Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

132. Nexus HWR 20-2 Zodd Part 2- Garata

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the sources of media I got my proper nouns from. Enjoy the chapter!

Nexus HWR 20.2 Zodd Part 2- Garata:

"It's like soccer but with dragons?" Ben wondered.

"Exactly," Kara replied quickly and nodded at the kid sounding like he caught on fast to the explanation of the rules.

Cisco Ramon grabbed the cloth strings on Winn's shoulders and pulled them to tighten the straps of his pack. He tugged at the top of the straps then patted down on his shoulders when he confirmed that they were not loose enough to shift around. "Looks good. Let the jetpack do most of the work for you. It's not difficult-"

"I don't plan on falling off," Winn started in response, only for Kara to give him a sideways and apologetic look. "Am I going to fall off?" Winn asked in fear. "I've seen games where none of the players fall-"

"That's not going to be this game," Chris countered Winn who looked his way and got even more nervous as Chris shook his head back at him. "They're going to be trying to knock you off from the start. Sure that jetpack will work?" Chris, or Lor-Zod, wondered at Cisco who rubbed his nose with a finger and smiled back at the Kryptonian questioning him. Chris' girlfriend behind him also looked over towards Cisco in a skeptical way, though Thara rose her eyebrows up at that look of confidence on the human's face.

"It's my own invention. I'm sure," Cisco said with a laugh. He actually sounded confident enough that Winn let out a breath of relief. Cisco added to his friend letting out that heavy exhale, "The pack will activate automatically if you reach a certain freefall-descent speed to slow you down, and it will also sense the ground if you get too close and stop you from splatting on the floor."

"Now, why'd you have to finish it like that?" Winn asked, returning to his anxious stance and tensing up when Cisco just had to use the word 'splatting' in his description of the jetpack's ability.

Cisco laughed but then looked over towards the youngest member of the team and the whole reason they were playing Garata in the first place. The kid actually looked more excited than nervous after the description of the sport, unlike the spiky-orange-haired older teenager next to him. Ichigo just looked at Ben with disdain at the kid's excitement as Kara explained to them how they would pick their dragon mounts right before the match. Cisco started, "Hey, Ben was it?" Ben looked back towards the Puerto Rican man who walked his way and lifted up another jetpack. "Take one of these. If you fall off the dragon, it'll-"

"I can fly," Ben shook his head back at Cisco and waved off the jetpack he was being offered.

Kara looked at the young boy next to her again. "You can?" She asked.

Ben floated off the ground and nodded his head after proving it. He dropped back to the floor, and he added, "If I was too weak to do that much, it would have been pretty stupid of me to approach Zod. Haha, haa…" Ben laughed but trailed off and sweatdropped as a few of the others glared at him.

"It was still stupid of you to do that," Chris muttered with a shake of his head. Ben looked towards the older man who appeared to be in his twenties and who Ben felt very grateful to. Chris frowned down at Ben though and added with a look of disbelief at the kid, "I don't know what the hell you were thinking. You're very lucky though. I wouldn't have put it past my father to kill you before you even had a chance to speak."

Ben gulped and then nodded back at Chris in a more serious but still appreciative way. "Well, I'm glad he didn't. And thank you again for stopping him. All of you," Ben looked most gratefully at Chris, but he did look around afterwards at Kara, Ichigo, and the others here with him.

---

Three Hours Ago…

Zod's right fist curled at his side as he glared down at the child he just blew through the wall. He had been on his way out of the elevator in the Zodd Tower when his ears picked up on what the kid was saying at the front desk where the lobby receptionists had been gawking in disbelief at him. Zod merely opened his mouth and blew towards the human whose disrespect towards his name had annoyed the Kryptonian King.

He was even more annoyed now though, as the boy should have smashed into the wall and then dropped to the floor inside. Ben had surrounded himself in a white aura right before colliding though, and the ki shield he put up to not break all his bones upon smashing into the wall had been what cracked the wall and made his momentum carry him through it and outside. All I did was ask where I could find Zod, Ben shook off some dirt and tried to raise up his own curled fists. What just happened? I felt like I got hit by a truck!

He was still a bit boggled over what had sent him flying through the wall. The man he saw standing in the hole in the wall flanked by several other armored Kryptonians seemed like a Kingly figure though. "Are you, Zod?" Ben asked. He already felt he knew the answer just looking into the man's dark, cold eyes, but he needed to make sure first.

Zod's right fist curled tighter. The boy who did not know the correct way to approach or speak to a King had no idea what made Zod so pissed off with him just asking that simple question. Others gawked at the kid though for the disrespect towards their King. Kara Zor-El even hesitated herself and just shook her head to one side in a regretful way, That idiot!

"Father! Wait!" A voice screamed and made Zod flinch.

Ben blinked a few times in confusion. Zod was closer to him now, and wind pushed into his face all of a sudden. I didn't even see him move! Ben thought in panic as Zod was standing out of the hole in the wall but only barely. The King of the Kryptonians glared to his left at a young man in a guard's uniform who flew forward and landed between the boy and the King who he just called 'father.' "Lor-Zod," Zod growled at the man who had a bead of sweat dripping down the left side of his face but glanced back at the boy who looked a lot more afraid like he suddenly put together that Zod almost just killed him.

I'm so not ready for this! No time to freak out now. You're in it! Ben lifted his right hand and light shimmered around his hand. He gripped around the hilt of his Keyblade that started glowing green at the end. "Cure," he said in a soft voice. Green light shimmered around his body and made the cuts on his right arm and left leg seal up. The blood on his face faded while his swollen left eye opened back to the same degree as his other eye.

Zod's eyes snapped past his son to the child's right hand and the weapon he just summoned in it. Then he glared over at a dirty-blonde woman with her hair tied back in a ponytail who rushed forward and stopped at Lor-Zod's side.

"Thara," Kara whispered at the sight of Thara Ak-Var, her best friend from back when she was growing up on Krypton, stepping up to Zod's son's right side. "Chris," Kara added with a look at the man who had stopped Zod from killing that child.

What are you doing?! You're a hero! Kara shook her head around. She got an angry look on her face directed towards her own hesitation and willingness to let what was about to happen go on just because of the boy's disrespectful attitude towards Zod. Kara dropped to her feet below where she hovered and then stepped closer herself, but Zod darted a look her direction that was ten times darker than the expression he showed his son and Chris' girlfriend. "King Zod, I am sure that child did not mean to offend," Kara began in a much more respectful tone of her own towards their King instead of just backing down when he glared towards her.

Not helping, Kara, Thara Ak-Var thought uneasily at the way their King kept glaring Kara's direction.

Oh man. Is that it? Because I didn't call him "King?" Why didn't I do like any surveillance? I should have asked around first. Maybe the receptionist would have told me I was being disrespectful, and Zod just happened to be there to hear me ask about him first. I screwed this up. What if he says no now just because of that? Ben bowed his head quickly and then dropped to a knee behind Chris whose sweatdrop slid farther down his face. "My apologies, King Zod. I didn't know how to, um, call you."

"Lor-Zod, why do you stand in my way?" Zod questioned his son whose very presence between him and the human he was about to kill challenged his authority. A lot of Kryptonians stood around them and more were gathering each second to see what looked like a very tense and serious confrontation due to the King's son standing between him and a knelt human. Ben stared nervously at the floor below his bowed head as Zod completely ignored his apology.

Lor-Zod noticed that orange-haired man from before who he helped get to their Hall of Records. The teenager was floating and wearing a black hakama, and Chris bit down harder as he felt like he had been tricked by a shinigami. Ichigo felt uneasy himself but lowered to the ground behind Kara who had been brave enough to just defend this kid to Zod. Ichigo also darted another look to that boy himself, and more specifically to the weapon he was holding now. I recognize him. Do I? I recognize that weapon at least. Some of those fighters in Metropolis had it. Ansem had it too. It's a Keyblade. Zod's eyeing it funny. It's a powerful weapon, but was this kid one of those wielding it? I don't remember him…

I do! He was there. Right at the end, he was one of the ones who got back up and protected Goku. Ichigo started sweating more as he stared at this kid who he had seen before on the complete opposite side of the planet. What the fuck is he doing here?!

"Father, I cannot allow you to kill this child," Chris began. He paused and then added quickly when his father's glare towards him got as bad as it was directed at Kara a moment ago. "What I mean, is that honor will not allow me to." He changed his phrasing to say it in a way that he felt his father would be more understandable towards. "He is one of those who saved myself and Thara from Dressrosa."

Thara spun her head and looked back at the kid kneeling behind them who also snapped his head up in surprise. Chris continued to his own surprised father, "I saw him fighting Doflamingo and his allies while I was still a toy, while all memories of me were erased from the world. They saved my life, and the life of the one I love." Chris glanced to Thara who got a more stern expression on her own face and stepped closer to him to also stand between Ben and her— hopefully soon to-be— future father-in-law.

Ben's initially defiant look had gotten very afraid when he thought of the fact that Zod had decided to kill him. Lucky! He glanced up towards the sky as if thanking heaven for the good luck he had just run into. "Thank you," Ben started to the back of the man who just explained why they came to his aid. "Both of you," Ben added to the woman he also just saw get more serious about protecting him. He stood up fully and gripped the Keyblade in his right hand tighter. "King Zod," Ben called out between the young twenty-somethings who wished he would close his mouth already. "I came here to your city, to uh, request an audience with you, to ask of you-"

"Are you serious?" Chris hissed under his breath.

Zod's eyes started glowing red while Ben called out towards him. The kid trying to get out what he came here to say now that he had a moment paled in the face as he realized Zod had not actually backed down yet from deciding to kill him. He really hates me! Or does he just hate all humans?! Oh crap, I did not take anyone's warnings seriously enough! How could a guy who's like Superman be so… Ben trailed off in his head while realizing that he just started hyperventilating on the street.

Ichigo had grabbed his Zanpakuto out of reflex when he noticed Zod's expression re-intensify as the kid tried to make his request. The kid really sounded like he thought he had been granted that audience just by the fact that Zod stood in front of him. That audience had not been granted. He was in no position to be asking King Zod anything except for his life, and even that request would likely be declined now after another show of his disrespect. Ben Tennyson was just not used to monarchies though, nor Kryptonians, nor the blatant racism that Zod had towards his entire species that he still had yet to realize was a huge part of why Zod would not even listen to him.

Zod noticed an older woman staring towards him at the front of the crowd on his left side. She had flown over and people moved to the side for her. She wore a red cloak and had slightly darker skin than her descendent who appeared tanner himself than the likes of his own light-skinned son or Kara Zor-El. Jayna-Zod gave a serious look to her grandson who frowned himself deeper without looking back at his grandmother and the cultural head of the House of Zod. The woman responsible for maintaining their traditions and history had much respect from the people around her which was clear just from the fact that they moved aside for her to approach closer to her son and family.

Zod saw the way she was looking at him. He saw it out the corners of his eyes but calmed himself down more as his son had yet to move out of his way. Lor-Zod has not backed down. He sees how stupid that human boy is being, but honor compels him… That is a good excuse to tell our people. It works out best for me. You are still being a thorn in my side, Lor-Zod. But you're giving me an out. One you want me to take. One that Jayna expects me to. Zod grit his teeth behind his frowning lips. If a King cannot keep his own family in order, how could he run a kingdom? People would lose respect for such a King always at odds with his own son! The King's scowl darkened as he glared between his son and Chris' girlfriend to the human whose face finally showed the fear that belonged on his expression.

Zod is a warrior King. He does not accept challenges to his authority well. This could accelerate quickly, if it's only Chris in Zod's way. Kara took in a deep breath.

Before the foolish El girl can act! Zod hated that he was being pressured, but this was about to get to a point where he would be unable to accept anything other than an absolute annihilation of his challengers. "If he truly saved your life, I will spare his," Zod relaxed his tense stance while refacing his son alone. "Now he is spared. Your debt is repaid."

Chris got a much more hesitant look on his face. Based on Ben's actions so far, he had no faith that Ben was not going to do something else to cause Zod to want to kill him, which he would be unable to defend a second time as he had already repaid what he owed.

Ichigo remembered Chris telling him how he was fairly new at his job of being a guard. I've heard of Dressrosa. That's where Goku landed when he arrived on this continent. He's the one who beat that Doflamingo guy, from what I heard…

Zod phrased his mercy as he did to tell Chris that if the boy pushed it then nothing was going to stop him next time. He did that to demand respect, and because it was the easiest way for an out that no one realized he was actually searching for himself now. Not even Jayna noticed when she relaxed as her grandson seemed to accept his grown son's request. That was because King Zod understood enough about the world outside of the Kryptonian city that he always pretended not to care much about. One thing that could catch his attention from the outside though was the name of the man who had fought him and his first lieutenants who he recruited on Nexus back on Awul. New close allies had replaced the ones he lost that day, and some had been with him inside his tower at his back who now stood in the hole in the wall glaring darkly at the group on the street who they were still ready to kill if their King gave the order.

It is widely known that Son Goku killed Doflamingo, Zod thought while analyzing what to do in this situation now. He did not seem like a man to kill his enemies. I would have gone there myself to execute Doflamingo afterwards for altering my memories of my own son. I did not immediately go to fight Son Goku with my new power, because of that same reason. Returning memories of my son to me was a gift from the Super Saiyan that I would not repay with death. I may not be superstitious myself, but that action would have surely invoked some sort of karma on my House. Or at least, many of our people would have felt that way.

Zod hummed to himself while considering his options here. He was not looking at the boy though who thought better of trying a third time when everything he had said so far seemed to make Zod want to kill him. At least the Wizard King gave us a chance. This is insane! Ben could see people all around him who looked like they would have just stood there and watched him get killed.

As he glanced around, he suddenly noticed the taller man in a black hakama who stood there behind the blonde-haired woman closer than any of the other Kryptonians had been willing to get other than Chris and Thara. That looks like… Who is that? Ben turned his head more and stared at the shinigami who really wished the boy had not just drawn more attention to him. That's one of those shinigami. Like the guys at the Resistance HQ. And Zoro. And one other- I knew it! Ben had struggled to remember where he had seen one before after recognizing the outfits and strange auras he could sense from Ikkaku and Yumichika. I couldn't put my finger on it before. I know this guy though. "You're," Ben began softly, before freezing up and gulping, darting a look back Zod's direction to see if just addressing someone else right now was going to get him executed.

Kara glanced back at Ichigo who frowned deeper himself rather than try to back off from getting involved. Am I going to just let this kid get killed? Ichigo thought of another boy who was not much older than Ben. He pictured the kid with spiky white hair who came to his school, who visited him at home, and who he saw after the Battle of Metropolis too. Had I helped him earlier, I could have made a difference in the fight. I could have gone with Trunks to confront Tetsuo rather than pretend it had nothing to do with me. I, could have stopped him from killing Trunks. Saved them both. But I ignored that kid.

"You should have helped me."

He had been angry when he saw the kid after the battle, as he walked around the ruins of the city he helped build. He had blamed the kid even. All Ichigo could imagine now though were the streaks of tears that he saw on the boy's face before that kid grabbed him by his shirt and threw him down the block. I'm going to regret getting involved here, Ichigo thought. But this kid's traveling with Goku. He's probably a hero like him. I can't just let Zod kill him. Ichigo blew some air out of his lips then gripped his sword tighter and glanced towards Zod who glared darker towards him now too.

"I recognize you, shinigami," Zod stated while looking towards the young man standing next to Kara. Ichigo really wished Zod had not remembered but tried to keep any expression of showing that dashed hope from his face. "It seems quite a lot of fighters from Awul have made their way to our continent as of late. What are you doing in my city?" He got to the point and asked it bluntly to the teenager who froze up as he noticed Kara tense next to him.

I don't think I can answer that. Ichigo wished he had an excuse at the ready and just glanced next to him at Kara. I came to visit her. Is that not a lie now? I came to tell her something. If I say that, Zod will want to know what it is! Just be vague. Ichigo opened his mouth. "To lie to a King in his own city would be a death sentence," Zod informed the teen whose mouth froze wide open.

This is so intense! Ben wanted to be anywhere but there at this moment. When was Zod on Awul? How does he recognize the shinigami? Does that shinigami guy remember me from the Battle of Metropolis? The pressure in the air is so thick I can taste it!

"I didn't, come with them," Ichigo started. "I just came, King Zod, to see Kara…"

Zod had not killed him yet which was a good sign. The King glared back towards the younger boy who gulped at Zod's glare past the Kryptonians still standing between them. Zod thought as he examined them, The taller one is hiding something but not lying about what he said either. "With them." He also thinks this boy came with Son Goku. One of the "companions" of Son Goku, like the one who killed Sozin. It would be unwise to just kill the boy out of mild annoyance at his disrespect and audacity. The action would surely create far more enemies who actually pose a threat to this city. That weapon he holds is also something I believe has importance, so I will not kill him… but that does not mean I have any reason to listen to him either.

"Leave my city at once," Zod ordered them. He glanced back at the broken wall of Zodd Tower and frowned darker at the damage done by smashing that boy through the building.

The dark look he gained from reminding himself of the damage made most of those who had come close to Ben lose their relieved looks. It appeared like Zod might go back on what he just said at any second, and Ben felt sweat cover his face. He started sweating that badly, because he did not start moving yet. What are you doing? You're an idiot! Ben closed his eyes and ground his teeth in frustration.

Why did you come here? Was your motivation that weak? Are you such a coward that a few angry looks and words and you lose all that conviction?! Ben's green eyes snapped open, and they widened even more as he met Zod's gaze past the two younger Kryptonians who looked back at him with stupefied expressions that he would open his mouth again. "I cannot, King Zod. I need to ask something of you."

Zod had stared straight into the boy's eyes as he said that. Ben looked him right back in his eyes and held his ground, even though he looked like he really would have rather been anywhere else. If only I had the Omnitrix. I could turn into a Kryptonian and maybe this would have gone better. Or maybe he would have executed me for impersonating one. Who knows? Ben grimaced deeply but held firm. I'll never get another chance to ask. It needs to be now. "I don't necessarily care what happens to you or your friends, but there is one other person you might consider asking for help… I doubt it will do you much good asking him for help, might even get you killed, but if you're looking for a way to beat the Ant King, go right ahead and try it." Cartman sucks. He's a shitty person. And even he said that I might get killed here, but I have to try. If no one tries, nothing will happen. Grandpa, this is the right thing to do. I know it's what you'd be proud of me for sticking to.

Kara's fists balled at her sides. She saw the determined look on that kid's face, and the news she just heard back in her apartment echoed in her head. What would Clark do? He was the one who made friends with Goku. I barely know him. All other Saiyans I met since him and his son were savages. I couldn't even believe that Son Goku was the legendary Super Saiyan, while the others were murderous pigs. But, that's what most people see of us. All of us Kryptonians, killing outsiders for no reason! Supergirl thought of Superman's costume that she had based her own off of. She pictured the silhouette of the broad-shouldered man she had come to Earth to protect while he was still a baby. Kara had arrived so late through the time warp that he had already become a grown man by the time of her arrival though, turning into her older cousin instead. This boy from Awul clearly didn't think of us like that. He knew Superman. That's why he's here. That was the Kryptonian he grew to know on this world and believed us to be like.

I won't let him down, Clark.

"King Zod, perhaps what the boy has to ask is important," Kara suggested. "If he is this willing to put his life on the line to ask you it?" She rose her tone near the end suggesting that Zod was being too rash in not even listening to the boy who just risked his life to ask a third time for an audience. "He does not appear insane, I don't think." Kara hesitated on that while darting another look towards the human boy who she had decided to protect, whatever that was going to cost her now.

"I'm not," Ben assured her. I want to just shout it out. That will sound silly though. It won't come off as serious. I need a real audience. I need Zod's respect and a chance to approach him about this. He did not just start asking his question this time while looking back at Zod. He said he needed to stay and ask his questions, but he was not just shouting them out this time which Zod would definitely use as an excuse to kill him.

The King had given him many chances. His son and the girl his son claimed to love continued to stand in his way, and now Kara Zor-El was there as well. Several of Zod's commanders and closest followers came out of Zodd Tower behind him and stood behind their King in a line of five who were ready to hold back those few defenders while Zod executed the boy. "I came here, with no knowledge of Zodd- the city. Across the entire world," Ben told the man he looked back at. "King Zod, what I have to ask you is of the utmost importance."

"To you," Zod remarked at the insolent child who was at least sounding respectful now. Other than refusing to leave the city immediately, the boy was being less frustrating than a minute ago. He looked down at the human child. "It is important, to you," he reiterated. "Your problems are not my own."

Ben held his tongue instead of calling out right away that it was. He needed to not be disrespectful. Interrupting the King was a sure-fire way of getting a fist through his chest. "I believe, this problem is something that affects you," Ben countered. "If you would grant me an audience, I could explain to you- I could, explain my opinion, of why that is important to you, I think." Ben panicked in fear that 'explain to you' might make it sound like he was accusing Zod of not understanding the situation.

A few more of the Kryptonians who were initially just watching in disdain and expecting their King to execute the boy started feeling bad for the scared kid trying this hard just to ask their King a question. Zod's refusals were starting to sound more stubborn to people glancing back and forth at each other and wondering just what exactly the boy thought was so important that he would risk his life for it. Murmurs of 'Son Goku' reached Zod who had super-hearing like everyone else, so they all had heard that name and knew that this boy was a companion of his. The Kryptonians who had known peace for so long were feeling more hesitant now about their King starting a war with the legendary Super Saiyan, when their last war against the Saiyans had gone so horribly.

Kara moved closer to Ben who she wondered at herself, "What do you need to ask that's so important? And why is King Zod, the only one who can help you with it?" Kara wanted to take this problem off of Zod's hands at once. It felt like the easiest way to defuse the situation. Let me take the problem of the humans into my hands. It's something that annoys you about me anyway, right? That way you can go on with ignoring this, and I can still be a hero. Win-win, Zod. Just let it go!

"Yeah, kid," Ichigo started in a low voice, not wanting to speak up too loudly in the presence of Zod. "Just back down already and let's leave the city like he offered us," Ichigo scolded, emphasizing 'offer' to remind the boy how Zod could easily decide to take back that offer and just return to executing him. "We'll help you out."

"It can't be you. Only someone as strong as Z- King Zod," Ben caught himself and gulped as he nearly got himself killed again. He panted a few times then finished in a lower voice, "Has a chance, to help me. Help us all."

"I will help you," Kara started to the boy. "Not that I am as strong as King Zod," she continued quickly as she noticed Faora glaring at her. One of Zod's lieutenants who was a villain she faced before back on her own world had tensed up at Kara's offer that sounded almost like she was suggesting she might be on par with their King's ability. "But I will help you, if it is that important. I've fought alongside Goku before. You're his friend, right?"

Kara added that reminder mainly to the others considering killing the kid who she felt had no idea the amount of danger he was in right now. Ben slowly nodded while looking back at her. "Who, are you?" He wondered at the woman who had come to protect him without any excuse of being honor-bound like the other two Kryptonians who had.

"I am Kara Zor-El," she told the boy whose eyes bulged for a second. Then he quickly darted a look back towards Zod as he felt if he ignored the King for too long it might be another reason why he was killed. King Zod was just glaring towards Kara himself though with his fists curled tightly in anger at her attempts to make the situation better, when he was supposed to be in control of this situation. "Superman's cousin," she added to the boy from Awul. She thought he might be more willing to just accept her offer if he knew of Superman's strength and compared hers to it in his head.

Ben's eyes remained huge at what she told him. He recognized the name already, but the extra addition afterwards stunned him for a moment. Then his face scrunched up. "I'm sorry, for your loss," he told her with a regretful expression on his face.

Kara froze. Ichigo froze. Zod froze. Chris and Thara froze. All the other Kryptonians staring towards the boy tensed up and stared towards him in shock. Chris turned his head and looked back and down at the boy in disbelief before seeing that expression on his face that looked truly sorry about what he just said. Kara's eyes were shaking though as she stared at the boy. Not because of the horrible news that Ichigo had already given her, but because of the armored King and his similarly armored forces in the left corner of her peripheral vision who all reacted upon hearing what Ben just said. Oh shit, Kara thought.

Ben took a few seconds to realize it. He watched as Kara started turning her head to the left though. He looked that way himself, and his skin paled and his jaw dropped. "Oh man," he muttered aloud. What did I just do?

The right corner of Zod's lips lifted up while he stared into Kara Zor-El's eyes. "Kal-El is dead?" Zod wondered. His head tilted back smugly and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Kal-El?"

"Is the boy serious?"

"You knew this, didn't you?" Zod wondered towards Kara who pulled her own head back.

Chris glared towards Kara himself in anger. Ichigo shook his head though next to her, and King Zod hummed while nodding in understanding. Chris also realized why exactly this shinigami had shown up in the city looking for Kara. His anger that was rising at Kara lying to him by not telling him sooner, mixed with his anger at the shinigami for whatever reasons he had to sneak into the city, faded away as the sorrow just covered them up. He felt a hand on his right arm and glanced to his side to see Thara looking softly at him and holding his arm tightly.

Ben glanced around and noticed mixed reactions from the Kryptonians surrounding him. The armored leaders behind Zod all smirked a lot more noticeably than their leader who kept his smug reaction to a minimum. Most other civilians did not look distraught, but they did not look happy either. The loss of one of their own was not something they celebrated, even if he was the King's foe. Zod spoke again in a booming voice, "I thank you, human boy. For telling me of the demise of my long-time enemy, Kal-El."

"Enemy?" Damn it, so Superman and this guy aren't alike! Ben thought while biting down behind pursed lips. That makes sense. He's smiling about Superman's death! This is so bad. I came to a super-villain to ask for help. At least Superman's cousin is here. I, I guess I could ask her? She's not as strong as Zod though. Could she actually beat Meruem? I am in so over my head.

"My King-" Kara began.

"You, quiet," Zod snapped at the woman he glared at with no restraint in his eyes. Kara froze up but balled her fists in anger and tried to keep her own cool despite Zod and his followers smiling about Superman's death.

Chris lifted his dark and saddened look as well and replaced some of his own sorrow with rage. Some of these Kryptonians' looks made Ben's heart drop. I should have taken Zod's offer and left! Ben felt the tension that he had been able to taste around him get so much thicker this time that it was squeezing his chest.

Zod had gained a more thoughtful look like the news he just received had just changed everything. "I allowed you to stay here. To bring your human husband here. You tried to hide Kal-El's demise from me though, Kara Danvers." Zod scowled her human name with disgust in it. He sounded like he was getting somewhere along the lines of punishment for that deception too.

"She just learned of it," Chris countered his father. His respectful tone had left as he retorted that in just a darker voice to the man who glared back at his son who also used a human first and last name most of the time. Ichigo did not know where this change in attitude from the guard came from, but Chris said in a lower tone to his father, "We all did. We should mourn first, before doing anything."

"'Mourn?' For the Kryptonian who abandoned our people for the humans?" Zod scoffed, though his tone grew darker as he narrowed his eyes down at his son. "For the man whose family led our people into the foolish war against the Saiyans and dwindled our race to a fraction of the population who arrived here on Nexus? Seyg-El and Jor-El led our people to disaster, and Kal-El was even worse as a traitor to our people. His kin are all sour, Lor-Zod, and that is clear now more than-"

"My name, is Chris, Kent." Lor-Zod countered his father in a tone that silenced the block.

The city was quiet. Ben held his breath. What was Superman's real name?! Crap! That's what Conner said his last name was. Superboy, was a clone of Superman though, right? Is this Chris his real son? Did I just tell him his father got killed?! Or just another relative? I am so lost.

Clark, I really wish you were here right now, Ichigo thought. He reminded himself a second later, Though, if you were still around, I wouldn't have come here in the first place.

Thara noticed a glare boring into the side of her head. She darted a look to her right while several sets of eyes were staring to glow dim red colors in all directions. More guards had arrived and were looking ready to join in with King Zod and the other leaders of their city around him. They were vastly outnumbered here, and Lor-Zod's statement towards his own father was something that the King would not be allowed to let go at this point. Thara looked towards the edge of the crowd at Chris' great-grandmother who gave her a single look that told her that Jayna would give her an assist.

"Why don't," Thara began. She lifted her right hand as a defensive palm in front of her. "We settle this in Garata?" Chris darted a look to his right side while still with muscles tensed and his fists balled at either side. Kara's eyes were glowing red, and they had just darted towards her own building where Winn and Cisco had come out of along with Ichigo's human body that was somehow running on its own without his soul.

Ben looked confusedly at Thara while sweat continued to pour down his face as he stood in the middle of Kryptonians about to brawl over the death of Superman. What the heck is Garata?

"There are so few of us Kryptonians left," Jayna spoke up, stepping forward from the crowd into the middle of the street evenly between Zod and his own son. A woman related to both men staring each other down stepped forward, not directly between them, but close enough that it looked like she was standing in the middle. "We are above ritual combat or the likes. Whatever issues we have, let us allow them to be settled in a more civilized way."

"Garata?" Ichigo whispered under his breath for Kara whose red eyes dimmed only a bit while seeing Zod glance to his grandmother in a serious way without losing his own hostile expression.

"The national sport," Kara whispered under her own breath in response to the replacement shinigami who still did not understand really. Which Thara is very good at, Kara reminded herself, thinking that this was a terrible idea but at least humoring it in her head for a second.

Thara also knew that besides being great at the sport herself, her boyfriend's father was a huge fan. Take the bait. Please, King Zod. Even if you're totally justified at this point, you'll turn people against you if you kill us all. Thara darted a look back towards Kara after seeing an interested look spreading on Zod's face as he imagined how this would work. He was about to banish you from the city. Maybe this can stop it! "Let us set stakes, King Zod. Please, let us organize a match in order to decide how we settle this."

The most level-headed of them, Zod thought with a look at the younger woman who was the only one who did not look ready to go toe-to-toe with him right now. My own son is strong. Bull-headed and strong, and he picked a good counterweight.

My father won't be for that, Chris thought to himself while continuing to glare at King Zod. My biological father, Chris corrected his own thoughts. Superman took me in. He made me see the errors of your ways. You claimed to want peace for our people, but this is who you are. A murderer. Evil. Joyous in the news of Superman's death!

Zod was not as against the idea as his son thought he would be. He did take news of Superman's death with glee, but he finally paused to consider what he was doing after immediately adjusting life based on that news alone. Banishing Zor-El's daughter without giving her the illusion of a fair chance, would make it appear that I had solely allowed her presence here in fear of Kal-El. That was not true. It was to maintain peace. Maintain power, by keeping my enemies close. Her presence in this city was a constant reminder to Kal-El that he was not needed here. Allowed him to stay in Metropolis with his beloved humans.

"You should have come straight to me with that news, as soon as you heard it," Zod told Kara who he glared back towards after the interruptions of his future daughter-in-law and his grandmother. "Instead, I can see that you wished to hide it from me. Treasonous action. Not at all becoming of one who claims to be a 'journalist,' to hide the news," Zod mocked her and her supposed profession. "And you, son, are clearly in distress by this sudden news. So I will allow your slip of the tongue, rather than have you exiled. And I will even allow Kara Zor-El's punishment to only include the banishment of her human 'husband,' instead of including her as well. These would be your rewards. Just as I will reward those two disrespectful humans with their lives. A final chance, to leave our city with their lives."

Being merciful, or showing a guise of mercy, will make it easier on me than killing these people with little reason. I can get it done easier and with fewer consequences if I don't just act like a dictator. That wasn't just because of Kal-El. Too many Kryptonians from too many universes are here. I must remain cautious, even if I can be less so now with Kal-El's timely demise. Zod saw the looks of frustration, stress, and worry, fading off the faces of his people. Excitement was spreading through the crowd instead. "Very well then!" Zod yelled out. His top soldiers behind him eased up their angered expressions to instead get smug themselves. "You can defend yourselves in a game of Garata. Your defeat will mean exile and death. Victory, and the humans may leave with their lives, the Kryptonians may stay and have their punishments acquitted…"

King Zod nearly flew forward in that second to strangle the boy who looked so frustrated but opened his mouth anyway. Zod was not going to let the kid ask the question first, and he relented to include, "And I will hear you out, companion of Son Goku. For whatever imagined reason you believe to be so pertinent."

Ben froze with his mouth open. His heart rate pounded ten times faster at the sound of that offer. "Thank you, King Zod!" Ben exclaimed. He bowed his head respectfully and smiled wide. I just need to win a game! How hard can that be?

---

Present

"Don't thank us yet," Kara said with a frown at the boy who lowered his own grateful smile at the group who were about to play this crazy sport on his team. He looked at her confusedly and Kara shook her head back and forth, "Thara and I used to play this as kids, but for me it's been nearly two decades since I've played."

"I've played a lot more," Thara admitted. "But Kara's right, Ben. You shouldn't be thanking us. I'm great at Garata. You know who's better though? The professional teams. Do you think King Zod's going to be out here to face us himself?" She wondered at the boy whose look started to get a lot more nervous about this.

"He'll just ask the best players of the top teams to back his side," Chris grumbled. "And tell the rest not to join us even if we ask them to help."

"No one's going to stand against the King," Kara said, like only an idiot would do that. She doubted Zod would even have to tell the other pros not to join their side. She again glared at Ben who nodded back at her apologetically.

"I'm, sorry too," Ben added after a second. "I didn't know that blurting that out was going to get you exiled. I really, didn't know-"

Kara relaxed her upset expression at the kid who really did have no idea what he was doing when he gave her his condolences. "It's alright. Thank you, for what you said," she added as she did not want to be so ungrateful for how the boy had told her he was sorry for Superman's death. "He was a great guy. My cousin," she continued while lifting a smile at the kid, "would have appreciated it."

"He was my hero," Ben admitted softly. "Gohan really admired him. Told me all about him."

"You know Gohan too?" Supergirl wondered back at him.

Ben nodded at her a few times. "He's, one of my best friends. We're neighbors back home. Luthor, Lex Luthor," Ben paused for a second as Kara's face soured and he saw Ichigo behind her glancing their way. Ben nodded as he understood that she already knew about him. "He killed my grandfather, and Gohan's mother; Goku's wife. ChiChi was pregnant too, when the bomb went off." Kara and Ichigo stared down towards the boy who the others in the room all looked towards in shock to hear this too. "We fought Luthor because of our own families, but we saw what he did to Superman too." Ben forced up a small smile despite almost tearing up just talking about that horrible day in Pao. He assured Kara with a strong nod, "When we fought him, it was also for Superman's sake. People saw how Luthor killed him, and it's why he lost that day. Why we managed to kick him out of Metropolis. It was thanks to Superman," Ben told her with a brighter smile as he believed that would make her feel better to hear.

Kara stared at the kid in front of her with huge eyes that he would say all that. She looked towards Ichigo to see if what was just said was true. Ichigo was staring at the boy in surprise himself for a few seconds, but he looked back to Kara when he saw her staring at him. He lifted a small smile of his own and gave her a nod. "Yeah, it was thanks to Clark that Luthor didn't win. We might not have killed him," Ichigo took in a deep breath. He had been hesitant about describing their 'victory' earlier when he thought on the battle, but hearing the way this kid thought of their fight in Metropolis, he was reminded by what those fighters told Lex Luthor at the end. "But Luthor lost. Thanks to Goku, and his friends."

Ben looked towards the spikier-haired guy who he knew was also there fighting that day. He decided to just accept what Ichigo said though and nodded back at the man who had not fought by his side against the Underworld bases before that final battle, so he was unsure really what to think of him. He was fighting alongside Timmy and the Super Saiyans though. He has to be close to their level of strength, which is great, because I'm definitely not right now.

"If no one else joins our team, we aren't going to have enough players," Thara mentioned. She looked towards Cisco who grimaced but crossed his arms apologetically a second later.

"Wish I could, really do," Cisco started. Thara frowned at him for the answer, but Kara gave him an understanding look. He continued, "I'll be rooting for you for sure, but I'd lose all my contracts if I join up. The Resistance needs the funds. And it needs me to trade up for the tech the Rens sell in Zodd. It's taken a while to get my credentials here."

"You're Resistance?" Ben asked in surprise towards the guy who glanced back then tilted his head to the side and nodded.

Cisco cracked a small smirk while looking at this kid who was apparently one of the companions of Son Goku who everyone had been talking about. "You don't happen to know Natsu Dragneel, do you?" Cisco wondered.

"Natsu?" Ben wondered. "Yeah. Do you know him?"

Cisco shook his head back and forth while noting to himself that Ben's reaction showed he was on a first-name basis with Natsu. "Nah, I don't know him." Cisco turned to Winn who gave him a confused look, and he cupped a hand to his mouth and mentioned quietly, "The guy who killed the Fire Lord."

Winn started nodding his head. He eyed Ben a bit more anxiously though while the others just continued getting ready. "Thara's right," Kara mentioned. "We still need a seventh to play."

"You don't think anyone else will volunteer to help us?" Ben wondered. He looked around hoping someone there would have a friend who could help them. "What about your sister?" Ben asked. Kara froze. Ben tensed up then said quickly as Kara turned suspiciously towards him, "Sorry! I ran into this woman named Alex and a guy called Danny on my way here. When you told me your name before, I was surprised to meet you. She hadn't told me that you were Superman's cousin, only that I should find you and ask for your help…"

Ben lifted a hesitant smile again after bringing that up. "But, you helped me anyway. I went straight to Zod because I was impatient-"

"Super hearing, Ben," Kara scolded him with a reminder. "You're in the same city. Call him King Zod. He'll fire his heat vision through the wall and cut you in half if you're not careful." She sounded upset at him but realized she scared him as Ben's face paled thinking he almost just got himself killed again. Kara rubbed the side of her head. "Alex told you to find me? What was she doing letting you come here?"

"They tried to stop me," Ben admitted. "I wouldn't listen."

"Yeah, you don't seem like the type of person to listen to anyone," Chris muttered in frustration about this whole situation. "What is so important that you need to ask my father it anyway?"

Everyone there suddenly realized that they had no idea what this kid was in the city for and why he had gone so far. Ben opened his mouth, but Thara snapped first, "Guys. Come on. We need two more people?" She reminded them, as they kept getting off topic here.

Kara frowned but nodded her head in agreement that figuring out what Ben had come for could wait for later. Either he gets a chance to tell Zod himself, or I'll ask him after I have to escape with him later before he can be executed. That will be tough. We really just need to win this game. Especially if what he needs to ask is actually as important as he thinks it is. She took in and let out a deep breath. "Well, Alex won't be able to make it here any time soon. Definitely not inside the hour. No one currently in Zodd is going to risk getting exiled just to help us either, when it's definitely been spread around by now that the King was well within his right to banish us."

"Did, no one here, think of Superman as…" Ben started hesitantly. He felt weird that none of the Kryptonians had cared about Superman enough that only the ones with him now had gotten angry about what the King had said before.

"Hahh," Supergirl sighed and scratched the back of her head. "It's not that," she assured him. "In fact, the King's propaganda about Kal-El didn't work for most people here. Everyone knows how much he hated Clark, but a lot of the reasoning he used for why everyone else should hate him was his own hate of humans, which not all Kryptonians share. Most of our people think of Superman as a hero too."

"Then, why is Zod King? Is it just because of how strong he is?" Ben wondered.

Chris glanced back disbelievingly at the kid between him and Ichigo who also looked at Ben like he was an imbecile for still talking about this while Zod could possibly hear him. Kara sighed again though at the boy who just was not careful enough. She had to accept that already and just protect him from what that carelessness could bring. She also wanted to explain this to him anyway, "No. In fact, Kal-El once wanted to fight King Zod because of how Zod was taking over the Kryptonian population as the new ruler. I would have stood with him, but Superman learned that most of our people wanted Zod as a ruler and that it was not a hostile takeover."

Ben started nodding slowly, and Ichigo listened closely too as he did not know any of this and wanted to be educated. Kara glanced at him when she saw Ichigo listening closely, as was the twin human body of Ichigo that she eyed for a second. She continued to his shinigami form though and the younger boy more to her left, "King Zod ended the war with the Saiyans by killing the Saiyan King Vegeta. Clark said to me that the people wanted Zod to lead, and who was he to argue with democracy?"

Is that Vegeta's father? He calls himself the Saiyan Prince, so that makes sense. Wonder if he knows? Ben just nodded along with Kara's explanation, even though Thara got more annoyed behind Supergirl at yet another distraction. Thara looked up towards a clock on the wall and grimaced to see how much time they had left until kickoff.

"I hated Tetsuo though," Kara continued, sounding like she was finishing her explanation while at the same time making Ben look at her in surprise to bring that up. "I couldn't stand being on the council in Metropolis any longer. I hadn't even been there long myself. When the Legion of Evil attacked, all of Metropolis' council, and the Super Saiyans and Z Fighters, fought together. Tetsuo unleashed his full power and killed Darkseid, most of our enemies, and most of our allies too." Kara's voice got much darker and she looked towards Ichigo who grimaced and then looked away thinking of the insanity of that day. "Including many of my friends. J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, looked after my sister and I. He was a great friend, and hero, and even though Tetsuo had been forced into that corner, I couldn't stand looking at him. Listening to his childish rants-"

"Kara," Winn started in a low voice as he noticed a red glow coming to her eyes.

She was so angry thinking back on him now, especially knowing that he never did change like Clark always told her he could. "I hated him, but Clark believed that Zod might be changing just like he thought Tetsuo could. He believed that he had to stay close to Tetsuo like Trunks in order to keep him under control. I decided to be here and watch King Zod, for similar reasons," Kara opened up her curled fists and relaxed herself to the best of her abilities. You can't let yourself get exiled here. This is important! More-so now than ever now that Clark's dead.

She stayed here to watch Zod, but mainly because she needed to get out of Metropolis, Ichigo thought. He remembered back when the Metropolis council was at the smallest size back after the fight against the Legion of Evil. They didn't want me to retire from the council. I didn't want to stay, but right after losing so many of the others it was hard to leave right away. Until Gin showed up, making it much easier to just slip into obscurity. Kara couldn't wait for any more help to come though. She was just, so angry. Every meeting in the days after was Tetsuo and Kara snapping at each other with everyone else getting in between them. But it was his city. He created the islands that we squabbled on. He started the government that we all helped him with. It was clear they couldn't remain together, but also clear who had to go.

"So, are we going to play two members down?" Chris wondered after listening to all this. He knew Kara pretty well, so he did not interrupt her, but he was frowning when she looked back at him and saw he was annoyed by how much time they were wasting. Her friend Thara frowned at her deeply too, and Kara just glanced back towards the one questionable person remaining in the room. They had gathered here in the basement of the Zodd Central Stadium where the Garata matches were played, and there were eight of them there but only 6 on the team so far after Winn volunteered to join them.

"The King probably wouldn't allow it," Thara answered her boyfriend's question. "And whoever the two extras he adds onto our team are, will throw the game intentionally. Or at least won't try to win," she added, as throwing the game might make a mockery of the event and anger King Zod even more. "What about you?" Thara asked towards the spiky-orange-haired teenage human who tilted his head to the side then pointed his thumbs at himself in shock that someone was talking to him.

Kon looked towards Ichigo and then brought a hand up to his mouth and twisted it a few times questioningly. Ichigo grit his teeth but nodded his head at the Modified Soul that then motioned unlocking his lips and unzipping them. Kon gasped out as if he had been holding his breath the entire time that he had zipped his lips, after Ichigo threatened to capsule him should he speak again after they were back on the road and Zod gave them murderous looks for Kon's loud shout when he ran up to Ichigo earlier. Kon gasped out then stuck a thumbs up at Thara, "I would love to-"

"Absolutely not," Ichigo said. "He's going to get my body destroyed," he explained to the others who wondered why Ichigo was so against it.

"What?! Give me a jetpack and it will be fine, Ichigo!" Kon exclaimed. He ran up to the separated soul of the body he was controlling, and he started begging Ichigo to be allowed to play with them.

"He's not taking this seriously. Kon won't be any more help than Kryptonians trying to throw the game," Ichigo argued.

"That's not true! I can be very serious. I don't want to die either, Ichigo," Kon told the teen who hummed and glanced back in an unsure way at him. "I promise, everyone! I'll play soccer on a dragon's back better than any Mod-Soul ever has!"

You'll be the first Mod-Soul to ever do it, Ichigo countered with an annoyed thought.

"So we have our seventh," Kara said with a nod. Ichigo looked towards her uncertainly, while Kon spun her way with a lot of excitement on his face that looked just like Ichigo's. She continued, "We don't have other options here. We have to take what we can get. Don't underestimate how much the King will do to make this less a challenge and more just his way of doing whatever he wants with us. I'm sure he only gave us any options in the first place because he knows the actual Garata players likely won't lose to us."

"You, don't think we have a chance?" Ben wondered.

"You don't even know the rules," Chris said with a shake of his head. "Are you really confident that we'll win?"

"I mean, if we believe in ourselves?" Ben suggested back to the man who gawked at him for that response. Ben shrugged his shoulders though at that look. I need to listen to Sora more. We all trusted him to lead us, and I feel like that's the answer Sora would have given. Ben cracked a smile and got back into the idea of riding a dragon and playing sports in front of a huge crowd here in the city of Kryptonians. This is a mission I gave myself. Whatever it takes to get Zod to listen to me, I'm going to do it! If I need to win a game of Garata for that to happen, then that's what I'm going to do!

"You really mean that," Kara whispered while looking towards the kid whose confidence was not feigned like a few of the others assumed it was.

"Of course," Ben replied. He took in a deep breath then added, "If we're all flying on dragons, it's not like you Kryptonians will be that much faster than us, right?" Ben looked to Winn who nodded his head, as he had seen Garata matches before and knew that he did not have to compete with Kryptonian speed here. "Besides their skill level, it's not like the match is unfair."

"It's true, flying is not allowed in the match," Thara admitted. "I'll play goalie, as well," she added. Kara frowned but nodded in agreement with her friend. "They're going to be shooting a lot of shots on goal, and it has to be one of us Kryptonians for that. I've got the best maneuverability on Frisco's back."

"Frisco's, your dragon?" Ben asked slowly, using context clues and then nodding himself when he saw Thara give him an affirmative nod. "Alright! So we have our amazing goalie."

"She would have also been our best offensive player, or defensive," Chris added to the kid as this was not something to be excited about. "Our dragons won't know us like Frisco knows her, and like the rest of the Garata players' mounts will know them. Since we can't fly, you have to rely on your dragon coming back to you and catching you while you fall. You have to hope it swoops to you, or lands next to you once you land down on the ground, so try not to fall off if your mount doesn't grow attached to you right away when we get out there."

"Picking your dragon is important," Thara said, adding on to what her boyfriend was just saying. "Try to find that connection before you get up there, because once you've picked, you won't be able to sub out later."

Kon nodded his head thoughtfully. "Ahh, I see," Kon said in a serious tone. Ichigo grimaced deeper and glanced sideways suspiciously at the Mod-Soul in his body who he doubted was actually paying any attention.

"Only got fifteen minutes here before dragon selection starts," Thara continued on. "So, we got an eighth or no?" She was not expecting one at this point, and Cisco looked even more guilty now that they were in crunch time and the idea of a purposely-bad Kryptonian joining their side had been floated out there.

Winn hesitated as he opened his mouth with an idea on his mind. Kara looked back at him though and stared at him curiously for that. "Maybe, we do know someone," he suggested to her. Kara tilted her head to the side wondering what he meant before slowly opening her eyes huge.

"Really? And they can get here on time?" Chris wondered.

"Instantly, probably," Winn replied in an apologetic tone.

That response confirmed who he was talking about to Kara. "No. Absolutely not," Kara snapped. Her refusal was an even quicker and harsher rejection than Ichigo's initial one against Kon's participation.

"Ohhh. Well," Cisco realized it as well and paused but then tilted his head to the side admittedly. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"It definitely is," Kara countered him.

"You're all getting kicked out if you lose anyway," Cisco reminded. "Or worse," he added, trying to keep a light tone but still only half-joking while darting a look towards the young kid with them.

Kara frowned again but appeared more thoughtful now and shook her head back and forth thinking about it. "This is ridiculous. You know he's probably pissed at you still, Winn?" Kara reminded the man who cracked an anxious smile but shrugged his shoulders as if pretending not to know what she meant by that. "Fine," Kara sighed. Right as the others who did not know what they were discussing were going to ask who this person was, Kara tilted her head up. "Mr. Mxyzptlk! Mxy, can you come-"

"As you wish, my dear!" A man appeared out of thin air in the middle of the group and made most of them jump backwards. Winn and Cisco even leaned away in surprise by his sudden appearance, while Kara just cut herself off and then got a much angrier look on her face.

"Are you always watching me?" Kara snapped.

"Well of course! You are the most stunning, and interesting- the finest creature in this entire dimension," Mr. Mxyzptlk told her. He was a man with shoulder-length black hair, standing a bit shorter than Ichigo, and wearing a nice suit with a black jacket and tie. "All you need do is call my name and I will always be there for you, Kara Zor-El, which is why you should accept my proposal and ditch the… buffoon." Mxyzptlk shifted a glare towards Winn who took a step back at the darker look on his face.

"Ah, you're not still mad, about last time? Right?" Winn asked with a nervous laugh and while scratching the back of his head.

"If you mean when you tricked me into pissing the 'L' in my name on the snow, when you had already hidden the rest of my name written backwards underneath, then no. Of course I'm not mad about that. It was just pee. You do know what it's like to be a bottle of urine, don't you?" Mxyzptlk wondered.

"Mxy, don't," Kara warned.

"Wait!" Winn shouted, right before disappearing from right in front of their eyes. The group looked down at the floor of the room they had gathered in underneath the stadium. Everyone scrunched up their faces at the sight of a water bottle full of yellow liquid sitting there.

"Turn him back," Kara growled. She stood in front of Mxyzptlk and grabbed him by the front of his suit.

"Getting up close now? I love it!" Mxyzptlk leaned his own head closer to hers. She glared in no playful way back into his eyes, and after a second he just snapped his fingers and Winn reappeared in place of the bottle of urine, screaming.

"AHHHHhhhh… Ahhh, ahh," Winn lifted his hands in front of him. He stopped screaming at the sight of his human hands, then shook his head around and shivered. "That was, horrifying," he admitted with sweat covering his face. He wiped off a bit of sweat from his brow and then sniffed his fingers, and he scrunched up his face in disgust that made everyone around him take a step back.

"Who… what, is this guy?" Kon asked while stepping closer and looking at the insane person in amazement that Ichigo did not appreciate his body doing at all.

"Mxy's a fifth dimensional trickster," Kara said.

"A fifth dimensional savant. A brilliant being whose only equal in the universe stands before him now," Mxy corrected in a romantic tone while smiling a handsome face at the woman before him who rolled her eyes and looked away. He was already standing in the spot she turned to though, and she froze then looked down as Mr. Mxyzptlk got on one knee. Blue light shimmered around the room, and the bland underground waiting area with some lockers in it, turned into a ballroom ten times the size of the room they were just in.

Ben snapped his head down and gawked at the suit and bowtie he wore. "Fifth, dimensional?" Ben wondered while lifting his head back up and staring at the creature that just created matter all around them. A giant chandelier hung off the ceiling centered above Mxyzptlk and Kara who wore a beautiful white dress that seemed to sparkle in the lights that cast off the walls so perfectly to make her look even more beautiful. Mxzyptlk rose his right hand, and a small blue box appeared there that opened up with a gorgeous ring inside that had a huge diamond on it.

He's crazy, but he could beat the King! This kind of physics-altering, matter-creating, size-expanding creature! Couldn't he do it?! Ben opened his mouth but figured if it was a bad idea to interrupt the Kryptonian King, it might be a bad idea to interrupt the proposal of a creature that could literally turn him into piss with a look. Zodd was not a place I should have come to lightly. This level is beyond me right now. But I'm here. I'm going to do it anyway! He took in and let out a deep breath before just accepting the fact that the ballroom they were in had been instantly constructed by a being with God-like abilities who they were about to ask help them play soccer on dragons. Alright. Now that I've accepted this, nothing else can surprise me today. I'll be ready for the next stuff that happens and won't stupidly let my guard down. I'm in a lot of danger here, but I've been in danger for years and I've handled it day by day.

Today is no different.

"Kara Zor-El, marry me. Make me the happiest reality-warping deity in all the dimensions and planes of Nexus. Your marriage is a sham. Pee boy is no husband for a woman like you," Mxy held out the ring for her to take. Kara glanced around the room and then down at her dress that she sighed at the sight of, as it was not the first time Mxy had zapped a wedding dress onto her and attempted this.

"Not going to happen, Mxy. Get us back to where we're supposed to be. We have a very important game in-"

"I know what's going on," Mxy interrupted her. He appeared behind her and clapped his hands twice. The underground locker room reappeared, and he added, "And we never left, by the way." Kara looked back at him and Mxy's suit transformed into a blue uniform with the numbers '00' on his chest and back. "I believe you want me to play Garata with you, is that right? It would be like a date."

"Sure, a date," Kara told him with a nod.

Thara and Chris looked at each other in disbelief at the entire exchange going on. "What is happening?" Thara whispered.

"I've heard of him. Didn't realize he was like this though," Chris replied with a shake of his head.

"If it truly is a date, then you will give me a kiss?" Mxy wondered. He bounced his eyebrows a few times at the Kryptonian woman who frowned at him for the question but did not immediately speak up and admonish him this time.

Winn looked towards Kara and then dropped his bottom lip a bit. "Kara, hold on. He can't make you do that."

"We can play a man down," Ichigo agreed with a nod, not seeing why they would accept this.

Kara turned and frowned though specifically at Winn. "Hey, you're the one who suggested we bring him here." Mxy's face lit up, but Kara frowned back towards him and continued sternly, "One kiss. But only if we win. Understood?"

"One kiss is all it will take for you to fall madly in love with me," Mxy assured her with a scoff that the kissing would stop there once she had gotten a taste.

Kara rolled her eyes but did gaze around with a confident look to assure everyone that this was a good idea. "We've got our eighth. Let's get ready."

"Oh, that is no problem," Mxy waved a hand. All of their clothes replaced with matching blue uniforms to the one that Mxy had put on himself. They had looked very unprofessional until then, and he mentioned, "Those pro players will think twice after seeing us like this."

"Oooh," Kon lifted Ichigo's arms and looked down at his uniform. "I'm number 1?! Oh, you!" Kon blushed and waved a hand towards Mxy who smiled back at the Mod-Soul. The interaction annoyed Ichigo more than anything for Kon getting that kind of emotional look on his face so touched by the number it was given.

Winn sweatdropped while looking at the '69' on his uniform. In front of all the Kryptonians? They'll think I'm messing around! "Why?" He just muttered, not bothering to actually complain to Mxy and risk another horrifying experience.

"Um, Mr… Mixy?" Ben wondered, stepping towards the person/creature that looked towards him itself while the others were checking out their uniforms and numbers. "Could I ask you a favor?"

"No," Mxy replied back with a big smile on his face. Ben lowered his bottom lip at the happy response denying his request though. "I am here for Kara. Not for you, strange child," Mxyzptlk gave Ben a look that Ben hesitated upon seeing as the crazy interdimensional trickster looked him over closely.

"Oh, okay," Ben said, his voice higher-pitched though he tried to keep it from cracking. Don't push your luck. You keep doing that. Sooner or later, it's not going to work out. Ben took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. It was easier this time. You're getting a hang of this now. Or that's a lie. I need to be more relaxed though when we win! When I get to approach Zod, I'll try to make the case for why he needs to help us now. The Saiyans were free too, before Meruem decided to go kill their King and take over. Zodd could be next. Yeah, that's right. He's not just helping us. We want to help him! That's a good angle to go at this from.

"Kara," Winn whispered to his closest friend he walked up close to. "I know I brought it up, but are we really sure about this? Mxyzptlk isn't just a trickster." Winn darted a nervous look past her while she glanced sideways and back at him. Her own lips curled into an uncertain frown while she considered what he was saying. "What about Mon-El?" Winn asked, lowering his voice softer and apologetically while Kara's expression got much darker.

Mxy avoided Kara's look when she glared back his way. She could tell that he was intentionally not looking towards her despite definitely being able to hear their conversation. Her fists started to clench, but she calmed herself and responded in a low voice back to her friend, "I don't blame him for that. Not, anymore."

"But he-" Winn stopped himself and pursed his lips when he saw Kara flinch, and he pulled his own head away. "Sorry."

Kara shook her head in response to that apology. She answered Winn, "Mxy may have turned Mon-El into a snake and teleported him across the world during one of his stupid attempts at seduction, but he didn't kill him. Mon-El was friends with All Might, just like I was. Mon-El just came across that battlefield on his way home in what the rest of the world calls the Second War of the Gods, and he chose to get involved."

Kara took in a deep breath and released it heavily. "He chose to fight alongside our friend. Zeref's Death Magic killed him instantly." Kara shook her head and looked away sadly, imagining the face of a Daxamite she had romantically been involved with, unlike her current husband only for visa-purposes.

After looking away though, Kara glanced back at the boy who was looking down at his jersey that he pulled away from his chest with his hands to look at closer. Kara noticed the blackened scarred skin on the boy's left wrist when he pushed his arms out like that so the under-sleeves below his jersey slid up from his hands a bit. She also noticed scars on the centers of his hands. They were on both the backs of his hands and on his palms looking like they had been stabbed through. Ben was looking at the number '14' on his jersey though with a smile, and he mentioned to the trickster in front of him that he was that old which made Mxy wink back at him like he had already known that and it had been intentional.

Kara's look got more determined as she watched the child who turned to Chris and asked about his number '50' then, and Winn chimed in to mention that he was not in his late 60's which a few of them laughed at. Her eyes stayed locked on the side of Ben's head though as he talked to the others. Mon-El fought for something greater than himself. He died for it even. I wish he hadn't gotten involved. I've always wished, that he had just not antagonized Mxy that day. He never would have come across that battle otherwise. I never wanted to lose him. He fought for others though until his last day. Ben, is a good person. Whatever he's fighting for, I can tell, it's not just for himself. He's here for other people. He wouldn't have risked his life to approach Zod otherwise.

I am going to save this boy, Kara thought. Her mind steadied and filled with conviction. Her heart was set. This stupidly careless boy.

"Ah, so you have your own dragon? Are you sure you don't want one of mine?" Mxy wondered to Thara who gazed back at him confusedly. She had just been telling the others to get ready for their dragon selection when he interrupted. Mxy grinned wide though and did a half-spin before waving an arm up in the air and claiming, "There is no need to worry about your dragons being difficult, for I can create a batch that perfectly match your personalities. They will be the partners you've always wanted!" Mxy swung down the arm he waved in the air, and he created one dragon for himself that curved its long, gray, slender body around him. It nuzzled its smooth head up into his left cheek and then even gave him a gentle lick that looked rather adorable, despite its sharp claws and teeth, and menacing overall appearance.

"You just created life out of thin air?" Chris wondered in disbelief. Mxy smirked at him then vanished the dragon nuzzling to him with a whistle that turned it into sparkling shards of light. Chris glanced back at Kara who had walked forward with the rest of the team as the door was closer to this side of the room and it was time to get out there. "But he can't get you to marry him, huh?"

"I cannot force Kara to marry me," Mxy countered Chris for the skeptical albeit confused question.

"Really?" Ichigo wondered. Or is he just saying that he wouldn't do that? That makes sense. He doesn't want to force her to-

"It's impossible," Mr. Mxyzptlk said, countering the thoughts Ichigo was having to give the trickster some benefit of the doubt. "One of the few things I cannot do. I cannot make someone fall in love. There are very specific rules about that."

"What a rip-off," Kon nudged Cisco and remarked under his breath. Cisco could not help but crack a smirk, despite still feeling confused as to what the hell this thing was that had taken over Ichigo's body. He also did not really understand why there was a second one of him that he could now see after Ichigo brought attention to himself for Winn and Cisco before when the two had been staring straight through him.

Ben looked confused for a couple of seconds after Mxy's reply. He can create life out of thin air, but he can't make her fall in love with him? "Does that mean, the power of love surpasses your power?"

Ichigo sweatdropped at the question. He looked sideways at the boy who asked that sounding not to be kidding, though also unsure as if this was just a theory he was wondering about. Mxyzptlk turned to Ben though and rose his eyebrows in surprise at the question. A peculiar boy. "Very nicely done. You think differently than most, which allows you to understand that which most people cannot."

Ichigo looked back from Ben to Mxy even more confused now at his answer to Ben's silly question. "Huh? Are you being serious?" Ichigo felt he could not trust the trickster at all, and he gave a suspicious look at the fifth dimensional being who received similar expressions from many of the others.

Mxy chuckled at Ichigo's look though rather than get offended by it. "Your very confusion is why you will never be more than a simple boy with rudimentary shinigami powers." He looked back to Ben who he was feeling much more interested in, while Ichigo leaned his head away from the creature who he fully believed was not impressed by him at all. Ichigo also darted an uncertain look back at Ben though who Mxy was staring closely at as if trying to figure something out. Mxyzptlk continued to the boy piquing his interest, "It is not just love though. I also cannot make someone kill themself. I cannot even force one to drink orange juice."

"Oh," Ben hesitated for a few seconds. I thought it was all about the love part. That made sense to me. It seemed like the kind of power Sora would draw from. The kind of power that the Keyblades hold isn't normal. It's not something that can be determined by science or logic. If it's not about love, then what connects all those things together? "Then, is it, free will that's too powerful for you?"

Mxy nodded his head in response to the child looking increasingly thoughtful about his own power. What is this feeling I am getting from you, boy? Who are you? The smiling trickster looked away before letting his own smile lower a little when no one could see.

"Free will, huh?" Ben wondered in a whisper. He glanced down from the powerful creature's back and frowned himself. How can it be free will that's more powerful? When that Underworld leader, Lelouch, was controlling someone like Krillin for so long? All the people who they said were being controlled by Lelouch meant that he was so strong he was overriding their free will. Is that why they needed Sora to beat him? Because the Keyblade is stronger than that? Ansem also broke people's free will, but they weren't really people at that point. After they'd fallen to the darkness. Darkness was more powerful than free will, I guess. Riku has that power. So much power. Is it because he has the Keyblade that he's that strong? Or is it the darkness that allows him to control… I'm not sure. Maybe, it's just that some people use their free will to take others' away? Yet why can't Mxy do it then?

Ben had more questions than answers after talking to this insanely powerful figure for a minute, but they had no more time for him to dwell on them. Even in the basement of the stadium, they could hear the crowd that had gathered upstairs in the stands. They were getting louder and louder, and Thara turned towards the tunnel out from their waiting room. "The opposing team must be coming out," she told them. "It's time."

---

Dragon selection went by quickly. The opposing team of black-adorned Kryptonians not wearing their usual jerseys but armor that the King lent them, had their own specific dragons already picked out that they always used in games. Those dragons all seemed to have close relationships with their riders based on the way each flew or ran straight up to their Kryptonian after emerging from hidden gates in the round walls of the stadium's first floor that lifted up for them. Then, instead of picking from the other dragon mounts prepared for them, Mxyzptlk waved his arm in front of him and created 7 dragons that all ran up to their team's riders in similar ways as the opposing team of pros' dragons had.

The mixed-race team's dragons matched the body sizes and shapes and speeds of their opponents' mounts perfectly. Mxy shouted it out for the crowd to hear him, in order to make sure that no one questioned if he was giving them any advantage or cheating. He claimed to just be 'evening the playing field.' Zod looked annoyed to see Mxyzptlk there. So did everyone in the booth with him up above the north side of the stands. A chorus of groans echoed around the stadium stands upon the Kryptonians seeing the trickster.

Thara and Chris looked around in surprise to hear that more of the Kryptonians knew about this insane trickster. The two of them had been toys for a long time in Dressrosa though and missed some of his previous mass-reality-altering altercations with the Kryptonian city. "The King doesn't look happy to see him," Thara mentioned to her best friend. Kara chuckled lightly under her breath but did dart a quick look up to see if Zod was glaring specifically at her for bringing him. Zod was just staring down Mxy though as the mischievous fifth-dimensional creature looked back at him.

"No one ever is," Kara admitted under her breath back at Thara who was the only one of them who Mxy had not created a dragon for as she had her own. "Due to his near-omnipotence though, there's not much any of us can do to make him go away. I doubt the King will say anything when this is the one time he can't actually back it up with force."

Ben looked to his right and past Ichigo and Kon who were also looking to their rights in awe at one of the dragons that was not their own. They had each been surprised by the enthusiasm of their mounts that had run up to them and started nuzzling like the one that Mxy had summoned downstairs. The only one that did not appear to love their new master was Winn's that kept darting him shifty sideways looks that made Winn very appreciative to be wearing a jetpack right now. Kara's dragon looked the strongest of any of theirs and was the one most of them and a lot of the crowd were staring at. The beautiful beast was larger than most, matching the largest size of their opposing team's dragons which belonged to the muscular woman with a 'C' on the front right side of her chest armor.

On the front of Kara's blue uniform in the same place, a 'C' appeared in a shimmer of light embroidered there in white with a golden outline. Kara glanced down and then over at Mxy who swung his right arm down and towards her dragon. "The most magnificent dragon for you, Kara Zor-El. It is only befitting that the most majestic and graceful in their ranks that is their queen, belongs to you, our team captain." The other dragons looked to bow their heads towards the white dragon that stepped towards Kara itself and then curved its neck and bent its legs to allow her to climb aboard. A soft saddle formed out of thin air with reins on it and straps going around the sides of the queen of the dragon pack.

Two referees down on the stadium floor glanced up towards Zod wondering what their King thought of this. Inspections on the saddles and other pre-match formalities looked to be exempt this time though for the pick-up game that was admittedly more popular than any of the recent professional matches. The stands were packed full of people who had heard that some non-Kryptonians were trying to take on an All-Star Team of the top players in the league.

Winn was checking out the saddle that had appeared on his dragon that he kept flinching away from in fear that it was going to bite him. He pulled on the straps on the right side, and he found the whole saddle slide to that side when he tried it. "Damn, tricky, troll," Winn grumbled under his breath while tightening the straps so that the seat would not slide off immediately after he lifted up into the air. "Alright Winslow," he whispered. "You've watched this sport a million times. You can play it. Why not?" Sweat dripped down his face despite his self-encouragement.

"You guys have got this," Cisco said, giving Kara one last pat on the back before walking away from the group who all the Kryptonians in the stadium were glaring down at. "I'll coach from our sideline!" He called out while backpedaling away quicker.

Thara glanced back with her friend next to her who was the only other person on this team she really trusted to know what she was doing here. They had given their teammates an explanation on what to do and how they could each help the team, but Thara knew Kara was the only one who had played before. The two of them looked towards their sideline and a woman who was speaking with Chris. "You never taught him how to play?" Kara wondered to her friend from Krypton.

Thara shook her head back and forth. "He spent his life in the Phantom Zone and on Earth. No dragons around for anyone to ever teach him."

"And here-" Kara cut herself off. "Oh yeah. Sorry," she added, while Thara just frowned deeper thinking of their capture years ago.

"We thought," Thara began. She cut herself off with a 'ch' through her teeth and a glance away. "The one they called Sugar looked like she was in distress. Like, Doflamingo was hurting her. He knew how strong Kryptonians were and didn't even bother fighting us. Just, instantly resorted to using her." Thara rubbed the side of her head. "Chris was turned first. I should have listened to him when the toy started trying to warn me, but I was just, concerned for the little girl." Frisco pressed her purple head up into the side of her rider who lifted back up a smile and pet the head of her dragon that seemed to notice her frustration.

"Well I'm glad you were back for this. I would have been too slow to save Ben on my own," Kara admitted, feeling bad about hesitating when she first saw the confrontation out on the street now that she had gotten to know Ben a bit better too.

Thara nodded her head in agreement with that. "I'm glad we saved him. Though, I suppose he isn't really 'saved' yet."

"Who's that talking to Chris?" Ichigo wondered, glancing towards Winn who still had not gotten on his dragon either. The only human who actually lived in Zodd of their group looked over his shoulder and over to the sideline where a woman was speaking in a quiet voice to Chris.

"Uhh, I've seen her on tv sometimes," Winn admitted. He glanced anxiously up towards the booth that King Zod was in. There was also an older and sterner-looking woman up there whose skin was a bit darker in shade, while the woman speaking to Chris on their sidelines was a shade between her skin tone and the King's tanner color. "She's also in the House of Zod. Um, but since they mostly got revived around the same age, it's hard to tell really their relation."

Thara's dragon Frisco stomped over to them quicker than the heavy dragon with thick legs looked able to move. Wind blew into the group of three humans circled together with their dragons they had yet to climb onto when she stopped short. "Alright boys. Get on. You two are middies. Just get the ball up to Kara and Chris for a shot on goal. None of you will shoot fast enough." Thara looked over towards the oldest human of the group, "Winn, stay back on defense with Kon." Ben and Ichigo nodded first, while Winn glanced anxiously at his dragon again before nodding slower than they did.

Ben looked over to the sideline again and then asked Thara, "Who's that talking to Chris?"

Ichigo frowned but was actually glad they had a kid there who was not as hesitant to ask questions, as he was just going to let it go and not bother figuring it out. He imagined it was Chris' mother, and apparently so did Ben as the younger boy added, "Is that his mom?"

"No, Ursa never made it past the War with the Saiyans," Thara replied with a shake of her head. She glanced back towards the booth above the stands while the human men started climbing onto their dragons, which finally got Chris to turn away from the woman at their sideline and mention how he had to go as well. That woman put a hand on his shoulder, and Thara noticed the King's expression darkening even from this distance that this person was down with his son rather than up there with him. "That's Lyta-Zod. The King's mother."

Thara smiled while looking back towards her boyfriend. "She and Chris are very close. It's good that at least one member of his biological family is. She was revived closer to our age too. A little bit older, which is good," Thara admitted with a laugh. "I know some people who are older than their grandparents. Very weird relationships."

Ichigo and Ben nodded as that made sense only on this world but was a strange thing to imagine. They still imagined the dynamic was weird with how close in age the two of them looked and if it really was a grandmother-grandson relationship they shared. Ichigo tilted his head to the side though and imagined his young mother back in Metropolis who had died back when he was 9 years old. Nothing felt different between us when Dad found her. Though when the bastard disappeared on us, she felt a bit older then. Ichigo frowned thinking of his father who had abandoned him with his mother and sisters.

Ben imagined his grandpa. If Grandpa had died before we came here, and he came back as a young man? In his glory days as a Plumber! That would have been so cool. Ben smiled nostalgically but then refocused as the sounds of cheers added on some jeering to the mix. Here we go. I've played soccer before. I was in a league! And, these guys are pros at the sport. Somehow we'll still find a way to win this. I know we will!

"Get on your mount, Chris! We're holding it up!" Thara called towards her boyfriend who sped up into a blur in Ben's eyes to reach his dragon in the next second.

Chris checked out his own saddle which seemed fitted perfectly to him. He glanced up once though towards the north side of the stands and above them to the box seats where his father sat in the center. Some of the King's closest allies and friends and advisors were up there with him. A few had their spouses and children. Zod's grandmother Jayna and two other cloaked figures who had their red hoods up unlike her sat up there too, but Chris just focused on his father who shook his head in disdain at his son's expression towards him.

Zod leaned back in his seat while the two teams rose into the air. Non leaned forward on his left side. The bulkier, bald Kryptonian and one of his top lieutenants like Faora who sat on his right, Non smirked while looking at the team they had gathered quickly without any of them declining the invitation to join the 'National' team which they called the group they had gathered on short notice. "Should we institute a mercy rule, you think?" Non wondered to his boss who smirked himself at the thought of it.

"Over-under on this match is fifteen goals up for the 'Nationals,' by halftime," Faora remarked with a scoff while crossing her arms and leaning back on Zod's other side. "We make a mercy rule, all these people will have come for a nice five minute match. Let's let them get their money's worth."

"Did we charge for entry-"

"It's just a phrase, lunkhead," Faora snapped at the confused muscle-bound brute who frowned at her for the comment, though Non noticed Zod's lips had flattened too and did not want to remark back and maybe make a fool of himself. Non just crossed his own arms and looked back over the stadium floor where the dragons continued to rise until they were above the elevation the box itself was at.

Clanking mechanical noises sounded from the west and east sides of the stadium. The people who had never seen this before spun around in surprise and then realization as giant hoops flew up out of openings in the tops of the walls at the tops of the bleachers. Those hoops glowed bright blue around them and hovered in place on either side of the stadium. Thara flew over and spun around her dragon in front of one, while the opposing team's bulkiest male member on the second largest dragon of their team flew in front of the opposing goal. The hoops were ten meters in diameter, giving some room on all sides around the goalies for the offense to try and shoot around.

The largest dragons on both sides flew up to the middle of the stadium's airspace where one of the referees flew up as well. Winn and Kon fell back and floated in front of Thara, their dragons flapping their wings constantly to keep them up in the air. Kon was smiling ear to ear on Ichigo's face that the shinigami grimaced when he looked back to see his emphatic expressions. He looked back forward though with the other three behind Kara making a semi-circle behind her as did the opposing team's captain.

"Ton-Shee," Kara greeted the opponent she had once interviewed for ZTV.

The more muscular woman in front of Kara did not return a professional or courteous greeting this time. Ton-Shee's glare matched her comrades from different teams who all stared down the opponents. It already felt less like this was an "exhibition" match considering how seriously the pros looked to be treating it. The referee looked back and forth between the sides. He wore a black and white striped shirt that Ben and Ichigo recognized matched their own world's referee outfits. The Kryptonian referee with brick red hair, unlike his bald comrade who floated down just above the hard stone floor of the stadium, spoke in a loud voice that amplified even more thanks to the microphone pinned at the top of his shirt's collar.

"Garata is the national sport of the Kryptonians, but as there are non-Kryptonians playing today-"

"BOOOO!"

"YOU SUCK!"

The referee's voice was nearly drowned out by the jeers that started at the human players who felt their hearts race at how many people were hating on them immediately. The referee continued louder, "I don't want any screw-ups or you'll get yellow cards for your first major infraction of the rules, and a red for a second! Other than the goalies, no touching the ball with your hands. No shots within five meters of the goal! No flying. And absolutely no fifth-dimensional reality-cheating powers."

"Gasp!" Mxy put a hand up to his chest and shouted the word 'gasp' in feigned disbelief. The referee and his opponents all glared at him. Mxy narrowed his eyes right back at those Kryptonians though who flinched themselves at his glare. "I believe I'm being targeted unfairly. Making new rules specifically to handicap me, while you are professionals facing children? How embarrassing that you would need to do such a thing," Mxy mocked them while motioning one hand towards Ben who shook his head rapidly at the trickster for pissing them off directly at him.

They can't do anything to you! Why are you doing this to me?! Ben thought in exasperation and panic at the trickster while he noticed several Kryptonians all start glaring furiously towards him. He gulped. The armored uniforms their opponents were wearing were black, but he swore he saw some golden light shimmering out of the cracks at the top of their collars and out their sleeves. A glance up reminded him of the golden dome of yellow sunlight that increased the power of these Kryptonians even more than he already knew them to have. It's just a game. It's just sports. You've played sports! Ben tried to hide how scared he was under the dark glares of the Kryptonians.

Kara glared harder at her opponents for giving Ben such looks, and some of them darted their scary looks back to her only to ease up at that expression on her face. Ben darted his own gaze to Kara's back after seeing what she just did. Are they, afraid of her? I figured Superman was like the strongest Kryptonian, and considering Zod thought of him as his arch-enemy maybe they were rivals in strength. Is Kara… Is she close to that? Is she, one of the stronger Kryptonians?

"Accept the rules, trickster!" King Zod demanded with a bellow up towards the fifth-dimensional man who looked back towards him with a smile still spread on his face. "Or have your team disqualified from the match."

Kara glared over her shoulder at Mxy who sighed and held his palms up on either side. "Cannot be helped then," he said in acceptance, making everyone relax that the deity was going to obey that rule.

Zod leaned back in his seat again and crossed his arms in a satisfied way. "Cannot believe she called on that creature to assist her," Zod muttered. He mentioned it and some of the others started discussing the potential of Mxyzptlk to change the over-under for the gamblers, but how without his powers the change might be reversed now. His top lieutenants seemed amused and commented on it with him, but Zod's mind was elsewhere. He thought back on what the shinigami had told him after he accepted Thara's Garata compromise that Jayna pushed as well. He had demanded to know more about Kal-El's death from the strange shinigami whose human body had run up behind him yelling out his name in a very aggravating way.

The shinigami fought against our Legion on Awul. He was one of the weaker ones that day, but it is possible he's gotten stronger since then. Not by much considering the trepidation he showed on the street in front of Zodd Tower. Zod hummed to himself considering Ichigo's strength, but again he just focused back on what Ichigo had said instead. Lex Luthor killed Kal-El. He used Kryptonite to do it, but then he stole that boy's power. Tetsuo Shima. The scourge of Nexus and once Kal-El's strongest ally. If Luthor truly drained him of everything, then he may be more powerful than anyone. His hatred of Kryptonians is not something to take lightly. He might have the power to eliminate us if he so desires. Concerning indeed. It has been quite some time though since this apparently happened, and no sign of Luthor in all that time. "Hmm," Zod just hummed to himself while considering the various new developments he had learned about today.

As much as the humans' appearances and their interaction earlier had aggravated him, he did not find himself as angry with them anymore as their presence had given him some very valuable information. Now he had bigger things on his plate to deal with, and Zod was willing to let the Garata match settle their disrespect instead while he focused on more important things.

"Captains are your teams ready?"

"Against this rabble, do we even need to be?" Ton-Shee remarked, turning her head towards the referee and saying it loud enough that her voice would be heard through his microphone. The cocky trash talk resulted in another bout of loud cheering from all around the stands.

"We're ready," Kara remarked simply instead, also loud enough into the microphone for her confidence to echo out of the speakers and quiet down some of the laughter and cheers from the spectators below. Her tone of confidence made people stare up less skeptically of her team after just agreeing with Ton-Shee in their laughter at how mismatched the teams seemed to be. They had all seen the pros play Garata before. Even though it was assumed that they would win, the spectators started watching much closer to see what these strangers could do.

The three Nando brothers watched from a street outside of the stadium that they had been unable to get into after leaving the market. There were giant screens around the stadium though, and they all looked at the two Ichigo's flying up in the air with baffled expressions at how he got tangled up in a televised Garata match since they last saw him.

The ginger referee looked down and nodded at the bald ref down below who lifted a ball and tapped a button on a controller on his wrist that made the white ball glow similarly blue to the hoop goals. The ball seemed to lose its gravity as it floated off of his hand, then the ref grabbed the ball and threw it up to the other ref who one-handed palmed it and held it up between the two larger dragons that flew right up in front of each other and bared their teeth only slightly more ferociously than the woman on top of them looked.

The head ref looked back and forth between the intense female captains, and then he tossed the ball up in the air, "Let's play Garata!"

"WOOO!"

"YEAH!"

"HAAAAAA!"

The crowd went wild. Kara saw a camera in the section she usually would be watching from with her team at ZTV. It was pointed at them and projected a close-up view of the captains flying their dragons up for the jump ball so close that their mounts' bellies were just apart from each other and their legs started kicking into the other dragon's. Kara pulled back her right leg while her dragon that Mxy created for her flapped its wings again and sped up slightly more than Ton-Shee's.

Ton-Shee curled her hands into the loop at the front of her saddle and then kicked her legs out underneath her body and past the head of her dragon. Kara's right leg kick off the side of her own did not give her the extra reach that Zod's team captain got by swinging her whole body out past her dragon's head. She grabbed the ball between her feet and dribbled it around Kara's kick then caught it on the top of her left foot when the wind from Kara's kick dragged the ball down. Ton-Shee pulled the top of her saddle to the side and arced her left leg to kick back to one of her middies flying behind her who bounced the ball on their right foot, their knee, and then headbutted it diagonally across the air past Ben and Ichigo who were still figuring out which person to guard when the opposing team's players all scattered in different directions.

The ball went right over their heads and flew to a teammate who pulled their reins to the right and dodged Winn's dragon. They kept the ball on the opposite side of the air as where Mxy had flown at the start, while Chris had started flying forward the wrong way in hopes that Kara would win the jump and pass it up to him to start on a good note. Winn was easily juked by the advancing offense-man who faked a kick across the playing field and made Kon pull up short and spin around, thinking someone had come up for a pass behind him where he was supposed to be guarding. Although there was another attacker on the advance back there, Kon did not see a ball flying by him or over his head. He spun back around and yelped, "Hey!" as he realized he got tricked.

Thara leaned to her right, then she dove off the back of her dragon back the other way as she realized the shooter was making a feint at first. The tips of her fingers missed the ball that slipped past them and through the hoop just grazing the inside of the hoop's left side. The blue hoop flashed red, and the crowds cheered while the scoreboard added 1 point onto the National Team's score.

Kara glared towards the digital scoreboard that had 'National Team' and 'House of El' as the two team names that flashed on it. Chris finally made it back to about mid-field, while Mxy flew in a bit as well towards the center where Kara hovered on her dragon. They watched Frisco dive down and catch Thara who grabbed onto the reins and flew back up, looking apologetically but also frustratedly back across the field at her teammates. Ben's expression filled with dread as his hopeful thoughts from before replaced with the reality of their current situation.

"That was, unfortunately fast," Mxy admitted with a tilt of his head to the side.

"Should I switch to defense?" Chris wondered at the team captain.

Kara frowned deeper though and imagined their plans that she and Thara had agreed on made the most sense for their team. "No. Stay on attack. I'll get you the ball next time and move up with you."

"Sure you will," a sarcastic voice commented above them. "You didn't really think you had a chance here, did you?" Ton-Shee asked while her dragon descended back behind Kara.

"I didn't think it would be easy," Kara retorted. "But it's still the start-"

"I know it is, and we still scored. Never scored a goal that fast in my career," Ton-Shee commented like Kara's retort only proved why they had no chance here.

Kara glared at her opponent who sounded to be mocking them. Without looking away from Ton-Shee, she said, "Mxy, hold back a bit this time. Help the defenders from the center-rear rather than left field. Ben and Ichigo, pass back to him if you get it but get pressed too much."

"Nice call, captain!" Mxyzptlk saluted her and then flew his silver dragon back into the position she ordered him to.

Ton-Shee glanced back at some of her own midfielders from different teams who nodded at her without her needing to say anything. They knew the positioning to switch to based on their opponents' strategy. "The visiting team gets the ball," the head ref said and tossed the ball he called to his mechanical glove. The ball flew to Kara who tapped it up on her foot so the ball bounced up then dropped back down slower than normal gravity due to its blue glow.

Chris moved up again, and Ichigo and Ben flew forward on Kara's sides as she bounced it over her dragon's neck and to her other foot as a defending midfielder flew at her right side. That middie curved over to Kara's right to guard Ben and block his dragon's flight, making Ben duck down and push his dragon with red scales to dive below his opponent.

Kara passed to Ichigo while calling out his name. "Ichigo! Quick release!" She added while the ball was reaching his leg. Ichigo caught it and instantly started kicking forward towards Chris who looked back for the pass. Chris looked too heavily guarded though, and Ichigo just pulled his foot back after starting the pass, dribbling it instead around the front of his dragon and to his other leg. He pushed down on the front of his saddle and held the ball on the toes of his left foot before bouncing it up once and kicking behind him to Kara who was ready for it but had not called for the pass yet.

Kara grinned while catching the pass on one foot while closer up to the opponent's hoop now. "You play soccer, Ichigo?"

Ichigo cracked a smirk of his own, then he gripped his saddle tightly and nearly fell off the side of it. The Kryptonian flying at him who he passed to Kara because of did not avoid his mount. The dragons flew so close that the Kryptonian's slightly higher in elevation than his own nearly kicked him in the face. He barely caught himself, but he was no longer moving up with Kara as he got back up in his saddle.

"Ben!" Kara kicked back towards Ben who was moving forward again and called for the pass.

Ben pulled his leg back. Won't have much time! He kicked as the ball was reaching him rather than try and catch and hold onto it with his feet. He had thought he might actually be decent at the sport since he had played soccer in a youth league before, but the way Ichigo dribbled the soccer ball told him that the older teen was actually much better at this than him too. Ben kicked the ball towards the goal, and a Kryptonian in front of him the ball was about to fly past just opened their mouth and blew at the ball kicked so slowly by a human compared to the speed they could kick it themselves. The gust of wind blew the ball so far off course the goalie just leaned back and laughed in place.

"Wait, is that-" Ben started, only to duck his head down as another Kryptonian flew where the ball was redirected and kicked it straight back at him.

The ball whizzed over his head so fast that Ben slammed his eyes shut in panic. "Ah!" The ball nearly took his head off, and he saw some strands of brown hair falling in front of his face while the top of his head felt hot. He patted down on top of hit fast as it felt like his hair was smoking from how fast the ball just flew overhead. "Hey!"

The two Kryptonians in front of him flew by either side, and one flicked a few fingers his way while another blew at him. Ben grabbed onto one of the reins with his right hand while falling off the dragon. "AHhH!" Ben dangled while his mount curved and then flew down and arced to try and get him up on its back again. He dangled and waved around off the side of the dragon, causing Chris to stop chasing the Kryptonians who he had been trying to steal the ball back from while they were still on this side of the field.

"Assholes," Ichigo muttered with a dart of his eyes across towards Ben. He started flying after them, but both men glared his way after passing the ball farther towards their own attackers. He froze. They heard me, he realized, suddenly remembering that these were Kryptonians. The two flew towards him and Ichigo pulled back then ducked down, and he felt the huge gusts of wind from the men kicking his direction to send wind flying at him.

"Is any of that legal?" Ichigo snapped towards the red-haired referee who he knew could also hear him despite the guy being across the field watching Zod's team score another goal.

Winn was falling from his dragon, and Kon was hugging the side of his tightly while the few Kryptonians on their mixed team just gazed around at their struggling allies frustratedly but not so much at them. Chris started moving back towards his position, and he passed by Ichigo on his way. He had heard the teenager's growl of annoyance too, and he responded to him, "It's not like it's not legal. This is a sport for Kryptonians. That kind of stuff isn't illegal because it doesn't give unfair advantages during normal play. We can all do it. They only changed the rules for Mxy."

"Focus up!" Kara yelled out. "We've got the ball again. Let's catch up!"

Their team tried. Kara hated the sight of 'House of El' on the scoreboard getting creamed, but the numbers for Zod's team just kept going up. The challengers got laughed at louder by the crowds each time the pros messed with the audacious challengers from races who could not handle such a sport. Even Mxy started getting messed with by the Kryptonians feeling smug that the fifth-dimensional being could do nothing supernatural to them or he would get his team disqualified.

Mxyzptlk darted a look towards Kara after one of the opposing team's dragons intentionally slashed a claw into his own. "Don't do it, Mxy. We still have a chance here! As long as we- HEY!" Kara yelled towards Ton-Shee whose eyes lost their red glow.

The opposing team's captain smirked back towards Kara who got distracted and missed blocking a pass right behind her which allowed another goal on Thara. The score was now 7-0, but Kara could care less about the scoreboard at the moment as she flew her dragon down and only pulled back once she saw the falling boy grab onto the saddle of his dragon as it arced below him. Ben caught himself before hitting the ground without needing to fly which could have been a big problem for them if the opponents decided to call him out on it, even if he was just using it not to crash into the floor as hard.

"Are you alright, Ben?" Kara called down to the boy who gripped the sides of the saddle tightly and trying not to let his sweaty palms slide off.

Ben shook his head around. "Get a grip," he snapped at himself. His voice was soft, but he forgot again about the Kryptonians' super hearing so all those around him who were laughing and jeering could hear him too. The other competitors up in the air were looking down at the boy a few dozen feet above the ground level so he was at the same elevation as many of the spectators who stopped laughing as hard at the human child who lifted his gaze back up intensely to the sky. "I'm good. I see now you didn't fully explain the rules, Kara."

Ben started flying his dragon back up and right past Kara who looked at him confusedly as to what Ben was talking about. Ben looked towards the shinigami who had his blue team uniform over his shinigami cloak so the black sleeves were sticking out from the short sleeves of the uniform. "Hey Ichigo."

Ichigo looked back towards Ben who gave him a small smirk despite that last play which even looked dirty to a lot of spectators just here to laugh at the challengers. "It looks like we're allowed to use our powers. Think about the rules they said a little closer. You ready?"

Ichigo stared back at the younger boy in surprise for a few seconds. After that last move where the opposing team captain nearly blasted Ben with her red heat lasers, Ichigo thought they might just stop this farce of a game already. It was clear they had no chance, and it was getting more embarrassing by the minute as their hopes of any chance of victory were dashed.

Ben gave Ichigo a confident nod though that shocked the shinigami for a few seconds. He showed up in Metropolis with a small group of people bent on destroying our government and the Underworld. They did it then. This kid's on the wrong side of the planet trying to get a favor from Zod. Of course he thinks we can do this. Why not? I like this guy. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders at the boy whose confidence was actually contagious and made him forget about how badly they were getting crushed by the opponents. "Alright then," Ichigo reached over his back and grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakuto sticking out over it.

The Kryptonian opponents got a lot darker looks on their faces as those two human teenagers started acting cocky. "Down seven to nothing, you won't be catching up."

"You won't score a single point."

"You think we're scared of you and your 'powers?'"

"Pathetic."

"Kara!" Ben yelled out towards their team captain, ignoring the opponents who were all mocking them so skeptically that Ben's realization would do anything for their chances.

Kara took in a deep breath then sped forward. "Come on, Chris! Mxy, stay at midfield!" She yelled out the order as this seemed like their one chance at a momentum shift, and they really needed for the attack to work this time.

Kara sped forward with Chris to her left slightly ahead of Ichigo. Ben took up the right side of the field. He took in a deep breath of his own then held his right hand to the side and created his green Keyblade in it. "Protect!" He called out. A pair of red beams flying out of the face of one of the Kryptonian defenders even closer to his mount this time that they wanted to scare him off of, hit a bubble forcefield that surrounded Ben and his dragon and bounced the beams back towards the Kryptonian who ducked down quickly below their own attack.

"Kara!" Chris called out as some of the opponents paused in surprise that the human was able to bounce back their heat vision like that.

Chris caught the pass and then pulled his dragon short as Ton-Shee herself was not as easily distracted. She pulled up in front of him and tried to steal it, and although he kept from losing it on her first attempt, he could not hold onto it under this pressure and had to pass it off behind him. Ichigo caught the pass and then kicked it up into his Zanpakuto he swung in front of him and smacked the ball back towards Kara. "You said no hands!" Ichigo yelled out.

"Fucking amateurs," a defenseman in front of the goalie growled and sped forward towards Kara who caught the ball and dribbled once then passed to her right and towards Ben.

Ben flew his dragon forward and leaned off the side to kick-

The goalie punched his bulky right arm towards Ben so hard that a massive gust of wind slammed into Ben's face and threw him off the back of his dragon. The dragon itself also looked like it got the wind knocked out of it by how hard that gust hit it. Ben spun out while dropping out of the air below his dragon, his eyes clenched shut from how hard that wind hit him in the eyes too that stung like he just got punched in each of them.

"Ben!" Kara yelled out behind her, only to spin as a hand gripped onto the side of her jersey and tugged her back before she could dive down after him. "Hey! No holding jersey-"

"Afraid the human's skull's gonna crack?" The defenseman scoffed at her mockingly, and Kara spun back to see Ben flipping around out of control down there. "You're not going anywhere-"

"Let me go, now." Kara's glare back towards her opponent who should have been getting a yellow card for this made the man release her. I don't have time now, Kara hated it. She let go of her dragon's saddle though as there was no way for her to dive down fast enough on its back, and she was going to have to fly herself…

"Kame…" Ben's eyes were still clenched shut. A white aura surrounded him but then faded from his body and focused down on his arms. Don't fly. Don't use ki to fly. I can attack with it though, and if it just happens to push me one direction, that doesn't count as flying! "HAME…" Ben's red eyes snapped open with tears splashing off of them and bruises forming around the sockets. "HAAAA!" Ben slammed his arms down and blasted a blue beam of energy down into the floor of the arena, shooting himself back up into the air and in front of the soccer ball. He spun his body around as he reached it and kicked towards Kara who his bloodshot eyes snapped onto.

Kara's shocked look wiped quicker than it did from the faces of the defenders around her. The ball flew towards her faster than Ben had been kicking before too as he had the increased speed from how fast the beam of blue energy had pushed him upwards. Ben kicked towards her, and Kara twisted her body so fast that the wind that blew away from her did push the closest defender and only one between her and the hoop. The man guarding the goalie was shocked at how strong that gust was from Kara Zor-El twisting around like that, and the bulked-up very muscular goalie for the pro team started opening his eyes huge at the furious glare Kara shot back his way while her foot connected with the glowing soccer ball.

Kara finished her kick and slammed the ball so fast to the left side of the stunned goalie, that his arms shot up to block a full half-second after the ball had already flown through the hoop and gone a mile past the other side of it. The hoop was flashing red, and the powerful Kryptonian woman lowered her leg back down to the side of her dragon that tilted its head back and let out a ferocious roar that the rest of the dragons on their team other than Frisco all copied in an amazing sight.

Ben's dragon roared itself while flying towards him and right underneath the boy who grabbed onto the saddle as it flew below him and caught himself on top. He flew back towards his teammates and had to squint his eyes still with some tears pushing out the corners of them. "We got one!" Ben called out. "Let's turn this, around, ah hah, ahh, hah," Ben panted a few times then shook his head around and ground his teeth to stop breathing so heavily.

"What was that beam thing you just did?" Chris wondered while flying back towards Ben in awe of the kid himself.

"That was a Kamehameha Wave," Ichigo said in shock while his dragon flew over towards Ben too. Ben looked at Ichigo and nodded, and Ichigo wondered, "Did Goku teach you how to do that?"

Ben shook his head side to side. "No. It was actually Goku's son, Gohan… Well, actually," Ben paused for a second and shrugged his shoulders. "Gohan told me he wouldn't give me any lessons until I showed him I could do a Kamehameha on my own. I kind of taught myself it. Pretty cool, huh?" Ben bragged, though he had to quickly raise his left arm and rub it past his watery eyes. He shook his head around again and took a few deep breaths to try and recover from that exhausting play they just pulled off.

"It's still 7-1," Faora muttered from the King's booth. She sounded pissed though with her fists curled furiously at either side. "What are they so happy about? Now that they've started using cheap moves like that, they're just asking for this to escalate."

The King flattened his curled-up lips when Faora glanced at him. A bead of sweat dripped down her face though and then she rolled her eyes seeing Non smirking and leaning forward excitedly now that it looked like this might turn into a more fun match than just a shut-out.

Some of the Kryptonians in the stands actually cheered after that great play and the power that Kara Zor-El put into her kick that some of them even lost sight of the soccer ball when her foot connected. Many were calling that one goal luck and a fluke, but some were happy to see the winning team get knocked down a peg. They were already winning, so it just seemed like overkill and bad sportsmanship to some of them that the pro team was messing with the inexperienced amateurs so much.

Even a couple of the pros on Zod's National Team lost their own frustrated looks at their teammates for the bad sports they had been acting as which felt unnecessary to them. Kon noticed the woman closest to him on the pro team actually tilt her head back and give Ben a more impressed look as the kid who got knocked off his dragon and attacked by her teammates smiled and ignored those things while talking about making a comeback with his own team.

"Let's call a quick time-out," Kara suggested while flying back over towards some of her team who were gathered near midfield. The next play had not started yet, and she could see a lot of emotions flying around between the enemy team players who were looking for quick revenge after that play. She also saw Ben trying to hide just how much firing one of those beams took out of him. "Ref! Time," she called at the red-haired referee who immediately darted a look towards the King's booth.

Zod frowned deeper after just finally getting back invested in the game he had been distracted from with thoughts of more serious matters. He hummed but nodded at the ref, allowing it despite looking mildly annoyed by the stoppage.

Ben looked at Kara wondering what the time-out was for. She decided not to tell him that it was for his sake. Instead she just gave him a small smile and told him, "That was a great play, Ben. I didn't know you could do a Kamehameha either. Though, it's nowhere near as strong as the others I've seen before."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to destroy the entire arena," Ben replied. Kara stared at him with her eyes opening much wider, and Ben sweatdropped after a second before admitting, "I mean, I can't actually make one the size that Goku and Gohan can. Or Krillin… or Yamcha, probably," Ben muttered at the end. "But I really didn't use my full strength. I mean that."

Kara chuckled to herself. He's on a first name basis with all of them. "It is still very impressive," she told the boy. "Had I known that you were that strong, I would have changed up our plan of attack. Ichigo, they're going to pick up their attack on you now too. We'll change our strategy accordingly. The ref is telling off the defender who grabbed my uniform a minute ago. I can hear him saying that they'll give a yellow card next time they see it, so that means the penalties aren't going to be completely ignored. So the fouls you need to focus on and make sure you don't go overboard with yourself, that I didn't think I had to worry about with you guys, but now maybe we do just up until playing dirty turns into playing illegally…"

Supergirl came up with a new strategy for moving forward and passed it on to her teammates. Their team may have surprised the pros and gotten them one good goal in, but that element of surprise was gone now. They had to keep up their counterattack and try to catch up, and it was only going to get harder from here.

Outside of the stadium, the Nando brothers cheered as the match continued and their teenage guard received a pass and managed to pass it upfield towards Chris and also a few meters higher up in elevation too. Chris pulled to the side on his dragon early this time and managed to get its tail to smack into the ball before the defender coming for him could intercept.

"Nice one!" S Nando yelled out with his brothers cheering on either side.

The team they were rooting for managed another shot on goal, but this one was blocked and Zod's National Team started pushing back the other way. "There we go. Come on!"

"How did Pal-Sun even let them score?!"

"It is Kara Zor-El, after all. I wouldn't want to be in the way of one of her kicks!"

A few blocks away from Zodd Tower but only slightly shorter than that administrative building with a spherical section at the top, there was a tower that had a pointier top to it looking like a radio tower. It was thinner at the tip than even the ZTV station's building, and there were rings around the point that constantly pulsed yellow light. This centralized building in Zodd pointed straight up towards the center of the yellow dome of artificial sunlight which the building was responsible for.

Soldiers inside of that building in the Zodd Guard Corps wore the same kind of black armored suits as the home team on their tablets and televisions. It was the same armor that the King and his advisors were all wearing too, with thin lines cutting through it that dimly glowed yellow to show the excess yellow sunlight was flowing through their suits. The guards were all watching the game just like most people in the city were after hearing about the sudden exhibition matchup.

Two guards standing in a hallway were closer to each other with one of them holding a tablet up between them. "Whoa! They scored again," the black-haired man said in amazement with a look at his partner wondering what she thought of it.

"I don't get it. I bet Ton-Shee's got them going easy on the 'El' team. Make it more exciting after that brutal start."

"You think they'd rig it? Directly in front of the King?"

"I don't know! Maybe the King's the one who told them to," the female guard countered back. "You really think they'd be losing to a couple of humans, a shinigami, whatever the fuck Mxyzptskypittylick- is." Her partner laughed as she intentionally botched his name in a ridiculous way. "You remember the last time he was here, half this city turned into a cartoon and physics turned inside-out. Imagine if they let him use his powers in this game?"

"Oh man, I would pay to see that. But hey! If they wanted to make it closer, they could have let him-"

"I said they're rigging it to make it close," the brown-haired female guard snapped. "If they give that maniac use of his powers, even I know our guys have no chance- fuck!" She smacked at her left ear and then shook her head around in frustration.

"What?"

"I don't know, feels like I just got bit by something," she grumbled. "Like, a bug? The fuck," she glanced down at her powerful armor that was full of yellow sunlight.

Both of them knew that normal insects should have broken their teeth and stingers trying to pierce their skin. They were used to insects on Krypton which was why she knew what it felt like, but on Nexus, the bugs seemed like they all came from Earth. Or at least most of them. If insects that could hurt Kryptonians were widespread, the human races would have been wiped out by such powerful creatures.

It was weird for this to happen, and weirder still was that her partner swore he heard the fluttering of wings in his own ear right after realizing himself how strange it was that she got bit by a bug. "The Hell?" He muttered while reaching up and putting a finger in one ear.

A tiny clone of Shaiapouf stabbed a shard of Kryptonite into the ear of the man whose finger was coming very close to him. The time it took him to travel even a tiny distance at this size made it difficult for him to speed up after his other clone stabbed the woman it reached first. Flapping his wings faster while the guard was already noticing something was up and not just focusing on the live stream of the game anymore, allowed the guard to hear the tiny insect in his ear.

Both of the guards looked into each other's eyes and suddenly felt their heart rates spike in concern as to what was going on. As they looked at each other though, the two noticed something in their peripheral visions that made their heads blur while snapping back in front of them. The tablet dropped from the man's hand, and the female guard's eyes started glowing bright red while the guy curled the hand he dropped the tablet from into a fist.

The creature on the ceiling ahead of them was a much larger insect than her own partner. Her white hair draped around the sides of her head. Her eyes also glowed bright red and glared back into the eyes of the Kryptonian guard who felt sweat cover her body, while her glowing red eyes also dimmed for some reason. Pitou's fingers were curled into the ceiling. Her legs were bent so far that her muscles had tensed to the extremes, and she kicked off the ceiling fast after stealthily approaching the distracted Kryptonians who Pouf had already weakened.

The shards of Kryptonite in the ears of the guards were much smaller than the pieces on each one of Pitou's sharpened fingernails. Her hands looked like they had five glowing green sharp fingers each, while her metallic tail swinging behind her had been replaced by one sharp shard of Kryptonite as well. The cat chimera ant that had approached like a predator completely out of sight of its prey, pounced towards the guards who pulled away.

Neither of them were prepared for how much slower they were in the proximity of the Kryptonite that Pitou had on her. Neither of them realized yet that what had stabbed in their ears and remained stuck in their skin were tiny shards of Kryptonite. Pitou's claws slashed to either side of her and ripped out the throats of the two Kryptonians.

They were going to hit the floor soon. Their bodies were about to thud on the ground. Everyone in the city might have been distracted by a televised game of Garata, but Pitou saw how quickly those guards had reacted just to feeling pricks in their ears. She caught them off guard, but there were other guards in this tower who posed a huge threat despite their Kryptonite protection. "Move! Pitou!" Pouf called directly into her head through telepathy, as he would not risk calling it out even from the tiny mouth of the clone he had in her right ear too.

The Eyes of the King, Neferpitou, flipped herself around after slashing out the throats of the Royal Guards. She used her ki and stopped her descent despite how quickly she launched from the ceiling so as not to hit the floor moving that fast. The bodies of the guards whose throats she had ripped out had yet to fall. She slowed herself just above the ground level then placed her bloody hands and her feet down on the ground all at the same time. She spread her weight and touched down so lightly, before pouncing forward and to the end of the hallway that she curved around and flew down the next one of so fast that her face pushed back in the wind from doing it.

Her heart pounded. Her blood was pumping fast while her smile rose higher up at the corners. In her glowing blood red vision, she saw the pumping of a heart and the heat of a body around the next corner. Pitou spun around that corner and the contorted her body around the fist flying at her that slowed down as it got too close to the Kryptonite shards she had on her. The Kryptonian who heard that pump of a heart not sounding like one of his own had lashed out at the creature about to fly past the corner.

"We're-" he started calling out.

Pitou slashed towards his throat with bloody glowing green claws. He saw how his punch had slowed though and already flew backwards to gain distance, and her claws missed. Her tail did not. Pitou's tail extended from what looked like its full length, the metal middle section suddenly snapping out twice as long so the Kryponite shard at the end pierced through the Kryptonian guard's neck and out the other side of it.

"Two more up ahead at the control panel! They heard my clones approaching and burned me! QUICKLY!" Pouf yelled at his comrade who he had failed at assisting on the last two. "Before more arrive!"

"What's going on back there? And what are these microscopic bugs?"

"Rusk! What happened? Are you alright?"

"Go check it out. This is too weird. I'm calling this in-"

Pitou came around the corner. Her tail waved behind her. The glowing green tip slashed down to her right side, and blood splashed on the floor and onto the wall. The guards ahead of her had a television screen above their panels playing the live Garata match with the volume on. The control panel had lots of blinking lights and buttons and switches. Pitou stared straight between them and at the control panel, then back and forth at the guards who stared at her for a second before opening their eyes huge as they recognized this creature.

Blood splatter had gotten on the right side of Pitou's face. Her tongue stuck out that corner of her lips and licked some of it off, and then midway through the horrifying action, she pounced towards the two enemies ahead of her.

Her tail extended towards one while she kicked her legs down and bounced to the ceiling. Before reaching the ceiling her tail did the double-extension again, and she started using her ki to change her trajectory without having to push off the ceiling as it looked like she would. A white aura surrounded her, though her PB continued to mask her presence even as she covered her body in a stronger veil of Nen mixed with ki.

The Kryptonian to the left of her shot farther away to get distance from the Kryptonite and keep his strength up, while the other dodged to the side with reflexes still quick enough even as a Kryptonite shard shot towards him. He grabbed onto the middle of Pitou's tail and crunched his fingers down, but the steel was too strong after denting for a second as he was gripping too close to the Kryptonite. He pushed back towards the cat-chimera as she contorted her body forward and tried stabbing with both claws into the enemy.

A pair of red beams flew past Pitou's face and made her spin around to avoid them while pulling her claws back, though three nails were chipped by the heat vision. The heat vision had been weakened enough though that it only burned holes into the wall and did not shoot straight through to the outside of the building. Pitou reached behind her back and tapped a button on the back of her belt while finishing her spin, and a tiny flashbang of red light went off and worked doubly to blind her enemies as well as weaken them further due to the nature of that red light.

The Kryptonian guards tapped buttons on their own armor though in response to that red light and the Kryptonite. Stored yellow sunlight inside their suits reflected off panels on the inside straight into their skin, and the two dodged again from the sound of Pitou's approaching attacks alone. "Hey! We need help down here-"

"Pouf!" Pitou yelled out.

In a city of Kryptonians, it could be assumed that they were not always on the listen for distant sounds. It would be impossible to live without using selective hearing in addition to their super hearing. So great were the Kryptonians' ears, that Pitou and Pouf had been grateful for the surprise distraction that made their infiltration that much easier. They still hoped more of the guards were distracted enough by the match not to hear that yell. The guard's shout even got cut off as a tiny Pouf clone finally managed to get into that guard's lungs thanks to Pitou's attacks that brought her close to him. Pitou called out her comrade's name though because they could not bet on that being the fact.

More are coming, Pouf understood. Pitou must flee soon with Zetsu. It will be too dangerous for her to remain.

"Kill the last one now and deactivate it. You must flee from here. Pitou!"

Pitou's closer enemy had dropped to one knee in a fit of coughs, and the one who was farther away and just fired another heat laser at her was now flying forward. They opened their mouth and breathed out a gust of cold wind that Pitou yanked herself away from, only for her right arm to still get caught up in it too much. She spun out while her right arm froze into a block of ice, but Pitou did not even wince while snapping her tail between her legs still in mid-barrel-roll in midair. The force of the freeze breath was so strong that she spun out, but while spinning, her eyes locked on to her enemy racing towards his comrade who was choking on blood as Pouf's tiny clone messed with his insides.

The Kryptonite shard at the end of Pitou's tail fired. The guard that had seen how far her tail could extend already was not expecting the sudden burst of speed in its extension or how much farther it actually had in its range. He still managed to pull his head away quickly enough that the shard only slashed past the right side of his face, but Pitou was looking past him and towards the console itself that her shard flew past him and into. The guard's face filled with panic, I wasn't the target! He turned back, but Pitou's Kryptonite shard was only imbedded into the sparking screen showing the Garata match.

The guard's heart fell in his chest. He realized it the second he felt himself even weaker despite the Kryptonite shard already being past him. More Kryptonite must have been closer. Like the other claw of the crazed ant behind him who he had just taken his eyes off of because she tricked him into turning around. Her eyes had darted past like she was again focused on the systems that she had looked at between him and his partner when they first saw her approach. As her hand shoved through his chest and pushed his heart out the front of his rib cage, the guard staring forward and choking on his own death felt like a fool for being so careless. "He-lp…"

Pitou yanked her right arm to the side and tore through the chest of her victim. He dropped next to his coughing and dying partner in the control room. She wasted no time for others to arrive and help them. Pitou sped towards the console in front of her while Pouf yelled instructions into her head. "Quickly Pitou! Do it and get out of there. The King is relying on our perfect victory…"

"YEAH!"

"SHOOT!"

"WoooOO!"

"Stop her!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Kon's dragon did a barrel-roll with the Mod-Soul barely holding onto the saddle as he missed his lunge for the ball.

"Do it, Winn!" Ben yelled back for their teammate who was the only one between the two-on-one rush to the hoop.

"I've got this. I've… got this?" Winn looked back and forth between the Kryptonians who both glared at him with eyes flaring bright red. "AH!" He yelped and pushed down on the front of his saddle to duck the beams that never came.

The laughing Kryptonians flew over his head. Winn's dragon curved its neck and snapped its jaw back at the cowardly human rider who it already was born not liking. "Sorry! Thara!" Winn yelled back towards their goalie who leaned back and forth trying to predict where the ball was coming from.

The two attackers were professionals though on the same team and bounced the ball off their feet and over their heads in a combination trick shot that had the crowd roaring in excitement and applause when the next supposed pass was a feint to get Thara to turn back to the second attacker who was already smirking at her. His teammate whipped the ball off his leg right before Kara and Ben could catch up behind them, and Thara was too far on the other side of the goal that by the time she stopped her momentum in the wrong direction, the hoop had already lit up bright red.

"We're getting creamed," Winn muttered to himself while looking to the scoreboard that now showed their opponents in the double digits, while they still only had 2 points. "I'm sorry!" He called up while flying his dragon back to the same elevation as the others. "I thought- I don't know. I was just," he trailed off again as he was trying to give this excuse to a fourteen year old kid who was trying his best here. I don't even know why he's trying so hard! Winn thought frustratedly. The fact that he was looking like a coward in front of all the jeering crowd was bad enough without having a kid half his age acting so much braver.

"It's alright, Winn," Kara assured him.

"Yeah, the fact that you're even up here with no powers against these guys is crazy," Ben admitted. The guy just thinking to himself how frustrated he was about Ben stared at the young boy with wider eyes as Ben looked back at him as the one impressed here. "You just have to try and convince yourself that they wouldn't risk getting a red card by actually, uh, killing you," Ben finished, then he turned and flew off as he figured what he was saying was less motivational and probably just scared that man more.

Winn gulped but did try to think about that. They're Garata players. They won't just kill me for no reason, right? Kara wouldn't let them! Winn reminded himself of the more obvious reason and looked to Kara who was not facing back at him.

She was not looking back at Winn because her eyes were locked on the opponents who had flared their heat vision at Winn like they would actually use it on him before he ducked out of the way. She did not know if they only stopped from doing it and shooting close to him because he ducked, but her glare made the two celebrating their trick shot and the cheers they were receiving from the crowd lose their grins fast. "We need a new strategy," Kara muttered while looking back around at all her teammates.

She stared over at Mxy. Do we cheat? Mxy could try some stuff that wouldn't be obviously fifth-dimensional powers. If Zod figures it out… what will he do? He's already threatened to kill us and banish us just for losing. Kara hummed and then gave Mxy a more confused look as the trickster was just staring up in the sky with his lips flat.

Even while the opposing team's shots were flying through their hoop over and over, Mxyzptlk had looked to be in a good mood for most of it just by the fact of playing on Kara Zor-El's team. "Mxy?" Kara wondered to the creature who turned his head and looked back at her. "You ready? We need to pick it up-"

"Kara Zor-El," Mxy started. His tone was way too serious that Kara tensed up, then she snapped her gaze to the sky where Mxy was just looking.

Zod stood up from his chair. The others around the booth with him who were cheering and excitedly talking about that trick play, or discussing geopolitical situations based on new information they had received, both conversations that he was actively listening in to, all quieted down. They stepped to the edge of the booth and stared up into the sky where all the people in the bleachers of the Zodd Central Stadium also looked. People outside of the stadium on the streets, and up in their buildings, and out of the urban city limits in the farms all still within Zodd's territory, stared up at the flickering yellow dome over their heads.

Ben lifted his gaze to the sky and pulled back on the reins of his dragon. "Huh?" He muttered. He looked to his left and over at Ichigo who was also staring straight up in confusion as to why the yellow dome stopped flickering only to fade away completely. Ichigo turned back over towards Ben who he noticed staring his way. Both of them felt chills run down their spines. They had seen a similar dome surrounding a city break a few months ago. They were both in Metropolis when that barrier had been shattered. That was in the middle of a giant battle though, and although this was surely not that, the sight of it filled them with a tension that only got worse when they saw how shocked all the Kryptonians looked about this too.

"Mxy?" Winn wondered over towards the troll who he thought might be playing a trick right now.

"This is not my doing," Mxyzptlk assured. His dragon flew backwards, as did all the dragons he had created. They pulled back in order to get away from the center of the playing field. The others on Mxy's team all looked back towards the trickster themselves only to feel much worse about the way he was staring at something high above them that plummeted out of the sky and then stopped directly in the middle of the Garata stadium's airspace.

The creature that dropped in was mostly green. It had a thick tail that waved behind its body aimlessly. The deadly pointed tip of that tail curved up behind him on his right side. His arms were purple as were the protrusions on the darker green crown atop his head.

Kara pulled her head back and stared in disbelief at the figure who just dropped straight in front of her. She often worked in the Capital of the Cooperative, and she had seen this being many times. He had been televised before to the people of Zodd who recognized him as well. Their King himself knew the Ant on a more personal level, and Meruem stared straight into King Zod's eyes after lowering to his elevation and staring into the open-air booth that Zod stood in with the stunned look wiping off his face after seeing who had caused this interruption. Honestly, it was the only real possibility. Who else would be so brazen?

Ichigo felt his heart tighten in his chest. What's going on here?! Seriously, I can't breathe! Ichigo's dragon backed up farther, as did the dragons of the other Garata team's players who backed away with sweat pouring down their faces at the sight of the creature that just dared drop into their city on his own and stare down their King.

"The Ant King, M-Meruem," Ben whispered.

"That's the…" Ichigo began.

"Meruem!" Non roared.

"We'll handle him, my King," Faora hissed. She kicked off the ground, and Non flew forward even faster just ahead of her.

The Kryptonian King did not move as his two top soldiers shot at Meruem without needing to be told to. Show me your hand, Meruem. I've known this day was coming since you-

Meruem shot past Non's right side and directly in front of Faora. His left foot was glowing red as he kicked it up into her left palm that she slammed down into his knee to stop the kick. She punched Meruem in the gut, while Non snapped his right arm out to the side and grabbed Meruem's arm that the Ant King did not pull away fast enough. Non's eyes glowed red and he snapped his head down and sliced Meruem's arm off with heat vision that burned so hot that Ben winced and pulled away even from a distance as he felt his eyebrows get singed.

Meruem's arm was tearing off his body. The new arm regenerating from underneath already had the shard of Kryptonite hidden in his shoulder in hand. The hidden blade stuck inside there for this exact move made it so Meruem was slowing his enemy who just pulled away with so much momentum that he was spinning out of control. Despite Faora pushing down on his left leg, the powerful explosion off his foot blew her up in the air with her arms crossed to protect from the blast that was a thousand times more powerful than she was predicting it to be.

Most people were still staring up past Meruem and those two Kryptonians at the enormous blast of fiery red light and black smoke filling the sky above. Or they were easing away from the burning red beams of Zod's strongest commander whose heat vision had flashed the sky red even more than Meruem's own explosion had. Those who were still staring at the fight itself though, watched as Meruem's regenerating arm snapped towards Non with the blade of Kryptonite lifted up already. It slammed down through Non's left eye as the smirking Kryptonian was still swinging back Meruem's own arm to hit the Ant King with in a cocky way.

A laugh escaped Non's mouth even as a shard of glowing green steel pushed out the back of his skull. The brute did not even process what had happened or that his decision to slice off Meruem's arm was actually a decision made by the Ant King. Non's other eye trembled and bled out both corners, and then he just dropped out of the air like a rock as Meruem released the Kryptonite blade while looking back straight towards Zod.

Meruem pointed the tip of his tail up towards the woman in the smoke whose glowing red eyes flared. A beam of yellow light shot out of Meruem's tail faster than the heat vision of Zod's other top lieutenant could even leave her eyes. "AHHYEEOOOwww-" her screech filled the air as Meruem's beam grew in size and pushed her away so much farther that only the Kryptonians could still hear her screaming as she was pressed into the barrier around the planet.

Giant purple concentric ripples shot away from the barrier of Nexus around the sky over the continent as Faora was pressed between Meruem's attack and the limit of their world. The Ant King himself just glared straight at Zod as that woman burned inside of his beam.

"Fine. Let us do this, Meruem. I should have killed you the first time I laid eyes on you," Zod spat out in disgust at the creature that finally stopped firing the beam of seemingly endless energy from its tail.

"That would have been a smart decision on your part," Meruem agreed.

Zod floated away from the booth and up in the sky over the stadium. Cameras recording the Garata match lifted up and pointed at their King and the King of the Cooperative who faced off one-on-one. The fact that Meruem had not pulled the Kryptonite blade back out of Non's skull and held onto it for this fight displayed a level of confidence that Zod planned to make the Ant regret very soon.

"Even with the dome down," Zod began. His armor even more unique than any of the other's pulsed bright yellow in its entirety. He took in a deep breath and his whole body seemed to glow. His eyes glowed white while he released the breath with his body shading yellow and giving off a kind of heat that made Non's heat vision feel like ice cream on the skin.

"Back up!" Chris yelled towards the closer human to him. He flew at Ichigo and grabbed the shinigami who he dragged away as fast as he could which knocked the wind out of the teenager.

The kind of heat Zod was giving off made the Kryptonians closest to him only feel stronger. Thara flew to Kon and pulled him away, while Kara grabbed Ben and darted a glare at Mxy who frowned but did protect Winn by snapping his fingers and just teleporting the idiot human about to burn alive to a safer area.

Zod ignored the possibility that he was about to kill all of the weaklings by powering up like this. His body seemed to burst into flames that were difficult to see in the golden glow of the King of the Kryptonians whose aura pushed into the enormous purple and red one that shot out of Meruem in the instant the Ant King felt Zod's true power.

Zod's chief engineer who was not in his booth but had come to watch the Garata match stared up into the bright light of her King's power. Lis-Ser was astonished at the sight of him. Seeing her Sunlight Dome collapse had terrified her, but she dropped her jaw at the sight of how much sunlight Zod must have absorbed for him to be glowing like this. The suit made with the rarest elements to perfectly absorb the maximum amount of sunlight at all times, while in a city that constantly beats down yellow sunlight. He's been taking it all in! "No other Kryptonian could have become so powerful," Lis-Ser whispered in awe.

High up in the sky and a bit south of the beam he just had to dodge, Youpi squinted his eyes while staring down towards Meruem and Zod. He darted a look up higher though and then smirked ear-to-ear at the sight of someone flying down with burns all over her body and an enraged look on her face. "The King is busy!" Menthuthuyoupi roared while flying up and pulling back his right arm that expanded twenty times in size and started glowing bright red.

Faora screamed down at him and pulled back her own right arm, and she slammed it down as Youpi punched up into her.

"What is going on?!" Kon screamed in panic as Thara flew them to the ground level in the middle of Zodd. She dropped the panicking Mod-Soul who rolled around on the ground and then scrambled onto his hands and feet and got off the street quickly as Kryptonians were running around in a panic much too fast that they were going to trample him.

"I've got it!" Ben yelled at Kara and pulled himself out of her arms now that they were far enough from what had felt like a sun beating directly into them. "Jesus Christ," Ben looked back towards the stadium far across the city that he still had to squint to look at. "Was there even any point in coming here at all, if they were just going to fight on their own anyway? What the hell, I mean, this is nuts," he muttered rapidly while trying to catch his breath and keep from freaking out.

Kara was staring back towards the stadium as the human boy floated next to her, but she flinched and darted a look next to her at the kid who just said that. Ben grit his teeth and curled his fists at both sides. "If Meruem's so smart, then, he wouldn't have come here if he was going to lose," Ben whispered. "Zod can't… No. Maybe, maybe he can," Ben countered himself and tried to find a small piece of hope. Zod's not great, but at least he stays here in his own city. He's not wiping out the world! Come on, Zod!

Meruem's intelligence is what separates him from everyone, Kara considered herself. Even if Zod was hiding that much power, is it beyond Meruem's calculations or did the Ant King expect as much?!

This is beyond my calculations, Meruem thought while facing his enemy whose nearly golden body gave off the kind of presence of power that would make any other creature back down. The Ant King knew of the advanced sunlight armor of the Kryptonians, but Zod's in particular was different which only the Kryptonian King and his chief engineer knew. Meruem did predict that Zod might have superior gear to his people's, but it was the amount of sunlight that Zod in particular was able to absorb that was so far beyond the capabilities of the rest of his race. Truly, the strongest Kryptonian, Meruem understood. Whether it was the emotions he felt of the Kryptonians watching this in shock of their "King's" true power, or just the confidence that Zod exuded, it was clear to Meruem that like the Saiyans, the Kryptonian King was the strongest of their race.

In that regard, the Chimera Ants were the same. The Ant King felt the corner of his lips tugging up but kept them flat against that exhilarating feeling he chose to ignore. Meruem's voice echoed over the sky in the city of Zodd where the super-hearing population could all hear him. "You are now a Lord of my domain, Zod. You will not answer to Ren or Arachne. You will be a Lord directly under my command. This city is now a part of the Cooperative."

The declaration came so suddenly that everyone listening to Meruem found it hard to believe that this was actually happening right now. Even Zod who floated before his enemy prepared to kill the Ant King once and for all, found himself slightly confused by the King's announcement. Meruem was clearly serious about what he just said though. Zod never knew the Ant for one to joke about anything. "I expected as much from you, Meruem. Though, I thought your subjugation of the Saiyans might have just been revenge for Bardock. I heard the story of your embarrassing defeat in the Third War of the Gods. How Bardock stomped you into the ground and forced you to retreat."

"You will have many chances today, Zod," Meruem informed his new Lord. "And each time you refuse, you will lose more. You who have so much to lose," Meruem threatened the man whose teeth bared and whose giant golden aura pulsed and slammed that heat through Meruem's own aura and into the Ant King's body.

Zod was in front of Meruem in that same instant his aura pushed through. Meruem's hands snapped to Zod's though and showed that the speed he revealed in his small bout with Non and Faora before was a complete ruse. That increase in speed was meant to be a bigger shock to Zod though and catch him off guard, but the difference in speed between Zod and his subordinates was already so huge a gap that Meruem's own surprise increase only matched him to Zod's speed rather than proved him even faster.

"That creature back there, that was the King?" Ichigo wondered to Chris who had let go of him so Ichigo was just standing in midair as if on an invisible platform. "And he's here- Oh shit!" Ichigo sped away in a flashstep between buildings and a few roads away, and Chris came flying backwards slightly over his head with both arms crossed in front of his face to protect from flying debris.

Kryptonians came flying out of the buildings that they smashed through walls and windows of to escape from. Five buildings just got hit by a pair of fighting figures moving so fast that they ripped the floors apart that they bashed through. All of the stories above those floors fell down and collapsed the rest of the buildings below them, if those buildings were not already ripping out of their foundations and flying into other ones.

Zod spun the two of them around and gripped Meruem tightly by his left shoulder, though he did not try to rip it off at first. I don't feel myself weakening! Was it really only the one piece of Kryptonite? He used it on Non- Zod winced as Meruem's tail slammed into his gut by piercing through Meruem's own back left side and into Zod's body up close on the Ant's front. Meruem's tail failed to pierce through Zod's glowing golden body after it ripped through the dark armor, just making more sunlight shine through and flames to ignite around Meruem's tail instead.

The Kryptonian King felt the tail stabbing into him despite not getting pierced by it. He winced and Meruem noticed, and Zod noticed that the Ant King noticed. He gripped tighter and ripped through Meruem's left shoulder. Zod twisted while tearing the flesh and muscles of the Ant King away, and he spun the creature that started regenerating but too slowly for the speed of the Kryptonian who kneed upwards with a flaming golden leg into Meruem's torso.

Meruem was hit, and he knew he was going to get hit, and his right claw slashed in front of Zod's eyes at that moment. Zod kept his eyes open, but Meruem's claws coated black in the final nanosecond. Haki coated the claws, and an aura of Ko pulsed on the tips, and an explosion of ki blasted out of Meruem's elbow and sped up his hand, and he slashed the retina of Zod's right eye that was starting to glow bright red as Zod planned to just burn through Meruem's slashing arm rather than close his eyes that were strong enough that he expected the Ant's claws to shatter instead.

Zod slammed his other eye shut in time that the left eye was only slashed on the eyelid. The slash was still shallow despite all Meruem did to increase the strength of it, just as it was on his right eye, but blood still poured down Zod's face from the cuts on his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Zod slammed both hands forward where he could hear Meruem's being even without both of his eyes. He gripped Meruem by his arms and tore different directions while kicking out in front of him and flying backwards.

Meruem got launched arm-less across the city and through an apartment complex, then into a barn, out past the Ren border and through a town that had a Ren Army fortress in it that the Ant King smashed through too. The Ant King flipped over inside of a trench a few miles past that fortress still exploding out in all directions from how hard he just smashed through it. The ripple of force away from his body due to the Ant King stopping short tore apart several hectares of earth around him that shattered in the air and tore apart. Two new arms shot back out of his shoulders again in a regenerative power that he did not often get to train like he could now.

Meruem flew back the other way so fast that all the destroying everything around him got pulled up by a hurricane of force that flung a hail of debris into Zodd. The Ant King collided with the Kryptonian King again who dropped the Ant's old arms that Meruem had already replaced. Meruem was faster than the debris, but the wave of it crashed into the city in the following seconds and caused chaos in every direction.

"Oh my GOD! AHHH!" Ben flew out of the way of a several ton chunk of rock and dirt that knocked over two buildings and kept flying towards him. He dove down just below it, then he had to swerve out of the way of a cow that nearly slammed into him. "Was that a-" he turned his head to watch the flying cow that had been yanked away from a farm by the force of the Ant King speeding past it. When Ben turned back though, half a skyscraper slammed into that cow and turned it into a splatter of blood in the air.

Behind me! The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. His body covered in a veil of white, but he still screamed out in pain as a wall smashed into him and broke apart against his body.

Kara saw Winn and Cisco both down on the street level below her. She spotted Kon too, but Ichigo had flown to his own human body and was slashing apart debris flying at him. The entire city of Zodd around them was getting shredded, and Kara ducked her head as a pair of red beams flew over her head and sliced through several buildings around her that were all already getting knocked over.

Kara crossed her arms as a sphere of red light exploded so powerfully in the east that debris flying that direction changed course and flew back the other way. "This is insane. They're going to destroy everything. Never thought I'd say it, but we need to help your father!" Kara yelled towards Chris who darted a look back towards her and grit his teeth but then nodded in agreement.

In a city of super-powered Kryptonians, they were not the only ones thinking about it. Others who had considered the same thing found their speed completely mismatched against the two battling Kings whose clashes kept making shockwaves around the city and destroying everything around them.

The commander of the Zodd Guard Corps flew towards the battle. "Help your King-" she started yelling.

Zod flew toward the armored commander who was confused at why the King was heading straight towards her. Meruem was already behind her though, and the Ant King pressed his right palm up into her back and fired a thin piercing beam of red light though her chest and at Zod who smacked his left hand into it and sent the end of that beam flying to the south.

Ben spun his head and then crossed his arms and slammed his eyes shut at the flash of red light he saw as the end of Meruem's beam hit the ground somewhere in Arachne's Deadlands. His eyes squinted back open, and sweat poured down his face. Goosebumps covered his arms and his heart raced even faster as the entire atmosphere around them had shaded red. The mushroom cloud in the south billowed so high that Ben imagined hundreds of miles of land were just incinerated into nothing where that attack landed.

Higher in the sky closer to the barrier surrounding Nexus, one of Zod's stronger comrades was struggling against the giant Royal Guard facing her whose body was no longer a solid form at all. Her punches and kicks were getting absorbed, the force dispersed through the huge mass of mushy red substance that did not feel like flesh at all. Youpi's body flared with a white aura that had a dark red tint around it. Inside of his disgusting gooey form were tiny shards of Kryptonite, but the most brutish of the Royal Guards was not fighting with the intention of getting a sneak attack with one of those shards into the attacking Kryptonian soldier.

Youpi's body curled around the sides of the woman flying straight at his face. His face slid around the inside of his malleable form that Faora just smashed into and then opened her fists to use her hands more as claws and rip away at Youpi instead. The flesh she was ripping off was still controlled by the beast's Nen though, and it wrapped around her arms and sucked her farther into the thickest mass of expanding red goop. The body of the Chimera Ant Royal Guard that curled around her snapped together around Faora's upper body and head, and it squeezed tightly against her face while pulling her arms down towards her sides.

She reached up and tore away from her head, but Youpi's body expanded in so many different points that she could not tear it all away at once. Her eyes glowed bright red and burned away the fleshy goop at the top half of her face, and then she snapped her head down and shook it around, burning a hole through the other side of Youpi's body and making a gap in front of her nose and mouth for her to take a breath of air-

Youpi shot towards her open mouth and nose at the moment she breathed in that hard. He flooded inside of her lungs and throat with his malleable and liquid-y body that Faora tried to burn more of by shaking around and vibrating as fast as she could. She fired off beam after beam of heat vision and then blew freeze breath into a huge chunk of Youpi's body that broke apart this time when she smashed a fist into it. She spat out some hardened icy chunks of red Youpi but then gargled as even more pushed inside.

Her body was filling up with too much Youpi though even as the Royal Guard felt pieces of him getting burned and broken apart and disconnected from his mental control over his Nen connection to each part of his body. His head pulled away from a huge chunk of his body which curled into a fist around Faora while the mush of red inside of her spread from her respiratory track to other places inside of her. Blood poured out of Faora's eyes, then a thicker red pushed out of her eyes too as Youpi expanded what was already inside her like he had been expanding his mass on the outside before.

"HAHAHAHA! AAHHAHAHAHAHA!" The monster's mouth opened wider and his head curved above Faora's body. His sharp teeth separated while his jaw unhinged as he cackled madly. Every orifice of Faora's body poured out the red mush of Youpi's form as the Ant's Nen-controlled mushy body expanded too much and started making Faora expand. Her body bulged and then popped violently, spraying blood and organs in all directions. Youpi's open mouth chomped down on chunks of brain that he predicted the trajectory of already which was why his head had curved above the top of Faora's skull before it popped.

"MMM! YUMMYYYY!" Youpi screamed in a bloodthirsty voice while his aura flared ten times its size. Euphoria filled the chimera ant that got a taste for Kryptonian blood after just one bite. His bloodthirsty gaze aimed down at the city of snacks below. FOCUS! He screamed at himself, shaking off the bloodlust and desire to go eat as many of their delicious brains as he could. If the King gives the signal, I blow it all up! Youpi glared back down at a city that the Kryptonite shards inside his body were meant to be used as shrapnel on if the need came for it.

"Get the kids out!"

"Commander Jri-Ra is down!"

"Pull the Corps back around the church- Jayna!"

"Everyone out of the building. Bring the children outside," Jayne ordered other figures in the same style of cloaks as the one she was wearing. She turned and snapped up towards some of the panicking flying guards overhead as well, "Help the evacuation away from-"

"Jayna!"

The cultural head of the House of Zod was a stoic woman. She had a composed demeanor and was taking charge even in this chaotic situation. Fear covered her expression that doused in sweat though. She stared in front of her towards her grandson who had blood spilling down fast from the right side of his face, and almost as much on the left side though his eye was open on that side at least. Zod's one glowing red eye lost the color and opened wider while he stared straight at Jayna-Zod's face.

The hand curled around the front of Jayna's neck pressed gently onto her throat. Meruem flew up into the sky and Zod shot up after her. "Release her!" Zod demanded in a roar, his golden aura flaring brighter and flames bursting off of his skin. "Jayna, don't move-"

Meruem's claw ripped to the side and tore her throat out. His other arm shoved through Jayna's back and out her front in what looked like slow motion to Zod who was so fast but could not move as Meruem did not speak or threaten or bargain. The Ant King shoved his arm through Jayna's chest and crushed her heart before the Kryptonian King's eyes. Then he tore that arm upwards to Jayna's spraying throat and ripped her head off. Meruem threw her head one direction and the body the other, then he ordered his enemy, "Submit. It is time, Z-" Meruem pulled his elbows in and powered up, releasing his En so far that it extended to every inch of Zodd.

Children cried all around the city at the feeling of the Ant King's power touching them. Zod's bright yellow aura got shadowed over by the bloodlust bleeding through the yellow flaring sun that erupted as Zod roared and shot towards Meruem in rage. The Kryptonian King ignored his opponent's demand and slammed back into him with force that shook the planet below him and made the barrier high above glow bright purple from the collision.

The two of them clashed so many thousands of times in the next few seconds that the shockwaves could not keep up with them. Whitish-clear spheres of force and "small" explosions only a few hundred meters in diameter ripped across the sky like a zipper being pulled. The force and heat from the blasts shattered most remaining windows in the city. The ground shook in earthquakes that knocked Cisco and Winn back off their feet. Kon face-faulted onto his nose and then started rolling around to dodge falling glass. Ichigo darted his eyes down the street he was on towards a hospital that a stray blast flew towards while the nearby guards and doctors were busy helping patients out of the main building cracking all over.

"Ban-KAI!" Ichigo's body erupted in a huge aura while his sword shrank in size and turned pitch black.

Ben heard his yell and spun towards the shinigami, only for Ichigo to vanish in the next second. He could feel the shinigami though, considering Ichigo's Power Blocker had only been a 4 and was not ready for it when a horrifying white mask covered his face and sped him up even more. Ichigo's sword covered in a pitch black aura that glowed dark red as he slashed his sword into the small shard of light breaking off from the fight up above. Ben spun the other direction towards where he sensed Ichigo's massive energy appear; one of the few techniques that Gohan had explained and taught him about after Ben showed off the Kamehameha but before he left for Aebrith. He sensed Ichigo and gawked at the sight of the man he had just been playing dragon soccer with intercepting one of Zod and Meruem's stray blasts.

Ichigo slashed his sword as hard as he could while in his Hollow form and using Bankai. The stray blast was only a broken piece, but it was still as powerful as anything Ichigo had ever tried to cut through before. "GETSUGA- TENSHOUUUU!" His voice turned into a terrifying screech as he finished his slash and cut a massive flying slice up into the air with the stray attack scattering apart to either side of it. The scattering shards of that stray still exploded around Ichigo who crossed his blade in front of him and winced as the blast went off into his face.

People running out of the hospital below looking up at the huge explosion overhead and spotted the shinigami inside of it who stopped their building from blowing up. Many of them had just been watching the Garata match and were cheering against this guy whose mask broke off and showed who it really was again.

Zod punched his left fist at Meruem, and the Ant King leaned his head slightly to the side. The fist passed by and Meruem closed the space between them. The hands he raised towards Zod pulled away though, and his tail curved around him and sliced through the side of Zod's armor, cutting a chunk of it off and making an explosion of yellow light as the carefully-designed suit broke. Zod had moved one arm to block Meruem's fists, then he reached that arm after Meruem's closer hand when Meruem stopped his punch and pulled his arms back.

I'm faster! Zod thought while reeling from the explosion of his armor directly against his body. He shot back at Meruem as despite the force from that blast, it did not break skin or even bruise him. Meruem's eyes flashed bright white though and caused Zod to slam his left eye shut again. The frequency of the light was not one that he could easily ignore, as if Meruem had studied which light waves could hurt Kryptonian eyesight and manipulated the wavelength of his energy to match that brightness. Faster! Zod dodged backwards so far that he felt the missed swipe of Meruem's claw passing by the front of him even when his eyes were closed.

Zod slammed back-first into the top half of a building. He became disoriented as he felt walls and a tiled bathroom that he smashed through. The city- Meruem's left elbow smashed into Zod's right temple.

Meruem had lifted the top half of that building using his ki alone. The telekinetic lift of that apartment complex made Zod think that he was much lower in elevation than he should have been. He had started curving upwards to get the fight farther from his people again on instinct, and Meruem was too fast for him not to straight-line away from the Ant King like that.

Yet I'm losing, Zod forced back open his pained left eye and glared sideways and towards the Ant King he felt on that side. All he saw was the shape of the Ant King made out of red energy though which faded away the second Zod looked towards it. Meruem's tail wrapped around Zod's left leg and yanked down, releasing Zod towards the planet below but then grabbing back onto Zod's left arm that reached back to curl around the Ant King and drag Meruem with him.

Zod could tell that Meruem had intended for him to reach back like that. He was so fast himself that Meruem could not release him quick enough. Zod had reached back to pull Meruem underneath him as he was thrown towards the ground, planning to slam Meruem into it first and pin him there so he could burn through the Ant King's skull with his heat vision or rip his head off. Now he was not so sure. The fact that Meruem's tail wrapped around his arm made him hesitant to even grip onto the Chimera Ant that had planned this far ahead. Every move he made it felt like Meruem had designed for him. Even now as he hesitated, he understood that this kind of psychological combat was as much a part of Meruem's fight as the physical aspect. The Ant King wanted him thinking about it. Meruem wanted him to hesitate even more, making his moves even easier to predict, and in doing so removing Zod's physical advantages from the equation.

They dropped towards the ground and Zod finally curled his fist into the top of Meruem's tail. The tip of Meruem's tail shot a thin beam of energy out and pierced through Zod's armor, slicing more of the chestplate off and then getting even thinner still as the energy condensed and sliced through Zod's right pec.

Blood spurted from the Kryptonian King whose durability was beyond Meruem's expectations. Meruem had found an attack that worked though. His head snapped forward as his tail curled in and pulled Zod's arm back towards him to prevent the Kryptonian King from flying the other way in the moment the blood spilled and Zod was distracted. "I don't need Kryptonite," Meruem spoke into the face of the man who was plummeting with him towards the city that Meruem forced them towards with a massive kiai out to their west side that shot them back into the city center.

They smashed through five buildings on their way down. The screams of Kryptonians rang out all around them, and Meruem sliced up the King whose weakness he had discovered and exploited over and over again. Zod's golden glow faded as well as the Ant King had been gradually destroying the armor that retained the yellow sunlight against Zod's body.

His regenerative powers. I didn't even know- Zod gasped and blood spilled between his teeth as Meruem kneed up at the last second when he was flying so fast at the ground that he was about to brace for collision. His jolt to a stop happened before crashing into the ground. Meruem flew below Zod and kneed upwards first, then his tail shot past Zod's kicking left leg that he tried to counter with even in that devastating moment. Meruem slashed the thinnest part of his tail through the tendons on the back of Zod's right leg, and then the Ant King spun around and kicked into Zod's jaw and broke two teeth out of it.

Zod rolled three blocks away then bounced on a rising piece of pavement and flew into the wall of Zodd Tower. He hit the side of the building and dragged through all the supports on the side of a tower that had already been riddled with debris. The round section at the top could not take any more damage and started to fall, crushing supports at the top and collapsing the whole administrative building of Zodd right on top of its King.

Zod blasted a hole in the falling tower and flew through the rubble to the other side, but Meruem was dropping from behind one falling wall already. Both of the Ant King's feet planted into the side of Zod's head and smashed him back into the ground. The Ant King pinned him there and then slashed his tail down into Zod's stomach, before firing out the thin condensed beam of energy again that had been able to pierce through Zod's skin earlier when he still had his golden glow. Blood poured out of Zod's stomach as Meruem cut through his skin and tore to one side, disemboweling the Kryptonian King who gurgled on blood but then blasted two beams of red light up at the ant that leapt backwards away to dodge the attack.

Zod rolled over and then brought his right hand to his stomach and had to hold his guts in. His right leg stuck out behind him and he dropped to his left knee, as he could not put any weight on that right leg or fill with excruciating pain. I didn't use that form enough, Zod thought, before coughing and spitting up more blood on the ground below his face. His head bowed and a chipped tooth fell from his open mouth as he panted and gasped for breath. I wasn't used to it. Not enough to keep it going. I was, keeping it a secret, rather than training in it. Secret from even my own people. I knew one could be a spy for Meruem… but that's not why, I'm losing. How? Zod rose his shaky head and stared at the Chimera Ant that floated ahead of him. He was shocked at the way the fight had gone, and he thought to himself, How did the ant get this strong?

"Your refusal to submit is not unexpected, but it must again be punished nonetheless," Zod informed the Kryptonian King.

Zod only just noticed that a lot of people had come to this street when Zodd Tower collapsed. They floated around the other standing skyscrapers. They cowered inside the broken windows in all directions of him. They were crowded on the road. Kryptonians stronger and more confident than others had moved to the front of the packs. They were balling their fists and getting angrier at the sight of their King spitting up blood and holding his intestines together. "Wa-agh, ugck-" Zod tried to stop the Ant King, but he needed to take a breath first and coughed instead of finishing calling out 'Wait.'

Zod turned his head and looked back. He stared around the street, and all those who considered attacking Meruem froze in terror. Ben floated between a few different Kryptonians who he trusted, but Kara, Thara, and Chris all froze in place instantly when the Ant King's eyes passed over them. Meruem seemed to lock his gaze on Chris for a second, only to look down from them and to a woman in front of many others who was barely holding back and looked enraged at the sight, of her son.

"No-" Zod started, finding his voice as he saw where Meruem looked.

Meruem shot to the front of the crowd and slashed his tail over Lyta-Zod's shoulders. Her head turned into a spray of red mist as the thick part of Meruem's tail did not even slow against her skull. The force of Meruem's tail swinging like that threw the rest of the Kryptonians right behind Lyta backwards. Ben was above and between some powerful people who could stay in place even as the force smashed into them, but he went flying himself farther than anyone else.

"Grandmother!" Chris screamed in rage.

Supergirl and Thara Ak-Var grabbed Chris by an arm each and pulled backwards instinctively. They held him back as Meruem lifted his head and stared up at the next target. Chris felt his legs turn to jelly and his face wrinkled at the murderous intent that aged him a decade in an instant.

"Mercy!" A voice screamed back behind Meruem. "Mercy," the voice came out again quieter, raspier, and resolved in his defeat. Meruem turned his head sideways and looked back towards the Kryptonian King who stared into Meruem's eyes for a few seconds. Zod bowed his head and lowered his right leg down to a knee as well despite how much pain that put him in and how badly it hurt his pride.

"My people have suffered enough," Zod hissed. He'll just keep killing until I stop this, Zod reasoned with himself, even as every fiber of his body wanted to keep fighting until his own death. Lor-Zod is disrespectful. He challenges me, and he calls himself the son of Superman! But, he is still my son. Zod grit his teeth as he pushed aside his pride for that one simple truth. "I accept, your terms… My King," Zod breathed out.

The Kryptonians in their burning and crumbling city all stared towards their King in disbelief. Every single one of them heard him speak. Dozens of fighters near the front of the crowds wanted to speak out against it. Lyta-Zod was not a weakling though. Her confidence to be there at the front herself was based on her own strength that her son had inherited. The sight of her headless corpse was enough to deter all of them.

"Then, command your people to kneel, Lord Zod," Meruem commanded.

Meruem ordered it while tilting his head back and looking down his nose at the Kryptonian King on both knees already. Zod bit his tongue. More blood filled his mouth from doing so, though there was still more coming up his throat anyway. Blood spilled between his fingers that held onto his ripped-open stomach. It poured down both sides of his face and out of his right leg, and right arm, and his chest and back.

"Kneel," Zod ordered his people. His hiss came out full of disgust that he could not hide. It was a serious order that suggested the consequences of disobeying. "Do it."

Kneel? He killed Grandm- Chris pulled his head back as he swore Meruem's head was turning back towards him.

Thara yanked Chris down to the street level. She dragged him to the floor and put him down on his knees, grabbing the back of his head and pushing it down to the ground for him. "Bear with it," she begged him through teary-eyes, sad for her distraught partner but also terrified of what he might do here that would surely get him killed.

Kara Zor-El lowered down as well. She floated to the ground level and stared at the back of the Ant King's head. Her breath was ragged. All around her she watched the Kryptonians of this city kneeling before their new King. Her fists curled furiously at her sides. So much death, she thought in anger. What would Clark do at a time like this? He would… he would fight-

Meruem turned his head. He turned it sideways and looked back at her. Kara stared back into Meruem's eyes. They had met before. They had spoken in the Capital where Kara had come for work. She was outspoken in her reports on ZTV about the barbarism of the Colosseum. The hatred in her eyes was not masked to the Ant King, even if there was also visible fear in them.

Kara's right leg shook. It bent. Her teeth grit but she bowed her head and let blonde bangs shadow over her eyes. Kara lowered down to one knee, then she lifted her head back up to look into the eyes of the King she had just knelt to. Meruem was not looking back at her though. He turned his head and glared back towards Zod, then around at his people. "That is all I demanded. That you kneel. That you submit to the one, indisputable fact of this world. I am the King."

"All who deny it will soon submit the same as you are now. The same as the Saiyans did," Meruem looked around and examined the expressions of the kneeling people. Not one of the Kryptonians remained standing. They all knelt to him. He turned his head though and looked towards the one person who did not.

The flying boy fell out of the air and threw his arms to either side to keep from falling when he landed. He skid on his heels to a stop and pulled his head back. He had been thrown so far backwards when Meruem killed Lyta that it had taken him a minute to get back there. Ben had a cut on his right palm as he had barely gotten it up in front of his stomach in time to prevent a shard of glass from stabbing him there. He had ripped it out of his hand already, but he had not had enough time to pull out his Keyblade and Cure himself when he felt he needed to get back to where everything was happening.

Why did I do that? Ben wondered. He arrived back at the Kryptonians who were all kneeling. Kara turned sideways and looked back in terror for the human boy who skid to a stop and stared at the Ant King who fully turned his body and looked straight back at him.

The Kryptonians were silent. More of them rose their heads and looked towards the human boy who froze in place and stared straight back into Meruem's eyes as the Ant King turned to face him. Meruem's head lowered from the way it had tilted back as he spoke down to all the Kryptonians who were now his people. Meruem looked at the child who stared back at him in fear and with sweat suddenly pouring out of every pore on his body. "Ben Tennyson," Meruem spoke. "What are you doing here?"

Ben pissed his pants.

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A/N Thanks for reading! XD Fun chapter with lots of light-hearted humor and a fun match of Garata... flips on its head in the second half as Meruem shows up and destroys Zodd! Garata is actually a sport that was mentioned as a throwaway line of dialogue in Supergirl Season 3 when Kara and Mon-El are talking and the sport briefly comes up. "Soccer with dragons," was how they described it and what led to the basis for this entire chapter. Mr. Mxyzptlk is a crazy trickster character enemy of Superman and Supergirl who can only be defeated by tricking him into spelling his name out backwards if you didn't pick up on that when they were talking about why Mxy was pissed-off at Winn. Anyway! The Kryptonians submit to Meruem, and now he turns to Ben as the chapter ends and speaks straight to the boy who he has met once before. How will their talk go? Will Zod survive his injuries? Where is this arc going now that Ben knows that Zod can't beat Meruem?! Find out next time on, Nexus: Heroes Will Rise!

Guest chapter 1 . 15h ago

Any chance of Zach getting dragged here for a cameo? Maybe he and his family pop up here and they just chill

Zach did get a cameo! Back at the end of chapter 16 called School's Out where we met all the BNHA characters and saw a flashback of them in the battle of Marzipan which we hear again this time is the battle where All Might was killed, but apparently also Mon-El who is a DC Comics superhero who dated Supergirl in the CW tv show. He'll appear more in some flashbacks in the future, promise! Thanks for the review. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And as always, 'til next time everyone!