Ben woke up with the worst headache of her life. "Don't tell me I fainted!" she groaned. Rook didn't answer. Instead he opened a communication-link to Max Tennyson.
The brunette still felt a little sick. She smacked her lips and pursed her lips. There was the taste of vomit still in her mouth. Maybe there was still some coke somewhere? Yes, there was. Must have been a few days old, but it was still fine to wash out her mouth. With weary eyes she regarded her Omnitrix on her bare arms. With shaky arms she bound the gauze once on her chest, around her Omnitrix.
The Revonnahgander raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?".
"What does it look like?" Ben replied replied, "It's still a secret. Can't cover it up with my jacket anymore". She vomited on it earlier. Embarassing, but true. Her hands sank down. Why was she so tired? Jetlag? No, it was too late for that.
Rook took the wheel and pressed down on it. His lips formed a thin line. Ben could see the tenseness of his fingers as he gripped even tighter.
"Rook? Could we have made it? Earlier? Could we have caught them?". Ben realized that her voice was a little shaky. For a while she had tried hard not to think about it. The blood and the tent. That horrible place which looked like a butcher's shop. And all the little rags made out of little girls' clothes. But the worst thing, was the smell. It was still following her around. Like the time she met one of Dr. Animo's mutated skunks. But worse. Maybe she needed to bath in some tomato soup? Her mouth felt so dry and she still had that horrible taste in her mouth. She tried once again to wash it down with the rest of the soda she had acquired earlier that night.
Rook shook his head, "No." he leaned his head on the steering wheel, "They had seen us before we even opened the door. There were security cameras and detectors.".
"I feel like it's my fault. I could have changed into XLR8-". Ben admitted. Was that shame? Regret, even?
Now that Rook looked closer, she had that look. This strange stare he had seen sometimes. As if she was looking far ahead. Hobbles wore it and Prof. Paradox wore it sometimes too. When he thougt nobody else was looking. The marines called it the 2,000 yard stare.
Besides this, she looked sick hair stuck to her forehead. There were dark circles under her eyes. He felt bad for her. Ben had always been full of life, egocentric, self-confident and strong. Losing Feedback hadn't broken Ben, but it seemed that turning into a girl had done that to her. What Malware wasn't able to do, what none of Ben's villains had managed to do, Hera did in mere minutes. How had she done it? What poison did she use?
"You should not face Magister Tennyson." he finally revealed.
The brunette turned towards Rook, gaping at him, "What?"
"It will be fine if you stay here and I will report to him-"
"I'm fine!" Ben said, frowning deeply at her partner who shook his head and stepped out. A voice inside her head told her to follow him, but there was another one. Sit back, relax, I can't do this anymore. She stared at her wrist and her eyes traveled from her wrist to her bust and then looked at the little car-mirror. Ben missed Ben. She shrunk down, hiding as light hit the windshield of the truck. In the past she didn't need to do this.
...
Rook met Max Tennyson and Lt. Steel. He kept his report as short as possible. It was difficult to not go into too much detail. Especially when it came to Ben. The lieutenant tried to keep a stoic expression the whole time. Though Rook noticed that the mask of stoicism was paper thin. He could see Steel's fists clench and release and his nostrils widened as he took deep breaths between Rook's sentences.
Rook was not fooled. Years of Plumber training taught him to recognize when people were lying. Even when they were not saying anything. Roderick Steel was holding in a lot of anger and sadness right now, a little crack and it was all going to spill out. The Revonnahgander wondered how long Lt. Steel could keep up the facade. Every word was a punch, every sentence a kick in the guts. Rook stopped talking as he was finished with his report. The lieutenant's fists were shaky and his face pale and still it took a few moments until it all sank in. After a few more seconds he had processed the information.
"My daughter-" it was so quiet. Rook thought for a moment it was teh wind traveling through teh trees. A painful moan escaped Steel as he sank to his knees, his face burrowed in his hands. He felt so cold, his warm blood had been replaced by ice-water, the pain was unbearable as everything inside him contracted. Time had stopped and everything else ,but sorrow, faded away. Steel shed tears for his missing daughter, he believed to be dead. A part of him has just been ripped away. And the worst oart: he didn't even know who it was. With her last memories being the smell of sewer water and horrifying pain. Max bent down towards the other man and helped him up, getting him towards his car. Rook felt horrible, delivering bad messages was sometimes part of his job.
There were times when people, aliens, died and someone had to delivery the message. Still, every time he sent those messages, he came to tell them, it was a horrible experience he did not want anyone else to have. It was the reason Rook took it upon himself to deliver those reports. His own little way of playing hero. As if that helped.
Max exhaled, trying to comfort the blond man. "We don't know if your daughter is-" he stopped for a moment, "if your daughter was one of the victims. Maybe- it's still possible that what we found here was completely unrelated to what happened to your daughter.".
Steel was silent for a moment and completely still. "I don't know Tennyson- what's better, knowing your daughter is dead or not knowing what happened to her at all? Or assuming she's out there- somewhere in space-being tortured or- I don't want to think about that.", his eyes darted away. Strong shoulders slumped down, trying to drag down the whole man.
Max could not answer this question. And to be honest he was glad he never had to. The Revonnahgander excused himself and retreated into the Proto-TRUK.
Ben buckled up besides him after a few moments. The drive back to the main headquarter was spent in grave silence, both were tired, both of them were cold. The events of tonight had sucked all life out of them.
...
The events of last night had taken a toll at Ben. She woke up after two hours of sleep. Unable to get any rest. Her stomach was rumbling but she was not hungry. She actually had no real desire to eat anything. The stench was still there. This disgusting, nauseating smell that had etched its way into her nostrils. Ben had already showered twice this morning, eyes closed, but it persisted. Tomato soup seemed like an option. Still wet, she took out her phone to contact her parents, trying to get her mind on something else.
It seemed, they had tried to call her several times by now. Gwen tried two times and Jimmy also had tried calling her at least once since yesterday. The gears in her head started to turn, closing and opening her flip phone over and over again. She thought about last night. About what that working girl told her, how there were meetings held in that restaurant on some days.
That was so weird. So many things didn't make sense to her anymore. She stared at her phone. Jimmy had called her. James Jonah Jones, amateur reporter, blogger and number one fan of Ben. Maybe just sent Jimmy a little message, asking if her number one fan wouldn't mind helping out his idol. It wasn't like she needed to call him. Just send him an sms.
…
After sending the message Ben decided to go back to bed and sleep. During that time Plumbers patrolled Undertown and investigated the crime scene. Jimmy, after receiving Ben's message, made his way there too, to ask about those meet-ups. As if it was that easy.
He decided to just ask at the restaurants reception table and was shocked as he was greeted by a robot servant. And not just any robot servant, the automaton looked a lot like the Forever Ninja, except in black and white and it was able to talk. Was the Forever Ninja able to talk? Chadwick didn't seem like the kind of guy who wanted to talk to his servants, human or otherwise. That guy was kind of a jerk.
"Please state your name and intention.", a robotic voice told him at the reception desk. Maybe he could logic bomb him? Was it even worth a try?
It was weird to speak to a robot. Sure, some residents in Undertown were partly or mostly robotic, or they were robots, like Fistina. But those robots were sentient and not- programmed- like those butler bots. "May I inquire about joining the special dinner nights?" Jimmy asked the robot, who took a minute to progress the information.
"I do not compute."
"The coterie?"
"I am unable to give out information about guests. Please contact Anastasia Shishkin for further information.".
Jimmy decided to try his luck, "Okay. What's her contact information?"
"I am unable to give out any information." the robot stated. His blank robot-eyes stared ahead.
The young boy rolled his eyes, of course, this wasn't going to be that easy. If it was Ben wouldn't need his help. Jimmy turned around and groaned. Great, this was going great. There was nothing to get here. He sat down on a bench outside the restaurant. It was a quiet day, though he had to admit that he had never visited this part of Undertown before. It was further away from the market and seemed less lively. Sometimes an alien walked by, not paying him much mind. There weren't any kids walking on those streets. Jimmy's attention was brought to a large building. Well, large compared to the other, flatter one story buildings. It had stained windows and he saw how an alien went in. Maybe it was a hotel? He decided to ask there. Maybe the receptionist in there would be nicer, and less robotic. Not that there was anything wrong with that.
...
The Kineceleran at the bar was close to dropping her glass as Jimmy stepped in. What was a little boy doing here? She hurried to shoo him out again. "This is not a place for little boys!", she declared while opening the door showing him out.
A voice behind her laughed, "If he stays here maybe he won't be so little anymore, J-N!". More laughter was heard.
The female Kineceleran's blood shot up to her head,"This is not funny. I can get in legal trouble for letting a minor in here!".
Jimmy frowned and looked past the alien. On one side of the spacious room was a bar, stocked full with alcohol. Wine, beer, scotch, whiskey, all sorts of it. It looked like what he'd imagined an Irish bar to look like. Not that he ever was in one, up to this point. Jimmy was just twelve. There were little black bar stools, there were two heavy wooden tables and chairs. The other side held two large black-leather sofas. They were just as old and as heavy as the tables. in the middle stood a black, iron coffee table. It was barely big enough to hold the tall narghile, which was currently being used by a Lewodan. He watched for a moment, fascinated how she threw back her head as she exhaled smoke towards the ceiling in little circles. She grinned at him through the smoke that was coming from her mouth. A hand extended and motioned towards him to come closer. To J-N's great displeasure. But she ignored J-N. The lewodan patted the seat next to her. "Why don't you come over here and tell me why you're here, little man?".
Jimmy came closer and he felt his face heating up as he realized that she was wearing a bedlah. Though her long skirt covered her from the waist down, her top was revealing. Besids this, he Lewodan was, to put it simply, bejeweled and Jimmy felt the need to touch the thick, puffy hair. Like a cloud had settled down on her head. Not a real cloud. But one of those cartoon clouds which looked soft and thick.
"Hey, little boy." a voice from the other couch greeted him.
Jimmy turned around facing two other aliens. A green skinned young girl and a Revonnahgander with melanism. Just judging by the fact that she was well, melanistic. Her black fur shimmered unde the light. And her eyes had a healthy glow which stood in sharp contrast to the rest of her face.
"I uhm-" he was now completely red as he tried to at least say something. Why were those women wearing so little? They sure showed a lot of skin. Or fur. Though, they wore less jewelry than the Lewodan. Were those jewels the Lewodan wore even real?
"I just had a few questions.", he stared at the ground. A lot of blood had shot up his face.
The Lewodan patted the seat besides her again, "Come on, sit down. We have time, we can talk. We don't bite, unless you want us to."
Jimmy sat down withsome hesitation. It wasn't that the Lewodan smelled bad, she just smelled, strange. He'd never smelled that scent before. What was this?
Meanwhile the Kineceleran looked angry at the other three aliens, "You're going to get me in trouble, all of you!".
The Revonnahgander laughed, "It will not be so bad. We are just talking. There is no harm in that.".
J-N made a dismissive gesture and returned to her place back behind the bar, miffed. Children were present so she kept herself from using rude gestures.
"I er-" Jimmy took out his little notepad and pen. "I uh-", he felt really uncomfortable. "C-can I have your names? First? I'm Jimmy." he introduced himself.
The Lewodan blinked, a little surprised "Name? Call me Celes.".
"Mela." the Revonnahgander said and the other told him her name was: "Midori."
Jimmy glanced at the names, "Those aren't your real names are they? I mean, Midori? Green? And Mela- short for Melanin? And I'm pretty sure Celes has something to do with the sky-"
"Jeez, you caught us.", the alien who called herself Midori, replied with sarcasm. "You didn't really expect us to give you our real names, right? What's this anyway? An interrogation?". She suddenly straightened up, "You're a cop! Right? I saw this on tv. You're actually like thirty or something!".
"What?", Jimmy frowned at her and shook his head, "No!". "I just um- I mean why? Why use fake-names?"
"It has to do with our trade.", Mela stated, "You know what our trade is?"
It dawned on Jimmy and he spluttered, while his face turned from a reddish-pink to full beet-red. "I- I'm sorry- I mean- um- it's sort of- I mean- I- never mind! I have more important questions!".
"The reason I am here is, um because of that Restaurant." he looked at his notepad, "You know which one I'm talking about? The one around the corner?"
They nodded. It was difficult to not see it!
"I just wanted some names, you know who goes there, when. I heard there are some sort of gatherings?." Jimmy looked up from his notepad, everyone stared at him in horror. "Did I say something wrong?"
The green girl bit her lips, looking like she had something to say, "No, nothing.". Her eyes darted across the room. As if she was following an invisible fly.
"Listen," the Lewodan patronized him, "that's not something a little boy like you should get involved into. People get hurt, people get killed, the same with aliens. It's normal. We want to stay out of trouble and so will you.".
Jimmy frowned at her, "I'm an investigative reporter! I am not a little boy! Ben was a little boy and he saved the universe countless times. The least I can do for him-" he stopped himself and looked at them in shock, putting a hand on his mouth. Great, now he said too much.
The green alien raised her thin eyebrows, "So, this is why you're here. A favor for an old friend? Hm- why not?". She grinned at the other two, shocked, women.
"Li- Midori! Don't! I'll just get us into more trouble!", called J-N from the bar. At least it was going to get her into trouble.
Once again she was ignored as Midori kept talking, which was her favorite hobby. "So, every Friday, there's some sort of bad-guy-united meet-up. And when I say bad-guy I mean, like, guys your 'friend' fought a few times by now.", she reached over to take a drag from the hookah, before she continued. "So anyways, I am out one Friday night and there's Rojo, Captain Nemesis and Kangaroo-dude, or whatever his name is,all walking into the Restaurant. What a stupid name- Anyways; later comes in another guy, some doctor and Fistrick. And after that, on a Sunday, my boss tells me he's meeting- Anna or Anastasia or something. Some Russian. You know, a person from that cold, communist country, whatever that means."
The Revonnahgander besides her groaned, "Do not mention your boss!".
"Oh, shouldn't talk about him. Sorry. Not everyone likes him around here. Psy- my boss always gets angry when I let his name slip. Where was I?". J-N looked nervously at the door while Midori continued talking. "Okay, Friday- um- ah yes- last Friday too. I was out again and there were the same people, again. At the same time, in the evening. It's kind of creepy. Maybe they're starting a cult? I'd think I'd join a cult, maybe. I don't know. If it would include getting high and drunk-".
After another drag the Lewodan rolled her eyes as Midori drifted off to a completely unrelated topic. Jimmy had just written down the names as the door opened,. He couldn't even react as J-N grabbed him by the hips and hid him behind the bar.
"Psyphon!" she greeted, smiling at the angry looking alien, who was glaring daggers at Midori, from where he stood.
"Boss! Er- nice to see you!", she smiled.
"Don't tell me 'Nice to see you'! ", she flinched as he yelled at her. The grey shark-like alien walked up to her, menacingly. "Plumbers! They came right to my door and you know what they asked me?". Midori shook her head, staring at her hands, "They asked me about those missing girls! You know what I am thinking?", Psyphon's voice mellowed out, "I think someone talked."
The green alien shrunk together, "But who would do that?" she mumbled.
"Someone really stupid." he answered, towering over her, while she tried to put up her best puppy-face.
Midori interwined her hands and gave him a pair of puppy eyes; "You think I am stupid, boss?".
"Well, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed-"Psyphon frowned as she started to push out crocodile-tears.
She stammered, "B-but-". The tears were streaming down her face now, and she kept bumbling on, "I- I'd never tell an- anyone anything! Waaaaaaaahhhh!". She burrowed her face into her hands, crying. "I'd never sell you out, Boss! Boohooo!". Then she fell on her knees and rubbed her face against his robe, blowing her nose audible for everyone, while hugging his legs.
"Ugh-" Psyphon tried to shove her off, while still trying to hang on that little dignity he still had left, "I believe you!"
"Oh?" the crocodile tears stopped flowing, "Really?", she stared up at him.
"Yes." he looked around and glared at the grinning Lewodan, who stopped grinning and looked instead back at the ceiling. Trying to find that invisible fly. "Just um-" he took a few steps back towards the door, "make money. I um- got stuff to do.", with that he was out of the door.
Midori grinned from ear to ear, looking at the door, filled with pride. "I totally deserve an-" she searched for that word again" an Oscar!".
...
Later that day, it was late evening by now, Ben checked her messages. She had called Gwen before and sent her mom a message to tell her that everything was alright. The brunette just wanted to check her messages before taking another shower in the hope the smell would go away. Jimmy had sent her a message, a few names a date and the place.
Yes this was perfect, now she just needed a plan and a way to get to this woman; Anastasia Shishkin. She was pretty sure, that this one was the one pulling all the strings. Though she regarded the other names with worry, Nesmith, North, Rojo, Fistrick and a 'doctor'? How many Doctors did she know? Why did this woman invite her rogues-gallery for dinner? Was this another try at re-establishing the Negative Ten? The Vengers 2.0? Those team-ups were futile every time. So, it wasn't that much to worry about.