Destruction
Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 and/or Ben 10: Alien Force. All characters and/or concepts belong to Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios. This hints at three characters of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman graphic novels. The three characters are Destruction, Delirium, and Despair; please note that Delirium talks as she does here because in the novels she talks in rainbow texts and does not support colored text. I also used a lot of quotes from a lot of different sources so if you review try to name where and/or who they came from. Some however do not have a source I could find.
It happened in that clichéd slow-motioned way. They had seen the laser powering up, aimed at her left breast; she had turned to see Ben staring her, horrified and open-mouthed, before she turned back to face her death. Suddenly he was standing in front of her, knocking her back as he took the beam. He was human
"NOOOOOOOO!" she had screamed in agony as her heart was ripped in two. He stumbled under the blast but stayed on his feet. The beam died and he looked up, his eyes glinting manically, "My turn." A ball of flame and energy grew between his human palms and he hurled it at the enemy, falling to his knees as he did so. The enemy was destroyed but she didn't care as she flew to his side. He was holding his left chest and pulled back his hand to find blood, muttering, "I expected that to happen." He flopped forward to the dirt, unconscious, before she could catch him.
Julie held him helplessly as Gwen and Kevin ran over. "Oh my…" the redhead breathed before gathering herself, "Julie turn him over, apply pressure to that wound; Kevin I need you to go get Cooper ready…"
"Right," the raven haired young man raced to his car and jumped in, tearing away at an illegal speed as Julie did as told and Gwen summoned a platform underneath them propelling them through the air.
"He's losing too much blood!" Julie spoke almost hysterically as the ruby liquid continued to stream through her fingertips despite the pressure she applied.
"Calm down," Gwen tried to calm her, "He'll be alright, our grandmother is already on her way; she can help. But you have to stay calm, understand? It will only make things worse if you freak."
Her eyes and hands were glowing pink as they moved. A band of pink energy appeared and plastered itself against Ben's wound, stopping the bleeding but it pooled beneath the barrier.
"Ben," Julie called to him, tapping his face firmly, "Ben, Ben, it's me Julie. Ben you have to wake up, you hear me? You got to!"
He groaned and came around, "Julie, leave me be. I'm dying, Julie, I know that."
"Don't say that!" she cried out.
He clasped her hand, giving a contented smile, "Shhhh, Koishii, some things are worth dying for…I love you Julie, never forget that…" He slipped into unconsciousness again.
"No! Ben, wake up, please wake up!"
They were soaring over the rooftops. It was a beautiful night; the full moon shone like the noontime sun, but of course paler, and the stars twinkled happily in the velvetiness of space.
They began their descent before he was rushed into an ordinary house by an old woman, Kevin, Gwen and Cooper. They carried him down into the basement; Julie tried to follow but Kevin came back up and barred her from entrance until the door glowed pink briefly. He then threw her over his shoulder, carried her to the living room, and deposited her onto the sofa before setting himself into the recliner. She jumped up, crying out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU SHOULD BE HELPING THEM SAVE HIM!"
"I'd just be in the way down there," he said calmly, "they're doing all they can—"
"'They're doing all they can to save him' huh? That's supposed to comfort me?!" she snorted "He's down there fighting for his life because of ME Kevin, because I'm a stupid slow human who just had to get involved in stuff I shouldn't have gotten involved in! I begged him to let me come along tonight! And look where that landed him!" Before she could continue her mad rant a frantic beeping filled the house, it was coming from the basement. She knew that sound, she had heard it when her grandmother passed away in her hospital bed, "NOOOO BEN!" She screeched and made to break down that door before Kevin caught her and held her fast. She struggled, tears running down her face as she bit and scratched at the flesh that caged her, "Let me go Kevin! Let me go!"
The beeping stopped, replaced by a calmer steadier beep; the beep of a beating heart. She relaxed and he let her go. She swayed though so he gripped her again, this time in a brotherly hug, "It's going to be okay," he murmured in a rare tender moment. She sobbed into his shoulder as he rubbed her back soothingly. Twisting downward he gathered her into his arms and placed her back on the couch, this time sitting with her.
She calmed down after an hour only to be sent into another fit by the horrible beeping again. Yet it stopped and the calm, steady beep started back up; telling them that Ben had pulled through once more. She began rocking back and forth, her eyes frightened and worried as they darted about the room.
Kevin sighed. The hours ticked by agonizingly slow, each taking its' toll on the human girl more than the last. In the tenth hour the beeping began again; she laughed manically, "It's all a joke! Everything anybody ever valued or struggled for... it's all a monstrous, demented gag! So why can't you see the funny side? Why aren't you laughing?"
Kevin eyed her worriedly and warily but she seemed to become saner when the calm, steady beat started again.
Three more hours passed before Gwen came up, "He made it," she grimaced, "but I have to warn you, Julie, he's not out of the woods yet. That laser went through his lung, barely missing his heart…"
"May I see him?" Julie asked evenly.
The redhead nodded slowly and led her downstairs to his bed. His chest rose and fell, aided by a machine, in an even tempo. The left side was bandaged of course.
The old woman came to her, extending a hand in greeting, "Hello Julie; I'm Verdona, Ben's and Gwen's Anodite grandmother, I apologize that we had to meet under the current circumstances."
"I do too," Julie replied, "what are his chances of survival?"
Verdona sighed, looking upon her grandson with saddened eyes, "Not good, my dear, not good. The only things that could possibly help him at this point are you, the Omnitrix, and his Tennyson blood…"
"How can I help him?"
Verdona smiled softly, "Love is a very powerful force, my dear, one of the most powerful in the universe. It can work miracles." She glided away and up the stairs.
"Ben, can you hear me?" she called. His heart responded even though he did not, so she continued, "Ben I need you to wake up, you hear me?"
His hands fisted and unfisted but his eyes didn't open so it might have been just a spasm, but she wasn't deterred. "Benjamin Maximillan Tennyson, you better pull through this."
His head rolled from side to side before he groaned, his eyes opening to blink blearily, "Julie?"
"Ben!" she exclaimed with relief, suddenly his bed was surrounded as Cooper and Gwen checked his vitals, responses, and motor skills. He could feel every point on his body, he could see, speak and hear. His short and long term memories were intact as he could repeat him own life story up to the point where he had lost consciousness en route.
"You idiot." She sniffled once they were left alone; even Cooper had left the basement to give them privacy, "You moronic jackass. I can't believe you could do something so stupid!"
"I did it to save you." he wheezed almost angrily.
"Exactly, Ben, you could have died. You did die actually." She slouched forward, "You died Ben; I could've lost you forever just because I a stupid, slow human. It nearly destroyed me while they were working on you, what if I had lost you. I'd've been lost…"
His hand found hers and he squeezed it weakly, "Not as lost as I'd've been without you Julie. There wasn't anyway I could've let that beam hit you. It'd've destroyed me. I'm sorry I scared you like that, but Id rather I died and you kept on living."
She looked up at him to reveal the tears streaking down her face.
----
Three beings, outside time and space, were watching this drama unfold. The woman had multi-colored hair, her sister was fat, nude, had a grayish skin tone and a pock marked face. The third, their brother, was a giant of a man with red hair and facial hair of the same color. They stood and watched the events.
"ThEy HaVe A rArE LoVe," spoke Delirium, the woman with the multicolored hair.
"Indeed," Destruction replied before turning and disappearing with a parting, "I've done what you've asked, little sister, don't ask again."
Despair remained silent, her haunted eyes staring at the screen like object that allowed them to be all-seeing when they wanted to be. How could she have resisted her invasion of her mind, heart, and soul as well as she did?
"ThEiR lOvE hOlDs TrUe," Delirium said simply to her unasked question, "LoVe Is ThE tRuEsT, pUrEsT fOrM oF mAdDeSs In ExIsTeNcE. It WiLl BlOcK AnY rAtIoNaL tHoUgHt, aNy RaTiOnAl DeSpAiR, AnY rAtIoNaL fEaR. ThE oNly FeAr Or DeSpAiR a MoRtAl In LoVe MaY sUfFer iS oF aBaNdOnMeNt oR sEpArAtIoN fRoM hIs oR hEr LoVEd OnE."
Despair nodded, Delirium ruled over the realm of the mad; she would know the forms maddess could take.
End.