Magister Peterson knew it, he knew something was fishy about Nor. After meeting with them he reported back to his office for a business call. Rick, himself, had confirmed that Nor wasn't supposed to be on that ship; in fact he was told to make his way back to base in a hurry. It made sense as to why commander Rick wanted them to rush back to HQ; Nor was carrying some rather precious cargo on his ship. The bodies of the Tennyson terrorist group. Peterson was undoubtedly shocked, but held his tongue. Rick told him to keep them away from Ben Tennyson until his team reached onboard. The Plumber needed to keep this a secret, so he decided to make his way to the holding cell to deliver the news himself.
Gwen was fiddling with her fingers as she sat on the long metal bench. One could smell her nervousness from a mile away. Cooper had requested for a bathroom break and has been gone for some time. Lucy was busy keeping the guards distracted with seemingly random questions. Gwen was the only person not doing something and it was killing her inside. They were wasting time just sitting there, Gwen had to make a move quickly.
Carly accidentally bumped into someone at the corner. She realized it was magister Peterson and quickly apologized to the higher ranked official. He waved her off and insisted that it was his fault for absentmindedly running through the halls.
"What's all the rush about anyway?" she questioned, interested.
"It would be best not to say," he replied softly as he checked the hall for onlookers.
"If it has to do with Ben then I can inform him of the news; I'm sure you're busy with other things."
"No, it has nothing to do with Ben. Well not exactly… I suppose it does concern the Tennyson boy."
He remembered that one of the deceased members was his cousin and the alien was sure that the rest were close friends to him. It tugged at his heartstrings to think about Ben not knowing of such tragedy and being left in the dark. Peterson knew that these people were criminals but punishing the man like that would not benefit him. The magister was no monster after all.
"I have dire news of Ben Tennyson's cousin…"
Carly's face sunk at the new information.
Ben was stirred awake by yelling and he sat up in his chair to listen for more.
"Let me in!"
"You're not allowed."
"He has to know!"
The man heard all manner of pleas and quarrelling between someone and the guard. Ben recognized the voice to be Carly's and wondered what was happening. The metal door was slowly opened to reveal a disheartened Carly rushing inside.
"Ben! It's your cousin… I'm sorry."
His heart dropped. He didn't need any further explanation. Ben understood what she was trying to say. Reality slowed down, his surroundings started to spin, and he couldn't get in control of his breathing. Ben's heart was racing as his chest began to ache. Sweat formed at his brow, Ben was suddenly getting very hot. A panic attack. He was having a panic attack. Carly rushed over to him and tapped his shoulder rapidly.
"Ben? Ben, listen to me! You have to calm down," Carly started. "Look around you right now, where are you?"
"M-my cell room…"
"What color is the room?"
"Like a steel color," he choked.
"What day of the week is it?"
"Thursday," Ben replied more confidently.
"Who are you?" Carly finished.
"Ben Tennyson."
He calmed down: his breathing and heart was under control, but the pain was still there. Carly held him tightly in her arms, passion resonating off her person. Ben was warm and he felt safe. Then came the tears, the hot salty tears piling up in the corners of his eyes. He groaned in mental anguish trying to keep it all in. Carly rubbed his back gently and hummed in his ear like a mother.
"Shh it's okay. It's okay."
Violent sobbing could be heard from outside the room. Magister Peterson lowered his head in respect for the grieving man. He was planning on coming inside but he decided that Carly handled it perfectly. He felt better giving the man some closure, and the alien turned to make his way to the holding sector.
Gwen was still thinking about where to go from here, she watched Lucy complain to the guards about not having access to communicators. Cooper returned from his backroom trip and sat away from the guards' view and began to tinker with something. The redhead was interrupted by rapidly approaching footsteps. Magister Peterson stepped into view with a stern expression on his face.
"Nor, we must discuss some things about your presence on my ship," he called out.
"You say that like we're trespassing," Lucy replied suspiciously.
"I got in touch with commander Rick and he told me how you're not even supposed to be here right now."
"What? Bullshit! I spoke to him earlier and he told me to catch a ride with the passing prison transporter."
"That's not what he told me; you're supposed to be on your way to HQ in your OWN ship."
Things were quickly getting heated between the two, if it kept going like this soon they'd escalate into a screaming match. The guards allowed their superiors to argue for a couple minutes, not wanting to interrupt the other.
"ENOUGH! I will not keep arguing with you!" Peterson shouted.
"I want to speak to commander Rick!" Lucy snapped back.
"The only thing you'll be doing is waiting until his unit arrives on scene and they will decide what to do with you," the magister spoke loudly.
"Fine! If it's such a problem then we'll leave right now."
"The black ops team are already on their way, I was told to keep you in the holding sector until they reach."
Magister Peterson left the trio in silence and returned to his administrative duties. Gwen muttered curses underneath her breath. The last thing she needed was Rick pushing his nose into her plan so early. Ben's location is still unknown and now they have heavy-hitters arriving soon. If the black ops teammates get here then their chances of springing Ben out drop to zero. Cooper looked over at Gwen for guidance as Lucy kept the guards busy.
"What's the plan?" he asked curiously.
"We need to get to Ben right now."
Cooper lifted a small device into view and whispered, "I got a fiery distraction on standby".
Gwen thought to herself for a couple moments. How could they spin this in their favor?
"Screw it. We'll bring this whole place down on top of us if we have to."
Cooper nodded and pressed the button. A muffled explosion could be heard from their location, their cell began to rumble slightly. Next came the sirens and warning lights. It seemed like the bomb knocked out a generator because the lights flickered multiple times. The guards looked up in confusion at the sudden noise and shaking.
"Seems like our conversation is cut short," Lucy acknowledged subtly.
The woman changed back into her normal form, causing the guards to freeze on the spot from shock. A massive sludge arm slammed into their chests and swept them into the wall. Lucy squeezed between the bars to retrieve the keys from a fallen guard. Cooper decided to blow the cell door off the hinges instead. He shrugged when Lucy glared at him for his unnecessary noise. Cooper picked up a discarded weapon, released the safety, and glanced at Gwen.
The sorceress nodded before running out into the hall. Their next goal was to find Ben as soon as possible. Staff members ran from the scene and security forces engaged the Tennyson team. Gwen put up a shield of mana to protect them from the storm of laser fire as they pushed up the hallway. The wall of magic collided with the line of men, crushing them against the solid wall behind them. Cooper returned fire on some stragglers, hitting clean shots on the soldiers. Lucy glanced at a directory and saw what they were looking for. She charged for the set of double doors that led into a stairwell. Cooper and Gwen followed the descending girl with no hesitation.
"I hope you know where you're going!" Cooper yelled as he shot a soldier running up the stairs.
Lucy slapped a barrel out of her face and quickly kicked another soldier into a corner. His head splattered against the wall when Lucy crushed it with the spiked ball on the end of her arm.
"Trust me!" she shouted back.
They were about to exit through a door when Gwen grabbed Lucy's hand roughly.
"What's the big deal?" Lucy asked.
"What's the big deal? You just killed someone!"
"Are we seriously going to have this conversation right now?"
"Yes we are! We don't kill people if we can help it! Remember that we're not like them!" Gwen hissed sharply, looking between Lucy and Cooper.
"Oh please! This isn't the place to act like a goody two-shoes," Lucy fumed as she ran out of the door.
Gwen narrowed her eyes at the disrespect of her wishes. Cooper tapped her shoulder and smiled.
"She's just stressed. I'll keep an eye on her. Let's go."
The next hallway was filled with enemies and Lucy was already going head to head with them. Cooper and Gwen jumped into the mix to assist their friend. Cooper was aiming for non-lethal spots, and Gwen kept her magical energy low as she hurled mana discs at the soldiers. Lucy was hungry for a fight. She transformed her hands into an enlarged sludge mallet and mace; the woman was swinging and smashing through enemy ranks with ease. Bullets passed through her like a ghost and lasers seemed to have no effect on her. Anyone trying to engage her in hand to hand combat was immediately clobbered and tossed aside by the hammer and ball combo.
Gwen was nervous about how Lucy was fighting at the moment, the blonde was being rather aggressive. Cooper blamed it on stress and he may be right, but that doesn't give her the excuse to kill people. The hallway was soon filled with groaning barely conscious soldiers laying on the floor. They were going to have a talk once this was over. Gwen didn't want them to become ruthless murderers like many of their enemies.
Carly was in the bathroom when she heard the blast. It scared her half to death and almost sent her into an episode. She used the grounding technique to calm herself down, the same technique she used to calm Ben down. Carly exited the bathroom and scanned the hallway for anyone. Most staff members were making their way to safe zones, while the security forces flooded the hallways. Another attack? The blonde was frightened of who might be attacking. It couldn't be Ben's friends. That means it must be actual bad guys, but she wondered who had enough balls to attack a fleet of Plumber ships. Must be someone powerful.
Carly heard radio chatter of intruders on the floor above her. She pulled her service weapon from her purse, in case she would need to use it. The woman headed in the direction of Ben's holding cell, she would technically need to evacuate him to a safe zone. As she got closer to the room, yelling and the sound of fighting filled her ears. Agent Jetson peeked around the corner to see security forces firing at an unseen enemy. She'll have to go around and avoid the gunfight or risk getting involved to save time. Carly turned to take another path to her destination.
A robotic voice came over the intercom telling the ship of an ongoing lockdown commencing, there was ten minutes left until complete shutdown. That would prevent anyone from entering or leaving the ship. Gwen thought it was her lucky day after hearing that announcement. If the spacecraft goes into lockdown then the black ops soldiers wouldn't be able to get onboard immediately. That would give them more time to reach Ben and figure out a plan to escape. Now they needed to get rid of the grunts delaying them from step one.
Lucy landed a well placed kick to a Plumber's head, slumping the man against the wall. She ducked behind metal crates to avoid a stun grenade thrown at her feet. The blonde's hand grew to the size of a car to smack the heavy boxes towards her opponents. The men scattered when the objects were hurled into the air. Lucy stretched her arm out to a ceiling pipe and grabbed hold, before launching herself through the air like Tarzan. Her boots collided with the chest of another soldier, sending him flying into a door. Lucy corkscrewed mid-air and shot both her hands out to a Plumber on either side of her. She pulled them forward just as she landed, and their momentum caused them to butt heads right above her. Lucy rolled out of the way to dodge the falling bodies and scanned the hall for her next targets.
Gwen stepped into another corridor to see several heavy-set doors on either side. Many of them were ajar except for one near the end. She spotted two guards standing beside the door. The redhead found it strange that they haven't moved from their position, despite the ongoing emergency. They must be protecting something important or someone, she told herself. Gwen pointed to the door; that must be their objective.
"There! Ben must be in there!" Gwen shouted to the others.
The loud voice got the attention of the tall guards and they turned to face their opponents. One brandished a polesword with an electrified end and the other launched forward through use of his jetpack, drawing two laser pistols from his waist. Cooper ripped off his Plumber disguise and allowed his nanosuit to cover his body, whilst Lucy enlarged the size of her forearms and fists.
Cooper used his own thrusters to soar through the air to meet the jetpack guard in a battle of projectiles. Lucy stuck to the ground and engaged the other titan in melee combat. The guards were clearly trained vigorously and skilled in their weapon use, that didn't stop the blonde duo from fighting their hardest. Lasers flew past Cooper as he zoomed towards the retreating jetpack guard; everytime the blonde took a step forward, the soldier took two steps back. Lucy was equally struggling in her own way. Electricity didn't exactly go with her alien background, in fact it was one of the Lenopan weaknesses. She tried to keep her distance from the shocking weapon while scanning for openings. The guard almost never left himself open and if he did, Lucy wouldn't be able to strike without being tased.
This would be an impossible fight for the duo. If they were alone. Cooper launched forward for a flying shoulder check into the back of the unaware polesword wielder, throwing the guard off balance. Lucy vaulted over the pair and flicked a ball of sludge into the jetpack's air-intake of the chasing soldier. The resulting malfunction sent the guard crashing into the wall parallel to him. He jumped to his feet in a hurry to help his partner, relentlessly firing off his dual laser pistols at the blonde. Lucy shot out her stretchy arm, ignoring the lasers impacting with her hand, into a mass of sludge that surrounded her foe instantly. She squeezed the man in her slimy grasp until his suit crushed like a tin can. Lucy dropped the defeated guard onto the ground and turned to see Cooper blast the unprepared man into the wall with a beam of light.
Gwen slowly approached the door while the fight was wrapping up. There was a plaque on the door to let staff know who was inside. Gwen's eyes glanced over the words, "Prisoner 1001- Benjamin Tennyson". This was him, her cousin was on the other side of this door. They did it. She scanned the door for clues on how to open it, it was definitely locked up tight. Gwen could laugh at the irony of the situation: they traveled the galaxy looking for him, fighting all types of foes, only for a door to keep them from seeing each other.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on that door," a female voice snarled.
Gwen didn't even think to check the corner for enemies and now someone had flanked them. She could see the golden hair of a woman, but what concerned her most was the weapon pointed at the side of her head. Cooper and Lucy were too far away to make a move.
Gwen slowly put her hands up and breathed, "you don't get it…"
"Shut up! I understand. You assholes came here to cause Ben more trouble. Well I won't allow it!" Carly hissed at the intruder.
Gwen's eyes widened at the realization of the voice. It was louder and more angry than the first time she heard it but it was still the same. The redhead glanced back into the eyes of Carly, the woman from grandpa Max's funeral. Carly felt the same shock of seeing the reported dead person knocking on Ben's cell door. Was she being deceived or just going crazy? She lowered her weapon for a moment.
"How?" she muttered. "They said you were dead…"
Gwen was about to take a step towards the Plumber when Cooper's repulsors blasted the woman back ten feet. A scream rang out and Gwen was pretty sure it was her voice as she rushed towards Carly.
"Coop what the fuck?" Lucy scolded the man.
"What? She had a gun to Gwen's head!"
"I think they know each other."
"Oh shit…"
The duo ran over to the kneeling Gwen and saw her cradling the woman. Cooper was relieved that he used a nonlethal amount of energy. But the woman was still barely conscious from the attack. Gwen immediately started healing her in hopes that she could help them.
"Gwen, I'm sorry but the Plumbers are gonna be on top of us in 30 seconds. We gotta get Ben and leave this area," Cooper announced.
"I can't just leave her here."
"No, it's fine, leave me. If they find you here then you'll never escape. Please take Ben far away from this place," Carly coughed. "Grab the keys off the guards then go upstairs to the staff emergency route, if you can slip past and steal a shuttle off this ship then you're home free."
Lucy darted over to the fallen soldiers and took their keys before returning to the door to unlock it.
"What about the lockdown? This place won't allow people in or out, I thought," Cooper questioned.
"The staff emergency shuttles are the only way off in case of a terrorist threat. The lockdown is mainly to keep more bad guys from entering the vessel."
"Got it!" Lucy called out as she pulled the door open.
A body tackled her onto the ground from inside the room. Lucy put her hands up to block any punches from hitting her face but they never came. She looked up to see a surprised Ben with his fist cocked back. He scanned Lucy's face and turned his head to see Gwen, Carly and Cooper nearby. Ben didn't even feel the tears until they were streaming down his cheeks. He stood up slowly and looked between his friends and family in silence.
Lucy hugged him from behind and said, "Good to see you too."
Gwen ran into the brown-haired man's arms and she buried her face in his chest, her tears wetting his jumpsuit. None of it seemed real, a couple of days ago everything was bleak and now Ben stood in her arms.
"Let's save the reunion party till after we get off the Plumber's transporter, yeah?" Cooper announced.
The group could hear approaching footsteps, they'd be here any second now. Lucy wiped her red eyes as she stepped away. Gwen did the same, grabbing Ben's hand and pulling the shocked man along. Ben didn't say a word, but allowed for himself to be led forward. He stared at Carly, who was trying to pick herself up, for a moment. His eyes asked if this was a dream or not. Carly gave him a reassuring smile in return.
Agent Jetson watched the group disappear around the corner and she wondered if that was the last time she'd see Ben Tennyson. She doubted it. The sound of her name being yelled broke her out of the trance. She turned towards Magister Peterson running up to her with several guards in tow.
"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly as he stabilized the woman.
"I think so."
"What happened here-"
"Sir, the prisoner has escaped," a guard interjected.
Magister Peterson's eyes widened at the information and yelled for the guards to find him. There would be hell to pay if Ben Tennyson escaped. He mustn't allow Tennyson to leave this spacecraft, even if it killed him.
"We can talk later. An explosion erupted in one of the bathrooms on the second floor, it's being handled as we speak. I'm going to reverse the lockdown, can I count on you to track down Ben?"
Before Carly could answer, guards called for the Magister's attention on the current problem. He took his entourage of soldiers and made a mad dash down the hallway. Jetson put away her weapon and yanked the heels off her aching feet. She picked them up and ran in the opposite direction towards Ben and his friends. She had to make a decision, the woman was a dedicated Plumber after all. Treason is a crime not taken lightly by the organization. But when she had that barrel pointed at Gwen's head and noticed who she was, that was one of the only times she's ever hesitated in her entire life. An earlier version of herself would be disgusted at her current self. The universe might give her another chance to show where her loyalty lies, Carly wasn't sure where she'd fall.
The group was sprinting through the hallway, Lucy and Cooper took care of anyone stupid enough to get in their way. Ben hasn't said a word since their initial meeting and it was making Gwen nervous about what they possibly did to her cousin. Seeing Ben in such a shocked state was scary for the redhead. He was usually the go-getter that jumped headfirst into a situation if it meant helping someone. I guess we all changed over the year, Gwen told herself.
More guards appeared to fight the group. Gwen let go of Ben's hand to cast a shield in front of them. Lasers filled the wide hallway as the Plumber's fired upon them. They'd all need therapy after this fiasco. Cooper returned fire with a barrage of small rockets aimed at the center of the firing squad. He didn't have time to think about non-lethal tactics, leaving this ship was their biggest concern. A fiery explosion erupted from the rockets that scattered the soldiers in different directions. They kept moving forward with their head on a swivel, scanning the area for any more enemies.
The group ascended the stairs in a heartbeat and burst through the doors to another hallway. It was strangely empty and quiet, even the sirens had stopped beeping. Gwen didn't care about her surroundings, she just kept running forward. They were almost to their destination, she could feel it in her gut. She glanced at a sign that read: 'Emergency Shuttles' and the woman was instantly relieved. Nothing could ruin this moment; well almost nothing.
A small fireball flew past her head at great speed. Gwen could feel the hairs on her head singe from the intense temperature of the projectile. It stopped everyone in their tracks once the ball of flames impacted the door to safety, leaving scorch marks on the steel surface.
"Leaving so soon?"
The voice stern, yet nonchalant, sent chills down the spines of the group. Cooper was the first to react and pulled Ben behind cover. He had a plan but he needed the time to execute it. Gwen and Lucy slowly turned around to face the black ops soldier. Aidan stood there menacingly with his fingers wrapped around the neck of a badly beaten Carly. A crew of soldiers stood behind him with their guns aimed at Gwen and friends, waiting for orders from their boss.
"I have your precious partner, Tennyson. But I'm not a monster, I'll cut you a deal: if you give yourself up then I won't fry blondie here at a cool 1000 degrees."
Magister Peterson didn't expect this matter to turn so drastic. How could the soldier use one of their own as bait? There were plenty of other options to recapture Tennyson and the man picked the worse one. The magister thought suspending the lockdown and allowing for commander Rick's men to enter the spacecraft would help things. It seems that he made a terrible mistake.
"Agent! This has gone far enough! This is not how the Plumbers handle things!" the magister shouted at Aidan.
Aidan glanced back at the alien with an intense death scare, his pupils ablaze with anger. Peterson lowered his head and stepped away, silently cursing himself for not standing up to injustice.
Ben peeked from cover when he heard mention of Carly. His eyes widened in shock at the state of his partner. Tennyson was about to jump into the mix, but Cooper pulled him back immediately.
"Hold still! What are you gonna do anyway? Did you forget your watch is locked?" Cooper snapped at the absent-minded man.
Ben spoke for the first time since exiting his cell, "He's gonna kill Carly!"
Cooper ignored him and continued to work on the shackles locked around Ben's wrist. He hoped this guy would continue to bluff for a bit longer while he worked. At the end of the day, his objective wasn't to save Carly; there were more important things to worry about like their escape.
Aidan was getting impatient. He hated seeing the two women in front of him because that meant Horus was most definitely dead. What a self-pompous idiot. Rick sent him here with the intent of ending this circus once and for-all, no matter the cost. He even gave the ginger permission to destroy Ben Tennyson if it came down to it. Aidan just wished that stupid bitch didn't have to come with him. He didn't trust her, she always did what she wanted. Aidan didn't understand why Rick kept her around. He didn't even know where she was at this very moment.
"Let's not waste any more time huh?" he announced. "I will kill her, Ben."
Lucy and Gwen got into a defensive stance, they weren't going to give up Ben. Cooper was having a hard time keeping Ben from jumping up to save Carly. The man was very adamant about not letting her die. He just needed a couple more minutes and his plan could come to fruition.
Aidan sucked his teeth. He was in no mood to fight these people. All he wanted was Ben Tennyson. They were being so difficult about such a futile effort. Fine, he'll just have to make the deal sweeter.
"I'm willing to up the ante. If you turn yourself in then I'll allow your friends to board a shuttle and leave this place unharmed," Aidan negotiated.
Now that's what I'm talking about! Cooper shouted in his head. He grabbed Ben and moved out from cover with him. The blonde stepped forward to hand over Tennyson. An escape from this place was all he was looking for. Gwen stared at Cooper with betrayal in her eyes.
"What are you doing?!" she yelled frantically.
"I'm saving our asses! We have the opportunity to get out of here unscathed," Cooper responded.
"Yeah, but without Ben!" Lucy informed the blonde.
"We tried, Gwen! And now you can see for yourself that getting Ben back is impossible at this point! Let's leave with our lives intact at least," Cooper tried to persuade.
Gwen couldn't even move. She was completely thunderstruck by this 180 from Cooper. They just got him back and now they were going to lose him. Ben glanced at Gwen with apologetic eyes.
"Thanks for coming back," he said.
Aidan released Carly and she tumbled onto the ground, gasping for air. Cooper helped the agent up and brought her back to the side with Gwen. Ben was grabbed by guards immediately in exchange. Aidan turned to the group with a devious smile.
"Well a deal is a deal," he started. "To be honest I didn't think you were gonna give him up-"
Aidan was cut off by the thud of metal hitting the floor. A hand grasped his shoulder firmly as a green flash shined behind him. Impossible. Aidan swore that he saw Ben's restraint still on him when he walked over here. What was going on? He glanced at the blonde for answers and saw the man staring right back at him with a smirk on his face. A monstrous roar pierced his ears and sent chills down his spine.
"Take Carly and get out of here!" Humungousaur bellowed.
Aidan didn't have any time to react before he was swatted aside into the wall by a huge fist. The sounds of gunfire and screams filled the hallway as Ben went on a rampage.
Cooper waved at the duo to start running. He placed Carly on his back and was running right behind them to the exit. Lucy yanked the door open and dashed inside with the others in tow. The techy didn't know Ben's plan for his own escape but he could worry about that when they were back on their own ship. Fate was on their side, there was one more shuttle left in the dock area. The group boarded it quickly and Cooper began to press a series of buttons. The engine fired up and a countdown started. Now it was just a waiting game until takeoff. They had two minutes and 30 seconds. Cooper can say with certainty that it was the longest two and half minutes of his life.
"I should have known you would try to weasel yourself out of this, Tennyson!" Aidan roared.
The black ops soldier looked at the destroyed hallway and fallen Plumbers scattered around the place. Nothing was ever easy for him, and of course his partner was nowhere to be found. Aidan rolled to the side to dodge a crate thrown in his direction. Humungousaur came charging towards him at full speed. Aidan raised his hand and a stream of flames erupted from his palm. Ben felt the temperature rise exponentially as a wall of fire surrounded him. The alien crossed his arms to block the impact of the attack. Aidan continued to blast the dinosaur with fire until he saw him drop to one knee. The soldier scanned the blaze for any movement; an armored arm swatted away the flames and NRG came running out of the inferno.
Aidan shot several fireballs at the armored alien, which to his surprise had no effect. He ducked underneath the punch thrown at his face and blasted NRG with another surge of fire. Ben responded with his own radioactive energy, ripping through Aidan's attack. Ben's fist made contact with the soldier's chest, cracking the chestplate completely and sending Aidan flying back. The Plumber's eyes radiated hatred for the alien as he jumped to his feet.
Aidan put both of his hands out before putting them together in an open position. A firestorm ignited from his palms that enveloped the entire hallway instantly. The temperature rose to several thousand degrees in a few seconds, melting everything that it came in contact with. The fire changed from red-orange to a smooth orange color. Ben glanced back to see objects and bodies disintegrating in the intense heat. Tennyson had simply knocked out the Plumbers, and Aidan killed them with this attack. Anymore heat and the soldier will blow the entire hallway up.
A quick green flash and smoke filled the space quickly. Water Hazard used high pressure ice cold water to go against the flames, creating an intense cloud of steam in the corridor. Ben used his hands to absorb the moisture and steam from the air and clear the space between them.
"Are you trying to kill everyone on this ship?" Ben asked angrily.
"If I must!" Aidan snarled.
Water Hazard doused the man before he could conjure more fire. Ben was pissed that Aidan would be willing to sacrifice everyone on this ship for one person.
"You're insane."
Aidan put his hands out for another attack and Ben did the same.
"Why do you care? You're no hero," Aidan shouted.
Water and fire collided in the middle, creating more steam in the destroyed hallway. It was a stalemate; they wouldn't get anywhere doing this. Ben didn't mind; he was only trying to buy time for his friends to get away. Aidan launched forward by igniting flames from his palms. Ben was prepared to blow him away with a cannon of water but the man zoomed right past him. Is he going after the escape pod? Ben asked himself. He grabbed at the fleeing soldier in quick response, but was pushed back by an explosion from Aidan's palms.
The soldier was a couple feet from the door when he was suddenly stopped mid-flight, glanced down at his foot and saw water in the form of a whip wrapped around his ankle. Water Hazard pulled Aidan back and threw him into the wall, before dragging the man towards him.
"You're really insane if you think I'll let you leave," Ben stormed.
Aidan found himself flying back to the alien.
"Actually you did exactly what I wanted."
Ben was confused by the statement, but Aidan crashed into him as a flash of green enveloped the two. Tennyson laid on his back with Aidan's hand on his chest from pressing his Omnimatrix.
"I win," Aidan taunted.
The soldier's victory was short-lived when two pink mana discs blasted the man in the back. Ben socked the dazed Aidan in the jaw and pushed him off, standing to his feet in the process.
"About time you showed," Ben chuckled. "Are the others safe?"
"Yeah, they're on their way to Tetrax," Gwen replied.
"You know this is the first time we've fought seriously side by side," Ben insisted.
"Pfft, what are you talking about, doofus? We've fought together plenty of times."
"You know what I mean, dweeb. Try to keep up-"
Gwen was already charging into battle. Ben couldn't contain his laugh and ran to join her as he slammed down on his watch. Diamondhead followed the sorceress' lead with a barrage of magic and diamond projectiles. Aidan exploded in anger of his target getting away for the second time. He released a stream of flames toward the duo. Gwen slid underneath the fire and blasted the man in the back with her signature move, disrupting the soldier's attack. Aidan turned his attention to Gwen, only to be slugged by Ben's diamond fist from the side. He glanced at Diamondhead to shoot off a fireball, but was interrupted by Gwen kicking the back of his knee. Aidan fell forward into another punch and blood splattered from his busted lip and broken nose. The black ops soldier stumbled away, a beam of pink hit him square in the chest. Gwen and Ben went in for the kill. The cousins took turns punching and kicking their enemy in this killer double team.
Aidan tried to slip an attack in, but every time he was stunned by a mana blast or a punch from a diamond-hard fist. He succumbed to his injuries and slid down the wall in a bloody mess. Ben was about to finish the job with a sharpened diamond edge but had to transform it into a shield to protect him and Gwen from a red beam of energy. Even though he blocked the attack, the impact was still powerful enough to push the duo away from Aidan.
" I think he learned his lesson already," a female voice announced.
Ruby stood at the end of the hallway with several guards behind her. She stopped them from advancing further.
"Let them go. This fight is a loss cause at this moment."
Ben narrowed his eyes at the black ops soldier. This was their chance to kill another powerful foe. He couldn't let that opportunity slip. Gwen touched his shoulder and shook her head, she knew what he was thinking. It wasn't worth it. The duo turned to leave when Ruby opened her mouth again.
"We'll meet again soon. Enjoy your time together."
Gwen and Ben made their way back to the shuttle room, there was none left for them to escape in. Ben glanced out the window and saw a ship lingering nearby. It looked familiar so he pointed it out to Gwen and her reaction was one of complete relief and joy. The redhead conjured two mana bubbles around their heads. She opened the emergency door and grabbed Ben's hand before jumping into the darkness of space. Their touch kept an aura around the both of them to keep the extreme cold out. Gwen floated them in the direction of Tetrax's ship. It took several minutes but soon she was knocking on the vessel's door. Tetrax was surprised but happy to see his friends on the other side of the door. He yanked them in quickly and shut the door behind them.
Gwen explained what happened on the ship to Tetrax. He described that none of the battle ships were firing on his spacecraft. The redhead put two and two together and assumed that Ruby somehow convinced the Plumbers to let them go. It made her nervous that they were let off the hook so easily. Ben immediately inquired where Carly was and Tetrax pointed to a door down the hall. He rushed over and peeked inside to see the blonde sleeping on a bed. Ben sighed in relief but noticed another person in the room. The man was shocked to see Hope sweating in bed with her eyes squeezed shut.
Ben doesn't remember moving but he found himself at her side. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked at her. Charmcaster was a very strong woman so to see her showing off this pained expression gave him goosebumps.
"She's going to be okay, she just needs rest."
Ben turned to see Gwen standing in the doorway.
"She's tired. We all are. We've been working really hard to get you back, Ben," Gwen said.
"I see that…"
"We all went through-"
"You shouldn't come after me, Gwen."
"What?"
"You put all the others in danger and for what? We didn't escape, they let us go. This could've ended a lot worse. I already told you-"
"You don't get to tell me that shit," Gwen quietly hissed at him. "We came after you because you're family."
"I already told you that you have all the resources you need to fight this war without me."
"You may have given up on yourself but I haven't."
"And that's exactly what's wrong with you. You can never make the hard decisions," Ben stated coldly.
"Are you fucking serious right now?"
Gwen was quickly irritated at her cousin's antics, especially since they literally just saved him and he was thanking them for it a second ago. He hasn't been there. Her idiot cousin didn't see all the shit she's been through the past week.
"You're the one who taught me that heroes save everyone they can," the woman retaliated harshly with a push.
"You shouldn't talk to your cousin like that after she just rescued you, sir," a weak voice croaked.
Gwen and Ben's attention shifted to Carly who was weakly looking up at them. Ben lowered his head in shame, once he realized how much of a jerk he was being. It wasn't the first time. Carly ushered him over and took hold of his hand. She gazed deeply into his green eyes for a moment.
"Thank you for saving me. The Plumbers were wrong. You are a hero."
Carly glanced at the redhead behind the man and continued, "You both are, so please don't fight."
Ben nodded before turning to leave the room, mumbling, "Sorry," on his way out.
"You're gonna have to excuse him. I think the isolation gave him a lot of time to think about his past actions and he has been silently blaming himself for it," Carly illustrated to the redhead.
"Yeah that sounds like him, alright," Gwen agreed. "This whole predicament has gotten to all of us in some way. I already scheduled my therapy appointment."
Carly laughed, "I couldn't afford that on the healthcare the Plumbers give us."
Gwen chuckled at the joke as she sat on the edge of Hope's bed. She touched the witch's forehead, it was still burning up. Gwen closed her eyes and concentrated as she applied a steady stream of mana into Charmcaster's body. Gwendolyn was exhausted, but they needed to get Hope back in the fight as soon as possible.
Tetrax knocked on the door and peeked inside to see Gwen healing the silver haired woman. He was impressed at her ability to put others before herself. She was just like Ben. Or rather she was like how Ben used to be. Now the alien wasn't too sure about the Tennyson lad, he was a whole different person from last year.
"Cooper managed to fix our faster-than-light capabilities. We're en route to Earth and should arrive in an hour or so," he spoke.
Gwen simply nodded her thanks as talking wasn't really an option at the moment. Tetrax closed the door to let her focus on Hope. Silence filled the room again and the woman felt eyes on her back. No doubt it was Carly curious about what she was doing. The blonde had the common sense to not ask questions yet. There was a lot that the pair had to talk about in the future. No doubt they were in the midst of another one of commander Rick's schemes. If that was true then the future could drastically change for the group. Carly wondered how things on Earth were going, though she wasn't too keen on returning to her home planet. An alliance was another thought that came across her mind. Aidan was no doubt going to tell Captain Rick that she betrayed them for Ben Tennyson. Would Gwen and her group take her in? Protect her? She didn't have powers like them, what if they found her useless? No… Ben wouldn't allow that. Though, Ben isn't exactly in a good state of mind. She was scared at the thought of abandonment. Time will tell where she'll end up. She hoped that lady fate was feeling generous.