Kapitel 5: Intiation

Smallville, Kansas

Ben stood alongside Martha, Jonathan and Clark Kent, cheering for the graduating class of Smallville High School, their applause specifically directed at one graduate in particular that wasn't exactly normal compared to the rest of her class. So it was with a grin of self-satisfaction that Kara Kent accepted her High School diploma. As she walked away, Kara caught a glimpse of Ben in the audience, and waved at him, happy to see him there.

After the graduation ceremony, Kara rushed over to her family and friend.

"Thanks for coming, Ben; it means a lot that you came here."

Ben smiled at her. "Hey, on a day as important as today, how could I miss it?"

She had been pleasantly surprised to find Ben attending her graduation. He had apparently been trying to stay hidden in order to surprise her, but it was usually rather difficult to hide from someone with superhuman senses.

After receiving hugs from all four of her personal audience, the Kent family plus one returned to the farm. Most of Kara's graduating class was planning a party later that night, but Kara had a much bigger event to attend. Clark and Kara went upstairs to get into their costumes, while Ben began cycling through his various aliens. Upon finding the form he wanted, he slammed the dial of the Ultimatrix. Superman and Supergirl came back down the stairs in time to be greeted by the familiar flash of green light.

"SHOCKSQUATCH!"

The alien that Ben had turned into looked like a large ape, and had primarily yellow fur, with black fur covering the forearms, lower legs, waist and head. The face, feet and hands were grey-skinned, and a yellow, trident-like crest emerged from its forehead. The Ultimatrix symbol appeared on a belt around his waist.

Supergirl gave a thumbs-up, while Superman chuckled.

"You're going to make quite the impression with that one, Ben."

Shocksquatch shrugged. "Hey, if you're gonna meet people, make sure that they don't forget ya, eh?" Oddly enough, the alien spoke with a Canadian accent.

Martha Kent approached Superman. "Now, Clark, you take care of your cousin and Ben, all right?"

Clark smiled at his mother. "Don't worry, Ma, they're gonna do fine."

Martha smiled back, then rejoined her husband at the table.

"Have fun, kids!" Jonathan waved at them. The three heroes nodded, and Superman put a finger to the communicator in his ear.

"We're ready."

A white light surrounded the trio, growing brighter by the second. When it became too bright to look at, it cut out altogether. When the light disappeared, the heroes disappeared with it.

Three Months Ago

"Ben," said Clark solemnly, "there's something we need to discuss with you."

"Sure." Ben felt a little uneasy as he let Clark and Diana into his home; both of them seemed very serious, almost grim. He tried to remember if he'd done something wrong. Had he broken some law, or disobeyed a rule that superheroes had to follow? So far, no one had mentioned any wrongdoing on his part.

"What's going on, guys?" Ben gestured for the two heroes to sit at his table, which they did.

"There's something we need to ask you, Ben." Diana looked briefly at Clark, who nodded at her. "Do you remember what happened the day after we defeated the Thanagarians?"

Ben shrugged. "I remember getting a little snappish with you guys; sorry about that, by the way."

Diana smiled. "It's perfectly understandable, given what you went through. However, before we found out what had happened to you, we had originally been planning to offer you membership in the Justice League."

Ben's eyes widened. He remembered Superman telling him that the world needed more heroes like him, and then interrupting him; had he really been about to offer him League membership? Still, looking back, Ben realized that immediately taking them up on that offer would have been a bad move; he had needed the time to grieve, which had led to him staying at the Kent home for a week.

Clark took over for Diana. "I know that it still hasn't been that long for you Ben, but we'd like to extend the offer again: will you join the Justice League?"

"Absolutely." Clark and Diana were slightly taken aback by Ben's lack of hesitation.

"Are you sure that you don't want to think about it?"

Ben smiled at them. "Aside from me, the only other real superheroes in my universe were Gwen, Kevin and Professor Paradox." Ben decided not to mention the Galactic Enforcers; those guys were decent heroes, but they could be downright silly. "Joining the Justice League is a chance for me to be part of something greater, to do more to help people; how can I refuse?"

Thanks to her empathic abilities, Diana could feel the resolve in Ben's spirit, just as she could feel the pride in Clark's. She felt the same pride for this young man; he had been hurt badly, but he was still willing to fight on. Any Amazon would have been proud to fight alongside someone like him.

"So," said Ben, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, "when do we start? I'd love to start smacking down some supervillains right now."

Clark laughed at his young friend's enthusiasm. "Not yet, Ben; actually, we invited you pretty early, as sort of a thank-you for helping us during the invasion. In about another couple of months, we'll start sending invitations to other heroes around the world; then, we'll bring them all up to the Watchtower."

Ben tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, I thought the Watchtower was destroyed."

"It was, but we're in the process of building a new one; it'll be better than ever, and can be a permanent home for any full-time heroes."

Ben grinned. "Cool. So, who else are you inviting? How many other heroes?"

Superman shrugged. "Batman is still looking over his files on them to see who's qualified, but I can tell you that there'll be a lot."

Diana interrupted him. "AndIcan tell you that you were the first on the list of candidates."

If someone had told Ben that a few years ago, he would have let that sort of pride go to his head.

Now however, he only felt honored.

He was going to be part of something bigger than he had ever known.

The Watchtower

The light of the teleporter faded, and Shocksquatch, Supergirl and Superman stepped out to see a massive room. It looked like it could have held at least a few hundred people! Shocksquatch and Kara looked around, impressed with what they saw. Superman smiled at them like a proud father, then waved over the rest of the founding members of the Justice League.

"Glad to have you with us." Green Lantern got a glare from Supergirl for only addressing Shocksquatch, so he grudgingly added, "Both of you."

"Yeah, welcome aboard, you two." The Flash slapped Shocksquatch on the hairy arm. Unfortunately, he got a mild electric shock out of it. "Ouch!"

"Sorry!" Shocksquatch rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Guess I'm a little nervous; I built up some electricity without meaning to, eh?"

Green Lantern shook his head. "All right, all of you step off the teleporter; I've gotta go get some more recruits."

The League members, both new and old, walked down the stairs as the teleporter flashed again, sending the Lantern back down to the Earth's surface. Shocksquatch chatted with Flash and Wonder Woman, while Supergirl walked beside her cousin. As they passed by a window, Supergirl stopped to see an amazing view of the world below. Seeing her adopted homeworld reminded her that it was more than just an honor to be a member of the Justice League; it was a responsibility.

"Never gets old, eh?" Supergirl turned to see Shocksquatch watching the Earth below them. "I've been in space more times than I can remember, and even if it's not the same Earth, it's still one of the coolest things I've ever seen."

"Reminds me of what we have to fight for."

Shocksquatch nodded. "All the more reason to get to know the people we'll be fighting alongside; come on, I think some more are arriving now, eh?"

Supergirl followed his gaze, and indeed, there was another glow surrounding the teleporter; more new Leaguers were coming in.

"Come on," said a grinning Supergirl, "let's meet the team."

…

A couple of hours passed, and both Ben and Supergirl had split from each other, talking to the growing number of heroes. Early on, Ben went to find a secluded spot to transform back to normal; even though Azmuth had upgraded the Ultimatrix, he had still refused to give Ben access to the Master Control. That meant that he still needed to let the Ultimatrix recharge, though he could remain as an alien for up to an hour. After letting the watch recharge, he transformed again; this time into Diamondhead. He didn't want to accidentally shock anyone again.

Of the new members he met, he found a few that he immediately liked.

First was Steel, who seemed likable enough; apparently he'd created his suit of powered armor as an homage to Superman. Not that that was a bad thing in Diamondhead's mind.

Next were Vigilante and Shining Knight. They were a little goofy to him, but they seemed like they knew what they were doing. Plus, it was kind of funny to watch an armored knight from King Arthur's time and a cowboy working together.

Then there was Static and Gear, two young heroes from Dakota who, Diamondhead was surprised to discover, had helped the original members of the League stop the villainous Brainiac from rebuilding himself and save the first Watchtower. He had fun listening to some of the stories of their adventures.

Last was Zatanna; Diamondhead had a little difficulty talking to her. Not because she was incredibly attractive, though that certainly didn't help, but because she reminded him a little of Gwen. She was smart, kind, had a razor wit and could use magic.

He couldn't quite get over his hesitation with her. She's not Gwen, so why should I have any problems with her?Diamondhead tried to reason with himself.

Further conversation was halted when Superman called for everyone's attention. He was standing on a higher level of the room, alongside Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern. When everyone was quiet, he began to speak. Even though he was in the back of the crowd, Diamondhead had no trouble hearing Superman's booming voice.

"Each of you brings something different to the table. Strength, speed, stealth, whatever."

I can do all of that and more, thought Diamondhead with a hint of smugness.

"But we're all equal in at least one way. Each of us is willing to make the sacrifices a hero needs to make." Superman seemed to stare right into Diamondhead's eyes. "Even the ultimate one."

I know that better than most.

"Since there are so many of us, we can do more than just put out fires, both literal and figurative. We can be proactive; we can do some real good in the world, but we're going to have to be organized." Superman pointed upwards, and Diamondhead and several others followed to see a smiling Martian Manhunter. "J'onn will be up here, keeping an eye on everything; he'll be the one to decide who's going where and when. I know a lot of you are used to making those decisions by yourself, but from now on, we have to be more coordinated than that. We can't be cowboys anymore." Superman smiled. "Or cowgirls."

A few of the heroes in the crowd laughed, Diamondhead among them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Batman approach a guy in green with a bow and quiver on his back.

"We sent the Lantern for you because you never gave us an answer."

The blonde archer glowered. "Come on, I don't belong up here, fighting monsters and aliens and supervillains. I just help the little guy, and in a big club like this? You tend to forget all about him."

Diamondhead frowned, not really liking this guy's attitude. They were all heroes here; did it matter if they saved someone from a fire, or a giant monster, so long as they were saved?

The guy continued. "So gee whiz, I'm flattered to be asked and all, but no thanks."

Batman's eyes narrowed, but he turned and walked away, saying "Suit yourself." He paused, then turned his head towards the archer. "Those monsters you don't fight? They tend to step on little guys."

It took all of Diamondhead's willpower not to crack up then and there. Nice one, Bats, he thought.

Meanwhile, J'onn had brought Green Lantern's attention to one of the computer screens. "It's some sort of nuclear accident. The sensors are showing a massive release of heat."

Green Lantern nodded. "I'll get down there and try to contain it."

The Martian stopped him from leaving. "That's the odd thing; it's not dissipating. It's moving in a straight line." He looked down at a digital roster of the League members. "Take Captain Atom; he might be able to absorb some of the radiation."

"Right." Lantern agreed, "And I could use some muscle for crowd control."

"Take Supergirl." J'onn raised an eyebrow at the Lantern's unhappy expression. "She's got to start sometime."

"Fine," Lantern grumbled, "but if I'm going in with two new members, I'm taking someone with more experience, too."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Ben. If any surprises come up, he's the best suited to respond."

The Martian nodded as the Lantern flew up into the air. "Use a Javelin; the radiation's making it impossible for the transporter to get a fix on the location."

"Captain Atom!" Lantern barked, "Kara! Diamondhead!"

"'bout time." Supergirl headed in Green Lantern's direction with a cocky smile.

Here we go, thought Diamondhead. The two aliens joined Green Lantern, along with a man in a silver bodysuit with red boots, gloves and an atom symbol on his chest. He gave a nod of greeting to both of them.

As the four walked to the Javelin bay, the Lantern asked, "Any of you ever been to Chong Mai?"

"It's on the State Department's 'no travel' list." Replied Captain Atom, "It's a Class Three felony for American citizens to go there."

"I don't think that country exists in my universe." Captain Atom gave Diamondhead a funny look when he said that, but didn't say anything.

"Is it anywhere near Daytona Beach?" asked Supergirl. Green Lantern only groaned.

As the heroes walked to the elevator, Diamondhead got a good view of the Javelin bay. He'd never seen the League's original Javelin-7 ship, but from what he'd heard from the civilian crew that operated the Watchtower's day-to-day functions, the new Javelins were faster, tougher, and better armed. On the way to their Javelin, Diamondhead noticed the archer guy from before run up to them. Apparently, he'd taken a different elevator.

"You're not gonna leave me on Mount Olympus?" He almost whined the words. Diamondhead couldn't decide if he found this guy funny or annoying. Maybe a little of both.

"You can go back the way you came." Was Green Lantern's response.

"Uh, no. No one's playing pinball with my molecules again."

Lantern rolled his eyes. "All right, we'll drop you off after we're done."

As the team walked up to the Javelin, Diamondhead noticed the archer hesitating. "Come on," he told the guy, "it's just like a road-trip except, you know, without the road." Seeing the guy roll his eyes behind his mask, Diamondhead tried a different tact. "So, I'm Diamondhead, and you are…?"

"Green Arrow."

"You sure you're not Robin Hood?"

"Ha ha. I get that one all the time."

"Ahem!" Both heroes turned to see Green Lantern tapping his foot. They quickly got inside.

As they found their seats, Green Lantern getting into the pilot's seat, Supergirl walked up behind him.

"So, you're gonna let me drive, right?"

"Whoa, wait a minute." Captain Atom had a worried expression on his suit-covered face. "Has she been certified in a Javelin?"

Supergirl sat down and gave him a look. "Why don't you take the stick out, Corporal?"

"It's Captain." Was the huffed reply. Diamondhead snickered while Green Arrow gave Supergirl a thumbs-up.

As the Javelin took off, Diamondhead got a good view of the Watchtower. It was a massive structure, built to hold hundreds of people. It looked like a massive white and gold pillar, with an incomplete ring piercing the top. It was an incredible sight.

As the Javelin headed towards the planet, Green Arrow leaned towards Captain Atom. "Is that a containment suit?"

"Uh-huh. I'm not flesh and blood anymore; just living energy."

Green Arrow leaned back with a frown on his face. "That wouldn't be nuclear energy, would it?"

Captain Atom glanced at him with narrowed eyes. "With a name like 'Captain Atom', what do you think?"

Green Arrow crossed his arms. "I think you're what I marched against back in college."

Oh, he's gonna be fun to work with, thought Diamondhead sourly.

Chong Mai Countryside

The rest of the trip was silent, but mercifully brief. The Javelin landed in a forest clearing. Green Lantern, Supergirl, Captain Atom and Diamondhead strode out, but paused when they saw several miles of scorched terrain. It looked like someone had focused a nuclear bomb in a straight line through the area.

"Looks like we missed the party." Supergirl remarked.

"Yeah," said Diamondhead, "our invitations must've gotten lost in the mail."

"We'll do recon," said Green Lantern, cutting off any future quips, "if you see anything don't try to engage."

Captain Atom stood at attention. "Roger that."

Diamondhead facepalmed. Really?' He thought. This guy really is a soldier.

Green Lantern looked taken aback. "Uh, you can just say okay."

"…Okay." Captain Atom walked off. Supergirl rolled her eyes and sighed, and she and Diamondhead followed.

Green Arrow watched them leave, then took a drink from the water bottle he'd taken from the Javelin. As he lowered the bottle, he noticed a dozen armed men, several of whom were aiming RPG's at…

"Get down!"

The four heroes heard the shout and reflexively sought cover. Green Lantern used his ring to bring up a large shield, just in time to stop a rocket. Bullets and more rockets soon followed. The three others relaxed when they saw that the weapons weren't having any effect on the shield.

"State Department sure was right about them not liking foreigners." Captain Atom said rather coolly.

"It's crazy!" snapped Green Lantern, "No reason for it!"

"I'll give 'em a reason!" Supergirl prepared to take off when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't do it, Kara," said Diamondhead, "that'll only make it worse."

"He's right," agreed Lantern, "we came here to help them, not to fight."

Green Arrow ran up to them. "So you're just gonna stand there until they run out of RPGs? If this radiation thing is as bad as it looks, there's a lot of people out there that are gonna get fried."

Diamondhead shrugged. "He's also right; hang tight, I'll take care of it."

Green Arrow looked at him skeptically. "What are you gonna do, throw rocks at them?"

Diamondhead grinned, then slapped the Ultimatrix dial. The other heroes shielded their eyes from the flash of green light. When it faded, Diamondhead had been replaced with a tall, black and yellow alien with massive, pointed shoulders, and what appeared like pointy magnets for hands and feet. A metal, green eyed head floated between the shoulders.

"LODESTAR!" when Lodestar shouted, his mouth, if he had one, didn't move.

Green Lantern raised an eyebrow. He hadn't seen this one before. Lodestar pointed his hands at the soldiers. The air became distorted with the waves of magnetic energy that he was generating. When it reached the soldiers, their weapons flew into the air, then shot towards the ground at Lodestar's feet.

"Sorry, fellas," Lodestar said, "But no one can resist my magnetic personality!" Supergirl and Green Arrow groaned in response. "What? I don't know a lot of magnet puns."

The five froze at the sound of a helicopter. They took fighting stances as it landed and the doors opened, but they relaxed when they saw that the soldiers accompanying an aging general did not appear hostile.

"My apologies for the fireworks," said the general in a too-smooth voice, "Colonel Kim here was just a farmer before the revolution; he doesn't know who you are." He smiled at them, but Lodestar could tell that it was fake. "I'm General Kwan. I am most flattered that the Justice League has honored us with its presence, but I must ask why."

Green Lantern stepped forward. "You had some kind of nuclear accident."

The general waved it off with a smile. "A minor problem. It is fully under control."

"If it's all the same to you…" began Lantern.

"It's fully under control." The General had lost his smile, and his eyes had a dangerous glint to them. "If it's all the same to you."

"Listen," said Supergirl, "we came a long way to help…"

"Your help is not needed here," interrupted Kwan, "thank you for coming. Now goodbye." He made a brisk about-face, then strode off.

After Kwan and his soldiers left, Lodestar spoke. "I'm pretty sure that the odds of him not hiding something are the same as Batman getting a sense of humor."

…

The sun began to set as the heroes went back into the Javelin. Green Arrow went into the back and fumed, Supergirl was doing her best not to break anything and Captain Atom was sitting in a chair, awaiting new orders. Lodestar went into the restroom and turned back into Ben. He wanted to give the Ultimatrix time to recharge, just in case he was needed. Green Lantern was speaking to J'onn on the communication screen.

"I'm telling you, J'onn, it took all the restraint I had not to part that guy's hair with my ring."

"You did the right thing." J'onn's face grew more serious, if that were possible, "but the problem is not under control; it's getting worse."

"Don't you get it?" Lantern turned to see Green Arrow walking up to him. "They don't want anyone to find out about the accident; and they don't care how many of their own people they have to lose to keep it quiet!"

"This isn't your concern!" Lantern gave Arrow a steely glare. The archer in turn merely clenched his teeth, then walked off. John turned back to J'onn. "He does have a point. Maybe the four of us should go back and…"

"No! We can't just do whatever we want; when we formed the League, we agreed with the world's governments that we'd have to respect each government's wishes." The Martian sighed. "No matter what we may think of their policies."

John was about to reply when Supergirl rushed in. "Lantern! Green Arrow's gone!"

"And so is the Geiger counter." Added Captain Atom.

"Man," said Ben, now transformed into Jet Ray, "there's being brave, and then there's being stupid. We better find him before he starts an international incident."

…

It took some searching, but thanks to Supergirl's advanced senses, they located Green Arrow. What they hadn't expected to find was the archer firing explosive arrows at the source of the radiation, which turned out to be a several-hundred-foot-tall robot. A robot with giant cannons for arms, and a metal skull wreathed in flames. The machine was about to vaporize Green Arrow, but was saved when Lantern flew in and picked him up.

"There's some people over by that cliff!" the archer pointed to where some civilians and soldiers had indeed been cornered at a cliff. The only thing stopping them from escaping to the adjacent hillside was an enormous crevasse.

"I'll try to drain it!" Captain Atom flew off, with Supergirl right behind him.

"I'll work on getting those people out of there!" Jet Ray flew in low, before landing at the edge of a cliff. He slapped the Ultimatrix dial.

"BLOXX!" the building-block alien stretched himself out, creating support struts and handrails along the way, until he made a perfect bridge. His head grew out of one side of the bridge and he yelled at the closest man. "Go! Run for it!"

The man in question put a tentative foot on the bridge, but when it held, he smiled and waved the others forward. Green Lantern and Arrow stayed nearby, in case the robot returned from its battle with Supergirl and Captain Atom. As the people ran across him, Bloxx noticed Captain Atom pulling the fiery energy out of the robot. The metal monster tried to attack him, but with more energy drained than generated, it fell to its knees. Unfortunately, Captain Atom must have reached his limit, because a small explosion erupted from his hands, and he fell to the ground.

Supergirl flew down to check on him, then attacked the robot. Surprisingly, it was able to withstand her attacks, then smacked her into a hill. She shook her head to clear it, but instead of returning to the fight, she flew back to where people were still streaming across Bloxx, and lifted a truck full of soldiers to the other side.

In a few colossal steps, the robot was upon them. It was now a race to see what would happen first: whether the innocent people would get to safety, or the robot would vaporize them all. The robot pointed one of its cannons straight at Bloxx and fired. Green Lantern created a shield to block the energy beam, and for a moment, it held. But the shield began to crack, then shattered, just as the last person made it to safety. Even though he was only grazed, the beam's power was more than enough to leave him unconscious and covered in radiation burns.

The rest of the beam, however, struck Bloxx. The bridge shattered, and as it fell into the crevasse, the largest piece reforming into Bloxx's normal form. Before he could turn into something that could fly, he bounced off of the cliff wall and shattered. Before his pieces fell onto the ground below, the last thing he heard was Supergirl's voice.

"BEN!"

…

Ben awoke with a terrible headache. "I've got to stop falling off of high places; it's really bad for my health."

He glanced up. It was completely dark; he must have been out for a while. Then he remembered: he'd shattered into pieces! How was he still alive? Had he regenerated as Bloxx before transforming back? That was odd; usually, he transformed back when he was knocked out. Maybe it was an ability of Bloxx's species or something. He pushed that thought aside; now he needed to find the others. Activating the Ultimatrix, he selected Jet Ray and slammed down the dial.

"ASTRODACTYL!" Ben had turned into what looked like a red pterodactyl with a jetpack. "Okay, Astrodactyl works too, I guess." Activating his jetpack, he flew up and, once he got his bearings, headed towards where the Javelin was. Thanks to Astrodactyl's speed, he reached it in only a few minutes; thankfully, it was still there.

When he reached the base of the ramp, the Ultimatrix dial began to blink, signaling that it was almost out of power. He quickly slapped it, transforming back into Ben.

Maybe fixing me when I was unconscious drained the power, thought Ben, oh well, it'll recharge soon enough. Another fun upgrade of Azmuth's was that when the Ultimatrix ran out of power, it only took a few minutes to recharge; if Ben transformed back to normal before his hour was up, it only took about a minute.

He considered waiting for the power to recharge, but then he heard shouting. Concerned, he rushed up the ramp and saw Green Arrow and Captain Atom face-to-face, only barely separated by Supergirl.

"Hey!" she shouted, "There's a giant robot on the loose and we've got a teammate missing, so either stop playing alpha-male smackdown, or I'll take care of this myself."

"Wait, who went missing?"

The three heroes froze, then turned to find a grinning Ben Tennyson leaning against the wall. To Green Arrow and Captain Atom, there was a young man in a green jacket that they'd never seen before.

To Supergirl, there was a friend that she'd begun to think was gone forever.

"Ben…" she whispered, then flung herself forward. "BEN!"

Ben prepared himself for another one of Kara's bone-crushing hugs, but it never came. Instead, while she wrapped her arms around him tightly, it wasn't an uncontrollable hug of enthusiasm; it was as if she held him just to make sure that he was real, that he wasn't a ghost. He gently returned the embrace.

"Don't worry," he said soothingly, "I'm okay."

Supergirl let go, then wiped a few stray tears away. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"I'll do my best to avoid getting blasted by giant radiation-robots and getting thrown off cliffs." Kara punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

Supergirl rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Green Arrow, on the other hand…

"Who the heck are you?"

Ben sighed. "Okay, short version: that shape-shifting guy with all the different powers is me; I can turn into aliens from another universe."

Ben tilted his head, as if in thought. "Don't tell anyone, would you?"

Arrow gave a lazy salute. "Superhero's honor."

"So," said Ben, looking around, "where's Lantern?"

The mood instantly changed. The smiles turned into depressed frowns. Captain Atom stepped to the side; lying in the infirmary bed was Green Lantern. His body was covered in bandages. Anything not wrapped in gauze showed cuts, bruises and burns. Ben's eyes widened; he hadn't expected the Lantern to be that injured, not in the time he had been gone!

"What do we do now?" Captain Atom's question snapped Ben back to the others.

"Well," Ben thought out loud, "we know that a head-on attack isn't going to do squat; we need to find who built it. If they can create something that powerful, they would need a way to stop it, right?" Ben's question seemed reasonable to the others.

"I saw some guys in hazmat suits in the village nearby," said Green Arrow, "They should know something."

"Thought you weren't on the team?" growled Captain Atom.

"Hey," interrupted Ben before another fight broke out, "we could use all the help we can get."

Captain Atom stared at the archer for a moment. "Okay, but I'm gonna be too busy to cover your sorry…"

"Wouldn't ask you to." Came Green Arrow's response.

Ben sighed. He could only hope that the two would stop butting heads; either that, or stay far away from each other.

…

In the smoking ruins of the village, soldiers kept watch over men in hazmat suits checked the area with Geiger counters and muttered to each other in worried tones. They took a step back as Supergirl, Green Arrow, Captain Atom and Chromastone stepped forward.

"What are we up against?" Captain Atom asked a hazmat-wearing man.

When he didn't answer, Supergirl said, "He asked you a question!"

Before the man could say anything, a soldier barked, "Don't answer them! That's classified inform-ah!" He was interrupted when Supergirl lifted him up by the front of his body armor.

"I've just about had it with you guys!" She glared at the soldier. "You've got to the count of five. One. Four." Her eyes began to glow red as she charged her heat vision. The soldier's uniform began to smoke.

"I'd speak up if I were you." Said Captain Atom.

"Yeah," added Chromastone, "it might be better for your health."

"It was supposed to be our protector."

The group of heroes turned to see the hazmat-wearing man sit down and pull off his helmet. His face was covered with radiation burns, and he looked haggard and exhausted. "It was supposed to protect us from the foreigners."

Seeing as they were finally getting some answers, Supergirl lowered the soldier, who ran off in fear.

Green Arrow knelt in front of the burned man. "But then you lost control of it, is that what happened?"

The man nodded, then looked in the direction of several other men in hazmat suits. One of them pulled a gray rod out of a crate. "We have carbon rod dampeners. But we couldn't get close enough to put them in."

Captain Atom looked down at the man. "Where's its reactor?"

"The front of the upper torso. But it's too hot; you won't make it."

"I'll worry about that."

Chromastone rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hey, guys," the three heroes turned to him. "I think I've got a plan."

…

The heroes flew in the direction of the robot, Green Arrow being carried by Supergirl. They landed far enough away that the rampaging machine couldn't see them. Chromastone turned back to normal.

"So," said the archer, "what's this plan of yours, kid?"

Ben smiled. "Okay, first I'm getting behind it; once I do, I'll hold it still for as long as I can. While I'm doing that, Captain Atom flies up to the reactor and shoves the carbon rod inside; that should kill it. Supergirl, stick with the Captain; whatever he needs you to do, do it."

"Got it." Supergirl's cocky smile was back. She was certain that they'd win.

Ben turned back to Green Arrow. "As for you, take a couple of the rods from Captain Atom; if something goes wrong, you're our backup. If you have a shot, take it."

Green Arrow considered this as he accepted a couple of the carbon rods from Captain Atom; it seemed like a good plan, except…

"How are you gonna hold something that big?"

Ben only smiled. "You'll see." Then he activated the Ultimatrix, twisting the dial until he found the alien he wanted. "It's Hero Time!"

The others shielded their eyes from the green flash. Now, there was a blue-and-black velociraptor with a strange visor covering its face and wheels for feet. The Ultimatrix symbol was displayed on its chest.

"XLR8!"

Green Arrow raised an eyebrow. "How are you gonna stop it with that?"

XLR8 smiled behind his visor. "Oh, this is just to get me behind it without it noticing me." He turned to look at the robot, which was destroying everything around it.

"Are you two sure about this?" Green Arrow asked, "If you get too close, the heat could fry you."

"I know." Was all that Captain Atom said.

"I've been through worse." Said XLR8, shrugging. As the three superpowered heroes prepared to move out, Green Arrow called out.

"Captain!" Captain Atom turned to see the archer holding out his hand. He stared at it for a moment, then shook it.

XLR8 smiled at the solidarity. "Let's go!" In a blur of motion, he rushed towards the robot.

Captain Atom and Supergirl flew towards the robot, the carbon rods tucked under Captain Atom's arm.

"Try to distract it!" he called out, "It'll give Ben more time to get into position!"

"Roger that!" Captain Atom raised an eyebrow when she repeated his own words from earlier. She, in turn, winked at him and flew ahead. She moved in front of the robot's eyes. "Hey! Butane-breath!" The robot fired one of its cannons at her, which she dodged. Captain Atom hovered out of its line of sight, ready for XLR8 to do whatever he was planning.

Speaking of XLR8, he had actually run farther ahead than he'd needed to. Before he had even realized it, the Kineceleran had overshot his destination by a mile!

"Huh? What the… when did I…?"

He hadn't been expecting to move so quickly! He must have gone twice as fast as normal!

What the heck is going on? He wondered. Deciding to put his questions on hold again, he rushed back until he was only a couple hundred feet away from the robot. Now's as good a time as any, he thought, as he slapped the Ultimatrix dial.

A flash of green light, bigger than any seen thus far by the heroes, illuminated the area. Once it faded, the biggest living creature they'd ever seen pumped a fist. It was huge, even taller than the robot! It was white, with red running down part of the chest, shoulders, arms, legs and part of the face. A massive crest or horn rose out of the top of its head.

"WAY BIG!" The creature's voice alone was enough to shake anything near him.

"Whoa." Supergirl stared. She couldn't believe it; Ben had had something like that up his sleeve the entire time?

"Okay, scrapheap, let's go!" Way Big lunged forward, wrapping his enormous arms around the robot's cannons from behind, ignoring the intense heat coming from the thing. "Captain! Do it now!"

Captain Atom nodded, then flew at the monster's reactor. The guy from the village had been right; the heat was so intense that the air around the Captain's body began to ignite. He fought through the pain, until he was right in front of the reactor; he raised a carbon rod to slam it home. However, the robot looked down, and shot a short blast of energy from its eyes; the blast sent Captain Atom crashing to the ground. Then the robot jerked its head back, slamming Way Big in the throat.

As the giant alien fell backwards, the robot pointed one cannon at him, and the other at the downed Captain Atom. It fired both beams simultaneously; Way Big was knocked a hundred feet back, while Captain Atom was left at the bottom a crater.

As Captain Atom crawled out of the crater, his eyes widened in fear when he saw a rip in his containment suit; he knew what would happen next. He flew into the air, trying to put as much distance between himself and his teammates. He managed to reach the lower atmosphere… and then he exploded. An enormous ball of blue energy lit up the sky, while Supergirl, Green Arrow and Way Big looked on in horror.

In a rage, Supergirl charged at the robot, not caring if her attacks had been ineffective the last time she'd fought the thing. In response, the robot slammed its arm into her, knocking her into a hill.

Green Arrow gritted his teeth, then looked at the carbon rod in his hands. This thing is never gonna fly straight, he thought. Thinking quickly, he snapped it in half. Taking one half, he used some spare bowstring in his belt and wrapped the rod to one of his arrows. He looked up just in time to see a very large cannon pointed in his direction. He began to run…

Way Big saw the cannon fire, and a massive explosion lit the area. His eyes widened. In the span of just a couple of minutes, he'd lost two teammates. For a moment, he was back in his own universe, back in Bellwood; he saw his destroyed home, saw his dead friends and loved ones. He looked at the robot, but all he saw was him.

"NO!" Way Big rushed the robot again, slamming both massive fists against its shoulders; the robot was driven to its knees. Way Big began punching the machine over and over.

"Not again!" he shouted, "NOT AGAIN!"

"Kid, move!"

Way Big turned his head to see a dead man. Standing on a tall rock, his costume torn and his hat missing, was Green Arrow! Somehow, he'd been able to stay out of most of the blast. He drew back his bowstring and aimed his carbon-rod-tipped arrow; Way Big dove to the side.

"Say 'ah', dirt bag." Green Arrow took the shot. The arrow flew straight and true, directly into the reactor. The robot let out a final roar as it powered down.

With a roar of her own, Supergirl flew up and delivered a powerful uppercut, while Way Big drove his fist towards the robot's chest with all of his strength. The robot was decapitated just as its heart was ripped out. Both aliens looked down at Green Arrow, who fell to his knees and gave a tired wave. It was over.

…

The three made their way to the Javelin, where Ben turned back to normal. After letting a now-conscious Green Lantern know about what happened, Ben flew the Javelin back to the Watchtower.

"The controls are pretty close to the ones on the Rustbucket Three." Was his only explanation.

Once onboard, Ben transformed into Diamondhead, while the two Greens were taken away for medical treatment. Diamondhead sat at the base of the ramp, Supergirl next to him.

"You okay, Ben?"

Diamondhead said nothing for a moment. "No, I'm not. It's never easy to lose people, Kara; not even people you've only known for a day."

For a few minutes, the two said nothing, lost in their own private thoughts. The quiet didn't last long, as Green Lantern showed up. He was battered and in a hoverchair, but his condition had definitely improved.

"Come with me," he said, "there's someone who probably wants to see you."

Supergirl and Diamondhead looked at each other, curious, but obediently followed. They traveled to the science wing of the Watchtower, where any technological or chemical needs were met for any Leaguer that required it. Once there, they looked through a window to see several men in radiation suits and a large machine that was pumping blue energy into a suit.

A very familiar suit…

"Captain Atom?" Diamondhead asked, not daring to hope.

Green Lantern nodded. "J'onn had a team pick him up right after it happened, so he didn't lose much of his energy."

Diamondhead let out a huge sigh of relief; he hadn't lost anyone else. He hadn't failed again. He saw a half-filled containment suit lift an arm and give a weak thumbs-up, which he and Supergirl returned.

"At least he got a new suit out of it." Said Supergirl.

"Yeah," agreed Diamondhead, "let's just hope that the new one is more tear-proof."

"All right, Ben, you've had a long first day," said Green Lantern, "why don't you head home and get some rest. We'll bring you back up tomorrow."

Diamondhead nodded. "Okay, sure; I'll see you both then. Good night."

"Good night!" Called out Supergirl. She turned to Green Lantern with a smirk. "So, aren't you gonna give me the 'you did good' speech?"

Green Lantern glared at her. "You're headstrong, unprofessional and overconfident. If Ben hadn't been around, what do you think might have happened? For all we know, you could have started an international incident; you could have gotten someone killed! If you ever act like that on a mission again, I will personally see to it that you are kicked out of the League. I don't care who your cousin is." He turned his chair and moved away, then stopped. He looked at Supergirl's crestfallen face.

"And incidentally," he added, "…you did good." Then he left. Supergirl looked stunned for a moment; then a bit of her smile returned.

…

As Diamondhead headed to the teleporter, he passed by the locker rooms and noticed Batman leaning against a wall. Curious as to what the Dark Knight was doing, he did his best to stay out of sight. The door to the showers opened, and Green Arrow walked out in a towel.

"Well, if it isn't the monster-killer." Batman had a small smile on his face.

"I was lucky," said the archer, looking down. "So was everybody else. Still don't think I belong up here."

"That's the point," replied Batman, "someone like you will keep us honest."

"Gee, Bats, I don't know; don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good radiation burn as much as the next guy, but I don't think… that…" Green Arrow's voice trailed off.

Diamondhead followed his gaze, until his eyes landed on a beautiful woman on the women's side of the locker room. Black Canary was her superhero name, if Diamondhead remembered correctly. Right now she was slowly putting on her boots. Glancing back, Diamondhead could swear that Arrow was drooling.

"So," said Batman, "see you around?"

Green Arrow smiled. "You just might."

Diamondhead smiled as he resumed his way to the teleporter; to him, joining the Justice League was looking to be a better choice all the time.

...