Chapter 9: Locked up

THE LEVIN HOUSE

"Excuse Me?"

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back" he said in his official sounding police voice.

"Magister, what are you doing?" asked Gwen

Mrs Levin came to the doorway to see what all the commotion was about as well.

"I have a warrant for Kevin's arrest, effective immediately" he said stepping up to Kevin

"What, why?" asked Gwen

"New CCTV footage has just emerged that Kevin helped members of a notorious gang with a robbery of a supply station planet some weeks ago, where plumbers were killed, isn't that right Kevin?. "Prison records show that you have a history with that gang"

"Officer, there must be some mistake Kevin isn't a criminal anymore" said Mrs Levin.

Kevin said nothing; he merely just stood there in shock.

"Yes, magister you have it all wrong, Kevin was the one who was kidnapped by that gang" said Gwen no longer keeping the secret.

"Kidnapped? Kevin you told me you were trapped there while you were on plumber business" his mother said surprised.

"Yes, well he kept the part about aiding that gang out of his explanation, the footage shows him using his osmosian powers to break open a vault"

Kevin couldn't return their looks but instead looked at the Magister "They threatened my mother" Kevin said finally

"Why didn't you tell the plumbers? And because of your silence we had our own officers being killed, one of them a soon-to-be father"

Gwen when silent and just stared in disbelief at Kevin with his mother.

Magister Ghalil turned Kevin around and cuffed him. "Didn't think that I'd ever see the day that I would have to arrest one of my own"

"It's not my fault, please you have to understand" he said trying to resist, he struggled against the Magister's cuffs.

"Stop resisting Kevin, you'll be in even more trouble, you know this"

"Kevin, tell me this isn't true, tell me that you haven't gone back to that gang" said his mother looking on the verge of tears, her worst nightmare was coming true, that her son was involved in a gang again. He had gone back to his previous life after all the progress he'd made.

"Mom, don't believe them, you know that I've changed, you know this, I'm a plumber and I've helped Ben save the world, I bought us this house so we can have a place to live together, I'm no longer with that old gang" he said his voice breaking while Ghalil's officers pulled Kevin towards the squad ships, but Kevin wasn't going easily.

Mrs Levin covered her mouth with her hand and began sobbing as she watched as they led her son away to his arrest.

"I can't believe this; I can't believe you lied to me, to us" said Gwen following next to them.

"Gwen it's not that simple, you have no idea what those monsters said they would do if I wouldn't help them" he said

"That's all you can say, it's not that simple, I left my parents to come and be here with you because I thought that you needed my support after your ordeal, just to find out that you actually helped them and didn't stop them from killing another plumber?" she yelled in anger

"I couldn't, you don't understand"

The commotion was starting to attract some onlookers on the street who watched, took pictures, and texted about it on social networks, as Gwen and Kevin yelled at each other as he was being hauled away.

"Here, take this back, I don't want it" she said stuffing the ring he gave her, back into his jeans pocket.

"Please don't do this Gwen, I'll sort everything out" he begged.

She watched as Ghalil placed Kevin in his squad ship, Kevin looked at them one last time, pained at how everything was turning out. Gwen, staring at him to furious to speak and his mother crying in her hands...

As Kevin sat in the ship, en route to a Galvin hoding station where prisoners awaiting trial were held, he was distraught, his mother was crying, she was actually crying, he had made his mother cry after promising her that he wouldn't ever go back to his bad boy ways. The horrified look on her face, the denial she tried to believe that her son was not involved in gang life was unbearable, the way she looked at him. She would never trust him again. And Gwen…

THE TENNYSON HOUSE(GWEN'S SIDE)

The ring of a doorbell on a busy Saturday morning got Mrs Tennyson off the couch next to her husband and she went to go and answer it. The minute she opened the door her heart gave a leap as she saw her daughter and her pained green eyes. She was carrying the same bag that she had left with just days ago, but her hair looked unkempt and so did she.

"Mom…"

Her mother embraced her tightly and dug her fingers into the hair she had given her.

"Aren't you mad at me?" Gwen asked

"No, I was afraid for you Gwen, I thought you were so far gone that we wouldn't see you again"

"I don't know why I acted the way I did, I was so caught up in my feelings and fears for him that I wanted to sacrifice my education just to make him happy". 'I'm so sorry"

"You're already forgiven Gwen but I'm not the one you should be talking to" she said pointing at the man sitting on the couch reading a newspaper.

Gwen took a long breath and slowly walked to her father. He simply carried on reading his newspaper but what Gwen didn't know was that he knew that he had heard her at the door but didn't go to greet her, he wanted her to come to him.

"Dad"

"Hm?" he said simply with his face still hidden behind the paper.

Gwen knew her father very well; she knew that he wanted her to explain herself properly.

"Daddy, I'm sorry for what I said to you, and for what I did, I was behaving like I was out of control and I'm sorry dad, I wasn't acting like myself and you had every right to kick me out, if you could just give me another chance..."

Frank Tennyson lowered the newspaper and looked at her; she was close to tears, "Are you still a teenage rebel?"

"No, I promise"

"Come here" he said standing up and opening his arms wide and she fell into her dad's arms crying. "It's okay Gwen, I'm sorry too for how I reacted, I was so angry and frustrated at your behaviour that I snapped. It was so difficult to see my little girl behaving like you did"

"Well, I'm going back to school properly now, and I just want to forget everything that happened" she said still hanging on to her dad.

"What's all the commotion about?, hey the bad girl is back, I knew you'd be back!..." said Ken from the top of the stairs, still wearing his pyjamas and walking down the stairs to hug his little sister.

"Okay Ken, I get you, I'm sorry, but for what I don't know" she said pouting at him and he just chuckled. The Tennyson family was finally reunited once again.

THE GALVIN HOLDING STATION

When Kevin got to the Galvin plumbers station which held unsentenced criminals in holding cells, he was escorted through the station by Magister Ghalil and his plumbers. Almost immediately as he stepped into the station, all eyes were on him. All the plumbers that he had worked with, looked up to, were staring at him in discontent. In the background a radio from another planet was broadcasting the news...

"…Latest news that Kevin Ethan Levin, the plumber who worked alongside Ben Ten and his cousin Gwen Tennyson, was arrested this morning for his involvement in a notorious gang responsible for the gruesome deaths of plumbers killed while trying to stop the gang. A spokesman for the plumbers said that they could not comment as of yet, details of where he is being kept remain unknown at the moment but we'll keep you updated…"

Then shouts from fellow plumbers ensued. "Backstabber… traitor… should be ashamed of yourself… call yourself a plumber… once a criminal always a criminal"… how could you betray us…" they yelled at him.

"That's enough everyone, get back to work!" yelled Magister Ghalil.

The magister gave him over to other plumbers who took his fingerprints, mug shot and placed him in a holding cell. He sat on the rigid bed and closed his eyes. He tried not to cry still picturing his mother and hearing a man's haunting scream inside his head, then seeing the place he was in, he felt like giving up, telling the 'Futha gang' that they had won, because his life was a misery... he found a small piece of metal on the floor of his cell and felt the coldness of the metal against his skin...

THE TENNYSON HOUSE (GWEN'S SIDE)

Ben rushed as fast as he could to Gwen's house; they were now in a crisis again. When he got there he didn't even bother ringing the doorbell, he just barged into his aunt and uncles' house and found his relatives sitting on the couch, huddling around Gwen. When she saw Ben, Gwen stood up and went to go and hug him while her parents remained on the couch.

"Gwen what happened? The whole universe is buzzing about this, why was he get arrested".

"He lied to us Ben; he was actually helping those gangsters".

"What? I don't believe that for one minute, he wouldn't do that".

"There was CCTV footage that they just found of the burglary on that supply station ship".

"Then they must have threatened him or blackmailed him because Kevin wouldn't do something like this willingly, he has no motive".

"It doesn't matter now Ben, he lied to us and all of the plumbers and that'll make him look guilty either way, and now a woman has lost her husband and father of her unborn child because he didn't bother to help the plumber on that station".

"Don't you see Gwen, he kept it a secret because if he told them that he was coerced into stealing for them then he would have to tell the plumbers about the old gang and they would have gone and looked for the gang during their most dangerous time".

"We can't do anything about this right now".

"We need to bail him out so he can explain himself before the whole universe sees him as a criminal again".

"Too late" said Ken listening on their conversation. "He's already trending on social networks; see" he said showing them his tablet device where '#kevinelevencriminal' was all over his timeline with mostly not so positive messages from earth people.

"C'mon Gwen we have to the Galvin holding station to bail him out".

"No, I'm not going, I've spent too much time trying to support him and all he did was lie to me and tear me away from my family".

"You're just speaking out of anger, Gwen just try to think past his lie and think about why he would do that".

"No, I have worked to do; I have to catch up on my grades again, I just want to forget everything that happened". He just looked at her walk back up to her room and had no choice but to do this on his own…

THE GALVIN HOLDING STATION

Kevin lay in silence on his first night in prison in years. He had had a bad night remembering what it was like sleeping in a prison cell, the self-inflicted bleeding on his wrists and arms showed that. His misery had reached a new level... until he heard a familiar voice.

"Hello I'm looking for Kevin Levin…"

"Oh my God you're thee Ben Ten aren't you, I have to say it's an honour meeting you, could you sign my journal?" said some plumber.

"Sorry but I don't have time for fans today, I really have to get something done".

"Understood, this is about your friend Kevin right?... follow me please".

Kevin heard footsteps approaching his dark cell until a plumber showed up with Ben. He couldn't bare to look at Ben with all his guilt. He merely sat watching the wall.

"This place already getting to you huh?" said Ben.

"What do you want Tennyson?" he said sounding like he had already given up all hope.

"I know why you didn't tell the plumbers about this, you were trying to save them from finding the Futha gang during gang warfare for which many more of them would be killed, you just don't have any proof, you're noble Kevin"

"Yeah well noble won't get me out of here; it won't convince my mom or the whole universe that I'm not a criminal anymore"

"Buy maybe money can get you out of here" said Ben taking out a golden cube from his jeans pocket.

"Is that the cube that the Luodans gave us to go and give up the Tiffin in exchange for peace?" asked Kevin

"Yeah, you never gave it back so I went to your house to get it; I figured that It could pay for your bail".

"You were at my house... How's my mom doing?" asked Kevin afraid of the answer.

"Not so good that's why we need to fix this mess so she can believe that you're a good guy again, she really needs you" said Ben not bothering to lie to him.

Kevin looked pained at the ground, the cuts on his wrists were starting to hurt again.

"And Gwen?"

"She's back at home with her family; she wants to concentrate on the schooling that she missed out on"

"I can't believe it, It all happened so fast, one minute we were all happy then..." he said depressed.

"Let's just concentrate on getting you out of here" said Ben

Ben walked away to the reception area. "Hi Ma'am, I came to apply for bail for Kevin Levin"

The receptionist checked Kevin's hologrammed sheet for a while before saying "Hmmm, it says here that he has been denied bail".

"What! That's not fair, he can't be held here indefinitely forever"

"I know Mr Tennyson, but you'll have to take it up with the judge, I don't have a say in the matter".

"Fine" he said walking back to Kevin, "bad luck buddy, we have to wait until you see the judge"

"No bail allowed" asked Kevin

"No, I don't get it either but it's best just to play by their rules so we don't look even more guilty. I'm sorry, I'll have to see you later"

"Hey Ben" asked Kevin hiding his face in the shadows so Ben wouldn't see him crying

"yeah?"

"Thanks"

"For what? I didn't get you out of here" said Ben frustrated

"For still trying..."

"See you soon" said Ben feeling touched.

As Ben walked down the hallway, he felt a little uneasy at how one of the plumbers looked at him. It was like he was he had killed his mother, the way he stared at him so hatefully, so suspiciously, but when Ben passed him in the corridor, he gave a fake smile and bowed slightly. When the plumber bowed at him, Ben noticed something dull that had lost its shine reveal itself on the young plumbers neck. Ben felt troubled but couldn't remember where he had seen something like it before...

GWEN'S SCHOOL

"... Can anyone still remember the name of the Tsar during the Russian Revolution... anyone?"

For most of the class who weren't sleeping with their heads down, doodling in their history books, texting under the desk, they were nervously looking around praying that someone would answer the question, so they wouldn't get singled out to answer it. Luckily their star peer was present once again and she lifted her hand up.

"Gwen, let's hear it"

"It was Tsar Nicholas II, Mr Hertzog"

"Well done, Gwen and lucky for all of you that someone answered or I would have to give you all an assignment so you could answer in future". Gwen suddenly became the most loved person in that classroom. Everyone gave her thumbs up, including her best friend Emily sitting behind her.

When class was over, Mr Hertzog called her to his desk.

"It's good to see you're back at school Gwen, keep it up"

"Thanks sir and I've just finished the first assignment you gave us, Communism and the Russian Revolution"

"Great, but you've already missed the deadline for late work, so unfortunately I'm going to have to minus 10% from your overall grade"

"Understood, I promise not to do this ever again"

"We were all young once, and did irresponsible things; I just hope you've learned your lesson". She nodded at her history teacher and walked out of the classroom.

At lunch she explained to Emily about what happened. "I'm so sorry for ignoring you; I was wrapped up in my addiction to my boyfriend"

"That's okay Gwen, every girl has been through the emotions of wanting to run away with our bad boy boyfriends because they happen to be the most important thing in the world" How've you been holding up since Kevin's arrest"

"Well I'm just focusing on getting my grades where they need to be and whipping myself back into karate shape, but I haven't given up on him, I can't, I just have to wait and see what happens"

"C'mon Gwen, you need to let him go, you're gunning to make it into Ivy League in a few years, and being associated with gangsters won't get you there."

"It's not that easy Em, there's a huge complicated story behind this and I feel like I'm betraying him by not doing anything, I'm the only person he counts on to never give up on him".

"Did he lie to you and betray you?". Gwen nodded "That's all there is to it" said Emily simply.

Gwen had a sinking feeling about this, she couldn't leave Kevin alone in jail and not do anything about it, but, she couldn't miss out on anymore school work either. The stressed feeling made her feel dizzy and nauseous, but she soon realised that the nausea she felt came from somewhere else... "Em, would you excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom, I don't feel well"

"What's wrong?"

"I think I need to puke" she said running away and clutching her abdomen absent-mindedly...

THE GALVIN STATION

The young and suspicious plumber who had stared at Ben in extreme discontent, knocked on the warden's door and entered.

"Sir, Ben Tennyson has left" he said handing the Warden some papers.

"Good, prepare for transport and give this to the officer in charge of guarding Kevin" he said handing the plumber some papers.

The young plumber walked down the corridor to the half-asleep plumber sitting outside Kevin's cell.

"Kowalski, these are from the warden, he just got them".

The plumber named Kowalski shook himself awake and put his glasses on to read the papers.

"That's odd; it says here that Kevin is to be transferred to the Null Void prison".

"That's right, Warden Touga just received this request that Kevin El—Levin is to be transported to the Null Void immediately".

"But who authorised this, we don't have permission from the judge, or from any of the magisters at Plumber headquarters, we can't just move him to a high level prison without proper permission".

"Warden Touga did get permission, from the Magister, now he wants to transport Kevin now" said the plumber through gritted teeth losing patience.

Kowalski was taken aback by his impatience but stood up and knocked against the steel bars of Kevin's cell.

"Kevin Levin, get up, you're being transferred". Kevin who had been lying on the rigid bed with his eyes still open stood up and approached the officer on the other side of the cell. "What, where am I being taken?"

"The Null Void".

"WHAT! You can't do that, you can't just transfer me to a deadly prison without my sentencing" he said fuming, the Null Void was crawling with villains that he had placed there himself, and he didn't think that he could go there again after being incarcerated there when he was young.

"I know, but I'm just following the wardens orders" he said unlocking the gate and cuffing Kevin. While he was escorting Kevin towards the hangar at the back of the Galvin station, Kevin whispered to him "Don't you think there's something fishy going on here, taking me to the Null Void just like that?".

The plumber kept quiet for a while before saying 'That's not my fault, I can't disobey the Warden".

When they reached the hangar sometime later, Kevin was handed to another plumber who would transport him and not the officer in charge of guarding him in prison, it happened to be another of the unusual occurrences that night.

OUTSIDE EARTH'S ORBIT

When Ben was flying back to planet Earth, still with a feeling of uneasiness, Cooper showed up on his monitor.

"Hey Ben, I reached your cousin earlier but she told me to go directly to your screen".

"That's okay, what's up".

"I found it Ben, I found it!" he said enthusiastically."The hidden planet, I managed to find the signal again when a fleet of starships broke into its atmosphere a couple of hours ago".

"That's great Cooper, thanks, what did you see happening on the planet?" asked Ben knowing that it was probably a rival gang making their way to the planet for a fight.

'I couldn't actually see much when I tried to take a closer look, it looked like it was covered in a brown blanket of dust or something…"

"That's okay, but it's a bit unfortunate that you found it now because we can't even investigate it now because Kevin's arrested, and Gwen wants to focus on school.."

"Maybe I can help then?"

"We'll see, let me try and talk to Gwen again, there's something bothering me and I need to figure what it is".

"Okay see you later, Cooper out"…

THE NULL VOID PRISON

Kevin stepped off the ship in the strange pocket dimension that the prison was built in and couldn't help but shiver at the feeling of being in the Null Void prison again.

"C'mon, get going filth" said the plumber pushing him to the teleporter.

Kevin knew that no plumber would treat him like that, prisoner or not. Something was definitely going on. The alleged plumber held his cuffed hands a little tighter as they beamed into the entrance of the Null Void prison. His suspicions were again raised when he realised that he didn't recognise any of the plumbers working there, nor did he recognise the warden. The warden who was an obese alien exchanged glances with the alleged plumber dragging Kevin away.

The plumber who was escorting him, didn't go in the direction of the cell, but rather to the outside courtyard where the rest of the prisoners were, and Kevin's heart skipped a beat when he saw what looked like Revenna at the entrance of the courtyard, lying on the ground with her tail wrapped around her legs, looking paler than usual.