You may have noticed the change to the summary. It's because I got randomly inspired. I think this idea is much better, so I hope it pans out.
Anyways, I only got one review for the last chapter so far. It makes me sad. Even if all you have to say is "hi" leave a review, 'cause it makes me happy. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10. I wish it was so, but no such luck.
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
The star had managed to find her way into town, where she had gotten onto a bus and managed to skip the fare. She stayed on the bus until the most passengers got off at one stop, where she followed the crowd into the mall. It was a noisy, busy place teeming with people, and for someone who had been alone all of her life, it was a tad overwhelming.
Everywhere she went she heard people calling to each other. A mother shouting her daughter's name, a pair of teenagers chasing each other through the hallways, three little brothers screaming before the first punch was thrown. The boys' dad as he threatened to 'tan their hides.'
She came to realize that she was probably the only one here who didn't have a name. She'd never needed one before, but she was pretty sure she was going to need one to get anywhere on Earth. She started listening to the conversations around her.
"Margaret," one mother chided, "Don't touch the candy; we aren't buying any."
Another man was talking to a friend of his, "Look, Jay, just ask her out. The worst that can happen is that she'll reject you and you'll have to see her at work every day."
One little blond boy ran past her, his sister chasing after him. "Nate! Get back here you little twerp!"
Those were just a few of the names she heard in the short amount of time she spent wandering around aimlessly. She needed to choose a name, but which one? She rather liked Sophia or Carmen, but the decision made itself when the little boy and his sister walked past again.
"Promise you won't tell Mom, Nate? I'll buy you some ice cream," the older girl bribed her brother successfully.
The star decided that her name would be Nate. Now that that was settled, she needed something to do. Maybe make a friend? No one else seemed to be alone, though. A few more minutes of wandering later, she found herself at the food court. At one of the tables sat a lonely looking teenage boy. Nate smiled to herself; she'd found her first victim.
Trying very hard to be nonchalant, she walked over and sat down at the boy's table. He was playing with a game of some kind, and didn't even look up when she joined him. He had scruffy black hair and green eyes, and was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with some sort of logo emblazoned on the front. He also could tell that he was being stared at by Nate.
He paused his game and looked up, "Hello? Can I help you?"
Nate shrugged, "Hi. I dunno. I'm kinda lost, actually." She surprised both of them with a light British accent. She had probably developed it after watching England rule almost the whole world for several hundred years.
"Oh. Well, uh, where're you from?" he sat up and put his game in his backpack.
"Outer space," Nate pointed up for extra emphasis. "But I fell."
"Right, of course," he didn't seem too convinced. "What's your name?"
"Nate," she was proud to have an answer. "What's yours?"
"Roy. If you fell from space, what do you intend to do on Earth?" he was humoring her, she could tell. He thought she was crazy.
She shrugged her shoulders again. "I don't know. I was hoping someone could help me…?"
Roy sighed, but took the bait, "Fine. But I don't have any money, so I don't know what I can do for you."
Nate looked at the vicinity behind Roy's left ear, "What about the money machine?"
"Hmm?" He turned to look. "You mean the ATM?"
"Sure," she agreed. "Can't you get money from that?"
"Not without a credit card," he saw her confused look. "Uh, you have to give the ATM a code so it'll give you money."
"I bet I don't," Nate got up and walked over; Roy followed against his better judgment.
Once at the machine, Nate watched over the shoulder of the man in front as he slid a small green card into a slot, typed some numbers in, and got his money. When he left, she stood in front of the ATM and thought. Nate put her hand on the screen and sent a small wave of energy into the device. It crackled softly with electricity before spitting out several hundred dollars.
Roy's eyes widened; Nate palmed the cash and turned to look at him, grinning like the Joker.
It wasn't often that Michael Morningstar got a hot date. Actually, ever since his first encounter with the Alien Force, he hadn't had a single date before this one. He had had trouble getting used to not being gorgeous. So when Charmcaster had agreed to go out with him, he had nearly died of excitement.
They had been coming out of the movies last night when the meteor had fallen. They – along with every other person within viewing distance – had stared in awe as the blue streak had crashed to the ground outside of Bellwood.
Charmcaster's eyes had flashed pink before she turned to him and said, "That's not a meteor. It's alive; it has more living energy than Gw- Anodites do."
At that point, both of them were thinking the same thing: How can I use this to my advantage?
Darkstar knew instantly what that much energy could mean for him. It meant that he could have his beautiful face and flowing golden locks back, and he could get as many dates as he wanted to until the end of time.
His date, on the other hand, couldn't think of a single thing that the meteor could do for her. Charmcaster was basically still focused on killing Gwen, and she had another long-winded scheme up her sleeve and already in the makings.
The two of them had very awkwardly ended their date not long after, and Michael had gone home to plot evil revenge plans that involved infinite power on his part. He had so many ideas that he actually began writing them down and organizing them. Once successfully straightened out, he began sorting through his ideas and had ended up staying awake through the night and into the morning.
Darkstar could currently be found collapsed with sleep on top of his pile of vendettas, drooling into his helmet enough to threaten to drown him. He startled himself awake when he breathed out and heard a gurgle as he blew bubbles in the accumulated spit.
He sat up straight and yanked his helmet off, wiping his face dry with his sleeve. Michael spent the next few hours going through his work from the night before – junk, stupid, genius, maniacal – and building his mastermind plan.
When he was finished, Darkstar spread the paper across the table and smiled, his dry gray lips cracking apart to show his decaying teeth.
Ben, Gwen, and Kevin had an interesting day too.
Ben had intended to spend the day with Julie at her house. They were going to have a Sumo Slammers mega movie marathon.
Gwen was supposed to meet one of her classmates from prep school at the mall. The guy was in all of her classes, and she was pretty sure that he didn't have any other friends besides her; or none at school, at least. He'd been trying to hang out outside of class for weeks now.
Kevin had wanted to spend the day in the garage with his car. He had acquired an entirely new arsenal of random alien tech and was planning on seeing how much of it he could use to make his car more awesome than it was already.
Instead, all three of them ended up meeting Grandpa Max at the Rustbucket to discuss the fallen star. The three teens and older man were crammed around the small table inside the RV. Max Tennyson was giving them a very grave look as he processed what they had told him.
"There is a very rare species of alien know as the Helios," he began. "I think the star you saw last night could be one of them."
"Okay," Ben said. "Maybe I can get it in the Ultimatrix."
"That's not the main concern," he grandfather quieted him, "You see, the Helios are made of virtually the same thing as a natural star. Their bodies are home to high levels of fusion energy, and they can live in space without any problems."
"So our main concern is what?" Kevin asked.
"Helios rarely fall to a planet's surface. When they do, they have very little time before they become a black hole."
His granddaughter looked up. "How much time is very little?"
"You have two weeks to find the Helios and return it to space before it destroys the entire solar system."
In our next episode: What has Darkstar got up his sleeve? What will Roy and Nate do with their newfound riches? Will there be any Gwevin? Why is the author talking like this? All your questions answered in Chapter Three! But only if you REVIEW and leave them for me!
Anyways, do like I said: REVIEW! I'm looking for the next reviewer to get cookies and an imaginary plush Kevin!