Ben 10 Primix, chapter 26, first contact.

Summary: Ben finally starts his actual creation of Anur Vladias through an agreement with Serena and Bellicus. Meanwhile the others are worried for Ben and annoyed at Verdona. Their ship is now in place ready to dive down.

Carls view:

We both sank into silence thinking about the way that Verdona had treated us. I grunted from the memories and glanced at my half-brother. "My wife isn't very happy about my heritage. It is difficult to describe, but the look in her eyes when she heard it. It's just …the way she glanced at Ben while hearing that he would be stuck as a Vladat for a while and how she treated him at his arrival? What if it scars Ben?" Silvaros clasped my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. "This mission will give you both time to think about the future. All will be fine in the end." I sighed. Would it truly? It felt like I didn't know my wife until now. Silvaros gave me a smirk. "Just tell her that your brothers with the king of Medite. Most women dig that the whole royalty thing." I laughed at his joke, such dry humor. "Let's not start the whole prince on the white horse, all right?"Silvaros raises his brow that was basically made of darker colored energy. "You do realize that you're technically part of our hierarchy? Males belong to the Menedite side of the family and females to the Anodites side. So yes you and my other half-brother are princes, although it's in name only." How could that work? "I'm not even closely related to either you or your father. Our only link is mother so how does that work?"

Silvaros facial expression went sour. "The royal family of the Menedites only marries once in their lives. They mark their wife with mana during the wedding to keep the family bloodline pure. Our lifespan is so much longer than yours so some relationships don't last, but unlike humans divorce is not a possibility. Once a person marries in our family she will only bear heirs of our bloodline despite the person she chooses and males can only continue hers as well." I scratched my neck while hearing this information. "How is that possible? We clearly have human DNA according to all our hospital checks? They never mentioned anything?" Silvaros scoffed. "Did you try going the last few days? Should I remind you of our recent revival? I'm pretty sure that you can't call yourself human any longer. Some part of you is indeed human which dilutes your bloodline, but with our father alive and active… Let's just say that you are now more blood related to my father than your own." Silence returned to the room.

This was a lot to think about. How would Frank react to this news or dad? Well guessing from the last expression he had when Verdona talked about him, not good! Silvaros regained a small smile on his face. "Let's meet our father in the future. He'll train you and our 'brother' during his pension filled days. Trust me that old man is hyperactive after getting revived." I showed him a grimace. "Yeah, let's not start the whole prince training. I'll keep it as a back-up plan." Ben slept on the bed in front of us. His breathing was slow and almost non-existent. "So how is Ben, can you sense anything?" Silvaros held his palm on Bens forehead. It glowed blue from his mana. It was answered by blue and white wisps of energy coming from Ben. Silvaros smile seemed genuine. "His body is fine. This energy is so strange and not like us Menedites at all. It's like a different concept of energy yet it accepts my energy like a … minor version of it. I can't really describe it. His body is filled to the brim with this energy, almost making it bursting at the seams." It was what?

"How is that fine? We must make it stop with whatever its doing!" Silvaros stopped me with his left hand that was free. "Let me finish speaking Carl. Although it's tearing his body apart, it's also mending it back into shape like a cycle. He's…" Ben started groaning, his muscles tense, his face was filled with pain. I grabbed Bens left wrist, feeling his muscles tensing. "Ben, what's wrong? Silvaros what's happening to him?" Silvaros became white as a sheet and pulled his hand way. His blue hand seemed rather white, unlike the usual blue color. "Something big! That bursting and mending part was just beginning. He's gathering a lot of energy, disrupting the balance of his body. It's also a bit familiar just not on this scale." My grip on Bens hand grew stronger. I just wanted to give him any kind of support now that he was suffering. "What do you mean? He's a Vladat right now?" Silvaros nodded, wrinkles appeared on his blue forehead. "Young Menedites… and probably you too, will go through an awakenings ceremony. It will purify the filth and impurities of your body and make you stronger. Remember that we talked about our bloodline? That will basically wipe the most of your human DNA once it initiates. You'll take on your true form as a Menedite."

I bit my lips. I'd love to ask more about it, but Ben came first. "What does this mean for Ben?" Silvaros glanced back at Ben. The wisps of energy were growing larger around his body. "Ben forcefully grew himself into an, I believe you all called it a white Vladat, or rather an adult Vladat? I'm not well versed on them, since they were well extinct? What if his body is now truly integrating with him, cleansing his body of impurities because of the improper process?" I felt the powerful bone crushing pain in my hand. "Why is he in so much pain then? This can't be healthy?" Silvaros raised his brow, while placing his hand on mine. "Except for the extreme pain, his body isn't showing dangerous signs of breaking down under the strain. We'll keep him company as long as it takes." We sat there seeing him writhe in pain for the whole night. We stepped out to eat, but remained near him for the rest of the time. Silvaros told me he didn't need to eat. Something told me that it was not the only reason he remained here…since mother asked why he wasn't coming out of the room.

I felt sleep trying to close my eyelids. I tried to remain firm, but they were slowly closing. Silvaros snorted. "Sleep on the bunk bed above him. I'll stay awake for you." I wanted to refute, but he shook his head. "I don't need sleep brother. I'll keep my nephew safe, I promise. Go get some rest." I ended up agreeing and fell asleep. After a short nap a sudden gust of energy completely woke me up. Almost scaring me out of my bed. Silvaros seemed tired, keeping up a blue dome around Ben. Inside the dome the wisp of energy had turned in clashes of white and blue sparks resembling a heavy lightning storm. I jumped out of the bunk bed and set down next to Silvaros. "What's happening? Why is his energy so… strong?" Silvaros gritted his teeth. "Because he's nearing purity or as we call it, adulthood. I'm still not sure if that counts for Vladats as well." The frequency of the lightning bolts grew astonishing. Ben was almost completely covered purely by the flashes. Silvaros was panting, sweat rolling of his forehead. I should help him. My hand placed itself neatly on his shoulders while I directed my energy towards Silvaros. He was slightly stunned by my action and gave me a wry smile. "Thank Medite you inherited our spark. I'm almost at my limit for maintaining this barrier."

We were interrupted because of the flickering lights. No because of every system on the ship sounding the alarms. An alarm sounded, warning everyone for the energy fluctuations. During our short moment of surprise the energy within the barrier erupted. Both Silvaros and I were flung against the metal wall. A high pitch female voice sounded a bit panicking. "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, remove your mental blockade so that I can oversee the process of creation." It repeated itself a few times, apparently not satisfied with the denial. I glanced at Silvaros while pulling myself up from the floor, asking him in silence if he heard it too. He nodded with a stern expression and pulled himself up with my help. The violent energy around Ben was now gone. The white Vladat on the bed looked healthy; his cheeks were actually a rosy color. I sat down near him and felt his forehead. His skin was a little warmer than before. His face only showed slight discomfort instead of pain.

Was he really 'maturing' like Silvaros told me? Suddenly the door swung open. Both Verdona and Gwen ran into the room. Gwen was extremely agitated. "What happened? Is Ben okay? We felt a massive energy burst, it almost destroyed all the systems on the ship." I shrugged my shoulders. "We don't know. Just like yesterday he was still writhing in pain and his energy was growing. It suddenly intensified and exploded just now." Gwen sat down on the bed checking Bens vitals. She sighed. "Any word from Primus?" I smiled. "No, not really." Silvaros nodded with a grin. Verdona floated to both of us, scanning us with her mana. "You both exhausted your mana. Go take some rest. I'll keep an eye on Ben. You have maintained that barrier longer than I thought. My boys have truly grown." I did my best to not show a grimace. Weren't we your greatest disappointments? I was reluctant to leave, but Silvaros pulled me along to an empty cabin.

We both sat down on the lower bunk bed. "All right, how much are we going to tell them about Primus' reaction on Bens little power burst?" I glanced around the room silently agreeing to Silvaros words. "Keep it quiet for now. Pretend we didn't hear that little outburst… or its words before that. It seems that my son can't be fully controlled or monitored after all." Silvaros nodded. "I understand your vigilance, but please remain careful. It does threaten you with the lives of our people." I shivered at that thought. "So you have your doubts too?" Silvaros nodded. "And Ben having a way around it is a good sign."

Gwen's view:

After checking on Ben, Kevin and I readied ourselves to dive in a smaller spacecraft. This was the masterpiece that Kevin had worked on for the last several days. It was made to withstand the pressure of Challenger Deep. Since it wasn't an official submarine our dive would be slower. The spacecraft would use its specially made shields to mimic ballast tanks and manipulate the buoyancy of the ship. We would be accompanied by Eunice who was dying to get a sample of the new beings that we would meet. Carl and Silvaros would remain on the ship to watch Ben. Verdona would keep us updated in on the bridge. The three of us were busy making the last preparations. I levitated the last equipment and scanner in the Kevincraft as he liked to call it. It was so cute to see him proud of his work. I heaved a sign after setting the scanner down. Eunice jumped at the device and started installing it into the ship. My worries weren't getting smaller. "What differentiates us from the council? Wouldn't they start attacking as soon as we come near?" We had talked about this and Eunice was absolutely sure that nothing would happen. Although I doubt that! I'm getting the feeling that it's more to ease our worries, so that her research can continue. I scoffed. This way of thinking was similar to Primus wasn't it? Not caring about us, but rather results. I should probably start a proper conversation with her about this topic.

Eunice smiled while she fitted a few cables onto the scanner. "I'm assuming that these creatures use sound waves like other water species on this planet. Our ship will sent a message stating that we are not part of the council and seek their help to protect earth. It will give a short summary about the possible dangers of purge ships on the planet and our wish to negotiate. This should be something they agree on, since they're sinking the enemies' ship every time they come close. I read in a hacked file that they've destroyed 73 ships so far. All related to the council. Don't let me start on the victims." This was not reassuring me at all. What if they indiscriminately killed anyone that came close? She noticed my worried look. "It will be fine. All right, done!" The scanner lit up beneath her hands. She smiled at her handy work. "Ready to go! Get your pressure suits on and get ready to dive!" Did she forget that I was the captain? I smiled at Kevin. "Let's put on our suits and ready ourselves in half an hour. The daylight would suffice then."

Kevin followed me into our room. Kevin gave me a few playful glances. I sighed. "Get those eyes away from me Kevin. This is serious." Kevin hugged me from behind, his strong arms around my waist. He kissed me on my nose with a mischievous grin. "Really? Isn't this the perfect time, just before we step into danger?" I kissed him on the cheek, not budging. "No, I need you to focus. We need to be alert the moment we reach the bottom of Challenger Deep. If our ship is attacked, we need to leave a.s.a.p. So, we'll have no pleasantries before then. We need to be in top form." He kissed me in the neck and let go while grumbling. 'In movies it always works.' I tried to keep my laughter in and put the pressure suit on. Kevin helped me with the zipper while taking a few advantages before I slapped his hands away. The helmet would remain off until we dove into the water. The suit was a bit thicker than my casual clothes, so moving was a bit stifling.

Eunice was already busy typing all kinds of commands onto the board computer. I sat down in the monitor seat. Kevin would drive his 'Kevin craft'. I found it unbelievable that he dared to write it on the hull, if Ben had seen this? Verdona stood in the hangar to see us off and wish us good luck. She floated there with a sour smile. "Stay safe Gwen. I'll try to pull you up if I notice any kind of danger on the monitors." I nodded and let Kevin close our hatch. It made a soft puffing sound and the air and water shields started up. Kevin grinned in pride. "The shields are working perfectly. I'll open the hangar doors beneath us." Under our vessel two large slide doors opened up and let us into the water. The first shield was slowly filling with water to make us sink. Verdona shielded the hatch with her mana wall to keep any water from spilling into the spaceship. It took the shields a while to find the right amount of negative buoncacy to make our ship sink. Eunice activated our camouflage cloak to keep the council from finding out about us. We sank deeper and the hatch of the spaceship closed above us.

We had no lights on and had to rely on Eunice scanner and navigator. Light couldn't be cloaked, so it had to remain dark. Although lights would only reach around 200 meters under water, we didn't want to risk it. After reaching a depth of 3000 meter we would use our lights. Our small ship sank deeper and deeper. At 3000 we put on the lights to look at the strange and sometimes disgusting fishes in the water. Everywhere except our lights was darkness. It gave a somber and slightly terrifying pressure of something lurking in the dark, which was actually the case. The water pressure rose according to the depth we reached. Nothing strange happened as of yet when we reached 4000 meter. I contacted Verdona through the monitor. She was glancing at a monitor next to her with a grimace, before she reacted. "How far down are you?" I smiled to reassure her. "We are around 4500 meters as of now. It's going really well. The shields are holding and the water pressure is normal. Anything special to report about the ship?" Verdona glanced behind her. "We are keeping Ben inside an energy barrier at the moment. Every time his energy reaches a peak, the whole ships shuts down and could possibly destroy its circuits. Both Silvaros and I are switching containment duty every hour. It's almost my turn. Please stay alert." She switched the communications off.

My stomach felt heavy. It didn't feel right to leave the ship when Ben was still asleep. What was happening with Ben? And Verdonas' gaze… She felt hurt by Silvaros attitude. Uncle Carl and Silvaros had bonded in the past few days and that was a good thing. But it was painfully clear that neither of them intended to warm up to Verdona. I could see Silvaros avoiding her and honestly what would I have done? She had something similar to an affair with grandpa and she abandoned both sons in their childhood, because she chooses for herself. Which child wouldn't grow up with 'bad' feelings towards her? So I tried to keep her company in the meantime. Hopefully Ben wakes up soon. I could use his presence right about now. Eunice turned several switches, gaining my attention. "Initiating the message! Gwen can you keep an eye on any kind of signal? We don't want to miss it!" I raised my brow. Once again, wasn't I the captain here? I glanced at Kevin. "Slow the craft down. Let the scanner do the work." Kevin nodded. "Now we wait." It was silent except for Eunice seeking an answer. But we couldn't miss this kind of signal. Suddenly all alarms went off. All systems showed errors, red lights blinked on any panel. The pressure on my monitor rose at incredible speeds. Our whole vessel started croaking like it was flattened with a hammer.

Authors note: Been a long time since I updated. Be assured, I'm not ready to give up ;-). Duo to government ensured 'house arrest' because of the my free time has grown. So I hope to update another chapter soon, don't want to keep you hanging on this cliffy.