Thanks for the reviews (for those who bothered), and I thanks to the anonymous readers too but not as much.


It had been a while since Ben had last had one of his nightmares. It was also time for his week off to come to an end, but rather than being aloof to the idea of fighting crime as he was, he was quite looking forward to it!

"I need a new outfit!" he announced suddenly as the family were buying ice creams at a stall near camp. "And a new name!"

"What, like 'super dweeb'?" she laughed even though it really wasn't all that funny, but annoying enough for Ben to grab her ice cream and melt it over her hand. "Ben!"

"What have I told you about doing that in public!" Max scolded though he couldn't help but find their bickering quite humorous to watch sometimes.

"Sorry grandpa," Ben replied and sneered at his cousin, obviously not sorry at all.

"It's not me you should be saying sorry to," Max replied, glancing between his two grandkids. Ben ignored that and the three carried on walking. Max glanced down at the dark haired boy. Ben didn't seem all that phased at the thought of catching criminals in his human state. As much as his new powers were effective that didn't mean he was invincible. "Ben?" he stopped walking and waited for Ben to stop as well. "If you have anything else you'd like to tell us about what's happened with the omnitrix we need to know now before you go wandering off on your own."

"Nothing's happened for over a week now," Ben sidetracked but Max caught him before he began to walk off again.

"That's not what I asked," he said seriously. Ben looked him in the eye and then looked away. Max could tell he wouldn't be able to get him to talk about it now so he let him go. As they were about to re-enter the RV a van burst through the hedge on the opposite side of the park and swerved across the picnic area, clearing it on the benches, before skidding through the park gates, knocking them from their hinges, and roaring down the street. A police car was in close pursuit but smoking dangerously through what looked like bullet holes in the hood. Just as Max began to register what was happening Ben was zooming after them with an elated expression plastered on his face.

You couldn't beat this. Ben thought as his entire body pulsed with adrenaline. He'd missed this so much. The unbeatable rush of XLR8's speed experienced in his human body. It was almost too much to handle. If he hadn't gained strength from fourarms he didn't think his body would be able to handle such work. The police car couldn't be missed by its beacon of smoke and it was following the van quite closely. Ben veered between traffic, practically unseen. The cars turned sharply about a corner so Ben, going intangible, cut through the shop and pulled in front of the van, skidding to a risky stop and bringing his fist in sharp contact with the front of the white vehicle causing the body to crumple and ripple backwards in a strong wave of energy with burst the windows outwards. The airbags inside inflated instantly and the driver jolted forward in his seat, knocked unconscious. The police car skidded to a halt on the opposing side of the street and an officer.

The doors at the back of the van burst open and a man, hunched over by the weight of a large black bag he was carrying, snuck out and down an alley. His escape was unnoticed by the police officer hastily pulling the driver out and into the back of his car, but not by Ben Tennyson.

The man was obviously shaken and quite injured from the accident. He was limping badly and glancing about himself as if he'd seen a ghost. Ben watched him from the roof and wondered if he'd actually spotted Ben when he'd come through the wall and in front of the car. It was certainly possible. Ben decided to follow the man rather than stop him straight away. He was still tired from stopping the car. It was progressively getting dark.

The man winded his way through the city, sheltered by dark alleys, and Ben noticed finally that he was headed for the docks to the east. When they reached the waterside Ben was forced to follow on ground level as the amount of buildings was gradually dispersing and it would be very hard to carry on without being spotted. The man's injury was visibly getting worse as the man stumbled every third step and had almost given up on the bag he was dragging alongside him. Ben wondered what was in there. It was an awkward shape and looked very heavy but it was hard to see it properly as it was shrouded in darkness.

The man seemed to stop as he reached the quay and glance out to the sea for a while. Ben could tell he was going to make his way to the end of the pier. The figure pulled his red hat tighter over his head and took some gloves from his pocket and pulled them over his shaking hands. This delay gave Ben enough time to sneak down a staircase next to the pier and try to look for a way to the end. He spotted a slanted beam which lead right up to where the man was headed.

Ben had a bad feeling about this. The man seemed very distressed and Ben was quite scared at how he was acting. He was used to people like that being very confident with what they were doing but this time it was very different.

Cursing ghost freak for not receiving his invisibility, Ben made his way up the pole and climbed up onto the wooden decking above. It took the man a while to spot that there was someone there as he seemed very preoccupied, but when he did he stopped in his tracks and pulled something from his pocket aiming it at Ben steadily. The boy froze.

"Wh-Who's there!" The man shouted as loud as he dared. His voice was shaking badly.

A gun? Ben thought with slight panic but didn't let it show. Instead of speaking, Ben took a hesitant step forward and the man pulled the trigger. The boy back stepped when the bullet came in contact with his skin but managed to hold his balance. His pulse rate had increased. The bullet ricocheted off his skin and landed in front of him with a small plink. Ben lifted his left arm and inspected it. The bullet had hit his forearm near his wrist but, instead of a weeping wound, his skin had cracked like a window would when his with a rock. He flexed his hand to check the damage. It obeyed his as usual. "Cool," he exclaimed and smiled at his discovery.

The man ahead began to stumble backwards in fear as Ben walked toward him. He shot the gun a few more times but Ben wasn't phased. The gun hit the deck as he made a break for it but Ben sped towards him and, ceasing his collar, hung him over the water threateningly. He could smell the RV approaching.

Ben threw the man to the floor, who had given up trying to run, and turned to the bag. He knew he shouldn't look in it but he wanted to know. Curiosity getting the better of him he made his way towards the sack and inspected it. It was made out of a waterproof fibre, about the same size as him, with a zip down the front and a lock on the zip so it couldn't be opened without a key. Ben reached down and, grabbing the material, broke the lock off the zip. He was about to open it when the man began to chuckle behind him. His laugh was more of a hiss, it made Ben's blood run cold.

"You don't want to open that…" he laughed eerily. Ben was starting to think that he really didn't. "She struggled quite a bit." Ben's eyes widened and he looked back at the bag. He gasped and jumped backward suddenly able to make out the shape of a face through the material. His stomach lurched but nothing came up. The man laughed again, louder, masked in madness. "It took ten bullets to kill that bitch." Tears were streaming down his face. Suddenly he closed his eyes and threw himself backwards into the water. Ben was crawled towards the edge and dived in after him, determined not to experience another death that night.

He followed the man down to the sea bed. The water was cold but, thanks to ripjaws, it didn't matter how long he stayed down there as long as it was under half an hour. He remembered the experiment he'd had in the bath. By the time he'd pulled his head out his skin had gone all white and soft. Gwen and Max had really laughed at that. Ben really wished that they were here now. He grabbed the man's hand and began to swim back to the surface but he was too heavy so he grabbed hold of the bank and began climbing up the mud and rock, dragging the criminal behind him. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

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It was dark again. No light what so ever. He couldn't see his hand if he waved it in front of his face. If he closed his eyes he could almost imagine that he wasn't there. Nonexistent.

An image flashed through his head. The girl's face visible through the corduroy. His breathing quickened as he tried to back away from them, from the girl. The image wouldn't leave his mind. Why did he want to see so badly, what was in the sack? He was too curious. Perhaps he'd thought it was money, money he could steal. He shook his head. He wasn't like that, a thief. But he couldn't deny the truth. He'd wanted it to be full of money and he'd wanted to take some of it, enough to not be missed.

He tripped over a ridge in the floor and fell to his knees. He was in this place again. He stood up again. An image ran through his head again, trying to run away but shot, ten times in the head. He doubled over and vomited onto the floor. Why had he looked?

Had someone rescued him? He wanted the figure to return. He wanted to see them now. He wanted to stop these images.

The flame flickered.

A feeling of dread washed over him. He reached forward but his hands met cold brick. He clung onto it as if it were the soft fabric he'd been expecting. He fell to his knees wearily. He went to lie on the floor when a hand pushed his shoulder up against the wall roughly. His stomach stirred. "Wh-" a finger was pushed to his lips roughly.

"How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet!" the boy jeered. Ben struggled. "What's wrong, Benny?" the boy sneered mockingly in fake pity. Ben froze in recognition of the nickname. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Ben went to speak, perhaps because he preferred any sort of physical contact rather than none at all.

"What-" This time a hand clamped over his mouth and pushed his head violently against the wall.

"Y'know, sometimes I think you're just aching to push me!" he hissed into Ben's ear. Ben closed his eyes and tilted his head away expecting the worse…