Happy Harbor — Mount Justice
After the cleanup from Gotham's gang war was finally under control, Ben didn't linger in the city. He headed straight back to the Justice League's base at Mount Justice.
Standing at the entrance, he tapped the emblem on his chest.
The blue-black speedster form peeled away, and he returned to normal.
Identity verification cleared.
For the first time, Ben stepped through the hidden gateway and into the League's mountain base.
On the way back from Gotham, he'd already noticed something huge:
With the Speed Force in the mix, his XLR8 transformation time had been massively extended.
More importantly—even after he turned back into human form, the Omnitrix didn't go into cooldown.
That meant he could transform again immediately.
After spending the entire night in Gotham, Ben decided he deserved a break before testing the Omnitrix's new "feature." He sank into a couch in the public lounge, letting his body relax while his mind replayed everything that had happened.
Batman's clash with "Grandpa Batman" had cooled—temporarily—because something even deeper had surfaced.
Batman had investigated the Court of Owls before, but he'd never found anything solid. He was close to writing it off as an urban legend.
Now, with both Ben and Thomas Wayne confirming the Court was real, Batman had immediately seen a path to contact.
If the Court was buried in Gotham's upper class, then Bruce Wayne—Gotham's richest heir and most notorious playboy—was far more likely to receive an invitation.
Batman's plan was to use Bruce Wayne's social access to infiltrate the Court.
And as long as Bruce spent more time being Bruce Wayne, Thomas Wayne… was satisfied.
While Bruce Wayne moved through high-society parties and "charity" galas, Thomas Wayne would operate as Batman—stabilizing Gotham's underworld by force.
Ben had barely been dozing on the couch for a few minutes when he heard a voice.
"Hey, Ben. You're back!" Cyborg had just come out of the lab, spotted him sprawled on the sofa, and walked over. "What happened in Gotham? The news makes it look… big."
Ben stretched, rolled onto his side, and yawned.
"Yeah… it's kind of a long story…"
He gave Cyborg the condensed version—Thomas Wayne crossing over from the Flashpoint timeline, the chaos in Gotham, and how the whole night had spiraled out of control.
Cyborg stared at him like he'd just described a natural disaster.
"Even for Gotham, that's headline-level insane."
He'd always heard Gotham was bad, but hearing the details made him understand what "bad" actually meant.
Then he frowned, genuinely puzzled.
"Do Gotham citizens ever think about just… moving somewhere else?"
Ben blinked. Honestly, he'd wondered the same thing.
Judging by the damage Thomas Wayne caused in the Theater District—and the night's casualties—there would definitely be people leaving Gotham.
But then again…
If Thomas truly managed to clamp down on the gangs, Gotham might actually be more livable for ordinary people than cities that randomly got invaded by aliens every other week.
And with Wayne Enterprises constantly repairing and rebuilding the city, Gotham would eventually pull people back in.
Ben's eyes widened.
A thought hit him like lightning.
He sprang off the couch so fast it almost looked like a transformation.
"Cyborg! You just reminded me—this is the PERFECT time to buy Gotham real estate at rock-bottom prices!" Ben practically shrieked. "Call Batman and Green Arrow! I'm about to become rich overnight!"
"Calm down, Ben." Cyborg grabbed his shoulder and pressed him back down with a firm, steady hand. "If you can think of it, you really think Batman can't? Wayne Enterprises is probably already moving."
Ben didn't calm down.
If anything, his excitement escalated.
"If Wayne Enterprises moves, doesn't that just feed those Court of Owls parasites?" Ben shot back. "Call Batman—now!"
"…Got it." Cyborg didn't know much about this "Court of Owls" thing, but Ben's expression said this wasn't a joke. He went straight to the base comms and routed the call through to the Batcave.
"What is it?" Batman answered on the other end.
In the Batcave, Bruce was still logging everything from tonight—recording, indexing, archiving. When he finished, he'd probably sleep for two hours, then get up to train, then start handling Wayne Enterprises' daytime operations like nothing had happened.
Cyborg summarized without wasting words.
"Ben wants me to tell you now's the best time to buy up Gotham real estate and to watch for internal company 'parasites' using the chaos to skim profits."
"I understand," Batman said.
Now that the Court of Owls was on the table, Bruce Wayne knew every decision inside Wayne Enterprises had to be treated like it was walking through a minefield.
He needed firsthand knowledge of what Gotham actually needed, then he'd have to design solutions—and use Batman's presence to ensure those solutions wouldn't be hijacked.
In the past, he hadn't focused heavily on the corporate side. Lucius's proposals were consistently strong, and the reports and books looked clean on paper.
But with Ben and Thomas Wayne exposing the Court's shadow, Bruce finally understood how naïve he'd been.
Lucius had probably sensed them too.
Still, if Wayne Enterprises didn't act, someone else would step in—someone colder, crueler—someone who would seize the same resources with far worse methods.
"Tell Ben this," Batman said, voice hard and controlled. "During the demolition and reconstruction projects, I'll use the process to identify and remove the parasites hiding inside Wayne Enterprises."
Cyborg relayed it.
Ben wandered to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of cola, and stared at it like it was the only comfort left in the universe.
There went his get-rich-quick dream.
With the fantasy dead, Ben's only plan was to crack open a sugary victory drink and return to the sacred traditions of the shut-in lifestyle.
He chugged a huge gulp.
Gulp, gulp.
He burped, instantly more awake.
"Alright," he muttered, closing the fridge. "Time to test this thing."
After saying goodbye to Cyborg, Ben headed for the training floor.
He needed to figure out which alien forms could use the Omnitrix's newly reconstructed Speed Force mode.
And after that…
He wanted to borrow Green Lantern's ring.
Because if the Omnitrix could analyze and rebuild Green Lantern energy the way it had with the Negative Speed Force?
That meant the Omnitrix wasn't just glitching.
It meant it had upgraded.
Ben stepped into the center of the training area and raised his wrist.
He pressed the Omnitrix dial, rotated it, and the hologram cycled until a massive, four-armed silhouette appeared.
Ben grinned.
"Four Arms—yeah. You're up!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
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