Mount Justice — Training Hall (One Week Later)
A week passed.
After days of testing, Ben had a rough grasp of what the Omnitrix had "learned" about the Speed Force.
Among all the alien forms he currently had unlocked, only XLR8 truly fit the Speed Force.
When he ran in Speed Force mode as XLR8, not only did it not shorten his transformation duration—his time limit was actually greatly extended.
A Kryptonian form, under sunlight and with its powers fully ignited, could also apply Speed Force techniques with an ease that wasn't much worse than XLR8's—yet the transformation timer didn't lengthen.
Grey Matter, when paired with the Speed Force, could think at absurd speed. His body moved faster too, and the overall energy drain was relatively low. If Ben had gained access to the Speed Force earlier, upgrading Cyborg might have taken seconds—maybe he wouldn't even have needed Goop to pre-build upgrade templates in advance.
Four Arms, Blitzwolfer, Stinkfly, and Wildmutt all had their own limitations when tapping the Speed Force, and they burned through it faster. But in combat, using the Speed Force purely for acceleration meant one thing:
A single burst—one instant—could become a devastating strike.
That was the kind of trick that could save lives later.
As for Heatblast, Goop, and Diamondhead—because of their unique physical structures, those forms struggled to use the Speed Force efficiently. Speed didn't "stick" to them the same way.
Once he'd confirmed the basics, Ben wanted to find Hal. His next test was simple in concept and insane in implications:
Could the Omnitrix analyze and reconstruct the energy of a Green Lantern ring?
But Green Lantern and Green Arrow had gotten friendly and promptly decided to go traveling together. Which meant Ben's "ring analysis" experiment would have to wait until they came back.
So Ben did what he always did: train.
He ran drills in the training hall, cycling forms, testing what each alien could do under Speed Force boost—what "finisher" each could throw when acceleration was pushed to its limit.
That day, Cyborg and Shazam walked into the training hall together.
Ever since the last ball game, they hadn't done much fun outside the base.
But they weren't here to invite Ben out.
Their faces were tight. Focused. Urgent.
Ben tapped the emblem on his chest and shifted back to human.
"What happened?"
Shazam's expression was tense in a way Ben didn't see often.
"I need help," Shazam said. "Something evil just woke up in Kahndaq."
The wizard's spirit—still tied to the Rock of Eternity—had warned him. A terrifying enemy had been stirred. They had to move, now, before it became something they couldn't contain.
"Kahndaq…" Ben's stomach sank. "You mean Black Adam?"
Shazam nodded.
"Yeah. It's him."
Black Adam—like Shazam—had once received power from the ancient wizard at the Rock of Eternity.
The difference was that Adam had been chosen thousands of years ago.
Legend said the strength corrupted him. Darkness swallowed his heart. And the very wizard who granted him power had eventually sealed him away.
Ben exhaled sharply, the way you did when you realized the problem wasn't "bad," it was "myth-level."
"This guy's not someone we can treat casually," Ben said immediately. "Cyborg—call Superman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter. Black Adam is a top-tier threat."
Shazam was strong enough to fight Black Adam on paper.
But Billy was still a kid, no matter what lightning and divine titles said. Against someone like Adam, they needed experienced heavy hitters—warriors who had survived monsters and gods and still kept standing.
Cyborg's answer came fast, and it wasn't good.
"We can't. Not right now."
He brought up a holographic screen as he spoke.
"We just received a distress request from Amanda Waller. In South America—on an island—there's a gigantic alien starfish. The team she sent in failed. The thing got loose."
Ben blinked once.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"An alien starfish… don't tell me it's Starro."
Cyborg nodded grimly.
"Superman, Wonder Woman, and the others left the moment the request came in. Batman decided to split our current roster into two teams—handle both situations at once."
So the League's strongest members were already committed.
And Kahndaq couldn't be ignored.
Ben's thoughts ran ahead—fast, sharp, dangerous.
Starro wasn't just a monster with a huge body. Starro was a control problem.
It parasitized minds with spores.
And its victims could still use their powers while controlled.
In other words, the enemy could turn the League into its own weapon.
The more Ben thought about it, the more another thought crawled up his spine like ice.
Starro was an intelligent life-form.
Which meant the Omnitrix might be able to scan it.
And that meant the Omnitrix might be able to become it.
Ben didn't like that thought even a little.
The spores shared a hive mind.
He already had one alien in the watch with a will of its own—Ghostfreak. Ben had no interest in planting a second ticking bomb inside his own wrist.
He looked straight at Cyborg.
"Send a warning to them," Ben said quickly. "Make sure they protect Batman. Anyone can be controlled, but Batman being controlled is a disaster scenario."
Ben's voice sharpened further.
"And one more thing: they have to wipe out every single spore. If even one survives, it can grow and Starro can come back."
Cyborg didn't argue. He typed and transmitted the warning immediately, pushing it to every League member en route to the island fight.
"Message sent," Cyborg said. "Now we move."
Ben nodded, but before he stepped forward, he pointed at the holo-display.
"What's Kahndaq look like right now?"
Cyborg switched the feed.
Satellite footage flickered into view: desert streets, scattered buildings, harsh light even through a dusty haze.
And in the center of it—
A man moving like a storm wearing human skin.
Black Adam.
He wasn't "fighting" a squad of mercenaries.
He was erasing them.
Lightning cracked. Bodies flew. Concrete shattered. The mercenaries fired wildly—like animals cornered by something they couldn't understand.
Adam didn't slow down.
He didn't hesitate.
It wasn't a battle.
It was a massacre.
Ben watched the footage with a hard, calculating stare.
The mercenaries' gear was… too clean. Too coordinated. Too well-funded. And at the end of the engagement—when they realized they couldn't win—they tried to deploy something heavier. Something desperate.
Ben's instincts lit up.
"These guys aren't random," he said quietly. "Can we identify them?"
…
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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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)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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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
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Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
Uma Musume: From Beginner 26
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