Chapter 7: The Convict
"You're shitting me," Joker deadpanned.
"Nope," Ben responded, smirking.
"No way."
"Yes way."
"You obliterated Mount Rushmore?!" the pilot exclaimed.
"I didn't mean to! It just... happened," the teen defended, looking sheepish.
"Jesus H. Christ, you're insane!" Joker exclaimed, laughing.
Three days had passed since the stop at the Citadel, and the crew was happier for it. Although Shepard had made a couple of detours before heading to the ship after the Council meeting, mostly to buy civilian clothes (he had no intention of wearing any more Cerberus uniforms), and some model ships for his cabin (he also bought a hamster, causing Garrus to mock him relentlessly), the little stop had been incredibly beneficial, with better weapons and armor for the ground team, medical supplies for the Med-bay, and most importantly, quality food supplies for Gardner to cook. Ben had tasted the new food firsthand, and he had become addicted almost instantly. As a result, the atmosphere of the ship was becoming much more positive. Even Miranda seemed a little less chilly to the crew.
And now, Ben was wearing some of the clothes he had bought alongside Shepard (he wasn't privy to wearing a Cerberus outfit, either), which was basically a grey shirt and matching pants with black boots*, sitting in the seat next to Joker in the cockpit in an attempt to bond with the pilot, who the commander had insisted was a cool guy once you got to know him.
Turns out, Ben agreed with that statement. Joker was actually pretty funny, and he enjoyed Ben's tales of the summer vacation that had granted him the Omnitrix.
"Aw, man," the hat-wearing man chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "That shit is priceless. Okay, what else you got?"
Ben thought carefully. He had already mentioned the Krakken, Sparksville, the giant alien Tick (where he first unlocked Cannonbolt), and his battle with the Negative Ten. He could mention meeting Ben 10,000, or his many run-ins with Kevin before they became the best of friends.
He then smirked as he thought of another great story.
"Well, there was the time I found the Fountain of Youth," Ben admitted.
"I call bullshit! Uh-uh! No way in hell!" Joker protested, totally unbelieving of the teen's claim.
So the wielder of the Omnitrix told the story of how he battled Hex, all while having been splashed by the mystic waters of the Fountain of Youth, which had led to one of Ben's more embarrassing memories...
"You were turned into a four-year-old?" the pilot asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Not fun," the teen said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"A four-year-old Ben Tennyson?" a voice popped up behind the two, causing them to turn just in time to see Kasumi de-cloak behind them, a big grin on her face. "Aw, that sounds so adorable!"
"Not you again," Ben groaned, facepalming.
"Friend of yours?" Joker guessed.
"Jeff Moreau, meet Kasumi Goto," the teen introduced them.
"Ah, the master thief herself," the pilot realized, turning in his chair to look directly at her. "Don't even think of stealing my baby, lady."
This caused the thief to grin even wider. "Oh, now you've made it a challenge."
"She's kidding, right?" Joker asked, glancing over at Ben for his answer.
The teen shrugged. He could never tell when the Japanese kleptomaniac was messing around or being serious.
"How do you not know?" the hat-wearing man snapped. "Isn't she your girlfriend or something?"
Ben's urge to pummel Joker was quickly overpowered by the urge to flee in terror as Kasumi leaned over the teen's chair and began moving her finger up and down his chest.
"Hear that Ben? We're an official couple," she purred as she leaned down close enough so that her lips were close to his ear. "Just remember, I stay on top," she whispered sensually.
Thinking quickly, the teen hopped out of his chair and activated the Omnitrix, slamming down on an old friend.
"XLR8!" the dinosaur-like alien yelled in a scratchy voice as he disappeared in a blur of black and blue.
Now alone with Kasumi, Joker smirked up at her. "You really enjoy doing that, don't you?"
She grinned. "Oh, unbelievably."
"So is he really your boyfriend, or is that just another ship rumor?" the pilot inquired.
She tilted her head in thought, her eyes seeming to glint in the light. "Who knows? That's part of the fun!"
The nineteen-year-old savior of the universe panted as he descended in the elevator, hoping to hide away from Kasumi in his room until they reached their destination, whatever it was.
That woman was certifiably insane! One moment she'd be really awesome, cracking jokes or telling funny stories and making everyone laugh. Then she'd pull a complete one-eighty and start openly hitting on Ben. At some points it would be casual, like complimenting his muscles or how he looked in the light. Other times would be more extreme, such as grabbing his arm and pulling it close to her body, making sure to rub her soft breasts against his elbow.
Seriously, what the hell?!
The door to the elevator opened up on Deck 3, revealing the beautiful and curvy body of Miranda Lawson, who looked surprised to see Ben looking, well, slightly frantic.
She gave the tiniest of smirks as she stepped in, standing beside her teenage ally as the door closed once more.
"Kasumi at it again?" Miranda asked, amused by the boy's reaction to the thief's shameless flirting.
"How could you tell?" Ben replied rhetorically.
"Most boys your age would kill to have an older woman fawning over you like that," she noted, glancing over the boy's change of outfit, his regular attire currently in the wash.
"Most boys my age aren't shape-shifting superheroes."
"True enough," the Cerberus operative admitted.
After a quiet pause, Ben turned to her. "So, what's our next mission?"
"We're recruiting an extremely powerful human biotic from the prison ship Purgatory. We'll be there within the next hour to buy him from the Blue Suns," she explained.
The teen's eyes widened. "Why's he in prison?"
"He's committed numerous acts of murder, piracy, arson, kidnapping, and grand larceny. This man, Jack, is one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. We don't have an exact count, but we estimate his body count to be in the triple or quadruple digits."
Miranda suddenly felt as if she were locked in the room with a dangerous animal as Ben gave off an aura of rage. "Quadruple digits?" he growled.
"I know you wouldn't want to associate with anyone like that," she said, attempting to calm him down, "but we need powerful biotics on this team, and Jack is one of the best. We'll just have to tolerate his presence until the mission's over, and then we'll drop him into a deep hole he can never crawl out of."
"What if Shepard can't control him?" Ben snapped. "What if he tries to take the ship or kill the crew?"
Miranda's eyes grew cold. "Then we kill him, and fling his body into a nearby star."
As if some kind of universal cue occurred, the elevator doors opened onto Deck 4. The wielder of the Omnitrix, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, refusing to budge.
He didn't feel like hiding away anymore.
An hour later, they were approaching Purgatory, and Shepard had gathered the ground team in the meeting room. The commander was standing at the end of the table, with Ben, Miranda, and Mordin on one side, while Garrus, Jacob, and Kasumi occupied the other.
Shepard glanced over at Tennyson, who did not look happy about this. He was glad Miranda had warned him ahead of time about the boy's infuriated response to this particular recruit, or else he'd be worried about the boy's major personality change. Even Kasumi had backed off, realizing that he was in no mood to put up with her at the moment.
"Alright, I'll make this short and sweet," Shepard began. "We're here to pick up Jack, quite possibly the most powerful human biotic in the galaxy. He's a well-known criminal with a list of crimes as long as this table. But for now, that doesn't matter. Between Jack and the Collectors, I'm willing to accept the lesser of two evils, for the moment. The plan is simple: We walk in, pick him up, and walk out. If the Blue Suns try anything, I think we all know what'll happen."
He paused, allowing the implications of that last sentence to sink in.
"The warden has made it clear that no weapons are to be brought onboard. Fortunately, I'm a Spectre, so he can take that rule and shove it," the commander joked, causing a few smiles around the table, though Ben didn't even flinch.
Yep, the kid was pissed.
"For this mission, I'll take Garrus, Miranda, and Ben. I want the rest of you to stay in the CIC with your weapons ready. If the Suns try anything, I want us to be prepared. Understood?"
A chorus of 'yes sirs' rang out.
"Move out."
The four members of the ground team stood in the airlock, Ben flipping through the Omnitrix to find a suitable form.
"Pick something intimidating," Garrus suggested. "Might make 'em think twice about pulling anything."
Shrugging, the teen flipped through a few more forms before slapping the face of the watch. The airlock flashed green.
"GWOARRR!" the orange dog-like alien roared.
Miranda stepped forward and ran her hand through the fur. "Hm. No eyes. I'm guessing you use smell and hearing to find your way around in this form?"
The beast, known as Wildmutt, nodded.
"And I'm also guessing this form can't speak English?"
Another nod.
"Makes it look like we've got a scary guard dog," Shepard noted. "Nice."
The airlock opened, and out stepped two humans, a turian, and a Vulpimancer.
They walked down a long metallic hallway before being greeted by a trio of guards that blocked off the door into the rest of the large ship.
Two of the guards eyed Wildmutt cautiously while the third approached, his helmet and body structure showing that he was most definitely a turian.
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard," the middle guard said. "Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly."
The guard then glanced over at the large orange-furred dog before speaking again. "As this is a high security vessel, you'll have to relinquish your weapons and leave your beast behind before we can proceed."
The reaction was instantaneous.
Shepard, Miranda, and Garrus all drew their weapons, each aiming at a different guard, as Wildmutt stood on his back two legs, lifted his forearms into the air, and roared.
"I'll relinquish one bullet," Shepard snarled. "Where do you want it?"
The situation was bad, and it appeared that a firefight could erupt at any second. Miranda mentally readied her biotics, while Garrus prepared his Omni-tool in case things escalated.
The tense moment was neutralized when the door behind the guards opened, a notably bare-faced turian walking out wearing the standard armor of a Blue Suns commander.
"Everyone stand down!" the new arrival barked to his men, who complied immediately. His tone became more respectful as he spoke again. "Commander Shepard. I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship."
Kuril gave the large beast in the back of the group a glance. "Your weapons will be returned to you on the way out, and no harm will become of your... pet. You must realize that this is all standard procedure."
Shepard's eyes narrowed. "I'm not surrendering my guns, and Spike here goes where I go."
Wildmutt snorted. Spike? That was the best he could come up with?
The commander and warden immediately locked eyes, their gazes filled with a desire to win this little showdown.
After about a minute, Kuril gave up and shrugged. "Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests and a beast."
The transformed Ben Tennyson let out a warning growl as all weapons were holstered and Shepard's group approached the warden.
"We're pulling Jack out of cryo," he explained. "Once the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to Outprocessing...?"
The Spectre nodded and walked forward, Garrus and Miranda flanking him and Wildmutt taking up the rear.
The five passed through a door, and found themselves in a metal hallway with multiple panels of glass on either side, showing off the large cellblocks that made up the ship. Thanks to his radar sense, Ben managed to 'see' large metal arms moving around and pulling large cubes in and out of spaces, with heat signatures inside.
He gave a slight snarl as he realized that the cubes were the cells.
Kuril began to speak. "Cellblock Two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the situation."
They advanced down the hallway as the turian continued his tour. "Each cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlocks as an example."
Wildmutt felt himself having to resist the urge to smash this guy's face in.
"The ship is made up of thirty cell blocks identical to this one," Kuril explained. "We house thousands of criminals, all of them the worst the galaxy has to offer. Fortunately, we can put the whole place on lockdown on a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here," he finished, a hint of pride in his voice.
"That's nice and all, but what can you tell me about Jack?" Shepard asked.
The Blue Suns commander froze in his tracks and turned around. Wildmutt could smell fear radiating from the warden.
"Cerberus hasn't told you?" Kuril asked. "Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy, and incredibly powerful. Once word got around that you were taking her away from here, the other prisoners began celebrating."
"She's that bad?" Garrus inquired.
"You'll see soon enough," came the response, the warden sounding tired.
Again, Ben felt himself angered that they were associating with someone like this, though he kept quiet (not that he had a choice).
"Have you had any escape attempts?" Miranda questioned, glancing out a nearby window.
"We're in space," the turian said, sounding amused by the idea. "They have nowhere to go, and they know it."
Outside, on the ground, a pair of prisoners began an argument, which was swiftly broken up by a group of guards. "Still, we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals," Kuril added.
They all passed through another door, and the turian warden turned to face all of them. "Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared."
With that, Kuril walked past them and back down the hallway, throwing a "I'll catch up to you later" over his shoulder.
Once he was out of earshot, Shepard turned to his team.
"Anyone else think we're about to be screwed over?" he asked.
"Kuril's a bare-faced turian. By definition, he's untrustworthy," Garrus noted.
"Considering the fact that we're on poor terms with the Suns at the moment, this could go either way," Miranda theorized.
Ben simply growled and shook his head.
"Smell anything wrong, Ben?" the commander asked. "One tap for yes, two for no."
Wildmutt tapped the floor with his claws once.
The Spectre nodded in grim understanding as he walked forward. "Well, let's get going. If Kuril has a trap set up, we should spring it and see what happens."
After a short while of walking, they finally reached Outprocessing, where a technician was typing on a terminal. Without a word, he pointed them to a large door on the other side of the room.
The four walked over, with Shepard and Garrus taking the front while Miranda stayed back with the Vulpimancer.
The door opened...
Only to reveal an empty cell.
"My apologies, Shepard," Kuril's voice spoke over the intercom. "You're far more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. Lay down your weapons and step into the cell. I give you my word that you won't be harmed."
"Go to hell," Shepard retorted. "In fact, I'll send you there myself."
The warden went silent, and Ben tensed up as his radar picked up more than a dozen heat signatures heading toward them. He roared, pointing at the door, then at the nearby desks. The message was clear: We've got incoming, get to cover!
The other three immediately drew their guns. Garrus had a Vindicator assault rifle, Shepard had a Mattock, and Miranda had her Tempest. All four dived into cover, with Miranda and Ben behind one desk and Garrus and Shepard behind another.
The group of Blue Suns swarmed into the room and began to open fire. Guess Kuril didn't mind if Shepard was alive or dead.
Deciding that Wildmutt wouldn't do well in a firefight, Ben reached up and slapped the Omnitrix.
"DIAMONDHEAD!" came the shout as the form that Ben demonstrated in Afterlife emerged from the green light.
"I'll handle this," the Petrosapien said as he leaped over the cover and began rapidly firing diamond shards from his arms at the legs of his enemies. He managed to take seven of them down this way, with the mercenaries clutching their legs in pain as he made it to within a few feet of the group, taking swings and knocking them around as bullets ricocheted off of his diamond-hard skin.
At this point, his three companions began to open fire, and half of the mercs were killed easily, while the others were swiftly rendered unconscious by Diamondhead.
The transformed teen turned to Shepard. "What's the word, boss?"
"Apparently the Suns tried to take the ship while we were back here, though they failed. EDI's taken down a lot of their defenses, and she told me how to get to cryo. We're busting Jack out ourselves," the commander explained.
They all stepped outside, where a hallway to their left would lead to cryo. Miranda noticed Ben glancing up and down the hallway, specifically at the walls. "What are you looking for?" she asked.
"Just checking the dimensions," he said simply. "I've got an idea that might make our jobs easier..."
The genetically perfect woman did not like the mischievous smirk that Ben's diamond face was giving.
The groups of Blue Suns mercs that attempted to lock down the hallway could do nothing as they were easily mowed down by a massive yellow sphere that seemed impervious to gunfire.
Shepard, Miranda, and Garrus quickly followed, making sure to quickly shoot any guards that hadn't been knocked out by the indestructible ball ahead of them.
They reached cryo without any true difficulty, and the sphere unrolled, revealing a hulking alien transformation that Ben Tennyson had aptly named Cannonbolt.
"Nice work," Garrus complimented as he stepped forward to unlock the door to cryo while Miranda and Shepard aimed down the hallway, making sure no more mercs showed up to surprise them.
"I do what I can," Cannonbolt said as he stood off to the side, attempting to make sure everyone had room to maneuver.
After a few moments, Garrus managed to open the door and they all quickly ran (and rolled) in before locking the door behind them. They were now in the cryo observation deck, mostly empty except for a terminal that sat in front of a large window.
Shepard approached the console and began searching through its contents.
"Alright, looks like Jack's in cell 3," he muttered. "EDI, think you can bust her out?"
"Kuril has done something to the system, commander. If I open Subject Zero's cryo-cell, every cell on the block opens. It appears that he never intended to let you take him," the AI responded.
Miranda turned to the hulking alien next to her. "Anything on the Omnitrix that could fix that?"
Cannonbolt nodded (or as close as he could attempt at a nod, considering he had no neck) and stepped forward, slapping the Omnitrix as he did so.
"UPGRADE!" the black and green blob-like creature called out in Ben's voice.
"Alright, let's see what we've got," the transformed teen said as he allowed Upgrade's body to ooze into the terminal, causing it to adopt a similar grid-like appearance to the alien that now possessed it.
After a few seconds, the Galvanic Mechomorph spoke. "Okay, I think I've got it. Opening Jack's cell now. She should be tired from the cryo-sleep; we can take her back to the ship without much of a struggle."
The blob then removed itself from the terminal as, outside, one of the long metal claws reached down and began to remove the circular pod from the floor.
"Nice work," Garrus complimented as they all stepped forward to finally gaze upon this biotic human that everyone feared so much.
Personally, Ben was expecting a large, muscular guy with a shaved head and scarred features, maybe blood-red eyes and a permanent scowl on his face.
As it turns out, he got the shaved head part right. Everything else, however...
It turns out that Jack was a petite woman, who wore a belt to keep her breasts (barely) hidden, cargo pants, and large boots. She was covered in tattoos, and appeared to be in her early twenties.
In a way, however, she was beautiful. Her face looked like it could have been a model's, with full lips and sharp cheekbones, and her body, though thin, still had a hint of curves.
Still, she was dangerous, so it would be best if they quickly got down there and evacuated her from Purgatory.
As they prepared to head down there, and deal with the three large mechs that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to aim at the psychotic young woman, they saw her hand twitch.
That twitch soon turned into Jack waking up and forcefully removing herself from the shackles that held her in place. She rubbed a hand over her eyes in an attempt to fully wake up before noticing the mechs that had their weapons aimed at her. Giving a feral cry, she gathered up a large amount of energy in her fist as she charged forward. Explosions rang out below, and the observation deck shook from the power.
"We need to get down there, now!" Miranda barked as she readied her Tempest, Shepard and Garrus agreeing with her as Ben was still stunned by what he had just seen.
That woman...
What events had she been through to make her that way?
Deciding that he would ask her later, he tapped the Omnitrix again as he followed his comrades.
"CHROMASTONE!"
The crystal-like alien Cyclops followed Shepard down into the cryo wing, past the mechs that had been annihilated in seconds by Jack, and into a hallway that had been utterly destroyed by the biotic's rampage. Dead bodies were strewn about, many of them in shapes that one wouldn't normally see outside a trigonometry class.
It made Ben sick looking at all of it.
They left the hallway, only to find themselves in one of the cell blocks they had passed before. It appeared as if a war had broke out, as convicts were battling guards, and the area had been completely pummeled by Jack's destructive tendencies, with one of the mechanical arms used for moving cells swinging back and forth like a pendulum, sparking every now and then to symbolize its defeat by a small woman covered in tattoos.
"EDI, what the hell is going on?" Shepard yelled as he glanced up into a viewing deck, where a group of prisoners was overtaking a few guards.
"It appears as though the explosions that Jack caused upon release have activated the ship's lockdown and emergency response procedures. Unfortunately, due to my tampering with their defenses, all cells have been opened. A ship-wide riot is currently underway."
"Oh, that's just perfect," the commander grumbled as he pulled out his Mattock.
"Well, the girl has power, but she sure lacks subtlety," Garrus noted as he glanced over at a group of cells that had been demolished.
"Among other things," Miranda added, referencing the bald woman's lack of modesty.
"We'll deal with that after we catch her," Chromastone said as he turned and glanced at the other end of the cell block, where a mech similar to the ones Jack destroyed was mowing down convicts left and right.
"Garrus, find a place where you can get some good shots in. Miranda, with me, we're gonna handle the guards," Shepard ordered. "Ben? The mech's all yours."
"Works for me," the crystal alien said as he suddenly flew away from the team and hovered in the air above the mech, which had yet to notice him. A moment later, he slammed down on top of the machine, destroying it in one blow.
"Huh. He didn't tell us Chromastone could fly," the commander stated as he and Miranda rushed forward to take down the guards, who were currently firing on Ben, who in turn responded by firing multi-colored energy blasts from his hands and the horn on his head.
It took about five minutes to take them all out, thanks to a mixture of Chromastone's lasers, Garrus's sniping, Miranda's biotics, and Shepard's marksmanship.
The four ran through another hallway and into the next section of the ship, where they swiftly dealt with a second wave of guards and convicts, Ben doing his best to knock them all out cold, though he couldn't stop his three teammates from firing lethal shots at anyone who dared stand in their way.
"Commander," came EDI's voice over his earpiece.
"Please tell me some good news, EDI," Shepard responded as he holstered his assault rifle on his back.
"Warden Kuril is in the next cell block over from your position. He is attempting to restore order with a large squad of Blue Suns and LOKI mechs."
"Sounds like good news to me," Garrus noted dryly, still cradling his Viper sniper rifle.
"However, it appears that Jack is nearing the docking port. If she reaches the Normandy, no one on board will be able to stop her from stealing the ship and killing everyone on board."
"That? Not so much," the turian mumbled.
"There's always a catch," Shepard sighed before turning to Chromastone. "Ben, turn into something fast and go stop her. I don't car if you have to convince her into joining us or knock her out cold, you do not allow her to reach my ship."
Ben nodded grimly. "I'll see what I can do."
He slapped the Omnitrix.
"BIG CHILL!" the moth-like alien yelled out as he became intangible and flew away, in hot (no pun intended) pursuit of the bald and tattooed woman.
"Was it wise to send our heaviest hitter away?" Miranda asked wearily. While she wasn't sure where she stood with the young man, she knew that he was dangerous and powerful than everyone else on the ship put together.
"We can handle it," Shepard said confidently. "Besides, I want the warden all to myself. Nobody stabs me in the back and gets to walk away."
Jack was panting as she finally reached the docking bay, easily taking out a pair of Blue Suns in the process, causing her to give a feral grin. Now all she had to do was steal a ship she liked and...
Her eyes widened as she saw a large frigate outside.
A frigate with a very familiar symbol stamped on the front.
"Cerberus!" she roared, pacing furiously as memories came flooding back. Memories of painful procedures, long nights of crying alone in the dark, and the hateful glares of all the other kids at the facility.
Oh, she was going to enjoy killing everyone on board.
Clouded by her intense rage, Jack failed to notice the Blue Suns guard aiming at her back. Kuril said he wanted Jack alive. He never said that the psychotic woman had to be able to move from the neck down.
As the merc's finger began to tighten on the trigger, he felt everything become cold, and he knew nothing more as he blacked out.
Hearing a strange cracking noise, Jack turned and saw a turian merc frozen completely solid in ice.
"What the fuck?" she barked.
"He needed to take a chill pill," a cool voice said behind her.
Turning quickly, Subject Zero flared up her biotics in preparation for an attack. She felt herself pause, however, at the sight of the creature floating in front of her.
Blue, insect-like, with large wings spreading outwards.
A strange creature with odd powers that stopped a lowlife merc from shooting her?
Her mind locked onto one conclusion.
"Cerberus freak!" she screeched as she flung her arm out, releasing a blast of biotic power.
Fortunately, Big Chill expected this reaction, and caused himself to go intangible, allowing the sphere of blue energy to phase through him and blast a hole in a nearby wall. Jack's jaw dropped in surprise.
"You can't hurt me, so you might as well listen," the phantasm said as it landed on the ground and folded his wings around his body, forming a kind of cloak. Jack still glowed with energy, but decided that, for the time being, wasting her power on an enemy she couldn't hurt would be a foolish idea.
"What the hell do you want?" she growled.
"Long story short: we need your help, so we're getting you out of here," the mothman summed up, still eyeing Jack cautiously. While he was still angered that they went to a mass murderer for help, he felt a certain pity for this woman. She looked like she had been through hell.
"Shit, you sound like a pussy," she remarked, allowing her biotics to power down.
"Charming," Big Chill commented dryly. Yeah, her foul language was probably going to get on his nerves.
"You think I'm gonna join you, bug-boy? You're with Cerberus!"
"I'm guessing they did something pretty bad to rile you up like this?" Ben asked, curious as to why she hated the organization so much.
"Fuck yeah, they did!" she yelled, teeth bared in a feral look. "They've been on my ass for years, putting huge bounties on me so I can't go anywhere without every dipshit with a gun trying to turn me in."
Big Chill's eyes narrowed. Cerberus hounded this girl? Why?
"Then Kuril catches me and figures he struck gold," Jack finished, looking annoyed.
Ben rubbed his chin, thinking about how he should approach this. Knock her out, and she'll distrust him intensely. Offer her freedom? No, he wouldn't allow a psychotic woman like this to roam free.
Negotiation?
"Maybe we can work out a deal," he offered. "There must be something you want. Within reason, of course."
Jack looked like she was about to make a scathing remark when her pretty face became thoughtful.
"Alright," she said after a moment's pause. "I bet your ship has loads of Cerberus information and databases. You want me to join your team, give me access to them."
Ben shrugged. That sounded fair enough. "Alright. I'll get you what I can."
"Are you the one in charge?" she asked, wondering if he could keep his word if he was low on the totem pole.
"Nope. But I give you my word, you'll get what you want. Even if I have to hack into their systems myself," Big Chill vowed.
Jack's eyes narrowed. She trusted nobody, especially not freaky Cerberus experiments like this guy. Still, if he kept his promise, she'd reconsider giving him a slow and painful death.
The woman then tensed up as she noticed three figures approaching from behind Big Chill, who turned to see Miranda, Shepard, and Garrus walking up.
"Relax. They're with me," Ben said to Jack, who still looked tense and ready for a fight.
"Kuril's dead," Shepard said simply as he stood next to the mothman, glancing over at Jack. "Have you explained the situation, Ben?"
"Yeah. She's willing to join us, in return for a favor."
"And that would be...?" Garrus asked.
Jack decided to speak for herself. "I want to go through Cerberus's databases and see what they have on me."
The commander nodded. "I'll give you full access."
"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that," Miranda snapped. "And neither are you, Tennyson."
"Oh, did I upset a Cerberus cheerleader?" Jack asked in a fake shocked voice. "Even fucking better."
A bright green flash of light later, human Ben Tennyson now stood where Big Chill had been a moment before.
The psychotic biotic stared at him, stunned.
"Jack, that's Ben Tennyson," Shepard introduced. "That's Garrus Vakarian and Miranda Lawson."
She didn't respond, her gaze still upon the nineteen-year-old shapeshifter.
"Fuck, I'm too sober for this shit," she grumbled before turning toward the Normandy. "Let's go already."
The five individuals headed for the airlock to their ship, a strange silence descending over the group.
Today, Jack gazed at the teen in confusion and a slight twinge of fear.
Tomorrow, she would yell at him for trying to make conversation with her.
The day after that, she would be his first kiss aboard the Normandy.
See, THAT's how you leave the readers wanting more.
So, yeah, this one was a blast to write, and also a challenge. After all, there's no way in hell Ben and a mass murderer such as Jack are gonna get along at first. Their relationship is gonna build up over time, in a few unexpected ways.
Results of the poll:
Harem: 24
Miranda: 5
Jack: 6
Kasumi: 14
Samara: 3
Conclusion: You're all a bunch of perverts. But, you're MY perverts, and I love you all for it (100+ reviews, hell yeah!). While a harem is unlikely to happen (though Miranda/Ben/Jack is a strong possibility), you never know. My mind changes on an almost hourly basis. What can you do?
Next chapter has Ben getting to know a few people better (so it may be shorter than normal), a short sparring match between Garrus and a transformation of Ben's (you win Omnipoints if you can guess who!), and even more shameless Kasumi flirting! Isn't she awesome?
Also, if there are any talented artists reading this, I would greatly enjoy seeing some "Ultimate Effect" artwork. Go crazy with it. You could draw Jack and Ben cuddling, or he and Samara meditating, or working with Tali as Upgrade in the engine room. Who knows, I might be able to incorporate your idea into the story. Just throwing that out there.
Oh wait, one last thing! I have a new poll up for "Ultimate Romance", so, you know, vote for who you want.
I HAVE SPOKEN!
