Ben 10 Alien Force
Homecoming 11 [pt 1] – Hero down
By Crystalquirt
After Albedo attacked using poisonous gas and tried to take Ben's arm, the others had to get him medical help quickly or chance him losing his arm, or worse. They found an urgent care center that they thought they could keep safe, but Albedo sneaked in as part of the medical staff and attacked Ben again, nearly killing him.
Tuesday night, near midnight they sneak out of the urgent care center, drive for twelve hours and have to fight again for their lives. Violence & angst, a little romance.
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From part 10 – Assault on Ben
Julie and Gwen picked Ben up and placed him on the gurney before folding the legs and putting it back up on the bench. They tied it down, and then strapped Ben down so he couldn't fall off around the corners. Gwen stayed to help Julie watch over Ben, Kevin got in his car and they left quietly.
Albedo watched the whole operation from his hiding spot. "Well the Omnitrix is still on Ben Tennyson's wrist – somehow they saved his life-AGAIN! I will not fail the next time."
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The first time they pulled over to the side of the road, Joe pulled Ben's blankets down and hooked up his IVs. He wanted him to continue fluids and blood transfusion while they traveled. Joe also noticed how cold Ben's skin felt even though he had been covered up by three blankets.
Dr. Joe took the rest of his vitals and frowned as he applied the electrodes for the small heart monitor he 'borrowed' from urgent care to Ben's chest. He tucked Ben's arms back under the blankets and pulled them up under his chin. He also unrolled one of the sleeping bags and put that on top of him.
Julie plugged the heart monitor into the power converter behind the driver's seat and Dr. Joe turned it on. They listened to the monitor while they went down the road, but Joe still pulled over several more times, just to take Ben's vitals.
Gwen was so tired; she slept pretty well for a few hours even with the engine noise. Instead of being annoyed by the noise the heart monitor made, she was comforted by its rhythmic beeping it and had no trouble going to sleep even after it was turned on.
Tetrax followed them closely and Albedo, invisible as Big Chill followed Tetrax. By early Wednesday afternoon, Joe and Kevin were exhausted and reluctantly pulled over to sleep for a few hours.
At the huge Flying K Truck Stop, out in the middle of nowhere, the truck parking started to the side of the buildings, and back for acres away from the highway. It was in a nice area with trees and hills on all sides and nothing else for fifty miles.
The Forever Knight truck that Joe 'borrowed' from the Knights in California roared into the 'truck' parking and the vintage green muscle car parked behind it.
As Kevin got out, a short fat greasy truck driver named 'Earl' according to the nametag on his shirt, got out of his faded blue truck and approached Kevin.
"Hey! You can't park that car in the 'Truck' parking. Get it out of here!"
Kevin thought, I am really too tired to be messing around with this little weasel.
"Look Ear-l," Kevin pointed at the Forever Night vehicle, "That IS a 'truck-sized vehicle' parked in the 'truck' parking. I AM with them, and there is plenty of room left behind it for me to park here without being in anyone else's way. It is not my fault if you need a LOT more room than the 'experienced' truck drivers to turn your rig around."
Earl walked right up to Kevin and poked him in the chest. "I can turn my rig around just fine, but cars are NOT allowed out here, you have to move it!"
Kevin spoke quietly, "Look, you little runt. If you have a problem with me parking here, you can take it up with my fist." He showed the trucker the fist that wanted to discuss it with him, by putting it right under his nose.
Earl backed off and walked very quickly back to his truck without another word. Kevin walked holding Gwen's hand toward the restaurant entrance to go back to the restrooms. Half way there, Gwen stopped and pulled him to her by his shirt.
"You know, I secretly love it when you are such a brute don't ya?" she grinned at him.
"I know." He kissed her, he pressed his lips to hers while his hands explored her back and hips, and her hand's were doing the same to him, until a truck driver blew his horn at them and smiled at them while he jokingly waved them out of the road. They jogged out of the way and continued hand in hand to the restaurant.
Curious, Kevin looked back before they went in and Earl still hadn't got his faded blue 'rig' backed into a spot. The parking spot was straight behind his truck and trailer and he still couldn't hit it. As he made try after try, his rig came nowhere near where Kevin's car was parked so it obviously wasn't in the way.
"What was that all about anyway?"
"Oh ignore him Kevin. He's obviously having a rough life. Just pray you aren't on the same road at the same time that he is." Gwen giggled and took Kevin's hand again to lead him through the restaurant.
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Plumber ran along in front of their truck to the landscaping near the fuel pumps and marked a few trees before he rolled around in the grass on his back, biting at dead leaves. Joe watched his dog out the windshield and wished his new friends could all be that carefree. Plumber trotted past the buildings and off to do his dog business.
Ben's vitals needed monitoring again so he went to his side. Joe found Ben's blood pressure and temperature were still low, and his heart rate was slow. Joe backed up and sat on the bench next to Julie while he listened to the heart monitor beeping along regularly, even if it was a little slow. He rubbed his eyes and held his head trying to think of what else he could do for Ben.
Julie got up and stood where Joe had been. She touched Ben's cheek gently and kissed his forehead.
"When will he wake up?" she asked without looking away from Ben.
"Don't know. We nearly lost him." she gazed at the bloody bandage covering the incision in Ben's chest. "If he goes into a coma there is no way to know at all, could be months or years."
"Coma?" she looked over at Joe and he saw her lip quivering like she might cry again.
"I'm sorry Julie, I'm just tired. I don't mean to scare you. He's still very weak and I am not happy that his vitals are still as low as they are, but try not to worry. He is a strong healthy kid, I'm sure he'll be fine."
Joe stood up and stood next to her. He told her that he was going to give Ben a bed bath and try to get him warmed up before he would let himself go to sleep.
"Do you think we can take turns sleeping so one of us will always be watching him?" Julie agreed. She was already sure she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.
He handed her two empty, two-liter plastic soda bottles from their lunch days ago. "Could you fill these bottles with the hottest water you can get? Here's some money if they make you buy a shower to get in to the shower area." Julie left to fill the bottles and give them some privacy while Ben got a bath.
Joe took Ben's dirty sweatpants off of him and washed him down with clean cloths, hospital soap and skin lotion. He covered him up with three blankets and tucked the edges in snuggly.
"I wish the roof didn't have a giant hole in it." He said out loud as he looked up.
Gwen and Kevin met Julie going through the restaurant with the bottles. In the crowd, she quietly told them that Dr. Joe was giving Ben a bath. They were heading back anyway so they volunteered to fill the bottles and take them back while Julie went to the restrooms and got something to eat.
Kevin teased that one thing he didn't need to see was a guy bathing another guy. Gwen punched his arm. They got back quickly and Gwen waited by the truck in case Joe wasn't done with Ben yet.
Joe took the warm bottles from Kevin, wrapped each one in a small towel and slipped them between the blankets along the sides of Ben's body. Kevin also gave back the shower money that Joe had given to Julie.
Gwen volunteered to keep watch and planned to sleep some more after they got back on the road. She stood two laser lances by at the ends of the benches and others in the front seats. Then she took a couple more to the car. They were wrapped in a blanket so no one could see what she had.
Joe made the suggestion that they could all ride in the truck, then he and Kevin could take turns driving and they would never have to stop to rest. Kevin flat out refused to leave his car anywhere. He argued that the little time they would save wouldn't matter, Joe said it might. Kevin still didn't want to.
After she the weapons safely hidden in the car, she took the blanket back and tucked it back around Ben. She made sure it was snug under his chin. He still felt cold and Gwen held choked back tears as she looked at her cousin. He had come so far since he first found the Omnitrix and set the forest on fire. They both had and now, seeing him like this was hard to take.
Before Julie went back to the others, she went to sit in the trucker's lounge and called her Aunt. She told her that her friend was in a car accident back home and she got a ride back to go see him. "I will visit you again real soon though, Auntie." Then she hurried back to be near Ben in case he would wake up soon.
This truck stop was very busy since it was the only thing for miles. There were cars and trucks pulling in and out the whole time they had been there so far. Gwen hoped all the activity would keep Albedo from attacking for at least a while.
Gwen opened the truck's hood and went about checking fluids and then the tires pressure as she kept watch. She hadn't seen Tetrax yet, but thought she probably wouldn't since the place was so busy. He would be keeping himself hidden, but nearby. Kevin was busy doing the same on his car and afterwards took out a dust cloth and did the inside.
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Tetrax followed a concrete-lined waterway and stayed behind the trees around the truck stop. There were so many people here wandering around, and going farther off the property than in other places they stopped that Tetrax was almost seen by people walking their dogs. So he moved farther back into the wooded area behind the truck parking.
An invisible Necrofriggian sat on the edge of the convenience store roof overlooking the parking lot. He gazed across at the truck containing his enemy.
"What to do . . . what to do?" he hissed.
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Gwen got finished checking the truck and joined Kevin in the back seat of his car. They could watch the truck and talk without bothering the others trying to sleep.
"Kevin, what are we going to do? I think you're right about how Albedo got in and attacked us at the hospital. To find out where we were and what we were doing he would have had to been invisible as Big Chill. Albedo could be right here and we would never see him."
"Here Gwen, I have something right here for you to play with while I take a nap."
Gwen glared at him expecting him to make some crude joke about his anatomy. She felt a little annoyed as she waited for him to explain himself.
Out from under the driver's seat in front of him, using two fingers on the end of one of the strings, he pulled out a surgical mask. "Here you go."
"What . . . something to remember the most traumatic time of Ben's life with?"
"No. It's the one that Albedo wore. Can't you use it to find him even if he is in alien form or invisible?"
"I'll try it. Thanks Kevin!" She gave him a 'quick' kiss on the cheek before she started to go sit up front so he could lie down. He caught her by the hand and wouldn't let her go.
He faked an accent, "No 'quickies' with you – with you, it is only 'longies'."
Gwen slid gracefully back in the car. She reached up and put her hand along his strong jaw like she had captured him to guide him to where she wanted him. Kevin leaned back and pulled her close. He lifted her with both hands around her waist so she would glide up his chest.
Once he had her on top of him he wrapped his strong arms around her and pressed his lips to hers in a long, lingering deep kiss. When their lips finally parted Gwen opened her eyes and looked into his eyes. Kevin looked happy, but so tired. "You better get some sleep." She hugged him and went to sit in the front seat for a while.
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Joe went to sleep quickly on the other bench in the back of the truck across from Ben. Julie was on top of her sleeping bag on the floor nearest to Ben. She was too upset to sleep. The word 'coma' kept repeating in her head.
She got back up and smoothed Ben's hair and held his hand while she watched him breath. Gently putting her hand on Ben's chest in between the electrodes, she lingered, feeling comforted by his heart beating in rhythm with the beeps on the monitor.
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Albedo ran some scenarios through his Galvan mind. Like going Humongousaur to tear Ben out through the side of the truck and just rip his arm from his body. But he knew they were armed and wasn't sure he wanted to be shot with a laser lance even as a Humongousaur.
Spidermonkey would be fast and tie the other's up in webbing before he chewed Ben's arm off. Eweee, that grossed him out a little.
All he knew right now was that he was invisible and could sneak up on them without being seen. He could move around among them and they would never know. "But what to do then?" he hissed and scared birds that were sitting on the roof with him.
Ben was the only one that didn't get out of the truck since they got there so Albedo reasoned that he was too hurt to be up moving around and the others were taking care of him. Albedo felt a little more satisfied knowing that he had seriously hurt him. If he was still unconscious, he wouldn't even be able to put up a fight.
Albedo thought about remaining invisible and intangible and just taking Ben. It would look like Ben just vanished to anyone watching and he suspected they were all sleeping and wouldn't be watching anyway. Then he could get him away from the others and take his time to torture him enough to make him pay for what he did to him.
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Gwen's eyes began to glow as she concentrated on finding Albedo. The intense pink swirled over her eyes making them look solid pink and her view of the world changed like it always did. She could still see everything as though veiled, with a pink film that made things look very clear and sharp. The mana revealed much more to her than she could see with her human eyes alone.
For a few minutes, she stayed in the car and scanned carefully, like she was practicing. Then she put her hoodie on, got out and walked over between the restaurant entrance and their vehicle. Other people just walked past her, not even noticing her glowing eyes.
Only one little girl noticed her eyes and smiled at Gwen. She pulled on her mother's hand to get her to look too, but the mother just mumbled angrily and dragged her quickly along behind her to the restrooms.
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The pink swirls she saw concentrated in an area next to the vending machines. From there, she followed thin streaks resembling ribbons through the air up to the roof and saw another concentrated area right at the edge where Albedo had spent some more time.
Gwen's heart started beating faster. The mana was telling her that this was Albedo's trail, he was already there. She frowned and felt her fear and anger rising. She gripped the surgical mask tighter and concentrated harder as she looked carefully in the sky. Even though there was a cold breeze, the mana trail was not affected by it. For wind to blow it around it would have to have some kind of solidity or substance and the pure energy of mana didn't.
She found the trail again, and frowned when she saw a pink stream like a ribbon go from the concentrated area on the roof, leading back out toward their truck! She swallowed the lump in her throat as she jogged under the mana trail to the truck. Sure enough the trail went out of her view over the top of the truck.
Gwen readied her mana for battle and using both hands slammed the back doors open. At first it looked like Ben was levitating over the gurney. As she intensified the mana around her she made out glowing pink outlines of a Necrofriggian lifting Ben off the gurney.
Joe had awakened when the doors slammed and was staring at Gwen wondering what was wrong. Julie was lying in an awkward position face down in between the front seats. Albedo hit her from behind while she was staring at Ben.
When he saw Gwen, Albedo panicked and dropped Ben back on the gurney. Gwen screamed at him and fired handfuls of mana. He was already tangible and with her attack he became visible. Joe came up off the bench feet first and knocked Albedo Big Chill back toward Gwen then he reached down and pulled Julie up on the bench.
Joe reached under the bench and the first thing he grabbed was a can of carburetor cleaner. He aimed and sprayed it at the alien while Gwen had him trapped in a heavy ribbon of mana. Albedo tried to vanish again, but couldn't do it in the fog of carburetor cleaner. Gwen held him with one hand and fired energy at him with the other.
A crowd had started to gather behind the truck to watch. With all the people around, Kevin awakened when he heard the commotion in front of his car. He decided against using the laser lance he grabbed and just ran to Gwen empty handed.
Gwen was firing unmercifully at Albedo. He was surprised and remained frozen from fear with his arms crossed in front of him like he was protecting himself. Albedo gathered enough fear-generated energy to use his Omnitrix and turn into Echo Echo.
He aimed his sonic scream at Gwen and busted out of her energy field. Joe, even though he was behind him, in such close quarters he still covered his ears trying to get away from the pain. The small crowd that gathered ran in all directions screaming.
Gwen tried to fight the pain and fired off three more energy bolts, but soon covered her ears and cried out in pain as she was totally engulfed by Echo Echo's sonic scream. She went to her knees just as Kevin got close enough to feel the effects of the sonic scream too. He covered his ears and ran to her anyway to try to shield her from the attack.
Tetrax came out as soon as he heard battle sounds. No longer caring if someone saw him, he hovered in front of the truck. He fired diamond shards through the windshield and they hit their mark. Albedo Echo Echo stopped screaming as the shards embedded themselves into his back. Kevin recovered from the scream first and ran at him.
He yanked Albedo out of the truck. When he landed Kevin punched him hard enough to mash him into the asphalt. Albedo Echo Echo changed back into Big Chill and went intangible to get out from under Kevin. Gwen was still on the ground with her eyes squeezed shut. He ran over to Gwen and helped her up.
Joe's ears were still ringing when he jumped up to Ben's side. Everything looked ok, bandages, IVs no new injuries. Julie moaned and sat up holding her head. "You ok Julie?" He hooked the heart monitor back up and began to take Ben's other vitals.
"I'm fine. What happened?"
"Albedo happened."
"Oh no." She got up and watched Joe, anxiously awaiting his findings about Ben's condition.
As soon as Albedo Big Chill turned solid again, Tetrax slammed into him at full speed on his hover board. He hung on the front of the board for an instant and they both landed out in the turn lane where semi trucks were exiting. When the two battling aliens landed in the lane, the trucks stopped and the drivers abandoned them.
Albedo Big Chill froze Tetrax in a block of ice. Tetrax immediately busted his arm out and fired diamond shards that went right through his enemy. Big Chill covered Tetrax with more ice as Gwen and Kevin ran across the parking lot toward them.
With Tetrax temporarily helpless, Big Chill flew quickly back to an abandoned, idling semis and turned back into Albedo Ben in the driver's seat. He laughed wickedly and stomped on the accelerator. The bobtailing semi truck lurched forward and picked up speed quickly without a load.
It jerked and swerved as Albedo Ben missed most of the gears as he shifted. But it still picked up enough speed that when it hit the large chunk of ice with Tetrax in it, ice and diamond shards flew all over the parking lot.
"Tetrax!" Gwen screamed. There was nothing left of him bigger than a diamond in a wedding ring. Albedo turned into Jetray and exited the now runaway truck through the windshield. Broken glass sprayed the side of the cliff as the truck fell and exploded on impact.
Albedo Jetray flew back and dived at Gwen. Kevin grabbed her and hugged her close as they rolled out of the way. Gwen looked over sadly once again at the pile of ice and Tetrax shards before she gave Kevin's hand a squeeze in thanks and got up.
Kevin jumped up and ran for the car to get weapons before Albedo Jetray's next pass, but he changed direction when Gwen brought Albedo down in her energy lash and slammed him to the pavement.
Now he ran at Albedo intending to give him a good pounding. Kevin was trying to follow Dr. Joe's orders and had not armored up, but he still fought with the attitude that he was indestructible. He kicked Albedo Jetray and knocked him back down when he tried to get up.
In a flash, Albedo changed into Brainstorm and leapt on Kevin. He fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement. The large crustacean landed on top of him. Albedo Brainstorm got his pincher around Kevin's neck and held him down.
Kevin screamed in anger and threatened Albedo as he tried to pull the pincher open with his hands while he kicked wildly. From in the truck, Joe heard Kevin screaming and ran to them to try to help somehow.
Julie grabbed one of the laser lances and started to follow, but didn't want to leave Ben. Julie stayed behind the truck and watched from there for an opportunity to help the others.
The only surface he could reach, Kevin touched the asphalt and used it for armor even though he knew it was going to hurt. It felt like the rocks in the asphalt were grinding right into the flesh around his wounds. "Sorry Doc!" he thought, as he gritted his teeth.
Too lazy to mock Ben's battle cry, Albedo Brainstorm simply yelled "Feel - THIS!"
The part of his exoskeleton that made up his cranium opened. Gwen saw it coming and screamed for Kevin as she ran at them firing mana balls at Brainstorm. The electrolocutive power that erupted from his brain enveloped Kevin, deflected Gwen's energy attack and threw her back.
Under the heat generated from the electric attack Kevin's asphalt armor began to bubble and crack. The material from his clothing smoked as it burned to shreds in the hot layer of armor. He could feel the heat and the shocks from the attack, but somehow his skin was still being partly protected.
Kevin panicked, not knowing how long his thin layer of protection would last, or how long he would be able to keep fighting. He cried out for help and let go of the pincher that had grabbed his neck to punch whatever he could reach. He couldn't hit anything with enough force to have an effect on Brainstorm.
Brainstorm Albedo laughed at his helpless victim as he inserted his first pair of sharp-tipped legs in the cracks across Kevin's stomach to pry his armor from his body like an old-fashioned can opener. As his armor was peeled off his skin the electricity continued to run all over his body making him convulse uncontrollably.
Gwen forced herself to stand again to try to help Kevin. She threw more energy balls and threw a heavy lash, like a whip to try and knock Brainstorm off of him. All of her attacks dissolved or were harmlessly reflected away by Brainstorm's electrolocutive power. When she tried to get closer, she was thrown back again with Joe.
Kevin screamed as his body armor was ripped from his skin leaving bright red, raw lines where it had cracked. His torso, one shoulder and his stomach were already unprotected. Desperate, he kicked wildly until Albedo Brainstorm intensified his electrolocutive power even more.
Instead of dissolving, the rest of his armor crumbled and fell away under the force of Brainstorm's attack. Now he was left completely unprotected, and his human body jerked involuntarily with each wave of electrolocutive power. He was too weak to fight back anymore.
Gwen and Joe landed on the pavement three parking spots away. They jumped to their feet and Gwen screamed as she helplessly watched Kevin writhing in pain under his attacker.
Albedo kept pouring the power over Kevin until he moved no more. Once satisfied he had won, he closed his cranium and grinned his big silly-looking alien grin at his motionless victim.
The silent moment that followed was eerie. It was like time stood still. The silence was broken by a sound like what a very hot fire in a furnace makes.
Joe ran behind a semi truck and trailer parked nearby. He moved along behind trucks and trailers, waiting for the right moment to get over to Kevin.
The energy that enveloped Gwen spewed bits of power that looked like pink sparks and black streaks swirling around her. Gwen's hair glowed white and whipped around her head as though there was a strong wind. Her clothes were no longer visible, but neither was her body. She was still shaped mostly like a human, but her body was made up of dark, purple pure energy.
Brainstorm picked Kevin up and shook him just to make sure there was no fight left in him. He opened his pincher and let Kevin fall limply back to the pavement. Albedo Brainstorm turned to face Gwen. Brainstorm's cranium started to open again, electrolocutive power surges snapping toward her.
As Brainstorm turned to pay attention to Gwen, Joe took a chance and ran to Kevin. He grabbed him under his arms and pulled him back under a flatbed trailer loaded with stacks of plywood. "Kevin!" He called and slapped his cheeks. Kevin didn't respond. The 'Doc' noted quickly, his patient was unconscious, breathing fast and shallow and his heart beating irregularly and very fast.
Dr. Joe hurried to examine Kevin. The only new injuries visible were red marks around Kevin's neck from the pincher, the lines where the armor cracked on his skin and the re-injured wounds on his back and leg. What was left of Kevin's clothing was in tatters and just hung around him like rags. Joe checked his pulse again and felt his skull carefully. The back of Kevin's head was warm and wet with blood. He took his jacket off and rolled it up to put it under Kevin's head.
Gwen hovered in mid-air a few meters in front of Brainstorm, unaffected now by his 'electrolocutive power'. It looked like she was actually absorbing it. She let her mana build, and then all at once, she pushed her hands out toward a trailer sitting unhooked from a truck.
The trailer flew at Brainstorm and connected with his cranium before he could get out of the way. He rolled under it in a mass of pinchers and electric waves until the trailer came to rest on top of him. The trailer flew into the air again as Albedo Brainstorm exploded out from under it in a wave of electrolocutive power and charged Gwen.
An explosion of pink and black swirling energy shot from her hands and exploded in a sparkly, swirly cloud around the crustacean. When the cloud dissipated, Cerebrocrustacean was sprawled on his back like a crab being picked apart by seagulls.
Gwen's feet touched down lightly on the ground and her skin and hair returned to normal. She took a deep breath and realized her hands were shaking. Gwen scanned the area for Albedo and saw him lying motionless halfway across the parking area. She wasn't very clear about what had happened, but she did remember what happened to Kevin. Gwen felt a little weak and stumbled as she ran to him.
"Joe! Is he . . .?" she dropped to her knees next to Kevin.
"He's alive. I don't know how exactly. That was a powerful electric attack. Has he ever lost his armor like that before?"
"No, I d-don't think so!" Gwen's voice was shaking. She found Kevin's hand and held it to her cheek, unsure how to help.
Dr. Joe parted Kevin's eyelids and looked into his eyes. "There's no way of knowing how that attack and having his armor ripped from him like that might have injured him. Without his armor, I'm sure the electricity alone would have killed him.
"Let's roll him over. Gwen helped roll Kevin toward her. His torso rested against her legs while Joe checked his back. His leg was bleeding a lot again. The bullet hole was ripped open even larger than it had been when Dr. Joe first dug the bullet out.
"Oh man, look at what he did to himself!" Joe applied pressure with his bare hands to Kevin's bleeding leg. He has survived a terrible attack. Let's get him back to . . ."
"Get down!" Joe looked out from under the truck and saw Albedo Swampfire right before he blasted a huge fireball with both hands at them. The fireball hit the plywood stacked on the trailer above their heads and the wood exploded in flames.
Gwen ducked and covered Kevin with her own body. The heat was intense right away and they shielded their faces while they pulled Kevin out from under the burning trailer.
When they had him far enough away, Gwen shut her eyes for a moment to squeeze out her tears and when she opened them again, they glowed. This time it was a very dark, almost red, pink. She reluctantly got up to leave Kevin, but she knew Joe would care for him.
She came out from behind the burning trailer and saw Big Chill putting the trailer fire out.
"Why is he putting the fire he just started out? Who cares! I will finish him this time!"
Her hair turned white as her feet came off the ground, her hands began to glow pink. She fired a blast at Big Chill and he was too slow to avoid it. It exploded against his back and knocked him out of the air.
"That was too easy." She observed, and as she rose higher in the air to fly at her fallen enemy, she saw a very frozen Swampfire lying on the pavement out in the turn lane amongst the diamondhead shards.
She gasped in horror and screamed, "But? NO! - BEN!" she lost her concentration and landed on her feet again as her hair went back to its lovely red color. "HELP! I shot Ben!" No-No-No!
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Julie was watching over Ben while the battle in the parking lot raged. Julie cringed and was afraid to look out when she heard Kevin screaming. She squeezed Ben's hand tighter trying to think of something she could do to help them. Ben whispered, "Julie" and his eyes fluttered open.
She could barely contain her joy, even with the other's fighting for their lives. Tears of happiness ran down her cheeks as she looked at him.
"Ben? . . . Are you back with us?"
"Ow, did I leave?"
"Ya, you've been gone a little while." Julie picked up his head and kissed his cheek before pressing her lips to his. "I really missed you."
He returned her kiss weakly and smiled at her. "I didn't mean to leave you. Arrrhg." He tried to hold where his chest hurt, and only hurt his arm as he tried to move it.
"My arm still hurts, and my chest, and just - Ow! Why does my chest hurt?"
She didn't have time to answer him as he put his head back; they heard Gwen screaming for Kevin.
"What's going on out there?" he asked as he tried to sit up.
"No Ben - stay down. You were hurt seriously."
"But . . ."
"Albedo is fighting Gwen and Kevin, and Joe is out there too."
Ben pressed his right arm against his chest as he sat up. He tried to see out the back doors, ignoring Julie's instructions to stay down. He scooted to the edge of the gurney.
"I gotta go help them!" he looked down.
" . . . and why am I naked?" but he was too weak to really care, and it sounded like his friends were in trouble. His attention went back to helping them.
"They need help!" Julie tried to stop him, but he ignored her. "I'm going - get back." He slid off the gurney and the electrodes came off as he pulled out the IV's. Ben took a step away from her before slapping the Omnitrix and going Big Chill.
He lifted off with great effort and she could already hear him breathing hard as she watched him fly off. Her tears had gone from tears of joy to tears from fear so fast, she had to sit down she was so confused.
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"BEN!" Gwen yelled again as she ran toward the Big Chill that could only be Ben. He had fallen on the pavement with his wings crumpled around his body. Ben's injured arm was still obvious from Big Chill's misshapen wing.
When Big Chill turned back into human Ben, he was on his side gasping for air and holding his chest with one arm while his other rested limply on the pavement. He had a basketball-sized red circle on his back where Gwen's energy blast struck him.
Gwen took off her hoodie and covered up his most exposed naked parts as she sat on the ground by him and pulled his torso up in her lap. She held him close and her tears fell on his cheek as he tried to breathe.
"Ben! I am so sorry! I thought you were Albedo! Please be ok! Please be ok!" Ben couldn't speak he was so out of breath but he squeezed her hand and tried to smile at her as he gasped for air.
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Joe heard Gwen call for help and picked Kevin up to take him to her and find out what happened. As he picked him up across his arms Kevin woke up kicking in panic and the both fell to the ground.
"Kevin!"
"Oh man - Sorry Joe. Ow - I have a major case of road rash don't I?"
"You have more than 'road rash', I am just glad you woke up at all." they could hear sirens coming in the background and Gwen screamed again.
"We better scram."
"But your hurt Kevin – can you drive?"
"You bet I can."
They came around the front of the smoldering truck and Kevin exclaimed, "Look Ben's up! Or at least he was - he seems to be back down again."
"Oh no! What is Ben doing out here!"
Gwen was still holding Ben in her arms and crying into his shoulder. He was still gasping for breath with his eyes squeezed shut. She looked up as Joe and Kevin came near.
"Please, help him! I didn't mean to shoot him!"
"You shot him?" Dr. Joe glanced at his red back before he picked Ben up and ran back to the truck. Gwen helped Kevin back to his car, hugged him tight and then ran back to the truck to check on Ben. Kevin watched her go, he understood her haste.
On the way, she saw that the giant ice cube that contained Albedo Swampfire was gone. Nothing left but a puddle in the middle of the diamondhead shards that were all that was left of their friend.
The people that had been hiding behind cars were starting to come out and look around. Most were staring at the kids that seemed to be the instigators of all the chaos. The burned truck and trailer were still smoking and the truck that went off the cliff started a brush fire that was filling the sky with smoke and casting an eerie light over the truck stop.
Joe put Ben back on the gurney and jumped in the front seat. Julie's hands were shaking as she forced herself to keep it together to help Ben. She took over preparing him for travel and covered him back up with the blankets.
She and Gwen got a couple of straps on him as they started to leave the parking lot. Joe moved his head around trying to find the best place in the truck's broken windshield to look out through. He pulled out to enter the highway with Kevin's car right behind them.
Julie got the oxygen mask out and turned the tank on before holding it over Ben's face. He was still having a lot of trouble catching his breath. With every breath he strained against the pain he felt in his chest.
Julie watched him throw his head back and roll his shoulders forward as she tried to keep the mask over his face. He gritted his teeth as he pressed his arm against his chest. He looked at Julie with frightened eyes that communicated everything without a word.
"Ben – I know it hurts - but try to relax, breath slower." She could swear she could feel his pain right along with him. "Don't fight it."
Gwen watched Ben too, but had to sit down, and Julie saw how pale she looked too. "Did you get hurt out there Gwen?"
"No, I just used a lot of energy and I can't believe I shot him. Ben? Please forgive me, please be ok!"
"You couldn't have known that Ben was out there. It isn't your fault. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me."
Gwen closed her eyes to squeeze out the tears that were still filling her eyes. Mana streamed into the truck from the living plants and trees that they drove by. She was learning to gather energy even without a teacher. They passed a line of emergency vehicles with lights and sirens heading back to the truck stop without anyone paying them any attention. Kevin took a deep breath and blinked as he tried to focus on the road.
[[[[[((((((((((Ben10AF)))))))))))]]]]]
[To be continued . . .]
*Quicky and Longie kiss quote from "Love at First Bite," with George Harrison.