Chapter 13: Pushing the Limit
"What are you doing here?"
Ben felt his jaw drop. This was not how things were supposed to work out. Time seemed to stop, and for a moment there was no sound, no motion, just a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that this situation had just taken a very bad turn.
"I'm guessing he didn't see it," murmured Ben slowly while beside him, Chad, who wasn't in much better shape than Tennyson, made a little noise of despair.
Nigel looked back and forth between them as if trying to decide which one he wanted to shoot first. Seeing one of his closest friends standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one of his worst enemies, Number One took a deep, unsteady breath in preparation to erupt when suddenly -
"Nigie!"
Lizzie's squeaky voice shattered the tension. All three young men jumped and started as Nigel's ex-girlfriend dashed out of the crowd and stood between him, his friend, and his would-be date.
"Nigie! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" She clasped her hands to her chest. "Can we talk? Please?"
"Lizzie?" Nigel gaped at her as if he'd never seen her before.
"Oh, Nigie, I miss you!" she gushed, completely unaffected by his agitation and oblivious to the drama unfolding around her. "I know you miss me, too!"
He blinked. "What? No!"
Taking advantage of this brief moment of distraction, Ben looked at his companion and quietly suggested, "Run."
Chad frowned, about to argue, but Ben cut him off.
"You know that look, dude. Run. I'll try to set him straight . . . if I can," he added doubtfully.
"But-"
Knowing they had no time, Ben picked up the collapsed hover board and shoved it into Chad's arms. "Go! There're too many KND here. Once the alarm sounds they'll be all over you. I'll get through to him. Go!"
"Stop him!" shouted the Supreme Leader, trying to dodge Lizzie. "Stop him! Traitor!"
People were turning around and muttering, trying to come up to speed on what was happening. Suddenly Ben and Chad were the focal point of the quad, an unwelcome distinction that made Ben10 grimace. More than a hundred KND and ECF troops stopped and turned, some hands straying towards guns and other weapons as stage two of Nigel Uno's love life played out before them. When a few KND operatives seemed to recognize his face, Chad saw the light.
"Run. Right."
Hastily Chad whipped open the rolled-up hover board, smashing the control to activate it. The board drew taut and powered up as Nigel struggled to free himself of his ex's clutches and reach 274 before he could escape. Falling back on years of soccer drills, Ben stepped in and hip-checked a KND operative that was trying to grab Chad's arm as he hopped on the board, knocking the Kid to the ground. Instantly Chad leaned forward, gaining altitude and speed.
"Stop him! Stop – dammit," hissed Nigel, skidding to a halt beside Ben. He glared up at Chad Dickson twenty feet overhead and gaining, and in his anger he saw only a traitor, not the sorrowful expression on the blond's face. Excited voices rose up, but the troops that were armed knew better than to draw a weapon on DexLabs' campus within a mile of Chip Morton. Unless they were under a direct attack, no one would dare risk calling down the wrath of the sergeant, especially since he could and would put all offenders in detention with Mr. Green. Very, very few things were worth that sort of torture, and so all they could do was watch as 274 veered away towards Downtown.
Nigel whirled on Ben Tennyson. "What is the meaning of this, Commander? Do you know who that is?"
Ben shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. Chad's successful escape gave him hope that this situation might be salvaged. "Yup."
"Do you know what he did?" hissed Number One through gritted teeth.
"Yeah," Ben returned in kind, leaning in toward the shorter teen. "Do you?"
Impatience seized him. "Of course I do! I was there! I -"
"Oh? Recognize that hover board, Number One?"
That gave the furious KND pause and for a long moment he could nothing but stare. Ben knew Nigel remembered the hover board. Its configuration was too distinct to easily forget.
"Yeah," confirmed Ben as his friend started putting the pieces together, albeit slowly. "Dexter built it himself. It's a DexLabs prototype for the U.S. Army. There's exactly one in existence and this is the second time today you've seen it."
"Nigie!" Lizzie practically tackled Nigel, dragging at his arm as she tried to wheedle her way back into his affections in the worst possible way at the worst possible moment. He ignored her, too riveted to the spot for her to so much as budge him. Too focused on Ben for tact or manners, the Supreme Leader grumbled, "Lizzie, not now. Commander, explain yourself."
"Chad saved your life this afternoon."
If he had slapped Nigel he could not have gotten a more stunned response. Actually, given his expression, slapping him probably would have been the kindest thing to do right then. It might have jolted him out of shock. Nigel drew back, his spine stiffening as he stared at Ben in speechless disbelief. That was fine, because Ben had more to say.
"You didn't watch the holo projector I gave you, did you?"
He already knew the answer perfectly well, and Nigel hesitated, caught. There was a motion as Lizzie moved closer to her former boyfriend. She was about to speak when Ben cut her off sharply, fed up with her whining and clinginess. "Lizzie, we're talking and not to you. For the record, your application got tossed into the pile for anything that came from the Pits of Hell. You never had a chance." He looked through the watchful crowd and saw Hoagie moving towards them. Gesturing to him, he said,
"Number Two, get her out of here."
"You can't -"
He gave her an arch look he had learned from Dexter, shamelessly abusing his authority and dropping names. "My best friend owns this place. Watch me."
Hoagie looked to his superior. "You want a search initiated, Number One?"
"No," snapped Ben before Nigel could answer. "Hoagie . . ."
Nigel gave Ben a long, hard look before nodding his agreement.
With a smirk Number Two gestured. "Lizzie?"
She did not go quietly and eventually three ECF troops had to step in and help escort her off the property, kicking and shouting all the way. Ben was intent on Nigel and had no time for Lizzie Devine's antics. He pulled off the sunglasses the better to see in the fading light. Keeping his voice pitched low to avoid eavesdroppers, he leaned in close. He could see the exhaustion and confusion and hurt and anger in Nigel's face as he asked,
"You didn't watch it, did you?"
A little chastised, a little deflated, Number One sighed and admitted, "No. I haven't been alone since the battle."
"Well, it kind of would have explained a lot."
"Enlighten me, Ben," he demanded sharply. "Why are you associating with one of the greatest traitors in the history of the Kids Next Door?"
He could have explained, but somehow Ben didn't feel it was quite his place to tell Chad's story. Besides, he didn't know all the details and this was definitely a KND affair. "I tried. You didn't listen. You want to know why I'm hanging out with 274? You want to know why he saved your butt today? Why he's got his hands on a multimillion dollar prototype?"
"Yes!" hissed Nigel Uno, closing the distance between them to glare up at Ben.
"Then why don't you go ask him?"
The angry glare never wavered. "How? You let him go! He could be anywhere!"
He made a face. "Dude, what? You a tourist or something? He's riding DexTech." Ben pushed up his jacket sleeve and activated the comm unit in the Omnitrix, keeping eye contact all the while. "Computress, location of the hover board Chad Dickson is using."
"He's at the Downtown skate park, Ben," the computer answered immediately.
"Thanks." To Nigel he said, "There you go."
"Why are you doing this, Commander?"
"There's a hell of a lot more to this than you're seeing, Nige, and you need to get the answers from the source." He paused and brightened, allowing himself a smile that was sure to set off his friend's temper. "That and Chad's your date for tonight."
Eyes wide, mouth gaping, the KND Supreme Leader fell back a step. He was positively weak in the knees and looked as if he'd been hit with something large and heavy and stinky. It took a few moments for him to find his voice, and when he did so, it was with a vengeance.
"WHAT?" screamed Nigel Uno in shocked disbelief.
Ben shrugged, the personification of smug satisfaction at so vocal a response. "You can thank me later."
If they hadn't been in a public place, Ben knew perfectly well Nigel's hands would have been around his throat and his air supply would have been effectively cut off. Since strangulation wasn't a viable option, he was also fortunate that looks couldn't kill, or he would have been carried out of here in a body bag. Number One drew a deep breath, stepping away from Ben. Fury was radiating off him and he hastily scanned the crowd, spotting a likely operative.
"Number 1941, give me your weapon. I'll get it back to you."
Surprised but compliant, 1941 stripped off his gun belt and handed it over to his leader, staring all the while. Ben was quick to protest.
"You don't need that, Nigel."
The KND's only answer was a supremely dirty look as he carried on buckling the Null Void gun to his hip. At that moment, Number Two returned, Lizzie-free and anxious to see the Supreme Leader arming himself. He was panting, having run from wherever it was they had deposited the annoying ex.
"Number One, wait! I'll scramble some troops -"
The tension in the air was thick enough to cut as Nigel looked at Ben10. Tennyson silently shook his head. There was a weighty pause, and then Number One said, "No. I'll call if I need backup. Commander! You and I are going to have words when I get back."
"Okay. Pie tomorrow?" suggested Ben, refusing to believe anything but good was going to come of this situation he'd masterminded. When he and Nigel met informally, it was almost always over cherry pie and coffee. The fact that Nigel had refused Hoagie's immediate offer of more operatives told Ben that even though he was pushing it to the limit, the trust was still there. He was being deliberately annoying, but if Nigel and Chad actually managed to talk, Ben knew his friend's attitude was due for a radical revision.
Shaking his head in angry disgust, Nigel Uno adjusted his glasses and brought his heels sharply together, igniting his rocket shoes. Ben, Number Two and Number 1941 fell back as he launched into the evening sky, heading straight for the skate park. Everyone in the quad watched the brilliant flames arc across the sky until Nigel vanished from sight as their fearless leader zoomed off to do . . . fearless leader stuff.
Knowing perfectly well that Ben was up to something, Hoagie fixed him with his own brand of steely-eyed gaze. He folded his arms across his chest and let his breath out slowly, burning with equal amounts of anxiety and curiosity. Not surprisingly, his fury wasn't nearly as impressive as Nigel's. A long minute ticked by.
"Pizza?" suggested Ben.
"Sure. And just so you know, if he asks me to help him kill you tomorrow, I'll do it."
Ben smiled and promised, "He won't ask."