Chapter 79: Captain America Style

What do you mean late Thursday night isn't the middle of the week, it totally is. Well, I think it is. Shut up.

Okay, so, I'm not totally happy with this chapter, mainly because of all the mood whiplash going on. It's supposed to be that way, but I don't think I did it correctly. Didn't help that I wrote a third of this chapter while running on coffee fumes.

Anyway, I finally got this posted, so on with the chapter!

"Okay, so how is this going to work?" Kevin asked, holding up the shield in his hands. Said shield belonged to one Sam DuBaer, though she hardly used it. Then again, she didn't use a lot of the charms on her bracelet.

"Well, I figured that you could absorb the metal and maybe use it to form your body parts into different weapons, like an axe or a hammer," Sam explained, tapping her fingers on the table. "I know it sounds like something out of sci-fi, but then again, we're both living in a sci-fi movie, so why not?"

"True," Kevin conceded. His brow furrowed a bit. "I like the idea, but I don't see how it would work. I mean, I'd have to completely meld my bones and muscle together to make a hammer out of my hand." He put down the shield. "I don't know. I mean, I can accept a lot of things, but this honestly seems a little out there."

"Isn't it just another form of matter manipulation, though?" Sam pointed out. "You can absorb common metals and turn it into armor, or you can turn certain body parts into the material you just absorbed. I don't see how this is any different."

Kevin thought for a moment. "You got a point there," he conceded. "It's worth looking into at least." He set the shield on the countertop and put a hand on it, eyeing the dark color of the metal. "What kind of metal is this made out of, anyway?"

"The weaponry of our enemies," Sam answered in a dry tone. Kevin shot her a look, which she returned with a shrug. "I'm not joking. That shield and many more like it were originally swords and armor from enemy forces. Instead of keeping them for museum pieces, the Immortals decided to smelt them into new weaponry. Recycling is important, you know," she added with a sage nod that seemed downright mocking.

Kevin gave a slight nod of agreement. "And it adds insult to injury. Brutal."

"That's the way we like it."

Suddenly a door materialized inside the messy garage, a green one with an angel-devil wing design on it. It slowly opened, and out tumbled Gwen, Evan, and Carter into an ungraceful heap.

"Oh, did they get those doors fixed?" Sam asked, ignoring the groaning of her friends.

As the doorway disappeared, Carter stood up. "Not really," she said, rubbing at her sore arm. "Something's still interfering with it. Only now, instead of the doors appearing in weird locations, the highways are suddenly shaking."

"Isn't that really dangerous?" Kevin asked, alarmed.

"It is, but the shaking is minimal and only happens a few times a day," Carter replied dismissively. "If you're a Slayer, you can handle it."

"I'm not a Slayer and I cannot handle it," Gwen moaned as she slowly stood up. Her face was tinged slightly green.

"I am and I could barely handle it," Evan said, sitting down and putting his face in his hand. "That last quake felt like a rollercoaster."

"Well, no wonder you couldn't handle it," Sam pointed out. "You hate rollercoasters."

"Only on a full stomach," he protested weakly.

"Anyway," Kevin interjected, "what was so important you had to risk getting thrown off a shaking subspace highway?"

Evan quickly deposited the item onto the countertop- specifically, the shield. "That's why," he said, gesturing to the severed hand with the Omnitrix attached to it.

A beat. Two.

And then Kevin burst out laughing.

"Dude, this really isn't funny," Carter snapped at him as the older teen held his stomach and leaned against the wall. He continued to laugh despite calming down long enough to apologize.

"Sorry, sorry! Okay." He stared seriously at the severed hand, his face into a tight grimace. The hand twitched. He averted his gaze and burst out laughing again. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he finally said, "Okay, I'm done."

"I really hope so." Sam eyed the hand, leaning away from it slightly. "This is fucking weird."

"Tell me about it," Evan said feebly, his normally tanned face a pale shade of gray.

"We know its Ben's hand, I already tested it," Gwen told them, her skin tone already back to normal. "I just can't trace him. He can be anywhere. If he's even still…"

"He's alive," Carter stated, tearing her gaze from the hand and staring pointedly at Gwen. "His hand is twitching, so unless his body's getting electrocuted he's gotta be breathing somewhere. Besides, Ben's too stubborn to just lay over and die. He's probably somewhere fighting for his life. As usual," she added bitterly.

"Not to different from the rest of us, huh," Sam added acidly, crossing her arms.

"She's right, but that's not the only thing," Kevin added happily, pointing to the Omnitrix. "See that energy surge? Classic sign of dimensional displacement."

"So the rest of him is in another dimension," Evan simplified. He held up a fist and pumped it. "Woo-hoo."

"Same thing happened to me when I tried to use a refurbished personal force field belt." Kevin walked over to his car and popped open the trunk. "Spent three hours with my nose in another dimension."

"Which I then had to get back for you," Sam deadpanned.

"And I thanked you very nicely for it," he said smugly, which made Sam blush, just a little. "You never did ask me how I smelled, though," he added as an afterthought.

Her face paling and schooled back into its normal indifferent look, Sam shot back, "I already know how you smell, Levin. I didn't need the extra commentary."

"Let me guess: you got some junk in that trunk of yours you can mesh together to create some sort of device to bring Ben back," Carter said, raising an eyebrow.

"I do," Kevin said approvingly. "A retrieval beacon generator. Shouldn't take a second. Evan, Sam, you helping?" He went back to collecting items from his car trunk.

Evan, whose face had finally returned to its normal shade of color, stood up. "Might as well. It'll be faster that way."

Sam shrugged and got off her seat. "I would love to, but I don't think we have that long." A gray alien wearing red and black armor was flying near them on his hovercraft, giant axe in one hand. He stopped, eyeing the device in his palm, before suddenly looking up at them.

"Oh, this is wonderful," Kevin muttered caustically. To the others, he announced, "That's Sunder the Retriever."

"Wait, doesn't he deal in one of a kind artifacts?" Sam wondered out loud, her brows shooting up in realization. Kevin chose that moment to bring some of his toys over for the generator.

"Kevin, Evan, Sam, you stay here and try to bring Ben back," Carter ordered them. "Gwen and I will deal with Sunder." On that note, both girls ran out of the garage and turned to face the Retriever.

Just as soon as Gwen stepped outside, a giant axe was swung at her. Quickly forming a shield, Gwen was able to block his strike long enough for Carter to shoot icicles at his head. Sunder quickly fell back from the attack.

"You mind telling me where Ben is?" Carter asked in a tone that was almost conversational. Almost.

"Don't know, don't care," Sunder replied indifferently. He swung his axe again, only to have a mana shield once again block it. "I just want the Omnitrix."

"Why?" Gwen snapped at him. "Who hired you to take it?"

Instead of answering, the hunter flipped over her and landed inside the garage. His gaze instantly came upon the Omnitrix-

A large jagged rock erupted from the ground and hit Sunder squarely in the chin, knocking him backwards. The rock sank back into the earth. "You're welcome!" Evan shouted at them as he continued to help Kevin.

"Buy us some time!" Sam bellowed at them as she continued her work on the wires. Carter and Gwen shared a look, right before shrugging. Just as Sunder got his bearings again, an enormous mana blast swept right into him, knocking him headfirst into a light post.

Carter and Gwen quickly high-fived as the Retriever groaned and fell unconscious. And then Sam suddenly ran past them with chains in her hands. "Just gonna tie him up real fast," she called to them as she went to work on the hunter.

Carter eyed the oversized axe that had clattered a few feet away from Sunder before walking over and picking it up. It easily dwarfed her in size, yet she was able to hold it like it weighed nothing. "This could come in handy," she noted as she walked back into the garage.

"Okay, minor problem," Kevin said as two of the three girls walked towards him. "Sunder's not gonna stay down long and we can't build this thing fast enough."

"Well, we got two to three people working on it at a time, I think it'll go a little quicker," Evan said as he continued to work.

"True," Kevin conceded, "but either way we need to drag Sunder away from here. The farther away from us, the faster we can get Ben back."

Sam then walked into the room, dusting off her hands. "It'd definitely help us in general. I don't know who his employer is, but the fact that they bought off Sunder of all people means that we should get this guy as far away from us as possible."

"Exactly."

Carter set the axe down against the wall, away from any precious equipment or people. "Well, we could always find the device that sent Ben to an alternate dimension."

"We are not sending anyone to another dimension!" Gwen snapped at her.

"Yeah, that'd be pretty cruel, even for us," Sam pointed out.

Evan then perked his head up. Arching an eyebrow, he asked, "Does anyone else here that weird noise?"

"What noise?" Gwen asked, the five of them falling silent. There it was, a faint buzzing noise that was coming from-

"The axe?" Carter raised an eyebrow. "That's new."

"…Is it possible that's the reason why Ben's in an alternate dimension?" Sam asked hesitantly. "I mean, it'd explain the whole severed hand deal."

"But that'd be too easy," Gwen countered. "Nothing is ever that easy for us."

"She's right. Sunder's back!" Carter exclaimed, pointing. Everyone whirled around to see Sunder running at them, sans chains and with a thirst for vengeance in his eyes.

"I am so done with this!" Gwen shouted, sending another mana blast at his head. His face went sideways from the slap, and he skidded to the side momentarily.

"Of for the love of god," Sam muttered darkly. She quickly took up her shield and threw it Captain America style. In a perfect swerve the shield hit Sunder right in the back of the head, sending him pitching forward and heavily smacking his face on the ground. He laid there, completely still.

Sam walked over to his body, picked up the shield, and began smacking the back of his head with it. "Stay-the-fuck-down!" she cried with each strike.

"Mmmaybe Sam should stay on the offensive today," Carter told her friends, unnerved. She quickly ran back into the garage where it was safe.

Back in the Null Void

Ben quickly ran his way across the chasm, thankful that the thin strip of earth didn't suddenly give way.

You know, I'm surprised you remembered where your grandpa's lair was, Ventus mused inside his head. You were there only once? What, you got a photogenic memory or something?

Shouldn't you already know that? Ben snapped back right before he found the place. Pulling back the curtain, he said out loud, "There's gotta be something I can use to… get… back…" He faltered as he stared incredulously at the small red and orange monsters wreaking havoc inside the hovel.

"Really?" Ben muttered to himself, almost near tears. "Really?"

The monsters, despite not having ears, somehow heard him. They only hesitated a moment before throwing aside whatever metal they were trying to eat and pouncing on him.

Gritting his teeth and letting loose a strangled cry, Ben's hand fizzled with electricity. Jabbing his fist into one of their mouths, he let loose a bolt of energy down its throat. It let out one quick roar of pain before its body blackened and its corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Ben turned his furious gaze at the other creatures, eyes blazing blue. "WHAT, YOU WANT SOME?!" he roared at them before flinging a bolt of lightning in their general direction.

Back to Earth

It didn't take long for Sam to get tired of trying to bash Sunder's head in. It was much tougher than it looked; what kind of skin did the Retriever have anyway? Panting, Sam quickly turned the shield back into its charm form and trudged over to the others, where Evan and Kevin were holding up a makeshift dimensional gun that looked too sleek and silvery for it to have been made in some garage.

Sam gave the gun one look before looking Kevin straight in the eye and deadpanning, "Compensating for something?"

As Kevin spluttered indignantly, Evan took a better look at the generator he just helped create. "Huh," he uttered, blinking. "It does look oddly phallic."

"It's not oddly, it is phallic," Carter snapped as Gwen let loose a stream of immature giggles.

Blushing madly, Kevin hefted the gun up and spat, "Yeah, well, you'll be eating those words when I get Ben back!"

"Rather not eat anything right now, thanks!" Sam exclaimed with an obvious shudder.

He quickly aimed the gun at the severed hand and shouted, "Stand back!" A red and light laser was shot out of the barrel, hitting the hand and blinding everyone with its light. If that wasn't enough, the sheer force of the power surge sent nearly everyone flying backwards through the air, the thuds of bodies hitting and destroying bits of the garage discernable above the noise the gun was making.

As soon as it appeared though, the light quickly died down, and instead of a single hand, there was Ben Tennyson. His eyes closed and hovering in midair, he quickly gave a war cry and sent a spinning kick at the only person left standing- in other words, Kevin.

The gun knocked aside along with its wielder, Ben snapped his eyes open and shouted again, this time in a tone far more animalistic than before. Electricity sparking in his hand as he aimed for Kevin's head-

Only for a mana blast to slap him in the face.

Blinking, the lightning fell apart and he staggered back, taking in his new surroundings languidly. "Where did all the monsters go?" he mumbled, scratching at the back of his head.

Picking himself up off the floor, Kevin rubbed his aching shoulder where Ben kicked him. "You're back on Earth, dumbass." He gave him a reproachful look. "Next time, open your eyes before attacking someone."

"What?" Ben stared at Kevin before guilt and shame washed over him. "Oh- oh my god, I'm so sorry-"

Quickly clapping him on the shoulder, he said, "It's cool, dude." He gave him a small smile. "Must have been a scary dimension if you had to react like that."

Slowly, he nodded. "It was. The Null Void is always scary in some way."

"Glad to see you out of there," Carter told him gleefully, walking up to him and giving him a hug. Gwen and Sam followed suit, rocking the four of them side to side in giddiness.

"Happy to see you breathing, Benji," Evan told him, flicking his forehead playfully. The girls quickly let go of him, ready to get back to business.

"So, we've got Sunder knocked out and tied up outside, courtesy of Sam," Gwen noted, giving the girl a quick nod.

"I found this entire situation to be very frustrating," Sam explained sheepishly. "The walking severed hand did not help matters."

"I hear that," Ben agreed, the tension in his shoulders already subsiding.

"And apparently he wanted the Omnitrix," Gwen continued. "But then again, what else is new?"

"Tell me about it," he said with an eye roll. He held up his arm. "Well, at least I have it on me now." He turned to his hand.

It wasn't there.

Ben was still missing his hand with the Omnitrix attached to it.

The Omnitrix and his hand was back in the Null Void.

The sound Ben made was high-pitched and strangled and almost didn't pass for human. The look on his face was that of a man who was nearly broken, who had been tested by the universe far too many times and was completely and utterly frustrated with the meager rewards.

Evan eyed Ben's breakdown and instinctively hid behind the biggest thing in the room- so, Kevin. "I think Benji's done with today," he told them.

"I-I really don't blame him," Sam admitted nervously.

"Okay, but we got good news!" Kevin said hurriedly, his salesman smile plastered on his face. "We got Sunder's axe."

Ben stopped staring at his handless arm long enough to look at Kevin. "How is that good news?" he asked hoarsely.

"Energy axe plus Omnitrix equals dimensional displacement," Kevin explained. "It's simple to get it back: all we have to do is reverse the polarity of the thing that displaced it in the first place."

Carter picked up Sunder's axe and walked over with it hefted over her shoulder. "I guess it was that easy after all," she noted wryly.

"But it's never that easy!" Ben complained.

"I already said that," Gwen said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever, let's just hurry this up before Sunder wakes up again," Sam remarked, eyeing the open garage door. "I may have knocked him out pretty severely, but that doesn't mean he won't get back up."

"Seriously, what's his head made out of?" Evan muttered as he took the axe from Carter.

Suddenly Ben's eyes flashed blue, and his teeth sharpened into needlepoints. "Yeah, okay, hold that thought," he told everyone. "Something with claws is touching my hand." He quickly turned to Carter. "Back away, this is going to be a big surge."

All five of them immediately bolted to opposite sides of the room, jumping over and hiding behind anything that wasn't conductible. A bright flash of light erupted from the center, right where Ben was, reaching out and blinding them. If that wasn't enough, the resulting thunderous boom was nearly deafening. The scent of ozone permeated the air once the flash subsided and everyone's hearing returned to normal.

And then Ben started shouting, "Why does everything always have to be slimy?!" and everyone knew to take a relieved breath.

A few minutes later (after Ben had calmed down some), they were all at the countertop, Sam keeping a steady stream of laser where Ben's hand was supposed to be. "Wow, that gun is really-" he started.

"We know, we already ripped Kevin apart for it," Sam interrupted him, a sly smile on her face.

"Kevin made that?" Ben said, humor in his voice.

"Shut up and keep the beam fixed on Ben's arm," Kevin snapped at them, cheeks painted pink. "This shot has to be just right."

"And if it's not?" Evan asked curiously.

"Then bits of Ben gets scattered among multiple dimensions." When he saw the glare Ben was giving him, Kevin quickly amended, "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I can do this."

"Pretty sure?!" he exclaimed.

"Maybe I should do it," Carter pointed out, taking the axe from Kevin. "This seems like something that needs surgical precision."

"She is the granddaughter of two doctors," Gwen pointed out with a shrug.

"Wow. So much confidence. Much impressed."

"Will you just do it already?!" Ben exclaimed.

Carter took a deep breath and, using both her arms, hefted the axe right above the spot where she wanted. Moving the blade up and down to be sure, she heaved the weapon high over her head and swung down.

From where she struck, a tornado of pure red energy appeared, climbing higher and higher until it reached the ceiling. And then, just as suddenly, it shrunk until it disappeared, leaving only a hand attached to a body.

"It worked?" Carter asked flatly.

"It worked!" Ben cheered, holding up his reattached arm. "I'm back in one piece!" Everyone yelled triumphantly at that, hugging each other and jumping up and down in celebration.

Meanwhile

Dr. Chase walked over to the fallen form of Sunder and quickly examined his head. He gave a wince in sympathy; the hunter had received a minor concussion, which had to have been painful. Considering the vessel of Kirche had been the one to do it, not to mention his tough alien physiology, Chase figured Sunder got off very lucky.

Quickly getting out the giant metal slab, the doctor dragged Sunder towards the makeshift stretcher. He huffed and puffed- the Retriever was far too large, and it wasn't like Chase had any need to carry large things around, especially recently. He was relatively decent in hand to hand combat and weaponry, but that didn't mean he used his super strength all that much.

Thankfully, the teenagers were cheering loudly- no doubt Ben Tennyson had gotten his hand back. The experiment had been a failure, though Chase couldn't complain about the results. The boy was far too attached to the device, and the doctor could use that to his advantage. But now wasn't the time for that- he had to get Sunder's axe back and to get the Retriever to a proper hospital.

Suddenly, a voice called out from the garage, "Wait, hasn't Sunder been too quiet?" A second later, and six sets of footsteps hurried outside just in time to see Dr. Chase in gray clothes and armor, along with a gray mask that hid his facial features, lifting a fallen Sunder onto a metal slab. He was thankful that, even though his mask revealed his dark eyes and dark blond hair, no one was old enough to make the connection to him.

Eyes flickered from him to Sunder then back to him. "What do you think you're doing? Who the hell are you, anyway?" Evan Force snarled at him. The others got into some form of fighting position.

"Getting him to a hospital," Dr. Chase replied, smoothly ignoring the second question. "He's suffered a concussion, and as his employer it's my job to get him to safety."

Five of the teenagers turned to stare at Sam DuBaer incredulously. "I did not mean to do that this time," Sam stuttered, guiltily averting her gaze.

Chase chose that moment to disappear, only to reappear next to Carter Valentine. Taking the axe from her hands, he then flashed out of focus only to stand next to Sunder again. "Hey!" the girl cried out angrily, glaring at him.

"This doesn't belong to you," he told her in that same cold tone, holding the axe over one shoulder while placing his other hand on his waist. "And I wouldn't worry too much, child," he told Sam, "he only has a minor concussion. It'd take a lot more to seriously damage someone of Sunder's caliber."

"Never figured a bad guy would care so much for a mercenary," Gwen Tennyson scoffed, hands already glowing pink.

Dr. Chase rolled his eyes, not that they could see it. "He may prove useful to me in the future. I'd rather have him on my good side."

"So, what, you're just going to leave?" Kevin Levin scoffed. "You went out of your way to get the Omnitrix and now you're not even going to put up a fight for it?"

Chase idly examined his fingernails. "Well, it's not like I need it."

There was a sudden snapping sound, and Ben's eyebrow twitched dangerously. "You… you sent a mercenary after me," he growled, his teeth elongating into sharp fangs. "You got me sent to the Null Void." His green eyes turned sky blue, and his round pupils turned into slash marks.

"An unfortunate side effect I did not see coming," Chase replied idly.

"You… you put me through hell for nothing?!" Ben roared at him, shocking all his friends with the amount of sheer hatred in his voice.

"Well, I wouldn't say it was for nothing," the doctor replied dismissively, making sure they were all surprised at him this time. "I got some very interesting results from this experiment. Nothing conclusive of course, but still very useful for future endeavors."

"Oh, there's not going to be future for you," Ben said lowly, stalking up to him. Pure lightning was sparking from his hands, growing larger and larger with every step he took. "I don't need the fucking Omnitrix to take you out!"

"Ben, no!" Gwen cried out, ready to run to him only for Evan to hold her back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Kevin exclaimed, straining against the hold Carter and Sam suddenly had on him.

Chase simply shook his head. In a heartbeat a gun was in his hand, a small silver thing no larger than his palm. Without a second thought he fired it, aiming straight for Ben's heart.

Like an off switch the lightning fell apart, disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. Ben Tennyson staggered back, clutching at his bloody chest as his eyes turned back to green, a shaking, terrified green. His mouth was moving, words trying and failing to reach out and his throat closed in on him. Tears were spilling from his eyes as he fell to the ground, curling into a ball and silent whimpers wracking his body.

There was a beat of silence before his friends surrounded him. Sam DuBaer gave a roar and aimed fire at him, only to find that Dr. Chase and Sunder had disappeared. Honestly now, that was uncalled for. Chase had simply been helping them out.

They really should have been thanking him. He was giving them so many advantages, after all.

See what I mean about mood whiplash?

The reason why the Dr. Chase section has him using their full names is to show that he knows them now. Before, he only referred to Ben by name- everyone else was the Slayer or the Anodite or the Osmosian. But now he knows them.

And poor Sunder. DX I couldn't give him much a fighting chance in this chapter like I wanted him to. Oh well.

So, thoughts anyone?