Chapter Five: You're Hot and You're Cold

I stood there stunned. What could I do? What could I say? Do I deny it? I don't think I could. I mean I could have tried, but I had a feeling there was nothing I could say to convince him otherwise. He had me dead to rights.

"Yes...I mean...no...It's more than that. A crush I mean. I'm…"

"In love with her." Kevin interjected.

"Yeah.

The look on Kevin's face wasn't what I was expecting. I was certain he'd be disgusted, or upset, or angry but instead, it was more understanding.

"You're not upset?"

"Nah, I get it, man. You're cousin's somethin' special. I can see why you'd fall for her."

"It's just that most people would probably be at least a little weirded out by a guy in love with his cousin."

"For a good chunk of my life I've had powers that have shunned me from regular society. I'm not the type to judge a guy for being or doing something outside the norm."

"Fair enough, but you clearly have a thing for her too."

"True, but I ain't one to get in the way of love. Hey, don't be so surprised. I have my romantic side too. I'm a man of many layers."

"But she's still my cousin. I don't think she sees me like that."

"Don't count yourself short, Tennyson. She cares about you. Maybe even more than she realizes."

"I…"

"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Gwen asked as she approached us. "I was talking to myself for a good minute before I realized you weren't behind me."

"Sorry. Just wanted to tell Ben about somethin' guy to guy."

"Well, come on. I want to get home. I'm dying for a hot bath."

"You and me both." I agreed.

"Oh, Ben. Here's your jacket back. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it."

And with that, we officially took our leave and since Kevin and I couldn't continue our conversation it left me to dwell on his words.

Saturday passed without any incident. Can't say the same for the next day though. We spent the day driving the roads patrolling for any signs of activity. It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that we got said sign. When we entered a nearby suburb of Bellwood.

"Come on, Kevin. You're driving like a grandma." I groaned.

"I'm driving the speed limit like the good law-abiding citizen that I am."

"That's the funniest thing you've said all day."

"It wouldn't kill you to go a little faster." Gwen politely suggested. "Don't want to risk getting home past curfew again."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I got my parents patented good dad, bad mom routine. 'You're gonna tell us exactly where you were, young man!?' 'Now Sandra, there's no need to be so harsh. Listen, Ben. It's me you're talking too. I'm not just your dad. I'm your buddy. Your pal. Good ol' Carl. I'm sure you have a perfectly good reason for staying out so late, but I would like to hear it. 'Oh please, Carl. You're being too soft. Come on talk, punk. I know what makes you squirm.' It didn't take a whole lot to convince them that I just lost track of time playing the new Samurai Strikers game at a friend's house but still, they went on for a whole hour with that bit.''

"Wow, I just got an 'I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed.' from my mom."

"Hey, I get it. I…" Kevin began to say

Suddenly a beeping began ringing out from the green jacket Kevin was currently wearing.

"You going to answer your phone?" Gwen asked.

"I don't have one…"

Gwen opened the center console to find…

"It's your Plumbers badge."

"Huh, it's never done that before or that." Kevin said as a holographic map began projecting from it. "It's a map."

"Yeah, that's obvious." I replied. "But to where?"

"Looks like that dot is us." Gwen observed. "Meaning that flashing one is most likely another Plumber's badge."

"Maybe it's a distress call." I added. "Do you think it could be…"

"Only one way to find out." Kevin replied as he put his foot on the gas and zoomed off towards our destination for about five minutes before being pulled over by a Sheriff's vehicle. The said Sheriff was a tough-looking man with medium brown skin and a permanent scowl on his face.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" The Sheriff asked in a gruff irritated voice.

"Well, yeah I'm the one driving the car." Kevin retorted.

"Ugh Kevin, please don't antagonize the cop." Gwen pleaded.

"You're lucky I don't have time for your shenanigans or I'd haul the lot of you off to a cell right now."

The Sheriff then handed Kevin something. At first, I thought it was going to be a speeding ticket but it turned out to be a flyer for a missing person, Alan Albright, ten years old, African-American, height four feet ten inches, slim build, short black hair, last seen wearing a white sleeveless tank top, grey jeans, and black tennis shoes.

"He went missing about a month ago." The Sheriff. "If you happen to come across any information about his whereabouts, unlikely as it may be, please contact that number. Have a good day." The Sheriff said sternly before heading back to his vehicle.

"You're so lucky he didn't give you a ticket." I chided.

"It's a shame. I would have liked to add another one to my collection." Kevin replied as he opened his glove box which was filled with parking tickets and placed the flyer in it.

"Law-Abiding citizen, huh?"

"I can be when I want to."

After driving a safe enough distance to make sure the Sheriff was out of sight Kevin once again sped up, and after driving for some twenty miles or so we came across a pretty unassuming cornfield which Kevin parked just outside of.

"Alright keep an eye out for any creepy children." I joked as we exited the car.

"There's not a whole lot here." Gwen noted.

"Yeah, just corn and this hot ass weather." Kevin replied as he placed his coat back in the car.

"That's what ya get for trying to cop my style."

"Please, my jacket's a completely different shade of green. How can you wear that anyway?"

"It's breathable."

"So how much further?" Gwen asked.

"Not much." Kevin replied as he looked at the badge's mini-map.

We were deep into the cornfield when the badge started beeping.

"That can't be right." Kevin declared.

"What?" I asked.

"This should be the place but..."

"Yeah. Still just a whole lotta corn."

"Maybe whoever sent the distress signal dropped the badge somewhere around here." Gwen suggested.

"Could be." I agreed. "Let's comb the area it has to be close by."

We began to search the area paying close attention to the ground but it didn't take long for something to happen.

"Hey over here!" Kevin shouted.

"Find something?" I asked as Gwen and I approached.

"Yeah. All of a sudden the badge started buzzing. It kept showing the badge was right here. So I gave my badge a gentle little tap and then it did this."

Kevin showed us the badge which appeared to be projecting a holographic map.

"If I'm looking at this right…" Gwen said. "Then the badge is underground."

"Did somebody bury it?" I wondered.

"They would have had to bury it at least a hundred feet."

"Gotta be a secret underground base."

"Then there must be an entrance." Kevin suggested.

"Yeah, we should probably look around for any sort of trap…" I took a step back and tripped over something sticking out of the ground. "Door."

"Nice one, Tennyson." Kevin chuckled as Gwen helped me up.

"Yeah yeah. Get your laughs out. Thanks, Gwen."

"Don't mention it. It was pretty funny though." Gwen said as she let out a slight snicker.

"What did I trip over?" I wondered as I looked down to see a small metal pull handle sticking out of the ground. Cautiously I knelt down and examined it briefly before giving it a pull. There was a loud clicking sound and then nothing.

"Gee, that was disappointing." Kevin said right before the ground below us began to shake. We all took a step back as a small part of the ground in front of us began to split to reveal a platform with a control console in the center. The console was fairly simple with only two buttons on it. An up arrow and a down arrow. "That's better."

Not having many other options we stepped onto the platform.

"Down we go I guess." I said as I pressed the down button.

As we slowly descended, I popped up the display on my Omnitrix.

"Just in case. We don't know what's going to be waiting for us so I figured I'd be ready."

"Good thinking." Gwen replied as she formed a couple of energy blasts while Kevin absorbed some of the metal from the platform.

"Man, I wish we had some elevator music or something." Kevin said as we continued our slow descent.

"I could sing us a lovely melody." I joked.

"Oh please no. I remember the last time we tried karaoke night you broke the machine." Gwen teased.

"Hey, I was sick that day, and that machine was in desperate need of repair."

"Heads up. I think we're about to stop." Kevin observed as the elevator began to slow to a crawl.

When we came to a stop we found ourselves in a dimly lit room. We cautiously stepped off the platform causing the lights to instantly brighten as we did. Now having a clear look at the room the cold alien interior design was all too familiar.

"Guys, I think…" I began to say before I heard two voices in the distance approaching. "Quick hide."

"I'm telling you it's probably just a bird again." The first voice said as they drew closer while we hid behind a nearby control panel.

"Doesn't matter. We still gotta check." The second voice replied.

My suspicions, and judging by the looks on their faces, theirs too were confirmed when we saw the source of the two voices. Two Brainguts approached the lift. They looked the normal amount of ugly a Brainguts typically looked although their skin seemed to be slightly darker.

"Brainguts…" Kevin said via our wireless communication.

"Not too surprising." Kevin replied.

"I'm more surprised they can talk." I added.

"No one. Must have been a bird pulling on the handle again."

"Told you so. I hate elevator duty. It's so boring. Nothing ever happens."

"Careful what you wish for. I heard one of the other sectors was recently taken down."

"Taken down? By who?"

I so wanted to play off that timing but I let Kevin take it as he snuck behind the two Brainguts and tapped each one on the shoulder. They quickly turned and were each greeted by one of Kevin's fists.

"Nice one." I said. "Though I would have thrown in a peek-a-boo before hitting them. So if the Brainguts are here the other badge has to Grandpa Max's."

According to the map, the badge wasn't too deep into the facility, and getting there was fairly easy too. A little ducking and dodging here and there but other than that it was a breeze

"Alright, should be in here." Kevin said

"Everyone stay alert." I suggested.

The room we arrived at was filled with all sorts of strange machines and devices, but all of it was merely a backdrop to what caught our attention. We didn't find Grandpa Max. Instead in the center of the room was a Heatblast. The official name for them is Pyronite. This one was being held up in the center of the room, his wrists and ankles bound to gallows, and appeared to be unconscious.

"We need to get him down." I said as I looked for a way to unlock his restraints.

"I got a faster idea." Kevin declared before breaking the restraints with his metal enhanced hands catching him and setting him down on the floor.

He wasn't very tall and looked pretty scrawny were my thoughts as I got a good look at him.

"I think he's just a…" I began to say when suddenly his form changed. He was no longer a Heatblast, but an average run of the mill "Kid."

"That's the kid from the missing person's poster." Gwen declared.

"He's coming too." Kevin observed.

"Wha...what's…" He began to mutter as he slowly opened his eyes before they suddenly shot open as if everything suddenly came back to him.

"Leave me alone!" He shouted as he quickly backed away from us.

"We're not here to hurt you." I tried to assure him.

"I don't believe you." I know you people can disguise yourselves with those face masks. "You're...you're just trying to trick me."

"We're not trying to trick you see." Gwen assured him in a gentle voice neither Kevin or I could manage as she tugged at her face showing it was real. "Want to give it a tug?"

Alan seemed a little more relaxed but was still a bit apprehensive as he cautiously approached Gwen and tugged at her chin.

"See we're human." She said with a gentle smile. "Your names Alan right?"

"Yes." Alan replied with a sigh of relief. "You know who I am?"

"Yeah, we ran into the Sheriff." I replied. "He gave us a missing person's poster. Said you'd been missing for a month."

"Sheriff Mason. Have I really been here for a month?"

"Why did they take you?" I asked.

"They were draining me. Using the energy from my other form as some sort of fuel source I think."

"I was going to ask about that. Your other form. How is it you can turn into a Heatblast."

"You mean my flame form? My dad's part of an intergalactic peacekeeping force. The…"

"Plumbers?" I interjected.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

Kevin showed him his badge.

"You're Plumbers?"

"Not quite." I replied. "We're more like associates."

Alan stared at the Plumbers badge and it seemed to remind him of something as he suddenly ran over to a nearby desk.

"My dad's badge. I saw them put it in here."

He let out another sigh of relief as he retrieved a plumbers badge from the container before suddenly collapsing to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked as we rushed over to him.

"Yeah, just a little tired..."

"I'm still curious." I said as I helped Alan up, "I know your dad's a Plumber but how is it exactly you can transform like that? You don't have an Omnitrix do you?"

"Omniwhat? Never heard of it. I can transform because my mom is a Pyronite."

"Wait, your dad had s...did it with a Heatblast!?"

"Plumbers travel off-world a lot so it's not uncommon for Plumbers' kids to have one parent or ancestor with alien DNA." Kevin replied. "It's probably how Gwen got her powers."

"No way. My power is pure magic."

"Whatever you say."

"But seriously with a Heatblast? I mean how would that even work? I…" I decided not to dwell on that for my own sake. "How do you even know so much about Plumbers' kids anyway, Kevin?"

"I picked up some knowledge here and there through my dealings."

"I guess that makes sense." I replied before a sudden realization hit me. "Wait, if the source of the signal was coming from that badge then…"

"That means Grandpa isn't here either." Gwen continued.

"Yeah."

"You don't seem as torn up about it." Kevin pointed out.

"I made a promise to myself yesterday. That I wouldn't beat myself up every time we find something that doesn't pan out. I know we'll find him eventually. For now, we gotta get him out of here. Let's..."

You ever get that feeling when things are going a bit too smoothly. Like there's a large pair of shoes, ones resting firmly on the ground and the other is floating in the air, hovering just above you, waiting to drop at any moment and flatten you like a chocolate chip pancake. Well, I was getting that feeling. And as sure as your stomach will pay you back for eating a mega gut buster chili fries from Burger Shack, that other shoe dropped.

"...Go." I said with a frustrated sigh as the lights in the room suddenly turned red followed by a blaring alarm.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" An automated voice on an intercom shouted. "-A breach has been detected in the Pyronite containment chamber! Initiating toxin gas termination. A heavy metal door came slamming down on the exit to the room as it slowly began to fill with gas,

"Shit…"

"Kevin! Watch your language in front of the kid." Gwen scolded as she put up a barrier around us to prevent the gas from getting in.

"It's okay. I've heard worse on the internet."

"Okay let's focus." I suggested as I cycled through the Omnitrix for a particular alien. "We find a way out of here." I looked around and saw the gas was coming from a vent above us.

"I know that look." Gwen said as she saw me looking up at the vent. "What's your plan?"

"I messed around with a couple of the aliens on the watch yesterday. This guy should be able to fit into that vent. I should be able to get to whatever's producing the gas and take it out."

I slammed my hand down on the Omnitrix. What I transformed into was, well, have you ever played a JRPG? If so you might be familiar with slime monsters. It's kind of like that. A neon green blob of slime being held up and given humanoid shape by a small anti-gravity projector hovering above it.

"What do you call that one?" Gwen asked.

"Oh man, what do you call that thing?" Kevin asked, failing to hide a slight look of disgust on his face.

"This bad boy is...huh I forgot to name it."

"How about Visc." Gwen suggested.

"Huh, I like the sound of that. Visc it is."

"So you can turn into an alien too?" Allen asked.

"I can turn into a whole bunch of aliens. But enough small talk I'm getting us out of here. Gwen."

"Right."

Gwen opened a hole just large enough for my projector to fit through closing it up as soon as all of me was out. I quickly made my way up to the vent. Using Visc's acidic touch I melted the duct's vent allowing the projector to pass through. After traveling for a little distance I came across a branching path in the ductwork path. The gas appeared to be coming from the path on the left so I was about to go down that path but stopped as I noticed something else, voices.

Three voices could be heard coming from the other path. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying so I decided to take a closer listen. I came to another vent where I could hear the voices loud and clear, and I could also get a peek inside the room but just barely. From what I could see there was one figure actually in the room, a Brainguts. It was talking to two figures on two separate monitors, both were cloaked in shadows but I could recognize the silhouette of one of them. It was one of those big bastards from yesterday. The other one, however, seemed human, a female. Maybe one of them was wearing an ID mask, but why?

"The Pyronite you captured was a Plumbers' kid!?" The woman shouted angrily. "Why wasn't I informed of this!?"

"It was deemed unnecessary information." The big thing replied.

"Unnecessary infor…" She sighed. "DNAlien, did you take his badge away?"

"Yes."

"And did you make sure to deactivate the tracking beacon?"

"Tracking beacon?"

"Ugh, Useless. No wonder they found you so easily."

"It's of no use grumbling now." The big guy replied. "Has the gas taken effect?"

"I'm still reading vital signs from the room but the intruders should be dealt with shortly, my Highbreed master." The Brainguts said.

"If this is Ben 10 we're dealing with here. You better make sure he's dead." The woman suggested.

'So the little ones are called DNAliens and the big ones are Highbreed. Eh, I like Brainguts better.'

"I assure you they're not getting out." The Brainguts replied. "But are you sure we should terminate the Pyronite as well?"

"You have extracted enough energy. Initiate a test run of the terraformer then purge the facility."

'Purge!?'

"Purge!? But…"

"Do not question me half-breed vermin! The data from the machine will be collected. Now, do as I command."

"Ben! What's taking you so long?" Gwen asked.

"Sorry. Got a little sidetracked."

I didn't want to keep Gwen waiting any longer so I made me way back and down the other path and into a smaller room where a generator was producing the gas. Visc's acid made short work in disabling it and I made my way back to Gwen, Kevin, and Alan. It didn't take long for the gas in the room to dissipate allowing Gwen to drop her shield.

"We need to get out of here…" I began to say before the Omnitrix timed out. "Now. I just overheard some information. I'll get into more details later but long story short. This place is going bye-bye."

"Alright, one exit door coming up." Kevin said as he walked over to the still-sealed door. Kevin absorbed the metal material from it and gave it a few punches but only managed to make a small dent. "Man, this is too thick to punch through."

"Stand back." Alan said as he assumed his other form. "I think I might be able to help.

Alan fired a large flame blast from his hands which after a few moments melted a hole large enough for us to walk through.

"Nice. Let's go."

As we left the room another announcement came over the intercom.

"Attention! The terraformer will launch in 10 minutes followed by a clean sweep protocol. Please evacuate the facility immediately."

"We better get a move on." I suggested as we picked up our pace. However, we soon stopped in our tracks as we saw a small group of Brainguts coming our way. "Heads up we got company."

But surprisingly enough the Brainguts ran right passed us.

"They must be heading towards a different exit." Gwen noted.

"Let's just stick to the one we know." I replied.

We eventually made our way to the lift. Kevin practically punched the up button we began to lift off, thankfully a bit faster than we descended.

As the lift took us up I explained everything I overheard.

"So we have a bit more info on these guys." Kevin replied. "But what the heck is a Terraformer?"

"I…"

As we neared the top the entire lift began to suddenly shake violently, and a blinding light engulfed the view above us. By the time we reached the top, the light had cleared, and a short distance away, a large strange tower had sprung up from the ground. Within a matter of moments, grey clouds began to form across the sky above it and the temperature began to drop rapidly, while snow began to fall from the clouds.

"I think we have our answer."

"It must be some sort of atmospheric changer." Gwen deduced.

Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to observe much else about the machine as it began to rumble and glow with a red hot intensity.

"Commencing purge in T-minus One minute." Said the automated voice as it now came out of the machine.

"As much as I'm enjoying this lovely weather. We need to haul some serious butt!" I shouted.

The count had gotten to thirty and we weren't even half-way to the car.

"I don't think we're going to make it!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Gwen, do you think you could put up a barrier?" I asked.

"I could but, I have a feeling that the explosion is going to be pretty big. I don't know if it could handle the force of the explosion."

Our odds seemed a little bleak at that moment when the Sheriff's car came barreling towards us before screeching to a stop right in front of us.

"Get in!"

He didn't have to ask twice as Gwen, Kevin, and I crammed ourselves in the back while Alan took the passenger seat.

"I'd normally advocate buckling up but this time I think I'll make an exception!" Sheriff Mason shouted as he slammed his foot on the gas and a B line out of the cornfield.

"15 14 13 12 11 1 1."

We had just barely made it out of the cornfield when the terraformer and the underground base exploded taking out most of the cornfield along with them. We hunkered down in the car until the explosion cleared, and sat in silence for a few moments longer to collect ourselves before exiting the car.

"Alan? That really you?"

"Yeah, Sheriff Mason it's me." Alan replied before Sheriff Mason pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sorry. I should have been more watchful of you…"

"It's alright."

"Sheriff Mason, right? Thanks for the help. I'm Ben Tennyson. This is Gwen and Kevin. How did you find us?"

"I saw you head in this direction. I thought you may have been up to something so I trailed you. By the time I got to the cornfield I saw your car but you were nowhere to be seen. I searched around and I had just gotten back into my car when I saw that thing come out of the ground."

"We appreciate the save." Gwen said thankfully.

"It's my duty, but If you don't mind I would like some answers. What exactly were you doing out here? How did you find Alan? You look too young to be Plumbers."

"Wait, you know about the Plumbers?" I replied.

"Yeah, Alan's dad and I grew up together. We were both offered recruitment into the Plumbers. I turned them down. He didn't. Alan's been staying with me while his dad's off-world."

"Alright. I think we can trust you."

I filled Sheriff Mason in on everything leading up til now including Grandpa Max and our search for him.

"I see. Alan, I'm sorry you had to go through that. As for your Grandpa. "I don't recall anyone matching his description coming through town I'm afraid."

"It's alright. After finding Alan with his plumber badge. We figured he hadn't been here. Speaking of I was thinking, Alan, we could use an extra set of powers. How would you like to join our team?"

"I'm afraid that's going to have to be a no." Sheriff Alan replied. "We're going to need his help in case anything happens around here. And besides, he also has a month's worth of schoolwork to catch up on."

Alan didn't look too happy about that last statement. I don't blame him.

"He's right. This area could use my help, but I'll be here if you need me."

"Me too."

"Alright, I think we're all done for the night." I said to Gwen and Kevin. "And hey we should be able to make it back before curfew."

"Yeah, let's get back to...My car!" Kevin suddenly shouted as he remembered he parked near the edge of the cornfield.

At first, he breathed a sigh of relief as his car appeared to be completely untouched. That is until he reached the driver's side of his car and saw that both the front and rear windows had been completely shattered by the concussive force of the explosion.

"Aw, man…"

A/N

Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I ended up scrapping my original draft of this quite a ways into it because I felt it was way too similar to the actual episode. Not really any major Bwen moments in this chapter. Decided to focus more on building the plot for this one. But trust me there will be more Bwen moments in the future. I hope you like what I did with this one. I'll try my best to get the next one out a little sooner. God knows we could all use a bit more comforting things right now. I hope everyone stays well during these trying times. Remember to wash your hands and stay clean. Cya.