Howdy all! Welcome back! Glad to hear most of you enjoyed the Alien X episode. I don't have much to complain about except how it was… Described. Not the alien itself, but the commercials for it. It wasn't a bad episode of anything, no, I really liked it, but when they said weak, me being an angsty, main character torture fic writer, I expected there to be something more of a weakness. Not hindering voices in your head. But I can't complain. I liked the female one. Anyways, I realized something else about my last chapter. I made SixSix and SevenSeven one and the same. Sorry about that, I wasn't aware until a few days ago they were different aliens. We'll just pretend. –whistles obliviously- Sorry to ramble, you can now carry on.

Chapter 10

"I said no! I don't want his damn help!"

"Ben, consider this. He might be the only one who can actually help!" Gwen pleaded, not happy with the idea, but the desire to help him over ridding that pleasure. They were still stuck in the alleyway, what with Kevin still unconscious and Ben only having enough energy to stay awake, much less argue. Gwen knew she could carry them both, but they had parked on rather busy street. It kinda ruined the inconspicuous factor.

"I'd rather jump off a cliff than ask for HIS help." Ben growled, a frown set on his features. Gwen couldn't blame him for acting this way. She had predicted it after all. His eyes dulled for a moment and it looked as if he was going to pass out again. Gwen reached out to catch him, but he seemed to catch himself, shaking his head.

"If I was in your position, I probably would too, but seriously, what else can we do?" Gwen reasoned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"There has to be something else. Anything. Have you looked in any of those weird books I see in your room?"

"Well, no, but they weren't written for this kind of… situation." Gwen replied weakly. There were quite a few spell books in her room, but none of them had ever mentioned bonding or aliens for that matter.

"That's putting it mildly…" Ben said ruefully. He looked over at his recent victim, unmindful of the sickening amount of purple-ish blue blood that decorated the wall behind it. Gwen couldn't look in the direction he was, knowing her gag reflex was extremely weak despite all they've been through.

"… Will you at least think about it?" She asked him after allowing a minute to pass by.

"There's really nothing to think about. He doesn't want to help me as I definitely don't want help from a person like him." He looked likely he was thinking about something as a calculating line had creased him forehead, but Gwen didn't get a chance to ask what when a long groan emanated from behind her.

"Uhn… Did we win?" Kevin asked somewhat dizzily.

"You okay, Kev?"

"Peachy." Kevin sat up rubbing his head. Even through the concrete layer, that blast to the head had hit him pretty hard. His protective layer had left him, however, when his consciousness had. It took him half a second to regain his composure when he lost it to the corpse before him. His mouth gaped slightly as he took in the scene before him.

"Um, Ben…?"

"Yes, Kevin, I did." He replied, annoyance very plain in his voice. Kevin was up and next to him before he even knew it.

"… That's one hell of a hug you gave him."

"Wasn't physical…" He muttered, sickened with himself. He looked at the ground to avoid his eyes, expecting something of a disgusted comment.

"Then how did you do it? With you head?" Kevin thought he was joking when he saw Ben cringe a little, his expression fading to disbelief. "No way, you're, what… Telekinetic? This Ghostfreak guy was really hiding some serious powers from you."

"I've been thinking about that and I don't think he could access these… powers." He spat the word as though it were venom.

"What do you mean Ben?" Gwen looked to him, started back into the conversation.

"I mean, I think he needed a host to be able to do what I just did. I think it has something to do with how our minds work…" He trialed off as unconsciousness threatened to take him once more. He shook his head, forcing himself to remain aware, though starting to lose. A snap brought him back to his senses as two fingers had been held near his face, being where the source of the loud noise had come from.

"Still with us? You're spacing again." Kevin stated. Ben slapped his hand away from his face, a scowl written on his features.

"Be nice Kevin. He barely has enough in him to stay awake." Gwen scolded, shaking her head. "What were you saying before?"

"I'll explain later. I want to listen to the Omnitrix this time to see if it has any vital info on Ghostfreak." Ben looked at the watch as he said this, before looking up suddenly as thought something had just occurred to him.

"What do we do with him?" Ben pointed at the remains of SevenSeven.

"I suggest we get out of here and let the cops handle it. There's no way no one heard all those gun shots." Kevin said, standing up. He pulled Ben up by his arm despite the protest and led him to the car, pulling his jacket roughly over his head. Kevin allowed him the choice of shotgun, but Ben knew he would be more comfortable in the back. He could think a little more privately back there.

"Where are we going then?" Kevin asked as Ben began to play with the watch.

"My house. Ben gave me an idea that may turn up nothing, but it's still worth the check." Gwen said, pointing down the road as a computerized voice emanated from the back.

"Review file on species Ectonurite?" The small device asked. Ben gave it an affirmative before the little machine began relaying the preset data. "Ectonurite: a being from the planet Anur Pheatos that lives in what is believed to be a hive mind. It controls the power of intangibility, invisibility, possession, telekinesis, and certain forms of telepathy, though the extent of these powers is still unknown. It is the only being known to be destroyed by sunlight as the world it lives upon is in a constant shroud of darkness. It remains as one of the universes biggest living mysteries." The Omnitrix concluded eerily before shutting itself down. Ben seemed lost in thought and Gwen didn't like the slow look forming on his face.

"You're cousin's worried about you. How sweet." Ben froze, his eyes wide as he looked around. No way, not while he was awake.

"Ben? What's the matter; are you okay?" Ben looked to his left before looking at her, calming a little when he saw how concerned she looked.

"I… I don't know. I think I'm hearing things. It's okay." He tried to show her he was okay, but his smile just didn't touch his eyes.

"Things like what?" Kevin asked, eyeing him through the rearview mirror. Ben went to make a smart remark about his car, but it interrupted him again.

"That's not nice to say, Benjamin. I'd think before I said that one."

"G-Ghostfreak…" He whispered. The entity had finally gained enough power to speak to him during the day. That disturbed him so deeply so that he lost himself to the real world fell into his mind. Not losing consciousness per say, but falling into a trance.

"You make me out to seem like I'm so unpleasant. It's hard to listen to, though I don't suppose you could talk behind my back, could you?" There was a level of amusement there, and Ben heard it.

"How are you talking to me? Wasn't it bad enough when you were tormenting me at night? I look like hell because of you." Ben growled, hatred lacing his words.

"Oh, you couldn't imagine that was able to talk to you earlier on but, found no need? And it's not my fault you look the way you do. It's typical for humans to blame their own bodily reactions on others."

"You're haunting my dreams!"

"Touché." The phantom laughed raspily, finding amusement in Ben's hatred. "You are by far the most interesting host I've ever possessed."

"That interest falls under the category of sadistic." Ben remarked hatefully, spinning in the dark away from where he assumed the voice to be coming from, muttering something that sounded awfully close to "sick bastard".

"Maybe so, but at least now I'm on your side. So there's no need-"

"To what? Fight? Yeah there is with the constant threat of you overshadowing me!"

"I know what you're thinking. You're afraid I'll hurt your cousin and her mate. No worries, as if that happens, it'll be on your head." Ben's hands clenched into fists, wishing so much to be able to throttle the biggest problem in his life. Ghostfreak laughed as he read this thought.

"You may on day get that chance, but it would be suicide considering your current situation. As for now, you are needed elsewhere. I hope we can get a chance to chat again real soon." Ben made to shout something back when the darkness rushed past him and he seemed to fall back into himself. He shot up from the seat and looked around gathering that he was still in the car, and that they had pulled over.

"You really have to stop doing that, Tennyson, 'cause next time, I'll just sock you." Ben looked to the driver's side seat to see Kevin giving him a look of irritation.

"I'd like to see you live with an insane, sadistic ghost in your head." Ben retorted, returning the mood. He wasn't met with the attitudes he expected then he realized that he had forgotten that he hadn't told them of this one major factor.

"Ben, what do you mean?" Gwen asked, facing him completely turned around in her seat. Ben hesitated, wondering how to explain this as gently as possible.

"I think he just said he had a ghost in his head." Ben put his head in his hands, unable to look at them, knowing he was receiving accusing looks that seemed to wait for the phantom to just jump out and try to kill them.

"Is there more to this than you're telling us?" Gwen voice held a small amount of the accusation Ben was listening for, but the rest was sympathy. He grimaced into has palms at the thought.

"A little…" He mumbled into his hands.

"A little? That's not very little if that freaky alien his floating around in your head." Kevin said, no accusation in his voice, but more of an exasperated tone.

"Not helping."

"This might be a good thing, Ben!" Gwen exclaimed. Her statement had both Kevin and Ben looking at her as if she had grown an extra head. She sighed as she knew she would have to explain. "I mean that if this has become a regular possession, them maybe we could use some kind of exorcism."

"Exorcism? Like in the movies? Cool." Kevin smirked.

"No, not cool. It's not going to work." Ben said, throwing a look at Kevin. Gwen raised an eyebrow as a nonverbal way to ask 'why?'. "It's not like that. His… consciousness is what's bother me. And remember, he's bonded to my…" He let it trail off as they already knew how that went.

"What about his consciousness then? Maybe we could rid you of that." Gwen suggested after a moment of thought. Ben didn't think that would work either, but didn't deny her a chance to help. Besides, maybe she was on to something. You really never knew what with the world they lived in now.

"I finally get to see an exorcism in real life. This is going to be cool." Kevin grinned. He had never believed in the supernatural, but scary movies just had a way with making the customs look so interesting. Ben, however, wasn't looking forward to this. Especially with the fact that this was going to happen to him.

Kevin drove off toward Gwen's house, looking forward to this new idea that may actually do something about their Ectonurite problem.

Sorry I had to cut it short. I'm glad I did personally. This is now my least favorite chapter. Oh, well. And I apologize for its lateness. I found something else that took my interest. Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. By the same guy who wrote Invader Zim, but I don't suggest it for younger audiences due to intense violence, swearing, gore, and (extremely few) sexual references. One more thing before I go: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz could you not reference death in your comments? It does nothing to either of us except disturb me a little. No offense for that, I just had to say. Okay, that is all for now! C u -Xangabell