Disclaimer: Ben 10 and The Boys do not belong to me. Ben 10 is owned by Cartoon Network and Man of Action and The Boys is owned by Amazon Studios, Dynamite Entertainment and Wildstorm.
AN: Hello everyone from the Fanfiction land! This is Mr. Raleigh D giving you all a new chapter for the story, Ben 10: A True Hero. I just have to say that I am really happy that you all happen to enjoy this story as much as I have. I may publish my other story as well, "Ben 10: Kombat. Been meaning to write that for sometime though but never got around to it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I had writing it! Please always leave reviews, they are always appreciated. Thank you!
CHAPTER 4: CON OF HEROES
Ben was alone in the world trying to understand the ways of how things worked around here. It wasn't any other world he was around. It was great that this world was full of heroes, but if these heroes are...well incompetent and everything, it kind of made everything gray. He had visited a lot of universes and met a lot of people over the years from across the multiverse. No universe was compared to this one here. It was like his world, but at the same time not. Ben was alien to this world, like a new kid to the block. Already he made enemies, even though he could beat them without going Ultimate.
In fact, him going Ultimate against any of the heroes would do MORE damage to them than any other villain he faced. Plus, it may terrify some people; it would have been a good idea for him to only use that function for extreme cases. He didn't really have to worry about him using Alien X since there were no cosmic threats on the horizon.
He had no idea why he was sent here. He probably thinks that maybe, if maybe, if he became a hero in this universe it would make it so that it may heal or at least patch something that might have been lost to him long ago.
He was at Central Park minding his business looking at the kids in front of him enjoying themselves in the hot sun. He'll briefly check his watch since he programmed it to detect police radio. Shockingly, or less shockingly there was nothing reported at all aside from petty theft and everything. There would be mild commentary over at the radio about his abrupt disappearance. He was conflicted about what Billy told him the last time he was with him at the bar. He agreed to do it, but then that'll bring the Seven's attention, and not in a way that would be safe for the hero himself.
He had to be careful. He was trying to ponder which form he should use, one that would not use any detection whatsoever. His thoughts were suddenly intercepted by a young woman sitting next to him crying. She put the phone down as she silently sobbed. Ben tried to look away but could not ignore the woman for much longer. She looked hurt. Ben turned to the woman.
"H-hey, sorry. Are you okay? Is something the matter?" Ben asked. "Looked like you had a...tough call."
The blonde woman gave him a blank stare, almost processing. "Oh, I'm sorry if I am bothering…"
"Oh no, you're fine. You're fine, I'm just having a bad day," she said.
"Same here," Ben said. "Is it a life thing or a work thing...or both?"
"It's a work thing."
"Work thing?"
"Yeah. You?" she asked.
"It's...it's a bit of both," Ben said.
"You know how you have this image of yourself?" She turned to Ben, "Like I thought I was strong. You know, made of steel. A fighter. And...then I was faced with this horrible situation with this asshole…" Ben turned and focused more on her situation intently, almost interested, "And then I heard my mom's voice in my head, 'Keep smiling! The show must go on'. And I didn't fight. Now I feel sick. Partly because I did it, but mostly because I'm not who I thought I was," she finished, sighing after letting all of that go. Ben still was stuck on everything she said she went through. It was pretty similar if not so from...Gwen.
"Oh, oh I'm sorry if I dump all of that on you," she rapidly apologized, stumbling on her words a bit.
"Hey, that's fine. I'm used to being dumped all over. You are perfectly fine. Talking it out is better than putting your anger out on someone who does not deserve it, right?"
"Yeah," replied the woman.
"And your job. Is it a good job? Not ones where you are selling kids smack?" Ben asked.
"No, it's a great job," she said. "I could help a lot of people."
"You kind of reminded me of me when I was a kid. Me and my cousin Gwen would go to this playground in Bellwood; I was 10 at the time, innocent times. I battled against a couple of bullies, pushed and punched. All the classical 1980s bullying tactics. Including wedgies, swirlies, name calling, the stuff. I was left crying, not wanting to play in that playground anymore after all of that abuse. You wanna know what my grandfather told me, well before he got the school involved?"
"What?" asked the girl, interested.
"You see a battle, you get shot. And when you get shot you stand back up and you soldier on," Ben said. "So, you got shot in the battlefield, you're not the type of person to lay down and die. So who are you?"
The woman had a small smile on her face, "I'm a fighter. I'm gonna fight. Yeah."
Ben smiled knowing that he managed to get somewhere with this woman. You don't need to use your powers to help people. Communication was the key in this situation; something to which was hammered down by his cousin. It helped.
However, he did cringe a bit when the woman continued, "I'm gonna rip this son of a bitch's head and clean off his body."
"Oh dear god! That's...that's better. A little scary...but better!" Ben chuckled. He extended his hand to the woman's. "I'm Ben Tennyson."
"Annie," she introduced.
000
Ben entered the nearby bar, closest to the park. Ben wasn't the kind of guy to drink, however, this visit was a special visit. He was meeting someone here.
Ben saw Billy sitting at the stool spitting a string of saliva at a cup. He saw him enter and chuckled.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Taking down villains is my specialty," Ben smirked; "Got a ride?"
000
Starlight stood in front of the doors with the mural of heroes posing behind her as she took a deep breath. Remembering what her new friend told her gave her more courage than she had before. She pushed the doors open revealing the heroes in a clear, glass textured room. The Seven sat at a table shaped like a 7 merged with a V.
A muscular man wearing an American themed costume stood out in the window all official like. "Starlight, don't want to be late to your official meeting!" he turned to her with a welcoming smile on his face, "I had a whole speech planned out for you."
"Sorry, sir," she apologized.
"Please, Homelander is fine," Homelander said as he walked back to his seat after he dismissed the official title with a chuckle.
"Beginning to wonder if you would ever show up," the Deep teased, added by a smug grin on his face; "All that pressure would be tough to swallow."
"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine," Starlight said with a hint of snark in her voice, "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." She threatened him with her glowing eyes as a warning.
The tense moment was interrupted by Translucent's worry of the current crisis. "Can we go back to this please? This is a serious crime. These assholes pirated my movie three weeks before release, and you can't walk down 5th avenue without bumping into a table of unlicensed Homelander shirts. Copyright infringement is costing Vought $1.2 billion per year. That's money out of our pockets!" he explained. "We've all got 4 points each?"
"The fuck? You got four points?" A-Train asked.
"And clearly better lawyers," Queen Maeve replied.
"Homelander started to break the conversation from all the intensity going on all around him, "Hey, hey, hey guys come on. Stop. What's Starlight gonna think? Listening to us haggling over nickles. We're the Seven for God's sake. Whether we are out there or in here. Now what I do want to hear is who you saved this week?" he asked with a smile.
The Deep, being the brown-noser, slightly raised his hand only to be discouraged a bit by Starlight who shot him a permanent glare.
"Black Noir," Homelander faced the silent vigilante, "Let's start with you, man."
000
Ben and Billy arrived at Vought and stopped at the front. Billy turned the car off as they went over their plan. Ben looked to the back and saw a lot of pet toys.
"You have a dog, dude?" Ben asked.
"No," Billy said as he reached to the top to grab what looked like a small, mechanical bug. "Alright give us your phone."
Ben dug in his pocket and pulled out his smartphone.
"There's fuck-all security to worry about, but I don't think that matters to you. They're just a bunch of muppets," Billy said, showing Ben the bug as he puts it inside of the phone's case.
"Right," Ben said, handing Billy his phone.
"You transform into one of your stealthier alien-pokemon monsters, you fly through the walls, go to the bog, peel back the plastic, flush it, fly back to the boardroom, stick it in the table, then fly back here. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, Japaneasy, Bob's your uncle, that's that," Billy said, handing Ben back his phone.
"Is that all?"
"Yep."
"Alright then, no problem," Ben said, "Also, quick question, is your car dent proof?"
"How big is your monster? Actually fuck it, turn," Billy said.
"Alright, it's hero time!" Ben yelled as he activated his Ultimatrix. Billy gets to have an up close look on how Ben transforms. Without a blink, Ben slapped down the dial and a quick green flash blinded the man. When it died down, sitting in Ben's place was a humanoid, moth-like alien whose four wings and antenna can fold up into a hooded robe.
"BIG CHILL!" Big Chill called in his gravelly voice. Billy's eyes were wider than dinner plates, partly because he never saw this form up close. Ben mentioned it, but he never saw pictures or footage of him transforming into this form.
"Why do I have a feeling that this guy has a transformation that can wipe us all out by just blinking?" Billy thought.
"Looks like I didn't make a dent. I'll be faster than you can say, 'hell yes'!" Big Chill said as he turned invisible and vanished from sight.
Billy got out of his stupor and blinked rapidly trying to process what happened. Ben transforming into creatures was nothing new...but turning into that...that was new. He never thought that Ultimatrix was easy to activate, at least to him, he figured that there was a combination of sorts for Ben to activate the device.
It acted more like a computer than anything else. That's when he started realizing, if Vought found out about the Ultimatrix, the damage they could do would be catastrophic.
"Ben's been willy nilly with that thing. I gotta give him a warning when he comes back here," Billy said, understanding the potential danger that device would be if it were in the wrong hands.
000
It's not like anyone could detect Big Chill. All that much, though he would have paid to see Billy's reaction on seeing, not only him transforming into Big Chill, but going intangible and flying through the walls without detection. He could have just flown through, planted the bug, and flown back out. However, because of recent updates to the Ultimatrix, everything that was on his person was saved digitally inside of the dial's metadata.
He had to go to a place where no one would expect him to go, which was the place Billy told him to go...the bathroom.
Big Chill flew through the bathroom floors and materialized. He sighed in relief knowing that there was "no one" there.
"The fuck?" Big Chill startled. He looked around, high alert, ready to defend himself. Once he found out that there was no one there, he shrugged and walked into one of the stalls. A bright green flash outshined the stall, turning Big Chill back to human.
In the stall, Ben sat on the toilet, playing with his phone. He took the cover back off the phone, making the bug fall off and slide out of the stall.
"Oh crap," Ben said as he hurriedly tried to get the bug back only for him to hear footsteps. Ben listened and paused.
At the back of his mind, he could transform into Big Chill again and grab it, but the sudden green flash would give it away. He had to be patient until the visitor leaves. When the visitor left, Ben quickly grabbed the bug, looked both ways and programmed his Ultimatrix.
"Alright, time to split," Ben said, activating the Ultimatrix and programmed Big Chill.
"BIG CHILL!" He called as he became intangible once again. When he left, an invisible man materialized in a ring of diamond-like glow appeared, arms crossed and confused.
"Holy...fuck," Translucent said.
Big Chill planted the bug under the table in the boardroom and flew out of the building, clean as a whistle.
000
At night, Billy and Ben had a hilarious conversation, mostly Ben. Billy was just asking a lot of questions as to how he finished that quickly. Their drive was mostly Billy with a bunch of questions.
"So Big Chill was not...is not your only stealthy creature in that device?" Billy asked.
"I have plenty," Ben said.
"And what made Big Chill capable of doing the job than let's say...Chamalien?"
"I had a hunch that they may have some heat-seeking tech to detect unwanted guests," Ben thought.
"So you turned into Big Chill because his body heat is almost zero to none. Plus he's intangible. Trust me mate, based on those creatures you turned into, you should have gone with Ghostfreak. Count your lucky stars no one caught you. Because if Vought sees that device, they'll either buy it from you or they'll kill you for it," Billy warned.
"I'm aware," Ben said.
"Though it is entertaining seeing them squeal, a potential powerhouse who isn't chainmailed in fear by the boyscout himself, you need to be careful. Do not show too much of your power. If you do, the spotlight will always be on you," Billy warned.
"Right, and I do not want that spotlight again. Considering…" Ben paused, reflecting a bit as his mind turned back to that dark place. Billy arched a brow confused on the sudden pause. "Well considering how annoying it would be." Ben chuckled.
"Uh...huh," Billy said, suspecting Ben was hiding something. He didn't push, but he did suspect that Ben was hiding something. Someone? Tragic? Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with him, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Here you are," Billy said, parking right in front of a small tech store at the Audio Visual.
"Thanks for the ride," Ben said.
"No problem, mate. Just fuck off all that transformation business. You'll have a hard time. Y'lucky that I'm the one who knows most of your forms. Get a jacket to cover that thing, you'll be fine."
"Alright," Ben said, getting out of the car. After Ben left, Billy took a deep breath, knowing that there might have been a balance to TRULY keep the supes in check—especially him!
Ben walked inside of the store, wanting something more like another monitor for his computer for his crime lab. As he entered the store with its welcoming cool breeze, he took a deep breath as he heard a fellow clerk to his left.
"Sorry, we're…" The clerk turned to him and paused, "Hey, its you?"
"What?"
"You were on TV, you were the one who saved us! Thanks man!" said the clerk.
"I think you…"
"Come on, dude. I saw the footage of you transforming into that purple guy. When you did, you froze time at that small strip of area in the city like a ripple effect sort of. I saw everything. It's weird because it's almost as if you…"
"—travelled through time to stop the incident in the first place," both finished.
"You're welcome," Ben said with a small smile on his face.
"So how do you do those things? Transform and stuff? Oh crap, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm Hughie by the way," he said, extending his hand.
"Ben 10,000, at your service," Ben said, "I'm looking for a 2 TB Solid State Drive. You got that here?"
"2 terras? Um, no I do not think we do. What do you need with 2 TB?"
"Computer building. I do it for a hobby," Ben said.
"Right, when you are not saving the day. Got it. And what about that whole transforming thing. How did you do that? Is that something you got from Vought or…"
"I'm afraid it is a trade secret…" Ben paused as he heard a bell dinged from the front.
"Was that the wind?" Hughie asked.
"Do I look like the fucking wind, you prick?" they heard a voice. An angry voice.
Ben's arm reached towards the dial, "Hughie, you need to go. Now," Ben said, backing up a little bit looking around for whoever said it.
"Yes sir," Hughie scrammed.
"At long last. You're the fucking one. Look kinda pathetic without your pals!"
"Pals? What are you…?"
Without a word, the invisible man jabbed Ben's stomach, grabbed his neck and pinned him to the wall, breaking the TV hooked on to it.
"So you're the mighty Ben 10,000. Hero extraordinaire. The fraud who is making a mockery of us heroes!"
"Jealous much?" Ben mocked.
"Jealous? Replace that with pissed. You think that none of us are gonna see this thing?" said the man showing Ben the bug he took.
"Oh..shit," Ben said as the invisible man tossed Ben across the store. Ben groaned as blood sprayed out of his mouth.
"Not so heroic huh?" said the man, "Who was that man in the car? Did he put you up to this?"
"Why? You got a crush? Sorry to disappoint you but he likes his humans with holes, not with small sausages, kid."
"You think I'm fucking stupid?"
"If the shoe fits, who am I to say so," Ben struggled to get up.
"Wise guy huh?" The invisible man snatched the TV from the wall and carried it over to Ben. Ben still struggled to get up. "Why'd you plant the bug?"
"To grow trees up your ass. Where else?" Ben groaned.
"You know who we are? We're the Seven! Earth's most mighty protectors of the innocent, motherfucker!"
Suddenly, a certain Cadillac crashed through the store and struck the Invisible man through it like a bowling ball striking pins.
Billy got out of the car popping his neck, not really caring about the mess he caused into the store.
"Sorry for the mess. You should fuck off, Ben," Billy said. Ben was frozen to what the heck happened just a second ago. Maybe he should have taken that advice, because now he is a target.
"Ben, run," Billy said to him as he grabbed his iron bar, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the invisible cunt," he said with a mischievous smile across his face.
As he swung a devastating strike at that bar he had, he was left disappointed that the only damage he struck was that wall. Translucent chuckled evilly as he struck Billy in the face.
As they fought, Ben got up. He had to give it to Billy, it took balls to go after a "superhero" with no powers, but armed with a crowbar. He was unsure how that would help, but maybe it was to pay him enough time to escape. Ben got up and programmed his Ultimatrix. Then a thought came to him.
"I can't see him, but I know someone who can," Ben said, looking at the one-sided fight between Translucent and Billy. Translucent was covered in blood a bit, making that as bit of an advantage leaving Ben with another option.
Back to the fight, Translucent, after getting pummeled against Billy for a bit, tripped him over and kicked him to the wall.
"So who are you? A fucking spy? For who? You're gonna fucking tell me or I'll smash that fucking scalp off, who the fuck are you?
"I'll tell you who you are, you're a fucking moron. 'Translucent' doesn't even mean 'invisible,' it means 'semi-transparent'," Billy informed.
"Also, it means you're screwed," Ben said standing up, hand on the watch.
"You again? Calling your friends, pussy?"
"Yeah, you can say that," Ben said, programming Wildmutt before smashing the dial down. In a bright green flash, both men shielded their eyes. Billy, at this moment knew, Translucent was absolutely screwed. He crawled back allowing Ben enough space to pummel Translucent.
When the light died down, standing at Ben's place was a creature with a black body with one green eye in the middle of his head, two antennae, a tail with round plugs on their tips, four-fingered hands, and feet with only two front toes.
"FEEDBACK!" Feedback yelled. "I almost forgot about you."
Billy was very confused. He never mentioned Feedback before when he was talking to him.
Hughie in this instance was hiding in the back watching the fight unfold. His eyes widened seeing Feedback pose with his muscles out and such, baring a cocky smile across his face.
"So what the fuck is this? A battery?"
"Meh, you can say that!"
"Hey Ben...I mean Feedback," Hughie said, catching Ben's attention. "Transulcent's body is purely carbon!"
"After I kill him, I'm killing you kid," Translucent threatened Hughie who hid behind the door.
"You're not killing anyone today, Translucent. Say hi to the light!" Feedback shot his tendrils at Translucent and fired off thousands of amps at him. As he did so, his body was shown as it reacts to his skin.
Billy tried to look away as Hughie tried to not vomit. After a few minutes, Translucent lost consciousness and collapsed. Feedback transformed back into Ben.
"Wildmutt would have been much cooler though," Ben said.
"Wildmutt?" Billy asked panting as he got up.
"Yep, had I turned into him, I would have no problem seeing him, but Feedback would do," Ben said. "So what to do with Invisible Man here?"
AN: Another day, another chapter. Ha! Feels good to write another fanfiction chapter while going to Twitter and telling people that people should hug everyone's arms from Kentucky (if you are from Kentucky, just know...HELLO!) Anyway, I hope you all had a blast reading this~ Please always leave reviews, they are always appreciated!
UNTIL NEXT TIME!
PEACE!
