Ben had moved to the lower level heading to the group of ladies who were deep in conversation to notice his approach. Curious glances were directed at him from the members he wasn't able to greet due to them being a bit far from him. Some heroines let their gazes over Ben's form linger a little too long further boosting his ego. Ben was no stranger to attention but he couldn't think much of it before due to him dating Julie which he eventually messed up as he always did by not being "compassionate enough" of her feelings as his cousin Gwen put out.
Nearing the group he studied them before joining in. Black canary was beautiful with sparkling blue eyes, had long blond hair which flowed past her shoulders, wore some form of skin tight costume resembling a female swimming costume and a black leather jacket which covered part of her upper body.
Zatana took a more official approach to her look. She had a black hat with a blue stripe cutting across it with a blue tuxedo and white shirt and bow tie. She looked like one of those sexy CEO bosses in a company with her curves well displayed and had a black wand, her most prized possession.
Vixen took a more traditional theme to her superhero costume. She heard a chocolate complexion which went blended in perfectly with her full orange body suit that showed off a huge amount of cleavage, which Ben didn't mind, with a necklace, earring and belt made up of sharp tiger canine teeth. Being a model in her civilian life attested to how beautiful she was.
The huntress wore skin tight costume which was cut methodically at specific parts to increase flexibility and make it fashion friendly too whole showing off her curves. It had purple and white strips in its design with a utility belt much like Batmans but with less gadgets in it. She also had a black mask which protects her identity. She was one of the most beautiful ladies in the watchtower but her no nonsense attitude deterred any hero from pursuing any relationship with her which she was happy about, making her concentrate on her work.
Supergirl chose a blue top which was cut low showing off her belly button and very flat tummy which Ben couldn't help but appreciate with a symbol of hope just like her cousin superman. She was blond with hair flowing past her shoulders and had blue eyes. She wore a red mini skirt which was way above her knee showing a good amount of smooth thigh which Ben found himself appreciating again with red boots and a red cape. She was so beautiful. How can such beautiful ladies be so powerful and intimidating Ben thought as he checked them out one last time before joining them.
Hearing the last snipets of Zatanas sentence he found the smoothest way into their conversation startling them.
The girls eyes trained on Ben standing a meter away from them. They saw a young man, probably 23 or 24 years of age with brown wavy hair. He had blue irises that resembled the blue of the ocean which contrasted with the white of his eyes, he had defined cheek bones with well defined muscles that was easily visible through his shirt and teeth that were as white as snow which he used to send them his most charming smile. He wasn't as buff as Superman and Batman but he wasn't very lean either, the perfect balance of the two. His shirt had a green line running from his shoulders to the belt of his trousers which by the looks of it did him justice. On his arm was an obscenely large watch which when compared to the typical watches men loved to wear either for flaunting purposes or official purposes was too large. On his shoulders, his fingers held onto the green jacket making his biceps bulge out much to the delight of the heroines. He looked like a model who was at the peek of his profession.
"My name is Ben. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ben's greeting brought them out of their stupor long enough for the Huntress to reply for them. Supergirl, Vixen, Zatana and Black canary inwardly thanked Huntress for responding which made them not look like complete zombies by the way the were staring. "Huntress.." she said extending her hand to Ben which he gladly shook before she continued. "Supergirl, Zatana, Vixen and Black canary." She finished pointing to her team mates. "The pleasure is all ours." Black canary added smiling at Ben. "So you're the one making me miss my beauty sleep." Black canary said gesturing to her watch then looking at Ben. Black canary gave out a groan from being punched at the side by Zatana who was screaming what the f*ck at her via her exasperated look.
"I'm sorry but it wasn't our intention to hold you all up. This matter had to be settled sooner rather than later." Ben replied smiling at Black canary's abrasiveness and lack of filters.
"It's okay, from the meeting we can all put the past behind us and concentrate on working together in the foreseeable future." Vixen dismissed his worry.
"Where are you from, I believe I've never seen any of you before. Are you new to the superhero world?" Vixen added after a moment of thought. The others seemed to be in agreement with her by the way they all turned to Ben waiting for his answer.
"I'm from another world. Just got here a few days ago." Ben answered smiling knowing this is the part most people freak out. He assumed they understood the concept of dimension traveling because of not getting any reaction from them after a couple of seconds.
Huntress was about to comment but was interrupted by the loud laugh eminating from Black canary. "Good one." She said through chuckles finally calming down.
"You almost had me there." Black canary told Ben before parting his back then began walking away.
"It's the least I could do for depriving you of your beauty sleep.." he called out to a walking Black canary giving the implication he was lying before turning to look at the remaining heroines eyes landing on Supergirl who was quiet the whole time just observing. "Not that you need it." He added flashing his white teeth earning a small blush from Supergirl.
From his arrival Supergirl didn't know what to say and when she did, one of her team mates beat her to the punch. She was then contented in remaining silent until Ben directed his attention to her catching her totally off guard with his comment even though it was meant for all of them.
"Well..we should be heading out. The cities won't protect themselves. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other." Vixen said as she was pushing Zatana out of the group leaving Huntress, Supergirl and Ben.
"You weren't lying, were you?" Supergirl asked Ben referring to his comment of coming off world. Unlike the others, she knew she came from a different planet so she was open to the idea plus she was listening to his heartbeat to detect any deceit.
"Nope. We are from different earths. I'm not part of the Avengers though." Ben explained further to the two of them seeing as they were inclined to believe him.
"But it's Hush Hush for now. No one needs to know that detail yet." Added Ben revealing he had told them a secret.
Supergirl looked at him in awe while the Huntress just looked on. "Are you telling me the multiverse theory is real? That there are various earths vibrating at different frequencies from each other resulting to the differences in the earths and are doppelgängers on every earth?" She sounded excited while Huntress merely rolled her eyes. Supergirl was a kind of nerd but rarely showed it unless she was with Dr Christine, their oncall doctor or any other scientist.
"Is there a prime earth? Is it this one? I doubt because the prime earth would consist of all doppelgängers but we don't have yours. Is yours the pri-" she was cut short when she noticed Ben staring her with an amused expression while Huntress was smiling. She blushed a deep shade of red at her rambling before finding the disappearing groups more interesting than Ben and Huntress.
Ben found her rambling cute more so when she blushed.
"The multiverse is very real but I've only been to a couple of them each somehow different than the other. From the technologies to the evolution of our species. I've never been to the prime earth but I was told that it exists and its location is a secret known only to a few throughout the universe and multiverse." Ben explained to Supergirl knowing that she would be able to figure out why its location is a secret. Judging by the way she was nodding deep in thought it seems his assumption was correct.
"Why don't you want anyone else knowing?" Huntress asked curiously.
"If people knew they were from a different earth, it could cause a panic that would no doubt not dissipate until they return to their worlds." Supergirl answered her friend on Ben's behalf. She enjoyed talking about all things science and data collection.
"That's right. We wouldn't want to be viewed as the enemies again." Ben agreed with Supergirl who looked proud of getting the right answer.
The huntress was quiet for some seconds before deciding she had heard enough for the day.
"It was really nice talking to you but I've got to head out. It's getting pretty late and I'm sure all the accommodations are taken in the watchtower given the impromptu meeting." Huntress said while holding out her hand to Ben.
"I'll go with you. I'm tired of flying anyway." Supergirl added also bidding Ben goodbye.
"Oh…yes at times I forget about sleeping too. I wouldn't want to hold you much longer. Goodnight Huntress… Supergirl" Ben said lingering a little too long on Supergirls hand.
"It was great meeting you." Ben said making Supergirl blush while Huntress merely rolled her eyes before dragging Supergirl along leaving Ben to look at their retreating forms.
"This earth keeps getting better and better." He murmured to himself before walking away towards his assigned quarters in a secluded wing of the watchtower where the founding leaguers were also set up.
The Avengers had gone to retrieve some of their supplies that they would use in the temporary stay in the watchtower while one of them remained in the cave to keep things updated much like monitor duty which they would also take turns in doing.
Batman offered them one of the space ships but they politely declined knowing it probably had a GPRS system that would be tracked back to their base. They teleported to New York before Tony summoned their jet which he bought with the stash of large cash he kept in his suit for league was also turning in for the night, The Question still on monitor duty.
"Do you think we did the right thing in letting them stay here?" Superman asked batman who had joined him infront of the huge glass wall which showed the vastness of space.
"Only time will tell. We need to find out everything we can about them." Batman replied both of them thinking of the fight at the port.
Superman merely nodded understanding Batmans strategy.
"Shouldn't you be heading back by now? It's been five days without you getting any rest." Batman suggested to Superman a smirk appearing on his face.
"It's what I wanted to talk to you about. Incase I don't make it back, my suit should be returned to the rightful owner." Superman said with a straight face locking eyes with Batman who was equally serious.
"I'll deliver it myself." Bruce responded smiling at superman who was chuckling with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Thanks. I will greatl-" he stopped talking suddenly picking up something from Batmans cape.
Bringing it up to Batman, they observed it. "What is it?" asked a slightly alarmed Batman.
"I think it's a bug. A low beeping sound was eminating from it." Superman explained how he came to notice it.
Using his super vision, he noticed something engraved in its tiny body.
"There's an engraving of a spider on its body work. Do you know who would want to bug you?" Superman asked as his mind scanned all their enemies on who would have the resources to develop such a technical bug and also get close enough to batman and plant it since it was impossible for anyone other than speedsters.
Looking up at batman, he could tell he was suppressing an impressed smile before taking the bug.
"Don't worry about it. I believe you have bigger issues to deal with than this. I'll take care of it." Batman said vaguely knowing superman would understand him. They had been team mates for a long time now and knew each other well enough. Bruce would call them friends but if asked he would totally deny having any friends. He was too busy for that kind of thing.
"You're right. I'll come back as soon as I can. If anything comes up make sure-" superman started. "I will." Came Batmans voice walking away with the bug in hand while Superman floated away heading to the hanger doors.
"Impressive" he said still looking at the bug. It wasn't easy to plant a bug or any form of espionage equipment on him or his tools so she was definitely highly trained if she managed to do it in the few seconds they had interacted with him knowing he hadn't come into any contact with her.
Reaching into his utility belt he retrieved a tablet that was beeping with Disconnected flashing on the screen. Grinning, he tucked both the tablet and the bug into the utility belt then headed for the teleporter.
A few days ago days ago, Apokolips airspace
"Status report!" Ebony Maw commanded their pilotes.
One moment they were traveling through space and then the next a bright white light engulfed the whole ship which had transported them to this unknown airspace of this unknown world. All the readings they had read Unknown from the name of the planet to the sector they were.
At the time of the attack, he had been with his master who had called all his children to inform them on their next destination. His master had been eliminating half of the civilizations in every planet he could find in order to achieve balance in the universe which he claimed was getting overcrowded and running out of resources.
He had attempted to create a dome of magic around them as barrier against the lights effects thinking that it was some kind of bomb attack which turned out to be half true. The light merely disintegrated the shield and engulfed all of them within seconds.
After collecting themselves Ebony Maw headed to the bridge to find out what happened while the rest of his masters children remained with him incase there was an attack.
"The ship was pulled into a black hole which brought us to this pocket space. The scanners are indicating life forms in the nearest planet. What are the orders sir?" The pilot asked referring to their master.
"Which planet is it" Came the voice of their master from inside the room which by the tone of it demanded answers.. The ship was too big to walk to anywhere so they used teleporters to get around fast.
Everyone in the bridge stood up and bowed as the master stepped forward looking at the planet through the huge glass at the bridge.
"The planet is unknown sir, none of our databases have any information concerning this sector. What are your orders Master?" Ebony Maw humbly asked.
"You will go and find out what lies within the planet. If there is a vast population living there, we will do as we have always done. Create a balance in the universe." His master declared looking at the vastness of space and the planet that seemed to be on fire without actually burning up.
"Thank you master, I shall not fail you." Ebony Maw responded with his head raised high while heading for one of the pods to drop into the planet followed by one drone for visual purposes. All of his masters children found it an honor to conquer worlds for their master. This time will be no different to the rest of the times one of them did a reconnaissance on a planet before conquering it.
"Sire, should we engage?" Kalibak asked the ruler of Apokolips who was deep in thought.
"Keep an eye on the ship. If anything changes I am to be informed immediately." Darkseid responded in his rough voice. Darkseid was anything but rash in making decisions. In the universe, only a handful of space ships ever dared to invade Apokolips airspace and those were beings who were either on equal level of power with him or surpassed him since invading Apokolips guaranteed certain death. Darkseid knew it was either lost travelers or an invading party considering the size of their ship but soon they would all be forced to join his parademon army. Kalibak stood up and bowed before hurriedly heading towards the throne rooms exit.
As he was about to exit Steppenwolf came hurrying in almost colliding with him making him growl a warning at Steppenwolf who merely shrugged it off before proceeding to Darkseid's throne and kneeling on one knee. Kalibak was curious as to what made Steppenwolf so anxious that he entered the throne room without making himself known, something Darkseid detested evidenced by the red flames emerging from his eyes ready to vaporize his uncle with the omega beams.
"Sire, a reconnaissance pod was launched from the ship heading to Apokolips. Shall I intercept it? I will be bring you the head of whoever dared to invade the great Apokolips." Steppenwolf announced bowing his head so low afraid the omega beams could make impact at any moment.
Hushed murmurs were heard from the furies stationed all over the throne room discussing what kind of torture they would try out with their soon to be new subjects.
Looking at Kalibak who had returned to the room following Steppenwolf, "Plan a course of intercept and bring me the scout." He instructed Kalibak much to Steppenwolfs dismay as he had been eager to go and bring back the intruder to please his nephew though he couldn't really say anything lest he ended up having being melted to the bone by the omega beams which was a rather painful experience to heal from.
"Kalibak" Darkseid called out to him before he existed. "I want it alive." Was all he said before Kalibak bowed and exited taking a few parademons with him.
Interesting Darkseid thought. Whoever this was seemed to have no idea where they were for them to send a scout pod to his planet making him think it was probably some space travelers touring the universe. I wonder if they have worthy warriors or valuable artifacts to add to my personal collection he thought already brainstorming what kind of enhancements he would experiment with. A challenge his scientific mind was eager to embark on. Being an all powerful war lord, he had little to do since his armies handled almost everything which left him to his own devices and the sadistic tortures he conducted to parademons.
Not too far away The Maw was having a hard time evading Kalibaks blows since his telekinesis or magic couldn't work against him. The Maw tripped on a dead parademons body loosing his balance and stumbling a bit. He couldn't fly because the sky was filled with chitauri and parademons fighting. Noticing his slip, proceeded to leap at him with a blow meant to knock him out.
A large hammer impacted on Kalibaks chest sending him flying into some chitauri and parademons fighting before him landing creating a minor crater. Cull Obsidian had arrived to assist his brother who had already steadied himself and wiped out a few parademons with a flick of his wrist giving the chitauri some breathing space.
"Aaaaaaaargh!" Kalibak roared before charging at them knocking anything in his path. Obsidian charged past the Maw intercepting Kalibak with their fists colliding creating a minor shockwave that sent the few parademons and chitauri fighting nearby flying away. The impact knocked Obsidian's hammer out of his hand landing a few feet away from the two brutes who were attempting to knock each other out by the shear force of their blows.
Obsidian threw a right hook directed at Kalibaks face which he caught with his left hand. Kalibak caught his left hook too each trying to overpower the other. Kalibak noticed his opponent straining then smirked before headbutting him with such power that brought Obsidian to his knees by breaking the said knees from the force of it but it soon started healing due to his healing abilities.
Kalibak was thrown upward and backwards by an uppercut delivered by Obsidian who took advantage of his opponents momentary lapse in judgement when he thought that he was done for from the headbut before roaring and charging at him again their fight far from over.
The Maw decimated every parademon around leaving room for the rest of the chitauri to go and help Nebula and Obsidian against the others. Floating towards Nebulas fight, he froze Barda mid air when she leapt at Nebula after blasting her with the mega rod.
The Maw gritted his teeth at the amount of effort and concentration it took to hold Barda in place.
"Nebula, NOW!" he shouted to his adoptive sister.
Nebula pushed herself up charging her electroshock batons at full power before launching them at Barda who was still struggling against the hold on her. Being a New god, she was extremely powerful and durable making her confident that she would survive anything thrown at her but it would probably hurt like hell.
Barda braced herself for the impact she knew was inevitable since all the parademons were defeated and Kalibak had his hands full dueling with the other guy or beast, it was hard for her to differentiate whether he was a beast or man at the moment.
A large explosion knocked Barda back to the ground from the powerful wave formed from the impact, the force eliciting a minor earthquake releasing her from the hold on her. Nebula and the Maw wondered what the hell happened with Nebulas technologically enhanced sight scanning the area noticing an axe had collided with her batons with both of them on the ground having lost all momentum from the impact.
Steppenwolf had just joined the fray recalling his hammer back to his hand.
"What are you doing here!" Kalibak demanded coming to stop beside him. Kalibak had managed to beat down Obsidian and break his spine temporarily knocking him out but before delivering the final blow they were separated by the shock wave that emerged from Nebulas batons and Steppenwolfs axe colliding. Steppenwolf narrowed his eyes at Kalibaks tone clenching his fists.