Title: District 10
Author: Aquaria Identity 07
Summary: Whilst accompanying his grandfather to District 10 to serve eviction notices to the aliens, Ben Tennyson discovers a strange yet powerful device that changes his entire life. Now he's on the run from MNU and finds refuge with ten aliens …
Pairings: You'd probably shoot me if I told you. I'll tell you later.
Disclaimer: Ben 10 and all related characters belong to Man of Action. Multi-National United (MNU) and other District 9-related things belong to Neill Blomkamp.
Author's Note: It's been a long time since I've written for Ben 10, so please, please, PLEASE forgive me if this is like, unrelated to Alien Force, though there'll be a few refs. I was inspired to write this fic after watching District 9 for the second time (I LOVE that movie! And it's South African! (I am South African)). This fic is set in an alternate universe, where all aliens are unwelcome, and the location is set in Bellwood (no surprise) and Los Soledad. Ben is about 13-years-old. Guess what the strange device is and who the ten aliens are … :) Oh, and a special someone makes a guest appearance (I'll give you a clue: he's short, smart and grumpy). Enjoy!
Now the dictionary says
That the ghetto is a place
Of minority and poverty
And over-populationWe live on this earth together
Ain't no separation
When you're looking down from outer space
We're just a human race and the world is aGhetto, it's in every place and every country
Hurry oh oh oh, it's in every place and every country
Look around
Do you see your brother when you
Look around?It's a small world after all
Look around
You live in another country too.
Chapter 1: And They Came
30 years ago …
"Good afternoon. This is the Bellwood News Bulletin Live at 12. I am your host, Jennifer Ryans. News-making headlines: Multi-National United, a government-owned corporation and the world's second-largest weapons manufacturer, has just sent in an exploratory team, better known as the Plumbers, to break into the alien mothership that presently hovers above the city of Bellwood without movement. We go live to BWNB anchorman Garth Keyes, who is flying up to the ship with the exploratory team. Over to you, Garth."
"Thank you, Jennifer. We are currently over a hundred feet in the air in a helicopter, and we're nearing to the mothership as I speak. The ship arrived almost three months ago, and it remained hovering and unmoving over Bellwood ever since. There are many theories as to why the craft became stranded, such as that it lost its power during an attempted attack on the city. At this time we cannot say if it poses any possible threat, but that is the reason we're out here today."
"How does the team plan to break into the ship, Garth?"
"According to Maxwell Tennyson, the team leader and MNU field operative, with determination, planning and brute force if necessary – wait a minute! We have just arrived at the mothership! I repeat, we have just arrived at the mothership!"
"On three, men! One, two, THREE!"
The metallic battering ram knocked hard against the cold, black surface of the spacecraft, making dents on the surface: without power, the ship's surface was unprotected, leaving it vulnerable and could be easily damaged.
Maxwell Tennyson raised his voice over the propeller's noise again. "One more time! One, two, THREE!"
The men ran forward again, extending their arms so that the battering ram could hit the ship wall – and that they wouldn't be the ones out the helicopter before they put up the bridge.
CRASH!
The second-time proved more successful than the first. The surface broke from the weight of the ram, leaving a huge hole on the ship wall, big enough for a person to walk through. Max and two other team members extended what looked like a wide, supportable metal plank towards the hole. The front of this plank-like bridge clamped down on the inside of the ship like a magnet. Max grinned to himself before strapping on a white helmet that matched his white uniform. His colleagues did the same – except for the two that helped Max put out the bridge: they had to keep an eye on the bridge – and so did Garth Keyes, the reporter who came with them on this wild expedition.
"Remember guys, keep your helmets on at all times, leave your flashlights on and have your weapons at the ready," said Max as he addressed his team. "We have no idea what we're up against, or what might happen. Phil, you're in charge of the camera."
His team nodded in response. Garth stood nearest to Phil, who held a camera that was filming everything live for the news bulletin.
Max took a deep breath, and said, "Alright. We're going in."
Present day
"Wow Grandpa, weren't you scared?" asked Benjamin Tennyson, his electric-green eyes as big as saucers. In all of his thirteen years, his grandfather, a famed MNU operative who was well past the retirement stage, never told him about the day he first entered the ship that was now renowned all over the world. He read stories about it on the Internet, but this was first-hand information, which was even better.
Sitting beside the brown-haired, electric-green-eyed boy was a girl who was about the same age as him. She had a much neater appearance than Ben: unruffled, short orange-red hair, a blue top and white pants (Ben wore a black-and-white shirt that appeared a bit big for him and baggy green-brown pants) and eyes that were also green but only a shade darker than the boy's eyes. She was busy typing something on a laptop, but she seemed to be interested in what the old man had to say. After all, he was her grandfather, too. Unbelievably, she was also related to Ben, much to her dismay. She, Gwendoline Tennyson, and Ben were cousins, but imagine what it would be like if they were siblings.
Grandpa Max chuckled in response to Ben's question. Even though he was sixty-years-old and a bit overweight, he still had a muscular physique. His short hair, once brown, was whitish-grey, and his eyes were dark and wise. He wore a red Hawaiian shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes. He was quite handsome for his age, only less than he was thirty years ago.
"I was scared alright, Ben, but I couldn't show it," the old man said, smiling. "I had to be the brave leader after all."
"So what did the "brave leader" do next?" asked Gwen, looking up from her laptop. "Is it true that someone nearly fell off the bridge on the way into the ship?"
"Bringing Garth Keyes was a mistake," replied Grandpa Max, laughing at the memory. "If Phil hadn't been behind him, the man would've fallen to his death.
"Anyway, we made it into the ship," continued the old man. "It was a good thing we had those flashlights. It was darker than an eclipse in there. Too bad we didn't bring air freshener …"
Flashback
Max's nose wrinkled in disgust. A hideous odor seemed to come from everywhere and even through his helmet he could smell it. Apparently, so did the others. Garth Keyes attempted to talk to the camera, but instead he was sick in his helmet and fell to the ground. Whilst his colleagues tended to the reporter, Max called to Phil. The man came over with his camera, and Max flashed his torch around him. The floor was covered with multi-coloured yet odorous stains, and the walls were plain black and grey with a few touches of red spots sprayed near the floor.
"Whoever lives here seriously needs to clean up this dump," commented Phil, breaking the nervous tension.
Max smiled. "That's where we come in. They don't call us Plumbers for nothing."
Motioning to his team to follow him, Max and Phil led the way through a dank, dark passageway. Garth Keyes was in tow, feeling slightly ill though he kept talking into the microphone he was holding.
"We have now entered the spacecraft," he muttered weakly into the mike, "and there appears to be a malodorous smell in the air and there are unusual stains everywhere. No signs of other life so far."
The passageway seemed to go on for some time, and the stench became stronger. Everywhere the team pointed their torches there were larger, colourful stains, staring right into their faces from the walls and down on the ground. Max ignored the nauseous feeling that was growing inside him and marched on.
"We're getting closer to the source of the stench," he said to the camera. "My guess is that it's coming from the center of the ship, and that's where we're heading –"
Suddenly Max tripped over something soft, and he fell to the ground in a heap. His colleagues immediately pointed their torches towards him. What they saw was extraordinary – and disgusting.
The thing that Max tripped over was in fact a creature the team had never seen before. It was small and humanoid in shape, the size of a child. Its narrow long neck, face and arms were white, and it wore a blue-black suit with a matching helmet with three protruding spike-like fins sticking out on the side and the front of the helmet. Citrine-yellow orbs of some kind shone brightly on the shoulders of its outfit.
But it was the condition it was in that shocked the team. It lay on its back on the floor, glittery-red blood pouring heavily from its slashed-open torso and onto the floor, making a puddle beside him. Its arms and outfit was stained with dry blood, and so was its face. Its eyes, a deep citrine colour, were wide open, staring blankly at the endless ceiling.
Max, having gotten back onto his feet, flashed his torch into the creature's face. "It's dead," he said simply. Phil looked over the creature with the camera, and everywhere in Bellwood hundreds of viewers gasped at the sight of the lifeless extraterrestrial that was shown before them on their screens. Garth Keyes looked like he was going to be sick again.
"It's been dead for a few days now, by the looks of it," said Max, poking the alien with his foot. "It's been attacked by something, most likely for food. This probably proves that there are others like this one. Some may be dead – which explains the smell – and the rest are still alive. Surprisingly."
A few feet behind the little alien Max noticed a large, metal door, a line of dry red bloodstains appearing from under the door leading to the dead creature. Max and his team slowly made their way to the door, drawing their weapons which consisted of guns and shields.
"On my signal, you may shoot," whispered Max, cocking his gun. "And Garth, get behind us."
On that note, Max hurled himself at the door, his shoulder knocking against the metal. He grunted as pain erupted in his arm, but he couldn't think about that now. The man repeated the same action he committed before, using all the strength he had left in him. The door was forced open with an incredible bang, nearly broken at the hinges, and a wave of unnatural smells hit them like a tornado. Inside the room was pure darkness, apart from some light glowing dimly like dying fire. Max and the team, with their weapons at the ready, shone their torches into the dark, unprepared for what they saw …
Present day
"So that's how you found the aliens," said Ben, cocking his head to one side.
"And I'll never forget that moment, too," said Grandpa Max, rubbing his white-grey hair thoughtfully. "It was a horrific sight, I can tell you that. I never expected so many of them, nor did I think there'd be different species …"
Flashback
"Oh my God …" Max muttered, unable to believe his eyes.
He expected only a tiny group of aliens, ones just like the dead alien they had discovered only minutes before. Small, innocent-looking aliens whom he hoped would pose no threat to the world.
He was wrong.
There were so many of them, at least over ten thousand aliens of different species altogether – including that of the recently discovered dead alien – sprawled across the floor or standing up improperly, and shining the lights over their frail forms the team of humans could see that the they were all sick and weak, obviously suffering from malnutrition and other things. Some of them, particularly the smaller, younger ones, were bleeding profusely and seemed to be crying silently to themselves. The majority of the aliens, mostly older, appeared lifeless; no sign of movement came from them.
Well, that explains the smell, thought Max, staring wide-eyed at the aliens, a few whom he noticed had festering sores, scratches and bleeding cuts. And the stains.
As mentioned before, the extraterrestrials were all of different species. The dim-lit glow in the room was emitted by several lava-skinned, flaming, humanoid aliens: to make a long story short, it looked like they were made entirely out of fire, but they were so ill that their bodies didn't burn brightly as they should have. Their dull glow reflected off the crystallized yet broken skin of the diamond-like aliens lying prone nearby.
Those diamond aliens were big, but not as big as the muscular, four-armed species that were scattered all around in the crowd. Max noted there were more lizard, fish, dog and insect aliens among the lifeless, especially the fish aliens: dehydration was most likely the cause of death. There were even mechanized aliens of all colours, and they seemed to stick with each other and another race: grey, six-inch little aliens who could easily be trampled upon, though it was highly unlikely since everyone was so sick to even move.
Phantom-like figures, looking a lot more like classic ghosts except they had only one eye and their skin was lined with black tracks, were grouped together making them stand out from the rest of the aliens. They had made some kind of circle around a younger ghost child who looked almost conscious, and lying beside him was a taller, lifeless adult ghost, looking almost serene and eerily beautiful despite the black-blue liquid that seeped from his body.
And those were just the first ten races. There were countless others: ones that resembled Egyptian mummies, humanoid-werewolves, plants, reptilian bats, a cannonball with coloured plating, Frankenstein's monster and so much more. But even though they appeared different from one another, they all were confused, scared and living in terrible conditions. The moment the exploratory team shone their torches on them, the aliens cringed from the fierce light, and they looked weaker than before.
Max felt overwhelmingly sorry for them, as did the viewers sitting in their warm, comfortable homes when Phil shifted the camera and the aliens came into view. Max felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned to face Steve, the second-in-command of the team.
"Sir, must we open fire?" he asked hesitantly, peering at the sick aliens sorrowfully.
His leader shook his head. "No. They can't do anything to provoke us. Besides, we weren't sent in to kill them."
Present day
"… and they remained in District 10 ever since," concluded Grandpa Max, patting his grandson on the head. "It took four days to unload every single alien, living or dead, off the ship. We transported them to a settlement out in Los Soledad, a defunct military base outside Bellwood. After that news segment, everyone pitched in to help the aliens. A lot of them recovered. Some weren't as lucky. Soon the population District 10 grew and grew as the years went by, forcing the government to double security. It's always been heavily guarded by the local police and MNU, of course. To protect the aliens or us humans, I have no idea."
"What I don't understand is why the aliens suddenly turned on you guys?" asked Gwen, crossing her arms.
Grandpa Max sighed. "There was an attack by a renegade group of Tetramands – you know, the four-armed aliens. They're not the brightest stars in space, but they knew when they were being messed with. A few MNU lab technicians attempted to do tests on them, but the Tetramands had other ideas. Soon every other alien was rebelling against MNU, committing crimes around the city, attacking innocent people who tried to help them. I guess they couldn't bear the thought of putting their lives in human hands."
"Didn't MNU try to stop them?" asked Ben.
"Yes, but the whole situation was out of control by then. The aliens weren't our responsibility anymore, as far as they were concerned. If those flaming Pyronites went and fell in a pool, or if a Petrosapien was kidnapped for its precious diamond skin, MNU wasn't going to do anything about it: the aliens were responsible for themselves now, just as they wanted."
"Kinda harsh, hey Grandpa?" said Gwen, widening her eyes.
"I know, Gwen," replied Grandpa Max with another sigh. "Soon D-10 went from a government camp to a slum in a matter of weeks after the aliens caused some havoc. There was nothing more MNU could do except monitor their actions both within in the camp and in Bellwood. There's heavy gang activity in D-10, involving advanced alien technology that's useless to humans and other things I shouldn't mention."
He paused for a moment, and said, "The crimes are getting out of hand, and everyone wants more control. That's why MNU is planning to relocate the aliens to another settlement further away from Bellwood: District 11."
Ben frowned. "Serves those freaks right."
Gwen kicked her cousin hard in the shin, earning her a dark glare and silent promises of revenge.
"So when are they gonna start evicting the aliens?" she asked, returning the same glare at Ben.
"In about a week or so," replied Grandpa Max. "The Director at MNU, Ellis Levin, appointed me to serve the eviction notices tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" exclaimed Ben. "But that's when summer vacation starts! I thought me and Gwen –"
""Gwen and I,"" interrupted Gwen. "Honestly, your grammar sucks."
"Whatever," said Ben, rolling his eyes. "But I thought you were gonna take us on a camping trip."
"Sorry, son," answered his grandfather, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder. "I had to change our plans." A wicked twinkle appeared in his eyes. "I was actually thinking of taking you and Gwen along with me. You know, to District 10, to make up for the camping trip."
Ben and Gwen looked at him bewilderedly. Despite what they heard about the dangers of D-10 and its inhabitants and the atrocious activities committed long before their time, they had never seen an alien up close before (their family was especially protected by MNU security), and the thought of coming face-to-face with these exotic creatures sounded pretty darn exciting – and scary.
"Well, what do you say?" asked Grandpa Max. "Of course, you might to have to stay in the truck for the whole time, because it can get pretty ugly out –"
"We're in!" the cousins exclaimed, both of them wearing an excited smile on their faces.
Grandpa Max returned the smile. "Great. I'm glad you'll be coming along. You might even see some other kids, too."
"What I'd like to see is those aliens getting their butts kicked out of D-10," said Ben, grinning. "They don't deserve to be here anyway. They belong in space, or in a lab or something."
Little did Ben Tennyson know, the moment he was going to step foot in the dangerous slum of District 10, his entire life would change forever, and he would soon regret ever saying those words at all …
Author's Note: OMG, I killed Ditto. XD Well, one of his fellow kin, obviously. I'm glad I FINALLY finished the first chappa: school has taken up a helluva lot of my time, sadly. I hope you find this chapter okay, and please don't hesitate to tell me if there any grammar/spelling mistakes. :) If you find this chapter a little disgusting and you feel angry, don't bother flaming me, just click the Back button and take a deep breath: you'll never have to read it again.
Can you guess who Ellis Levin is? (That's not really his first name, I made it up.) And Phil? I made Ben act like such a jerk. ^3^ I apologize if this chapter was too long and waaaay to informative to read. And just so you know, the song verses are from the song "Ghetto" by India Arie. I would've done "New Divide", now that I think of it.
Reviews are welcome! :)
Seeya! ;)