Gotham
For the past few hours, Black widow, Captain America and the Scarlet witch held Batgirl hostage inside an abandoned, dilapidated warehouse somewhere in Gothams industrial area.
Natasha had used Jarvis to locate a suitable, discreet warehouse which ensured that batman would never find them until they completed their mission. She intended to make the young vigilante realize just how dangerous her line of work was, especially operating in a city like gotham. Steve had tagged along to ensure she did not stray from the objective while Wanda used her telepathic abilities to mask their presence and actions by manipulating the way her mind perceived them.
Natasha mildly tortured and threatened her using most of the non-lethal tactics she knew. So far, the vigilante was holding on and had not yet revealed anything incriminating about her boss or the league.
Batgirl groaned as she attempted for the tenth time, to unbind herself from the restraints holding her to the chair using the methods taught to her by batman and knight wing. For the tenth time again, she found that she couldn't, which made her realize her torturer was highly skilled.
Blood was drooling from her mouth, her lower lip split while her cheeks were bruised from all the blows her torturer delivered to her face. She was in pain, tired, thirsty and her body was slowly becoming numb due to the uncomfortable way she was positioned.
Regret and self blame clouded her thoughts and emotions because despite her training in counter surveillance, the kidnappers managed to get the drop on her when she was from visiting her father at the hospital. Whatever they used to knock her out was efficient because it took her less than a minute to lose consciousness while being bundled into the van. The moment she woke up, her attackers, who did not bother to wear any type of mask, started torturing her for information about batman and the Justice league. This action indicated that they knew her secret identity, which also made her self-esteem to drop, thinking she had been careless when it came to separating her two lives.
The torturer had started with physical violence which she trained and was prepared for, though she didn't recall it being as painful as her current one. He did everything that batman had trained her on, but the circumstances were different because he claimed to be the one who tortured knight wing, so she knew her predicament was far from over. Picturing herself in knight wings state.
His two partners had vanished from her line of sight, no doubt keeping an eye on things from afar.
"Are you going to tell me what I want to know?" Natasha asked as she punched her on the stomach, making her wheeze in pain, and blood shoot out of her mouth.
"Never!" She coughed and spat the red fluid on the floor. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes but she willed them not to.
"It doesn't have to go down like this. You don't owe them anything. They know you are in danger yet they have not come for you, have they?" Natasha taunted. "I know you pressed that emergency button on your watch."
She stiffened when she heard that because the watch was also fitted with a tracking device. He knowing about it meant that he had disabled everything that could lead to her. The hope she had of any type of rescue was slowly fading away.
"Just as I mentioned before, no one is coming for you. You are mine to play with till I retrieve everything that is tucked away in here." Nat tapped the side of her head and chuckled. "I wonder what your father will think when you don't show up on your next scheduled visit."
That statement renewed some energy in her and she struggled to get free to no avail. Her father would think she was busy doing school work or her part time job and never attempt to contact her, which would lead to him discovering too late that she was missing.
"You owe them nothing, your father on the other hand..." she goaded. "Who will help him while he recovers at the hospital? I wonder if he has a lady friend so that I pay her a visit too."
"When I get out of here, I will hunt you down then kill you." She vowed in between deep breaths. Her recent struggle put a strain on her bruises thus amplified her pain.
Nat chuckled in front of her, then lifted her head up by grabbing her hair forcefully. "When you get out of here? How will you do that without telling me what I need to know?" She asked and let go making her head to drop. "Your friend was lucky someone came for him, but you? You will tell me everything I need to know. Everything!"
Batgirl had since given up trying to free herself from the chair. She knew that since the kidnappers did not bother hiding their identities, it meant she was not getting out alive no matter what she told them.
Looking up at her torturer who was a tall, well-built, gruff, ugly man with deep scars on his face, convinced her of her fate.
"You might as well kill me now because I won't tell you anything." She spat out at the figure. "Pray that I don't get out of these binds."
Nat chuckled at that, "You think you can take me on?" she said, moving behind her to remove her restraints.
Batgirl was confused and hopeful at the same time when she felt her fiddling with her binds. This guy is dumber than he looks, she thought.
She tackled him to the ground and stood up quickly grabbing the chair to hit him with. The guy stood up and pointed at her. "Hold on, let's make a deal."
Batgirl paused, using this time to catch her breath and gather her strength.
"Defeat me, and you're free to go." Nat watched the incredulous look on her face. "It's not a trap. If I win, you either tell me what I want or I get back to torturing you." She saw her looking around. "Don't mind them. I'm the boss here."
Batgirl attacked without warning, her adrenaline level through the roof while being guided by her will to survive.
Nat was impressed she could still land a couple of blows in her 'condition', but she quickly overpowered her and beat her down.
Batgirl was surprised at the brutes' skill and agility thus leading to her being overwhelmed and getting tied up again when all her energy was depleted. There was no way she could get out of there now especially since she had an opportunity to escape, she groaned, losing all remaining hope.
"I gave you a chance and you fucked it up. So I ask again, will you tell me or will I have to get it out of you?"
She spat at him, the blood covered spit staining his shirt.
"Okay then. Let's move on to peeling fingernails then." Nat announced pocketing and retrieving some sort of hook. "This is usually where most spill their guts." She smirked down at her. "But even then, we still have your gorgeous set of teeth to remove in case you win this round."
Batgirls head snapped up at that and her gaze went to the tool she intended to use. Batman never trained them on this though he mentioned it. She winced in anticipation of the pain she was about to endure, not even trying to think about what he said about pulling out her teeth.
Suddenly, she saw his accomplice rush over to him and whisper something in his ear, making him drop the hook in shock. She looked at him and he nodded, then they swiftly disappeared from her line of sight.
Her gaze landed on the hook on the floor, thinking of ways to get to it. Making up her mind, deciding that the pain from peeling off her fingernails would be much worse, she broke both her thumbs, releasing a blood cuddling scream, almost passing out from the pain. After a few minutes of waiting for it to subside, she escaped from her binds and took the hook from the floor and proceeded to scout out the warehouse.
No one was around, all trace of her kidnappers seemingly vanished. She used the hook to pick the lock and step out.
No sooner had she stepped out than the cloud or haze in her mind lifted, thus she felt pain from only two parts of her body, the two broken thumbs. Looking down at herself, everything was in order, no bruising whatsoever was seen on her person and her clothes were also as clean as they were when she departed the hospital.
All the pain she previously felt from all around her body was gone. She stood confused because she was sure of the kidnapping, torture and her imminent death at the hands of the brute. Who managed to out skill her fighting. Thinking if it, she felt mild pain wherever the brute hit her during their clash. Weird.
Checking the perimeter of the warehouse, she found no signs of life or the many equipment she had seen when they dragged her inside.
They couldn't have cleared out so fast like that, she thought and climbed up on the roof to look into the distance in case they got spooked that her rescuers were on the way. At the back of her mind all she could think about was how close she came to dying.
OA
Hal Jordan stood in the middle of the enormous room with the guardians of the galaxy surrounding him on all sides, sat in their various high hovering seats looking down on him. He had become a familiar presence in their sanctuary and had since instructed their AI to let him in whenever he wanted an audience with them even without a formal invitation.
Hal had made sure to fly as fast as his ring could allow, in order to complete his task and return to his sector in case there was trouble, now that earth had become this century's celebrity.
The guardians were watching him watch them, both sides waiting for the other to start. The guardians thought he had come to report to them what happened at the watchtower. Hal on the other hand knew they had a report for him concerning War world and the now famous earth, since he was automatically let into the sanctuary when he went to seek them out.
The strategist was getting impatient and decided to break the ice. "What report do you have for us concerning earth?"
"Report?" He questioned, confused for a moment then remembered his earlier mission. "Oh, yeah. I totally forgot about that." He admitted sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
"Lobo is no longer on earth, so there is no need to look for him in my sector." He reported, cursing inwardly that he completely forgot about it after the whole cyborg saga.
"We are aware of that." The strategist said. The lanterns responsible for assisting the survivors of War world had picked up his space hog on their radar, though they couldn't trace him. "We are also aware that you manipulated time to achieve said results, something forbidden by our laws."
"Oh!" Hal didn't know they knew that much. "How did you know?" He asked.
"Are you not aware of your rings full capability?" If Hal didn't know any better, he would have thought the strategist was sneering at him. "We received an alert as it was happening."
"That should mean you know it wasn't me messing with time." He was relieved as he couldn't afford his ring to be confiscated at this crucial time.
"We are aware," another guardian replied. "Though you did nothing to stop the human from doing so," he added.
Hal did a double take, not liking his accusing tone. "What was I supposed to do? We were looking for Lobo and Ben happened to have someone that could get the job done, so..." He sounded unsure of what they expected.
"You are the most decorated green lantern in the corps thus you should know that any violation in regards to TIME should not be taken lightly." The strategist said, extending his hand causing his ring to fly to him.
"So...Let me get this straight. You wanted me to arrest Ben?" he asked as the strategist scrolled through the rings data and brought up Clockwork.
"As is your duty, no?" another said. Any attempt at scanning Clockwork resulted in their earlier 'unknown' results and 'error'. They couldn't scan the parts making up clockworks body.
"Yes, it is my duty but it's Ben. I thought you were cool with him and the omnitrix?"
"We did not know he possessed a robot capable of manipulating time to such a degree." Another said.
"That's Ben for you, full of surprises every time you see or hear about him." Hal quipped, remembering how he was also surprised with that power. "Just to mention, that is not a robot. It is a living being who happens to look like a robot." He corrected.
"As I suspected." The strategist said continuing to scroll through the rings data. Clockwork was an alien specie in his universe.
"Suspected what?" Hal asked but no one answered him. They all concentrated on what was being projected.
Clockwork must have really freaked them out, he thought. And they've not even heard about what feedback can do.
"What is clockwork capable of?" One guardian asked.
"You mean his powers? He basically controls time."
"Do you mean chronopathy?" the strategist asked and added when he noticed the confused look on his face, "this grants him a fine-tuned sense of precise time."
Hals face lit up in understanding, "Yes, that and a bunch of other chrono somethings, I've forgotten some of them." He racked his brain on the term Clockwork used to summarise his powers. "I think Chronokinesis sums it all up."
He watched the guardians start discussing among themselves in hushed voices while they replayed everything clockwork did.
"Did he tell you this himself?" the strategist asked.
"Yes, why do you ask?" It can't be that bad, he thought.
"It means he has control over time itself." Another guardian revealed to him.
Hals reaction was mild since everything he saw Clockwork do indicated he was powerful. He saw them look at the strategist, indicating they were communicating telepathically.
"What happened at the watchtower?" another asked as a video of the tower emitting the beam was projected above for all of them to see.
Of course they know about it, he groaned, for the first time not appreciating how connected and powerful the guardians were.
Since Hal had not scanned feedback using his ring, they used the video they watched before to zoom in on them outside the watchtower.
"Before I tell you, you have to promise me you won't freak out on me." At least not more than you already are, he finished with a thought.
The guardians remained silent, looking down on him, waiting for his report since they no longer had access to the watchtowers system.
Okay, here goes. "We were hacked and they weaponized an emergency protocol set up by Batman." He explained. They remained indifferent to his revelation, meaning they knew it was a hack and just wanted to confirm it.
"What is this? What did he turn into and why didn't you scan him?" The strategist asked, enlarging the video, choosing to direct him on what to tell them.
"Given the situation, I thought you understood hero work comes before any other thing and that's feedback, one of Ben's aliens." He said, wishing he had not travelled all the way, but just sent a message or a video call. The guardian's had too many questions and they seemed tense for some reason.
"We are aware he is one of his aliens. What we want to know is how he is able to absorb all that energy." The strategist played the video and Hal was actually impressed, now seeing it from an outside point of view.
"Can't believe my ring gave out before it was over," he complained as he watched his construct shatter and him pass out, then float away from it all before being rescued by J'onn.
The video was started again and paused, then enlarged, bringing feedback into view. He snapped out of his thoughts at that.
"You mean his powers?" He asked. "He basically has the ability to absorb and redirect an infinite amount of any type of energy." He summarized for them. The team had also been surprised that such a scrawny creature could be capable of doing something like that, especially when he went ahead and charged the watchtowers towers canon to full capacity again.
"Infinite amount!?" "How is that even possible," were among the murmurs from the guardians.
"I guess everything is possible with that watch of his." Hal said absentmindedly when he heard their gasps.
"It seems so," the strategist said, taking note of it. "Every alien he turns into is powerful and unique in its own right." The video resumed playing. Something came up in his line of thought.
"Who recently upgraded the watchtowers systems?"
Hal was taken aback by the question. How can they already know about cyborg?
"Ben. Why?"
"We cannot gain access to it no matter what we try." He replied, much to Hals relief. "Why would he reconfigure the whole system? Did you find the person responsible for the hack?"
"Yes we did, it's been sorted out." He answered vaguely, not wanting to freak them out.
"Who was capable of overriding cyborgs coding?" the strategist pressed on. Other than Ben, no human should be able to do that.
Hal paused, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Lying was impossible since the guardians could detect deceit. Telling the truth also meant informing them that Darkseid knows about the omnitrix. He was a green lantern, he took an oath, so he had no choice.
"Cyborg himself." He revealed.
All the guardians focused on him, confused for a moment.
"Why would cyborg hack his own system and attempt to harm his own teams reputation?" one guardian asked.
"He wouldn't unless he was not in control of himself at the time." The strategist chimed in, a thoughtful look on his face. "Where is cyborg?"
"We don't know his current location but we are working on it." He answered and watched as he retrieved every information they had on cyborg and peruse rapidly through them.
"Is it possible the mother box has overridden his system?" he asked.
"You know about it being an Artificial Intelligence!?" Hal was surprised that it wasn't privileged information for the Justice league. Thinking about it, it made sense that the Guardians knew.
"I take that as confirmation." He concluded. "Meaning Darkseid knows about the omnitrix."
"Well...it's not a surety, but it's also a possibility." Said Hal. He hated their intelligence that allowed them to connect the dots at such a high rate.
The guardians began murmuring amongst themselves again.
Hal stood as he watched them converse while displaying every alien Ben had ever turned into.
"What is the Justice league doing about it?" One guardian asked him.
"For starters, we upgraded our security." He stated.
"We are asking about the omnitrix. Now that Darkseid knows about it, he will come for it. What are they doing about that particular problem?"
"Nothing."
"What!?" the strategist barked.
"Nothing. I mean, Ben has proven he can handle himself, so Darkseid will be in for a rude shock thinking it will be a walk in the park like the last invasion." They all believed that Ben, given the aliens he had showcased so far, could handle himself against an enemy such as Darkseid. "Plus, we have the avengers too."
The strategist was leading some form of telepathic discussion from what he was seeing. Talking of the avengers made him remember his original reason for coming to OA.
"Speaking of the Avengers, you haven't mentioned anything about war world's destruction." He said to them.
"What is there to mention? It no longer exists thanks to the Kryptonian." Came an answer from the strategist.
"I know it no longer exists, but superman was not responsible for its destruction." He revealed, "One of the avengers, the Hulk, did that."
None of them seemed surprised by the news.
"Then you shall convey our gratitude to him when you return to earth," said the strategist. "He has achieved what no one was capable of doing, getting rid of Mongul and War world simultaneously."
"That was why I actually needed to talk to you." He had all their attention. "His team members are sure that he survived war world's destruction and were requesting if you could inform the team assisting the survivors to keep a look out for him." He explained. "Or his body in case he is dead."
The strategist retrieved video of war world exploding. "They are sure this 'Hulk' survived this?"
"I know, right? But I guess they know him better than we do. Something about him having a powerful regenerative ability."
He watched them quiet down for a few seconds, looking at each other. Then his lantern ring flew back to him and he was engulfed in the familiar warm green aura.
"We have heard their plight and I will make sure they search every debris within the blast radius for their team mate." The strategist said, disconnecting the projector. "Is there anything else you require from us?"
Hal quirked an eyebrow. "Not really."
"Good. Then you shall excuse us. We have much to deliberate amongst ourselves." The strategist said, then waved his hand and Hal was teleported out of the sanctuary and found himself outside the building. He took off, heading to space, mapping his route back to earth.
"That's strange." He mumbled. For such a serious meeting, its conclusion was so premature that he developed suspicions that the guardians were up to something. All the questions they asked and their sudden change in attitude towards Ben worried him, especially now that they knew about Darkseid.
You worry too much, they are a force for good, his subconscious reassured him. Anything to do with apokolips usually freaked them out so much that, they usually had deliberations on every decision to be made.
He also noted that they weren't surprised when he mentioned the hulk was responsible for blowing up war world which meant that they knew. What disturbed him was that he did not know what they knew about it or if they would contact him should they find the hulk. He decided to take a detour himself to war world and scope it out just in case the team missed anything during their scans.
Back in the sanctuary the guardians watched as his trajectory changed, heading towards war world, no doubt to join the search in favor of his friends.
"Will they disclose anything to him?" One guardian asked the strategist, who had teleported back into the room after rushing to their laboratory.
"No they won't. He won't find anything." The strategist replied, taking over the projector. "The scientists have been brought up to speed."
"Good" "Wonderful" "Great" They said, watching what he was doing.
"Now that Darkseid knows about the watch, we will have to move up our time table of acquiring it for safe keeping." The strategist announced as several images of the omnitrix and its aliens filled the room.
All the guardians nodded their head in agreement.
Watchtower.
Every available founding member of the Justice league was seated in the enormous conference room together with the available avengers and Klaus, low murmurs of discussion could be heard all around the table. Superman had led the delegation to their main conference room which had ample space to sit all of them.
Queen Maxima had made sure to sit in-between Klaus and Thor when superman decided to co-chair the meeting with batman. The other members present were J'onn, Wonder woman, Iron man, Hawkeye, the Flash, Kara and Cate. The general sat one seat away from his queen, Thor separating them. Batman and superman stood to his right. Thor was indifferent to Maxima's advances while Klaus was squirming on his seat as his senses detected everyone's attention was on them thus adding nervousness to his list of emotions. The queen on the other hand did not give a damn about anyone in the room apart from them.
Iron man, Hawkeye and Flash understood why the female heroines in the watchtower reacted as they did towards Klaus when they stared at the Queen of Almerac. She was the second most beautiful woman they had ever seen and Tony made sure that Jarvis took a couple of snapshots and videos for future references. Her attire alone was enough to drive anyone crazy with desire and they were sure the two of them were getting an eyeful of her thighs.
Wonder woman on the other hand, sat alongside Kara and Cate on the opposite side of the queen. Two of them glared at Maxima's antics and flirtatious advancements towards their teammates while one of them was simply amused by the whole thing. Kara failed to comprehend why Ben was putting up with such crude behavior. She would give him a piece of her mind the next time they were alone. Why would you want to be alone with him? Her subconscious chastised her thought process.
The general was also studying everyone in the room, particularly Klaus, whose existence should be impossible according to Almeracs database and history. He somehow had the same abilities as his queen which should be impossible. "Where did he come from?" He asked the dark knight because the queen wasn't in any mood to tune into the meeting and he didn't want to interrupt her too.
"Who?"
"Him." He gestured to Klaus.
"That is a question best suited to him." The dark knight stated knowing very well he wouldn't dare interrupt his queen's conversation.
Superman merely looked at them then at Maxima and Klaus. The queen was getting overly touchy with both him and Thor. At first he had intended to put a stop to it but batman instructed him to let it go. His reason was that they had to keep the omnitrix a secret from her, otherwise this friendly visit would turn hostile at her attempt to retrieve it. So he stood there, watching how she had no idea she was flirting with a teenager. His senses could detect the pheromones both of them continuously produced fill the room. He still had to hold his breath, something he noticed Kara was doing too.
The general knew what the dark knight was doing and he had to give him credit. For a human, he was very intelligent.
"Yes, it is. I shall ask him another time." He gave up that line of questioning. "What happened to your base of operation for it to malfunction so severely?" he asked, smirking at the way batman slightly tensed. Two can play that game.
Every gaze in the room looked at the general, even the queens focus was directed to him and his question. She too was curious about that. "Yes, I would like to know that too." She focused on the dark knight and Superman.
"It was a technical error on our part, but it is all fixed so you don't need to know about it." Batman didn't need them to know about the hack or that it was Darkseids fault. Based on how the queen had taken an interest in earth, she might volunteer her help which they didn't need. "You have seen the Almeraci you claimed we harbor, so why are you still in my watchtower?"
Maxima's gaze hardened at his question and underlying tone. It was decided, she did not like him one bit, but did not get a chance to voice it because her general beat her to the punch.
"Yes we have seen him, but we don't know what he is. So, do you mind telling us?" His attention went to Klaus who was wishing to be anywhere but there. Across from him, his gaze occasionally met Kara's and Diana's who did not bother hiding the various facial expressions from their faces.
"Huh?" He tuned back to the conversation. "An almeraci, what else could I be?" He asked, his tone a little bit harsher than he intended as he looked at the general.
"I know what you currently are. I am talking about what you became to neutralize the beam shot from the watchtower." The general answered.
"Are you a Martian?" Maxima asked from beside him. "Is that how you did it?" She asked because Klaus was not an ordinary almeraci.
Now that she sat next to him, she got a chance to really study him. She figured out that he had invulnerable dense skin that rivalled hers, using her casual caresses on him that weren't appreciated by the intense glares she sensed coming from the female heroines. She didn't give a damn about them. Comparing him to Thor, she concluded the god of thunders nigh-invulnerability was far superior to Klaus given she had to apply more pressure when caressing him. This led her to the conclusion that Klaus had super strength which she would have to test out later to determine its exact limit and whether he was worthy or not to be her mate. She hoped he was, because the way he increased her endorphin and adrenaline levels by just sitting next to her was something she had never experienced before even when in close proximity to superman. She was supposed to be the only superior specimen of her people thus Klaus's sudden appearance really bewildered her and made her question everything she knew about her people. For good measure, she studied his flustered face carefully, to determine his truth.
"What? I'm not a Martian." Klaus answered, his gaze locking on to hers. He hated when this happened to him as he thought about the time he had transformed into Bullfragg and couldn't stop himself from flirting with princess Attea of the Incursean Empire. Attea had also been the only female incursean which led Gwen to suggest the omnitrix wanted to upgrade their genetic structure through the two of them. He refuted that claim with everything he had.
His almeraci gene made him view queen maxima as irresistible thus every minute caress from her wasn't helping his situation. Quickly scanning the room, he watched the male members apart from superman and J'onn envy him while he couldn't bring himself to look at the heroines.
"So you say, my beloved. But only a Martian could transform they way you did." Maxima stroked his biceps while looking at him.
"Beloved!?" "He is not a Martian. Though he has the ability to shapeshift." Kara mumbled at the same time superman spoke up. He wasn't sure if Klaus was uncomfortable because he could hear how rapid his heart was beating and occasionally smell the potent pheromones in the air. His senses also noted how tense he was and if he could determine all that then... His gaze turned to his cousin whose facial expression strained to remain stoic. Diana on the other hand looked ready to put the queen in her place, no doubt not liking her behaviour towards Klaus or Thor and her dismissive tone towards everyone else.
Maxima's enhanced hearing picked up Kara's mumble and looked at her then at Superman. "I know he can shapeshift. I am asking what he is. No shape shifter is perfect enough to mimic another's DNA strand. He is now one of my almeraci but he was also that thing from earlier. How so?" Her gaze moved from Klaus to Kara, who met hers without blinking.
Neither Superman nor Batman knew what to tell her. The queen would not depart before knowing what he was and that could be a problem for them.
"I don't know what I am." Klaus spoke up. Everyone's gaze landed on him again. "All I know is I have this awesome power and I get to save people with it." He shrugged, deciding to outright lie while smiling at Maxima to throw her senses off.
"What do you mean you don't know who you are? Where were you born?" the general quizzed, suspicious.
"On Earth." He answered immediately.
"But you are an almeraci." Maxima insisted. "How come you are not an earthling like them?" she motioned to Iron man's group.
"I can be an earthling when I want to." The queen and the general's gaze remained on him.
"I don't want to be one now." He added at their expectant gazes.
"Why not?" the general asked.
"Why do you people find it hard to take no for an answer." Diana spoke up, her gaze traveling from the general and settling on Maxima. They could be here forever if no one wanted to check this queen.
"Watch how you address me!" Maxima didn't shy away from the stare down. She was still coming to terms that Diana 'could' be 'more' beautiful than her, something that infuriated her.
"Or what?" She shot back, a part of her wishing the queen to throw the first punch at her, diplomacy be damned.
"I just don't want. At least not now." Klaus answered immediately hoping to diffuse the building tension. Some of the team admitted to themselves that they wished for the two to fight, albeit everyone had their own reasons in wishing so.
Maxima smirked at that answer, a wicked glint cropping up ok her. "So you enjoy being an almeraci in my presence. I don't blame you. Clearly these children don't know how to take care of real men." Her fingers trailed his biceps and chest.
Thor could only watch amused at the whole thing. He knew where this type of back and forth led to because he had seen it so many times back in Asgard. The only difference was that in Asgard, they welcomed any form of violence and celebrated the winner.
Klaus groaned. How much worse could this get. "That's not what I..."
Diana and Cate didn't have time to call her out because two twin beams shot towards Maxima at lightening speed, taking her by surprise but was luckily blocked by Miljonir which redirected them to the opposite wall.
Batman merely shook his head at the scene not knowing what to say or do. He had left superman to conduct the meeting as he was familiar with the queen and was most likely the only one she would take seriously. Plus he also got distracted by her from time to time. He turned to superman to find that he was not beside him anymore.
Thor, on the other hand, expecting some form of violence, redirected the twin beams away from Maxima. This kind of banter was common among his warriors especially among the couples each attacking the others egos.
"How dare you attack my Queen!" The general shot up from his seat and aimed a blaster at Kara while Maxima was struggling against Superman's hold, her seat broken into two on the ground.
"Calm down your majesty, she didn't mean it." Superman held on as she attempted to hurl herself at Kara.
"Let me go!" Maxima commanded then her arms accidentally hit his groin, granting her freedom from his powerful hold. She lunged over the table for her target.
Diana, who was standing in front of Kara, shielding and holding her back, was thrown aside as Maxima bumped into her then proceeded to punch Kara who was thrown back against the wall making the whole room to shake.
Batman, Iron man and Hawkeye couldn't follow what was happening while the flash laughed out loud at the scene. The general found himself frozen on the spot while Cate moved to attack Maxima. Diana found her footing and moved towards them.
Kara, who was still angry at everything that happened ever since she was kidnapped, moved at super speed and spear tackled Maxima on top of the table which broke into pieces under their force.
The air was knocked out of Maxima's lungs from the force Kara applied and was startled a bit by her strength. She recovered and started to block the punches Kara threw at her while attempting to flip them over. During their struggle for dominance and everyone's confusion, no one paid attention to the green flash that enveloped the room briefly.
Kara was suddenly yanked away from Maxima who was also yanked into the air, both of them seemingly hovering but flailing around each trying to get to the other. Diana and Cate were also held in place by an invisible force.
Kara noticing she wasn't getting closer to her even though she tried to use her flight, unleashed her heat vision again but this time it was blocked by Superman who stood between them. "Stop it!"
She cut it off but Maxima was still struggling against whatever was holding her.
"I can do this all day." A new voice, an unfamiliar gruff voice, bellowed grabbing everyone's attention.
Those who weren't already staring at the owner of it found themselves slack jawed at what they saw. Thor stopped chuckling at the whole thing while Maxima and Kara stopped struggling in the air.
They saw a large, bulky, reddish-brown alien with rocky skin, a giant mouth with teeth that were also made of rocks, and some sort of sphere filled with molten lava at the centre of his body. His feet were tan with three toes, and he had three fingers and one thumb on each hand. He wore black shorts with green stripes, a green belt with white stripes and the Omnitrix symbol on his forehead. His hands were currently stretched pointing to them and were emitting a green aura of hazy energy.
The room was dead silent. Batman who had moved far away from the commotion, with no intention of being caught up in the middle, gravitated towards Ben as he had seen him transform into what looked like a meteorite.
"That's more like it." Gravattacks' gruff voice broke all of them out of their stupor. Diana, Maxima, Kara and Cate tried getting free of the unseen force holding them in place but they found they couldn't. The others simply stared on, still in wonder at what creature they were looking at.
"I'm going to let you go and I expect everyone to calm down." Gravattack ordered, looking at the group currently under his control. His current form revealed to him how powerful the women in the room were. He used a great amount of his power to manipulate the gravity around them to nullify their ability to fly and hold them in place. An amount close to what he used when he had accidentally created a black hole during a mission in his universe.
Kara calmed down and fixed herself up then folded her arms across her chest. Maxima collected herself and fixed her outfit while smoothening her long red hair. They both landed on the floor using their own power of flight.
"Hal is so going to be jealous of missing this cat fight!" The flash quipped silently to himself but almost everyone turned to look at him. Shit, he moved to hide behind Hawkeye, who was continuously shaking his head. How can people this powerful get ticked off this easily? Their tantrum could tear the watchtower apart, he thought.
"Let go of me!" The general looked at J'onn who had intentionally used his telekinesis to hold freeze him the moment Maxima attacked. He would have just made things worse. J'onn nodded and released him.
"Are you okay my Queen?" he moved to Maxima, scanning her form for any injuries. If it were up to him, he would order an attack on the Justice League immediately. He glared at all of them.
She dismissed his concerns, "Don't pay mind to such insignificant things."
Kara stood watching the queen, her anger still simmering, not yet calmed down. Had they not been separated they would have no doubt caused significant damage to the conference room. Who does she think she is to call me a child! She thought in anger. That had been the last straw to make her snap. She was still cross about her helpless state the entire time she was on war world even though it was not her fault. The way Maxima acted around the watchtower also added to her dislike for the almerac queen, thinking that everyone was beneath her. Kara also had to admit that Maxima was strong too, possibly in Clarks league.
"She will answer for her crimes against Almerac." The general vowed glaring at Kara.
"What!?" both superman and Gravattack exclaimed at that while Diana and Cate stood beside Kara.
"No need for that." Maxima refuted his statement knowing that it may derail her plan to get a mate from this planet. "I am over it. Besides, it would take more than a feeble punch to ruin my mood." She declared haughtily before turning to properly scan Gravattack.
"Maxima!" Superman warned, speeding in her line of view. "Continue with that attitude and I will have to insist you have overstayed your welcome." His expression promised to deliver what he said.
Kara on the other hand clenched her fists in anger. "I know how hard it is, but don't let her get to you." Diana reasoned with her, blocking her path. Only her gods knew how much she wanted to teach the entitled queen a lesson and had it not been for Ben...
"Superman! Surely you don't find me at fault here? She attacked me!"
"You provoked her." Thor spoke up for the first time, he had seen enough. This charged atmosphere almost reminded him of Asgard.
"I did no such thing!"
"Yes you did." J'onn reiterated moving to stand next to gravattack, no doubt intrigued by him.
"This meeting needs to come to an end." Gravattack commented watching the various gazes on him.
"What are you?" Iron man asked him after getting the usual 'unknown' results from Jarvis' scans.
"Gravattack." He stepped back as the general moved forward with something like a scanner.
"What is that?" Cate asked, wondering how he could go from something so handsome to one so hideous in a moments notice.
"My name." He clarified. "Call me Gravattack."
"We know that. She's asking what you can do. What did you do to them?" Batman asked.
"In front of them?" He attempted to whisper, which was still quite audible.
"What are you? Our database cannot match you with any specie in the universe." The general asked, pocketing the scanner.
"Like that snake creature he turned into." Maxima recalled, her face contorting in disgust.
"Wait, you don't know what he is?" the general asked Batman, connecting the dots between his question and the whispering. Now that he looked around the room, the Justice League were just as shocked as they were yet he was their teammate.
Batman did not answer. The general took note of that small detail.
"Do you control gravity?" Cate asked after thinking about it. His name somehow rhymed with gravity and from what she experienced, she was too heavy to move when he was using his powers.
"How did you know?" Gravattack was surprised, he figured the dark knight would be the first one to guess correctly. "And here I thought the room was full of intelligent people."
"Don't blame them, blame their intelligence." Cate smirked.
"You're not helping the situation." Diana chided her sister.
"What do you mean control gravity?" Iron man asked. "Gravity is a force of nature."
"Yes it is, and I control it."
"You are basically a living planet with a molten core and everything." Superman exclaimed surprised, using his enhanced vision on Gravattack.
"What!?" the others stood shocked at the revelation.
"It is true, I can see it too." Kara affirmed after using her enhanced vision too.
"You are full of surprises my friend." J'onn had never seen anything like it before. His enhanced vision confirming what the kryptonians could see.
"Hold on. How are you a living planet? Seriously!" Hawkeye asked, failing to comprehend what they were saying.
"Just like that. Come on, how many times will I repeat myself?"
"Is this one of your shape shifting powers?" Maxima had heard enough and wanted to confirm what she was thinking. She needed to retrieve his blood for her scientists to consider whether it was viable for reproduction. The variety of powers could be a bonus for her offspring.
"Yes. It is." To prove his point, his arms, legs and torso retracted into his enormous head, transforming him into his planetoid form and he floated on the spot. The general, Batman, Iron man, the flash and Hawkeye gravitated towards him and started spinning around his form, joining the various things sucked into his immediate orbit. The rest of them were powerful enough to defy his orbits pull by hovering away from him.
"Stop that!" Batman shouted and they all landed on the ground abruptly when he transformed back to normal.
Some remained on the ground still processing what just happened while the others floated back down.
Gravattacks hands glowed a hazy green aura again and everything in the room returned to where they were before.
"Are you sure you are an earthling?" the general asked too stunned at that kind of power. No wander everyone was becoming wary of the Justice League, he thought.
"Yes." He answered and watched his disbelieving expression. Figuring he was too bulky anyway, he changed in a flash of bright green light and turned into Ben, not wanting to repeat whatever happened when he was Klaus. He did not use the omnitrix dial so as not to reveal it as the source of it all.
The light was so bright for Maxima and the general that they covered their eyes for a few minutes, letting them adjust.
"What is this? What are you supposed to be?" the queen asked, thinking he was changing to Klaus again. "Who are you?"
"Ben," was his simple answer.
"Where's Klaus!?" She asked a little panicked, as she was looking at a youthful male. Her senses marked him as a human. Impossible, she thought as he greatly resembled Klaus.
"Where do you think?" Diana smirked at her, enjoying her state of realisation.
Maxima looked at Superman and Batman. "This is a child! Klaus was older than him!" she barked.
"Hey!" Ben complained.
"And yet still the same person." Cate shot back. "I can't believe a queen can be this dense."
"What did you call me!" Maxima seethed, turning to face her but superman was already between them. Cate had already taken up a defensive stance. An amazon never backed down from a fight.
"You will not fight in here." He pointed at both ladies warning them. "The next person to cause unnecessary violence in here will be banned from the watchtower forever." Both stood down at that because they were both visitors.
"Fine. The only thing I want you to tell me is how that is supposed to be Klaus." She gestured to Ben who rolled his eyes at her.
"I can shapeshift to Klaus. Nothing else to know there!" He said to her. She seemed to always get what she wanted, so her lack of success here must be infuriating for her, he thought. Turning to Ben also dissipated the sudden infatuation he had with the queen even though he already started feeling the effects of being in an enclosed space with her. Trixx had warned him of the high levels of pheromones in the room thus he steered clear of being near her.
"Now that you are up to date on everything, I think it's about time you return to your planet, isn't it?" J'onn suggested as all the emotions in the room were so charged up that anything could trigger a reaction in any one of them.
The general who had been studying everyone, agreed with him and approached his queen but she declined.
"Where is Hal? I am not leaving without speaking to the green lantern in charge of this whole sector." She demanded. If none of these people wanted to tell her the truth then she will have to coax it out of Hal the only way she knew how.
"Hal has been recalled to OA and it may be a couple of days before he returns." J'onn replied.
"I don't mind waiting for him." Maxima said, gracing her face with her most innocent smile. "I will be the perfect guest, follow all of your 'rules'". She air quoted the last part.
"I don't think that is a good idea my Queen." The general counselled her but was shot down immediately.
"Then it's a good thing your opinion does not matter, so shut up!" He took a step back from her and stood silent. Everyone wondered how he put up with her attitude.
The founding members were desperately thinking of any reason or excuse to not host the unpredictable queen but could find none. The Justice League was a force for good and unbiased so they had no choice.
"You two will stay here till we can get your accommodations ready." Superman said.
"That will not be necessary." The general replied moving to him while gesturing around. "This place is not fit to house the Queen of Almerac. We will be residing in our main ship till such a time the green lantern appears."
Everyone looked at him incredulously. Talk of high maintenance.
Maxima, noticing their disdain looks, chose to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to secure her future lineage. "It is okay, MC. We will sleep among the commoners for now. We accept your generous offer." The general was about to protest but the queen shot him one look which made him deflate and shut up.
"We are glad you accept. I will be right back to guide you to your quarters." J'onn, ever the patient and diplomatic one, said as he ushered out batman and superman for further discussions.
Ben noticing this, followed them out the door before the queen got a chance to solely focus her questions on him. Diana, Kara and Cate walked out too when they saw the queen block Thors way out. Flash, Hawkeye and Iron man remained in the name of 'providing back up' to the god of thunder.
"Is this a good idea? The more they extend their stay, the higher the chance of them discovering about the omnitrix." Batman said as they went to the control room.
"It's not but we do not have a choice. She represents Almerac thus any ill-will towards her will strain the relationship between both planets." Clark reasoned. Almerac was one of the most powerful planets in the universe and to willingly make an enemy out of them was not strategic.
"We get that, but must she stay in the watchtower?" Diana asked walking into control room and standing next to them.
"It's not a must, but where else can we keep a close eye on her? We don't have any kind of surveillance in their ship." J'onn defended his earlier decision which to his surprise earned a nod from all of them.
"Smart thinking." Batman said, the effects of whatever Maxima secreted, fading away from him. He had noted down in his notepad to create something to negate her influence on him. "Which wing should she sleep in? We need to isolate her from the rest of the heroes."
"What about the avengers wing?" Ben suggested. "She won't have time to disturb the others as she will be busy getting distracted by Thor."
"How can you throw him under the bus like that? She's despicable!" Kara said glaring at him.
"It's only an opinion." He said hastily. "So far Thor is the only one who is not affected by her and does not mind her straight forwardness. Don't forget that she will also listen to whatever he says." He explained what Trixx had speculated. Asgardians, particularly Thor, should be used to that type of behaviour by now and most likely knows how to circumvent it.
"I understand that, but so many things could go wrong." Diana insisted not liking the idea.
"You mean they sleep together?" Cate asked from beside her, making Diana to slap the back of her head.
"What was that for!"
"Your dirty unfiltered mouth!"
"It's not like you were not thinking it." She defended herself amidst all the gazes on her.
"It is a possibility." Batman had to concede because just being in the same room as her, clouded ones sense of tactful thinking.
"True, but I believe Thor is unaffected by her, just like Superman. His physiology trumps hers." J'onn commented.
"So we are all in agreement?" Ben asked and the others nodded. "Even though seduction does not have anything to do with their physiologies." He couldn't help but add.
"You will have to give up your quarters to her general." Batman said to him, completely ignoring what he just said.
"Good. Now, what to do about her fleet?" Batman asked for suggestions from the others.
Ben noticed that Kara was still glaring at him from time to time while Cate merely smirked at him. Thinking that it had to be about him manhandling them in the conference room, he moved to them to set things straight.
"Hey, how are you two holding up?" Looking at them, he realised he had not properly spoken to either of them since they were rescued from war world. Not even to apologize for their misfortune. He had been too busy helping batman and J'onn in the control room. "I am sorry for..."
"Now he remembers we exist." Kara said to Cate cutting him off, clearly in a bad mood.
"Figures, since the queen is not around for him to try and bed."
"Excuse me? What..?" Ben exclaimed. "The fuck you mean by that?" He looked at Cate waiting for an explanation, not sorry for his colourful language.
The rest of the group glanced at them but continued their discussion.
"What are you looking at her for? She's not the queen." Kara said when his gaze found hers.
"What are you talking about? I restrained all of you, including Maxima. I didn't favour anyone!" he shouted exasperated. He should have stayed with the other group.
"You think it's about that?" Cate chuckled. "Mother always told me that men are dumb and liars, I always hate it when she's proven right." She quipped looking at the dumbfounded expression on Bens face.
"Why are you so cross with me all of a sudden?" his gaze moved between the two ladies. "Why don't you tell me what I did wrong?" He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of the reason.
"Why don't you ask your watch? From what I heard, it's more intelligent than most people I know." Cate said.
Kara, who had tuned out of their conversation and was listening to Batman's discussion group, spoke up faster than she intended so as not to let Trixx put out her suggestion.
"Leave Trixx out of this." She said at the same time the omnitrix audio system activated.
"I believe your recent behaviour towards Queen Maxima did not sit well with Kara while her friend Cate, is offering her support as a friend." Trixx's voice was heard.
"What behaviour?" Ben asked looking at Kara whose face was flushed with embarrassment.
Now everyone will think that was why I got so angry, she groaned, no doubt everyone heard Trixx.
"I didn't know it could do that." Cate stated astounded, looking at his wrist.
"You continually reciprocated the queen's advances towards you." Trixx said, playing for him a video of all their interactions from the hanger to the conference room. Looking at it now, Ben could see what she was talking about. No doubt everyone was thinking the same thing, he groaned.
"That wasn't my fault." He defended himself. "Blame the almeraci DNA!"
"That's what you boys always say!" Kara shot back, indifferent to his excuse.
"True, including in every movie I have ever watched." Cate quipped, smiling at how many real life instances mirrored what happened in the movies.
"It's the truth! I didn't know what I was doing." Somehow, he finished with a thought.
Both girls glared at him. That excuse was the most basic of all of them.
Ben saw their facial expressions and panicked. "Trixx, help me out here."
"You're going to blame it on the watch?" Cate could now understand why her sisters hated men so much.
"Ben is telling you the truth. Certain alien DNA characteristics can override the users personality and make them behave like the species in question." Trixx explained to them.
"See, told you so!"
"She's just defending you because she's your watch." Kara said, not believing her.
"What? Trixx can't lie. She's been programmed to state facts." He said, exasperated.
"Why does it concern you so much, Kara?" Trixx asked, augmenting her voice so that batman and the rest could hear her question. Kara just attacked her integrity and she wasn't letting her off the hook that easily.
Cate gasped, her mouth opening wide while Kara, despite the residual anger, couldn't help but blush a little at that. She cursed, having forgotten how Trixx didn't take lightly to anyone challenging her integrity.
Ben was about to reprimand her when he too, thought about the question. "Yeah, why does it bother you so much?" he asked, now also curious. He wasn't the only one because Cate was also looking at her.
Her sharp mind rapidly thinking, "Blatant inappropriate behaviour in the workplace is frowned upon. It makes everyone uncomfortable." She said, folding her arms across her chest. Most of the people in the control room smiled at that answer.
Ben stared at her. That couldn't be the only reason, could it?
"Are you saying that it made you uncomfortable to the point of attacking the queen?" Trixx asked again, determined not to be outmatched.
This time Ben reprimanded her, "what the hell Trixx!"
Cate chuckled at her friends predicament, enjoying the banter. "Remind me to never challenge his watch."
Kara did not answer any of them.
"I'm sorry for that, but I was telling you the truth. There's something about Klaus that got triggered the moment I met the queen." He apologized.
"It is in his nature." J'onn said joining them, their discussion having ended.
They all looked at him. "Maxima is searching for a worthy mate and Klaus is basically a male version of her. Like two pieces of a puzzle coming together." He explained.
"Doesn't mean she gets to behave the way she wants." Diana said. "We are going back to the Fortress before going to the island. You need to complete your check-up." She informed her sister.
"What! Back to Themyscira?" Cate grumbled.
"You too." Clark told Kara, who seemed relieved at their interruption.
Ben on the other hand was disappointed he did not get the answer he thought he would. "What about Maxima?"
"J'onn is taking them to their rooms while I go and talk to the general about their fleet. They need to vacate our orbit before the government's figure out we have hacked their satellites." Batman explained as J'onn disappeared into the floor.
"And I need to get out of here because I can't stand her." Diana added.
"Can I come with you?" Ben asked Clark, interested to see how the fortress looked like as they had earlier been denied entry when he was with Hal. It was also a way to avoid Maxima, whom he was sure had a long list of questions for him to answer.
"That's not a bad idea. She shouldn't find out about the omnitrix at all costs." The dark knight reasoned then turned to Clark, expecting an answer.
"Okay, you can come. Let's get out of here before the queen comes looking for us." Clark agreed and they walked out of the control room, heading to the teleporter.
Batman went to the monitor and connected to the batcave's system and immediately a notification popped up on the screen. Shit! He cursed and hurried out the room.
Fortress of solitude
Clark, Diana, Ben, Kara and Cate materialized outside the huge structure that was devoid of all the damages it previously spotted. All the holes and dents had been patched up while the falling snow covered up all the craters around it.
A flash of green light drew their attention to Ben and they all saw he had transformed into Supreme. Noticing their gazes on him, he shrugged, "the only way to deal with the cold."
Clark led the way as he flew towards a wall which transformed into an enormous camouflaged doorway which scanned him then slid open. Already familiar with everything, the ladies followed him inside while Supreme and Trixx were watching and scanning everything.
"Unknown male kryptonian has breached the fortress." Kelex's voice was heard as soon as Supreme crossed the boundary into the watchtower. "Expulsion protocol to be activated in 65 seconds."
Supreme stood stunned while the rest turned to look at him then at Clark. "Override code 1824, subject Supreme." Clark spoke up to no one in particular.
"Code accepted." Kelex said, then the audio system deactivated.
"Sorry about that. I usually alert him prior to me having a new guest." He apologized. "You were not on the list."
"I figured as much. Kelex didn't acknowledge or recognize me earlier even when I was a kryptonian." He revealed, impressed by how technologically advanced the fortress was, as they continued walking. It reminded him of being inside a Techadon weapon masters ship, spotless with everything in order and capable of detecting any new entity within seconds of its breach.
"What were you doing here?" Clark asked, this was the first time he was hearing this.
"Kelex didn't inform you?" He asked and Clark simply shook his head. "I came with Hal to track down Lobo's whereabouts. Kelex refused to help us in any way."
Clark smiled, "that's why he didn't inform me. You did not try to force your way in and you were with Hal. He's on the 'friends' list."
"Did you find him?" Diana asked, slowing down when she heard them mention Lobo. Kara and Cate were also interested in that answer as they recalled their encounter with the brute. That fight reminded them of the various beings 'out there' capable of outmatching them in raw strength.
"Nope. He's not on earth anymore."
"Lucky bastard!" Kara mumbled, her anger suddenly spiking at the thought of him. The reason they were kidnapped. She was sure she would clean his clock on the second round.
"How sure are you?" Clark asked, "From what I watched in the security feed, he escaped using his clone as a diversion. Maybe that was who you tracked down."
"It can't be. I am sure because we followed him to where he went and saw what he did."
Clark looked puzzled for a moment, "What do you mean followed him? Did you arrive at the time of his escape?"
"Why didn't you help J'onn?" Diana added.
"I didn't mean the time he escaped. I meant we followed him after he had escaped and gone into hiding."
The two of them stopped, making the rest of them stop. They weren't understanding him. "What do you mean?" said Diana.
"How could you follow him after he had already escaped? Did you know where he would go?" Clark asked, his intelligent mind trying to come up with a logical explanation.
"No." He said. "Okay, let me put it this way. I have an alien who can control time, so I just rewound it back a little."
Clark's eyes widened at this revelation, "I didn't know time manipulation was possible."
The others just looked at the watch strapped to his wrist in awe. Kara's sudden anger turned to intrigue.
"It is, in my universe." He said, "That's how I know it was Lobo."
"That watch of yours is something else." Clark commented, resuming walking towards the control room.
"Tell me about it." Diana conceded following Clark.
"Where are we going? I thought the infirmary was in the other side?" Cate asked as she noticed where they were heading to. Kara's elbow bumped her, making her lose her step. Her ability to fly was the only thing that had stopped her from falling.
"I need to check on how the others are dealing with Queen Maxima before we have you all checked out."
"What was that for!" Cate whispered, her voice harsh.
"Don't use me as an excuse for not wanting to go back home!" Kara whispered back and Cate just smiled, massaging the spot she had bumped.
"I don't know why you don't want to go back home." Supreme whispered beside her, "your mother was really worried about you the last time I saw her. She probably wants to confirm that you're both okay considering everything that happened to them. Plus Themyscira is very beautiful and calm and serene." He added, thinking of everything he saw there, including the half naked ladies that occasionally flooded his mind.
Everyone came to a halt and turned to look at him. Diana walked over to him. "What do you mean by that? What happened to them?"
"When did you meet my mother? And how do you know how Themyscira looks like?" Cate questioned, suspicion flooding her thoughts.
"J'onn didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what? That my mother wants her back home?" She gestured to Cate.
"That too." He said. "I think he didn't want you to worry after everything, you've gone through, considering we dealt with it." Supreme reasoned.
"What are you talking about?" Diana was getting impatient.
Supreme thought on how to best put it without them overreacting too much. "Thor and I helped them stop an attack on your home." He watched them gasp in shock. "Everything is okay now." He hastily added.
"When was that?" "Who attacked my home!" "Is everyone okay?" Cate, Diana and Clark asked simultaneously. Supreme not knowing who to answer first.
"I asked you who attacked my home!" Diana moved forward, into his personal space, her eyes promising violence the next second should she not get an answer.
"Diana, maybe we could..." Clark started moving to them.
"It was some kind of indestructible machine." He said, "we already handled it though." He reassured.
"Wait, you said indestructible, how did you defeat it?" "How many died?" Kara and Diana asked simultaneously. Diana knew the queen was safe but the rest of her sisters fate was still unknown.
"Not so many." He answered and Diana backed away from him. Death was uncommon in Themyscira and they all had learned to accept it despite their extremely long lives and her immortality.
"How did you defeat it if it was indestructible?" Clark reiterated his cousins question.
"I have an alien..." He started but was interrupted by Clark. "Got it."
"Is that why she wants me to go back home so much?" Cate spoke up, still shocked at the news. So much had happened in such a short time. She thought of her mother and sisters.
"She wants to confirm you are both safe." Supreme suggested to her.
"Let's go home." Cate said to Diana who looked up at her in surprise but nodded her head. She was their champion and was not present when an enemy attacked her home. She had to make amends with her mother and sisters.
"You can use my teleporter to get you near your barrier." Said Clark heading for the control room, the others in tow.
Kara, who was sad her friend was leaving and not knowing when she would see her next, walked behind them. "How did you get to Themyscira if it is hidden from the world and men are not allowed?" she asked when a thought about visiting Cate popped up in her head.
Everyone's step faltered again and turned to Supreme once more. Now that they thought about it, it should have been impossible for them.
"I can't speak for Thor, but I happened to stumble into it when flying over the ocean."
Everyone was sceptical. "Not even Clark can figure out where it is with his super senses." Diana said, stopping. Was that the reason they were attacked? Weakening magic along their magical border?
"True, but I wasn't a kryptonian then. I was an asgardian." He revealed. "Something about my magic making it possible to cross your barrier."
"So technically you were a god?" Kara asked, the only one not too shocked by that.
"Meaning you did not violate any of our laws." Diana stated, remembering Blaze was his version of Thor, the god of thunder. She was already picturing how her mother was going to chastise her for her teammates violation of their sacred laws.
"Maybe" He presumed. "Your mother and general Phyllipus did not mind."
Everyone resumed walking to the control room.
"I'm going to miss you." Kara whispered to Cate, breaking her thought process.
"I'll miss you too." Then an idea popped up in her mind, "I'll get permission from mother to have you visit me in case I am not allowed back here."
Karas features lit up with a smile, and the two hugged each other tightly.
"What about me?" Supreme asked, disrupting their moment.
"Why would I want you to visit me?"
"Not you. I'm kind of fascinated with your culture and serene environment." He explained, smiling, as Trixx replayed the videos from Themyscira. Ever since they entered the fortress, she had been scanning everything Supreme's eyes saw but could not name or identify most of them. She had also informed him that any attempt at hacking Kelex to duplicate their database would be detected thus ruining their good rapport. She resorted to map their route since the fortress was enormous.
Clark chuckled up front, no doubt knowing the real reason he wanted to return to the island. The same reason that would make any guy want to go back there.
"What's so funny?" Diana asked him.
"Nothing, just thought of a joke plastic man told me." He lied, entering the control room.
"Just be grateful you got to see Themyscira once in your lifetime." Cate said, dismissing his reason. She would have a hard time convincing her mother about Kara that she couldn't risk angering her about Ben's case, whether he could turn into a god or not.
Supreme was about to enter when the familiar bold words appeared in his HUD, stopping everything Trixx was doing and the omnitrix ambience changed to orange in colour.
UNCATALOGUED ALIEN DNA DETECTED...preparing to scan... flashed in his HUD and he stopped in his tracks.
Kara who noticed this, stopped and walked back to him. "What's wrong?"
The others came to find out what was happening because they could see Supreme looking around the entrance in earnest.
"The omnitrix has detected an unknown alien DNA around here," he explained, activating his enhanced vision.
They all looked at the watch to see it's ambience was no longer green and the lights were flickering orange.
"Are you sure? I thought that you have already scanned everyone that has access to this place?" Clark thought, recalling everyone who had ever been invited to the Fortress.
"I thought so too, but the omnitrix doesn't lie and if I don't get the sample in the next few minutes, it will shut down." He said, a certain urgency hinting at his tone.
"Mongul!" Kara exclaimed, their ordeal assaulting her mind. "We fought out here when we thought he was going to breach the control room."
"Yes, I remember." Cate spoke up, "just before he knocked us out, I made him bleed by piercing him with a part of Kelex." She recalled.
Supreme looked at them, "Meaning it is somewhere around here." His x-ray vision could not penetrate the walls.
"If it's a part of Kelex then..." Clark walked out and placed his palm on the wall beside Klaus which slide open to reveal some sort of mini repairing room containing parts of his robots.
SAMPLE ACQUIRED...processing... flashed in his HUD as soon as the door slid open. The omnitrix regained its green ambience and Trixx resumed everything she was doing.
"Got it." Supreme announced.
"What? I didn't see you scan anything." Clark stated, skeptical, recalling how he had seen the omnitrix function before.
"I don't have to. It only uses the physical scanner when the alien is in close proximity to me. Otherwise it can obtain the sample remotely, depends on what Trixx deems suitable at the time." He explained.
They all stood stunned for a moment. "So you can now turn into Mongul!?" Cate asked bewildered. The war lord had been so strong that he easily outmatched both her and Kara, plus could contend with Clark during their escape. Ben could now apparently turn to him, or rather his own version of him. Her mind was blown, comprehending how powerful the watch really was.
"Yes, I can. Though I don't know him as well as you guys do."
"I can't believe this." Diana mumbled, walking back into the control room followed by Clark who had an impressed smile on his face. Now that Ben was here maybe he could get a chance to study that watch of his. He believed Kelex would be capable of doing so.
"Wow! Your boyfriend is something else!" Cate quipped, shoving Kara into the control room as the repair room closed its door now that they didn't enter.
"What! He's not my boyfriend!" Kara was taken out of her stupor when she heard the comment and turned, trying to hit Cate.
"Then why did you fight Maxima for him!?" Cate flew away from her laughing. Kara chased after her.
Supreme grinned while entering the control room. No sooner than he reached in the middle of the room than everything in his HUD stopped working.
UNCATALOGUED ALIEN DNA DETECTED...preparing to scan... flashed in his HUD.