Ben 10: Justice Incarnate

Caged Bird

The Next Morning (Friday, June 4, 2010)

When Harley woke up, she seemed to have a much more positive attitude than the day before. While she was still broken after her relationship with the Joker, Harley felt that yesterday gave her the spark of hope to continue. For a short while, she sat on her bed, just staring out the window while thinking over what happened. 'I guess it wasn't all a dream.' Harley looked down at herself, thinking about the previous weeks without clean ones. Now that she thought about it, Mr. J would always pick out her outfits. 'This... This feels nice.'

She got to her feet, stretched, and made her way to the door. 'I wonder if Ben is still here.' Harley peeked out of her room to see if Ben was still around. While she didn't see him, as soon as the door opened, a gust of fresh breakfast aroma blew into her face. 'He's in the kitchen, then.' Knowing that Ben would show some concern since Yesterday, she plastered on a small smile. While she appreciated that Ben was letting her stay here, she didn't want him to worry too much about her problems. Taking a deep breath of the deliciousness, she made her way downstairs still in her sleepwear. "Something smells good. What's cooking, Ben?" By the time she got down the stairs, she could hear the light bustle happening in the kitchen.

Ben was wearing a simple black tee and jeans with a hot pan in hand. "Oh, Morning, Harley. I decided to make some breakfast for us before I opened up shop."

She smiled at the small array of food on the table. There were some waffles, breakfast sausages, and pancakes ready to be served. "Wow. Thanks. This looks delicious. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm still working on the omelets, so if you can grab some salt and pepper from the pantry, that would be great."

"Sure." She walked up to the cupboard, opened it, and traced her finger along the rows of boxes and other containers.' Salt and pepper... Salt and pepper... Salt and pepper... Ah, right next to the bulk popcorn.' "Here you go."

"Thanks. Take a seat, and I'll have this ready for us."

About five minutes later, all the food was set and ready to be eaten. Harley's mouthed watered a bit from being so close to the smell.

When Ben sat down, he noticed this. "Thanks for waiting. Let's dig in."

While they were eating, Harley decided to start up some conversation. "This is all good. How did you learn to cook like this anyway?

"When I finally moved out of my parent's place after college, I had to start learning how to cook on my own. The internet helped, but that didn't stop me from burning a few things at first." Harley laughed at his modesty. "My cousin and my best friend didn't like how I ate out a lot. In retrospect, a diet of chili fries and smoothies for a few weeks does not end well."

Once they finished breakfast, the two began to open up shop. Ben decided that Harley could live in the guest room upstairs and help around while she recovered. She was still unsure of what to do with her life, but, then again, who does?

Things were looking up for the two of them.

Meanwhile on Oa

Things were not looking up for the Green Lantern Corps. The Guardians of the Universe were in a frenzy. Random stars and planets were popping up out of nowhere, and they couldn't find a reason why.

One of the sagely blue beings was sitting in a chair massaging his head from today's headache. A knock came from the door, and he let the man it.

It was Kilowog, a rather large alien man who is a well-respected member of the Corps. He was holding a datapad and read out the message to him. "Ganthet, it appears that one of the planets that popped up has intelligent life. Wanna send Lanterns to investigate?"