Chapter 2

Above the Gobi Desert

Onboard the Thanagarian mother ship, Shayera Hol, formerly a member of the Justice League under the alias of Hawkgirl, was at a loss for words from what she was seeing on the vid screen.

When Hro Talak, Commander of the Thanagarian forces and her soon-to-be husband, had discovered that the League had broken free from their prison ship and caused it to crash in Metropolis, he had been furious. In a rage, he demanded that recovery teams check the security feeds on the ship to find out how they had managed to escape. That was a few hours ago, and Talak had calmed down enough to think out the situation. While a formidable team, the Justice League could not hope to defeat the might of the entire Thanagarian invasion force. They were outgunned, and the Thanagarians knew all their weaknesses, thanks to Shayera's information.

Of course, this was before Talak received the images that were now posted on his screen. Images of a mysterious creature that seemed to be made of fire and rock. A creature that managed to break the Justice League out of confinement and fight off a legion of Thanagarian soldiers before transforming into some silicon-like being that fired energy blasts and took down an entire prison ship.

Shayera had no idea what this being was, or if it was even from this planet, but she knew that it would make the occupation of Earth a little more difficult. The creature was a wildcard; if it was able to transform between those two different forms, what else could it become? How dangerous was it?

At the moment, Talak was speaking over a vid-screen with Paran Dul, a female Thanagarian who was in charge of the construction of the shield generator, the one necessary to protect Earth from Gordanian invasion.

"Be aware that the Justice League has escaped, due to the interference of a strange, shapeshifting being," Talak warned. "Stand ready for an attack."

"Any attack on this base would be suicide," Dul boasted, completely unconcerned about a possible strike on the Thanagarian forces.

"Keep me informed of your progress. Let nothing delay you," the Thanagarian commander ordered.

"By your command." The video screen then went blank. However, Shayera was more concerned with a topic mentioned earlier on in the conversation between Talak and Paran.

"Humans as slave labor?" she questioned, having overheard Paran mention using humans to 'lift and carry as well as any animal'. The former Justice League member was concerned.

"Unfortunate, but necessary." Shayera took note of how little remorse her betrothed showed as he said this before he continued, walking over to a nearby console to check up on a few details. "We are on a most unforgiving schedule. We must move as quickly as possible if we want to finish the hyperspace bypass in time."

Shayera's eyes widened. Hyperspace bypass? This wasn't what he told the human race!

"Bypass?" she asked, quickly walking over to look Talak in the eye. "I thought we were creating a force field for Earth!"

"That was simply our cover story."

Shayera paused as dozens of thoughts raced through her head. But the first and foremost was…

"When were you going to tell me this?" she nearly growled. "Did you not think you could trust me?"

A long silence ensued, as both Thanagarian warriors gazed into each other's eyes, neither one willing to back down. In all their time together, Shayera had never felt this angry at Talak, nor this betrayed. What was wrong with him?

"Follow me," he said quietly, snapping Shayera out of her thoughts. The Thanagarian leader began to walk away, and Shayera began to do as he said.

After about five minutes of walking and an elevator ride later, the two entered the war room of the ship, were Talak brought her over to a large screen used for battle strategy and tactics.

"As you are well aware, the Gordanian homeworld has been protected for decades by an impenetrable defensive line," Talak explained, drawing up an image of the Gordanian home system, with their planet being shown as surrounded by legions of ships and space stations that make a frontal assault a fruitless endeavor.

"But this chain of hyperspace bypasses will allow the full force of out armada to go around their defenses by jumping behind them, which will let us wage a direct assault on the heart of their empire."

Shayera saw what he meant, and it was strategically brilliant to be sure. But there was something else going on here. Something very bad…

"Earth is the last link in the chain. Once we finish it, we can finally attack and annihilate the threat of the Gordanians forever."

The former Hawkgirl was beginning to hear a hint of what sounded like victory in Talak's voice. But that wasn't what was bothering her the most.

"But ripping a hole in hyperspace will destroy this entire planet, and everyone on it!" she protested.

"Unfortunately, yes," Talak said quietly, his voice becoming heavy, revealing how long and how hard he had been fighting this war, and what it will cost him. Thanagarians normally didn't believe in souls, but Talak still felt that he would face eventual retribution for his actions.

"For Thanagar to live, Earth must die."

. . . .

Outskirts of Metropolis

As Ben, Bruce and Diana made their way out of Metropolis, the billionaire and princess each took the time to think about Ben. Bruce was thinking about the ramifications that Ben's power might have on the world, while Diana was more concerned with Ben's state of mind. She wanted to ease the young man's pain; maybe she could get him to talk about himself a little more. At the very least, she would learn a little more about him.

"Ben?" the teen looked up at the princess, the same neutral expression on his face.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me a little more of your powers." Diana glanced at Bruce. "It might help us fight alongside you better."

Ben shrugged. He didn't see the harm in telling the League his capabilities. It wasn't like he planned on continuing his superhero career after this mission. "Super strength, super speed, flight, regeneration, invulnerability, elemental powers, energy absorbing and redirecting; the list goes on." He gave a small smile. "It's really a question of what powers I don't have."

Both of the older heroes were shocked. If what he said was true, then Ben had more power than the entire League. Ben looked up at Bruce.

"So, are you the only one without any powers?" That had actually made Ben kind of curious. All of these people were faster or stronger than any human. In fact, two of them weren't human at all.

Bruce nodded. "Is that unusual for you?"

"Nah, I can't tell you how many times the Ultimatrix didn't work for some reason or another. Probably half of my wins came down to me having to figure things out on my own, or just dumb luck."

Bruce was a little impressed. Not many people could so easily admit to being powerless, nor could they admit to only winning by luck.

Diana, however, had another question. "How is it that we have never heard of you? Someone of your power should have been seen before, especially if you've been doing this since you were ten."

Ben only shrugged. "Probably because I'm not from this universe."

Both Bruce and Diana froze. Well, that was certainly unexpected.

Ben continued. "And before you ask how I know I'm from another universe, there's no Justice League where I come from, no Thanagarian invasion, no Metropolis, and no Gotham City. And this isn't the first time that I've wound up in another universe."

Bruce nodded, then gestured to Diana that they needed to keep moving. They would decide on how to proceed regarding Ben later, provided they survived the Thanagarians.

. . . .

Gotham City: Wayne Manor

Bruce, Diana and Ben were the first to arrive at the stately Wayne Manor. Ben had been impressed by the mansion, which made him wonder why no one had ever offered him a mansion. After all, he'd saved his entire universe on more than one occasion. As they reached the door, it was opened by an older, balding man. Bruce introduced him as Alfred, his butler. Alfred offered them refreshments, which Ben gratefully accepted. He hadn't eaten anything in nearly 24 hours.

After that, Bruce led them to a grandfather clock, which opened up to a tunnel. At the other side was an enormous cavern. A large computer occupied one niche, while a large black car was parked in another area. In yet another spot were several dozen objects, including a twenty-foot penny and a mechanical T-Rex. Other, smaller objects were in glass containers.

Bruce had a small smirk on his face as he watched Ben's expression go from emotionless and neutral to astonished and interested. Bruce put on a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Welcome to the Batcave."

. . . .

Several Hours Later…

After waiting impatiently, the last two members of the League, Flash and Green Lantern, arrived at the manor and were led to the Batcave by Alfred.

"You're late." Was all Bruce said.

"Good to see you too." Replied the Lantern sarcastically.

Wally noticed the T-Rex. "Hey, that's a giant dinosaur."

"And I thought Batman was the detective." Said Alfred. Ben decided that he liked the aging butler.

J'onn spoke as Flash rejoined the group. "We were just speculating why the Thanagarians are really here."

"Obviously not to protect us." Said Clark.

"But if the Gordanians aren't anywhere near Earth," said Wonder Woman, "why do they need to build that force field?"

"If it is a force field." Said Bruce.

"If I could get a look at their technology, maybe one of my brainy aliens could figure it out." The League turned to look at Ben, who shrugged. "I have hyper-intelligent transformations, so sue me."

"I can tell you what it is."

The seven heroes turned in shock to see the traitor, Shayera Hol, emerge from the shadows.

Clark pulled off his glasses. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here."

"We should thank you," said Diana, "it saves us the trouble of hunting you down."

Before anyone else could say more, a bright green light flashed.

"FOURARMS!" an eight-foot tall, red creature jumped over their heads and grabbed the traitorous Leaguer. Two of his muscular arms grabbed her own, while his other two wrapped powerful hands around her throat.

"I didn't come here to fight," Shayera gasped, "I came to help."

"Hawk-people all over the planet?" asked Flash sarcastically, "Martial law? I don't think we need any more of your help."

Shayera looked at Fourarms with a pleading look in her eye. He let go of her throat first, but before he let go completely, he growled to her. "Make a wrong move, and I rip your wings off and make you eat them." Then he let her go.

Shayera stared at him for a moment, then turned to the League. "They're building a hyperspace bypass. When it's active, it'll destroy the planet and everyone on it." She approached Bruce and handed over what looked like a purple video cassette. "Here; this has all the information on the project." Bruce simply glared at her. "Believe me; I didn't know the magnitude of Talak's plan."

Without taking his eyes off of her, Bruce took the device. "We'll check it out." As he turned away from her, he said, "There's the door." Wonder Woman, Flash, Superman and the Martian all walked past without making eye contact with the Thanagarian. Fourarms stayed where he was, not trusting the alien to not stab his friends in the back any more than she already had. Then he blinked. When had he decided that these people were his friends? True, they were all heroes, and they were willing to give their lives if it meant saving someone else, but when did he trust these people enough to call them his friends? Maybe he was just reaching out for friends after his loss.

Fourarms was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Shayera and John talking to each other. Before Shayera left the Batcave, she handed John a green ring. When she was gone, Ben returned to normal.

"She didn't propose to you or something, did she?"

John shot him a mild glare, then slipped the ring onto his right hand. A green glow surrounded his body, and then he began to levitate off the ground.

"Okay, that's pretty cool." Ben admitted.

The two heroes joined the others, who were watching a simulation of the effects of the hyperspace bypass. They watched as a simulated Earth was consumed by a bright, crackling energy.

"Ingenious." Batman muttered.

"Yeah, I'm impressed," said Superman, taking off his glasses again, "let's go wreck it."

"How?" asked Green Lantern, "It's behind a force field."

Before anyone could come up with a response, a bright green flash went out, and a squeaky voice shouted, "GREY MATTER!"

A six-inch tall, gray alien with a bulbous head clambered onto the arm of Batman's chair, then leapt to the keyboard. He jumped from key to key, as familiar with the technology as if he'd been using that computer for years.

"The bypass is too dangerous to have a crew maintaining the force field on-site. They would probably be keeping it active via broadcast signal, most likely on board the command ship." Grey Matter hit a few more keys, and brought up an image of the Thanagarian flagship and highlighted a particular section of it. He jumped off of the keyboard and transformed back into Ben, with a smug smile.

Batman glanced at the teen, then looked at the League. "Go shut it down." He ordered. "I'll take care of the bypass."

"That thing's the size of a city," exclaimed a skeptical Flash, "what are you gonna do, throw a batarang at it?"

Batman didn't even blink. "Something like that." He got up and headed to where his spare costume was located. "Proximity sensors were triggered a moment ago. Suit up."