A new chapter. Hooray for…….. Something……….
Anyway review time.
Uber Spoonz- An update. Please refrain from shooting someone. I'm hoping to at least get twenty chapters outta this fic. Ultra-Violent light isn't a pun, despite what it sounds like.
GatoGirl1- The dream really was nothing more than my attempting to poke a little bit at Garen's crush on Gwendolyn. But, still, it was fun to write. As for the theory, it really was an information dump. Sort of like a story aid, really. If you don't read it, you can understand the fic perfectly well (or at least you won't be even more confused), but if you do read it, you'll pick up on little things you might not have noticed before. I do intend to make use of much of the info in there, though. Sargon the Wise is planned to make an appearance in the story, for example. And, I will be bringing much of the information from the theory back into the story when it becomes important, so it won't be a pile of fact as much as a guide to what's going on with Gwendolyn. A hint for what Torgon is: Gwendolyn and Garen make weapons, some of them bio-weapons. Torgon called them 'mom' and 'pops'. As for the other alien characters, look below for a little guide to which character is what species. Next on the agenda, I remember Animorphs, though I was never a big fan of it. I think I saw about one episode of the TV show and made it about halfway through one of the books. The name sounds familiar. It brings to mind some sort of blue man-deer with no nose and two wiggly antennae. Me, hint at a connection between Ben's cousin and the Phantalin assistant to Garen? Where would you get an idea like that:innocent face: Harry Potter? I read the first four books, but lost interest after that.
D.D.Z.- Yeah, little Mertril is just so cute.
Death's Pet Fox- Well, no one is perfect.
AirGirl Phantom- Torgon appeared in chapter two, three and, I believe, five. Wicked was big around here a few years back, but it died out.
Overactive Mind- Sorry, the dream is just a dream.
CodeLyoko- Wait no more! Read, Read!
Sorrowful-Ragdoll- No, they have no children. Twas just a dream. Torgon is……. Complicated. Very complicated.
Shewhodanceswithdragons- Um……. Yeah.
Guess what, peoples? Due to several comments and a bit of common sense, I'm a-gonna make a little list here of all the alien characters I have thus far put in the story and their race, as well as their role in the story thus far. Here we go:
Garen- Binarai (Gray Matter)- Heard Researcher on Mertak Station
Gwendolyn- Phantalin (Ghostfreak)- Garen's Assistant
Daverik- Combronite (HeatBlast)- Researcher on project 'Omni', turncoat
Morrigan- Repromag (XLR8)- Commander of the security on Mertak station
Takin- Tophgler (RipJaws)- Researcher on project 'Omni', specialization: Bio-weaponry
Glint- Increnoid (Stinkfly)- Researcher on project 'Omni', specialization: Computers
Miskin- Repromag (XLR8)- Researcher on project 'Omni', specialization: Robotics
? - Gypin (FourArms)- The Gypin who was gonna punch down the door, serves under Commander Morrigan
Torgon- Torgon (Species is unique to Torgon, his origins will be revealed later)- Psychotic bad guy
Veltran- Hounin (Wildmutt)- Janitor and mechanic. If he can't fix it, it ain't broken.
Meexyairna- Mikarin (Diamondhead)- Field agent, working under Garen to retrieve the weapon.
Mertril- Apparently a cross between a Binarai and a Phantalin- non-existent. Sorry, folks, it was only a dream, not a flashback-thing.
Kinda funny. I just realized that there are a few shippers among my readers. If I forgot to mention a character, please inform me of it.
On a similar note, many of you are saying how it is hard to tell which species certain characters are. Veltran and Morrigan, I believe, were the most mentioned. Well, now you know. And, if you forget, just look for the clues. I leave plenty of 'em. (Morrigan having thermal vision being one, Veltran using growls for speech being another)
Chapter Nine: Musings and Old Problems
"I hate camping..."
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Oh yes, she hated it. Gwendolyn Amelia Tennyson (1) was a girl who liked her technology. Cell-phone, laptop computer, wireless internet connection, and fast food were things she once came into contact with on a daily basis. Enter camping.
When camping, the basic idea is to, as the cliché goes, rough it. You have no phone, which doesn't matter since the woods lack cell-towers. There are no power outlets to plug your laptop into, which means no internet, either. And fast food? As if. Instead, Gwen was getting to eat the local flora and, if she were 'lucky', some of the local fauna, as well.
And have you ever tried to sleep in a tree? It's not actually too bad, if you simply ignore a few things. Things like the tree bark... And the bugs... And the fact that you can't roll over or you'll fall fifteen feet, hit another branch, and then fall another five.
Oh yeah, camping rocks.
Then, throw in a killer robot, a psycho alien who wants to kill you, your Grandfather-turned-enemy chasing you, and the fact that you're positive that is something happening to your cousin while he acts oblivious to it, you'd have a nice idea of how Gwen was feeling as she sat in the tree, taking the night's first watch.
"This is the worst summer ever." she muttered, banging her head against the tree to keep herself awake. They had agree to take turns staying up to watch out for the scythe-wielding robot. Well, in Ben's exact, half-conscious words, moments before he had drifted off, they were keeping watch for "Cap'n Swizzle-Stick", but Gwen got the idea.
And speaking of Ben, what was going on with him, anyway? He said he was fine, that nothing was wrong. Yeah, right. You don't go around acting the way he was without something being off.
'He bit into a live fish...' she mentally compiled a list of Ben's recent odd behaviors, trying to approach them each logically. 'I know he didn't do just because he was hungry.' she added sarcastically. To tell the truth, though, both she and Ben were a bit freaked out by the whole thing, Ben probably more so than her. Then again, who wouldn't be a little freaked out after biting into a living creature, with absolutely no inclination as to why? It was almost... Primal. Like some sort of monster...
'Ok, moving away from that topic.' She did not want to start thinking about things that go bump in the night right now. 'Ben's been acting really smart... Wow, never thought I'd think that.' It was, however, rather true. As of late, the boy was acting like an expert at camping-slash-avoiding capture by grandparent. Not only that, but he'd seemingly become a tactical genius. All afternoon, he'd been sharing plans upon plans upon contingency plans with her. It was like a switch had been flipped in Ben's head and he was suddenly smart. But, at the same time, the switch would flip itself back off at the drop of a hat, for no apparent reason. Ben would be in the middle a discussing a plan, then stop right in the middle of a sentence, completely forgetting what he was talking about, only to continue a few moments later, as though nothing had happened.
And speaking of flipped switches, what was up with the Omnitrix? As though someone had hit the off button, the alien watch had ceased functioning. 'I mean, the stupid thing has always had a mind of it's own, but this is just ridiculous.' It was like it has sensed their desperate need of it's help and had decided to refuse them. Yet, at the same time, it had come through when that robot had nearly killed her. Ben had become HeatBlast and saved her... Right? She was barely conscious at the time, but she could have sworn she hadn't heard the Omnitrix beep or seen the flash for the transformation or the regression back into Ben. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen HeatBlast at all...
Just like she hadn't seen Ben's injuries, or her own for that matter, heal. Ben refused to think about the how or why of it, claiming it would jinx the whole thing, but she was curious. After all, it simply wasn't a physical possibility for cuts and gashes and bruises to heal so quickly and leave no trace. She had been fairly certain that at least half of Ben's injuries would scar, but not a mark was left on either of them. She tried to recall anything that might hint at how it had happened, but could remember nothing after she'd kissed Ben's forehead.
And where, exactly, had that come from, anyway? It was a well-known fact that the cousins had always been enemies and, if not for the events of this summer, they always would be. Neither had ever shown much affection towards the other and the few moments that they did have where they weren't teasing or annoying each other were few and far between. Perhaps it was simply her need to soothe her own emotional turmoil. 'Yeah, that sounds good.' After all, she had always latched onto other people when in duress. During this summer, she had gone to her grandfather when she needed to calm down. Of course, that was out the window now, since- 'No. Not gonna think about that.'
Still, it did strike her as odd how she was being so protective of the brown-haired boy. She was practically sick with worry half the time, giving her the feeling of an over-protective parent. It was like her entire goal in life had become nothing more than keeping him from harm. Anyone who dared to try and harm him would face her wrath and she would wreak her divine retribution upon them. 'Great.' she mentally chuckled. 'Now I sound like some sort of death angel.'
Shaking her head, Gwen looked down at her watch. The glowing numbers told her that it was two-thirty in the morning, well into Ben's shift. Glancing over at his sleeping form, she decided to give him a few more minutes. For some reason, she didn't feel so tired anymore.
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"Gwendy! Stay with me, Gwendy!" Garen was trying, unsuccessfully to keep Gwendolyn in the realm of the conscious. Her body had sustained major damage and she was starting to slip into a healing trance. While this sounds like a good thing, Garen knew that many Phantalin never awoke from them.
"Um, sir?" Morrigan was nervously shifting from foot to foot as he watched Gwendolyn's prone form on the table, the only thing indicating her consciousness being her slowly-closing eye.
"It can wait!" Garen snarled at the Repromag, not bothering to look at him. The cyborg-lizard was taken slightly aback, but said nothing more. "Gwendy Wake UP!"
'Garen...' Gwendolyn's voice appeared weakly in the Binarai's mind. 'The trance... Remember the trance...' With that, her eye closed.
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"No one comes in." Garen reiterated. "And I mean no one." His tone told that he was dead serious. "An interruption could be fatal for the both of us." Commander Morrigan saluted, standing at perfect attention.
"Yes, Sir!" He barked quietly. "Not a soul shall interfere."
"Good." The Binarai turned and entered Gwendolyn's room, the door sliding shut behind him.
Garen sat in the lotus position, his eyes closed. He breathed slowly and evenly, trying to find the perfect rhythm. This was only the third time he'd attempted this and it was the first time he'd tried it without the guidance of his assistant. At first, he'd been hesitant to try the 'religious mumbo-jumbo', as he'd called it, but, when he had, he became hooked.
It was something that had to be experienced to be believed, the strange meditation was. It was invigorating, yet calming. It cleared the mind, yet brought up a thousand questions. It constricted the senses, yet freed them completely. Garen wasn't completely sure how he'd survived before Gwendolyn had shown it to him.
When Garen reopened his eyes, he found himself standing in a dark room, devoid of any objects, save two chairs.
"Hmm..." he thought aloud as he sat down. "It was a lot brighter in here last time."
"Last time, I wasn't in a healing trance." Gwendolyn's voice filled the room as she materialized. Her appearance was... Different, to say the least. She was the size and shape of a female Binarai, but seemed to be made of smoke, with an almost complete lack of physical features, save her glowing green eyes.(2) This change was due to the fact that in a mindscape, one views everyone else as they perceive them in their mind. Garen saw himself as himself, but saw Gwendolyn as he thought of her and vice versa.
"You are going to be ok." Garen assured her. "... right?" Some unease crept into his voice.
"Yes, I'll be fine in about a day, don't you worry." She waved off his concern. "But that's not important right now."
"You're right." he nodded. "We have a lot to discuss."
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"Meex?" Agent Tennyson fell into a low crouch, listening for the crystalline alien.
"Yeah?" she appeared next to him, whispering as well.
"You have any idea what that thing was?" he motioned in the direction the black robot had traveled.
"Well, if I had to guess..." Meexyairna rubbed her chin, trying not to make any sound as rock rubbed against rock. "I'd say it looked like an old DB-1217 series hunter-killer."
"A hunter-killer?" Max's eyes went wide. "Are you sure?"
"Not entirely." she admitted. "But it certainly looked like one. Acted like one, too." her eyes narrowed. "All black, moving at night..."
"And that scythe didn't look very friendly, either." The elderly plumber added.
"But it doesn't make sense." Meex continued. "That entire series was decommissioned years ago." She stood up. If that thing was after them, it would have killed them already.
"Think your old boss might have dug one up?" Max offered, standing up as well.
"No way." She shook her head. "Even if Vilgax found one, he'd never manage to break the locks on it. The only people able to do that are the ones who made it and only three of them are still alive."
"Well, someone had to have activated it." Meex had nothing to say to that.
"I need to call my superiors."
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"Ben!" Gwen whispered frantically, shaking her cousin in an attempt to rouse him. He failed to respond, remaining motionless. She had been trying to awaken him for the past few minutes, when she decided that it was time for his shift. When he didn't wake up, she became a bit worried. By now, she was getting frantic. The falling trees in the distance weren't helping, either……
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"And the next thing I know," Gwendolyn continued, her smoky body shifting about as she spoke. "He's got a UV gun in my face." Garen winced.
"Ouch."
"Yeah, really."
"So that's when he put you in that cage?" the Binarai questioned.
"No," she corrected. "That's when I pulled back my skin and gave him a dose of liquid insanity." Garen shot up from his seat.
"You didn't!" he was shocked.
"I had to." Gwendolyn shook her head. "It was do it or die."
"Ok, ok." Garen sat back down, waving his hand in front of him. "So, how did he get you in that cage, then?" Gwendolyn looked away, mumbling incoherently.
"Uh, run that by me again?" the Phantalin looked at him this time.
"I said…….." she hesitated.
"What, how'd he do it?" Garen pressed.
"I DID IT MYSELF, ALRIGHT!" She yelled embarrassedly, before turning and huffing.
"You…… did it to yourself?" Garen repeated slowly, taking it in. "……… Um, how?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Gwendolyn got up and started pacing hurriedly. "The button was really, really big and shiny!" She paused in her pacing, overtaken by the memory of the button. Garen cracked a smile.
"Shiny, huh?" He was barely holding in his laughter.
"I couldn't help it!" The ghostly researcher defended herself.
"One of the most brilliant minds this side of the universe," Garen started to chuckle. "And you get defeated by the power of 'Shiny'?" He broke down at that, falling from his chair laughing. Gwendolyn was not amused. She walked over and picked up her boss by his shoulders.
"Stop that." And, just like that, he did.
"What was he doing?" Garen questioned suddenly.
"Not sure." She admitted, putting him down. "I was trying to find that out when I found the button."
"Well, don't worry about it." Garen comforted her. "We'll figure it out eventually. Though, Daverik is still unconscious."
"Hey," Gwendolyn realized something. "Did you manage to catch Torgon?"
"Unfortunately," Garen sulked in his chair. "No. He's gotten even faster than we engineered him to be."
"Darn." Gwendolyn snapped her fingers. "We could've gotten Garrison to tell us what Torgon was doing here."
"Yeah, and maybe-" Garen was cut off as a loud beeping echoed throughout the room.
"I think you've got a call, Gare." She stood.
"Yeah, guess so." He rubbed his temples. "See you on the outside?" Gwendolyn smiled.
"We'll see."
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"No." Garen flat out denied reality. It was just too much to deal with right now. Could they never catch a break?
"Sorry, Garen, it's true." Meex smiled wearily. "We've got an old 1217 hunter-killer on our hands. We were hoping you knew something about it, since you, the ghost, and Flame-boy were on the design team."
"No, we don't-" Garen froze, gritting his teeth. "Maintain a safe distance from it, I'll see what I can do about it."
"Any idea what it's doing down here?" Max cut in, peering over Meex's shoulders.
"You aren't going to like it……."
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Garen flipped the com closed, opening the door to exit Gwendolyn's room.
"Sir!" Commander Morrigan saluted him. "Communiqué from the Main Hub fer yew, sir!" He held out a small electronic notepad.
"Thanks." Garen took it, glancing over the text. He nearly dropped the pad in shock.
"Bad news, sir?" Morrigan questioned. The Binarai was silent for a moment.
"Commander, how much can you carry?" Garen's face was blank.
"'Scuse me?" Morrigan cocked his head to the side.
"How much can you carry?" he repeated.
"Well, Ah don't like ta brag, but-"
"Good." Garen cut him off. "I want you to go to the cafeteria and bring back as much food as you can carry for when Gwendolyn wakes up." He pulled out his hand-com and punched in a command.
"Yes, Sir!" Morrigan saluted again, ready to speed off.
"And one more thing." Garen started to fade in a teleporter beam.
"Sir?"
"She hates jello."
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Gwen ran as fast as she possibly could, Ben in her arms once again. If she wasn't so busy trying to distance them from the sounds of falling trees, which were growing ever-closer, she would probably be complaining about how she always seemed to end up carting her cousin around in this forest. As it was, she was marveling at how she was able to be sprinting like this while carrying someone who probably weighed the same, if not more, as she did without feeling the least bit fatigued. Not to mention that it was about three in the morning and she hadn't slept the entire night.
"Fear and adrenaline are wonderful things." she decided.
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"Talk to me, Takin." Garen stepped from the teleporter pad, walking to his computer as the Tophgler fell into step next to him.
"The Reaper is drawing even more energy from Ben than before, sir." By now, the entire team knew that the reaper had been activated and that it was the cause for Ben's condition. "His vitals are down to twenty-three percent."
"Options for stabilization?"
"None." Takin paused. "Well, none we can perform from up here."
"Explain."
"Since we can't stop the Reaper once it's been activated, we can't do anything up from up here." She rubbed her chin. "However, if we could inject Ben with a phys. Stim. (3), we might be able to stabilize him."
"It's only a temporary solution." Garen sat in his chair, rapidly bringing up several schematics of some sort of bio-weapon. "But, it might give Ben's body enough time to compensate for the energy drain of the Reaper and balance it out."
"There is the problem of finding Ben, sir." the Tophgler pointed out.
"Don't worry about that," Garen pulled up a formula for a chemical. "I've got a way to find him."
"How?" her bright blue eyes blinked.
"Don't worry about that, just bring me some of this," he pointed to the formula. "And tell Veltran to meet me in the supply room."
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"Yeah, Garen?" Meex spoke as she opened her communicator, holding up a hand to signal for Max to stop moving.
"Are you still near the hunter-killer?" He asked, not noticing the sound of falling trees all around his agent.
"Yeah," Meex winced as another tree hit the ground. "Pretty sure."
"Why?" Max once again appeared over the Mikarin's shoulder.
"I'm coming down."
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Takin surveyed the jungle of a room, trying not to trip over any of the half-built machines littering the ground as she tentatively stepped inside.
"Vel, you in here?" she called out, slightly intimidated by the fact that she was in his room. Hounin, by nature, are very, very territorial. And, even if Veltran was the sweetest, kindest, nicest, cutest………. Um, what was she thinking about again?
Takin let out a small "Eeep" as Veltran dropped from, seemingly, the ceiling, right in her path. He growled a few times.
"Don't scare me like that!" The Tophgler scolded him, waggling a claw at him. He offered a growled apology.
"Well, it's ok." She relented. More growls. "Oh, right. Garen wants you to meet him over at the supply room."
The Hounin shook his head, growling again.
"I think he wants you to go down to Earth with him to track down Ben." Takin shifted uneasily at the thought. Veltran nodded, grabbing his cap from the floor and starting towards the door.
"V-Vel." Takin reached out, unsure, and placed her paw on his shoulder. He stopped and turned to her, head cocked to the side. "Just…… be careful, ok?" Veltran gave a big smile, flashing the peace sign, before licking the side of her face.
As he left, Takin could do little more than bring a hand up to her cheek and blush.
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It was dark again………. He knew where he was instantly……… This dream was getting old fast……. The test tubes…… the voices…… the doorway……. All the same as before, if not slightly clearer………. And then the monster………. It was white…….. Just like the room…….. It had no eyes………….. No mouth………….. No nose………. No limbs…….. It was a simple white blob………. And it was the scariest thing he'd ever seen………. It came closer……… he could feel it press up against his tiny body……… he tried to step back…… tried to run away…….. He couldn't move……. He wasn't even sure he had any legs, as strange as that sounds…… and then the burning pain……… it felt like his skin was melting………. Images……… no…….. memories……. They weren't his…….. The monster's, maybe?…………. And then it all turned black…….
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"G-Gwen?" Ben slowly opened his eyes, his voice barely audible. Gwen let out a gasp and scurried over to his side.
"Ben! About time you woke up!" Her words were angry, but her face told a different story. "I had to lug your butt halfway across the stupid forest again!"
"Sorry about that." Ben smiled wearily. "It wasn't really on purpose." He glanced about from his spot on the floor. "Why are we in another cave?" Gwen rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well, you know, killer robot." she rolled her eyes. "The usual." The sound of trees falling could be heard growing slowly closer.
"How long until it finds us?" he struggled to sit up.
"I'm not sure." She helped him into a sitting position against the wall. "Probably a few hours, if we don't go anywhere."
"And if we do go somewhere?"
"About the same, seeing as you don't look like you can walk on your own." She sighed. Ben looked away, focusing on the ground.
"………Sorry." Gwen looked at him, surprised.
"For what?" she leaned a little closer to him.
"Just…… I don't know……. For being so useless right now." he shook his head, not looking up.
"Ben…….." He looked up, finally.
"Yeah?"
"What's happening to you?" Gwen bit her lower lip.
"I…….. I don't know….."
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Alright, another chapter. In The Next Issue: Garen tails the hunter-killer, the hunter-killer tails Ben! What will happen when it catches up? Will the kids be able to defend themselves? Find out next chapter!
(1)- I just gave her a middle name that sounded like it fit. I don't know what her actual middle name is.
(2)- She can walk through walls, dissapear and fly! She is much unique than a Binarai!
(3) Physical Stimulant.
Right, you know the drill. Please review! I'm trying to get to a hundred before I post chapter eleven.
