Last chapter: Ben faces the dark truth that Gwen is really dead, and ends up losing self-control.
This chapter will be posted at the same time as the final one, because my schedule is too full to be trying to remember to put up each new one.
Review of "Duped": I wanted Julie to slap Ben across the face so badly. And this episode proved the improbability of there ever being any Bevin in the show. Kevin: "You're always a little girly, but today you're freaking me out!"
Chapter Seven: Only Human
Ben arrives to school at his usual time but does not see Julie show at her normal time. She's probably walking or something. He walks around the hallways and watches the building fill up. With it being the last day and whatnot, the rules have flown out the window. Everyone is texting openly on their cell phones, talking crap about teachers within their earshot, and wearing clothes so risque you'd think the school is the setting of an R-rated movie.
When the homeroom bell rings, not even half of the students are on time. Ben shoots a text message to Julie, asking if she is even going to show up. And then another one halfway through first period. In second period, when they're having a small party to celebrate graduation and the end of the year, he's too preoccupied with getting in touch with Julie to notice. After third period, he goes into the bathroom and calls first her cell phone and then her home phone. Nothing.
In lunch, he expects that she'll show up at the table, but even there she is absent. He begins to grow noticeably worried, tapping his fingers on his desk during the next few classes, not taking part in the bantering the rest of his classmates are doing.
The final bell of his high school life rings. While many of his cohorts cheer in excitement and throw their papers in the air and down the stairs, his main concern is getting to her house. People try to talk to him but he ignores them and hurries to the nearest bathroom, turns into Big Chill and flies to her home.
Instead of knocking on the door, he renders himself intangible and flies through the walls of each room.
"Julie!" he shouts. The place is totally empty. Inside her bedroom, however, is a note placed on her bed: CHECK YOUR E-MAIL TENNYSON
He reverts to human, turns on Julie's computer and enters his e-mail account. There is one new message. No title, and the sender's address is blank. Ben opens it. It reads:
WE HAVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND. RETURN TO THE FACTORY WHERE WE DEFEATED YOU BY SUNDOWN TONIGHT SO WE MAY ARREST YOU AND PUT YOU IN MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON. IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY, YOUR PRECIOUS JULIE WILL BE EXECUTED AND HER SYMBIOTE MADE TO DO OUR BIDDING. THE ORGANIZATION WILL HAVE VICTORY EITHER WAY.
He steps back from the computer. "No..." he mutters quietly. Then louder he shouts, "NO!"
Ben runs out the front door and turns into Jetray. He puts all of his strength into flying faster. In his desperation he breaks the sound barrier, leaving several booms behind him. A couple people on the ground see him only as a blur in the sky.
As soon as he reaches the building, he fires his laser at the windows, causing them to shatter. The little tanks and missile launchers are still there, but he is willing to take them on. Ben flies through the window and as he lands he transforms into Chromastone. He impacts the ground so strongly that not only does the cement underfoot crack and crumble, but the bottoms of his feet get small cracks and some pieces of crystal chip off.
Immediately the tanks begin to fire at him from every direction but he is prepared for that. As each laser pulse comes in, he absorbs it and stores the energy. The Forever Knights around him watch as what is supposed to be deadly seems to have no effect. After a couple minutes, the leader orders the people in control of the tanks to stop the attack. Although the tanks don't leave him, they cease firing.
"Where is Julie!" Ben demands.
"Ben get out of here!" she screams. He turns and sees her. Around each wrist and ankle is a thick blue ring that appears to be holding her in one posture. Her legs are straight down and her arms stretched out. Ship has put himself on her as a battle armor, trying to protect his owner. They both float five feet off the ground, against the wall. "They just want the Omnitrix!"
Ben doesn't have enough time to question what she says. A new type of energy beam strikes him from a dark corner. It is an extreme amount of energy and he has some trouble keeping it focused as he absorbs it. He attempts to get away from it by flying across the building but it keeps a perfect lock on him the entire time. Ben escapes it by hiding behind a pillar at just the right angle.
Several armored Knights are standing where he is. They begin to fire at him, but their energy weapons are useless against Chromastone. Ben shoots the energy at them, knocking them out two at a time.
As he aims his hand at the last one to fire, the Knight makes a rolling dive and barely escapes Ben's attack. He targets the pillar behind Ben and fires. A large hole is blasted into it.
The beam which Ben had been able to avoid has a clear path and begins to fire on Ben. This time it is angled in such a way that it goes almost completely through Ben's body, but it stops just far enough inside that it gets just inches away from the Omnitrix symbol. At that, Ben feels a powerfully sharp pain run down his body. He cringes and falls to his knees. The beam locks down on the Omnitrix symbol causing it to beep frantically.
Ben looks at his arms and hands. They glow green and he reverts to human form. Then they glow green and he's Chromastone again. And then his body glows and along with the pain he feels like he's in a transformation but not complete. He lowers his head and sees his body is now more shaped like a human's but still Chromastone.
He can hear Julie's screaming for him but it's not helping. His arms give out and he falls face first. A few pieces of crystal chip off of his chest. He forces himself to extend his arm, gasping and moaning in pain, toward a window. The energy now has an easier route to move through and it begins to shoot out the arm. The sheer power of the beam is strong enough that Ben's arm shakes and wobbles as he fights to keep it aimed properly.
Then it stops. The beam is cut off. Ben is freed from the sharp pains and lowers his hand. It's white hot and creates a sizzling sound when it touches the cement floor. He manages to get up on his knees with the good arm and sees the weapon.
Oh no, the weapon! Why didn't I aim for the weapon?
Julie's cry for Ben reminds him.
"Ship!" Ben shouts. "Turn into the space ship and get her out of here!"
"He can't!" Julie replies. "These rings won't let him."
Ben flies to where she is and begins to cut through the rings using unused energy. From behind him, barrages of lasers and rifle blasts strike his back, but it only helps to strengthen his cutting beams. An officer realizes this and angrily commands the bombardment to cease.
Julie is freed and Ship transforms into his starship form.
"I can help!" Julie says inside Ship.
"No, get out of here!"
Julie makes a worried frown. "OK. Come back home to me." She pilots Ship out a broken window and away from the combat.
Ben gazes around the room quickly, trying to figure out where the beam had come from. Instead he only sees the Knights standing there, staring at the deformed invader.
"Now you die!" a voice shouts.
The beam strikes again. This time, it hits perfectly on the Omnitrix. In a stinging pain of intensity Ben has never experienced, he is knocked to the ground and reverts to human form. The Omnitrix, its exterior charred by damage, beeps a few times and then disconnects itself from Ben's wrist and flies out of the building.
Small android tanks encircle him and aim.
Ben gasps and covers his face with his arms.
The tanks begin to fire their lasers, ripping through Ben's body. He can feel intense, channeled heat burn through him. Ben screams in agony as hundreds of shots blast through him every second. His eyes and ears are damaged enough that he goes blind and deaf. His hands and feet grow numb.
After a minute of the attack, Ben starts to have trouble getting oxygen into his body. His breaths turn into frantic gasps, his mouth wide open and his chest rising and dropping as high as much as he can get it. Yet his lungs and heart are so shot up that any effort will have marginal effect. He begins to lose consciousness.
No, it can't end like this! Ben is helpless, unable to stop the impending death that's coming on him. He fears his fate will be like Gwen's.
Before he passes out and the ability to feel, the heat stops. The tanks cease, thinking their victim to be dead. Then he has a new sensation, one familiar to him but totally impossible to occur at this moment. Where tissue and organ has been ripped through, movement begins. Ben's eyes start to reform and after a few seconds he can see again. And then his ears have been healed.
I'm regenerating? Like Swampfire?
Ben tilts his head to look at his body. No blood. Just little tendrils growing out of wounds, covering and restoring themselves. After a few more seconds he feels himself beginning to warm up. Somehow, the beam has mixed up Ben's DNA with Swampfire's.
Then the tanks detect his new found body heat and resume their assault. The terrible pain, the lose of senses and bodily control, the asphyxiation, it all returns again. Tears are dripping down his battered cheeks. When he is nearly dead, they silence their lasers and wait for further instructions. Ben once more regenerates, but fears what may happen next.
Once his body is warmed up, the robot tanks take it as a sign their victim lives. They destroy him again.
His body reaches the state of near-death again, this time even more painful than the last. Ben wishes he could stop regenerating and die. Instead his body goes against this desire and reforms itself, prompting the tanks to blast him again.
On the fifth regeneration, Ben desperately tries to move himself, but the muscles required just aren't there for moving. By the time he has them again, surely the tanks will send him to the brink once more.
Ben helplessly prepares to experience another cycle of torture.
"Enough!" a voice calls from outside of view.
The tanks become still. Right in place, some on top of others, all in a huge circle. Each is aimed for Ben but doesn't fire.
Slowly, trembling in fear and anticipation, Ben gets to his feet and stares at the massive amount of tanks surrounding him. Then he looks at the Knights standing near the walls.
"What do you want with me!" he shouts at them angrily. "You have me! Here! Arrest me!"
"We don't want to arrest you, Tennyson," the voice says again. Ben spins around and sees it's the Forever Knight commander, someone who Ben has a personal vendetta against. "You're too dangerous to even be alive."
"You scum!" Ben says and starts running towards the Knight. Right before he can throw his punch, the Knight's arms move faster than a normal human's can. He picks up Ben, pivots and slams him to the ground on his back. Ben moans in pain, feeling something else inside him break.
"Cybernetic enhancements, an excellent idea," the Knight remarks about how he was able to do what he just did. Then in all seriousness he points to a corner and says, "Bring out the MX-32."
Ben, almost on his feet now, watches as what appeared to have been just another part of the wall slide up like a garage door. Inside is a room just large enough for what steps out of it. The machine resembles a headless robot, nine feet tall with a row of huge lasers on each shoulder. It is sleek and shaped much like a human. Through a glass panel Ben can see inside the head and neck of the Knight operating the MX-32. A devious smile is on the operator's face.
The Forever Knight leader steps back to get out of the way of whatever is about to happen. "Don't toy with him; just kill him. He's too powerful to be given a chance."
Inside the MX-32, the operator presses a button. A deep thrumming emanates from it and eventually the sound becomes so loud the whole building is filled with it.
Ben realizes he is hopelessly outmatched and starts running for the door, running on top of and leaping over the tanks. They start to move away from Ben, clearing a wide path for him.
Suddenly a strong rush of wind strikes Ben from the side and a huge gray blur is seen. Ben lurches forward, off-balance, and puts his right leg ahead of his body to stop himself from falling. He looks up.
The MX-32 stands in front of Ben, blocking his way. Ben turns in the opposite direction and starts to run. Before Ben can get even a couple feet away, the machine's arm swings out and then in. It smashes into Ben's side, shatters ribs and bruises internal organs. The energy of the impact causes Ben to fly half way across the width of the building. He crashes into the brick wall, which chips and crumbles where Ben's body has struck it. Ben drops to the ground screaming in pain. He can't move anything.
Now another rush of wind, and the machine is standing over Ben. It picks up Ben and flings him across the building once again. Before Ben can hit the building, the MX-32's incredible speed has already situated it where Ben would be. Once he is in range, it swings its arm again and most of the force goes into Ben's back. He feels his spine become a mess of bones. He flies over the weapon and approaches the wall.
The machine is already there for him! It swings upwards and hit Ben on his other side, sending him flying into the air. Ben would scream, but the pain and damage is so extensive that he can't make any sound at all. Instead, a trail of tears follow his path. His body is contorting in directions it shouldn't, but does because his body has been thoroughly destroyed. It's amazing to him that he's still alive.
His enemy leaps up and arrives at the ceiling a split second before Ben. Before either can be pulled down by gravity, it smacks into Ben's already shattered waist and slams him into the ground. With Ben immobile and on laying on the floor, the machine stops attacking, stands next to Ben and looks down on him.
Ben's body shakes a little and painful sobs cause his abdomen to spasm. Everything is blurry. He struggles to speak pained and barely audible words. "Mercy. Please, mercy. Don't hurt me anymore."
The operator of the MX-32 chuckles and lifts up one of the arms. The hand starts to glow and turns into a shapeless glob, then reforms into a circular saw. "Here's your mercy." It starts spinning and aims for Ben's neck, bringing down for one last fatal blow.