Chapter One: Never Park in a No-Parking Zone
0.o.0
101 degrees, the hottest day of July.
It was mid-summer. Almost every person grabbed their swimsuits and escaped the scorching heat to the beach for a cool soak or kayaking. The sun blazed mightily, forcing many to wear thin tops and Bermuda shorts. Heat waves slithered off the pavement, hot enough to fry a pack of eggs, even melt off soles. However, people carried on in the city; the middle age to their routine jobs, the elderly resting their old joints and the young rush to the arcade and malls with no care whatsoever, not even a moment to gaze up and wonder when the intense hot sun would calm down its great power.
If they had for a fraction of a minute on this hot day, they would have seen a silhouette in the sky, beneath the scorching sun.
The silhouette landed on the next rooftop and skated across, ready for the next jump. Had anyone below notice the teenager leaping over building tops, they would call the police or yell at her to get down.
But she didn't care.
School had long been over, summer giving her a chance to practice. Indeed, what she was attempting was dangerous that surely would scare the pants right of anyone performing aggressive skating.
Again, she didn't care about the consequences.
She was not only doing it for the fun but for the feeling.
Height was never a fear to her, considering the buildings were not too tall to fall from – as long as there was a reasonable landing spot. She knew every nook and corner of the city to plan out her risk-filled route. Stairs, alleyways, balconies and even canals are just challenging obstacles for the skater to jump around like an acrobatic monkey. As long as she did her moves correctly, there was little chance of injury.
Besides, she was wearing a helmet, wrist guards and elbow and knee pads. What could possible go wrong?
The skater leapt to the next roof and gathered more speed for the fourth jump in a row.
Then suddenly lost control.
"Whoa! Ahhh!" Soon after, she slipped and fell on her back.
Coldness, she felt it under her jacket. The skater sat up, withdrawing from the pain before she stared down through her goggles.
"Ice?"
The rooftop was covered in ice. In the middle of summer?
That was defying all laws of nature but skin touching the chilly plane told her it was real. She searched for its source but found nothing that could cause it to happen.
A gaze at her reflection and a tap of her fingers on the cold surface furthered her disbelief. She slowly struggled to get up, a few slips here and there but she managed to stand up.
"Whoa!" She slipped again. Still time, her front hit hard on the frozen water. "Ugh..."
Again she tried, just enough on her knees. Then she heard voices.
Strange voices. She could hear English words like "freeze" and "take over" but the rest were gibberish of some sort. The skater, slowly gliding across the ice on her knee pads, reached to the ledge and peered down.
Two men below her, hiding in the shadows of another rooftop as they discussed together in mixed nonsense and English.
The skater listened carefully and could not believe her ears when she heard the phrase, "human destruction".
"What?" she gasped softly.
"What are you doing here, young lady?"
She wheeled round swiftly. Standing behind her was a man in suit. Just a normal business executive with black hair. But there were something odd about his eyes, as if stoned and unnatural.
Before she would give an excuse, any reasonable excuse to why she was up on the roof, his smile curled up to his ears and his neck swelled up.
The skater freaked. She wanted to yell "what the heck?!" However, quick thinking urged her hands to grab the ledge – luckily not thawed in ice – and she leapt over.
Missing grubby hands grabbing hold of her feet.
Gravity pulled her down a height of five feet and she landed carefully on the next rooftop.
"Get her!" the man hollered from the rooftop.
The command was given and the two grown men dropped their conversation and surrounded her. Two against one seemed unfair.
Arms rose up and they charged to grab her.
"Level 7," she spoke softly and with a beeping sound from her skates, she vanished without a trace.
It was too late to realize the young intruder was gone as the two adults head-butted each other with a skull-cracking sound and fell on the concrete.
"Find that human!" their comrade hollered from above but by the time they stood up on their feet with no throbbing pain, there was no sign of the skater girl.
Several minutes passed and the skater reappeared, hurrying towards an apartment and slamming the door behind her.
She waited for several minutes before she collapsed on her rear. Her heart pounded like crazy and it took a while longer to be at ease. The blond-haired skater unbuckled her helmet off and yanked off her goggles to reveal blue eyes. She plodded her head on the door tiredly.
What were those men talking about in the first place? Well, at least they did not have a chance to follow her. Besides, she didn't hear much to be a threat to them, let alone understood what the heck they were saying.
But should she worry, the blonde wondered.
"Zoe, is that you?" Entered in the hallway was another blonde in causal top and pants – however younger than she was and had hair lighter than hers. "You're home early."
She crossed her arms.
"What did you do this time?"
Behind the skater's goggles, she was displeased at the girl's suspicion.
"Why do you always suspect I did something wrong?"
"Because you're my sister and you are that kind of person. What is it this time, a cop see you doing something crazy?"
"No, of course not," she protested, crossing her arms. "But it was more weird than crazy."
Her younger sister cocked up an eyebrow but she frowned angrily, knowing all too well she wasn't going to get much out of her older sister. "Fine, if you're not gonna tell me like you always do, then you're in charge of cooking dinner tonight."
"What-?"
"And I want my grilled fish extra crispy," she said and turned away to the living room.
The skater sighed. Most of the time, she would be 'forced' to do households for two reasons: her father was away on a business trip and her sister wasn't old enough to go near a hot stove. Nonetheless, she didn't mind the chores as long as they didn't take too much time from her pastime on wheels.
"Huh?"
Flashing green light caught her attention to her jacket. Pinned to the black and blue fabric was a black and green badge, blinking away frantically.
She had no idea it could do that. Then again, she had no clue what the badge was for in the first place. One day, her father gave it to her and told her to wear it at all cost. No questions asked.
Did she break it when she was running away from those men, she wondered.
"This day just got weirder," she uttered to herself.
And yet the day her badge started flashing - sending a coordinating signal to another – was the start of more weirdness to come.
0.o.0
The next morning, a green camaro exited Stainton Memorial Causeway and drove into Ocean City of Cape May, New Jersey. For a calling was what drew the passengers and its driver to the city close by the vast sea. It was not to visit a friend and take a dip in the cool water or to ride the striking Ferris wheel and other tourist-magnet recreations.
It was a search for a new ally.
"So what do you think this next Plumber Kid will be?" a young brunette asked, sitting in the front seat. Her light green eyes scanned the sunny scenery fill up with hotels, popular attractions and other buildings and a stretched sandy beach beyond them before her as her wandering thoughts of the teenager's appearance would be ran deep in her mind.
Short or tall, thin or fat, girl or guy, she wondered what the next kid would look like.
"Who knows. Probably some punk for all I care," the black-haired driver – the oldest among the trio – uttered as he gazed to the side mirror for any passing cars wanting to drive in front.
"Oh, come on. You have to be curious. We met a kid who can be Heatblast, another who could take people's lifeforce-"
"Don't remind me."
"All I'm saying is what this next kid's power could be."
"Well, if he is psychic and can make life a whole lot easier for us in finding the other kids, then I'm happy."
The brunette did not find that amusing and glanced over the passenger seat. "Ben, what do you think?"
A fifteen-year-old brown-haired teen sat at the back. His green eyes locked on the small circular device projecting a holographic map where in the centre blinked a green dot.
Ben Tennyson strayed away for a minute to answer the brunette's question. "Well, we are going to meet him so it's obvious we'll find out what his power is." His eyes went back to the device. "Should be easy to find him."
Gwen frowned. Sometimes, she wished she was not the only girl in the company of her cousin and a guy who visibly had a crush on her.
It was not long before they entered the busiest part of the city, the location of the dot in the holographic map pointing them to.
"Heh, been a long time since I was here," said Kevin with a smirk.
"You've been here before?" Ben asked.
"Of course, this was where I got this baby," he replied, patting the steering wheel like it was his pet.
"Really? I kind of figured you found it in a junkyard."
"Push it and I will dump you in one."
Gwen sighed. She hoped that the number would move up to four with a girl she would have a longer chat with on these trips. Presumably, this next Plumber Kid would be one to talk to.
"I think we can look for him on foot," she suggested, seeing the dot on the map was some kilometers away from them. No point in staying in the car if the person they were seeking out could be inside a building
Had it been a trip to relax on the beach, this would be an ordinary day. However, this was the road in searching for fighters to recruit against extraterrestrial beings and every day was never an ordinary day to them.
That day, they were obliviously unaware of a figure jumping swiftly from roof to roof not too far away from them.
Kevin reversed the vehicle at the side of the road, dismissing the no-parking zone sign standing on the pavement.
"Kevin, you shouldn't park here," Gwen warned.
"So? I just get another ticket. No big deal," Kevin droned.
The figure skated closer and closer to them until at the last roof, she cautiously but quickly jumped down to a balcony and took one great leap off to drop down one story as graceful as a bird preparing to land after its long flight.
She spotted the camaro in the no-parking zone and her eyes popped wide behind her orange goggles.
"Besides, what could happen?"
THUNK!
The car shook heavily, giving a fright to the trio as the figure crashed on the bonnet of the vehicle and plopped onto the black-tar ground.
Gwen's first thought was a dead body had been thrown from above. Kevin shouted out "What the hell was that?!" as Ben threw open the car door and looked at the fallen character.
He observed the person on the ground, who was a blonde – a year older than he was. She was dressed in Capri pants and an orange top under a black and blue hooded jacket with a logo of a blue jay printed on the back. She was heavily protected by gloves, knee pads and elbow pads. The young girl also wore black skates, a perfect size each.
However, there was something odd about them. And where did she fall from?
She got up slowly, feeling every part of her internal pain. Damage to her skull was thankfully prevented by her black helmet so there was no concussion.
Just a lot of agony.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ben cried out.
An escaping groan assured him she was fine. No broken bones present but fine and aching everywhere.
"Where the heck did this car come from?" the blonde mumbled.
Kevin exited out, wondering how hard she hit herself but at clear sight of a deep dent on the bonnet, an impulse of anger took over him.
"You busted my car!" he yelled hotly.
The skater didn't listen. She took a quick moment to look over her shoulder. Down the pavement speeded young skaters of all sorts and sizes, riding past them.
"Shoot!" She skated off onto the pavement and pursued after them.
"Hey!" Kevin shouted. "You're not getting away that easy!"
Ben hurried to the back before Kevin jumped in, wheeled the vehicle around and slammed the pedal hard.
"Wait! What about the Plumber Kid?" Gwen questioned loudly.
"We can find him later!"
It was a tense chase. The skater aggressively skimmed to catch up to the other skaters, ignorant of the car behind her bypassing others on the road. She was more focused on trying to get ahead rather than be left behind in the dust.
One skater realized she was gaining speed.
"Oh no, you don't! Not this time!"
He swayed his wrist-guarded hand at her, attempting to shove her off.
However, in a surprising instant, she swung herself around her rival and missed his attack in the process. He cursed through grounded teeth, half at himself for not slowing her down and the other half, the hasty act on skate wheels got her in front of him.
"Did he just try to hit her?!" the brunette cried.
"Most importantly, how did she do that?" said Ben in awe.
The car finally caught up to the skaters. Kevin rolled down the window and shouted, "Hey! I said stop!"
Behind her goggles, she raised an eyebrow, wondering what on earth he wanted her to stop. The blond-haired skater had no time to come to a halt for them and made a sharp turn - despite the fact that she and the other skaters were heading to a set of stairs.
"Hey!" Kevin hit the brakes hard. Now he was really mad.
He jumped out of the car and darted towards the direction of the skaters, the Tennysons followed after him.
Ben's eyes widened as he watched the skaters leap onto the stairs' railing one by one and slid down easily. He had seen this move before, performed by boys on skateboards and roller skates back home.
When the trio climbed down the stairs, they were immediately stopped by a voice hollering through speakers aloud.
"And the winner is none other than Zoe Reid!"
Cheers exploded from crowds of young adolescents far and wide, in a wide open skatepark. Everyone's attention was to the skaters – a few of them dropped on their knees in exhaustion – while most of the audience went to the blond-haired skater, slightly affected by tiredness from the street racing.
A border drawn in chalk representing the end of a competition was far from her skates. The skater had crossed it a minute ago.
"Once again, the renowned Blue Jay has beaten the challengers for the trillionth time! Excuse me if I've lost count but no matter what, there is no one out there who can defeat her in aggressive skating, you boys and girls!" screamed a guy with a microphone in hand.
The cheers kept on going for the blonde but she showed no joy to her victory and skated off to a pack of four teens on skates, giving her pats on the back for her triumph.
"Now then!" continued the boastful announcer. "Next up are the skateboards! Ready your weapons, contestants!"
"Wait a minute...is this a race for extreme sports?" Ben asked, although no answer was given.
"Looks barbaric to me," Gwen uttered. "Why would anyone want to run around doing crazy stunts?"
Kevin, however, didn't listen and walked forward, no doubt to grab the blonde by the collar and demand payment for the damage of his car.
"Where are you going?"
"Where does it look like I'm going? That girl is going to pay every dollar she's got for trashing my car!"
"Kevin, we shouldn't be wasting our time with that. We've got to look for the Plumber Kid," she said.
"She's right," Ben agreed. "What if those DNAliens are in this city?"
"Didn't you guys even notice her skates?" Kevin exclaimed.
"What about them?"
"Those were alien technology."
In response, the two looked greatly surprised and took one long exanimation at the blonde's inline aggressive skates. They seemed like normal grey-framed black skates at first but a second check said they were not. Instead of four wheels, the blades rode on pairs of two. Under the buckles and at the sides flashed green neon light, coursing with unknown power.
"You don't think..." Ben did not continue.
"I don't think. I know."
Coming from an expert who once brokering weapons before joining the Tennysons, he had no reason to lie. After all, the blades before them were a dead giveaway.
She was another ally.
The chances of finding two possible fighters in one city were very unlikely but to them, anything out of the ordinary could happen.
Author's Note: Okay people! Chp 1 is up! Sorry I never posted for so long! Been stressed out on my game design work and with my 21st birthday pass and gone. Anyhow, I'd like to thank Benjamin Bradt in beta-reading this chp.
And my OC Zoe Reid has been introduced! XD If anyone is interested in what she looks like, check out the pic I did on her here: vickie-believe .deviantart .com/art/Ben-10-Alien-Force-Zoe-Reid-85243842 (note: please take away the space in between to get the url)
Currently I'm doing another but haven't quite finished it...anyway, hope you enjoy this new chp! Read and review!