AUTHOR's NOTE: I do not own Ben 10 or any of the Ben 10 characters.

Ben sat in his car and looked at his watch. The rain was hitting softly against the window as he thought to himself, Am I making the right choice? It was hard to tell with all the crying and yelling Gwen did when she confronted him at the house. He knew that Kevin was their friend, but they had to think of everyone else for once. Their friend was a threat to everyone around him and there was no telling when he might lose control. This time Kevin hurt a lot of Plumbers, almost killing one. It was the same thing last time. Grandpa Max had told him to do what has to be done. Gwen only sees Kevin as a friend and she can't read between the lines. Ben tensed up as he saw Kevin flying overhead and disappear behind some buildings. The teenager knew that the monster was tracking Gwen's energy. He stepped out of his vehicle and walked in the rain over to the "meetup" point. Ben hid behind a corner and watched the titan land in front of his cousin. He saw them talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. It wasn't long before a fight began and Gwen tried to lure him into her trap, but Kevin knew better and blasted a stream of fire in her direction. She put up a magical barrier to block it but the impact shattered the shield and sent her flying onto her back. Kevin stomped forward to drain her of her energy, but was interrupted by a cold robotic voice.

"And to think she was so willing to help you."

Kevin turned around to see who was speaking and glared at the familiar person. Ben stood in his ultimate Echo-Echo form, the rain dripping down his stainless steel body as he stepped into view.

"Tennyson. I knew you'd be here." Kevin growled at the alien.

"Yet you were stupid enough to show your face."

Ben didn't let Kevin respond as he raised his arms out in front of him and shot out supersonic waves in the direction of his enemy. Kevin was pummeled by the sudden attack, but crossed his arms in front of his face and stood his ground. Ben dialed up the intensity and Kevin was swept off his feet and sent flying through several buildings behind him. The hero began to walk in the direction of the crash site, but was grabbed from behind by Gwen.

"Wait! You said you'd try my way first!" The girl protested.

"Yeah… I lied."

Ben shook the girl off and continued to where Kevin landed. He saw a tank soaring through the air and he quickly tossed two discs out to intercept it. The sonic discs trapped the tank in a sonic forcefield and crushed it effectively, before returning to Echo-Echo. Ben didn't notice Kevin flying through the holes he made to shoulder-check the distracted Ben into a lamp post. The boy fell to the ground with a groan and Kevin immediately shot several diamond projectiles and a stream of flames at the dazed hero. Ben raised his hand up and released an array of supersonic rings at the attack. The intense air pressure dissipated the fire and shattered the diamonds into pieces.

"You think you can beat me, Tennyson? I have all your powers. I know-"

"Shut up, you fucking prick. I was willing to make this work for Gwen's sake but I know that even if you go back to normal, you're just a disaster waiting to happen. So let's cut the chatter and get straight to the point." Ben interrupted hastily.

Kevin snarled at the hero and blasted more fire in his direction. Ben dodged to the side as the flames engulfed the old car behind him and threw several discs out that surrounded Kevin in the air.

"Sonic DOOM!" Ben screeched as he released an all out attack on his former friend.

The sonic pulses trapped Kevin in a forcefield of supersonic waves that scrambled his brain and immediately rendered him unconscious. The older teen crashed into the ground underneath him in defeat. Ben sighed and walked towards the body with the intent of finishing Kevin off.

"NO BEN!"

Ben turned to see Gwen running towards him with Cooper and Darkstar in tow.

"Ben, please don't do this."

Ben transformed back into his human self and glared at Gwen.

"He was going to kill you, Gwen! And he would do it again. He doesn't give a shit about you. Or anyone! I HAVE to do this. Why can't you understand?"

"Fine. Be the hero and protect the innocent. That's Kevin too!"

"ENOUGH! You come here with a smuggler and a villain and expect me to trust you? Over Paradox? It's clear to me now that you can't handle this type of work."

"Hey come on, Ben. Leave her-" Cooper started.

"Nobody is talking to you, Cooper." Ben snapped.

Ben transformed into Rath and looked down at the knocked out Kevin as he cocked his arm back, the hero pointed the sharp appendage at Kevin's head. Gwen watched in horror as Ben plunged his claw into Kevin's face. There was a sickening crunch as it drilled through his skull and entered his brain. Ben twisted the claw before pulling it out quickly. Cooper bent over to vomit violently as bloodied chunks of skull and brain flew out of the massive hole in Kevin's head. Gwen dropped to her knees shaking and screamed at the loss of her lover, sobs racked her body as she hugged herself. Ben took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he transformed back into his normal form. He pressed the comms button on the watch and spoke solemnly,

"Grandpa Max? Mission complete. Please send a patrol to collect the body."

"Roger that, Ben."

Ben turned around to Cooper, who was still dry heaving.

"Get Gwen home safe. And I suggest you clean the mess you made in the lab unless you want the Plumbers to confiscate it."

Ben walked past Darkstar without a word and continued to his car. The rain felt a little heavier than before, but Ben realized it was his own tears that were wetting his cheeks. The hero transformed into Humungousaur and roared into the night sky before slamming his massive fist into the concrete, which sent cracks up and down the road and sidewalk. The initial impact reduced the ground to a crater of broken concrete. Ben changed back and slammed his fist onto his trunk.

"I didn't think you had it in you."

"You would be wise to walk away."

"I mean you killed your ally with no hesitation. I never heard of a hero that kil-"

Darkstar was cut off by a flash of green light. Then he was faced with one of Ben's aliens. Swampfire towered over the blonde with a scowl on his face and clenched fists. He was NOT in the mood for this.

"Back off. Now."

"Or what? You'll kill me too?"

Swampfire stared at the villain as his arm shot out to the side and released a baseball-sized fireball in the direction of an old barracks. As soon as the flames touched the building, it burst into a raging fire that engulfed the entire building in seconds.

"Listen up. I want you to crawl back to whatever shithole you came out of and tell all the villains and scum alike that if I hear so much as a PEEP from ANYONE. They're done. I just killed my best friend, so I won't think twice about offing one of you freaks. This is your one and only warning, Darkstar. Do not show your face around here again." Ben snarled.

Darkstar widened his eyes before flashing his signature smile.

"Sure thing. Anything for YOU, Tennyson." He said as he turned to leave.

Ben watched him walk off before getting into his car and driving off the military base onto the main road. The road was completely empty as he sped down the highway. He hated that he felt fine about what happened. While Gwen fell apart, he was perfectly okay with the events of today. It made him disgusted with himself and he felt soulless. He heard his phone go off through the Bluetooth and saw that it was Julie, he hesitated before pressing "answer".

"Hey Ben. You got plans tonight?"

"..."

"Ben?"

"Wha? Oh sorry, hey Julie. What's up?"

"Ben, are you okay?"

"Uhh yeah why?"

"You sound pretty distressed right now, is this a bad time?"

"Nah I'm just driving."

"Ookay. You want to hang out tonight? I was thinking we could watch a movie or something."

"Sure. Come over, I'll be home in like 30 minutes."

"Sounds great! See you then."

Ben ended the call and pushed down on the gas pedal as he flew down the country road. He made it in 20 minutes thanks to his brand-new sports car, the boy pulled into his driveway to see Julie walking up to his door.

"Oh you're here early." Julie said as she smiled at the boy.

"Yeah, no traffic."

They walked into his parent's house and Ben looked for any sign of his family, but remembered they left on a roadtrip with his aunt and uncle earlier in the day. Julie sat on the couch as Ben entered his kitchen to make popcorn. The hero walked back out with a bowl of the buttery snack and Julie looked away from the television to acknowledge his presence.

"Whoa. Is that blood?" Julie asked as she pointed to a small streak of dried blood on his jacket.

"Oh I cut myself on some glass earlier today, it must have bled through when I put my jacket back on. I'll be right back."

Ben rushed upstairs into his bedroom and threw his jacket into the corner of his room, he didn't know whose blood that was but he didn't want to find out. He changed out of his shirt as well and fixed up his hair before heading back down stairs. He sat down with Julie on the couch and they cuddled up to watch "Sumo Slammers" on cable.

"You smell really good. New perfume?" Ben asked.

Julie blushed before responding, "Yeah haha thank you."

Ben looked into Julie's bright brown eyes and immediately felt at peace with everything. Julie blushed again before leaning in slowly to plant a small kiss on the boy's lips. They stared at each other for a few moments before their lips crashed together again in a passionate kiss, their hands roaming each other's bodies. Julie moaned as Ben pulled away and kissed her neck softly, she felt like she was heaven until the sound of the door flying open broke her out of her trance.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Julie yelped and turned to an angry-looking Gwen, she pressed herself closer into Ben's arms.

"You KILLED Kevin so you come home to FUCK JULIE?" Gwen spat at her cousin.

"Excuse you, why are you in my house?"

"I came to talk to you, but it seems like you're busy with other things."

"A simple text would have answered that for you."

"I can't believe you. I can't fucking believe you, Ben."

"BELIEVE WHAT? Did you expect me to come home and cry myself to sleep? I was the hero that did what nobody could do!"

"You're not a hero… You're just a fucking dog that follows orders."

Ben was starting to get pissed off, the teenager stood up from the couch and glared at his cousin.

"I dare you to say that again. He wasn't just your friend. Get the fuck out." Ben said sharply.

Gwen shook her head in disgust before walking out.

"Fuck you, hero." Gwen muttered as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Julie was flabbergasted at the scene that just unfolded in front of her, she never saw Gwen get that mad much less at Ben. She watched her boyfriend sit down on the couch and put his head in his hands. She sat beside him to comfort him but he pushed her away.

"I'm sorry, Julie but I just want to be alone right now."

"Oh. Okay that's no problem, I'll be on my way then. Call me later or whatever. I love you."

Ben didn't respond and Julie hung her head in shame and walked out of the house. The teenage boy stood up and flipped the coffee table over before walking upstairs. He entered his room and jumped on his bed. He felt tears threatening to spill again as he laid there. Fuck this, the boy thought as he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

AUTHOR's NOTE: Hello Ben 10 community, I am new to FanFiction as a writer and I finally decided to write some stories. This will not be a crazy long story and will probably end in five to ten chapters. It was meant to be an alternate version where Kevin is killed by Ben and we see the aftereffects. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and review any thoughts on the first chapter.