Chapter 51

"Hey, Captain!" Captain Marvel turned to see Ben and Supergirl, the latter of whom had called out, as they caught up to him in a hallway.

"Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Why don't you tell us?" Ben asked, "Did something happen?"

Marvel sighed. "The founding members, well, Superman really, got mad at me for the papers saying that I was endorsing Luthor for Presidency."

"Well, we aren't supposed to take sides in politics," said Ben, "but even if it is Lex Luthor, I don't see why you would get anything more than a slap on the wrist."

Captain Marvel looked a little ashamed. "I… I may have overreacted when Superman said that some people don't change."

"Overreacted how?" asked Supergirl.

Now Marvel looked sheepish. "I, uh, may have dented the conference table."

"Okay, look," said Ben, "I'm not saying that people don't deserve second chances; back home, my best friend tried to kill me more than a few times, back before we became friends. But Luthor has put the entire world in jeopardy, and he's tried to kill every founding member of the League at least once."

"It was because of his money and his tech that General Hardcastle put me in a coma." Supergirl commented bitterly, crossing her arms. Ben put a comforting hand on her shoulder, while Captain Marvel looked guilty; he had forgotten about that incident. It was at least partially Luthor's fault that Superman's last surviving Kryptonian relative had been hurt; if he was being honest with himself, if someone had hurt his family, he wasn't completely sure that he'd be able to forgive them, either.

Ben continued. "Most of the League will probably never trust Luthor, but I think we're all willing to at least wait to see what he does; if he's clean, well, good for him. If he's dirty, we'll bust his butt."

Captain Marvel nodded. "Okay, I see what you're saying; I still think that everyone deserves a second chance, but… I can see how keeping an eye on him could be a smart move."

"All we ask is that you look at both sides of this argument," said Supergirl, "before you make a mistake that you'll regret."

The couple walked away, leaving Captain Marvel alone with his thoughts.

"You think he'll be okay?" asked Supergirl, as she linked her arm through Ben's.

"I think so," said Ben, smiling when Kara put her head on his shoulder, "I guess he just needed someone to talk some sense into him… someone who isn't Superman."

…

Metropolis, A Few Hours Later

Normally, Superman was pretty adept at avoiding attacks; even if he was invulnerable to almost everything, it was still annoying to get smacked into the side of a building. Nevertheless, that's exactly what happened, courtesy of a large, super-strong member of a new metahuman gang that had attacked Metropolis.

He, Batman and Ben, now as Spidermonkey, had easily caught up to them; they weren't exactly a challenge, but Superman had other things on his mind. He had yelled at Captain Marvel, a hero who meant well, but seemed a little too naïve. In retrospect, all Marvel had done was what he thought was right, but supporting Lex Luthor, of all people… On top of that, Luthor, who'd avoided all contact with Superman for months, had openly invited the Man of Steel to a charity he was hosting, commemorating the construction of Lexor City, a large part of Metropolis that had been repurposed to offer jobs and housing to the less fortunate of the city. It stank of a trap.

"You were a little hard on the Boy Scout, don't you think?" asked Batman, as he used a set of electrically-charged Brass Knuckles to punch out a man dressed like a Luchador. Superman knocked his own opponent into the side of a building; part of the wall collapsed on top of him, burying him and taking him out of the fight.

"I thought I was the Boy Scout."

"So did we," said Spidermonkey, as he swung on a string of web and kicked a man with a glowing crowbar, "until we met Captain Marvel."

"What do these guys want anyway?" asked Batman, after he knocked his own opponent into a phone booth.

"To take over the world," answered Superman, as the man with the crowbar ran at them, along with a man that looked like an armored baseball player, "or rob banks. I forget."

The baseball player threw a metal sphere; the heroes ducked, and the sphere hit a van with enough force to smash it into pieces, while the other struck his crowbar against the ground, creating a fissure that spread towards them.

"Okay, enough of this," said Spidermonkey, "it's time to go Ultimate!" he twisted the dial on his chest, then slapped it. In a flash of green light, Spidermonkey's body had changed; he looked like a blue gorilla, with three toes and fingers, and four spindly spider legs coming out of his back. He looked much more imposing than before.

"ULTIMATE SPIDERMONKEY!" His new voice was much deeper now. Ultimate Spidermonkey shoulder-checked the baseball player, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to rise, his face met a large, blue-furred fist. While he didn't get up again, Ultimate Spidermonkey didn't want to take chances; he opened his mouth and, after his lower jaw split down the middle, spat an enormous net of webbing onto the man.

"But back to Captain Marvel." Said Superman, as he wrapped the last man's own crowbar around his body. "Why are you two, why is everyone defending him!?"

"We like him." Batman said, before he knocked out the last villain.

"Yeah," agreed Ultimate Spidermonkey, "he's… sunny." The heroes had no time to relax, however, as Superman heard an alert from his communicator.

"Superman?"

"Yes?" The Kryptonian answered.

"This is Emile Hamilton. J'onn was kind enough to patch me through."

"What is it, Professor?" Hamilton wouldn't have called through the Justice League communicators if it wasn't important.

"There's something here I think you should see."

"You guys go," said Ultimate Spidermonkey, "I'll make sure the cops lock these guys up."

Superman nodded. "Okay, we'll see you at the Watchtower."

…

S.T.A.R Labs

Superman and Batman were a little surprised to find out that Hamilton's lab had been robbed; the security there was some of the tightest on the planet. Still…

"If it's just a simple robbery," asked Superman, as they walked alongside the professor, "why call us?"

"It was anything but simple." Replied Hamilton. "They ignored valuables, priceless gems, high-technology artifacts. In fact, the only thing they took was the contents of this safe." He gestured to the open safe in question.

"Nearly four pounds of weapons-grade Kryptonite."

…

After nearly an hour of examining every part of the safe, Batman put away his gear.

"So?" asked Superman, clearly impatient for the answer.

"The lock was nano-picked." Replied Batman, "LexCorp technology."

"Then Luthor…" Began Superman.

"Which anyone could have gotten their hands on." Interrupted Batman. "Or, for that matter, planted here to incriminate Luthor."

"You know it was him." Superman argued.

"I'm not entirely convinced." Batman replied. "This is pretty sloppy for Lex."

Superman scoffed. "He's the most arrogant human being on the planet. He wants us to know."

"Maybe," was Batman's only reply.

"Maybe!?" Superman couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'll go to the Watchtower," said Batman, "see if the Atom can find something I missed." He began to walk out.

"Since when do you miss anything?" asked an incredulous Superman.

"Since when do you jump to conclusions without evidence?" countered Batman. He turned to Superman. "Go to that charity event tonight. You'll help raise some money, and keep an eye on our elusive Mr. Luthor."

…

Watchtower, That Night

It was a slow night for the League; there hadn't been much to do, and many Leaguers had gone home. It was fortunate for Ben and Kara, who'd found that they had most of the station for themselves; normally, they'd never act like this on the Watchtower. They had had a quiet dinner, and enjoyed each other's company. Now, they were standing next to a window that looked out into space; Kara had her back against Ben, who had his arms wrapped around her.

"It's been a while since we had a night like this," commented Kara, as she reached up and placed her hand against Ben's cheek, "we should do this more often."

"Yeah," Ben agreed, "we should." Kara closed her eyes in pleasure as Ben placed kisses on her neck, working his way up to her jaw, then her lips.

"Now, Ben," Kara said slyly, "we wouldn't want to do anything naughty right now, would we?"

"We wouldn't?" asked Ben, a coy smile on his face.

"Remember, we're still technically on duty right now; what if something happens?" Honestly, Kara hoped that that wouldn't be the case, but she and Ben both knew their responsibilities, even if they hated them at times.

Ben shrugged. "Hey, maybe the universe is giving us a break tonight?" He placed another kiss on her cheek.