Row Row Row Your Boat, gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily.
Beep Beep
The healing pod beeped, notifying me that I am done healing. The healing fluid that I was floating around in drained out of the Pod. I took off the breathing mask, and I stepped out of the pod.
"Well, that was fun," I said with a smile. I always wanted to be in one of those; it was totally worth it fighting an evil God.
I look around the lab, and I see Trini sitting down on a chair, but she looks like she has fallen asleep. I walk over to her and gently wake her up.
She kind of surprised me because she jumped a little bit, she quickly looked around the room, but she saw me and she calmed down.
"Oh, Kai, hey, had fun in the healing pod," Trini asks, obviously trying to change the subject before I even ask about what just happened.
"It was, but that's beside the point. Are you having nightmares?" I ask, concerned.
She didn't answer me, she didn't even look at me when I asked. I've bent down to her.
"Trini, look at me."
She hesitated, but she did look at me after a couple of seconds.
"They come and go is the same nightmare I always have, all of my family and friends dying while I survived, and Rita standing over their corpses smiling at me, and leaving me on my dead world to die, but ever since I've been here, they have been getting less common, but they still pop up once in a while."
I looked at her with sadness." Why did you never tell me or hope or anyone?"
"Because I was handling it by myself, and it didn't affect me either in training or on the battlefield, and i didn't think it matters," Trini said.
"Of course it matters! Is something bothering you, doesn't matter if it's physical or mental, you come to me or hope." I said, grabbing her hand.
"You are not some disposable machine, you don't have to be perfect all the time, if something's bothering you, even if it is a nightmare, you come to either one of us and we will help you, always."
she looked at me with a sad smile " I don't know how any of you can help me with this, even though I'm here somewhat safe, what happened to me still haven't changed I was alone for 9 years, starving and replaying every event that led up to that moment in my head, and sometimes I heard voices, I'm truly surprised I didn't went completely crazy during that time,"
"That is what therapy is for"
Trini looked at me in confusion.
"We got therapist" She asks.
"Sweetie my sister is Rich, we got everything" I said with a smile
she looked at me and just burst out laughing, it is a very beautiful laugh, while she was laughing I realized something, ever since I brought her along this team I have never once heard her her laugh I've Seen Her Smile Small Smiles but I don't think I ever heard her laugh at least nothing like this, Rita took everything away from Trini and got away Scott free.
I think I should visit that world again and take everything away from Rita like she did to Trini, and unlike rita i won't be "merciful", when I come for her I'm taking away everything that includes her life, you might say that's revenge and I would agree with you but in my mind at least at this moment it is justice, Justice from all the Innocent Lies she took and for trini, May whatever God she prays to give her mercy because I won't.
1 Hour Later
After my talk with Trini and making sure she was okay, I headed back to my dimension to change into something casual. It's been about an hour now, and I've been deep in my devil fruit project, trying to figure out how to fuse them or at least find a way for someone to eat more than one without dropping dead.
Yeah… easier said than done.
The problem isn't just the fruits themselves, it's the devils inside them. Some of them are actually sentient, which makes things a lot more complicated. From what I've learned, devil fruits are created from the dreams and desires of people. So if I try to fuse two fruits born from opposite dreams, let's just say the result might be… very explosive.
The only potential solution I can think of is to completely destroy the devils inside the fruits and then merge their essence. But doing that would probably erase what makes them devil fruits in the first place, leaving me with nothing more than a bowl of weird tropical fruit salad.
So right now, I'm leaning toward making artificial devil fruits. It's safer. Somewhat.
I currently have twenty different fruits, but I split the stash with Hope, I kept ten for myself. The ones sitting on my worktable right now are:
Jiki Jiki no Mi
Gura Gura no Mi
Nikyu Nikyu no Mi
Uo Uo no Mi
Goro Goro no Mi
Yami Yami no Mi
Moku Moku no Mi
Tori Tori no Mi
Hie Hie no Mi
Magu Magu no Mi
My phone snapped me out of my thoughts. It was a message from Hope.
"Suit up and teleport to my office. Now. I might need you."
That line instantly made me nervous. When Hope says might need me, it usually means things are about to explode.
I snapped my fingers, my armor shimmered into place, the runes across it lighting up as my hammer appeared in my hand. One blink later, I teleported straight into her office.
When I appeared, the first thing I saw was Hope standing by her mini bar, calm as ever, sipping whiskey like she didn't have half the Justice League sitting in her office.
And yeah, they were all here. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman.
Everyone turned toward me when I showed up, though none of them made a move. Batman's face, though? Yeah… the guy looked pissed.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, glancing between them and Hope.
Hope took another slow sip of her drink, completely unbothered, then finally turned toward me.
Hope POV
30 Minutes Earlier
After the press conference, I came back to my office to catch up on some paperwork, and to think. Mostly about building a proper base for the New Dawn team.
I was leaning toward a space base at first, but the logistics would take forever. So, Earthbound for now. It couldn't be my building, I'd rather not have some wannabe supervillain attacking it just to send a message.
That meant I'd need to buy new land, somewhere remote, but big enough for training, housing, and research. Construction wouldn't be a problem; I have plenty of worker drones for that, and Kai's little vibranium haul from across the multiverse means we've got more than enough materials to build something nearly indestructible.
I was mid-calculation when the lights dimmed. A heavy shadow spread across my desk, followed by a faint green glow.
I turned around, and saw several figures already standing there.
The Justice League.
Green Lantern formed a glowing, blocky platform for Batman so he could fly alongside the others. I turned back to my desk and pressed a button, the massive glass window behind me turned pitch black. Another button, and the glass slid open with a hiss.
I got up and went to my mini bar.
By the time I reached my mini bar, the League had floated in through the open window and landed right in the middle of my office like they owned the place.
I poured myself a drink, swirling the amber liquid in the glass before taking a sip. "So, I'm guessing the reason you're all here is because Batman decided to stick his nose where it doesn't belong?"
Alcohol doesn't really affect me, neither does any drug, thanks to my biology, but I still enjoy the taste.
Batman stepped forward, his voice sharp. "How did you find out about our secret identities? And who are those people you've got working under you?"
I looked at him for a moment. This was the famous Batman glare? Honestly, I expected it to be more intimidating. All I saw was a very angry middle-aged man in a bat suit.
I took another slow sip of my whiskey.
"You're not a god. You're not a Kryptonian. And you're definitely not the president or any kind of authority over me," I said flatly. "So I don't have to answer a damn thing, and also you are not my favorite "hero"."
I glanced at the rest of the League. "if I had to pick favorites, Superman's my top choice. Wonder Woman's a solid second."
Superman gave me that calm, diplomatic look of his. "Hope… can you please just answer the question?"
"Fine," I said, setting the glass down. "But same rule as I told the press, one question per person. And I'll skip whatever I don't feel like answering."
Batman didn't waste time. "How did you find out about our secret identities?"
I smirked. "Honestly? It was way too easy. Barely an inconvenience. You didn't make it hard for me at all. Bruce Wayne disappears for years, then magically reappears in Gotham, right before Batman shows up? Come on. Add in your fancy, high-tech gear that only someone rich could afford… it wasn't hard to connect the dots. And when I hacked your system, I confirmed it."
His glare sharpened.
"Oh, and by the way," I added, "you might want to upgrade your firewalls. It took me less than five minutes."
I turned to Superman next. "As for you, Clark, same story. Not exactly rocket science. Ignore the miracle streaks in Smallville and it's still obvious. Clark Kent shows up, Superman starts saving the world. And let's not forget, you work at the Daily Planet. The perfect place to hear about disasters before anyone else does. Kind of a giveaway when you vanish seconds before Superman appears, don't you think?"
"For the rest of you, Mage King told me who you are."
I took another slow sip of my whiskey and leaned against the edge of my bar, the ice clinking softly in the glass.
John Stewart crossed his arms. "What exactly is Mage King to you?"
I gave him a faint smile. "Like a brother. And that's all I'm gonna say about that."
J'onn tilted his head, voice calm but curious. "Then what are your goals, Hope Phoenix?"
I shrugged. "Simple. To fix the world."
Batman cut in immediately, his tone edged like a blade. "And what's your definition of 'fixing' the world?"
I smirked. "You already had your question, Bruce."
His jaw tightened. I could practically see the vein on his temple twitch. The great Batman, out of control for once. I kind of enjoyed it.
Wonder Woman stepped in before he could explode. "Then I'll ask it. What is your definition of fixing the world?"
I turned toward her fully, meeting her eyes. "Putting the worst people where they belong, behind bars or in the ground. Cleaning up corruption from the top down. Fixing the environment. Creating jobs that actually help people instead of draining them. Building hospitals that don't bankrupt families. And giving every city in the U.S. clean, sustainable energy. Then? Expanding that to the rest of the world."
The room went quiet. Every hero there had that same serious look—the kind that said they heard me, but didn't know what to do with it.
Batman finally broke the silence. "You're planning on killing?" His voice had that familiar growl now, angry, judgmental.
I sighed, swirling my drink. "Seriously? You all ignored the free healthcare, the job creation, the clean energy, and that's the part you focus on?"
Superman frowned. "Hope, you can't just decide who lives and who dies."
I looked at him, expression calm but my tone razor-sharp. "Clark, I'm not deciding anything. The monsters who keep hurting people already decided that for themselves."
I took one last sip, setting the glass down. "The difference between me and you all? You still believe everyone can be saved. I know some people just… can't."
"Look, I'm not crazy," I said. "I know I can't order my heroes to go around killing every villain in the world. That's why I'm building something better, a real prison. But that's going to take time. So if, let's say, the Joker has a nuclear bomb and one of my heroes has a clean shot? I'm going to tell them to take it."
I sighed, pulled out my phone, and texted Kai. I was getting tired of this conversation.
Hawkman was about to open his mouth to ask something else—but Kai appeared right then. Fast, like always.
Present Time
Kai POV
"Wait, you want to do Project Null Void?" I asked. "Didn't you say you were focusing on your other projects?"
"I am," Hope said calmly. "But I want someone else to handle this one. And you're going to recruit them for me. You know who I'm talking about."
I thought for a second, running through our old conversations. We had talked about this once, mainly because I didn't want us to get a bad reputation for going too far. It took me a moment, but then it clicked.
"You can't be serious," I said. "You actually want him to work on the project? You want me to bring him here?"
Hope just smirked. "He's a genius, Kai. Even if he did make a knock-off Omnitrix. Honestly, that only proves how smart he is."
She was talking about Albedo.In my opinion, he's the second-smartest being in the entire Ben 10 multiverse, right behind Azmuth. The guy literally created an Omnitrix that had Ultimate forms. You have to respect that kind of crazy brilliance.
I actually stumbled across a version of him a few days ago while scanning universes with the Multiverse Gun. In that world, Albedo was trapped in his human form, powerless, stranded, while the entire universe was being overrun by Ghostfreak. Practically every living being had been turned into an Ectonurite, yet somehow, Albedo survived. Living underground in a ruined city, surrounded by madness, still tinkering with tech like the obsessive scientist he is.
The only reason I hadn't recruited him yet was because of his ego. The man's arrogance could fill a planet. He's prideful, self-righteous, and thinks everyone else is an idiot. He'll probably talk down to all of us, except Hope, since she's the only one who might actually outsmart him.
But she's right. We need another genius on the team. Hope can't do everything herself.
I sighed. "Fine. I'll get him. But I am not responsible for him if he gets himself into trouble with the other members especially Superwoman"
Hope just grinned. " deal I can handle him just bring him to me"
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AN: the auxiliary chapter is up for my other fanfic.