Ben 10: Justice Incarnate

Independence Day Part 2

"Uh, I think he disagrees." Captain Marvel pointed at the rubble slowly rising.

Below, Wotan's eyes glowed in fury. "Such insolence will not go unpunished. I will have my retribution." He raised another barrier around him, and the material divided and coalesced, changing shape. Ten godly wizards stood in front of the League. All of them grew smirks as arrays of magical beams and lightning rained from above.

"This is getting out of hand! Now there are ten of them!" exclaimed Oliver.

"I know. If this keeps up, we'll miss the free food and fireworks," added Captain Marvel.

Beatriz looked at him incredulously. 'That's the only problem?' Her flames sped forward only to be pushed back by a gold barrier.

Captain Atom frowned at the current situation. His earpiece buzzed before a gruff voice spoke. "Captain, we are requesting a sitrep."

"General Eiling, it's not looking great. Wotan doesn't seem to budge, and I haven't been authorized to remove my limiters on domestic soil."

"This asshole blocked out the sun. I've got calls coming in and people online claiming it's the apocalypse. I need you and your associates to nip this in the bud before it gets worse. The Pentagon is currently at DEFCON 3. If not, the defense council will make the final decision. Pray that we don't have to."

Captain Atom nodded. "Don't worry, sir. You may not like the League all that much, but I trust them with my life."

The general sighed. "That's what I worry about sometimes. Keep us posted." The atomic hero flew back into the fray, landing an energized punch against one of the duplicates.

Meanwhile, in a damaged building, Terraspin protected the magician from any stray debris. He patted the old man on the cheek to keep him awake. "Come on, wizard guy. Please tell me you had a plan."

A cough left him. "Just let me rest, creature." His eyelids started to flutter.

"Okay, dude. My cousin may be more magic than me, but even I know that there's a spell, counter-spell, or something. We have to fix this!" Terraspin gestured to the battle happening outside.

A weak smile crept to the man's face. "Your words remind me of my daughter."

The Turtle raised a brow. "Your daughter?"

He slowly nodded. "Yes." He blankly stared in the air. "It's been rough since we lost Sindella."

Seeing where this was going, Ben planted both flippers firmly on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Dammit, man. Pull yourself together." He shook the man a bit. "You can't say that and then leave her too."

Realization dawned on the tired man. "No..." He gasped for air. "I can't. She knows no one else besides... Constantine " He hissed out the name like poison.

Terraspin blinked at the shift in tone. "Uh."

The magi grit his teeth, sparks fluttering in his core. "Constantine..."

"Uh..." Ben took a step back.

Zatara struggled to his feet, denying help. He looked to the ceiling in protective fury and screamed. "Constantine!" After taking several ragged breaths, he muttered to himself. Slowly, the wounds around his body started to close.

The alien hero simply watched the man do his magic. By the time, the glowing stopped, Terraspin caught the man before he could collapse. "Woah..."

The man winced in pain. While the bleeding stopped, the flesh was still sensitive. Zatara was running on fumes. He turned to his companion before chuckling. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I let that bastard raise her."