Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
The Beginning – Chapter 04
Originally Written: Sunday, May 24, 2015 109AM to 301AM
Song: Susumu Hirasawa – Narshisas Jinben Kaa Kita Hito
...
"And so, this torture begins again." Albedo ran through Bellwood's empty streets. Goop chased him, determined to be the one to take him down this particular time. Whenever he looked up, he'd catch a glimpse of the To'Kustar sitting idly on a building watching fully entertained. It stayed in Albedo's vision, for the Galvan stuck as a human was still too small to make any real distance between it and him. It loomed, a dark foreboding warning for Albedo, lest he somehow by chance, manage to get too much headway against its fellow, pure good soldier allies. It's shadow, assisted in coming into being by the moon, only served to cloak Albedo in darkness, despite the many bright street lights he ran past.
He breathed in and exhaled heavily within rhythm to his slowing steps. His legs burned, flames seething through his flesh from the inside out as his muscles protested the extra running. Adrenaline coursed through him, an energy boost determined to keep him alive for as long as the rest of his meddlesome body could keep up. His heart raced, fueling the movement of his blood, pouring oxygen within every fiber of his being, working to make sure he'd be able to continue looking for the proper light at the end of this tunnel.
Just like the other times, Albedo felt with deep loathing of the situation, and even stronger despair from his own helplessness, that he would find the wrong light once more.
Still, something more than just a person, something completely outside his person perhaps, willed him to continue despite the odds stacked terribly against him. The wind made no noise this night. The area remained still and quiet, save for Albedo's own movements and those of the one man army swarming behind him like a hoard of enraged yellow jackets. Nonetheless, he still heard the words, 'It is not your time' and 'Do not give up.'
A part of him wondered if it was just himself repeating the words, much like he would with the order of 'Wake up', at those points where he realized that once again Ben Tennyson was going to kill him. That part remained small, overshadowed by the portion so terribly intrigued that every dream instance of himself remembered the previous events, down to his own feelings and thoughts. All of it built upon itself, until he felt confident enough to make his way to the door of the Mr. Smoothy joint, and then down the street.
He recognized that each time he got a bit further, but it didn't do much of anything to ease his worries. Tennyson continued to remain a vile, overpowered, only good for punching things, never waning threat that should have never been placed in this position to begin with. It did not do anything to ease his rage. People across the universe performed much more astonishing and productive things to push forward the advancement of all species on this plane of existence, and they constantly were overshadowed by Plumbers and Tennyson, and had their funding for projects cut and eventually shut down altogether. It boggled his mind. If he dared to let it, it would probably drive him insane as well.
He turned another corner and jumped onto a car, running lengthwise on the hood and roof. He stared at silver eyes belonging to a male with deep blue hair. Albedo landed on the asphalt and halted to a stop, as he allowed his thoughts to calm themselves.
"Jenrya..." He spoke, breathless.
The male looked at him, and then the aliens, confused. Jenrya opened his mouth, speaking, but no words would come out, Albedo knew.
The variations of his dreams with Jenrya were the worst in some ways, and the best in others. Albedo looked around at the aliens closing in on them. He took a moment to breathe. He closed his eyes and opened them slowly.
The To'Kustar shifted position, sitting up straight and folding his arms, tilting its head back cockily. Waiting to see what Albedo would do, watching with eyes shining from amusement at Albedo's expense.
Jetray fired a shot from it's tail at the duo. Albedo snarled, pulling his new found silent companion out of the way. Jenrya looked at him with blank eyes. Albedo held onto his hand tightly. He wracked his brain for memories he shouldn't have access to in a dream, but was somehow able to reach regardless.
"If I remember, should they remember as well?" Albedo took a moment to think, as Jetray fired more energy shots at them. Jenrya sat on the asphalt using the car as coverage. Albedo dodged, rolling out of the way. He glanced over to Jenrya. Silver eyes looked back at him.
Stiff and robotic, Jenrya sat and looked, waiting expectantly, like the To'Kustar.
Albedo narrowed his eyes and stood. He focused as Jetray circled around overhead. He found himself in the form of a methanosian, and started launching fire vertically at Jetray. The alien weaved and bobbed around the flames, silent of any annoying quips and taunts Tennyson usually had to say.
He switched his gaze, and launched fire over the vehicle Jenrya hid behind, at Tennyson's Appoplexian form, Rath, charging at him. Missiles from a green eyed Ultimate Humongosaur soared at him. Looming overhead, the To'Kustar grinned wildly, hints of something akin to insanity in its eyes.
Albedo ducked, slamming his back against the car in a hurry. Metal clanged together, and looked under the vehicle. A green eyed Jury Rigg on its hands and knees looked at him, and it tilted it's head in curiosity.
"You're a pest!" Albedo shot fire underneath the car. He pulled Jenrya to his feet and behind him. He switched to Humongosaur, grabbed the back of the vehicle by its bumper and trunk lid, and launched it at the group of encroaching aliens.
He breathed heavily, arms hanging limp at his side, as some force outside his control deemed that was enough alien transformations on his part. As much as he focused, he could not make himself transform again. He frowned and held up his fists and shifted his feet.
The few times Jenrya showed up, the male didn't move far from his initial position. He learned the hard way when he didn't realize Jenrya was not behind him, and Humongosaur restrained him, making him watch Jenrya fall to an immovable force. Though the reptilian alien had snapped his neck afterward, that wasn't what unnerved him upon waking if he remembered correctly.
"Reallocating resources."
"What?" Albedo looked back at Jenrya. The male stared at him with deep glowing blue eyes. Lines of blue energy, one underneath each eye, and down his face, converging with two lines running at a diagonal on his cheeks from each other. The lines continued down his neck, where his clothes hid where the lines went next. "Jenrya?" He fully turned around and reached a hand out to touch the male's cheek.
"Analysis complete." Jenrya's voice was monotone, robotic and warbling. "Sufficient evidence to conclude the subject is an adequate companion appropriated."
"What...?" Despite the confusion flowing through him, he remained aware that the male standing before him still resembled Jenrya. He also remained aware that Goop was circling around Jenrya from behind. He ignored Jenya's babble and muttered, "Dreaming. Dreaming," as he pulled Jenrya out of the way.
Goop launched, landing on him. Albedo screamed as Goop's form burned and sizzled at his skin. A thousand hot needles poking and prodding at his hands, face, and throat. Goop silenced him by producing an appendage and shoving it into Albedo's mouth and down his throat. His tongue burned, and then his throat. Last his lungs, filling up with fluid he could not expel.
A part of him came to terms that his death this time was suffocation. He lazily directed his eyes to this odd Jenrya, who stared at him emotionlessly. It reminded him of the times Jenrya commented on his own blank stare, studying everything around him. He closed his eyes.
Jenrya spoke to him, "Program Alterations Initiated."
Then he swore he fell on something soft, like a bed. He looked up at a wood ceiling, heart racing, and barely remembering to breathe. Sweat pooled up upon his person. Hugh, or was it Humphrey, shook him and called for him. For the life of him, he couldn't make himself move. He looked up at Humprey, or was it Hugh, peering over him, bent over. He desired to shut his eyes, but couldn't. The light shined so brightly, blinding him. His heart raced as the feeling of dozens of people sneaking up on him hit him ten fold. He willed his body to move as Hugh, or was it Humphrey, placed a hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly as though nothing had happened, he managed to bolt from the bed, away from Hugh. He fell on the floor in a shaking heap, holding both of his hands to his chest. The cruise ship rocked gently, a mother cradling a babe she did not have.
"Al…?" Hugh whispered.
"Shut up." Albedo muttered. He ran his hands harshly against his face, and through his hair. "Go away." He spat.
Hugh sat on Albedo's bed, as the male pressed himself against the side of the bed. The image of Goop suffocating him replayed in Albedo's mind, and he took deep exaggerated breaths, though he was aware that he currently had no major difficulties breathing. He closed his eyes, the barest hints of tears pooling in his eyes.
Hugh, Humphrey, or whoever he was sat next to him on the floor, as silent as a being temporarily caught in a form they weren't used to could be. He handed Albedo his D-Terminal. Albedo took it in silence, running through random programs in an effort to tear himself away from the horrors of his own mind.
