Ben 10: Justice Incarnate

Stepping into the Shadows

Mount Justice

July 8, 12:30 EDT

Once the teens made their acquaintances with Miss Martian, both the teens and the adults either returned home or continued work within the cave. Ben had left the mountain to get supplies before he returned to the teleporter.

Recognized: Ark C010

Ben exited the yellow light carrying a few boxes. Just as he thought about what to set up, his eyes came across the room in front of him. There were several holes in the wall with broken furniture strewn around. At the center of the destruction was a crater. Superboy stood there breathing heavily while glaring at a small gray creature held in his hand. Miss Martian came running into the room not long after. "Uh. I have many questions on what the hell just happened, but let me just say I am not cleaning this up."

July 8, 13:11 EDT

After making a call, Red Tornado finally returned to the mountain, and as caretaker, he was busy cleaning up the mess.

On the sidelines, Ark, Superboy, and Miss Martian sat around the table with the little gray creature sitting on it while munching on a celery stick. The clone had given them the general explanation for his outburst. It was a G-Gnome, a small, four-legged white creature with black stripes on its head, and short horns with red eyes. This creature caused him to experience the previous attack on the mountain by the Joker.

Megan cooed at the little guy. "Aw. Aren't you cute?" She handed the little one a carrot which it took appreciatively.

Ben examined the creature while Azmuth did his own studies. "So, this is a genomorph?"

Superboy took a sip of water as he glared at the little monster. "Yes."

Ben shook his head. "I know that I wasn't privy to what happened at Cadmus besides you, but this is pretty concerning. They created new species, and their top priority was to make an army of these guys."

Azmuth grumbled within the Omnitrix. "While the overall feat is impressive for this Earth's humans, as expected, they did a shoddy job with the DNA structure. It's no wonder they had to splice your friend Superman's genes just to get this stable clone."

Ben filed that information for later, hoping to get a better understanding of what Cadmus created.

The clone sighed. "There were classes of them, each with a different purpose. As much as I am annoyed, this is the same G-Gnome that helped with my flash learning."

Megan patted the creature on the head as its horns glowed for a moment. "I can tell he missed you."

"Yeah, well I don't. That thing was controlling me almost all the time," scoffed Superboy.

Ben crossed his arms. "I can't imagine why it would follow you here and make you see the psychic residue."

Megan agreed. "Even on Mars, cases such as this happen rarely. It must have been very traumatic to the victim of the previous break-in to leave such an imprint after all these years. Even though it was all in your head, because your connection was so strong, all of it felt real, even the pain."

Finished with most of the work, Red Tornado walks over to them and takes hold of the G-Gnome. "It would appear that the mountain's security still needs improvements." He turned to the clone. "Considering recent developments, I would recommend that you get some rest."

"Yes. Such mental feedback can cause significant fatigue," added Megan.

"I'm fine," argued Superboy. "If Superman wasn't bothered by it at the time, then neither am I."