Chapter 7: For The Man Who Has Everything
The Fortress of Solitude
Wonder Woman's invisible plane emerged from the clouds, heading for a massive chunk of ice that seemed out of place in the otherwise-featureless frozen plain. The plane made a dive into the water at the edge of the ice, and headed into a tunnel carved into the wall.
"A little sharp on the turn, don't you think?" asked Batman.
"Sorry if I scared you." Wonder Woman's apology was filled with sarcasm.
Ben only laughed, which he quickly silenced as Batman gave him one of his infamous Bat-glares. Ben had learned that whenever Batman did that, you stopped whatever earned it.
As the plane surfaced in an icy cavern, the cockpit opened and the three hopped out. Wonder Woman stopped to pull out a box that was covered in wrapping. Ben had a small disk, similarly wrapped.
As they walked up a flight of stairs, Batman asked, "So, what'd you get him?"
Ben shrugged. "Something I made with Grey Matter; I thought he could use something to have fun with."
Wonder Woman shook her head. "I'm not saying anything; he'll hear you and spoil the surprise."
"You do realize," said Batman in a stage-whisper, "He can hear that too."
Wonder Woman shook her head. "What did you get him?"
"He isn't the easiest person to buy birthday presents for." Batman pulled out an envelope.
"Bruce…" Began Wonder Woman.
"Dude, did you get him a gift certificate!?"
"No!" Batman snapped at Ben, "…Cash."
Both Ben and Wonder Woman struggled not to laugh.
"I mean," continued Batman, "what do you get for the man who has everything?"
As they reached the top of the stairs, they froze. Standing in front of them was Superman; however, he was in no shape to greet them. A strange purple plant had its vines wrapped around his body, and he had a blank look in his eyes. The three rushed towards him.
Batman examined the plant closely. "It seems to be growing through his costume and into his body."
"Is he breathing?" asked Wonder Woman worriedly.
"Barely." The Dark Knight responded.
"How could something like a plant pierce his skin?" asked Ben, "I've seen the guy shake off energy weapons and crash through solid metal and not take a scratch."
"A question for another time," said Batman, "we need to help him, and find out who did this."
"Someone must have breached the Fortress!" Exclaimed Wonder Woman.
"Agreed. You and Ben have a look around."
Wonder Woman flew on ahead while Ben activated the Ultimatrix, selected his alien, and slammed the dial down.
"XLR8!" The blue-and-black alien sped off in another direction.
Batman took out a flashlight from his utility belt and shined it in Superman's eyes. "Pupils aren't contracting even slightly," he muttered to himself, "he must be cut off from all sensation. Kent, where are you?"
Batman looked down at the container at Superman's feet. It was two halves of an oval-shaped package. Batman swiftly figured out what happened. "So it was a gift," he surmised, as he picked up one of the halves, "teleported here by some alien culture or some grateful world. Or someone who wanted you to think that they were grateful."
"How remarkable," commented a voice; Batman turned to see a massive alien standing in the entrance to the hallway that Wonder Woman had flown through. He was huge, yellow-skinned and wore a purple jumpsuit. Wonder Woman was clutched in one hand. "You animals are really almost intelligent. That's exactly what happened."
XLR8 sped in. "Hey, Batman, I didn't see anyone else here and holy crud who is that!?"
"Mongol," Batman growled.
Behind his visor, XLR8's eyes widened. In the couple of weeks since joining the League, Ben had been using the mission logs in the Watchtower's computers to get himself better acquainted with the League's past accomplishments, as well as get to know the villains better. Mongol's file had called the alien strong enough to be a threat to Superman.
"You recognize me," Mongol's voice had a sadistic tone to it. "I'm flattered. I'm sure that Superman told you about our previous encounter."
Batman raised an eyebrow. "You mean how he humiliated you?"
Mongol marched up to him, the triumphant smirk now gone. "A jaundiced account."
"I don't know," mocked XLR8, "Supes does seem like the honest sort."
Mongol shot a glare at him, then held up Wonder Woman as if she were an insect to be studied. "What inferior specimens he surrounds himself with. I took her down before she even knew I was there. And I'll take this whole planet just as easily."
Wonder Woman's eyes snapped open, and slammed both of her feet into Mongol's face. The shock of the impact caused him to release his hold on her.
"Maybe not as easily as you think." She said. Mongol rubbed his jaw and glared at her as she continued, "We 'inferior specimens' call it 'playing possum'."
As both Wonder Woman and Mongol were about to engage, and XLR8 was about to turn into a different alien, Batman stepped between them.
"No." he said.
Wonder Woman stared at him in shock. "No!?"
With his superior smile on his face, Mongol stepped up to her. "Clearly the males on this planet are the smart ones." XLR8 snarled behind his visor; he was beginning to hate this guy more and more. "He wants to know about the plant." He walked up to Superman. "The Black Mercy is a telepathic species; it reads the heart's desire and feeds the individual a totally convincing simulation of it." It didn't seem possible, but Mongol's smile became even more evil.
"So he's dreaming." Batman summarized.
"That is all kinds of twisted." Commented XLR8.
Mongol almost looked offended. "Oh, this is far deeper than any dream." He tilted Superman's face up to look into his eyes. "I wonder where he thinks he is? Sitting on a throne, ruling the universe? All you human garbage fawning at his feet? More honest, don't you think, than this pretense of being a selfless hero?"
"HUMONGOSAUR!" the enormous alien charged forward at the same time as Wonder Woman. He punched Mongol in the face as Wonder Woman slammed into his abdomen. After striking him, Wonder Woman nearly collapsed; Mongol was so strong that she'd nearly broken her hands hitting him. While Humongosaur's endurance prevented that much of a setback, it still hurt his hands a little.
Mongol wiped his mouth, then stood back up. "You don't understand," he said, "Superman was the only one who could have stood in my way. The rest of you? You're already dead."
"No way," said Humongosaur, "I didn't save the universe just to get taken down by a guy whose head looks like a peanut. It's time to go Ultimate!" Humongosaur twisted the Ultimatrix dial, then slapped it. Four spikes popped out. His skin turned green, while a blue, spiked shell covered his back and head. The end of his tail grew a spiked mace, and small silver plates covered his knuckles.
"ULTIMATE HUMONGOSAUR!"
Mongol's eyes widened as Ultimate Humongosaur delivered a punch that sent him flying into a wall. This time, Mongol felt pain. This form was magnitudes stronger than the previous one!
Determined to get back into the fight, Batman and Wonder Woman attacked. Unfortunately, Mongol was more prepared for these two. He backhanded Wonder Woman into a wall, and threw Batman into Superman; in this case, hitting a wall would have been less painful for Batman. Before he could crush Batman, Ultimate Humongosaur wrapped an enormous hand around the alien and threw him into another wall. Mongol expected him to charge him, but instead, he just pointed his hands at Mongol. Then Ultimate Humongosaur's fingers morphed into a multibarreled cannon. Both cannons unleashed a barrage of energy blasts that pummeled Mongol even further.
Mongol decided he needed a different tactic; taking them all head-on would be irritating, even if he were the strongest. He'd kill the weaker heroes first, then focus all of his energy against the big one. However, Batman had a different idea.
"Diana! Can you keep him busy for a few minutes? I think that Ben's form might be strong enough to rip this thing off of Superman!"
Wonder Woman nodded, then tackled Mongol, knocking him through a wall, and followed after him.
"Will she be okay?" asked Ultimate Humongosaur.
"She knocked him into the Hall of Weapons; that should buy her a few minutes." Batman waved a hand at the Black Mercy. "If you want to help, get this thing off of Superman."
Ultimate Humongosaur nodded, then wrapped his hand around the plant. At first, it wouldn't budge; gritting his teeth and bracing himself, he pulled as hard as he could. Slowly but surely, the Black Mercy began to come off.
"Almost…there…"
Ultimate Humongosaur thought that it would come off slowly, but to his surprise, it detached itself and jumped right at him! He had not time to react as the plant wrapped itself around his throat.
"No!" cried out Batman, as Ultimate Humongosaur fell to his knees, a dopey smile creeping across his face.
Bellwood
Ben strode out of his parents' garage and towards his car. He hurried his step after looking at the time on his phone; he didn't want to be late. He drove out to Kevin's house, barely making it in time. As he stepped out, he saw three of the most important people in his life.
First was Gwen Tennyson, his cousin. One-quarter Anodite, magic-user and black-belt, she waved to him in her jeans, red shirt under her black vest, and her long red hair tied up in a ponytail.
Next to her was her boyfriend and Ben's best friend, Kevin Levin. He wore a smirk and crossed his arms as Ben drove up. He wore a black t-shirt over a grey, long-sleeved shirt and jeans. His long, black hair was messy, as usual.
Standing in front of them was Julie Yamamoto, Ben's girlfriend. Her smile was full of love as she waved. As usual, she wore her pink sweatshirt over a white polo shirt and white skirt. Her short, black hair was, as always, perfectly straight.
"Hey, guys, told you I'd get here on-oomph!" Ben didn't finish his sentence as Julie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. When they parted, Ben gave her a goofy grin. "If that's what I get when I get here on time, what do I get when I get here early?"
"Oh, you'll find out later," said Julie, a playful smile on her face.
"If you two are done, we do have a job to do." Though her tone was serious, Gwen's smile said otherwise.
"Come on, Gwen," said Kevin, "let the kids have their fun; it's not like the Forever Knights are gonna go anywhere. They live in big castles, remember?"
Gwen rolled her eyes as she got into Kevin's car. Julie got into Ben's car, followed by Ship, her pet Galvanic Mechamorph symbiote. Ben and Kevin got into the driver's seat of their respective rides and drove off.
…
Fortress of Solitude
Superman slowly shook off the effects of the Black Mercy, and when the blurriness had faded away, his eyes fell upon Batman trying to pull the plant off of what could have been one of Ben's aliens. Then he remembered.
Mongol! He'd done this to him! He'd made him see the end of his world, the end of his family!
He heard the sound of fists against flesh; that meant that Mongol was fighting someone else. Ignoring Batman, he flew off.
Mongol needed to pay!
…
Wonder Woman was lying on the ground, her body nearly broken by Mongol's savage beating. She was barely conscious as the alien warlord picked up a spear from the Hall of Weapons, and prepared to drive it through her heart.
Mongol's sadistic smile was back in full force; he prepared to drive home his weapon, when a noise made him pause. He only had a moment to look surprised before Superman collided with him, crashing through room after room of the Fortress. The two eventually landed in Superman's "zoo", a place he kept the animals he'd rescued from an alien collector.
In his rage, Superman threw punch after punch, for the moment not caring how much damage was done to his Fortress. "Do you have any idea what you did to me!?"
Mongol had to endure another minute of savage beating before he was able to kick Superman backwards. Though he was in pain, he still kept up his grin. "I fashioned a prison that you couldn't leave without sacrificing your heart's desire." He cracked the tendons in his neck. "It must have been like tearing off your own arm."
Then he reached out and grabbed Superman's head.
…
Wonder Woman slowly crawled to where she had last seen Batman and Ultimate Humongosaur. She was in no shape to continue fighting, so the best she could do was stay away from the battle. After a few minutes, she made it back. However, the scene before her was enough to distract her from her pain.
She saw Batman pulling futilely at the Black Mercy, now wrapped around Ultimate Humongosaur.
"Hera, no."
Batman heard her and turned around; his eyes widened as he witnessed her battered state. "Are you alright?" he asked as he helped her up.
"I've been better," Wonder Woman admitted weakly, "what happened to Ben?"
"He pulled off the plant, but it latched onto him. We either need Superman to pull it off, or else Ben has to somehow snap out of it himself."
"Well, Superman is fighting Mongol; we're stuck with the second option." She looked at Ultimate Humongosaur. "Can you get me to him?"
Batman nodded, and he helped her limp over to the colossal alien.
"Ben," she said quietly, "I don't know if you can hear me, but whatever you're seeing, wherever you are, it isn't real. Come back to us, Ben; please, come back to us."
…
Bellwood
…Come back to us…
As he drove, Ben frowned and rubbed his head.
"Ben, are you okay?" asked Julie, concerned.
Ben shook his head, then smiled at her. "I'm fine," he assured her, "just felt a little weird for a second, that's all."
The two cars pulled up to the entrance of a huge castle. Gwen and Kevin got out, stretching stiff limbs; it had been a long drive, after all. Before Ben could get out of the car, he felt lips pressed against his cheek. He turned to look at his girlfriend.
"Was that because you wanted me to feel better, or did you just want to kiss me?"
Julie smiled. "Maybe a little of both."
They got out of the car and walked up to Kevin and Gwen.
"I don't know why they think that we won't find them," said Kevin, shaking his head, "I mean, they live in a giant castle, for crying out loud!"
"Maybe they know they're gonna get their butts kicked, they just figure they might as well lose in a cool location." Offered Ben.
Kevin rolled his eyes. "Only you would think that living in an old castle would be cool, Tennyson."
Gwen shook her head. "Come on, guys, let's just beat these guys and go home; I don't want to spend too much time cleaning Forever Knight off of me before we go out on our double date tonight."
Ben laughed. "No problem, Gwen." He activated the Ultimatrix. "It's Hero Time!"
…
The Forever Knights were completely surprised when their door was broken down by Humongosaur. A few tried to fight back, but they were easily beaten by either Humongosaur's fists, Gwen's Mana attacks, Kevin's stone-covered hands, or by the weapons in Julie's battlesuit. The rest fled.
Humongosaur turned back into Ben and wiped his hands. "I think that takes care of them for a while."
"Yeah," agreed Kevin, "I don't know why they even bother anymore."
"Maybe they're all a bunch of masochists?" offered Gwen.
"No, they wouldn't fight back otherwise." Julie tapped her chin in thought. "I know! They're all idiots!"
The others laughed. "Come on," said Ben, still smiling, "we've all got a date to get ready for…"
BEN…
Ben's head jerked up, then he looked around. The voice had somehow spoken in his mind, and while he didn't recognize it, it seemed familiar somehow.
"Ben, are you okay?" Gwen looked at her cousin with concern.
"I'm fine, I just thought that I heard…"
BEN!
Ben stumbled as he heard the voice again. It was the voice of a woman; she sounded scared, even desperate.
Who was it… and why did she sound so familiar? He clutched his head, trying to figure it all out.
The castle began to shake. Cracks grew in the floor and walls, and pieces of the ceiling began to rain down. The area that the four stood on began to open up. Ben fell backwards, but his eyes widened in horror as he saw Gwen, Kevin and Julie fall into the crevasse.
"NO!" He jumped forward, managing to catch Julie's hand before she fell; Gwen and Kevin were nowhere to be seen.
"Ben," said Julie, as she looked up at him, "you have to wake up." Julie's mouth was moving, but the voice that came out was all wrong; it sounded like… Diana!
The realization opened a floodgate in Ben's mind. This fight had never happened. He was a member of the Justice League, he wasn't even in his own universe; Gwen was dead, Kevin was dead; Julie… Julie was dead.
He remembered going into the Fortress of Solitude; he remembered the fight with Mongol, and helping take the Black Mercy off of Superman. The plant had hit him… and he was living a fantasy; none of this was real… he pulled "Julie" as close as he could, and kissed her deeply.
"I will always love you." With tears in his eyes, he let go.
When she disappeared, everything went black.
Fortress of Solitude
Ultimate Humongosaur's head snapped up, awareness dawning in his eyes. He looked at the Black Mercy, still trying to affect him, and ripped it off. He threw it to the ground, turned back into Humongosaur, and then back into Ben. He soon collapsed onto the ground, tears streaming down his face in the process.
Wonder Woman looked at Batman, who only closed his eyes and shook his head. Diana limped over to Ben, sat down and held him close. Ben continued to sob as she gently rocked him back and forth.
"Shhh…" she whispered, "It's okay; we're here for you, Ben. We're here for you."
Batman could guess what had happened: Ben's fantasy had been to be with his loved ones again, and he had believed that it was real.
To find out that it wasn't… that sort of horrific realization could break a person, no matter how strong-willed they were.
He saw movement in the corner of his eye; the Black Mercy was still alive and probably looking for someone else to attach to.
Batman's eyes narrowed in fury.
And he knew just who to give it to.
…
Superman was beyond enraged; he'd lost everything twice now, and he actually saw it the second time. His barrage of punches was only stopped when Mongol swept his feet out from under him.
"Now, Last Son of Krypton," said Mongol, "prepare to join your people in oblivion!"
"Not today!"
The two aliens looked up to see Batman swing the object in his cape like a sling, sending the Black Mercy right at Mongol. The warlord had just enough time to gasp before it hit him…
…
Superman and Batman stared at the still form of Mongol. He was lying on the ground, the Black Mercy clutching at his chest, a sick grin plastered on his face.
"What do you think he's seeing?" asked Superman.
"Whatever it is," said Batman with narrowed eyes, "it's too good for him." Then he turned to Superman. "Come on, we need to check on Diana and Ben."
"Wait, what happened to Ben?"
"When he got the plant off of you, it got attached to him by mistake." Batman looked down at Mongol again. "Whatever fantasy that he was in, whatever it put him through… it nearly broke him when he snapped out of it."
Superman nodded. He could understand that. The two heroes went up one level to find Ben still crying, and still being held by Wonder Woman. She was in obvious pain, but she was still willing to help the younger hero.
"Let's get him home." Said Superman softly.
Superman put Ben into the invisible plane, while Batman helped Wonder Woman limp inside.
"Bruce, let me make a call; I'll see you later."
Batman looked at him suspiciously, but nodded and got into the plane. After it took off, Superman contacted the Watchtower.
"J'onn? I need you to contact Kara for me. I need her for a… sensitive mission."
…
San Francisco
Supergirl arrived at Ben's house about an hour after J'onn called her. All it took was for the Martian to say that Ben needed help, and she was ready to go. She had already been on the ground when she got the call, though she had been in Russia, saving people who had been in an earthquake; Flash and Steel had assured her that things were well in hand, so she took off for California as fast as she could. She'd only stopped when J'onn teleported in some civilian clothes for her.
When she knocked on Ben's door, she was surprised to see Diana answer it. Kara had to admit it, Diana had seen better days; her arms and head had bandages over them, and she suspected that her civilian clothes hid even more injuries. It was probably thanks to the accelerated healing factor that she possessed that Diana was even walking at all.
Diana gestured for her to come inside. "What happened?" asked Kara worriedly.
"Ben came with Batman and I to wish your cousin a happy birthday; however, Mongol was there."
Kara gasped. She knew about Mongol; she had been with Ben when he was looking at the old case files.
"Is he hurt!? Where's that freak Mongol!? I'll…"
"Ben is alright, at least physically." Diana frowned for a moment; she had been upset too after seeing what the Black Mercy had done to Ben.
Anyone in the League would have been. But Kara seemed a little… too protective.
"What do you mean, 'at least physically'?" Kara seemed less mad, and now was just concerned.
"Mongol had attached a plant to Clark; it had made him live his heart's greatest desire. When Ben pulled it off, it did the same thing to him. He was able to snap out of it himself, but… well, see for yourself." Diana nodded towards the stairs.
"Thanks, Diana." Kara rushed upstairs.
Diana limped over to the living room and sat on the couch. It had only been a couple of hours since the fight, and even with her rapid healing, she was still in a lot of pain. She had wanted Bruce to stay as well, but Batman's bedside manner needed serious work. For now, only the founding members of the League and Kara knew about what happened, and for Ben's sake, they intended to keep it that way.
…
Kara hurried upstairs. It wasn't hard to find which room Ben was in; super hearing allowed her to hear his heartbeat. She opened the door to find him sitting upright on his bed. He'd definitely looked better; his skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot from crying so hard. He stared blankly at his feet; he didn't even acknowledge her as she came in.
"Ben?" no answer. Kara walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder. That got him to at least look at her, but he didn't really see her. It was as if something was missing in his eyes; it took Kara a moment before she remembered where she'd seen it before. It had been the first day that she and Ben had met; when Ben had spoken about his family's death. It looked like Ben had been through it all over again. Kara sat at the foot of the bed.
"Ben, look, I don't know what happened to you; but no matter what, I'll be here if you need me."
Ben looked up at her for a moment. For a second, Kara thought that there was going to be a repeat performance of what happened the first night at the Kent farm. However, instead of breaking down in tears, Ben simply shifted until he was sitting next to her. After a second of hesitation on his part, Ben wrapped his arms around her tightly. Kara was a little surprised, but returned the hug with equal force.
"Thank you." Ben whispered.
…
Both Diana and Kara stayed at Ben's home for the next few days. Other League members would visit, but Diana and Kara rarely left for more than an hour or two. During the first couple of days, Ben was nearly lifeless, rarely leaving his bed and, save for the occasional word or phrase, was completely silent and even then, those words were usually directed at Kara. On the third day, Ben surprised both women by coming downstairs and telling them "good morning". And he did it with a smile.
"I guess I realized that I can talk to you all about this kind of stuff," Ben had said to Diana when she'd asked what brought about the change, "just knowing that I have people who will listen, who'll be there if I need them; that just made me feel better."
Two days after that, both Diana and Kara felt that Ben didn't need people hovering nearby, watching over his shoulder. They packed their things and were almost ready to leave.
Diana was ready first, and was preparing to contact the Watchtower to be teleported when Ben stopped her.
"Diana?" the Amazon princess turned to see her young friend behind her.
"Yes, Ben?"
"I just wanted to say thanks; you know, for being there after I got that plant off of me."
Diana smiled. "Of course, Ben. I know that you'd do the same for me."
Ben smiled back. "I also wanted to say thanks for saving me."
"How do you mean?"
Ben looked down. "If you hadn't called out my name, I don't know if I'd been able to break free. I still don't know if I wanted to break free."
Diana understood what he meant; during her stay at his home, Ben had told both her and Kara what the Black Mercy had shown him. For him to see the people he cared for the most, and then realize that it was all an illusion… both Amazon and alien wanted nothing more than to see Mongol burn for that.
Ben started speaking again. "But still, the fact that I let go… maybe that means that I'm starting to move on; I'm not forgetting them," he added when he saw Diana raise an eyebrow, "but I think that this means that I can live without them. Or at least, live without seeing them again."
Diana pulled him into a gentle hug, which he returned. "I'm glad to hear it, Ben." She let go and took a step back, putting a hand to the communicator in her ear. "Ready, J'onn."
Ben shielded his as a flash of light made Diana disappear.
I wonder if that's what people do when I transform, Ben thought idly. He turned around and saw Kara standing at the top of his stairs.
"I assume that you heard what I said?"
Kara smiled sheepishly. "A curse of super hearing." She lifted off and floated down the stairs. "Still, I'm happy that you're starting to move on." She looked down, then up; she seemed to have difficulty looking Ben in the eye.
"Kara? You okay?"
To Ben's surprise, a small blush had appeared on Kara's face. "Are… are you sure that you don't need me to stick around? I don't mind staying a couple more days if you need me to."
Ben blinked. Was she…? Nah, couldn't be. "Kara, I'll be fine." Somehow, Kara seemed disappointed. "But, if I have any problem, no matter how small, you'll be the first person I call, okay?"
Kara brightened up at that. "You better, or I'll kick your butt."
Ben laughed. "Yes, ma'am." He said jokingly.
Kara smiled warmly, then grabbed Ben in one of her crushing hugs.
"Kara!" Ben gasped, "Air!"
"Sorry!"
As Ben got air going back into his lungs, he looked at Kara. Unlike Julie, who was short enough that Ben had to look down, Kara was his height, maybe even a few centimeters taller, so he could easily look her in the eye. It was also very difficult for her to hide that blush.
"Kara, are you okay?"
Kara looked right into his eyes for a moment. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Ben." Then she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Watchtower, ready for teleport." As she began to disappear, Kara saw Ben put his hand over the spot that she'd kissed, a stunned expression on his face.
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