Then we need to get you out of here." She said as she started to push Ben away.
Ben groaned in frustration. "Seriously, you too? I'm not made of glass you know. I can help until the watch recharges."
"This isn't time to worry about your ego, Ben. There's a time to go hero and a time to use your head. In the grand scheme, what do you have right now that could possibly stand up to Magento or the Sentinels?" Carol argued.
Sound logic and overprotective all at the same time. Combined with her stubborn nature, there really was no arguing with her.
"Ugh, why do you have to be so logical?" Ben complained with a smirk.
"You make it too easy." Carol responded with a smirk of her own.
"Fine." Ben conceded. "But the moment this watch recharges, I'm back in the fight."
Carol nodded as she planted a quick kiss on his check. "Don't keep me waiting, Alien X."
Ben chuckled as he moved into an ally to take cover.
Peeking out, he saw Magneto engage with Carol. She flew into the air and fired her photon blasts at him. The Master of Magnetism blocked the beams with his shield and launched cars and other metal debris at her.
The Agent of SHIELD flew around or blocked the debris with such skill and presession. Ben couldn't help but watch in awe as she moved.
Thinking back to when she first got her powers. She barely had any control. Now she's a natural, no hesitation or slip ups. No doubt, she's been spending hours practicing every day until she mastered them. She really is amazing.
Course in his musings, he got caught off guard when a metal beam slammed into her. Knocking her off balance. The metal then warped and wrapped around her, binding her limbs together like a snake soiling around its prey.
Magneto tightened his hand, which caused the metal beam to tighten its squeeze on Carol. Causing her to groan in pain.
Seeing her in trouble Ben moved to try and help. Only for a mighty bellow to erupt from the sky.
Magneto looked up to see, Thor descending upon him, his hammer raised above his head and crackling with lighting.
Dropping Carol, the Master of Magnetism quickly moved to defend himself with his magnetic energy field. Thor struck the shield with Mjolnir, the power of the attack sending Magneto flying back, crashing through the side of a building taking out a large chunk of the walls as he slid by it.
The Mutant Villain tried to steady himself in the air, only for Hulk to drop down from above him and tackle him to the ground. The pair landed in a heap, cracking the pavement and sending up a cloud of dust.
As the Gamma Brute and Magnetic Mutant continued to battle Ben ran out from his cover and went to Carol. Who was still wrapped up in the metal beam.
"If you make one quip about bondage, I will hit you." Carol warned.
Ben smirked. "Please. You should know me better than that. I aim for a higher class of quips."
He then leaned down and tried to roll Carol over into a sitting position, but the metal beam proved to be too heavy for him to move.
"Besides. Looks like Magento forgot to put a return address when he gift-wrapped you. Looks like I have no choice but to keep you." He said in a smooth fashion.
This caused Carol to blush as she turned her head away from him. In the middle of a fight and he was pulling a line like that on her.
"This Is hardly the time for this." She pointed out.
"Might not be enough time left. Wouldn't you rather the last thing you hear be me showering you with compliments?" He said with a cocky grin.
The Blonde Agent chuckled. "If it is the end of the world and you're still joking. I know there's nothing to worry about."
They both shared a smile as Ben went back to trying to move Carol, to no avail. Rolling her eyes, Carol concentrated and lifted herself off the ground using her flight power and proceeded to bend the metal off herself with her strength.
Ben looked slightly bashful, as Carol chuckled and playfully nudged him. "I can say you loosened it for me, if that'll help your ego?"
"Don't even." Ben warned.
Just before Carol could press any more of his buttons. A tiny yellow light floated down to them.
"Ben!" Cried the voice of Wasp as she grew to her human size and tackled Ben in a tight hug.
"Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you? Where have you been? Why aren't you transformed? Did you…"
"Janet!" Ben shouted, grabbing her arms, snapping her out of her fussing.
"I'm fine. Watch is just timed out. And we are running out of time." He said as calmly and clearly as possible.
The Size changing Heroine took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok, ok. It's just been a crazy night."
"We've had worse." Ben pointed out.
An arrow attached to a cable landed a few feet away from them, catching their attention as they looked up to see Hawkeye zipline down to the street, using his bow to slide along the line.
"Nice of you to finally join us." The Archer said in a dry tone. "Have we saved the world yet or is that still pending?"
"Still on the edge." Ben replied. "Still got no idea if what I'm doing is actually saving the world or dooming it."
"This is why I hate time travel. Also, how is it you got us wrapped up in two of these, doomsday prophecies?" Hawkeye asked as he drew an arrow from his quiver.
"Clint!" Wasp snapped, causing him to flinch. The glare she shot him with was as sharp as his arrows.
The Size Changer glanced back at Ben with a concerned look as Ben's crestfallen expression at the reminder of Kang's future warning.
"It's fine, Jan. No big deal." He said, putting on a brave face.
He felt Carol's hand on his shoulder as she comforted him.
Wasp turned back to Hawkeye with an angry expression. But the Archer simply shrugged as if oblivious to how insensitive he was being.
The arrival of Captain America and Wolverine quickly distracted them as Cap gave the Young hero a nod, relieved to see that Ben was ok. Ben nodded back to complete the silent exchange.
Shortly after that, came the arrival of Beast and Forge. The later panting like he just ran a marathon, even though it was only a few blocks.
"It would seem the battle has turned in our favour." Beast stated, looking up at the site of the Helicarrier.
"You can say that again, Sugah." Came the charming Southern voice of Rogue as she and Shadowcat arrived from the opposite end of the street.
Shadowcat had a surprised look upon seeing Ben as she rushed over to him. "Ben, you're back. Where's Jean and Laura? Are they ok?"
All the present X-Men looked at the Young Hero awaiting his answer. However, Ben was in no mood to repeat himself.
"Cap and Logan can fill you guys in on that. I've already wasted enough time here already. All I can say right now is the sooner I can take Scott to Jean, the sooner all of this can be over."
This earned a bunch of confused looks from X-Men and Avenger alike. With the exception of Captain America and Wolverine.
"Ben's right." The Super Soldier said, catching everyone's attention. "The situation is escalating, and this is no time for a debrief. Right now, we need to trust Ben and have faith in what he's doing."
This seemed to satisfy everyone. But, for Ben, he felt a huge weight get dropped on his shoulders. Up until that point, Ben's worries about making the wrong choice was shared with the other X-Men. It was Professor X's warning, and the X-Men were just carrying it out, with Ben and the Avengers joining the fray.
Thanks to Cap, now the entire responsibility rested squarely on his shoulders. Now if he messes up, it's all on him if the world is doomed.
But Ben couldn't blame the Super Soldier. He was only trying to boost morale and Ben was the one who stepped forward and got everyone involved. He didn't even realise how much of the shots he was calling until it was all laid bare in front of him.
"R-Right. Well, the plan right now is the get Cyclops out of here." Ben started to say nervously. "If I can get him to Jean, that should help stop all this."
A roar of engines threw everyone attention as Iron Man landed on the street a few meters away from the group.
"I don't know about that. I think we've got things pretty under control here." The Armored Avenger said, casually strolling over to the gathered heroes as his faceplate opened up.
"What are you talking about, Stark?" Hawkeye asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Billionaire smirked as he casually stretched his arms and interlocked his fingers behind his head. "We're getting pretty good at this world saving thing. Almost all the giant robots have been destroyed, all the civilians have been saved with basically all the bridges still intact."
"With the exception of the Williamsburg Bridge, Madison Avenue Bridge and the Henry Hudson Bridge. All of which have collapsed and are in dire need of repair." JARVIS added, over the armor's speakers.
"I said 'basically'" Tony replied stubbornly. "So, all that's left is to bring down the Geezer and this whole thing will be over."
"Not quite, Iron Man." Captain America said, causing the Billionaire to look at him in confusion.
"According to Ben, there's another factor that could spell out the end of the world if it's not taken care of." The Super Soldier explained turning to the teen.
Tony briefly glanced at Ben with an incredulous look on his face as the Young Hero shrugged with his usual smirk. The Billionaire then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Seriously? Bad enough the world almost ends every month, now were starting to double book, Judgement Days?"
"To be fair, it's still the same doomsday. Just with a lot of different stages." Ben corrected in an attempt to lighten the mood.
This managed to get a reaction from Wasp, Shadowcat, Rogue and Hawkeye. With the rest showing signs of humour. Or they did and just had really good poker faces.
"Well, that's fine and dandy. But where is Scott?" Rogue asked as she looked around.
As did some of the other X-Men gathered.
A crimson beam of energy, blasting through a pile of rubble seemed to answer her question as Cyclopes stumbled out of the wreckage. Looking both beat-up and annoyed.
"Scott!" Shadowcat gasped as she ran over to him and tried to support him.
She was soon joined by Beast, who's larger frame provided more stability for him. "Easy there, Scott. You've been through quite the ordeal this evening."
"That's an understatement, Bigfoot." Hawkeye stated as they ambled over to the group.
"You good, Summers?" Wolverine asked, with his armed crossed in front of his chest.
Cyclopes gritted his teeth as he raised his head to look him in the eye. "I'll be fine, Logan. I've taken worse hits than this."
"Yeah, but ya can't bounce back as quick." Logan snipped at him. A smirk present on his face.
His visor glowed as Cyclopes pushed Beast and Shadowcat off him as he got right up in the Clawed Mutants face.
"At least I can actually land a hit on Magneto!"
"That's enough! Both of you!" Captain America barked at the pair. Getting between the pair and forcing them apart like a teacher breaking up a schoolyard brawl.
"The battlefield is no place for petty squabbles. We have far more pressing matters to attend to."
"Starting with you, Cyclops." The Super Soldier said, turning to face the Single Eyed Mutant. "You're being redeployed with Ben for a different mission."
The moment Bens name is spoken, Cyclops's entire demeanour changed as he quickly stood at attention and his head swivelled at a rapid pace before settling on the Alien Teen in question.
"Ben?" Faster than Ben could blink. Cyclops had grabbed Ben's shoulders and started shaking the Young Hero with such ferocity that he felt like he was at risk of getting whiplash. All while firing off one question after another.
"What happened? Why are you here? Where's Jean? Is she ok? Where is She!?"
"You already asked that one!" Ben managed to respond as his brain was about to be shaken out of his head.
"That's enough, my boy." Beast said calmly as he placed his paw on Scott's shoulder. "Let the lad breath. This whole ordeal has been taxing for us all."
Cyclops paused for a moment, before letting out a sigh and releasing his grip.
Ben stepped back, wobbly on his feet as he almost tripped had Carol not grabbed his shoulder to stabilize him.
Once his head stopped spinning. Ben was able to give a brief summary of the events and what he needed from Cyclops.
"If that's the case. Then let's go. We can't leave Jean alone in that place!" The One-Eyed Mutant said urgently.
"Relax." Ben assured holding his hands in a placating gesture. "We'll go as soon as the watch recharges. Should be any second now."
He quickly checked the dial and saw it was still in the red. This was shaping up to be the longest five minutes of his life.
Suddenly, a loud roar and crash alerted the heroes. They all turned to see the battle taking place on the far end of the block.
The Gamma Giant tried to smash the Magnetic Mutant with his powerful fists, but Magneto was able to raise his hands and summon a mass of metal debris to defend himself.
Hulk swung his massive arms and swatted away the debris like flies, until Magneto launched several MRD armored vehicles at him. The sheer size and durability of the vehicles were enough to push Hulk away and send him flying down the street.
As Magneto got back to his feet, he looked up and his eyes bore witness to the united front of Avengers and X-Men. The gathered heroes stood before him, glaring at him with different levels of emotion. Some had looks of anger on their faces, other had indifferent expressions and some, like Hawkeye and Hulk, looked quite amused and eager to lay the smackdown on a Senior Citizen.
Magneto's eyes drifted across all the heroes as his brow furrowed in anger.
"Don't you see?" Magneto asked, addressing the X-Men. "What I am doing. It is for all of us. All mutant kind. The Humans will never accept us! They will continue to subjugate and discriminate against us! I am trying to liberate us from that tyranny! Give all Mutant Kind a brighter future!"
The tension and anxiety that plagued Cyclops's mind lifted slightly as ears absorbed Magnetos words. He'd be lying if he didn't understand the plight that the Master of Magnetism was preaching. He recalled the very prejudice he faced when his powers first manifested. The anger he felt to those who mistreated him, simply because he was a mutant.
But he also remembered the lessons that the Professor imparted on him. The dreams and ideals he shared with him. He also remembered all the good he did, the people he's saved with his fellow X-Men.
He then looked to the heroes beside him. The Avengers were not mutants, they had no obligation to help them. Yet, here they were. Standing shoulder to shoulder with them, without any hesitation.
"You see any discrimination here?" Captain America asked. Gesturing to the gathered heroes.
Cyclops then stepped forward. "In your actions, Magneto. You have forced those who would condemn us, to fight with us. Because, despite our differences, we all want the same thing. To protect this world and the innocent people who live in it."
Ben smirked with pride, along with several other heroes as they stood tall in defiance against the Master of Magnetism.
Magneto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in fury. Despite the distance between them, Ben could swear he could see the veins pulsing in his head.
"It's over, Magneto." Iron Man said, stepping forth and gesturing around them. "You're outnumbered and your robot army is in pieces. Face it, you're done."
"Done?… Done!" The pressure in the air suddenly changed. Ben's blood ran cold as Magneto started to chuckle malevolently. "I am far from done. In fact, I have only just begun."
With that he raised his hand to the sky.
Acting fast, the heroes got into fighting stances to attack the villain.
Suddenly, metal shards and debris started flying all around them. Like a storm of metal, it swirled around the heroes rapidly putting them on the defensive.
Captain America raised his shield to block the smaller shrapnel, Wolverine slashed debris with his claws, Wasp quickly shrunk as she flew around the pieces, Carol either punched the debris away with her super strength or blasted them with her energy beams, Hulk and Beast used their superior strength to bat away larger pieces of metal while Hawkeye and Forge took cover near them, Shadowcat simply allowed the metal to pass right through her while Cyclops blasted debris with his eye beam.
Ben and Rogue were standing side by side as they dodged and weaved through the debris. A metal shard managed to nick Rogues jacket, narrowly missing her skin. Ben wasn't as lucky as a shard of metal left a cut of his leg, causing him to hiss in pain.
But, despite the chaos around him, the Alien Avenger heard a joyous beeping sound as he looked to his wrist to see the glorious gleaming green of the faceplate. The Ultimatrix has finally recharged.
An ecstatic grin appeared on the Teens face. "It's Hero Time."
He slammed down the dial and a brilliant flash of green light bathed the area.
"Commander Comet!" The Kree Warrior cried out.
Flexing his muscles, Commander Comet grinned as a surge of energy filled his body. Concentrating it to his arms, he aimed them at the incoming debris and fired a green beam of energy, blasting them out of the sky.
Quickly moving to shield Rogue from the metal storm, he blasted and punched any metal that flew too close.
With her concentration freed up ever so slightly, Rogue took this moment to remove one of her gloves as she walked over to the Transforming Hero.
"Sorry, Sugah." She said with a compunctious look on her face. "Just gonna borrow some power for a sec."
With that she placed her hand on Commander Comet's blue skin. Instantly, the alien Teen felt a wave of pain and fatigue wash over him. Similar to how Selene drained him of his lifeforce. Only this felt way worse, like he just ran a marathon, while having the worst flu of his life.
It may have only been a brief few seconds, but to Commander Comet it felt like a 10 minutes before she broke the contact. The Alien Teen stumbled on his feet, barely able to support himself as a large chunk of metal came flying at his head.
A flash of yellow light and Carols energy charged fist sent the chunk flying. With the threat taken care of she quickly ran to Comets side and supported him.
"Are you ok?" She asked him, concerned. But didn't wait for an answer as she turned and glared at the Southern Belle. "What the Hell did you do to him?!"
Rogue flinched at the Blondes tone. "I'm sorry. I just borrowed a bit of his power."
"Ah bit?" Carol's rage not subsiding in the least. "Look at him!"
At this point, it seemed as though she was ready to turn her aggression on the Life Absorbing Mutant.
Only for Commander Comet to place his hand on her shoulder. Halting her rage. "It's ok, Carol. Rogue needs to borrow powers from others in order to fight. It's only temporary, so it's fine."
Carols anger subsided to slightly miffed as the Alien Teen turned to the Southern Belle. "Still, could've warned a guy."
Rogue shrugged. "Ma bad, Benji. But, better ta ask forgiveness, than permission."
She then spun around and punched a sheet of metal away with her newfound strength.
"But I gotta say. This form ah yours got some zing to it. Ah might have ta borrow from you again sometime." She said playfully, giving him a wink.
A glow surrounded Carol that looked strong enough to melt the armor of a tank.
But thoughts like that were pushed aside as the heroes focused on the metal blizzard. The Avengers and X-Men worked in perfect unison to fend off the metallic onslaught.
As the fight raged on, the Alien Teen couldn't help but think of this as a tame attack on Magnetos part. He's gotten a pretty good idea on how powerful Magneto is, thanks to Lodestar and the battle up until this point has demonstrated the sheer control and versatility of his power. Yet he's now resorted to simply attacking them with a flurry of metal debris.
If he was being honest, this didn't really feel like a blind rageful attack. If felt more like…. A distraction.
Too late upon his realisation that the metal hurricane subsided and the gathered heroes turned to see the shocking image of a partially reformed Sentinel army. With their metal armor flying back into place and reforming good-as-new. Not even a slight blemish in the paintjob.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me?" Hawkeye exclaimed in a disgruntled tone. "Again, with the freaking self-repairing robots."
Iron Man groaned as he brushed off some metal flakes that dirtied his armor and looked over the reassembled army. "To be fair, Clint. These ones aren't repairing themselves. They're just being put back together."
"Whatever." Hawkeye rolled his eyes, only to turn his attention to the Gamma Giant. "Thought you were gonna smash this geezer? What happened, you against elderly abuse or something?"
Hulk growled at the Archer and clenched his fists. "You wanna take him out? Be my guest."
Hawkeye glanced in the direction of the Mutant Villain, who had a tornado of shrapnel swirling around him.
He then slumped in shoulders. "Any chance this guy will just have a heart attack and drop dead for us?"
Shadowcat chuckled. "I wish. But we're not that lucky."
"Yeah, the spiteful ones live the longest." Carol chimed in, light-heartedly. Earning a grin from Rogue.
"Yeah. Just ask Logan." She said, gesturing to the Clawed Mutant. Causing many of the younger heroes to chuckle.
Wolverine grunted in response as he kept his eyes focused on Magneto. "This ain't gonna end unless we take him down first."
"Good luck getting close to him with that metal skeleton." Iron Man scoffed.
In response, Wolverine chuckled. "And just what is your suit made of, Stark?"
"For a genius. He really should know about glass houses and stones." Shadowcat quipped, leading to several of the gathered heroes to chuckle at the Billionaires expense.
But Commander Comet just punched his fists together as green energy surrounded them.
"Doesn't matter. We can just break them faster than he can build them." He said in a cocky tone.
"No Ben." Captain America ordered sternly. "You're needed elsewhere. You and Cyclops."
It took a few moments for the coin to drop as the Shapeshifters eyes widened. He'd almost forgotten the very reason he came back to the city.
"We can handle things here, Kid." Hawkeye assured, drawing his bow. He then gave the Young Hero a cocky grin. "Plus, without you around. The rest of us might actually get to do something."
Commander Comet chuckled at the Archers comment as he went over to Cyclops.
"Ok Scott, lets go save Jean?" He quipped in a confident tone.
The One-Eyed Mutant nodded in agreement. "Agreed. Thank you."
Wasting no time, Commander Comet grabbed Cyclops from under his shoulders and lifted him off the ground, soring into the sky.
Magneto tracked their movement as he aimed his hand at them. "I think not. None shall escape their fate today."
On his command, a Sentinel blasted into the sky and intercepted the heroes. Blocking their flight path.
However, Carol and Rogue both flew ahead of the Alien Teen and delivered a combined uppercut on the Mutant Hunting Machine. Their combined strength knocking the robots head clean off. Leaving a sparking stump in its wake as the body fell from the sky.
Commander Comet smiled and nodded at the pair as he flew past them with his passenger.
Carol smirked as he flew past her. "That's two you owe me." She said, holding up two fingers to punctuating her point.
Once they cleared the battlefield, Commander Comet kicked it into overdrive and picked up speed, heading straight for the Hellfire Clubs mansion.
But not too fast, as he had to take his passenger into consideration. Despite, packing an energy bazooka behind each eyeball, Cyclops is still a human being. As such his body wouldn't be able to withstand the high speeds that his Kree form could handle.
Still, the Alien Teen wished he could get back there as soon as possible. Jumping back and forth between these crisis situations was putting a lot of stress on him. If anything happens and he's not there to help…
He didn't want to think about it.
After a minute of flying, Commander Comet started to make out the top of the Hellfire Clubs mansion over the tree line.
He was so close. Just a few more seconds and he will be there, and everything will be fine.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over the Alien Shapeshifter, causing him to faulter in the air.
Panic flooded his body as he recognised that sensation. He quickly looked down at Cyclops and saw the One-Eyed Mutant shaking his head and placing his hand to his forehead. Which only confirmed what Commander Comet feared.
"Oh no." He gasped as he looked ahead.
The lights of the mansion started glowing as an orange/yellow light, getting brighter and brighter.
"Please no!" Commander Comet shouted as he shot towards the mansion as high speeds.
He was just about to reach the mansion when a crimson beam shot across his field of vision, causing him to reflexively withdraw.
"Don't Ben!" Cyclops screamed in a panicked tone.
No sooner had he said that the Mansion before them exploded.
An eruption of fire, burst from the foundation, engulfing the rubble and surrounding area.
The shockwave blew both Alien and Mutant away with the former barely able to keep them both in the air.
The Alien Avenger could only watch him in horror as the inferno shot into the air and started to change.
The flames swirled together, taking the shape of a body, with the flames on either side resembling the shape of wings. From atop the flames narrowed and curved before a pair of glowing white eyes opened and the flaming structure in front of them split horizontally, with the upper half curving over the lower half like a beak.
A loud screech, bellowed from its mouth as it flapped its wings. Illuminating the sky like the sun.
The heat it gave off could boil the seas. But, for the Alien Shapeshifter, his blood ran cold.
He fought and fought, but despite all his efforts. It was all in vain.
The Phoenix has risen.
And that's a wrap everyone. Yeah, sorry to those who thought this was gonna be the finale. Part 4 will be coming as soon as possible. I promise to do the best I can.
Special shoutout to DBZpower197 writer of the brilliant Ben 10: Hero Force. A Ben 10 x My Hero Academia story that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I have spoken to DBZpower197 for a while now. Really cool guy, who deserves some attention. If you havent checked out the story, I highly recommend it.
Also a shoutout to JustQ a close personal friend of mine who's currently doing commission artwork on DeviantArt. I have had Q commission several pieces for me, links down below. If any of you are in the market for commissions, be sure to give JustQ a shout.
www . deviantart iamjustq/art/Size-Matters-Not-Avenging-10-First-Commission-962075493
www . deviantart iamjustq/art/Rock-and-Roll-Ben-10-x-Marvel-Commission-1002793262
Final shoutout to CupcakeLover7 writer of Runeterra: The Long Journey. A Ben 10 x League of Legends story. Another story I highly recommend to anyone looking for something new. The Author is brilliant and such a lovely person.
Thats it for me for now everyone. As always, feel free to PM me with your thoughts, always up for a friendly chat. Hope you all have a wonderful day and I will catch you all later.
Until Next time, CaptainRex75 out!