Chapter 89: The Heart's Desire: Part One

I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to Chapter Eighty One!

* This may be the biggest story arc since the Blood Brothers arc! I will admit that as this arc progresses, I may lose some of my readers. I honestly don't mind if I lose readers. I feel at this point, if you are actually here for the story and not the Bwen itself, you'd stay to see the story through.

* Several months ago, I got a review that told me that my story was just a stupid drama story. And I was offended. I didn't respond to the review, as I didn't see what it was worth. However, I do want to mention the whole drama thing. Spider-Man/Peter Parker is the superhero that comes to mind when I think of a hero with the most drama. And a hero must have drama in his life, right?

* Like, for this entire story, if Ben just had action and romance, but no drama, wouldn't it get old? For me, a hero needs drama in his life; otherwise, it's just boring. So, that's why I wrote this arc. It's a step back from the emotional, action-packed and romantic parts of Ben's life and a new look into the dramatic part of his life.

* So, to re-iterate a little bit, this may be the biggest, as well as the most controversial arc yet. I may lose some readers due to the events in this arc. But for those of you who are not here solely for the Bwen, and for the story, I hope you'll stick around. And as I have already stated, this is going to be more of a dramatic arc. So, I have nothing else to say, let's get into this chapter!

Ben

A Couple Weeks Later

Early December

Teenager by day. Hardcore crime fighter by night. That seems like what my life has become. After reclaiming the mantle of Alien Guy, I had gone back to being very distant from my family, even Gwen.

I kept to myself most of the day. Even though we were still together, Gwen and I hardly spent time together. Kevin's death was still taking its toll on me and I was still very much depressed. Just to get you up to speed, it had been a couple weeks since the whole Infinity Killer epidemic.

Thanksgiving had come and gone. It was all miserable as hell, but it had come and gone. Ken had come to dinner, but Gwen's parents hadn't come. I don't think Gwen's Mom was feeling better about the whole "Gwen and I dating" thing. After "Thanksgiving Break" and I say "Break", because we've been on break for almost a month.

So, we were still out of school. I was beginning to get worried and suspicious. We had been out for almost a month as I said, and I was beginning to wonder if this wasn't the weather's doing. Anyway, I was out fighting crime all night long, every night now. Well, mostly all night long. Albedo, Sunny, and Gwen all came out with me, but they were never out for long.

We all went home at 9:30 or 10:00 every night. And then, I was back up by 1:00 in the morning, by way of an alarm. I would wake up, get dressed and be out by 1:30 in the morning. I usually stayed out until 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning, then I'd come back home, change out of my costume, shower, slip back into bed with Gwen and sleep until noon. This particular night was no different. Okay, I lied. It was a little different. Gwen usually came to bed with me.

But this time, she didn't come to bed with me. She had told me that she'd come to bed later and that was that. I never remembered her coming to bed, but I eventually woke up to my alarm. By the way, my alarm wasn't music or anything. It let out low vibrations, so hopefully I wouldn't wake Gwen.

I turned my alarm off and swung my legs over the side of the bed, as I threw my covers back. I left the room and headed to my room to get dressed. I flipped on my light and stepped into the room. I closed the door behind me and moved to the closet. I opened it and fetched my jeans, which now had a holster on its lower right leg, where I kept the set of batons.

My second encounter with Clancy made me realize that the city wasn't as safe as I had thought. So, I had Cooper construct batons for me, made of a light, durable material. Well, Cooper told me that he fashioned it out of a similar material that police officers made their nightsticks from.

I just asked him to make me batons made of a light material. You may have noticed that I have been fighting crime a lot more lately. And oh yes, I was more violent. But it had to be done. In my absence, crime had gone up significantly. The city had changed. And it was my philosophy that I had to change with it or be left behind.

I grabbed batons that hung on the inside of my closet and placed them on the bed along with my jeans. I pulled my pair of black tennis shoes out next. I grabbed the long sleeved black shirt out of my closet and tossed it onto my bed along with my other costume parts.

Next were my light brown leather jacket, my gloves and wrist gauntlet, and finally, my mask. I was dressed in under a few minutes and walked to my window. I quietly opened my window and slipped out.

?

Thirty Minutes Later

"She had a lot of money on her." I said, as I ran my fingers through the stack of twenties in my hand.

"We've had better." my partner said. "This is nothing."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right." I said.

Just then, I heard frantic, muffled speaking. I turned to see that the lady we had just robbed, now gagged and tied up was trying to speak. I approached her, putting my stack of twenties away.

"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled, as I backhanded her across the face.

I turned back to my partner.

"She is such a bitch, you know that?!" I exclaimed.

Before he could answer, he was hit in the jaw by a blunt object. His blood sprayed all over my face, temporarily blinding me.

Ben

I took my aim and threw my baton across to the next rooftop. It slammed into one of the guys' jaw and his sprayed onto the other guy's face, causing him to frail around blindly. I grabbed my other baton and lifted my arm to fire my grapple hook.

Once the hook lodged into the concrete, I zipped across to the other rooftop. I landed and retracted the hook. I started with the guy who I had hit first. I kneed him in the stomach, causing him to fall down.

"Oof!" was all the guy could muster, as I noticed his buddy get up.

"The fuck?!" he said, as he ran to attack me. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

"Your worst God damn nightmare." I said, as I ran towards him.

I jumped and kicked myself off of his face and went into a back flip. I landed next to my second baton and picked it up.

"Alright. Which one of you fuckers is first?" I asked.

As the second guy recovered and the first guy tried to get back up, no one spoke.

"Okay then." I said, as I approached one of the guys.

I hit him on the top of his head with the end of one of my batons. He let out a grunt as he fell to the floor of the roof.

"You son of a bitch! My partner!" the other guy exclaimed with anger.

I turned to look at him. I holstered one of my batons as I moved towards him. I swung my baton at his face as he got close to me. I hit him in the jaw, and he lost a few teeth. I holstered my baton and began to punch him in the face.

"Stay out of my city!" I exclaimed, as I grabbed his head and forced his face down onto my knee. "And take your bullshit with you!"

He let out a groan after impacting with my knee and he fell to the floor of the rooftop. He didn't move anymore after that. I heard whimpering and I looked to their victim, a lady who had obviously suffered some kind of abuse. I walked up to her and tore the gag from her mouth.

I pick up the stack of twenties that they had stolen from her and handed it back to her. Next, I kicked open the door on the roof which led down a stairwell into the building.

"Go." I said, pointing down the stairs. "And don't be out at night again. You may not be so lucky next time."

She quickly got up and ran down the stairwell.

"Thank you!" she called behind her.

I let out a sigh once she was gone. I looked behind me, at the two thugs that were now out cold. I wasn't going to get paramedics up here. Scum like this deserved to ache up here by themselves for what they've done.

3:00 a.m.

I had come to my next big crime. In the past hour or so, I had stopped a few muggings, a couple of petty thieves, nothing of the big sort. It was now that a came across a hold up in progress at a 24-hour convenience store.

I slowly and cautiously crept into the store, silently closing the door behind me. A thug was holding up the cashier, pointing a gun into his face.

"Hurry up!" the thug exclaimed.

"Okay, okay!" the cashier exclaimed as he emptied out the register.

The cashier must have seen me sneaking up on the thug, because after a few more seconds, he backed up.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" the thug exclaimed.

The cashier said nothing as I finally reached the thug. I grabbed the back of his head.

"What the-" he was cut off as I slammed his face into the counter.

"How does it feel, huh?!" I exclaimed, as I pulled a baton out. "How does it feel to be a victim?!"

"Aw, fuck! Stop it!" the thug exclaimed. "Just stop it! I'll let it go!"

I slammed my baton into his hand, causing him to scream with pain.

"Like hell you will!" I exclaimed. "I've seen your kind! You will keep coming unless I do something about it!"

I am the One Man Army.

I whacked his hand again with my baton, followed by hitting him on the head with the end of one of my batons. He groaned, before falling from the counter to the floor. He didn't get back up.

"Who are you?" the cashier asked, as I looked at the thug.

I looked up at him.

"I'm Alien Guy." I said.

"Alien Guy?" he asked. "You look more like Ricochet. Minus the costume underneath the jacket."

"You a comic book reader?" I asked, as I began to walk away. "Cool. Call the police. Tell them this guy slipped and fell, hit his head on the counter. You never saw me. Close your store for the night."

"What about you?" the cashier asked.

"I'm heading out. You never saw me." I said, as I left the store.

I ran before the cashier could say anything else.

4:30 a.m.

I opened my window and slipped into my room, with blood dripping from my lips. I closed the window and turned on the light once I got to the other side of the room. Before I got back home, I stopped yet another mugging and was taken by surprise by the guy's partner.

He whacked me in the jaw. I think I may be losing a tooth here, but most likely my gums are just bleeding. I pulled off my mask and threw it onto my bed. I slipped off my leather jacket and it fell onto the bed along with my mask. I pulled off my jeans and long sleeved shirt before moving towards the bathroom.

I flicked on the light to the bathroom and entered. I looked into the mirror, as I opened the cabinet next to me. I took out a bottle of Tylenol to act as a painkiller for the pain in my jaw. I turned on the shower and let the water heat up.

I stripped off my socks and boxers and stepped into the shower just for a few minutes to rinse myself off. Once I had done that, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around myself. After shutting off the light and collecting my dirty garments, I left the bathroom. I went back to my room to get dressed.

After I was dressed in pajama pants, socks and a white T-shirt, I returned to the room that Gwen and I shared, to find that she wasn't there. In fact, the whole room seemed to be well organized. I didn't see any of Gwen's things anywhere.

Her side of the bed had been made, while my side of the bed was just like it was when I had left. I looked around the room, unsure of what was going on. Then, I saw my phone. I walked over to it and picked it up, removing it from its charger. I saw that I had one new voicemail, from Gwen. I was curious and obviously, I was going to listen to it, but not in here.

I left our room and went back to my room to get my leather jacket. I was going to listen to the voicemail down in the basement. It was cold in the basement around this time of year in the early morning, so I wanted to have something to keep me warm for a while.

I made my way through the house, with my jacket now on. I walked downstairs towards the basement and flipped the light on, as I walked. I entered the basement and walked over to the couch. I sat down behind the couch and put my back up against it. I was a little bit nervous as to what the voicemail had in store for me.

But nevertheless, I took a deep breath, put my phone down on the floor, and pressed the play button.

"Ben, it's Gwen. Are you there? Of course, you're not there. You're never there. At least not for me." the voicemail started.

Not there for me? What?

"Look, I didn't want to do this over the phone, but it's not like you've given me any choice." Gwen said over the voicemail. "In the last two weeks, when we sleep together, which is every night, I usually wake up in the morning alone or you'll still be asleep past noon. Jesus, where do you go at 1:00 in the morning?"

Out to fight crime.

"I thought that if I waited, if I were patient, this would just blow over and we could get our relationship back on track. And then I realized that there was no getting our relationship back on track." she continued. "I feel like as of late, I'm a second to you. It's as if you put crime fighting before me, it's as if everything is before me. It's like I'm a second in everything to you."

That is so not true! You are the most important thing to me!

"So, I'm not going to be a second to you. I'm going to end this before it even begins." she continued. "I think it's best that we break up. You obviously have other interests, and I don't want to stand in your way. So, I won't."

Break up with me?! But I don't want a break up!

"We'll always be friends, Ben. I don't want this to cause us to have bad feelings for each other. So, let's not let it. Let's continue to hang out, and game, and whatever." she continued. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

The voicemail ended there. I sat there in devastation.

Gwen dumped me? I thought, as a tear rolled down my cheek.

Author's Note:

* Now, hold on a second! I know a lot of people may be pissed right now and with good reason. Ben and Gwen just broke up! What?! Yeah, a lot of people will definitely be pissed.

* But I can ensure to you that the break up isn't permanent and by the time this arc ends, all will be well, and Ben and Gwen will be back together again. I just hope my readers will stay to watch it unfold.

* But anyway, there it was! The final chapter of 2018! I may post one for tomorrow, I'm not too sure yet. The next chapter is a bit iffy and long, I will say. So, if you guys want a chapter for tomorrow, just let me know.

* This arc may last four or five chapters, possibly more. That's pretty much all I have. I'm going to go though, so have a great day, a Happy New Year and bye!

Review Responses

zaidhadden5 (Chapter 1): Ohhh why are they so old… I would have preferred 14 atleast Still loving that the story is Bwen and novel length. So your story is fav and followed.

Thanks, Zaid. They're not at least fourteen because there's enough trouble in their lives and I wanted to do my best to avoid the whole adolescence phase if I could. Thanks for favoriting and following the story. Thanks for the review, as always.

Daniel6 (Chapter 88): Earth-21 Gwen is blind?

No, Daniel. Earth-21 Gwen is not blind. The beginning of last chapter took place in Old Man Ben's universe, which may or may not already have had a name. (Even if it did, I can always go back and change it later).

But no, no, Old Woman Gwen is not blind. It's just the fact that the cell house is pitch black without the lights on. She only used the cane to find the stairs. I can see where I confused you, though. Thanks for the review as always.

jasongd (Chapter 88): And another great chapter a bit short but great congrats Merry Christmas and Happy New Year BWEN Forever

Thanks, Jason. Merry Christmas to you too, and a Happy New Year. Thanks for the review as always.

Sishen123 (Chapter 87): Is it just me or did anyone else that to be continued feel from that last bit with clancy? But wow the story is getting really dark here. Honestly though i see steel making ben a offer he cant refuse and ends up joining S.E.C.T anyways. Ben's attitude is in for a kick back down to plant earth eventually the thing i am curious as to who will be the one to do it. It would. Be ironically funny if it was a future cant wait to read more

Thanks, Sishen. You were supposed to get that "to be continued feel" from the bit with Clancy there at the end. Yes, the story did get dark there for a while. Director Steel won't exactly be making Ben an offer that he can't refuse. We'll just have to see as we go. I'm glad that you can't wait for more. Thanks for the review, as always.

csgt (Chapter 85): I loved the fluffiness between Ben and Gwen. The tickling, the kissing, you wrote it all perfectly. Amazing job. Wow, Ben's mother knows everything, even about the… mature stuff… that Ben and Gwen are doing! She's very smart. And yes, her advice is good, it's not the right time for Ben and Gwen to have a child XD

The fight scene was great too, and yes, it shows how obsessive (and dangerous and powerful) Clancy really is.

Thanks, csgt. I'm glad that you liked that scene and I'm glad that you think it was well written. Also, on a completely unrelated topic, I saw that you changed your profile pic and I honestly like it! Sandra definitely wasn't born yesterday, you are right. Ben and Gwen are too young to have a child. I honestly don't like the way the fight scene turned out. I thought it was one of my worst ones yet. But thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: Gwen and Ben recover from the fallout of their break up. There will be obstacles in their path. Ben makes the biggest mistake of his life.