LOSING A HERO"
In the cool night breeze of Star City a mysterious figure appears in an alley way where some thugs were hanging out waiting for any poor passerby not noticing him until he spoke.
"What city and date is this?" The figure asked them as he stared at them in disgust.
Seeing the figure stare at them like that they decided to teach him a lesson.
"Why asking us huh? What happened to your calendar" said the first one not sounding really threatening.
"And why the hell are you dressed like you're going to some Halloween party" said another laughing as they surrounded the figure.
"Boys let's not scare him too much, let's just take anything valuable from him and rough him up a little" said a man who seemed to be the ring leader.
"You impudent lowlifes, you dare look down on me? You just quickened your deaths" the figure said as he blasted the thugs with a beams from his hands making them dry up into a husk until they turned to dust.
...
Ethan stood in the Arrowcave, catching his breath after another grueling training session with Oliver and Thea. Sweat dripped from his brow, but he couldn't deny the satisfaction of his rapid progress. "You're doing great, Ethan," Oliver said, patting him on the back. "Your growth and learning speed are impressive."
Thea, still in her Speedy gear, smirked. "Yeah, but you need to work on your stamina. Can't have you gasping for air in the middle of a fight."
Ethan laughed, nodding. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Thea but some how I feel Oliver's just trying to get back at me for when we first met"
Oliver said nothing but smirked as he takes his fighting stance.
As Oliver and Thea continued to train Ethan, the importance of physical combat skills was emphasized. "You can't always rely on the Omnitrix," Oliver said, launching a series of rapid punches that Ethan barely managed to block. "Your enemies will find ways to exploit that."
Thea joined the session, showing off her skills with a bow and arrow. "And remember, sometimes it's not about strength, but strategy." She fired an arrow that narrowly missed Ethan, embedding itself in the wall behind him.
Ethan grinned. "Got it. No more shortcuts, but can you guys take it easy, I need to catch my breath."
Suddenly, Felicity's voice came through the comms. "Guys, we have a situation. There's been an attempted break-in at one of Oliver's warehouses."
The trio quickly suited up and headed to the warehouse. When they arrived, they found the door rusty, as if it had been exposed to centuries of wear in just a few moments.
Oliver examined the door closely. "What could have caused this?"
Thea shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. He had a sinking feeling he knew what—or rather, who—was behind this, but he kept his thoughts to himself.'nah it's not possible'
They increased the surveillance on all of Oliver's warehouses and returned to the Arrowcave, unaware of the imminent threat that was about to descend upon them.
Back at his apartment, Ethan continued his work on new apps and games. He also thought of writing movie scripts as he felt it'll be a great source of entertainment and a way to make more money.
His thoughts were interrupted by a call from Oliver. "There's an attack downtown. We need you."
Ethan transformed into XLR8 and sped towards the scene. When he arrived, he was shocked to see who was causing the destruction.
On getting there, Ethan found out the person causing the chaos was someone he never expected to ever see. Clad dark purple armor and helmet with glowing eyes. Ethan's heart pounded in his chest. "Eon," he muttered under his breath.
Oliver, Thea, and Diggle were already engaged in battle, but Eon's powers were overwhelming. He jumped through time, making it difficult for anyone to land a hit.
Ethan joined the fight as XLR8, his speed allowing him to keep up with Eon's rapid movements.
"Hey mister what are you doing so far from home" XLR8 quipped as he unleashed quick hits on Eon from every angle.
But Eon was experienced with this sort of thing as he had faced a reckless weilder of an omnitrix before.
"Why are you all so reckless, I'll show you what true power is" he said as he blasted XLR8 with a time beam, reverting him back to his human form.
"Primus!" Oliver shouted to the boy who was in a daze."Fall back."
Ethan was kneeling on the ground looking at the dust around him as he realized what had just happened, he had lost a hero just like Ben did.
Eon sneered seeing the boy in a daze, his voice dripping with malice. "I've come a long way to find an Omnitrix without a Ben Tennyson as its owner. You, Ethan, are a rarity."
Ethan's mind raced. He had to protect the Omnitrix and his new friends, but Eon was stronger and smarter than he anticipated, he had underestimated him and paid the price.
Realizing they were outmatched, Oliver called for a temporary retreat. "Fall back! Speedy retrieve Primus we're getting out of here." He said as he shot an arrow to Eon which the latter caught but before he could say anything a thick smoke was released from the arrow blocking his sight while giving the team enough time to escape.
...
Back at the Arrowcave, the team regrouped as they tried to analyze Eon's powers and find a weaknesses for him.
"Eon is after the Omnitrix," Ethan explained, pacing nervously. "He's been tracking it across dimensions and now he's found it."
" And who exactly is this eon guy and why is he after the Omni... whatever" Diggle asked Ethan who was still looking depressed.
"It's the omnitrix and eon .... He's a multidimensional villain who I've only heard of but never thought I'll see, he's from a very distant universe and as for why he'd want the omnitrix well it's because of the ability it grants the wearer." He responded
" Wait so you're saying that the multiverse theory is actually real like really real?.... That's crazy" Felicity murmured as she tried wrapping her head around the thought and calming herself down.
"Aside from that, I'd like to know if you're ok? That time freak blasted you back there what happened?" Thea asked the teen with concern laced in her voice.
"... I lost one of my forms, XLR8 it was my favorite actually, and this just shows how weak and stupid I am compared to Eon" Ethan replied as he cussed at himself.
Oliver placed a reassuring hand on Ethan's shoulder. "We'll find a way to stop him. We always do, and you're not stupid or weak heck you're a faster learner than Barry for all I know, it was just a moment of weakness and a weakness that can be made up for."
Thea joined the conversation, her voice filled with determination. "Ethan, you're not alone in this. We're a team and we cover each other"
" Yh even if we're not able to beat the time freak" Diggle said folding his hands to which Thea hit him.
Later, as they prepared for the next encounter, Thea and Ethan shared a quiet moment. "I know what it's like to feel out of place, to feel like you've messed everything up" Thea said softly. "When I first joined the team, I struggled to find my role, I failed many times and had my brother save me each to I was reckless, but with time I got better and you will too"
Ethan nodded. "It's hard, being here, without the omnitrix I'd have just been another random citizen standing in the background unlike you, Oliver and Diggle heck even Felicity even got her gig but me.... I'm just.... weak."
Thea smiled. "You're stronger than you think. Trust your instincts. We'll get through this together." She said as she held his hands to which Ethan looked at her and put on a little smile feeling better.
The team devised a plan to trap Eon and disable his powers long enough to capture him. Ethan came up with the idea of using diamond Head against Eon as diamonds don't age easily to which the team agreed.
"I've managed to modify the satellite with help from Cisco to track temporal signals and have pinned our multiversal time crooks to star city's museum"
The team suited up and set out to confront Eon one last time.
"So you all found me, but I don't see the kid who wields the omnitrix with you, where is he" Eon asked as he glanced around.
" Why are you looking for someone else when you've got us, I'm getting a little jealous" speedy said as she released three arrows towards him.
Green arrow and Spartan covered speedy as they engaged Eon in a fierce battle but once again Eon's time manipulation made the battle difficult, Ethan arrived and attack him in his petrosapain form punching him hard in the face and sending him flying some meters away from them.
"So you finally decided to fight your own battles boy" Eon said as he struggled to stand to his feet while holding the place diamond Head and hit.
"You won't win this time Eon give up" diamond Head said.
" I see your chose your petrosapain form as my powers would have minimum effect on you... Smart I'll give you that" Eon said as Diamond Head trapped him within the crystal barriers.
"We've beat you, so it's no use fighting" green arrow said as he walked forward.
"You think this is over? The Omnitrix is in the wrong universe. You, Ethan, are out of place. And a greater force is coming for it."
Ethan's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Eon laughed, a dark, chilling sound. "The Omnitrix is a key to ultimate power. And there are entities far more powerful than me who seek it. You no idea what you've gotten yourself into"
With that ominous warning, Eon disappeared the same way he appeared into their universe.
"Where'd he go" Spartan asked as they turned around looking for Eon.
"Guys I can't track him anywhere around the globe he's gone" Felicity informed them from the comms making them release a sigh of relief.
But the team knew that the threat was far from over. A greater danger loomed on the horizon, and they had to be prepared for whatever came next.
As they returned to the cave, Ethan couldn't shake the feeling of dread. His journey was far from over, and the mysteries of the Omnitrix were just beginning to unravel.
(AN: thanks for reading my work and special thanks to WolfLord, Spartano2402, daslammer, Thiago_tonon, GOULA for the power stones)