Chapter 21 The Wrath of a God
It was a few days later and Ben still kept his promise of staying inside. He would pass the time with his girls, or video games, even books. He was reading a novel that Irina got him hooked just the other day, and he had plenty of free time on his hands since school was still out. He was sitting back in the living room and Koneko walked in. Finished her morning training and finished her shower. She ran for Ben's lap and stopped as Ophis suddenly appeared on him. Ben was caught by surprise. Koneko let out a hiss for her time on Ben's lap to be stolen.
"That's my spot!" Koneko said in a huff.
"I like to sit here too." Ophis said.
"Okay then how about this." Ben said. He took apart his legs and placed Ophis on one leg while he invited Koneko to sit on the other. She sighed before sitting on his other lap. The two leaned back into Ben's chest and he smiled to himself.
'I'm going to jail.' After a decent moment with the two, Ben looked up to the sound of thunder that was close. 'That doesn't sound pleasant.'
"Ben, we've got a problem." She said.
"I can probably guess what it is." Ben asked.
"Yeah, and it's pretty bad, it sounds like he's close." Ben asked.
"That's the problem, Zeus is close, and he knows where you are." Akeno said.
Ophis and Koneko got up so that Ben could stand. He looked out the window to see that no one was out there.
"Okay Rias, do you have a plan?" Ben asked.
"I do actually, were bringing you to the underworld for extra protection." Rias said.
"What? No that's a bad idea." Ben said.
"Excuse me?" Rias said in shock.
"If Zeus finds me in the underworld, the underworld is put in danger." Ben said. "I need to find another way." Ben said.
"If you stay here, your dead." Xenovia said.
"I never said I was going to stay here." Ben said. "But the question is where do I go?" He finished.
'Bellwood? No he'll only find me and make matters worse for Grandpa. Heaven? No that would put Gabriel in danger since she is still recovering.' Ben thought, he walked back and forth like he was trying to solve a mystery, until a flash of blue flame entered the room.
Ben turned around in surprise to see Hades. He raised an eyebrow and gave a smile for seeing her beauty after all this time. The other girls got into a stance and were ready to pounce on her.
"Hang on now, this woman helped me escape the less royal looking underworld." Ben said, he raised his hands up to try to put everyone at ease.
"Don't you remember Ben? All of the greek gods joined sides with the Chaos Brigade." Akeno explained. Looked confused and turned around to face Hades.
"Is that true Hades? Are you part of the Chaos Brigade." He asked.
"Unfortunately, yes." She admitted.
"Unfortunately?" Ben questioned.
"Zeus was convinced that the Chaos Brigade could bring out a world for all gods alike to co exist and maintain peace, they also said that the current Devil Kings were preventing what they call 'Heaven on Earth.'" Hades explained.
"Sorry to burst your bubble sweetheart, but the Chaos brigade leaders are just whining because the true bloods aren't on the throne." Izzy said.
"I had a feeling, I've spoken to the recent damned and learned the truth, plus I knew that if a hero like Ben was against us, then something must definitely be wrong." Hades said.
"Glad you've been thinking of me after all this time." Ben said. Hades gave him a smile, while Izzy was in the corner smirking to herself.
'I'm creating a monster.' She thought.
"Anyways, so what are you here for?" Ben asked.
"I've come to help you, Zeus has got your scent and he's getting closer, I thought you would need some help finding a place to hide. If I keep the gates closed, I should be able to keep him out." Hades said. Ben thought about it for a moment, and thought it was kind of suspicious.
"That… is better than any other plan I thought of." Ben said, and Hades sighed in relief.
"Ben." Rias said.
"I'm sorry Rias, I know that your the king, but I want what's best for the people that I care about too, can you please trust me?" Ben asked. Rias rubbed her temples and sighed.
"One day your going to worry me to death, fine." She said.
"Okay think we can go now." Ben said.
"Wait." Raynare said. Ben turned around and looked at her.
"What?" Ben asked in a soft but stern voice, it was like his attitude towards her completely changed his tone.
"Ummm, well I thought I could go with you." She suggested. Ben raised a brow and thought that she must be nuts.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to go by myself on this one, this is my business, and I'm not sure if Zeus will show you anymore mercy than me." Ben explained. Raynare just nodded and stepped back. Ophis tugged on Ben's shirt.
"I can help, I'm a dragon god remember?" Ophis said.
"Thank you Ophis, but it was me that killed Hercules, I think I should take responsibility for it." He said.
"Then remember to take this." Izzy said, throwing Ben's Ascalon to hime for him to catch. Ben nodded and turned back to Hades.
"Okay, I'm ready." Ben said. "I'll be back before you know it." Ben said before disappearing in the blue fire.
The two were surrounded by the flames when Ben spoke up.
"I have a feeling what your true intentions are, and I get it, you have to do what you have to do." Ben said with a serious look. Hades was actually surprised at Ben's deduction. She giggled to herself.
"I am sorry handsome, but he forced me to, just promise me you'll be careful." She said.
"Ah don't worry about me, I'm Ben Tennyson, the boy that escaped hell twice already, and possibly a third time." He said with a smirk.
"Unfortunately for me." Hades said with a smile. The blue flames disappeared and Ben was back in the ninth circle of hell. He looked around to see the Hades was gone. He nodded to himself and let out a chuckle
Ben turned around and grabbed Ascalon from his back, I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but it's only a matter of time, now which one of you want the point of blade first?" Ben said. He was faced with a bunch of monsters that were covered in fire, some looked like hellhounds others looked people but deformed, and some looked like birds as they flapped their wings in mid air.
"Well I do feel a bit heartbroken." Ben said. He used his devil powers to rush them and and sliced through through the molten ash. He blocked a bite and saw saw the blade becoming hot, he kicked the hound in the air and round kicked it to hit the birds, but the birds maneuvered around them. He grabbed a dogs tail and spun it around making a ring of fire around him, and then all there was left was the birds. Ben smirked.
"You guys remind me of a chicken that a plucked a while ago." Ben said before swinging his sword, with his rook strength he maneuvered the wind to blast against the birds, killing their flames, and knocking them off the cliff and into the lava and screaming souls.
"Huh, only you guys didn't didn't squawk so loud." Ben said before walking away from the cliff.
"He looked down the familiar corridor that he traveled down before getting to the arena. Before it was full of traps that could kill any human easily, now, it was completely empty. Ben raised an eyebrow for the lack of death down.
He managed to walk down the corridor, he took careful steps to make sure that there weren't any hidden traps, but it was only paranoia that made him so careful. At the end of the tunnel he saw the familiar arena ground. Ben looked up to see a familiar face.
"Okay, I made it here." Ben shouted up to Hades. She looked down with a soft smile.
"You look more of a hero than ever from up here." She said back. She looked a bit sad from where Ben was standing. Loud and groundbreaking sounds of steps came from behind Hades. It was the god of thunder, and the leader of the greek faction
"I am Zeus, the father of Hercules, and you, Ben Tennyson, the one that brutally murdered my son!" Zeus roared.
"Huh, let me guess, Hades was forced to organize this, and the lightning storm out of my house to get me to run away here, the whole thing about Hades coming to see me is what gave it away?" Ben asked.
"I have, in order to avenge my son that you slaughtered, to hell with the Chaos Brigade, this is my matter!." Zeus said, Ben looked down and kicked the dirt.
"Alright, I'm right here Zeus." Ben said. The angry god jumped from the balcony and to the arena at the other end from where Ben was standing. "But I have one condition, I win, I get to rescue my damsel from the grips of The Chaos Brigade." Ben said with a smirk. Hades gave him a worried look.
"It won't matter, because you'll be dead at the end." Zeus said. He let out his raging thunder and from the sky and struck it down onto Ben.
"Woa, that kinda tickled." Fourarms said. He charged at Zeus and threw a punch only to have him catch it, he used his second arm and Zeus caught it once again, but he had his second pair of hands that he unleashed onto the god.
After a few blows to his head, Zeus used his head and bashed Fourarm's head, making him stumble backwards. Zeus pushed Fourarms making him bounce of the ground until he crashed into the stone wall. Making a hole of stone. He took a chunk of it and threw it at Zeus. The blunt stone exploded however to his power and tore it apart with his energy. The dust was thick and Fourarms ran passed it and landed another punch on Zeus, making his stumble back.
"You're strong, but now it is time to end this!" Zeus roared. He called the lightning from the sky and striked it down onto Fourarms. This time it was more intense and he began to feel the pain and burning sensations. Fourarms yelled out before the omnitrix timed out form the power surge, and he turned back into Ben.
"Ahhhh!" Ben yelled at the top of his lungs.
"DIE." Zeus yelled. Ben couldn't take anymore, he felt as if he was going to die. The pain stopped soon however when the lightning stopped. Ben went down to his knees and looked up. His eyes went wide when he saw a spear of light conducting the electricity away from him.
"Raynare?" Ben asked. She looked back.
"Something told me you were going to need help so I thought I could help." She said. Ben couldn't say anything else. He fell flat on his chest with his eyes closed and a weak breath.
"What business do you have with saving this boy, no matter, your nothing but an obstacle to me!" Zeus yelled out. Raynare brought out a second spear of light and the two went head to head.
Zeus shot his lightning at Raynare and she blocked it with both of her spears. She spread her wings and took flight before summoning six spears and sending them to Zeus like harpoons. Zeus dodged them one at a time until the last one stuck into his shin and threw his calf. Zeus roared. He sent lightning down onto Raynare before she could summon more spears and she was knocked back and hit Ben. He picked herself up and tried to shake Ben awake.
"Ben, wake up, please!" Raynare yelled. Ben slolwy opened his eyes to her voice and, realizing he wasn't dreaming, he picked himself up.
"Okay Zeus, I'm not done yet." Ben said. He touched the dial and got a shot at the tip of his finger, he retracted it after the spark.
"Crap, is it broken?" Ben asked himself, but the omnitrix was doing something. The sparks stopped and the dial blinked yellow.
"What is that?" Zeus asked as he heard a loud alarm from the watch.
"Your undoing." Ben said before slamming on the dial. A green light flashed.
As the electricity boost gave the omnitrix a kick, it also formed the extra energy into a new transformation. His skin turned into steel and his eyes became one and green. His blood veins turned into copper wire and electric conductor while his fingertips and hair turned into plugs. The light died and revealed a transformation that made Ben feel ecstatic.
"Oh yeah, how about round two Zeus?" The new transformation or alien said. Zeus sent out a lightning strike down on top of him like a lightning rod.
"Ben!" Raynare yelled, but there was nothing to worry about. The transformation absorbed the energy through his finger plugs and aimed it at Zeus, sending the attack twice as powerful back to blow up in his face.
"Oh yeah, Feedback attack, I think that's what I'll call this guy." Feedback said. Zeus gave out a warriors howl and charged at Feedback. Raynare went into his way and threw a spear at Zeus's chest. Feedback took the opportunity and sent a shock of electricity through the spear, cutting it deeper, nearing Zeus's heart. He ripped it out of his chest before it did so and through it at Raynare. She jumped over the spear caught it before touching the ground.
"Look at the game on you!" Feedback said.
"I've been practicing." She said.
"Enough of this! My anger only the grows as the seconds past knowing that you are still alive!" Zeus said. The whole arena started to spark around the two, Feedback turned.
"Raynare, RUN!" Feedback yelled, but Raynare didn't budge, instead she stood still and raised her hands in the air. Spears appeared out of nowhere and shot in Zeus's direction. Feedback watch and felt a surge in his hole body, like it was attracted to the metal of the spears.
"Raynare, can you summon more of those spears around Zeus?" Feedback called out.
"No problem." Raynare said before holding her hands out again.
"Alright, here goes nothing." Feedback said. He ran to the spears and disappeared in front of Zeus's eyes.
"Where are you?" Zeus called out.
"Right here." Feedback said behind Zeus. He swung his fist around, but Feedback was no longer there.
"Over here." He called out. "No here, maybe here? No definitely here." Feedback was everywhere to Zeus, but Feedback was using the spears's metal as a transportation since his very essence was electricity itself. Zeus began to feel dizzy while Raynare and Hades started to laugh.
"Ahh, enough!" Zeus said, he used his lightning to blow everything away from him, including the spears. Feedback was knocked back, but he wasn't done. He nodded to Raynare as she did the same. She shot a spear down at Zeus's feet and he let out a laugh.
"You missed!" He said.
"You sure about that?" Feedback said. Zeus looked down. "Smile." He said before uppercutting Zeus sending him flying back. His spark was charged and he wasn't done. Feedback jumped on top of Zeus and punched him repeatedly in the face, he picked him up and sent amps into Zeus's shocking him. He yelled out in pain before Feedback threw him to the other side of the arena.
"No, this is impossible, you can you hurt me?" Zeus yelled.
"Simple, you're someone that can control lightning, I'm however is energy itself. Thanks for that by the way." Feedback said before punching Zeus who was still on the ground, knocking him out from the extra spark.
"For a god of thunder, you sure can't fight the power." Feedback said before turning back into Ben. He looked at Raynare and gave her a nod. He turned and looked up at Hades, who stood in awe.
"What? You thought I was gonna let that guy get me? I thought you held me at higher hopes." Ben said sarcastically. Hades instantly appeared in front of Ben and grabbed him into a hug and with a sweet kiss. It was cold as death, but it also felt warm after a moment, anyhow, Ben enjoyed it.
"Glad you came out of it alive handsome." She said.
"Well, I wasn't going to just leave you here, sounds like you were stuck in an awkward family situation." Ben said.
"Tell me about it." She said. "My brother just blindly followed an empty promise, and that's why he used his son to join, and that's also how she got himself killed." Hades said.
"That's what I call a bad parent." Ben said. "But enough of that, take him to the underworld and hold him there until he cools off, but for now…" Ben said, he reached out his hand for Hades.
"You know I'm betraying my family." She said.
"That's why I want to make things right, I killed Hercules in the heat of the moment, plus it was either kill or be killed, and Zeus went on a rampage so I knew what I had to do before he did harm. If only I can get a second with them without trying to decapitate me, maybe this will work." Ben said.
"They might hunt you." She said.
"And I'll be ready. Any other questions?" Ben asked. Hades was hesitant, but she knew what she wanted and what she thought what was right. She grabbed Ben's hand. He then grabbed Raynare's hand so that the three could go back home."
Ben called Sirzechs and reported Zeus into custody, after teleporting to Hades' realm, there were agents and soldiers as a precautionary measure, and Sirzechs decided to make an appearance.
"Did you know what you just did?" Sirzechs said in surprise.
"I stopped an angry god of thunder from cooking me from the inside out?" Ben answered feeling confused.
"Zeus was one of the leaders of the Greek faction of the Chaos Brigade, how did you find a way to cripple a whole faction?" Sirzechs asked, Ben wasn't sure if he was happy or surprised in the worst way possible.
"The thought of losing someone, it can drive you to your demise, and for a god, you would think you'd know that." Ben said before walking away.
"Wait." Sirzechs said.
"Hades needs to come with us for questioning, she's part of the group." Sirzechs said. Ben looked at Hades, and she gave a nod.
"Not anymore, there is no need for aggressive enforcement, she'll cooperate willingly." Ben said. "Besides, a girl like her can't survive behind bars." He chuckled.
"You haven't even seen what I can do, don't you think I'm the god of death for a reason?" Hades said with her hand under his chin. Ben gave a nervous chuckle. Hades walked towards Sirzechs.
"I'm willing to give you any information on one condition, after this I'm betraying my brothers, though I feel they have been missguided, they will still see me as a weasel, so in return I demand some protection." Hades said.
"That is most definitely reasonable." Sirzechs said. "Ben, go home and check in with Rias, with your situation I'm sure she is worried." He ordered. Ben took a bow and turned around.
"Wait, how do I get back home?" Ben turned around and felt a tug on the back of his shirt. He looked back and saw Ophis and Raynare before teleporting. Ben shook his head after feeling dizzy from the sudden shift in location.
"Were you watching me the entire time?" Ben asked, but Ophis didn't say anything. Instead he was tackled by Rias, Izzy, Kuroka, Irina, and Koneko, while the others had a sigh of relief. Ben would be happy that they were glad he was okay, but he let out the only sound that he could release.
"OOOOWWWWWW!" Ben yelled before crying. They immediately let go Kuroka pulled up his shirt ane saw major burn marks him. She gasped and the others did a similar thing.
"Ben!" Koneko yelled.
"I'm fine, I had a little trouble before getting my trump card, and I guess the adrenaline helped me out until now." Ben said before laying back down. "Just give me a minute." He said, but the girls wouldn't have it. They cut Ben's shirt off and saw multiple burns. Ben couldn't make out what they were doing as his vision began to fade and he felt his eyes start to close.
"His burns cut through him deep, this is going to take a while." Akeno said. She felt Ben as she also has lightning magic. Zeus's cuts are deep, it's surprising that he's still alive." She said. The girls didn't like what Akeno just said.
"Damnit, I knew he would try something, I should have went with him." Izzy said to herself.
"We can't think about that now, Kuroka, can I help with what you just taught me?" Koneko asked her sister.
"We don't have any other choice." Kuroka said.
"Okay, we'll just have to heal him up together, Izzy please take him to his room." Rias said. Izzy nodded. Izzy picked Ben up and heard his breath, but it was weak.
"This is the only way to heal him, after that were going to have a talk." Irina said. Rias felt the same way.
Ben slowly began to become conscious in his room. He slowly picked himself up and reach for the edge of the bed, instead he felt something soft and perky. He looked over to his left and saw Izzy, completely naked, and asleep next to him. Ben covered his mouth so that he didn't wake her up with a squeal. He removed his hand, and from her breast, but did not look away, in fact, it was hard for him to take his eyes off. He gulped and for a moment thought about touching them again.
'What? No, she's asleep!' Ben shook his head and felt his body and realized what happened. He looked at himself and realized that he was naked too, but his burns and injuries were gone, in fact, he didn't feel anything." He pulled the blankets up and saw that Kuroka and Koneko were sleeping in his lap, Rias was to his right. Ben gulped and slowly removed himself and jumped off the bed and landed silently onto the floor. He stretched before getting to the bathroom and looking in the mirror. He looked at himself from head to toe and figured out why it happened.
"I guess I might have cut that a bit too close." Ben said to himself, he could imagine that they were worried, and probably angry at him for going toe to toe with a god, but what else was he supposed to do? Just hide the rest of his life? It wasn't like he was safe from the Chaos brigade anyways, even if they were gone, Zeus held a personal grudge against him. He walked out of the bathroom and saw that it was night time. He didn't really know what to do since there was a bunch of naked girls in his bed. He tiptoed out of his room and went around the corner and ran into Irina. She was surprised to see that Ben was already awake.
"Hi, didn't mean to scare you there." Ben said. Irina shook her head.
"No, I just came to check on you, I didn't expect you to wake up already." She said.
"I know, but it looks like it took a lot out of them to heal me, I feel kind of bad." He said.
"Well, you should be." Irina said in an angry tone.
"What?" Ben asked. He was then grabbed to the next room. He turned around to face Irina and got punched once and then slapped. He held his face and felt the heat and bruise forming.
"You jerk!" Irina yelled.
"I'm sorry?" Ben asked.
"Why did you think it was a good idea to battle Zeus just like that?" Irina asked.
"I got tired of hiding, I mean nothing was going to change if I didn't face it." Ben said.
"Then why didn't you let us help?" She asked.
"Because I was the one that killed his son, I'm the one that held did it, and it was my responsibility since Zeus was…" Ben said.
"That doesn't mean you sneak away from me to put your life at risk, it was a miracle that you were still alive." Irina cried. Ben was surprised, but it made sense. If he didn't turn into Feedback, he could have been in much worst condition, and it took everyone to use up their magic in order to heal him. He looked down at the floor.
"I'm sorry, I just, didn't want you to risk everything for me, I just thought this was a matter that I had to do on my own." Ben said.
"Of course it isn't nothing around you isn't just your problem anymore, look how badly Rias wanted to protect you and keep you from being discovered. You can't tell me that it didn't mean that it wasn't her business." Irina said. Ben nodded.
"I get it, sorry for pulling something like that, and if there is anything that happens, I'll make sure that you all are by my side, next time I end up facing a god of course." Ben said rubbing the back of his head.
"God, you can change the tune even if it's a serious conversation." Irina said. Ben sighed.
"Okay, I get it, but I really am sorry. Forgive?" Ben asked. Irina looked away.
"I guess you learned your lesson, but I'll be keeping an eye on you." She said.
"Oh thank you for your kindness, I'm hungry now." Ben said. He gave a kiss on the cheek before running out of the room and to the kitchen.
He pulled out a meat and cheese for a sandwich. He closed the door and ate and saw someone enter the kitchen with him. He swallowed his first bite before turning to face Raynare.
"Sorry, I was hungry and I thought I could get something," Raynare said.
"No problem, here, I'll make you one." Ben said.
"Oh no, I can't ask you to do that." She said.
"Nah it's no problem, everyone gets hungry after a fight." Ben said. He made another sandwich for her and passed it to her. As they both ate, Raynare felt awkward.
"Can we talk?" She asked. Ben swallowed his bite.
"About?" Ben asked back.
"I mean, I wanted to tell you that, I really am sorry about what I did, and I mean it." Ben pushed the chair away before standing up.
"That past is the past, whether I forgive you or not, it's not going to change what you did. I get that you are sorry, but it's not going to change anything, so forget about it." Ben said before he began to walk away, but Raynare stood up and ran for him.
"You need to know something though." She called. Ben turned around and faced her.
"When I was dead, I was in the underworld, and I was forced to feel the same pain that you did for three years straight. Without any of Hades mercy, I would be insane right now, and it kills me to now that I did that to you. I was arrogant, I just wanted to be strong, and I threw away every moral that I had to get to that goal. For some reason, I just want to get through to you that I'm sorry." Raynare cried. Ben looked down and immediately thought of forgiveness and how that it could help him out, and thought about Zeus, would he end up like him if he neglected the thought of forgiveness?" Ben looked up with a tear in his eye.
"It hurt, I cried begging you to stop." Ben said. He was immediately taken aback he felt arms wrap around him, he felt Raynare's heart beating like a drum like it was about to explode, he felt her shaking from the uneasiness, and he heard her cries of guilt and sadness. Ben tried to resist her at first, but the walls of his stubbornness began to break down.
"I know it did, and I can't say how sorry I am, I can't help but beg for your forgiveness." She yelled. Ben finally gave in, she felt the exact pain that he felt back in the church, and it didn't make him feel any better, that meant that there was only one thing left to do.
"I, I forgive you." Ben said. His shoulders began to relax and he felt like a rock was lifted from him, and his chest stopped feeling like it was squeezed. Raynare looked at Ben for a moment nodded.
"Thank you, I promise, I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you." She voice was still shaking.
"Yeah, I know you will, you already helped me with a god problem already, I think you'll be able to do it." Ben said, he smiled. His heart couldn't take this roller coaster. He told her that he needed to go to bed and went back to his room. He saw the girls, still naked and asleep, but he didn't care anymore. He laid back down and felt Kuroka and Koneko lay back onto his lap and he too fell into his own darkness.