Chapter 31

The two met up with Batman, who was dragging Juice, and Wonder Woman, who'd stayed behind to look after Long Shadow, who was now up and about. They found Wind Dragon fighting Superman, the latter of whom was simply standing there. Wind Dragon's power wasn't even fazing him.

"You don't have to do this!" said Superman, trying to reason with the youth.

"It's all I know!" shouted Wind Dragon desperately, "It's what I was created for!"

"You're confused, Dragon; the genetic degeneration…"

"No more words!" screamed Wind Dragon, "No more!" he finally summoned up enough power to knock Superman onto his back, but before he could do any more, Long Shadow jumped in front of him.

"Look at what you're doing! Look!"

Wind Dragon looked around, seeing all of the devastation he'd caused.

"Is this what you want to be remembered for?" asked Long Shadow, "He was your hero."

Tears leaked from Dragon's eyes as he fell to his knees. "He was my hero," he sobbed, "and a hero is all I ever wanted to be."

…

The defeated Ultimen were being watched by the League until the authorities could come pick them up; until then, the Leaguers were trying to see if there was some way to help them.

"Maybe Dr. Fate or the Atom could find a cure." Offered Superman.

Then Humongosaur had an idea; he wasn't completely sure that it would work, but…

"Guys, I'm gonna try something." The others watched as he stomped over to the Ultimen. "Hey, Long Shadow, could you come here for a sec?"

Long Shadow didn't know what the alien had planned, but he did as he was asked, while the other Ultimen looked at him warily.

"Ultimatrix," Humongosaur said, "scan closest sentient life-forms."

"Scanning." Said a mechanical version of Ben's voice. A green light from the Ultimatrix dial swept over the Ultimen. "Life-forms suffering from genetic degradation; do you wish to restore?"

The eyes of everyone present widened; was the Ultimatrix capable of curing them?

"Ultimatrix, begin restoration." Another green light passed over them. When it faded, the voice came again. "Life-forms restored; genetic degradation removed."

Humongosaur swayed, until Superman and Wonder Woman moved to support him.

"Are you okay?" asked Wonder Woman.

"Yeah, I'm fine; doing that takes a lot out of me, but I'll be all right in a minute." He turned to the Ultimen, who were starting to stand up. "How about you guys? Not feeling like homicidal maniacs anymore?"

Wind Dragon nodded. "I feel like a fog is lifting from my mind. I think… I think you did it."

The Ultimen had tears in their eyes; they weren't going to die! Shifter walked up to him and gave him a hug; or, she tried to, since she was hugging a twenty-foot dinosaur.

"Thank you so much." She said, "I might be going to prison, but at least I'll live to see the trial."

"Uh, you're welcome?" this might have been the first time that Humongosaur had met someone that was actually looking forward to jail time.

…

Later, as four of the Ultimen were being led away by the police, Superman and Wonder Woman were being told everything that Long Shadow knew.

"Project Cadmus?" asked Superman. "That's all you know?"

"Everything else is an implanted memory." Said Long Shadow sadly.

"At least now, you have plenty of time to get some real ones." Said Wonder Woman. Long Shadow smiled at her, hope in his eyes.

"Uh, guys?" said Humongosaur, pointing, "We've got company."

Several army trucks rolled up, with dozens of soldiers carrying large guns hopping out. Everyone, the League, the press, the police and the Ultimen looked at them in confusion.

"We'll take it from here." Said Mrs. Waller as she got out of a truck, followed closely by Maxwell Lord, "The Ultimen belong to us."

"Belong?" repeated Wonder Woman furiously.

"A poor choice of words," said Lord, "we'll see to it that their last days are comfortable." He turned to the Ultimen. "We will take care of you; you have my word, for whatever it's worth."

The four Ultimen looked at each other; they were going to live, but they had nowhere else to go, and if they started a fight, innocent people might get hurt.

"All right, Max." said Wind Dragon. The soldiers guided them into a truck, while Waller smirked.

Several more soldiers moved to take Long Shadow, but Wonder Woman moved between them.

"No." was all she said.

"You need to step back." Said Waller as she walked forward; Batman moved in front of her.

"Not going to happen." He said darkly, "Long Shadow's with us."

Waller didn't even blink. "Safeties off."

A dozen soldiers leveled their weapons at Wonder Woman and Long Shadow. In response, Superman, Aquaman and Humongosaur stepped forward, blocking the shots; Humongosaur snarled, while Batman leaned in close to Waller's face.

"Mine are bigger than yours." The barest smile was on Batman's face. The two locked eyes for a moment.

"… Stand down." Ordered Waller. The soldiers obeyed, as Waller took a step back, an evil smile on her face. "He's free to go with you, for however long he's got."

That should be about eighty years, lady, thought a smug Humongosaur.

"Who are you people?" demanded Batman.

"That's a national security matter, and if I were you, I wouldn't probe the situation too closely…" she leaned in close and whispered, "rich boy."

Batman's eyes went wide; she knew. Waller got back into her car, and they drove off.

"This isn't over, is it?" asked Humongosaur.

"I have a feeling that it's only beginning." Answered Superman.

…

Watchtower

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Humongosaur, who had Ship sitting on his shoulder, were teleported onto the Watchtower, followed by Long Shadow. The young man looked around at the impressive installation. The five heroes turned to their newest member.

"Welcome to the Justice League." Said Wonder Woman.

Humongosaur smiled at Long Shadow; he was like a kid at Christmas. He watched Wonder Woman and Superman take the new guy on a tour, while Batman went over to the monitors.

"The deep-space mission is over; they'll be here in a few minutes."

Humongosaur nodded and slapped the Ultimatrix dial, turning back into Ben. "Okay, Bats; see you tomorrow." He headed to the Javelin bay, while Ship left to go to sleep in Ben's quarters.

Ben arrived just in time to see Supergirl walk down the ramp of a Javelin. Her face brightened up when she saw him, and she rushed forward to wrap him in a hug.

"Kara!" he wheezed, "Air!"

"Sorry!"

…

San Francisco

Ben had returned home after telling Kara what had happened with the Ultimen. She had been shocked, and told her boyfriend to go home and get some rest. However, Ben found sleep elusive; he kept thinking about the Ultimen. They didn't deserve whatever Cadmus was going to do to them, but he had no way to help them.

Then Ben got an idea. He rushed to his bedroom, where he kept a violet crystal hidden in a drawer. He picked it up and whispered into it.

"Hey, Grandma? I need a favor…"

After an hour explaining what had happened, he put the crystal away and tried to get to sleep, but his phone rang and he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ben, how are you?"

"Kara?" why was she calling at this time of night? "I'm fine; what's up?"

"Can't a girl call her boyfriend just to say hi?" said Kara jokingly, "But seriously, you seemed kind of down after what happened with the Ultimen."

Ben sighed. "I don't like fighting other heroes, Kara. And despite being created in a lab, the Ultimen were heroes. They didn't deserve to be hauled off like that, having who-knows-what done to them. I just feel like I should have done more."

"Ben, it's okay," said Kara soothingly, "you did everything you could, and that's all anyone asks of us. Besides, you cured them, right? That means that they have a fighting chance."

Ben smiled, even though his girlfriend couldn't see it. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Kara; I needed that." Then he yawned.

Kara giggled. "Needed something to help you get to sleep, huh? Well, good-night, Ben."

"Good-night, Kara; see you tomorrow." As Ben hung up, he finally drifted off to sleep.

…

Unknown Location

The Ultimen had been sitting together in a Cadmus cell for hours, convinced that while they weren't going to die of genetic degradation, they were going to die in other painful ways.

"What do you think they'll do to us?" asked a worried Shifter.

"I don't know," said Downpour, "but I'm betting that we won't like it."

"I agree." Said Wind Dragon. Juice only nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm glad that you all agree that staying here is a bad idea." The Ultimen turned to see a purple being with violet hair floating in front of the cell. "If you don't want to be sliced open like frogs in a high school class, maybe you should come with me."

"Who are you?" asked Wind Dragon.

"My name is Verdona, dear, and I'll be getting you somewhere safe now." Verdona snapped her fingers, and suddenly the five of them were standing outside of a city. "There we go. No one will find you in another universe."

The Ultimen stared; going to another universe was about as far away as you could get.

"Why are you helping us?" asked Downpour.

"Well that's simple, dear," replied Verdona, "my grandson asked me to help you, and I love my grandson very much."

"Who's your grandson?" wondered Shifter.

Verdona's eyes narrowed slightly, and Shifter moved behind Juice. "My grandson is the shapeshifting hero whom you tried to kill tonight." Her eyes narrowed further. "Be thankful that my grandson is so forgiving; otherwise, I'd turn you into a newt, and you wouldn't be able to turn back."

Shifter gulped.

The Ultimen turned when they heard the sound of a car pulling up behind them; it was a green sports car with black highlights. A brown-haired, unassuming teenager with a green hoodie stepped out from the passenger side, and a tall, blonde man got out of the driver's side. Verdona waved at them, and they waved back.

"I leave the rest up to you, dears." With a flash of violet light, Verdona vanished.

The men walked up to the metahumans. The brunette held out his hand to Wind Dragon.

"Hi," the kid said as he shook Wind Dragon's hand, "I'm Jimmy Jones, and this is Cooper. Welcome to Bellwood."