NOTE: No, I have the episode order correct. I know what I'm doing.
I did not realize at first that this was chapter number 11 and it's "Kevin 11". I'm happy for this little coincidence.
Yes, Brother/Sister complex Yukiko is going to be an absolute blast to write. The Sister Complex Kingpin of Steel "Yu Narukami" is gonna have some competition.
Review and Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Persona 11
Yukiko gazed around the hotel, shocked by how large the place was. It was much more spacious than the Amagi Inn, though she figured it was because of the hotel being in New York. For a country girl like herself, being in such a large city filled her with a strong need to explore it. She had already taken many pictures of the city on their way to the hotel and sent them to her friends and family. Yukiko was really looking forward to seeing everything this hotel had to offer. "Maybe, it'll give me some ideas to help improve the Inn?" She said aloud.
Gwen turned to Yukiko, a pamphlet in her hands. "I'm sure you can find many ideas here, Yukiko. This place has a pool and a full day spa!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Well, we already have a hot spring. I don't think the spa or pool would be necessary," Yukiko said.
"Don't you girls get used to it, this is only for one night," Max reminded them. His reminder did little to deter the girls' enthusiasm.
"One night for Gwen and I to explore this entire hotel!" Yukiko giggled.
"Yeah! There's so much to learn with so little time! We'll figure it out together!" Gwen returned the giggle.
Next to them was Ben, who was pretending to barf in disgust from the girls' peppiness. His green orbs scanned the lobby, hoping to find anything that could distract him from the two next to him. He jumped up in surprise at the sight of his prize. It was an arcade dedicated to Sumo Slammers. "Oh yeah! The new Sumo Slammers video game!" He ran towards his goal.
An extended arm prevented the boy from advancing further, he looked up at the security guard. "Pass?" He asked the child.
Ben smiled nervously. "Must've left it inside. I'm one of the game pros testing out the system," He lied.
"VIPs only," The guard replied. His words caused the boy to walk back to his family downtrodden.
Max looked down at his Grandson, already knowing the thoughts going through the boy's head. "I know what you're thinking, Ben. So, no sneaking back in there," He ordered.
"I won't!" Ben said. Feeling satisfied with the answer Max and Gwen walked away from Ben, trusting his word. Yukiko lagged behind to stare her little cousin in the eyes, making the boy sweat a bit. She knelt down to his level, making her stare a little more intense.
"I'm trusting you to behave yourself for this night, Ben. It would mean a lot to me if you could help me and Gwen explore as much of this hotel as possible. Wouldn't that be more fun?" Yukiko smiled.
Ben was honestly taken aback by Yukiko's request. He had expected her to threaten him with incineration and pain if he didn't behave himself, but she just wanted to spend time with him. The scensarity in her words almost made him reconsider his choice.
Almost.
"Sure, Yukiko. Like I told Grandpa, I won't do anything to get us in trouble. We'll explore this place from top to bottom! I'll even explore a bit more of the lobby for you! I promise!" He smirked.
Yukiko ruffled his hair with sisterly affection. "Good, see you in our room," Yukiko got up and walked away to follow after her Grandfather.
When she was out of sight, Ben turned his gaze back to the arcade, then down to the Omnitrix. "Well, as long as I'm in and out before anyone realizes, then I wouldn't be breaking any promises," Ben ran behind a corner and transformed into Ghostfreak.
"Yukiko, where's Ben?" Max asked as he stopped in front of the elevator.
"Oh, he wanted to look around the lobby a bit more for me. I told him we'll be waiting in our room for him before we can explore the entire hotel together!" Yukiko explained, a graceful smile on her lips.
"And you believed him?" Gwen questioned. She seriously wondered how many times Yukiko was just going to keep trusting to leave Ben on his own.
"And why wouldn't I? He made a promise not to get into trouble," Yukiko said. Before Gwen could reply back, the intercom of the hotel came to life.
"WOULD MAXWELL TENNYSON REPORT TO THE LOBBY? WOULD MAXWELL TENNYSON REPORT TO THE LOBBY?"
The old man sighed in disappointment, already knowing why his name came up. A frustrated glare formed on his elderly face. He and the girls made their way back to the lobby to find Ben being held by a security guard, and the manager standing right next to them.
The boy chuckled nervously as his family's disappointed faces were all pointed at him. "Hehe...my bad?"
Yukiko's bag was the last to be thrown out of the hotel by the security guard. The bald man glared at the Tennysons. "AND NEVER COME BACK!" He threatened before walking back into the hotel.
Immediately Ben was hounded on by Max and Gwen. "I told you not to sneak in there!"
"Well, if you want to get all technical about it," Ben replied cheekily. The way he responded as if he had done nothing wrong, pissed Gwen off more.
"I never even got a chance to take a shower! In a real shower for the first time all summer! Plus they had a spa! You even ruined it for Yukiko, doofus!" Gwen spat.
Ben glared back at her, not liking how he was getting yelled at for actions again. So, what if he was having some fun? He's the right to use his powers for himself! He waited for Yukiko to have a go at him, awaiting her threats to set him on fire. But, when he looked in her direction, the heiress was already making her way back to the Rustbucket, something small was clenched in her hands.
"How do you expect me to trust you if you keep misusing the watch!" Max scolded Ben. The family is now back inside of the RV. Ben and Gwen both pouting as Yukiko sat in her seat quietly, her eyes focused on the item in her hand.
"Excuse me! I used it a hundred times for good! Why can't I use it just once for me!?" Ben asked, upset.
"It's not how many times you use it, Ben! It's how you use it!" Max countered.
"It was no big deal…" Ben mumbled. His Grandfather had heard him, increasing the old man's anger.
"To you! And that's all you care about! So, no more Sumo Slammers stuff for two weeks, no comics, no trading cards, no-" Max's dealing of the punishment was interrupted by Ben.
"No fair!"
"Neither is getting booted from a Four Star hotel! I already paid for!"
"Fine! Take it out of my allowance!" Ben sat back down.
"You don't get an allowance," Gwen cut in.
"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Both of them yelled at her immediately.
"Ok, that's enough."
"Ben," Yukiko's dark orbs made contact with his green ones. The young man glared at her, figuring that this was the moment where she would threaten him too.
"You broke our promise," She said simply.
He blinked at her, confused by her words. "Why does that matter? It's just a promise," He scoffed.
The teenager's expression hardened. "Promises are nothing to scoff at, Ben. They're important, especially when making them with the people you're close to," She told him.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, well I was promised that I'd be having fun on this summer vacation, but look how all of that has been turning out!" He turned back to his Grandfather. "How am I supposed to be enjoying what I'm promised if he keeps telling me what to do!"
"You'll do as I say as long as you're under this roof!" Max yelled.
"Stop trying to act like you're my Dad! Because, you're not!" Ben shouted, with anger. His words brought forth shocked silence from everyone in the RV.
Max, who was obviously hurt from Ben's words, backed away from the 10 year old. "I-I'm going to see if I can get at least some of my money back. I'll be back in a few minutes-" He was cut off by Ben storming towards the back of the RV.
"Don't hurry!" He glared at his Grandfather and closed the curtain.
"H-He'll be fine," Gwen tried to tell Max. Seeing that her Grandfather was hurt by Ben's emotional outburst. When he left the RV, Ben could be heard in the back throwing a temper tantrum.
"Glad to see you're handling things so maturely," Gwen rolls her eyes.
The curtains opened to reveal Ben, who began making his way out of the RV. Yukiko was quick to grab him. "Where do you think you're going!?" She glared at him. She was doing her best to not yell at him, but Ben has proven to be too much of a brat lately.
"None of your business that's what!" He tore his arm away from her. The boy started running away from them.
"You're going to be so grounded!" Gwen chased after him.
"Ugh! Why couldn't they be more like Nanako-chan…" Yukiko grumbled.
The girls followed Ben into an arcade called "TOTAL ZONE". Gwen released a huff of annoyance of having to chase after her doofus cousin. "Next summer I'm going to sleep away camp," She said.
"But, how do you sleep away from camp?" Yukiko asked, confused.
"Just come on…" Gwen pulled Yukiko into the arcade.
The girls found Ben standing in front of an arcade game that was spewing out coins as if it ate something rotten. Right next to him was another boy who was about an inch taller than him. He wore a dark t-shirt with the sleeves torn and equally dark shorts. He had a necklace with a lock on it hanging around his neck and wavy black hair.
Gwen raised an eyebrow at the boy. She had to admit that she found him a bit cute to look at. He had a bad boy air around him that she just found a bit attractive. But, that's something she could focus on later, right now she needed to grab her doofus cousin before their Grandfather gets back.
"Ben! What are you doing!? We can't take those coins!" Yukiko scolded him, disappointed by how quickly he was ready to steal.
"Nobody's using them! So, it's free of charge!" Ben smirked. She gripped his wrist to stop him from taking the coins.
"Heroes don't steal, Ben," She hissed.
"It's not stealing, it's called getting rewarded," He hissed back. He tore his arm away from her again and walked over to the boy.
"Sorry, for those two. My name's Ben," He introduced himself.
"Kevin," Keven responded.
"Wanna play some air hockey?" Ben asked, finding Kevin to be cool as all hell.
Kevin was ready to agree until he saw three punks walking up behind Ben and his family. "Nah, I gotta bail."
"He's not somebody you should be hanging around, Ben," Yukiko warned.
"He seemed okay to me," Ben shrugged. He and Gwen were shoved aside by the punks who were chasing after Kevin.
Seeing Kevin about to get assaulted by the punks, Ben stepped up to the plate. Yukiko didn't stop him, agreeing that the rude jerks needed to be taught a lesson. Nobody pushes her cousins aside like that and gets away with it.
"Heh, he's gonna need a lot more than you," One of the punks knocked Ben into the ground. Gwen rushed down to the boy's side.
"Okay, they're dead," Yukiko stalked towards the punks menacingly. Her dangerous aura began leaking into the atmosphere.
"Yukiko, don't!" Gwen pulled the teenager back.
One of the punks laughed at them. "You better listen to your sister! I wouldn't want to hurt that pretty face of yours," He and his friends chuckled at the girls. They were so focused on Yukiko that nobody noticed the green flash from behind the arcade machines.
Kevin smirked from his position. "How's the hangout? Still trashed like I left it?" He taunted.
"Yeah, and you're gonna pay. You can't take us all alone, Freak!"
"But, I can!" XLR8 made his presence known.
"When did he even!? Ugh! I have to get better at keeping track of him!" Yukiko sighed. It was too late to stop Ben without burning the entire building down.
"It's a little too late for Halloween, isn't it?" One of the scrawny punks mocked XLR8.
The speed alien zoomed over to the leader and created a small tornado, levitating the punk into the air, dropping him, and slapping him into the wall with a tail whip. XLR8 then made quick work of the rest of the punks, knocking them each into the same wall as the leader.
XLR8 waved goodbye to Kevin and sped away from the arcade. The dark haired boy smiled, thinking about how cool it was to be saved by some weird alien.
"I cannot believe you went alien!" Gwen scolded Ben. The boy glared at her in annoyance. Everyone seemed to be scolding him a lot today.
"He helped me! So, I helped him! You guys wouldn't get it! And neither would Grandpa! That's the problem!" Ben yelled.
"Ben, that kid isn't the type of person you should be around. Just one look at him and I already can tell he's a bad influence," Yukiko disapproved.
Ben scoffed at her words. "Isn't one of your friends some kind of punk or whatever!? You have no right to judge me!"
Yukiko flinched back, surprised that Ben even knew that tidbit of information about Kanji. "How do you even know that? I never mentioned anything like that about Kanji-kun."
Gwen hurried to turn the conversation back onto the right track. "L-Look! That's not important right now! What's important is getting back to the Rust-"
"Did you see that!?" Kevin walked out of the arcade, cutting off Gwen. "Did you see what that speed guy did to those losers?" He asked Ben.
"Yeah, dude's name is XLR8. In fact, we're pretty tight," Ben kinda lied. Not exactly giving away his identity, but still…
"Cool! Hey, want a tour of New York?" Kevin offered.
Gwen shook her head. "You keep Grandpa waiting any longer and he's going to pop another gasket. We gotta go, like now, Ben!" Gwen warned Ben.
He waved off her threat with his own glare. "Don't you mean YOU have to go!?"
"You know what? Forget it, you're on your own," Gwen gave up and walked away.
Yukiko was shocked to see Gwen give up so easily, she watched as both went their separate ways. She questioned who she should follow.
Should she follow Gwen back to the Rustbucket and back to their Grandfather?
Or
Should she follow after Ben to make sure he didn't get into anything dangerous or illegal?
"Actually, this isn't that hard of a choice," She realized.
Yukiko followed after Ben and Kevin as stealthily as she could. Putting all of her detective skills from her time as the Investigation Team to use. She knew that her Grandfather wouldn't be happy that neither she nor Ben are back at the Rustbucket, but this was a necessary act. She had a feeling that Ben was going to get into something dangerous and she promised their Aunt Vera that she'd keep an eye on him. There was also the promise she made to herself to keep her family safe.
It had hurt her to see Ben casually disregard her words about promises and how easily he went against their promise earlier in the day. It also hurt her to hear him be so disrespectful to their Grandfather, when the man has been nothing but kind and loving towards them. The boy was stubborn, probably the most stubborn boy she had ever met in her life and she knew three very stubborn young men.
She had promised Ben that she'd always have his back and listen to him when there's something wrong. So, why was it so difficult for him to listen to other people when they just wanted to help him?
"Is it just because he's a 10 year old? Maybe, some of his attitude is due to his age, but the majority of that stubbornness has to come from somewhere else?" Yukiko thought as she followed the two down into an abandoned subway. Apparently it was Kevin's home, since he had no family to take care of him. She listened in on their conversation, feeling a bit of pity for Kevin. Nobody should be called a freak by their own family. Family is meant to love and support one another, not hate and spite one another.
She was dragged out of her thoughts by the boys hurrying out of the subway, Yukiko ducked down behind some trash cans to not be spotted by them. "Where are they going? Last thing I remember hearing was something about Sumo Slammers….oh no…" Yukiko hurried after the boys with extreme worry.
"Did they really just break into a warehouse!?" She gawked. Quiet as a mouth, Yukiko snuck behind some crates while the boys were too focused on all the various copies of the game. Her disappointment increased when she watched Ben take the game from Kevin without any form of guilt. As if the boy couldn't comprehend that his actions were that of a criminal, almost like the criminals they've been putting away into jail this summer.
Suddenly smoke grenades flew through the windows and helicopters could be heard flying over the warehouse. By the shocked look on Ben's face, Yukiko could guess that the situation finally dawned on him. Kevin and Ben made a break for the door, but before Ben could get there she pulled him back behind some crates while Kevin was absorbing energy from the machines.
"Y-Yukiko!?" Ben stammered, shocked by her appearance.
"Do you have any damn clue on how much trouble you're in right now!?" She cursed at him.
"Why are you even here!? You should be at the Rustbucket with Grandpa and Gwen!" Ben responded, angry.
"So should you!" Yukiko countered. Their argument was halted by Kevin running towards them
"Let's go!" He yelled at them.
Ben tried to hurry after Kevin, but Yukiko had pulled them both back down. "Are you two stupid!? The police have this place surrounded, you can't run out there!" She yelled at them.
"Ok, Miss Long Legs, do you have any bright ideas?" Kevin asked sarcastically.
"LONG LEGS!?" Yukiko mentally cried.
Ben's attention turned down to the Omnitrix. "I got one, but can you keep a secret?" He asked Kevin.
"Sure!" He replied. Ben activated the watch and dialed up Stinkfly, confusing Kevin and making Yukiko sigh again.
"W-What are you doing with your watch?" He asked before watching in pure shock at Ben transforming into a giant stink bug. "Ah! You reek!" Kevin reeled back from Stinkfly.
"Welcome to my world," Yukiko muttered.
"I know. Now, hurry on!" Stinkfly ordered both of them to hop on his back. They complied immediately and Stinkfly took off into the skies away from the warehouse. The helicopters gave chase immediately.
Kevin was enjoying the flight while Yukiko was panicking about becoming a criminal in a foriegn country.
"How did you do that?" Kevin asked Stinkfly.
"Talk later!" Stinkfly looked behind to see the helicopters giving chase. "Yukiko, shoot your fire at the helicopters!"
"I'm not going to shoot at the police!" She replied, furiously. She quickly summoned Amaterasu to block the bullets being shot at them by the police. "I will, however, make sure we don't get shot to death!"
Stinkfly used this to his advantage, flying around the Statue of Liberty to hide from the police. "I'm running out of time...we'll just have to lose them in the city!"
Stinkfly flew quickly as Amaterasu was continuously used to block every bullet aimed at them. The police were hopelessly confused as to why their bullets were being stopped midway by some invisible force.
Yukiko cringed when they flew past the Rustbucket, silently apologizing to their Grandfather for this mess that she should've prevented Ben from getting into. Stinkfly grew more frustrated as the police kept on their trail. His multi-eyes scanned traffic for a way to lose the police.
"There!" Yukiko pointed down at the bridge. Yukiko slid underneath the bug alien to join Kevin on the underside as Stinkfly flew underneath the small bridge. The Omnitrix timed out just as a tow truck drove underneath them. The teenager and kids hid in the vehicles, so the police wouldn't find them.
Kevin and Ben celebrated their success while Yukiko held onto her chest, nothing but fear of what could've happened replayed in her mind. The teenager's eyes shifted towards Ben, nothing but disappointment present in them.
The three hid in an alleyway to catch their breath. "Running from the police in New York City...Naoto-kun would be so disappointed," Yukiko sighed. She was going to pull out her phone to call their Grandfather when she overheard the boys' conversation.
"And not just that, it let's me turn into 10 different ali-Guh! H-Hey!?" Ben suddenly cried out as Yukiko yanked him towards her by his shirt.
She looked at Kevin. "Would you mind giving us a minute?" Her dangerous smile sent a shiver down the boy's spine.
"Y-Yeah, sure. I'll be over there," He walked further down the alley.
When she saw him turn the corner, her blazing eyes glared down at the boy in her grip. Ben was struggling to get out of her surprisingly strong grasp.
"C-Come on, Yukiko! Let go! What are you even-"
"Shut the hell up."
"W-What? Yukiko, what are you-?"
"For once in your short life, shut the hell up, Benjamin Tennyson!" She yelled at him. Any form of patience had finally left her system. Ben flinched back from her scorching tone, not used to her calling him by his full name.
"Do you understand the full consequences of what you just did!? Do you have any idea of what could've happened tonight if just one thing had gone wrong!? Do you even sit to think about the choices that you make or how it affects other people!? Especially the people close to you!?" She screamed at him.
Ben gawked at her, he had expected her to be upset with him just like how his Grandfather and Gwen were...but he didn't expect this. "W-Why does it even matter!? Everything turned out just fine!?" He tried to argue.
"You almost became a criminal tonight, Ben! Do you even understand that!? You ran from the police, because you decided that playing a stupid video game was more important than doing what was right!" Yukiko shot back.
The boy's face morphed from one of shock to one of fury. "And what do you know, huh!? I'm finally starting to have fun and get my reward, but here you are standing in my way again!"
"Have you learned NOTHING from this summer trip so far!? About responsibility and being a hero!? That watch on your wrist is meant for saving people! Not stealing or fueling your own petty greed!" Yukiko pushed her finger into his chest, knocking him back a bit.
"It's on my wrist, so it's my rules! I decide how it gets used! Not you and especially not Grandpa!" Ben got back into her face.
Yukiko should've stopped herself, she knew that. It would be better to stop the argument now and not say anything that they'd regret. But, this boy just knew how to press people's buttons.
"Maybe Tetrax was right about you! Maybe you don't deserve to use that watch! Because you can never see past yourself!"
Ben growled at her, his anger rising to dangerous levels. He was sick of it, all of the crap he had been getting all day from his family about his actions. Calling him selfish when he's saved so many lives with the Omnitrix, so far. People should be rewarding him and he should be rewarding himself too! "How about you just take yourself and your weirdo powers back to Japan! Because you shouldn't even be here! This trip was just supposed to be me and Grandpa anyway! Stop trying to act as if you're some Big Sister to me! I don't have one and I never will need one! JUST STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!"
SLAP!
Ben's head rocked to the right as a hand gave a hard strike to his face. The boy grabbed his face in pain and grew angrier. He turned his head back to Yukiko, ready to yell at her again. But, he didn't...no...more like he couldn't. All of the anger that he felt dissipated immediately at the sight before him.
Yukiko was crying. She was crying and it was his fault.
"Yukiko...I-" Ben reached for her, but she pulled away from him. She stepped away from him and ran away from the alleyway.
All Ben could do was stare at where Yukiko had run off to. He couldn't move from his spot, the only thought in his head was the image of Yukiko crying. He had never seen her cry before and he hated the sight of it. And he hated the realization that he was the one who made her cry.
"Hey, man, is everything alright?" Kevin came back into sight. He placed a hand on Ben's shoulder.
"Uh...yeah...I guess everything's alright," Ben replied weakly.
"Good! Because I totally have a plan to put that watch of yours to good use!" Kevin smirked.
"Of all the stunts Ben's pulled, this is the worst! When I find him-" Max was cut off by the phone ringing. Gwen picked it up and answered it.
"Hello? Yu-Yukiko? What's wrong!? Why are you crying!? Okay, yeah, I'll tell Grandpa," Gwen hung up the phone and turned to her Grandfather.
"Grandpa...we really need to find Ben. And I know where Yukiko is," Gwen said, worry etched into her voice.
Ben felt like a major dumbass at the moment. The signs were all in front of him from the moment he met Kevin. The guy was seriously messed up in the head if he thought that he was going to help him crash a train full of passengers just to get some money. His family was right, he had only been caring about himself this whole time. Being a hero meant knowing that you've done good and to always put others first. He really needed to apologize to his Grandfather and Yukiko.
If he survived the current situation that is.
Ben was currently riding on top of one of the trains. He successfully managed to stop Kevin from crashing the trains, but now he was in serious danger of getting killed on one of the trains after the watch timed out.
HONK HONK!
Ben looked over to see the Rustbucket driving next to the train. He made the jump for the top of the RV before he could turn into a red splotch on a road sign. The Rustbucket came to a stop in front of a restaurant. Allowing Ben to hop down from the top, and enter the RV. However, the air inside of it was a lot less welcoming than he remembered.
One look from his Grandfather told the boy to have a seat, and he knew that he was in for a well deserved lecture.
"Are you ever planning on listening to me!? None of this would've happened if you just obeyed me from the beginning! It's all about trust!" Max scolded him.
Ben knew he needed to apologize, but right now a mutated Kevin was of bigger concern. "Then trust me when I say that Kevin is misusing Heatblast's powers right now!"
"Grandpa, Ben's right, there's no telling what he could do," Gwen backed him up.
Max understood the importance of the situation. "Okay, so where is he?"
"I think I know, but first, where's Yukiko?" Ben asked. The mood suddenly dipped again when the curtains at the back opened up to reveal a red eyed Yukiko.
"Yukiko, I-" Ben was stopped again by her voice.
"Let's focus on stopping Kevin," She walked past them to sit in the driver's seat. The boy lowered his head in shame, he'll apologize later.
They would've gotten there immediately, however, if there wasn't so much traffic. Ben got out of his seat and activated the watch. "Going Stinkfly! I'll see you at the 39th Street Bridge!" He slammed down the core and turned into Four Arms. "Great! Now I turn into Four Arms!" He complained.
Yukiko did her very best to suppress a laughing fit. It was the hardest thing she's ever done in her life.
Yukiko gasped when she saw that Kevin had mutated into some weird version of Four Arms and was currently battling Ben. She rushed out of the RV to assist him in the fight.
"Agidyne!" The large fireball prevented Kevin from smashing his arms down onto Four Arms. The mutated human gasped from the attack and glared at Yukiko.
"So, you have some freaky powers too!? I wonder if I can take yours too!?" Kevin rushed at her.
"Try it, Freak," Her merciless words only infuriated the mutated boy more. "Agidyne!" Yukiko shot another one at Kevin. He punched the fire ball, dissipating it, and reaching for her.
Yukiko duck underneath his grab and rolled between his legs. She jumped into the air and prepared another strike. "Agidyne!" This time the blast was stronger than the last and had sent Kevin bouncing away towards the bridge. Four Arms sprinted past Yukiko and cocked his fists back.
Before Kevin could even process it, Four Arms released a barrage of powerful knockout punches into his face. The mutated boy bounced across the ground before flying straight into a pillar. The concrete collapsed on top of him, ending the fight. The Omnitrix timed out and Ben turned back to normal.
A weakened Kevin emerged from the rubble. "Okay okay! I give! I-I'm sorry! Please! Lighten up!" Kevin begged for mercy.
"I just did, by about 300 pounds," Ben quipped.
"I guess I went wild with power. I don't have anyone else like you to help me," Kevin said, downtrodden.
"We can still be partners, we'll just be kicking butts for good instead of for ourselves," Ben told Kevin.
Yukiko smiled when she heard those words. Happy to see that Ben was starting to learn and hopefully the lesson will stick with him this time.
"You could hang with us!" Ben offered.
"What's in it for me?" Kevin asked.
"For starters, people will like you," Ben extended his hand to Kevin. The mutated human reached for his hand to take, before smirking evilly. His other hand gripped onto the Omnitrix.
"BEN!" Yukiko and Max ran in to save him.
"Oh man, you are so dim!" Kevin smacked Max and Yukiko away. The elderly man used his body to cushion Yukiko's fall.
"Yukiko! Grandpa!" Ben cried out.
"Did mommy drop you on your head as a baby?" Kevin taunted. "Now give me that watch!"
"You're the one who's dimwitted! I told you I can't!" Ben shouted. Suddenly the watch turned from red to green and released a shockwave. Creating an explosion that sent all three flying away from each other. Ben flew back into Yukiko's arms and the girl held onto him tightly. While Kevin crashed into the main support beam for the bridge, causing it to collapse on top of him. He emerged from the rubble, but he was no longer mutated.
"NOOOO!" Kevin screamed and ran away from the scene.
Ben watched Kevin run away, disappointed in the guy he had once considered a friend to betray him in the end. He had really hoped that he could turn Kevin around.
"Uh? Yukiko?" Ben decided to speak now that they were on the road again. He needed to make things right. He messed up big time and he had to fix it.
"I'm sorry for what I said. I never should've said those things about you," Yukiko apologized.
"No, I should apologize first. You were right about me being selfish and that I was using the watch for my own selfish needs. And I shouldn't have said all of those harsh words to you. You didn't deserve any of that," Ben apologized.
"I'm sorry for everything, Grandpa," Ben apologized to Max next.
"I know you are. You're my Grandson and nothing will change that. But, my trust is something you'll have to earn back," Max said.
Yukiko nodded her head as they made their way back to the RV. She knew that their relationship was strained now, too many harsh words were said between them all for a simple apology to fix everything. The apology was just the start mending the wound for their family.
Chapter End
NOTE: This was a very emotional chapter for the Tennyson family and I always intended for this to happen. I know it's a repeated topic of how Ben never really learns his lessons in the original series, but the lesson that he learns here is something that sticks with him all the way towards Omniverse. And Yukiko very much points it into his face that he was being very unbearable and I agree. Ben was being a selfish little shit this episode and it's a behavior that Ben actually doesn't repeat going forward.
Yes, he's still selfish here and there, but he NEVER makes this type of mistake again towards his family.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. This wasn't too much Kevin in this chapter, but trust me that the next time he appears in Season 2 there will be a lot more focus on Kevin's actions and just how similar he and Ben were.
Have a great day!