Chapter 4: Facing Fears
Tapping his feet against the floor, Ben swayed from side to side with utter boredom. The doctor read the items off the list before nodding to himself. He grabbed the separation of the bandages and untied them, slowly pulling them off and disposing of them in the trash. As soon as he was finished the doctor smiled at his work.
"Well you seem perfectly fine but I don't want you to strain your head again or the same thing might happen again. Stay off training or turning alien for a couple of weeks just to make sure you'll heal fine. I don't want that brain to get damage," He turned to Rook, who was sitting silently in the corner, and handed him a piece of paper. "Hand that to Max if you would. It's about Benjamin."
The doctor left through the door once he handed the note to him. Ben glanced over at Rook and looked down at the note. "What does it say about me?"
Rook looked down at the paper and opened it up, automatically scanning the paper. His eyes opened in shock and he glanced at Ben with fear. He abruptly stood up and rushed out the door, leaving the teen boy behind.
"Rook! What're you doing?" He heard Ben's worried voice call out from the hospital but the double doors he passed quickly cut that off. He needed to get to Max, fast.
Ben halted at the doors his partner had passed through and glanced down at his omnitrix, hesitating on using it to catch up with him. Was it worth the risk? Putting himself in more danger? He shook his head and rushed after his partner, careful with his newly healed head.
Once he had reached the Control Center he had found his grandpa and Rook talking, each with a worried, disturbed and stressed expression on their face. Ben wasn't honestly sure what to make of it, but he ignored it and rushed towards them.
"Rook, what the heck was that?!" He nearly shouted, glaring with anger at him.
"Forgive me Ben, I had to give the news to Magister Tennyson as soon as possible," Rook apologized.
He frowned and glanced at them equally with confusion, "What news?"
"The cause of your head-pained problems was not because of a concussion. It was because of a virus.. a disease that has awoken from hibernation and is slowly killing your body. It is a virus thought to be extinct named Extrivis Verticulious that has no known cure. But that was many centuries ago when technology was just being created. There is bound to be one.. the doctor is actually working on finding it. It's growth increases in warm temperatures and it spreads from the infected spot into the rest of the body and into the brain. A small sample actually entered your brain and caused that incident," Rook explained sadly. "It is the most deadliest virus in the known universe."
Ben's face paled and his legs began to get week. He collapsed but thankfully Rook had caught him in time. The Revonnahgander glanced up at Max who shook his head sadly, "Take him to a room upstairs and make sure someone's watching him at all times. I don't care if it's you or Gwen or Kevin. Someone needs to watch him. I'll go have a chat with the doctor."
Doing as he was told, he picked up the light weighted boy and traveled to the spare compartments upstairs. It wasn't a long journey but there were many Plumbers that passed by him and an unconscious Ben. They gave looks of sadness and went along their business.
As soon as they arrived and Rook tucked Ben into bed, he quickly called Gwen. Hopefully she would be able to 'sit' on Ben for a while.
"Hello?"
"Hello Ms. Tennyson, sorry to disturb you. But.." Rook glanced over at Ben, whom slightly whimpered from bed. "..we found news on Ben's injury."
"Really? What.. happened? Is it good news? How's Ben?"
He sighed, "Ben is fine. He is asleep currently. I was wondering if you would like to come over so we can chat about it. It is not right to tell you through the phone. You would.. not like it."
An abrupt, "I'll be there soon." And the phone went dead.
Rook walked over to a very crazed Ben, who spun around in his sheets for any comfort avail. He looked like a real mess, his body in a cold sweat and very pale-ish against the sand colored sheets.
He cursed himself for being so.. useless. This was the best known hero in the universe.. and he had been reduced to nothing but a shell. Ben Tennyson.. oh this wasn't him at all. This was someone else that had to suffer all this pain instead. His partner was gone and replaced with this.
He mentally slapped himself and walked out of the small room, shutting the door softly behind him. He shook his head once he closed it, almost thinking to himself that something bad was going to happen. As bad as Ben disappearing. It was nonsense but he felt like that was going to happen. Out of nowhere it would happen and he would have to suffer once again all because of Rook.
He glanced towards the door and shook his head, awaiting Gwen's arrival.
Things had looked up since his escape attempt. Magent had been pretty harsh on him, but he had expected that. The day after, people had looked at him sadly since there was a large reminder on his face. His face had swelled and he got a severe black eye, which hadn't healed until a month later.
The beatings had lessed from 10 a day to barely 1 if a guard left like it. He didn't get into anymore trouble. He didn't back talk. He didn't want anything to ruin his chances to go with Gagren and return home.
But that didn't happen.
No matter what Ben did to try and make himself look good so that he would get picked, it just went unnoticed. And during the day the prisoners were picked and they were again seated for the 'big' news, Ben had felt a small twinge of excitement. Even the large number of guards watching him, couldn't deter his eagerness.
He could remember Gagren on the stage, reading out the names on the small note card that had the list of slaves that were joining him. "..Xystu, Chrizio, and Rugtriz. If you are the ones I called out, please stay after so I can accommodate with you all."
And sadly, he hadn't been picked. Probably because of his big show a couple months ago that completely blew it for himself. And from then on, he had become depressed. Depressed about not leaving. Depressed about never seeing his family again. Many buyers had come to visit him during that time but at his state, many didn't want to buy this excuse of a hero. And this had also added to his depression. He wasn't ever going to leave this place.
Not thinking there was anything else to live for, Ben began to starve himself slowly, so that he would end peacefully. He didn't want to commit suicide, since his parents had made him promise no matter what he wouldn't resort to that. So from those long months, he had grown thinner, weaker and emptier.
He felt so weak..
Then an explosion in the distance.
He made no notice of it and looked back at the bland wall, which seemed interesting enough. He felt so dead.. useless. He saw prisoners exit in front of his cell but he didn't bother to go to the wall and scream out for help.. He couldn't either way.. He hadn't eaten for days and it was starting to get hard to breath.. probably because of the smoke outside.. Wait.. smoke?
And then a small knock on the door.
"Hello?" A pause. "Are you alright? We are here to help!"
Somehow Ben managed to glance over at the dark figure with the minimum energy he had. His eyes were beginning to close and he felt his breathing become slow.
"I am going to open the door," The door unlocked within a moment and the figure rushed inside. Ben was able to see it press a button on his suit and create a mask and slowly approach him. It picked him up quickly and darted out of the cell, towards the opposite direction of the explosions.
Ben's head had began to see black spots and he slowly began to lose consciousness. The last words he was able to hear was, "I have found another alien in the cell. I am running towards the opposite end of the ship."
His lips twitched into a smile when he realized one little fact. He wasn't going to die in his place.. he was going to die somewhere peaceful.. His dream had finally been fulfilled.
He was escaping the prison.
Jerking awake, Ben's eyes shot open, a hand on his chest. His breathing returned to normal eventually and his ears picked up a noise from the outside. He recognized it as Rook's and he grinned, jumping out of bed and rushing to his old partner.
The door to Ben's room was slammed open, which had nearly startled Rook and Gwen. They jumped in their seats each with a weapon; Gwen with her hands a dangerous pink and Rook whipping out his Proto-Tool.
Ben rushed to Rook and tackled him, nearly crying on him. "Thank you Rook!"
The Revonnahgander glanced with confusion at him and looked up at Gwen with a blank look. She shrugged with a choked laugh at the alien's attempts of affection.
Once he was able to get over his shock, Rook slowly wrapped his hands around the boy and stroked him gently. "If you would be kind enough, remind me what I did that has made you like this?"
Ben released from his hold and grinned right up at him. "I.. I remember you from a couple weeks ago. When you saved from that prison ship. I was going to die that day, no doubt. I.. I felt myself slipping away slowly and then you came and broke into my cell and helped me. I.. You saved me."
He hugged him once again. "I can't thank you enough."
Finally understanding all this random happiness, Rook smiled gingerly and nodded, "I cannot believe you actually remember that. You didn't seem conscious at the time of your rescue."
"I passed out once you started carrying me out," Ben looked away, "I felt.. safe. Like my whole goal had been accomplished once you saved me. The last thing I remember was you talking to some person through your badge."
"Oh yes," Rook glanced over at Gwen, "Is this a good sign?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. But we shouldn't get our hopes up. Ben's still hurt. Don't get to excited Ben, you'll over exert yourself."
Ben rolled his eyes, "Whatever Gwen. I'm just so thankful. I'm so relieved and.. I just can't explain it."
"Just do not hurt yourself. I want you to be alright," Rook said with slight worry at the boy's jumpyness. It wasn't good for him to overexert himself, even at his happy mood state. It was only going to make the virus grow faster.
The teen boy continued to mumble happily until a large crash echoed the building, setting off red alarms. Everything shook uncontrollably, forcing Ben to fall on his butt, and Gwen and Rook to hold onto the couch. After the shaking settled down, everyone managed to get to their feet.
"What's happening?" He asked, glancing over to his friends.
Gwen looked at a nearby siren. "Emergency alarm. Either someone's invading earth or us and I don't think it's earth that needs saving."
"Are you saying we are getting invaded? Who would try and enter Plumber HQ?" Rook asked, unlatching his Proto-Tool from his shoulder and waving it around.
"Who wouldn't?"
"You have a point."
"Can we stop chatting and go check it out?" Ben interrupted, excitement gleaming in his eyes. He was ready for anything to hit him; he hadn't been heroing for years. And at his stage, he could take on anything.
Rook frowned, "I do not think that is safe. You are still hurt, have you forgotten? We shouldn't risk it."
"I'm going to die anyway so what's the point?" He muttered, "I go heroing at least once."
"No point arguing with him unless you're planning hours of fighting. Just let him do it. It won't kill him," Realizing she had used the wrong words to express the situation, she coughed, "Uh nevermind. Let's go."
The trio journeyed to the lower level, where they had felt the shake originate from. As soon as they touched the main Plumber room, they all gasped at the sight.
The room was left in ruins. Plumbers were laying on the ground, lifelessly or groaning in pain. The computers had been blasted or cracked, making them unusable for anything. There was a large man in the center of the room holding up Grandpa Max and hissing in his face brutally, "Where's the boy?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Max replied, staring at the man dead in the eyes. His voice had quivered giving him away and the man threw him against the wall.
"I know you're lying. You aren't a very good one. Now tell me where my prize is. Tell me where is Tennyson?" He repeated with more anger.
Ben's eyes widened in fear and he took a unconscious step back. "No. It can't be real. He can't be here!"
"Who?" Gwen asked, pulling them back into the hallway, thankfully missing the man's eye. But her gaze was fixed on her pale looking cousin. That man scared him she knew, since he had been the opposite not a moment ago. She put a steady hand on his shoulder and kneeled down to his current height on the floor. "Ben listen to me. Who is that? And what does he want?"
His green eyes glanced up at hers and he looked down. "That man's name is Magent. He.. He was the one that kidnapped me and brought me to that ship. I.. I thought he died when the ship exploded.." Tears fell down his cheeks. "H-He's the one that caused this," He lifted up his arm to show the omnitrix scar that was a dark reminder of what happened. "He wants me so he can sell me for profit. I was his highest profit to sell but I never did sell."
"He tried to sell you? He caused that mark on you?" Rook repeated.
Ben just gave a small nod and squeezed his eyes shut, "You can't make me go back with him! I can't go to that place again, I can't!"
"You aren't going there, I promise," Gwen smiled. "But we need to get him out of here. Do you know any of his weaknesses?"
"No. He doesn't have any. I was in his ship. He's unstoppable," He warned, his eyes wide.
"Nobody's ever invincible. C'mon Rook," She pulled Rook's arm towards the door. "Let's go show him what we're made of."
"Wait!"
The two stopped and glanced over at the pale teen. He managed to slowly get to his feet and hold out a hand in their direction. He frowned and shook his head. "No you can't fight him. Grandpa Max didn't give away my location for a reason. He needs you two to protect me from him. If you go out there now, you'll get yourselves both killed. We need to hide this out and escape. We can come up with a plan later."
Gwen frowned and opened her mouth reply but was interrupted by Rook looking at her sadly, "I believe Ben is correct. Attacking uncoordinated will have dire consequences and we won't be any help. All the best Plumbers had battled and lost. It is best to learn from this and escape will we are able too."
She grumbled, "I hate when you're both right."
The trio managed to take a detour, traveling up the stairs and elevators to a new exit they happened to know about. Ben just followed stupidly, unsure of where they were taking him. He had never been around this sector before and it looked pretty abandoned, considering the lights were dark and he swore he saw some spiderwebs in the corners.
"What is this place?" Ben managed to say, glancing behind them, "I don't remember this place from before."
"That's because it's new. We had to build it a year after you disappeared because we had a small accident in the main floor and nobody was able to escape. But we managed to fix the problem before it got out of hand and we decided to put a new escape route just in case something like that happened again. Thank goodness too," Gwen mumbled, grabbing her cousin's arm and pushing him faster.
During the entire time of their journey, the entire building began to shake around dangerously. It felt like a earthquake honestly, maybe around the size of an 8. Each time, it managed to push them to the ground but then stop abruptly so they could continue. The cousins didn't even have to look at each other or talk, to know what they were both thinking; hoping that their grandpa would make it out okay.
But that wasn't what was important. It was escaping with Ben alive and safe.
When they arrived at their destination, Gwen pulled out her Plumber's Badge along with Rook, scanning it into a nearby panel. When they finished they looked over at Ben with curiosity.
"What are you waiting for? Scan your badge," Gwen whispered.
Ben frowned, "I don't have mine."
"Man being on that ship must of hit you pretty bad. Your omnitrix can be used as a badge remember?" She reminded with a shake of her head.
"Oh." He scanned his watch and the doors opened with a hiss, revealing the sun and the top of the Max's Plumbing.
"Let us go before-"
"-Before I take Tennyson and put him up for auction? Too late."
Everyone spun around and was blasted back by an invisible force, landing on the edge of the building. Ben groaned and grabbed his slightly injured arm, glancing back at the door. His eyes widened in fear and he pushed himself back. "No. Please! Leave me alone!"
"Too late for that boy. You should of decided before you made a mess of my facility. I've lost alot of money after the Plumbers invaded my ship. But by selling you off, hopefully I'll make enough to rebuild my ship and capture all the others I had as well," Magent grinned, "After I beat you down."
Ben cowered in fear in response as the man started to get closer and closer to him. Gwen managed to notice and put up a shield around her cousin, getting up. "Don't you touch him."
"An Anodite? I haven't seen any of your species for a while. Nice for profit as well, but you aren't that valuable as Tennyson here," He commented and easily broke down the shield between him and Ben.
"Ben! Run!" She screamed and the teen managed to get to his feet and flee. But he was shot back to the ground in only a second.
Magent shook his head, "Not wise boy. I thought we taught you obedience in my prison."
He grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him to his knees, holding it in a tight grip. Rook and Gwen watched as he applied pressure and made Ben wince in response. He could feel his bone slowly bending to his will and nearing to snap. He closed his eyes, hoping the pain would slightly disappear.
"Now you'll let me leave with your cousin or else."
"Or else what?" Was Rook's response.
He grinned as he pulled Ben's wrist back and the boy screamed, collapsing to the floor in pain. The man dropped Ben's wrist, which had turned a deep purple and red.
Gwen flinched at that and glanced over to Magent. "You.. You monster!"
He only chuckled, "I've been called worse girl. Your threats don't scare me. But Tennyson's not doing well."
"Oh no."
Gwen glanced over at Rook who stared at Ben with horror, "What is it?"
"I may have read wrong but when humans heal do they not warm up? The virus is only making Ben worse," He said hollowly.
"Oh my god."
Ben's face was beginning to pale as his screams had abruptly stopped. His vision had begun to get blurry and he could only see the blobby figures of his friends. Their expressions were unreadable at the moment and he couldn't think clearly at the moment. He could feel the numb pain around his right arm but he couldn't even glance at it. His energy had been depleted and could only hear the distance voices of his cousin and old partner.
Is this it? Was this how he finished?
The virus slowly killing him inside and his probably broken wrist were beginning to be too much and he felt everything go black.
"Ben!" Gwen screamed when she saw her cousin fall limp against the concrete.
"The virus must be taking effect. He does not have much time," Rook muttered and grabbed a hold of his weapon, shooting Magent. His eyes widened when he realized that none of the blasts did any effect on him.
"You both are weak. Useless to save your friend. Powerless to stop me. Give up if you know what's good for you," Magent warned, grabbing a hold of Ben's body and lifting him over his shoulder. Ben during that entire time had grown paler and hadn't made a single sound.
Not hearing a voice of protest, the man spun around, leaving to journey back to his small ship downstairs. But a mana blast haulted him in his shoes.
When he turned around, he was met with a full Anodite, who was being to grow larger and larger. It glowed brighter and brighter, almost to the point he was staring at the sun.
"LET HIM GO!"
"You don't scare me. You think I would be afraid of a little Anodite. I've seen you in your human form. You're not even trained properly," He grinned. "And you wouldn't hurt me. Cause if you do.." He lowered Ben onto the floor and grabbed a hold of his head. "I could kill your cousin in a heartbeat."
Her eyes widened and she weakened herself, growing smaller and smaller and returning back to human. Her eyes narrowed in pure hate and her teeth clenched in anger.
"Good girl. Maybe I'll return to capture you as well. As soon as I've dealt with Benjamin here," Magent warned with a smile before bending down to retrieve his prize. Just before he could do so, a blast from the door pushed him a couple yards away from Ben.
The figure stepped out of the doorway to reveal Max, "Don't you touch my grandson."
"Max," His eyes narrowed, "Have I not taught you enough? You aren't powerful enough to defeat me. You can't do anything to stop Tennyson's fate."
"I beg to differ," He shot back and rushed after the alien poacher. They began to fight, which wasn't really grand since it was a one-sided fight. Max was beginning to lose, his shots of target and not affecting him. Rook joined in, which helped buy Gwen time to get over to her unconscious cousin.
She grasped his shoulders lightly and shook him hard, but not hard enough to hurt his broken wrist. Dull green eyes opened and he moaned in pain, clutching his hand around his abdomen.
"Are you okay?" She asked in fear, scanning his body for anymore injuries.
Ben shook his head, "I feel like I've been run over with a bus. Wha-?" He glanced over at the fight that was taking place and put a hand on his forehead, "Oh. Nevermind."
"C'mon we need to get you out of here," Gwen encouraged, trying to drag him behind her. He pushed from her grip and shook his head, glancing over to Rook and Max with sadness.
"It's no use. He's going to defeat them soon and we won't have enough time to get anywhere. He wants me, Gwen. He'll do nothing to get me. He'll kill you all if he has too.. Just run and save yourself."
"No," She frowned, "I've never backed out of a fight. Especially not now. I'll never leave you Ben. You're my cousin. My stupid but amazing cousin. Now are you just going to let him beat up our family and friends or are you doing to do something?"
Ben chuckled and managed to stand up, "I hate when you're right. Stand back. And Gwen.. if I don't make it. Tell everyone I died doing what I loved." He kissed his cousin on the forehead. "I love you Gwen. You're the best cousin in the world."
Looking down at the green holoplate, he slammed it down on the first alien icon there and jumped into the fight, not bothering to shout out a name or check what alien he had chosen.
Rook and Max were about to be ended by Magent when a large figure slammed into the man, pushing him off the building and onto the pavement below. They both jumped to the end, to see how the fight was unfolding.
Ben had chosen Humungousaur, and began to repeatedly punch Magent into the ground. The pavement turned into rubble as smashing and slamming occurred and when he finished, he pulled back with his fists ready for anything.
The man managed to get up, his eyes red with fury. "You must have a death sentence Tennyson. Don't worry, I'll make sure your death is painful."
"What happened to selling me off?" He asked with sarcastic humor.
Magent frowned, "When I kill you, I'll sell your dead corpse while I take the Anodite and auction her off."
Humungousaur heard Gwen gasp in fright above him and he scowled, tackling the alien and continuing to beat him. But the fight paused when Magent grabbed the alien's fist and punched him with it, pushing him off his body. The fight ended when Humungousaur was thrown into many more objects, then reverting back to Ben.
The boy moaned in pain and grabbed his stomach, forcing his eyes to glance him. Magent approached him with a satisfied smile, "If that's it, I'll take my prize and be on my merry way."
Ben's eyes widened in fear as the man's fingers were inches from his body. No. He couldn't return with him again. Not after all he had been through there. He wouldn't come back. Not again.
His eyes flashed white as energy blasted the man back a couple yards, destroying a nearby building in the process. Rook, Gwen and Max turned to look at Ben, who was getting up from the scene, his eyes glowing a bright white color.
"Wait.. Is that?" Gwen mumbled, squinting to make sure she was imagining anything. Those colored eyes. They looked familiar.. where had she seen those before. Then her eyes widened and she created steps out of mana, ushering Rook and Max to follow, "C'mon, I feel like something bad's gonna happen."
As they landed on the ground, Ben had started to approach Magent, his body slowly disappearing to reveal.. an Anodite? But it wasn't a normal looking Anodite. This one had short hair, but still was similar to her grandma's and her hair. It wasn't very feminine looking but more muscular around the chest. That's when she realized this was her cousin.
"Ben..?"
Magent managed to get up, his eyes glancing over at the Anodite approaching him. "Tennyson? Is that you?"
Ben grinned, "Oh yeah it's me. Now I'll cut you a deal." He blasted him back with pink mana and binded him to the brick wall behind. "You can leave this planet and never return and never capture anymore for profit or I can destroy you right now and nobody will hear about you again. So what's it going to be?"
The man spat in his face, "You think you scare me? You aren't anything. You're weak boy, just like how I found you the first day of your imprisonment. You're not going to kill me, it's not in your nature. You're suppose to be the hero, heros don't do this."
The teen chuckled, "It's not in my nature to be tortured near to death. Things change. And I'll never have to see you again."
He began to conjure up a large blast, but it wasn't ordinary. It wasn't like the regular pink color Gwen or Grandma Verdona used. It was a darker, dangerously scary blast that was going to finish the job, once and for all.
"Ben!"
He glanced over his shoulder at his cousin, who had a look of worry. She was rushing over to his bright form and wrapped her arms around his body. "Don't do this. You'll regret it. Rethink doing this, please."
Ben sighed sadly and smiled, "Gwen, I have to. If I don't, he'll come back to get you and me. I can't just let him go."
"Please. If you do, you'll use up all your human DNA and you'll be an Anodite forever. I can't see you live like that. You're Ben Tennyson, the greatest hero in the galaxy. Not a murderer," Gwen begged, tears escaping her eyes.
He froze for a second before releasing the blast he had in his hand into the air. He hugged her back tightly and nodded, "Okay, but we need to get rid of him. How do we do that?"
She looked up at him sadly, "The Null Void. Strip him of his powers, his memory and throw him in there. That's the best solution without killing anyone."
Ben glanced over at the quiet Magent and nodded back to his cousin, "Okay, but I need your help too. It'll be too much for me."
"Sure thing cuz."
And she flashed into her Anodite form, both taking a hand in hand and taking away Magent's memory and powers. That left an unconscious man for them to deal with and quickly created a portal to the Null Void. After that little part, Gwen and Ben reverted back to human.
But only to reveal Ben's full condition.
Ben had become paler and his injured wrist more broken because of the small fight between his aliens and Magent. It was severely broken and what worried everyone was that Ben could no longer feel that part of his body. It had grown a disgusting looking purple and had swelled beyond normal. He was starting to sway on his feet and was caught by Rook, who had slowly lowered him to the ground.
"We need to get him medical attention now," Rook said to Gwen with worry.
Her face dropped with sorrow, "The regular doctors on earth won't be able to do anything. And I'm not sure if the doctors here are here anyway. I'm afraid we can't do anything to help."
"Gwen's right. We're on our own. I'm afraid Ben's going to suffer this on his own," Max agreed.
"What about the virus on his body?" Rook asked but already knew the answer deep down. There wasn't anything to do to help him. There had been no known cure found yet and it was already to late to do anything. Ben was doing to die right in his arms on the street. "There has to be something we are able to do to help!"
Gwen started to sob and kneeled down to her half conscious cousin, who was staring at the evening sky with curiosity. He didn't respond to anything they said.. it's not like he could. He couldn't feel his voice, he couldn't feel half of his body and he couldn't feel his head anymore. The virus was already overtaking his brain, he couldn't feel anything but the wariness that he was still alive for now. He had to say something; he couldn't leave it at dying without saying anything to his loved ones.
"G-Gwen..," He murmured, forcing his green eyes to look at her dark ones. "I.. it's okay. J-Just.. I l-love you." He winced in pain and doubled over to Rook, crying at the pain erupting through his spine.
"Ben!" She nearly screamed in horror, putting a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "Hold on. Fight it, okay? We're going to try and find you someone. Just fight it as best as you can."
"I.. I love you g-guys," Ben whispered and slowly lost consciousness. The pain around his body was just so unbearable. He couldn't handle anymore pain.. his hand and the virus was just becoming to much for his frail body. He felt bad for leaving his cousin, his grandpa and his partner alone to see his body die but.. he couldn't do anymore to make anything better. At least he had said he loved them. They were the best people he had in his life.
Gwen had nearly screamed to death when she saw her cousin's eyes closed and felt his hand loosen in her grip. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she realized the inevitable. Ben was dead.
Her fingers tightened around his shoulders as she shook him with inhuman force. "NO! BEN, WAKE UP. PLEASE WAKE UP! BEN. BEN!"
But he remained unresponsive, like a ragdoll. She continued to cry and whimper, hugging him tighter and begging him to make any motion that he was still alive. But horror creeped into her brain when she realized that his chest wasn't rising either.
It was when her grandpa pulled her away, that she remembered she had an audience. She pushed him away without thinking and clutched Ben tighter to her chest, leaving Rook to fall against the pavement with bewilderment. He glanced over at the old man who sighed in defeat.
He should of expected this out of Gwen. Ben was like a brother to her. Always playfully bullying her as a kid and growing up with each other. They even had the same birthday for crying out loud. It was like they were twins for each other! And losing a sibling hurt pretty deep. And at the moment she continued to beg for him to awaken or do anything. But all she received was dead silence.
"What should we do?" Rook whispered, getting up and gazing at the depressing sight.
"Leave. We need to go check out the other Plumbers that were helping me out. I.. I can't look at this anymore. If you could guide Gwen and.. Ben inside, that would be great. I.. I'll be downstairs. Excuse me," Max mumbled, walking back into his store.
The Revonnahgander glanced at the sad sight and approached her with sorrow, "Gwen. Please. Let us go inside. We do not want to draw and suspicion towards us."
"You think this is a game?!" She yelled at him, her eyes flashing pink, "Ben just died! I don't care what anyone thinks, I.. I need to comfort him. Maybe there's a spell I can do to bring him back."
He frowned, "Gwen, you and I both know that will not be easy. It is not right to bring back the dead to the living. It is not in life's nature."
"What do you know?" Gwen spat at him, turning to gaze at her cousin's face. He seemed slightly peaceful, his hair in his face as if he was asleep but the warmth slipping away from his body only ruined it.
"I know that if you bring Ben back, it will have consequences. And imagine him? He will not be happy that he returned back to the living," He said sadly, trying to prove a point that would hopefully turn her away from the craziness she was slipping into.
"He'll be happy that he's back! He won't be mad! He'll be thankful," She shrieked.
"Probably but he already died a peaceful death the first time. Do you think maybe that is going to happen the second time? He could be killed in the hands of Vilgax or locked away in a prison like that again. You need to think what would Ben want. Leave him to rest," Rook finished, sitting beside her. "Do I want to see my partner again? Of course I do. He was the best person I had ever met. But.. things do not always last. That is one thing he taught me while I was working with him."
She wiped away her tears and combed Ben's hair, "Maybe you're right. I.. I'm sorry. His death just.."
"Overwhelmed you. I understand completely, since I had to face the same thing when he had been kidnapped. Now let us go inside and clean Ben. If we are to plan a funeral for him, I do not want him to look like that," He chuckled sadly, trying to bring out any humor to the situation. Gwen at least laughed a little bit and crawled away, so that Rook would be able to pick up the boy.
They walked inside and went down the elevator, which had miraculously not been damaged during the invasion. The Plumbers had begun to make small repairs and organize the HQ again, thankfully.
During the ride down, Gwen glanced over at Ben repeatedly, who had his head lobbed back, looking more deadish than she would like to see. He had begun to look more paler and she guessed that we was going to be freezing cold in a couple minutes. She shivered at the thought.
"Gwen are you coming?" Her brain returned from her daze and she nodded, following after her cousin's partner.
The HQ had started its first process of rebuilding, by removing the rubble from the floors and looking around the computers to see if anything was okay for use again. A number of monitors had been destroyed in the fight and many weapons had been crushed to bits or vaporized to dust. Many Plumbers had bandages around their bodies but didn't pay any attention to them as they watched as the two walked down the room, carrying the hero that had been found a couple days ago.
Many gasped in horror and some looked away in respect. But Gwen nor Rook paid them any attention; their only goal to reach the medical bay and drop of Ben somewhere safe.
When they arrived to the medical bay with Ben's body, they were surprised to be met with a familiar face of Verdona, who was nonchalantly chatting away with Max.
Bad ending for this chapter but it was getting too long. I need to stop somewhere.
Next chapter should be up soon, considering if I don't get a job yet.
Thanks for all the support. I believe there is one more chappie after this one and we're done.
~Tortoro15