I do not own the Ben Ten franchise.
Ben's revenge chapter. Hope you like it!
So Ben 10's tenth anniversary is coming up in December (the 27th, I believe) so I think now is a good time to start making plans for a special chapter. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to share.
Have a happy Halloween!
Halloween Revenge
"I am afraid I do not understand why we are here."
Ben paused from his browsing of the Halloween makeup to stare at his bemused friend. "What don't you understand?"
"Well, the entire concept of Halloween, for one," replied Rook. "But mostly I am confused about why you want to use this Earth holiday in an attempt to get back at Azmuth for what he did to you in April."
Ben held up a finger. "One, this is no attempt. It will work, because I know for a fact Azmuth knows next to nothing about Earth holidays. He's a supreme genius, but only at the things he thinks is important to know. Earth culture isn't too high on that list." He held up a second finger. "Two, I'm not using the holiday, per se. I'm using the stuff we associate with Halloween to help me out."
"Like?"
He reached out and snagged a red and black bottle from the store shelf. "Fake blood, for one." Green eyes swept across the aisle, in search for what else could assist him. "I have an idea of what I want to pull, and it's going to require Grandpa and maybe Gwen and Kevin to do some fibbing."
Rook crossed his arms. "What is this idea, then?" He could not help but be curious, as Ben was showing a level of enthusiasm and wicked glee that he was not familiar with.
Ben grinned. "Okay, I'm going to go missing for a week. Grandpa is going to call Azmuth, saying that no one can find me. Hopefully Azmuth will fall for it and use some super smart means to find me. When he does, he's gonna get a heck of a scare. I haven't quite figured out what the scare will be yet."
"I wish you the best of luck with your payback," replied Rook, expression amused. "I hope it goes how you want it too."
"Oh, it will." Ben rubbed his hands together gleefully. "It will."
"I will leave you to it, then. I shall wait for you in the truck."
"Okay. I'll try to be quick."
Rook left and Ben started to wander down the aisle, eventually stopping near the costumes. "Geez," he muttered, surveying the racks of Halloween costumes. "I keep forgetting that most of the monsters we think of as mythical actually exist somewhere in the galaxy." He wrinkled his nose when he spotted a particularly fake-looking werewolf costume. "These aren't going to work."
He didn't necessarily want a full costume. If he found one that sparked more inspiration, then he would take it. If he didn't, that was also fine.
"Come on, Ben," he said aloud, idly fiddling with the bottle of fake blood. "What else?"
His white-and-green Omnitrix flashed under the store lighting. Staring at it, Ben hummed in thought, the gears in his mind turning. Someone was always trying to take the Omnitrix. What if someone actually succeeded, in a rather vicious manner?
"Missing limbs," he said, a slow smile curling across his face. "Can't have Halloween without blood coating a fake severed arm or something."
But where would he get it? The Halloween props in the stores didn't look remotely real, so they wouldn't work. He would have to go to a specialist, someone who could hook him up with some mad horror movie makeup.
Ben grinned deviously as the final version of his prank fell into place. "Shouldn't be too hard to find a movie makeup artist willing to help me for free. I am Ben 10, after all."
…
Myaxx stepped off the elevator and onto the very top floor of Galvan Tower, which housed the chemical research facility. She crossed through the desk area and entered her code into the security pad, unlocking the thick steel doors that led to the impressive chemical lab.
The First Thinker himself was at a lab table in the back, carefully mixing a combination of two coloured chemicals. Knowing better than to just disturb him during such work, Myaxx stood off to the side, arms crossed over her chest.
Azmuth set his beaker over a low-flame burner and removed his safety goggles. "I thought I sent you to retrieve the data records for Compound #376."
"You did. But Max called before I could even take a step out of the room. He's on hold on the console in your lab."
Azmuth frowned. It wasn't often Max called, not unless it was important. "You," he said, pointing at a passing Galvan chemist. "Keep an eye on this."
"Yes, sir."
He started out of the lab with Myaxx following after him. "My lab," said Azmuth curtly as soon as they entered the elevator.
"Data records facility," added Myaxx.
The platform started its quick descent through the clear tube. Azmuth cast a glance at his assistant. "Did Max say what he wanted?"
"No. But he sounded kind of urgent. He wanted to speak to you as soon as possible. I said I'd see what I could do."
They arrived at the data records department and Myaxx stepped off. "Good luck," she said, and the platform continued downwards.
Azmuth wondered what was happening that would cause Max to need to speak to him so badly. He didn't think it was Omnitrix business, as his wielder tended to make contact whenever the slightest thing went wrong.
The elevator made it final stop, directly into his personal lab, and he stepped off. He went over to the console and clicked the flashing button. "Max."
"Azmuth! I'm sorry to disturb your work, but this is urgent. It's Ben."
His stomach dropped, so quickly it made him feel sick for a brief moment. "What's happened?" asked Azmuth, managing to keep his voice calm
"He went on a mission a week ago, to investigate a forest disturbance on the outskirts of Bellwood. I haven't heard from him since, nor has anyone else. I've tried tracking him, but I'm not getting a signal from his Plumber's badge or the Omnitrix."
Azmuth's brow furrowed. "What about his partner? Rook?"
"Rook is off for a few days to visit his home planet. I told Ben he should take a temporary partner with him, but he took off before I could set anything up."
Ire burned within the Galvan. "Of course he did. And you want me to teleport to his location to see if he's alright."
"I'd really appreciate it. I'm worried about him. If we can at least find out where he last was, we can send some guys out to search for him."
"Send me the mission report," said Azmuth in resignation. "I'll take care of it."
"Thank you, Azmuth."
Azmuth gave a grunt of acknowledgement before ending the call. "Stupid kid," he grumbled under his breath. "Always feeling the need to do things by himself. Probably got himself lost."
But there was a niggling feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him unsettled. Even if Ben was lost, he could use his Omnitrix to find his way. The chances that both the Omnitrix and his Plumber's badge were broken were possible, but even Ben was not that careless.
His personal tablet pinged, letting him know he had received a message. He picked it up from where it lay on the lab table and read through the brief mission statement that appeared on the screen. "Late-season campers were disturbed by a strange commotion Monday afternoon…witnessed a strange creature lurking in the woods…campsites were raided and destroyed…site shut down until problem is solved…investigation in process."
Azmuth set his tablet down, now more confused than ever. It was a simple enough mission, depending on what this 'strange creature' was. Ben certainly had handled worse.
Max is worried, and if he wants me to figure out where he went, then I am obliged to do so.
It certainly wasn't because he was worried for the welfare of his wielder.
He checked the coordinates in the mission report before typing them into his teleportation report. He pressed the button and soon appeared the dense forestry, the cool fall wind causing his flesh to prickle.
"Ben?" he called, and wasn't surprised when he didn't receive a response. He raised his remote again and tried locking onto the Omnitrix's signal. Nothing showed up, which also did not surprise him. Max hadn't been able to track the signal, and Azmuth used the same means as the Plumbers whenever he needed to.
However, the Plumbers were only able to track the signal the Omnitrix gave out. There were certainly ways of blocking the signal, if one was skilled enough to do so. But he had the ability to locate Ben by using his DNA signature, a means he only ever used if there was an emergency.
He adjusted the entry in his remote. The button glowed green, indicating that the boy had been located. He quickly pressed the button and was transported to a different section of the forest, where he was immediately greeted by a trail of blood.
His heart stuttered in his chest. No no no no no.
He stared at the dark red splotches, which disappeared into the treeline. Swallowing thickly, he slowly started along the trail, fearful of what he would find among the trees.
This is not happening. This is not happening.
He stepped across the forest floor and soon entered a clearing. He froze when he came upon Ben himself, sprawled on the ground. His face was buried into the dirt and he was covered with bloody scratches. But what made Azmuth's blood run cold was the realization that the teen no longer had a left hand-there was a bloody, fleshy stump in its place.
"Ben!"
Even as he dashed across the clearing to the boy's side, he knew there was no way the teen was alive. Azmuth had a death grip on his teleportation remote, fighting the urge to vomit.
This is my fault. Whoever did this wanted the Omnitrix. Since it won't come off unless Ben allows it, they must have…
He couldn't even finish the thought.
Azmuth pressed his hand over his face, struggling to breathe. What was he supposed to tell Max? The boy's friends and family? How was he going to live with himself knowing that the primary reason for the boy's death was because of his greatest invention?
I'm so sorry, Ben. I'm-
"Boo!"
Ben lifted his face from the ground suddenly, and the shout caused Azmuth to jolt violently. He stared uncomprehendingly into the boy's goofy, triumphant grin. "Happy Halloween!" he said cheerfully.
It was not long before the Galvan grew livid.
"Ouch!" Ben yelped, pressing his good hand against the spot on his forehead where Azmuth had just struck him. He noticed Azmuth reaching for the button on his teleportation remote and quickly plucked it from his grip. "Hold up! It's just a joke!"
Azmuth glared. "If I do not leave now, I will kill you."
"What, you can dish out pranks but you can't take them?" asked Ben, propping himself up on his elbows. He removed the fake severed limb and slipped his real hand through the sleeve of his baggier-than-normal hoodie. "I said I'd get my revenge for what you did in April, didn't I?"
Azmuth openly gaped. He had completely forgotten about that, and assumed somewhere down the line so had Ben. "This is not a harmless joke!" he hissed. "This is cruel!"
Ben was indigent. "Making me think I let the Omnitrix get destroyed was cruel! In case you don't know, you're extremely terrifying when you're mad."
"Then I can just imagine how scared you are right now."
The teen pouted. "Come on, I didn't get mad at you. Besides, it's Halloween. I got inspired."
Damn, Azmuth thought with inward ire. It was the Earth holiday known as Halloween. He didn't know much about it, nor did he keep track of Earth's fleeting calendar year, but he did have an idea of what the spooky holiday was about.
"Where did you get that?" he asked abruptly, pointing at the realistic looking prop laying carelessly beside the teen.
Ben grinned. "I got some movie makeup specialist to whip it up for me. He got some help from the prop guy and they came up with this. I figured I should add some injuries to make it really realistic. Pretty sick, huh?"
"If you mean sick as in disgusting, then yes, it is." Azmuth crossed his arms, his nerves finally calming down. "So your grandfather was in on this?"
"Uh-huh. He helped you with your prank, so it was only fair he helped me with mine."
Azmuth looked at the dark red substance surrounding the human. "That better be fake."
"It is," assured Ben. "I had to buy bottles of the stuff."
"It can't all be fake. My remote clearly locked onto your DNA."
He grinned sheepishly. "Okay, the first bit at the start is real." He extended his right hand to reveal a short thin cut on his palm. "I remember you saying that you could track me by using my DNA signature if you ever had to. So I figured if you couldn't find me by my Omnitrix or Plumber's badge, you'd find me that way."
Azmuth's eyes narrowed. "How did you disable the signal coming from the Omnitrix?"
"Well, Blukic and Driba may appear to be imbeciles, but they definitely are Galvans. They took care of it," explained Ben.
"You're a moron."
Unbothered, Ben handed back the remote, satisfied that his mentor would not leave in anger. "Maybe. But come on. You have to admit, I nailed this."
"I will admit to nothing," said Azmuth curtly. He glanced around at the puddles of fake blood and said, "You will have to clean this up."
"Yeah, I know." Ben rested his chin on the top of his overlain hands, a slight smile on his lips. "We good?"
"Ask me that three hours from now, when I've regained my senses completely," quipped Azmuth.
Ben laughed. "Fair enough. Truce?"
Azmuth's lip curled. "Since you seem to have no problems flying over the boundaries, yes. Truce."
"Cool." Ben sat up and removed his Omnitrix from his pocket, slipping it back on his wrist. "Guess I better start cleaning this stuff up now."
"Thanks for wasting my time," drawled Azmuth.
"Anytime," said Ben cheekily. He paused before asking, "Where you really that scared?"
His mentor gave him a withering look. "What do you think?"
Ben smiled. "Right." He stood up and walked over to the bushes a few feet away and removed a slim video camera from its hiding place. When he turned around and saw Azmuth's scathing glare, he defended, "What? I had to record your reaction so I could prove I got you!"
"Tennyson, I'm going to kill you."
