Hello hello everybody!
It's late and I'm tired so I'm going to make this quick: here is another chapter :P
Rakcrack15: Yes, I am indeed very cruel to poor Ben. But his luck had to run out sometime, right?
Remisolleke: Ehehehe mean endings...they make you hungry for more, no?
I Love Field Hockey: Thank you so much!
Avatar Aang: *Feeds you lots of chapters*
Guest: I'm so so so so so sorry D: D: D: D: I had no idea that it wasn't a Camaro, I was just going by what I read in other stories! I'll be super dooper careful to ensure that I get it right from now on. Please forgive me!
Christellashinobu: I'm not sure I understand...
Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10, or the White House, and I apologize for adding random bits to the White House that it probably doesn't have. But it was convenient. And so I'll just apologize and you guys can get over it :P
It took Gwen almost no time at all to catch up with Kevin, who had been outnumbered by the Forever Knights. With Gwen's help, they were easily defeated and both took note that not all of them were carrying weapons. Weird, Gwen thought as they continued to hurry down the hallway. She was sure they would have all been given a laser lance or something.
She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. It wasn't important now; they needed to focus on finding Ben. After a few moments they came to the end of the hallway which proceeded to split in two directions. They stood there, staring down both ways, trying to decide which way they should go.
"Which way?" Kevin asked.
"I don't know," Gwen shook her head. "And I don't think splitting up would be a good idea."
To answer their question, the sound of gunfire followed by a loud thud resonated from the hallway to the right. There was no hesitation as Gwen and Kevin followed the sound but stopped dead in their tracks when their eyes fell on the site.
Sir Leonard, leader of this faction of the Forever Knights, was standing in all his shining glory with his arm outstretched and his metal-gloved hand clasped around the throat of none other than Ben Tennyson himself. Sir Leonard noticed the movement and turned to look at the two newcomers.
"Let him go!" Gwen let mana flash menacingly in her hands. Kevin turned his hands to long spikes.
"This just gets better and better," Sir Leonard laughed. "Now, now, kiddies, you wouldn't want to risk hurting Benji here, would you?"
Gwen ground her teeth. He was right; there was no way she could attack him without hitting Ben too. But that wasn't going to stop Kevin. He lunged forward, spear-hands poised ready to strike. Sir Leonard easily countered the attack with his free arm. Kevin wouldn't be intimidated, he continued his futile attacks in hopes that somehow he would be able to free Ben.
Seeing her opportunity, Gwen cast a large ball of mana towards the Knight, aiming at the joint in the armour that joined the hand and the wrist. Despite the distraction Kevin provided, Sir Leonard saw the attack coming but did nothing in the way of dodging; and she soon realized why. The bolt of mana hit the armour square-on but was instantly deflected back. Gwen quickly put up a shield to defend herself.
Ben had stopped struggling against his captor and had grown limp. Gwen could feel the anger and anxiety rising within her but she had no way of expelling it. Her attacks didn't work. She decided to move away from mana abilities and turned her focus to spells.
"Eterla Morbulous!" she cried out, thrusting her hand towards the armoured Knight. Small cracks appeared in the armour which quickly spread and extended until the whole structure shattered.
With Sir Leonard no longer protected, Kevin turned one of his pointed hands into a mallet and slammed it into the exposed man's stomach. Without his armour, Sir Leonard took the full force of the attack and was sent sprawling. His grip on Ben's neck loosened and the unconscious teen fell heavily to the floor.
Ensuring that Gwen would take care of Ben, Kevin went after Sir Leonard who was speedily calling for back-up. Knights in their tens poured into the narrow hallway, but they were no match for Kevin.
Gwen knelt down beside her fallen cousin and rolled him onto his back. His neck was red and already displayed signs of bruising. She pressed two fingers to his neck and checked for a pulse. Finding one, she then proceeded to place a hand just above Ben's nose to ensure he was still breathing. With a sigh of relief, Gwen hoisted Ben up, wrapping one of his arms over her shoulders and supporting his waist with one of her own.
"Don't worry, Ben," Gwen whispered as she dragged him towards Kevin. "We're going to get you out of here." She looked up to see Kevin holding Sir Leonard in the air by his thin shirt, the other Knights lay motionless on the floor around him. "Kevin!"
Kevin turned away from his captive and looked at Gwen who was slowly making her way towards him.
"Kevin! Look out!"
Before Kevin had time to react, Sir Leonard thrust a fist into the side of his face. Taken by surprise, Kevin's grip on the man faltered and the Forever Knight easily released himself. He dashed past the Osmosian and swept up some kind of laser blaster that was lying just outside the doorway to an office. He aimed it at Gwen and everything went still.
"Surrender; you can't win," he said firmly. As he spoke, more Knights filled the hallway on both ends and aimed their weapons at the trio. "Give me the boy and I'll let you live…for now."
"Never!" Gwen snapped.
Sir Leonard made a mocking pout and fired the weapon. Gwen let go of the arm Ben had wrapped around her shoulder just in time to make a defensive shield. The shield shattered on impact and both she and Ben were sent back a few metres, landing on their backs.
"Gwen!" Kevin shifted, ready to charge straight at her attacker but a gun to the back paused him.
"Don't move, boy," Sir Leonard spat. He walked forwards, weapon at the ready.
Gwen tried to get up and defend both herself and Ben but he had landed on top of her and she knew that she wouldn't be able to roll him off in time; not with dozens of weapons aimed at her head. Sir Leonard stooped down and scooped up Ben's limp form.
"Don't worry," he sneered. "I'll take good care of him." He turned to the closest Forever Knights. "Take them away; I'll come deal with them personally later once I'm done with this one."
The Knights on both sides of the hallway stepped forward, easily binding Gwen and Kevin in their strong, armoured grip. Gwen and Kevin could do little but shout and glare as they were forcibly removed from the scene.
Sir Leonard threw the boy's body over the president's desk, taking no care in delicacy. The boy let out a small groan but remained still. He had been waiting for this moment for so long! So many years had gone into planning! And once the Ultimatrix was off the brat's wrist and on his own, he would be unstoppable! First he would conquer America, then Earth. And then? What would any mastermind obsessed with protecting the Earth do? He would go after the universe, of course.
Sir Leonard placed a hand over the small green device and tried to find some sort of clasp to detach it. The moment his fingers touched its surface, jolts of electricity thundered up his arm and he jumped back with a curse. It would seem that there were certain security settings designed to stop such masterminds from doing this exact thing. But no matter.
Drawing a laser sword, Sir Leonard posed, ready to slice off the boy's lower arm. He struck, putting as much force into it as he could but at the last second (as that is the way things go in such stories) the boy moved, rolling off the table and out of the way. The sword hit empty air and Sir Leonard stumbled forwards in surprise.
Righting himself, he stood, sword poised before him, and turned to look at the boy who had managed to climb to his feet. Yet Sir Leonard couldn't shake the feeling that something was different about him. He had replaced the armour that had been broken by the witch with one of standard issue but still silently wished he hadn't requested to do the task alone. Back-up would have been greatly appreciated at this point. Not that it would have done him much good.
"Fool, did you really think you could just take the Ultimatrix?" Ben's voice was his own, but there was a slight, raspy undertone present; like it wasn't just him who was speaking.
"You cannot stop me, Ben Tennyson!"
Ben laughed. "Maybe Ben can't, but I can."
Without warning, Ben darted forward, easily knocking Sir Leonard to the ground with strength the Knight didn't think him capable of. Sir Leonard struggled against the firm grip that held his arms in place. The whole time the boy was grinning down at him like a Cheshire cat.
"I should kill you," he said after a moment of silence.
Kevin pounded on the door for the millionth time, but for the millionth time he was unable to break it down. He and Gwen had been separated and he had been locked up in some kind of store room made completely of metal. He didn't even know the White House had such facilities. But having his reputation and past, he had seen many things that had surprised him more.
The room was completely bare and contained no windows or vents. He would die of suffocation if Sir Leonard didn't come for him first. He was honestly shocked at how easily they had been beaten. One minute they'd had the upper hand and the next they were locked up and completely at the Forever Knights' mercy. And what about Ben? He was unconscious; no way of fighting back! There was no way Sir Leonard was going to let him live. Not after all the grief Ben had caused him. His thoughts travelled to Gwen and he hoped that she, at least, was alright.
Like Kevin, Gwen had been locked in a completely metal room without any source of air flow or any sign of anything that could help her escape. She summoned her mana, intending to send a blast at one of the walls in an attempt to break out, but the moment the mana gathered in her hands, a shock blasted down from nowhere and sent her to her knees. The Knights had planned for this.
Gwen felt her way across the room and ran her fingertips over the walls. When she found the slight indent that signified the door, she put all her might into hitting and kicking at it, hoping against hope that something would give and she would be able to escape. Her hopes were soon dashed, however, when no such thing occurred. With an exasperated sigh filled with despair, Gwen slumped to her knees and rested her head against the metal of the wall. Hopefully Kevin was having more luck than she was.
"I should kill you," the Ben Tennyson that wasn't Ben Tennyson repeated as Sir Leonard continued to squirm against his iron grip. "But, although the ultimate goal differs, I can't bring myself to hate you. Even though you tried to destroy this body and take the Ultimatrix."
Sir Leonard could only stare up at the teen in confusion and anxiety. At least he knew he wasn't going to be killed, but there are many fates much worse than death.
"I think it's time to put an end to play time, don't you?" Ben said in an almost mocking tone. He released his grip on the Knight's arms and lifted him up by the rim of his chest plate. "Here's what we'll do: I'll call some Plumbers to come take you outside where you will be arrested and all suspicion on me will be dissipated. For why would someone of such a dangerous status and evil intentions want to help?"
"I'll tell them!" Sir Leonard said in desperation. "If you have me arrested, I'll tell them that you're not Ben!"
"Oh, no," Ben laughed. "You won't be saying anything."
Sir Leonard felt his helmet slide off his head and thrown aside, giving him a clear view at the teen that he knew would be his doom, directly or indirectly. He knew there would be no way he would escape from the prison a second time. Chances were he would be thrown into the Null Void. Something sharp collided with his temple and he knew no more.
Max stood rigid as the message played across the badges of all present Plumbers.
"Hello? This is Ben Tennyson! I'm in the president's office…Sir Leonard is on the floor, he's unconscious. I don't know where Gwen and Kevin are; they were taken away by the Forever Knights but they might still be on site! Requesting back-up!"
Ben had sounded desperate and pleading, like he knew he wouldn't be able to do it alone. And of course, he wouldn't. Ignoring the orders of the local authorities, Max ran forwards with the small Galactica team and charged into the building.
They were instantly faced by dozens of Forever Knights, all armed with laser lances or blasters. Petra easily proved his worth in battle, knocking countless Knights to the ground with a single swing of his tail. His muscular arms sent them flying with each connecting hit. The blasts that hit him were little more than a slight irritation to his thick hide. Although Max hadn't heard him speak the whole time he had been on Earth, he now knew why Grem had him on the team. The creature was a tank!
With the way cleared, the small group continued on. The further they went, the more Knights they found. Again, with the help of Petra and the Plumber weaponry they carried, the Knights were easily defeated and the team could continue. When they reached a crossroad, Max split the team; he, Silyon and Takren going one way and Grem, Hinra and Petra going the other.
Grem's team was the one to locate two Knights standing guard outside metal doors situated side by side. With a small gesture from him, Petra charged into motion, easily tackling them to the ground while Hinra got to work on unlocking the doors.
The first door swung open to reveal a very agitated looking Kevin Levin. Although apparently pleased at the rescue, he said nothing of it, only watching impatiently while Hinra unlocked the adjacent door. The door opened with slight resistance that was quickly revealed to be the seated form of Gwen who, unlike her male counterpart, made her appreciation quite known.
Max, Silyon and Takren followed the winding hallway to a scene of destruction. There were laser blast burn marks in the walls and the floor and the fallen bodies of Knights lay scattered like confetti. The door to the office that Max suspected belonged to the president was closed but easily shattered.
Inside, the first thing they noticed was the body of a helmetless Sir Leonard lying unconscious on the floor in front of the desk. Ben was standing uncomfortably on the other side of the room, as far away from the Knight as possible. Upon seeing Max, he ran forwards.
"Ben!" Max pulled his grandson into a quick embrace. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ben replied. But Max wasn't buying it. The hand-shaped bruises and the redness on his neck was plain to see. Still, he said nothing on the matter.
Silyon hurried forward and restrained Sir Leonard with energy cuffs and, hauling the Knight over his shoulder, began carrying him back the way they had come.
"How did you manage to take him out?" Takren asked as they followed after Silyon.
"…Well, I guess I just took him by surprise."