Content warning for teenagers talking about hormonal teenager things. But like, in a way more mature way than I or any other fifteen year old ever did.
It's been a week, and absolutely no one in town seems to have noticed that Arcadia was host to a hostile alien visitor.
Ben isn't really surprised; the town may not be physically small, but it's definitely on the sparse side when it comes to population - just over two thousand, by the last census. On top of that, not many people visit, and those that do never seem to wanna stay. Some of the older, more superstitious residents claim that Arcadia is built on some kind of 'cursed ground', but Ben's pretty sure the town is just...boring. Arcadia's biggest claim to fame is being the hometown of U.S. Congresswoman Sandra Tennyson - Ben's near-absentee mother - who spends most of the year in D.C., anyway. The coolest thing in town is probably his boss's totally sick, custom-painted 'El Güerito' burrito truck, and that is a fairly recent addition.
Still, he watches the local news like a hawk, and, because Arcadia isn't cool enough to have its own local Reddit board, lurks around the town's ancient, could-pass-for-a-Geocities-page web forum. All he finds is the usual TV hosts, bored out of their minds and desperately wishing for a transfer to a more exciting city, and a few old conspiracy theories about the so-called 'cryptid sightings' of 2009, respectively.
So, nothing relevant on the alien activity front.
Only one person asks about the Omnitrix, and it isn't even his father - coincidentally, it's his boss at Mr. Smoothy, local fast food and electronics shop entrepreneur, Mr. Stuart. His dad's so busy managing his mom's reelection campaign that he fails to even notice Ben staying out later than usual - he and Kevin have taken it upon themselves to scrap the massive robot for parts, to be taken to Max's junkyard, which just so happens to also be an ideally isolated place to transform into and train with both Heatblast and Diamondhead. He's got a pretty good handle on them already - what with the weird genetic memory deal the Watch's got going on and Kevin's experience as an Enhanced - and he's itching to try out the other eight available species on the watch, but Gwen's reasoning - that he should at least try to master each alien's power set before blindly moving on to the next - is, as always, sound. He knows he got real damn lucky when he blindly picked Diamondhead to take on the drone.
Aside from his new afternoon activities, Ben continues summer on as he did before. He wakes up early, eats the most unhealthy breakfast possible, and gets to job numero uno. Not that anyone but Julie, Gwen, Max, and Kevin knows, but Ben has a positively tiny Youtube gaming channel he posts 'let's play' type videos to - a way to both pass the time doing what he loves, and take full advantage of the ridiculously expensive gaming setup his mother tried to bribe his affection with last christmas. He's got like two hundred subscribers, and just over ten thousand views. Nothing compared to even the smallest of more well-known channels, but he doesn't really care; just imagining two hundred people at once, watching and enjoying the content he produces, is more than enough to keep him happy.
He records the gameplay and voice-over in the morning, and edits it at night, leaving it uploading overnight on the town's criminally slow Internet connection. And, after the former is done, he dons the garish-yet-charming white, green, and pink uniform, and goes to work at Mr. Smoothy.
"I swear I've seen that before." -Mr. Stuart says to him suspiciously midway through his shift, sat on the bar, sipping on a mango and tamarind smoothie. Ben's boss is a pretty cool guy, a forty-something-year-old mexican man with a mysteriously flawless cockney accent. He's a quirky man, usually found wearing his trademark red robe and sweats, white t-shirt and frog slippers. He's a great boss, too, in that he never really bosses Ben around, and only comes around every few hours to chat - just like this, though it's usually about videogames - and keep Ben from getting too bored by the naturally slow days a business in Arcadia can and should expect. Max drilled a great work ethic into Ben, too, so he's never had a problem at all with Mr. Stuart.
"You must go on some pretty dang sketchy websites, boss." -Ben coolly says, cleaning the previously used blender. He's hardly worried about him figuring out what the Omnitrix really is, considering Stuart is, well, just a human. "I ordered this thing online, on a dare from Kevin. Now I can't seem to get it off, and it doesn't even tell the time."
The older man runs an adorably chubby hand over his stubble-covered chin. "Well, you're not wrong. Half the fun of surfing the Web is ending up on weird conspiracy websites that play trippy MIDI files as soon as they load."
"You'd know better than me." -Ben says, shaking his head fondly. "I mostly live on Youtube and Twitter."
"Ah, I forget. Millennial." -he says, almost like a curse. It's a joke, of course. Stuart's never been one to lament 'the negative influence of the Internet on today's youth', or whatever the heck old people usually complain about. If anything, his boss wishes he were better at following online trends. "So if it doesn't tell the time, what does it do?" -he finally asks.
Ben shrugs. "Besides looking cool? I dunno. Honestly, it's probably just...busted. Dead on arrival."
Stuart squints, examining the Omnitrix closely. "It does look cool." -he allows. "But I can't shake the feeling…"
"...that you've seen it before? Yeah, I get that. Maybe you saw it in an infomercial or something?"
"Somewhere in between my trademark Hot Cheetos induced midnight food comas? Hah! I wouldn't be surprised." -he says, amused. "In any case, kudos on the piece, I suppose."
"Thanks."
Mr. Stuart winks at him. "Now, I'd advise you to look at your wrist, but since your watch doesn't actually work...I do believe you're late for Miss Yamamoto's fútbol game."
Ben raises his eyebrows in surprise, looking at the wall clock. It's barely midday, which means he's still got a couple hours left on his half-day shift, but - and he totally forgot with all the excitement brought on by the Omnitrix - he did ask Mr. Stuart for permission to leave early today, a couple days before Max's 'death'. Julie's been playing on a regional soccer tournament all summer long, and today are the semifinals.
"Oh, crud." -Ben says. He definitely promised to go, though considering Julie didn't remind him at all, he's reasonably sure she forgot, too.
"Crud indeed." -Stuart says, sagely. "Go on, then, be a supportive boyfriend."
Ben purses his lips. "Are you sure, Mr. Stuart? I can stay, if you need me to."
Stuart rolls his eyes, then takes the ridiculous, oversized smoothie mascot-shaped hat off his head. "Don't you worry, I'll man the fort. Might as well work a bit for the merchandise I keep mooching off, yeah?" -he says, slurping down the last of his smoothie and awkwardly placing the hat on the massive brown floof that is his hair.
The teen smirks. "Thanks, boss. I owe you one." -he says, taking off his apron. "See you tomorrow!"
Julie's hell as a defense player.
For all her normal sweet, good-natured demeanor, she kinda turns into a human version of the tasmanian devil when she plays. She'll shove, slide, and kick with the best of them. Ben won't ever pretend to know much about the game's more tactical side - he does enjoy soccer, but baseball's more his style, because it's Grandpa's style - but he can tell Julie's talent goes above and beyond what one might reasonably expect from the roster of the illustrious Arcadia Oaks Moles.
Lame mascot, sure, but at least they're not, like, the Spartans, or the Vikings, or something. Ben's pretty sure there are several billion schools in America with those mascots.
In any case, he's got lots of stuff to cheer her on about. Even though he arrives twenty minutes into the first half, he gets to watch Julie demolish the other team's attackers when they dare get close to the Moles' goal. There's obviously less fear on her face, but the expression of absolute competitiveness and determination matches that which she wore last week, staring back at a forty foot tall killer robot from space. If that doesn't tell you how passionate she is about winning, nothing will. Even with tennis and swimming, the two other sports her parents heavily compel - read, force - her to keep practicing, her competitive streak tends to show, eventually.
The game ends up going into overtime, and it's really only down to luck that the Moles eventually score the one goal in the match. Ben kind of expects Julie to go on and celebrate the win with her teammates, but she pretty much rushes to him as soon as the last whistle is blown.
"Hey! You remembered!" -she says, hugging him without a care, despite the fact that she's caked in sweat and dirt.
He chuckles. "I'd love to claim I did, but uh...no, not really. Mr. Stuart reminded me just in time to get here, though."
She doesn't seem all that surprised. "Oh! Well, I'll be sure to swing by the smoothie store and thank him with my patronage, then." -she says, winking. "Honestly, no worries, I totally forgot as well." -she confesses. "It's been a, uh...busy week."
She gives him a pointed look, which Ben kinda feels is unnecessary. True, he's not exactly looking to out himself as a superhero-in-progress, but it's not like anyone's really paying attention to them. "True." -he settles for.
"Have you...y'know, tried anyone else?" -she asks, surreptitiously.
Ben chuckles. "That sounds wrong, somehow. But no, not yet."
"Following Gwen's advice over mine, are you?" -she says, mock offended. "I see how it is, Tennyson."
"Well, I'm sorry, but Gwen seemed like the more sensible person at the time. I seem to recall you excitedly asking me to 'show me all the other hot aliens you're hiding'." -he teases. "Gotta say, I wouldn't have pegged you for a xeno...xeno…" -he trails off. "What's the word?"
Julie blushes. "Xenophiliac. And shush, you."
Ben cackles. "I almost called you a Xenomorph."
She crosses her arms and pouts a little. "It's not my fault that aliens are so cool. Even the acid blooded, perfect killing machine ones."
"Oh, especially those." -Ben says. "Shame they're imaginary, really."
"You don't know that. Maybe Sir Ridley Scott is a secret space adventurer, too. Drew inspiration from harrowing life experience out there."
Ben snorts. "I'll ask Grandpa if we should beware Facehuggers anytime soon."
Julie shrugs. "I dunno, I think they're kinda cute. Minus the whole...face hugging, forcible egg implanting thing, of course."
Julie's dad, second generation japanese-american Ken Yamamoto, walks up to them from behind his daughter, his wife Mara not far behind. "Extolling the virtues of hostile alien life forms, are we Jules?" -he asks, teasing, ruffling Julie's hair. It kinda backfires and sends sweat flying everywhere, but the gesture is genuine.
Mr. Yamamoto - Ken, he insists - is a horror movie enthusiast, much to his wife's chagrin. She prefers what Ben can only describe as 'cancer dramas'. "That's what happens when you have her watch those awful bloodbaths you call 'movies' from age seven."
"Builds character!" -Ken says, winking at Ben. "It's good to see you, Ben. You're looking well."
Ben nods. Ken's tone has a hint of pity in it - makes sense, considering the last time Julie's folks' saw him was at Grandpa's funeral. "Y'know, it's good to go out, keep active. Helps that I got to see Julie kick butt, of course."
Julie crosses her arms. "Meh. Could've gone better. We're not exactly doing great on the offensive and the moment we come across a more defensive team, it's gonna bite us in the ass."
"Language, dear." -her mother reflexively remarks. "But I suppose you're not wrong. You can't be expected to carry the team to victory every time. Especially if they keep holding you back in the defense."
Mrs. Yamamoto is the fiercely proud, 'think about your future curriculum' soccer mom type. Ken is more of an 'experience all the things while you can, living vicariously through you' kind of father. Together, they make the perfect storm of overbearing parents, though they're way less intense about it now. Julie still rolls her eyes. She's got an ego, sure, but her mom's on another level. Even if she did want to play as a mid or offense, her style of play is rough and tumble, and lacks the finesse needed to make important plays happen. Mrs. Yamamoto doesn't really get the difference, and she's never been inclined to figure it out.
"So, I assume you're not going out to celebrate with the team?" -Ken asks his daughter, immediately derailing any chance of an argument.
"Nah. I'm kind of exhausted. Plus, I'm starving, and the girls take forever to order." -she says. "Why? What'd you have in mind?"
"Well, your mother and I need to be at the courthouse by five, but we thought we could treat you guys to lunch."
Julie lights up. "Yeah, for sure." -she says, then looks cautiously at Ben. "Hey. Are you up for it?"
Ben's not too surprised that she can play along with the 'Ben in mourning' plotline so easily; she's a consummate liar when it comes to her parents. Gwen's even better at it, but she barely talks in her own household. "Have I ever turned down free food? It's like you don't even know me at all."
Ken heartily laughs and Mrs. Yamamoto has this sort of amused, 'my pantry can confirm' look on her face. "It's settled then!"
They're by the family minivan, talking about what they're gonna get at Giannino's, when Ben gets the feeling that they're being watched; he turns towards the stadium, and sees the dispersing crowd. Several familiar faces from school and around town walk by, but none of them are watching him. Eventually, he spots her: a tall, blonde woman in a heavy looking coat, staring straight at him - well, not him, but the Omnitrix. Her eyes are narrowed, and she looks displeased.
"Ben? Everything alright?" -Ken asks him, holding the door open for him.
Ben turns back to the crowd, only to see that the woman has vanished. "Yeah…" -he says. "Just...memories, y'know?"
He hopes the utter dread he just felt gets mistaken for grieving nostalgia.
Ken nods, understanding. "Of course." -he says, then lets the door go. "Hey. I know you aren't on the best of terms with your parents, and we're far from ideal parents ourselves, but...well, just remember you're not alone. You can always talk to us, or if that's not your speed, we can help you find a professional. I know you've talked things over with Jules, and I imagine with Kevin and Gwen, but...it always helps to have one more node in your support network, y'know?"
Ben appreciates the thought, though he's not so sure telling a psychiatrist that he has an apparently highly sought after alien device permanently bonded to his wrist is the best idea. "I know. Thank you, sir."
He groans, but it's in jest. "Again with 'sir', huh? I will get you to call me Ken before I die, Ben. I swear on my father's stereotypical japanese honor."
Possible new foe or not, Ben can't help but chuckle at that.
"Ugh. I swear I've learned my lesson this time." -Julie groans, lying down on the carpet of her room, immediately under the AC, holding her abdomen. "No more carb comas from Giannino's."
Ben snickers, looking at her upside down from her bed. "I think you've said some variation of this at least twenty times since I've known you."
Julie makes a face and throws a dirty sports bra at his face. She's wearing a clean one and boxer briefs, having just showered and lacking any sort of parental presence in the house. This is about as 'naughty' as things get between them. Ben doesn't think much of it, considering how used he is to seeing her half naked every time he visits her at swimming practice - pretty much every other day when school is in session. Julie's always been pretty confident in her own skin, has always had some serious body confidence that Ben kinda lacks. Nothing too bad - not like Gwen, who's always been both the most insecure out of all of them, and the most conventionally beautiful - but it's still ironic, considering he can literally have radically different bodies at the touch of a button, now.
"Just because you have an iron stomach." -she says, full of regret. And delicious, homemade italian food. "I wish I had one too, but I think I only share your appetite."
Ben pokes at her abs, which are hard from a lifetime of exercise and the food baby she's currently regretting. "It's a glorious burden." -he says solemnly.
"It feels like a burden, alright." -she says. "Are you seriously not even fazed? I saw you eat an entire meat lovers'!"
"Seven out of eight slices." -he clarifies. "And no, not at all. Honestly, I could go for a smoothie or something, still. Maybe a cheeseburger."
Julie scowls. "Unbelievable. Forget the Omnitrix, you had superpowers way before inheriting the alien wristwatch."
Ben laughs, then spots a healing but still tender looking cut above Julie's ribs. "Is that from the game?" -he asks.
She glances at it. "What, this? No, from the drone. I took a nasty fall while you were transforming into Diamondhead, and I think a rock grazed my side." -she says, then points at a scrape on her knee, and a major bruise peeking out over the waistline of her boxers. "These ones, too."
"Jesus. That sucks, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You're not the scrap pile who caused them." -she says with a half shrug. "Besides, I have a bunch of new ones from the game." -she points out. And she does, of course; she's far from a stranger to physical injuries, due in no small part to her aggressive style of play. She's had broken toes, fingers, and even ribs, not to mention the many, many scrapes, bruises and cuts that come with the sport.
"Still. It's hard not to feel guilty when that thing came after me, and you're all bruised up while I'm fine." -he says.
"Kevin also turned out unscathed." -she reminds him.
"Sure, but he got knocked out while in metal form. That scared the hell out of me. And Gwen's weird glowing burn hasn't gotten much better."
He's exaggerating a bit; Gwen's burn has healed, but the fact that it still glows magenta is concerning, to say the least. She's done a good job of covering it up, but her parents are bound to get suspicious sooner or later. They've already commented on the fact that she's wearing longer sleeved tops in summer.
"I mean, sure, it's a perk of the watch. You get to erase all your injuries when you revert...but that's just it: you can't really control when you revert. If you run out of 'alien time' in the middle of a fight, you're kinda screwed." -she reasons. "If you pick the wrong alien for the job, you're kinda screwed. And if you get knocked out - or worse - before you get to transform…"
"I'm screwed?" -Ben supplies.
She tips her head. "Bingo. The point is, no one power or hero is better than all the others. We all have our weak points, but so, too, do we have our strengths."
Ben stays silent for a few moments. "Wow. I don't know if it's the blood pooling in my head, but that sounded super wise."
Julie flicks his forehead. "Hell yeah, it was!" -she says, then sits up. Ben turns right side up, still poking his head from the edge of Julie's bed.
"I have a question." -Julie says, after a few moments of quiet companionship.
"About the watch?" -Ben guesses.
"Actually, no." -she says. "Something Kevin said last week, it made me think…"
Ben raises his eyebrow. "What is it?"
She looks at him from between her bangs. "Do you think we're lame?"
Ben blinks. "Lame?"
"Like, as a couple." -she clarifies. "He made fun of us, remember?"
"He makes fun of everything." -Ben shrugs. "That's...y'know, Kevin."
"Well, sure, but did he have a point this time?" -she asks. "I mean, look at us: we're home alone, my parents won't be anywhere near here for hours, yours don't even care where you are...we're teenagers…" -she trails off.
Ben hums. "I assume this is an M-rated conversation."
She shifts a bit. "Well, I don't know if it needs to be, but...isn't it weird?" -she asks, gesturing at her scantily clad form. "That we're this close but not intimate yet? That we've been dating for so long and never really tried...anything?"
Ben considers this for a moment. "Well...did you expect us to?"
"Clearly, Kevin expects us to." -she says. "So do my parents, for that matter. Not that they'd be happy about it, or anything, but they wouldn't be surprised. They gave me The Talk when I turned fifteen. There's literally a small box of condoms sitting in my bedside drawer."
"That's...generous."
She snorts. "You know them. Gotta make sure I'm ready to take on the world. Even when I fuck up."
Ben smirks. "Nice pun." -he remarks. "I don't know, Julie. I'm not gonna say I've never thought of you in that way, because I'd be a huge liar - and Grandpa Max didn't raise no goddamn liar." -he says. Julie laughs at his terrible southern accent through a pleased blush. "But I'm also not like, biting my nails, waiting for 'the moment'."
"Even though I'm in my underwear?" -she asks suggestively. There's an undercurrent of vulnerability to it; not insecurity, never from a Julie that knows for a fact Ben finds her incredibly attractive, but rather a worry that, 'hey, other teenagers have done this kind of thing by now, and few, if any, have been together as long as we have'. Julie may be tough as nails on the field, but the issue of what she's supposed to be doing? What milestones she's supposed to have accomplished, which she's supposed to be working towards? Even with something as unorthodox as this? That's what gets to her.
Ben can relate. High school is literally around the corner. His mom has hinted several times that she'd love to give him a taste of the 'family business' up in D.C. once he grows up a little further. And of course, he now wears an alien device that may or may not be involved in the fate of the galaxy.
Goddamn, can Ben relate.
"Those are your pajamas." -he says, simply. "We both know if you were dressed for anything but comfort, you'd have dressed differently."
She hums, curling and uncurling her toes, then grins. Humor and deflection. "Yeah, you're right. I'd have come out of the bathroom in all my naked glory, going like, 'Say good-bye to your V-card, Tennyson.'"
"See, that'd just make me laugh." -Ben says, trying not to picture too detailed a scenario. Humor and deflection. "And then I'd have you pick an alien for you to fulfill your fantasies with." -he teases.
She gasps, then swats at his shoulder. "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, you did not just call me a monster fucker."
He raises his hands in surrender. "Listen, all I'm saying is, that's an option. Though you may wanna wait and see what other aliens I've got. Handsome as they may be, I don't think Heatblast and Diamondhead are, uh...survivable."
Julie bursts out cackling. "Oh my god, I love you, you idiot."
"And I love you, you...xenophiliac."
They're about to kiss when someone knocks on the back door to the house. Ben and Julie freeze, of course. "What the fuck?" -she whispers, bewildered.
Ben immediately rises, bringing up the Omnitrix's dial. "Wait here." -he says. He's not exactly surprised to see her rise and follow him anyway, grabbing her bathrobe on the way.
There's no one at the door. No one at the front, either. Ben jokes to himself that maybe it's a 'creeper', one of those local cryptids he read about online, but he still braces himself as he opens the door, Julie close behind him.
It's the woman from before.
She looks taller now, somehow. About Heatblast's height, if he had to guess. Her skin is an icy blue, marked with intricate, curving black designs. They're not tattoos, more like fancy 'eye black' sports makeup. She wears an all-black, ceremonial-looking armor that covers everything but her face and hands, and wields a spear made of muted green stone and gray metal. Her eyes are an almost white shade of silver.
"Chosen of the Omnitrix." -she says. She sounds distinctly unimpressed. "I am Hala the Accuser."
"Uh...hi, Hala the Accuser." -he says. "I'm Ben Tennyson."
She sneers. "I know who you are. I know who your grandfather is. What possessed the man to pass on the greatest weapon in the galaxy to a child, I cannot say." -she says, voice dripping with contempt. "You are a threat to my mission, and thus a threat to the continued stability of terran civilization. Relinquish the Omnitrix, or suffer the wrath of the Kree Empire."