Alice's fingers skimmed up and down the fabric of the Providence uniform, ghosting over muscles that had been sore the day before. It no longer had a sting to it since it was only a handful of minutes or so away from completely healing, but the repetitive action kept her mind off of the nervousness growing in the pit of her stomach. The skylight up above revealed the dark night sky common for the early morning hours, so it provided little light to brighten up the area. She had to rely on the little light that did exist in Providence's enclosed ecosystem to see her surroundings. What little light existed created an eerie atmosphere, like something was going to jump out and attack her. A chill ran down her spine at the thought.
Considering she was in Providence's Petting Zoo, populated primarily and exclusively by animal and plant E.V.O.s, it probably wasn't off the mark.
Amber strode confidently in front of her, her palm raised upward and a lit flame in it, lighting their path. A few times Alice would spot a tendril slither out from the darkness toward them, but Amber would usually flare up and scare the tendril away with the threat of being burned. Alice followed closely like a shadow, not wanting to be left behind or attacked.
"Miss Ignis?" Alice asked, calling for the woman's attention. Amber didn't turn to look at her, but she did incline her head in the girl's direction. "Why are we here?"
Amber looked away, placing her eyes back on the path. She didn't answer the girl's question, continuing to lead the way in silence. Alice lowered her head in silence, dejected by the woman's dismissal. It wasn't like she had expected Amber to answer the question, but she had been hoping for one. Amber had said she'd tell her, but so far nothing. It didn't put Alice at ease, and then there was the way her hair stood on the nape of her neck. A knot was forming in the pit of her stomach, and with each step it only tightened further.
Amber pulled back the leaves of an inanimate plant and came to a stop. Alice raised her head upward, looking at the red-haired woman in curiosity. Amber jerked her head forward, and so Alice moved around the E.V.O. to stand in front of the woman. A startled gasp escaped when she saw what they were staring at. Congregated together in a pack of five, Stalking Arachnids were pressed up against the side of the zoo. They seemed to be testing out the strength of the walls, but were finding no luck. The monsters hadn't noticed their audience members of two, and so they didn't notice how the youngest took a step back in fright.
"They broke in yesterday," Amber explained, crossing her arms over her chest. spoke up. "They managed to make it into the Petting Zoo, but were trapped by our E.V.O.s." Amber colored eyes bore into a pair of light blue. "You're here to exterminate them."
Alice's eyes widened, panic filling inside of them.
"B-but I'm not ready," Alice protested. "I've only used my powers for target practice."
Amber's eyebrows dipped downward to the point that they were almost connecting, her eyes narrowing at the disobedience.
"That is because we were building up your endurance," Amber retaliated. "Your powers require you to draw on inner energy. And in your inexperience, you've forgotten the simple law of conservation of energy: energy cannot be created or destroyed. It must change from one form to another." Alice stared at the woman with a confused look. The woman held back a sigh, but the way her lips thinned showed her annoyance. "In other words, your power draws on your inner energy. We've been expanding your energy bank so that you can draw on it more." She raised a hand to gesture at the monsters. "Today, we will be testing what you've learned."
Alice opened her mouth to protest further, to find another excuse on why she couldn't possibly face the monsters, but the dark look that sprang to Amber's eyes had Alice shutting her mouth. Amber was not a woman to be crossed, and Alice didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrathful mood. Alice craned to look over her shoulder, eyeing the wolf-arachnid hybrids that had ceased their attempts to escape and had their muzzles lifted into the air, sniffing it. They had undoubtedly picked up on her and Amber's scent. As one, the five monsters locked in on her position, curling back their lips to bare their sharp teeth. A shiver ran down Alice's spine, and she took a stiff step forward. The wolf-spider hybrids released a snarl and scattered, rushing at her with incredible speed thanks to their eight legs. They were on her before she had a chance to blink.
The first two who reached her reared back on their hind legs, the front pair of legs pulled up and ready to strike her. Amber was probably expecting her to be on the offense and strike them first, but Alice instead raised her hand upward to place up a force-field. Unfortunately for her, the monsters were faster and intercepted. One Stalking Arachnid caught her outstretched arm, clamping down with sharp teeth. Alice released a quick shriek, more out of distress than pain. Another Stalking Arachnid lunged for her, but she managed to drop to the ground, letting the monster sail over her. It collided with a third Stalking Arachnid, rolling the two. Alice glanced at the pair momentarily, but was brought back to the first Stalking Arachnid when it clenched harder on her arm, breaking through the uniform's protective material. She hissed at the pain, and held out her hand to fire at the monster, but she didn't fire off an energy ball or beam at it.
Her mind was playing a trick on her. Instead of staring at a Stalking Arachnid, the monster had been replaced with a Talon Titan. Seeing the large monster froze her blood, and rooted her in place. Her freeze up cost her. The two Stalking Arachnids had recovered from their tumble and pounced upon her, dropping her to the ground. The alien girl shrieked, moving her head when the jaw of a wolf-spider hybrid - the one pressing its weight on her - made an attempt to bite her head off. The Stalking Arachnid made three more attempts until it was blasted by an arch of fire, sending it off of Alice. The arch extended to the other two monsters, pushing them back and leaving burn marks on their body.
"On your feet."
Alice looked to the side, finding her mentor standing with her arms crossed. The woman's lips were pursed as amber colored eyes narrowed in Alice's direction, the clear sign that she was aggravated with Alice's performance. Alice moved into a sitting position, dropping her eyes from the E.V.O. to her lap, feeling some shame that the woman had to step in against the three Stalking Arachnids.
Alice's eyes widened as she suddenly realized that there had been five Stalking Arachnids, but she had only been fighting with three. Where did the other two disappear to? Alice snapped her head upward, looking back over at Amber. From the shadows, one of the wayward Stalking Arachnids lunged at the red-haired woman. Alice opened her mouth to warn the woman, but Amber spun around and held out her hand, sending a flame spiral out at the monster. It wrapped around the wolf-spider hybrid, making the monster lose its momentum and fall to the ground. In moments, it dissolved into Fusion Matter.
Amber's focus was put on the puddle of Fusion Matter, so she missed a plant tendril slithering along the ground. Striking like a viper, the tendril wrapped itself around Amber's ankle and lifted her into the air. Alice gasped in surprise, but Amber didn't look startled. Her right hand turned a bright shade of red and she used that hand to cut herself free from the plant. Whatever E.V.O. the tendril had been attached to released a howl of pain, and the injured organ returned to its host. Amber spun herself so she could land on her feet, but was caught off guard by the fifth Stalking Arachnid. From the shadows, the Stalking Arachnid opened its jaw and clamped down on Amber's mid-section. The woman winced, but it was the only indication that she felt the teeth burrowing into her body. She raised her red hand, preparing to strike the monster down. As she was about to swing her hand, she caught a green patch forming directly under her.
Alice noticed what she was looking at and blanched. It was the same green patch she had experienced in the canyon. Her throat clenched up at the memory of the painful event. Directing her hand downward at the patch, Amber fired off a blast of fire. At the same moment, a beam of energy shot up from the ground, meeting the fire head on. For a moment, the two forces collided and battled with each other. Alice stared in awe, wondering if the fire would be strong enough to overpower the frightful energy. Unfortunately, the energy beam prevailed and dissipated the fire. It continued its upward trajectory, although it looked noticeably weaker. The attack caught Amber, completely engulfing her and the monster holding her in its bright green lighting. Because it was weaker, the light disappeared, revealing the two occupants caught in the blast. The Stalking Arachnid was still in one piece, but it looked noticeably beaten up, and had released its hold on the red-haired E.V.O. The woman was unconscious, and burn marks from the Fusion Matter blast were scattered over her body. The two fell to the ground with a thud, neither getting up.
"M-m-miss Ignis," Alice choked out.
The woman did not stir at the call. The remaining three Fusion Monsters, seeing that one of their preys was down for the count, turned their attention back onto Alice. The girl scrambled up to her feet and ran for the fallen woman, doing her best to ignore the snarling of the monsters. She dropped to her knees beside the woman, and immediately placed a force-field over the two of them. The three wolf-spider hybrids rammed into the barrier, bouncing backward. For the moment, they could not break in, although they were trying. Alice huddled next to the fallen woman, checking on her with shaky hands. Amber had a pulse, and she didn't look terribly beat up. No amount of shaking, however, woke the woman from her unconscious state. Alice was on her own up against three Stalking Arachnids (the one caught in the energy blast was still down).
Alice closed her eyes tightly, feeling the tears rapidly form behind her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She was shaking, tremors moving up and down her body as she listened to the arachnid monsters pounding at her barrier. She could feel it weakening, and that brought on a flood of memories. Her powers were failing her again, but this time there was no Amber to save her. She was going to die; her failure to be strong was going to get her and Amber killed. The blue haired alien released a choking sob, and the negative thought broke her concentration. A Stalking Arachnid's leg was able to stab the barrier, creating a crack in its protection. Sensing a weakness in her barrier, Alice spun her head around, staring with wide, teary eyes as a fault line spread itself out from the hit. The Fusion Monsters also caught wind that her barrier was failing her. They stabbed at it with their front appendages, close to the fault line that was now running top to bottom. Alice felt her heart drop when she saw the barrier shatter.
The three Stalking Arachnids released a howl, presumably to announce their victory, but the howls quickly turned into yowls. Alice blinked, becoming aware of the sound of gunfire coming from behind her. Appearing from amongst the foliage, masked Providence agents took aim and fired at the Stalking Arachnids. The wolf-spider hybrids roared out in pain, rushing forward to engage the agents in close combat. Given that there were ten Providence agents to three Stalking Arachnids, the monsters were turned to Fusion Matter relatively easily. One masked agent approached the fallen Fusion Monster, shooting it twice to make sure it turned into Fusion Matter. Movement out of Alice's peripheral made the girl jump. She spun around, and found that Caesar was kneeling on the other side of Amber, inspecting the red-haired woman. Without acknowledging the blue-haired girl staring at him, the scientist lifted the E.V.O. into his arms, got back on his feet, turned, and walked away.
Alice watched him walk away, many of the masked Providence agents following him. She lowered her eyes to the ground, biting her bottom lip as her tears continued rolling down her cheeks. A hand touching her shoulder startled her. She snapped her head upward, meeting the brown eyes of Captain Calan. While his eyes shone with concern, his face was perfectly controlled.
"C'mon," the man said in his Southern accent. "It's not safe here."
Alice lowered her head, allowing the captain to raise her to her feet. He didn't remove his hold on the girl as he guided her out of the Petting Zoo, probably thinking Alice would collapse if he did. It was a fair assessment; Alice was barely able to place one foot in front of the other. The guilt weighed her down like an anchor to a boat. She was supposed to get better so she could be of use. Instead, her fear and incompetency had once again led to someone almost dying.
Caesar glanced upward as he exited the medical ward, stopping when he almost crashed into Captain Calan. The blond looked surprised to see the scientist, but recovered and gave a nod in greeting. Caesar returned the gesture and continued past the man, only a little surprised when he realized he was being followed. Calan wasn't a bad guy, but he and Caesar weren't exactly buddies. They were barely acquaintances. They just happened to operate under the same roof.
"How is she?" Calan asked.
He didn't have to say the name; the two knew who he was referring to.
"She's fine; the Imaginary Cream has already healed the burns. Nothing she hasn't contended with before," Caesar answered, shrugging his shoulders.
Calan nodded, the wrinkles on his face relaxing at the answer. Calan and a small team of agents had been on standby per Amber's request; the Petting Zoo had gotten out of hand since Rex's disappearance, and she wanted to ensure that there would be safety measures in place if things got out of hand. The moment they had seen the E.V.O. go on the attack, they had rushed in, arriving just in time to provide rescue.
"So, how's the girl doing?" Caesar questioned, noticing the man was missing one blue-haired alien. "She isn't with you."
"She's in her room. She refused medical attention, but from what I saw of her, she didn't have a scratch on her," Calan answered. "If she was injured, I couldn't find it."
"I suspected as such," Caesar remarked. "Her regeneration ability is more sophisticated than anything our own bodies could do, even with the help of nanites."
Calan stared at the back of the scientist's head in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about, but he wasn't going to ask. Getting a straight answer out of Caesar wasn't always a guarantee, and he didn't exactly have all day to figure it out. So, it was just easier to nod and pretend he was following along. Besides, his mind wandered back to the pre-teen that had hidden herself in her room as soon as Calan dropped her off. Calan wanted to help, but didn't know how. Dr. Holiday was the most empathetic individual in the organization, but she was away in Darklands. He'd have to try someone else.
The lights were dimmed to their lowest setting. If someone were to poke their head inside, they'd be able to make out the shape of the owner, sitting on her bed with her knees drawn to her. Her shoulders shook and her light sobbing echoed faintly in the room. She'd been in this knees-drawn-inward position since Captain Calan dropped her off. She'd quickly changed out of the loaned Providence uniform, dropping it carelessly to the ground, and changed into her familiar clothes. She was hoping it would provide her some comfort, but it did nothing to make her feel better. Images of Amber's body lying in the grass and her shield shattering were followed by images of the Talon Titans scurrying along the canyon's ground and the bodies pressing in on her. Her nightmares had followed her into her waking hours, and Alice couldn't find an escape.
She wanted her mother, but she was dead. She wanted her Aunt Muriel but the woman was at her house in Nowhere. She was alone, with no one to provide comfort.
Her isolation was interrupted by a knock coming from her door. Alice ignored the knocking, assuming it was one of Providence's people - maybe even Captain Calan - checking in on her. She didn't want to look at any of them, and waited for the person to grow bored and leave. The knocking came again.
"Alice? It's Ben," the voice on the other side of the door said.
Alice raised her head from her knees, eyes widening in confusion. Ben was here? But why? He was supposed to be stationed in Offworld Plaza.
"Can I come in?"
Alice sniffled and rubbed at her eyes, drying the moisture that had collected. It wouldn't take away the redness in her eyes, but it would have to do. She didn't want to look anymore pathetic than she already did.
"Y-yes," she announced.
The door slid open and the hero stepped inside. He gave the dark room a quick look around, and then settled on the lone occupant. A sympathetic smile came to his lips, and he crossed the room in long steps. The bed dipped as he took a spot at the corner, keeping his eyes locked on hers.
"Rex called, said you were feeling down," Ben explained, recognizing the question in her surprised look.
Confusion settled over Alice's face, since she couldn't recall ever seeing the teenager in Providence. True, she only ever interacted with Amber and occasionally Caesar, but she would have remembered seeing him in the corridors. Amber had offhandedly mentioned that the boy was galivanting in the Downtown area with his girlfriend, Circe, so how did he already know about her?
"He mentioned someone named Calan passed it along to him, and he got a hold of me," Ben explained, easily reading her confusion. "Figured you needed someone to talk to." He grinned at her, almost conspiratorially as he joked, "Providence isn't exactly known for their bedside manners."
The joke failed to lift Alice's spirits. Ben coughed into his fist, his face sombering up.
"Right...Sorry. Not in a joking mood." He released a tiny sigh. "I heard about what happened to Amber."
Alice flinched and ducked her head into her knees. Ben flashed her a sympathetic smile.
"It's o-"
Alice shook her head.
"It's my fault," Alice choked out, feeling her eyes water. "I was so scared, and I didn't do anything. I couldn't help Miss Ignis, and I couldn't defeat the monsters. She was hurt because of me." She put her head in her knees. "I'm useless."
"You're not useless," Ben asserted. "You're scared. You shouldn't punish yourself for that."
"I got someone hurt," was Alice's dejected answered.
Ben shook his head.
"No, you didn't. The monsters that attacked Amber are to blame, just like the monsters that attacked you and your friends hurt you. You didn't do that to any of them," Ben argued. "What happened was a sad accident, but that's all it was. You didn't do this on purpose."
"But I wasn't strong." Alice could feel the water leaking out of her eyes and onto her cheek. "I-I didn't work with Mister Tennyson when he offered, so I never got better. I agreed to train with Miss Ignis, but I failed." She closed her eyes, hoping that'd stop the waterworks. "I don't want anyone to get hurt anymore."
"Do you want to go home?"
Alice's eyes snapped open at the question, and she slowly raised her head upward to see the sympathetic smile on the teenager's face.
"You've been through a lot in a short amount of time. It's not something you can just shrug off at a moment's notice. You've been carrying that with you, and then you've added two near-death experiences to it." Alice shivered at the reminder. "Anyone would break under the pressure, and it wasn't fair of us - me and Amber - to push you so hard."
Alice stared at him blankly, not following him. He barely communicated with her; she had more conversations with Jimmy Jones than she did with him, and he was supposed to be her guide.
"When we first learned about your alien connections, I thought it was pretty cool. And then when Fuse came along and you agreed to join, I thought you'd help bolster our ranks. A lot of our heroes, especially the ones with some firepower to them, were missing, and I figured having someone with some powers of their own could help. I forgot that you're new to this. New to your powers and new to fighting." He shook his head, like he was scolding himself for his own blindness. "I expected you to be like me or Gwen or Amber or just about anyone with powers. I didn't really take into account who you are or what you've been through."
Alice lowered her chin to her knees, moving her eyes away from the hero next to her and onto the wall in front of her.
"I'm sorry for that, Alice," Ben apologized, likely taking her action as a sign of displeasure. "It's why I came down here when Rex called. As your guide, I take responsibility for this. So, I'm here to offer you a ride home if you want." Ben reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "We can grab your things and I'll take you to your aunts. You can stay out there; you don't have to fight anymore."
Alice returned her gaze to the teenager slowly. She stared at him, trying to decipher if he was telling the truth. Seeing her questioning stare, Ben continued.
"Remember, you volunteered for this. This isn't your job or your livelihood. If you want to walk away, you can. No questions asked."
Alice felt her heart skip a beat. She could actually leave? Give up being a volunteer, a fighter in the war? She could go home to Aunt Muriel and feel safe, like she desperately wanted. The invitation was so alluring she almost accept the offer immediately, but a voice in her head that sounded like her mother's stopped her from doing so.
Giving up because it's too hard?
Alice bit her bottom lip, because the accusation wasn't wrong. It would be cowardly of her to just up and leave, but her cowardness in a fight would end up killing her or someone else. She must have done something awful to have the universe place her in such a tough spot.
An alarm blared through the room, making the two occupants jump from surprise. Following the alarm was a woman's voice shouting into the intercom: "ALL AGENTS TO YOUR BATTLE STATIONS. FUSION MONSTERS INBOUND FOR AN IMMINENT ATTACK. ALL AGENTS TO YOUR BATTLE STATIONS. FUSION MONSTER INBOUND FOR AN IMMINENT ATTACK. ALL AGENTS..." She repeated her warning two more times before disconnecting. The alarm continued as a call to arms, and she could hear feet hitting the floor hard just outside her door as Providence agents rushed by.
Alice curled into herself, her body trembling as she whimpered. More Fusion Monsters? Did the universe really have it out for her; mocking her and her failure? Reminding her of her failures with the Talon Titans and Stalking Arachnids by throwing even more monsters her way?
A sudden weight was put onto her shoulders, and the bed lifted as a body suddenly vacated the spot. Looking up, she caught the color green in her peripheral. Glancing at her shoulder properly, she found that Ben's signature jacket was draped over her shoulders. Holding in a surprised gasp, Alice quickly looked for the teenager, spotting him halfway to the door.
"B-Ben?"
The hero stopped and turned to look at the girl, a reassuring, confident smile on his face.
"Don't worry. Stay here and stay safe, alright? I'll come back, and we can talk about your decision," Ben said, his tone soothing.
With nothing more to add, the Omnitrix bearer exited the room, leaving the sole occupant to her thoughts. The jacket resting on her shoulders was probably supposed to provide her comfort, like a child burrowing under their blankets when thunder boomed. However, the jacket weighed heavy on her with guilt.
Why was she allowed to hide in her room like a little girl afraid of the Boogeyman? She had powers; shouldn't she be on the front-line fighting? Why was she given a pass to sit out a fight; because she was scared? What about humans with no powers, like Ben, unable to use his Omnitrix? Or the Providence agents with just their weapons to rely on? Or Suzy, who faced any threat with total confidence? Weren't they afraid, too? Why were they expected to overcome that fear, but Alice was allowed to let it stop her?
If her mother was alive, what would she think of her daughter hiding? Alice didn't have to think very hard on it; her mother would be disappointed. Her mother always stressed that if someone had the ability, they should use it to help the most amount of people. If her mother was still alive, she'd have immediately joined the war effort, either staying at the hospital to heal the injured or travelled to areas where her skills would be needed.
Alice stopped, her breath hitching at the thought.
If her mother was around, she wouldn't have joined as a fighter, but a healer. Why did she believe that fighting was the only role to be taken? Weren't there other roles to play? A fighter to take the monsters to task. A healer to tend to the wounded. An inventor to create products to trim Fuse's army and provide support for the allies. A defender to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
The realization clicked.
What if Alice had been looking at her role incorrectly? Instead of trying to be a fighter, what if she was a defender? Wouldn't that make more sense? After all, wasn't that why she fought the High Hydro Hammer? To protect Wilt and the injured Urban Rangers? And even her very first encounter with the monsters back at the junior high, hadn't she tapped into her powers to protect Suzy from a monster? Wasn't her natural reflex when attacked was to raise a shield? Didn't she create a bubble subconsciously to protect herself from Him or a shield to protect Solomon from an alien unseen? Wasn't her first instinct to protect? She didn't go looking for fights, she responded to fights.
There was a fight at Providence's door; was she going to hide or respond?
Alice grabbed onto Ben's jacket and curled her fingers into fists. Drawing courage from the outerwear, Alice launched herself from the bed. She nearly stumbled on her way to the door since her legs were reacquainting themselves to movement, but the jelly feeling eventually subsided. She managed to get out of her room, and spotted Ben from her right. He was turning a corner, down a new corridor. Legs working once more, Alice jogged to catch up with her guide.
"Ben?" Alice called out, following him. The alarms blaring drowned out her first call, and so she raised her voice to be heard. "Ben!"
The teenage hero paused, spinning around hurriedly. His eyebrows were raised upward in surprise. He probably wasn't expecting Alice to follow him.
"What's wrong?" Ben asked in concern.
Alice stopped an arm's length away from him. Her fists trembled ever so slightly from their tight grip on the green jacket. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again and focused them on Ben, the boy's eyebrows lifted even higher at the determination burning in them; he'd never seen that look in her eyes before.
"I'm not a fighter. I'm not strong, and I'm not cut out for it," Alice admitted, her fists clenching tighter around the jacket. "But... I'm a defender. I want to protect people." She pulled the jacket off of her shoulders and handed the article of clothing back to its original owner. Ben accepted his item, looking at it briefly and then back at Alice in surprise. She moved around him, heading down the corridor. Ben whirled around to watch her retreating figure. "I don't want to see anyone else get hurt, not if it's in my power to protect them."
Ben watched her leave, looking down at his jacket in disbelief when her figure was no longer in his sight. He placed it on, his look of disbelief morphing into pride.
"Don't count yourself out," he said to the empty corridor, a proud smile on his face.
It became very obvious very quickly that Captain Calan and his team were severely outnumbered. They had managed to push back the Fowl Foes from their front door, but the monsters were reconvening to nearly three times their numbers. If they couldn't mow down the opposition fast, Calan would be forced to call a retreat and move back into the building. Having Six or Rex or Amber to help out would have put Calan at ease, but none of them were around. It was just him and his team against the Fusion Monsters, and he didn't like those odds.
Because of the distance, some of the globs thrown their way missed; Fusion Monsters didn't have the greatest aim, and the eye positioning on the Foes only made it harder for them. But now that the chicken inspired enemy was gaining ground, their aim was improving, and a few projectiles almost hit them.
"Sir! The monsters are almost upon us. What are your orders?" one of the agents to his left asked.
Calan gritted his teeth, mind working on the two options available: stay and defend to the best of their abilities, or retreat and give up their headquarters. Neither option ended on a high note, and it was just a matter of which was less evil.
A shout of alarm pulled him from his decision making. A glob was aimed too close for comfort, and he reflexively fired at it. It hit the glob, but that forced it to turn into even smaller matter that would splatter onto them due to their proximity. Calan, and many close to him, threw his arm up to protect his face from the remnants. He waited for a full ten seconds for the searing pain that came from contact with Fusion Matter, but nothing happened. There was no burning sting, and there were no cries of agony from his unit. Opening his eyes and lowering his arm, he was surprised to find a blue-tinted force-field spread out and covering the unit. The bits of Fusion Matter that had been for them slid harmlessly down the front of the force-field.
Calan stared in amazement, running through a list of anyone on their property who could do such a thing. Was this one of Caesar's creations? It was operational with almost no side effects so it couldn't possibly be claimed by him. Who th-
"Please stay back."
Calan spun around, eyes landing on Amber's protege stepping out of the building's front doors. Head held high, eyebrows dipped in concentration, hair flowing around her, a look of determination in her eyes. This girl was not the same girl who had been crying down in the Petting Zoo. The change was so jarring that Calan couldn't form a proper response. The girl moved in Calan's direction, but squeezed by so that she was closest to the force-field. Then, before their eyes, Alice opened a small portion and exited through, sealing it up behind her.
"I will handle them," Alice promised the agents.
The monsters had stopped their attack, first out of surprise at the force-field and then when they spotted their new opponent. A Fowl Foe from somewhere in the group released a war cry and that had the army rushing off again. Alice advanced toward them calmly, her nerves perfectly under her control. Lifting up her right hand, palm aiming for the Fusions Monsters, she released an energy beam and shot at the chicken inspired monsters. She swept her hand to the right, striking the first set of Foes. She mimicked this process with her left palm, only moving that hand to the left. All turned to matter from the hits, and the others went into a frenzy at seeing their brethren fall. They lobbed globs of Fusion Matter at the girl, which were countered by her own energy balls.
The monsters were furious to have their attacks countered, and rushed even faster, some even flapping their wings in an attempt to fly, just so that they could move even closer to their opponent. A thin blue light outlined Alice's body, and she raised both her hands in the Fowl Foes' direction. A force-field surrounded them, and the abruptness of its appearance had a few Foes crashing into it. She sealed the force-field over them like a dome, and began to lower the dome's height. The monsters, realizing they were trapped, began clawing, pecking, and even sending their globs at the walls of the dome. They screeched and roared in pain and in anger at their predicament. Alice held her concentration, ensuring that the dome walls would hold off the offenders' attacks. It was a slow process, but she was able to lower the top of the dome, squashing the trapped Fusion Monsters inside. When the dome completely flattened, there was no sound from the Foes.
Alice breathed heavily, sweat rolling down the side of her face as testament to the extraneous effort. Holding up a barrier consistently while also striking her opponents and then using a second force-field to keep in the Fowl Foes had stretched Alice thin. The consequence of using too much power and energy was Alice fading. Both the dome and the force-field dropped at the same time that her body gave out on her. The rocky ground moved upward rapidly to meet her. Alice's eyes closed in preparation for when body would meet ground.
"I gotcha," a voice came to her right, grabbing onto her falling body before it could hit the ground.
The person pulled her right arm over their shoulder, using their other arm to wrap around her and hold her up. Opening her eyes - which was a difficult task unto itself - she glanced to her right, surprised to find that Ben was the one who stopped her fall. The teenager gave her a grin, and if his hands weren't full, he might have even given her a thumbs up.
"Way to go," he congratulated.
Alice smiled weakly in reply, but the feeling flew away when a shadow fell upon them. A rather loud screech pierced the air, chilling their bones. Alice and Ben looked upward and found a King-size Fowl directly in front of them. Twice the size of the normal Foes, the bird monster stomped its foot, causing the earth beneath them to shake. Ben kept the two on their feet, and glanced at Alice. The girl was barely conscious, and when she caught him looking at her, she shook her head. She was out of energy and couldn't fight the monster. Her eyes filled with regret, and Ben sent her a reassuring smile.
It'll be okay, he mouthed to her, although he was pretty sure it was a lie.
She couldn't protect the two of them or fend the bird off. He couldn't use his Omnitrix without worrying about one of his aliens being swiped, and the monster was far too large to simply punch with his bare fists. The Providence agents were too far away to come to their aid, and with how cloes the two of them were to the monster, they wouldn't chance firing at it. Their only option was for Ben to try and get them back inside Providence Headquarters and let-
"Down."
Ben acted on the command by dropping the two of them. He cushioned Alice's fall as much as possible, but the sudden movement pushed Alice into unconsciousness. Ben didn't raise his head, but felt the heat fly over him and the roar of the monster boss a second later. Lifting his head up, Ben watched as fire spiraled around the giant bird in a vortex. The monster screeched and hollered, swiping at the flames to snuff them out. The fire stuck to the monster and burned it into a pile of Fusion Matter. The flames disappeared with its enemy gone, and Ben pulled himself up to his knees, pulling up Alice's knocked out body with him. He released a sigh of relief, and turned to the only person who could have created that fire.
"Glad to see you're finally awake," the alien-powered superhero said sincerely. "Have a nice rest?"
Amber Ignis, arms crossed and looking thoroughly unamused, glared down at the teenager with a dark look in her eyes. "Explain yourself, Tennyson."
Alice took in a deep breath, fought off her body's desire to tense up in apprehension, and hit the button to open the mess hall's sliding door. Alice didn't know what time it was exactly, but given how busy the hall was, she guessed it was nearing evening time; the mess hall was always busy in the evening. Unmasked Providence agents turned to look at who had just joined, and Alice forced herself to not shrink under their gaze. She surveyed the room until a hand jetted upward over the unknown faces. The hand ascended further into the air as the occupant pushed himself up out of the seat.
"Over here, Alice!" Ben called, waving his arm to get her attention further.
Alice almost sighed in relief, but she held it in; she didn't want the agents to see how nervous she was. She crossed the room, able to see that Ben was sitting at her and Amber's usual table. Approaching the corner table even more revealed that Amber and Caesar were already sitting there. Seeing the woman awake brought on a mix of relief and nervousness. Amber's gaze didn't look very different when she watched Alice take a seat near Ben, so that was good sign...hopefully.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Ben asked the girl, slipping back down into his chair.
"I'm alright," Alice answered honestly. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't-"
Ben held up his hand and waved off her apology. "You don't need to say anything. You don't have to shoulder all the burden. It was a group effort. The Providence guys held off some of them, you came in and wiped out the rest, and Amber finished off by finishing off the boss."
"And you have overstayed your welcome."
Alice felt her spine straighten at the cold tone in Amber's voice. The woman was giving Ben an annoyed glare, but the teenage hero leaned in closer to Alice. His eyes shown with innocent mischief.
"See what I mean about that bedside manner?" he asked in a stage whisper, and Alice had to fight back the urge to laugh. The look on Amber's face made it clear that she was not in the mood for jokes.
"Oh, come on! You're still mad that I came to talk to Alice?" Ben complained, his smile disappearing.
"I gave you an explicit warning-"
"She was upset. No one here was going to talk to her, so I-"
"Came down here to remove her from my training," Amber completed for him, giving the teenager a dark look.
Ben shrugged, not at all worried about the dangerous look. He was either very brave, very confident, or very stupid.
"I'm not apologizing for that. I came here to see how she was doing, and gave her the opportunity to go to her family's house," Ben stated, defending his position. He then grinned at her. "She didn't a decision, but after what she just did today, I bet she's going to stay."
Amber's eyes slid over to Alice's person, and the girl forced herself to not shrink under the gaze.
"Well?" she demanded. "Are you continuing your training or not?"
Alice bit her bottom lip, flicking her eyes from Amber's intense stare to Ben's encouraging grin and back. Breathing in deeply, she released the air out in a slow breath.
"Ben was right. I did want to quit because I was scared. I'm not like you, or Ben, or the Powerpuff Girls, or my friends. I'm not a fighter; I don't have the mindset for it," Alice stated, pleased to hear how steady her voice sounded. "But I was looking at this wrong. I don't want to be a fighter; I want to be a defender. I want to protect anyone who needs it. If you'll let me, I'd like to resume my training."
Ben's wide grin was filled with pride for the young alien. Caesar looked mildly interested, but there was that gleam in his eyes that Alice actively ignored. Amber's look didn't change as she listened to Alice's heartfelt statement. The silence stretched for a long time, and just as Alice was beginning to sweat, beginning to think she'd said the wrong things, the woman finally answered.
"You're an idiot."
Alice deflated at the insult. She supposed she had it coming, but it hurt all the same. Ben's eyebrows flew up into his hairline in surprise, and then lowered rapidly into a downward dip. He actually looked offended on Alice's behalf. Amber ignored the teenager's change in attitude, focusing solely on the alien.
"The line between a fighter and a defender is blurred. Do you think Ben's motivation for stopping Vilgax is to simply fight? Or that the Powerpuff Girls go looking for fights with their rogue's gallery simply for the fun of it? Heroes fight to protect," Amber lectured.
Alice blinked at the explanation and then flushed in embarrassment, dropping her eyes to the table. Of course heroes fought villains to defend the weak; it was Hero 101. Not even Buttercup, the one many considered the brawler of the trio, picked fights for the sake of being in a brawl; she engaged the bad guys to protect the people who couldn't. Alice felt stupid for saying it, especially with a hero next to her.
"However," Amber continued. Alice's eyes lifted from the table to give Amber her attention. "If that's the mindset you need to excel in your training, then fine. We'll put you in the defender role.
"Th-thank you," Alice stumbled out the gratitude.
Amber didn't acknowledge Alice's words. She continued, "Your training will resume tomorrow morning, but we'll modify some of your lessons to fall in line with your new role."
Alice nodded in agreement, a smile forming on her face. Ben shared a smile with her, just as pleased to hear Amber's concession to modify her training. Caesar's face was also split into a grin, though Alice was rather nervous what his reasons were.
"Since she's staying, I'd like to draw another-"
Amber flicked a small flame at Caesar. The scientist caught it in his hand and smothered it without flinching.
"This modified schedule does not include you," Amber stated to the man, paying him no more mind.
"I think we should celebrate," Ben declared, injecting his good mood into the atmosphere.
"I think you should leave," Amber countered. "Like you were supposed to do hours ago."
"Oh come on, I'm a guest," Ben complained.
"I didn't invite you," Amber said. "Just because Calan has a soft heart-"
"It's just the night," Ben interrupted. "I'll be out of your hair by morning."
Amber stared at him hard, and then bit out, "I better not see you in the morning."
Ben grinned happily at her answer, and it segued into a smirk. "Look who has the soft heart now."
Ben yelped in aggravation as his jacket caught on fire. He shrugged the green jacket off before Alice had a chance to do anything, and beat it on the ground until the flames went out. He ran his eyes and hands over it, inspecting the outerwear intensely. When finished, he turned and sent an annoyed look at Amber, who met his challenge with a glare of her own. Alice's eyes flicked between the two rapidly, worried a fight might break out.
"This is my favorite jacket."
"You have more."
"Yeah, but not on me right now, jacket killer," he countered, slipping the jacket on again.
Amber did actually roll her eyes at his childish nickname. She stood up from the table, laying her hands flat on the table top and giving Alice a stern look.
"Training will begin at its usual time, so do not stay up late 'celebrating' with Tennyson," the woman warned her student.
Receiving a nod in acknowledgement (and ignoring Ben's "Awh, don't you want to stay?"), the E.V.O. turned on her heel and left the mess hall. Caesar followed her out, wanting to return to his lab (and to not have to converse with two kids). Ben shook his head at their retreating figures.
"I hope I'm not like them when I grow up," he remarked. "Being responsible is good and all, but they need to learn to relax every once in a while." He then shrugged, letting the issue leave his mind. "Oh well. They're not our concern right now. I say we still celebrate. You probably haven't had anything to eat yet, so I'll go grab us some food. You good with anything?"
Alice nodded in agreement, and watched as Ben left the table to go and grab them some food. Her body was hungry (since she had gone nearly the whole day without a meal), but it was oozing with too much giddiness that she hardly noticed the food pains. Agreeing to training had filled her with apprehension, but now her body had confidence flowing through it like blood. Instead of being afraid of what was to come, Alice was eagerly awaiting the next day.
It was a good feeling.
A scene out of One Piece that has always stayed in my mind was Luffy placing his straw hat on Nami when the girl was at her lowest point. Whether it was in the 4Kids or the Funimation dub, I always remembered this scene. Ben dropping his jacket on Alice is very much inspired by this, and was even the reason why I dropped my other story (I was going to write a story around my four OCs, and this scene was in the story; when I realized Alice was the emotional focus on the story, I dropped it to write this). The following scene (Alice going to take on the Fowl Foe) was also influenced by Wanda stepping up in Age of Ultron.
Since Generator Rex is taking place toward the late end of Season 2, Circe is no longer with the Pack. Although she's technically with the Hong Kong Gang, this story has her joining up with Rex while he's down in Downtown. I just like the idea of the two of them helping out down there as a battle couple (even though they're not technically dating, but they're flirting).
Thank you for reading. Reviews are appreciated.