"Thank you," Batman said quietly. "I know… because of my past actions, you don't exactly trust us right now."
"That doesn't mean I'm going to let one of you die," I replied. "Justice League, random civilian, doesn't matter. If someone needs help, I help."
Batman went silent. Then, out of nowhere, he said something I didn't expect, especially not so soon.
"I'm sorry… for what I did."
The room froze.
Not just me, everyone went quiet.
I slowly glanced at my wrist. "Omnitrix?"
"Do not worry," it replied calmly. "I anticipated this outcome and recorded it."
The hologram flickered, then shifted, now projecting Batman, over and over, clearly saying I'm sorry.
A beat passed.
Then almost every hero in the room started chuckling.
I grinned. "Man… Omnitrix, that's why you're the GOAT."
"And don't you forget it," the Omnitrix replied smugly.
The hologram vanished.
"Apology accepted," I said, looking back at Batman.
"Well, that's good," Shazam said. "Uh, can you send me that recording?"
"Yeah, I'll edit it and everything," I said. "But first, let's go fix Superman."
"We can bring him here," Batman said. "The doctors say he's stable now. No more dizziness."
Batman and Wonder Woman headed out to get him. I stayed behind with the others, falling into easy conversation with Black Canary and Green Arrow, just catching up. It'd been a while since our last team-up.
A few minutes later, Superman walked in with Batman and Wonder Woman.
"Sup, Supe," I said.
"Hey, Omni," Superman replied. "I hear you can help me."
I smiled. "And you heard right."
I activated the Omnitrix and slammed the dial.
Green light exploded around me as my body shifted, chromosomes twisting, energy rewriting itself, until I settled into a hybrid form of Chromastone and Feedback.
"Feedstone."
I stepped up to Superman and placed a hand on his chest.
The solar radiation poured out of him and into me.
Not gonna lie, it felt good. Not just powerful, but right. My body lit up in waves of color, pulsing like a living prism as energy surged through every cell. The room glowed with it.
A few seconds later, it was done.
Every last drop of excess solar radiation is gone.
I stepped back, the light fading, and transformed back into my normal form.
"All done," I said. "How are you feeling?"
Superman blinked, frowning slightly. "Different. I don't feel my powers at all. I can't hear outside this room… and I definitely can't see through the walls."
"Yeah," I nodded. "You're basically human right now. Take a break, let your body slowly reabsorb solar energy the right way. You'll be back to normal."
"In that case," Green Arrow said with a grin, "we can finally get him drunk."
"Now that I'd pay to see," Cyborg added.
Superman looked at me seriously. "Thank you, Omni."
"No problem, Superman."
Shazam shook his head, laughing. "Man, I know we've said this before, but I'll say it again. What can that watch not do? You're crazy powerful with that thing."
I shrugged. "Honestly, it doesn't have many limits. No full-on reality warping, but other than that? I can do almost anything. Be fast like Flash, strong like Superman, fly through space, breathe underwater. I've got geniuses in here, aliens smart enough to cure cancer."
I froze.
"…Wait."
I slapped my hand against my forehead.
"I can cure cancer. Why did I not think of that? I made, like, three different super-soldier serums."
The room went dead silent.
"What?" Captain Atom said.
"Not important right now. I need to go, but I might ask for your help later. We'll see," I said.
"Wherever you need us, we will help," Wonder Woman replied without hesitation.
"Good to know," I said, smirking slightly. "Guess I'll see you all during the next Crisis."
A green portal opened behind me. I turned, stepped through it, and vanished from the Watchtower, reappearing moments later inside my base.
I let out a slow breath.
How did I not think of this sooner?
I can cure cancer. I can do so much more. Clean the oceans. Purify the air. Fix things people have been fighting over for centuries.
I shook my head.
Come on, Franklin. Use your brain. Think.
You're walking around with the most powerful device in the universe on your wrist… and you haven't even been using it at its full potential.
That needs to change.
And starting now, I'm going to do something about it.
Ava POV
We were back at the house with all the girls, and right now it was just me, Yolanda, and Cindy B.
And yeah, Yolanda and I were staring at her.
Ever since Franklin left to go on patrol, something had been eating at me. The way Cindy had been looking at him. I finally called it out.
I asked her straight up why she kept looking at my boyfriend like that.
She tried to deny it at first. Played it off. Acted like I was imagining things.
But I'm not Franklin.
I know that look.
It's the same look that Yolanda and I get when we look at him.
After hours of back-and-fortharguing, circling the truth, pretending it wasn't obvious, she finally cracked.
Franklin was the guy she liked.
That's when things went sideways.
Cindy and I got into a fight. Nothing too crazy, she didn't pull out her blades or anything, but it got rough. Bloody. I busted her lip before it healed back up.
We went at it for a good thirty minutes before the others came back to the base and pulled us apart. When I told them what I'd learned, Yolanda immediately wanted her turn.
Beth stepped in before it could get worse.
She put herself between Yolanda and Cindy and insisted we talk this out instead of tearing each other apart. Since my parents weren't home, we decided to keep it private,,handle it here, face to face.
Since Beth is Franklin's cousin and easily the most peaceful out of all of us, she'd been pushed into the role of mediator.
She looked around the room, clearly nervous. "Okay… I honestly don't know what I'm doing. I've never mediated anything before, and I definitely didn't expect it to be this." She took a breath. "So let's just talk. No yelling. No insults. Nothing that turns this into another fight. Please. Who wants to start?"
"I do!" Yolanda shot up from her seat. "What the hell, Cindy? I thought we were friends. You were trying to steal Franklin from us!"
"Okay, inside voices," Beth said quickly. "Please."
I grabbed Yolanda's arm and gently but firmly pulled her back down beside me.
Cindy swallowed hard, staring at the floor. "Look… I know what I did was messed up. A really shitty, bitch move. I know that." Her voice cracked. "And I'm sorry. I never should've tried anything. Not to either of you."
"And yet you still did," I said. "We trusted you. We let you in. You laughed with us, shared secrets with us, and all that time you were thinking about taking someone important away from us." I shook my head. "Do you have any idea how that feels?"
Cindy didn't look up.
"I… I'm sorry," she said quietly.
The room went dead silent. Everyone was staring at Cindy, but she just stood there, frozen, like she didn't know what to say, or if she even should.
"She did it for me," Courtney finally said.
That snapped a few heads around.
"What?" Yolanda and I said at the same time.
"There's… some stuff we left out when we were talking about ourselves," Courtney continued, rubbing the back of her neck. "Back in Blue Valley, I tried dating this guy. He was," she hesitated, then shook her head. "Let's just say he wasn't pleasant."
Cindy had shifted closer to her without anyone noticing.
"She comforted me," Courtney said quietly. "And then that comfort turned into… me and her."
She stopped there.
Everyone was just staring at her, confused, but the pieces clicked in my head all at once.
"No way," I said.
"Yes," Courtney replied.
"You and Cindy?" I asked.
"Five times," Courtney said. "And… occasional make-outs."
The second she said that, it hit everyone else, too.
"WHAT!?" they all yelled in unison, everyone except me, Yolanda, and Cindy B., who was still very carefully not making eye contact with anyone.
"Wait, wait a minute," Kamala said, holding up a hand. "Courtney… are you a lesbian?"
"No," Courtney said quickly. "I like boys. I'm not attracted to girls. Cindy's just… the exception."
"No way that's an actual thing," Kamala said. "You have to like girls, too. Out of all of us, who would you even date?"
"Why do you want to know that?" MJ 2 asked.
"Come on," Kamala said. "Like you don't want to know."
"…Good point," MJ 2 admitted. "Courtney, answer the question."
"Um," Courtney started.
"I think we're getting off topic here," Beth cut in calmly.
"You're right," Kamala said, nodding. "Cindy tried to steal Franklin from Yolanda and Ava. We'll circle back to this later. Courtney, please continue."
Courtney took a breath. "Okay… anyway. She was trying to get Franklin for both of us. She knew I wanted a boyfriend. As soon as I realized what she was doing, I told her to stop, and she did. Immediately. She knew it was wrong. I know it's probably hard to forgive her, but… this is partly my fault too."
"No, it's not," Cindy said suddenly, finally speaking. Everyone turned to her. She didn't look away this time. "She had no idea what I was planning."
She swallowed, then kept going.
"I don't have an excuse for what I tried to do. It was wrong from the start, trying to betray friends. I knew better. But Franklin…" she hesitated. "Franklin is different from any guy I've ever met."
The room stayed quiet.
"I've had boyfriends before. They were all basically the same, only thinking about one thing, no real goals. But Franklin? He's kind. He always looks out for his friends. He actually wants to change the world." Her voice softened. "That's what drew me in. He's different."
She glanced at Courtney. "I care about Courtney. But I also like Franklin. I thought I could have both worlds."
Cindy exhaled slowly. "If you can't forgive me, I understand. I really do." She paused. "But I need you to know, I'm truly sorry for what I tried to do."
Yolanda and I didn't say anything for a few seconds. The silence felt heavy, like it was pressing down on my chest.
"I… I don't know," I finally said. "I really don't know if I can forgive you right now. I just need some time. Can you please leave?"
Cindy nodded slowly. "Okay. I understand. Take all the time you need." She stood up, her voice steady but tired. "If you never forgive me, I deserve that. Betrayal isn't something that's easily forgotten or forgiven. It never comes from an enemy."
She glanced at both of us. "I'll stay away from you… and from Franklin."
Courtney stood up with her, following close behind. Cindy stopped at the doorway and turned back one last time.
"If by some miracle you both forgive me," she said quietly, "I'd be truly grateful."
Then she left, Courtney right behind her.
The room fell into silence again.
I leaned back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling. I honestly didn't know how I was supposed to feel. The qualities Cindy talked about, the things she saw in Franklin, those were the exact same reasons Yolanda and I fell in love with him.
"Does anyone else have a crush on our boyfriend?" Yolanda asked flatly.
"Franklin's my cousin," Beth said immediately.
"I like Ned," Betty added.
"I'm new here," Jennie said. "And I barely know Franklin, so… no."
"I like Peter," MJ said.
"I only see Franklin as a friend," Kamala said. "Nothing else."
"I don't like anyone right now," Cindy M. said. "But I can promise you, it won't be Franklin."
Yolanda closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "That's good to hear. I don't think I could handle another friend betraying us."
"Don't worry," MJ said. "None of us would ever do that to you two."
"That's a relief," I said.
Only then did I notice Kamala's hands. She was picking at her nails, peeling off chipped polish one layer at a time.
"…Probably a bad time to mention this," MJ said carefully, "but I kind of have an alien symbiote inside me now.
We all stared at her.
"…What?"
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AN: okay I need you guys help right now. Another Arc is about to happen, but I can't decide on which one to do, so I'm just going to put up a vote.
1 have Franklin in The Avengers go to another world run by Ultron, and the Avengers kids are fighting him.
2 do Injustice Arc, with an evil Omnitrix user, but his Omnitrix is the ultimatix.