Chapter 10: Sneaking out

The rest of the classes went by pretty fast. Photography class wasn't even taught by a real person but instead an A.I. that Forge had created. Not enough teachers for smaller classes like that. 

So after his final class was over, Ben rushed to the cafeteria to grab himself some snacks before meeting with the rest of his team members back in his room. The girls of the New Mutants invited him to hang out with them but Ben politely turned them down so that he could have fun and bond with his teammates. 

This time, the girls of the Hellions came over as well so instead of playing games, everyone sat down on the chairs and beds to watch movies together. With an unfortunate 6 to 3 vote (Brian voted with the girls), the group watched the Before Trilogy. 

The movies lasted until around 9 with tears in the eyes of everyone as they enjoyed the movies. 

"My gosh! Those movies are so great!" Cessily said with a sad smile. She loved and hated how realisti'c the relationship was between the protagonists. 

"I have to admit: I thought it would be way worse," Ben didn't think he would enjoy the trilogy and wanted to see something where more things blew up. 

"Same," Julian had similar tastes. He didn't expect to see such a good movie. "So... Sumo Slammers the Movie?"

"Put it on," Ben agreed, glad that he found a comrade with excellent taste in movies. 

"Oh, come on. That movie is terrible," Santos complained 

"Campy is the better word," Ben disagreed. He knew the movie was bad but it was bad in a funny way. The other Hellions didn't say anything since the duo had sat through nearly 6 hours of their movies. They would spare the pair 2 more hours. 

So after Julian put the movie on, the group laughed several times at the bad graphics and terrible plot while sitting around and enjoying each other's company. When it finally hit 11, everyone else went back to their own rooms to get to bed. 

Ben went downstairs to take out the trash and bring the leftover dishes to the cafeteria, when he got a text. Ben pulled out his phone and saw he got a text from a blocked number. The text only had one number to it and nothing else.

[2]

Seeing this, Ben's eyes contracted. He pulled up Brian's number and text him that he was going to be back in an hour so that his roommate did not get worried for what he was about to do. 

When he put the dishes away, he walked out to throw away the in the dumpster at the back of the building. Ben threw the trash in the dumpster before looking around carefully. When he saw that no one was around, he began to dial with the Omnitrix before pressing down when he got to a particular form.

The green light appeared for a moment before disappearing and revealing yet another form of Ben's. 

It was a red, humanoid manta ray-like alien with green eyes, black outlines on his face, yellow horns extending from his nose, gills underneath his arms, yellow patagia which he used to fly and glide through water, and two black lightning bolt-like stripes that came down from his shoulders to the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.

This was Jetray, Ben's fastest flying alien. Not only was it normally incredibly fast but it could also enter hyperspace to travel faster than light and move between star systems and even galaxies with ease. 

Ben's body became invisible as he entered hyperspace and took a single step forward. After taking that step, Ben exited hyperspace. He was no longer on Earth but flying next to the moon in space. 

Ben began to fly around the moon until he reached the dark side of it. As Ben got further and further into the area, he saw nothing in sight. But when he reached a certain point, he saw a circular appear out of nowhere and illuminate the area. The door opened as it sensed Ben nearing it to which Ben quickly flew into the entrance and landed where he was greeted to an empty room.

Once he was inside, the door closed behind him and the room became filled with air. Once it was the safe, the second door that led to the interior of the building opened. 

Ben transformed back into his normal self before walking past the door and into the next room. Ben was greeted by the sight of several men and women wearing black and green officer uniforms sitting around the room at different computers. No one looked up to see who had entered since they already knew who it was. 

When Ben got to the end of the room, he saw a woman with green hair and wearing sunglasses sitting behind a desk. She was wearing a similar black and green uniform to the others but hers was obviously of a higher status. 

"Welcome, Ben. We have trouble," the woman told him without looking up from her seat

This woman was Abigail Thanriaguiaxus but everyone who knew her called her either Officer Brand, Agent Brand, or Commander Brand. She got the epithet thanks to her mutant powers. 

Agent Brand was one of the division commanders of S.W.O.R.D but she worked for the black ops of black ops version of the group. This group was so black ops that even Ben's grandfather who had worked for S.W.O.R.D for most of his adult life didn't know about them. 

When Brand found out that Ben was a mutant a year prior, she immediately moved in to recruit him. She saw the potential in Ben and knew that his family wouldn't let him reach it with their worry. So without informing any of the higher ups or Ben's family, Brand made Ben one of the 5 field agents for her branch of S.W.O.R.D.

"What's going on?" Ben asked worriedly. Whenever Brand needed him, she would send a number, 1-5. These worked similar to DEFCON so the lower the number got, the more serious the situation. 

"The Princess of the Shi'ar went missing. No one is claiming anything and that is putting the Shi'ar on edge. They are creeping their armies toward the Kree Empire, ready to launch a full scale invasion since the little evidence it pointing toward them. Ronan to be specific," Brand began to explain the very dangerous situation that was going on

The Kree and Shi'ar were two of the 3 empires that ruled the largest portions of the galaxy. The 3rd were the Skrulls which already had an issue with Earth. The fact that the Kree and Shi'ar both had issues with the Skrulls was the only reason that Earth was currently at peace. 

If war broke out between the two, there would be no one to stop the Skrulls from leading an invasion on the planet. And not only that, the war between the two would consume thousands of smaller kingdoms and planets that got caught in the crossfire. There was nothing good about the situation. 

"So you want me to go and fight the two largest empires all by myself? Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of planets that each of them control as well as the trillions of soldiers at their command, the Accusers of the Kree and Imperial Guard of the Shi'ar who can each take down the Avengers are not too bad. Just another easy job for me," Ben tried to make light of the situation by emphasizing just how terrible of a plan it would be if that was really what Brand wanted. 

Luckily for him, it was not. 

"Don't worry. We have already tracked the princess to Pluto. She's being holed up someone not affiliated with any of the empires but a terrorist group that wants to overthrow The Charter and create a war," Brand went on to say. 

The Charter was the alliance between all the major systems or planets in the Galaxy that agreed to trade with one another as well as keep the peace. They were able to control most smaller disputes but one this size would see the collapse of it and war throughout the galaxy.

"We can't send this information to anyone since it can be traced back to us and she is currently within our system. S.W.O.R.D is going to launch a raid on it, thinking that this is just another group of pirates that need to be exterminated. Your job is to extract the princess during the chaos and bring her back to Shi'ar space without getting caught," Agent Brand explained the assignment

"Got it. Much easier," Ben let out a sigh of relief. Even if he was strong, he was only one person. He knew his limits. "When do I leave?"

"Now. The S.W.O.R.D forces will arrive within the next few minutes. Take this time to get there and get in position. We can't let anyone find out about this," Brand urged him to leave immediately

Ben nodded and headed back toward the airlock. Once he got inside, he transformed back into Jetray and took off once the door opened. 

'It's hero time!'