Ben 10 : Unlimited

27

Closure, Part 3

Endings and Beginnings

Bellwood

The Justice League, the Ultimen and even Professor Paradox looked down in horror at the sight of Ben Tennyson's body. It looked less like an injured human and more like a piece of meat that had shredded clothes put on it. Vilgax had been more than thorough in his attack.

Batman rushed forward, taking out a medkit from his utility belt, doing his best to keep Ben alive. Superman, on the other hand, flew forward, Wonder Woman and Shayera right behind him.

The Man of Steel collided with Vilgax fists-first, sending him flying back into the sphere he had arrived in; before the heroes could follow up on Superman's attack, Vilgax pressed a button, which caused the sphere to close up, shimmer, and then disappear. Superman angrily punched a hole in a building, upset with himself for letting Vilgax get away.

"Superman, we don't have time to chase after Vilgax! Get back here!"

Batman was right, Superman realized, vengeance could come later; Ben was more important.

…

For Supergirl, everything had become a blur; the man she loved was near death, and there wasn't a single thing she could do to help. She felt herself getting led somewhere, but didn't resist. All she could do was stare at Ben.

Then everything became a blur again, and the next thing she knew, she was back at Plumber HQ, sitting at a table; she saw the Justice League talking in hushed tones to the Plumbers, while the Ultimen were talking amongst themselves. She looked around, but didn't see the one person she sought.

"Where's Ben?"

Absently, she noted that the other Leaguers looked as upset, probably as much as she felt. After all, Ben was seen as something of a younger brother to the senior members; it was only natural for them to be upset when anyone was hurt, but it was worse when it was family.

Wonder Woman walked up to Supergirl and sat next to her. "Kara…"

Supergirl's mind was awhirl with possibilities about Ben's condition, but none of them were good. The look on Diana's face confirmed it.

"How… how bad is it?" Kara didn't want to ask, but she had to know how Ben was, even if it was bad.

Diana closed her eyes for a moment. "He's in critical condition; the doctors are doing everything they can, but… it's bad, Kara."

That did it. Kara couldn't take it anymore and broke down in tears; Diana wrapped the younger woman in a hug, determined to let her release all of her grief. Superman and Batman watched the Amazon comfort the Kryptonian; Superman looked haunted, and he suspected that Batman felt the same, even though he didn't show it.

"What happens now?" Flash asked quietly; the League, minus Diana and Kara, the Plumbers and the Ultimen looked at each other.

"The planet is still in danger," Superman replied, "and we have to defend it."

"How?" Manny demanded, "The Plumbers are tied up movin' civilians to safer places; we don't have time to do that and fight off an invasion."