Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Branch

Chapter Six: Catching Up & Tracking

Alan's car was an automatic. Kevin hated automatics. Give him a proper stick shift. No one drove stick shift nowadays.

The Osmosian kept a close eye on the RPM gauge as he pushed the speedometer up to 90. In the passenger seat, Alan braced one arm on the forward dash and the other on the door handle.

"Why the kriff did I let you in my car!" He breathed between panicked breaths as the Osmosian wove around the other drivers on the road, seemingly oblivious to their warning horns or the fact that blinkers were a thing and should be used to indicate a lane change. "You're kriffing insane!"

"So I've been told." Kevin agreed without argument. He took the fourth exit, the one that opened out onto avenue that lead almost directly to Morningstar Manor, almost cutting the curb when Kevin took the turn-around just a little to hard.

"Please don't destroy my car." The Pyronite pleaded, wincing at the sound of metal over concrete. "And stop driving like a maniac!"

"I'm not driving like a maniac." The Osmosian informed him, the picture of calm composure. "I'm driving like a guy on a mission."

They pulled to a screeching halt just outside the manor's gate. A baroque-style work of iron bars that Kevin closed one fist around to absorb the matter. Then he hammered said fist down on the gate's intercom button.

"Darkstar!" He shouted into the microphone.

Off to the side of the gate, Alan saw a security camera shift its angle to get a better look at the intruder at the gate.

"Levin, is that you?" Darkstar's voice cracked over the slightly bashed-in intercom. "I thought you were stuck in the Null Void. What are you doing out?" and more importantly "Why are you bothering me? Our business was concluded the moment you stabbed me in the back to steal the Alpha Rune."

At his side, Alan leaned in and hissed in Kevin's ear. "Out of curiosity, is there anyone in the universe you didn't screw-over back then?"

"That's a little unfair." The Osmosian hissed back. Sure, he betrayed and tried to absorb Alan and the rest of the Amalgams, sure he made deals with Ben's gallery of enemies only to turn around and double-cross them, sure he tried to kill Ben a couple dozen times. But he didn't hurt Gwen. He did it all for Gwen and their newborn Devlin. "I never hurt my wife and son."

Alan gave him a skeptical glance, but tactfully did not comment. He -unlike Kevin- actually saw how difficult raising his mutated and misshapen child alone really was. How much of a strain it put on her and her friendships. Out of all the people Kevin screwed over with his 'quest' to absorb a Celestialsapien, they were the ones who got screwed the most.

Now was not the time to argue about that, though.

Into the intercom Kevin said, "I'm not here about that. I'm looking for my kids. Where are they?"

"'Kids'!?" Darkstar echoed back. "As in you have more than one!? Dear lord!"

Alan couldn't help but agree with the Lampray. If there was ever a person in the universe that should not be breeding it was Kevin Ethan Levin. The fewer Osmosians there were to go crazy and rampage across the planet or the galaxy, the better. Into the intercom, the Pyronite said, "They're not all Kevin's children!" In fact, considering that Kevin hadn't even been present in Devlin's life for a year yet, Alan was still skeptical of even calling the Osmosian's biological offspring 'his son'. "Your kids showed up out of no where and took off with my daughter and Kevin's son!"

Kevin noted that Alan did not mention Tennyson's brat was with them as well. That was telling. Looks like, even after sixteen years, Darkstar and Ben were still enemies. Best not to let an enemy know that one of the great Ben 10,000's weaknesses was alone and unsupervised in the company of said enemy's offspring. Kevin didn't feel the need to correct him. Not because Darkstar was Ben's enemy, but because he didn't need the Lampray knowing that Kenny was an Anodite -his favorite food.

"Mine!?" He shock was audible even through the smashed intercom. The other end of the line went silent.

Alan and Kevin were left standing by the gate wondering what in the world was going on. More specifically, left Alan wondering if -at any moment- Kevin was going to lose his patience and break down the gate, charge into the house, and beat the ever loving crap out of Darkstar. Yeah, he was their enemy. But he really hadn't been on the Plumber's radar for a while. Several years, in fact. Certainly nothing that might deserve having an enraged Osmosian breaking down your front door and assaulting you.

The the gate opened, and Darkstar walked out.

"They'er with your brat, you say?" He was looking at Kevin.

"And mine." Alan reminded him.

Darkstar was ignoring the Pyronite. "Your kid is the son of my Lovely Gwendolyn..." continued the Lampray as if he were putting two and two together "...Devlin wouldn't happen to be an Anodite like his mother?"

Well, he sure knew how to put two together and come up with five.

Even if the Lampray was wrong, though, Kevin wasn't about to have any of it. He grabbed Darkstar by the collar of his blue-black bondage suit and shoved the other man against the nearest hard surface -which happened to be the iron gate hinge. "Now you listen to me you piece of-" he used a very rude word "-we are trying to get our kids back. If you harm one hair on my son's head... if you even think about harming him -hell!- if you even look at him in a way I don't like, you won't need that iron mask of yours. No mask will be able to hide what I do to you."

It was a bit of a sobering reminder that Kevin had rampaged through the galaxy, absorbing over 11,000 different species, stealing the four pieces to the Map of Infinity, and tried to absorb a god for his son. And that was back when there was nothing and no one specific to direct his rage at. Devlin was the way he was and it was the universe's fault -so Kevin waged a war against the universe. What would the Osmosian do to an individual who tried to hurt his son -or worse, actually did hurt his son.

Darkstar nodded his understanding. A loud gulp of tension audible in the back of his throat. But in spite of his obvious fear of the over-protective Osmosian, the Lampray still couldn't help but ask, "How are you gonna tell what kind of looks I'm giving him with this mask on?"

In answer to this question, Kevin snarled a wordless snarl and ripped Darkstar's iron mask from his head. He absorbed the metal from its clamps and crushed the thing in his hands, dropping it to the decadently paved ground between them. The Lampray stared at him from sickly eyes in sunken sockets, the dry skin pulled so tight that he couldn't blink all the way. Kevin Levin never did have much of a sense of humor, but it looked like where his kid was concerned, the man did not even pretend to play around.

"Side note:" added the Osmosian. "Gwen's not 'your Lovely Gwendolyn'."

Alan cleared his throat. "Ahem. If you two are done measuring your dicks and testing Kevin's patience... I think we've pretty clearly established that the kids aren't here. So, Darkstar, this is your town. Where would a bunch of teenagers go to get away from their parents or otherwise responsible adult supervision?"

"T'ch." The Lampray scoffed. "Well that's easy. Everyone only ever goes to the lake."

"The lake?" Kevin echoed. That sounded familiar.

"You should remember it, Levin." Darkstar added. "We had our decisive show down at the hydro-plant there the first time we met."

Oh. That lake. Yes, Kevin remembered.

…

"Okay, we're coming to an intersection."

Devlin lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror and glared at the boy from Ledgerdomain whom sat in the back seat with his hands duct taped together. Ally had protested, but Devlin had heard to many stories from his mother about the boy's father, Darkstar. The Osmosian wasn't taking any chances with a Lampray.

Was that hypocritical of him?

After all, he was the son of Kevin 11,000. The notorious terrorist, warlord, and monster that had terrorized the whole galaxy.

No. No it was not hypocritical of him, because just before the summer, Devlin had proved that he was no better or worse than his own father when he absorbed Kenny's faux-Omnitrix, went crazy, and tried to absorb his dormant-Anodize cousin. So, the fact that he and Sigil were both sons of villainous fathers and he was treating the other boy like an enemy was not hypocritical. It was cautious. Practical. Devlin knew what Lamprays were capable of. It was exactly the same thing Osmosians were capable of.

It was a real shame, too.

Since they had so much in common.

In addition to the already established 'both being sons of terrible fathers' thing, they were also bookish and enjoyed reading for pleasure, were interested in magic -although Devlin couldn't actually use it himself- and seemed to spend a great deal more time than they should wrangling sibling or cousin that frustrated them to no end. Yup. They had a lot in common.

Plus, Sigil was absurdly cute on top of it all.

Of course, it wasn't as if he was even a possibility, even if he weren't a Lampray and his sister didn't just abscond with Kenny. Guys that Devlin liked never liked Devlin. It was just a fact of life. No one wanted to date the son of Kevin 11,000. Even if Sigil was dateable material, he wouldn't want Devlin.

"Take the left hand path." Sigil directed, not meeting Devlin's eyes in the mirror. "Lightstar's not far. Your cousin should be with her."

"He better be." The Osmosian growled back.

Ally -in the passenger seat next to him- placed a soothing hand on Devlin's shoulder. "And when he is, we're gonna try talking sense into them first. You're not gonna just charge in and attack Sigil's sister, okay?"

The Osmosian remained tactfully silent.

"Okay, Devlin?" She pressed, increasing the pressure on his shoulder.

He scoffed. "We'll see what happens."

"No, I'm serious." Ally wasn't letting this go. "This isn't like at the Rooters base where you can just go off the rails and do whatever the hell you want and expect the grown-ups to bail you out. In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Levin isn't here right now and even if he were, he'd be super pissed at you right now since we stole his car. We're gonna talk to Kenny first, and if he still won't listen to reason then you two can beat each other up."

"It wasn't Kenny I was planning on beating up." The Osmosian informed her.

"Please don't hurt my sister." Sigil begged from the back seat. "She's never met an Anodite before. She probably doesn't know what she's doing."

Ally glanced at the Osmosian to see if he took away any insight from that last statement or gained a little perspective and understanding. After all, he knew better than anyone else in the car just what it was like to taste such a huge power and how it affected a creature that fed off energy.

But all he did was slow the car to a stop.

"Road ends here." He growled, not looking at either of them. "Are we off-roading or footing it? How far away are they?"

Sigil looked around where he'd led them to, then closed his eyes, feeling for his twin's mana. "No. They're close." He pointed. "In that building there by the lake."

"Fine." Delvin unbuckled his belt and dove under the steering column to undo all the wiring that was allowing the engine to run without the key. The last thing he needed right now was for the car to roll off without him. That done, the Osmosian hopped out of the car and sprinted towards where Sigil pointed.

Ally wasn't far behind him. "Wait, Devlin!"

"Hang on!" Sigil held up his bound hands for the Pyronite girl to see. "Could you at least open my door for me before rushing after him? I get that he's worried about his cousin, but I'm worried about my sister."

She nodded and paused to open the back passenger door for him. Then ripped the duct tape off his wrists. Devlin might not turst the other boy, but Ally was not so suspicious or pessimistic. If he wanted to hurt them, he probably would have done it already back when Devlin flipped his shit, and Kenny transformed and took off with Lightstar.

"Ow!" The boy snarled in pain when the duct tape pulled his arm hair away with it. "Thanks."

Ally did not deign to respond. She was to busy sprinting after Devlin. The Osmosian was banging on the main entrance when she got to him. A large industrial double-door. The kind with a push-bar instead of a handle -locked, of course- and the push-bars of each door were chained together with a large heavy iron chain and padlock just for extra measure.

Devlin kicked the door, trying on of the techniques they taught at the Weekend Academy for when a Plumber might have to force their way into somewhere. Except that it was meant for wooden doors of domestic residences, not industrial metal doors of decommissioned hydro plants. The doors didn't budge. The Osmosian snarled a wordless snarl of frustration. A deep inhuman sound that echoed his monster form even coming out fo his human lungs.

Coming up beside him, Ally stripped off the t-shirt he'd lent her and transformer into her Pyronite form.

"I could weld through the lock." She suggested. "It'll take a bit. I've never actually tried something like this before."

Rubbing a hand over his face, the Osmosian sighed. A heavy, exasperated sound of someone who had found some kind of resolve. Devlin began pulling off his electric-green gloves. "I have a faster way in."

He placed both bare palms against the double doors and exhaled, calming his nerves. Getting a feel for the metal. Letting it flow through him and past him.

Devlin's hands sank into the door, then his arms up to the elbow. He took a step forward and passed his whole body through the door.

It was only after Devlin was gone that Sigil managed to catch up and join Ally by the closed door. "Where'd he go?" he asked. "He's not gonna hurt my sister, is he?"

Ally was disturbed by the fact that she didn't actually know the answer to that question. Instead, she turned her attention back to the door and her idea of welding through the chain and lock -or just burning them open. "We're gonna get in there and make sure nobody hurts anyone!"

She started melting the door.

…