CHAPTER THREE: AFTERMATH

Devlin finally managed to raise his head from the rubble his father threw him in. It hurt so much just to blink. The light burned in his eyes from the fires all around him. He could not see straight, the world twisted around him,.

Vaguely, he could make out his real father floating in the air, above an unknown man who looked strikingly similar to his adoptive father. He tried to force himself up, but the pain in his head was too strong.

Kevin looked down at the smaller man with a blank look. The two of them stared each other down, neither one daring to make a move.

Finally, Kevin lowered himself to the ground, and the two of them stood feet from each other, Owen did not flinch. He barely moved a muscle as the tall, lanky, Aufnehman stood so menacingly so close.

Owen looked over at Ben laying on the ground. He was unsure if the Hero was alive or not, and honestly, he did not care. He would fight this battle he could not win, and if he managed to get away alive, he would go after Gwendolyn and get Tena's Omnitrix back. He raised his fists ready to strike.

"Owen. I don't want to fight you." Kevin sneered, it was more sarcastic then anything else.

"Neither do I." Owen actually sounded sincere.

'How is that wife of yours?" Kevin's tone of voice was aimed to hurt, "I'd hate to make those two beautiful children of yours orphans."

Owen did not reply. He felt the pang in his heart, and the thought of Kalvin and Tessa without him burned his mind, but he pushed the thought aside. There was no way he was going down without a fight.

Kevin raised his hand and launched a fireball at the Ex-Necrofriggian. Owen quickly raised a shield of thick ice, and steam erupted around them. Devlin's already blurred vision was completely blocked out by the steam, and shortly afterwards, his consciousness faded as well.

~*~

"Devlin! Devlin wake up! DEVLIN!"

The pain in Devlin's head returned in a whirlwind as his consciousness returned, and the screams and cries of people in the distance filled his ears did not help. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, there was a white glare everywhere, he could not see anything. He blinked a few times and waited for the glare to die down enough for him to see his adoptive sister looking down at him.

"Gwyn?" He moaned. He let her slowly lift him to his knees, "A-Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Gwyn smiled, "Me? Come on. Naturally I'm fine. You know, superhuman strength for some reason." She shrugged.

"What happened to the students?" Devlin asked,

"While you, Kenny, and Ben were fighting Kevin, I got them out of here. Most of them are shaken, but alive." She replied, "And are YOU okay?"

Devlin nodded, feeling the pain slosh through his head as he lied.

"Where's Dad?" He asked, referring to his adoptive father.

Gwyn shrugged and pulled Devlin to his feet. The motion almost made him sick, but he sucked it up and followed Gwyn over to where Ben was. There was only a pile of still-warm blood.

"W-Where is he?" Devlin gasped,

"By the time I made it back here, Kevin, Kenny, and Dad were gone." Gwyn explained,

Devlin legs gave out from underneath him and he fell to his knees, "Kenny? He took Kenny?"

"Yeah." Gwyn folded her arms, she closed her eyes and took a deep sigh, "He has…our little brother."

Devlin could not move. What was that monster planning on doing with Kenny? Why would he take the boy?

"My biggest question right now is who's the brunette?" Gwyn asked, without looking at him.

Devlin did not respond. He just looked up at her as she started walking away.

A man lay stomach-down in the dirt. His hair was down covering his face, and there was blood smeared all over him, but his chest was rising and falling mechanically…he was alive. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Owen groaned and slowly forced himself to his hands and knees. Gwyn squeaked and jumped backwards. He looked over at her, and his eyes filled with pain. She blinked and walked back over to him. For some reason, a nostalgic feeling washed over her. She felt as if she should know this stranger.

"There you go." She whispered as she helped him to his feet,

"Thanks." He muttered, falling back into the dirt. He sat there for a few seconds, looking around at the carnage. "Looks like we failed."

"No." Gwyn shook her head, "We're all still alive, and the students got out alive." She looked over as Devlin started slowly walking over, "Its not over yet. All we have to do is track down Kevin, and rescue our brother."

"Our brother." Owen smirked, "Its weird hearing you say that."

"Why?" Gwyn asked, folding her arms.

"Your related to Dad, aren't you?" Devlin asked suddenly.

A small smile stretched across Owen's face, "You can tell?"

"Its not rocket science. You look a lot like Dad." Devlin shrugged,

"I'm his son." Owen shrugged, slowly pulling himself to his feet again.

Gwen looked him over and instantly believed it. But argumentative was something she was famous for, "Yeah right. Sure, you look like him, but you're too old."

"Er…yeah he had me when he was…young." Owen rolled his eyes, "That's not important." He did not have it in him right now to explain everything. Especially when the two would never believe him.

"Devlin and Gwyn, right?" Owen asked, looking at the two of them. They nodded.

"Damn you've grown." Owen smiled, looking over at Gwyn. She titled her head, but he offered no explanation.

"And you are?" She asked,

"Owen Tennyson." He replied, holding out his hand for the girl. She took it and they shook hands. He then turned to offer it to Devlin, who painstakingly shook his hand as well.

"Look. Devlin, your head is bleeding." Owen sighed, stepping forward to check the intensity of the injury, "We'd better get you somewhere you can rest."

"But Kenny!" Devlin gasped, the world was starting to spin again,

"Kenny will be fine. He' s got…" He could not finish that sentence, knowing that was Tena's Omnitrix on his wrist,

"He's got the Omnitrix, Dev." Gwyn finished for him. Owen cringed inwardly.

Owen sighed, "I've got a car parked down the street. Let's go." He turned towards Devlin, "It'll be fine. I've got a daughter around your age. You two should get along."

"Sweet." Devlin said sarcastically, "I'm ten years old, and I have a niece."

Owen turned and started walking off towards his car, the two followed him as well. They walked in silence until Devlin collapsed. Gwyn gasped and ran to his side. Owen seemed to keep his cool. He walked over to the boy and pulled off his vest, ripping it and tying it around Devlin's had, before gently lifting him up bridal style and continuing on his way.

Gwyn hurriedly caught up to him, admired at how calm he was in this situation, "Owen."

The certainty and demand in her voice made him smile. He stopped and turned around to face her.

She stopped and placed her hands meaningfully on her hips, "Where are we going to find Kevin anyway? I mean, he could be anywhere now."

Owen looked up at the smoke-filled sky, and wondered how much of the city Kevin had destroyed by now, "After we put Devlin into the car, you and I will take a look around the city."

"Wait, you're going to let me come with you?" She sounded so shocked that it was almost comical to him.

He looked over at her and nodded, "Yeah. You."

"No offense, but you got your ass handed to you by Kevin. Are you expecting to fight him again?" She asked.

Owen shook his head, "No, I don't. I plan on saving as many people as I can from Kevin's wrath. Are you in?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

Everywhere they went, it was just more ruins. Owen felt a pang in his chest at the horrors left behind by Kevin's rampage. He kept walking until he found his red convertible. Memories soared through him at the near sight.

"Wow. Nice wheels." Gwyn whistled as they approached,

"Yeah. It was a gift." Owen replied as he gently placed Devlin in the backseat of the car and walked around to the drivers side and hoped in, "Hurry up. I'll get this somewhere safe, and then we'll go."

"I hope everything will be alright." Gwyn whispered as she climbed into the car.

~*~

"Hmm?" Kal asked, turning around.

Tessa had stopped and was looking up at the smoke raising from the city in the distance, "I said…I hope Dad's alright."

"Yeah." Kal rolled his eyes, "He's a policeman with ice powers. He'll be fine."

Tessa frowned, "Can't you even pretend to be worried?"

Kal shrugged, "Why worry? I know Dad's gunna kick some mutant ass."

"Whatever Dweeb." Tessa sighed.

Kal turned away from her and kept walking. The truth was, he was worried. He was terrified for his father, but there was no way he was going to say that. Was there even a chance that Dad could stand up against that mutant?

They had finally reached it. Before them was a bridge that crossed a major river that lead into the city. The river churned underneath the bridge as if it was in a hurry to witness the pain and suffering erupting nearby.

The ground shook slightly. Kal gasped, and Tessa squeaked as she fell to the ground. She closed her eyes and balled her hands into the dirt, "Kal! what was that!"

Kal did not respond. He was looking around, small cracks seemed to appear in the dirt, and the water looked as if it sped up

"Um…come on." Kal said, his voice slightly shaken, "Mom's just on the other side of this bridge."

Tessa looked up. She could see the downtown core of their tiny town across the bridge, and could see the hospital raising out from the buildings, "R-right." She stood up. There was no way she was going to let a eight-year-old show her up.

They started across the bridge.

Tessa quickly ran to her younger brother's side. He looked at her with amusement, "You scared?"

"No!" She said quickly, "I just don't want you to be scared."

Kal rolled his eyes, "My hero."

The ground shook again, but this time, more violently. Tessa screamed and fell backwards. Kal gritted his teeth and grabbed the railing of the bridge. He looked around as he saw large cracks burst forth from the ground around the bridge.

"Oh…" Kal muttered, he turned towards Tessa, "RUN!"

She forced herself to her feet against the shaking and broke into a run as fast as she could for the other side of the bridge. Kal chased after her.

Tessa felt the bridge tremble beneath her, she screamed and pumped her legs harder. She squeezed her eyes shut, and barely noticed her body go intangible. She heard the bridge give a loud groan, and then a loud cracking noise filled her ears. She kept her eyes closed, ignoring the tingling feeling of pieces of the bridge going through her. She could no longer feel anything beneath her, but her intangible body kept going straight. She did not stop until she could feel the solid dirt road underneath her. She slowly opened her eyes.

"Aha!" She cheered, pumping a fist in the air, "We did it Kal! We made it!" She whirled around, "Kal?"

The bridge was completely gone. The ground gave a final groan, and then the shaking stopped. She gasped and slowly walked over to the edge of the road, where the bridge once rested. Pieces of the bridge were floating rapidly away in the current.

"KALVIN!" She screamed. There was no answer. There was no sight of her little brother anywhere.

~*~

Kal barely had time to comprehend what was happening. The last thing he knew, he was following after his sister as she went intangible, and then the next, a sharp pain soured through his body as he hit the water. The current instantly pulled him under.

Fear overtook him, and all he could think about was to kick for the surface. His heart rate sped with his fear and adrenaline took over, forcing his need for air to be even greater. He pushed for the surface, momentarily breaking through, but the current would not allow him to be above for very long. Before he had time to take a good breath of air, it pulled him under again.

His lungs burned with the need for air, and he felt his limps grow heavy. Something hit him in the side, and he gasped without meaning to. Water filled his lungs, and he quickly grabbed into the large cement slap from the bridge that had hit him. It floated back up to the surface, pulling him with it. He broke free, gasping for air.

The slab slammed into the shore of what looked like a dump. He quickly took the chance to grab a broken pipe sticking up over the water, and pulled himself onto the rubble. Instantly, he expelled as much water as he could, coughing and hacking until air could finally enter his lungs. The adrenaline faded, and he suddenly felt tired. His arms gave out from underneath him, and he fell onto a large flat platform a little ways from the river.

~*~

With one final use of his stolen powers, Kevin finished constructing a giant tower where Ben 10, 000's headquarters used to be. The tower ran high up into the sky, and the survivors of the town looked up in terror as the Aufnehman looked down upon them.

"People!" Kevin called down to them, his voice booming over everything else, echoing on every TV, radio, and internet site around the world, "I am willing to forgive you of your mistakes, and let you live on one condition! You are now ALL my slaves. The entire EARTH shall be my domain, and if you want to live, you all must bow down before me! Do it now! Bow down or face my wrath!"

At first no one moved, they were all frozen in their spot. Kevin grinned a dark and evil smile and pointed at one person. The person exploded, sending body parts flying over the people around them. Instantly, all the people in the city dropped down on their knees and bowed before him.

Kevin laughed loudly.

"You won't get away with this!" Kenny screamed, struggling against Kevin's grip. Kevin held the boy tighter, to the point that Kenny gasped, and laughed again.

"What are you going to do boy?" He sneered.

Kenny growled and reached up for his Omnitrix, but Kevin roughly grabbed his other hand, he dangled the boy in the air by both arms. Kenny screamed and struggled, trying to break free and grab his Omnitrix.

"I can't have that." Kevin replied, he let his arm lengthen into a spike again, "Because I want that bastard Imposter to even suffer from the grave"

Kenny's eyes widened as he saw the spike, and Kevin just laughed.

With one swift movement, he sliced off Kenny's hand. Kenny screamed loudly as his arm fell from Kevin's grip, blood pouring down to the ruins below. Kevin laughed at Kenny's screams in pain. He looked down at the hand, still having the Omnitrix wrapped around its wrist. He smirked and dropped it down into the ruins below before reaching over and grabbing Kenny's face.

"Well, 'Ken 10'?" He whispered, "You don't like that pain do you? That agonizing pain…oh but I can promise you a hundred times worse."

Kenny cried out, squeezing his eyes shut as tears dropped from his eyes.

"Oh Kenneth." Kevin sneered, "Do you know what?"

Kenny just looked at him with a look of pure agony and fear.

"That's right!" Kevin answered, "Do you know how easy it is to brainwash someone? All it takes is a little control and fear, and in no time, you can have a mindless slave who lives just for your very orders."

Kenny bit his quivering lip, but no word would come to mind over the pain.

"By this time next year, you will be my slave." Kevin laughed, "Imagine that! The son of that dreaded impostor my slave? That will show him for killing Tena!"

He turned and suddenly threw Kenny threw a window of the tower, and followed in after the boy.

~*~

Kal opened his eyes, he still felt weak, but it was getting dark, and staying by the river for the night did not seem all to interesting to him. He pulled himself up and clenched his jaw tight.

The river was polluted with blood.

He turned around and started climbing the rubble of the dump. He hoisted himself up from one slap of concrete, to other pieces that looked like they had come from buildings. He pulled himself up onto a tall ledge and reached up to the other, and stopped.

His hand had touched something that felt like another human. He smiled, "Hey!" He waited for an answer. When none came he called again, "I need help! Can you help pull me up?"

There was still no answer. He growled, "Oh come on!" With a sigh, he backed up and charged for the ledge above, managing to pick up enough speed to jump up onto the platform. He sat there panting for a few seconds before looking up.

"No wonder you did not answer." Kal whispered, the shock clear in his voice.

A human hand rested on the ground in front of him, blood pooled around the hand, staining…

"WAIT!" Kal gasped, running forward and picking up the hand. He ignored the fact he was holding a severed human hand as he flipped it over and looked at what was wrapped around the wrist.

It was that weird watch Dad kept locked in his office. The one that was completely off limits to him and his sister. He eyed it suspiciously, but what was it doing here? Why was it out here and not in Dad's office? It had to be the same one, it even had the scratch on the side that was clear as day from the where it was displayed in Dad's office.

"Weird." Kal whispered. He reached out to touch it, but as soon as his hand got close to it, it detached itself from the wrist, and jumped up at Kal.

Kal screamed and fell backwards, falling off the ledge and down to the one below again. The watch had wrapped itself around his wrist, he gasped as he hit the ground below, the fall knocking the wind out of him. He coughed and rightened himself, looking down at the watch.

"Huh?" He said. He grabbed at it and tried to pull it off. The thing did not move. He bit his bottom lip and reached out for something that looked like a stick, and tried pushing it under the watch to pry it off, it did not budge.

Panic spread through him, and he pulled vigorously at the thing, but it felt as if it was attached to his skin. He looked up to the ledge he had fallen from, "Dad would know how to get it off."

He jumped up to the ledge and continued to climb until he reached the top of the junk pile. His small, exasperated body fell limp to the ground as he looked out before him…

…This was no dump. It was the heart of the City.

He looked out in shock, the watch on his wrist momentarily forgotten. He looked out at where Ben 10,000's head quarters had once been, but instead there was a massive makeshift tower, stretching up into the sky above.

He gritted his teeth, "Yeah right… 'what's the worst that could happen?' She should know to NEVER say that."

~*~

Dana Lyn roughly dropped Ben's limp body on the floor. She turned around angrily and kicked him hard in the ribs.

Ben could not move, he no longer felt his chest injuries. He tried to move his arm, his fingers, anything… but nothing would obey him.

"Don't like that?" Dana Lyn sneered, "Good. Because I don't like failures."

Ben looked up at Dana Lyn, her orange hair looked more like red as she towered over him, raw anger filling her eyes. "Speak." She snapped.

Ben felt the pressure in his jaw lessen, and he opened his mouth, he could move his jaw and tongue around freely now, though nothing else was working, "I-I was not expecting Kevin Levin to have become so powerful."

"And I was expecting you to do YOUR JOB!"

"I was trying, ok? Its just not as easy to find her as you might think." Ben snapped,

"Shut up! Don't you think I don't know that by now?" She kicked him hard in the ribs again. He coughed, but could not move to defend himself.

She sat down in front of him, "Game Over…"

She snapped her fingers, and 'Ben' disappeared, revealing a blond haired man with sharp blue eyes. She grinned as he looked up at her with sheer terror.

"Have mercy…" The man whispered.

Dana Lyn smiled and her tail raised into the air, hovering above his throat, "Good bye…Collin."

Now what's the story with that huh? Dana Lyn is desperately trying to track down Ana, and the Impostor, is the impostor dead? What will happen to Kenny? Will Devlin and Gwyn save him? And what will happen to Kal? Stay tuned to find out…