Blood, that's all Ben Tennyson could taste was blood. As the fist came flying at him he couldn't help but wince as he felt a tooth fall out "..Ow" he said, flipping through the Ultramatrix until he found Four arms "Here goes nothing" the exhausted young hero slammed his hand down on the Ultramatrix and called out "Rath!" Sighing he ignored it, the Ultramatrix not giving him what he waned was nothing. As he charged into battle he closed his eyes and let his mind wander to just a few hours ago, when his day had gone seriously wrong.
Two Hours ago
Ben sat at Mr. Smoothie and slurped the newest flavor of Smoothie they had introduced, he wasn't quite sure what it was but it tasted amazing. He closed his eyes and tossed the cup away, straight into the trash can, and narrowly avoided the large pink sphere that came flying at him "Woah!" he exclaimed as debris of what used to be the picnic table he had been sitting at flew all over the place. Coughing to clear his through of the dust that had flow into his mouth he looked around "Alright Gwen" he said sighing as he realized only one person had powers that looked like that who wanted to kill him.
Ever since he had put down Kevin Gwen had slowly become obsessed with revenge. Max, her parents, and Ben himself had all tried to talk to her but she had convinced herself that since Ben had taken Kevin's life the only fair punishment was his life in return. "Gwen" he said warningly "You know this isn't a good idea" he had to try and reason with her, make her calm down "You can't beat the Ultramatrix, don't try it" he said.
Gwen frowned as she looked down at him, she had reverted back to her short hair style and her eyes seemed almost dead, as if the cousin that he had grown to appreciate, even love, was dead. "Gwen listen to me" he began again, dodging another mana blast, "I know you're mad I killed Kevin, but you know I did what I had to do.. And I would do it again" he said without realizing what that might mean. His words seemed only infuriate her as she threw more mana blasts, each stronger than the last, he dodged each, barely, until one hit him square in the chest. He flew back into the wall of Mr. Smoothie and groaned "Okay , you wanna play like that?" he asked as his hand flew to the ultramatrix and he slammed down the button "Big.. Chill" was all that was heard before a stream of ice flew forward towards Gwen, freezing her arms, "Gwen I won't hurt you" he said softly as he flew up to meet her gaze.
Gwen smirked at that "Won't hurt me?" she asked softly "Won't hurt me?" she said again, practically shrieking "You already did Ben" she said "You killed Kevin, you wouldn't listen to me and now he's dead and he's not coming back! I could have helped him!" she snarled "And because you, the great Ben Tennyson, wouldn't listen to me he's DEAD" She said, starting to shout.
Ben sighed "Listen to yourself Gwen, your idea was to use Darkstar, He's EVIL, you were preparing to help a villan to get your boyfriend back and I'm the bad guy?" he asked "Think about that, You're the logical one Gwen, you know what I did was right, but your feelings got in the way. It's why I did what needed to be done, because I can make this decisions.. I can be the bad guy in people's eyes if it gets the job done, that's what I've come to realize being a hero is about."
Gwen looked down, and for a moment Ben thought maybe he'd gotten through to her, then she began laughing "YOU? Make the tough decisions? You couldn't even decide what Smoothie to drink when we came here as a trio" She said dryly "Don't you dare talk to me about tough choices Benjamin Kirby Tennyson!" she shouted as she let off a stream of Mana Blasts. Ben began to turn intangible but realized a crowd had formed behind him, watching the argument between the cousins and former allies. If he went intangible now the blasts could hurt the innocent people "Damn" he whispered grunting as one after another the pink energy blasts slammed into his chest, propelling him back into the giant billboard behind him. As it toppled over he made an ice wall so the innocent bystanders wouldn't be hurt. Powering down he rose his green eyes to look at Gwen "Are you insane?" he huffed, still feeling the pain from where the energy blast had hit him, "You could have killed a dozen innocent people" he said. Gwen merely shrugged "Why should I care? They're your fans, not mine" she said bitterly and Ben sighed, knowing what he had to do.. But not sure if he could carry it out this time.
"No wait.." he voice in his mind, he figured his conscious, spoke. There's still hope for her, she's not as big of a threat as Kevin, send her to the null void.. Let her come to grips with the future she's facing" the small voice said, making Ben wonder if he was insane. He pulled up his communication system on his Ultramatrix and sighed "Manny, Helen, anyone? I need a a null void projecter, ASAP" he said, putting emphasis on the asap in the hopes they would hurry. Turning the dial on the ultramatrix Ben prayed his idea would work 'C'mon.. C'mon" he said and slammed down the ultramatrix. "Brain storm!" he shouted and sighed "No you moronic device" he said "I wished to be Way big, no matter" he said "In this form, my brain is much larger, and smarter, than her.. I can do this."
The battle went on for about forty- five minutes, Ben had changed into Wrath as the battle went on but even Rath was getting tired "Let me tell ya something Gwendolyn Tennyson" Wrath snarled "You need to cut this out, Nobody beats Rath, NOBODY" he yelled as he charged, only to be swatted away by a giant baseball bat Gwen had made "I've been training for four years Ben" she said "Training, meditating, and improving" Ben, as Wrath, sighed "Let me tell you something Gwendolyn Tennyson! No one is better than Wrath, Wrath is always improving" he said, using his superior agilty to leap up onto of Mr. Smoothie and toss some piping that was on the roof at her, using it as a distraction to tackle her.
As Rath tackled Ben he powered down back to Ben and pinned her to the ground, he was breathing heavy as the battle took a toll on him "Listen to me Gwen" he said groaning "Just listen to me.. This battle is pointless, the Plumbers are coming with a Null void projecter, you need help" he said softly, his voice full of the sadness he felt "I'm sorry cuz.. I am so sorry."
The Plumbers ship arrived and Ben nodded at Manny "thanks, I appreciate it" he said, standing up and looking down as they activated the null void projector. Gwen's scream as she was sucked into the unforgiving vortex would haunt Ben forever. "Ben" Manny began before Helen took over, "Listen, Vilgax has recruited your old enemies, Calls it a remake of the Negative 10.. Whatever that is, they're trashing your neighborhood looking for you, I think this was Animo's idea.. But he's letting Vilgax take the credit"
Ben froze "Alright Manny you go back to Plumber HQ and tell them what's going on, and to stay out of it. This is my fight.
The new "Negative Ten" had Vilagax, Dr. Animo, Charmcaster and Hex, Vulkanus, Darkstar, Albedo, Zombozo, King Viktor, and Rojo. Ben walked out to face them "You want me? Here I am" he said, raising his arms, preparing to transform until he saw who Vilgax was holding "You transform.. We kill her" he said. "Coward!" Ben said and winced as Charmcaster hit him with a mana blast "You see, the problem with the last Negative Ten is that you tricked us, we would have won but our power got in the way, see Vilgax solved that, He promised we would argue out who is the leader and such later, our only concern is killing you" Animo explained.
Ben took a deep breath and smirked "Well, then bring it on" he said, quickly regretting those words as Vulkanus charged forward, shoulder first, and knocked Ben into a nearby tree. Ben cried out in pain as his rib broke, making it hard to breath. Luckily for him Helen showed up as he picked himself up "Get my mom and get out of here" he whispered and put a hand on her back "If anything happens to me, it's up to you to protect the Earth" he said wisely. Helen nodded and went to work, rescuing Ben's mother. Now without having to worry Ben could fight.
Present time
The fight seemed to never end, Ben would take one down and another would just take their place, and Ben was tiring quickly "That all you got?" he asked, having switched to Four Arms from Rath, "I eat punks like you for breakfast" he boasted but knew it was an empty threat, he was quickly getting tired and hadn't even faced Vilgax yet. Vilgax stood in the back, watching as the other nine fought Ben.
Rojo was the first to fall, the female biker's robotic armor no match for Four Arm's strength. Then Animo, then Vulkanus, one by one they fell until it was Viktor and Vilgax left "I've beaten your 'negative ten' Ben panted as the ultramatrix powered down "It's over Vilgax" he said. Blood was running down his eye from a cut he'd received earlier and his left eye was useless as it was covered in the thin red liquid. His trademark Green coat was ruined, shredded beyond repair, and his arm was broken. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he went to transform, only to feel a sharp pain through his chest and looked down to see a part of a tree branch, large enough to go through his chest "N-No" he whispered, falling to his knees.
Ben looked up as Vilgax walked over to him "I have won Ben Tennyson, I have had my revenge and now I will conquer this pathetic planet" he gloated. Ben grit his teeth and pulled out the small piece of wood, groaning as he did so "I.. Will.. Not.. Let.. You.. WIN" he screamed as he slammed down on the ultramatrix and grinned "Way Big" he said as he crossed his wrists, preparing to use his cosmic beam "I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago Vilgax" he said, charging the attack with enough power to incinerate him. He released the blast, killing Vilgax instantly. Ben changed back and groaned, his wounds returning as he returned to human form.
A small pool of blood appeared on the ground as Ben coughed violently "Ugh.. This sucks" he groaned as he rolled over onto his back. He could feel the life leaving his body. "H.. How ironic" he muttered, his voice soft as he closed his eyes "I always knew I would die alone" he muttered softly and closed his eyes, he could see Kevin, Gwen, and himself laughing and having fun. Ben stood there "Guys?" he asked softly and grinned, it had been so long since they'd had fun like this. Kevin walked up to him, smiling "Come with me Ben, I got so much to show you" he said. Ben nodded and grinned "I'm there" he said, walking with Kevin, as the memories of the trio faded from his memory.
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Finally, Ben could rest in peace.. And someone else could worry about the worlds problems.
Note: Hope you enjoyed this, and I might write another one, A Hero's Legacy, if anyone is actually interested. I don't own Ben 10 or anythin like that, please Read and Review, my stories have been dead lately even though everyone who does review likes it.