Breaking the Sky: Chapter Seven " Giants in the Playground "
Ben hit the highway on Max's bike doing past 90 mph, the wind blowing though his hair. Julie was willing to listen to him, but she was afraid and wanted him to take off the watch until his headaches stopped. Ben realized she never asked for this life, she'd only been swept up by it after meeting him. Gwen . . he couldn't talk about this with Gwen. If it went bad he couldn't bring her down with him. Kevin, would be like talking to Gwen by proxy. That left him one place to go to get some help.
Ben slowed down a bit as he took an exit, and hoped he was right. Pulling into the parking lot of a run down housing development. He got off the bike, and met Elena Validus waiting for him. She walked over to him and warped her arms around him.
" Hello Ben. "
Ben just stood their for a long minute before speaking. She could feel how cold he was, that green jacket of his was a bit light for winter.
" Elena I am in so deep right now. "
" Hay no big, I've been there remember? "
She took him by the hand, and walked him inside. They passed an elevator covered in yellow tape, and took a long narrow staircase up five floors. In the hallway leading to the Validus apartment they passed an elderly neighbor that said something to Elena as they went by. Ben could have sworn she was talking in Galven. Elena spoke.
" Sure Misses K, as soon as I get this one settled. "
Ben waited until they where inside the apartment before speaking.
" Is she an alien? "
" Yea from Ecuador. I'm going to run her trash down for her, you sit down get warm. Dad will be along in a minute. "
**
Kevin parked the car and got out, noticing Gwen looking around the corner.
" I think I found the place. "
He walked beside her and took a look a massive neon sign reading " Fenton Works ". He spoke sounding happier then she was comfortable with.
" I love mad scientists, they are so much more fun then regular scientists. "
He started walking, and Gwen followed.
" Do we have any ideas on what we are going to do other then knock on the door and ask to talk to Danny Phantom? "
" He doesn't hide who he is, other people covered up his world saving. "
" So we make sure we swap cell phone numbers and that's it? "
" Why not? "
Reaching the door, Kevin rang the bell, and after a few minutes a red haired girl about their age answered. Kevin did the talking.
" Hi we are here to see Danny. "
She rolled her eyes.
" If this is about the fan club. . . "
" No it's work related. "
She didn't sound impressed.
" Is your house haunted? 'cause we charge for that. "
Kevin got annoyed, and pulled off his ID mask. The girl at the door smiled a nervous smile.
" Ummm Come right in, and I'll go get Danny! "
They entered the living room Kevin mask in hand. Gwen spoke.
" Real smooth Kevin. "
He didn't have a come back. A pair of adults entered the room, one a woman in a blue jump suit, talking with a man in a gray suit and a pair of odd purple glasses. He was speaking.
" Listen Maddie I respect that you two want to keep out of this mess, and I'll tell the others . . . "
He noticed Kevin, and Gwen saw her boyfriend ball his fists.
" Well well what do we have here? Maddie do you regularly have mercenaries over? Not that Levin's much of one. Look at you Geese Stain! "
Kevin got nose to nose with him.
" I'm not 11 anymore Beeman. "
" No kidding, I'd heard you mutated again, but getting a girl too ? "
Gwen had her hand on his shoulder before he could do something he shouldn't. She stepped between them, and tried to defuse things.
" Dr Arthur Beeman right? I'm Gwen, Gwen Tennyson, my grandfather told me you butted heads a few times back in the old days. "
She pulled out her badge, and tried to sound like she was being official.
" Kevin and I are here on business. "
Beeman twisted the knife.
" Really they hire crazies as Plumbers now? Not even Max Tennyson is that full of himself. By the way does he know who your screw. . ."
Kevin snapped.
" You aren't worth it, but you are so damn determined to make people think you are, that someones going to humor you one day. "
Beeman didn't seem to care what Kevin was or what he could do.
" Bring it on Freakenstein! "
The woman in blue cut in.
" Arthur it's been great seeing you again, but these kids where expected, and you where leaving. "
Beeman shot her a look.
" Right, I'll tell the family that I had a fun visit. We'll be watching. "
He showed himself out, as the woman turned to the pair of Plumbers.
" Arthur really loves pushing people doesn't he? Now I've done some reading on the pair of you, and Max comes with high praise from some friends. Just remember Mother Fenton with be watching. "
She walked past Danny as he entered the room.
" Hi you two are from the other night. Kevin and Gwen right? "
**
Ben sat on the Validus couch while Victor looked at the watch using a TV tray full of jury rigged gear.
" Are you sure this is safe Mister V? I blew up a garage doing this a few months ago. "
The old man shook his head.
" First rule of working on tech level 8 and up passive non invasive scans only Ben. I'm not using anything a Galvainc Mechamorph wouldn't if he passed you on the street. Now tell me about Azmeth again. "
" He's had his back up since Vilgax came back, but the mess in Amity Park has made him paranoid, more then normal. He killed the watch this morning, and I don't think you'll be able to get it working, but I had to do something. If I could get it fixed he might . . I don' know . . "
He tapped the Omnitrix a few times, and flipped the dial, nothing happened.
" Ever wonder why he's that way, Azmeth I mean? Do you know anything about his background? "
" Umm he's not really chatty. "
The watch face flashed purple for a moment while Victor kept talking.
" His people have an odd history they used to be popular as pets, I can't imagine that myself. Being bought and sold with no real say in what your inventions will be used for. This was of course a long time ago, Azmeth would only know these things from stories his grandparents. . . if he knew them. Add that to amount of trouble he gets from guys like Vilgax and well you get the idea. "
The dial flashed for a moment as the screens of alien text that had been their since Bens " diagnostic " showed up again. Victor raised an eyebrow, and tried not to sound sarcastic.
" You know you didn't tell this thing to fix itself right? It only identified the problems. "
Ben closed his eyes the pain behind his eyes getting worse, even with the watch disabled.
" Problems like more than one? "
" Like that download that' s eating up half the . . . "
The watch sprang to life all on its own as the screen went blank, and it spoke in Ben's voice.
" Command protocol override. "
**
" Diet soda ? "
Danny held a can up, and Kevin growled.
" Yea and pillow case for Beeman. "
Danny smiled nervously, as Gwen shook her her head.
" Ouch. "
Gwen spoke up.
" Listen we need to talk about my cousin Ben. He's been acting weird lately and this whole thing with Azmeth coming to earth seems to be making it worse. "
" Yea the alien frog men, my Dad thinks his ghost hunting experience is known on other planets now. Aaa about Ben I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but he's a jerk. I'm told they have pills for that now, but he might be beyond help. "
Kevin cracked a half smile trying to forget Beeman for a minute.
" He might need a what do you call it a suppository? "
Gwen shot him a look and he got back on topic.
" Because it's important that we help him because he's got the Omnitrix and saves the world and all. "
" And while we are on the subject oh space cop teenagers, what community decided that one? Did they roll d12's or something ? "
Gwen spoke quickly and without really thinking.
" It was supposed to go to our Grandpa but it found Ben by mistake years ago. He really has done a lot of good since then, it's only been recently he's started having problems. "
" Gwen right? We like stopped fighting the bad guy for the better part of an hour after he unlocked the watch, so he could kick my ass! I don't know why anyone would let him have it even with the safety turned up to " Impressionable child alone on the internet " ".
The pair did a double take and Kevin cut in.
" What now? Unlocked the watch how and with what the ghost of high tech gizmos? "
" . . .Nope he wasn't there, but we did have this. "
Danny pulled an odd green key off a string around his neck. Kevin scoffed.
" A toy from a Captain Crunch box? "
Without warning Danny turned intangible and passed through Kevin's chest on his way to a terminal. Kevin snapped.
" Don't ever do that . . .again! "
Ignoring him, Danny started the show.
" What we have here lady, and gentle thug is a home brewed DNA scanner used a genetic lock on the Fenton portal. How long would it take you to with your fancy alien technology to override this device? "
" Assuming I don't smash it with your skull a few hours I guess. "
" Oh you poor space man! "
Danny plunged the key into the DNA scanner like it was an old door and the massive armored barricade on the portal slid open. Gwen seemed hypnotized by the swirling green portal.
" It's beautiful. "
The portal slammed shut.
" Sorry no tours till the frog men arrive Convinced or do I need to unlock your car? "
" OK, I'm impressed, but for real that doesn't go near my ride. "
" Sure. "
Gwen pulled the key from the terminal, and marveled at it.
" It feels almost like the Key Stone of Bezel, but we aren't here about what you have or can do. "
She handed it back, before continuing.
" Why don't you tell us everything from the start. "
Gwen's phone rang cutting their talk short.
**
Albedo looked into a bubbling cauldron under the moonlight. His logical rational Galvan mind called what Charmcaster was going stupid and nonsensical. The damned human form he was locked into though, the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he was positive that fossil Azmeth would not COULD NOT see this coming.
" Their you go Albedo, Ben Tennyson uncensored. "
He could see the fool through the cauldron someone was tampering with the Omnitrix for him. Page after page of Galvan technical data formatted nice and confusing just like Azmeth had him program told him everything he needed to know.
" Miss Charmcaster, you are like nothing on my world, and commend you. "
He brought up the command console on his bootlegged Omnitrix.
" A line of code here, a few commands their. It will never hold of course, but for the moment at least until the hardware failure sets in no one and nothing can shut me out. "
The watch spoke like himself in Ben Tennyson's voice.
" Command protocol override. Warning, master control limited to stand-alone mode. Only the first 10,000 geno-archetypes available, with minimal support. "
Charmcaster peeked over his shoulder, and spoke.
" What does that mean? "
" That I have enough to get my revenge, but no more. The parts I used where never meant for anything but testing, and will give out without the true Omnitrix to share the power load. For the moment however, He is powerless, and I am not. I will have me revenge, the only thing that remains is what do I owe you for your services? "
She spoke, and Albedo was confused.
" Gwen Tennyson, and a little moon light. "
**
" Oh I can not believe this! "
Gwen shouted as they jogged back to the car her eyes flickering purple as she went.
" Of all the stupid moves, I have . . . "
Kevin cut it.
" Take a pill. Ben get grounded by Azmeth and you Grandpa. He's pissed, and took of to cool down, so what? "
Her hair seemed to move on its own as they got to their parking spot.
" Not him, my Grand Father! You are going to take Ben down a notch fine he's had it coming. Ben needs to play the hero, we all know that. The thing is when he gets focused on something he doesn't know when to give it a rest. I will bet you he's off messing with the watch right now, because in his mind if he gets it fixed before Azmeth shows up everything's fine! Grandpa I guarantee you was surprised when Ben bolted. "
" Umm is his ego that bad ? I screw with him all the time, and he's not that thin skinned. "
Gwen got in the car, counted to five, and her powers came back under control.
" One you're my boyfriend Ben behaves around you more or less. Two, when Ben is half right about something he thinks he's all right. No question about it, if he thinks he's only got one shot at keeping that watch he will take it, no matter how stupid it is. In his mind this is still about breaking it and we are past that. Now kick in the warp drive or something I need to go protect Ben from himself yet again! "
Kevin hit the ignition, and the car made a ticking sound without starting. The million or so thoughts in his head vanished as he popped the hood.
Arthur Beeman knocked on the wrong car window at the wrong time.
" Having a little car trouble half-breed? Maybe you shouldn't park in such a bad neighborhood."
Before Kevin could open the door, Gwen blew the drivers side window out with an energy bolt that threw the scientist across the street, and pinned him to a wall!
Kevin looked at her as she got out of the car, and walked over to him glowing all the way. She had her hand on his face before he remembered just how much of a scumbag Beeman was.
" Gwen DON'T! THIS IS A SET UP! He's been trying to get plumber access for years! "
She didn't move the entire 10 seconds it took him to get over to her felt like a week. Beeman spoke.
" So I see you're Levin's kind of girl after all. Let me guess you found each other at an all freak mixer? That or Shego broke down and got nasty with those brothers of her's freshman year and she wanted her daughter/niece to date outside the family. "
" Put him down Gwen, please. This guy is scum squared he bought a mountain from a Peruvian drug dealer with a pile of level 3 tech, and sleeps at night. He's got a camera on us, and he's going to use it . . ."
She cut in.
" Doctor Arthur Beeman, we have been ordered to back up a plumber agent in trouble. You are preventing us from doing that, and committing a class two crime. You will be bound by law and remanded to Coda to face charges for this and as an accessory in any crimes we are being prevented from stopping. "
Beeman spit in her face.
" I'll plead police brutality, and get a good lawyer. Levin tell Light-Bight here she makes a bad Dirty Harry. "
Kevin couldn't believe HE was talking GWEN down.
" He's not like us Gwen, people like him would drag everything out in the open just so he could thumb his noes at everyone that ever laughed at him. He won't care that people would panic because the space men where real. If I have to pick who I can save from themselves tonight I will, but you'll hate me for leaving Ben in the cold, so put him down, please! "
Beeman smiled though the pain.
" Man Freakenstein, I guess that nickel you did for murder really set you straight. Does she mind that you've been a prison bride? No, it must be love . . .or all that pot you buy her. "
Gwen dropped him.
" We need to find Ben, you don't matter. "
**
Elena tossed a fourth bag of trash into the dumpster, and stopped to catch her breath.
" Man I do this every week and she's always got a ton. How does one old lady make so much garbage?"
Walking back inside she could hear someone singing.
" It started when an alien device did what it did
And stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid
Now he's got super powers he's no ordinary kid
He's Ben 10 "
Elena just stopped, and got a blank look on her face as Ember appeared out of nowhere.
" But then again, you already know this song don't you? "
She didn't move, or speak as the ghost walked around her.
" Man I've got to give it to Clown Car, he did better then an under fed rich girl. Girl I will not mind being you for a while. "
Ember overshadowed the girl, and walked upstairs.
**
In Clockwork's tower, the ancient master of time looked on with a frown on his face. He saw an advertising executive getting fired for spending 12 million dollars to set up a last minute out door concert in Amity Park, with totally free admission. Advertised on TV's highest rated show of the season, as the world learned that in fact V.V. Argost was alive.
" A year and a half after Daniel turns the world into a phantom planet for a while. Nine months after a Lorwardian warlord blunders his way into defeat in front of an entire town. Eight months after another alien armada shows up screaming for someone named Ben 10. In the midst of a secret war over the fate of the 2nd coming of Kur that is just about to not be secret any longer. No way anyone on this world or off will be able to cover up whats coming, because to much is happening all at once. I was such a fool in those days. . . "
His viewer flickered and a four armed red skinned giant named Manny was throwing a few punches at Ron Stoppable in the parking lot outside said concert that would prove to be the epicenter of the whole mess.
" For that last time Dude, I didn't mean anything buy " I got to hand it to ya. " I see now that you're one short and I'm sorry! "
Clockwork for the first time in a long time felt as old as he was.
" Of course she wants Woodstock or the Acid test for new generation made special as they are strange by coming of age in this time of wonders. The sky is going to break open right on top of them, and the are not ready. "
Next: " Under Broken Sky's I've grown "
Notes: OK we go back to the future one more time to warp up that end of the plot. After that we are at the last chapter. Reviews welcome, and as always darkscribes dot org is looking for new people. Stop by if interested.
