A/N: this came to me late last night and I was up until about 11 (ironically enough) writing it and finishing it up. I love how it came out.
Disclaimer: I own no part of Ben 10.
Pretty Little Monsters
It had been days since they had seen Kevin. Gwen had cried herself to sleep every night since she lost the love of her life. She held herself together with only a faint grasp on the reality at hand. Her sobs had shaken the entire bed when they racked her frail, nearly lifeless body. The redhead had become a mere shell of her former self.
Ben had been able to keep himself busy with taking care of the garage in Kevin's absence and trying to take care of Gwen the best he could while still maintaining his steady relationship with Julie. There was enough on his plate to feed a small army. He was busy all hours of the day, the only way he could sleep at night was using XLR8 to get through the longest chores faster.
"Ben," came Gwen's voice crackling through the Ultimatrix's communication function. "Grandpa Max got a tip." The girl's voice sounded on the verge of frantic through the device on his wrist. The brunette hero stood at the next few words that slipped her lips, not caring about anything else but the new mission at hand. "It's about Kevin."
His auburn-haired cousin's voice had audibly cracked on that last part, just reaffirming his fears. She was slowly losing her own mind because of Kevin's self-induced insanity. "I'll meet you there," he said to the Ultimatrix, the sound resonating through to Gwen's end. The coordinates had already been sent to him and he was off in a heartbeat, his thick lizard tail streaming out behind him as he ran.
The Manny & Ken's warehouse was wide open and thoroughly destroyed from a few fights against J.T. and Cash. And now the two Tennysons were there again; this time, the tormentors were not.
Gwen's emerald eyes found Ben's approaching form and she saw him slowing down for a few mere seconds before screeching to a dead halt right in front of her and transforming back to his human body. "He's inside," breathed the girl, her body quaking from the cold of night that hung in the air. The only light was that of the sliver of moon that remained suspended in the blackened sky.
Silence fell between the two as they made their way into the massive, looming building. Holes were still dug into the walls and the lights were as dim as ever. Mannequins lay stacked around everywhere, just waiting to be destroyed.
"Kevin?" called Gwen bravely, wishing the dark teen would just show himself and make it easier for Ben to cure him or for him to absorb skin. Anything to turn him back. Anything to change him into the precious boy she had fallen in love with. "It's just us."
Her deep green orbs squinted into the darkness, seeing moving shadows drifting across the open spaces and the faint moonlight that managed to glitter in was abruptly broken by the form of something larger than life.
Ben's hand was poised over the Ultimatrix, ready to strike. He didn't want to hurt Kevin. But whatever it took to keep the universe safe, he would do it.
"It's no use," came his husky and sharp voice. The walls brought rounds of echoing into the space. "It's not just me."
"Is anyone else here?" asked Ben, his brow knitting together as he misinterpreted the question. "We don't want to fight, Levin."
Gwen glared at her cousin, emerald orbs narrowed to slits. "He's got a name," she reminded him fiercely. "You can't start treating him bad again. It's not his fault." For a second, her eyes darkened as she realized that it was truly her cousin's fault that her boyfriend and beloved was now a hideous, uncontrollable monster.
"I'm not the only monster." His hulking form appeared from the shadows. The blue wings of Big Chill that wrapped over his head made him look darker, more ominous. His eyes were watching the two attentively, not fearful of what they could easily do to him. "I never have been." And a demonic smile had pressed itself tightly to his yellowed lips; his red skin was gleaming in the dim lights. His taedenite arm stretched out, as if to attack the two.
Ben reacted accordingly, slamming his hand down on the faceplate of the watch that clung to his wrist. His limbs began to grow larger, massive rounded scales finding his body needing means of protection. And the normally jade-eyed hero didn't even bother to yell out the transformation's name. It was unnecessary. And he bowled himself over to Kevin.
Gwen could only watch in horror; her powers were useless against Kevin. He had Galapegus's natural invincibility to mana. The girl gasped as she ran closer to her cousin as Kevin picked him up and uncurled his rounded body with those prying hands of his. And the larger being smashed the smaller one into the wall. Gwen backed off a little ways, feeling so utterly worthless to help the two most important people in her life.
Kevin swung his arm and tossed Ben at a wall, sending the younger teen right through it and into the next room over. "You don't get it yet, do you, Tennyson?" asked Kevin, voice seeming dazed, not near as livid as it had when they had been in the Forge of Creation. The beast began to approach the limp form of his best friend, the craze in his mind slowly giving way to the stronger of the two powers that resided within his skull.
"Kevin," breathed Ben as he hauled his Cannonbolt body from the ground and stared at the ex-con that was approaching him again. "What is wrong with you?"
"He has no control," Gwen reminded her cousin, something deep inside of her saying that Kevin would never go after her. Some connection held the two together too strongly to have his insanity press in on their love. "He's fully aware of what's going on, but he can't control himself." The redhead bit her lip, praying that Kevin had some sense of what was right or wrong.
Kevin had Ben hoisted into the air again with one hand. "You can't see it?" asked Kevin, a tone of humor lingering under the darkness of his words. His eyes were purely pained. "It's not just me." The dark teen smashed his friend into the wall, a mirror hanging right next to it. As soon as Ben's body was weak enough to the point that he couldn't fight, Kevin held him up in front of the mirror. "Tell me what you see, Tennyson."
"Levin, I swear I will-"
"TELL ME!" Kevin's roar had made the entire building shake and tremor under his might and otherworldly power. He slammed Ben into the wall another time for not answering. "WHAT DO YOU SEE, TENNYSON!"
"I see myself," snarled Ben, wishing he could just do a quick-change right there and take down Kevin with an Ultimate transformation. "Why? What do you see?"
Once more, Ben was brutally slammed into the wall, the sheer force of Kevin's power making his brain rattle inside of his skull. "LOOK AGAIN!"
Ben blinked open his eyes and saw what Kevin meant. His body had been mangled and mashed by the swift beatings Kevin had delivered. Scrapes and scratches raked his body, turning him from the pristine white he had once been to a pink tainted shade. He thought he could see a thin ring of blue surrounding one eye, the first signs of a shiner.
The words were choked from Ben's throat as he realized what his friend had meant. "A monster."
Kevin slammed his fist into the Ultimatrix's symbol that was place in the center of Ben's chest. The brunette hero was sent flying past his cousin, his body morphing into Armodrillo before he crashed into yet another wall that caused the crumbling building to tremble. "WHAT ARE YOU NOW?" howled Kevin, running at Ben with full-force and fists ready to give the younger boy a thorough beat-down.
"Monster." Ben barely had time to say the word before Kevin's fist slammed into his chest again, turning him into Spidermonkey. "Monster." Another fist bruised his ribcage and his limbs extended to the tentacles of Wildvine. "Monster." Another fist was at the ready, only to be stopped by a wall of mana that blocked Kevin's fist from driving once more into Ben's torso.
The hulking creature turned to see Gwen floating there, her full Anodite form hanging over the ground like a ghost over water, beautiful as ever. "Leave him alone, Kevin," she growled at him, fists clutched tightly into balls so that her fingertips dug painfully into her palms.
A throaty laugh came from Kevin. It echoed through the darkness, making the whole place seem alive with hatred. "Join the club," he snarled, staring at her body. "You're just as bad as we are, Gwendolyn." His gaze held a demonic glare as a green flash emanated from behind him, the signal of Ben's form running out of time in an alien body as he turned back to human. "You were never honestly any better than I was this whole time, were you?"
Her eyes narrowed harder. "Ben's not a monster," she said firmly. Her cousin had always been human. It was who he was. The Ultimatrix did nothing to him to change anything but his appearance and strength. He would always be Ben. "Leave him alone, Kevin." Her voice was harsh and cold towards him as her pink tinted hair fluttered behind her. "You know this won't end well. Just stop now."
Kevin dropped to his knees and held his head, screaming bloody murder. "NO ONE UNDERSTANDS!"
"I have always understood you," she told him, slowly approaching his massive, shivering body. "You just never let me show how much I cared." She dropped to the floor on her knees, her human skin concealing her true Anodite form once more. One hand reached out to touch Kevin's cheek that was streaming sapphire tears. "Absorb me," she whispered to him, voice low and soothing as she silently prayed for some sort of miracle.
The distressed fear in his eyes had taken over his expression as he realized that he could easily hurt Gwen right there. "We're all just pretty little monsters." His voice had taken on a pained tone that held a faint whisper of disgrace. And suddenly, he moved one hand and clutched her by the wrist. His grip was made of iron and his eyes squeezed shut tight as he begged for an end to this insanity that seemed to possess his entire soul.
The skin and muscle and wings melted away, leaving him kneeling beside the emerald-eyed redhead in his jeans. His skin was once again pale peach and his ebony hair hung around the nape of his neck, those obsidian eyes staring at the beautiful redhead for a long moment. His death-grip on her arm remained as he pulled her into a loving embrace, drawing the young Anodite into his broad chest, never again wanting to let go of what made him human. "We're all just... pretty little monsters..."
A/N: Wish I knew why this came to mind. But it did. And I think it turned out so much better than it should have. Please review.
~Sky