Chapter 47: Ben's Fall from Grace...

So .12 said she wanted more romance in the story along with Ben becoming master of his powers. Well, I can only promise the romance part because 1) Ben's a teenager and teenagers can't really become masters of their powers because there's so much to learn, and 2) the original plot tends to take precedence over Ben's training. I'm trying to fix that somewhat, but as fair warning, it's going to be spaced out.

On the plus side, there's romance in this chapter. It's more of a tease, but it's something.

Also, can you spot the two That 70's Show references?

7:00 AM

Monday morning, before school

Carter and Sam were right outside Evan's room. They had their backpacks on with one of Evan's presents in each. Sam had her beloved chainsaw out.

"You ready?" she asked her friend.

"Bring it," Carter said with an evil smile. Both girls put on Leatherface masks. Carter slowly opened the bedroom door with Sam right behind her. They could hear Evan's loud snoring before they saw him.

They walked over the dusty carpet littered with clothes-he really needed to vacuum-and crept up to the bed. They were a good two feet away from Evan, who was still frolicking in the land of sleep. There was some drool on his face, his mouth slightly open.

Sam revved the chainsaw. It roared loudly, sending Evan jumping out of bed. He screamed as he saw the two cannibals leering at him. And then he grabbed his chest and glared at them, panting audibly.

Sam turned off the chainsaw and the two girls pulled off their masks. "Happy birthday!" they trilled, brandishing their gifts. Evan muttered something unintelligently-they could tell it was bad though- before taking the presents.

"I'll open them later," he said spitefully, his breathing ragged. "Now can I get changed or is Kevin in my closet waiting to jump out at me with a knife?"

"No he's outside with your present," Carter said. She then called out, "Get out of there Ben, he's on to us." Evan whipped his head around to his closet as the doors slid open. Ben, in a white t-shirt covered in red food coloring, appeared. His face was caked with gray zombie makeup and some fake blood dribbled around his mouth.

"How did you get in my closet?" Evan demanded to know.

"How did you find a sombrero in my room?" Ben shot back.

Once Ben had cleaned up and changed, he met everyone outside. Gwen was leaning against a car-Kevin's birthday gift to Evan. But it wasn't just any old car.

It was an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, just like the one in That 70's Show.

But before Evan could pronounce his undying love for the automobile, Gwen walked up to him and gave him a big bear hug. "Happy birthday!" she said handing him a small green bag.

"Aw, thanks," he said. "It's nice to know not everyone wants me to scream like a little girl today." He shot a glare at the others, who grinned back.

"Oh, yeah, I left you a toy TARDIS in your closet," Ben blurted out, a shit-eating grin on his face. Evan flipped him off.

"That reminds me…" He slowly studied the car, checking every nook and cranny he could find. He even got on the ground and looked underneath the car.

"Evan, do you honestly think Kevin would dress up and scare you with the car?" Sam asked. "For one thing, he's too big to hide in the trunk. Another thing: if he wore monster makeup he wouldn't hide in the car. He wouldn't want to damage the seats."

Evan got off of the ground and looked visibly relieved. "You've got a good point. But seriously, where is Kevin? I'd have thought he'd want to show the Cruiser off himself." He put a fond hand on the car door before opening the backseat.

A man in a straightjacket jumped out of the backseat. Evan screamed like a little girl and fell back on the ground. He crawled away from the frothing man with wild, unkempt hair who was growling unintelligible words.

And then the crazy man laughed and said, "Gotcha."

"FUCK YOU!" Evan yelled from the ground.

"Nice!" Ben congratulated Kevin. He even clapped.

"I can't believe that worked." Gwen shot Evan an apologetic smile. Evan's eyes filled with manly tears.

4:00 PM

Monday afternoon, after school

"I HATE YOUR AP CLASSES!" Ben shouted as he flung the papers back onto the coffee table.

Sam picked them up and straightened them out. After handing them back to Carter, she said, "Just because you suck at English doesn't mean you can take it out on Carter's poor essay."

"I know, but how the hell does my teacher expect an average student like me to write this?" Ben pointed at the sheets in Carter's hands. The words on there, while not entirely perfect, were something he considered kind of brilliant.

"Dude, just do what I do: copy Carter's work," Sam said flippantly. She and Evan smiled at her.

"I'm not going to be around forever, you know," Carter said miffed.

"Which is why we should monopolize you now," Evan said as he and the other two got out their notebooks. Before they could copy down a word though, the front door opened. Everyone settled back down before they could get caught.

Sandra Tennyson walked in on the four friends in the living room, homework papers strewn across the coffee table. "Hi, kids!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi, Mrs. Tennyson," three of them said while Ben just said, "Hi, mom."

"You kids doing homework?"

"You know it," Sam said. "You aren't by any chance good at writing essays are you?"

"I am, but that doesn't mean I'm going to write it for you," Sandra said slyly. Three out of four teens groaned loudly.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Carter protested.

"Of course you say that," Ben said, "you're the Honors English student."

"You'd be in Honors classes to if you just applied yourself," Carter shot back.

"I'm lazy!"

"Obviously."

"Oh don't be so hard on him; he's a good boy," Sandra said motherly. She grinned as her son's face turned red.

"Yeah, he's such a good boy," Sam agreed, reaching across the table to pat Ben's head.

"He's such a good boy." Evan joined in on the petting.

"I don't want to hear that from you," Ben growled.

"Mom, Ben's being mean to me!" Evan cried out.

"Ben, stop picking on your brother," Sandra pretended to scolded him.

"Yeah, just be a good boy." Carter threw her arms around his neck and squeezed. And then Sam came over to his side and hugged him. And then Evan joined in.

"You're such a good boy," the three of them chanted in a patronizing tone, nuzzling his face like he was a particularly cute puppy. "You're such a good boy."

"Little help here!" Ben cried out to his mother. Sandra just laughed as she escaped to the kitchen.

7:00 PM

Monday night

Sandra and Carl were in the car late at night. They were headed for a diner downtown; it was a date they had planned for some time now. And since Ben and his little friends needed time to finish their essays, it had seemed perfect.

That reminded Sandra of that afternoon. "He's such a good boy," she said fondly.

Carl turned to her from the passenger seat. "Ben Tennyson is not a good boy," he said sternly. And then he smiled. "He's a great boy! I don't know if it's bad karma to pat ourselves on the back Sandra, but we've done a pretty good job as parents."

"Well, we haven't stifled him," Sandra explained. "Allowing a child to explore the wholeness of his entire being-"

She would have gone on, but then a sudden explosion front the front cut her off. She swerved and hit the brakes as fast as she could, the tires screeching. Wisps of smoke erupted from the tires, but it didn't compare to the smoke from the bonfire in front of the car.

Once they had calmed down a bit, Sandra and Carl stepped out of the vehicle and stared transfixed at the flames. And then they heard the sudden sounds of large feet hitting the pavement. It was an inhuman sound-what kind of person could make such loud footsteps?

And then the smoke cleared slightly, just enough for them to see a white monstrosity-no, a High Breed staring down at them. And then they saw flashes of pink hit the sound of the alien's face, the energy making sounds like breaking glass. Carl took that moment to lead him and his wife to safety.

As they ran they could see a teenage boy running up to the carnage. Carl stopped and yelled, "Hey, kid, you're going the wrong-!" He stopped and his jaw dropped. Sandra stared at him before turning to the kid he was yelling at.

It was Ben. Ben was running towards the monster.

Like the good parents they were Carl and Sandra immediately ran after him, trying to get his attention. They only stopped when they heard the sounds of more explosions. Then they hid in an alley to scope it out.

Gwen and Kevin were keeping the High Breed busy while Ben snuck up from behind. The High Breed suddenly picked up the yellow van the Tennyson parents were just in and threw it at Kevin. He dodged in time; it also proved to be the distraction Ben needed.

He quickly turned to his Omnitrix and turned into a giant plant with fire on its head. "Swampfire!" he shouted.

"Ben?!" exclaimed his parents from the alley.

Back over on Kevin and Gwen's side, the High Breed loomed over them. "I grow weary of your pathetic human interference." He grabbed the nearby street lamp and uprooted it. He held it up, about to hit one of the two vermin in front of him when he heard a small explosion. he could smell smoke from behind; he brought the lamp in front of him to see the light bulb completely destroyed with smoke billowing out from it.

The High Breed turned around in time to see Swampfire jump kick it away from his friends. The High Breed flew through the air, landing an entire block away. Swampfire turned around and asked, "You guys okay?"

"Nice to see ya," Kevin said. "You working flex hours now?"

Heavy footsteps sounded from behind. Swampfire turned in time to get a hook punch to the face. He flew upwards and landed on the pavement with a crash. He lay in his crater, disoriented. The High Breed loomed over him.

"No final words, Tennyson?" he said. "Still reeling from the augmented power of my new form, no doubt." He brought his foot up to stomp Swampfire into submission.

"If you're sayin' you're uglier, you get no argument here!" The High Breed turned around to face Kevin. He was smug for some reason. It infuriated the supposed higher being.

"I defeated Tennyson. What chance has the likes of you?"

"Me?" Kevin gestured to himself innocently. "Not much. But her…" He pointed upward. Gwen was running on mana steps, far above the fight. A tentacle appeared from her hands; she swiped the edge of a building, cutting of a corner. It fell right on top of the High Breed creating a huge crash with broken debris flying everywhere.

Gwen jumped down from her great height, the energy around her fingertips fading. She heard footsteps- Kevin was walking towards her. Both calmed down for the moment.

…And then the High Breed erupted from the debris pile, hovering in the air by stretching out hits orange wing flaps. He pointed an accusing finger at the remaining members of the hero squad. "You've already wasted too much of my valuable time. I'll deal with you at my leisure." He then flew away into the night. Gwen and Kevin just watched him go.

And then they realized that Ben hadn't reappeared. "Kevin! Ben's still down!" The two of them ran towards the crater where Swampfire lay unconscious. And then the unconscious alien turned back into Ben, who eventually got up. Unfortunately he had a particularly bad black eye where the High Breed hit him.

"Oh man." Kevin laughed out loud, pointing a finger at the boy and everything.

"What?"

"The High Breed gave you a black eye," he teased. "I like him better already."

Gwen chose to ignore Kevin. "Are you alright?" she asked her cousin.

"I'm fine," Ben said dismissively. "I just want to know where the High Breed went and what he's up to."

"That way." Gwen pointed towards the north.

"The waterfront," Ben elaborated.

"And he looked like a man on a mission," Gwen continued.

"We'll meet at the wharf after dinner and homework," Ben ordered.

"Should I floss too?" Kevin joked.

"You're parents are gonna freak out when they see that eye," Gwen pointed out before the meeting could adjourn.

"I got that covered," Ben said, referring to Carter. "And even if she can't help I'll make something up. My parents will believe anything I tell them. I got this covered," he added confidently.

7:20 PM

Valentine Manor

"You're a horrible son," Carter told him flatly. They were in her room, with Ben lying on the couch. Carter was sitting in the small space next to him, one glowing blue hand covering the nasty bruise blooming around his right eye.

"I can't help it!" Ben protested. "I can't tell them the truth or they'll freak out."

"True, but you seem awfully confident that they'll believe anything you tell them."

"I never really gave them any reason to doubt me growing up."

"And that's what worries me," Carter admitted. "If you're always honest, how will I ever know that you're dishonest?"

Ben's uncovered eye widened. "You can't."

"And that's why I trust Kevin more than you."

"What?!"

"I can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest," Carter told him calmly. "An honest man, now they're tricky." She smirked as he looked guiltily away from her. She removed her hand to reveal the healed eye-there wasn't a speck of bruising around him. But before Ben could sit up, Carter leaned over so that her face nearly touched his.

"Don't feel bad, Benji," she whispered, her gray eyes boring into his green ones. "I've given you every reason not to tell me the truth. Just remember this: I'll always know when you're lying." She brushed a finger against his right eyebrow-his only visible tic. And then she sat up, convinced that Ben was totally mollified now.

He sat up, cheeks slightly pink. "We'll meet up at the wharf, okay?" he said pouting.

"I'll tell Evan and Sam," Carter said. Ben made to move only to realize that she was still sitting beside him, trapping him. Also she had a very, very warm hand on him, just above his left knee. His eyes flickered towards it before going back to Carter's innocent face.

"Carter, I need to go."

"I know." The hand didn't move.

"You're kind of blocking my way."

"I know." Her face was still innocent as ever.

Ben should have been annoyed but he couldn't stop the smile that was spreading across his face. "Move your hand," he finally said.

A shit-eating grin stretched across her face. She was rubbing his leg-she probably would have gone farther until Ben took it off. Laughing slightly he got off the couch. "Who's the girl in this relationship?" he asked.

"Oh, it's definitely you," Carter sneered at him. Ben shot her a half-hearted glare and she burst into giggles.

7:40 PM

Tennyson Home

When Ben walked through his front door, the first thing he saw was his parents looking sternly at him, arms crossed. "'Sup?" was the best thing he could say.

"Where have you been young man?" Sandra asked seriously.

"I was at the movies with Carter," Ben lied through his teeth. He rubbed the back of his neck like he was guilty. "I know I should have told you, I'm sorry."

"Are you sure you were at the movies?" Carl asked him, eyes narrowed. "And you weren't fighting some giant alien creature?"

Ben's eyes widened in shock; his entire carefully built world was crashing down around him.

Disappointed, disgusted looks crossed his parents' faces. "I don't believe it," Sandra practically growled. "You look us straight in the eye and lie to us over and over again."

"We saw you Ben!" Carl cried. "We saw you turn into that thing!"

Ben had to fix this-salvage this somehow-

Try denying it, Ventus told him in his head. He sounded amused. Who knows; it might work.

It was worth a shot. "No, I didn't," Ben said quickly. "You just think you saw-!"

Carl took his son's arm and pointed to the watch-like Omnitrix.

"…I can explain."

"Really?" Sandra smiled triumphantly.

Ben sighed, defeated. "Not so much, no."

7:50 PM

Tennyson Living Room

"…which allows me to access the genetic code of various extraterrestrial forms in order to battle the DNAliens who will stop at nothing in their quest to take over the Earth!" Ben sat back in the armchair as his parents loomed over him.

"And this became your job when, exactly?" Carl interrogated him.

"Five years ago," Ben admitted. "Grandpa Max said we each have a responsibility to-"

Carl made a disgusted sound. "Of course, dad; I should have known. That's so typical!"

"He was more than just a plumber. He-"

"Lied to us!" Carl cut him off. "Your uncle Frank and I knew he had some other life! We knew, and then he lied to us about it all the time! I won't have you lying too!" he added in desperation.

Ben opened his mouth to defend himself, but with one look at his father he knew whatever protest he gave would fall on deaf ears. He slumped defeated.

"It's our own fault," Sandra suddenly realized. "We were too permissive. And what do we get? A fifteen year old son needlessly risking his life."

"Not needlessly, mom!" Ben protested. "It has to be me! The Omnitrix is attached to me; it doesn't come off."

Carl gave him a smug grin. "Oh, it's coming off."

8:00 PM

Tennyson Garage

Carl threw another destroyed tool onto the growing pile. "Yeah, that's not coming off," he said finally giving up.

"I tried to tell you," Ben said exhausted.

Carl took his son's wrist into his own hand. "Not a scratch!" He allowed himself to marvel the alien device.

"Sorry about your saw blades."

"In any case, you're forbidden from using the Omnitrix. Understand?"

"But dad!" Ben tried pleading one last time. "All of humanity is counting on me!" Carl turned from the door and glared.

"Understand?" He slammed the door before he could answer.

Ben picked up his phone, which had been vibrating in his pocket for a while. "This is not a good time, okay?"

8:02 PM

Abandoned Building on the Wharf

Kevin got off the phone. "He said he'll call back." He turned to Gwen, who was quickly finding things out on the somehow-still-working computer.

"Look at this." Gwen gestured to the green grid on the screen. "This log book shows these frequent freighters bringing in people and goods and shipping out local products."

"So?"

"So this ship, The Eustacia Vye, is an unregistered tanker from the tiny island of Castoon."

Evan and Sam melted from the shadows just in time to answer. "You mean that island where they used to do nuclear testing," Sam revealed.

"Are you guys ever going to stop doing that?" Kevin complained.

"No." Evan gave the older teen a look. Kevin just groaned.

"So what do you think Bellwood would be importing from Castoon?" Gwen quickly got back on topic. "And if it is connected to the High Breed, what do the DNAliens want with it?"

While Gwen was speculating, the others could hear the light snarls of evil aliens next to them. Kevin piped up, "Ask 'em!" and pointed out the DNAliens.

Evan immediately leaped to the front and judo flipped one to the ground. Kevin, decked out in armor, kicked one in the gut. It was sent back to Sam, who picked it up by the foot and threw it over her shoulder at another alien. Gwen quickly mana blasted most of them-

8:05 PM

Ben's Room

Ben quickly picked up his phone and answered. "Yeah?" He could hear growls and the sounds of fighting on the other line.

"Uh, hate to bother you, but we're getting our asses handed to us-oh wait, never mind, Sam just went the Human Torch on them."

"…That's good?"

"Yeah, if you like the smell of slightly burnt DNAlien. At least they're knocked out. So why aren't you here?"

"I'm under house arrest. My parents found out about the Omnitrix and now I'm not allowed to use it."

"Folks mad at you huh?" Kevin knew a little something about angry parents. "Anyway we kind of need you to help finish the job."

"The Pride isn't with you?"

"Only Sam and Evan are. Hey, where's Carter?" Kevin suddenly called out. Ben could hear someone answer. Into the phone Kevin said, "Carter somehow found out about your folks and now she's apparently going over to your house to do damage control."

"I'd like to see her try," Ben scoffed.

"Sam says she can be very persuasive."

Ben quickly flashed back to earlier this evening-had it really only been an hour? The look in her eyes, the confident way she held herself…yeah, she was persuasive all right.

Keep it in your pants, she's here, Ventus quickly scolded him. The door bell rang that very instant.

"She's here," Ben told Kevin. "Someone will let you know what happens." He hung up and escaped out of his room.

When Ben finally crept downstairs, he could see Carter laughing at something his father said. He finally remembered; his parents thought Carter was normal. He hadn't ratted anybody out so of course they wouldn't suspect her. All she had to do was play dumb and at least she would be in the clear.

"Hey, Ben," she called to him with a wave.

"Carter said she left something here," Carl explained.

"My flash drive," she explained. "I need it for my essay."

"Oh yeah, it's in my room," Ben said, his old lying persona schmoozing back. "I thought it was mine."

"Don't tell me you used it?" Carter asked rhetorically.

"Don't worry, I just saw the files," Ben reassured her. "We should really get labels for that kind of stuff."

Carter joined him on the stairs. "You don't mind me finishing up my essay in your room, do you?" She turned back to his parents even though she wasn't asking them.

"Don't stay in there too long," Sandra warned like a good parent.

"We won't," Ben reassured her. The two teenagers quickly ran into his room. Carter closed the door and put her ear against it. She didn't hear any footsteps climbing up the stairs after them.

"Close your window," she ordered him. Ben looked at the window.

"It's locked."

"Good." Carter calmed down. "So what's the situation?"

"My parents saw me fight that High Breed earlier," Ben quickly explained. "They know about the Omnitrix and think I'm needlessly risking my life. So now I'm under house arrest until further notice."

"Do they know about Gwen?"

"No, I made sure all the blame was on me."

"You're hardly to blame for anything," Carter pointed out. "Sure, you could stop using the Omnitrix, but then humanity would be damned, so it's not like you have a choice."

"Tell that to my parents!" Ben pointed downstairs where his parents were.

"If I did, I'd be giving myself away." Carter walked up to him and put a hand on his cheek. "Gwen found out something about the High Breed. I'll try and sneak you out after you have dinner."

"Sneaking out?" Ben arched an eyebrow. "Sounds fun."

Carter lightly pushed his shoulder and got out the flash drive from her boot. "But first I have to make my story convincing. Turn on your computer."

As Ben did so, he thought out loud: "You know I'm under house arrest. I won't be able to see you much outside of school without my parents breathing down my neck."

"You fail at subtlety." Carter inserted her flash drive into the computer.

"I'm a man wrongfully accused," Ben said melodramatically. He went over to the wall and leaned against it. "These walls will soon be my entire world."

"You also fail at acting."

Ben dropped the pretenses. "Maybe I'd stop if you could just get the hint."

She began typing things down on the computer. "You're parents are downstairs. If we make too loud noises they'd stop us and kick me out."

"Yes, but you can sneak back in at any time."

"You are desperately horny, aren't you?"

Ben sagged against the wall. "Yes."

"I'll think about it."

"I need an answer now!"

Carter thought for a long moment, dragging it out so Ben would squirm a little. When she saw the puppy dog face he was giving her, she said, "We might get past second base after dinner."

Ben gave a fist pump.

I did say the romance was more of a tease.

And yes, the bolded subheadings are inspired by Criminal Minds. I figured, since Ben was under house arrest, it'd be fitting for this arc.

So, thoughts?