Chapter 5: Money is a HUGE Sweet Talker

Thank you, FanficFemale, for telling me what stats are. Also, thank you for the words of comfort/advice. I tend to overreact over the little things; it's not one of my better qualities.

Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!

Carter hated math. Why couldn't it be more like poetry, or a song lyric, or even an interesting novel? Who liked slaving over numbers and letters and fractions anyway? Miffed, Carter slammed her algebra book shut after trying to figure out the last problem. She would have to ask Evan about it later.

Carter swirled her desk chair away from her desk to get away from the text book of evil. Her room was plush and ornate, just like the rest of her house: she had a king-sized bed with velvet drapes covering the sides that were held by strong oak bars on all four sides. She had two black couches and a glass coffee table in front of a large plasma screen TV. Right next to the TV was a small bookshelf full of DVDs on almost every genre. Her desk was oak with a home computer for school work on top. Her room was supposed to have four walls, but the one in the back had been converted into a bookshelf, completely hiding the wall behind it. The bookshelf was only half full; it was simply far too large for Carter's tastes. The left wall near her bed and desk had an ornate window panned door, leading to a large balcony. There were stairs connecting the balcony, which led into the vast garden below.

Yeah, it was awesome.

Carter hopped to her feet and went to her bed where, under her pillow, was an old beat-up notebook. The inside cover held the title: The Devastating Truth of Subject XII. It was a rock opera, which Carter had been working on for six years now. It was literally her pride and joy.

The opera began in a research facility with the birth of subject XII. He was supposed to be the ultimate human, having all the power that humanity craved: super strength, lightning fast reflexes, incredible intellect and memory, the whole shebang. Problem was subject XII was super sick from birth, just like all the other subjects before him. Believing that he would die just like all the others, the scientists decided to scrap him. Subject XII, knowing that he would die soon, desperately tried to escape, actually making it out of the facility into the city, only to be wounded by an oncoming car. The driver and his daughter took Subject XII to the hospital, only to find out that he escaped with barely a scratch. Everyone thinks that he has amnesia-he figured that no one would believe that he was a test subject- so the driver and his daughter decided to take Subject XII home. They try to help him regain his memory, giving him a list of male names and forcing him to help out in the family bookstore. Subject XII decides to call himself Jonah, and pursues a romantic relationship with Clarissa, the driver's daughter. After a few months, Clarissa is diagnosed with cancer. Jonah believes that it is his fault, because all of the other test subjects died of some type of cancer and that they passed it on to certain scientists. How he deals with everything was still up for grabs, because Carter hadn't gotten to that part yet. She was constantly changing the story and lyrics; who knew when it would be finished?

She grabbed a pencil and immediately started outlining the next part, humming a little tune while she did so. A shame her grandmother had to ruin the mood.

Cordelia Valentine walked into the room with serpentine grace, still in her work clothes. "What are you doing?" she asked right away, ignoring the look her granddaughter was giving her.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Impolite as usual. Anyway, there's a job for you if you need some extra spending money." Cordelia knew which buttons to hit; Carter's band needed new amps ever since Sam destroyed them- apparently, doing your own pyrotechnics could do a lot of property damage. Evan didn't want to waste money, so he tried to fix them, but he needed certain expensive parts. Money would definitely be good right now.

Carter swallowed silently. "How much?"

"Oh, about three thousand. The guy you'll be offing is a pretty big crime lord. You might need Sam and Evan for this."

"I'll call them up."

"Good girl." Cordelia smiled a genuine smile and kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "We'll have a special transport waiting for you. The crime lord's name is Nikola Hydra, or at least that's the name he goes by. Don't forget your special charm bracelet and costume." And with that she walked out.

Carter sighed. Cordelia was the type of person who was only happy when she got what she wanted. Sure, she was pretty flexible most of the time, but she was stubborn. Carter pulled up the sleeve of her left arm, just enough to show the charm bracelet underneath. It was a simple silver chain encircling her wrist with seven silver charms on it: a bow, a sheath full of arrows, a .45 caliber gun, an athame, a standard ninja sword, a shield, and a scythe. These weren't ordinary charms; will energy into any of them and out popped out a genuine weapon, capable of certain destruction. All Slayers had one, and all of them started out with a ninja sword and a shield. You were allowed newer charms after you had mastered using those two. The scythe was Carter's personal favorite.

Carter hid her masterpiece under her pillow and walked past the plasma screen to her walk-in closet- yet another amazing luxury she had been given and was very thankful for. She picked her slaying outfit: a black pantsuit with a small tight skirt attached at the waist, black fingerless gloves, black zip up boots with a one and half inch heel, and a pure white mask that covered her entire face, bang and all. It was a stark contrast from all the darkness. Sam would be wearing a similar outfit and Evan would be wearing the boy version.

Carter quickly dressed, then walked out the room, down the spiraling staircase to the garage where the hearse was, engine running and warm.

A giant rat creature was eating its own kind when Kevin rolled up in his car. Kevin was meeting Argit, the seedy con-man who Kevin had worked with for years after he did his time in the Null Void. Okay, so maybe Argit wasn't really a rat, but he looked like one.

"Kevin, dude, I've been waiting for you for, like, an hour," Argit the porcupine-rat man complained as Kevin rolled down the car window.

"I said I'd be here and here I am," Kevin replied. "What's your offer?"

"I got that tech you're looking for," Argit sneered. Kevin was all ears now.

"What makes you think I'm looking for anything?" Kevin countered.

"Aw, come on. Octagon Vreedle says you've been vid-messaging all the underground swappers, looking for a specific piece of alien tech, and I got it!" Argit smiled his creepy smile.

"For real?" Kevin exclaimed. And then he remembered who he was talking to. "What's in it for you?"

"Ah! Why do you always have to assume I want something? Can't you believe that I want to help someone from the bottom of my heart?" Argit pretended to look heartbroken, in hopes of earning some sympathy from Kevin.

"No."

"You are so off my contact list." Argit actually got his cell phone out and deleted Kevin's number. And then he started walking away. Kevin immediately drove his car past him, trying to make him lighten up.

"Come on, Argit. You've burned me on so many deals so many times that I forgot how tight we really are." That was exactly what the con wanted to hear. He stopped and held out a fist to Kevin.

"Kev, I just can't stay mad at you. At least not when there's money involved," Argit added as he and Kevin fist-bumped.

"So let's see it."

"…Well…"

"You don't have it, do you?"

"No, but I can make the connection with the guy who does." Argit looked at Kevin. "I'm warning you though; it's going to cost you."

Carter was in the backseat as James, the totally awesome chauffeur, drove to Sam's Japanese-style mansion. Sterling Hills was a plush community with families from all over the world; there was no doubt that these families wanted homes that reminded them of their homeland. But Sam wasn't Japanese, she was Russian with a hint of Irish blood from her father, and the DuBaer family had bought the imperial home from a Japanese physicist. The house itself was fairly large, with slanted rooftops and wood panels for the walls. They had normal doors on the inside, but on the outside the doors were covered in rice-paper, like in Imperial Japan. It even had its own dojo, though that had been added in after the DuBaer's moved in. The Dubaers' were weapons fanatics, creating new war weapons for militaries all over the world, above or under. They didn't care how much blood was spilt, as long as the paycheck was hefty.

Cordelia loved that family to a fault.

Sam appeared on the ancient-looking rooftop, dressed all in black in the exact same costume as Carter. The only difference was that her mask was red, and that she had hidden her vibrant hair in a black wig. Sam jumped off the roof, using her ninja skills to disappear at times and appear in a different location. Eventually she jumped down next to the hearse and climbed in silently. The two didn't talk until they had reached Evan's place.

The Force family lived in a sci-fi world; Evan's dad was the CEO of Force Industries, creating video games like Sumo Slammers and the like. Michelangelo-Evan's dad- was creating a new way of playing video games, where you were the character and you could feel what the character was experiencing. The Force family wasn't just interested in just video games- all technology was fair game. Their house was pure white with a large dome connected to the left side, where the experiments happened. The house had state of the art security and a large, expansive garden. Carter swore that the mansion looked like the futuristic house from the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons.

Carter's own house looked like a fairly normal French mansion, save for the four gargoyles in the cardinal directions on the roof. The building had a lovely roof with hundreds of windows with shutters and railed balconies and handy clean gutters, making it easy to sneak onto the roof. The house was painted a light blue color, a contrast to the dark insides. The mansion was led from a wrought-iron fence with a small road leading up the giant oak doors. A giant spiraling French garden surrounded the mansion with its overpowering colors giving the place the needed French touch.

Evan was already in the hearse when Carter snapped back to the present. He was wearing a thermal black top with long sleeves, black Capri pants that billowed out from his combat boots, and a short black wig to hide his real hair color. He was putting on his fingerless gloves at this point, with his green mask right beside him. Strange. Evan was usually on top of things like that.

"Something wrong, Evan?" Carter asked, her voice muffled thanks to the mask.

"My little sister was raising hell again," Evan said blithely, finally attaching his mask.

"What about?" Sam asked, not really caring.

"How should I know? She's fourteen! It was probably about how she should stay up late like I do," Evan snapped, throwing his head back. His step-sister and step-mom weren't Slayers; they had no idea of the things Evan had done for some pocket money or his true role in the universe. Everyone wanted to keep it that way.

"Everyone knows what to do?" Carter asked them. They all nodded. "We're going just outside of Bellwood. Apparently Hydra's got a new shipment of illegal weapons for his little army."

"New amps here we come!" Evan cheered as the hearse flashed past the RV park.

It was early evening. Kevin was under the Rust Bucket 2, fixing it up in case Grandpa Max came back soon. It had been a week since the Alan thing and two weeks since the police had discovered the RV and searched it. Only yesterday did they allow the yellow tape to fall on the area.

Ben and Gwen were on lawn chairs, looking through Max's old treasure box of memories. Or at least Gwen was. Ben was just being lazy and enjoying the night air. Gwen suddenly chuckled at something.

"Remember this, Ben?" she showed her cousin the picture of back when they were kids, during the summer when Ben got the Omnitrix. Gwen and Ben were staring daggers at each other; only Grandpa Max was smiling. Ben smiled.

"Some things never change," he remarked, looking at his cousin. She was smiling too. Neither had made a jab at each other all afternoon.

"RV's fixed," Kevin suddenly announced. He got out from under the vehicle and got it ready so he could start the engine. Gwen put away the picture and walked to the RV, preparing to put away the memory box. Kevin quickly intercepted her. "Not just yet," he said with a pleasant smile. He then quickly climbed into the RV, leaving Gwen to close the door.

"Not buying the whole nice guy act, Kevin!" Ben yelled out, earning a scathing glare from Gwen.

Kevin was in the front seat, holding out his Plumbers' badge. It beeped, and the front part of the steering wheel showed the alien technology underneath. "I'm trying out the engine!" Kevin called out to the Tennysons. He promptly started it, hearing the smooth sound of the working engine.

Ben, who was still outside with Gwen, gave a thumbs up. "Not bad, Levin!" he approved, right before Kevin started pretending he was in a NASCAR race. The RV swerved, nearly knocking Ben and Gwen away, and then it rode out into the streets as fast as it could go.

"That lying son of a bitch!" Ben swore, acting completely out of character.

"Ben!" Gwen scolded like Kevin didn't deserve it. Ben immediately started running and pawing at his Omnitrix, eventually becoming a blue alien with wings like a mix between a butterfly and a bat.

"Big… Chill!" Ben said in the alien's voice. He then flew towards Kevin.

Kevin had definitely been expecting Tennyson to try and stop him. That was why he hadn't been surprised when he saw a big freaky alien flying his way. With a nasty grin, Kevin flipped one of the switches on the control panel. Out came a big ass laser cannon pointed directly at Ben. Ben dodged the red lasers and attempted to freeze Kevin in his tracks, but to no avail. Kevin aimed for one of the lasers to hit Ben squarely in the chest. That was when Ben discovered one of Big Chill's hidden powers: the power to turn intangible, like a ghost. Ben then tried to freeze the road, only to have Kevin hit a switch that installed spikes to the tires, letting the young hooligan break through the ice and keep driving.

And that was when Ben tried to push Kevin off the cliff, only to have Kevin safely swerve off and keep driving on the road below them. Kevin, getting tired of all this nonsense, hit another switch-seriously, what was with all these switches?-, sending a missile at Ben, which blew up into a net. As Ben was left to fend for himself, Kevin rode away safely, much to Ben's chagrin.

As the net pixilated and Ben reverted to human form, Gwen finally caught up with him, using her mana to create pink steps to allow her air travel. "Whoa," Gwen said when she landed, rather charmed by the whole bad boy thing. Ben glared at her. Gwen reversed tracks. "I can't believe he did that!"

"I did. I should have seen this coming! Kevin's nothing but a liar and a thief!"

"Kevin's changed, and so have we." Gwen got out a white handkerchief. "I can track him with this."

"You kept his sweaty handkerchief?" Ben cried indignantly. Gwen looked at him sheepishly before using her mana to track Kevin down.

Carter should have known better than to let Sam hold the map.

"I'm telling you, Hydra's going to be here!" Sam pointed to the desert part of the map.

"No, he's going to be here!" Evan pointed to the part of the map that showed the coast.

Carter exploded. "Shut up, both of you! We'll just look around until we find him like we always do!" Sam and Evan fell silent, but still glared at each other.

The Pride had been dropped off at the sea port outside of Bellwood, waiting for Hydra's shipment. They knew what he looked like- Cordelia had sent a picture: a short fat man wearing an expensive suit and a toupee. The three of them were hidden among the crates, the port silent except for the crash of the waves and the whistle of the breeze. None of them were cold. Their suits were built for worse conditions.

And then they saw the expensive cars roll up when a small cargo ship made an unexpected stop here. Numerous goons got out and surveyed the perimeter. They thought they were so smart, but their tracking skills were amateurish at best. Carter, Sam, and Evan were well hidden among the crates.

And then out came Nikola Hydra in all of his tubby glory. They waited until the cargo ship was officially anchored and the sailors on it were all accounted for before the Pride made their move.

Using half ninja skills and half shadow travel, the Pride moved swiftly among the ranks. There weren't that many, just about forty guys. In the outer ring, Sam willed some energy into one of her favorite charms, the twin broadswords, an ancient Chinese weapon made for slashing and chopping. Both looked like knives used for Chinese cooking. They appeared in a second, but they weren't silver. They both had a black hilt with a blade that looked like gold. Sam crept up to the first guy and promptly chopped his head off. Blood spewed everywhere, alerting the next few goons of the attackers.

But Evan got them first. He willed his own favorite twin weapons, the Colt M1911 pistols with silencers, and easily shot the alerted goons. Evan never used normal bullets. No, he used his own life force to first shoot green energy bullets at the goons, then the guns absorbed the newly dead's last remaining life force to use as bullets instead. A handy little technique, and inexpensive too.

Carter went up ahead and laid waste to ten or so bodyguards with her scythe, black with evil veins polluting the pure blade. The Pride continued to kill until the sailors warned Hydra what was going on. But they were too slow. A few shots to the head were enough to take care of them. Carter and Evan boarded the ship to take care of the rest of the crew, while Sam stayed behind to take care of Hydra.

Nikola Hydra took one look at Sam's blank red mask and immediately started begging. "P-please don't kill me! I don't want to die!" he groveled. Sam stayed still for a long moment, her broadswords an inch from Hydra's neck. And then she willed them back.

Hydra sneered."You stupid bitch!" he whipped out a pistol from his coat pocket and aimed it at Sam. He felt his hand burn suddenly. He screamed in pain as the metal of the pistol melted into his hand, blistering it into deformity.

With a flick of her wrist and a spark of energy, Sam willed one of her all time favorite weapons into her hands: a simple chainsaw. She could hear Hydra blubber and try to crawl away as Sam brought the motor to life. The smell of Hydra's urine clouded the air in front of her. Sam slowly walked over the pathetic victim and brandished her loud weapon.

Nikola Hydra's screams were music to Sam's ears.

Today was officially was the worst day in Kevin's life. First Argit stole the Rust Bucket out from under him, and then when he tried to get it back, the little weasel lied to Ben and Gwen about him and called him a backstabber. And when he tried to strike a deal with Vulcanus for the alien tech he needed, his ex-partner forced Kevin to absorb tatenite, the rarest living gem in the galaxy, and have his minions mine it off of him as payment for a double cross a few years back. And then Vulcanus said that he was going to mine Kevin forever and refused to give the holo-viewer to Ben.

Fortunately for Kevin, Ben and Gwen showed up to save his hide. Apparently, the whole 'bad boy act mad and storm off' act didn't work.

But now Kevin could only watch from his crouched position as Ben- as Big Chill- took on Vulcanus and Gwen defeated the robot minions. Gwen suddenly flew through the air thanks to her karate training, giving her a better edge against them. Kevin couldn't help noticing her sleek form. Not that she would ever go out with him.

And then Gwen totally annihilated those bozos and disappeared to help Kevin.

Vulcanus thought he had Ben cornered, only to have him use his intangibility and freeze Vulcanus's armor from the inside, forcing it to crack and revealing what a giant baby he was.

Gwen quickly used her pretty pink mana to destroy the cuffs that were holding Kevin hostage. When they were off, Kevin slowly reverted back to his human self, though his clothes had been ripped up and he felt like he had been running a marathon. He had been very happy when Gwen let him fall into her arms.

Ben reverted back to his human self and he immediately ran towards Kevin. He was no longer angry at him. "Easy," Gwen said softly as she helped the poor boy stand. And then they shared a romantic moment, just staring at each other. Ben awkwardly looked away and saw Vulcanus, happily throwing Kevin's tatenite in the air.

"What do we do with him?" he asked, spoiling the moment.

"What about him? We're even," Kevin added bitterly before the three left happy Vulcanus alone. "Wait," Kevin suddenly said, forcing the others to stop. Kevin picked up the holo-viewer, the one Vulcanus offered him and then tossed aside.

"That's what you were after?" Ben asked, bewildered. "You have hundreds of those!"

"I hear this one's special," was all Kevin said as he handed the precious device to Ben.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Think about it. I'm an ex-con. I've done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of." Kevin looked directly at Gwen. "Stuff that if you knew, you would probably never trust me again. So next time I say drop it, drop it." Gwen smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"That's not how it works, Kevin."

"It's not what you did that matters, it's what you're going to do," Ben added for Kevin's benefit.

Kevin, perhaps a bit embarrassed, only said, "Are you going to look at that or not?" He gestured to the holo-viewer. Ben started it, and out popped out a hologram of Grandpa Max.

"Ben, if you've found this message, it must mean you're in it pretty deep. There's not a lot I can reveal yet, but I can still tell you this: You can't go it alone. By now, you've been meeting other Plumber's kids, but you have to find more. You need to form a team. That includes any Slayers' kids and the Pride. We have to put aside our differences for the greater good." And then the message fizzled out.

When Ben got home that night, he was dog tired. He should have been out having fun like a normal kid, or at least been stopping some evil alien plot, but no, it didn't happen like that. And now all Ben wanted to do was curl up and sleep in his nice, comfy bed.

And then he spied the giant book Carter had given him right next to his bed, and a pang of guilt ricocheted through him. All week he had avoided reading it, scared at what he might find. But even though Carter had been a great sport and had not bothered asking for it back, she soon would. Ben had to at least make an effort to read the book.

Ben turned on his bed side lamp and cracked open the book. It was written a bit like a history textbook, index and all. Ben flipped through the first page and started reading:

The planet Gaia was created by Erda the Earth God, Father of Nature itself and the Earthshaker. He lived alone on the barren rock for thousands of years, creating new species that are now extinct today. Soon he grew tired of solitude, so he created a companion: Kirche, the Fire Goddess, Queen of War and Carnage. She created and erupted volcanoes, turning the earth intolerable for life. Erda soon grew tired of her constant anger, and after a few thousand years, created Aquaria, the Water Goddess and the official Mother of all the future minor deities. Unlike dangerous Kirche, Aquaria was nurturing and gentle, coaxing life to evolve into its newest glory. But Aquaria was not to be messed with, for she had a temper all of her own, creating hurricanes that could submerge continents in a single sweep.

After a millennia or so, Aquaria grew lonely with just Kirche and Erda. So to appease the goddess, Erda created Ventus, the Air God and Lightning Wielder. He was whimsical and childish, but also stubborn and proud. To learn more about their relationship, turn to Chapter 1, section 2…

That was when Ben's fatigue finally overtook him, and he fell asleep, pushing the book onto the floor.

I'll reveal more about the history of the Slayers as the story goes on. I'm taking quite a bit from Roman mythology, so head's up there.

As for Gwen and Kevin's relationship, I'm not going to dabble on it too much, since I want to see if Kevin would date a girl more like him. I wonder who could that be?

As you know, you have only heard Ventus speaking to Ben. The other main gods haven't bothered to talk to their vessels. Hopefully that'll change in the next chapter.

As usual, review please.