Chapter 115: Comatose: Part Three
I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters
I Don't Own The Rights To Nathan Black Or Any Associated Characters, The Rights Go To annihalator2015
Author's Note:
* Hello and welcome to Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen. In this chapter, things will be taking a turn. That's all I'll say.
* With that said, let's get into the chapter.
Earth-Prime
December 1st, 2017
Ben's House
Ben
The week was over. And I somehow got through it okay. As much as I wanted to go find Gwen the following day, I had to wait for the school week to be over. So, here I was on Friday afternoon, after school had let out. I had to talk to Mom about where Gwen went to school. And so, I did. I went out into the living room, ready to ask her about it.
"Hey Mom, where does Gwen go to school at?"
"Your cousin Gwen?"
"Of course, my cousin Gwen. Which other Gwen would I be talking about?"
She shrugged before answering.
"She goes to a private school. St. Agnes, in Downtown Bellwood. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious. Could I uh, borrow the car keys and drive up there?"
"I suppose so."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Why do you ask?"
I felt a wave of cold pass through me.
Why was she being like this? Did she know something that I didn't?
"Look, she's my cousin and we haven't seen each other in like ten years! I just thought it'd be cool to catch up with her!"
She continued to look at me but eventually spoke.
"My car keys are in my purse on the counter."
"Thanks, Mom." I replied, trying not to show how excited I was.
I walked into the kitchen and took Mom's car keys from her purse. I then walked through the living room and to the front door.
"Bye, Mom. I'll be back in a little while!"
"Okay. See you soon."
I opened the door, stepped outside and almost ran into Dad who was just getting home from work.
"Oh, hey Dad!"
"Hey there. Where were you headed, Ben?"
"Out to St. Agnes in Downtown Bellwood to see my cousin Gwen."
"Okay. Have a good time then."
And just like that, he walked past me and into the house. I turned back to look at the door as it shut behind me.
What was that? Mom acts like she suspects something, but Dad doesn't? What is this?
I decided not to dwell on it and continued walking to Mom's car. After getting into the driver's seat and starting the car, I put St. Agnes' address into my GPS after Googling it. And then, I was off.
Sometime Later
St. Agnes, Downtown Bellwood
I had arrived. I parked Mom's car across the street from the school's gates and got out. I looked up at the building past the gates. I couldn't see much but from what I could see, the building looked big. I began to approach the gates now. As I did, I noticed a person lying on their side on the sidewalk, wearing dirty black trench coat, as well as a dirty, battered black fedora. He looked like some sort of beggar, but I paid no attention to him. However, as I continued to approach, he began to stir.
"Hey, you." he said in a gruff, hoarse voice. "Wait."
I put my hand up in front of myself.
"I can't spare any money, I'm sorry."
However, it seemed that he wasn't interested in money, as he began to approach me. I now noticed that the clothes underneath his coat were black and dirty as well. He was also wearing dark grey fingerless gloves. And he had a wild beard of black, graying hair. His skin looked to be covered with the same sort of black grime that covered his clothes.
"You're not supposed to be here." He said at last.
I narrowed my eyes with surprise.
"What?" I asked.
He continued to approach.
"You're not like the other people here. You're special somehow, aren't you? You have to leave! Leave right now!"
I backed up with a sudden fear that I hadn't felt before.
What was he talking about?! Did he know who I was? Did he know that I'm from the future and that I'm trying to change my past? No, that's fucking impossible! No one could know where I was really from! It didn't make any sense!
"What the hell are you talking about?!" I exclaimed.
"You can't be here. You being here messes everything up! You need to leave right now!"
I backed up, ready to defend myself from this lunatic if I had to.
"No, I'm fine. What you need to do buddy, is to back off. Get the hell away from me!"
My words didn't seem to intimidate the man in the slightest. And that really didn't surprise me. I was honestly scared right now, so I don't think that even I could intimidate myself, if that made sense. He shook his head.
"No. Leave now. You being here risks everything! Your being here could destroy everything!"
"Calm down and get the hell away from me! This is your last warning!"
He chuckled.
"My last warning? What are you going to do if I don't back down?"
That was a good question. In all honesty, I don't know what I could do. I was essentially just bluffing!
"Well, I could..."
Before I could finish my sentence however, I heard the sirens of a police car from behind me. It sounded like it was getting closer to us and fast. So, I did what no one else would do and turned around. The police car zoomed past as I turned around, creating a gust of wind that kicked up a bunch of old papers and plastic grocery bags that had been sitting in the gutter next to the curb.
I was surprised to say the least. And you know what else? As I turned around, ready to do my best to intimidate the guy, I noticed that he was gone. Just gone, like he had never been there. I was as confused as ever, but now that he was gone, I could continue with what I was doing. I once again began approaching the gate.
As I began approaching, I noticed a bunch of students walking past on the inside of the fence. And all of them were female, wearing skirts, leggings, tennis shoes and jackets over what I assumed were dress shirts and ties of some sort. I shut my eyes and imagined a conversation that Gwen and I had last summer.
"Wow. So, basically it's just teams competing in just swimming underneath the surface to the other side?"
"Yes. Jesus, Gwen! Doesn't your school have a swim team?"
She just shook her head.
"Really?"
"I went to an all girl's boarding school for the past three years. We never had a swim team. We don't even have a pool."
I opened my eyes once again, my trip down memory lane now over. Well, technically this whole thing has been a trip down memory lane. And I was still here. So, maybe this whole trip down memory lane thing wasn't really over yet? I let out a sigh.
Why must I overcomplicate things?
I stepped a little closer to the gates and you wouldn't believe it. I saw her. On the other side of the iron fence, was Gwen. She was walking with a group of other girls, laughing as she held a couple of textbooks close to her chest. Her fiery red hair, tied back into a ponytail, waved in the wind as she walked. Well, that was easy. I found her, now all I have to do is talk to her.
Wait, hold on there, buddy. Don't you know how time travel works? Nothing is ever "that easy" when it comes to time travel.
Even though I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, I didn't stop in my tracks. I walked right up to the bars of the fence, grabbed them and spoke.
"Gwen!"
She stopped walking, as did the other girls that she was walking with and began to look around. Once she saw me, her eyes locked onto mine.
"Gwen, it's me, Ben!"
I thought that she'd say something, anything. Finally, someone spoke. But it wasn't Gwen who spoke.
"Do you know him?" one of the girls asked her.
And you know what Gwen did? She just shrugged and moved on with the other girls, without even looking at me a second time. As she disappeared from view along with the rest of the girls, who I assumed to be her friends, I hung my head in defeat.
I don't understand. She knows me! She acted like she didn't even recognize me! Yeah, it's been a while since we've spoken, but she doesn't need me to tell her that I'm her cousin, right? Right? She shouldn't question if she knows me!
So, what happened? I shut my eyes and began to think.
"Just know that during your mission, the past will push back against you. And it will push back hard. The past doesn't want to be changed. But don't let that stop you. You just have to push back harder."
"That's it!" I exclaimed as I opened my eyes. "Nathan said something about the past not wanting to be changed. If I try to change something, the past will push back! But, how do I push back harder?"
I began to think once more, as I stepped back from the iron fence. I turned around, almost expecting to see that man, but no. He wasn't there.
He had said that I shouldn't be here. But why? What was so bad about me being here?
As I began to think, I began to cross the road again, back to where I had parked Mom's car.
And he said that "my being here risks the destruction of everything" or something like that. What the hell does that mean?
I couldn't make sense out of any of this. What had started as a normal (well, as normal as things could get right now) day had just turned into an especially weird day. And too weird for my liking. I finally made it back to Mom's car and got back in. I let out a sigh as I shut the door.
"I don't get it!" I groaned. "Am I doing something wrong?!"
Before I could even get the car started, it happened.
"Tennyson, Tennyson, Tennyson." Someone said.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, but after recovering, I turned in my seat, to see Nathan Black sitting in the passenger seat.
Okay, let's go through the two obvious points here, shall we? One, Nathan Black was in the car and I had no idea how he got in! And two, I probably should have been getting out of the car right now, but I was just too fixated on how he was in the car, that I couldn't tell myself to move.
"What the fuck?" I finally spoke. "How did you get..."
Nathan held up his hand before I could finish.
"Quiet. Let me speak. Tennyson, I specifically told you not to fuck with the past, and you did the exact opposite, just like the past nine times I told you. Every time you've tried to break the loop your own way, trying to change things so it doesn't end badly, you ended up making things worse. Looks like I've got to explain it to you after all. I've never really been here, I'm not even Nathan! I'm the personification of your subconscious, because that part of you knew what was happening the moment the first run occurred. You've been in a coma from the very beginning and you have been for a while mate. And as a result, your brain has conjured up something to keep you going, lest you become a vegetable. So, remember in your next run to just let the past happen the way it did, and the loop will end, and you'll finally get back to the real world."
I just stared at him, trying to make some sense out of what he just said. I slowly began to nod.
"Okay. So, let me get this straight." I said. "You mean to tell me that this is all in my head? That I didn't really time travel somehow? And that you're not really here? That I've just been talking to myself each time you appear out of nowhere?"
"Quite so."
"Oh man, oh man. Um, can you give me a few seconds here?"
He nodded.
I rested my forehead on the steering wheel as I gripped it so hard that I'm sure my knuckles turned white.
"Okay, okay. Calm down. I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy. Everything's okay, every..."
"No one ever said you're crazy, Tennyson. Well, the death of your friend Kevin certainly fucked you up a little bit, but you aren't crazy."
I turned to look at him with anger.
"Hey, fuck off! You shouldn't even be able to know about that!"
"Subconscious, remember?"
"God damn it!"
Nathan, or my subconscious, I guess, laughed at this.
You know what? Fuck it, I'm still going to call "him" Nathan. Calling "him" my subconscious is just too confusing.
I let out another sigh.
"Okay, okay. Well, I have questions."
"Ask away."
"If you're really my subconscious like you say you are, then why do you appear as Nathan? Why appear as him of all people? Why can't it just appear like me? Since you know, it's a part of me?"
"Please mate, you've never really been one to act all mysterious like, and even less so your own subconscious, which will be even more shifty than your waking self. So, I look like the mysterious new guy, who's so far been the one to bring your unconscious and roughed up half-brother to your home, have the speed, stamina, and strength of an Olympic athlete in a football game, sorry, soccer game, thanks to you Yanks deciding that it needs to be called something completely different. And the guy who helped stop Director Steel from bleeding out after taking a large caliber rifle round to the shoulder, showing a proficiency in patching up gunshot wounds. Yet you know pretty much nothing about him. Seems like you thought that'd make a better guise for your subconscious then yourself. So, voila!"
"You said 'the last nine times'. What does that mean? You've told me maybe twice now, not counting us talking now. So?"
"This is not the first time that you've been here. You've been run through this thing nine previous times."
"Bullshit! That's not true! How do you explain my lack of memories of such a thing?"
"Simple. You've mentally blocked the memories because of the trauma that they have on your mind. You don't remember them and it's possible that you'll never remember."
I let out a long sigh as I looked down at the steering wheel, unsure if I believed myself. I must have been quiet for a while, as "he" spoke again.
"Tennyson?"
I looked back at him.
"I just can't make any sense out of this. You're not really here? We're not really talking right now?"
He shook his head.
"No way. I don't believe it." I said as I shook my head as well. "There's just no way."
"Do what you want. Whether you believe it or not, this is how things work in your current situation."
I let out another sigh.
"This is so much to take in. Wait, hold on. What about Mr. Trench Coat? What's his deal? Why does he act like he knows what I'm trying to do? It's almost like he's special and no one else except you is like that!"
"For one, I already told you. Subconscious. T..."
"Whatever!"
"Two, I'm afraid that I don't know anything about him, mate. Or rather, you don't know anything about him. As I stated before, I am your subconscious, an extension of you. So, in reality, it's not I who knows nothing about him, it's you."
I sighed again.
"Well, aren't you a bunch of help?"
I didn't wait to see the look on his face change; I just turned to look out the front windshield. I began to think as I stared at the wall several feet ahead of me.
What's so bad about wanting to change the past? Who wouldn't want to try to make their future better if they had the chance?
"Why can't I change the past? It seems dumb not to! If had a shitty past, wouldn't you want to fix it?"
Nathan didn't answer.
"Nathan? Nathan?"
I turned to look at the passenger seat, to find it empty. He was gone, just like he had disappeared the last two times I saw him.
"God damn it." I cursed. "Why does he always do that?"
Eventually, I started the car again and put it into reverse.
"Well, better head home." I muttered as I backed the car out of the space I had parked in. "As if I have anything better to do."
Several Hours Later
Ben's House
For the past hour or so, I had been sitting on my bed, with my notebook open in my lap. As I sat there, thoughts of my talk with Mr. Trench Coat and the conversation with "Nathan" ran rampant. When I had opened the notebook, I had set out to note down the small changes that had occurred. But I'd be lying if I said that I got that done.
I think I see now why "Nathan" wants me to do nothing. He said that as I try to change things, I end up only making them worse. If that's true, then what's the point of trying to change things if I'll only get a worse future than the one I already know? Is it really worth risking a better future?
I sighed and got up as I shut the notebook. I pulled up the mattress.
That settles it, I thought as I placed it under there. I won't try to change anything. Even as painful as it will be, I have to let the timeline flow as it was always meant to. Some of it will be God awful to relive, but to get back to something that I'm familiar with? It'll all be worth it.
I put the mattress down over the notebook.
If I'm really to let go off all this, I have to do away with the book. I'll tear out the pages that I wrote on and when Mom and Dad aren't home, I'll burn them in the backyard.
"It's all bullshit, really. There's no way that all of this is in my head." I whispered to myself. "I can't believe that all of this isn't really happening. I'm not crazy."
I turned off the light before laying on my bed, not bothering to change out of my day clothes or to pull back the sheets. I let out another sigh.
"Well, I guess tomorrow it'll be back to normal." I whispered. "I just wish that everything hadn't gone down the drain."
I yawned and rolled over onto my side, closing my eyes as I did.
Author's Note:
* And that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this one.
* Overall, what did you guys think of this one? What do you think is going on with this "Mr. Trench Coat" character? Do you think it's justifiable for Ben to abandon his attempts to change everything if it means everything he knows will end up being worse?
* Do you think the two figures, that being "Nathan" and Mr. Trench Coat are pushing Ben in a negative direction? Please let me know all of your thoughts; I'm quite interested in hearing them.
* I believe that's going to do it for me. I'm going to go, though. So, have a Bwen-tastic day and bye.
Review Responses
mike204 (Chapter 114): Good job with the chapter keep it up
Thanks, Mike. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for the review, as always.
Next Chapter: Ben begins to lie low, determined to let time flow as it was meant to. However, after a bit of a time jump, he begins to have second thoughts.
