Chapter 48:...And his Climb Back Up
One of the reasons why I absolutely adore the episode "Grounded" is the fact that halfway through it, Ben's parents are talking to him like he's a kid who's fallen into a bad crowd, like the one's normal teenagers fall victim to. He isn't and his parents know it, but the idea that they would even assume that Ben is normal is just hilarious to me.
Now, on with the chapter!
8:45 PM
Ben's room
Dinner had been a quiet, awkward affair.
After Carter left, the good mood that had came with her left also. Ben had to deal with his disappointed parents who refused to talk to him more than necessary. It was brutal and harsh, though Ben couldn't exactly blame them. They had found out their son had been lying to them for weeks. And while they were forbidding him from using the Omnitrix, they only had his best interests at heart.
If only they realized that their love for him was going to destroy the world.
And now Ben was in his room, waiting for the signal from Carter. He waited patiently next to the window, eyes on his phone. And then his cell vibrated; he had received a text message from her.
Try getting out now. Say that Gwen has a school project she needs your help on.
Ben quickly texted back 'okay' and put on his jacket. He walked downstairs into the living room where his parents sat vigil, both of them reading the papers.
"I gotta go help Gwen with an afterschool project," he said quickly.
"And it's homework?" Sandra asked not taking her eyes off her reading.
"Yeah, I promised."
"Okay, since you promised."
Ben quickly ran out the door with his mother calling out, "Be back by eleven!" Without waiting to hear the door slam shut he ran to the side of the house where a girl was waiting for him, her black clothes blending into the shadows.
"Worked like a charm," Ben told her.
"Naturally," she said, holding out a hand. He took it just as Carl Tennyson turned on his flashlight. The two of them could see Ben's parents glaring at them. They quickly separated.
"You can't catch a break, can you?" Carter asked rhetorically as Ben just groaned.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Sandra asked them viciously.
"Sneaking him out for a teenage romp," Carter lied smoothly, jerking a thumb at the boy beside her. Ben blushed slightly, a finger pointed at her as he was about to say something, but whatever he wanted to say was cut off.
"A teenage romp," Carl repeated flatly.
"Yeah, that's what teenage couples do when one of them gets grounded." Carter even had the audacity to smile as she said that.
"And you tell me I need to work on subtlety," Ben said bitingly, the blush still visible.
"Do you really think we're that gullible?" Sandra asked the two of them.
"Of course not," Carter said flippantly. "You were teenagers once too."
"Oh my god shut up!" Ben hissed as his face flamed red.
"Uh-huh, and I'm sure you don't know about the Omnitrix," Carl said sternly, glaring at Carter.
"What's an Omnitrix?" She easily pulled off the confused, ignorant teenage girl part. Everything from her facial expressions to the tone of her voice was a perfect reenactment. Ben was impressed.
"Oh come on, how stupid do you think we look?" Carl cried out angrily. "You two are obviously in cahoots with this whole DNAlien mess. Admit it!"
Carter and Ben eyed each other before they admitted defeat. "Okay, fine, I know about it," she finally said. "I also know that if Ben doesn't use the Omnitrix to stop the DNAlien invasion the entire universe will be either destroyed or enslaved."
Carl and Sandra glared at her. "You're no longer welcome in our home," Sandra said venomously.
Carter narrowed her eyes at them. It was unfair, what they were doing. Refusing to listen to their own son while he tried to explain himself-they were blinded by love and fear and anger, a dangerous mixture that would destroy everything. They couldn't keep doing this to him, this so called protection. They wouldn't stand a chance against a DNAlien, much less a High Breed. Ben was one of the few people who could protect them from the invasion, and they had the audacity to say that he needed protection?
They couldn't get away with this.
"Okay," Carter said slowly, hands up in surrender. "I'll leave. You're just trying to look out for your son and I get that. And I'm sure the human race will thank you for trying to protect him. You know, when every single person on this planet is killed off in the DNAlien onslaught." She waved goodbye as she walked down the driveway, smiling before she melted into the darkness.
After watching her leave on that caustic note, Sandra turned to her son. "What do you see in that girl?" she demanded to know.
Ben thought for a moment and then said, "A lot of things."
8:50 PM
Ben's room
Ben watched as his mother put his phone into her purse. "I need that!"
"A cell phone is a privilege, not a right," Carl said, putting out that old argument. "You'll get it back when you've proven that we can trust you."
"Ben, are you hanging out with a… bad crowd?" Sandra inferred, thinking about his girlfriend.
He balked. "What? No!"
"Are they telling you its 'cool' to sneak out?" Carl had curled his fingers into quotation marks halfway through the sentence. "Or to turn in aliens? Or lie to your parents?"
"I need to know who this bad influence is," Sandra insisted. "Their parents need to know what's going on."
Would I count as one of those bad influences? Ventus asked hesitantly in Ben's head.
Yes, but my mom can't call your parents.
True. And if they found out you were listening to a voice in your head, they'd put you on medication or in an asylum or something. Just tell them half the truth, okay?
Ben turned back to the conversation in front of him. "It's a sacred trust. I cannot divulge that information!"
If Ventus could face palm, he would. You call that a half-truth?
But it's true!
You just made yourself more suspicious! Kevin was right, you ARE an idiot!
OH SHUT UP! You're not in my position!
Sandra was glaring at her son, boring into his eyes. Ben glared back, arms crossed. For a minute it was a stalemate, neither side giving up. And then Ben's eyes widened, he was weakening.
Don't give up man, she's winning! Ventus cried from the back of his head.
But Ben was losing badly; it was like he was being sucked into a vortex, spiraling down into nothingness. His mouth was opening and words were spilling out without his consent.
8:00 PM
The next night
"YOU RATTED ME OUT?!" Gwen roared through the home phone. Ben sat up on his bed and pressed his own home phone to his ear.
"I can explain!"
"What's to explain?" Gwen said caustically. "My parents read me the Riot Act when I got home last night! 'How dare you help Ben lie to your aunt and uncle young lady?' Why did you tell them? You've gone nose to nose with Vilgax without blinking."
"Vilgax never gave me the mom look," Ben protested. And then he realized how stupid he sounded and gave up. "Sorry."
"You're sorry and I'm grounded, stuck here in the house instead of finding out what the High Breed wants with that freighter."
"Don't worry, Kevin and the Pride are going to check it out tonight," Ben said, grabbing a comic book and leaning back on his bed.
"Kevin and the Pride?" Gwen mused, calming down a bit. "That's an odd combination."
Ben thought for a moment before saying, "Yeah, but they can handle it. As long as they don't split up or do anything stupid." Ben then realized what he just said and face palmed. "And Evan might do something impulsive and stupid. I gotta go."
8:05 PM
The Eustacia Vye
Kevin quickly hid behind a shipment of cargo as a DNAlien walked past. After it was gone, he crept behind the nearest pillar just as a second DNAlien walked past. As the lone alien turned around, Kevin crept up beside it, ready to knock it out.
But then the DNAlien jerked sideways, getting pulled into the shadows of the cargo hold. Its mouth was covered; it couldn't scream for help. It struggled before the darkness consumed it, never to be seen again.
And then Evan's head popped out of the shadows and he grinned at Kevin. He then reached out his arms to snag the older teen. He pulled him into the shadows, letting the lukewarm tendrils envelop him. Knowing what was going to happen next, Kevin closed his eyes and braced himself.
When he opened them, he was in one of the many dark rooms of the freighter. Carter and Sam were waiting close by. All four of them were standing on one of many platforms.
And then Kevin got a whiff of the air inside. "Ugh, what stinks in here?"
Sam pointed downward. "That pool of toxic sludge." Kevin leaned over the rails of the platform to stare at the poisonous green depths below him.
"We've already sent a sample of it to Gwen and to Isaac," Carter quickly explained. "We should be getting an answer back soon."
"How did you guys send the sample?" Kevin asked mystified.
"Shadow travel," Carter said.
"That's not just for people?"
"We never said it was," Evan pointed out. Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. Suddenly he got a phone call. He got out his titanium phone and answered it.
"Castoon only exports one thing," Gwen said over the line. "Bat guano."
"…What is guano?"
"Apparently the berries on the island are radioactive because of the testing. When they're eaten by the bats the resulting waste creates one of the rarest isotopes in the world. But the radiation is so mild that it would take a ton of it to constitute a threat."
"Bat guano huh?" Carter said under her breath, eyeing the substance beneath her. "Glad we're not swimming in that."
"How much can this freighter carry?" Sam asked out loud. Kevin repeated the question, wondering how the two girls could hear the conversation over the phone.
Gwen finally answered, "Fifty thousand tons."
"So in other words, we're standing over a radiation pit," Evan piped up. "That's great."
"Sarcasm's my thing!" Carter snapped just as they all heard the sounds of DNAliens surrounding them. Everyone cringed as they heard the nasty sounds of green goo being spat at them. Sam quickly grabbed Kevin and all four melted into the shadows once again. When they reappeared they were out in the open air, hidden between cargo holds.
Kevin was still on the line with Gwen. "Hello? What's going on?" her frantic voice sounded over the air waves.
"We just got out of a DNAlien mess," Kevin quickly answered. "Hey, how many DNAliens are there anyway?"
Carter thought for a moment. "I don't know the exact amount, but I'm guessing a small army with a single commanding officer."
Everyone said in unison: "Ben."
"We're going to need backup," Kevin told Gwen on the phone. "Think you can let him know what's going on? It'd be too dangerous for me to call the both of you too often."
"I'm on it," Gwen said resolutely before hanging up. Kevin put away his cell phone and turned to the others.
"So what's the plan?"
"I'd rather just sink this ship to the bottom of the ocean, but with all the radioactive bat guano on board…" Sam trailed off and turned to Carter.
"It'd be an environmental disaster of epic proportions." The Goth sighed loudly. "So I guess our best bet is to take out as many DNAliens in the meantime and maybe figure out why they're shipping this crap to Bellwood."
"In other words, hit 'em till they fess up," Kevin simplified, grinning evilly.
Evan eyed him coolly. "I was wrong before. A straight jacket does look good on you."
"Oh shut up."
8:20 PM
Tennyson residence
"Bat guano?" Ben repeated over the phone. He should have been having dinner with his parents, but then the phone rang and he immediately abandoned that endeavor.
"Ben," his mother called out in a warning tone.
"Just a minute!" he quickly said before turning back to his cousin.
"Yeah; according to the internet when the bats eat the berries, the resulting waste creates a super rare isotope. It's not very radioactive, but if you have a lot of it the results could be devastating," Gwen quickly explained.
"And they're on it?" Ben referred to the team on the freighter.
"Yeah, but they need backup," Gwen said. "You know what that means."
"Ben!"
"Just a minute!" Ben said again. Into the phone he said, "I'm working on that. I'll try-!"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off when his mother took the phone out of his hands and hung up the line. "No phone means no phone! Go to your room!"
Ben threw up his hands and grumbled, "I can't believe this is happening!"
Once in his room though, his spirits lifted slightly. Dude calm down, Ventus said. Use your computer to contact them. I think there's a wireless network on that freighter.
Suddenly the computer started to light up, beeping out a distress signal. "What do you know; they contacted me first," Ben said out loud. He could hear the god in his head chuckling.
The screen immediately switched to Kevin suited in metal armor with three people in the background keeping guard.
"Good news guys, it worked," the older teen told the others.
Evan moved over so that he took over half the screen. "The bad news is that there are too many DNAliens to take all at once. And we can't sink the ship yet because there's too much radiation."
"What do you mean yet?" Ben asked.
"Isaac's trying to get a response team together so that when we do sink the ship, the damage is minimal," Evan quickly explained. "It's gonna be a while though and we don't exactly have a lot of time before we're found again."
"We kind of need you over here dude," Sam said in the background.
"Yeah, like I'm going to get out house arrest anytime soon," Ben deadpanned, the annoyance at his parents showing through.
"Jesus Christ man, just improvise something!" Kevin snapped finally losing his cool. "If you haven't noticed the entire world is at stake! Maybe even the universe! What's more important, saving the world or keeping your parents happy?"
"…Can't I have it both ways?" Ben answered back sheepishly.
"HIGH BREED!" Carter roared as Sam was thrown to the side by a giant black claw. Kevin immediately went up to hurt the giant alien while Evan quickly said:
"We need help, Ben!" He was about to say something else, but the screen suddenly made a 'pop' noise and grew black, a tiny dot of white in the middle showing the lack of connection. Ben whirled around to see his parents standing behind him, his father holding the plug to his computer.
"Dad, no!"
"Oh don't you 'no' me, Ben Tennyson!" Carl glared at him. "You have defied us for the last time!"
"You've gotta listen," Ben tried one last time to plead. "My friends are in trouble. I gotta go help them!"
"I don't want to hear another word," Sandra said. "You are not leaving this room, you are not calling anyone, you are not IMing anyone, you are not texting anyone, you are not my-Facing anyone!"
"…My-Facing?"
"You will sit here alone until we tell you otherwise," Carl ordered. "Understood?"
"You don't understand!" Ben cried. "It's a matter of life or death!" he turned to his mother. "Evan's life is on the line. You treat him like he's your own son!"
"Yes, but he's not my son," Sandra said coldly.
"The only life we're concerned with is yours," Carl said, "and you are staying right here."
Ben, you can't reason with them, Ventus said before the boy could say anything else. If you were in their situation you'd probably react the same way. But right now your friends are in trouble and you have to do what's right.
Ventus was right; he usually was, though Ben didn't want to admit it. The smart thing to do would be to listen to his parents. But he could picture it, his friends broken, bloody bodies as the High Breed killed them in cold blood. And if he stayed in his room he'd be powerless to help them.
He always knew he'd have to face the music someday. He just never knew how much it would hurt.
"I'm sorry," Ben finally said. "I love you guys. You're awesome parents. You raised me by example. And time after time I've seen you put other people's needs first. I can't obey you know without disobeying everything you ever taught me about life, the world, and responsibility." He put a hand over the Omnitrix.
Sandra narrowed her eyes. "Ben, we forbid you to-!"
"So when I get back punish me however you want," Ben hurried on. "But right now, I have friends in trouble!" He popped the dial on the Omnitrix to Jetray and slammed it down. A green flash and a transformation later he had turned into him.
"Jetray!" he said quickly, spreading his wings. He launched himself into the air and crashed through the window, littering glass all over the floor. "Sorry, I'll fix that later!" he said before taking off.
A moment's shock and then Sandra said, "He just walked out on us! What are we going to do?"
It took a second for Carl to answer because he finally understood something. He wanted to suppress it, but it was surfacing in his mind after years of hiding. And now he had to face it once and for all.
"We're going to listen to our son."
9:00 PM
On the Eustacia Vye
Jetray neared the freighter, rapidly flying downwards as the thermals pushed against him. He was going faster, faster… too fast! And then he changed into Ben. He flipped over so that he would land on his feet, but he was nearing the starboard far too quickly. His weak human body wouldn't survive the fall.
Manipulate the air currents and turn in Humungousaur! Ventus ordered. Hurry!
He concentrated a bit, slowing his descent. He could feel it, the air pressure underneath him. He was facing down, the air a cushion as he slowly neared the starboard. It was almost peaceful.
And then the DNAliens took notice of him, pointing and yelling up at him. Ben quickly turned the dial on the Omnitrix to Humungousaur and did a quick flip as he transformed.
He landed heavily on board, the steel floor bending under his weight. The DNAliens swarmed him, readying their attacks. The dinosaur-like alien was having none of that.
"You guys picked the wrong Humungousaur to gang up on," he growled as he swerved his tail around. Enemy aliens flew through the air at a single thwack. But the others still came after him, hissing and spitting. Humungousaur growled and barreled through the enemy line with surprising ease.
Meanwhile, underneath the starboard (where Ben was totally kicking ass), the others hadn't fared so well. Yes, they were all standing and fighting, but they were tired and injured. That and the smell of radioactive bat waste was a rather strong distraction.
Kevin, who had a few bloody tears on his clothes, gave the High Breed in front of him a sneer. "I can't believe you guys eat that stuff!" he jeered, pointing to the green sludge underneath them.
The High Breed put his hands on his waist. "We do not eat it, human."
"Then what do you use it for, anyway?" Sam asked from the ground. The High Breed had done a number on her leg; she was pretty sure it was broken. She probably should have been crying from the pain, but she had received too many similar injuries to care at this point.
"Yeah, I mean, it's just a worthless Earth isotope," Evan said, laying it on rather thick. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Carter slowly making her way over to Sam, hands glowing blue. All of them were in need of medical attention, but Sam most of all.
The High Breed was sufficiently distracted; he went on to say, "Tennyson has taught you well. But your attempt to learn of our plans has only reminded me that I need to dispose of you." Or maybe he wasn't. He brought a hand up to attack…
…Only to get thrown to the ground thanks to a flying DNAlien.
Yeah, that took a moment to sink in.
"Oh, that one was a little high," said the familiar voice of Humungousaur. He walked into the testing room of the ship, standing on a platform, an evil little grin stretched across his face.
"Bad night?" Carter asked out loud when she saw the expression.
"You have no idea," he said, his smile faltering.
"But seriously, I thought you got sent to your room without supper," Kevin said. It sounded like a joke, but his tone was far too serious.
Humungousaur leaned against the railings. "Enjoy me while you can. I'm going to be grounded for the rest of high school. What happened to your leg?" he added referring to Sam.
With Carter's help she stood up. "High Breed broke my leg. I got better."
"Do you know what the DNAliens are doing with the bat poop?" Evan asked the scaly alien.
Humungousaur pointed to the DNAliens working at the vats of green goop on the other side of the room. How they didn't hear the sounds of their leader falling was beyond him. "The DNAliens over there are rendering it, removing the impurities so that they're left with a highly volatile isotope, suitable for use as a power source."
"I'm guessing they couldn't work Beck's carbon power source machine," Carter noted. "How'd you figure all that out anyway?"
"Gwen," Humungousaur said sadly. "Question is; power source for what?"
"It's a surprise," the High Breed on the ground said, "the final surprise for the human race. Destroy them!" it ordered the minions surrounding him. The DNAliens roared as they quickly climbed up the metal ladders to get to the platform. Quite a few of them swarmed the four on the ground floor, but one shadow trip to the upper level saved them from defeat.
Once on the platform, they all calmly looked at the monsters who wanted to kill them. Evan held up a large pink cable with Tron-like yellow lines etched on it. "Hey, Kevin, absorb this," he said as the older teen put a hand on it.
Carter and Sam looked at each other before grinning. "We got the High Breed!" they said in unison.
"What?!" went Humungousaur.
"But it broke your leg!" Kevin protested now fully encased in pink armor.
"Kick its ass!" Evan shouted as he punched out the first DNAlien. The two girls jumped off the platform and landed heavily on the ground floor. They immediately started somersaulting, turning faster and faster-Sam became a whirl of fire, Carter a wheel of water-they neared the High Breed-
Down went the High Breed with a resounding crash. It howled in pain as the two elementals laid into him.
"Huh," was all Kevin said as he beat up aliens.
"Girl power for the win, as Isaac would say," Evan said as he lifted up two DNAliens. He turned round and round, faster and faster before letting go. The two monsters went flying in separate directions; Evan easily slowed down and clapped the dirt off his hands.
Humungousaur threw the last of the DNAliens off him and eyed the carnage the three of them left. And then they turned to the fight below them.
Surprisingly enough-or perhaps not surprisingly-they found Carter and Sam winning. They were punching, kicking, and using their powers to enhance their strength. And the High Breed was knocked back at every turn. It was falling, not only from the power, but from the fact that it was losing.
"Is it bad that I thought they were going to lose?" Humungousaur asked, gesturing slightly to the pain-filled cries of the fallen High Breed.
"No," Kevin said as Evan said, "Yes." The Osmosian and dinosaur alien turned to their friend, whose eyes were glued to the fight below.
And then Evan shouted, "Watch out!" The High Breed had gained the upper hand and knocked the elementals out. The two girls went skidding, falling to the floor once before bouncing back up and travelling backwards again. The High Breed loomed over them threateningly.
"You seem fatigued," it told them. It held up an arm. "Allow me to put you to rest. Permanently."
And it would have, save for the miraculous laser shot aimed at it. It hit the High Breed's side, forcing it back into the wall with a resounding crash. Sam and Carter turned in shock to see Carl and Sandra Tennyson, wielding an obsolete Plumber laser cannon.
"Are you okay girls?" Sandra immediately went up to Carter to see her wounds.
"Mom, dad, am I glad to see you!" Humungousaur said from the railing. "I mean, I'm always glad to see you, but…"
"Enough," Kevin said, getting grossed out.
"You're his ruffian friend, right?" Sandra said no malice in her voice.
"Ruffian?" Kevin repeated.
"Shut up, you ruffian," Evan said before turning to the adults below. "Nice piece, by the way."
"Yeah, dad, where'd you get that?" Humungousaur said as he quickly jumped down from the platform. He landed with a loud thud, but Carl answered his son's question all the same.
"This thing has been sitting in the attic since Frank and I were kids. Always hated it."
"Are you okay Ben?" Sandra asked worriedly.
"I'm fine mom," he said. "I'm sorry for blowing you off like that."
"I'm not," Kevin said as he and Evan reappeared on the ground floor (they took the ladder). "I mean, it was actually kind of cool when you showed up when you did."
"It was very cool," Sandra agreed. She smiled at her son. "I'm proud of you. Your friend was in danger and you had to help him."
"His friend?" Carl scoffed. "You heard that monster honey, the whole world was in danger!"
"I told you so," Carter sang under her breath. She expected to get immediate backlash but instead Sandra smiled at her.
"You were right," she admitted. "I'm sorry about before."
Mollified, the Goth muttered a quick apology to Sandra as Sam finally helped her off of the ground.
"Oh, by the way, your grandfather has a message for you," Carl said suddenly. "He says you can sink the ship now."
"You guys know Isaac?" Humungousaur asked confused.
"He gave us a lift out here," Carl explained. He turned back to Carter. "Out of curiosity's sake, how does your grandfather look so young? Is it an alien thing?"
"Carl!" Sandra hissed.
Carter gave a sheepish chuckle. "It's an alien thing."
"And before we wrap this up, I have one question," Evan piped up. "You guys saw Ben in action right? So you know what he's capable of." He answered his own question.
"I think it's safe to say the world's in good hands," Carl agreed.
Evan happily clapped his hands together. "Great! Now how's about we blow this place up?"
One gigantic explosion later
"GIANT MUSHROOM! MUSHY GIANT FRIEND!" Evan shouted as the smoke from the explosion turned into a black mushroom shape.
"Are you on something?" Carl asked the teen as he waved his arms to and fro.
"No, he's just weird," Ben quickly explained.
Kevin chose that moment to pop out of the water and climb onto the dock. "Okay, I sunk the ship. Isaac's on clean up duty."
"What about the High Breed?" Carter asked.
"Who cares?" Sam said.
"Seriously, what happened?" Ben insisted. "You were supposed to drag him off the ship before you scuttled it."
Kevin feigned innocence. "Was I? Must've slipped my mind." When he saw Ben's horrified face, he added, "Kidding! He was gone before I got back."
"And you took offense to being called a ruffian," Evan pointed out meanly.
Yes, I had to add that A:tLA reference at the end. No, I'm not apologizing.
So, thoughts anyone?