"Grudge Match Redux" #8 by Cybra

Kevin stormed off from the dead roach, fists clenched. At the same time, he shed his glass skin so that he returned to his usual flesh and bone. He mentally debated touching the wall to re-absorb the metal but decided against it for the moment. There was no one here at the moment besides him and the corpse, but he'd rather not attract unwanted attention with the distinctive sound of metal on metal. For now, he'd be as human as the next guy. Besides, with all the metal around him, even if someone ambushed him, he'd have plenty of material to absorb.

He continued his progress, his steps growing softer and softer as he channeled his rage into stealth. At the forefront of his mind was the thought of saving Ben from whatever sick plans these space bugs had. And it had to be something sick rather than the old "taking the Omnitrix and using it to conquer" idea. This Silla had seemed annoyed by the watch rather than thinking of any possibilities for it. The dark-haired teen felt grateful that she would most likely leave it alone if only because removing the Omnitrix was not pleasant for its wearer.

A tingling sense of paranoia rose in the back of his mind. At first he dutifully ignored it, figuring it was anxiety about Ben triggering it. However, he finally gave in to the need to look back, glancing down the hallway from which he'd come. He'd gone quite a ways but not far enough to avoid seeing it:

The "corpse" was gone.

----------- x ----------

Unable to repress it any longer, Ben closed his eyes and gave a moan of pleasure as Kevin's hands glided over his face. The mutant's other two hands were sliding up under his shirt, rubbing against his chest. All the while, that sweet scent wrapped them in a heavenly wonderland.

'Oh, God, Kevin...' the hero thought though he couldn't bring himself to give voice to that.

"Yes," the amalgamation of his ten year-old self's alien forms purred. "Just like that."

The xenomorph reached up to wrap his arms around the other's neck, running his fingers along the gossamer wings of Stinkfly. Kevin leaned further down, allowing him to press up against the other's shirt.

The feel of the fabric stirred something. The ghosts of memory tugged at his mind though the smell and the touching took dominance.

'Hope he doesn't want to do this in the car,' Ben thought idly. 'That'd be kind of uncomfortable.'

With the thought of the car came a flash of insight that almost seemed to sneak past all the blissful sensations:

The mutated creature of his younger years couldn't possibly fit in the Camaro.

He shifted uncomfortably as his mind started to process this, fighting through the scent and the touches. The mutant couldn't possibly fit in the car. Not with four arms, the tail, and the wings. Not to mention his overall body size. The Camaro would've had a hole in the roof.

He struggled with this, trying to rationalize it. The touches suddenly became more insistant, attempting to pull him back down into the simple pleasure of their caress.

Yet his mind wouldn't shut up. The horribly mutated Kevin couldn't possibly have the Camaro. And with XLR8's legs, he didn't need a car. The only way for Kevin to have that car was if he was human.

That seemed to open a floodgate of images. Black hair, dark eyes, smirking face. Two arms, two legs, a nose, no tail, no wings, and no dangling third eye. Kevin wasn't that creature anymore; he was human. Human.

With all the will he could muster, the brunette pushed back against the scent and the touches. He opened his eyes and, for a moment, received a bizarre double image of the mutated Kevin and a disturbingly pretty insect alien. But thanks to what his mind had figured out, he pushed the false face--along with the person attached to it--away.

"Back off!" he yelled, sending a surprised Silla flying with a sudden kick from soccer-trained legs.

Her wings beat the air as her pretty face twisted into a snarl, managing to stop her backwards flight and pulling into a hover. She landed easily, schooling her features into that haughty mask. "So you won't be easily broken. Impressive."

Ben rolled to his feet and went for the Omnitrix only for her to reach her whip first and lash out. This time, however, he dodged, escaping the lash by bare millimeters.

She gave him a twisted smile. "Perhaps my brother will have better luck with you. He'll certainly enjoy the challenge."

----------- x ----------

Kevin raced down the corridors, not caring anymore who he might've barged into. His feet--now covered in a coat of metal from the wall--clanged loudly against the floor. He ripped open compartment door after compartment door, calling the brunette's name but not finding him. All the while, a clock ticked somewhere in his head, counting off the time he hadn't run into any adversaries. The bugs were planning something; he just knew it.

A loud buzzing drew his attention to a side corridor. This was swiftly followed by equally loud skittering.

"Fuck!" he yelled, falling into a defensive position as the roach-like aliens did what insects did best:

They swarmed.

Notes:

And that's all she wrote for me. Though I did love writing Ben's sequence. :D After making him get knocked out so early in the game, I wanted to give him a little bit of fight even if it was mostly mental.

Pan2dapan, I choose you!