Ben 10 : Unlimited

2

Chapter 2

In The Interim: Adjustment

Ben Tennyson stood before five of the six remaining members of the Justice League, waiting to see what they were going to do with him. After all, he wasn't even a citizen of this universe. Superman was the first to speak.

"Well, Ben, first we'd like to thank you for all that you did during the Thanagarian invasion. The world needs more heroes like you."

"Hold it." Superman paused at Ben's interruption. "I never said that I would keep doing the hero thing. Before yesterday, the only thing I got out of being a hero was pain. I helped you guys because I didn't know what else to do. Now that the crisis is over…" he let the sentence hang.

"I don't understand," said the Flash, "why wouldn't you want to be a superhero?"

Ben looked J'onn in the eye. "You're a telepath, right?" the Martian nodded. "Okay. Read my mind and look at the memories from two days ago."

J'onn looked confused for a moment, but then his eyes glowed as he did as he was asked. A few seconds later, he rocked back in his seat, a look of horror on his face.

"J'onn?" Superman looked at the other alien in concern, but the Martian just shook his head.

"Two days ago," began Ben, his expression growing dark, "one of my old villains attacked me. Short version: everyone that I cared about, my parents, my grandpa, my aunt and uncle, my cousin, my best friend and my girlfriend all died." Tears began to show in the corner of the young man's eyes. "There isn't a single person on my Earth left for me." He raised his left arm, showing the Ultimatrix. "And it's all because I got this stupid thing attached to my wrist."

The Justice League didn't know what to say. None of them, save for Batman, quite knew what Ben was going through, though it was clear that he blamed himself to a degree.

Superman held up his hands in a placating gesture. "All right, Ben, we understand. Do you think that you could wait outside while we discuss this?"

Ben couldn't speak past the lump in his throat, so all he did was nod. When he left, the League members turned to look at each other.

Flash spoke first. "Well, that kinda ruins the whole 'ask Ben to join the League' plan."

"He has lost everything that held meaning for him," argued J'onn, "it is a wonder that he hasn't completely broken down already."

"I had sensed before that he was in pain," added Diana, "but I had no idea that he'd already endured so much."

"On top of the loss of his family," said Batman, "he found himself in another universe. He was thrown into a battle that he wanted no part of, and he hasn't even had time to grieve."

Superman rubbed his chin, thinking of what to do. "Maybe we should give him that time." The other Leaguers looked at him. "I could take him to my parents' house; give him some space to come to terms. At least it'll get him out of your hair, Bruce."

The Dark Knight merely scowled at Superman's joke.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, Clark." Diana added. Then her expression grew thoughtful. "Maybe he could meet your cousin while he's there. It might be good for him to meet someone his own age."

Both Superman and Flash nodded in agreement. "Once he starts feeling better, maybe we can show him around. He did say that Metropolis didn't exist in his own universe." Superman looked at the other Leaguers. "Now, if there aren't any other matters, I think that we should adjourn for now."