Author's Note: Hey again! Welcome back to another chapter of Danger Watch! We're about halfway through the story! I hope you're enjoying it so far. Who's your favorite character? Do you like my portrayals of the different characters from different fandoms? What do you want to see more of? Let me know in the Reviews!
Now, enough out of me. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Eleven - Campfire Talk
"What was she saying before she passed out?"
"Not much, just rambling."
"Well, what is she rambling, then?" Wakeman specified, following the question with a nonverbal scolding to the agent she was talking to.
"She said something about a tentacle monster and an army of robots."
Wakeman grimaced, and turned to Jenny. The XJ-9 was standing outside of the infirmary, staring in the window at Miko, who was resting in a bed. Concern was written on the androids strange, humanoid face. Even in her mechanical black eyes you could see the deep emotion. With a deep sigh, Wakeman approached her.
"XJ-9," she started to say. "Agent Miko will be alright. None of her injures are entirely too severe."
"But what about Five? What about that gem, Garnet?" Jenny snapped suddenly, whirling around on the director. "They're stuck up there! Who knows what Vilgax is doing to them!"
By now she was starting to make a scene, as Hinobi agents walking through the halls of the complex stopped to watch her outburst. Nervously and annoyed, Wakeman glanced around at the Glitch Techs (now Hammer Agents) and glared them off. Nothing to see here, if you value your job, her look said. Then, she turned back to the android.
"Calm down," she said. Jenny's mouth formed an agitated 'O'.
A few hours previously, Miko had come stumbling out of the warp pad, injured, disoriented, and alone. Luckily, someone had been there to catch her, but she was in bad shape. She had been resting for quite some time now, and had periodically woken up to babble nonsense. It was evening now, and while the other teens were in bed or getting ready to be, Jenny was here, keeping watch over her friend.
"Calm down?!" The XJ-9 said incredulously. "We have to do something, mom!"
"We are doing something," Wakeman said, her voice commanding now. Then, she sighed. "You might not feel it's enough, but we are dealing with catastrophic stakes here. If we don't stop the Cluster its going to wipe out half the globe. Not to mention whatever Vilgax has planned. There's a lot of variables, XJ-9, and frankly, our chances are slim. There were always going to be some casualties."
Jenny's face was pure betrayal, and Wakeman sensed it instantly. She held up her hands and tried to placate her android daughter.
"Look, now, I know that sounds bad," Wakeman started to say. "We're doing everything we can for them but-"
Jenny just shook her head, turning on her heel and running down the hallway, before dashing out the front door. She kicked on her white-fire rocket boots, and shot up into the night sky, maneuvering over to an isolated spot on the roof of the Hinobi base. From the ground, Wakeman sighed. She really was not very good at this whole parenting thing.
That night, as he tossed and turned in his bed, Ben had another nightmare.
This time, instead of an island, he was in an unfamiliar landscape. The ground was dusky grey and covered in sand, and something about the night sky was slightly off. Through the dreamy haze, Ben realized that he was standing on the moon. As he looked around, he wondered for a moment why he could breathe.
He was distracted, however, by another figure suddenly sprinting into focus. She was tall, and familiar, with a blocky afro and a reflective visor… It was the Crystal Gem called Garnet. Ben squinted in confusion as he observed her. She was clearly running from something… but what?
You could have done something.
The voice that stung inside of Ben's head chided him. He was familiar with this small, nagging voice. It was the same voice from his last few nightmares, a voice that had been plaguing him practically since he had arrived at the Hinobi base. Somehow, tonight, it felt stronger. More realized. As it took note of Ben's observation, the voice began to vibrate, a strange, irritating frequency. Ben realized that it was laughing; a slow, mocking laugh. That made him angry.
"Grr," he growled out into the murky void, but his voice was snatched away. He tried to lash out verbally at the negative thoughts, but somehow they protruded further. Ben suddenly felt helpless. Trapped in his own mind. He started to panic.
Garnet had stopped moving now. She had turned, and was staring at Ben's chest, looking through him and beyond to something that he couldn't see. He was paralyzed in place.
"Wait," she said, her voice crystal clear, down to the slight twinge of fear. The gem held up a hand as if to shield herself. "Wait!"
The Omnitrix grants you great power… You might have stopped this.
"Stop!" Garnet shouted, before there was a loud explosion of white smoke. Then, to Ben, she seemed to collapse into moon dust.
Ben stared, horrified, at the image before him. He dropped to his knees, and tried to grab at the sand that had been Garnet. However, his fingers passed through the particles and they floated up and away, into the darkness of space. Ben's throat had gone dry. His heart was pounding.
You're unfit to wield the device. Your friends are weak… They will perish one by one until they have all met their bitter ends, one way or another… Your only chance is to surrender.
Ben's stomach suddenly was yanked across the moon, as he felt his consciousness seemingly ripped towards another location. He was looking at strange, carved stone, and shadowy, hazy figures. Their features seemed blurred, almost intentionally so, as if their identities were to remain a secret. One person's face was familiar, however, despite it being bloodied and bruised.
Agent Five.
The young man's hands were cuffed together with some strange, hi-tech pair of manacles, and he was slumped against the wall of this foreign room. He seemed to breathe, though barely just, and his eyes were swollen closed. His lips were blue. Alive, Ben thought, but barely.
You know what you have to do…
Ben's stomach was twisting itself in knots now, and he felt cold beads of sweat dripping down his back and nose. Looking at the battered Five, the nebulous monsters, and the vanishing form of Garnet, he had to agree with the voice in the back of his head. Maybe his best chance was to surrender. If Vilgax only wanted the watch, then maybe…
Before Ben had long to contemplate further, however, a loud, jarring alarm yanked him back into reality. The boy shot up in bed, panting. Gwen, who was already half-prepared for the day, walked over to turn off the screaming alarm. She glanced over to Ben with a raised eyebrow. She examined him, sweating, greasy-haired, and raccoon-eyed. Desperately in need of a shower.
"Are you OK, Ben?" His cousin asked. "You look kinda gross… Like, more-so than usual."
Ben (who had been panting and regaining his composure after feeling like he had been yanked back down to earth) shot her a scowl.
"Whatever," Ben said. "I'm fine."
With that, the boy rose, donned the same baggy cargo pants and button up shirt he had been wearing for most of the summer, and left the room.
That day was a quiet one on the Hinobi base. The sky was grey but not stormy, only rife with clouds. The Hammer Agents went about their business with a faint sense of gloominess. No doubt in part due to their injured comrade, and the impending doomsday scenario. The remaining gems, kept to themselves, working hard on getting the main drill up and running. This drill was much larger than the test model, roughly the size of an army tank. The gems kept Steven close by, and that coupled with Director Wakeman's training ban meant that he didn't see many of the others until much later on in the evening.
The clouds were starting to disperse as the sun started to set, and Steven overheard a conversation between a couple of Hinobi agents. They talked about how Wakeman's orders were for everyone to stay put. Stopping the Cluster was the main priority, and rescue operations would have to wait until the drill was complete. Steven grimaced at the thought of Garnet remaining a captive for so long, but he knew better than to question orders. Looking out across the lawn for something to distract him from the incessant welding and hammering that was required for the creation of the drill, Steven took note of Lao Shi.
The old man was a small blip of blue on the greenish yellow lawn of the Hinobi base. As Steven watched, he realized that the old Dragon was carrying a large pile of lumber; much too heavy for a normal man of his stature. He then set down the firewood at a larger pile he had been adding to. From there, Steven observed as he methodically placed the logs, timber, and kindling into a large bonfire shape. When he was done, he stood with a grunt, clutching his back. Then, with a quick, complex movement of his wrist, he sent a small glob of fire shooting out of his hand. The base of the wood caught flame, and Lao Shi seemed satisfied at the bonfire began to slowly come to life.
Jake and Gwen arrived moments later. Jake seemed to be asking if Lao Shi needed any help, and Gwen was just tagging along, a bag of marshmallow in tow. Steven, now filled with excitement, turned to Amethyst, who was scratching her ear with her foot.
"Amethyst?"
"Yo."
"Is it OK if I go hang out at the bonfire?"
"There's a bonfire?" Amethyst said, looking over with excitement. She laughed when she saw it. "Why, though?"
"Amethyst, hand me that flange," Pearl said, from her spot leaning into the engine of the drill. Amethyst looked over to her, and then back at the bonfire. There was a sputtering sound and a grunt from the engine. "Now, please!"
"Oh, my bad, P!" The small purple gem said, quickly scrambling over and handing her the correct tool. Then, while Pearl set to work on the engine once more, Amethyst walked back over to Steven, licking the engine grease off of her palm. "Yeah, dude, go ahead. Now's your chance to get in on some human teen stuff! I'd come but, I think I gotta make sure Pearl doesn't get stuck in the engine or something."
Steven beamed.
"Cool, thanks Amethyst, see ya!" Steven said, bouncing away before Pearl could weigh in on the matter.
Gwen waved as Steven approached, and Jake noticed him as he arrived. The two of them high-fived. Then, Steven turned to look at Lao Shi in confusion. The old man had paused after setting the bonfire ablaze, and was sitting in the grass, looking up at the orange glow of the twilight sky. Steven raised an eyebrow and then turned to the other kids.
"What's with the bonfire?" Steven asked. Gwen and Jake shrugged.
"Sometimes," said Lao Shi, addressing Steven's question, "in moments like this… It is good to get away from the lights, and the screens, and to sit with the sky… and the stars. You might see things more clearly that way."
"Grandpa its like, 8:30, there's no stars out," Jake said. The old dragon laughed quietly at his student's brashness.
"Ah, but there will be soon," he said. Then, with a grunt, the old man rose to his feet. "Well, now that you mention the time, it is getting a bit late for this old man. I'm going to bed! Enjoy the fire, kids."
With that, the old man walked away, leaving them alone with his cryptic wisdom. A few moments later, Jenny and Ben arrived. Neither of them looked happy, but they arrived together. If Steven were to guess, it was no longer each other that they were upset about.
"What was that about?" Ben asked, jerking his chin towards the back of Lao Shi.
"Beats me," Gwen said. Ben turned to Jake. Jake shrugged.
"How am I supposed to know?" He said.
"He's your grandpa," Ben said, responding with another shrug.
"He's still a grandpa!" Jake said, half-laughing. Ben cracked a rueful smile at that. "I don't know what the old head meant."
"I think," Steven said, glancing over to Jenny, who had been silent since her arrival, and then looking to the group at large. "He meant that we should talk about our feelings."
Jake and Ben's faces both became disgusted. Gwen, perceptive as always, took note of their reactions, and then, her cheeks went red when she considered talking about her feelings to the group. The sun was still setting, casting a deeper and darker orange hue across the sky. Along with the crackling fire, it was an altogether atmospheric moment. The wind blew, and they were all standing in awkward silence for a moment.
"Well, let's roast marshmallows and see where that gets us," Gwen offered, holding up the large bag of sugary sweets.
The group clamored in agreement, and quickly set about the process of roasting their marshmallows. Realizing that there were no sticks to roast the marshmallows with, the kids began to improvise. Jake transformed his hand into a dragon's claw and has skewered the marshmallows on his razor sharp claws. Steven had tried to roast a few on top of his shield, but they melted into goo and got the surface of the weapon all sticky. Ben was about to become something heat resistant or spikey, like Diamondhead or Heatblast, but as he looked down at the Omnitrix, a wave of nausea washed over him. The other kids were busy roasting marshmallows and laughing at Steven's mishap, but Jenny, who had no interest in sugar, turned to him. For a moment, Ben thought he saw something like concern reflect in the android's eyes. Perhaps it had been the firelight.
"Everything… alright?" Jenny asked, awkwardly. Ben looked away, rubbing his neck. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it, but he didn't dismiss her out of hand, so the XJ-9 prodded further. "C'mon… How about this. You tell me why you're ticked off, and I'll tell you why I'm ticked off."
Gentle music was beginning to play over the campfire, just as a small swarm of fireflies flew overhead. The music came from Steven, who had produced a ukulele from seemingly nowhere. He played a simple song, and admitted he was still learning, but it was pleasant to the ear. There was a delighted squeal from Gwen as Jake summoned a scaly red tail, and was roasting nearly a dozen marshmallows at once on various spikes that protruded from it. The squeal caught Jenny and Ben's attention for a moment, and then they both rolled their eyes and laughed a little. Then, Ben sighed.
"Alright, but you first," he said. Jenny nodded, and made a sound like she was taking a deep breath. She obviously wasn't, as she was a robot, but she felt that doing such things made humans feel more at ease… it made her feel more at ease, too.
"Honestly? I'm just sick of being held back," Jenny said. "By my mom… By Hinobi… I want to get out there and help. I know I'm strong enough."
Ben pulled his knees up to his chin as he listened with a surprising amount of empathy. The giggling across the campfire was slowly dying, and Steven had noticed the quiet conversation the android and the grumpypants were having.
"Not to mention, I'm sick of babysitting," Jenny added, partly as a jab at Ben, but entirely as a joke. Ben grinned wryly.
"I'm sick of being babysat!" He agreed loudly.
The two of them laughed. Then, they realized that the others were looking at them now. Steven had stopped the music and was smiling gently, and Jake and Gwen were eating marshmallows off of the dragon's tail.
"So," Gwen said, gesturing to Jake to put away the marshmallows. "I guess we're talking about our feelings after all."
The sun had set beneath the forest, and would soon vanish underneath the horizon and turn the sky a deep, dark purple. For now, it was streaked with pinks and oranges, but the deep edges of the night sky were slowly making their way to prominence. An owl hooted in the a distant tree, signaling to the mice scurrying in the fields that they would soon be its dinner. The Hinobi agents seemed to be calling it a day, save for those helping the Gems with the drill, and were heading inside to eat and rest. The field was growing more and more quiet, but a tranquil quiet, not an eerie one.
"Guess so," Jenny said.
Steven's hand shot into the air.
"I'll go next!" He said. "I'm worried about Garnet, and Peridot… And about that Agent-"
"Miko," Jenny said quietly.
"Yeah, sorry," Steven said sadly. "I'm worried for her too."
"Well don't talk about me like I'm dying," came a voice from behind the group.
Everyone's spun around to see a person limping towards them: a Hinobi agent on a crutch. Her long, purple-streaked hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she wore several gauze covered bandages. As she hobbled towards the fire, Jenny instantly went over to her side, and helped her over to a log to sit on.
"Miko," Jenny said, "what are you doing? Aren't you still healing?"
"I mean, yeah," Miko said, wincing as she sat down. Then, she forced a smile and waved her hand. "Hey, don't worry about me, kid. I just saw the fire… Looked nice. It's been a while since I sat by a campfire."
"Welcome to the party. We're sharing our feelings. Do you want a marshmallow?" Gwen asked, from across the fire. Miko laughed, and then groaned and clutched her side.
"Are you sure you should be out here?" Steven asked.
"Yes, I'm OK, I promise. Hinobi medics are like hackers for your body. I should be moving around normally by tomorrow, although I'll be sore for a few days," Miko said. "Anyway: don't let me interrupt you. I just needed some time outside of that medical tent. Please, continue talking."
"Who's turn is it?" Gwen asked. "I nominate Jake."
"What, why me?" Jake asked accusingly. Gwen quickly threw her book up in front of her face like a shield, with only her eyes peeking out over the top.
"C'mon Jake, you got nominated," Ben said in a monotone. Jenny looked at him sympathetically.
Jake sighed.
"What's'a matter? The Dragon can't talk about his feelings?" Gwen teased.
"I'm not the Dragon yet," Jake said, almost as a reaction. "Gramps is. I still don't even know if I'm good enough to be the Dragon yet."
"What do you mean?" Steven asked.
"Like," Jake said, pausing to gather his thoughts. Despite himself he felt compelled to share. "I got all these responsibilities, right? Somehow Gramps has all these duties and territories and requirements and stuff memorized. Like, how am I supposed to know the diplomacy of every centaur tribe in New York? And New York is just the start!"
Jake paused for breath, and realized that everyone was looking at him. He paused, took a centering breath, and sighed, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.
"I just don't know if I'm doing it right," he said. "I feel lost."
They all nodded in sympathy with that statement. Steven even gave Jake a little pat on the back, which Gwen half-heartedly joined. Then, all eyes on the campfire naturally turned to Ben. Ben, who had been particularly moody lately. Ben, with the sunken eyes and the dangerous alien artifact stuck on his wrist. Ben scowled slightly, but with some gentle encouragement from Jenny, he began to speak, reluctantly.
"I've been… Having trouble sleeping," he said, looking off to the side. "There's been, like… Nightmares."
The campfire was quiet, and everyone looked on with serious expressions. Even Gwen, who normally would have seized the opportunity to snark about Ben's bad dreams, had seen how out of it the boy had become lately. She looked on sympathetically until she knew her cousin needed more prodding. He was holding back.
"What kind of nightmares?" Gwen asked. Ben was quiet.
"It's OK if you don't wanna talk about 'em, kid," Miko said.
Ben, knowing that the other's would remain annoyingly concerned until he told them (and feeling surprisingly better after having cleared the air), decided to continue.
"They're different every time, but… It's weird. I always feel trapped, or helpless, and there's always this like… Voice. My voice? I can't ever tell, but it's always whispering to me. Bad stuff. Stuff I don't wanna hear…" Ben paused, and then looked to Steven, and then Jenny and Miko. "Last night I saw Garnet… and Agent Five."
"Wait, what do you mean you saw them?" Jenny asked. She was still not fully clear on the concept of "dreams." Ben explained his most recent nightmare, and Gwen helped to further define that dreams aren't always real, and rather strange manifestations of the subconscious. Ben agreed, and admitted he wasn't sure whether these dreams were real or not.
When he was finished, Jake let out a low whistle.
"Woah," he said, "heavy."
Steven, who had been quiet since Ben mentioned his strangely real-seeming dreams, finally looked up. He turned to Ben, and gave him a sheepish look. Ben squinted.
"What?" He asked, with a bit more venom than he meant to. Steven raised up his hands and gave a nervous chuckle out of habit, which made Ben feel sort of bad; but not that bad.
"I'm, uh, not exactly sure if it will work. I've only done it a couple of times," Steven said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I do have a power that might come in handy. If this is more than a dream, we might have a way of turning it back on whoever is messing with your head. Or at least, getting them out."
Ben raised his eyebrows, and the general consensus around the campfire was that of surprise.
"You can do something like that?" Ben asked. Again, Steven laughed nervously. The young half-gem tried to forget about the part where Garnet had told him never to do it again without supervision… She wasn't here right now, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Steven nodded. "Well, how do we do it?"
"Well, first you have to fall asleep," Steven said. "And uh, then… I gotta fall asleep too."