The Inevitable

Bellwood; New York; February 26th, 2011; 10:52PM.

Over the past two months, Ben had been making a name for himself in his hometown as he fought crime both in his human form and as his multitude of alien heroes; with police reports compiled by eye witness testimonies, the Bellwood Police Department was able to figure out it was just one man changing between different forms. Nobody had ever gotten a good enough look at Ben's face to identify him without being brutally knocked unconscious shortly afterwards, making their ability to describe him compromised.

After realizing that muggers were too afraid to operate out in the open now that they had picked them off one by one for over a year and that the two of them could be doing so much more for the city than just stopping regular everyday criminals. Ben and Gwen decided to start targeting the elite in both their town and in the nearby cities, those that used their vast wealth to step on the less fortunate and spread their corruption.

Tonight, their target was on the roof of a high-rise building in the heart of the city conducting a black-market drug trade between the target millionaire Martin Sommers and a group of run-of-the-mill Mexican gangsters; between the private security and the three armed men in bandanas standing behind the two negotiating leaders, they had no idea that they were cornered on the rooftop as they figured no one could get access to without them being identified immediately.

An explosion of light went off above them, at first they thought it was some sort of attack but, the flash of green light told a different story as an eight-foot tall man dropped to the ground, cratering the gravel rooftop with his landing as they noticed the moon-light reflecting off his teal crystalline skin. Diamondhead scanned the area with his luminescent eyes as they all simultaneously aimed their weapons at him, revolvers, glocks, and even semi-automatic guns, "Where did he come from?!" one of the suited security guards shouted from behind his gun.

"What the hell is he?" Martin shouted in confusion as he backed up allowing his men to get between him and the creature, they all hesitated to take the first shot knowing the others would follow spite him not yet making a move on them, only slowly standing up straight.

"I'm reading eight heat signatures, seven armed combatants, you can handle this, no sweat," Gwen's voice spoke through a device that Ben had linked to his Omnitrix and the Danger Alert system so that it could communicate with him in any form without concern for an ear-piece falling out, almost speaking directly into his mind, "You're lucky I have to study for my Algebra exam or I'd be out there with you… you should consider taking a break to study once in a while too."

Diamondhead curved a smile as he twitched his finger, getting ready to react but, not responding to Gwen as he focused on each of their weapons individually; Martin shouted out from behind them, "What are you waiting for? Kill him!"

"Abran fuego!" the purchasing parties leader shouted as they steadied their aim and unloaded their lead projectiles on the alien who stood still to take the shots unaffected. Thousands of rounds and not a single one scratched him as the firepower eventually created a small screen of gun powder around him, shrouding him and leaving only the sparks that flew off his skin with each round visible, "Detener, detener!" the leader of the gang took a step back and held a hand out signaling them to stop as the smoke cleared quickly revealing they'd done no damage.

Diamondhead lifted his hands up, almost like he was surrendering to them but, instead he shifted his five fingers on each hand into shards, launching them all simultaneously with marksman accuracy into each barrel of the still smoking guns. Most of them dropping their weapon as soon as they felt the recoil of their gun being jammed, others waited and attempted to pull the trigger again with no luck. Another explosion of light blinded them for half a second before a living, breathing entity of heated-plasma stood before them with charcoal skin and two volcanic-craters in each shoulder blade emitting a bright light across the dark roof-top.

They reacted fearfully, stepping back as they pulled out their secondary knives and daggers from their coats and belts; Heatblast scoffed and simply lifted one palm concentrating the force of his heat on only the sharp metal being wielded against him. They slowly surrounded him, like animals waiting to pounce at any time, until the handles of their knives started to burn red-hot, some noticing that their knife was literally melting so hot that it seared their palms even through their gloves. They all took a few seconds to shout in pain and drop their weapons, some waiting longer than others but, all of them eventually disarmed themselves.

Heatblast glanced around at them all but, noticed that only one of them seemed truly afraid of him, like he recognized him from another deal, or perhaps the stories were spreading, "Sabes quien soy?" Ben asked through the Pyronite's raspy charcoal vocal-chords, he wanted to know for sure if the word was really spreading about his escapades as a hero, though he wasn't totally sure how he knew Spanish.

Gwen was listening on the communication line, wondering when he learned to speak the language herself but, not thinking much of it at it first as she continued her studies, only vaguely listening in from the Bunker. The lead gang-member responded in his native tongue with a stutter as he choked on his own words, not believing his own eyes it seemed, "Sí, sé quién eres, eres el cambiaformas…" he shuttered.

Heatblast narrowed his volcanic eyes at the sound of that name, it was quite the nickname and he couldn't honestly say he didn't like it. Searing the ground at his feet with just his body heat, he realized he couldn't effectively fight them off in this form without getting very close to killing them unintentionally; his Omnitrix lit up green before shrouding him in another explosion, turning him back into his human form cracking his neck as the men recoiled from the light.

Realizing that they had been effectively disarmed, they put up their fists, prepared to over power him now that he appeared just as vulnerable as they were, the fact that they out numbered him likely gave them the confidence to move in. Ben kept his hands at the ready, he didn't shift his stance or prepare to move, he only kept his hands calm and ready to act by his side.

The first man approached attempting to swing at his jaw but, Ben ducked under it with ease and took a step forward landing an uppercut into his solar-plexus before shoving him by the back of the neck onto his face in the gravel behind him. Turning on a dime with keen reflexes blocked a roundhouse kick with his left forearm, quickly grabbing his leg and pulling him off his feet, slipping onto his back. He groaned only for a brief second as Ben leaned down quickly jabbing him once in the face to knock him unconscious before standing again. The third and fourth men came at him at the same time, attempting to tackle him over or at the very least push him back but, Ben merely flexed his arms up, knocking them both onto their sides. He'd taken them all out in a matter of less than a minute as he literally tore through them like tinfoil.

Martin Sommers reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a pistol, pulling it out and keeping it at his side but, still thumbing back the hammer to ensure it would fire on a moment's notice. Ben blocked a right-hook from the sixth man being the last private security guard, he kicked in the man's shin in an unnatural direction shattering his kneecap and bringing him down a peg before quickly concussing him with an uppercut to the chin.

As the gangster's leader watched him beat down on them all with ease, he had no where to run to or hide at on this secluded roof, he simply dropped to his knees and pleaded, "Oh dios, por favor ayúdame, lo siento!" Ben took a bit of mercy on him as he approached with his glowing green trademarked eyes, almost as bright as his transformations, it was the last thing he saw before he was jabbed once in the nose knocking him out.

Martin aimed the barrel of the gun up at Ben who had his back currently turned to the man trying his best to get to the emergency exit on the opposing end of the hero, needing to pass him to leave, "Stay back, I'm warning you!" he fired a shot that would have killed him had he not done the unthinkable from only less than ten feet away, Ben was able to do a layout-flip that allowed him to just barely dodge the bullet, landing with his fist planted in the ground cracking a bit of concrete with his strength, "What are you?!" the man shouted in fear, keeping the gun at eye level.

"Martin Sommers!" Ben using a voice modifier of some-kind in his jacket, obviously Plumber technology, announced himself sounding even more intimidating than his already furious display of vicious combat that he put on, "You've contributed millions to the drug trade in New York," he took a few steps forward as Martin fired off his gun this time, the shapeshifter used his aim-dodge advantage and enhanced reflexes to sidestep the shot as the bullet hit the ground behind him, "Your men have been dealing hardcore substances to anyone including children on the east-side, I wont stand for it anymore!" Before he could fire off another shot, Ben grabbed the barrel and pulled up in such a way that it twisted his trigger finger bringing the frail man to his knees, "You're going to pull your support for the meth industry and if you or any of your associates start dealing to children again?"

He leaned down as the man caught sight of his luminescent eyes shining into face so much so that even obscured his identity from view, "I'll know!" he ripped the gun from his grip and tossed it, clattering on the ground behind them before front kicking him in the chest, knocking him onto his back.

"Okay… Okay! Okay!" He shouted up at him holding his shoulder as Ben took a step back, letting Martin crawl backwards in pain and fear, likely having broken his finger and possibly a rib. He held his chest in pain and cradled the finger with his free hand, they all would need medical attention, he looked up to face the man who had done all of this, but he was gone just as quickly as he had arrived, like a ghost.

…

Ben stood on an adjacent rooftop, holding two suitcases in his hands one of which contained a large quantity of money and the other held the illicit substances being traded but, both would be getting dropped at the local police station by a friendly speedster; he put them down as he watched Martin look around forany sign of him, noticing the millionaire had been thoroughly scared shitless by the evening. He stumbled around the rooftop, looking for a sign of the drugs or money before slowly limping his way to the roof access exit.

It was a job well done in his opinion, and the fact that the gangsters already knew of him was a good sign that he was headed in the right direction, "Hey, how did it go?" Gwen asked through the comms as he only curved his lips into a smile in response to the sound of her voice.

Leaning against the edge of the rooftop, Ben responded while looking down on the people of the city mulling about below even at this time of night, "I took care of it, I'm gonna drop the trade off at the NYPD before I head on to the next one, are you going to stay at the Bunker?"

He heard her sigh over the line which made him frown a bit, he'd heard that sigh before and knew well what it meant, "Ben, you've been going non-stop for hours tonight, and last night, and the night before that… it's Friday night…" she said with a bit of enthusiasm, "Don't you wanna do anything special?"

Ben gave a long exhale in response, he didn't like being scolded least of all by his own girlfriend yet, a part of him felt like it was only par for the course between them considering they had been teasing each other since they were ten, "So? The city still needs saving, and this is something special," as he glanced around at the buildings surrounding him, towering into the sky with glimmering lights.

Gwen was silent for a moment before responding, almost as if she were considering her next question carefully, "Well, I'm worried about you, why don't we just take the night to relax? We can have a little sleepover at your place. Movie night?" she could practically hear the hesitation over the call, even before he actually said anything, "Please, babe, for me?" he melted at the sound of those words, he could feel her tugging his leash back and took a deep breath.

Ben closed his eyes and gave a long exasperated sigh, turning back to stare at the two suit-cases sitting on the roof next to his boots, tapping his feet together as heat rose to his cheeks a bit, "Fine, but, only because it's you…" he said in submission to her whims, "Just let me drop this stuff off and I'll come pick you up from the Bunker, kay?" he stood up straight and grabbed the handle to one of the cases, waiting for a response which she gave with a giddy squeal behind it. It had been ages since they did anything for themselves as a couple, either they were studying or fighting crime but, rarely able to enjoy each other's company.

"Yay! I've been memorizing calculus for so long I'm practically thinking in equations at this point, I'll lock up and wait outside," he heard her closing her textbook and stand up before she asked a follow up question that she'd almost forgotten about, "By the way, you never told me what that gangster said back to you in Spanish; I couldn't hear him from that distance."

"I asked him if he knew me…" Ben chuckled as he looked down at his glowing Omnitrix humming when the faceplate popped for him, "Apparently, the criminal underworld is calling me the Shifter… or maybe just Shifter… I dunno."

"I like it, it suits you, better than Ben Ten Thousand does anyways…" Gwen giggled a bit which made his heart skip a beat, he had almost forgotten what it was like to relax with his girlfriend with all of the hours he'd been putting in these last few weeks.

Before transforming, Ben gave a wide smile that kept his confidence out on his sleeve, he was happy for the first time in a while to know that maybe things were changing for the better; perhaps the key to changing the future was securing his secret identity. Whatever the case, he was pleasantly surprised to hear he had a nickname that didn't remind him of that dreadful future and his girlfriends famed giggle hadn't changed a bit.

…

Bellwood; New York; February 27th, 2011; 4:52AM.

Ben woke with a gasp, sitting up suddenly as he let the cold sweat running down his shirtless back trickle onto his bed, he wiped his brow clean and turned over where Gwen slept soundly under the covers, facing away from him towards the wall. She had only progressed in her studies as a magician and used a combination of protective incantations and illusionary mysticism to occasionally stay the night with her boyfriend, he remembered it being a Friday night of beating down on muggers and rooftop free running to scope the streets; they both needed the sleep but, he didn't hear her snoring lightly like he was used to or even breathing for that matter.

He needed to talk to someone though, especially her, it felt important and he knew that if he just woke her up she would understand and could make him feel better, maybe even good enough to fall back asleep. Ben reached out to nudge Gwen's shoulder to gently wake her but, she didn't even stir at his touch.

"Gwen…" He said once before tugging a bit harder on her shoulder which turned her over limply almost into his lap as she spat a thick red substance from her lips, bleeding from her absent eyes, gaping mouth, and even her nose but, she didn't seem to be in any physical pain.

"You couldn't save me!" She shouted up at him splattering blood onto his sheets with a sense of rage, shame, and disappointment; he tried to back away but she grabbed his arm before he could leave the bed, forcing him back to her side, and smearing blood all over his skin, "You were supposed to be my hero, why didn't you save me?!"

…

Ben woke with another more strained gasp, sitting up suddenly as he let the cold sweat running down his shirtless back trickle, he could tell somehow this was actually reality looking around his room at the familiarities including his muted TV still playing, wiping his brow clean as he noticed his heavy breathing and held a hand over his chest thankfully finding no blood, only a lot of sweat. He quickly recalled the nightmare as it flashed in his head vividly for the moments right after he woke compelling him to turn over in his bed where Gwen slept soundly, facing toward him with her bangs strewn over her face, instead of towards the wall like he recalled in the vision-like nightmare giving him a sense of relief that this wasn't another dream within a dream.

They began their sleep cuddled together so, one of her bare legs were still gently wrapped around one of his but, they'd shifted a bit so, she was lying on the pillow next to his, no longer tuned in to his heartbeat anymore; her soft breathing allowed her chest to slowly rise and fall, something he couldn't mimic as his heartbeat wouldn't slow for a single second.

Ben shook his head of the images he saw and laid back on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling to stare aimlessly in deep thought, there was so much pressure in the line of fighting crime and being a hero that he wasn't sure it was worth it sometimes, and now he could feel the life of every sentient species in the Galaxy; their presence and very essence now engrained into his genetic-code along with the Omnitrix, his Omnitrix, that still felt weird to say. What worried him even more were these nightmares, they were so lifelike and unusual, it almost reminded him of something he experienced during the first Summer with the watch… but, he wouldn't jump to that conclusion until he was absolutely sure.

Turning his head over on the pillow, he faced his girlfriend of over a year now, still managing to keep their secret relationship pretty well from the rest of their family aside from Grandpa Max, they made sure to conduct themselves as their parents expected but, made the entire thing a game. When either of their parents were around they would call each other the most immature names they could think of as fifteen-year-olds, like a massive inside joke that nobody understood but them. Neither wanted things to change, things were simple, and they were still young, they had plenty of time to enjoy this while they could. Ben reached out and brushed a bang out of her eyes, even with them closed she looked so peaceful when she was at rest giving him a warm smile. He could see in the dark now almost like an animal, giving him a perfect look at her sun-kissed button nose, just a sprinkle of freckles across her cheeks. Ben shifted closer as he could almost feel his eyes watering from what he saw in his nightmare, it felt so real at the time that he couldn't help it, she would never know but, he placed his forehead and nose against hers which prompted a small curved grin from the sleeping girl.

"Ben…" Gwen murmured still half-asleep as her hand reached out and placed itself flat against his chest, slipping down as she felt the sweat that ran over his torso on contact and slowly let her eyes flutter open, "Why are you…?" only speaking in a low moan as early as it was, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust but, when they did she noticed there were tears in his glowing neon green eyes, something that seemed to happen when he couldn't control his emotions, staring deeply into her own dimmer pools of emerald like a concerned father, "Are you okay?" she quickly made an effort to sit up a bit, yawning quickly afterward.

Ben chuckled giving a warm smile, doing the same to sit up again as he turned and placed his feet flat on the carpet; "Yea, of course…" he answered as he grabbed the shirt he'd taken off from the nightstand next to them, the digital clock flashed at him reading nearly five in the morning. Gwen sat up completely behind him as he put it on, placing a hand on his shoulder slowly after he slid on one of the custom shirts she'd gotten him matching his black boxers, the shirt was all black with a single white stripe around the collar and down the torso to the hem. It was a sentiment that she wasn't afraid of the future just like the Kevlar-Sleeve he made her over a year prior, it was identical to the one Ben Ten Thousand wore when they visited him, even if he wanted to be someone else.

"Was it another nightmare?" she asked rubbing her eyes for a moment sleepily, "I thought you said you didn't get those when you… slept with me here?" Gwen tried to make it sound less provocative but was far too tired, they'd never had sex but, that certainly didn't stop them from experimenting from time to time, this however, was not one of those times. She crawled across the bed wearing only his old 'lucky shirt' which now fit her perfectly as a pajama and a pair of baby-blue short-shorts.

Ben looked away and sighed with a bit of shame, placing his elbows on his knees to prop up his face with his hands, "I may have lied to make you feel better… I still love spending the night with you," he looked over at her as she sat next to him on the edge of the bed, the moonlight cascading down from the window juxtaposed to them.

Gwen reached out and placed her hand over his partially exposed thigh, grazing her fingers over his skin softly as she looked forwards at the small TV he'd gotten for Christmas in his room, it was on but, muted and playing some infomercial, he probably hadn't even noticed it, leaning into his shoulder to comfort him, "Are they always about me?" she asked innocently, drawing circles on his leg.

"Sometimes…" Ben lied, they were always about her, because she was the most important thing in his life at the moment by far even if he'd never admit it, but he couldn't burden her with his insecurities, he didn't want to share the pressure with her on something like this, "I wouldn't worry too much about it," he finished as he reached up and gently ran a hand through her hair and behind her ear, prompting her to fight off a yawn when the goosebumps trailed down the nape of her neck.

She snuggled her nose into the crook of his shoulder and neck, brushing her lips and nose over his skin which made him chuckle and almost fall backwards with her, "Do you not wanna go back to bed?" Gwen asked with a bit of concern through an inevitable yawn as he turned away with a smile, refusing to lie down though, shaking his head as he leaned in to press his lips up against her forehead sweetly.

"I'm good, I was thinking I would head to the Bunker early though… you can go back to sleep and meet me there if you want?" Ben stood and slipped his cargo-pants on, quickly grabbing his new black combat-boots and turning off the TV. His glowing Omnitrix popping its faceplate with just a mental command, selecting the Kineceleran form for him without even turning its dial.

Gwen stretched her arms and fell back onto his bed with a squeak of a yawn, it was so adorable how she wrapped herself in his sheets just to smell his aroma, the same way he buried his face in his pillows after she left just to get a whiff of her shampoo, he wasn't sure if it was true love or just a phase but, the last year had been some of the best and happiest moments in his teenage life thus far. Every moment he spent with her made him a better person, she wasn't just his leash she was his anchor, something that kept him tethered to his humanity when he could see the genetic code to millions of lifeforms. Looking down at her with a genuine smile, she was wrapping herself in blankets until she was back in a comfortable burrito of sheets, too sleepy to catch notice of his concern speaking through yet another yawn, "Sounds… like a plan…" her eyes fluttered shut after her cute yawn.

Being so accustomed to the emerald explosion of light she hardly noticed it as he transformed into XLR8 and sped up his senses allowing everything around him to slow down, glancing his glowing green eyes down at her sleeping form as he took a few apprehensive steps towards her, he couldn't let his nightmares ever become real. The speedster quickly moved through the room phasing through the wall and dashing out of the neighborhood in a matter of microseconds.

…

Bellwood; New York; February 27th, 2011; 7:36AM.

Ben had used a combination of Brainstorm, Greymatter, and Upgrade to do as much work on the Danger Alert security system and database, allowing them to access federal networks, government satellites, and even tap into or track secure cellular signals; sitting at the helm of such an advanced system was almost a bit intimidating but, he was glad that his Omnitrix gave him the ability to understand most of what he was doing, even as far as hacking and coding. His better half would always be better at utilizing this technology than he was though, Gwendolyn ran the Danger Alert like it was effortless and did an even better job than he did but, then again, she did spend weeks studying it first.

Ben stared up at the monitor as his fingers flew over the glass touch-based, almost holographic, keyboard; he used the Danger Alert to hack into the Pentagon's secure CCTV footage line, it only took him a few minutes to isolate the part of the facility he wanted to get a look at. He searched and obviously, on the surface there was nothing nefarious of any kind going on until he searched deeper down the rabbit hole. Finding a closed line of camera feeds which appeared in blocks on the monitor displaying a set of prisoner cells twenty-stories below ground, he realized there were multiple super-villains locked away in customized cellblocks just for them; whatever it was, it was off the books and most definitely not constitutional.

Among the prisoners, he scanned through feed after feed, Six-Six, Dr. Animo, a mud-puppy he didn't recognize though, it seemed it was the same one that attacked the wedding they attended five years ago; the most important of the prisoners that he searched for was the feed he finally landed on, sitting back and staring intently at the footage.

Kevin Ethan Levin was bound by the hands and feet with energy cuffs to prevent him from using his abilities; he had a small radio that sat in glass cube ten feet away from him for entertainment and that was all in a bland white padded cell, only because of his age did they treat him with any sense of decency what-so-ever. Ben narrowed his eyes up at the video-feed as he thought of everything they spoke about on that rooftop, the thin line between right and wrong, good and evil, black and white. Sitting back, he fell into his own world of deep thought as he placed his fingers together; he remembered that even though Kevin was committing serial murder, his intentions truly were pure. The control he utilized over his abilities was stunning as well especially considering the condition he was in last they saw him, clearly he had been training to master his powers just like him and his cousin were. What he couldn't manage to figure out was what the Government wanted to do with Kevin now that they had him, if they had planned on making Ben and Gwen into weapons, the next logical best candidate would be someone like him.

He was interrupted by a signal connecting to the Danger Alert's personal secure communication line, a call came through from Grandpa Max who undoubtedly knew someone was in the base due to the motion sensors installed which the three of them had access to on their phones; Ben hesitated as he leaned back in his high-back computer chair, exhaling deeply before hitting enter on the keyboard answering the call, "Hey, Grandpa…" he said with a fake enthusiasm.

"Hey sport, you're up early, how've you been?"

"Great… just, great…" he lied again, not fully wanting to even talk to the man considering how absent he'd been since he gave them the base with no good reason, he just kept too many secrets even from them both about his life. "How about you?" he only asked to be polite in all reality, they were still family but, that doesn't mean he has to enjoy their company all the time; anytime that he talked with him it was either about training or about the Bunker or even his powers, never spending any time together or talking about anything significant, and from what he could tell Max was still avoiding family activities. Ben wouldn't even care that he wasn't involved if he could just be honest with them about his Plumbing work.

"It's been alright, been getting a lot of work done…" he paused and took an audible breath before continuing, almost as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue what he was going to say, "I've been trying to track down a lead on the Forever Knights but ever since the last of them were wiped out by Kevin, I hit a brick wall and figured…"

Ben perked up a bit, raising his brow in surprise that he was being brought into the loop about the follow up investigation on the Knights, "You want my help on a mission, like a real case?" he asked with a genuine enthusiasm, so long as he confirmed it, the last mission they'd gone on together was over a year ago so this was definitely a step forward.

"Well, if you could help an old friend out, it would be appreciated; I don't have as many resources as I used to," Max joked a bit at first but, he could tell that he did seriously need the help, and the upgrades his Galvan form did on the systems in the Bunker put the rest of the Plumber's equipment to shame, "What do you think?"

With a smile that Max couldn't see, Ben sat up and stretched his knuckles with an audible crack before typing away on his touch-activated keyboard, "Hmm… maybe for an old friend I might be able to pull some strings; I'm going to cross reference the assets for the Hatchery Farming facility with known associates of the Knights…" he heard his Grandfather chuckle at his response before he continued, the screen and operating system was decades more advanced than anything on Earth now so it loaded complex files in a matter of seconds, "It looks like someone named Adam Hunt contributed tens of millions of dollars to the redacted operations of the Hatchery for the months leading up to whatever took over their organization, he's still here in New York."

"Adam Hunt… that's a familiar name…" Max was clearly already aware of the man's reputation but, it didn't sound like flattery.

Ben scanned through a few more reports and court transcripts with taps and clicks on the keyboard as he read through the files, "It looks like he was involved in multiple fraud cases where entire buildings burned down due to 'alleged negligence' during construction…" the reports came with a picture of him, the man was a tall bald multi-millionaire tycoon wearing lavish suits and driving in fancy cars; every picture that was taken of him looked angry or intense, "Each time he was acquitted of all charges by a judge."

"His crimes obviously run deeper than fraud but, he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who stands in his way, anyone who even considers testifying against him…" Max noted as if he were stuck between a rock and a hard place, this was the last link to the Forever Knights and who sold them the Xenocites in the first place.

Ben stood up slowly as he started tracking the location of this Adam Hunt character, quickly accessing satellites to scan for his cellular signal and pinging him in the middle of an active call deep in a parking garage on the east-side of New York City, "He hasn't met me yet…" he noted ominously staring up at one of the many headlines that involved Hunt basically getting away with murder, turning with a glance down to his Omnitrix. This man was abusing the very system that the law used to uphold the value of justice, to bend and twist those rules to get away with heinous crimes that have already indirectly ended the lives of innocents, he couldn't let that slide.

"He's surrounded by a twenty-four-seven security detail, what exactly do you plan on doing?" Max tried talking some sense into him but, Ben wouldn't have it as a glimmer of emerald sparkled in his eyes.

"I'm just going to have a little early morning chat with him," He said as he grabbed the black and white windbreaker hanging on a hook near the entrance, zipping it up as he popped the faceplate mentally, also selecting the Kineceleran form without twisting the dial which was yet another code he recently unlocked; all he needed to do now was slap the device as his genetic code was altered on a microscopic level, changing his skin and body back into the velociraptor-speedster through the cover of bright neon light.

"Ben wai-" he shut off the Danger Alert communication with a single tap of his claw on a panel by the keyboard staring back up at the face of Adam Hunt on one screen, narrowing his eyes deeply as he stared into the cold unfeeling picture from the cover of Forbes magazine, turning his head slightly to the right facing the other monitor where Kevin hung from the ceiling under the Pentagon, contemplating what he said about his own way not working… he had to prove him wrong. His faceplate slid shut reflecting the bald man's face over the glass, speeding from the room in a massive gust of wind, leaving the city safely before accelerating to hundreds of times the speed of sound to reach the massive island-borough of Manhattan in a matter of a minute or two.

…

New York City; New York; February 27th, 2011; 7:59AM.

Adam wasn't stupid as he strolled casually through an abandoned parking garage over to his Rolls Royce, his security detail was behind him at his left and right, with one in front escorting him while he was talking on the phone, he was prepared for almost anything, "Listen, you remind Judge Acosta that I put her on that bench and I can just as easily have her taken off, I will turn her into a cautionary tale; and this attorney that's been gunning for me, I thought I told you I want him taken care of already, like yesterday!" he shouted and ended the call quickly without waiting for a response as his men were paid six-figures to do their jobs right the first time, he wouldn't stand for anything less than what he wanted, perfection.

Just before reaching the car, a blur of speed and wind flew by them too quickly for them to see clearly what it was other than air but, now one of the men guarding Hunt was missing as he left only a brief scream that echoed through the dark garage in his wake, "What the hell was that?" Adam asked as his men pulled their glock-37s out and aimed them around at the surrounding area, pulling back the barrel to cock a round into the chamber as they aimed around them, looking for a target in the shadows of the dim lights.

Another identical blur of speed took the man on Adam's opposing side, vanishing as another gust of wind hit them, hearing a shot or two of gun-fire in the distance but, the man was gone; the last one quickly escorted him into the car before trying his best to run to the drivers side with his gun at the ready but, before he reached the handle… Adam heard a scream as the black and white blur flew passed whisking away his final line of defense as he was now alone in the car, the silence was deafening, his breathing as loud as the thumping in his chest and the beating of his heart.

He wasn't sure but, he could swear he heard something or someone approach as a bright-green explosion of light lit up the car from the outside, "Adam Hunt!" Ben shouted to him in his modified voice and his human form from outside the car before punching through the backseat window, shattering it and sending shards over Adam who was practically curling up into a ball. He grabbed hold of the metal and ripped the door off the car, tossing it twenty feet behind him as it skated across the concrete.

"W-What do you want?" Adam shouted in fear as he lowered his arms and looked up, seeing two bright glowing eyes staring back at him from doorway, Ben grabbed him by the collar of his two-piece suit and dragged him out of the backseat effortlessly, taking a step back with the man held off his feet.

Ben narrowed his eyes as the man couldn't see his face in the darkness of the garage, only the illuminated neon green pupils that flashed even brighter as he used his strength, "You're going to give me all the information you have on the Forever Knights; every receipt, every deal, details on when, where and who you met with!" his deep voice was actually intimidating coupled with him turning the man around, tossing him onto his back a few feet from the door with just a gesture.

Adam exhaled and took a breath, crawling back on his hands seeming more annoyed than totally afraid, "Or what?" he responded looking up at him from the floor, propping himself up on his hands as best he could, trying to seem unintimidated but, it would prove hard in this situation as he felt like he might have a panic attack.

Ben took a step or two forwards, cracking his knuckles, "Then I'm going to take it from you, and you're not going to like how…" he growled as his Omnitrix lit up brightly in response to his emotions just like his eyes.

Adam looked around for only a second and gulped, "If I tell you anything… they'll kill me…" he reasoned as this obviously didn't make Ben very happy, quickly reaching down and grabbing him by the silk collar of his suit pinning him against a concrete support pillar, not taking longer than half a second before jabbing the space right next to his face which put a fist sized crater in the column.

"You should be more worried about what I'm going to do to you right now!"

"Okay, okay!" He shouted with one hand up and the other slowly reaching into his coat pocket which would usually prompt someone in this position to be cautious of someone pulling a weapon but, Ben knew that he could dodge a bullet even at this range; instead, he pulled out a black cell phone, distinctly different than his personal number, holding it out for him to take, "This has access to every detail you're looking for on those armored pricks, it isn't a lot but, I swear it's all I got; I wouldn't lie, those idiots cost me millions when they abandoned trade with New York," he chuckled as if it were a solid reason to trust his word but, he knew nothing was a hundred percent certain even as he accepted the gesture.

Ben took the phone from his hand apprehensively and looked it over, it was a brand new, very expensive smartphone with a touch screen and no lock-code, "Good, because if you are lying, I'm coming for you…" he tossed the man back to the ground at his feet before turning and walking away, into the darkness.

Adam grunted and rolled over to his side, standing up as quickly as he could, regaining his confidence with a scoff at his comment and showing his true colors, "If I see you again, you're dead, you hear me?" another explosion of blinding green light engulfed his vision forcing him to flinch back and shut his eyes for only a second, when he returned his gaze Ben had vanished from the scene, leaving Hunt to drive himself home.

…

Bellwood; New York; February 27th, 2011; 8:28AM.

When he returned to the Bunker, Ben couldn't help but sit back down in front of the Danger Alert system as he plugged in and began analyzing the phone and the contents on it but, even as advanced as this super-computer was, it would still take nearly half an hour to scan and download everything on the hard drive. He sat back and realized he still had Kevin's security camera feed playing and it made him wonder how maddening it had to be for him. Ben's thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly heard the entrance opening as Gwendolyn walked in, fully dressed in a navy-blue blouse and jeans; he hit a single key on the touch activated keyboard which exited the program that gave him access to Kevin's video feed.

"Hey, sleepyhead…" Ben announced as she chuckled a bit, spinning around to face her in the high-backed chair, "I hope sneaking out of my room wasn't any trouble," she casually shut the entrance door, the one he never used, approaching the Danger Alert and reading the screen as she spoke.

"It's more trouble flying here than it is to cast an illusion over a bedroom, you know my telekinesis only really lets me travel as fast as like… a car, right?" Gwen folded her arms, looking down at him with a smile as she stood in front of the multiple screens, "I don't have an arsenal of alien heroes with super speed to work with."

Ben chuckled in response, chiding back in a way only he could, "Maybe if you got your portal spell working instead of focusing on calculus, you could just pop in-and-out whenever you wanted…" she noticed him glance up at the screen briefly to check its progress as she finally took a moment to address it.

Reaching for the plugged-in phone, she picked it up and ran her fingers over the smooth glass which was obviously very fancy, "What do you have going on here? Where did you get this?" the smartphone was clearly way too expensive to be anything his parents or even Grandpa would buy him, and the screen was downloading files from it with a loading bar almost full.

"Grandpa Max called in earlier and asked me to look into a lead on the Forever Knights, so I politely asked Adam Hunt for the information," Ben chuckled a bit, barely even knowing Hunt until an hour ago, taking the phone out of her hand to look over its sleek design, "After I download whats on it and send the data to Grandpa, I'm gonna wipe it and keep it as my phone," shaking it at her to gloat.

Gwendolyn scoffed and tilted her head, with a hand on her hips, "You don't think a high schooler owning an eight-hundred dollar phone without his parents buying it is a little suspicious…" rolling her eyes with a giggle, "Especially, to those parents who didn't buy it?" chiding sarcastically.

Ben plopped the phone back on the desk and folded his fingers together over his abdomen, still wearing the windbreaker they shared, "Maybe I'll just keep it a secret, I'll use my regular phone around them… it's not like I spend too much time with them anyways," he wasn't wrong, other than him passing through every now and then, hellos and goodbyes, and the occasional family function, he just never really connected to his parents. On the other hand, up until she was thirteen years old, Gwen would go on lots of fancy vacations and trips for her karate competitions while the furthest Ben had ever gone was his famed Summer trip. Even to this day, she had movie night with her mother once a month and both parents took her to and from her martial-arts classes, though she didn't participate in tournaments anymore.

Gwen raised a brow and sighed, leaning her lower-back against the desk, folding her arms across her chest, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that…" her tone sounded a bit distressed but, only with concern for his safety, "I know I loosened your leash after what happened with Kevin and the Omnitrix but, don't you think you might be over doing it a little?"

Ben shook his head with discontent, faking a smile as best he could and keeping himself laid back in the chair as the Danger Alert was almost finished copying the phones data, "I'm fine, I don't know what you're talking about…" he glanced back up at the screen to keep from looking into her glare which was directed at the side of his face now. He started to get a headache, whether it was her questions, or his impatience with the phone, he didn't know yet only rubbing the bridge of his nose to loosen the tension.

"C'mon, this isn't healthy, Ben," Gwendolyn pleaded as she took a step closer, leaning over to put a hand on his shoulder drawing his gaze towards hers, "You don't eat, you hardly sleep and when you do, you have nightmares which, by the way, you wont tell me anything about…" her expression shifted from scorning to pure loving concern, running her fingers up from his shoulder grazing his collar bone and neck, and finally cupping one of his cheeks in her palm, "Please, let me in… talk to me…" he felt a bit of relief but, just as he was about to answer, the tension got tighter and his head felt like it was in a vice.

"I… I…" trying to recall the vivid dreams only gave him a splitting headache that felt unusually familiar; His mind flashed images of his entire family trapped and dying in a massive fire, begging for their lives; something was wrong, this wasn't right, he felt his brain surging as vivid images of his friends from school burning alive flashed before him, the entire planet in total apocalyptic ruin inhabited only by familiar drones, raining ash from the sky in all directions. He stood up frantically but, immediately lost his balance as Gwen tried to steady him by the shoulders, he started sweating profusely as he heard her voice echo in his hears like a drum.

"Ben?" She asked trying her best to help him, but he only stumbled away from her; he couldn't tell her what was wrong because he had no idea, "Ben?!"

He backed away as things begun to spin, he turned and felt a hand on his shoulder but, when he faced them he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "Where were you?" the woman asked as he fell back on his hands. Gwen was older and more mature somehow, wearing her full costume as his eyes deceived him with blood dripping from her eyes and mouth that she didn't seem to notice, "Where were you!" she shouted this time as Ben backed away slowly, "Where were you!?" he clutched his head, there was an intense ringing that sounded like a high-pitched whine only he could hear.

"Agh!" he shouted collapsing him to his knees, closing his eyes in agony as the images and scenes strobed in his mind's eye, even a bit more pressure would force him into a seizure state but, it was like the agony kept him right on the edge.

Gwen knelt down next to him as quickly as she could, holding his shoulder as she spoke to him, he watched her lips move but, he couldn't tell what she was saying, the buzzing was far too loud as if it were coming from every corner of the room at once. This pain forced him to clutch his head, trying to block out the ringing with his hands.

"Leave me alone!" Ben tried to crawl away as Gwendolyn rushed and grabbed him by his hands still tightly gripping his head around his ears, pulling him in tightly and whispering something; she placed her forehead to his and allowed herself to enter his mind, to see what he sees, "Intra In Animam!"

Gwen found herself materialized in a ruined city of Bellwood, thousands of dead bodies scattered everywhere as Ben stood motionless in the center of all the destruction, fires still burning through the toppled buildings that surrounded him. A single Hawaiian-print shirt hung like a flag from a bloody wooden steak that pultruded from a large mound of rubble; a massive silhouette stood behind them as Gwen still held his hands, now by his side, trying to snap him out of it. The nearly fifteen-foot-tall creature with glowing demon-like crimson eyes and an armored body with several cybernetic augmentations. Being in his mindscape felt strange as she was only an apparition yet, the burning city and the smell of bodies around her was surreal enough to make her feel weak and frail however, she powered through to focus on reality, "Why couldn't you stop me, Tennyson?" the entity announced itself with a deep, growling voice.

"It's not real, Ben, whatever this is you have to snap out of it!" Gwendolyn urged her lover to move by pulling him away, but he didn't budge an inch, he stood frozen staring out at the red skies and ravaged, burning landscape.

"It's all my fault…" he whispered as tears streamed down his face, "All my fault."

"That's right," the creature stepped forwards still shrouded in darkness but, stepping over and crushing human skulls under his massive mechanical boot on approach, "I am very real, little girl," she recognized his squid-like tentacles hanging from below a mechanical respirator, "And so too is this nightmare, both soon to come."

"Vilgax!" Gwendolyn shouted up in anger as Ben was still to afraid to even turn and face the creature, "You're the one attacking his mind, that's why you haven't killed him yet?!" While still inside his mind, she knew that while she was powerless to stop him, he too couldn't actually harm them physically them from within this place.

Vilgax placed his claws gently on Ben's shoulders, almost massaging them at first as he gave a sociopathic grin to her before directing his attention downward as he forced the wielder of the Omnitrix to watch his worst fears come true before his eyes, "Death would be a release from this life, and his sentence has yet to be carried out; I will tear all that he cares for away from him, destroy those who chose to defend him, and once he has lost everything and everyone he values…" The monster pulled his broadsword from the sheath strapped to his back, holding it above his head and aiming for his back, "I will drive a blade through his chest!" punctuating the sentence by ramming the blade through Ben's chest in a vivid flash of images that forced them both out of the nightmare mindscape at the same time.

Gwen fell back on her hands and knees, breathing heavily as she nearly choked on her own spit erupting into a coughing fit, "B-Ben…" she tried calling out but, couldn't help but gag as she recalled the scent of burning corpse almost throwing up. As she turned her head, she noticed him sitting up again not nearly as disoriented as she was, clearly, "Ben? A-Are you okay?"

"I'm fine… but I guess now I can't ignore it anymore…" He muttered as he looked off in the opposite direction, not bothering to wipe the tears streaming from his eyes as they now ran down his cheeks physically as well, "Vilgax is coming for me."

Gwen realized that she too recovered quickly, was this the type of mental attack that plagued Ben on a regular basis? How could he handle this type of torture without snapping under the pressure? She sat up, crawling a few feet over to him and pulling on his shoulder so she could see his face, he was crying but his expression was quiet and emotionless, even as his eyes flashed bright neon like his watch, "I'm going to be the reason the world ends…" he muttered as she felt her own eyes watering, his pain, his guilt, his suffering, the pressure, the expectations; her empathic abilities suddenly felt them in massive volumes at once. He was holding it all back, for one reason or another, he kept these dangerous feelings bottled up for who knows how long until they overflowed.

"Oh, Ben…" Gwendolyn wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into her embrace though he didn't really reciprocate it, he just buried his face in her shoulder drying his tears with her blouse, "I promise you, no matter what happens, we'll face it together," she pulled away and grabbed his hand, trying to prompt him to lace his fingers with hers but, his hand just fell limp, he felt smushed and defeated, ashamed of his own power. "Ben, I love you… I love you more than I love magic, or school, or martial arts and- and-" she couldn't think of anything else that mattered deeply in her life but, instead she only ended up pulling him in tighter, "I'll never let him hurt you, you're mine…" a single tear rolled down her left eye, a muffled sniffle following it as she felt his hands wrap around her waist, "He can't have you," she whimpered tightening her grip.

"I love you too," Ben spoke up as he pulled away from her embrace just to guide her forehead to his, placing their heads together and finally lacing his fingers with hers, "That's why I have to protect you, I can't lose my leash… I need you," she could see the glow behind his eyes cascading over his tears that reflected down onto their laps as they sat in the aftermath of the mental attack.

"I'm sorry that this is happening again, I was hoping we would never have to deal with this again…" Gwen noted as she felt Ben take a deep breath in her arms, his chest rising slowly and falling quickly as he moved his hands up gliding across the back of her blouse to her shoulder, pulling back he so that he could face her with a bright smile and dried tears.

"It's okay, dweeb, I thought it might be him from the start but, I couldn't be sure. They're just like the nightmares I got when I was ten before he attacked for the very first time," He chuckled a bit as he pressed forwards with the conversation, she slowly realized he had grown some sort of tolerance, "They usually only come when I sleep but, this was the first time it happened during the day… I'm so sorry you had to see this," he pulled back and stood up slowly, holding a hand out for her to help herself up which she took slowly, keeping her eyes on his as the glow died down.

Gwendolyn looked around for a few seconds, rubbing her arm as she adjusted and her stomach settled from the twisting it had done, the nausea passed and left them standing in silence after his apology. She didn't know how to respond at all, quickly punching him in the chest which, without her Keystone, didn't register even a twinge of pain as she repeated herself, punching harder this time as she started to cry again, "You kept this from me! How could you keep this from me?!" she pounded both of her fists into his torso, prompting him to grab her elbows to keep her from falling over with weak knees, "We were supposed to be partners! And you were hurting, being attacked? Every single night, and you didn't tell me? I could have helped you; you jerk!" she threw a few more punches into his chest as her tears dried now into his shirt as she used his torso to support herself.

Ben responded as calmly as possible, his eyes still glowing dimly with a short half-smile, taking a deep breath and a more serious expression as the glow from his pupils reflected off her own emerald eyes, "Listen, Gwen, you do help… every single day, and honestly right now you're the only thing holding me together," he reached up and grabbed her hands steadying herself from leaning on him, holding her hands and grazing her palm with his thumb, "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you but, I didn't want to burden you with something I wasn't even sure about," he was being totally sincere and she could see it in his eyes, she almost hadn't realized how quickly he was maturing emotionally as well.

Gwen finally had her footing back, taking a step back and pulling her hands from his only to move them up and place them gently around his face, cupping his cheeks, "You are so… stupidly selfless, its one of the reasons I fell in love with you, doofus but, you need to keep me in the loop with these things or else we'll end up just as isolated from each other as we are in the future."

Ben looked down to his boots, lowering his eyes in a bit of shame, she had a good point and they had been having the same argument about his inability to share the weight of the world with anyone else multiple times already, she always had a good point. She heard him audibly gulp before responding, "I just don't know what I'm going to do if I have to fight him again…" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, realizing that this wasn't some game he could play anymore, that the fate of the entire planet would be his to decide in a battle that could very well lead to his own death, "Last time, we were just kids, he underestimated us so many times but, this time he's coming for the kill, I can feel it in my bones."

Gwen shook her head as if denying what he said to be true, only waiting to clarify after noticing his confused expression, she moved one palm from his face, looking down as she put it on his chest, "You don't have to fight him or anyone, we have to fight him, we can protect the world together…" grazing one of his cheeks with her thumb to completely wipe a dry tear away with the end of her sleeve.

"I don't know how useful I'll be on a battlefield if at any point Vilgax can just invade my mind…" Ben made a funny motion with his hands over his head which caused her to giggle in response, finding humor in dark times like these was his specialty.

Gwendolyn continued to chuckle a bit but, only at the irony of his sentiment, patting his cheek with her hand, "This is why you should come to me with these things, if I had known your mind was being attacked…" she raised both hands slowly up from his cheeks and chest to his temples on either side of his forehead, the entirety of her eyes lit up bright neon blue as she spoke with an echo, "Custodiat Animam Meam Amantes!" she manifested what seemed to be a lock and chain of metaphysical blue-ish energy as it seemed to fade into an aura that dissipated above his head, setting some sort of security spell over his mind as he hardly felt any different, "Now, he can't get into your mind anymore, nobody can… aside from maybe me," she finished her sentence with a wink, lowering her hands down behind her back as she swayed her hips.

"You're amazing!" Ben grabbed her by the lower-back and pulled her in, her squealing giggle was almost enough for them to forget what they'd just experienced ten minutes ago until the Danger Alert system pinged its download completion, "And you have good timing."

Heat rose up into Gwendolyn's cheeks as he held a hand placed firmly around her waist as they both approached the screens together, "I do try," she said flattering herself before combing a hand through her bangs quickly, "What did you get off of Hunt's phone?"

Ben only let go of her waist so that he could take a seat at the head of the console, tapping a few buttons onto the glass keyboard and opening the files all of which were in a foreign Asian language of some kind; every single one, lists upon lists of data that even Gwen couldn't quite read properly, "Is that Cantonese?"

"Mandarin, actually," Ben corrected her casually staring up at the files one by one as he scrolled by them appearing to actually be reading through them or at least scanning, "Most of these are old shipping manifests for alien weaponry…" she turned her head with a raised brow.

"Since when did you learn Mandarin?" Gwen asked blatantly as he glanced up at her, not having realized himself that he was reading a totally different language, "And Spanish for that matter…" recoiling her head back waiting for answers.

Ben only had shrugs to give as he looked over the transcripts, it just all made sense to him, "You don't think the Omnitrix is giving me like a linguini power?"

She only barely resisted the urge to facepalm, "I don't know about that, but it might have given you a linguistics ability, you doofus," Gwendolyn quickly ran her hands through his thick head of brown hair, ruffling it at first before simply combing through it, noticing how he almost melted into her hands touch.

That was, until he spotted something on one of the shipping manifests that he scrolled passed, pulling away from her and clocking back several files, "Here, this one has a bunch of information totally redacted, including what the buy was but, look at the shipment date."

Gwen folded her arms and blew her bangs out of her face frustratedly, "It's annoying that I know like five languages and you just so happen to be reading the one dialect I never bothered to learn."

Ben shook his head slowly with a quick chuckle, pointing up to where he was reading off the information, "Well, it says this was shipped from some company called the Highbreed to the Knights on October first, two-thousand-nine, the same night they shipped Humungousaur. It has to be one of those Xenocites that took over their organization!" he exclaimed as though he were cracking the case wide open, though it only left more questions than answers.

"Are you sure that Highbreed isn't like a code name?"

Ben narrowed his eyes and leaned back, tilting his head to read it more in depth, "I dunno, it looks like the name of another group… either way, I think we should call Grandpa. We officially have more than one problem."

…

White House; Washington D.C.; February 27th, 2011; 7:08AM.

The President of the United States sat and stared down at a set of files in a vanilla folder, licking his finger occasionally to sift through the images and reports more efficiently; he tapped his foot against the bottom of the resolute desk almost rhythmically as Max was forced to watch and wait. The silence in the room was maddening as even in his old age, he could hear the morning birds chirping on a branch outside the window behind the leader of the free world.

"Well? Are we done here?" Max tried to assert himself but, was silenced by a single finger up as the distinguished man adjusted his glasses and continued reading the file, scanning through one page after another.

The President smiled down at the contents, looking over a graph that represented funding that was requested, "And these numbers include the utilities?"

"Yes, sir…" He responded unenthusiastically.

Looking up from the reports that Max had submitted for the first time to look the man in the eyes, "And do they know what they're doing?"

"You're holding their field reports, sir, I-" Max tried to avoid the real question as best he could but, was interrupted as the President repeated himself more clearly, placing the folder flat and opened on the desk in full view.

He folded his fingers together politely and leaned forwards, "Do they know they've been reactivated? Yes or no?" The President was an immensely powerful man with a lot of connections, when he made demands like these he meant them, "I see he doesn't mind hacking into our systems whenever he wants…" the President referred to the use of their satellites on a regular basis, although with his aliens he's managed to create a grid that was clearly more advanced than anything they had access to being the Danger Alert system.

"I scrubbed any digital evidence of their activity per asset protocol but, no sir… they don't know…" Max looked away after finishing his sentence, feeling ashamed of what he was doing but, unless he wanted to out-right give up their freedoms, he would have to go behind their backs. Sometimes it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

"Good, let's keep it that way," Max glanced down at the files in the President's folder which included imagery of Ben and Gwen both in action for the last two months, utility bills and imagery of the Bunker, and detailed accounts on their growing abilities, especially Ben's "In which case, the trail on the Forever Knights has gone cold and we think Adam Hunt might have been funding their operations but, we can't legally touch him."

Max raised his brow as he leaned back in one of the two velvet chairs facing the resolute desk, "What are you suggesting?" he chuckled at first but, realized the President was totally serious.

"I want you to call up your Grandson, get him to use that fancy new computer that we funded to find Hunt and get the information on the Knights out of him," The President closed the folder in front of him without looking as he tapped it afterwards, facing his computer, "He seems eager enough to put in the man hours… and look at that, motion sensors are reading him in his little hidey-ho," the President leaned back with a half-smile, folding his arms and looking over the scans they had of the Bunker. The cousin duo was lucky that they weren't being monitored audio or visually because he could clearly see the activity on the Danger Alert. "What's it gonna be, Maxwell?"