Chapter 24

Omnitrix City; Apartment Complex; December 21st, 2017; 12:31AM

"You were more resilient than I expected you to be, where I come from, you were much weaker…" Prometheus gave a sinister grin she could now see clearly in the moonlight, as someone she'd known for years reached behind them, and pulled out a katana. "Don't be afraid, my friend, death comes for us all… we can only evade it for so long," he punctuated his sentence by driving his blade through her heart, slicking it with her blood nearly down to the hilt, keeping her held up by the throat, Kai looked into the eyes of a friend that were tainted with crimson energy as the life drained out of her own in his hands. Pulling the blade out, he waited until he was sure she was dead, before yanking the mask from her cold fingers, letting go of his grip, and letting her fall back first through the snowy air.

Kevin had pulled up in the lot behind their rendezvous spot, getting out of the driver's seat after a long day, he grazed his fingers over the sleek tungsten black steel of his hood before shutting the door and stretching his back. Lazily making his way through the alley, it was only a few flights up a fire escape to see her, though he didn't bother looking up, part of him wish he had. As he was about to grab hold of the ladder that extended down from the fire escape, a hundred- and sixty-pound woman rained down hitting the lid of a closed off dumpster hard enough that her body bounced ever so slightly. Rolling off the massive aluminum can, lying sprawled out with two arrows jammed in her shoulders and a massive bleeding wound in her abdomen.

"Kai? Kai?!" Kevin quickly sprinted over, leaning next to her on the asphalt as he checked her pulse, finding there to be nothing left to resuscitate. "No… No-No-No-NO!" he began shouting as the tears started to stream down his cheeks, he glanced up at the rooftop where Prometheus stared down on them, now wearing his mask again, and with moonlight flashing down obscuring his vision of the figure, he couldn't bring himself to care about a fight. He simply crouched over her body, crying into her shirt trying his best not to get her blood on his face, he couldn't shake the horrific look in her eyes as she stared out into the darkened sky.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 21st, 2017; 1:30AM

After deciding that a well needed break would be best to help them refresh their thoughts, Cooper returned to his own apartment in town, however; unlike most current residents, he was only in the city for the construction. This left Ben and Gwen to return to Tennyson Tower after grabbing something to eat at Burger Shack, walking through to the elevators that would take them back up to the mission room.

Gwen had transformed out of her armored hero suit, currently stuffing her face with the last of her fries, tossing a few into her mouth at a time until the carton was empty; she had gotten used to using her abilities for things like this, using her magic to teleport the trash into an empty dimension. "Isn't that like… mystical littering?" Ben muttered as the elevator continued upwards through the tower.

Gwendolyn shook her head, neglecting to wipe the salt from her lips as she turned to face him, "It can't be littering if there's no planets in that dimension, besides, I don't use that spell that often…" she insisted with an unsure tone.

"Have you ever looked into that dimension?"

Gwendolyn folded her arms, scoffing and turning her head away, "Don't get mad at me because I pointed out a fact," Ben immediately got a mischievous idea, grabbing her by the hips and pulling her in close, looking into her eyes as she fake struggled a bit smirking the entire time. "What're you doing?" She giggled out as he kept her close, leaning in close so that their faces were only inches apart.

"You have a bit of salt left riiight…" he trailed off as he closed the distance between their lips, finding that he kept good to his word, sending his tongue over her lips gently to collect any remaining salt. Though he also succeeded in making her quiver ever so slightly in his arms, prompting her throw her hands up to the sides of his face, pulling him in interlock their lips with a more passionate heat. "There," the elevator dinged as Gwendolyn kept her eyes on him, walking out slowly with rosy cheeks into the room where Ben first caught sight of something before she could.

"What? I'm not giving you anymore… than… that," Gwendolyn trailed off when she noticed the body lying sprawled out on the holodeck, the only surface in the room big enough to hold her, "K-Kai?" she stuttered as the sword laid on the holodeck was certainly hers yet still not the most disconcerting part of the scene they walked in on.

Kevin took a step or two forwards from behind the table, tears dried over his cheeks as he looked up at them, "I-I didn't know where else to take her…" he stuttered, glancing back down at her.

Gwendolyn covered her mouth as she got closer, getting a better look at the dry blood running through her peach blouse where two black arrows pultruded from either shoulder. The three of them slowly surrounded the corpse laid out on the holodeck, staring out lifelessly at the ceiling above. Ben was the first to get closest, having truly known her the longest, he looked over her body still so beautiful even in death. Slowly, he reached out as Gwen got close to him, pulling herself into his chest as she wept into his shirt. His fingers gently touched her eyelids, lowering them down shut so that she could finally rest.

He was silent, for the first time in years, his eyes bubbled over with genetic emerald light, flooding his pupils with energy as he stared down at her, "What happened?" he muttered with a boiling tension behind his tone. Not having been so angry since his Grandfather was killed in the invasion.

"I don't… I don't know…" Kevin sat back to keep himself from loosing balance, rubbing his temples to try and process what had happened, "It all happened so fast."

Ben rounded the holodeck, trailing his fingers across the metallic border as he kept his eyes to the ground, until he was standing directly in front of the Osmosian, "You just dragged the corpse of one of my best friends into my tower in the middle of the night and laid her out on my briefing table… so I'm going to need something a little more than 'I don't know' Kevin!" his attitude was ominously calm at first but, he was clearly loosing his patience as Ben was rarely one who dealt with his sadness and pain by sulking over it.

"I don't know, Tennyson! We were supposed to meet on the rooftop by the edge of the city like we always did after I finished my shift only…" his memory brought back painful flashes of the way her Kai's head slammed against the iron dumpster before toppling into the muddy asphalt, "I walked passed the building and someone… someone must have been up there with her, she just fell."

Ben sucked in a deep breath before sighing it out slowly, "Alright, I'm sorry for shouting just, give me the address of the rooftop," he was ready to turn around when Kevin reached out and grabbed his arm tightly, the tears welling behind his eyes once again.

"You find who did this to her, hear me, hero?" Ben had never heard Kevin's voice crack before, though the tear that fell from his right eye as he looked down at her body still lying on the holodeck.

Ben gave him a passionate nod of reassurance as Gwen had finally wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeves of her blouse, she had never been excessively close to Kai but, they were still friends, and a death is a death either way. Though, she would recover far sooner than Kevin would, "Gwendolyn, I need you with me," he announced like cop addressing his or her partner, walking passed her not having shed a single tear yet, she shook it off as well and followed after him.

…

Omnitrix City; Apartment Complex; December 21st, 2017; 2:16AM

Ben looked out over the ledge of the building where the incident took place, glaring out over the city of unfinished buildings, abandoned, or occupied by just the few hundred people living there. It narrowed down the list of suspects but, not by much; though he didn't need any type of clue as to who killed Kai Green, it was painfully obvious from the way she was struck down. Two arrows and a blade to the heart, the exact weapons strapped to Prometheus' back on the security footage they watched only a few hours ago. He turned around, glancing out at the gravel littered with moonlight illuminating his field of sight, not that he needed the help, using his enhanced abilities to switch his vision into the UV spectrum. He found splatters of blood all across the gravel, leading backwards towards the edge of the rooftop, he blinked once more switching to a thermographic scope as the pupils in his eyes only shun brighter. He took a few slow steps forward, kneeling down where he found a small sliver of black steel, matching that of a compound-bow used for professional archery. This guy was no amateur.

Gwendolyn stepped into view behind him, hearing her shoes against the gravel prompted him to turn back around with the shaving of metal in his hands. He worked the crime-scene like he had trained himself to over the years, doing his best to follow Tetrax's advice and leave his emotions out of it. He looked out at where Kai had fallen from, using his arms to mimic holding a bow as he aimed it at where she would have been standing, before reaching down to feel his shoulders where the arrows struck her. As he pictured her being struck with the projectiles, he stared out at the building across from the rooftop, his thoughts trying to figure rationally how this could have happened to someone as skilled as Kai.

She took a few steps forwards behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him but, his first instinct was to pull away as the emerald light from his eyes glistened from the damn of tears waiting to burst. "Are you okay?"

Ben nodded slowly, choking down the lump in his throat, pointing at the opposing end of the roof, "Killer stood over there, loose gravel on the rooftop-," he was interrupted as Gwen spoke up.

"Ben, I-"

"Kai was standing around here," turning back around and pointing out where the disturbances in the gravel were the most prominent. "She put up a good fight, managed to take a piece off his bow in the struggle… scuff marks leading to the edge there," he forced the tears back down before they fell, sealing off the dam before he could show any weakness.

"You don't have to do this right now, Ben," Gwen rounded him to stand in front, facing him and looking up into his eyes that were so radiant, they actually leaked emerald energy trailing into the air around his face, "I get it, its like military training, your friend gets shot and you just keep going but, Ben-" she was cut off again this time by an actual response.

Ben closed his eyes, filtering the energy in his eyes back through his body, he had gained far more control over his Omnitrix in the last six years now able to bring back that energy that would leak through his eyes, "Gwen, I'm fine…" he turned around and approached the ledge Kai had fallen from as she followed behind him. Grabbing his shoulder once again to get his attention.

"Listen, we were never close but, Kai was my friend too so, if you think you're going after the son of a bitch that did this solo? You couldn't possibly be more wrong," Gwendolyn's eyes didn't need a glow of uncontrollable energy to appear controlled and enraged at the same time.

Ben looked down at the shard of steel from the bow still in his hands, "We need to get this back to the tower, run it for any sort of evidence we can go off of to find out who ever it is under that mask," clenching his hand back over it into a fist as they both made their way off the roof.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 21st, 2017; 2:40AM

After receiving the news, Cooper insisted he would be returning within half an hour to help with the immediate investigation following the death; after doing extensive scans on her body, they relocated her body to the makeshift morgue in the tower's basement. Ben and Gwen walked through as the elevator doors split open for them, being greeted by Cooper and Kevin who were both individually sitting around the holodeck.

Kevin kept himself busy while they were gone by cleaning it clear of her blood, though now that it was cleaned, Cooper kept himself busy by looking through surveillance footage from just a few hours ago, hoping to get a glimpse of what actually happened on that rooftop. Ben didn't bother to greet any of them, simple approaching Cooper first thing with the steel shard between his fingers, "There were signs of a struggle, this is a piece shaved off of Prometheus' bow by Kai's broadsword… I need you to find out when and where it was purchased, and hopefully by who."

Cooper nodded dutifully, grabbing hold of the shard quickly, and lying it on the holodeck which immediately did an analysis on the material and markings over it, "There doesn't look like there are any fingerprints or anything that'll help us off the bat but, I'll start cross referencing bow and arrow purchases that match this compound and see if I cant find our killer," he chuckled nervously a bit, glancing down at the steel shard for a moment, "Though we don't have the entire bow, and even if we did, there are thousands of bows made all across America and we have a five year gap to account for," he was mostly talking to himself as he realized he was being rather negative, watching as Ben blinked and glared down at him without emotion. "But, I will let you know when I find something…" he trailed off as he continued typing, setting an algorithm to do exactly what he explained before rolling the chair back. Cooper had only ever spoken to Kai on the night of the invasion and then subsequently following the ceremony, he wasn't necessarily grief stricken but, it fell on a heavy heart to know that a member of their makeshift team was put down in such a cruel way. "I've set it to notify you guys when it finds something, my Aunt hasn't been doing so well lately and her night nurse just left…"

Ben nodded, putting a hand on Coop's shoulder, reassuring him that it was okay, "You did a good job, just try to get some rest, and make sure your Aunt is okay…" his voice was calm and collected, though Gwendolyn on the other hand was still on the verge of tears.

As Cooper gave Ben a pat on the back, he made his way back to the elevator where he quickly vanished downwards towards the lobby, not needing to press the button as his abilities connected to and activated the elevator for him. Ben felt uneasy, looking down at the screen as completed data sequences flew passed his vision, selecting certain things and dismissing others. "I'm going to hit the streets," he turned around walking towards the elevator himself.

"Seriously? Now?" Gwen asked as he walked away, pressing the button as anybody else would and waiting for it to arrive on his floor.

Ben glanced over his shoulder at her, grazing his fingers over the glove melded to his skin which lead up to his gauntlet of an Omnitrix, "Someone out there knows something about Prometheus, and I'm not going to sleep tonight until I find them," the elevator doors slid open giving him access to it as Gwen watched him vanish behind it.

…

Omnitrix City; Slums; December 21st, 2017; 3:15AM

Around the border of Omnitrix City lined a sector of poverty and low income, with these facts in mind, Ben went on the hunt in that area first. He arrived atop a building well known for its welcomed drug addicted customers, though he wasn't looking for any of those poor souls. XLR8 sped to a halt beside a glass sunroof in the ceiling that led into the building, transforming back with an explosion of green light.

The men within were patrolling lines of meth related cooking equipment as well as men and women in hazmat suits at their stations doing as implied. They nearly noticed the green flash of light shimmer briefly from above but, they dismissed it as just a plane flying overhead or something of the sort. They never heard the padlock snapping off its hinges, or the opening of the roof entrance looking directly down on the operation.

One of the cooks noticed him but, said nothing hoping for the opportunity to escape in the commotion he would inevitably cause, he knew the shine of twin emerald eyes meant that he was here, and he was hunting. The cook backed away slowly as one of the men turned their rifles on him but, she was far more afraid of him than she was of the gunmen. Turning to look at what she was staring at, he caught sight of the man just barely sprawled against a ledge in the corner of the room now.

As the henchmen fired up at the intruder, a man in a three-piece, two button business suit clearly the leader of this operation, "Ten Thousand is here! Pack it all up, get as much of the product out as you can!" he shouted pulling out his glock and firing at the super-human.

Ben instantly jumped down, dodging the poorly aimed automatic fire from the guards, landing on a cooking table with a burner still on. The friction of his landing shook the pot turning the flames beneath it from orange to bright blue, doing a reverse flip off the table dodged the hand-gun fire from the cartel boss. Though he continued to miss, this didn't stop him from pulling the trigger repeatedly, recalling a time where one of their men managed to shoot the hero in the chest.

Noticing a stacked pile of boxes behind him clearly being filled with the product they were in the middle of cooking, the rest of the people fled as Ben flipped the table over sending flaming chemicals across the boxes. Two of the henchmen surrounded him with their AR-15s pointed directly at his person but, they were stunned by a massive explosion of green light. Heatblast emerged from the glow with a furious blaze erupting from his shoulders, though they still pulled the trigger, Pyronite's had incredibly durable charcoal-rock skin making it impossible for any of their bullets to hurt him. He stood with the product beginning to burn as hot as the flames atop his head, without looking Heatblast sent a focused wave of heat out around his body, melting their weapons in their hands. They were sent to their knees screaming in agony as the metal hardened over their palms as it cooled.

Heatblast realized that the ringleader had sprinted towards the exit while he was busy disarming the other men, he transformed in an instant back into Ben Tennyson, stomping towards the exit where the boss had almost reached the door. Using a feature that was added to the Omnitrix after he returned to being a hero following the invasion, he quickly leveled his gauntleted forearm at the man's ankle. Firing a carbon-steel cable that wrapped itself around said ankle before launching another of the cables that led to the other end attached to the criminal up above a rafter, swinging over it. Ben needed only to pull with his enhanced strength to yank the crime boss off his feet, stringing him up as the warehouse burned up behind them. Small explosions erupting from different corners was intimidating enough without having to see it all upside down.

"Ricardo Diaz! You've been trafficking heroine and methamphetamine across the country for decades, five years ago you abandoned Bellwood when a player named Prometheus showed up on the scene," Ben shouted with his modulated voice, giving him a deeper more intimidating voice to accompany the emerald glow that cascaded against the flames behind him, "I want to hear everything you know about him."

The dangling assailant choked on his own words, stuttering at first, "A-Are you kidding me? He'll kill me if I say anything, you have no idea what this guy is like!"

Ben took a step closer, grabbing the man by his head to stop him from swinging, "He isn't here with you now, I am. Now, you said I don't know what he's like," he carefully wrapped his fingers around the man's neck, squeezing slowly, "Enlighten me," he said through his teeth with more anger than he thought he could have ever felt.

"He showed up outta nowhere, called the bosses of all the networked organizations we have on the Eastern seaboard, he was there waiting for us with the heads of our men in a duffle," Ricardo was shaking as he explained the situation, "We tried to refuse his offer but, he just started killing and replacing anyone who disagreed with his… conduct."

Ben glanced away, slowly letting go of the man's throat, his eyes still blazing with such intensity that it began to trail energy into the air around him again, "You okay, pal?" Diaz asked apprehensively.

"Did he use or have a bow and arrow when you first met him?" Ben grumbled as he tried putting together a timeline.

Ricardo shook his head, "Not when I first met him but, two months ago he had us all group up to give some kind of lecture to us about uh… gathering our resources for something big, something to do with you… when I saw him then he had one of those arrow holder things on his back," he confirmed something important to narrowing their search for the killer of his friend but, now there was another question to ask, a final question that would be the scariest to ask.

"What does he want with me?"

Ricardo shook his head vigorously this time, "I have no idea, I swear!" he became too anxious to be interrogated properly with the blaze behind them growing by the second.

Ben turned around to glance at the fire before facing Ricardo again, punching him directly in the face, breaking his nose and watching the blood drip upwards as gravity pulled it down, "Now," as he reeled back from the blow, he continued to talk, "I could cut you down before I leave, or I could roast you like a chestnut; the decision depends on you telling me what you know!"

"He just said he has plans for you, but he didn't call you Ten Thousand or Shifter… he only calls you by your full name, I-I dunno why it always sounded pretty personal if you ask me but, that's it that's all I know!" Diaz closed his eyes out of fear but, when he opened them Ben was gone, still hanging until a black and white blur flew by snapping the cord that kept him up seconds before the flames would have consumed him.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 21st, 2017; 3:56AM

Gwendolyn was sitting in silence after the omni-cam shut off when XLR8 began his return to the tower, in a matter of seconds, he sped through the city reaching his building, transforming back into his human form before entering to take the few minutes between the elevator and the mission room to think over what he'd been told. This was all about him, someone had a vendetta against him, for something he did or perhaps something he failed to do. It all raced through his mind at a thousand miles an hour until the ring of the elevator door snapped him from his thoughts prompting him to walk into the mission room. "How'd it go?" Gwen asked with a somber tone.

"Apparently, Prometheus was after me when he killed Kai, he's been gathering money and men for something big for months but, he's apparently very tight lipped about it," Ben walked through the mission room, approaching a forensics table littered with tubes and glassware by the side made of steel so clean he could see his reflection in it when he rested his hands on the cool surface and looked down. Seeing the face of Kai's murderer when he looked at it.

Gwendolyn leaned against her chair around the holodeck from behind, leaning her chin over it as she looked up at him from across the room. "I know you feel guilty but, just like with Grandpa Max, you need to remember that this wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it though?" Ben huffed without addressing her, using all of his concentration to keep the energy boiling beneath the surface under wraps as he spoke, "Where are we with the steel shard? I think I can narrow down the search, he didn't get the bow or arrows until a few months ago."

Gwendolyn folded her arms and glanced back at the scanner Cooper set up, waiting for a notification to ping but, she didn't personally know exactly how to adjust the complex algorithms the technopath put in place. As remembering what just happened tonight plagued her, Gwen glanced back over at Ben who still faced his reflection on the tables surface, "Well, we have to wait for Cooper to adjust the search parameters, he said he'd be back first thing in the morning…"

"This is taking too long," Ben exclaimed with a huff, his frustration starting to get the better of him, "Every minute we are in here, Prometheus is out there doing who knows what!" he shouted without turning around, it was spoken aloud to the only other person in the room but, he was directing his anger down at his own reflection.

"I know…" Gwendolyn's lip quivered as she rounded the holodeck to approach him, "You don't need to tell me as if I don't already know…" she leaned back against the chair meant for Kai around their holodeck, running her fingers across the fabric of the backrest.

Ben took a deep breath holding back his emotions as he'd been trained, focusing back on the task at hand and the situation they were in, "You're right, and I apologize for shouting, I just need your a-game right now," still not looking up from the metallic reflection staring back up at him, his eyes couldn't stop the glow from leaking through his pupils again.

"I don't have it, right now, Ben!" Gwen sat up and walked towards the table he was leaning against, still only facing his back, "My friend, our friend, was shot full of arrows, stabbed, and sent tumbling off a rooftop four hours ago; her body is downstairs in an unofficial morgue because we don't know what else to do with it… with her," she choked on her words as she realized Kai wasn't a person anymore but just a thing, a lifeless thing that they needed to take care of now. "So, I am so sorry, if I have feelings, Ben, but maybe if you did too-" she cut herself off realizing what she was about to say to him, even though she couldn't see his face she could only imagine how angry it made him to hear that. "Sorry… that was mean but, this is Kai… our Kai? How could you stand there being so cold and rational?!" she cried through her entire questioning rant but, it was only to be expected.

Instead of rage or tears, he turned around slowly with a frustrated grunt, his eyes were now simmering brightly with emerald energy trailing off into the air like she personally had never seen before. "Because I don't get the luxury of falling to pieces!" he finally shouted with the energy coursing through him from his Omnitrix only growing brighter, however; he adjusted his tone to a far more serious one with an expression to match. "Everyone is looking to me to handle things, to make the right decisions, everyone is looking to me… to lead," he finished looking into her eyes, at least she assumed he was through the light that obscured his pupils from her. "If I grieve, nobody else gets to."

As Ben felt the tears welling up behind the light, he turned quickly so that she couldn't tell but, she knew he was either way; stepping closer to him as she tried to finish making her point, "You're still human, Ben, no matter how many aliens you transform into… you're allowed to have feelings!" she exclaimed as she only got closer, putting a hand softly over his arm still slicked with sweat from the warehouse raid he just conducted, "I know that sometimes its easier to live in that watch."

Ben shook his head with conviction, coming to terms with what he had been mulling over in his head all evening, turning around to look directly at the holodeck, "Earlier tonight I was looking at Kai, and I realized something… one of these days its going to be me," he continued as a tear ran down Gwendolyn's cheek, flowing as he spoke and processing what he was telling her, "This life… this life that I've chosen, it only ends one way."

"So, that's it?" Gwen responded, questioning his supposed conviction, "You're just going to stay in here, in this glorified million-dollar coffin, waiting to die?" Before letting him respond, she continued herself as she approached him again a bit closer, "Well, I'm sorry but, I'm not going to wait with you, because if there's anything tonight has taught me, it's that life is precious," another tear slipped down the opposing eye, sniffling as she backed up, "And I can't spend what time I have left with someone who doesn't even think they have a future in the first place." She took that opportunity to turn around, walking towards the elevator and pressing the button, as she waited it to come, he spoke over to her.

"So, we're over?" Ben practically muttered without looking over toward her but, he said it loud enough for her to hear it from across the room, waiting for a response as the ding split the doors open for her.

Gwendolyn faced him once she stepped through into the express elevator, "I don't know…" she said in a somber tone, with even less volume than Ben had just used but, with his enhanced senses he heard it perfectly.

Ben was left alone in the mission room once the doors closed behind her, looking around at the emptiness, shelves of technology and souvenirs from adventures they'd been on, and computer screens that littered the room. His eyes still glowing with such an intensity he felt like he could explode at any moment from the immense energy building within him. He approached the forensics table, placing his hands flat on top of it again. Breathing heavily as though he couldn't catch his breath, he looked back down into his reflection again noticing the mass of light forming behind his eyes, more radiant than usual, after a few seconds of standing in silence staring at his own distorted reflection, he couldn't hold any of it in anymore.

Tears swam down his cheeks as they glistened with green light, but what he couldn't even begin to hold back was the discharge of raw genetic energy that shot out from his eyes. Twin beams slowly melting through the metal at first before intensifying with a rageful shout that carved through the table and the ground below it, "AGH!" Loosing yet another person he considered family because of his involvement in their lives, the beams of bright green finally subsided after burning through the concrete ground below the table. Smoke drifting upwards from his eyes first before being enveloped in the smoke that came from the smoldering concrete, spite having a massive hole in it, his anger still got the better of him. He swung his arm across what was left of the table, knocking beakers, test-tubes, and equipment across the floor before gripping the table from below and flipping it through the air. His strength sent it into the back wall, clattering on the floor, as he was finally able to take a few steps back to assess what he'd just done. This time it was beyond personal, this Prometheus character picked the wrong person to torture. "AGH!"

Kai was his first crush, after three years she was still just as charming as when he'd first met her, then they texted each other off and on always planning to meet up but never getting the chance after his and his cousins birthday parties. After he started having feelings for Gwen, she faded from his feelings for a bit, texting each other every now and then. Until they reunited at Grandpa Max's funeral, when she agreed to help drive the Highbreed from Earth in addition to her more than exemplary display of combat experience impressed the Tennyson boy to no end. He was sure there were many timelines that they would have ended up together, but even if he were certainly single now… which he wasn't sure about just yet… he couldn't imagine himself with anyone else but Gwendolyn.

He turned to look out around his base of operations, only being set up for a few months now, he approached a glass case in the corner opposing the entrance. It held an unknown suited mannequin, Ben turned his attention to it, yanking the cloth off of it to glance over the contents within. It was a bone-white shaded set of armor with emerald trim that Cooper had assembled for him during the Highbreed invasion though, he didn't intend to use it at the time. It could fly, had sensors, sustain his transformations, withstand heavy damage… but something about it made him feel insecure. He walked over to face it through the glass, looking over the sleek design and pictured himself using it in battle. But, if he did use it and became a better hero, did that mean he was never good enough to begin with…?

Had he been wearing this armor; would Kai still be alive?"

Once again the rage boiled over through his body, funneling through his nervous system and into his eyes as the emerald energy developed into an ability he was beginning to gain control over. His eyes shot twin beams of heated omni-energy slicing through the seven-foot case in front of him, triggered by his emotions… he turned and sent a jab through the already compromised glass casing that held the armor, shattering it into countless shards. Glass rained down around him reflecting off the artificial light above him, fell silent leaving Ben with his thoughts once again. He glanced around at the rest of the base, racks of weapons and computerized equipment placed neatly across the base.

Ben knowing the woman he'd loved since he was ten years old was likely gone from his life, knowing he'd lost a friend in such a brutal way… He turned on his heels and unleashed another set of twin beams of energy that carved through the entire mission room accompanied by a shout, "AH!" turning on his heels carving trails of heat through the room, burning through shelves and racks alike, the sparks that flew from the blasts ignited into an emerald flame.

Finally calming down, he sucked deep breaths of air into his lungs obviously using this newfound ability took a lot of stamina out of him. He looked around at the destruction he caused for a moment, pondering on what he should even do next, he felt a bit better now having let it all out but, nothing had changed. The Tower's fire alarm sounded from the ceilings, expelling flame retardants that doused the entire room, including Ben in white foam.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 21st, 2017; 2:22PM

After spending the next several hours cleaning up the mess he made, which he could have done in seconds with XLR8 but, he didn't feel comfortable transforming at the moment. He had no idea he could channel the genetic energy from the Omnitrix this way, if he were still learning new abilities about it, how much more was there for him to discover? After sweeping together the final pile of ash and glass debris, he made his way down the tower elevator to his room where he knew he needed to sleep. There was sleep on and off, however he could hardly rest after the night he'd had. He reached over in his bed and it felt cold, it had been years since he'd spent the night without her in bed with him. They were Ben and Gwen, they didn't have fights like this or at least they hadn't since they were thirteen, he stared up at the ceiling and gave a long-exasperated sigh that eventually pulled his eyes closed for six or so hours.

Ben woke up and was relieved that the first few seconds of lucid awareness tricked him into believing the night prior had never happened, but the empty kind-sized bed he slept in was more than just a reminder. He got up, showered the sweat and grime from the night before off, did his usual routine of applying cologne, deodorant, and a hairbrush. He brushed his teeth and headed back to the elevator, instinctively heading back up to the mission room as the gate buzzed someone in through the front door almost as soon as he entered. Part of him was hoping it was Gwendolyn ready to make up for the night prior, though another part of him would be relieved she wouldn't see him in this condition if it weren't her. As the elevator dinged its way up the many floors, the number atop the metallic doorway embedded in the frame went up as it approached his floor.

He sighed when the doors finally split open with another ding, revealing Cooper in a yellow-tank top that showed off his lanky arms paired with purple basketball shorts, "Hey, Ben, long… night…?" as he glanced around at all of the destroyed technology and burned carvings in the walls, he trailed off to change the subject, "What happened?" he asked assuming someone must have attacked.

Ben looked around as was prepared to try to explain what actually occurred but, gestured his hand as though it wasn't worth explaining, "Never mind that, I got some new information about Prometheus that'll narrow down your search," Ben followed closely behind as Cooper made his way to the main holodeck, logging into the Danger Alert to check on the progress made by the algorithm he set up the night prior.

"Looks like you don't have to," Cooper insisted as he brought up the parameters for the cross-reference search, pulling up the holographic keys over the holodeck. "It turns out the compound the bow is made of isn't just steel, it's a rare steel composite with another iron ore material, goes by Bicenthium Alloy on the extranet," he leaned back as Ben narrowed his eyes down at the screen, it was a clear-cut reference to his adventure as child when he stopped Vulcanus from creating a super weapon. "There's only one iron-ore facility in Keystone and it was shut down, get this… five years ago," Cooper looked up at Ben who kept his glare on the screen.

"Alright, send my Omnitrix the coordinates, I'll go check it out myself," Ben approached the wall by the exit, grabbing his white and emerald trimmed hoodie, throwing it over himself one sleeve at a time.

Cooper turned around to face him, looking unsure of his decision, "Don't you think you should wait for Gwendolyn?" he proposed.

Ben paused for a second, pulling the hoodie tighter over his torso, frowning at him as he turned, "She and I had a fight last night, I-I think our relationship is over, I guess we'll always be family but…" he spoke to the ground at this point rather than Cooper who simply gave a sympathetic expression.

"Wow, I didn't know, sorry to hear that…" Cooper tried to relate as much as he could but, he never really had any serious relationships so, there wasn't much wisdom he could impart, "I still think you should wait for backup."

Ben didn't have the patience to argue at the moment, he just groaned and faced him again, "Just send me the coordinates, please?"

"Fine, but I still think it's a bad idea!" Cooper shouted as Ben exploded in a flash of light in front of him, gone in a black and white blur that dashed across the city in seconds, XLR8's visor displayed the coordinates as he instructed his technopath friend to do, guiding him to an iron foundry outside of town.

The entire building was abandoned, giving him room to race in through every room in the three-story building before stopping on a dime in front of an active pot of molten slag. Someone had been here recently as the slag hadn't hardened yet but, how could he have missed anyone in the building? A flash of emerald light exploded once again, transforming back into his human form, Ben strutted through the cat walks that hung above the bubbling molten ore. He figured he was alone, only sticking around a few seconds through a sneaking suspicion that he was wrong; taking a few more steps through with his hand on the metal-railing, he heard something miniscule that alerted him to a presence behind him. Someone had stepped into view a few hundred feet behind him, a bow in hand with a particular shaving missing from it and an arrow on the drawstring aimed at him. Prometheus fired his arrow but, Ben was able to dip his head to the left to avoid it, even without looking as he spun around facing another sharpened projectile aimed for his torso but, he only caught that one too centimeters from his chest. Finally laying eyes on the enemy that's been taunting him for five years now, the monster that killed his friend and who knows how many other people, he effortlessly snapped the teflon-coated titanium arrow with his thumb.

"What is it you want from me?!" Ben shouted down the hall, now knowing for certain that his quarrel was with him in particular, the glowing power coursing through his suit was clearly the same crimson energy from the weapons being trafficked through his city.

Prometheus lowered his bow, retracting back into a handheld device which he tossed aside, reaching up and unlatching the buckle that kept his quiver of arrows secured to his back. It toppled to the ground at his feet behind him as he stepped forward reaching the opposite end of the catwalk. "Everything." Prometheus growled ominously, with an even deeper voice modifier that made him sound almost inhuman.

"Is that it, huh? You wanna be me, you wanna be a hero?!" Ben shouted out at him from across the rather large facility, needing to yell just to project his voice. His enhanced hearing was all that helped him understand what his opponent was growling to him.

Prometheus almost didn't respond but, ended up growling out just two words, "Heroes die."

Ben curved a confident smile, letting the energy build up into his eyes again as the rage boiled over, he exploded in a flash of emerald light. Diamondhead charged from within the glow, each arm sharpened into weapons as he raced across the thin metal bridging.

Prometheus stepped back as his own eyes became brighter with red light, sending bolts of crimson lightning out around his body, he channeled the energy from his watch in a similar way Ben had done just the night prior. He unleashed a much thicker form of blood-red energy from his eyes, only barely catching the hero off guard, he managed to cross his crystalline forearms in front of the blast before it struck him. Forcing him back through the catwalk, starting to dent the platform that kept him from falling into a molten pit, not that it could kill Diamondhead either way.

Prometheus seemed proud of himself but didn't say anything else before he himself exploded in a flash of crimson light, seeing it for the first time was more surreal than he expected. A creature almost identical to Diamondhead stood before him only, he was nearly half a foot taller and the crystal he was made of was a deep indigo shade. The crystals protruding from his back were thicker and his hands had sharper claws that glimmered in the sliver of light that slipped in from the boarded-up windows. Wearing a sleeveless skintight nanofiber purple suit trimmed with black design, the symbolled badge on his chest was indeed half of an Omnitrix symbol glowing bright red just like his eyes.

Diamondhead was a bit in awe, looking up into the eyes of this new creature, but he was left speechless so, Prometheus spoke first, "I don't really name them anymore but, when I did… I called this one Crystalfist," the behemoth stomped forwards weakening the already deteriorating structure of the railing they were about to fight on. Diamondhead swung first, though it seemed that Crystalfist could reshape his body faster as by the time the diamond cladded fist reached its target, he'd formed a purple shield construct. The strength of their two unyielding forces colliding manifested a shockwave that shook the entire foundry, pulling his shield back Crystalfist right crossed Diamondhead in the chin, sending fractals gemstone out across the catwalk.

Diamondhead didn't hesitate to retaliate, throwing a left straight which was dodged as he grabbed his teal crystal arm, pulled him into his back, and threw him over his shoulder. Slamming Diamondhead through the catwalk and into the vat of molten slag below, though obviously not sustaining any real damage an emerald explosion still engulfed him while still under. Chromastone flew up and out of the lava without effort, using the ability of flight that it appeared Crystalfist didn't possess, aiming his hands downward as lava dripped from his feet, he fired cascaded beams of rainbow light down at Crystalfist who shielded himself with his forearms once again.

Crystalfist shifted his forms again with a flash of crimson light engulfing his body, replacing him with a much taller humanoid form resembling Wildvine only with thorns pultruding from around his neck and plant-tendrils sprouting from his back. Chromastone scoffed down at him, shaking his head in disappointment, "Are all of your aliens just rip offs of mine? That's definitely Wildvine," he sounded almost offended, maybe he really should consider trademarking his aliens.

"It's Thornblade, actually," the vines sprouting from behind him shot out faster than expected, far swifter than Wildvine ever could, wrapping around Chromastone's ankle. He pulled with physical strength he wasn't expecting from a Florauna though, this one was clearly mutated. He slammed him face first into the concrete where Prometheus entered from, transforming once again Thornblade jumped into the air, exploding with genetic energy mid-air, and landing atop Chromastone as mutated Tetramand, "And this one is Quadbash!" mounting him before he could stand himself up. He stood up and pressed his foot down on his crystalline back, his skin was a dark purple with a crimson armored torso and silver plates over his broadened shoulders.

Chromastone exploded in a flash of emerald energy, reforming as a humanoid puddle of water which his foot simply slipped right through as the sentient liquid slithered away, reforming behind Quadbash and separating his fluid hands into thousands of water droplets. Each one froze into sharp projectiles, launched with enough force and speed to cut through his skin, some shattered against his armor but, the grunts he let out told Overflow that he was doing some type of damage. That was until he transformed again, this time each and everyone of his ice shards melted before even making it into Hotshot's proximity, the mutated Pyronite formed an orb of heat between his palms, firing it into Overflow who countered with a pulse of pressurized water. Steam littered the entire foundry around them, though an emerald explosion caught their attention as Big Chill flew through the steam grabbing Hotshot by the shoulders and dragging him through the facility into the wall, which the concrete began to melt as soon as he became pinned to it.

"I swear I'm going to kill you for what you did!" Big Chill huffed an immense wave of cold air accompanied by a blue cryogenic beam that threatened to put out the Pyronite's flame and end this battle, however; it wouldn't be so easy. Hotshot exploded outwards with a wave of heat that forced Big Chill to float backwards in defense against the rising temperatures. Two simultaneous explosions of crimson and emerald flooded the room leaving them both in their human forms.

Prometheus chuckled under his mask, scoffing at the idea, "If you had the strength to end my life, you would have done any number of the countless times we've met…" he spoke as though he'd known his opponent for much longer than he originally considered. "But, Ben Tennyson doesn't kill… he's the good guy, the boy Max raised, the man Gwendolyn loves…" he took steps forwards as his rage flooded his eyes with red just as it would with Ben's only far more sinister. "You have everything and deserve none of it!" he rushed the Tennyson boy, gripping him by his shirt and thrusting him forwards into a layer of drywall. Prometheus attempted to punch Ben directly in the face but, only managed to strike through the drywall beside his head, giving Ben the opportunity to draw his enemy in with a knee strike to the chest. It didn't seem to have the desired effect as Prometheus simply reached down while he was keeled over, grabbing Ben's shins, and pulling him off his feet, slamming him onto his back. "Just remember, I'm always ten steps ahead."

Ben and Prometheus transformed simultaneously again, this time both into their speedster forms, the transformation known only as Rush was just as fast, if not a bit faster than XLR8, running beside him effortlessly as they fought at near the speed of light. Crossing through highways and traversing interstates, slamming one another into cars, bashing their heads through windows, sprinting at lightspeed back and forth across the country from East to West and nearly every city in between, running up buildings only to circle the rooftop in an intense game of tag that only ended in the loser's demise. Time slowed down almost to a halt for them both, as they stood atop a helipad for choppers to land on, nearly a thousand feet up atop a building. Rush swung in for a right hook but, XLR8 managed to dodge to the right just in time but, his opponent was prepared using the opportunity to duck down, also avoiding a haymaker dropping down and sweeping the speedsters wheels out from under him.

XLR8 huffed as time resumed at a normal pace, he reached up and wiped blood from his lips, spitting a good amount of the crimson substance from being nailed in the stomach so many times. Even in his Kineceleran form, he still felt the internal bleeding only beginning to heal, forcing himself to vanish in a burst of speed running down the building back to where they had begun their battle.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 21st, 2017; 2:56PM

Gwendolyn came up the elevator arriving at the mission room where Cooper was currently focused completely on the fight that was about to begin, "Hey Coop, have you seen Ben? I really need to talk to him," she slowly approached from behind noticing the omni-cam feed was pulled up and playing something live, "Is he out in the field right now?"

"Yea, he found Prometheus, they're in the middle of the fight right now," Cooper said nonchalantly as he figured she wouldn't have wanted to go, having there been drama of some kind between them, "I was gonna call but, Ben said you needed time after the breakup."

"Breakup?" Gwen faceplanted immediately with a frustrated groan, "I never broke up with him, I told him I didn't know how to feel, I could never stop loving that doofus," she pulled her phone out of her pocket, staring at the screensaver of them two on their first date atop the Empire State Building, the view was gorgeous, and the night was one she could never forget, even after all those years, "I have to go after him…"

Cooper sat up in his seat, looking at the omni-cam feed a bit closer, "You might wanna hurry with that because it looks like he might… lose," considering they just lost Kai, he did his best to avoid using the words 'get killed' which was exactly what was about to happen on screen if she didn't intervene.

…

XLR8 and Rush collided at the speed of light, rapidly attacking, and countering one another in absolute blurs of enhanced speed, chasing each other through the foundry as Ben did his best to stay out of reach, however; Prometheus was simple much faster. Rush ran ahead of XLR8, sprawling down and tripping the speedster forcing him to tumble through three sheets of drywall at mach five. He finally stopped when he hit a brick wall back first, attempting to get up but, feeling a sharp pain through his back and spine. He exploded in a flash of light emerging as Fourarms who slowly stood to his feet accompanied by loud painful groans, charging forwards, his footsteps left imprints in the concrete. He swung left and right as Rush was able to effortlessly dodge and weave between strikes, soon dashing literal circles around the Tetramand until he recoiled and clapped his hands together with incredible force. The shockwave shattered all the windows in the building simultaneously, and with the blast being omnidirectional, it sent Rush flying through the foundry and into a concrete wall.

Fourarms huffed loudly, nearly out of breath, trying to stay standing as another flash of crimson light illuminated the room where from the darkness shot a massive spinning crimson orb, armored with razor-sharp fins for maximum damage. Fourarms opened his arms to catch the projectile like he would for an alien like Cannonbolt, however; this was a bad idea. The sharp fins across his armored shell spun gashing a long vertical wound an inch deep through his torso, "Augh!" eventually he stopped spinning giving Ben the opportunity to use two of his four arms to left jab the Wreckingball alien that was still in his grip.

Unfortunately, he simply used the speed he hit the wall following at speeds enough to ricochet off and back through the air, hitting Fourarms from behind this time, giving him the same serious wound. His repeated this process three more times before Fourarms managed to punch the Wreckingball through the ground, forcing his momentum to a stop as he too jumped down a floor landing in the dust littered room. Fourarms was injured and exhausted, he was bleeding severely from multiple wounds, his instincts had him transform back into his human form, collapsing to his hands and knees. Watching the blood drip from his lips and chin as it splattered on the ground in front of him.

"You're weak, just like the rest of you…" Wreckingball transformed back into Prometheus as well, stepping forward as Ben slowly got to his feet, his nose was bleeding and his lip was cut, he had numerous hairline fracturs across his body and a gash on his back and torso but, he still stood regardless of his condition, regardless of the nigh-unbearable pain.

Ben got himself into a fighting stance, keeping his fists up in front of himself, never leaving himself open, "W-Why are you doing all of this?" he shouted through a splatter of blood that erupted from between his lips, dripping down his chin. He swung in for left jab which he simply caught in the palm of his gloved hand, twisting his wrist until he received a right cross from Ben's free hand.

Prometheus didn't answer him yet, blocking his advance and responding with a headbutt that sent Ben tumbling back as Prometheus advanced still. Ben threw a left cross which landed only, it was blocked with his right armored forearm but, still being disoriented, it only left him open for an uppercut that sent him back first into a slab of drywall. His back put a crater through it but, it wasn't there long, as soon as Prometheus planted his booted foot against Ben's chest kicking him through the wall, rolling onto his back before collapsing onto his side. Covered in drywall dust and small chunks of rubble, Prometheus stepped through the hole in the wall just as Ben reached out to block the sunlight from glaring into his eyes from the ceiling which had a large hole in it. Quickly taking the opportunity by grabbing his already injured wrist, Prometheus twisted his entire arm shattering his humeral head in his shoulder, keeping hold of that wrist as he jabbed Ben across the face twice more.

Releasing his grip, he fell onto his side clutching his arm as Prometheus sent an enhanced kick into Ben's abdomen, cracking another few ribs, and sending him sliding across the floor thirty feet into another unfinished room, into another slab of drywall, cratering it with his impact, "You asked why I'm doing this? It's because Ben Tennyson is a scourge, a plague, everyone in your orbit suffers or dies. I've traveled an awfully long way to end you all personally and take what's mine while I'm at it…" grabbing him up by his bloodied white hoodie and pinning him against the drywall, he used his free hand to pull his katana out from the sheath still strapped to his back.

Ben looked as though he was about to say something but, instead he simply narrowed his lips at him, "Ptew!" he spat a glob of blood into masked face in response to his rant.

"Then do it! Do it already!" Ben shouted in his masked face, the bruising around his eyes and cheeks starting to swell, "What're you waiting for, you want me dead, well I'm right here!" he shouted as bloody spit flew from his lips.

Prometheus looked down on Ben and took the end of his katana's steel blade pressing it against his chin and pulling his gaze up so that blazing emerald energy could lock eyes with its opposing crimson counterpart, "You haven't been paying attention, I'm not going to kill you…" he quickly moved back and stabbed his blade through the dry wall an inch or two from Ben's head, "I'm going to make you wish you were dead."

Ben leaned his head back taking a deep breath, "W-Well, good j-job, you succeeded, you killed one of my best friends, you turned my girlfriend against me, and now y-you've beaten the world's greatest hero," he spat more blood to the side as he leaned back, trying not to choke on his own breathing. "It's over, buddy, you won."

"Over?" Prometheus reached out to grab his katana by the hilt, pausing before he grabbed it, "On the contrary, just as he reached it, a telekinetic force hit him with the concentrated force of a truck going eighty miles an hour, tossing him through three sheets of drywall before landing in a tumble. He was caught off guard, that was all, but unfortunately by the time he had collected himself and gotten to his feet, Gwendolyn's Bezelian portal closed, taking Ben and his katana with her.

"I believe we're just beginning…" he muttered to himself as they left the room entirely empty.