BEN 10 DOESN'T BELONG TO ME. MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME.
Hey, look, 50 chapters! Cool.
Anyway, let's finish this.
My Alien Academia
Chapter 50
Crisis Ends, Part 2
Jen staggered back, and wiped the blood from her chin. Well, this could be going better.
At least Doomsday was having almost as much trouble as she was. Luthor's weapon had done the job, and if the monster was healing, it was at a snail's pace. Still, that hadn't stopped him from pummeling Jen into the ground a few times; her right arm was so shattered that she couldn't move it, and one of her eyes wasn't opening anymore.
"This is almost fun," Doomsday said as he limped towards her. "I just need Superman to take your place, and I might actually be happy."
Jen fired a burst of heat-vision from her working eye that Doomsday didn't completely dodge, and a chunk of his shoulder was burned off. He didn't feel the pain, but his broken leg made him stumble, and Jen used the opportunity to swing her fist into his skull. Jen felt a bit of triumph, which was interrupted when Doomsday drove his own fist into her ribs; there was a sickening crack as they inflicted fractures on each other.
"Why are you…" Jen coughed and spat out blood. "Why are you so chatty?"
"I was trapped in the Phantom Zone for years, with nothing to do but think about what I would say to Superman when I killed him," Doomsday growled. "This is the next-best thing."
Jen inhaled, winced as the movement ground her broken ribs together, and blew out a stream of cold air that froze Doomsday's arm solid. She then kicked out and shattered the arm into a thousand pieces.
"Still having fun?" Jen asked.
Doomsday lunged, and his spiked knuckles struck Jen across the face. She fell to her knees, and blood poured from the two gashes that joined the other injuries.
"Plenty," Doomsday sneered, and grabbed Jen by the hair.
Just as he prepared to lift her up and slam her down, Jen's working arm began to vibrate; it moved so fast that it almost vanished from view, and then she plunged that hand deep into Doomsday's face. Half of the monster's head abruptly exploded, and he let her go.
"I really need to thank Barry for showing me that trick," Jen muttered, then gasped as Doomsday kicked her across the empty space. "Why won't you just stop!?"
Doomsday was missing half of his mouth, so he could only gurgle, but Jen could see the hatred and malice in his remaining eye. She knew he wouldn't stop until one of them was dead, and considering who else she had to fight, there was no reason she should hold back.
Jen threw away what restraint she had left, the mental blocks she'd spent her whole life building up, and charged. She ducked under Doomsday's fist, and put everything she had into her next punch. Reality shook as the strength of an unleashed Kryptonian connected with something created to withstand that kind of punishment.
This time, the immovable object couldn't stand against the unstoppable force.
Doomsday's entire upper body exploded from the impact, and his legs flopped over. Jen waited for a moment, just in case Doomsday somehow got back up, but when the fragments of the body stayed where they were, she let herself fall to her knees.
"Holy crap," she whispered. "I am never fighting anything like that again. Uncle Clark can have those to himself."
Without a yellow sun to boost her healing, Jen barely had the strength to get back up. "Gotta find the others. Can't leave Izuku with just Luthor and crazy-Gwen." One leg suddenly gave out, and she collapsed. "Ow. Okay, maybe I'll take a minute."
…
Frightwig wailed as the remnants of her hair fell, but her scream was cut short when Julie knocked her out with a swift kick to the head.
"Not bad for my first haircut," she said.
"If you're done patting yourself on the back, I could use a little help here!" Kevin shouted, then grunted when Thumbskull clocked him across the jaw.
"Sorry, I—whoa!" Julie tried to avoid a stream of acid, but was just a little too slow; Acid Spit laughed as the armor on Julie's shoulder began to melt away, and she screamed.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Acid Spit laughed again. "What was that about us being footnotes?"
Julie glared at the Circus Freak; with a thought, the melting part of her armor detached itself from the rest of her body before it spread too far, and the exposed shoulder was quickly covered in fresh armor. She then raised her arm, which unfolded into a particularly large cannon.
"You were saying?"
If Acid Spit was about to comment, he was cut off when a bolt of green energy caught him in the chest; there was a sickening crack as several ribs broke, and the smell of burnt skin filled the air. Julie barely mustered the drive to check if he was still alive, and hardly felt any relief that he was.
"Still need my help, Kevin?"
By way of answer, Kevin merely dropped the unconscious Thumbskull at her feet. "Now, where's the ringleader of this crappy circus?"
"Right behind you, kiddo!" Zombozo cackled as he stepped out of a cloud of confetti, and slammed an oversized mallet into Kevin's head.
"Son of a—!" Kevin stumbled, but his shell held up against the hit. One of his arms turned into a blade, and he swung for Zombozo's legs, but the clown vanished into more confetti. "I really hate that trick."
Julie staggered when Zombozo reappeared and struck her across the face with his stretching arms. "Back to back! Don't let him sneak up on us!"
Kevin nodded, and put his back against Julie's. "You know, Ben used to be scared of this guy."
"I know," Julie said tersely. "But he told me how to beat him."
"Feel like sharing with the rest of the class?"
"He likes to scare people, and he feeds off of it, but Ben got more angry than scared, so he had nothing to feed on." Julie smirked, and raised her voice. "And he's also a coward!"
"You really can't blame me," Zombozo called out from the darkness. "There are things in the universe far scarier than me. Just look at old Vilgax—he doesn't even have to set foot in a universe to destroy it. Do you know how scary it is to know that you could get snuffed out without even knowing who killed you?"
"That's called dying in an accident," Julie retorted. "It happens all the time, we don't need Vilgax for that."
"Accidents aren't actively hoping for the end of life as we know it," Zombozo shot back.
"Then why the heck are you helping him?" Kevin asked.
Zombozo cackled. "Because watching him kill everyone is funny."
By then, Julie had figured out where he was, and bombarded the shadows with rockets. Zombozo rolled out of the explosions, and tossed what looked like bowling pins at them; Julie remembered what Ben had once told her, and a segmented shield unfolded from her arm. She grunted from the blast of the exploding pins, but wasn't hurt.
Kevin darted from around her, and punched Zombozo right in the squeaky nose. "How do you like it, clown?"
Zombozo's arms stretched out and wrapped around Kevin like an anaconda. "About as much as you'll like this trick, sonny!"
Kevin was slammed into the ground, but he freed himself by creating spikes all over his body. Zombozo pulled back his arms—which dripped blood that wasn't the right color for a human—and snarled.
"Now that wasn't funny."
"Well, this sure is!" Julie shouted, and punched Zombozo in the face with all the strength her armor could muster.
Several bloody teeth flew through the air, and Zombozo fell to his knees. "Mah teef! 'ou li'l ish!"
Julie wrapped one hand around Zombozo's throat. "Okay, that's kind of funny."
More teeth were sent flying as she punched him in the face over and over, until he was knocked out.
"Nice quip," Kevin said tiredly. "Ben would have liked that one."
"You think?" Julie grinned, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'll have to tell him about it when we bring him back."
There was a bright flash of light, and both of them shielded their eyes.
"What the heck was that?" Kevin asked.
"Not sure, but it came from where Izuku and the others were headed. Come on!"
…
Luthor coughed, and scowled when more blood leaked from his mouth. "How… pathetic. Well, at least I've given a good account of myself."
He stood on a literal pile of Vilgax's drones; most were the common variety that he'd seen before, but there were three-eyed hounds, and ape-like goliaths covered in spikes. Luthor had done well at first, but the small amount of damage each monster had inflicted started to add up. By now, his armor could no longer fly, his weapons were out of power, and a lucky shot had punched clean through his chest and out his back.
Luthor didn't need his armor's failing internal diagnostics to know that he was dying.
But at least the breaches had closed, and there were no more drones to fight. Luthor glanced at the beam of light Eri had stepped into; as far as he could tell, nothing had changed, and there was nothing left for him to do here. He considered trying to rest, but he knew that if he stopped, he wouldn't get back up again.
He heard a roar, and saw a bloody Humungousaur go flying back. "Ah, I see the children still need my help."
Luthor staggered in the direction of the very one-sided fight, and saw Vilgax standing over Midoriya; the boy had turned into Swampfire to heal from his injuries, but Luthor knew that it would only prolong his suffering.
"Weak," Vilgax sneered. "The multiverse chose its champions poorly."
"Perhaps," Luthor admitted, getting their attention. "It's as you said before: our little group consists of traumatized children, and me. Hardly the sort to save the multiverse."
"Then you know that you had no chance of succeeding," Vilgax said.
Luthor laughed, even as more blood poured from his mouth. "Oh, we had the greatest chance of all. The person best-suited to realizing just how limited your vaunted power really is, and how to put all the pieces together so that you would lose."
"And who would that be?"
Luthor grinned, and held his arms out. "Why, me, of course."
"What makes you so special?" Vilgax asked.
"I'm the most ruthless, most pragmatic, and most intelligent man alive," Luthor said. "On top of that, I've hurt Ben Tennyson even worse than you did.
"I orchestrated events so that his son died. I once rewrote reality so that he and his beloved wife killed each other. I left him so broken that the only reason he didn't kill himself is because all his memories of those events were erased. You hurt him, yes, but he healed on his own. I beat him. Against me, Vilgax… you never stood a chance."
Vilgax was still for a long moment; then, with a snarl of rage, he punched his arm straight through Luthor's chest. Black flame engulfed him, erasing him from existence, but as he died, he did so with a victorious smirk.
"NO!"
Vilgax heard four voices cry out at once, and then he was hit from all sides. Jen only had one working arm, but she punched Vilgax with all the strength she had left. Julie's armor unfolded and transformed into a massive cannon that she controlled with one arm; the blast was enough to make Vilgax take one step back. The smoke of the explosion obscured Kevin as he charged in, his arm a sword, and stabbed Vilgax in the leg. Midoriya couldn't be hidden as he went Way Big, and brought his foot down on Vilgax with all the force he could muster.
Before any of them could wonder how much damage they'd done, they heard a shattering sound; Gwen's hair looked more like pink fire as she blasted her way out of her prison. Mana formed in her hands, and she flew straight at Vilgax.
"This is for Ben, you son of a bitch!"
Gwen had long since passed the point of restraint; the force of an exploding star, concentrated into a single point, hit Vilgax square in the chest. The shockwave was so great that everyone else was sent flying back.
Kevin shakily rose to his feet. "No way he just walks that off, right?"
Gwen was about to answer, when Vilgax grabbed her by the throat… without a single scratch on him.
"That was almost impressive," he said, and tossed Gwen aside like a rag, then punched Way Big in the leg.
The pain of his leg shattering was so great that Midoriya collapsed, and could barely focus enough to turn back into Swampfire.
"I have had enough," Vilgax said. "You have failed to provide even a little entertainment. I thought you might pose a challenge at this final stage, but you are barely worth my attention. I will kill you now, and then I will kill that girl. No one will stop me from ridding this multiverse of all life that might stand against me—no Omnitrix, no Azmuth, and no Ben Tennyson."
…
Professor Paradox raised an eyebrow. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."
"Oh, please, you always know the when."
The Professor shrugged, and held out a bag full of clothes. "I suppose I do. And I know why you're here. Not to worry, I came prepared."
"… These clothes are—"
"You could change them, of course, but I imagine that people will expect this look." Paradox smirked. "And there's nothing wrong with a trademark, is there?"
"I was going to say that I love it, and I'm honored. I promise to do you proud."
"I know you will." Paradox looked at his watch. "Don't you have something you should be doing?"
"You should know that I've already done it."
"Ah, of course. Good luck, and please apologize to Ben on my behalf."
"Which one?"
"All of them, my dear; thankfully, time is on your side."
…
There was a flash of light, and Four Arms grunted as Vilgax punched him. There was pain, yes, but to his surprise, it hurt far less than it should have.
"What?" Vilgax looked down at his hands. "What!?"
Four Arms opened his eyes. They were no longer at the beginning of time; in fact, he wasn't sure where they were, other than in the middle of a desert. It seemed to be late in the afternoon, and there was nothing around for miles.
Jen blinked. "What the heck are we doing in Arizona?"
"That would be my doing," a familiar voice said. "Both what Vilgax is feeling, and where we are now. I thought it would be a good idea to finish this battle without collateral damage."
Perhaps out of shock, Midoriya turned back to normal as he stared at the impossible. She was taller, almost as tall as Jen, and her voice was a little deeper, but Midoriya recognized Eri's eyes, hair and horn. She was no longer a child, but a woman in her twenties. Her outfit was almost identical to Professor Paradox's, but with a knee-length black skirt and leggings. Her smirk was so self-satisfied that Midoriya wondered if she had been imitating Lex Luthor in the mirror.
"Hello, everyone; you can call me Paradox. No professorship, I'm sorry to say—ironically, I haven't had time to get my degree."
"What did you do?" Vilgax demanded.
"Oh, that?" Paradox waved her hand dismissively. "I just reconnected you to time itself, and then removed your timeline from the temporal stream. It was quite a challenge, even for me; I had to do it in stages, or risk unraveling the history of everyone you've ever interacted with. That's why it took so long, by your understanding of time.
"As for why you're weaker… well, when your timeline gets unspun, you tend to start dying. That's what you're doing now, Vilgax: you're dying, and your power is bleeding out. What's worse is that it's vanishing faster every time you do… well, anything."
"Wait!" Gwen shouted. "What about all the damage he's done?"
Paradox smiled. "All the worlds his armies destroyed have been brought back. The multiverse is no longer falling apart. The Crisis is over."
Kevin was quiet for a moment, and then pointed at Vilgax. "Ha! In your face, you stupid squid!"
Vilgax's response was to punch Kevin in the chest and send him flying fifty feet back. "If that is true, I still have power to spare. I will take what time I have left and spend it killing you all. Perhaps I will destroy this pathetic planet before I die. I can tell that I have strength enough for that."
"You do," Paradox agreed. "And I will be honest, the heroes here aren't strong enough to stop you."
"That's why we're here," another familiar voice said. "Thanks for telling us where to go, Paradox." Ben Tennyson looked her up and down. "Yeah, the new model's gonna take some getting used to."
Jen rubbed her working eye. "Dad?"
"Hey, honey." Ben's smile faded when he saw who his daughter was standing with. "Okay, not what I was expecting." He walked over to Gwen. "Hey, dweeb."
Gwen blinked. "Hey, dork; nice beard."
"Thanks, I like it."
"Tennyson," Vilgax growled, even as he started retreating. "How are you here to stand against me? This is not your battle to wage!"
Ben laughed, but there was no humor in his voice, and a bitter anger in his eyes. "Hey, the non-interference rules only applied while the Crisis was on. Now that it's over, we decided to join in on the party."
Midoriya slowly walked over. "Who's 'we'?"
Ben looked him over, and Midoriya knew he was a sorry sight; his costume was dirty and torn, and his visor was cracked.
"Kid, 'we' is everyone." Behind him, green and purple portals opened up. "And everyone wants a piece of old squid-head."
Before anyone could ask, people began coming through the portals; some walked, some flew, but Midoriya recognized many, and Jen recognized them all.
"It's about time you guys showed up!" she said with a laugh, one tinged with relief when she saw John Constantine, who gave her a look.
"What's wrong, love? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Beside Constantine, a beautiful woman with white hair and a stage magician's outfit elbowed him. "She's probably just surprised you're sober, John."
"But I'm not," Constantine protested.
"I guess he doesn't remember," Kevin said as he limped over to them.
"None of them do," Paradox said with a sad smile. "Your friend Mirio remembers a little of it, but only until the part when you recruited him. I imagine he's quite confused right now; Izuku, you'll have to explain things when you get back."
"R-right." Midoriya found it hard to see through his cracked visor, so he took it off. "Did the entire Justice League come to help?"
"And the Titans," Ken added as he and Supergirl flew over to them; their eyes went wide when they saw the group. "Jen, you look like crap."
Jen scoffed, then winced and held her good arm to her broken ribs. "Please, I look better on my worst day than you do on your best."
"Still doesn't mean you're not in rough shape; hang on." Ken snapped his fingers, and in a flash of green light, everyone's injuries were healed. "There you go… don't everyone go thanking me at once."
"Not that this isn't fascinating," Verdona said as she also joined them, "but it appears that Vilgax is getting away."
Midoriya took in Vilgax's stance, and his narrowed eyes. "No, he's just giving himself space."
Vilgax made a tearing motion, and multiple breaches appeared. "It seems that I can still summon my army."
Paradox shrugged. "I wasn't able to erase your entire force, though I did make sure to destroy all the factories you had hidden away. Whatever you have now is all you're going to get."
"If it is enough to destroy you, then I don't need more!" Vilgax pointed at the small army of heroes. "Kill them all!"
Midoriya tensed, but then felt a hand on his shoulder; Ben looked down at him with a grin. "This is your party, kid. It's your call."
For the first time since this insane mission began, Midoriya grinned with genuine excitement, and he held up the Omnitrix. "Let's take this guy down!"
"You heard him!" Jen grew to her full size. "Let's go!"
…
The first wave of monsters barely made it halfway across the battlefield. Heat-vision from Superman, Supergirl, Ultiman and Superboy vaporized most, and those that survived that couldn't withstand the magics of John Constantine, Zatanna, Doctor Fate, and Raven. The second half of the second wave used the corpses of the first half as shields, and they slammed into the heroes' line. After that, it became a confused free-for-all.
Deku could barely keep track of who he was fighting alongside at any given moment. At one point, he was Diamondhead, back-to-back with Wonder Woman; at another, he was Shocksquatch, frying a drone that was about to hit Green Arrow from behind.
Ultragirl stomped on one drone after another, while Bonfire flew at her side; her fire turned anything her girlfriend missed into charred statues of ash.
The shell Kevin had gained from Luthor had broken, so he made do with layers of stone; he turned his hands into hammers and bashed the skulls in of any monster he could find. Above him, Gwen and Verdona fired concentrated beams of Mana that sliced drones into pieces.
Julie fought alongside Ultiman and Supergirl; rather than try to destroy the drones herself, she just tossed them into the air, making them easy targets for Kryptonian heat-vision.
Despite the confused melee, Paradox was oddly serene as she moved through the battlefield. Her horn blazed with yellow energy, and any enemy that got within a few feet of her simply vanished, Rewound out of existence.
"This is getting us nowhere," Ben complained; he had turned into Heatblast, and landed next to Deku. "Vilgax might not have unlimited numbers, but he's still got a lot of these guys."
"Eri—I mean, Paradox said that he was dying," Deku said, then turned into Big Chill to let a drone pass harmlessly through him. "The more he uses his energy, the faster it will go."
"Then we need to keep him distracted," Ben decided.
Deku's eyes went wide. "Oh, oh! I can do that!"
"What?" Ben blinked when Deku turned into Jetray, and then flew off. "Kid, wait!"
Jetray flew over the army of drones, and found his target; Vilgax was directing what looked like a never-ending column of his monsters through the breaches.
"This is where it ends," Jetray shouted. "I'm not going to let you hurt another world, Vilgax!"
"I don't even know who you are," Vilgax growled.
"I told you!" Jetray fired several neuroshock beams at Vilgax, then turned into Heatblast. "My name is Midoriya Izuku, and I'm going to stop you!"
At first, Ben was worried about Deku, and had been on his way to help, but then he stopped and stared when the kid started transforming. It wasn't the variety of aliens that shocked him, but the speed with which he transformed; it was happening so fast that it looked more like a single beam of green light that was running rings around Vilgax, shooting everything from fire and water, to crystals and radiation.
"He can do that?" he asked, then turned to Supergirl. "Can I do that?"
Supergirl pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, great, I have to deal with you trying. Thanks for the migraine, Ben."
Ben winked. "Anytime, Kara." Then the playfulness left him. "Come on, let's help Izuku out before he makes a mistake and Vilgax hurts him."
Supergirl raised an eyebrow when she saw Vilgax get tossed backwards. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to be a problem."
…
Vilgax roared as he lashed out, but like all his latest attacks, he missed. It wasn't just that this child—this Midoriya—was using a technique that he had never seen any Ben Tennyson use before. He was also becoming weaker with every second; his strength and speed were dropping, and he felt sluggish, like he was swimming through tar.
And while he was getting weaker, his opponent was getting stronger. Perhaps it wasn't that his power was increasing, but more that he was attacking with less restraint. Fire became an inferno, ice became a blizzard, and electricity became a thunderstorm.
Those attacks still didn't hurt very much, but they didn't wound his body as much as they wounded his pride. This boy, one he had never laid eyes on before today, had ruined his chance to rid the multiverse of every Ben Tennyson!
"This… this cannot be happening!" Vilgax thundered. "I cannot lose to a child!"
"How about five?" Ultragirl asked as she plummeted from the sky to punch Vilgax in the face.
He staggered back, and with the constant flashes of green light in his eyes, he didn't see Kevin until a hammer made of stone crashed into the back of his knee. This time, he fell, and was immediately bombarded by missiles from Julie. He hurled a wave of black fire to drive back his attackers, but the flame was far weaker than it had been earlier; that was why it was blocked so easily by a wall of pink Mana.
"Izuku!" Gwen shouted as she scooped Vilgax up with more Mana. "Serve's up!"
The beam of light followed Vilgax as he was hurled into the sky, until it resolved into Way Big. Vilgax had just enough time to be furious, and was then slammed back down considerably faster than he went up. Instead of hitting the ground, Vilgax collided with Ultragirl's outstretched fist. He was no longer 'alive' in the traditional sense, but Vilgax felt something that was no longer flesh and bone break nonetheless, and it hurt.
"Hey, kids! Mind if I get a few shots in?" Vilgax felt his not-blood run cold when Ben Tennyson appeared.
"Sure thing, Dad!" Ultragirl called out, and between her and Deku, they tossed him in the direction of the one person he didn't want to be near.
Ben turned into Ultimate Humungousaur and grinned. "Thanks, guys! Hey, Vilgy, been a while, huh?"
Vilgax managed to bring his arms up to block, but Ben's punch was still enough to bowl him over. He rolled with the hit and landed on his feet, just in time to snatch Gwen out of the air and use her as a makeshift club against Kevin; Gwen was freed a moment later when, after a flash of green light, a diamond spear pierced his wrist.
Rather than make a clever quip, Deku—as Diamondhead—just shouted in anger as he wrapped his arms around one of Vilgax's legs. Again, Vilgax felt pain as crystal spikes impaled that leg to the ground. Deku jumped back, just so that Julie, Gwen and Ultragirl could hit him with beams of energy from three angles.
"Hold him still!" Ben shouted, and then looked up. "We could use a little help, Diana!"
Wonder Woman, flying above them, tossed aside the drone she'd been beating to a pulp, and threw her glowing lasso around Vilgax. "There you go, Ben."
"Thanks!" Ben's arms turned into cannons, while Gwen and Verdona used cords of Mana to further secure Vilgax. "Now, hit him!"
Ben bombarded Vilgax for almost a minute straight; Ultragirl, Julie, Gwen and Verdona added their own considerable firepower. When the smoke cleared, Vilgax had huge cracks and craters in his armor, and his face was flickering even more wildly. There was a double-flash of light, as Deku turned into Ultimate Rath. His last Ultimate was even more muscular than Rath, with tan fur and a shaggy mane, and his fangs were more like a saber-toothed tiger; his clothes consisted of armored pants, with a hole that allowed for a tail that ended in a double-headed axe. Instead of a single claw on the back of each hand, Ultimate Rath had three, and they were even longer and sharper.
Ultimate Rath roared so loudly that those without superhuman durability could feel it in their bones. He and Kevin charged in close; the latter smashed both hammer-arms into Vilgax's elbow, shattering it into pieces. Ultimate Rath drove his fist into Vilgax's chest so hard that his claws actually punched out his back.
Paradox nodded to herself. "And now it ends."
Vilgax staggered back, and his armor started to crumble like dry dirt. He sank to one knee, and though he couldn't raise his arms, he continued to glare at Ben.
"I will never stop hating you, Tennyson. You will never be free of what I have done to you, and even if I failed to destroy you, I know that I go having hurt you like few others ever could."
Ben turned human again and crossed his arms. "You did hurt me, Vilgax, and for that, I'll hate you forever. But I moved on—I have my family and friends, and I will always be around to stop people like you. So you can hate me all you want, because if I'm being honest, I've outgrown you."
Vilgax sneered, even as he started to dissolve, and glanced at Deku. "Perhaps you were a worthy opponent."
Deku wasn't normally the type to glare at someone, but he gave it his best shot. With his eyes, it was actually quite impressive.
"You're the last person I want praise from," he snarled. "Go to hell—and this time, stay there!"
The battlefield fell silent as Vilgax died; the few remaining drones were quickly wiped out by the Justice League and the Titans.
"Is it over?" Julie asked.
"Yes," Paradox said quietly. "It finally is."
Midoriya stumbled as he finally allowed the last few days of exhaustion and stress to hit him all at once, and from the way the rest of his team reacted, they were in the same boat. Several heroes dashed over to catch them before they fell; Ben grabbed Midoriya, Supergirl caught Jen, and Verdona used her Mana to catch Gwen, Julie and Kevin.
"Great work, guys," Ben said, and grinned. "I have no idea what's going on, but I'm guessing you guys saved the world?"
Jen rolled her eyes. "Try the entire multiverse, Dad." She paused, then gestured to Gwen, Kevin, and Julie. "I don't think introductions are necessary."
Ben's smiled vanished, and after he helped Midoriya sit down, he walked over to people he hadn't seen in decades. "So… hi."
Kevin made a face. "Really, Tennyson? That's the best you can do?"
"What do you want from me?" Ben asked, exasperated. "This is just as weird for me."
"As much as I find your banter adorable, Ben," Verdona said as she floated over to Gwen, "there is something I need to handle."
Gwen started to jerk back, but Verdona placed her hand on her cheek. There was a flash of pink light, and then Gwen was back to her human form, without a single crack in her skin.
Verdona smiled, but it was sad. "If you are anything like the Gwen I knew, I thought you'd prefer this form."
"Yeah, um… thanks." Gwen's eyes shone with unshed tears, and she grabbed Verdona in a hug. "S-sorry, I just really need this right now."
"Of course, dear." Verdona nodded at Paradox. "She should look her best before going home."
To everyone's surprise, Paradox flinched. "Ah, yes… I'm afraid that is going to be impossible."
"Wait, why?" Midoriya asked. "We won, right? We brought back all the universes Vilgax destroyed!"
"Well…" Paradox sighed. "If you recall, I said that any universes destroyed by Vilgax's armies were restored. Those destroyed by Vilgax directly… are gone."
Gwen staggered back as if struck, and Julie fell to her knees, tears already pouring down her face. Kevin's expression was thunderous as he grabbed Paradox by the tie.
"Explain right now," he demanded. "Paradox… the other one… he said that stopping Vilgax would save the multiverse!"
"And he didn't necessarily lie, but he didn't tell the whole truth." Paradox gently worked her tie free of Kevin's grip. "Vilgax had become the avatar of nonexistence itself. When he destroyed something, it was removed from reality; not even the reversal of time could bring them back."
Ben closed his eyes; it looked like he was trying not to vomit. "How many worlds…"
"Too many," Paradox said quietly. "The multiverse was reborn, and it is smaller because of Vilgax. I'm so sorry."
Gwen put her hand in Kevin's. "What happens to us now? Our home, our families… they're all gone. We don't have anywhere to go."
Ben locked eyes with his wife, and then his children; when they nodded, he walked over to Gwen and Kevin. "They can stay with us. We can help you three find a home on this Earth, if you want."
Verdona frowned. "Ben, are you sure?"
Ben sighed, and sat down next to Julie. "I know more than a little of what you're going through. I've had thirty years to work through it, and if you'll let me, I'll help you."
Julie wiped her eyes for a moment. "I think… I think we could use a place to stay for the night. After that… maybe we can talk."
"Take however long you need." Ben hesitated, and then gently put his arm around her shoulders. "But we should get out of this desert."
As much as he hated to admit it, Midoriya couldn't help but feel some relief that his own world had been restored. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week, and unlike his friends, he had a home to go back to.
Until he was sure his friends were in good hands, he'd stick around a little longer.
…
The exhausted teenagers were brought to the Watchtower for medical evaluations, and a chance to rest from their ordeal. In particular, Gwen and Julie underwent multiple checkups—the former was checked by Verdona, while the latter was scanned by Cyborg. Verdona wanted to make sure that Gwen wasn't about to revert back to being a full Anodite again, and Cyborg was curious about how her Ship had bonded to her.
That left Midoriya alone with Kevin and Jen, and all three of them were lost in thought.
"We're probably gonna take Ben's offer," Kevin said abruptly.
Jen looked at him. "How's that?"
"Well, we don't have anywhere to go back to," Kevin reminded her. "We don't really have any other options."
"At least you guys won't have to sleep in the living room," Jen said. "Ken moved out years ago, and I'm staying at my dorm at school, so our rooms are free." She paused. "Just tell Gwen and Julie not to touch my stuff."
Kevin grinned, but it was brittle. "What, don't want your stuffed animals getting dirty?"
Jen raised an eyebrow. "No, I have a special sparring robot, and it punches back hard enough for me to feel it. So unless one of you wants broken ribs, don't mess with it."
"I believe her," Midoriya said quietly, when Kevin looked at him in disbelief.
"Yeah, I'll pass," Kevin said with a wince. "Pretty sure Ken healed my broken ribs, and I don't want to go through that again."
Jen grinned, but it quickly faded as she walked over to Kevin and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're going to be okay. Not for a while, but you will be okay."
"I know, I—" Kevin choked on his own words, and Jen caught him before he collapsed into sobs.
Midoriya moved closer; not so close that he was invading Kevin's personal space, but close enough to let him know that he was there if he needed the support.
"I'm sorry," Midoriya said, his throat tight from fighting against his own tears. "It's not fair."
"That's not on you," Jen said sharply. "You had no control over which universes would make it. None of us did. We gave it our best shot, and we're alive to cry about it."
"Still doesn't feel like a win," Kevin said, once he'd regained a little composure.
Jen sighed. "Because it wasn't. We only get a win if everyone lives. Even if Luthor had been the only one to die, I couldn't really call it a win." She looked away. "Dad told me what might happen on missions like this. When universes are at stake, the best we can hope for is to limit the damage. There isn't always a way to save everyone."
Those words felt like a punch to the gut for Midoriya. Ever since he'd seen that video of All Might all those years ago, all he'd wanted to do was be a Hero that saved everyone, but it felt like he'd failed more than he'd succeeded.
He hadn't been able to save Holo-Ben.
Despite all he'd done during the raid on the Eight Precepts, he blamed himself for the deaths of Snatch and Shade Dart.
He'd failed to stop Luthor from executing Animo, and later, failed to save Luthor himself.
He had been powerless to stop Vilgax from destroying his universe. He hadn't even been good enough to die alongside the people he loved.
And now, just when he thought everything was back to normal, there were countless billions that had been erased from reality.
There had to have been a way to save everyone, but he just didn't see it.
Next time, he swore to himself. Next time there's a crisis, I will not let anyone die.
…
"Are you okay, Ben?" Kara asked.
Ben sighed. "Not really, Kara. I figured today would be a normal day; instead, I faced down Vilgax, our daughter was nearly killed, and I'm dealing with people I buried years ago."
"You don't have to be the one to help those three," Kara said, and rested her head on his shoulder. "There are a lot of people here who would be willing to take them in for a while."
"Yeah, but…" Ben sighed again. "I couldn't help my family from my universe. Maybe this is a way to put that last ghost to rest."
"It's not the same," Kara reminded him.
"I know, but I think I'll feel better anyway." Ben kissed the top of her head, and then stepped away. "I'm gonna take a quick trip back home. I'll see you back at the house. Do you mind taking our three strays with you?"
Kara nodded. "Sure thing. I'll ask Jen and Verdona to help out."
"What about Ken?"
"I think he and the new Paradox are going to take Izuku back home."
"Right, Izuku." Ben rubbed his forehead. "Man, that kid got thrown into the deep end, didn't he? At least I had a little more progression between fighting bad guys and saving universes."
Kara raised an eyebrow. "I noticed you're still not talking about Paradox."
Ben closed his eyes. "The one I knew is dead, Kara. I'm not sure I'm ready to start hanging out with his replacement yet."
"I get it." Kara gave him a quick kiss. "I'll see you at home."
…
"Thanks for this, Ken," Midoriya said, and held up his repaired hoodie and visor. "They look just like new."
"Technically, they are new," Ken said, and winked. "I reversed time around your outfit, brought it back to the way it was before you went off on your adventure."
"Not what I'd call it," Jen muttered, and then pulled Midoriya into a hug. "Thanks for being part of the team, cousin."
Midoriya returned the hug as tightly as he could, which still meant that Jen barely felt it. "Any time, cousin, but… can the next time we meet be less intense?"
Jen laughed. "We'll see."
After Jen let him go, Midoriya walked over to Gwen, Kevin and Julie. "I'm sorry. I wish I could do more."
Gwen's eyes were still puffy from crying, but her smile was genuine. "We appreciate that, but I think we'll be okay. Maybe not for a while, but we'll manage."
"Just don't go getting yourself in trouble," Kevin added. "If we have to save your sorry butt, you'll start owing us, and you won't like how high I'll run up your bill."
Midoriya grinned at him. "I'll do my best."
"Hey, Izuku?" Because of her eyes, Julie looked even worse than the others; Midoriya wondered if his own eyes made him look terrible after crying.
"Yes?"
Julie's own smile was sad as she hugged him. "I meant what I said before. You made our Ben proud. And you should be proud of yourself; I don't think we could have done all this without you."
Midoriya sighed. "It doesn't feel like I should be proud."
Julie shrugged and let him go. "Then try to do better next time."
"I will." Midoriya's gaze was steady. "I won't stop getting better until I can save everyone."
"Good attitude," Ken said, and patted him on the shoulder. "But don't forget to take some time to relax, or you won't be any help to anyone. Now, come on, let's get you home."
Midoriya swallowed nervously; he wanted nothing more than to go back to his universe and make sure that everyone he loved was okay, but at the same time, he worried that things weren't the way he remembered.
"Don't be too worried," Paradox said, as if reading his mind. "There may have been tiny alterations to your timeline here and there, but nothing so drastic that you'd notice. Well…"
"What?" Midoriya demanded. "'Well', what!?"
Paradox shrugged. "You're now in a polyamorous relationship with both Ochako and Momo."
"I'm what!?"
She managed to keep a straight face for almost two seconds, but then Paradox nearly doubled over with laughter. "Oh! Oh, your face! I don't think I've ever seen so much terror from one person before, and I visited Pompeii during the eruption!"
"Dark," Ken commented, but shrugged. "Also, yeah, that was pretty friggin' funny."
"Not to me!" Midoriya shouted with a crack in his voice.
Paradox brushed away a tear from her eye. "Don't worry, your absolutely adorable relationship with your girlfriend remains the same as it was."
Midoriya sighed, and tried to get his heartrate back down to a healthy level. "Um, you mentioned that no one remembers what happened, right?"
"Correct," Paradox said. "Mirio remembers that you were asking for his help, but as far as he recalls, you vanished right after telling him. You should fill him in, but I would be cautious in choosing who else to tell. Finding out that your entire universe died can be traumatic, even if you don't remember."
Midoriya nodded; it wasn't so much a matter of trust, but a matter of not wanting to hurt his friends and family when he didn't have to.
"Wait, does that also mean that no one remembers that I don't have a Quirk?"
Paradox nodded, and Ken patted him on the shoulder. "Dodged a bullet there, dude. Try to avoid letting anyone else in on the secret, okay? You already told more than a dozen people."
"Yeah, I don't want to think about how that could have ended." Midoriya sighed. "I think I'm ready to go home."
"Right." Paradox gestured to Ken. "If you'll bring us back, I'll stop time so that no one notices us."
"Sounds good." Ken snapped his fingers—
…
—and Midoriya found himself standing outside the Class 1-A dorm. "Wait, I was at a training exercise before I left."
"Yes, I suppose I had to do a little rearranging," Paradox admitted. "It's been a few hours since then, and your class was celebrating. As far as they know, you stepped outside for some air."
Midoriya looked around with no small amount of relief. There was no smoke, no screams, and no breaches in reality. As far as he could tell, everything really was back to normal. He reached for the door… and then paused, and looked back at Paradox.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," Midoriya said.
"For what?"
"For… for taking you from your home. For taking away your chance for a normal life. You suffered even more than my Eri, and then the Crisis happened." Midoriya blinked away tears. "I can never make that up to you."
Paradox smiled and gently hugged him. "Izuku, I'm an immortal time-traveler. I spent a thousand years healing from my trauma; now, I can travel across all of time and space to help so many others, and that's because you did what needed to be done." She saw the troubled look on Midoriya's face and gently ruffled his hair. "If you really want to clear away any self-perceived debt, there is something you can do for me."
"Anything."
Paradox pointed to the door. "Inside that dorm is your Eri. Make sure she gets to live a full life, a happy life. Make sure she knows she's loved."
"I will," Midoriya said. "I promise."
"And Heroes keep their promises." Paradox let him go and pushed him to the door. "Come on, Ken, we should be going."
"You got it." Ken gave Midoriya a two-fingered salute. "Don't forget to call every now and then, kid! You've got a few new friends on our side of the multiverse who'd like to hear from you."
"Right." Midoriya smiled. "See you later."
(Masaki Suda—Long Hope Philia, full version)
Midoriya opens the door to the dorm, and smiles when he sees the Rising Stars and the rest of his class celebrating. Eri runs up to him and hugs his leg, and he picks her up in his arms. He glanced over his shoulder, but Paradox and Ken are gone. Uraraka gets his attention with a hug and a kiss, and pulls him inside. He is quickly swarmed by his friends, who each give him a hug; he blushes when Yaoyorozu kisses the top of his head, and blinks away tears when hugging Ashido.
Later, when everyone else is sleeping in the lounge from a combination of exhaustion and good food, Midoriya carefully checks on every one of them—even Bakugo. He searches for any sign of trauma, or that they have been altered in some way by the recreation of their universe. After a while, he relents and admits to himself that Paradox was telling him the truth. He sits back down next to Uraraka, who is holding Eri in her arms, kisses both of them, and rests.
…
Jen stands over a grave, then kneels down and places a flower. She starts to walk away, but glances back at the headstone, which reads 'Alexander Luthor'. Jen sighs, then walks over to a car, which Ken is driving; she gives him a shrug, and sits in the passenger seat. She closes her eyes as Ken starts driving, and smiles as the wind blows through her hair.
…
Kara opens the door to the house, and lets Gwen, Julie and Kevin inside. The three look around for a while, but Julie freezes when she sees some pictures on the wall. She waves the others over and points at a picture of Ben, surrounded by their counterparts, and the counterparts of their dead families. Julie starts to cry, and so does Gwen; Kevin holds onto Gwen with one arm, and uses the other to wipe his eyes. Kara gently puts her own arms around Julie, who breaks down in sobs.
…
Ben stands in front of several graves, his eyes closed. On his left is Ship, who gently pats one grave; on his right is Verdona, who also has her eyes closed. Ben takes a deep breath, and then picks up Ship and puts him on his shoulder; he then hugs Verdona, and gestures behind him. Verdona nods and opens up a portal, which they all step through.
They arrive in Ben's house, and see Gwen and Kevin asleep on the couch; their eyes are still puffy from crying. Julie is sitting at the table, across from Kara; both of them are holding steaming mugs of coffee, and both are laughing softly. They see Ben, and Kara gestures from Julie to him; Julie puts her hand over her mouth and tries not to laugh harder. Ben rolls his eyes, assuming his wife is making a joke at his expense. He smiles fondly at Gwen and Kevin, the latter of whom is starting to snore, and then walks over to Kara and kisses her cheek. Julie's smile turns a little sad, but it doesn't fade; instead, she gets up and walks around the table to Ben, and hugs him.
…
Midoriya is alone in his room that night; he is exhausted, but unable to sleep just yet. He looks out through his window and up at the stars. He can almost see the faces of Jen, Kevin, Gwen, Julie, Luthor, and both Paradoxes. He then thinks about the worlds they visited, and hopes that some of them were restored. Midoriya looks down at his desk, and taps the frame of Ben's picture, and finally goes to bed.
"Next time, I'll do better," he promises.
…
In the span of no time at all, Paradox steps back from observing all of them. She has much to do, but the multiverse owes its champions much, even if no one remembers why. If all she can offer is acknowledgement of their achievement, then she offers it gladly.
She looks down at her watch; perhaps it is nostalgia, but the wristband is green, the favorite color of her favorite hero.
"It's almost time," she says quietly. "Good luck, Izuku."
Wow, a lot happened, huh? First of all… Fifty. Chapters. This is awesome, and a huge milestone for the story. Will we get to another fifty? I dunno, maybe.
So, yeah, Luthor is dead, and he ain't coming back. Neither are any of the universes that Vilgax personally destroyed. Whoops. And now UnlimitedBen has to deal with a not-dead Gwen, Kevin and Julie living in his house.
And the Ben 10 Paradox is dead. Long live Eri-Paradox! Eridox? No, that sounds like a ship name. Anyway, she's basically a Paradox with a few other tricks, but we won't see her much. If I put her into the story too often, I might get her confused with the Eri of Midoriya's universe.
But Midoriya is home! And no one remembers what happened! That's good, in my opinion, because no one should remember getting torn apart by monsters that shouldn't exist. Hooray for sidestepping trauma! Except for Midoriya, who has to live with it forever.
As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon in both eBook and physical format. If all of you bought a copy… well, I wouldn't be able to retire, but maybe the overlords at Amazon will notice me!
Another way you can support me is through my P-atreon page (link in my profile). If enough of you support me, I can quit one of my three jobs, and get more writing done. Wouldn't that be nice?
I'd like to thank the following Muffins for putting me on that path:
Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Aaron Meek, Matthias Matanovic, Red Bard, killroy225, Lokthar, Hakuryuken, Anders Lyngbye, Kristen Tyler
Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, Crazyman844
Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll
Next Chapter: Midoriya settles back into his regular life, just in time for an old mentor to ask him for a favor…
Plus Muffin!