Chapter 28: The Boulevard of Broken Dreams Part 2
To Calvin: No, Ben did not know about his Slayer heritage when Carter pushed him off the cliff. For all he knew, Carter did a magic spell on him that gave him wings. I'll talk about it in this chapter.
On with the show!
"So what's on the agenda for today?" Sam asked as the four of them walked around town.
"Bookstore?" Carter piped up. The others shrugged and headed for Powell's Used Bookstore, where Ben had met Carter. Once inside, Sam and Evan left for their own devices, leaving Carter and Ben in the manga section.
"Hey, Ben, what's the appeal of Ultra Boy?" Carter asked as Ben picked up a newish copy of the story.
"It's all about this kid who has super powers and saves the day and stuff while searching for his real parents and the reason why he has powers."
"So it's like every other superhero comic ever made."
"It is not!"
"Is so!"
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Then what's the appeal of Bleach?" Ben demanded to know, pointing a finger at the volume in Carter's other hand.
"It's all about this teenager named Ichigo who has to become a Soul Reaper to save his family from an evil Hollow who wants to eat their souls. He also has to save the person who gave him his Soul powers and he has to go through a lot of battles to become the strongest person there is," Carter quickly explained.
"So it's like every hero comic book there is." Ben crossed his arms.
"No, because Ichigo is an antihero."
"He's a what?"
"An antihero is someone who doesn't want to become a hero. The only reason why they chose power is in their own self-interest, or in Ichigo's case, to save his family and friends from the evil soul-sucking Hollows."
"But who doesn't want to be a hero?" Ben asked, puzzled.
"Because some people just want to have a normal life and not have to worry about aliens attacking their town." Carter pointed to the Omnitrix. Ben covered it with his hand and glared at Carter. He already knew that bad guys would come after him for the Omnitrix and put everyone he loved in danger; he really didn't need to be reminded.
That reminded him... "Are you an antihero?"
Carter blinked. "I...maybe. Why?"
"Because you never talk about saving the day or helping people," Ben said. "I mean, with your powers, you could do it. You gave me those wings, remember?"
"Yeah, my magic powers are totally at that level," she mumbled under her breath. Ben was about to make her elaborate when someone interrupted.
"What are you guys arguing about?" Sam popped out from behind Carter and startled the two of them.
"Don't do that," Ben told her as he calmed down.
"Don't do what?" Sam asked innocently.
"Anyway, what are you guys arguing about?" Evan stood behind Ben, startling him.
"Why does everyone keep popping up randomly?" he cried exasperated.
"Ben here think Bleach is just like every other comic book out there," Carter accused him.
"Of course it isn't," Evan scoffed. "The only reason why the main character uses his powers is because he owes people and he's not scum enough to just sit back and watch as innocent people get hurt. There aren't that many heroes like that out there."
"See?" Carter smirked at Ben triumphantly.
"That may be true, but there aren't any antiheroes like Alucard from Hellsing." Sam held up a volume of the manga. "This guy is so evil it's a wonder why he's the hero."
"Sam, that book is for people fourteen and up," Carter said slowly. "How come you aren't traumatized after reading that?"
Sam gave a rueful smile. "I'm not psycho for nothing."
Carter and Evan gave exasperated sighs. "You are not psycho; you've been tested," they both said in perfect cadence. Ben wondered why they didn't try to jinx each other.
Sam's smile didn't reach her eyes. "That's what you keep telling me."
Carter and Evan looked at each other and shook their heads. Ben once again felt like an extra that didn't belong. But that changed when Evan held up a One Piece volume. "Have you ever read this?"
"Why are you so interested in Linkin Park?" Ben asked in the F.Y.E. music store. The four of them were there again because there were only so many places of entertainment in Bellwood.
"Because it's political," Carter replied as she paid for her purchase.
"Why would you want to listen to political stuff?" Ben asked as they got out of line.
"Because it affects us now. Well, that, and it tends to repeat itself."
"Don't you mean history repeats itself?"
Carter shook her head. "Not in this case. Politics reflect history. Think about it: war, famine, poverty, the destruction of countries… It's all been handed down from generation to generation. Politics reflect on the current world and its history, and if history repeats itself…"
"Then politics has to follow," Ben realized. "Never thought of it that way."
"Not many people do," Carter pointed out. "But you should really look this stuff up. Just because you're ten doesn't mean you can be ignorant."
"And here I thought you just liked Linkin Park because you were crushing on the main singer."
"Why would I crush on a married guy?"
"When are you going to tell your grandparents that you hate your music class?" Sam asked Carter as they left the music store.
"I told you I don't want to disappoint them," Carter said. "After all they've done for me I'd feel too bad."
"What do you mean after all they've done for you?" Ben asked.
"They took me in when my parents died and gave me a good home life. I'm thankful to them."
Ben stopped in his tracks. "You're parents are dead?"
Carter turned around and rolled her eyes. "Don't go all sad about it. I was two when they died. I don't even remember them."
"Isn't that worse?" Evan asked.
"How? If I don't remember someone then it doesn't hurt."
"That's a little cruel, don't you think?" Sam pointed out. "They were your parents."
"Isaac and Cordelia are my parents now," Carter snapped. "I don't need to learn about people I've never even met."
"Won't you regret it, though?" Ben asked, no longer frozen by his thoughtless question. "I mean, if you never bother to get to know them…"
Carter pinched the bridge of her nose. "How many times do I have to tell you people that I'll be fine without knowing them?"
"How come Evan and Sam aren't always here?" Ben inquired as he and Carter walked away from the studios.
"Because Evan and Sam don't go here," Carter explained. "They only come here when they have time. Right now they usually have family obligations."
"So it'll be us alone most of the time?"
"Yeah, I guess."
Ben was very happy about that.
Nice going, Tennyson. Oh dear God, there was that voice again, and Ben didn't dream it up. He put his head in his hands and felt bile rising in his throat.
"Ben?" Carter's voice felt far away. He had to get away before he did something crazy. Ben ran into the nearest alley away from Carter, trying not to vomit. He dodged past trash cans and rats as he entered Bellwood's maze of alleys. He could hear heavy footsteps behind him; Carter was after him.
And then Ben slipped and fell down, landing on his backside. He looked back to see a small patch of ice on the ground where he slipped. Carter had used that to catch up to him.
"What's your problem?" Carter demanded to know. Ben leaned against the wall as far away as he could from her.
"There's something wrong with me."
"I can see that, Tennyson. I just want to know what."
"There's a voice in my head!" Ben cried, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.
And then Carter slapped him, once hard across the face. The sound carried through the air, and Ben lifted a hand to his stinging cheek. He looked at Carter, shocked. She grabbed his shoulders and threw his back against the brick wall. "You're not crazy!" she yelled at him.
"How am I not when there's a voice in my head?"
"It's not just a voice; it's Ventus!"
The name meant nothing to Ben. "What does that even mean?"
"He's the god that's been talking to you inside your head!"
"You're lying!"
"I only lied to you once."
Now Ben was seriously confused. With tears clouding his vision, he asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You know those wings you have?" Carter said. "I didn't do that. That's a Slayer thing. You're part Slayer, Ben."
"So this…god...person was just born in my head?" Ben asked on top of the Valentine cliff (Ben decided to secretly call it that). Carter had used shadow travel to get them both out of the alley and she had thought the quiet peak was safer for a conversation like this. He was a lot calmer knowing he wasn't insane.
"Yeah; only someone who is one-quarter Slayer can have a god in their head," Carter said seriously. "It's been like that for millennia."
"Then how come no one told me?" Ben asked, desperate. "I have a right to know."
Phineas Carmichael should have told you, Ventus said in Ben's head.
Ben grabbed his head. "Ah! He's talking to me again!"
"Calm down!" Carter ordered him. "Let him talk."
Phineas, your grandfather from your mother's side, should have told you. I think he was about to when you got the Omnitrix. He wasn't sure how this would affect me, so he put the truth on hold.
Why? Ben asked the voice in his head.
Because the Omnitrix is an insanely powerful device; it can actually stop you from manifesting your powers. And if you don't get your powers before you're eighteen, not only will you lose your powers forever, but everyone connected to a Slayer god will lose theirs as well.
"Whoa, heavy," Ben muttered.
"I think another reason why no one told you is because no one told your mother," Carter explained gently. "Your mom doesn't have any powers, nor does she age like a half-Slayer. Phineas must not have told her to protect her from all the awful Slayer business."
Are the Slayers really that awful? Ben asked Ventus.
It depends on who you ask. They're rough around the edges and they only work on their own agenda, so the Plumbers don't like them.
Ben didn't think so. Sure, he only knew three Slayers, but they had welcomed him in even though they barely knew them. They seemed warm and friendly; nothing like what Carter had described them before.
"Ben, listen," Carter suddenly said. Ben looked at her to see her sitting down on the grass, the wind blowing through her hair in a gentle breeze. "You might be able to use some power right now," she admitted.
Ben sat down next to her. "Like what?"
"You should be able to listen to the wind to see if a storm is coming."
Ben immediately closed his eyes, furrowed his brow, and strained his ears, desperate to hear any signs of lightning. Ventus sighed audibly. Not like that, Ben. You can't force it. You have to feel it. Relax and drown out all sounds except the wind.
Ben loosened the tension in his shoulders and breathed meditatively, his eyes still closed. The sounds of the city below him faded away, and all he could hear was the howl of a faraway storm, the thunder booming. But it sounded a little weird to him, nothing like a normal thunderstorm.
"I heard it," Ben said after a minute, opening his eyes. "A storm's coming. It's far away, but it's headed in our direction. But something's off about it."
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a weather storm," Carter explained. "It could be a bad omen you're hearing, like fortune telling."
"I can do that?"
"You can easily listen for signs of it, yes."
"Cool." Ben suddenly sagged, exhausted. Today had been a weird day for him, and that was saying something. He needed to get his mind off of everything. "Hey, could you sing again?"
"Why?"
"Because I like hearing you sing."
Carter blushed, which made Ben unusually happy. "You're weird," Carter said finally. "What do you want to hear?"
"Anything's fine."
Carter took a deep breath, and then:
"Messing with the journalists and telling stupid lies
They had a feeling that something was up
Because of the look in our eyes
In fact we didn't know what we were doing half of the time
We were so sure of ourselves and drove a long way through life
Memories make me want to go back there, back there
All the memories make me want to go back there, back there
All the memories, how can we make it back there, back there
I want to be there again."
"Why are we at Mr. Smoothies?" Ben asked, completely disgusted. "Smoothies are gross!"
"And once again, you show off how weird you are," Carter said as she walked up to the cashier. Ben stayed behind, glaring at the people milling around the store. There had to be something wrong with them if they liked smoothies, especially the crud from Mr. Smoothies.
Seriously, everything in the store freaked Ben out. The store was too cheery, the workers were too smiley, and the mascot was weird. Why did he let Carter drag him in there?
Because you like her, Ventus teased in Ben's head. He gritted his teeth and was about to deny everything when Carter came back with two cups.
"Come on, let's get out of here," she said.
Ben ran out of there like a man on fire. When he finally stopped, he was halfway down the street. He finally remembered that he left someone behind.
"Nice going, Tennyson," Carter said sarcastically from behind him. Ben nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Stop doing that! How did you do that?"
"Shadow travel, genius." Carter held out a cup. "Don't worry; I got you strawberry and banana flavor. No one can hate that."
"Just watch," Ben grumbled as he took the drink. He put the straw to his lips and, even though his throat felt like it was caving in on him, took a sip. The overly sweet flavor of the smoothie washed over his tongue, and Ben struggled not to gag.
"See, I told you it wasn't bad," Carter said, smiling. She must have misjudged the look on Ben's face.
"What'd you get?" He gestured to the drink in her hand.
"Mint crème; it's a personal favorite of mine."
Ben raised an eyebrow. "Now who's the weird one?"
"Shut up." Carter took the lead and they walked downtown, unsure of what to do that day. Evan and Sam weren't there again, so there was no one to fill in the silence. What was Ben supposed to talk about?
Get some info on her interests, Ventus suggested. You know, see what she likes.
Are you spying on me?
What else am I supposed to do in your head?
"So, Carter, what do you like besides, you know, smoothies and manga and politics?" Ben asked suddenly. He was desperate to make the silence a little less awkward, and Ventus's suggestion wasn't a bad one.
"I love movies," Carter said, beaming. Ben had to smile at that.
"What kind of movies?"
"All of them, to be honest. Comedy, romance, horror, science fiction; literally, everything. There are so many different types created by so many different people. I want to watch them all and figure out why the directors created something like that."
"A lot of directors are making movies off of best-selling books," Ben interjected suddenly. "Movie directors don't make those."
"No, but a lot of directors change the storyline. It's a stupid thing to do sometimes, and you wonder why they did it, but sometimes the little changes make the story better. The movie becomes a companion to the original story. I want to figure out how and why they did it."
Carter seemed to be shining now. Her eyes were sparkling, her grin was huge, and she talked animatedly about these different works of art. It was odd, seeing this normally quiet girl who allowed only soft smiles to grace her face suddenly become alive at the merest hint of her favorite subject.
Ben must have been staring strangely at her, because Carter eyed him and asked, "Why are you staring at me like that?"
Ben, thinking fast, said, "I'm not looking at you. I'm looking at the most beautiful girl in the world."
She smirked. "Really?"
"Yes, really," Ben said matter-of-factly. "She's standing right next to you."
Carter looked around just in time to see a busty teenage girl exit out of the clothing store they were nearing. Carter fixed Ben a frosty glare.
Ben rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking about her. She's standing next to you, on your left. But look at her slowly; you might scare her off."
Carter slowly turned to her left to see the window of the clothing store. No one was in this part of the shop; Carter could only see her reflection. She blinked a few times, and then turned back to Ben, her face bright pink.
"That is so corny."
"But you like it. Admit it."
"Idiot." Ben smirked as Carter hurried away, gulping down her smoothie as fast as she could.
You kids these days, with your shameless flirting, Ventus comically chided him. But seriously, good job.
Ben took another sip of his beverage and smiled at the sweet flavor. Maybe smoothies weren't so bad after all.
For Ben, fighting aliens was almost a daily occurrence. He couldn't remember a week where he didn't have to save the town from Dr. Animo or Hex or some other crazy villain. But one thing Ben noted was that they rarely fought him on the weekend. He guessed that even super villains needed a Saturday off.
Well, except for the smuggling ring. Grandpa Max didn't say much about it, only that he had heard aliens were kidnapping humans so they could sell them to the highest bidder, alien or otherwise. Tetrax's warning of how some aliens considered humans to be a rare delicacy rung through Ben's mind when he heard that.
Ben and Gwen were in the Rust Bucket with Grandpa Max when he got a call on his cell phone. He listened in for a few minutes, his face growing grimmer. When he hung up, he said, "Change of plans; we're not going in."
"What?!" Ben and Gwen cried in unison.
"But why?" Gwen asked.
"Someone else is taking care of it."
"But we're almost there." Gwen pointed to the warehouse the Rust Bucket was nearing, just before Max changed directions to get away from it. Instantly Ben thought of Carter and how she said that Slayers take on the worst of missions.
Ben was not known for his smart decisions, and this time was no exception. He ran to the door and opened it, despite the fast speed Max was going. Ben pressed the dial on the Omnitrix and slammed down on XLR8.
"Ben, wait!" Grandpa Max shouted after him, but Ben was already out the door. Within seconds he was in front of the decrepit warehouse with old graffiti signs on its crumbling gray walls. XLR8 circled to the back where he found a back door that almost blended into the wall had it not been for the hinges. Wincing at how loud the rusty hinges whined, Ben accelerated down into the heart of the basement, since in the movies all the bad guys did their diabolical stuff in the basement.
He hadn't expected to see kids with weapons there, creeping around the corner, half hidden in the shadows.
They were dressed all in black: black jeans, black combat boots, black sweaters, black fingerless gloves, even black hair. But the most colorful thing about them was the creepy, blank masks covering their faces: one white, one red, and one green.
XLR8 didn't have time to question them. A crash from ten feet away and a muffled scream distracted all four of them. Ben peered behind a corner just as the other three disappeared.
The basement was cavernous with dim lighting. Boxes were strewn everywhere with ten bodyguards sitting on them, and the sealed light of a garage door revealed the pickup sight. There was a cage made out of wire mesh in the middle of the room, half filled with people of all ages and races in it, dressed in blue shirts and boxers with rope tied around them and gags over they're mouths. All of them had a defeated air about them.
But not one girl, who had someone managed to escape. She was struggling against two of her captors, lashing out her feet whenever she could. There was a fire in her eyes that said that she would rather go down fighting than get eaten by some alien.
One of the guys trying to hold her down got fed up and smacked her, once hard across the face. The sound echoed through the room and reminded Ben that these people needed serious help.
Using XLR8's super speed, Ben ran over to the bad guy and smacked his face, hard enough to knock him unconscious. With only one guy to hold her down, the girl head butted him and forced him to let go. Ben then grabbed him and threw him into some of the other bodyguards, who were starting to realize they were in trouble.
The bodyguards surrounded XLR8, and one of them said, "Hey ain't that one of them aliens the boss was talkin' 'bout?"
"Yeah," the goon next to him said. "Think if we capture it we can sell it?"
XLR8 scoffed. "Like that'll ever happen."
"Hey, it can talk!" one of the bad guys said.
"…No wonder you're in a life of crime. You fail at everything else!"
"Get 'im!" The goons surged forward, ready to pummel Ben into submission. And then they heard a soft pop sound, and one of the ten bodyguards fell to the ground. The other nine turned around to their fallen comrade, seeing the blood that was pooling around his head. A gaping hole was in the back of his skull.
"What the hell?" one the guards shouted. A slicing sound could be heard and the guard's eyes bugged out as an invisible blade sliced open his throat. He grabbed at the wound and started to kneel when another slicing sound rang out. His head popped right off his shoulders and rolled near XLR8's feet.
"What's going on?" Ben yelled, scared out of his mind. He looked around in a panic at the other guards, his face mirroring the panic in their eyes. The captives in the wire mesh cage started to cry out and scream, and the girl who had tried to escape was huddled in the corner, sobbing.
And then he saw them, children with masks weaving through the shadows around the guards, guns and swords and a scythe in small hands. Ben backed away in horror as one by one the men died, shots to the skull and heads lobbed off.
A beeping sound and a flash of red and XLR8 was Ben again. But that didn't matter. The sight of blood, the sickly sweet smell of death, and the memory of seeing just-alive men dying made Ben go over to the side and vomit. After the rolling waves of nausea ceased, Ben began to shake uncontrollably. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the girl in the corner move towards him.
"Don't move." Ben could feel the cool metal of a gun barrel against his head. The girl grabbed his collar savagely and dragged him to the middle of the room where all the bodies were. The masked children were waiting for them.
"I knew you were coming," the girl sneered. "You think you could sneak into my operation and destroy it? News flash, freaks, I've got alien technology. You're freaky powers can't hide you. Though I didn't expect the Slayers to send kids; at least now I have a bargaining chip." The girl pressed the barrel of the gun harder against Ben's head. Ben naturally tried to jerk his head away, but the girl had a metal grip on his collar.
The Omnitrix had timed out. Ventus had abandoned him. And Ben had been stupid and hadn't listened to his Grandpa Max. Well, it wouldn't matter now, since Ben was about to die. He was in a deep sense of calm, as if he had accepted his fate of dying at ten.
Fool; who says I abandoned you? Ventus said in his head.
I'm about to die, you know.
No you're not. The Slayers won't let you die. And hopefully they won't let you remember this either.
What? Ben blinked, and all he saw was two children in front of him. White Mask was gone. The girl holding Ben hostage whirled her head around, trying to locate the scythe wielder. And suddenly her grip on him loosened, and he shook her off.
The girl tried to get Ben back, but then her body went rigid. Ben watched in horror as two icicles penetrated the girl's stomach from the back, destroying her intestines. Blood spilled out of the wounds and the girl vomited dark blood all over Ben's front. Bile rose up Ben's throat again, but before he could vomit again, the girl convulsed and died, revealing White Mask.
The kid looked at Ben with worried eyes. She reached out a tentative head and said, "You okay?"
Ben jerked away and fell to the ground, panic forcing him to crawl on all fours. "Stay away from me!" he yelled in a broken voice.
"Ben, it's okay," she said, crouching down. "Cordelia will make you forget everything, don't worry. You'll never have to remember this."
"You're a monster," Ben said, staring at Carter in fear.
Carter stared at him for a long moment, and then removed her mask. Ben's heart lurched when he saw the heartbroken face underneath. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, but then she smiled a grief-stricken smile and said:
"I told you, didn't I? That Slayers and Plumbers just can't be friends. I should have listened to my own advice."
She stood up and her face became stoic. "Cordelia, we need a mind wiping stat."
A frigid hand clamped on Ben's forehead and he jerked away, falling in a pool of someone else's blood. A large amount splashed onto Ben's cheek, the liquid still warm. He tried to wipe it away, and in that moment the hand clamped on his forehead again.
"Stay still," someone ordered, the voice compelling. Ben's breath caught in his throat and he began to sit up, his eyesight beginning to fail him.
He shifted his eyes away from the woman in front of him and looked at Carter. She was standing to the side, staring at him as his vision became dark. All Ben could make out was her stony face as tears began to slide down her pale cheeks.
Wait, did Carter say mind wiping? What did that mean? That he wasn't going to remember anything? That he wasn't going to remember Carter? No! No! He had to remember! He had to! He had to say-
Ben's vision went black- he started to fall through a void-
I'm sorry-
The song is "Memories" by Weezer. Just in case you were curious.
I admit it, the part where Ben says he's looking at the most beautiful girl in the world is from some movie-the name of it escapes me. It's not exactly the same: in the movie, the boy and girl were in a fancy restaurant and there was no teenage girl walking around. I had to rip it off because it was cutest flirt scene between kids I've ever seen, and I can't imagine kids flirting. At all.
If you can tell me the name of the movie, I'll give you one thousand virtual cookies. Yes, they mean nothing, but its the thought that counts. ;)