One
Darkness Before The Dawn
The Mr. Smoothy place is busy and packed with kids like myself. Here I am, with Rook and Carter, having a few smoothies and catching up on old times.
"I don't know what I'm more uncomfortable with, the fact that I'm having drinks with a murderer or an Elite operative," Rook said.
"Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot when I enter the base. Sometimes, the other Plumbers are scared of me because what I can do to them," Carter said.
"Okay, could we change the subject," I said.
"Like what? Discuss how attractive our girlfriends are." Carter notices something about Rook's expression. "You do have a girlfriend, Rook?" he asked.
"Let's not go there," Rook said.
"Do you want to tell him or should you?" I asked.
"Look, can we change the subject. Like discussing what missions were the dangerous," Rook answered.
"Okay, that's even better. I'll start off first. My first assignment with Special Projects almost ended in disaster. After I recovered from my near death experience in the desert, Eli assigned me and Molly to bring in an Incursion terrorist for questioning," he said.
"Sounds simple enough," I said.
"It would, except the guy was in Tokyo, controlling an apartment block and with some of the galaxy's worst criminals under his payroll. All of them were tenants of the apartment block," he said.
"So what happened?" Rook asked.
"We had two choices, we could enter the block and take on the criminals by ourselves or we wait for backup to arrive," he said.
"I take it you chose the enter the block and take on the criminals option," I said.
"No, I was thinking smart and I chose the backup option. The block has thirty floors and over a hundred criminals in it. Molly on the other hand, thought that waiting for backup would take too long. So, we did the unthinkable and stormed the block," he said.
"You're making this up. I've seen that action movie where twenty two cops stormed an apartment building and take on a criminal cartel," I said.
"I've seen that film and none of it comes close to what Molly and I experienced. We were able to liberate the first twenty eight floors. By the time we got to the twenty ninth and thirtieth floors. I was running out of arrows and Molly was exhausted from using her powers. When we got to the thirtieth floor, everything changed. The terrorist knew we were coming and he took Molly hostage. It was a game changer, I realised the next few minutes could go either way. I had to make a decision. So, I used a little improvisation, apprehended the terrorist and saved Molly. It took us twelve hours to liberate the entire building," he said.
"I find that hard to believe," Rook said.
"You said it, Rook," I said.
"Oh come on, I am not making of this up. It was front page headlines all over Tokyo and Japan. I told my story, now who wants to go next?" he asked.
"Fine, before Rook became my partner, Kevin was in a big spot of trouble. He was kidnapped by an ex-girlfriend who wanted revenge against him for stealing her money, her jewels and antiques. I found out Kevin was involved in a heist years ago and Gwen found out he had a girlfriend before her," I answered.
"I heard about that heist. I think it was called the Bolland Heist," Carter said.
"Yeah, except Gwen was furious and what made it worse is that the ex-girlfriend occupied a abandoned theme park in the Abnett Galaxy with some of the galaxy's worst criminals," I said.
"We can't be talking about the same worst criminals I encountered," he said.
"Oh no, these criminals were different. Most of them were looking to settle the score with either me or Kevin. It didn't take us long track Kevin down and we stormed the park. It took us a few hours to get to him and the ex-girlfriend. Gwen than went all Anodite on her and she nearly beat her to a pulp," I said.
"Molly once told me that going all true form is dangerous. Not to mention that it can kill you and the friend you're standing next to," he said.
"Kevin was able to calm her down and we brought the girlfriend and the criminals to justice," I said.
"Remind me to never get on your cousin's bad side. Okay Rook, it's your turn," he said.
"Me? I've been partnered with Ben since I graduated from the academy," Rook said.
"What? Then why did you bring the subject about dangerous missions?" he asked.
"I don't know, it was the first thing that came to my mind," Rook answered.
"Fair enough, I got to get back home before." Carter's cell phone rang and he answers it. "Hey Henry, what's up?" he asked.
"If you three are done having smoothies, you lot need to get down to the docks. We got a situation. I'll fill you lot in once you lot arrive," Henry said on the phone.
Carter puts his cell phone away. "We need head down to the docks. Something big is happening down there," he said.
We left Mr Smoothy and we head over to the docks. Somewhere in Washington DC, Sylvia and Ken entered a restaurant and she looks nervous. "I don't think this is good idea," Sylvia said.
"You'll be fine, plus my sister has been looking forward to meeting you." They see Gwen and Kevin. "There they are," Ken said.
They sat opposite the couple. "It's an honour to meet you in person, Sylvia. My grandfather told me stories about you and the Mystery Men," Gwen said.
"And you to, Ken has been telling me a lot about you. Your cousin isn't hard to figure out," she said.
"I can't believe the Mighty Rider discovered the ultimate find of the century. The experience of being frozen in space and orbiting around the sun must've been hard," Kevin said.
"I know, you're not telling what I already reminded myself every now and then," she said.
"Still, it's impressive," Gwen said.
"Yes it is. The government want to analyse me so they can figure out the secret to cryogenic animation. Fortunately, Eli convinced them that it wasn't worth," she said.
"So, what are your plans now?" Kevin asked.
"Now, I'm rebuilding my life and Ken has been a big help," she answered.
"Speaking of that, how does it feel to date someone who is quadruple your age?" Gwen asked.
"Let's not go there. I already got enough grief from mom and dad as it is. Mom's not happy with me dating a ninety year old woman who has the body of a twenty three year old. While dad is less ecstatic," Ken said.
"Still, we're happy for you two, really." We left the restaurant after having a meal and some drinks. "So where to?" Gwen asked.
"Well, there's a comedy show going on at a local bar." They then heard something in the alleyway. They checked it out and found Charmcaster bleeding on the ground. Everyone is shocked to see this. "Oh no, Charmcaster. We need to get her to a hospital," Kevin said.
Back in Bellwood, I, Rook and Carter met up with Henry Walsh at the docks. Henry lets us into a warehouse where we discovered it was full of refugees. "Okay, what's with the refugees?" I asked.
"They came from Ledger Domain. An hour ago, their dimension was invaded by a coalition of X'Andi and android forces. They came here, seeking refugee status. The dimension is still standing, but everything is burned to the ground," Henry answered.
"Who did this?" I asked.
"That we're still trying to figure out. We got witnesses who saw the mastermind and his accomplice in action. They're working with a sketch artist now. Right now, our priority is to find Charmcaster aka Hope, she's their Queen," Henry answered.
"Charmcaster, yeah I remember her. When I last fought her, she promised to leave us alone and focus on rebuilding on Ledger Domain," I said.
"Well, she delivered on that promise. What's being done the refugees, we can't just leave them here," Carter said.
"We're working on that. For now, this warehouse will have to do until we can find suitable housing for the refugees and their families," Henry said.
Agent Rodriguez rushes up to Henry. "Sir, we found her. She's in a hospital in Washington DC and its bad," she said.
"I see. You three, come with me. We're heading to Washington DC," Henry said.
We flew over to Washington DC; we arrived at the hospital where Charmcaster is recovering. Rook and Carter wait in the lobby as we head up to where Charmcaster is. "What happened?" I asked.
"It was sudden. One minute, we were enjoying a double date, the next we found Charmcaster bleeding in an alleyway," Gwen said.
Henry walks up to the patient and checks the wounds. "These wounds match the witnesses' reports. She was involved in a battle, the question is who struck the final blow," Henry said.
"My telepathy is limited, but the Helm of Nexus isn't," she said.
"I don't know, most of Ledger Domain never forgave my predecessor for not helping them when the dimension was last attacked. I rather not risk it, it violates one of the laws of magic," Ken said.
"I understand," she said.
Charmcaster wakes up. "You have my permission to enter my mind, Sorcerer Mage. Use whatever information you find to help you avenge my people," Charmcaster said.
Ken summons the helm, puts it on and he transforms into Dr. Nexus. "This won't hurt a bit." He places his finger on Charmcaster's forehead. "Hmm, Charmcaster was minding her own business. She was with her thoughts; a guard came, telling her that Ledger Domain was under attack. They stood no chance against the might of the X'Andi and android army. The android army belonged to Eon," Dr. Nexus said.
"Wait, Eon attacked Ledger Domain?" Kevin wondered.
"Eon wasn't alone, his android companion, Deviation was there. He led the the armies into the castle. They fought for hours when Eon suddenly showed up. She fought Eon, but he was too powerful and he punches her through the chest. Another guard, she saw what was happening to her, grabbed Charmcaster and headed to a nearby portal to Earth. The X'Andi pursued them, at that moment. The guard had to make an important decision. She throws Charmcaster into the portal and gave her life so she can live for another day," Dr. Nexus said.
He removes his finger off her forehead. "My gosh, I knew Eon was determine, but I never thought he would that merciless and ruthless," Gwen said.
"Was there a reason why Eon was there?" I asked.
"When I was in Charmcaster's mind, she witnessed Eon ordering his troops to raid the treasure room. That's all I was able to get out of her," he answered.
A doctor enters the room. "Sorry to interrupt, we informed her next of kin. He's on his way here," he said.
"Oh boy," I said.
"We'll deal with Hex," Gwen said.
We left the room as Sylvia, Ken and Henry stayed behind. "I never thought that Deviation would be involved," Sylvia said.
"You had history with it, don't you?" Henry asked.
"Back in the war, the Third Eye created a android capable of manipulating its density. Not only that, but it was also a shape shifter. Atomic Tom was able to find a weakness with Deviation's abilities and we were able to destroy it. Deviation was a lot worse that Adaptation. You don't think it's the same Deviation she encountered?" Sylvia asked.
"I don't think so. The technology use to create the Deviation, the one Charmcaster encountered is more advanced. It's almost its like from the future," he answered.
"Or a parallel Earth," she said.
"There is that," he said.
The same doctor enters the room. "Can I talk to you three for a minute?" We left the room and we talked. "I got some bad news. Charmcaster has lost a huge amount of blood. I've told her uncle and he's willing to donate, but his blood type is not the right match for her. Does she have any other known relative, like a father?" the doctor asked.
"No, her father died years ago," he answered.
"Oh, in that case, she doesn't have much time left. If I were you lot, you say your goodbyes. Because it'll be the last time," the doctor said.
The others arrived as the doctor left. There was sadness in the air. Charmcaster suddenly passes away due to blood loss. Hex sheds a tear for his loss. He walks up to Ken. "I know I can't forgive your predecessor. Promise me you'll avenge my niece's death," Hex said.
"I'll try," he said.
"If you lot excuse me, I got a funeral to arrange," Hex said.
Hex leaves the hospital. I walked up to a wall and punched it. Carter and Rook enter the area. "Okay, what was that all about?" Carter asked.
"Charmcaster has died," Gwen said.
"Ah man, I don't know what to say, I'm sorry. I know you had your differences with her, but is it right to mourn the loss of a villain?" Carter asked.
"I don't know, maybe. Throughout her life, she witnessed more tragedy than I have. The loss, the pain and the suffering. Yet, she overcame all of that to become Queen of Ledger Domain. Now, it's been taken away from her," Gwen answered.
"Eon has gone too far. Most of the crimes he committed were mischievous. But invading and burning a dimension to the ground, this is pure evil. He has to be stopped, at all costs," I said.
Carter catches onto what I'm thinking. "You're not thinking about killing him, aren't you?" He notices the look on my face. "You are, aren't you? Eon may've committed a terrible crime, but killing him won't bring any of his victims back," he said.
"What would you do, bring him in. Do you think he'll stand trial for what he did? He won't, he'll get away with it and carry on committing more monstrosities while worlds burn," I said.
"You don't know that," he said.
"But I know, he's me," I said.
"Yeah, I read the reports and how he'd nearly succeeded in achieving godhood. Charmcaster knew the risks when she became Queen and died to save the people she was protecting. I'm asking you, as a friend, don't go down this path. It's not who you are, it's a path suited for a murderer or a tyrant," he said.
"Listen to him, Ben. I know what you're going through, but Carter speaks the truth. Please, don't," Dr. Nexus said.
I left the hospital and I got a plan to deal with Eon. "This looks bad," Kevin said.
"I've seen moments like this during the war. But we knew the risks were too great. Sometimes we have to take a stand. I know the look on his face. He hates being used and manipulated," Sylvia said.
"Sadly its true, he's been manipulated by villains like Eon before," Gwen said.
"We can't have Ben running loose. Our job is to protect and serve. Right now, our priority is to bring Eon into custody," Henry said.
"I agree. With your permission, Gwen, I like to reactivate the Checkmate plan," Carter said.
"Checkmate?" Kevin said.
"When you mutated for the second time. Ben was willing to put you down, meaning execute you. While I was working on a way to save you, I was devising a plan to put Ben down if continues down this dark path," she said.
"The plan involved me. I shadowed Ben from a rooftop during that time. What I witnessed was shocking. He beat up Forever Knights and aliens to the extreme and I agreed with Gwen. When the final confrontation occurred, I place myself on the cliff side and prepared myself in case Ben killed Kevin. Luckily, she was able to calm him down," Carter said.
"The plan mostly involved neutralising Ben until he either calms down or in the worst case scenario, assassinate him," she said.
"Wow, remind me to never get on your bad side," he said.
"I never thought you could come up with something like that. But its understandable, I need to inform Eli of these latest developments," Henry said.
"Of course. In the meantime, we'll begin tracking down Eon," Gwen said.
Henry then leaves the hospital. "There's one problem. How are we suppose to find him? He's a time traveller, he can appear anywhere and when," Kevin said.
"There's a specialist back in Bellwood. I found out about the guy last year. He's specialising in supplying villains, heroes and people with time travel equipment. His name is Blackfriar," Carter said.
Back in Bellwood, Blackfriar is busy closing up shop for the evening when I entered the store. "Ben 10, this is a first. I should be thankful there aren't any villains in my store. Otherwise, I might lose a lot of profit," Blackfriar said.
"Cut the small talk. You supply everyone with time travel equipment. Do you do a lot of business with Eon?" I asked.
"I do on occasion. He was here a while back. He needed to know whether it was possible to seek godhood through omnipotence. I did the calculation and the math and I told him it was possible. Although I did tell him there would be consequences. But I didn't ask further," he said.
"Then you must know where he is," I said.
"It's like I said. I didn't ask further. I would be bad for business." I grabbed his head and slammed it through the counter. "Please, I got a healing factor," he said.
"That I already knew. Where is he?" I asked.
"Come to think of it, his android, Deviation was here two days ago. He was looking for his master, but couldn't find it. He left the store in disappointed mood," he answered.
He gets up. "I'm wasting my time here," I said.
"Eon did something to you, didn't he?" I didn't answer back. "I figured as much. You two are the same after all," he said.
I grabbed him and slammed him to the wall in anger. "No we're not the same! He's a conqueror, I'm a hero. I'm righting the wrongs he's committing," I shouted.
"Think what you will." I put him down and I was to leave the when he stopped me. "But ask yourself this, how far are you willing to seek justice done?" he asked.
I left the store, knowing I still haven't made progress. We arrived back in Bellwood, knowing that they wouldn't be far behind.
"Don't you think we should call in the other Guardians?" Kevin asked.
"Blake and Trent are sifting through some intel a black ops team recently acquired. Rex and Dania have got their own problems, meaning they're patrolling their own worlds. That leaves me, doc and Solaris," Carter answered.
"What about Molly?" Gwen asked.
"That's a bit complicated, but I'll explain in due time," he answered.
Dr. Nexus then senses something. "Ben was here, he's been over to Blackfriar's store. I think we should start there," Dr. Nexus said.
We head over to Blackfriar's store; we arrived after the store closed. We entered the store and Blackfriar was expecting them. "First I have Ben 10 in my store and now a group of super powered beings are in my presence. What do I owe the pleasure?" Blackfriar asked.
Solaris notices the broken glass on the counter. "Having trouble with shoplifters?" Solaris asked.
"No, that was Ben 10 brutally interrogating me," he answered.
"He's telling truth; Ben was here and slammed Blackfriar's head into the counter. After that didn't work, he slammed to wall. But he didn't receive any information," Dr. Nexus said.
"I don't know what cause Ben to that, but this is crossing the line," Carter said.
"I agree, we need to end this before he, along with plenty of people could get hurt," Gwen said.
"True he didn't leave with the information he was looking for. But that won't stop him from tracking Eon's other associates. There's an information broker who supplies Eon with information now and then. His name is Dylan Frost, he has an apartment in the Burrows," Blackfriar said.
"I know the district," Carter said.
"Why are you telling this?" Gwen asked.
"When I gazed into Ben's eyes, they weren't of a boy seeking justice. They were of a boy seeking vengeance for a crime Eon committed. You lot better hurry before he gets to Dylan or worse," he answered.
Minutes later, we arrived at Dylan's apartment. We saw him working and starring at multiple computer monitors. "Hang on a sec, Liam. I got Fistrick on the line. Hey Fistrick, what's up?" Dylan asked.
"Hey Dylan, remember when I last called about the information I asked?" Fistrick asked over the phone.
"About Blitzkrieg, you're safe for now. He's recently sold some arms to the European branch of the Forever Knights," he answered.
"I thought those were shut down," Fistrick said.
"That was the American branch. The European branch sent someone to get them back on their feet, but the Plumbers put a stop of that," he said.
"Man, has the money from the last sale I made arrived?" Fistrick asked.
"Lock, stock and barrel. The money is already in your Swiss bank account." Dylan turns around and notices them. "I got to go, I got some visitors." Dylan hangs up on Fistrick and Liam. "Having you lot here is bad for business. You lot almost scared away my customers," Dylan said.
"We're not here to bring you in," Gwen said.
"Kevin, right? It's been a long time, kid. You do owe me money for damaging my Mercedes-Benz," he said.
"Now's not the time. Ben 10 is on his way here and we're here to protect you," Kevin said.
"And why should I believe you?" he asked.
"You did business with Eon. It's the reason why he's coming here," Carter said.
"Hmm, it's been a while since I heard that name. I did business with Eon, but I stopped after my other customers had concerns about him. Knowing the looks on your faces, you're not kidding. What do you need?" he asked.
"We need to find Eon and bring him into justice. He recently committed a crime," she said.
"Crimes that're categorised under war crimes," Rook said.
"When you put that away. Eon is illusive, but clever and dangerous. Finding him won't be easy. But I have an idea. Time travellers like him and Prof. Paradox have a unique energy signature. Every time when those two time travel, they leave an energy mark or a signature as it were. Over the years, Prof. Paradox learned to mask his signature, but Eon hasn't." Dylan gets up, walks up to his closet, opens it up and gets a device out. He then walks back over to them. "I've been working on this device for some time. In case if I needed Eon for something. I already got the energy signature, now you lot need to find him before," Dylan said.
A part of the wall suddenly exploded and I entered the building as Heatblast. "Here already? Hold Dylan still while I interrogate him," I said.
"No you won't. We can still bring Eon in," Gwen said.
"Eon had crossed the line. He needs to be put down before he takes another life," I said.
"Do you hear yourself? This isn't the Ben 10 I know. This time, we're stopping you before you cross the line," Dr. Nexus said.
He flies into me, sending himself and me flying throughout the hole I made in the wall. We landed on a rooftop and we both got up. "Why are you protecting him?" I asked.
"I've seen what you did to Blackfriar," he answered.
"So, he's a got a healing factor," I said.
"But that doesn't make it right. Don't do this, there's another way. I understand how you feel," he said.
"No you don't. Do you have any idea what it's like to lose someone? Someone who I'm responsible for," I asked.
"All too often, but our jobs is never easier," he said.
I left the scene as the others arrived. "What happened?" Rook asked.
"I sensed Ben's guilt. He thinks he's fully responsible for what has happened to Charmcaster. Also, I sensed confliction in him. On one side, there's the Ben we know, who wants to bring Eon in. The other is rage, full of anger over failures such as this one and the ones in the past," he answered.
"He's troubled, we need to find Eon and fast," Gwen said.
Somewhere on the other side of Bellwood, Deviation and Eon have teleported to the industrial district. Eon is exhausted from using too much of his power. "Deviation, why isn't my power working?" Eon asked.
"You're overusing your power. It's causing you to be exhausted. You need to rest before we can move on," Deviation answered.
"He's getting close. I know it. Soon, he'll come after me and you. We're so close to the end. Once I attained godhood, then I'll achieve peace," Eon said.
"There's been an update; Black Knight has acquired the final piece to the Star of Okath. Reassembly the star itself should take a week," it said.
"Seth will be pleased; at least we got three pieces to the Arc Cube. We're only halfway there, come on," he said.
He and Deviation left the area. Back at Dylan's apartment, Dylan is explaining to them how the tracking device works. "The device is unique. It cost me a fortune to build and it's one of a kind. The device picks up energy readings; I tuned the device to pick up time travel energy. Once you get a reading. It locks onto the signal and the map readout will point you to the location," Dylan said.
"What's the range?" Carter asked.
"It covers the Bellwood area. It's only designed for short-range," he answered.
Gwen turned the device on and it picks up a reading. "I got a reading; it's coming from the industrial district." Sometime later, they arrived at the industrial district. "This is it. This is where time travel energy was recently used," she said.
Dr. Nexus then senses something. "Eon was here and so was Deviation. He's exhausted; he's using too much power. They left the area and they're headed north towards the Macmillan Warehouse," Dr. Nexus said.
Inside the warehouse, Eon and Deviation entered the warehouse. Eon senses they're being followed. "We're not alone. It's been a long time, Tennyson. Age has got the better of you, but for me. It hasn't," Eon said.
I entered the warehouse and confronted both Eon and Deviation. "Eon," I said.
"I sense anger in you. You think I'm responsible for what has happened to Ledger Domain. You of all people should that's your fault," he said.
"Don't put the blame on me. You think that this is some game to you, but it's not. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Charmcaster and her people." I used the Omnitrix to change into Rath. "And I will avenge them," I said.
"Do you think you'll succeed?" Eon asked. We then began to fight.