"Oh. My. Lord!" the scream behind her made Gwen sigh as she reluctantly turned to catch a glimpse of a very female version of her cousin standing where the male one had been only a few seconds prier to 'going hero.'
The 'fem-Ben,' as the author will refer to him as until he times out, was in what looked like a lime green and black latex diving suit, her hair spun up in a bun with metal looking two inch rods hanging on the ends that had fallen out of place and in the center of the bun.
Her nails were a fluorescent green and her skin a very pale shade of blue; she turned sharply to glare at Kevin as he continued to laugh. "Stop laughing, I was trying to go Swamp Fire, not… ithis/i!" her voice was higher yes, but that was defiantly still Ben, breasts and tail in all.
Wait, tail?
"There you are! Thought you could hide from me did you? Well too bad." one more round and the shield Gwen threw up shattered before the four of them, a few seconds later it was pulled up but Edwin wasn't as lucky as the others to have such good reflexes. His scream was almost as loud as Gwen's when her arm caught on fire from debris tat fell right after the alien shot above them.
"Kevin!" Gwen screamed, her head motioning toward the creature as she felt her eyes brim with mana and anger. Mostly anger though.
"Yea, got it, just toss me an opening!" he shouted over the blasts and cracks as Gwen nodded, readying an opening the size of his newly formed torso.
"Oh crap Eddy! Eddy are you ok?!" Ben rushed back, shielding Edwin and rubbing a few fingers over his dusty cheek.
"So that's your mate? No matter, I'll kill him first, Ter'abith Nal, then those two whelps inside you." Gwen shouted a profanity to keep the creature quiet and threw up the hole; only Kevin wasn't the one who jumped through it first.
Fem-Ben was, and she was snarling
Only instead of the hole, fem-Ben used the top swerve of the shield to summersault off and do some type of spinning vault kick that the author has no idea how to describe other than the bad guy got a nice chest full of angry fem-Ben feet.
The creature screamed as it jerked backwards, snarling as fem-Ben kicked back again and slid toward the wall in the rubble, her own growl vibrating around the room as those nail grew in lethal length and the metal pieces in her hair began to rise all by themselves.
Kevin tilted his head, a surprised look as he turned back to Gwen. "When did Ben learn Kung Fu?" he asked as she glared back at him.
"That's not Kung Fu, that's Parkour. And he doesn't know it, the form does. Now go help him and save my cousins kids before he does something stupid!" she shouted, looking back as fem-Ben stood and growled again, teeth barred and sharp. Defiantly different from normal Ben, and alien; the tail lashing behind her was alien.
Kevin nodded as he ran out into range, but Fem-Ben seemed to have this under control. Diving back at the creature as it charged her she let out something akin to a battle cry, nails swiping at the other alien's arms.
"Little Tiyski Biy-" Kevin cut the creature off by slamming his fist into his jaw as he dived at him from his blind spot.
"That is NO way to talk to a lady. Even if she deserves it!" Kevin shouted, shaking his hand out as he grumbled and flexed his fingers, catching the Alien's gaze as it pulled itself out of the floor and spit in his direction.
"Miu katzun Tiyski!" it hissed back, lifting its gun again as Kevin gasped and charged forward.
"Don't you fucking call me a Tiyski either you crazy trash rat!" he shouted, swinging his fists into the attack as fem-Ben stood straight, backing away from the fight and back behind the shield. The alien form Ben had on currently was panting, long razor claws outstretched and a low steady growl echoing from her chest.
"What's a Tiyski?" fem-Ben asked after catching her breath behind the safety Gwen had throw up, tail slapping back and forth behind her in aggravation. Edwin huffed, throwing his arms around fem-Ben's shoulders as he let out shaken laughter.
"I don't care, but don't you idare/i ever do that again, do you understand me?!" he nearly screamed, but his voice never left room volume.
"Not the time for that boys! This… ithing/i is trashing my house!" Gwen said, pulling her shield back to form a large ball that she drew between her hands. "We need to get it outside and out of this building or my landlord will kill me!"
"Not if this thing gets to us first! Little help here!" Kevin shouted, grappling with the alien as he lost his footing, sending them both skidding down to the floor.
"Ok, we've got this, Eddy I want you to use the back door and go get in the car, go get my grandpa ok?" fem-Ben turned, hands on Edwin's shoulders as she leaned forward and brushed her nose against his cheek.
"I'm not leaving you Ben!" with a sigh fem-Ben turned Edwin and gave him a shove as a blast from one of the Alien's guns went off.
"Edwin go and don't you dare start arguing with me or I'll tie you to a bed post and-"
"BEN GOD DAMN IT HELP ME OUT OVER HERE!"
"Right, just go." turning on her heel the alien figure used the new-found agility and flexibility to make a running jump straight at the front rooms doorway, as she leapt upward her hands reached out and grabbed onto the frame.
Using the momentum from the swing and grounding she spun and finally let go, the direction of her vault giving her perfect aim for a crescent kick. Her foot slammed into the right side of the creatures face as Kevin cursed and ducked under her shadow.
"Little warning next time!" Kevin huffed out, pushing the creature off of his arms as it stumbled backwards from the force of the kick.
"Sorry, think first talk later. Help me get it outside." fem-Ben said as she landed with her hair back to swirling around her ears as the metal pieces clicked against each other occasionally.
"Will do, you start running to the door, I'll get big guys attention. Gwen, cover us?" Kevin looked over with enough time to see the redhead blast the energy ball straight at the creatures' gun as it shot an inch above Kevin's head, the gun clattering off the far wall.
"Yea I've got your cover. Just like old times." she said, a sly smirk on her lips as fem-Ben ran passed her, chuckling and dodging debris. "Now hurry up before I shoot iyou/i next." and Kevin laughed as the Alien screamed at them both, a green shade of what Gwen presumed to be blood pouring down his nose and busted lip.
Kevin ducked next and jumped backwards, arms of the creature swinging out at him as he lead the creature toward the door while avoiding his attacks.
What he didn't avoid Gwen made up for, and by the time they had rounded the hall and gotten the alien just outside the front door a sound similar to the screech of a car halting and a symphony of glass bottles being shattered in the road arose above them.
All three of them looked up as fem-Ben came down in what looked like a back-hand spring off the roof, claws aimed straight down. Sadly the alien evaded her attack and used the opening to slam her into the doorframe with one of his other arms.
"Ben!" Gwen screamed in shock, ready to lay waist to this creature for hitting a girl… even if that girl was fully capable of kicking the creature into orbit and back.
"I'm ok!" the gasp of reassurance came as she rubbed her side and stood, facing the creature as it snarled and charged toward her. She huffed through her nose, jerking her body to the side and lifting her arms to her chest as she preformed a Butterfly kick to the creature's chest as it passed her.
Though it didn't seem to hurt the creature, the momentum fem-Ben gained from it set her right on her feet to Roundhouse kick the creature onto it's back as soon as it turned to face her.
Kevin hissed as the creature sailed backwards and broke the base of one of the maple trees growing nearby. What little leaves had been clinging to it now fell and surrounded the alien.
"That… looked painful…" Kevin said, nodding his head as he readied for a charge at the alien. Gwen stopped him though, looking over at Fem-Ben as she glared, the growl easing as her posture relaxed and her form eased.
"Ben?" Gwen called, and her cousin looked up, smiling as the metal pieces in her hair fell back down and into place.
"I think I broke something on it. I heard this crack when it hit the tree." Fem-Ben said, rubbing her arm with a blush before the time out noise on the omnitrix sounded and a green flash went off.
"I'm pretty sure that crashing noise you heard was the tree Ben, you broke it in… umm… Ben don't freak out." Gwen looked on, wide eyed as she looked at her cousin.
"What? … Oh no am I still an alien?" Ben held his hands out in front of him, but they were normal so he shrugged.
"Ben you're bleeding!" Kevin shouted, head snapping from the scene to the stirring alien a few yards away. "Hold that thought, I need to go knock that thing out." he grumbled.
Gwen ran over quickly, arms outstretched as Ben quickly let his gaze drop. His pants legs were soaked in blood, the dirt and grime from debris clinging to the fabric as he wobbled and fell forward into his cousin's hold.
"Oh shit…" his voice was worried and scared, his grip tightening on the back of Gwen's shirt.
"Calm down Ben, it's ok. You probably just got hit before changing and because of the suit no one would have noticed the blood." Gwen said in a reassuring tone, leading her cousin to the steps as he limped and groaned.
"No… No I didn't get hit…" Ben groaned again, easing his legs out as he steadied his breathing, looking up the road as his eyes searched for Edwin's car.
"Gwen… I didn't get hit." he said again, gripping onto one of her arms as she nodded and tried calming him down.
"It's ok Ben, you didn't get hit. Nothing happened… Look! There's Eddy's car." she smiled, ready for her Grandfather to get here and sort this situation out once and for all.
--
"So the creature that attacked us all at Gwen's house was called a… what was it called again?" Edwin asked as he went back to patting Ben's hand after hearing him groan, his boyfriend embarrassed and flushed as he shoved a pillow back over his face.
The blood hadn't come from the gun, but the gashes he'd somehow acquired mid-alien it seemed. Kevin suggested that when the creature had hit Ben into the door frame it must have clawed at him as well.
"That ithing/i was an Izgur. They're a race of… well; I guess you can call them bounty hunters. But they only hunt one thing." Gorg said as she reached into the small medical box and pulled out a plastic bag full of alcohol pads.
"The Ter'abith, I'm guessing." Gwen said, wincing as Unta blushed and apologized for the sting as she went back to attending her graze wound.
"No, only Ter'abith Nal or Val. Those are much more valuable than plain old Ter'abith." Gorg said, cleaning the wounds on the insides of Ben's legs as he screamed into the pillow at the burning sting.
"Don't be such a baby Ben, I didn't scream when I got mine cleaned up." Kevin muttered as he disassembled the gun in front of him for the seventh time, fingers never letting go of the core charger for more than a minute.
"What's the difference?" Gwen asked finally as Unta started wrapping her arm. "Between a normal Ter'abith and a Ter'abith Nal? It's one word, what makes them so special?" she asked as she relaxed back into the chair.
"Well, a Ter'abith iNal/i is… are you sure she wasn't saying Val? From what I can tell Ben isn't a girl." Gorg said as her hands paused before she went back to work.
"I'm sure it said Nal." Gwen said after a chuckle and grumble from her cousin.
"Well, a Nal is a pregnant female. On the Ter'abith home world there are five out of a thousand Nal now because of that fertility drug I told Edwin about. On that planet there was… a kind of gender war." Gorg pulled back from the wound as Ben gasped, gripping Edwin's hand tighter.
"And I'm guessing the men lost?" Kevin asked, flipped the now completed gun over in his hands.
"Yes, they did lose. And because of it the fertility drug held stable, now on that planet it's more the men's job to populate it than it is the women's." Gorg sighed a little, looking over the now clean gashes on Ben's legs. "I don't like the way these look… I think they need stitching." she muttered.
Ben let out a strangled cry, gripping Edwin's arms harder as the door opened and Max Tennyson walked in, rubbing his temples. He looked around the room once before finding a seat and plopping down there and pulling out a bag full of some type of jerky.
"I think I've dealt with more cases since I've retired because of you three than I have back when I was still active in the force." Max huffed, reaching into the bag to pull out a strip of the mystery meat.
Gwen smiled before turning her attention back to Gorg, ready for her next question.
"… Why was it after Ben?" she finally asked after a pause, and Kevin looked up, ready to stand almost. Max chimed in though, relieving Gorg of talking duties as she began to measure a numbing shot and cream for Ben's gashes.
"My guess is that the omnitrix thought a female Ter'abith would be best suited for protecting Ben. The females are more agile and fight a lot stronger, though they only ever fight if their mate or children are threatened." Max leaned back, rubbing his temples again as he chewed.
"But what does that have to-"
"Nal fetuses sell for almost a gold cube on the black market." Kevin muttered, pulling his chair back. "That thing wanted to kill Ben, take the kids inside and get off with a cash cow." he set the gun down, leaving the room in a fluster.
Gwen stood after him, frowning as she followed.
"Alright then, can I get some explanations?" Max finally asked after the pause broke.
Outside the warehouse Gwen had to set out at a run to keep up with Kevin, calling after him as the chill hit her arms with little biting stings. "Kevin hold on!" she called again, panting as he finally slowed to a stop.
"Kevin what's wrong?" she asked, reaching for his hand as she stopped behind him to catch her breath. He snatched his hand away though, looking off into the distance with a scowl.
"Kevin?" she tried again and he turned to face her, anger boiling on his skin.
"Drop it ok, that's just sick. Trading that much time for murder of something that can't defend itself and they just hunt them down like animals and…" he was seething and ready to scream by the time she caught his hand.
"Calm down, why is this upsetting you so much Kevin?" she asked, gripping his hand a little tighter.
"Because no matter how much I want to hate you I still end up loving you! I hate you and I want to slam Tennyson's face into the pavement but I can't because every time I do I see you crying or the three of us back the way it was! I can't stop needing to help you, it's like this stupid over-whelming urge to be beside you!" he was panting, steam rolling off his skin as he shook.
Gwen let her mouth drop, no words forming as she tried thinking through this new bit of information. She finally gathered that she didn't need words and reached up to brush the hair out of Kevin's face, smiling a bit as he let out a pathetic laugh.
"You can't stand me now." he muttered, ready to turn before she snatched him back.
"Kevin yesterday you were a cocky bastard and today you're acting like a girl." she told him, smiling as she looked up at him. "Grow up. You're stuck with me… for as long as you're here you're stuck with me." she didn't specify her meaning of here either; she just smiled as Kevin chuckled and leaned forward to pull her to his chest.
It was an awkward hug at first, but when they had both gotten the hang of it they both relaxed, battered and bruised outside in the cold.
Gwen looked up after a while, watching the sky until something cold hit her nose. She reached up, rubbing at the substance before more began dripping around them.
"Kevin… Kevin it's snowing!" Gwen let him go, spinning around a few times with a laugh. "Why is it snowing? It was summer not even a few days ago!" she called to him with a laugh as she spun off in circles, letting the flakes hit her.
Kevin never answered her so she stopped, heaving out a breath to smile at him as he leaned against a tree. "Kevin…"
"You were with me for a long time in space. I know it might not have seemed like it, but it was." he said, looking away from her and at the falling white. "I took you away from everything for a while and you come back to dance circles in the snow." he was smirking now.
"When was the last time you danced like that, Gwen?" he asked, looking back at her as she blushed and began stepping toward him.
"Or since you've laughed like that, or smiled like you used to?" he stopped as she stood in front of him, looking up at him as her lips parted.
"I missed so much… now I just don't think I can leave you to go off and miss it again…" his words were muttered, nearly muted as the wind blew by suddenly and swept the stray pieces of snow around them like dust. Gwen blushed, shutting her mouth to swallow as Kevin took a chance and brushed his own hand across her cheek.
"I don't want to leave you, Gwen." if she hadn't been able to read his lips just then she'd have never heard him whisper. She let a smile grow on her face, relaxing as she placed her hand over his.
"If you really don't want to leave Kevin… then don't." she muttered, stepping forward again to snuggle her face into his chest. "We'll get out of here… we'll get out and start all over… I need a new house anyway." she rambled, planning for everything and nothing all in one as Kevin added in his two cents here and there. The two of them stayed outside until the snow was ankle deep.