It was a late night for Kenny as he tried to sleep but couldn't. It was almost as if his body refused him. His mind lingered on recent memories. The images of recent events kept playing in his head on repeat. The images of Kevin creating havoc and kidnapping him and his great grandfather. Nearly letting him achieve his goal of destroying his father once and for all. The screams of innocent civilians running away from the chaos. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. Yet there was a voice in his mind, "guilty". All because of his naive nature and his wanting to be a hero like his father. But ultimately, screwed up. A screw-up that could've cost so many lives. Especially those of his family. Although no blood was shed, he couldn't stop rubbing his arms from the so-called imaginary blood off his skin. It was like an itch that wouldn't just go away. Almost burning him and aching for him to ease. But, he did not know-how. There was no doubt he felt like the whole thing was his fault. Because he felt it was. And they probably blame him for it.

Not only letting Kevin out but nearly breaking the machine that kept him there. As well as the other criminals that were sent there. Some are so notoriously dangerous, that they kill anyone that stood in their wake. That machine was malfunctioning for some time and some lesser criminals escaped. But in the end, they always catch them and send them back. Thanks to Kenny's tinkering, it would've broken down and been almost impossible to get back online without taking at least three months to fix. Three months his father wasn't going to take, especially against aliens who had a vendetta against the family of the great Ben 10,000. His great grandfather would tell him that it wasn't his fault. As the machine was malfunctioning and it needed repairs anyway. No need for guilt, correct? No need to feel like he failed, not only himself but his father and the city. Kevin would have found a way. He would have someone override the code and escape. But the guilt kept eating at him. Would've found a way huh? He found one alright. He found a way to escape through Kenny and his son. He wondered how Devlin was taking it. He figured he was in his room sleeping or trying to sleep. Kenny couldn't imagine the pain he felt when his father used him. Promising him a reunion only to be rejected.

Kenny rolled over again to get comfortable and hopefully sleep. Closing his eyes and slowly counted dream sheep. That didn't help very much. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "I wonder when dad is getting home?" He mutters to himself. His eyes drooped a bit and his breathing became slower and shallow. Before he could fully fall asleep he heard a loud bang and what sounded like low growls. He sat up startled. The stone creature who was sleeping soundly nearby woke up with a start and began to growl. Sniffing the air and scurrying to the bedroom door. Scratching and whimpering. Turning to look at Kenny as if waiting for his permission. "What was that?" He pushed the blanket off and slid off his bed in slow motion to avoid making any noise. Planting his feet on the floor and slowly shuffled to the door.

Activating his Omnitrix he placed it on an alien but didn't press it as he waited for another sound. Processing it as either his imagination due to a lack of sleep or was just hearing things. Or that there was indeed an intruder. He heard another thud across the hall and what sounded like grunting and snarling. Similar to the stone creature but much deeper and louder. And less scratchy as well as the stone creature doesn't have any organs or the need to breathe anyway. He peeked around a corner to listen. He heard nothing.

Waiting a few more seconds to hear anything but nothing more than the slight ringing in his ears and the painting of the stone creature. "Shh!" He said it urgently. The stone creature's growls grew a bit louder and deeper. Positioning itself into a crouch and shivered as if terrified of something Kenny couldn't have seen yet. Kenny tried to walk down the corner to hear or at least see better but the stone creature grabbed his pant leg and pulled back. It was a bit annoying on Kenny's end, but it was a way for the stone creature to warn him or better yet protect him. "Keep it down! I can't hear anything-'' A low growl pulled him out of his thoughts and slowly turned around to see a large mass in front of him. He stood in shock as the stone creature crouched and whimpered. He couldn't see the being fairly well as it was dark in the room but one thing he could tell was that it was big. Real big.


It was a very long night for Ben. It was like one criminal case to another in a single day but it is the job of a hero to maintain peace. He was exhausted. Raising his arms above his head and stretched, although stretching is a bit difficult as he had large clawed hands and feet. Along with a long fluffy tail.

What is the point of the damn tail? He thought to himself. It was too long. Sure he was a bit rusty with Blitzwolfer but he knew how to use it. It's just that his tail would get caught in things. Sometimes it would get stepped on. Either by accident on his part or when he is with someone else. He yawned. Opening his large maw of a mouth. His green tongue curled along his large canines. He looked outside. Seeing the city glowing. He brushed against a small table that lay nearby and caused its contents to fall over. Growling to himself, he picked up the mess and knocked the table again as the tail brushed everything off. "Dammit."

His ears perked as he heard one of the bedroom doors open. And the clomps of the stone creature's feet. Kenny must still be awake. Shouldn't he be asleep? He can hear him ushering the stone creature to remain quiet. Ben strolled over to the hall he heard them both from and walked closer to see the issue. The stone creature tugged at his pant leg. Ushering him to return with it. "Keep it down! I can't hear anything-" Ben then gruffed. Kenny looked up at him with wide eyes. His mouth agape. He noted his Omnitrix was activated but he didn't initiate the transformation.

The stone creature still tugged at his leg. "H-how did you get in here?" Kenny demanded. Trying to be more authoritative or intimidating. Ben thought it was kind of comical but understood why his son would act as such. However, his large size didn't exactly give his son much confidence. He was a particularly large Loboan that appeared in the Tennison household that had the capability of eating him if it wanted to. But that wasn't the case. And his Omnitrix didn't time out yet. He even tried pressing it to revert to his normal self. No avail. It was as if it was ignoring him. He thought he had that issue fixed by now. He raised his hands or should say claws to say he was surrendering and is not a threat. All it did was make him appear as if he were ready to strike. Kenny slammed his hand down on his Omnitrix and he transformed into a small alien called Grey matter. "What?! No! This isn't what I want!" He tried to reach for his back to revert to normal but he couldn't reach it. Ben couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He remembers those days. God, they were frustrating.

He figured he would appear gigantic to his boy. Scaring him even more. The stone creature charged up to Ben and rammed into his left leg. "Ow! What the hell?!" He picked up his knee and held it to his chest. A sentient being made a stone ramming your knees hurts a lot more than it sounds. Due to a shift in his weight, he nearly stumbled over and fell onto that damn table again. Why was it put there?! Dammit, Gwen, he thought. His vision was a bit dazed and he saw Kenny staring at him in a confused manner. "Not very agile are you?" He comments. Standing on the beast's chest. "I thought Loboans were ferocious predators? I guess you just happen to be one of the few derp ones." Did his son call him a derp? "Now answer my question. How did you get in here?" Kenny placed his little Greymatter hands on his hips.

The stone creature crouched nearby. Growling in his direction. Ben was impressed. Even though his son was in a "small" predicament he was able to keep some control of the situation. When he was his age, he sometimes managed to keep some control. But it would get out of hand. He had to admit that his son was more vigilant at a young age.

"Are you going to answer me? Or do you want to take it with the authorities?" "What do I need to answer for? After all, I live here." Kenny's expression changed from confident and calm to confusion. "W-what?" Ben figured to diffuse the situation before anything else happened. "What do you mean?" He leaned on his elbows to point a claw towards their face. "Don't recognize me? C'mon Kenny, who else is crazy enough to break into the home of Ben 10,000?" He said with a smile. Kenny leaned closer. He figured he was using the complex Galvan brain. His eyes widened as he realized who it was. "Dad? Wha-ah!" Ben reached over to pick Kenny up and raise him to his eye level. "Didn't recognize me huh?" He chuckled. "I guess that is kind of my fault. You never saw me in this alien form before." "A loboan? You have that?" Ben gruffed. "That's a story for another time. Now, what are you doing out of bed?" "Well, I heard something, and the stone creature was growling. So I figure I'd investigate." Ben's eyes look down to his son and note Kenny's eyes looking down. Like he caught his son sticking his hand in the cookie jar. He reached a claw to his son's Omnitrix to tap it to transform him back to his human self. In bright red light, he was back to himself. He was now sitting in his father's claw. He could tell something was wrong. To make it more obvious, he can smell it. He read somewhere that certain emotions have smells associated with them. Right now he can smell something that is a mix of wet newspaper, strangely enough, and black licorice.

Scents he caught before but didn't think too much about it. Right now it was prominent. "Kenny? What's wrong?" He looked up at him. His bright green eyes were now dull in the darkroom. His eyes looked just like his. Why were they dull? When he first gave Kenny his own Omnitrix he saw his child's eyes glow brightly and almost glimmer. The excitement of getting his chances of being an infamous hero like his father. He recalls that small sparkle or glimmer. The pure excitement of a child. Now that glow is almost gone. Why? "It's nothing, dad. I'm fine." No, you're not. He picked Kenny up and held the boy close to his chest. Cradling him like a baby. "Dad, what are you doing?" "Kenny let's talk, ok?" "Talk about what?" "Talk about what's bothering you." "I told you I was fine." He pointed a claw towards his nose. "Nose doesn't lie." Kenny tilted his head. "You can smell emotions?" Ben sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Kenny you know that when you inherit the alien's DNA? You also inherit most of their traits. Like Galvan's brain capacity of thinking in an analytical manner or in my case, Blitzwolfer's ability to smell and hear long distances." Kenny made a simple "oh" and he was then cuddled up to his father's chest. His Blitzwolfer form had a suit covering his fur. "Shouldn't you be back in your human form?" "I should be, but the problem is, I can't." Kenny tilted his head. "I am not able to change back for some reason. Maybe the Omnitrix is playing a joke on me again." Kenny asked him what he had meant and Ben had to explain that it was more complex than it seemed. Almost having a mind of its own. "So it is alive? Like you or me?" "In a way, yes. But I am not entirely sure." "Have you asked Azmuth? He did create it after all." Ben shook his head. His ears flopping slightly. "Why not?" Kenny said. Now looking up at him. He was bundled up in Ben's arms and fur. It felt pretty cozy. He could even fall asleep if he wanted to.

"No reason to." In his honest opinion, he was kind of scared of Azmuth. For something as old and small as he was. Especially a Galvan. He can think of many ways to deal with Ben. Not even getting his hands dirty. Ben directed his thoughts back to his son and walked towards his bedroom as it was the closest one. Also, he was exhausted from earlier that day. His long fluffy tail swayed behind him. "Why are we going to your room? My bed is down the hall." Kenny looked down the hall. Maybe if he told his father that he was tired and wanted to sleep in his bed. He might be able to escape the future conversation ahead.

He didn't get a chance to before his father strolled into his room and shut the door. The stone creature follows suit and pants. "I'm too tired to walk anymore. And I want to rest for a while, also I need to talk to you." Oh no, Kenny thought. "Talk about what?" He asked in a shy manner. He wanted to smack himself at that moment. "I already told you. I'm fine. There's nothing to talk about. Promise." "Ken-" Kenny interrupted him and said he was fine once again and that maybe he should head to his room to sleep as he didn't want to keep his father awake all night. "Ken-" "Dad, seriously. It's ok. We can discuss this in the morning. We'll..." "Ken." He said with a low growl. He looked down to avoid his father's gaze. Ben made an audible sigh. The sigh vibrated through his body and into Kenny's. Since Ben was significantly larger than his son, he can hold him like a baby. But he can also harm him. Unintentionally or not. He would guess that Blitzwolfer's instincts felt the same. Angry that Kenny wanted to avoid the question. But also sympathetic. He felt that there was no need to discuss anything. Part of him wanted to comfort him while the other wanted to growl at him for lying about being "fine". Damn these instincts!

Ben took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to growl at you." Kenny didn't look up at him. Almost like he was curling up in a ball and hoping to disappear. "Kenny? Please look at me." He still kept his head down. "Kenny, I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean to growl like that. There's no excuse for it. I...I just want...if you want." He facepalmed. "Sorry, dad." His head immediately shot up and looked down at him with a shocked expression. "No Ken. Don't be sorry for this. I...I should've...I...I don't know what to say. I just wanted to know what's wrong. You haven't been yourself the last few days. I want to make sure you are ok. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you." "You promise?" Kenny said in a small whisper. Hugging the boy closer and placing him under his chin or muzzle. Kenny placed his head on his father's chest. The furry mane acts like a cushion. He couldn't help but snuggle into his fur. It felt soft and a bit tickly. More notably, warm. They sat in silence for a while. Ben waited patiently for Kenny to tell him what was bothering him. "Do you blame me?" Kenny whispered. Felt his father tense up. "Blame you? Blame you for what?"

Kenny closed his eyes. His thoughts overlapped with each other. He expected him to get angry for saying that. He'd seen what he did to Kevin when he hit Kenny, beating him flat as Way Big. The amount of anger and strength he had in him at that moment. He couldn't imagine what he would do to him if he said anything wrong. He knows it's very unlikely that he hurt him but that fear still took its effect. His mouth just blurted out the first thing he tried to keep away for so long.

A strong impression of bitter or metallic scents hit his nose. Immediately recognizing it as fear. His son was scared. Scared of him? "Kenny? Why would I blame you?" "Why wouldn't you blame me?" Did he want to hit himself for that? Yes, but there was no stopping him now. He needed to get it off his chest. He hated feeling guilty. He hated feeling the need to hide. He was tired of feeling scared or useless. He was done with it. Done with all of it. "I-I put everyone at risk dad! Because of me tampering with the machine, I let Kevin out! I nearly got my Great-grandpa killed. Heck, I nearly killed you all because I fell into his plot to destroy you." Kenny shouted. He felt hot tears roll down his cheeks. "Who knows what else could've happened because of me! More criminals would've gone out and caused havoc and tried to hurt everyone else all because I was too stupid to realize it was a trap." Kenny sobbed. Ben not having said a word. Remain still and quiet. "I'm sorry dad!" He sobbed harder. His voice was a bit raw and his body shook. "I'm sorry that I messed up! Now I understand why you kept pushing me out. I am not good enough to be a hero. If I am just going to get pushed out so easily or manipulated." Kenny shut his eyes as he heard his father growl quite menacingly.