Greetings, Ultras, and a Merry Christmas in a couple of days! As a special Christmas gift, here is the next chapter for The Ultra 10 Chronicles, Volume 3! I hope all of you enjoy it, and enjoy your Christmas celebration, or its equivalent!
Triggers for this chapter include five instances of choice language. The first is in the paragraph which reads, "Great, Neb sighed. Not only..." The second and third instances are in the paragraph which reads, "That is the dumbest..." The fourth is in the paragraph which follows the one that reads, "This looks like them..." The last is in the paragraph which reads, "I heard they were trying to go for..."
The soundtrack for this chapter is "Leaving California" by Maroon 5. I was showed it by a friend, and it's been my personal soundtrack these last two weeks, so it's the default soundtrack for the chapter. You can listen to it on youtube by going to /watch?v=Rfd6gP9uXAY
Enjoy the chapter!
The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 3: Storms Gathering
Chapter 67: New Friends
Inside the Null Void
Neb readied himself for what was about to happen. For the hundredth time, he checked the portable Null Void projector, seeing the twin lights shining on the side of the machine, indicating how many uses it had before it would need a core exchange.
"Two portals," Neb said out loud, unconcerned to whomever or whatever might hear. "That's all that I've got to use." It's not like the place was a teeming city. It was a seemingly endless void, extending out in every direction. Sure there were living beings here, probably thousands or even millions. But spread out over such a vast space meant that it appeared practically desolate.
He aimed the projector at a cliff wall on the small asteroid he was standing on. The projector powered up, opening up a portal up in front of him. Stepping through, Neb readied himself for a possible fight, ready for anything. But he was relieved to see himself all alone, appearing in the back alley of some town, somewhere on the globe.
"Looks like I'm still on Earth," he said to himself. He'd tried his best to stay close to where he was when he'd entered the void. Space operated differently between the two dimensions, and without a PLUMMER snake or tracking beacon, it could be incredibly difficult to exit in the same space that you'd entered.
Neb shoved the mobile projector into his pocket, making his way out of the alley and into the more populated parts of the city. Looking around, he made his way into a shopping mall, looking for anything that would help him place where he was at. Walking into an electronics store, Neb accessed one of the smart phones on display, immediately opening up the navigation app.
"Can I help you?" A worker asked, walking over to the teenager.
"No thanks," Neb replied as innocently as he could. "Just checking out this phone."
"That one's got the newest navigational abilities on the market," the worker commented, trying to pick up on a possible sale. "State of the art connection to the GPS satellites to provide real-time navigation anywhere within service."
"I see," Neb replied dryly.
"Great battery life on it too, so you'll never have to worry about it dying on you while you're out hiking or hunting," the employee continued. "Over twelve hours of continual use, and it has a lightning fast charging time."
"I see," Neb said, a little more forceful. He was trying his best to not draw too much attention to himself, but this acne-riddled, middle-school dropout punk was really pushing him.
"You know, I could hook you up with a sweet deal on it," the employee continued. "We're running a discount for new plans, which is already thirty percent off. But I could hook you up with an employee special, that doubles that to sixty percent-"
"Shut up!" Neb exploded his cool. "Just… shut… up!" Neb took a deep breath, steeling his nerves before speaking again.
"Sorry, I've had a rough day," Neb apologized with his made-up story. "I just got my phone stolen, and I have a pounding pain in my head, so I just need some quite please…" He looked at the employee with the most pained look he could conjure, which wasn't difficult when dealing with such lowlifes.
"Yeah, sure thing," the employee said, backing up away from Neb. "Just let me know if you need anything, I'll get you set up right." With that, Neb was finally left alone. He focused back on the phone, pinching at the screen to zoom out, trying to figure out where he was. As it turned out, he was still on the continent, but that was about it. Finding himself all the way across the country.
"Great," Neb sighed. "Not only do I have to find Newg and Grandpa, but I've probably got to make it all the way across the damn country to even find them!"
"Hey man, can I help you with something?" Another employee said, walking up to him.
"Pimple-face over there already helped me," Ben said, cutting him off. "And I don't need any more help." The employee nodded, taken aback at Neb's abruptness, and walked away, looking for some other customer to help. Neb sighed again, trying to think of a way to overcome this latest complication, while keeping a low profile.
"Using my watch will only attract PLUMMER attention," Neb muttered, still standing at the phone display. "And that'll attract Ben's attention. And without a plan or either Grandpa or Newg, I stand no chance against him. Not with his team backing him up." Again using the phone, Neb charted a course to Bellwood, seeing that it was over an entire day's worth of driving to get there.
"Sir?" An employee asked.
"I said I've already been helped!" Neb angrily answered, not even looking away from the phone display.
"I-I get that, but I just wanted to inform you that we're going to be closing in a few minutes," the acne-riddled employee from before said. "You're going to have to leave for us to close up." Neb sighed a long, exasperated sigh.
"Fine, I'll get a move on," he intoned. Walking out of the shop, Neb took a seat on a mall bench, trying to form some kind of a plan. He hadn't realized how long he'd been sitting before someone approached him.
"Hey, you alright?" A male voice asked. "You look like you have a lot on your mind?" Neb looked up to see the same acne-riddled employee standing in front of him.
"What's your problem?" Neb asked. "Why do you care?"
"My parents taught me that everyone's dealing with an entire universe of problems, all their own," the employee said, taking a seat next to Neb. "And as soon as you realize that, you can make friends with anyone you meet." Neb looked at the guy square in the face.
"That is the dumbest shit I've ever heard," he deadpanned. "Who the hell are your parents?"
"Chuck and Lou…"
"Ah, I'm not actually interested," Neb cut him off. "I just want to be left alone."
"Well the mall's closing," the employee said. "If you don't get a move on, they're going to kick you out."
"Whatever," Neb said, standing up. The employee followed suit, zipping up his hoodie. He looked awkwardly at Neb for a moment.
"What?" Neb intoned as soon as he noticed. "What's your problem?"
"Do you need a ride?" The employee asked. Neb shot him a confused glance, urging him to continue. "Well, you said you got robbed, and you don't have a phone. You came in looking at the phones, but didn't seem that interested in buying anything, or even in any deal I offered. And you haven't left the mall yet, despite it being late and closing down. So I'm guessing that you don't have a car either."
"Screw you," Neb bit back. He took a few steps away, heading towards the exit. However, this annoying employee followed him, talking as he went.
"I don't live too far away, even though I usually drive to work," he said, catching up to Neb. "So giving you a ride wouldn't be that big of a problem. Besides, I usually go get a smoothie from Mr. Smoothie's after work, so I'm not expected home for a while." As he said that, the guy got an exited look on his face.
"Dude, Mr. Smoothie's just came out with their new Pack-a-Punch Orange smoothie!"
"Yeah, smoothies… hard pass," Neb said. "Not a smoothie guy."
"That just means you haven't had a good smoothie from Mr. Smoothie's yet," the guy said. "Come one, I'll buy you one!" Neb grumbled.
"Come on, you can't turn down a free smoothie, can you?" He reiterated. Neb took a long, loud sigh.
"Fine, we'll try this new smoothie," he said. "But only to get you to shut up about it." The teenager grinned a goofy grin and led the way over to his sedan.
"My name is Eugene, by the way," the teenager said. "Eugene Richardson."
"Really?" Neb asked. "What kind of a name is Eugene?"
"A perfectly good, family name," Eugene huffed. "What's your name, smart-aleck?"
"Neb," the boy replied.
"And you're making fun of my name?" Eugene shot back. "Whatever, dude." The teenager started up his car, quickly pulling out of the carpark, driving towards the nearest Mr. Smoothie.
Onboard the Guardian, two days later.
"Hey, Gwen," Julie called out as Gwen walked past their makeshift medical bay. Gwen turned around to look at her friend.
"What's up, Julie?" She asked. The girl had a little bit of a confused look on her face.
"Did Ben seem a little off to you?" Julie asked. "Like he was taking the whole thing with Neb a little too intensely?"
"Well, he took it pretty personally," Gwen replied, unsure where Julie was going with the line of questioning. "But that's kind of his MO."
"Yeah, I get that," Julie said. "But I keep thinking about him trying to track down Neb himself, without the rest of the team. That, along with him not checking in with Cooper or I since leaving several days ago with Kevin. He also said something about not calling him by his name. He only wanted to be referred to as Ultra…"
"He told me that he was just worried about someone hacking our comm links," Gwen replied.
"Yeah, about that… Ben should know that Cooper's been upgrading the encryption for the comms almost continually over the last year," Julie said. "The way he broke into the PLUMMER badge without even breaking a sweat should mean that his encryption is far above the PLUMMER's encrypting ability."
"So?" Gwen questioned.
"So… doesn't he seem to be a bit paranoid about worrying about them, especially when we just took down the biggest threats to infiltrating our comm links?" Julie asked. "He didn't even want to be called by Ben when the comms were turned off."
"Being cautious has protected us in the past," Gwen replied. "It seems like the best process going forward as well. Especially as we don't exactly get a resumé as to what our next bad guy's talents are." To that, Julie nodded understandingly.
"You're probably right, I'm probably just worried over nothing, He's probably just stressed out from fighting Neb, and just trying to save the world all by himself again," she said. "Thanks for helping me dispel some concerns, Gwen." Julie turned to head back into their medical bay.
"How's the new girl anyway," Gwen asked. "I didn't hear how she recovered since we showed up to fight Neb." To that, Julie's countenance brightened.
"She's a ball of energy," Julie said, turning back to Gwen. "Well, a ball of mud really. But she's really interested in how everything on the ship works. Come on, I'll introduce you to her!" Gwen matched Julie's smile as she followed her into the med bay, and toward's Lucy's area.
"Hey Lucy," Julie asked for the girl when she entered the room. "I wanted to introduce you to Gwen…" From the corner of the ceiling, a large puddle of mud dripped down, spatting on the hard floor. Quickly, it took the form of a human, still retaining it's purple-brown color, at least until she was fully formed. Then, like magic, her clothes, skin and hair changed colors, making them look more real and human. In a moment, a teenage girl with blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes was standing in front of the two members of Team Ultra. Immediately, her eyes went wide with excitement.
"You must be Lucky Girl!" She squealed, barely able to control herself. "You're even more gorgeous in person! I have SO many questions for you! How did you come up with your costume? And what about your name? How'd you decide on Lucky Girl? OH! Your eyes are so green! They look so gorgeous! I decided to have blue eyes because I love the color! That, and we don't have anything naturally blue at home…" The girl's rapid-fire questioning caught Gwen off her guard. She stood there in stunned silence, waiting for her to breathe, but she just continued like a freight train.
"Do humans get to pick their eye color too? Oh, Ultra 10's eyes are green too! Did you pick them to match? Is it true that you're dating Ultra 10? There's SO much about you two on the internet! Ooo, what's the official couple name? I always liked Lucky 10, but Ultra Girl or Ultra Lucky are SO popular too! Wait, where's your spell-book? And does it have anything to do with the charms on your waist? Where'd you get them from? Can you cast magic without them? Are you an alien too, or are you just a magical human? When did you start being a hero? Did you always know Ultra 10, or did you meet him when you started dating…"
"Woah, easy there," Gwen finally spoke loud enough to get the girl's attention and cut her off. "I can't even think, let alone answer all of those questions." Then realization crossed her face. "Wait, you heard that I was dating Ben?!" Lucy nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Yep, it's all over the online forums! Lucky Girl dating Ultra 10! People love the idea! Well, first of all having heroes to protect them… But even more than that, they love the thought of two heroes dating! They don't even know where the two of you showed up, and they don't care! Well some of them do, but most people are just so excited for the sparks to fly!" Lucy rapidly answered. "There's even been debates over the best couple names! I like Lucky 10 the best, but I think the most popular one right now is Ultra Lucky! Wait, you said his name was Ben? Ben and Gwen? That's so adorable! Oh, I just had the best idea! You two should match your suits! That way, everyone knows who you're dating! I just know that it would blow up online!"
"We're not dating," Gwen got out, silencing Lucy immediately. Immediately, she got a crestfallen look.
"Oh," she said, the first word out of her mouth not spoken at a thousand words a minute. "Like… you're not dating him now, or you're not dating him ever?"
"I… um, er…" Gwen stumbled over her words. "I'm… we're… just not dating."
"But you two literally make the perfect couple!" Lucy wined. "Even your names go together! Ben and Gwen! You can't tell me that doesn't make it absolutely adorable!"
"You can't be sharing our names publicly!" Gwen shushed her. By this time, Julie had slipped away, leaving Gwen alone with this crazy girl. "You're not even supposed to know our names!"
"Oh, no worries!" Lucy reassured Gwen. "I would never tell anyone! I understand how important anonymity is! I would NEVER post it on line, or tell anyone! That kind of secret just makes it better! But you still can't tell me that your names don't have the perfect ring to them! Ben and Gwen! Even Ultra 10 and Lucky Girl have so much potential as a couple name!"
"We're not dating," Gwen reaffirmed. "So you'll just have to drop it, alright?" Lucy nodded.
"Alright, you win…" she concluded. "I'll drop that. But what about my other questions? Do I have to drop them too? Because…"
"How about a question for you?" Gwen interrupted. To that, Lucy excitedly nodded. Gwen had to think of a question for a moment. "What even are you?"
"I'm a Lenopan," Lucy quickly answered. "It's an alien species from Lenopia. Well, alien to you. Not really all that alien to me. We're made out of an organic mud-like compound. I can control it by altering my density at will. That's how I'm able to pass as a human so easily! I'll bet that I fooled you with how human I can seem, right?"
"Uh…definitely," Gwen sarcastically replied. "So what are you doing here on Earth in the first place?"
"Well," Lucy seemed a little reluctant to talk for the first time since meeting Gwen. "That's a long story. The short of it is that I'm not really the most popular of muddies on Lenopia."
"What, they didn't like your hair or something?" Gwen asked. "Can't you change it?" In response, Lucy changed her hair to resemble exactly like Gwen's, before it resumed it's previous blond look.
"No, as you can probably guess, looks don't count for a whole lot on Lenopia. If someone doesn't like how they look, they can just change it. Besides, this is just my human disguise," Lucy replied. "Instead, they don't really like the fact that I like humans on Lenopia."
"Are there humans on Lenopia?" Gwen asked, confused, to which, Lucy shook her head.
"Not usually. Lenopia has been in a war with the PLUMMERs for generations. It's a pretty bitter rivalry that they've got going on. A few of us just don't care about the war anymore. Even if it started for a good reason, it's just an endless grudge match at this point. The PLUMMERs attack us, we attack back. That prompts another PLUMMER attack, which in turn prompts another retaliation. All the while, PLUMMERs and muddies die, and it doesn't do any bit of good for anyone."
"That doesn't seem like a bad opinion to hold," Gwen offered. "But why are you here on Earth?"
"Well, Lenopans are pretty proud of their traditions," Lucy said. "To many of them, telling them how pointless the war is, is as bad as saying that all the generations of Lenopans died for nothing. And actually empathizing with the PLUMMERs is as bad as being one. So that's why I got ran off of Lenopia. I thought where better for a shape-changing Lenopian hide than where of us wouldn't dream of going to."
"You take the PLUMMER's side in the war against your people?" Gwen asked.
"Not really, I just think that the whole war is pointless," Lucy explained. "But to my family, that means that I sympathize with the PLUMMERs. So here I am."
"Here you are," Gwen agreed. "Well, it's been great getting to know you, Lucy, but I've got somewhere to be."
"Oh, I can come with you!" Lucy excitedly offered.
"Thanks, but…" Gwen started.
"As much as I enjoy staying on the ship, and I love staying on this ship," Lucy said without an ounce of sarcasm. "It would be SO much more exciting to go with Lucky Girl on a patrol of the city, or to stop a robbery or something!" With that, Lucy morphed her appearance, taking on the form of Lucky Girl in her costume.
"Stop there, thief! In the name of justice and the American way!" Lucy giggled to herself in Gwen's voice. Instantly, she morphed her appearance again, this resembling a middle-aged man with a mask over his face.
"What are you going to do to me, Lucky Girl? Turn me into a newt?" She said in a much deeper voice. Then she morphed back into her Lucky Girl impersonation.
"Preposterous!" Lucy mimed. "What do you take me for? Some two-bit illusionist?"
"Lucy!" Gwen shouted louder than before, finally getting the girl's attention. "Please stop." Lucy got an embarrassed look on her face as her clothes and skin melted back into her own human form.
"Sorry, I get excited sometimes," the girl apologized. "I forget that I'm with people."
"Come again?" Gwen asked, confused by her answer.
"I don't really have that many friends," Lucy confessed. "Well, I do have my cousin Camille… and Joel."
"Who are they?" Gwen asked.
"Camille is my cousin. She is the one that brought me to Earth in the first place. And Joel is her fiancé. They kind of take care of me. Well, used to at least. Now I mostly just take care of myself."
"You don't have a family?" Gwen asked.
"No, I do," Lucy quickly corrected. "I've got over thirty siblings on Lenopa, and Camille acts like a mom to me too! But I just don't really fit in back on Lenopa, and I don't really feel at home with Camille and Joel. So I just kind of do my own thing." Gwen sighed a long, exasperated sigh.
"Do… you want to come on patrol with me?" She asked. Lucy excitedly nodded her head. "Alright, then we've got to have some ground-rules. First, no more impersonating me… or anyone on the team. And second, you need some kind of a disguise, so people don't recognize you off of patrol."
"No problem!" Lucy said. She did a little spin, changing her clothing as she spun around. When she came to a stop, she was wearing a mask, as well as a suit that resembled Lucky Girl's leotard, only with it being a dark blue.
"Do you like it?" She asked, showing it off to Gwen. "I modeled it off of yours!"
"It'll do," Gwen admitted. "Come on, let's get to Bellwood." With that, she summoned the Arcamada Book of Spells, it appearing in her extended hands from a swirl of smoke.
"Wow!" Lucy gasped. "That was cool! I've seen videos of you casting spells, but it's so much cooler up close!"
"Wait, videos?" Gwen asked. Lucy nodded.
"Yeah! Most of them are kind of low quality and blurry. Like they're taken with cell phone cameras, but those are the ones of Team Ultra doing battle with Alex Animal or that creepy vampire dude, or Ultra's doppelgänger. There are a few high quality ones too. They're usually from you on patrol, rather than in battle, so there's not much magic being done."
"Why did I offer to let you go on patrol with me?" Gwen asked herself, rubbing her eyes in annoyance.
"Don't worry, I'll be the best sidekick you've ever had!" Lucy reassured her as Gwen started to open up the portal to the streets of Bellwood.
"No, you're not going to be a sidekick," Gwen cut the thought off. "This is a one-time deal. Then I'm dropping you off at your cousin's place. That's all that's going to be happening." With that, Gwen and Lucy walked through the magic portal, emerging in one of the dozens of neighborhoods of Bellwood.
Several blocks away, behind Fezzeck's Gyro Emporium
"Are you sure that they're coming?" Ben asked Kevin.
"Positive," Kevin replied. "These guys are gold for us, if we're really wanting to put an end to the crime around here."
"I still don't know how helpful a bunch of former thugs would be to us," Ben admitted. "I mean, yeah, people can change, but they rarely do."
"Haven't you been aware of some of the gangs around here?" Kevin asked. "There's several of them that are acting as vigilantes under your name. They're trying to stop the crime in the neighborhoods, rather than instigate it. All we need to do is give them a little direction and motivation. Keep them from fighting each other, you know what I mean?"
"In theory, sure," Ben said. "But when does it ever seem to be going our way in reality? It always seems to get worse and worse. Even the city. More crime, more destroyed buildings."
"And this is going to help stop that," Kevin reiterated. "At least wait until after you see how they respect you." Across the street, two suburbans pulled to a stop, and several rough-looking people emerged, heading over to where Kevin and Ben were waiting.
"This looks like them," Kevin said, jumping off of the dumpster he'd been sitting on. Ben stood up from off the ground, brushing his cape off of the dirt it had accumulated over the last several days.
"Oh shit," one of the rough-n-tough guys swore. "It's really him! You weren't lying at all, Sparks!" The rest of the gangsters excitedly crowded around the two teenage heroes.
"Sparks?" Ben questioned.
"That's the street name I went by before I faced off with you," Kevin explained. "Decided to keep it for some street crew with these guys."
"Is it true?" One of the gangsters asked, breaking up Ben and Kevin's conversation. "That those PLUMMERs aren't our friends?"
"I heard they were trying to go for world domination or some shit," another gangster said.
"The PLUMMERs are like a galactic police force," Kevin said over their chatter. "But like any police force, they don't have the power or resources to actually take on the everyday criminals. Criminals that prey on the innocent people of the city. The crime that actually affect the everyday people of Bellwood."
"That's what we've been fighting against," one of the thugs said. "Following Ultra 10's example. We're taking the law into our own hands, and stopping the scum." Kevin glanced at Ben smugly. Ben sighed.
"Thank you for stepping up and fighting the crime in the city," Ben said. "But it's not enough for you to be disorganized and acting alone. You need to work together… We need to work together."
"What do you want us to do, Ultra?" One of them asked.
"Organize patrols around the city. Use radios to communicate with each other too. If we're going to catch my doppelgänger before he wrecks havoc on the city again, we need eyes and ears everywhere," Ben said. "Sparks and I have been altering some radios for you all to use." Beside him, Kevin picked up the grocery bag he'd kept the altered radios in, and passed it to the apparent gang leaders.
"Together, we can stop the crime in the city and punish anyone that dares to prey on the innocent and helpless."
"We'll alter more radios as we can acquire them," Kevin assured. "But we don't need the radios to make a difference. The police tried to arrest Ultra, the PLUMMERs too. Don't trust them. We can take the law into our own hands, and deal out better justice then they can."
"How are we going to know who's on our team?" One of the gangsters asked. "I mean, if we get in a scuffle, how do we recognize each other?" That threw Ben off guard for a moment, not really thinking that the gangs were interested in much more than surveillance for Team Ultra.
"We've got to come up with a name," Kevin answered after a moment of silence. "And a sign to know each other by."
"As of now, you're no longer a member of whatever gangs or groups you were previously," Ben decided. "You're Deputies of Ultra 10's Law. That is your name, and a "DUL" will be our signifier." To that, the men cheered.
A/N:
That's it for this week, probably next week too! I am working on several side projects along with this Volume, so my updates will definitely not be weekly as I've tried to maintain in the past. But I will still be working on it actively, as well as responding to PM's, etc. as I have been. What were your thoughts about Neb's new "friend?" How about Lucy's interaction with Gwen and Julie? She's definitely a ball of energy and excitement, something that could drive Gwen up the wall. In this volume, it doesn't appear that Lucy is a cousin to the Tennyson's, but that may change, given Joel's possible relationship with the Tennysons. What are your thoughts about the group that Kevin and Ben are beginning to organize? Could they help them, or will it backfire? What route is Ben about to head down? Leave your thoughts in a review, and don't forget to follow and favorite! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome holiday!
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