said regaining his own balance, "I don't really care where that is."
Asami shrugged, "Nani mo omoitsukimasen."
Ken blinked, this was good, "Alright, and who do you think can get you to all those places? Star or the kid the same age as you going through the same things?"
Beetle was shocked, he wasn't prepared for an argument from someone on his side, "Dude?!"
They could hear it coming but, ignored it until it was too unbearable to tune out; the chopping blades of an unmarked helicopter sliced through the air, upheaving dust as it landed less than a hundred-feet away
Ken turned his back on them and walked towards his slick black ride, turning his head over his shoulder and reaching a hand out for them, "You guys coming?"
They all gave a glance at Blue Beetle, "I'm trying to keep you guys safe! We just want your protection!"
"Sorry, dude," Virgil turned and gave Ken an urban hand-shake as the others followed behind them, "No more jumpsuits."
They all boarded the helicopter where they found Lex Luthor buckled up; they gave each other nervous looks but, proceeded to follow Ken's lead.
Jamie was about to follow when he got an alert from his suit about an android of some-kind attacking Star Labs; he narrowed his eyes as he and Ken made eye contact before making his way back toward the compound.
"Hello, children, I'm so sorry your extraction took so long," he dusted himself off as they took off, "As you can see, there were complications."
"Wait… you're Lex Luthor…?"
Luthor raised his brow, "Yes and you would be Virgil Hawkins, Eduardo Durado, Tai LongShadow, and Asami Koizumi."
"Aren't you some billionaire, high-roller, bad guy?" Virgil asked rightfully.
Lex raised a brow, "Who told you that? The same people keeping you captive for weeks against your will? I've liberated you and all of your needs will be met without fault… after, you perform a favor for me."
…
Murmansk; Russia; May 14th 2019; 12:18AM
Ben, Veronica, and Sunny walked into a dark and shady bar which looked intentionally unkept and only had a few people inside. All three of them were eyesores with their choice in fashion and especially Veronica's splash of color in her hair.
They all seemed incredibly intimidating but, the bar-keep recognized Ben on sight, "Бенджамин, так приятно тебя видеть!" he pulled from beneath the bar a sawed off shotgun and placed it in between them, "Я надеялся, что в следующий раз окажусь в аду."
"What's he saying?" Veronica asked.
He gulped and rubbed the back of his neck, "He's happy to see me," Ben responded ironically.
Sunny nudged his arm and pulled him closer to whisper into his ear, "I thought you said this was one of your informants…"
"He was," Ben muttered scratching his beard, "Until I got a payoff to 'take out' the leader of their little gang, here."
"What?! Why would you ever?!" She was interrupted as the men around them closed in, leaving less space for them to breath.
"I give you one last chance to turn round and leave dis place," the man grabbed the hilt of his shotgun as did the others in the room, readying their weapons of various types.
Ben sighed and took a deep breath, "Sunny, cover Veronica's eyes."
A look of confusion was masked by two Caucasian hands as the sounds of a brawl broke out; she heard two gun shots one after the other, flesh pounding flesh and the cracking of bones, another crash accompanied by shattered glass, and finally one last scream as her eyes were allowed light once more.
The entire room was destroyed, every man whom attempted to intimidate were brutally beaten into the ground, and the shot gun was disassembled on the floor across the room.
Ben had the bar keep pinned against the wall on the far side of the room; his eyes and fists were glowing bright blue and the rage in voice was too real to ignore.
"Where is he?!"
This time he was much more eager to assist us, "I swear, I told you I heard nothing of green girl on Manta's ship!"
Veronica watched in horror as the bloodied bar-keep cowered in fear, "But, you know where it is…" Ben whispered through his teeth into the man's ears, "Sunny!"
"R-Right…" she remembered the instructions she was given and followed accordingly, materializing a silver holographic projector disc, placing it flat on the bar. It displayed the globe, highlighting the seven oceans.
Ben grabbed him by his collar and pulled him over to the bar, "Point out his ships route…"
"I can't be certain when he'll-" Ben yanked back the bartenders head and smashed it on the counter-top, splattering blood over the tops of Sunny's shoes.
"It's a Wednesday night! Thursday morning! Black Manta's flag ship! NOW!"
…
Ben wiped the blood from his face as he walked out of the bar, making his way through the snow and towards a zeta-tube that would take him where he needed to be, "What the hell was that?"
Sunny shouted as Ben didn't stop but, Veronica was caught in the middle like the child watching her parents get divorced, "You've been gone a while. Things change."
He tossed the soaked rag into the snow turning it a shade of red as Ben stopped, not turning to face his cousin, "Yea, not that much! I didn't even recognize that person in there! I know we weren't close but, that was dark, Ben."
He turned on a dime with a shout, smeared blood all across his face, "Not everyone is a happy-go-lucky full blooded Anodite who gets to roam the Universe screwing her troll boyfriend and not giving a shit about anyone else!" he stopped as all fell silent, "Everyone else was out here, suffering."
"Antonio was a phase!" she shouted back, "I'm not the Sunny you remember, I'm from ten years from now so, yea, I did a fair-share of suffering myself."
Ben scoffed and turned back around, "I guess we're even now, then," he didn't wait to reach a zeta-tube, instead he just used his magic to vanish in a flash of blue light.
…
Indian Ocean; May 14th 2019; 1:45AM
Black Manta removed his helmet and placed it on the dashboard of his personal chambers, pressing a single switch on the console, "Deathstroke, report status."
"Status is… slow," Deathstroke responded via remote communications nearly half-a-mile behind the ship, "She has succeeded in restoring your sons psyche partially but, he remains far from whole."
Manta sighed, "Alright, keep your ship at a safe distance and report to me directly if anything changes."
Within Kaldur'Ahm's quarters, M'gaan sat in the same chair she was placed in when she arrived with Tigress lurking on the bed-side, making it appear to be very tedious and unrelenting work.
Tigress brought him a glass of water and placed it to his lips, letting him drink; she turned toward the camera and sighed, "He's still not himself," she looked into the reflection she could barely even recognize, "But, then? Who is?"
"So," she announced after a long silence, "how long do you think we can keep this up?" Artemis asked via the psychic link with M'gaan.
"I'm not sure; Deathstroke is incredibly thorough, eventually he'll catch on," She responded.
"Then we must act quickly before our window of opportunity closes," Kaldur responded having fully recovered from the mental damage his friend had dealt him some time ago.
"With that inhibitor collar disabling your shapeshifting and telekinetic abilities? I don't know if we can make that window…"
From within their link, a familiar voice spoke up, "No, but I can."
"Ben?"
"I was just making sure who is who in this cavalcade of fuckups the four of you cooked up," Ben floated directly above the submarine's general area, a light-blue energy highlighting his every feature, "that's right, Dick and Wally have fessed up to everything."
None made a move, any motion toward any outside object would tip off the professional mercenary watching their every act; they stared off, continuing to do exactly as they did before they heard his voice.
M'gaan almost let a tear drop from her cheek as she heard his voice in her head again, "Ben… what do you plan on doing?"
"This situation is rather…" Kaldur tried to speak up but, was interrupted by an intense shaking, the water around them was vibrating.
"You shut your mouth and let me work!"
Manta noticed the shaking around his vessel and tapped a button, "Deathstroke, report."
After a few second of silence, his Australian accent returned to the speaker, "Radar says the ship is fine but, there's something above us!"
Ben allowed his energy to completely envelope him once again, over shadowing his skin and igniting his skull with blue flames of mana; with only a flash of light, he clapped his hands sending an intense shockwave of pure energy out across the ocean, the water surrounding the submarine turned into a whirlpool, one so thick and potent a vortex of air formed all the way to the sea-floor, revealing the ship.
However, it floated up defying gravity until it was within eye level with Ben whom kept the ship in the air before teleporting into the center of Kaldur's recovery room.
"It's Tennyson! I'm blowing her collar!" Slade slammed his palm down on the detonator but, it did nothing but short circuit; he glanced up at the video feed which, after seeing Ben's glowing eyes looking directly into it, flashed to static.
Ben glanced around the room as M'gaan's collar sparked and clattered on the ground; he took a step forward while they were all alone, caressing a hand across Tigress' cheek.
"You're really… not…" He muttered with an echo as Artemis grabbed his hand giving him a bright smile; Kaldur kept his position in bed to continue his comatose rouse.
"You still owe me drinks," she responded as loud armored steps came sprinting from the hall; the door swung open and Ben swung his arm out, sending all the soldiers off their feet. M'gaan collapsed to her knees, she could barely stand on her own.
Stepping through the beaten soldiers, Black Manta himself fired off a beam of crimson energy from his helmet which collided with the palm of a blue energy being. The beam carved through the steel ship around them but, reflected off his hand without any damage.
Ben gripped Black Manta by the throat, imitating Darth Vader with a standard force choke, "You think you can kill my friend and get away with it?!" he pinned Manta to the wall, "Who should I gut first, you or your degenerate son?"
Ben allowed himself to be surprised and plunged into the iron wall by his former allies Atlantean strength; Kaldur jumped from the bed to 'assist' his father, keeping Ben's face planted into the wall until he slipped from his grasp, teleporting behind M'gaan.
"Happy landings…" Ben scooped M'gaan off her feet, wrapping her in his arms as he vanished from sight; the ocean crashed back together below them, the vortex collapsing. And without the Anodite or the Martian, their ship came crashing down as well, hitting the water with just enough force to not take on water.
The landing likely injured every person aboard, possibly maiming others but, Manta and Kaldur being Atlanteans shook this off with little difficulty. Kaldur still fell though, hitting the floor with his knees, "Father, are you… alright?"
Manta took his helmet off and embraced his son, keeping him from hitting the ground any further, "I'm fine… just fine… now that you are alright," he hugged him closer which is why he couldn't see Aqualad's disgust in hugging this sociopath.
Floating a few hundred feet above the water, Ben was in his energy-form which was the only other source of light besides the moon behind him; she opened her eyes slowly, "Ben?"
"You're malnourished but we can," he was interrupted as she tightened her embrace around his chest, "get you an IV…" her smile was warm, it reminded him of why he fell in love with her in the first place.
For the first time in years, they saw each other; she could see every ounce of care in his being that he had for her, the lengths to which he would go to save her. He looked down and in her brown eyes, he could feel the relief coming off of her in waves, he could feel her genuine love for him radiating. Maybe being kidnapped and separated for several weeks is exactly what they needed?
…
Watchtower; May 14th 2019; 3:13AM
Ben tossed a blanket over M'gaan as she recovered in the infirmary, with her regeneration all she would need is a good night's rest and a full meal. He gave her a kiss on the forehead which, even though she slept soundly, brought out a smile across her face.
Closing the door just quiet enough to keep her asleep, he met with Sunny, Spiritus, Captain Atom, Nightwing, Superboy, Powergirl, Wally West, and Batgirl; "And so now we need a next move, or at least an idea of what we're up against."
"Especially now, that the cats out of the bag…" Wally glared at Dick and folded his arms.
Ben was silent, still in deep thought, "At least the Reach are simple invaders, Vilgax…" Sunny muttered but, choked on his name.
"Has Dr. Fate come back with any news?" Ben asked directly still looking to the floor.
Nightwing gave a long sigh, "Wally and I stopped by the tower of fate but, he doesn't seem to have any answers."
"Not any we could decipher anyways; the guy is like a sphinx," Wally added as without warning alarms begun blaring across the station, crimson lights flashed as the heroes readied themselves.
"That's the perimeter alert," Captain Atom noted as golden energy cascaded around his fists, channeling energy for a fight.
"Unknown entity bypassing integral structure."
"I believe that would be me phasing through the walls," Albedo floated slowly down to eye level, landing a few feet from them waiting for the lights to stop flashing.
They all glared at him as the security system shut off, "I'm only here to talk," he put his hands up and a crimson glow engulfed him, slowly sapping his thick muscles and returning his accursed '10' emblem jacket.
"Why would we ever trust a word you say?!" Veronica shouted.
Albedo smiled, looking up into their eyes, "Because I know what Vilgax is planning and even I can't sit around and watch my entire Multiverse crumble…"
Sunny pushed them all aside, "You know what it is, then?" she grabbed him with telekinesis, lifting him off his feet gently, "You know what causes the end of the world?"
"What has reality ever done for you? Why would you want to save it?!" Captain Atom shouted taking a step closer.
Becoming frustrated, Albedo almost considered transforming and forcing them to listen but, he decided sugar was better than salt and decided against it, "Because I've been corralled into it by all of you morons! I've run the data, the only way all of our realities stay intact is if we work together."
Ben stepped through everyone, being telekinetically released, Sunny stepped aside and allowed the two identical entities to come face to face, "So?" Ben asked nonchalantly, "What's his plan? Where is he going?"
Albedo didn't hesitate for even a moment, "The Forge of Creation."
"The what?"
Veronica's confused voice was the last thing he heard before Ben quickly and without warning right hooked Albedo in the face, sending him to his knees, "Light's out," before being able to react another left-straight hit him in the face but, he wasn't fully unconscious until the back of his head hit the metallic ground.
…