I headed to the lab and grabbed the Multiverse Gun. The second it was in my hands, I summoned my armor and hammer, silver light rippling across my body as the plating locked into place. After setting the coordinates, I disappeared.
I reappeared in the middle of a ruined city.
The sky was gray and heavy with ash, the streets cracked and silent. From the looks of it, a nuclear blast had gone off, buildings melted, cars twisted into scrap. I couldn't even tell which city I was in. Whatever happened here… it wasn't recent.
I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing. There, a faint life signature, deep underground. Without wasting time, I shot into the air and flew toward it, weaving through the remains of skyscrapers until I found the source.
It led me to an old subway entrance half-buried in debris. I dropped down onto the cracked tracks and followed them, the sound of my boots echoing through the tunnel. After a few minutes, I noticed something off about one of the walls, it was too smooth, too clean.
I floated closer, raised my hand, and pushed forward. My hand slipped right through. A hologram.
I walked straight through it and stepped into a massive underground chamber filled with busted technology, rusted metal, broken screens, wires dangling from the ceiling.
And there, in the middle of it all, was a small kid wearing a red shirt, sitting cross-legged on the floor, tinkering with a strange device. He hadn't seen or heard me yet.
My eyes widened. "No way…" I muttered.
The white-haired boy turned toward me, his crimson eyes locking onto mine, and that was all the confirmation I needed.
Albedo.
But something was off. He looked younger, a kid, not the teenage version I thought he will be in.
"You're human? How are you even alive? And how did you find my base?" Albedo demanded, his tone sharp and arrogant.
"It was pretty easy," I said, shrugging. "I just followed your life signature. And honestly, this base isn't exactly well-hidden."
He raised an eyebrow, clearly offended. "I do agree it's not an ideal hideout for an Ectonurite, but a low-level being like you shouldn't have been able to locate it. Still… I'm impressed, and somewhat surprised to see a human alive. I thought all of you perished during the Ectonurite invasion. Regardless, this could be beneficial for me. I've been in need of an assistant. After all, I am the most intelligent being in this galaxy."
"Right," I said dryly. "Says the guy stuck in a small human form who can't even turn back to his original one."
His red eyes narrowed. He set the device he was working on down, slowly, and then reached for a gun, sleek, alien-looking, and pointed it straight at me.
"Who are you?" he hissed.
"My name's Kai," I said, keeping my voice calm. "I'm here to make you a deal."
"I'm listening," Albedo said, not bothering to hide the amusement.
"I'm from another multiverse," I told him. "I'm building a team of superheroes. We've got enough people for now, but you, you're the kind of smart my sister wants."
He scoffed. "So you came to me. Good choice. Or I could kill you and find a better home."
I raised my hand. The gun in his grip crumbled into sand and fell to the floor in a small, dusty heap.
"Or I can leave you here," I said. "You're clever, but you're not as clever as my sister. I can find far more brilliant minds across the multiverse. I didn't even want to recruit you, but my sister insisted you're worth looking at. But if you'd rather keep hide, fine." I thumbed the Multiverse Gun at my hip, ready to step through.
"Wait, wait!" he blurted, voice breaking the arrogance for the first time. He swallowed whatever pride he'd been showing and looked small under the halo of busted tech.
I stopped and stared. He looked like he was trying to decide whether to spit the words out or swallow them whole.
"All right. I accept your deal." His voice was quick, eager.
"Good." I didn't relax. "One thing: if you even try anything with evil intentions, my sister will kill you," I said. "She doesn't like to be played with. Don't test her."
He nodded
I stepped closer to Albedo, lifted the Multiverse Gun, and activated it. In a flash of blue light, the ruined world vanished around us.
We reappeared back in the lab.
Without wasting time, I grabbed his shoulder and teleported us straight to Hope's office. She was still at her desk, buried in paperwork, though judging by the half-empty coffee cup and the stack beside her, she was almost done.
She looked up when we appeared, blinking once before sighing. "I thought he'd be in his teenage form."
"Yeah, I thought so too," I said with a shrug. "But hey, work with what you've got."
"Whatever," Hope said, setting her pen down. "Just leave him here. I'll deal with him."
"Alright. Later, gators."
Before she could respond, I teleported back to the house.
Hope's POV
Did he really just say 'Later gators'?I shook my head and pushed the thought aside, focusing on the kid standing in front of me, Albedo.
I always Pity him. Yes, he was evil, but I understood why. He'd been the assistant to one of the greatest minds in his galaxy, almost his equal, yet no one ever acknowledged him for it. He helped build the Omnitrix, and still, Azmuth never considered him worthy.
That had to sting.
So he built his own version, and it cost him everything. He got trapped in a human form, and ever since, he's been obsessed with fixing it. Every time he got close, something or someone ruined it. Sometimes Ben. Sometimes Azmuth himself.
Pride and pain, that's all that's left of him.
I stood up and walked toward him, stopping a few feet away.
"Here's the deal," I said plainly. "You become the head of the science division for my brother's hero team, and in return, I'll help you revert back to your true form."
Albedo tilted his head, his red eyes narrowing. "You think can help me with that? I am a genius, I've spent years trying to restore my Galvan body. Every method I've attempted has failed."
"Well, lucky for you," I said with a faint smirk, "I'm a genius too. And last I checked, two heads are better than one."
He scoffed. "You may be a genius by Earth standards, but I am a Galvan, the most intelligent species in any multiverse. Especially me."
I chuckled. "Ha. For someone so smart, you sure let pride do most of the talking. You should know by now, pride's a weakness."
He frowned, folding his arms.
"Come here," I said, motioning him to follow as I headed toward my workstation.
He hesitated, curiosity slowly overpowering his arrogance, and followed. I typed a series of commands into my computer, the screen lighting up with complex designs, glowing equations, and layered blueprints. His eyes widened the moment he recognized the schematics.
"What… is this?" he asked, his voice softer now, more intrigued than defensive.
"One of my personal projects," I said. "I call it Project Lantern."
I'm planning to create my own Lantern Corps,But instead of drawing from the emotional spectrum, I'll be combining technology and magic to achieve the same, maybe even greater, power. I've been studying countless texts on magic, breaking them down piece by piece. Once I refine my understanding and learn to channel it myself, I'll have everything I need. Being half Asgardian I should be able to do it.
Albedo looked away from the screen and straight at me. His expression had shifted from arrogance to genuine curiosity.
"I admit," he said, "this project of yours is… quite impressive. Advanced, even by Galvan standards. You seem more than capable of completing it on your own. So why do you need me?"
"I don't need you," I said simply. "I want you."
That actually caught him off guard. His brows furrowed in confusion.
"I could easily build a dozen robots and have them run my projects while I supervise," I continued. "But I'd rather not overwork myself. Having another genius, one who can actually think, adapt, and create, that's far more useful. You and I, Albedo, we think on the same level. That's why I wanted you."
He stared at me for a moment, then crossed his arms. "Fine, human. But I have one condition."
I tilted my head. "What is it?"
"I'm done being someone's assistant," he said firmly. "You and I, we work as partners. I don't work under you. I work with you."
I thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "I can work with that."
I raised my hand. "Partners?"
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and shook mine. "Partners."
It was a bit awkward, mostly because he was still stuck in a kid's body, but the deal was sealed nonetheless.
Superman POV
The Watchtower felt colder than usual, all chrome and glass and quiet tension. Every member of the Justice League was in the briefing room, meeting arranged, faces all business. The topic: New Dawn. We'd been debating them for hours. Some of us think they're necessary; others think they're a danger. Me? I'm torn.
They've admitted they're willing to kill. That fact sits heavy in my chest. I don't like it. I don't want vigilantes deciding who lives or dies. Still, they also claim they want to help, and they did stand with us against Darkseid. It isn't black and white.
"We should take them down and arrest them before bodies start dropping," Batman said, voice flat and deadly serious. "Especially Mage King."
"I get why you'd say that," I replied. "But you can't just lock people up because you don't like their methods. That's illegal, it's effectively kidnapping."
The Flash bristled. "Besides, they helped us beat Darkseid. They weren't acting like enemies then."
"They admitted to being willing to kill," Batman cut back in. "Their leader said it himself. They have powerful members we can't control. We can't let that kind of threat roam free."
Wonder Woman's answer was calm and hard as steel. "We do not get to decide who is allowed to be a hero. As long as they are not slaughtering innocents, we do not have the right to imprison them on principles alone."
I watched them all, weighing my words. "I've talked to some of their members," I said finally. "They don't strike me as people who enjoy violence for its own sake. Their methods are brutal, I disagree with them, but their aim, mostly, seems to be to help. The first time I spoke to Hope, she was honest and sincere. I don't have to agree with how she does things to see that she believes she's doing the right thing."
Silence settled after that. No easy answers. Not tonight.
"Does that mean you're going to allow them to take life?" Hawkman asked.
"No." I answered immediately. "I might respect some of them, but I will not allow anyone to take a life, even a villain's. If they try it while I'm present, I will stop them. That doesn't mean we have to be hostile. We can try to steer them toward better methods. Maybe we can help them see another way."
"I think it's foolish to just sit back and wait for them to see things our way,"Batman said.
"Why not? You waiting for the Joker to go sane?" Hawkwoman shot back.
Batman's eyes narrowed, hard as a blade.
"Fine," he said finally, folding his arms. "We'll do it Superman's way."
"Thank you, Bruce—" I began.
"But if that Mage King or any of his people show up in Gotham and start killing, I'm going after them with everything I've got," he added, voice low and dangerous.
"That's understandable," Wonder Woman replied. "If you need backup, call us."
Kai POV
Two weeks later.
It's been an interesting couple of weeks. Everyone's settling into their cities, and they're getting stronger, faster than I expected. Hope finished her project: she merged the Sharingan with Bakugan and came up with something she calls the White Sharingan.
I keep thinking Sharbaku would've been a cooler name, but whatever. She gave it to all the C-rank, and after a few rough days they started to get the hang of it. Now they're on their way to mastering it, Soldier Boy and Black Noir in particular picked it up like they'd always had it. Weirdly, they don't need chakra to use it; the ability draws on their own stamina instead.
All of them moved up to B-rank. Also the Justice League surprised me, I thought there would be hostile towards me and my team especially after that little meeting you had. Maybe it helped that none of my people have crossed the line into killing yet. Black Noir, though… he's been brutal in Gotham. More brutal than Batman. I'm pretty sure he broke a guy's back, guy turned out to be a pedophile, so I didn't exactly lose sleep over it.
The Joker's still sitting in Arkham, but I gave Black Noir one clear order: if the Joker ever gets out, kill him. That man has taken too many lives; I can't let him keep walking free.
Also, the fact that in multiple comics he becomes a cosmic threat matters. That man has to go.
Anyway, I've been busy searching the Earth for mystical artifacts. My priority is tracking down the Lord of Chaos helmet and the other relics of Order.
Here's what I've been hunting:
Boots of Delphi
Cloak of Cyra
Gauntlet of Myrath
Breastplate of Hoku
Helmet of Hate
Nightmare Stone
The last two are artifacts of the Lords of Chaos. I'm not planning on using them, not even for a split second. Those get locked away or destroyed. No negotiation.