Rats were running in the streets, attracted by the smell of the baked goods he stole. Too easy to absorb the burning iron on the plate, no one would get near him and it'd be too easy to scare everyone away once he had what he needed. Alan would always be curious as to how he managed to bring dinner like this, but never got much of an answer.

Of course, other than actual rats, he was bound to find the other kind of rats.

"Long time no see, Kevin."

"Where have ya been, freak? Been boring without you around for fun. How 'bout you hand that sweet stuff over then we'll chat."

It was inevitable, he could spend only so much time hiding in New York before those idiots were back. And no Tennyson in sight meant he could get rid of them this time with no interruption.

"I've been stealing cars and running away from the cops, as usual." said Kevin. "Oh, and before I forget, wanna see my new moves?"

He dropped the bags he had with him and absorbed the stones on the ground, which did shock the bullies a bit. They were used to seeing him charge up with electricity, not change color by touching anything. Then one punch to the first bully's nose warned them he was back stronger than before.

"He's even more of a freak now! Get him!"

It wasn't easy getting used to his new power, and the rock on him felt quite heavy to wear, but he'd have to do with it. His hand took the form of a spiky ball, ready to strike down. Some of his opponents dodged as his hand hit the ground, creating a huge crack.

They looked scared, definitely ready to run away, but he was nowhere near done. He cracked his knuckles as they gathered in front of him. "Had enough yet?" One of them raised a bat, proving it wasn't the case. Fair enough, he didn't make himself clear.

He charged against the gang and grabbed one, bigger than him, before throwing him on the wall, making the idiot scream in pain. What were they expecting, getting to a freak like him? They were asking for a beatdown.

They all started running for their lives, those he took down crawling towards the end of the alley into the streets.

"What? It was just getting fun! Come on, get back here you-"

"Kevin?!"

Kevin's eyes widened, and he turned away from the bullies to look to the side, where Alan was staring at him with a frightened expression. Did... did he see him in action?

Did he see him use his powers? Did he see what he could do? Would he tell anyone?

"Can you keep a secret?"

For a reason he ignored, Ben's voice resonated again inside his head.

And for another reason he ignored, he ran away.

They had to stay on their toes, lest they wanted the Tennysons to notice them.

"It's for his own good. Falling asleep in class, missing homework, he needs to stay down a bit after what goes on at school."

They could hear the man who was apparently Ben's adoptive father, Carl, speak to someone. They supposed something happened while their liege was studying, though they had to stay undetected if they wanted to listen. Ben's room was close, but they had to make sure he was alone before checking in on him.

"Missing one weekend with him shouldn't be the end of the world, should it?" said a female voice, which they assumed to be Ben's adoptive mother, Sarah or Sandra if they remembered well. "Ben spent the entire summer with his grandfather and his cousin, but have you seen how he acted when we told him he'd spend the weekend at home?"

"Not sure if our son's angry or if he didn't care we forbid him from going. I don't believe his cousin could teach him to act that way, could she?"

"Whenever your brother's family visits, Gwen always shows a lot of wisdom, I doubt she's responsible for this kind of attitude. Besides, you know she and Ben would rather argue all the time than stay quiet about it."

"True. Think I should call Dad and have him talk it over with Ben? Ben can't go out, but maybe he'd like to talk to him."

"I'd say to give it time, maybe Ben's just getting into a difficult age. I've heard about a kid in the neighborhood about Ben's age some time ago, he's caused a lot of trouble because his parents weren't looking after what he was doing off on his own. We already give Ben liberty, this will give him some time to think."

Whatever they were talking about, it didn't matter, they had to get going, they already lost enough time.

Once they were on T-K, Vulkanus stopped them from leaving the planet and forced SixSix to cooperate if they wanted a ride back to Earth. It took way longer than it should have for their taste, even with Kraab helping, and they lost so much time they would definitely get fired after losing Ben for this long.

Apparently, a runaway tank destroyed a part of the town a few nights before, but Ben took it down using Juryrigg and his cousin's help. Judging from what they've heard now, he was alone in his room, most likely sulking about whatever trouble he went through now that summer was over. Crouching over to his window, they noticed it was open, and the room was empty.

Did Ben run away? Just what were those two humans aiming to do by keeping him inside a place where he could easily escape from? Wherever he went, it was up to them to search for him, whether or not he'd go back to this human house. Lord Vilgax would soon come by, and Ben had to be ready to leave soon.

If he chose to leave.

"Kevin? Dude, where are you?" He said as he went through the street, searching for the young teen.

He'd never seen Kevin like that before. Well, yeah, he never saw the whole 'I turn into a statue and kick other people's butt like a comic book character' thing for sure, but once Alan saw Kevin do whatever that was, he almost semeed scared. For the short time he spent with him, Kevin didn't seem like the kind to easily get scared, much less of him.

Where did Kevin learn to do that stuff? Was he one of those creatures that were saving the country all over the previous summer? If so, wouldn't Kevin live on some super secret base instead of out on the streets?

'Maybe he got kicked out out of his superhero team.' he thought.

Kevin didn't exactly act heroic, but even then, he had to wonder where he got those powers from. The night he and Kevin met, Kevin somehow took care of the cops about to arrest him, and he got him out of the fields. He always brought enough food, enough money for machines, a lot of stuff that seemed to come out of nowhere. For a while, Alan almost expected Kevin to be a gang leader or to secretly be the rich nephew of some mafia boss who didn't want to do anything with him.

It would've explained where he got all those things despite being poor, but seeing Kevin's social skills and how he always complains about the rich guys driving through New York with their 'stupid priceless cars', it didn't make any sense.

Kevin was rebellious, unpredictable and always talked like he was aiming to be free, not living by anyone's rules but himself. He didn't know what made him pick Alan of all people to hang out with, but he had other things to think of for now.

Going into the hideout where he has been living with him for about two months, he was glad to see the black-haired boy sitting on a corner, avoiding his gaze.

"Hey."

Kevin turned his head for a second, then went back to looking away.

"I know it's gonna be hard to talk about this but... I saw you out there."

"Yeah, no joke." dryly said Kevin. He clearly didn't want to talk for some reason, did Alan do something wrong?

"I can't believe it, you got powers! The other night, when the sheriff was gonna get me, you actually stood up for me and used them to save me! And this whole time, you were using them to protect us from people like those bullies! Dude, you're a superhero!"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" said Kevin, slamming the wall behind him with a tight fist.

He looked up once he realized he had raised his voice. Alan was taken aback, but he didn't exactly look scared. Why wasn't Alan scared of him?

"Alan, look... I'm a freak, I'm not some hero who saves others, I don't have anything to protect, some motto to go by." he said, looking down. "I'm just a freak, not a hero."

"But... you helped me out, that counts for something, doesn't it?"

"Believe what you will, but I'm not one of those quirky idiots with lame gadgets that think they own the world." he shook his head, the image of the green-eyed hero still fresh in his mind. "I'm a monster, that's all there is to know."

"What?! You're not a monster, you're some kind of super cool golem guy guy! I've never seen stuff like that even when I could see the news! You're like those alien hero people that have been helping people all around the states the past few months."

"I... I..."

For the first time in his life, Kevin truly looked scared, and it was a rare sight for Alan. But then he wondered, what if it wasn't fear but...

Was Kevin ashamed? Was he embarrassed about his powers? What was it about them that made him so uncomfortable? He was okay with using them on enemies, but as soon as Alan saw him, it was a whole other story.

"Look. Those aliens and I, are worlds apart. Trust me, I've met them. I've met the loser behind them, and I'm not like him at all. I'll... I'll never be a do-gooder like him, not like I'd want to..."

"Who? Who are you talking about? So you've known those alien heroes for real? And, did you help them or like, you were rivals or something like that?"

Kevin didn't answer. For the first time in his life, his tongue was stuck in his throat. He couldn't talk, he couldn't make any remark or even tell Alan to shut up. Why was he unable to tell him off like this? It's not like he cared about Alan's opinion, or that Alan would care if he answered...

"Come on, Kev. You can tell me, I promise I'll keep it a secret." Kevin gave him an unimpressed look, seeing Alan really didn't know what he was talking about. "From the first time we met, I could tell you got something on your mind you couldn't ever spit out. If it has anything to do with these super cool powers, I'll never let a word out about it."

With a huff, Kevin gave up.

"Fine. That group of aliens that went all throughout the country, they're actually only one dude." said Kevin. "His name is Ben Tennyson, and he's got some weird watch from outer space that mutates him into those things he uses to save the world or whatever."

"That's... kinda cool!"

"Yeah, right. When I touched that thing, I wanted to absorb its energy and it mutated me. I couldn't be myself again, I was stuck as those creatures he turned into and I was a freak. I am a freak, people have been telling me ever since I discovered I had powers."

"But you're wrong! They're wrong!"

Kevin was now confused. Why was Alan so determined to contradict him whenever he talked about himself? He of all people should agree, he saw him beat up people who didn't have powers, anyone would call him a freak for that.

"Just because you can do stuff others can't doesn't make you a freak! No one calls those heroes freaks so why should anyone have to call you that?"

"I told you, I'm not a hero!"

"You don't have to be! You're not a freak, you're my friend!" interrupted Alan. "You've been there for me when I was about to get caught, you actually helped me and didn't try to harm me even though you could. That's not what a freak would do, and I know I look ridiculous giving you all this mushy talk, but it's true!"

Silence took place inside the building, and while Alan's silence was one expecting an answer, Kevin's was one not expecting to ever hear anything he just said.

Though it took time, they finally managed to spot him. He ran away to a lake where he made sure to be alone, sitting on a boulder near the water with his head between his hands. He was either cowering down from something, or having a big headache. Whichever it was, they knew he needed help.

They walked throughout the park, walking past flowers on the ground. They weren't paying attention to where they went, but had they, they would've noticed the pink plants behind them weren't from Earth. Not like it mattered for now.

"Young master, we're here."

Ben turned to see them come from behind. He looked unnerved by something, they almost saw his hand twitch for a second. Whatever had happened, they could tell their liege was not okay.

"You're back. Where were you all this time?" said Ben, emotion lacking from his voice.

"We... we got held back on T-K. Vulkanus was there and forced us to do his dirty work." said Kraab. "Um, we hope you haven't gotten hurt while we were gone. Anyway, we-"

"'ANYWAY'!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'ANYWAY'!? YOU DON'T SOUND LIKE YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT ME!" cut Ben, his expression switching to pure anger. "DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW AWFUL I'VE BEEN?! WHY DIDN'T COME BACK SOONER?! I'VE NEVER FELT SO TERRIBLE IN MY WHOLE LIFE! YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT ME, COULD YOU?!"

The Bounty Hunters were shocked about his sudden outburst. His eyes looked worn out, was Ben crying before they came?

"DON'T EVER LEAVE ME ALONE LIKE THIS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ME!" he heaved, kicking a rock in anger. He was practically falling apart, what happened? "Hmph!"

Exchanging a look, both aliens were at loss for words. They clearly took too long, now Ben was mad at them too and might not want to talk. He thought they wouldn't care, yet he was angry they weren't there for him. SixSix made the first move and raised a hand towards the young hero.

Ben glared at him, before huffing and turning his back to the Sotoraggian. It definitely wouldn't be easy, they needed to push further.

"Young master." said Kraab. "We... apologize for coming back too late. We were hoping the drone you were assigned would be enough to compensate for our absence, along with your own fighting skills."

"It's not the fighting that you guys missed, it's everything else going wrong in my life!" said Ben. "As soon as I came back, I tried. And guess what?! Nothing! Nothing! They haven't spoken a word about me!"

Ben dried some tears on his face as he spoke, betrayal present in his voice.

"I've tried to get them to admit it, I tried to make Grandpa spit it out. But they won't tell me the truth, and I can't do it myself without exposing Vilgax out. I'll never hear it from them, I can't trust anyone in this family ever again!"

He looked down, wrapping his arms around himself as he groaned in frustration. He waited for so long to come back, to check if they would care enough to do so, to make sure they really cared enough to tell him. And he was wrong. Whatever he expected by coming back to Bellwood, among every other boring person in town, it clearly wasn't there.

He should've known from the beginning not to put his trust in his 'parents', they were just like Max, too proud to say it out loud and leaving him in the dark. He couldn't keep up with being a hero anymore, everyone was watching. He was even left to rot inside his locker before the Forever Ninja got him out. And if it hadn't been for Buzzshock drenching the entire school in retaliation, he most likely would've been picked on again on his way back home.

Everyone was against him, even before he got the Omnitrix. And no one who really cared would bother to help him now, he was just a pathetic crying child who couldn't fit anywhere, especially not here.

"That's it, I'm done."

His bodyguards gave him a confused look. They only realized what he meant when his eyes turned into a glare. Not towards them, but the entire planet. Their employer wasn't the only one to hold a grudge over the Earth now.

"I can't stay here any longer, no one respects me enough to tell me I'm not from here, I might as well just leave them all behind and let them take care of their own messes themselves. They can go back to crying next time Animo attacks the neighborhood, but I'm out."

"Gwen, do you have a minute?"

"Hm? Yes, Mom?"

Gwen was finishing homework before she could go to the RV and join her grandpa on a fishing trip when her mother came into her room.

"Did you get any call from your cousin Ben tonight?"

"No? Ben's been pretty quiet lately, we don't talk much anymore now that summer's over. Why do you ask?"

"Your cousin has apparently ran away and no one knows where to find him. I've asked Ken and he didn't know either, would you have an idea of where he could be?"

"Wh-What?! Ben ran away? That's new."

"He was grounded for misbehaving at school today. When you go with your grandfather, try and look for him if you two can."

"Um, sure..."

Natalie exited her daughter's room, leaving Gwen perplex. She knew Ben could be out of control sometimes, not as much as he used to, but why would he go as far as running away from home?

And why did she have the bad feeling it was going to last? Shaking her head, she returned to work. She could track him using a thing or two from the Rustbucket later, for now she couldn't do anything without alerting her family.

The drones escorted the bags XLR8 brought out of the Tennyson household in a matter of minutes, taking the items into the spaceship where they'd have to be carried into Ben's room. But not the one on Earth.

Vilgax observed the boy's posture as he walked into the Chimerian Hammer, he could tell Ben was deeply upset about leaving the planet. Sure, it would take a long time for him to adjust to Vilgaxia, but he trusted it'd eventually happen. However, something told him his son needed someone to talk to.

"Are you sure you're ready to leave now?"

Ben hesitated before answering, looking at the open hatch before sighing. "I don't think I could spend any more time on Earth. I just... never belonged here. No matter what I tried, I couldn't do anything to fit in. And now I know I never could."

His voice sounded melancholic, the repressed feelings of a lifetime dawning on him all at once. He couldn't ever come back here as a human, or a Tennyson. He knew it should've been this way since the beginning, he wasn't made to be there, he just got there because he didn't know who he really was, he never chose to be on Earth in the first place.

If he had, if he did know who he was from the beginning, if he didn't get lied to, maybe things would've been different. But it was too late, and he couldn't care about it anymore. This was his choice now, and not even Max could say anything about it. He never had the right to anyway.

"But you... You made me feel like I actually mattered, this whole time... You didn't lie to me like Grandpa did, you followed me no matter how deep in trouble I got, you actually helped me..." said Ben, looking up to his father. "Thanks... Dad."

The squid man took him in his arms, clutching him tightly. As he'd promised himself numerous times already, he'd get back at Tennyson for this. But for now, priority was getting Ben back home. He brought a claw to his son's face, drying away his tears as he kept patting the boy's back.

"I'll never take you for granted, Ben. Never forget that as long as I'm your father, you'll never be alone, you'll always be my son, and nothing will ever change that."

Innocent green eyes were looking at him intently. His resolve was broken, and he swore that even if he was absent for a decade in Ben's life, Vilgax would repair the damage he was witnessing.

The spaceship's hatch closed, and the engine started roaring. The Chimerian Hammer would leave, and with it, the only thing that made this dust planet worthwhile.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" asked Alan, walking next to Kevin as the sun was rising. It was early in the morning, best to go now than wait until another gang came by and picked up another fight, they didn't need to draw attention.

"I'm gonna go back to Bellwood and settle scores with that idiot."

"So, you're gonna fight a one man army all by yourself?" teased Alan. "I could try to help, but I heard he could now duplicate as well."

"No... I think... I think I'm gonna talk to him." decided Kevin. "I don't know what's going on with me, but he's been driving me nuts for days even though I ditched him last time. I can't fight him when I know he too learned to fight dirty, so I'm gonna have to choose another tactic and see what he's been up to a whole other way."

"That's a real mature effort coming from you."

"Oh shut up!"

Kevin was apparently from Bellwood, the same town this Ben kid came from. He wondered if there were other kids with superpowers out there, maybe they'd make a team of young alien heroes protecting the town from bad guys or something. Well, Kevin was a mutant and as for him, he didn't have any powers. But hey, he could dream, right?

"Alan..."

"Hm?"

"Listen, I don't say this often, so don't make me say it again but..." he sighed. "Thanks for listening to me out there and... not telling me I was in the wrong or I reacted a bad way or something like that."

"It's okay, you did sound a lot freaked out by everything you went through, I'd be too, anyone would. All you need is better luck in life."

"Where did you get all this wisdom from? Was there a temple hidden in those corn fields or what?"

"You pick a lot of comic books on your way back." he laughed. "And what are you gonna do once you find this Tennyson guy?"

"I'll see for myself when I get there, just hope I don't bump into my parents or any cops that would recognize my face. Then again, they'd all try to avoid me even if they did find me."

"Well, they'll look for the two of us then."

Kevin smiled. Alan was a wimp, no doubt on that. But at least, unlike with Tennyson, he was sure Alan wouldn't have any way to betray him or had any reason to. He wouldn't get dumped by some other freak when he had someone normal on his side. He wondered if that was what Tennyson felt for a second, but shook it off.

He'd deal with it later, that's why he even left New York.

"Um, Kevin?"

"What now?"

"I know I asked you a lot of times if you got UFOs in this town and you told me no. But if you guys don't have any, what are those?"

Kevin looked in front of him and his expression switched from boredom to horror. Vilgax's drones were there, and explosions could be heard from afar.

Wherever Tennyson was, trouble was coming Kevin's way.