Welcome ultras to the latest chapter of The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs!
First an announcement... Thanks to one user, yraj2004, I was made aware that my inbox for private messages isn't receiving anything. I have the settings to allow PM's turned on, and I emailed the site to try to work it out. If anyone has tried to message me, I am deeply sorry that I haven't responded yet. Hopefully I will get it worked out soon! In the meantime, if you want to be in personal contact with me, either to co-author a chapter, or just to say anything else you'd usually say in a private message, please leave a review with something like "PM" or "Message" and I will send you a private message with an email address I made specifically for this website, so that we can talk over email, at least until the problem is fixed. Thank you for your patience, and sorry again if I haven't responded to any of your private messages yet!
Back to the story...
Let me apologize in advanced... I was trying hard to get this chapter written and out by Monday, and because of that, I don't think that it came out quite as well as I would have liked it to. So sorry if it is a little lower quality, and I also didn't get quite as far as I wanted to. My next chapter will come out in two weeks, so I am going to focus very hard on quality, as its going to be an important one!
Trigger warnings for this chapter: There are two instances of choice language. The first one is in the paragraph beginning with, "Let's get out of here!" The second instance is in the paragraph immediately following. There isn't any violence or anything else needing a trigger warning.
I don't have a soundtrack for the chapter, so that's that. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs
Chapter 34: No Escape From Yourself
Ben tore through the night, away from the school dance. His tie already loosened, Ben tore it off completely, tossing it onto the ground behind him.
"Who does she think she is, manipulating me like this?" Ben asked out loud. "Toying with my emotions like they're some kind of a game!" Ben felt his temper get angrier and angrier.
"And what was that kiss all about? I thought it was me? It just seemed right in the moment, like it was something we both wanted. But no, immediately afterwards, she starts asking about Ultra 10 again, like that was the whole point of the kiss! To get me to come back!" Ben stopped in his tracks and stared back in the direction of the school.
"Yeah, well screw you Lucky Girl! And screw you, Ultra 10!" Ben shouted. He tore off his mask his suit folding up into it. Ben threw it on the pavement and watched it bounce around, collecting a few scuffs as it did. Ben turned back away and started walking away, still angry.
"You need me," a voice said in his mind.
"I said screw you!" Ben shouted.
"You can't escape me," the voice said. "I am you." Ben looked down into a puddle of water in the gutter. In the murky water he saw a distorted reflection of himself. With the dim light from street lamps, he could see about half of his face in the water, shimmering and distorted, but definitely his. However, the other half of his face was dark, as if nothing were there. It was as if only half of his face were lit by the glow of a fire, and the other half left dark in the shadows. Then the reflection, or half of one, opened its mouth to talk.
"You are me, and I am you," it said. "You cannot stop being me anymore than you can stop being Ben Tennyson."
"You aren't me!" Ben shouted at the reflection which seemed to have its own personality. "You are a lie! A scared kid trying to act brave!"
"And how is that not you?" Ben's reflection asked. "Stop torturing yourself, and accept me as part of you!"
"Screw you! I hate you!" Ben shouted again as he stomped the puddle, distorting and dispersing the reflection in it. He took a step down the street again, only to be stopped.
"What if you change your mind?" The voice asked him in his mind. "What if you want to become Ultra 10 again? Keep the suit, so that you at least have the option."
"You mean, so that I have the temptation," Ben said.
"I am a part of you, but I can't force you to do anything. We have to make that decision. Just be prepared to face the consequences if you neglect me." Ben sighed, glancing back over to where his suit lay in the gutter, now muddy from the water and gutter slime. Taking a deep breath, he walked over and stooped down, picking up the suit and slipping it back into his pocket.
"I'll keep it around," Ben relented. "But I decide if I ever put it on again." With that, Ben continued his walk home, no more angry per-say, but still just as upset and confused. He felt that he should apologize to Lucky Girl for blowing up at her. She'd invited him to dance and have some fun. And he'd gotten angry when they'd talked about the main thing they had in common. It was natural for them to talk about that.
"I was really a jerk," Ben said, still walking home. "I ruined her night just because I couldn't get over my own ego." Ben's feelings of injury continued to change from his injury to remorse for Lucky Girl's.
"I need to apologize to her," Ben sighed. "And I'll probably need to wear the suit again to do it.
The next night
Ben took a deep breath as he looked at the folded up suit in his hands. It still was scuffed and scraped up from him loosing his temper yesterday.
"I have to do it," Ben said to himself. "Just to apologize to her." Ben opened the suit, watching it unfold over him, covering him from head to foot. Once it had expanded, Ben looked at himself in his closet mirror.
"Doesn't look like there's any scuffs on the suit," Ben surmised. "Just in whatever part makes the case. Or the mech just rearranged itself to repair whatever scratches it had." Ben looked himself in the eyes, peering through the mask.
"I'm not Ultra 10 anymore, I'm not. It's just to make it up to Lucky Girl for being such a jerk last night. Then it's suit off, and it stays off." Satisfied with his little declaration, Ben walked over to the side of his room and slid the window open. Stepping outside, he silently closed the window and activated the Omnitrix, scrolling through several forms before deciding on one. In an instant, he was encompassed by a flash of green light.
"Accelerate!" Ben shouted as he emerged. "I'll find her in no time," His face plate slid crossed. In an instant, he took off, zipping through the streets of Bellwood. It was getting close to dusk, about the time that they had usually done their patrol, so if they were still doing it at the same time, he'd be able to find Lucky Girl no problem.
Ben flew through the neighborhood streets, but didn't see any sign of Lucky Girl. Turning, he headed for the downtown area. He started flying through the streets, still unable to find Lucky Girl. Suddenly, he heard the sound of an alarm going off. He almost raced there, but stopped himself.
"I'm not Ultra 10," he reminded himself. "I've got to let the police handle that." Then he thought about it for a moment.
"But… If there is a crime, Lucky Girl will probably be there too…" Ben sighed annoyed. "I guess that I'll go take a look." He zipped off in the direction of the alarm. He arrived at the gas station/convenience store. Coming to a stop outside, his badge started flashing, reverting him to his human form.
"Great! Just the form I want to be in when I encounter a possible fight!" Ben annoyedly pressed the buttons on his watch, trying to override the timeout function. The watch made a power-down sound when he clicked the button, but it popped up the face anyway. And instead of the usual green or red, the color turned blue.
"What the-" Ben started to say, before he was cut off.
"Let's get out of here!" One thug shouted at his partner as they came barreling out of the doors, money and beer in his arms. He stopped abruptly when he saw Ultra 10 standing there outside the building, fidgeting with his Omnitrix. "Oh shit!"
"Dude, what's the hold up?" His partner ran out of the store behind him, almost running over him. His eyes quickly focused on Ultra 10 as well. "Shit! It's Ultra 10!" Ben looked up at the two thugs standing there.
"Uh… Aren't you guys going to try to make a run for it or something?" Ben asked, confused.
"And what, try to escape you?" The first guy asked. "Not a chance, man! James, take the stuff back into the store!"
"You read my mind," Jim said, heading back into the store with their ill-gotten loot.
"We didn't hurt the cashier, o-or even break anything! We were just going to do a grab and dash." The thug tried to explain to Ultra 10. "We were just really confused, you know? Like… like we thought you were gone. You just vanished, you know? No one's seen a glimpse of you in weeks. We weren't sure what to do without you…"
"What are you talking about?" Ben asked, confused. "Who was looking for me?"
"Me. Jim. Others too. You were cleaning up this city, you know? Like taking the rapists and murders out. Gangs too! We talked about you down at the bars and stuff. Things been crazy since the night of murders a few months ago, but you were really bringing back some order. But then you just like disappeared. Like poof, you know?" The thug looked self-conscious for a bit.
"I guess that some of us just got confused, you know? Me too. I-it's no excuse, but it's just that times are hard, and its tough to keep doing what's right, you know? Like you don't want to hurt nobody, but you gotta find a way to keep food on the table, you know?" About that time Jim came out of the gas station.
"Hey, Ultra 10, so like I put back the stuff in the store, every penny. I even apologized to the cashier and helped him put it back. He said he wouldn't call the cops on us, but I get it if you're still going to take us down to the station," Jim walked up to Ultra 10. Ben looked at the two thugs and saw two confused guys, trying to figure out what to do.
"No more robbing," Ben finally said. "I don't care if you don't hurt anyone. Stealing is wrong. You should try to get a job. Keep it and work hard. Keep food on the table in an honest way."
"Yes, sir," the two would-be villains said in unison.
"I'm not going to take you down to the station tonight, seeing as you haven't actually stolen anything, or hurt anyone. But you have to promise me that you'll be acting straight from here on out. No more stealing."
"You got it!" Jim said, his partner nodding along with him.
"Then get out of here," Ben said. "You don't want to look suspicious around here." The thugs nodded and jogged off into the night, heading in separate directions. Ben felt a small feeling of something in his chest. Was that pride? Respect? It felt good, like he was a hero of some sort.
"No, I am not Ultra 10 anymore," Ben said to himself, stifling the feeling back down. He looked around the area, looking for any sign of Lucky Girl.
"You know, for someone who's sworn off the whole hero business," a feminine voice spoke up from behind him. Ben spun around to see Lucky Girl walking out from the shadows. "You really can inspire the crime right out of them. Are you sure that the hero business isn't for you?"
"Positive," Ben said. "Just because I'm not heroing anymore, doesn't mean that I'm content with crime."
"So if you're not heroing anymore," Lucky Girl said. "Then why are you wearing the costume?"
"I had come to apologize," Ben relented. "I treated you unfairly at the dance. You invited me to have a fun time, and I blew up at you and was immature."
"It was my fault," Lucky Girl started to apologize back. "You didn't want to talk about not going heroing anymore, and that's all that I talked about."
"And nobody would blame you," Ben said. "Well, no one with their head on straight that is. The hero life is kinda what we have in common, so it is only natural that it would be the topic of discussion." Lucky Girl came closer to Ben, now only inches away from his face.
"It was still wrong of me to talk about it, when you didn't want to."
"Well at least we have something else in common, now," Ben said, not shying away from her face.
"Indeed, we do," Lucky Girl smiled, before she reached up and teasingly squeezed Ben's nose. "But you'll have to wait for another kiss. You're still in the dog-house. You left me all alone that night, and I would be spoiling you if I let you off that easily." Ben felt a little disappointment well up in his chest. Lucky Girl spun around and started walking off, back into the shadows.
"How about I make it up to you?" Ben asked as Lucky Girl stopped and turned her head slightly, considering what he just said.
"Not tonight. I've still got most of a city to finish patrolling," Lucky Girl continued off into the dark alley. "But I'll contact you when I'm ready to forgive you."
"How will you do that?" Ben asked, trying to get her to stay, even for a moment longer.
"I'll be more subtle than leaving notes all around town," Lucky Girl's voice seemed more and more distant. "Don't you worry." With that, Ben faintly saw a silhouette turn down a side street, running off through the town.
"It's a date, then," Ben said to himself. "I've got a date with Lucky Girl."
"She only wants you to become Ultra 10 again," the voice whispered in his mind.
"No, she accepts my decision," Ben replied as he started walking back towards his house. "She's letting me decide if I ever return."
"Lies! Her only interest in you is for me! The good that we do together! Let me free, and I will win her for you! I beg of you! You felt my influence tonight! With the two thieves! You felt how setting them right made you feel!"
"I don't want you, you aren't me!" Ben said frustrated. "I can do good without being Ultra 10!" Ben sighed. "I can't be you, regardless of how much I want to. I just can't endanger her, or my family." With that, his inner voice seemed to quiet, fading back into obscurity. Ben sighed, exasperated.
"I guess that I can use the Omnitrix to get back home." Ben looked at the watch, instantly remembering the strange color it had turned. "Maybe…" Ben started fidgeting with the watch, trying to figure out what was going on with it.
"OMNITRIX PLAYLIST SEQUENCE UPDATED," the watch said in its disembodied female voice.
"What?" Ben asked. "What playlist?" He pressed the activator button again on the watch.
"OMNITRIX CAMOUFLAGE MODE SELECTED, BEGINNING REBOOT MODE." The light shifted back from blue to green, and the whole watch shifted. Like it was alive or something, the watch twisted and folded in on itself, reorganizing itself until it looked just like a normal watch. Immediately after it changed, the Omnitrix turned back from green to its red recharge mode.
"OMNITRIX IN REBOOT MODE, PLEASE STANDBY," the Omnitrix announced.
"That's new," Ben said, looking over the watch's new design. The faceplate on the front of the watch was about the same size, maybe it was just a bit smaller. But the wristband around the watch was completely different. Whereas before it looked like a fat band criss-crossed with tubes and wires, now it simply looked like any old wristwatch you could buy at a retail store.
"OMNITRIX REBOOT COMPLETED, RESUMING NORMAL FUNCTIONALITY," the Omnitrix said again. The red recharge light was replaced with the green, "ready" light.
"Alright," Ben said. He pressed the activator button on the side of the watch, seeing the faceplate pop up like it usually did. However, the silhouettes were different. "What are these? Are they new aliens?" Ben cycled through the forms.
"I still have HeatBlast, and FourArms… Most of these still look like they're the same ones… Except for these two," Ben said as he scrolled between two new forms. The first one looked kind of like some sort of troll or lizard.
"Okay, not sure what that guy does," Ben said as he scrolled to the second new one. It appeared like some sort of a robot, with its mouth agape. "Or that one."
"Don't you want to find out?" His inner voice asked him.
"Not really, no," Ben replied. He cycled through the Omnitrix until he found Accelerate's silhouette. Pressing down on the faceplate, he expected himself to be engulfed in the familiar green flash of light. However, the watch took a moment to twist into its normal form before activating and selecting Accelerate. A couple of seconds delayed, Ben was engulfed in the green light.
"Accelerate!" Ben shouted as he came out of the flash. "Weird," he remarked, before taking off, heading towards his home. After arriving several moments later, he detransformed, and took off his suit before walking in through the front door. He noticed that his watch was still in it's original form, rather than the new wristwatch form.
"I wonder how to change it between modes," Ben asked himself as he made his way into his bedroom. He sat down at his desk, intent on figuring it out. "Let's see, I think that I pressed the activator button." Ben pressed the button, popping the faceplate up.
"Then I think I pressed it again," Ben pressed the activator again, somewhat disappointed when all that happened was the faceplate deactivating, slipping back down into the watch.
"No, that's not right," Ben muttered as he pressed the activator button again, watching the faceplate pop up again. He pushed the button to the side, as if it were on a track. Like a switch, the button moved a little bit, maybe only a quarter of an inch, before moving back. Nothing seemed to happen.
"Maybe I'll just have to figure it out later," Ben gave in. He pressed the activator button to deactivate the faceplate, only to watch the watch twist and fold as it had done earlier, into the wristwatch mode.
"Ah, that's how it's done," Ben felt a little proud of himself. "First try!" He looked the watch over again, again in its usual, somewhat bulky form.
"That will be nice having a camouflage mode when I'm not using it. At least it will keep people from noticing the strange green watch on my wrist. It would be nice if it could actually tell time, instead of just showing the hourglass symbol, but at least it looks normal." Ben turned on his tv and PlayStation, and selected a game to pass the time.
"Tonight was close enough to heroing I plan on doing for a long while," Ben muttered to himself. "For now, it's just going to be games, schoolwork and catching up with my friends." Although he wouldn't admit it, he still was curious what exactly the thief had meant when he said that they had been looking for him. Just something to wonder about, because he wasn't going to be doing any heroing for a while.
A week later, An undisclosed location
Alex pounded his desk in frustration. His plans to destroy Ben couldn't proceed if he refused to try to be the hero.
"Come on!" Alex shouted in frustration. "Over two months it's been! And yet you still refuse to take on the mantle again! I thought that this would only be temporary! That you wouldn't fight so hard against the draw to become the hero again!" Alex glared at the screen in front of him. From the small camera mounted onto one of Animo's birds, he peered in through the window into Ben's bedroom. Ben sat on his bed, playing a game on his PlayStation. That's all that it seemed that he did these days. Video games, homework, and then some more video games.
As if something were interrupting him, Ben suddenly paused his game and reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone and putting it to his ear. After a few minutes of talking, he hung up, putting his phone back into his pocket and stood up. Turning off the tv, he slipped on his shoes, slipped on a coat, and left the room, heading out his front door.
"Fine… you win," Alex muttered. "If you will not willingly go back into being Ultra 10, I will be forced to give you a little push." Alex pressed a button on his computer, switching the camera to another one in the city. "You will not stop my plans from progressing. I will kill you, and it will be on my terms. No number of setbacks will change that."
Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Turning it on, she dialed a number on it, and waited for the other side to pick up.
"What's up, Dweeb?" Ben's voice said from the other end.
"Just got back from exercising," Gwen replied. "Want to hang?"
"Sure," Ben said from the other end. "You're probably all worn out from jogging or whatever you do at that gym. So I guess I'll be over to your house in a little bit."
"See you then!" Gwen singsonged as she ended the call and hung up. She looked at her normally pristine room, seeing that it was more unkempt than it usually was. "I probably should clean up. All this extra training aside of everything else I usually am doing is making my place look like a pigsty."
Ben got his shoes on, together with a coat from his closet, and headed out the door. His parents usually didn't care what he did, nor where he went, so long as he came home in time for dinner, or called them to tell them he wouldn't make it. His parents were pretty relaxed when it came to their parenting styles, which came in handy when he had to sneak off fighting criminals as Ultra 10. But even now that he was no longer fighting crime, it was still nice to be able to leave whenever he wanted.
It would be nice to be able to drive, though that was still several years away. But the other alternatives were to walk, which was annoying, or to use the watch to go Accelerate. And he wasn't going to use the watch, it was too dangerous to his family. If anyone saw a glimpse of him as one of his aliens, then Ultra 10 wouldn't be gone. And the hunt for him would start up shortly after that.
He wasn't even going to use the watch when he knew he was alone. If he used it once, he would be tempted to use it again, and again. And the more he used it, the more he would be tempted to return to life as Ultra 10, which would put everyone he knew in danger again. So, as annoying as it was, until he got his driver's license, he would be stuck to walking, or getting a ride.
Still, walking to Gwen's house wasn't too bad. Up until last year, her parents had lived almost all the way across the city. But Frank's connections with the city had helped Ben's dad get a better job as a building demolitions specialist. As a result, her father had gotten some sort of a raise, or bonus or something. He wasn't sure how it worked with Frank being a lawyer, but they'd decided to buy a nicer house, and it just so happened to be only a few blocks away from Ben's house. Their mothers might not be able to stand each other, but their dads had grown up fairly close, and enjoyed visiting each other from time to time.
After several minutes of walking, Ben got to Gwen's house, ringing the doorbell as he got to the front door. In a moment, Natalie answered the door, greeting Ben with a big smile.
"Hello, Ben," she said. "I've told you before, with as often as you and Gwen hang out, you can just come inside."
"Old habits die hard," Ben responded with a shrug. Natalie muttered something incoherent as she stepped aside to let Ben in.
"Gwen is upstairs in her room," she said. Ben walked past her as she closed the door behind him. Ben made his way up the stairs towards Gwen's room. Knocking on her door, he waited for her to let him inside. In a moment, the door swung open, Gwen standing there in the door frame.
"What do you want, Doofus?" She asked, annoyed.
"I don't know, maybe to get out of this cootie-infested house?" Ben shot back. A tense moment of silence passed by between them, before Ben couldn't keep up the act anymore.
"So, you going to let me in? Or just leave me standing in the hallway looking like a total Doofus?" Ben asked, a smile growing across his face.
"You are a total Doofus," Gwen replied, a smile growing on her face too. "But I guess that you can come inside… that is if the cooties don't bother you?"
"Nah, it's been a couple of days since I showered, so they won't bother me for too long…" Ben couldn't help but laugh as he saw the disgusted look on Gwen's face.
"Gross!" She huffed as Ben passed by her, entering her room.
"So what game are we playing today?" Ben asked as he sat down on her bed. "I brought over Call of Duty just in case you don't have anything good."
"Actually, I just bought the Star Wars Battlefront 2 for my PlayStation yesterday, and I was wanting to try that out," Gwen suppressed a smile as she kept her back towards Ben. She turned on her PlayStation, picking up the remotes and handing one to Ben. "But Call of Duty is good too…"
"Are you kidding? I'm so going to smoke you on Battlefront!" Ben exclaimed, taking the remote from Gwen.
A/N:
That's where I end it this week. I wanted it to go farther, but time just didn't permit it, so next chapter picks up almost immediately where we left off. What did you think about the voice in Ben's head? What about those two would-be thieves? Should have Ben taken them in anyway, or at least given them a harder time, or was he right to trust them? What do you think Alex's "little push" could be? Any other ideas, comments, critiques or speculations, leave them in a review! And while you're at it, don't forget to favorite and follow the story!
Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!
Review Responses:
debaruncy12: Hey man, nice chapter. A reminder that even heroes need to relax and have fun. And the take on Steel Girl is also very good. Although Cooper's engineering seems a bit off the charts, I mean, the team's suit is nanotech. Tony Stark did it in like, the 50th suit. Anyways an awesome story as a whole, I really liked the Alex animals origin story. And hey you could try introducing new aliens like from the other series or of your own making. And when will the doofus and dweeb realize that they're fallin' for each other? (hahaha) ... Kudos
Hey, debaruncy12! Thanks for the review! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter, and Steel Girl's debut! Cooper's engineering is pretty OP, but it's because he can literally merge with tech. However, there are limits as to what he can do with the tech, and as to what he can think of to implement into the tech. He actually is, and will be, taking inspiration from Ben's aliens to add new features into the tech. For example, the emergency landing protocol in Steel Girl's suit was based off of CannonBolt, while the energy cannon was inspired by HeatBlast. There are some serious tradeoffs, such as two weak training shots being enough to disable her jetpack, but these will either be strengthened, upgraded or discarded over time.
I'm glad you liked Alex Animal's origin, I think it turned out pretty well, as compared to what I had in mind. A lot faster paced in his turn to villainy, but I just couldn't quite make a slower transformation smooth. As for the aliens, Yeah, it's been admittedly slow with introducing new aliens, with only really Whampire so far. But in this chapter, Ben unlocked both a camouflage mode, as well as two new forms, UpChuck and EchoEcho. As for when Ben and Gwen will catch onto each other, I had planned to knock over the last domino this chapter, but I decided to take my time, and make it worth the read. So the beginning of the next chapter, for sure! Thanks for the love!
Amanny: Poor Lucky Girl, so much for her night. Gwen didn't mean to offend Ultra, but he took it the wrong idea. I suspect Ben will get back to the suit if Alex or any other super villain tries to hurt any of his friends and family. That's what I think.
Thanks for the review! Yeah, Gwen didn't deserve that kind of treatment from Ultra 10, and Ben even realized that. His apology is his attempt to do what's right, and get over himself, hopefully Lucky Girl will forgive him soon, as he's going to need her support this coming chapter! *Clapping* Well done, you have glimpsed the beginning of the next chapter! Alex will attack, pushing Ben back into the business. Thanks for the speculation, you hit the nail on the head!
yraj2004: Hey, as you have managed to incorporate many things early in the story, so, when the volume 2 ends, will Ben get the newer Omnitrix version of ALIEN FORCE, or maybe even the Ultimatrix?
Thanks for the review, yraj2004! In short, no, Ben won't be getting a different Omnitrix like in the end of Alien Force. I thought that Albedio making his own superior Omnitrix, which Ben basically stole and used was pretty ridiculous. If Azmuth is the smartest being in the universe, and the Omnitrix was his greatest invention, why could some young Galvan, or Dr. Psychobos make Omnitrixes to rival it?
However... This Omnitrix has more features than the prototype Omnitrix Ben had in the tv series. For example, he just discovered a camouflage mode. This Omnitrix is the one that Ben will continue to wear as he becomes the Hero of Heroes, though it may look different or unlock different abilities. If Ben ever comes into contact with multiversal versions of himself though, then there will be other Omnitrixes, each with their own abilities or uniqueness.
uchihaNaruto247: Review for chapter 2... Hmm, I think it was a good decision that Ben is taking a break from being a hero, he's unconsciously giving himself a much needed break. He's lucky he has such great friends willing to wait for him despite what he said about quitting. It's interesting how we're just getting more superheroes added to the team, I didn't think it was going to grow like this but I'm all up for it. And we're about to get some time with Ben and Gwen hanging out, which is cool because this side of their identity barely talk to each other.
Chapter 3... Yo, I swear this dudes temper is funny at times, but I can see things from Ben's perspective. From what he sees it's as if this moment was orchestrated by her in attempt to bring him back to fighting crime.
Thanks for the reviews, Uchiha! Yeah, Ben was needing a breather from his alter ego, as you likely read in this chapter. It is really creating a problem for him, unfortunately it is going to be cut short here soon, which is going to have some consequences down the line. But he really does have a great group of friends, willing to forgive him so quickly and support his so well. As for the team, it is still got some changing and evolution to go through before the end of the next volume. But for the next couple of chapters at least, it is going to stay pretty much the same.
Yeah, Ben's anger is pretty ridiculous, part of that is my fault in writing, (The balance between overly dramatic and under dramatic can sometimes be difficult to balance on, though that's no excuse.) and part of it is intended to be a flaw in Ben's character. Ben is constantly being annoyed and prodded by his "inner demon," his alternate identity of Ultra 10. This makes him easily angry, especially when it feels that he's battling on two fronts, all the time. Yeah, he lost it at Lucky Girl, rather unfairly too. But he recognized his mistake, and is trying to make up for it. Thanks for the reviews!