I'm really encouraged by those reviews I got, and though I would prefer more, I'll settle for two. This is for 'xrxixsxexmxbxoxoxlxrxaxnxgxexr' for actually PMing me to update so your wish is granted. And thanks to 'UnderxGravity' for the fav! Now, onward to the story!
Disclaimer: Must I really write this on every chapter? Le sigh… No own Ben 10!
Chapter 2
According to the clock on the car's stereo, they had been looking for about thirty-two minutes, give or take a few seconds, but nothing was presenting itself to them in the form of crater, or even smoke from the crash. After another minute of nothing but sand dunes and rocks, Kevin veered the car off the side of the road and stopped.
"Okay, driving is Bogus." Kevin stated with a look of boredom.
"He's right, are you sure it went out this far?" Gwen agreed, looking to Ben.
"Well, obviously it's nowhere near the road… You guys up for a walk?" He knew a night search was difficult basically because they couldn't see. Well, most of his aliens could see, but he wasn't sure about Gwen or Kevin. He was brought back to earth in a joking sense when he felt a punch on his shoulder.
"Hello? Wake up, Tennyson. I said get my flash light out of the glove box." Well, that solved that problem.
"You couldn't have just tapped my shoulder?" Ben muttered, rifling through a months worth of traffic tickets.
"It crossed my mind…" Kevin smirked until the flashlight was thrust into his chest. They all exited the car as a dull thump was heard. As Kevin sifted through the trunk for an object to signal with, Ben gathered his surroundings. Fifty miles up was the abandoned research lab that they had met Paradox at and after was a small mountain range, but he knew for a fact that it hadn't gone as far as the lab. The terrain was barely visible in the light provided by the crescent moon, but he thankful for at least that. He turned to look back at Kevin still head deep in the trunk.
"All that alien tech and you don't even have a simple flare gun?" Gwen scolded, leaning on the side of the car. A small muffled sound of triumph came from the trunk and Kevin pulled out the gun that he had stolen from the Forever Knights.
"Who needs flare guns?" He said, cocking it. Always the badass, Ben thought with a sigh.
"Everyone ready?" He asked, receiving nods from them both. They set off as Ben turned and activated the Omnitrix. He sifted through the aliens and, after finding one that he thought suited the situation, slammed the face down.
"Jetray!" He cried, his form taking the shape of a red, manta-like alien. He flew off at lightning speed and began his search.
Gwen held her pace at a brisk walk, staying a foot above the ground on energy platforms, lest she trip in on of the many holes created by whatever creatures lived in this desert. She had also concentrated a small amount of energy around her hand so a soft pink glow lit her way. She almost expected to find to random alien creature running around. It was part of their daily lives after all. She thought back to the movie and thought, jokingly of course, how ironic it would be if they came across that creature. Stranger things had happened, that was for sure.
Suddenly, a growl interrupted her thoughts. It came from behind a tumble weed on her left. She shone her energy light at the bush and was met with the twinkling of a pair of eyes. Startled by this, she shot the energy ball at it. She missed by three inches and sand exploded in all directions. This was followed by a yip, and a coyote sprinted off toward the mountains. She cursed herself for being so jumpy and continued to walk, hoping to find the meteor object soon.
Kevin's search wasn't going much better. Despite having a flashlight, he had managed to trip twice. Once on a rock and another in a hole. The inhabitant of said hole wasn't very happy about this and, with an angry hiss, attempted to take a bite out of his ankle. He was sure the poor snake had broken a fang on the rock layer he had absorbed halfway up his shins. Needless to say, the lengthy reptile retreated, and Kevin walked on, a smirk on his face.
He hadn't seen anything else besides the snake and a rather badly startled coyote. He thought he might've found something with the frightened animal but it was a no go as, usually, what the animals ran from came right after, which nothing did. So he sighed and continued walking. Searches were always the boring part, but he looked forward to finding the alien and beating the hell out of it. He was snapped back to reality by a shallow hole that seemed to randomly appear to make him fall flat on his face and, since one hand held a laser gun, the other a flashlight, he did. Just his luck.
Ben, personally, was enjoying the search. It was rare he ever got to use his aliens and not fight with them. Below him the ground was nothing but a bluish-grey blur as he sped by at eighty miles or so. Finally, a sight met his eyes. A giant crater stuck out on the horizon, dark and promising. He flew towards it and stopped at its lip, confirming it to be their target. He whipped around and fired two green beams from his eyes and tail. They collided high in the air creating a nice firework effect. He changed back and watched the green fade from the sky before turning back to them matters at hand.
He slid down the side and landed lightly on the bottom. He stood and looked at the anomaly before falling onto the side of the crater from shock.
"No way…" He murmured, frozen in place from the haunting familiarity of the space craft wreck before him. It couldn't be… These couldn't even be the remains of Ghostfreak's ship. But he knew it was the very same one that had been used to cover the earth in darkness for the evil ectonurite, despite its rundown look. He willed himself to move, convincing himself that he wasn't afraid. He still hesitated by the door. God forbid the horrid phantom pop out and attempt to possess him again. He took a breath and stepped inside, all thoughts of his friends forgotten as his mind focused on trying not to let the memories through.
The inside of the ship was a wreck of dangling wires and broken pieces of equipment spread out along the floor. His first step inside was met with an unexpected splashing sound. He looked down to find the floor covered in a clear liquid, most likely water. It must have been coated in ice that melted upon reentry or something to that effect. He continued on cautiously, the water rising to his ankles as he wandered deeper into the hulls depths until he realized he could no longer see. He felt along the wall until he found something that felt like a button. He pressed it, expecting nothing to happen when a panel slid open and bathed the open doorway with a gentle yellow glow.
He pressed himself against the wall and peered inside. No creatures, thankfully. His heart was pounding hard against his rib cage as he continued to use the adrenaline to his benefit. He entered, his eyes adjusting to the sudden dim light. The same story was told in this room of broken machinery and thick cables hanging off the ceiling. There was one different aspect in this room that hadn't been in the first one. There were two antennae, he assumed, one hanging down from the ceiling and one coming up from the floor. The way they were, they looked like a pair of metallic stalagmite-stalactite combo almost meeting in the center but cut off about a foot apart.
Ben had come up close to examine them, curiosity overriding his fear as the machine seemed familiar in a way, but he couldn't place it. A sudden shout startled him as thoughts of Ghostfreak came rushing back. He whipped around to face the doorway, but his elbow connected with antennae. A sudden shock coursed through his body, causing him to cry out in pain. He fell to his knees, dazed, separated from the source of pure energy that still somehow retained power. Darkness crept up from the corners of his eyes, threatening to overtake him. He didn't have the energy to fight, allowing himself to fall.
"Ben!" Was the last thing he heard when the darkness enveloped him, cutting his senses off from the world around him.
Well, there was chapter two. I noticed I put a lot of spacing scenes, but hey, who doesn't like to space? Anywayz, R and R is all I can really tell you people. Please do so and you can have an Echo Echo too! Lots of luv!