Chapter 63: Ben Tennyson's Precious Little Life

It looks like I won't be able to upload the next few chapters on schedule like I originally planned, so instead I'll be uploading them roughly every day until they're gone. The story goes on hiatus by the end of the week 'cause, you know, college.

Two more things: this arc is going to be rather long; I didn't intend for that to happen, it just did. It's also going to be extremely dark and scary, starting from next chapter. Like, it could make the story rating go to M. I'm not kidding.

But we'll get there when we get there. On with the show!

One explosion and curb-stomp battle later

"'…in one Earth rotation I will return to this place, to battle the one called Ben 10 for the fate of the Earth,'" the recording said. It was currently playing on Sam's phone, sent to her by Phineas of all people. It cut short then.

"So I'm guessing the big explosion and the sudden force field are all Vilgax as well," Evan said blithely, pointing out the obvious. He leaned back against the table and took a sip of his smoothie.

"Your grandpa's fine by the way," Sam told Ben and Gwen quickly. "He and his little class of future Plumbers went to intercept him, but they all got taken out. Fortunately they only got a few bruises from Vilgax."

"They went up against Vilgax?" Gwen shrieked. Carter put a hand over her mouth and glared at her.

"Let the entire world know we're aliens too, why don't you?" she hissed as she quickly looked around. Luckily the lot was empty save for the six of them.

"And they're fine?" Ben asked again, worried. Sam nodded.

"Like I said, only some bruises. Cordelia's looking after them, I think. Good thing Vilgax wasn't interested in fighting at the time."

"And if Ben doesn't show up for this battle?" Kevin asked, getting back to the point.

"Knowing his record, Vilgax will either enslave all of us or destroy the planet," Evan said, throwing his head back. "Either way we're in a tight spot."

"Include the fact that something's up with the Slayer headquarters and we're in between a rock and a hard place," Carter pointed out.

"What's going on over there?" Gwen asked curiously.

"We don't know," she admitted. "It's just that usually whenever there's alien activity or something else going on Cordelia or Isaac either call us or text us. However, today Cordelia sent us a letter through shadow travel."

"And she never does that. Ever," Sam insisted.

"And then Phineas sends us that recording, except he never gives us our missions," Carter finished.

"So something's up," Kevin stated.

"It could just be the latest installations," Evan said hopefully. "After the DNAlien attack on the Bellwood branch we've been installing new equipment and security measures. This could have something to do with that."

"Or it could be something bad," Sam pointed out.

"Hey, I'm trying to keep a positive attitude here," Evan snapped at her. "We've got one megalomaniac trying to destroy the Earth. We don't need the extra doom and gloom, Sam."

"I'm trying to be realistic," she snapped back. "Cordelia and Isaac are always predictable when it comes to Pride missions. Any changes must mean something horrible is happening."

"If there was something really horrible happening, don't you think they would have told us by now?" Evan pointed out.

"Maybe they think we can't handle it," Carter said darkly. "It could be something so bad that they can't drag us into it."

"I'd love to keep listening as you swap hypothetical grim scenarios, but we should really get back to Vilgax," Gwen interjected. "What are we going to do about him?"

"Well, no matter what happens, I still have to face him," Ben said stoically.

"You can't accept his terms," Carter told him. "It's a conqueror's challenge."

"And that is?"

"The Galvans set it up to limit the destruction caused by interplanetary wars," Sam quickly explained. "Rather than risk mass destruction, both planets can choose a single warrior to represent them. The winner becomes the ruler of both worlds." Everyone stared at her. She shrugged. "What can I say? I know war strategies. Something you should know." She narrowed her eyes at Evan, who took a sip of his drink nonchalantly.

"So I have to accept." Ben turned to Carter. "Sorry, but you lose this time."

Back in Kevin's car

Kevin quickly removed the radio part of his car to replace it with a video feed. Thanks to Slayer intelligence they had actual footage of Vilgax's return. The first scene was Max Tennyson shooting a laser right at Vilgax's chest. There was a loud explosion, and lots of red smoke billowing out of the alien.

"…Does anyone else get the feeling that this should have happened in a movie, not real life?" Evan asked nervously, looking around.

"Yeah, I'm actually getting it right now," Ben confessed, still looking at the video. Vilgax stepped out of the smoke, completely unharmed. "Oh come on, he shot you point blank! You should be hurt or something!" he yelled at the screen.

"Yeah, because he isn't indestructible or anything," Carter told him sardonically as Vilgax mouthed something. The feed wasn't good enough to pick up words, but it could pick up explosions, though they were muffled. This was another warning sign that something was up with the underground; normally visual evidence was of much higher quality.

"He's more powerful than ever," Gwen said, pointing out the obvious.

Sam gave herself a dope slap. "I completely forgot. Vilgax has been going around to ten different worlds, defeating their greatest heroes and absorbing their energy."

"I thought we already mentioned this," Evan admitted honestly. Everyone glared at the two of them. "Oh, what, like you all don't make mistakes," he retorted.

"Well this sucks," Ben grumbled, slumping against the back seat. "We could barely beat him in the old days."

"You mean, back when you two were ten," Sam pointed out, an eyebrow raised.

"We also had a grandpa with access to Plumber technology and wasn't, you know, hospitalized at the time," Gwen said dryly.

"I told you, he's fine," Carter insisted. "But yeah, he's not going anywhere for the time being."

"And he took down all those new Plumbers without breaking a sweat," Kevin noted. "We can't depend on them either."

"Not that we could depend on them in the first place," Evan told him. "They're not ready to handle any serious threat to the Earth. The High Breed invasion was an exception because we needed an easily led army."

"He's right," Ben agreed. "There's no rookie that could take on Vilgax and win. Besides, we're the A-team, we can handle him. Hopefully," he added hesitantly.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Still, it probably wouldn't hurt to have an edge." That was when he opened the garage door in front of them. Through the blinding light was a gigantic machine, built silver and painted Omnitrix green, connected with tubes and cylinders and other round objects. It easily took up a large portion of the garage.

"What's that for?" Ben asked once the shock wore off.

"You know you're Omnitrix?" Kevin jerked a thumb at it.

"Yeah…"

"We're gonna hack it."

Roughly ten minutes later

"This is a bad idea."

"I agree."

"You do?" Gwen asked Sam. The other girl raised an eyebrow.

"Well yeah. There are so many things that can go wrong with this. What do you think Ben?" Both redheads turned to their leader, who was off to the side at the moment.

"Stop talking," he told them. "I'm having a serious argument in my brain right now."

Both girls left him to it, while another one walked up to him hesitantly. Unlike the other four, Carter and Ben had not changed their outfits for the summer. While Kevin was sporting jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue button up work shirt with oil stains and a name tag on it, Ben was still wearing his iconic outfit of jeans, black t-shirt and green jacket with the ten over the heart inside a white circle and two white bars on the sleeve. And while Gwen was wearing form-fitting jeans, ballet flats, a long sleeved red shirt with a black vest and her long hair tied up in a ponytail, Carter was still dressed in combat boots, black and purple striped stockings up to her thighs paired with a miniscule black skirt Starfire style, a black Linkin Park band t-shirt and a long sleeved black and purple striped undershirt. The leather choker with the silver belt buckle adorning her neck was the only change.

"You know this is a bad idea," Carter told Ben quietly. He turned to her brow furrowed.

"Ventus is saying the same thing," he said, "but I don't know. I mean, Vilgax is ten times more powerful now. Grandpa Max is out of commission, and Gwen and you guys can't help me because this is a conqueror's challenge or whatever it's called. It'd make more sense to have some extra power as backup."

"Except you do realize that by messing with the Omnitrix you could make things much worse for yourself," Carter pointed out. "You could short out the time you have as an alien, or short out the reserve power it has, or even end up destroying it, with you along with it." Her face was still stoic, yet her voice softened at those last few words.

"I know that too," Ben said solemnly. "But some things are worth the risk."

"You ready Tennyson?" Kevin called out from the fantastical machine. Ben took a deep breath and went over to the side, where he put his hand on the mini operating table.

"I still don't think this is such a good idea," Gwen told them all as Kevin set up the procedure. From his vantage point at the controls, he grinned.

"Relax. I've been, uh, acquiring stuff we need to fix the Omnitrix from the Null Void for months."

"And you wouldn't have half of the machinery if it weren't for me and Evan," Sam pointed out from the sidelines. Evan was sitting right next to her, arms crossed and leg shaking.

"Am I'm very thankful for that," Kevin said loudly as he went back to the controls.

"You've been finding stuff for months?" Ben asked, grinning. "Wouldn't it be years, since you tried to take the Omnitrix from me back when we were kids?"

"Let it go Ben," he said quietly, the smile on his face frozen.

"It's too risky," Gwen insisted.

"And the three of us agree," Evan piped up for the first time in ten minutes. "There are so many ways this could go wrong it's not even funny."

"Actually I agree with you," Ben said surprising nearly everybody in the room. "It's also extremely risky if we don't. The last time I threw Vilgax into space I had you and Grandpa Max helping me," he told Gwen. "This time I have to face him on my own. If we can bypass the safeguards and actually hack the Omnitrix, I can do anything by myself."

"You ever stop to think why Azmuth put those safeguards there in the first place?" Gwen asked her voice softer.

"Hey, I accidentally got past them once without anything bad happening. Why can't it happen now?" Ben said lightly. He turned to Kevin and pointed a finger. "But if anything happens, I'm going to blame you."

"Of course you would," he said through gritted teeth.

"It was your idea!"

"Accessing the user interface," Kevin said loudly. A small green beam landed on the Omnitrix, right in the middle of the top plate. The Omnitrix glowed, revealing the tron like markings inside. The operating table grew four tiny claws and clamped themselves onto the Omnitrix, holding it in place.

Suddenly the watch reverted right back into its original form, the big, bulky shape from when Ben was ten years old. Confused, he turned to Kevin, who smiled apologetically. "Oh, sorry," he said, eyes going back to the controls.

Gwen had to ask: "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Kevin gave the universal okay sign with his hand. "As much as ever." The bulky Omnitrix morphed into its smaller, sleeker form. "See? Nothing to worry about-!" he was cut off when the watch beeped out an alarm and glowed brightly.

And then the hologram of Azmuth, creator of the Omnitrix, appeared atop the Omnitrix. He did not look pleased.

"It was Kevin's idea," Ben said quickly, averting his gaze.

"You son of a bitch."

"Leave my mother out of this!"

"This is no time for the blame game, Ben Tennyson," Azmuth said sternly. "My disappointment with you is great. I had thought you possessed the maturity to wield the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"And then you pay the slightest bit of attention," Gwen said, calling him out on his behavior.

"It is only very recently that Ben has strayed from the heroes' path," the Galvan told her.

"Actually he hasn't much," Sam pointed out. "You'd think the whole 'saving the universe' thing would give him an inflated ego, but it really hasn't. Honestly, that makes me kind of proud." Everyone pondered this for a moment before murmuring their agreement.

"You guys are awesome," Ben said quietly. He cursed silently at the sudden dampness in his eyes.

"I suppose it has. Still, you must grow into the role of a hero," Azmuth interjected seriously. "The full power of the Omnitrix cannot be entrusted to you just yet. Do not tamper with the Omnitrix again, Ben Tennyson. You are not ready." And with that warning the hologram fizzled out.

"Whoa," Kevin breathed.

"Seriously," Gwen said. "You really dodged a bullet that time Ben."

"I agree." Ben nodded his head. "And it's not something I want to experience again. So if you would just let me go…" he gestured to the operating table, where the claws were still clamped on his wrist.

"Oh yeah," Kevin said quickly as his fingers flew over the controls. A moment later Ben removed his hand and stepped away from the machine, holding his Omnitrix wrist.

"So with that option out the window," Evan started.

"We can focus on how to take out Vilgax with what you have," Sam finished.

"And I know just the guy who can help," he said cheerily. "My grandpa's been part of the army since I was a kid. And since he's about five thousand years old he should have plenty of military knowledge at his disposal."

"Problem is he's at headquarters, which we're not allowed to go into for some reason," Carter pointed out.

"Then we'll have to force our way in," Ben said stoically. "There have to be other entrances there, or maybe some weak points."

"Well sure, but we've never broken into headquarters before," Sam said worriedly. "It feels…wrong. I mean, we've done worse, but still."

"I don't think we have a choice," Gwen said gently. "And from what you've told us earlier, something is clearly up with your grandparents. They may need our help."

"I really hope they don't," Carter confessed. "If they can't handle the situation, there's no way we can."

"Never hurts to try," Kevin said, shrugging.

Evan grinned. "Then let's go. To the Kevin-mobile!"

"Don't call my ride that!"

"Why not? It works." The two boys argued out of the garage with the others following. The only one to stay back was Ben, who was looking unusually pale.

"How are you feeling?" Carter asked him gently, turning back around.

"I've been better," he said quietly. "Hacking the Omnitrix wasn't the smartest of ideas."

"We knew that since the beginning," she said, rolling her eyes. "But now isn't the time to dwell on it. We've got to find out what's happening at headquarters, not to mention Vilgax in the morning."

Ben took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, "You're right. Let's go." He walked towards the garage door, but not before taking Carter's hand into his own. He was shaking slightly, the tremors travelling towards her. She held on tightly, but the shaking didn't stop.

Later

"And again, I forgot you were loaded," Kevin said as they drove past the sign saying Sterling Hills.

"Well, it's not like it comes up very often," Sam pointed out. "Besides, I thought it was obvious. I mean, you've seen Cordelia and Isaac. They look like people who are used to the lap of luxury."

"They are," Carter said easily.

"I always thought they looked more like people out of the Victorian era," Gwen admitted. "I mean, they look ageless, so…"

"Yeah, you do get that vibe from them," she said, nodding.

"We should really be focusing right now," Ben told them. "Is there any way we can get into Slayers headquarters?"

"Well, there are hundreds of hidden passageways all over Bellwood, but I know a few around the house that we could use," Carter explained. "The only problem is knowing which of them are sealed."

"We could always try that," Evan said, waving a hand. Carter knew exactly what he meant.

"Think it'll work?"

"I don't see why not."

"What are you talking about?" Gwen asked, confused.

"You'll see in a few minutes," Sam told her, grinning.

Kevin eventually pulled up onto the driveway of Carter's home, a mesh between a normal mansion and a French chateau. It looked void of life, and seemed much more menacing in the moonlight.

Once Kevin had parked the car, everyone came out into the cool night air. Evan walked a ways away from the rest, going out to the front yard. Everyone followed him, three of them unsure of what he was doing.

"Gwen, remember our last meeting with Albedo?" Sam asked the redhead suddenly.

She arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, what about it?"

"You had problems using your powers to track him because of all the technology in the building."

"How does that apply here?"

"Evan used to have that same problem growing up," Carter explained. "He's connected to the earth, so having a bunch of manmade technology surrounding him tampered with his powers, especially when it came to tracking people."

"But when he was ten he found a way of getting around that," Sam continued. "No matter how refined or corrupted the metal in the technology is, the components that make it up all came from the same source: the earth."

"It took him a while, but he found a way to use that idea and created a shortcut to track people," Carter said. "It's still a bit unrefined, but it works."

"Think I can learn how to do that?" Gwen asked excitedly.

Sam shrugged. "I don't see why not. He taught us how to do it."

"And no Ben, you can't learn," Carter said when she saw Ben about to pipe up.

"Why not?" he whined.

"You're the air guy. Earth is your exact opposite. You wouldn't be able to figure it out even if you tried."

"If you guys are done talking about me while I'm right in front of you, I'll begin," Evan cut in. Carter and Sam put up their hands in mock surrender and watched as he knelt down onto the grass, breathed in, out, and slammed his open palm onto the ground.

A pulse was sent out through the ground. Instead of seeing the lush green lawn and the impressive house behind him, all Evan could see was darkness. For a moment he was suspended in the tar black night, before white lines like stencil designs played about in his vision. He could see the markings make up the house behind him, the lawn, and his friends. He could make out passageways in the ground, tunnels carved in the rock from all over the Hills, heading in different directions.

Evan pulsed again, making the image behind his closed eyes sharper. He could make out the tunnels leading into the Valentine manor, from the one behind the portrait of Isaac and Cordelia to the one in the basement. They had been sealed, earthen bricks filling up the entrances like an impenetrable wall. Evan pulsed a third time and went to the back garden, right in between the flowerbeds where an ancient tunnel was hidden-

His eyes snapped open. "Found it."

"Really? Where?" Carter had to ask. She hadn't honestly thought that Evan could find an opening. They would have been all sealed off by now.

He pointed towards the house. "There's a really old opening in the back gardens. From the look of things it's been ages since it's been last used."

Carter began to lead the others to the back of the manor. "The last time I checked the blueprints there wasn't any design of a tunnel in the gardens," she said.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "And when exactly was the last time?"

"About two weeks ago," she told him. "I was digging around in Isaac's study and found them. Not gonna lie, it was surprising that he would leave so much evidence out in the open."

"But they're the blueprints to your house," Ben said, puzzled.

"The blueprints also show the locations for just about all the tunnels that lead into the underground," Carter stated. "If people find out about that, the Valentine family looks suspicious. It's better to have that kind of thing locked up where no one can easily access it."

"Okay seriously, how long does it take to get to the backyard of your house?" Kevin suddenly snapped. They had gone to the side and only just now went around the bend.

"Since we're going the outside route, about ten minutes?" Carter said, shrugging. The older teen groaned and followed along.

When they finally reached the backyard, they realized that it was a full moon out, and the gardens looked especially beautiful in the gauzy moonlight. There were millions of flowers, all yellows and reds and purples and whites with a few black flowers here and there. Along the pathways arches were scattered, manmade metal painted white with vines crawling up the sides. A few willow trees were spread out amongst the other plants, a few of them with ornate swing sets made for two people hanging from low branches.

"It's beautiful," Gwen breathed.

"How much do you pay your gardeners?" Kevin asked, his voice taking on an awed quality.

"I have no idea," Carter admitted. "But I'm guessing a lot." She turned to Evan. "So, where's this secret passageway?"

Evan knelt down again and put his open palm on the grass, pulsing yet again. With a clear view of the garden, he probed around for the entrance. It was actually not too far away, past only one of the archways.

He opened his eyes and said, "It's over here." He quickly went over to the first arch and walked under it. They all quickly followed, Kevin pausing long enough to snap off one of the flowers growing near it. He quickly stopped Sam and, with a smile, gave it to her.

She paused, examining the China tea rose in her hand. She smiled, mouthed the word, "Thanks," and weaved the flower through her thick hair so that it rested over her left ear. Kevin then grasped her hand and quickly led her towards the others.

Evan had led them to a small circle in the middle of the garden, a plain part of the lawn surrounded by blue and orange roses. It was a contrast from the natural yellows and pinks and reds from the rest of the garden. Orange roses were a natural part of nature, but nature didn't produce blue roses. The closest there could be to a blue rose was actually a light lavender color. Unless it was painted or dyed blue, it just didn't exist.

Evan went over to the side and said triumphantly, "Here's the switch. Everyone step back," he quickly ordered as the passageway slowly opened. Everyone cringed and covered their ears as the loud, irritating sound of rusty hinges finally being put to work screamed into the night. It took a monstrously long time for the tunnel to open, but when it did, instead of a plain piece of grass there was a giant gaping hole surrounded by circle of real and artificial roses.

Carter peered inside, looking down at the seemingly bottomless black pit. "There aren't any stairs or anything," she announced. "We'll have to jump."

"Great," Ben groaned as his phone suddenly rang. He quickly fished it out, about to curse at whoever was on the caller ID, only to realize that it was Phineas. He answered with, "Phineas, where are you? What's going on?"

A moment passed before Phineas said, "I need to talk to Gwen, Ben."

That made the teen blink. "Why?"

"Please," he pleaded, stunning Ben. Phineas never begged. Never. He was too…larger than life to go down on his knees and beg like a commoner. Whatever was going on in HQ had to be big.

"It's for you," he told Gwen seriously. She cautiously took the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Um, I'm really not good at these kinds of things," Phineas started when he finally answered. "It's just…I don't think this is going to end well, and I kind of wanted…"

"You wanted what?" Gwen asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I really wanted to see you kids grow up, you know?" Phineas babbled his words like a torrent. "It's just that over the past several centuries, a lot of my grandkids thought that just because their grandpa was loaded they could do whatever the hell they wanted. I didn't want to be used like that by the three of you, but it hurt knowing that you'd grow up without knowing one of your grandpas."

"Phineas what are you-"

"And there was the whole thing with your alien powers," he continued like she hadn't tried to interrupt. "I mean, Sandra's normal so I didn't know if Ben would have any powers, and Ken doesn't have the Anodite Spark so it would pretty hard to talk to him about all this. I mean, you go your entire life thinking there isn't any life out in the stars and suddenly you find out that you're entire family is made up of aliens. How do you go about explaining something like that?"

"I understand-!"

"And you know what's worse? Thanks to the High Breed invasion I couldn't get to know you."

Whatever Gwen was about to say died right there, on her lips.

"Ben started to realize his powers around the time Max disappeared, so I had to help him get some control over them in time for the invasion. Sure, the Omnitrix is blocking his full potential, but he can still use some of it. And it was great because I could actually talk to my own grandson. Sandra and Carl did a pretty good job raising him.

"But thanks to all that I couldn't get to know you. I can't talk to Ken because he's normal and all this alien business would overload him, but I could have, I don't know, talked to you over coffee or something. Jesus Christ I'm bad at this!" he broke off, as if to scold at himself. He then sighed and went on.

"Anyway, from what I do know about you it seems you have a good head on your shoulders. You'd have to, to keep Ben alive for all those years." Gwen had to smile at that. It faltered though, as Phineas continued to talk.

"I just wish I could've gotten to know you before tonight," he went on, sounding grief-stricken. "You have no idea how much I regret that. And I do love you, like you were my own flesh and blood. I just wanted you to know that."

Gwen wanted to say something, anything, but the words were dying in her throat. She wanted to tell him that they might as well have been flesh and blood. She wanted to say, "I love you," to him too, but it wouldn't be the same. She didn't know him as a grandfather, it'd be too weird. But from the way he was going on, it didn't seem like he…

"Tell Ben I love him, okay?" And Phineas ended the phone call. She stood there, gripping the phone, seething. It wasn't fair! Ben got to know this whole different family while all she got was a short message. No matter how heartfelt it was, it didn't compare to actually getting to know someone.

"Tell him yourself," she muttered. She tossed the phone at her cousin.

"What'd he say?" Ben asked concerned. But Gwen wasn't listening. She stood over the edge of the hole.

"Gwen?" Sam asked, alarmed. But she was too far gone.

She had dived right into the rabbit hole.

The next chapter is probably going to go up tomorrow or the next day. Stay tuned!