Ben 10 : Unlimited

13

Ultimatum

Watchtower

A lot had changed for Ben in the month since his grandmother visited. For one thing, the founding members of the League had been giving him more authority on missions, often giving him command of a team. Another change was having Ship in his life; the little alien spent most of the time on the Watchtower, keeping systems at peak efficiency. He would sometimes stay at Ben's house, but he got bored quickly, since he couldn't go outside.

The final thing that had changed was the matter of his secret identity; most Leaguers now knew that the shapeshifting alien was, in fact, a human named Ben. They didn't know his last name, for security reasons, but they felt honored that Ben trusted them enough to show them what he really looked like.

Right now, though, the Watchtower was being emptied of many of its heroes; a distress call had been received from deep space, and most of the League was being deployed to assist. Ben was saying goodbye to Supergirl before she left.

"Don't worry," Supergirl said as she gave Ben a quick kiss, "I'll be back before you know it."

"Did I say that I was worried?" asked Ben playfully, "It's Ship who gets worried; he likes you."

"Ship ship." Agreed the Symbiote as he rubbed his head against Supergirl's leg.

"Aww, don't worry, Ship," said Supergirl; she thought that Ship was the cutest thing in the world. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Ship ship!"

"See you soon, Kara." Ben gave her one last kiss before he and Ship left the Javelin bay. They watched the small fleet of vessels take off into space. They stood there for a moment, Ship sitting on Ben's shoulder, before Wonder Woman raced past them.

"Come on, Ben!" she shouted, "We have a situation!"

Ben looked at Ship. "Of course we do." Then he took off after her, saying to Ship, "Come on, buddy, let's show 'em what you can do!"

"Ship ship!"

…

Atlantic Ocean

An oil rig was under attack, literally from under. Strange, humanoid lava-monsters were crawling up from the cracks in the seabed, and were attacking the rig and its crew.

Aquaman, King of Atlantis and part-time member of the Justice League, swam underneath, giving his report to the other heroes.

"The new Bermuda platform is under attack; if it collapses, we're gonna have the worst oil spill in history on our hands." He sighed. "I've told those idiots to stay out of my ocean."

Superman, flying overhead, decided not to comment about that last part. "ETA is three minutes, Aquaman."

"We're right behind you, Superman." Said Ben, sitting next to Wonder Woman inside of a transformed Ship. True to his name, Ship could transform into an alien flying weapon. He was boxy in shape, with flat wings that held a multitude of weapons. The expressions on the League when they'd first seen Ship transform had been priceless, but this was the first time any of them had seen Ship actually fly.