A/N: Sorry, I got stuck and had to wait for Rygel-n's help. She kind of dropped off the face of the planet for a while, no one could get a hold of her. If you find her on Deviant Art…check in to see if she's still alive. Only kidding, I finally managed to track her down - after she stopped answering her phone calls and stopped going on MSN - and she gave me the advice I needed…wouldn't help me write it, but gave me the advice.
CHAPTER FIVE: THE TRUTH, REVEALED
Kevin easily swatted Owen away, but to Owen, the hit felt like a hurricane hit him. He went soaring backwards and into a chunk of cement protruding from the road. He felt something crack, and the air instantly escaped him. He fell to the ground coughing.
"Dad!" Tessa gasped. She ran forward, just as Kevin launched a beam of energy at the Ex-Necrofriggian. She raised her hands and quickly froze the moisture in front of Owen, to create a thick shield.
The beam hit the shield, and Owen quickly dodged out of the way before it shattered. He jumped to his feet and launched a thick ray of ice, encasing Kevin completely within a frozen tomb.
Kevin's face twisted into a smile, and the ice shattered. Gwyn jumped up and kicked him hard in the stomach, But the Aufnehman barely felt it. He just grabbed the girl and gently pushed her aside.
"He doesn't want to hurt me?" Gwyn whispered as she fell towards the ground. She landed on her feet right beside Gwendolyn.
Gwendolyn looked thoughtful, maybe they could use Kevin's weaknesses to their advantage? Apparently he did not want to hurt Gwyn, and none of Kevin's attacks towards Owen were aimed to kill. She could judge all the Mana behind his attacks…they were not even a fraction of what he used on her earlier. Maybe that's why Owen was still standing?
Owen panted as he regained his standing. Blood streaked down his back, and he swore there was a broken rib somewhere in his chest, but that was nothing that could hold him back. He charged at Kevin, stopping before him to launch another ice attack, right as Gwendolyn launched a beam of Mana. The two attacks collided, with Kevin in the middle.
He merely just held out his hands and pushed back the two attacks, holding their power within his hand, he pushed them past each other, and let go, letting Owen's attack soar at Gwendolyn, and Gwendolyn's attack aim towards Owen. The two barely managed to dodge the others attack.
Kevin growled as he raised into the air, "Owen, I will give you this one last chance at survival. Take Gwyn and get out of here."
Owen stood his ground, grimacing against the pain in his back.
Kevin snarled, "I'll give you until the count of three, Owen…The last thing I want to do is to kill one of Tena's children…"
"Eh?" Kal asked, looking up from where he was kneeling, he looked over at Owen, and saw his face twist into a look of agony. He looked down and tapped the strange watch-thing, "Come on! Work already!"
"One." Kevin counted slowly.
"Tessa." Owen whispered. The little girl looked up at him, he did not look back as he kept his eyes glued to Kevin, "Get your brother and get out of here."
"W-What about you?" She whispered,
"I'll be fine. Just go." Owen snapped.
Tessa nodded. She turned around and ran back to where her brother sat, "Come on Kal! Let's go!"
"Two." Kevin said.
"Hang on." Kal snapped, as the dial went back to green. He smiled, "Yes!"
"What are you thinking?" Tessa gasped, "Kevin's too mean to fight!"
"Says who?" Kal snapped,
"And you could not do this too those bullies?" Tessa sighed, exasperated, "Come ON KALVIN!"
"Tess, get out of here." Kal snapped, pressing the button on the dial.
"Hey!" Devlin smirked, stepping up beside Kal, "Don't forget about me." He grabbed a piece of metal protruding from a broken fence. He let the metal coat his entire body.
Kal nodded and pounded down on the Omnitrix.
He felt his body transform yet again, felt himself become someone else…
Within seconds, Four Arms stood there, ready to fight.
"You….boys!" Tessa growled. She sighed and ran out after them.
"Three." Kevin sneered. A wicked grin escaped him, and then less then a fraction of a second later, he was gone.
Owen braced himself, but he could not match Kevin's speed. The Aufnehman was in front of him before he could even blink. Kevin raised his knee into Owen's stomach with such force the man doubled over. He then pounded on his back, right between his shoulders. Owen gasped as he hit the ground in front of his old friend.
Kevin instantly turned around and launched beam of energy at Gwendolyn. She screamed as a force like nothing she had ever felt before hit her. It raised her into the air, and threw her down onto the ground next to Owen. The power of the blast burning away bits of her hair and searing her clothing.
"Dad!" Four Arms yelled, running out into the fray. He went behind Kevin and reached out to punch him, but Kevin was too fast, he turned around and grabbed Four Arms fist, "Foolish."
Four Arm's eyes went wide as Kevin threw him back, as if he was a rag doll. Tessa launched a ball of ice at Kevin, but he easily brushed it off. Devlin ran forward to strike, but Kevin hit him back so brutishly, he broke through the metal coat as he threw him back.
Devlin fell to the ground with a groan. He looked up as Four Arms rushed forward, but was thrown back just as easily, he hit the ground and turned back into Kal. It was no use…none of them stood a chance against Kevin.
Kevin stepped forward, ready to give the death blow to the children. Devlin closed his eyes, ready for the attack.
"Daddy!" Tessa screamed. Devlin opened his eyes again to see Owen, Gwendolyn, and Gwyn standing in front of them, all in fight stance positions.
Kevin charged towards them, as the wind picked up. He stopped, an angry look clouding his eyes. "NO! DON'T INTERFER!"
Gwyn turned around with a gasp, the wind began to circle around the three children, Owen turned around and ran towards it, "TESSA! KAL!"
Tessa ran to the edge of the wind-circle, but her hand could not go through it, it felt like a solid surface. Kevin roared in anger and launched an energy beam at them. It soared past the three adults, and hit the wind circle at full power. The attack evaporated upon contact.
"NO!" Kevin growled, as the wind picked up to form a mini-tornado, blocking all sight of the children.
A woman made of wind stepped out from the tornado, her body looked as if it was a tornado itself, twisting around itself to form a person. It reached out and grabbed Gwyn's hand. She gasped as it pulled her back, right into the tornado.
"Gwyn!" Gwendolyn gasped, but it was too late, the girl had already disappeared.
The wind instantly started to die down, and Owen tried his hardest too look through it, but he knew even before the wind disappeared, that his children, and Devlin and Gwyn…were gone.
~ * ~
"And why, can you tell me, do they have to come HERE?"
It was the first thing Devlin heard before the wind started to die down, and he could finally see out of the tornado again. What he saw, was no longer Keystone…
They were standing outside a strange building, or, more like a volcano. The purple-greenish plants grew largely all around them. It looked like a dense-tropical jungle.
"Because." A woman said, folding her arms defiantly.
Devlin saw two people standing in front of a cave that lead into the building-volcano. Beside them was a large green and black river, with strange bugs that looked like massive mosquitoes dropping DNA into the river.
One of the 'people' was a Galvin, a tiny micro-alien with a large brain. He wore a strange white lab coat, and had a long mustache. The other, was a strange looking woman, with short, red-black hair, and large bright red eyes, lacking any sign of pupils. Her long pointy ears, tall lean frame, and micro-skinny, white-fleshed body all meant that she must be a Gotosapian. She was wearing an outfit that reminded Devlin of a pirate. She turned around as the four appeared.
"About time!" She snapped.
Devlin could not move. He knew this woman, in the time he spent on the street between Kevin's Null Void time, and his adoption into the Tennyson family, he got to know all of the underground, and a lot of its secrets.
One of which explained of a terrible and powerful assassin, Anastasia. This woman was Anastasia…a Gotosapian. Gwyn also seemed frozen. She stared at Anastasia with such fear, Devlin thought she had turned to stone. Tessa helped Kal to his feet, she was terrified about the look the other two gave the strange woman and small…little…
"RAT!" Tessa screamed, hiding behind Kal. Kal rolled his eyes.
"Rat? How dare you." The Galvan huffed, "I am Azumuth, creator of the Omnitrix. The device, my young friend, your brother is wearing."
"This watch-thingy?" Kal asked,
"I wish everyone would stop calling it a watch!" Azumuth snapped. He jumped up onto Kal's arm and looked down thoughtfully at the Omnitrix, "Yes…this is my work. However, how it came into your possession is beyond me."
"It belongs to my Dad." Kal snapped, brushing Azumuth off of him.
The Galvan jumped to the ground, "You are wrong my son. It belonged to your Grandfather."
Anastasia grimaced and turned away, folding her arms. Gwyn caught the look of despair and failure on her face.
"Azumuth…" Devlin asked, "Tell us what happened…everything. What turned my father into…into a monster?"
"And you expect me to know about that?" He huffed, "I'll let Ana tell you that. She is the one that was there."
If looks could kill, Ana gave him a glare that would have put him six-feet-under. She turned and faced the youngsters, "Are you sure you want to know the truth?"
Gwyn nodded, "Why couldn't Kevin hurt me?"
"Its not that he couldn't…its that he did not want to." Ana explained, she looked the girl up and down, "Its because of who you are."
"And that is?" She snapped,
"This is your last chance to turn back." Ana asked, "Once you know, you'll never see things in the same perspective again."
Gwyn nodded. Devlin bit his lip, but nodded as well.
Kal looked up, "I want to know…about my Grandfather." Tessa grabbed onto Kal's shoulders, but did not say anything.
Ana took a deep breath, "Gwyneth…Kevin could not hurt you, because you are Tena's daughter. Not Ben 10, 000's daughter."
"Why don't you tell them who Tena is?" Azumuth said sadly.
"Tena is…the real, Benjamin Tennyson."
"What!" Tessa, Devlin, and Gwyn shot.
Ana smiled, "Its true. Twenty years ago, long before Ben Tennyson was known as Ben 10,000, Ben went…missing." She folded her arms again, "He was kidnapped by a terrible mercenary named Dana Lyn. In order to rescue him, Gwen Tennyson, and Kevin Levin hired me to track him down."
"Wait." Devlin asked, "Are you saying that Kevin was…Dad's friend?"
"Ben's best friend actually." Ana nodded, "They were a team. Benjamin and Gwendolyn Tennyson, and Kevin Levin were once the only Plumbers stationed on Earth."
She looked down at the Codon Stream, "It did not take me long to track Ben down…though the journey was…life changing. I've never had a mission like that, most of them were people who wanted another person dead…not found alive. I almost turned it down, until I realized who wanted the mission…"
"Why did you take it then?" Devlin asked, "I heard you only took big cases, like politicians and stuff. Things that make big news."
Ana looked at Devlin for a few seconds and smiled, "Because…it was different."
Gwyn noted the change of tone in Ana's voice…she was lying about her reason. But she decided not to call her on it, whatever her reason, it was hers.
"I tracked down Ben to a planet called Demetrius." A sly smile stretched across her face, and she looked up at Kal and Tessa "And we immediately headed out to rescue him, but naturally, Dana Lyn got in our way, and we had to make a crash landing." She smirked, "That's when we met your father, a Necrofriggian."
"That doesn't make sense." Tessa snapped, "Daddy's human."
"I'll get there." Ana replied, "And before you ask it," looking down at Kal, "When Ben was fifteen, one of his Omnitrix aliens went through a 'reproductive cycle' and bore eggs. Owen was one of the eggs that 'Big Chill' laid." Kal made a face, and Tessa looked like she was going to be sick, but Ana went on, "As soon as he heard that Ben was in trouble, he went out to find his father, and to help him…he also tracked him down to Demetrious. But because of the crash, we had to land for repairs, and Owen continued on his way to rescue Ben…we arrived after him, and we arrived too late."
"By the time we arrived, something was seriously wrong with Ben. It appeared that to save Ben's life, the Omnitrix changed his DNA, catching not only him within it, but Owen, and…the unborn baby, Gwyneth."
Devlin burst out laughing, "A-are you trying to tell us that Ben, a guy, was pregnant?"
Ana nodded, unable to hide her smirk as well, "Yeah…apparently, the planet, Demetrious is inhabited by a race of aliens called, Amazarians. These Amazarians are a brutish alien race where the woman lay their 'eggs' within the men of their race. Apparently, a female by the name of Mel…or something like that,"
"Mei." Azumuth corrected,
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, "Anyway, a female of that race had paid Dana Lyn to capture Ben to be her 'mate'. So yes, Gwyn - you are the Real Ben Tennyson's daughter."
"I know I'm Ben's daughter." She rolled her eyes, her face pale from the news. Devlin was trying his hardest not to laugh at her.
"But we had no idea the extent the Omnitrix meddled with the DNA until later, when it turned him into a female." Ana explained,
"It was a function I did not even know the Omnitrix had." Azumuth explained, "The Omnitrix transformed Ben's DNA to save his life. Its one of the failsafe measures that it must have created for itself. It transformed Ben into a female, so his body could properly function for a pregnancy. The Omnitrix DNA Transfer, as I have been calling it, must have been shockwaved into Gwyneth and Owen as well, turning them both human. But since it was a shockwave, and not the full intent of the Omnitrix, they were human, but kept their Alien abilities."
"Amazarians are known for their brute strength, hence your superhuman strength." Ana explained, "And Owen kept all of his abilities as well."
"We set our course for Earth, and hoped to find a cure for Ben…till then, he went under the name of, Tena Sonne." She explained.
"Tena Sonne? I get it." Kal whispered,
"But you must have found the cure, right?" Gwyn asked, her voice shaken, "Because then there wouldn't be a 'Ben 10,000'?"
"Wrong." Ana shook her head, "Shortly after we got back, an impostor arrived. He came out with this bogus story about Vilgax abducting him."
"How do you know its not true?" Devlin snapped, folding his arms defiantly.
Ana smiled, a dark and twisted grin, "Because I asked Vilgax himself."
The children fell silent, looking at Ana in amazement.
"I tracked him down shortly before he came down to Earth to fight Ben 10,000, right before he was frozen and locked in the DNA Lab." She rolled her eyes, "Through Villain Decay, by the time I found him, he was a weak nobody anyway."
Kal and Tessa exchanged glances, but Ana did not look like she was going to explain.
"Let's just say, it did not take much, 'coaxing' to get Vilgax to talk." She sighed, "Anyway, all in all, I found out that he did not break this 'agreement' where he was not allowed on Earth, and never sent anyone. His alibi also checked out, and…oh! And speaking of which, wasn't the winner of that duel get to 'own' both their planet, and all the planets under the other person's rule? Or am I completely wrong with that? I mean, shouldn't technically, Ben be the Emperor of Vilgaxia or something?"
"Stay on track." Azumuth snapped.
Ana frowned, "Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. Well anyway, Gwen and Max both took the impostors side - I still don't know why, and were out to capture Tena…so I helped Tena, Kevin, and Tena's baby…you, Gwyneth, go into hiding in New York, before taking off back to work. I left them with my car, a house, and a wad of money…but…I should never have left them." Her face twisted with regret, "Whatever happened during that year is beyond me…but apparently, shortly after Gwyneth's first birthday, Max tracked them down…and the Impostor, attacked Tena."
"What!" Gwyn snapped, pushing Devlin, who was standing in front of her, aside,
"So what Kevin was saying is true then?" Devlin whispered, "So Kevin's rampage is…Dad's fault."
"Figures." Gwyn muttered. There was something in her tone that made Devlin look up.
Gwyn's eyes were watering, and her hands were squeezed into fists, "I always knew that guy was a jerk…but…but!" She growled and turned away, bolting into the trees nearby.
"Gwyn!" Devlin gasped,
"Let her go." Azumuth warned, "Let her sort through things on her own." He looked over at Tessa and Kal, "I personally went down to Earth to locate Ben Tennyson's body, and remove the Omnitrix. I would hate for my second finest creation to go to waste. But, when I dug up his gravesite, the Omnitrix was gone."
"Second finest creation?" Tessa asked,
"Yes, the Omnitrix was not my greatest creation, it lies second only to the Ultimatrix." He shook his small head, "Which is now in the hands of the Impostor, Collin Dungeos, or as the Galaxy knows him, Ben 10,000."
He looked over at Kal, "The ladder, the Omnitrix, now rests on your wrist, Kalvin Tennyson."
Kal looked down ad the strange watch and frowned, "What…do you want me to do?"
"The Omnitrix was in the care of your grandfather," Ana explained, "You currently have endless options before you, you are only a child after all."
"But Kevin needs to be stopped." Azumuth argued, "I don't agree with it at all, but you seem to be able and willing to learn to use it, and we are desperately short of time…" He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before continuing, "Kalvin Tennyson, are you willing to stay here on Primus, and train to use the Omnitrix to become a master? I personally…will train you in every aspect, so you can use the Omnitrix to its full potential." He paused, fighting through his pride as he continued, "It is nowhere near as powerful as the Ultimatrix, but I am willing to overlook a view things in order to train you. As a master, and with some help from your friends, you may very well be able to defeat Kevin."
Tessa tightened her grip around Kal's neck, but he ignored her. He did not even feel like pushing her away.
Finally, he looked up at Azumuth, "I'll do it…"
"And I want to train too!" Tessa quipped, standing up beside her brother, "I want to help. If Kal's going to fight, then I want to too!"
Ana nodded, "I'll have my assistant train you then."
Devlin lowered his head in worry. "This is all…Dad's fault?" He whispered, without looking up, "Dad…killed the real Ben and took his place? And caused Kevin to turn into a monster?"
"Killed? What are you talking about?" Ana put her hands on her hips,
"Didn't he?" Tessa asked, "Kevin was shouting about it an awful lot."
" 'Dead' means the permanent end of all life functions in an organism or part of an organism. So in that sense, Ben…is not dead." Azumuth explained.
Yes….I Google searched the definition of death to make it sound smart…