7 Chapter 7

Ben stared at the huge office. He had always thought that journalists worked in cramped little offices or worked out in the field. This room was bigger than the Batcave! It had high ceilings, a great view of the city, and every reporter there had an enormous desk to work from. Ben figured that this was the five-star hotel of journalism.

After a while, he turned his attention to Lois and Clark. Lois was currently chewing out a redhead named Jimmy Olson, while Clark was trying to defend whatever Jimmy had done. It was actually kind of funny. It reminded Ben of when it was just him, Gwen and Kevin. Usually, it was Ben who had done something wrong, Kevin giving him grief, and Gwen giving Kevin grief over giving Ben grief.

It was saddening to remember that he would never see them again, but it wasn't as soul-crushing as it had been a few days ago. While he had been at the Kent farm, he had told Martha, Jonathan, Kara and whichever League member that was there that day stories of his adventures. It had become his own personal therapy. Each time he talked about it, it became easier to think about without bursting into tears. He still had a while to go, but he was getting better.

While the three Daily Planet employees argued, Ben glanced at the walls. Every three feet or so was a framed copy of their newspaper, the oldest going back several years, which had the first official appearance of Superman on it. Other front-pagers had more stories on either Superman or the Justice League, and all seemed to have been written by either Lois or Clark. Ben smirked whenever he saw Clark's name under a Superman article. It seemed kind of self-aggrandizing.

Further thought was interrupted as a middle-aged, balding man ran up to the journalists.

"What is it, Perry?" Clark asked, seeing the concern on the man's face.

"Bizarro was just spotted heading in this general direction." Judging from the way that everyone tensed up, Ben guessed that Bizarro was a super villain, and a bad one at that. The older man, Perry, continued.

"Lois, Clark, get down there in case Superman shows up. Olson, go with. And you," Perry directed a stern look at Ben, "don't go anywhere and don't touch anything."

"Hey Smallville," said Lois, as she raced to her desk, "you and Jimmy go on ahead, I need to get my stuff."

The two men nodded and ran off.

While Lois was gathering her things, Ben walked up to her.

"So this Bizarro," Ben began, "he's pretty bad, right?"

Lois gave him an 'are you serious?' look.

"Think of a twisted, evil, stupid version of Superman," she explained, "and you'd hit the nail on the head."

Ben swallowed nervously. He'd seen what Superman was capable of, and now there was an evil twin? Just great.

"I'm afraid Bizarro is the least of your worries, love." A voice with a British accent spoke up.

Ben and Lois spun to see a man in a trench coat behind them, his face covered in bandages. Ben blinked. How the heck had anyone missed a guy like that?

"That voice…" Lois began to say.

"Oh, that's so sweet," said the man mockingly, "you remember your old friend Metallo."

With that, the man ripped off the coat and bandages. Ben's eyes went wide. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking at. It looked like a human man, but most of his torso, right arm and the right half of his face were replaced by gleaming metal. The exposed half of his face looked like a metal human skull, and a sinister green light glowed from the eye socket.

Now that's just wrong, Ben thought, I'm the only one who should have glowing green eyes.

"What do you want now, Metallo?" Ben had to admire the fearlessness in Lois' voice. "Do you have anything to do with Bizarro coming here?"

"You'd be surprised what kind of distraction Bizarro will make if you offer him a cookie and a chance to kill Superman." The human half of Metallo's face grinned sadistically. Then he began to walk towards them. "But before he dies, I think I'm going to hurt him by killing you."

"Ben, run! He's after me, not you!" Lois tried to run to the stairs, but Metallo blocked her.

Ben froze for a moment. What should I do? He wondered. He didn't want to turn into an alien here, there were still people working here, and besides, did he really want to this again? In Ben's mind, if he chose to be a hero again, he'd never stop. But then he remembered all the times that he'd saved people. Had he asked for anything in return? No, he'd only helped people because it was the right thing to do. And since Metallo had less-than-friendly intentions towards Lois, Ben couldn't just look the other way. Still, there was no way that he was giving up his secret identity.

Ben quickly bolted across the room, as were the few other people who hadn't already left. But unlike them, Ben wasn't trying to run. He slid behind a desk, and he was grateful that it had wheels. He began to push.

Across the room, Lois was beginning to lose consciousness as Metallo choked her with his exposed hand.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to do this." Metallo sneered.

"Hey! Tin Man!"

Metallo turned his head to see a very large desk headed towards him, being pushed by what looked like a kid. Honestly, he hadn't seen that one coming. His grip loosened in surprise, allowing Lois to fall to the floor and crawl away. The desk slammed into Metallo's legs, causing him to fall on top of it. The combined momentum carried both the desk and Metallo towards the window. It shattered, sending both desk and super villain plummeting twelve stories down.

As Lois was working on getting air back into her lungs, she noticed Ben trying to do the same. She was more than a little shocked. Ben had attacked a super villain? Not only that, he had knocked him out of a window? She wasn't sure if that was brave or very, very stupid.

Ben stretched his arms and grinned at Lois.

"Well, that takes care of him, huh?"

Lois shook her head. "He's gone toe-to-toe with Superman. A fall like that's only gonna make him mad."

Ben leaned his head out of the shattered window. There was no one else on the street. People had learned years ago to evacuate and seek shelter whenever a superhero brawl was about to commence. Ben could see the broken remains of the desk, and a figure getting up. A gleaming, metal figure.

"Aw, man," said Ben. He looked at Lois. "How mad do you think he's gonna be?"

Lois gave a small, sympathetic smile. "He's going to want to kill you."

Story of my life, Ben thought grimly, but outwardly, he only looked worried.

"Uh, I'm gonna go now." Ben tried to act as nervous as possible, while backing towards the stairs.

Lois nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to see if I can get to Superman. He should be able to stop Metallo."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "But Metallo is right outside."

Lois raised a notepad and gave a cocky grin. "I never miss a story on Superman in Metropolis."

Now it was Ben's turn to wonder if Lois was brave or very, very stupid.

…

The two parted ways, with Ben heading out the back door. He cut around the side of the Daily Planet building, where he could see Lois trying to get past Metallo again, with the same lack of success as before, receiving a backhanded strike across the face. Ben scowled, but took a few steps back. He then ripped off the gauze and activated the Ultimatrix. He cycled through his aliens until he reached one of his veteran forms; one that would work perfectly against a machine, and might even be able to help Superman in his own fight.

"It's Hero Time!"

…

Metallo was about to crush Lois Lane. In fact, he was so sure that he would succeed that he was already planning the murder of that kid that had knocked him out of the window. However, he was distracted by a green flash, and the shout of a mechanical voice.

"UPGRADE!"

A figure strode out of the alley. It was vaguely humanoid, in that it had two arms, two legs and a head. The similarities stopped there, however. The back and head of the thing was black and covered and covered with green circuitry. The front was white, save for a strange symbol on its chest. A single eye glowed on its otherwise featureless face. The eye narrowed.

"Okay, ugly," the creature took a fighting stance, "let's go!"

Metallo snarled, dropped Lois and then charged the thing. This was getting out of hand. First that kid, now this… whatever-it-was. Was there to be no end to this interference?

Upgrade leapt at Metallo, but didn't strike him. Instead, his body became more blob-like, and then wrapped itself around Metallo's body!

Lois' jaw dropped. Well, that was new!

Metallo struggled as the alien somehow seeped into every part of his mechanical body. To the outside observer, Metallo appeared to be completely covered in tar and green circuitry. After a moment, Metallo froze, then walked over to Lois, who backed off warily.

"Relax, Miss Lane," said Upgrade/Metallo, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Lois wasn't convinced. "Well, considering that you were trying to kill me a minute ago…"

Upgrade/Metallo shook his head. "That was Metallo, not me. I have control over him now; he can't do anything anymore."

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Lois might have been afraid, but she was an investigative reporter. It was in her nature to seek answers.

Upgrade/Metallo would have smiled if he had a mouth.

"First off, you can call me Upgrade. Second, I'm just here to help." Upgrade/Metallo looked around for a moment. "I don't suppose you know where Superman is?"

As if in answer to his question, a smoking figure hurtled through the air, crashing through a building behind them; he was quickly followed by a familiar red-and-blue figure. Upgrade/Metallo looked back at Lois.

"Never mind," he said, "I think I know where to find him."

Turning away, two rockets somehow grew from Upgrade/Metallo's back, which in turn sprouted stabilizer fins. Lois blinked. Metallo had never been able to do that before! Upgrade/Metallo gave her a two-fingered salute before rocketing away. Lois smiled. She had what all journalists live for: a new story.

…

Superman was getting annoyed. Bizarro was difficult to deal with at the best of times, but this was the fifth time he'd had to smash the twisted clone through something. Why couldn't he just give up? His musings were interrupted by the sight of Bizarro struggling to his feet. Superman sighed. Maybe the sixth time would be the charm. Before he could move, a bright green beam of energy struck Bizarro in the chest, driving him to the ground again. Superman turned in midair to see what looked like a man made out of black paint and green circuitry rocketing towards him. The only thing that gave away his identity was a familiar symbol on his chest. Before he could say anything, the figure held up a hand.

"Call me Upgrade."

Superman nodded. "So, what's this one do?"

Upgrade/Metallo spread his arms wide. "I can take control of machines, and then make them better. This is what happened when I grabbed Metallo."

Superman's eyes went wide. "Metallo!? What was he doing here?"

"He was trying to kill Lois. Don't worry," he added, after seeing the panic in Superman's eyes, "I stopped him, and Lois is fine."

Superman sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Upgrade/Metallo shrugged. "No problem; I'm just doing the hero thing."

Both heroes noticed Bizarro getting back to his feet.

"What do you say we end this?" Superman began charging his heat vision for emphasis.

"Sure," said Upgrade/Metallo, "let's see just how powerful I can make this guy."

Both of Upgrade/Metallo's arms became cannons. A third, larger cannon grew from his chest, and a small rack of missiles morphed from each shoulder. All of these weapons fired at once, joined by a green beam of energy from his eye, as well as Superman's own heat vision. The combined blast made a considerable crater in the ground, and left a smoking and thoroughly smacked-down Bizarro. The two floated down to street-level.

Upgrade/Metallo froze for a moment, until Upgrade separated himself. Metallo fell to the ground, but instead of collapsing, he remained frozen in the same position.

"What… what did you do to me!?" Metallo could barely get the words out, as his jaw was clenched shut.

Upgrade explained, just as Lois Lane and several other reporters arrived. "Before I left, I shut down every one of your systems except for your mind, your eyes, and your voice box." Upgrade looked up for a moment. "Of course, now I wish that I'd shut that last one off too."

The reporters all laughed, while Superman gave a grin. Upgrade turned to Superman.

"Think you could give a lift? I need to get something."

Superman looked confused for a moment, but nodded and grabbed Upgrade under his arms and took off before the reporters could ask any questions. Superman landed on a rooftop several miles away, where Upgrade looked around for a moment to make sure that no-one could see them. When he was satisfied that they were alone, he turned back to normal.

"I thought you said that you didn't want to be a hero anymore?"

Ben looked down at the streets below. "I was always taught by my parents and grandpa to do the right thing; to help other people to the best of my abilities." Ben grinned and held up the Ultimatrix. "And thanks to this, I've got a whole lot of abilities."

Superman smiled back, but then looked away. "I thought you blamed that watch for what happened to them."

Ben's smile faded. "Maybe I still do. But I do know that they would be disappointed if I didn't do what I believe is right. I don't know, maybe I'm trying to honor them by living up to what they taught me."

Superman nodded, then put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "I do the same thing; I try to live up to what both my Earth parents and my Kryptonian parents taught me."

"Thanks, Clark."

"No problem, Ben." Superman frowned. "So, what was it that you needed to get?"

Ben shrugged. "Something that I left at your parents' house. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Superman tilted his head. "So, why did you need me to carry you here? You could have just transformed into Jet Ray right there."

Ben stared at Superman for a moment, then slapped his forehead.

"I am such an idiot." He mumbled.

Superman was still laughing minutes later when Jet Ray took off towards Smallville.

Smallville

Ben arrived at the Kent farm, still kicking himself over completely forgetting that he could transform immediately. He had flown through an open window in the farmhouse, then transformed back to normal. He walked over to the house and opened the door to the sound of cheering. Confused, he followed the sound to the living room, where he spotted Martha, Jonathan and Kara clapping and celebrating whatever was on television. Ben was embarrassed when he realized what they were cheering about. They were watching him help Superman beat Bizarro on a news report! Apparently there had been a news crew recording the entire fight.

Oh well, thought Ben, at least here I'm getting good press.

Supergirl, courtesy of her super hearing, heard someone come in, even over the volume of the television and the cheers. She turned to see…

"Ben!" she cried. The elder Kents turned to see Kara tackle Ben with a rib-cracking hug. "That was so cool!"

"Kara!" Ben gasped, "Air!"

Kara quickly let go. "Sorry!"

"It's okay," Ben replied as he rubbed his sore side, "just remember that I break easy when I'm human."

"We just saw what you did," Martha said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure that your family would be proud of you."

Ben felt so much pride when he heard that.

"Plus," added Kara, "the way you used Metallo to beat down Bizarro? That was awesome!"

"Thanks, but I think that Clark did most of the work, I just finished him off." Earlier in his superhero career, Ben had often bragged of his accomplishments; now he was more mature, and knew how to be modest.

"Wait, why are you back here? I thought you'd still be in Metropolis." Kara tilted her head in confusion.

"I forgot something here," explained Ben, "and if I'm gonna be doing the hero thing again, I'm going to need it."

He quickly went upstairs, but came back down only a moment later. He was wearing his green jacket. It was a simple change, but it seemed to make him an entirely different person. His eyes seemed to shine, and there was an almost cocky grin on his face.

"Hello, world," he said, "Ben 10 is back!"