Chapter 13 – Trauma

White House, Washington D.C.; February 27th, 2011; 11:02AM.

Max already felt sick to his stomach about leading his own Grandson on in an investigation he had no real knowledge of, even after sending the data from Hunt's phone through the Danger Alert he knew he couldn't bring him any closer to the mission, once again attempting to give him the cold shoulder on what the details of the case were or even what he would use the information for. He was prepared to fade from the scene of their lives once again until they mentioned what had happened that morning to Ben and the mental attack he endured from Vilgax of all people. Max had spent the better part of his late-twenties facing off against the war-lord with Albright, Wes Green, and even Phil but, never managed to finish the job; though, he had never seen Vilgax as powerful as he was when he tried to take the Omnitrix from Ben five years ago. He was clearly using cybernetic enhancement steroids to boost his strength and speed, he knew that Max alone no longer stood a chance but, with his Grandchildren at his side they could finally take him down.

When Ben and Gwen told him that Way Big had chucked Vilgax into deep space after Azmuth shut down the Omnitrix's self-destruct function, he knew that it wouldn't be the last he heard from his old nemesis but, just like the burdens of being tracked by the Government this rivalry with him was passed down only barely skipping a generation. Had he not successfully hidden his past from his two sons, Max might've been in an identical situation only with his teenage son being targeted instead, simply for being related to him.

It was safe to say that Max speed-walked out of the Oval Office and to the Rustbucket using its advanced thrusters to jet back towards New York in less than a few hours, weaving through traffic like a blur with automated algorithms to predict the movement of the surrounding vehicles even at five times the speed-limit. If Vilgax was already using psychic warfare on Ben's mind that meant that his flagship was likely hiding somewhere in their Solar System just out of sight of their deep space radars.

It was anyone's guess at what his next move would be, there's no way for them to effectively go on the offensive so their only option was to prepare for his inevitable assault.

…

Bellwood; New York; February 27th, 2011; 2:15PM.

The giant shutter doors that lead through the quarter-mile tunnel up into the street opened within the Bunker allowing access for the Rustbucket to pull in quickly shutting off the engine, Max stepped out in a hurry only to find Ben and Gwen dancing under the artificial lights hanging from the ceiling above, traditionally the music would be soothing and there would be literal dancing but, in this case the music was a loud rock-band and their movements were a tad more aggressive. The light glimmered off the dust that spread with every connection of four sets of bamboo-sticks, gripping one in either of their hands at any time and using a methodical chain of moments to test their individual reflexes; he was shirtless and in new pair of cargo pants that better fit his new size while she was in a black spaghetti-strap tank-top with matching leggings.

The loud clacking of their strikes connecting at the perfect trajectory was only drowned out by the even louder music that kept them distracted; Max noticed the Keystone that hung alone on a necklace around his Granddaughter's neck which was how she was keeping up with her cousins enhanced speed and strength. He watched as Ben followed the rhythm of strikes until he broke the chain trying to swing at her as she managed to duck under it and blocking the follow up strike with one of her own bamboo sticks, "Nice try," she announced with a smile holding out her defense perfectly as a drop of sweat rolled down her temple. They quickly resumed the strikes clearly not noticing Max's arrival yet through the music and exercise, he folded his arms to watch their display of super-human combat proficiency. This time Gwendolyn had a devious smile on her face, her eyes darting back and forth following the movements of their weapons, matching strike after strike until she lashed out suddenly testing his reflexes by going for strike to the abdomen which he shuffled back just in time to avoid but, failed to bring his defense up before getting smacked across the face with the wooden weapon.

Gwen lowered her bamboo sticks with a wince as she took a step forwards, hitting him with most of her enhanced strength sent his face to the side taking a second or two to recoil back, "Sorry… sorry!" she insisted.

Ben chuckled a bit feeling the sting over his lower lip, she managed to draw a bit of blood but, nothing too serious as he took a look down at his crimson finger tips, "You're getting very… liberal with how hard you hit me with these," they dropped their bamboo to the side casually as she approached him with a concerned smile.

"I'm sorry, love, let me see," Gwendolyn reached her hands up to his cheeks, guiding his chin towards her to look over his lip, brushing her thumb lightly over it as she whispered, "Sanitatem." With a brief glow of her eyes, the tips of her fingers ignited a blue flame-like aura that after grazing the cut, sealed it up in a matter of seconds, "There… better?" leaving her hand cupped around his cheek for a moment, he responded by reaching up to grab her hand on his face with a smile.

"Much better, go again?" Ben challenged her as he glanced down to the sticks still lying on the floor, his dare prompted her to give him a mischievous smile only taking a step closer where her chest pressed up against his.

She used her free hand and ran it through his hair for a moment while her hands were still on his face, Gwen knew he loved the feeling of her fingers slowly caressing his scalp as she dragged it down to the back of his neck, "How about we get a little distracted instead…?" Her hands caressed the back of his head as she looked up into his eyes, he quickly realized they were only inches apart, feeling her breath on his face prompted him to lean in until they both heard an obviously forced cough from the corner.

"Ahem!" Max cleared his throat into his hand looking away with his other hand firmly in his pocket, he watched in his peripheral as they turned suddenly to face their Grandfather; Gwendolyn backed away in embarrassment hoping he hadn't heard what she'd just said.

Ben only chuckled lightly rolling his eyes and fixing his hair with a light heat rising to his cheeks, he approached Max and subsequently the Danger Alert which had his black shirt laid over the high-backed chair, "Hey… Grandpa… you must have sped right over from Washington…" he noted as he passed the man to grab his white-trimmed shirt and slide it over his head.

He raised a brow and gestured to the obvious, looking between the two in a bit of confusion, "You told me Vilgax was coming for you so, of course I came right away, we have to-" Max explained himself as Ben only raised his brow, shrugging it off as he moved towards the Danger Alert's glass keyboard, "Aren't you going to take this seriously?" watching him play with the keys until he stopped.

Ben turned his head to look up at him, his eyes beginning to shine a bit with a green neon energy, "Of course I am…" he said bluntly, returning his gaze to the screen trying his best to maintain his composure, he brought up a deep-space radar identical to the one used by the officials at the White House, "We can't make a move until he makes one first; Gwen said these scans of our Solar System show no activity, and until it does all we can do is… wait for him," he sat back in the leather computer chair as the scans on the screen were enlarged for Max's view.

Gwen had grabbed a bottle of water, taking a long sip to hydrate herself as she approached with a towel around her neck; Max looked over the scans before turning to look her in the eye, "We can still prepare for-"

Ben turned himself in the rotating chair to face his Grandfather with his fingers laced over his abdomen, leaning back to take a breath and respond calmly, "We're already preparing, how do you expect to prepare?" it was a simple question with a not so simple answer, Max looked back to Gwendolyn who raised a brow waiting for a response, "See? You have no idea, just like us…" Ben paused as he cleared his throat to change topics, "It's funny… these new abilities… heightening all of my senses," It sounded like a strange statement until he continued, "I heard you over the phone, your voice and the tone you used, you were ready to ghost us again right after I sent you Hunt's data on the knights." Using his enhanced vision and glowing eyes Ben could see clearly the micro-expressions that people displayed when they lied, felt shame, remorse, or even guilt. He could hear it in their voices even over the phone, making it impossible to deceive him now that he had a better handle on his Omnitrix.

"Ben, I-" Max tried responding with a good explanation but, couldn't come up with one fast enough before he was interrupted by his Grandson once again, the one who was clearly catching on as Gwendolyn only spectated the argument that was clearly brewing.

While Ben didn't emote in any visible way yet, keeping a calm casual smile, his eyes became deeply luminescent reminding her of when he would fight criminals as Max noticed this and felt intimidated by the boy for the first time in his life, "You wanna know what I think?" He asked, continuing without giving him the opportunity to answer, "I think you used me, I think it was a means to an end, just like Santa Mira was just another mission, just like Vilgax is now… If we beat him, you'll disappear again, tell me I'm wrong," His Grandfather's body language told an entire story without uttering a word as he knew he'd just confirmed his suspicions, scanning his expression for the truth.

Ben slowly unlaced his fingers as Max closed his eyes to take a breath, looking down at his black loafers in shame; as he placed his hands on the armrests to push himself up, standing quickly face to face with the man, he'd looked up to since as long as he could remember so it felt a bit strange noticing there was little height gap if any at all. He slowly lost his patience, needing to hear him say it, needing to hear Max say that he was going to abandon them again, "Tell me!" shouting as his eyes lit up bright enough to glare into Max's vision watching the tears watering beneath the surface. Gwendolyn took a step forward to place a hand on his shoulder, calming him just enough so that he settled back a step or two letting his eyes dim slightly.

He gave a long sigh, turning his head as he kept his eyes closed, it was difficult to explain the last fifty-years of decisions that led him to this moment but, there was one truth he could tell, "Every decision I've ever made has been to protect my family, that includes this one…" Max tried to explain finally opening his eyes to plead his case, even turning to Gwen to try and get her support but, she didn't really respond only narrowing her eyes at him, "The people I work for are powerful people, important people, the type of people who would treat you just like they treat Kevin."

Gwendolyn responded audibly for the first time but, looking up at Ben instead of into Max's eyes as she spoke, still clearly directing her attention at the older man though, "People more important than your own family?" Even though Ben stared back into his Grandfather's shameful eyes for her, she couldn't keep herself from turning to face him after a short pause, "And I thought you said we were out of danger last year? When we finished that mess at the Hatchery for you," Ben had almost forgotten what it was like to hear her give a scornful attitude to someone whose wellbeing she wasn't totally concerned with. It was relieving to know she still had his back and shared his concerns in this debate.

Another question crossed his mind as he remembered just how strong willed and caring his role model had always been with them, with everyone, "Who has enough power and influence in the world to make you 'afraid' enough to lie to our faces and use us a-as… as weapons?" Ben folded his arms as a single tear rolled down his left cheek, clutching the sides of the shirt Gwen had gifted him, "You said that was what you were trying to protect me from but, instead you're only making it easier for them!" he shouted with a gesture to the Bunker around them, the ceiling above their heads and the computer sitting on his desk, all of which was gifted to them by Max, "You gave us this base knowing we would use it to fight crime and not because you cared but, because it was another mission you needed to complete."

"Now that's not-" Max was stone walled as his Granddaughter was the one to interrupt him this time.

Gwen repeated his first question as she took a step forward away from Ben, wanting a straight answer, "Who's your commanding officer?" not taking her glare off his eyes until she heard a legitimate response.

He sighed and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck as he allowed all the answers to come to light, being honest was his only play now, "Right now, I lead the Plumber's Earth division as Magistratus and answer directly to the President of the United States…" Max gave a long exasperated sigh, trying to make them understand as best he could while their expressions were still shocked that he was answering to the very Government that he claimed wanted to kidnap and dissect them. "This is all my fault, I sold my soul to these people years ago, now I'm only doing my best to do damage control; you two were doomed the moment you set foot in the Rustbucket that summer… the watch was meant for me when Xylene ejected it from her ship," running a hand through his thin grey head of hair no longer held the sensations of relief it once did, finding his hairline receding more every year.

Ben chuckled for a moment through the tears, not breaking eye contact, "You're right," he started calmly letting the chuckle subside, "This is all your fault, and I can more than forgive you for that Summer and even the President gunning for me," as another rolled down from his right eye this time, the emerald light glistened brighter through them as Gwen tried reaching up to dry it before being redirected away gently as he took a step into Max's close quarters, "I don't think I'll ever trust you again after the way you lied to us, manipulated us into doing his dirty work… we trusted you…" pointing directly into the center of his Hawaiian shirt for emphasis.

"Listen, son, I can't express how sorry I am-" Ben interrupted him for a final time, looking down for a second as he heard what Grandpa called him and regained his composure to look into his eyes.

His eyes still shun but, he calmed himself with breathing techniques that Tetrax had taught him, "I want you to leave, Max…" it was almost a totally foreign sound hearing his Grandson refer to him by his first name, it was something he'd never done before. Not once since the day Max held him in his arms at the hospital after his son passed him over, he remembered the same emerald eyes that looked at him with shame and disgust, after fifteen years his eyes hadn't changed. No amount of glowing could change the pain Max felt to see those eyes hurt so badly because of him no less.

Grandpa could only shake his head in shame and rub the back of his neck again, left slightly speechless, taking a step back as he glanced at his mobile home, "What about Vilgax?" he questioned as Ben gave him a fake half-smile for the sake of curtsy, the lights in his eyes died out taking in another deep breath while Gwendolyn rubbed his upper back lightly.

He wiped his own tears with his wrists, sniffling ever so slightly before responding, "Greymatter and Brainstorm can handle any strategy you could think of; Gwen knows the Danger Alert like the back of her hand, I think we'll be fine…" Ben answered with a calm composure, "Now, leave," he demanded again pointing at the Rustbucket, this time still controlling his emotions as his girlfriend had been teaching him to do, coupled with the training he'd gotten from Tetrax, he managed to avoid lashing out.

Max nodded and backed away, shoving his hands into his pockets as he sauntered back over to his mobile home as Gwen looked him in the eye, feeling his shame and guilt with her emapthy never made it easy but, she had to sympathize somehow, "Look, just go for now, I think it's better if we deal with this without you here…" Ben knew she would always try to keep the peace in her family, no matter how bad things got so, it didn't bother him that she softened the blow a bit for him. He turned and placed his hands firmly on the chair with his back facing them, looking up at the monitors aimlessly.

"I understand, pumpkin, whatever happens know I love you both," Max spoke to her but, announced it to Ben as well spite him facing the Danger Alert and not responding; he opened the door and stepped into the drivers seat, slowly pulling out of the single parking space vanishing into the tunnel.

Ben didn't turn around, instead Gwen watched him press a single button on the keyboard, slowly shutting the garage door behind the exiting vehicle with a prompted beeping sound. He paused taking another breath as he closed his eyes and reopened them without a twinge of green energy behind his already emerald pupils; "So," he cleared his throat as she came and placed a hand on his shoulder from behind, trying to get an honest reaction out of him, "Vilgax is going to try and target the Omnitrix, especially now that he can't get into my head anymore."

"Are you okay?" Gwendolyn asked tightening her reassuring hand over his shoulder, watching him as he ignored his feelings and pushed them down, just like he had done with his nightmares, "You shouldn't worry about that just yet, take a minute to breath…" he looked back into her eyes and she could see him considering taking a moment before looking away in deep thought.

Ben turned away suddenly as he shrugged her hand off his shoulder, "No, I should stay on task, Tetrax always said that over exerting your emotions only clouds your judgement, I can't afford that with Vilgax," he grabbed the black and white windbreaker off the hook on the wall nearby, throwing it over his shoulder as his arms slipped through the sleeves, "Vilgax doesn't just plan on taking the watch this time, he just wants to hurt me as badly as he can."

Gwen scoffed at his response, folding her arms, scowling at the back of his head, "Tetrax is also a double-agent mercenary made entirely of cold-crystals; you aren't, you're only human… no matter how many different forms you take," she took a few steps forwards, stopping him from walking away as she rounded him to stand in front of him, and look him in the eyes, "You have to feel, if not for your own sake, do it for me?" without tearing her entrapped gaze from his, she reached out and wrapped her hands with his pulling the four sets of fingers together.

Ben pulled away after a few seconds and turned around, looking around at the Bunker around him for a moment, he chuckled almost as though he was starting to go insane; he was realizing that the entire base would need to be scrubbed for bugs, who knows what the President saw or heard going on in here. He couldn't be sure because the man he was supposed to trust unconditionally had lied to face for months. Gwen could feel the anger, the rage, the fever that turns good men… cruel starting to brew and broil beneath the surface of his emotions. His fists tightened by his side, keeping the light from engulfing his eyes by breathing, sending a mental command to his Omnitrix as the dial popped displaying the Kineceleran form once again realizing exactly why Ben Ten Thousand spent so much time as the speedster.

"No… No, I think a little conversation with the President is long overdue, don't you?" He asked rhetorically not actually expecting any serious answer, she grew even more concerned when he reached for the watch, pressing down on the dial slowly with his palm as the energy instantly engulfed him in an explosion of light.

"Ben, don't…" Gwendolyn spoke slowly glancing back at her Charms being too far to reach before turning back to him as his tail slithered behind him, "You can't just run into the White House beating down on whoever you want! Please, just listen…" she tried to follow him but, he didn't let her come close as the rage radiated off him in powerful waves, never having sensed this much anger in him before gave her chills.

"Just watch me," XLR8 rushed out of the room in a blur of black and white, phasing through any obstructions, and leaving nothing but a gust of wind to force Gwen's eyes shut as she shouted out to him in the seconds after he vanished.

"Wait! No!"

…

White House, Washington D.C.; February 27th, 2011; 3:02PM.

After only one or two minutes of traveling at mach eighteen, the speedster tore through the asphalt road that led up to the tall metal gates surrounding the White House's perimeter; stopping suddenly, almost appearing out of thin air, as he looked up at the large American flag that swayed in the wind from the top of the building, he narrowed his eyes at it under his faceplate before running through the security gates. He made it up the stairs and through the front doors, stopping in the entrance hall as the guards only just noticed his presence due to his immense speed.

"Freeze!" "Down on the ground!" "Don't move!" Shouting erupted from the four or five suited guards wearing identical ear-pieces and pointing their standard issue glocks at him; he sped up his senses so that his perception of time slowed down the moment to a crawl even as they open fired on him. XLR8 lifted his visor to walk around them, watching as the explosions slowly went off in each gun's barrel, launching five bullets into the air appearing to be in slow-motion for him.

He used his three reptilian claws to move the bullets that moved only a few centimeters every second slightly in midair, redirecting them into certain trajectories before moving on, leaving the room as their own perspectives told a different story. One second they were firing on a target that was clearly in front of them and the next they all had bullets in their upper shoulders or lower thighs and their target was gone. Five men dropping to the ground and groaning loudly in pain watched a green flash of light explode from hallway around the corner, "H-He's here! He's in the building!" One of the men shouted through the pain as he pressed his finger up against his clear plastic earpiece. This was clearly a situation they had been prepared for beforehand, obviously not prepared enough but, that meant this was expected at one point or another.

Ben strutted through the hall in his human form, walking up the main stairs being approached by two guards from the top of the stairs, responding to their downed partners call for help, they quickly aimed their guns and fired but, only hit the red velvet stairs behind him as he side stepped their one or two shots. Getting into proximity, he grabbed one of their guns by the barrel, redirecting it up towards the ceiling where two more shots were fired pushing the man stumbling back. Ben grabbed the man by his tie with his free hand, tearing the gun from his grip and launching it behind him directly at the second guard's forehead who couldn't get a clean shot without hitting his partner in the first place. This stunned him long enough for the shapeshifter to turn back around in the same motion jabbing the unarmed guard in the throat with an open palm-strike, choking backwards and grasping at his neck.

Two more guards entered the room but, suffered from the same dilemma of not having a clean shot to be able to hit Ben without gunning down one of their own men; they tried their best to take aim but, failed as he yanked on the tie he still held, gripping the man by the shirt and tossing him through the air sideways with monstrous strength. His body hit the first stunned guard horizontally, sending them both tumbling down the flight of stairs. The other guards took this opportunity to fire their weapons sending out three bullets each, three out of the six would have made contact in spite of his reflexes had Ben not used the Omnitrix as a bullet-proof gauntlet, it was practically indestructible after all. He noticed the sparks fly in front of his face, even as he sprinted forwards and used his physical advantages to grab the first man's head and smash it through a decorative wooden table holding a vase of flowers which also shattered.

The second guard turned his gun to aim directly at the side of Ben's head but, before the barrel reached his temple, he'd already grabbed a hold of it using superior strength to twist his wrist, breaking bone as if it were made of glass. He tumbled to his knees, shouting before the shapeshifter punched him once in the nose sending him onto his back. As he fell unconscious, Ben stepped over him with conviction and into the next corridor that led to the Oval Office, four men approached with hand-held tasers as the hall was now too narrow to use their lethal weaponry without risking a ricochet.

He ducked under a swing that should have tased his neck but, instead quickly grabbing the man's wrist and forcing it back into his own chest, causing him to convulse for a second or two before twisting and breaking the arm tearing away the taser. Ben took the weapon and blocked a swing with his forearm, locking their arms so that he could tase the guard in the chest for nearly a full ten seconds also using his body to keep the final armed security away. He dropped him to the side and turned to roundhouse-kick the third man stunned by his display of combat, the force of Ben's foot hitting the mans ribs sent him nearly a foot off the floor, hitting a decorative painting and shattering the dry wall behind it. The third man wielded a knife, swinging down as Ben responded bobbing to the left and then to the right avoiding a follow up swing. The last slash would have been fatal as he ducked under a slice to the neck, being that he was trying to lethally injure the intruder, Ben didn't feel guilty catching the next swing breaking his wrist and forcing the knife to the ground. As he writhed in pain, he was interrupted when his head was gripped by one hand and bashed into the wall repeatedly until the man fell over onto his side, unconscious.

Ben walked uninterrupted for nearly a minute as his boots made a distinctive sound on the carpet before reaching the double doors that would give him access to the Oval Office itself; he flooded all of his anger into his strength and kicked the locked wooden double-doors open, swinging off the hinges forcibly. He faced six men all identical to the Secret Service that he'd already taken out outside, all pointing their guns at him while the President sat confidently at his desk. Folding his hands over his desk neatly, feeling as though he had the upper hand, he acted totally nonchalantly even as forces filed in from behind Ben.

He took a step forwards into the room and the only reason they didn't try turning the boy into swiss-cheese was because they had orders to fire only on the President's say-so, "If it isn't the Shifter, is that what they're calling you?" the man sitting at the desk asked with a professional demeanor, his suit was pressed without a single wrinkle, his American flag pin was at the perfect angle, not seeming at all intimidated by him, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Ben saw the obvious overconfidence the man was presenting and reacted only by accessing the power in the core of his Omnimatrix, the one he could access now with his mind. Being a complex inter-galactic tool with many different applications, he was able to use its own self-defense mechanism that utilized a bio-energy feedback to repel anyone trying to force the watch from its wearer. However, he instead harnessed that raw kinetic power and simply lifted his left wrist up, flashing them his watch slowly before quickly dropping to punch the ground at his feet with the power of the bio-energy feed back surging around him. Along with bolts of emerald lightning striking the office at random, surging around his forearm and across the skin of his arm, a mostly invisible shockwave omnidirectionally knocked every guard off their feet, even sending one of them through the window behind the resolute desk.

The President managed to stay clung to his desk by hiding behind it, though his lamp, computer, and a number of files were scattered across the room; leaving the men unconscious or incapacitated allowed Ben to cross the room slowly, stepping over men and crushing a glock beneath his boot. He placed both hands on the desk and looked into the President's eyes, noticing that his own eyes were glowing bright neon from the reflection in the man's glasses, he didn't care about controlling his emotions right now, all he cared about was wiping that smug look off his face.

"Hi," Ben spoke slowly and clearly with an intimidating smile, as calmly as he could manage, "I'd like a word if you don't mind…" he looked back at the men recoiling in the door way, attempting to retake aim, before glancing into his eyes again noticing the chill rising from the back of his neck and the slight gulp he took before responding.

"This could be considered treason, young man, you'd better remember with whom you're speaking…" he tried holding his position over the boy but, he'd had just about enough of people telling him what to do.

Ben chuckled and spoke as he trailed off, trying not to damage the desk with his grip, "You took the words right outta my mouth," he lifted his left wrist and showed the watch to the most important official in the Country up close, letting it shine into his face, "I'm Ben Tennyson, wielder of the most powerful device in the Universe… I've defeated Vilgax the Conqueror in hand to hand combat as a child and I've taken down the Forever Knights more times than I can count…" he lowered his arm and planted his palm back down on the resolute desk looking deeply into the mans eyes, gripping the desk any tighter would split the wood, "Here's what's going to happen next, you're going to stop hunting, using, or otherwise interfering in my life or my cousins."

The President sat back and raised his brow, taking a nervous breath of his own, he was curious as to what threats he had in mind, "Or what?" he eagerly awaited the boys ultimatum as he felt he still had some leverage over the situation but, feeling powerful was part of his job and these were very unique circumstances.

"Or you're going to regret it for the rest of your very short life…" Ben announced confidently as he narrowed his radiant green eyes, almost glowing as brightly as they did when he was transformed, encompassing even the whites in his eyes with light.

The President wasn't shocked at his response but, took his glasses off slowly and placed them on the desk before folding his hands together neatly noticing the energy pulsating from his eyes, "You realize this could be considered an act of war, don't you? You don't really want to be considered an enemy of the state, do you? Excommunicated from the United States?" he raised his own brow for confirmation but, only received an enraged chuckle in response, holding back much of his fury with a calm demeanor.

"You need me, you need my powers, you can pretend to be strong all you want, but if you ever touch my cousin or I…" Ben reassured him as his watch illuminated just as brightly as his eyes, humming as he narrowed his eyes looking into the President's glare with a smile, "I will not stop until I tear your entire world apart."

The President sighed as the adolescent seemed to be serious but, being one of the most powerful Government officials in the world did still leave him a few cards to play, and extensive knowledge on political debates of this nature. "Have you ever heard of the term mutually assured destruction? It's the main reason the Cold War went on for so long… and it's the singular reason why you can't beat your way into my building just because you feel like it."

Ben leaned back and folded his arms over his chest with a chuckle, the dial popped suddenly and gave a unqiue sounding hum as the dial spun landing on XLR8's silhouette again all while he stared down at the seated official, "Sir, with all due respect, I could bring this entire corrupted system down on top of your head without ever shedding a drop of blood," he quickly slapped the watch and transformed forcing the President to flinch back for an instant as XLR8's faceplate opened allowing him to look the man in the eyes, "I hold more power than any nuclear bomb ever tested in the palms of my… claws," he finished his sentence with hesitation realizing he didn't have hands or palms anymore, he refocused on his point, "Stay away from my family or else we're going to have serious problems…" not attempting to control his speed at all when he slid the faceplate back down and dashed from the room, the desk was the only thing still standing as his speed created a sonic-boom that echoed in their ears.

The President took a deep breath as he looked down to his hands that were shaking, slightly frightened but only because of the physical danger he was in at that moment; he stood and picked up his glasses from the floor as he walked around the desk, noticing a trail of flames on the carpet from the alien's raw speed leaving the room to eventually trigger the fire alarm sprinklers.

As he was drenched in cold water from above, a half dozen men in suits entered the room with ear-pieces, "I've got eyes on the President, he's safe, I repeat he's safe," He slipped into deep thought as he let the chatter of the other guards and officials doing their jobs drown out around him. Clenching his fist at his side glaring at the exit Ben had left through, he interrupted the people around him cutting through their conversation which he had no interest in, "I want the anti-vigilante legislation on my desk in the next forty-eight hours…" The President announced fixing his tie and straightening his flag-pin, the boy was far out of his depth clearly not realizing there was more than one way to wage war.

…

Bellwood; New York; February 27th, 2011; 3:35PM.

XLR8 still didn't even attempt to maintain his speed, traveling from Washington to Bellwood in under thirty seconds as he left a trench in the asphalt road for dozens of miles, carving it with his wheeled-feet, until he entered his city, only slowing down to still tens of times faster than sound; shattering the windows of every car lining the block that lead to the Bunker without care, nobody could see him pass through the streets.

Gwendolyn was searching Washington D.C. with the Danger Alert but, even the super-computer couldn't process the Kineceleran's speed as a clap of thunder alerted her to his imminent arrival before the software could even load the Omnitrix's location. She had dried herself off and dressed herself in her blue blouse, replacing her leggings for jeans as she spun around in the rotating computer chair. Waiting the few precious seconds before he inevitably phased through the wall, rushing down into the base through the tunnel and stopping his momentum with impressive control, sending a small shockwave through the room. Kneeling on the training mat with a huff, his arrival sent four training dummies off the ground, knocking them over still breathing heavily; she stood only as he transformed back into his human form, the explosion of light left him with his fist planted on the mat still knelt on one knee.

The first thing Gwen felt permeating around him was rage, pouring out from him in immensely painful waves, painful for him and only a serious concern for her; she needed to find a way to help him, approaching slowly as he stood, "B-Ben? You okay? You didn't do anything crazy, did you?" she asked as he was only gone for fifteen or twenty minutes, it was unclear if that was enough time to do something he'd regret.

Even as she spoke, he seemed lost in his own thoughts as he responded slowly, almost as if he wasn't totally paying attention; his mind was racing a thousand miles a minute, even with his physical enhancements there was too much to consider at once, "Nothing that they wont cover up from the media…" he muttered turning to the Danger Alert while barely noticing her, almost passing her entirely to walk towards it as she grabbed his arm, still wearing her Keystone. Her extra strong grip stirred him from his stupor for a moment, shaking his head to look down into her eyes, the pressure he felt on his proverbial shoulders was almost unfathomable and she could feel it tearing him apart from within, eating him alive, "We should focus on getting a location on the Chimera Hammer, Vilgax cant hide in his flagship forever…" he noted with his attention still on the monitors.

Gwendolyn grabbed his hands and pulled him in, his eyes darting away from a concerned glare, her pupils practically sparkling for him like genuine emeralds, "Ben… look at me," she asked as he slowly turned his eyes towards the jewels to try and focus, "Breathe… Vilgax can wait, you need to calm down and… and let out this pressure… talk to me, please?" her voice cooed and he couldn't help but silently swoon at the sound of her plea.

Ben scoffed with a chuckle at first, regaining his senses but not pulling away, not responding until he looked back at where the Rustbucket had been parked earlier that afternoon, "I don't…" noticing as he glanced back that she wasn't going to say anything until he responded and that her stare was starting to look more concerned the longer the pause became. He took a breath where he exhaled deeply, the bright energy in his eyes quickly returned against his control with tears beginning to well up around his pupils, "H-How could he do that to us?" Ben finally asked referring to Max as the neon energy totally consumed his eyes once again, letting tears wash down his cheeks like a coursing river, "He used us to destroy, to fight; he perverted the idea of being a hero… I don't know who to trust anymore…" he dropped his hands and pulled Gwendolyn in suddenly by her waist causing her to gasp lightly. Digging his face into her shoulder, his tears running into her shirt as her own eyes watered a bit, reciprocating by rubbing his upper back to console him, "He used me, he pointed me like a gun and slapped a target on whoever the President didn't like, he used me as a weapon."

Gwen was so used to him being the strong one out of the two, if these last two years of fighting crime taught her anything it was that he took his cities safety and the safety of the people in it seriously, he always took the lead and had more experience in combat; he always seemed so invincible that it was almost a bit reassuring to know he was still a human underneath all of that power. She ran her hand up his spine and into his hair, slowly trying to sooth him with the movement of her fingers caressing his head, "You've been focusing too much on being a hero and not enough time on being a person, maybe you should take some time away from Shifter and focus on being Ben Tennyson…" slowly pulling back so that his gaze could rise, looking up into her eyes as his head still faced the floor, "The guy I fell in love with, not this thing your becoming," taking his chin with her index finger and pulling his gaze up to meet hers directly, even though the light from his eyes glared into her own.

"V-Vilgax…" Ben turned around to face the Danger Alert as it still monitored the deep-space radar but, before he could finish his thought, Gwen used the hand already touching his chin to draw back his attention to her eyes.

"-Can wait until tomorrow, after school… you need time to think without all of this pressure and anxiety, you need rest," she finished as her lips curved into a smile as she watched his body language accept her request before even responding, conceding to her demands, "You and I are going to go to your house, lay in bed, eat lots of junk food, and listen to some music…" Ben nodded slowly still sniffling a bit, his Omnitrix core popped open at will but before he could lift his forearm to touch the watch, she stopped him by putting a gentle hand on his, "And no aliens… not today… the walk isn't that bad and you could use some real fresh air."

Ben nodded again just as slowly as she watched him control the device, the humming-whine that usually sounded at a consistent frequency slowly dimmed as the dial twisted back down into the slowly-growing gauntlet; she locked his arm with hers and looked into his eyes prompting him to speak, "I love you, you know that don't you?"

Gwendolyn recoiled a tad in confusion, as if it were a silly question to ask, "Of course I do, I love you too…" she could feel vividly the relief her words brought him, as he settled into her arm with a half-smile, pressing his lips against her cheek lightly as he looked over her face… her cute button nose and lightly freckled cheeks, bright green eyes that could make him melt with a simple change of her expression, "How did I get so lucky?"

She giggled a bit, covering her smile with her hand before responding, pulling on their locked arms to step closer with a grin, "My doofus cousin leant me his jacket one cold October night…" he pulled her in for a sweet kiss, slow and passionate but, lasting only a few seconds before she laughed a bit, stepping back towards the door as he was pulled by her hands laced with his, "C'mon, we should get going now."

…

Bellwood; New York; February 28th, 2011; 10:55AM.

Ben sat calmly as he stared down at an opened textbook out on his desk, one identical to the twenty or so desks and books around him with teens his age all sitting in rows around him, one of the students read a passage out loud as the others were supposed to follow along, though, a string of students were obviously not paying that much attention; some hiding their phones to check texts or play games, others trying to whisper so that the teacher couldn't hear them from across the room. However, Ben simply stared down at the writing in the book without reading a word, tapping his pencil impatiently, waiting in deep thought as he still processed everything that happened the day prior.

The afternoon was a nice one that certainly succeeded at taking his mind off his problems with Grandpa and Vilgax, however, he felt them rush back to him the moment he opened his eyes this morning; he couldn't run from the future forever. He had nonchalantly walked Gwendolyn to most of her classes, even though she knew her way around at this point, it was still habit for him. Even though they made certain to keep themselves plutonic in public, It was still all he was really waiting for, to see her again so that he could hold her in his arms tenderly… to hear her soft voice sooth his nerves, or her hands caressing his hair; lunch was soon and they got brief moments together in empty stairwells and frankly he lived for those few minutes. It was the only reason he felt it necessary to go to school in the first place, because she cared about studying, it prompted him to be motivated to follow in her footsteps, just to be by her side along the way. Gwendolyn was already considering sending applications Ivy League Universities, he was no slouch but, he needed to get his grades up so that he could attend the same school with her.

Ben continued tapping his pencil in deep thought until the ground shook beneath his feet causing him to accidently drop his pencil, letting it clatter on the ground as the book slowly vibrated against the table, the rest of the room going silent, everyone looking around noticing the next quake shaking the walls. Ben tightened his fist and looked towards the door, there were no windows so the only way out was through the single entrance but, he still tried to stay calm until they all heard a clear explosion from another building in the campus. Now it couldn't be a natural disaster… it had to be an attack of some sort, either way he needed to find Gwen and get a better look.

Some of them shouted at first as the building quaked and drywall dust fell from the ceilings, the power went out leaving only the emergency lights to leave the room dim; the teacher tried to remain calm as she shouted at the students talking amongst themselves in a chattering panic, "Calm down! Everyone exit the room in an orderly fashion!" she tried instructing however, they all stampeded for the door first in a moment Ben was very lucky to have his extra strength as he shoved anyone aside that was in his way, just enough to get through the crowd and into the hallway filled with smoke, "Out of the building! Out of the building!" she shouted again as they were juxtaposed to the exit that seemed clear while the other end of the hall was shrouded in smoke.

Ben bolted from the crowd, even as his teacher shouted at him, he vanished into the smoke sprinting down the corridor through to the entrance to the campus courtyard, a quick glance around was all he needed to see that he was surrounded by six floating drones targeting the signal on his wrist. They were maroon colored with crimson trim, Vilgax's signature robotic minions that appeared as flying saucers until thin mechanical limbs sprouted, firing crimson beams at him. He vaulted out of the way as he noticed most of the courtyard had been cleared, this attack was clearly meant for him, landing in the grass with a roll and slapping his Omnitrix with the exact form he was thinking of popping up on the faceplate shrouded him in a green-light.

Heatblast stood tall, forming a dome of flames around himself as the energy-beams that were fired from the drones above were overwhelmed by its heat, he swiped his hands down as the dome expanded and fried anything it touched forcing the drones to float up and away to avoid being melted, "I'm totally getting blamed for this…" he noted as he looked around at the melted railing, doorframe, and the radius of burnt grass around him. He noticed a CCTV security camera pointing directly at him from behind and likely watched him change, taking his time to fire a single beam of concentrated heat from his finger into the lens forcing it to explode, "I'm sure it couldn't hurt to add that to the bill."

Heatblast dipped his head to the side without looking avoiding a beam that struck the wall of the building behind him, blowing a hole in it to an empty classroom, before turning on a dime with an outstretched palm taking another beam effortlessly as it exploded over him doing no damage but, leaving a small smokescreen floating around him. From within the smoke an explosion of light signified the six-foot-tall appearance of Eyeguy, using his multiple optical receptors to see all of his opponents at the same time, "Now eye I can see you all," he used an eye on his left and right palms to simultaneously fire emerald beams of energy through two of the drones as he dodged a red-blast that carved the dirt behind him by leaping forwards, rolling to a kneeling position where he fired a third beam from both hands into the drone that just fired on him, destroying it.

Jumping into the air above them with enhanced agility, he landed on one of the floating mechanical monstrosities keeping himself in the air and confusing the remaining two drones as they fired and Eyeguy leaped up watching them friendly fire on the drone before blasting the remaining two with a beam of ice from a collection of pupils on his left hand all in mid-air.

He landed on his feet, adjusting to his surroundings with multiple different perspectives, Eyeguy realized he had taken out the drones but, there were only the six and no sign of Vilgax or his ship; he took a glance around at some of the screaming kids evacuating the school and noticed someone else missing, Gwendolyn. He tapped his Omnitrix and transformed into XLR8 allowing his faceplate to shut quickly as he zipped off through the courtyard, he moved at top speed checking every hall and every class in just a second before reaching her class, the one she was supposed to be in when he first heard the explosions go off. It was obvious that something had blown a hole in the wall to the room, there was shattered glass and rubble scattered over the floors but, no sign of her.

"Vilgax…" He muttered to himself in a raspy voice as he heard sirens blaring from the distance, knowing he needed to get back to the base and try to track her cellphone first before doing anything else, he couldn't stay any longer unless he wanted to answer questions for the investigators that will inevitably arrive. Vanishing from sight before he could be spotted, he rushed to the Bunker as quickly as he could, finding that XLR8 had more stamina than he gave credit to.

Phasing through anything in his way, XLR8 dashed into the room at astonishing speeds but, this time controlled it all as he sat in the control-chair for the Danger Alert system; only transforming back into his human form once he was sitting and typing away as the radar now showed the Chimera Hammer, Vilgax's flag-ship, in orbit above them between Earth and its Moon. Ben quickly looked through cell-phone signals, isolating hers and tracking it as it clearly led off world. It was obvious to him now what had happened, it was a distraction ploy for Vilgax to capture Gwen, just then the giant shutter doors to the garage opened automatically but, he didn't look back at the Rustbucket pulling in quickly… he only took a note to reminded himself to change the security codes for the base.

Grandpa Max stepped out of the vehicle and shut the door behind him, "I saw the report about the attack on your school, are you alright…?" he looked around as Ben didn't answer, simply staring down at the keyboard on the silver desk as the man approached from behind, "Where's Gwen?" he glanced around.

"He has her…"

"Well, what are we waiting for? We have to-" Max was about to panic when Ben had an outburst first, far louder and more violent than his.

That question caused him to snap, pounding his fists into the steel-top table, denting it before quickly flipping it onto the ground out of pure rage which shattered the glass keyboard but, left the monitors on the wall untouched, "Agh!" he shouted just to relieve the pressure building in his chest, "There is no we, not anymore!" he shouted as he turned in frustration, causing the older man to take a step or two back almost in fear.

Max was confused, he knew they had a fight but, it couldn't have been this bad, to the point where he would deny decades of experience dealing with Vilgax when the woman he claimed to care about was in danger, "This is your cousin we're talking about, my Granddaughter, what's wrong with you?"

Ben took a deep breath to calm himself as his eyes shun brightly again, glowing neon as he turned to face Grandpa, another deep breath allowed him to calm his composure enough to speak, "To do what I do with the Omnitrix takes conviction," Max nodded understanding that part all too well but, Ben continued, "But, more often than not it takes the will to do whats ugly…" he unconsciously reached for the scars that plainly ran up his arms, before slowly grasping the watch just to hold it, "Every time I do that… every time I transform I'm trading away little pieces of myself." Max never could have imagined the type of pressure Ben was dealing with, nor could he comprehend how someone his age handled that pressure without snapping entirely, leaving him speechless for a moment, the changeling looked down and kicked a bit of the glass keyboard scattered at his feet, "So," he looked back up with tears running down his cheeks through the emerald light, his voice almost cracking, "You asked whats wrong with me… t-that's whats wrong, because that part I'm trading away is Ben Tennyson and… lately it feels like all I have left is the Shifter," he turned away now having explained why it hurt so badly to be betrayed and lied to for years, used as a weapon, it wasn't just a game he could play.

Max sighed and rounded the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort, family would always still be family as tears streamed down the boys cheeks, the man took a seat just to process what he'd heard for a brief moment before speaking up, "Let me be frank with you, son, I think your full of crap…" this drew his attention down to the sitting man that stared up at him, even into his glowing eyes, "You've convinced yourself that everything you've been through these last five years took away your humanity but, I believe it's because of your humanity that you made it through. Benjamin, you wouldn't have survived much less come out the other end a hero… someone who wants to do good in the world, if you didn't have a light inside of you," with all of his new abilities he could also see the sincerity and honesty, the genuine concern and remorse he expressed as he gave his Grandson that speech.

Ben processed it for a moment, before the monitors on the wall beside them flickered on without being prompted, obviously being accessed remotely with highly advanced alien technology; the screen was static for several seconds before revealing Gwen shackled to the ground relatively unharmed, clearly in his ship which he remembered all too well. He took several steps toward the screen as glass crunched under his sneakers, and the camera panned to face Vilgax's face breathing heavily into his respirator as he spoke.

"This is between you and I, Vilgax, let her go and fight me face to face!" Ben shouted up at the screens as he didn't visibly respond, only blowing pressurized steam from his respirator.

"You will arrive at the coordinates sent to your primitive system by me or she will die by my hands within the hour; I told you I would tear all you care for away from you but, first I'm going to make you suffer before you watch me drive a blade through her chest," Vilgax's raspy growl wasn't unfamiliar as he spoke a notification pinged on the opposing monitor with location data that Ben memorized on sight, "Come alone or she dies on sight," without time to argue, the feed cut off leaving him to huff as he turned around approaching the exit.

Max quickly stood from the seat, pushing himself up seemed to get harder each and every day, following after Ben who dialed through his aliens by hand out of nervous habit, "Wait, what do you plan to do?" he stopped and looked up, turning to face Grandpa with an expression that obviously meant he had an idea.

"I'm going to end this…" Ben lifted his left forearm as he looked deeply into the emerald light, he accessed the genetic codes within the watch establishing a psychic connection to its databanks command combinations, "Access: Master-Control," the dial popped suddenly as the dial twisted on its own cycling through his already active playlist of twenty or more heroes, each pass of a silhouette was coupled by a unique sounding beep until it stopped suddenly, settling while still illuminated.

Max gulped a bit as the teen exploded in a flash of green energy instantly without even touching the watch, appearing as a black-suited velociraptor with white trim and a long tail; "For what it's worth… that was a good speech," he vanished in yet another burst of speed that nearly blew the man back a step, barely noticing him phase through the building out of sight, leaving him to his thoughts.

…

Keystone; South Dakota; February 28th, 2011; 12:15PM.

XLR8 arrived on a grassy hill in the middle of a forest clearing, about a mile of tall greenery in every direction; scanning the area with enhanced senses, he noticed it was quiet and the only thing he could hear was a low whistle of the breeze moving through the trees. It was only a few seconds after his arrival that a crimson teleportation beam shot down from orbit materializing the fifteen-foot tall conqueror onto the ground, cracking the earth with his cybernetic-feet and armored weight. He held a crimson energy chain tightened thoroughly around his fingers which tugged on the collar strapped around Gwendolyn's neck, her mascara was running from tears and her shirt was tattered as if she put up a struggle of some sort, at the school most likely, though he couldn't see any blood which was a good sign for the most part.

"When I learned you held genuine affection for this creature, it was almost vomit inducing however, I found myself the perfect way to exact my vengeance on you for the years I spent trapped in the depths of space!" He pulled her leash forcing her to her knees with an involuntary squeal, scraping her knees even through the jeans she wore as she simply glanced up at XLR8 in shame for being captured, fear of what Vilgax might do, total horrified by what Ben might have to do as her eyes begged him for help with tears beginning to run down her cheeks again.

XLR8 didn't hesitate to transform via thought with an emerald flash, emerging as Fourarms who flashed his fangs in rage that Gwen could feel even from their distance and in her condition. He cracked all sixteen of his knuckles before rotating his neck with a multitude of cracking through-out. Vilgax pounded the ground at his feet with the leashed hand, digging the energy restraint into the ground several feet, keeping her pinned to the ground as she was now forced to spectate the battle. She stood and pulled but, none of her magic would work after the blow to the head she took earlier, she could hardly stand totally, "S-Sana Sui!" she announced using a basic self-healing spell to recover her stamina slowly with a faded blue aura around her. Gwendolyn glanced over towards the ensuing battle as Fourarms and Vilgax stared each other down, gulping as she tried to pull harder on the restraint.

Vilgax the Conqueror approached the hero of Earth with hydraulic noises sounding audibly with every thundering step forwards. It was daunting to see that Vilgax was already two or three feet taller than he was even in his Tetramand form, a species bred for combat.

The villains curved a smile at the hero's frustration as Fourarms' rage got the better of him, causing him to jump forwards first being too slow to avoid a right-cross to the chin even with four guards, reversing the momentum of his jump, and sending him back first into the ground, digging a trench in the dirt with his body. Vilgax flashed his crimson eyes, unimpressed so far by Ben's improvement over the years, this only angered the Tetramand even more as he fixed his jaw and got back to his feet, rolling over to avoid two beams of heat from his eyes that followed him, carving into the ground where he sat before he back flipped to avoid it. It was a new ability that he didn't have five years ago but, nothing he wasn't prepared for. Taking this opportunity, Fourarms transformed again in a flash of blinding light hitting the tyrant in the abdomen with a cascading blast of rainbow-energy, pushing him back on his heels with a new alien he'd never seen Ben use before. Chromastone made his advance into close quarters, giving him the opening that he needed to land a right-left cross combination, crystal fists punching his armored respirator, before being uppercutted upwards by his opponent.

Vilgax grabbed his ankle before he could be sent too far up by his punch and yanked him down, slamming him into the ground back first and putting a small crater into the dirt keeping his hand wrapped around his ankle. Chromastone tried to get free and fired a beam of energy from the crystal-horn on his head in retaliation but, it took only one clawed hand to deflect it as he used the other to swing him sideways into through the air, tumbling into the grass and landing face first in the dirt.

"I swear it, you will suffer immeasurably for the transgressions you've committed, past and present," Vilgax fired another set of twin beams only to have them countered by a wave of cascaded rainbow energy, the connection of their two blasts setting off a white light emitting from the center that forced even Gwen to shield her eyes from a hundred-feet away. The resulting concussive shockwave sent them both back a few feet, as he recovered Chromastone transformed once again in an explosion of energy, Vilgax was surprised by a sudden blast that caused him to stumbled back being bombarded by flames hotter than the core of the sun, focused heat that was practically in the form of a white-hot beam erupting from between his palms. The more energy he put into the attack, the larger the flames erupting from his shoulders grew yet still Vilgax's armor resisted the extreme temperatures even if he still felt the sting of Heatblast's attack. Powering through it, Vilgax allowed his right arm to become scorched in favor of getting within reach to backhand the Pyronite across the field, hitting the grass and setting it partially on fire with his landing.

Heatblast snarled and turned, transforming again into Diamondhead, and forming two six-inch daggers over each knuckle as Vilgax approached unafraid and unintimidated. Lunging at his opponent, Diamondhead swung first, right and left trying to out-pace the warlord with his knowledge on Petrosapien martial-arts. He sprouted shards from his heel and used them as weapons as he attempted to lash out, roundhouse kicking the air just barely missing him. Even managing to counter a spin kick that would have stabbed him in the chest by grabbing his foot and raising it up above his head, hanging him upside down, "What a waste of untapped potential! You are not worthy of this power, Ben Tennyson!" he turned and slammed the Petrosapien into the ground.

"I'll show you untapped potential!" Diamondhead was shrouded in another explosion of light, this time a much more expansive flash that left a hulking behemoth of a brown dinosaur standing as tall as Vilgax but, growing further as he became an armored beast with a thorned tail, nearly fifteen feet taller than his opponent.

Humungousaur turned quickly and smacked Vilgax with the weight and force of his tail, sending him off his feet landing against a tree at the far edge of the clearing that led to a dense forestry; he picked himself up and flexed his fingers using extremely dangerous steroid implants to increase the muscle density in his arms and legs. He sprinted forwards, cracking the rocks below the dirt with every step as Humungousaur tightened his fists, running forwards and just barely avoiding a right cross from Vilgax while landing a thundering left-straight punch to his face, cracking his respirator. He retaliated by lunging forwards but, only managing to have both fists caught by his larger Vaxasaurian grip, though, their strength seemed to be equal. The ground around them cracked under the pressure of their two colliding physical forces; their fingers interlocked as they pushed against the other with neither giving in.

Vilgax quickly used this as an advantage pulling in and kneeing Humungousaur in the jaw with all of the momentum of his pushing down; if it wasn't for the swing of his armored tail hitting him in the abdomen, Humungousaur would have been at the villains mercy. He flew back for a second or two before digging his claws into the ground to stop his forced momentum, he pulled his sword from the sheath on his back and readied it at eye level.

Ben knew well that the best transformation for bladed weapons would always be a Petrosapien as another flash of light engulfed the giant behemoth leaving the lone crystal warrior to sharpen his two arms into serrated blades. Sprinting forwards as their blades clashed, Diamondhead used every technique taught to him by Tetrax to control the density of his weapons, the control he trained to master with Gwen as he dodged a swing of his broad-sword by centimeters having been training his reflexes. It wasn't one sided though, there were times were Diamondhead felt like he was moving slow motion. Vilgax dipped back and forth easily, effortlessly dodging his attacks before catching his next left-armed swing with his free hand and delivering a knee-strike to his chest that cracked his crystal-exterior. This sent shocks of pain through Diamondhead's body that he wasn't even sure the alien form could feel, he was out of breath and still managed to use the advantage to strike. He pushed his body to its limits, ducking under a right-swing of his sword and landing an uppercut of his own which sent the Chimera-Sui-Generis sliding back on his heels a few feet, dropping his blade. Diamondhead took the opportunity to swoop in, forming both arms into fists again, striking left and right, knocking him into the ground as he fell uprooting dirt with his sheer weight.

Still, the tyrant stood back up, prompting Diamondhead to form both arms into jagged crystal structures, using them to fire off thousands of rounds per minute of durable crystalline shards. Vilgax managed to keep his face protected by his armor but, his burnt forearm's armor shattered, slicing his skin as green blood splattered over his own claws. Yet, unsurprisingly, Vilgax powered through still, catching one of the projectiles aimed for the space between his eyes with marksman accuracy, crushing it in his hands as the dust of what was left scattered in the wind.

Diamondhead reshaped his arms into hands once again with clenched fists, tightening them by his side as he and Vilgax met glares, realizing this could only end one way, they shouted at each other like animals this time. The warlord returned his battle cry as they both charged one another, full speed without any hesitations; Diamondhead's crystalline fist collided with Vilgax's injured arm, cracking the ground beneath them, and sending a shockwave out around them, blowing back the tall grass omnidirectionally forcing them apart for a brief second.

Vilgax swung wildly as Diamondhead ducked back, landing a right hook to the squid-faced creep but, was too delirious to properly react to a returned headbutt, cracking his diamond forehead as he stumbled back a step or two. Vilgax bombarded him with beams of heat from his eyes, only barely being able to withstand and deflect them as he planted his feet and pressed forwards.

"Insolent, brat! I will show you how pointless your efforts truly are!" Vilgax reeled back and punched the ground, sending a shockwave out towards Diamondhead that broke apart the ground at his feet, destabilizing his stance and sending him to his knees. While he fell, Vilgax used this as a distraction to activate some sort of remote teleportation device on his belt that beamed Gwendolyn over from a few hundred feet away where she pulled with all her strength, being without her Charms, she didn't budge until he quickly teleported her to his side now holding the energy leash in his hands again.

Diamondhead shouted with rage as he saw the terrified look in her eyes, "Vilgax! Let her go!" he quickly used his powers to telekinetically rip a shard of crystal out from the ground, floating above his hand like a spear he was prepared to launch, "Don't touch her!" Gwen shuttered as she felt his claw dragging up across her throat gently, capable of slitting it with just a gesture forced a gasp from her though she tried staying strong, frowning up at him.

"And what will you do to stop me, hero?" Vilgax cackled as his eyes gleamed crimson red, turning back down to look at Gwen before smacking her across the face lightly; it was a single moment, a single instant, he took a breath just like he did every single day only this time when he let it out, there was a sickening scream to follow it. It certainly wasn't human but, in all honesty, even though he had his target lined up, he closed his eyes as he gestured forwards as though he were pitching a baseball blind. There was nothing but silence to follow the scream and Diamondhead was too afraid to open his eyes, hearing a liquid-filled cough and a loud mechanical thud, he figured he needed to see what happened. He opened his eyes realizing that the diamond-shard had struck through Vilgax's chest plate, expanding with a widened wound, before digging into the ground behind him, skewered through the crystal pultruding from either side of his chest now.

Gwen was freed, on her hands and knees now that the energy chain had dispersed, however; she had a splatter of green oozing blood smeared across her clothes, luckily she managed to avoid getting any in her hair or on her face; they thought it was over until the body now mutilated almost beyond recognition fired a beam from one of its crimson eyes directly at Gwen who used a very simple deflection spell to keep herself safe. Squealing out of fear, It was only due to his current state that she was able to block the attack at all but, seeing him still trying to kill her caused something to snap in Ben. Diamondhead tackled Vilgax through the crystals, shattering them to pieces as he mounted his bleeding body into the ground, pounding away at his face until he instinctively transformed back into his human form, his eyes flashing brightly consumed by the light, now using his own enhanced strength to punch with everything he had. It was raw impulse as the rage he felt flowing through him was palpable, he heard a loud ringing as all he could do was make sure that this sick trash never touched his dweeb again.

It was a few seconds but, eventually Gwendolyn shouted out as she regained her balance and stood up to face him, "B-Ben! Ben, stop!" he didn't, he couldn't, the blood smeared across his fists now covered in grass and dirt as well but, mostly thick oozing blood just like his own only a different color, "Ben!" She shouted into his ear and grabbed his arm, stopping him with her words as she was in no condition to physically contend, "Look at me…" his breathing was heavy, like an animal he locked eyes with hers still prepared to keep punching, "it's over, it's over now…" he looked down suddenly absorbing what he'd done, lowering his fist and getting up to stand with her as his breathing refused to slow. He watched the light in the warlord's eyes go out slowly, the crimson faded and so did his life with it, petrified in an expression of horror.

Ben stared down at his hands, covered in blood and grass, shaking slowly as he backed away, looking into Gwen's eyes and stepping back, turning to face the forest; she couldn't sense anything from him now, he was voided emotionally just like the empty stare he seemed to be lost in. Gwen held her arms in her hands as she looked around at the scene and realized that with this much action, the Government couldn't be too far behind.

"W-We have to go…" She announced to him even though he faced away from her, still holding his hands out and staring off into the distance, wondering what exactly it was that he was becoming, "Ben? We can't stay here."

This prompted an explosion of emerald light, one she didn't see coming as he didn't even twitch let alone slap the watch, he must have gotten ready for the battle by utilizing Master-Control; a smart move but, hopefully it wouldn't be something he held on to for too long. XLR8 stepped from the glow slowly which was uncharacteristic for his species, allowing Gwen to hop into his arms, he looked back at the bloodied body and then down to her, "I guess I was right, it wasn't pretty for anyone…" his visor slid down cutting off any chance at conversation as he exploded out of the area in a rush of speed, black and white zipping across roads and weaving through traffic with ease.

…

Bellwood; New York; February 28th, 2011; 1:08PM.

Phasing through the walls and speeding into the room, XLR8 transformed into Ben immediately but, didn't look at Gwendolyn as he put her down slowly, walking away towards the training mat as soon as her feet touched the ground. Max put the broom aside from sweeping up some of the debris Ben knocked over before leaving, stepping forward as he noticed their arrival and wrapped his arms around Gwen, "Thank goodness you're alright! Where's Vilgax?" Grandpa looked up from her to Ben who sat in the middle of the mat and stared down at his dirty blood covered hands, "W-What happened out there…?"

Gwen shook her head, looking up at her Grandpa as she pulled from his embrace, looking down at her shirt with a bit of disgust as she sniffled from the crying she did earlier, "I'm fine but, Ben had to… he…" she looked back at him with concern dropping her shirt but, he didn't even seem to notice either of them, "Vilgax is dead, for sure this time, like…" she sighed as she turned her glance back to him, "He's dead."

"Well, at least that's one positive side to this… what did he…" Max narrowed his eyes, reading Ben's facial expression and noticing something familiar in his eyes, spite their luminous glow.

"He had to do some pretty horrifying to protect me," Gwen muttered as a tear formed behind her eyes, "I can't feel his emotions at all, it's like he's frozen…"

Max narrowed his eyes as he watched Ben simply shaken like a dear in the headlights, his eyes glossed over, his head scrambled as though he couldn't accept what he had just done with his own two hands, "I've seen men at war with that look in their eyes," he stated plainly as analyzed Ben's silent demeanor, shaken to his core.

"What look?" she asked.

Max sighed keeping his eyes on the boy, "The one that says he's split into someone else, someone he doesn't even recognize, if someone doesn't talk to him… it'll tear him apart…" he took a step back, and gave her a nod before patting her shoulder announcing louder to the both of them, "I'm going to have the Plumber's make sure Vilgax's… remains… are contained safely, I'll be back in just an hour or two. I promise, both of you try and rest for now," he wasn't sure if he would even be allowed back in after the argument they had the day prior but, he would still come to check either way.

As he loaded himself in the Rustbucket, he waited a minute or two contacting someone from the advanced communication device in the mobile home's radio; the garage opened and he pulled out slowly closing the doors behind him, leaving the two in silence and to their own devices.

"Come on," she slowly announced, still just as rattled as he was when she stepped onto the mat and grabbed his forearms, pulling him to his feet; the closet sized room had a sink inside that just barely worked but, clean water was better than the green-blood and dirt smeared over his hands.

Turning on the water, she rinsed his hands with her own, holding his palms for comfort as he stared out into the distance, figuring she should remind him, "You saved my life, you know?" they watched the gunk and blood spin down the drain as he was silent for nearly a minute before answering.

Ben responded for the first time without looking away from his frozen expression, "That's what I keep telling myself," making eye contact with her now, "That I killed Vilgax because he was gonna kill you but, what if that's not the reason? I just feel like this watch… it's turning me into something terrible," he practically whispered the last part, it didn't help that he recently had a massive debate on the line between killing enemies and letting them live.

Gwen took some of the water from the sink and wiped some of the blood from his forehead with her hand, slowly rubbing it away with her thumb, "No watch, no transformation can make you something you're not… as ironic as that sounds…"

"So, I've always been a killer?" Ben asked trying to make sense of his own feelings, the thoughts rushing through his head, how he was supposed to process what he'd done.

Gwen sighed looking away for a moment before smiling, rubbing his face once again with her wet hand to clean it off, "Everyone has a demon inside of them, yours is a particularly noble one that happens to be super charged," she tapped his Omnitrix while continuing, "You have to recognize that there are two sides to everyone, the yin and the yang," she reached down to scoop up more water and rinse his face for a moment, getting some dirt from his cheek, "The darkness… and the light, the killer and the hero…" she emphasized as she cupped her hand over his face smiling up at him, giving him as much reassurance she could spare, "My hero…"

Ben wrapped her in his arms tightly once his hands were clean, feeling her, smelling her, knowing she was still there as if he felt that the rug would be pulled out from under him at any moment. They exited the room and simply stepped out onto the mat once again, looking around at the fighting gear before sitting back down, this time with Gwendolyn sitting next to him. They sat in silence as she curled up into a ball, hugging her knees and staring out at the floor.

"I'm so sorry…" Gwen muttered as the first thing that came to mind, not yet looking over at him.

Ben glanced over at her, raising his brow, "What do you have to be sorry for?" his expression was still unfeeling, and his emotions were dulled like they were muffled by a blanket.

She stumbled with her words as it was obviously the first she'd thought of it, "I…I got captured, and you had to… where you had to…" Gwendolyn couldn't finish the sentence before a tear rolled down her right eye, stuttering as the realization slowly hit her, "I'm sorry I put you in a position where you had to make that choice!" she finally shouted and simply closed her eyes letting the tears flow as her lip quivered and her head lowered into her knees, her bangs falling in front of her face, "I'm so sorry…"

Ben shifted his weight over to her, reaching out with his now clean hands to grab one of hers, stirring her from her weeping as she noticed a half-smile on his face, "Gwen," she looked up with a sniffle noticing that he had changed his expression entirely, pulling her hand from her, "He had you and he was going to hurt you, there was no choice to make…" he assured her as tears welled and she tackled him back first onto the mat.

"I love you, Ben…" they leaned closer in as their lips were all but brushing against one another.

Time stopped when his lips met hers, but the flutter only intensified, "I love you too, Gwen," her heart pounded in her chest as her knees got weaker, even as she pinned him. She could only focus on how soft he felt against her mouth, how addictively he invaded all her senses.

It still wasn't clear if she dreamed this moment to life, but there was raw emotion in the way his fingers curled around hers. Ben kept his eyes half open, sneaking a guilty peek at her every time he came back for air, just to make sure this wasn't a product of his imagination.

He wasn't sure if nature rooted for this moment or if his mind tricked him into a perfect present, but every breath he took smelled like jasmine and for the first time since he'd gotten the Omnitrix, he didn't feel like he was in imminent danger. If anything, the warm feeling of her breath, although destabilizing, was inviting. This time around he draped both arms around Gwendolyn's small frame and met her lips again halfway, trying their best to forget about their trauma in the only way two teens knew how.

…