12) Of smoothies and chats

Kevin felt increasingly frustrated. Four days had passed without any leads on Max Tennyson's whereabouts.

With each day passed without progress, his frustration intensified, turning the search for Max Tennyson into a matter of personal pride now.

Feeling Tennyson's mental presence approaching to him, he frowned.

"What do you want, Ben Tennyson?"

Ben grinned happily. He was feeling pretty easy here. Kevin's place was dope, his video game collection was on another level higher. He even had the latest Sumo Slammer collection.

"Hey, Kevin, how about we take a break from the hunt? I found this cool smoothie place nearby. It might help you relax a bit. You don't need to be so stiff around us, you know."

Kevin turned around and raised an eyebrow at his recent acquaintance now.

"Smoothies, really? We're on a mission here."

Ben chuckled, "Come on, man. Even heroes need a breather. Plus, you're wound up tighter than Four Arms in a wrestling match. Loosen up a bit."

Ben smirked as he decided to chime in once more."Yeah, Kevin, you look like you're about to turn into a rock or something. Lighten up. Besides, it'll be fun."

Ken, Ben's cousin and Gwen's brother chimed in too to join them, "Seriously, Kevin, we could all use a break. Smoothies are like the universal stress buster."

Kevin hesitated for a moment, thinking it over. Finally, he sighed. He had no option afterall. "Fine, but just one smoothie, and then we get back to finding Max. Got it?"

"Deal!" Ben replied. It was the usual stuff now. They couldn't find Grandpa Max. It was becoming irritating and insane now.

Entering the garage, the trio found Gwen fixated on the screen displaying Kevin's muscle car. She raised an eyebrow at the three boys.

"Kevin, seriously, what's up with your ride? It's got abnormal power. It might have the most powerful engine in the world."

"It might not be the most powerful in the universe, but on this planet? Yeah, it is. I've upgraded it quite a bit." Kevin replied happily. He was honestly saying the truth at the moment. His car was the most powerful beast on the road.

"Man, you're not holding back on this one. Is there a need for all that power?" Ben asked curiously. Honestly the Omnitrix gave him powers. But he would really like a car in the future.

"You never know when you might need to outpace an alien invasion or something." Kevin replied with a smirk. From the looks of it, there were prospects for some sort of invasion here.

Ken grinned suddenly with a thought.

"Hey, Kevin, think you could hook up the Awesome Mobile with an engine like yours?"

Kevin smirked, he had anticipated the question for sometime.

"Maybe not the exact same, but I could definitely upgrade it. Turn it into a sleek sports car or a mean muscle car."

Ben raised an eyebrow. He knew what Kevin meant by it. His past memories immediately supplied him with the answer.

"You are gonna be using that Galvanic Mechamorph pet of yours, Tom for upgrades?" Ben commented with a half question and half answer.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, it's got some serious skills. Perfect for tweaking rides. What do you say, Ken?" Kevin asked. He could understand the desire. The knowledge that in a second, one could completely change his car's designs as per his desire was a lucrative thought to any car owner.

Ken's eyes lit up, "Tomorrow? I'm in! I'd love to see my car transformed into something totally different. I might even end up loving it more than the Awesome Mobile." He replied with a dopey smile.

Kevin opened the driver's seat. To his surprise, Gwen was the one who had decided to grab the seat next to him.

As they pulled away, Gwen took the seat beside him without a word. The engine's rumble filled the momentary silence. It was only when they left the house behind that Gwen spoke up.

"You know, Kevin," she began, "I saw your research on paraplegia and other diseases. Your theories and your papers were astonishing. They were on a completely different level. Your ideas to combat them were so brilliant." Gwen finished excitedly.

She had seen the papers while accessing the AI in Kevin's house. Suffice to say that it had blown up her mind. She couldn't imagine that the boy who once bullied others and was so egoistical and nonsensical, would develop to this smart man.

Ben and Ken exchanged confused glances. Kevin's grip on the steering wheel tightened subtly, but he didn't comment. Someone had been snooping around, it seemed.

Gwen continued, "It's impressive, the work you're doing. Trying to find solutions, helping people."

Kevin glanced at her, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "I don't talk about it much," he admitted.

"But yeah, I'm trying to make a difference beyond just punching guys. I don't know, there are some really smart aliens out there you know. I gained telekinesis when I absorbed the powers of a Cerebrocrustacean during my return to Earth. They are really smart aliens, perhaps only a little lower or near the same level as Galvans. I had always been a fast learner, though after absorbing their power, I felt more akin to a God. Suddenly I knew things. I knew answers to nearly every problem I imagined. I felt so intelligent. The files you saw, that was one of my part time works." Kevin continued. Absorbing the Cerebrocrustacean's powers gave him telepathy. However he felt an extremely massive increase in his intelligence. An intelligence the likes of which this world would have never saw.

Gwen's eyes widened with amazement as Kevin admitted to absorbing the power of a Cerebrocrustacean. It suddenly explained a lot. Intrigued, she turned to him and couldn't help but ask, "What about releasing cures? You have the power to help so many people." She asked instantly with a frown.

Kevin sighed, his eyes were focused on the road ahead. It wasn't as if he hadn't thought about it.

"I haven't really thought about it. The world's a delicate balance. If I start releasing cures left and right, chaos would follow. I'd be a target every minute. Live in the fear of being sniped everytime. Pharmaceutical companies, doctors, nurses, other staff. People all around globe – many would lose their jobs. It's not a simple solution; it would create more problems than it solves."

Gwen was aghast at the revelation. However on further consideration she understood the intricate web of consequences. Even Ben, usually quick with a quip, fell silent, amazed by the depth of Kevin's explanation.

"That's so wrong." Gwen commented aghast. She couldn't believe people would deny to help each other based on these principles.

"The world rarely is fair." Kevin replied as he took the turn to Mr Smoothy's. As far he knew, it was the only place with good smoothies.

"Besides it is prohibited for Plumbers to act on the internal matters of a world unless it is absolutely necessary. There are so many advanced civilizations and aliens out there, imagine them arriving here and working to elevate humanity. While there would be progress, it's ethically and morally wrong on many levels. People would feel slighted as their personal matters won't be so anymore. Internal matters are meant to be internal matters for a reason. Something this country and the whole world needs to learn." Kevin said as he overtook a chevy.

"Hey, America just helping Iran and other countries? I mean, there's international aid and stuff. We are helping them." Ken interjected. He didn't like the snide comment on their country.

"Sure, America's helping,'" Kevin replied with a smirk. "But expecting politicians to help for the betterment of society and the whole world? Now, that's a stretch."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked. He was honestly confused what Kevin and Ken were talking about.

Kevin leaned back, a wry smile on his face as he looked at Ben through the rear view mirror.

"It's not all black and white."

________________________________________

In her room, Gwen paced restlessly, her thoughts entangled like the sheets on her bed. It was becoming difficult to concentrate and go to sleep. She fumbled for her phone, as her fingers hovered over the screen.

The words of Kevin echoed in her mind. They seemed to be a haunting reminder.

She wanted to message him but she didn't want to look like a desperate fool. The emergence of her childhood crush was bad enough. But it was worse when he returned more charming and appealing than before.

She had crushed on him once. She had recovered from it too. Or she had thought so. But it seemed, it wasn't the case. He was still in her mind. And he had turned good and became mature too.

'Hey Kevin.' She finally messaged after thinking for straight five minutes.

There was a minute before the message finally showed the blue tick.

'Hello Gwen.' It was the only reply she got from his side.

Gwen sighed and slowly started to type what had been in her mind.

'Are you busy right now? I wanted to ask something.' She asked in her message. Gwen waited for some seconds before her phone beeped signalling his message.

'No. I am simply with your father in his office.' It was the reply from him. Gwen frowned. What did Kevin wanted with her father. Her father was a normal lawyer, albeit he was very successful than his peers though.

Before Gwen could type anything. Another message came to her screen.

'Your father's helping me to avoid the IRS. Before I started the Plumbers job, I gained quite a fortune through some freelancing. He's helping me through the laws." Gwen frowned. She was smart enough to know what freelancing meant. However the type of freelancing Kevin did? It made her frown. There was something shady here.

'I didn't know that freelancing provided fortunes? If it does, I would try the freelancing you do for sure.' Gwen typed with a frown. There was something shady for sure here. She hoped he would drop some more clues. She typed a laughing emoji at last before pressing the send button.

There was half a minute before his reply came.

'It depends. Though I won't advise you doing the same. You are already on the bad side of Forever Knights. You're smart enough to connect the rest of the dots.' It was the mesage from him with a 'Wink' emoji.

'Forever Knights! You're kidding right?' Gwen asked. He was a Plumber. Surely he wasn't working with the Forever Knights. She recalled his message. Perhaps he was an earlier acquaintance of them, before he joined the Plumbers.

There was only a 'Wink' emoji in reply to her words.