Imagination Gamer: Three down and quite a few more to go. Let's hope I can get through this before the year ends because I have a lot of things to take care of next year! College planning, family traditions, school, crazy schedules, oh my!
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you get the idea that I don't own anything that I mention that is from a book, show, game, movie or anything. I just own the things that I made up for the story.
Questioning Ben and The Mystery Child
After dropping the full-name-drill on Randall, it usually shuts him right up for several weeks. But, he wants to have a LONG talk with Ben because he's been acting strange for several days.
"Ben, that full-name-drill used to shut me up for weeks ever since I came to work for you, but not anymore!" Randall shot.
Ben just rolled his eyes in annoyance which would look very familiar to those who know a certain blonde teen.
"I have some questions for you Ben." Randall told him.
"What exactly are these questions?" Ben sighed.
"Why are you not mixing your chemicals to the point that it would cause an explosive rainbow?" Randall asked pointing at Ben's test tubes that are collecting dust.
"I just simply don't feel like it" Ben muttered.
"Why are you being so gentle with those freaking monsters?" Randall demanded.
"Creatures!" Ben angrily corrected.
"Whatever!" Randall shouted, "You used to love to practice your crazy light-weight boxing on the creatures!"
"In case you've failed to notice, Randy," Ben growled sternly, "They have feelings too!"
"Why haven't you shouted at me for my hopeless clumsiness for days?" Randall asked, "Going a day without shouting at me for making a mistake is normal to me. But, three long days?! That's not normal at all! It's way beyond abnormal! It's... it's... it's... so highly irregular that it may just disturb the very force that powers the element of Eco!"
"I'm just not myself today, Randy." Ben mumbled.
"Obviously," Randall grumbled, "Why are you acting so strange?"
"I have no idea." Ben answered awkwardly, "I guess I just had a bit of a rough night."
"Ben," Randy pointed out, "I've seen the way you act after a rough night, this is definetly not it!"
Ben thought about the way he was acting and realized Randall was right. He has been acting rather oddly for quite a few days and his assistant was taking notice of it.
"I have acted rather odd lately." Ben murmured.
"Why?" Randall asked worriedly.
"I haven't the foggiest idea." Ben mumbled as he kept reading his friend's old stories.
"Another thing!" Randall shouted, "Why are you reading her old stories?!"
"I have no idea, Randy." Ben answered, "I guess I just have a horrible feeling that something terrible may've happened to her."
"Why would something bad happen to her?" Randall asked in surprise with his eyebrow raised.
"You never really know." Ben pointed out, "Krimzon Guard has been a rough job for quite a while."
"I know it can be a bit dangerous." Randall sighed, "But, no one has died in years."
"What about what happened when the Underground first formed!" Ben shot.
"True, someone will vanish from a patrol occasionally." Randall murmured.
Ben meant when the group was killing the more dangerous guards off. But, he looked a bit horrified at what Randall pointed out and started thinking about what kidnappers may do to children like her.
"But, they usually turn up in a year or two never looking the same again!" Randall rephrased quickly and haphazardly.
"Was that supposed to make me feel any better?!" Ben growled.
"No, this was." Randall answered, "She's a tough girl, Ben. Half the guard is terrified of her temper and raw power alone! Most of the city knows her by name and appearance! Also, many of the low-life criminals in the slums run for cover at the very mention of her name! Ergo, I seriously doubt that any mugger or murderer would be anywhere near ambitious enough to get even within a foot of her!"
Ben thought about what Randall said and realized he was right about her being very tough to the point that even the Dark creatures in the observatory run and hide when she gets near. He was even right about her fiery temper, snippy attitude, and raw power instilling fear into many of the guards and criminals that she comes across.
"You're right." Ben admitted, "You're right. You know what? You're absolutely correct. She does provoke fear into the hearts of many who dare cross her. She is very powerful to the point that a criminal has to be either completely daft or a complete drunk to dare try to face her rage. Also, she does have a very hot temper and a fiery attitude that many know her for. So, I'm not so sure why I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm just not sure why I feel something horrible might have happened to her. I guess I'm just worried about her being in so dangerous a job as the Guard, Randall."
"See?" Randall told him, "There's nothing to worry about. She's doing just fine. She's probably patrolling the fortress like she's supposed to and ready to go home to take a well-deserved catnap."
"Actually, she takes care of her many pets first." Ben corrected, "Next, she tests the Dark Eco pipes in her chamber to make sure they're stable and not leaking. After that, if she has to, she does a little house keeping in every one of her many rooms in her mansion-like home at an incredible rate that would awe Sonic. Then, she has dinner with rather strange ingredients that even I can't identify. But, it tastes heavenly. Finally, she takes that well-deserved cat-nap that you mentioned."
"I get the idea!" Randall shouted, "She does a lot of things before taking a nap!"
"She does have her limits and her fatal flaws though." Ben thought aloud, "Remember the Eco Channeler Conspiracy?"
"Yes, a bunch of nut-job terrorists from the Underground tried to kill her in a bunch of ways. Why do you ask about the ECC?" Randall muttered in confusion.
"It also showed me that she always takes risks that almost get her killed." Ben pointed out while pinching the bridge of his noise.
Flashback: One Year After Incarceration
A year and a half ago, the aforementioned girl was walking with a woman who has pale skin, yellow eyes, red hair, a great figure and is in her twenties. Her name is Ashley. They were laughing and having a good time because the two just graduated and became full-fledged Krimzon Guards with the child at the top of the class. That fact alone surprised and shocked many of the recruits who thought that she wouldn't last a day.
"I can't believe you made it through the grueling training, the horrid schedules, the crazy shootings, and the suspicious death threats!" Ashley yelled in shock.
All of the things Ashley named just made the girl scoff at the training, snicker at the schedules, laugh at the shootings, and shake her head at the death threats.
"Please!" the kid scoffed, "The training was easy, the schedules were simple to follow, the shootings were fun, and the death threats were downright dull!"
Ashley couldn't help, but to stare at this strange girl like she's finally lost it and needs serious help.
"Uhh, I think you need to see that psychiatrist again." Ashley advised, "About your... issues with the difference between reality and fantasy, danger and safety, as well as fun and risk."
"Trust me." the child joked, "After seeing me for nearly an hour about my 'issues' it was an hour of sheer, unadulterated hell for him. By the time I was through with him, he needed to see a psychiatrist!"
"I wouldn't even bet on it." she muttered.
The two got in the zoomer to go to the Hip Hog to throw a party for making the top of the class. Little do they know that they were being set up. The girl was about to start the zoomer when she heard an odd beeping noise that sounds akin to a heart monitor.
"Do you hear that?" She asked trying to find the source of the noise.
"Hear what?"
She continued to hear that beeping noise that seems that only she can hear. The child decided to follow her training and look for the suspicious noise just like in training lesson #12: Look for Noises You Find Suspicious. She looked in the glove compartment, under the dash-board, under the seats, and even went as far as to look under the pedals. She couldn't find the source of the beeping with her eyes or ears. So, she resorted to the older techniques by using her other five senses. She tried her acute sense of smell and smelled concentrated Eco, iron, gunpowder, rust, and alcohol. She used her sense of feeling and felt around the area she smelled and felt something really warm on the dash. She used her sixth sense and sensed an enormous amount of unstable Eco in that area. The girl looked scared out of her iron wits because she sensed that there was a really powerful, but small, Eco bomb that can blow her and Ashley sky-high. The element being used was Dark and Red Eco combined!
"Hey, are we gonna go party hard or not?" Ashley groaned impatiently.
"We will," she murmured while trying her best not to panic, "as soon as I find where the beeping is coming from."
The child was looking everywhere on the dash for that source of beeping and couldn't find it. Since Ashley couldn't hear the beeping she thought her friend was stalling. So, she became impatient with her and tried to take control of the situation.
"Ugh! That's it, I'm driving!" She yelled turning the key.
"WAIT!" the kid shouted, but it was too late. The beeping increased ten fold causing her to freak out, grab Ashley, and dive out of the zoomer. Everything seemed to slow down as the zoomer exploded in a flash of red and purple. The zoomer has done all the exploding it could do by the time they hit the pavement.
When they got their wits about them the girl glared dangerously at Ashley. But, she didn't say anything or do to her. The child just walked up to the wreckage and saw the zoomer exploded from the engine.
"They planted a bomb in the engine!" The girl face-palmed herself, "How the hell did I miss that?! It's the most common place to plant a bomb in a vehicle! It's always something that I manage to miss that would've cost us our lives!"
Ashley looked astonished as the girl continued to rave and rant until she was finally done, bounced back, and walked away from the wreckage.
"Oh well," The girl sighed, "at least we got out of it alive. Looks like we're gonna have to walk, Ashley."
Ashley had no choice but to follow the crazy child to the party at the bar because she wasn't familiar with this side of town.
A Month Later
The girl was doing surprisingly well as a guard. She never hesitated to follow orders that didn't involve attacking. The child complained very little about what she has to do. Also, she never hesitated to arrest who the guards are chasing. She made 30 arrests so far and half of them were injured by her brutal methods. Other than that, she did really well and made it to the elite title.
While they were celebrating her promotion to the elite she was led astray again by one of her friends who was blonde, green-eyed, tan, and very attractive. Her name was Amber who happened to be Ashley's older sister. The two are like twins in terms of personality and figure. But, the only real personality difference between the two is that Amber is not that bright at times. Especially when it comes to making the right decisions.
"Trust me," she told the child, "It'll be fun."
"I don't know." the girl muttered, "I heard tanning can cause skin cancer."
"That's what they all say." she laughed, "They just want to keep you from becoming more beautiful."
"But, due to where I used to live," the girl explained, "I'm already quite tanned."
"Why not become completely tanned?" Amber asked.
"I don't know." the girl hesitated, "It feels like I'm cheating nature and... I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Come on!" Amber pleaded, "At least give it just one try."
"Ugh. Alright!" she gave in, "If it'll satisfy you, I'll give it at least thirty seconds, but no more!"
"Okay."
They walked to the tanning booth of the fortress to obviously get a very short tan. They walked by a cell with a young prisoner hiding in the shadows looking in on the two talking about the child's quick promotion. Little do they realize that the Underground has something in store for them in the tanning area too and that the prisoner is also very important too! But, they went there anyway, disregarded the prisoner, and the girl was having trouble working them right.
"How do you work these things?" the child asked.
"It's easy." Amber explained, "You turn the knobs to set the heat, turn it on, and jump in."
"That sounds easy enough." she murmured.
The girl used a key to unlock the thermostat and turned it up a bit due to the cold weather. But, she forgot to close and lock the thermostat in the plastic container. The child put her chocolate milkshake down on a table for later. She and Amber stripped theirselves nearly bare. The both of them put the goggles and hair covers on for protection. Finally, they turned their music on and jumped into the tanning booths.
"This is kinda warm in here." the girl complained.
"You'll get used to it." Amber answered, "If you ever get in again."
"Keyword: IF I ever get in again." she rebutted.
While they were tanning and the girl was ironically singing Final Destination by Within Temptation someone snuck in on them and turned the heat on the thermostat all the way up to the nineties which Amber started feeling and complained a bit. But, the child was too lost in the song to notice the heat at the moment. Just as she finished the song without a hitch she too started to notice the unusual heat. But, she just shrugged it off thinking she's just not used to it yet.
"Hey, kid." Amber tried to confirm, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"
"Amber, I don't swing that way!" she shouted in offense.
"That's not what I meant!" Amber shouted, "I mean it's literally getting kinda hot in here."
"I guess it's been awhile for ya." the kid confirmed.
Amber nodded because it's been half a year since the last time she used a tanning booth in the fortress. She forgot it gets kinda hot at first, but it evens out in a few seconds. Little did they both know what really caused the sharp increase in heat.
"You might be right." Amber muttered.
"There's nothing to fear in this heat box." the girl tried to encouraged.
But, if they knew, there was plenty to fear about those 'heat boxes'. Due to the room heating up by a lot, the milkshake's cup started to 'sweat' due to the vapor in the room moving to the coldest spot in the room: the milkshake. Also, underneath the table was the heating mechanism that controls the UVA output in the booths. The water ran down the cup, onto the table, ran under the table, and started dripping onto the mechanism. The mechanism sparked and fizzed with the Blue Eco that was charging it. After the sparking stopped the regulation system in the mechanism shorted out and the UVA output started to slowly increase to dangerous levels!
"Whew," the girl murmured while wiping sweat off of her brow, "it's really starting to heat up here."
"Me too." Amber agreed, "I'm starting to feel it on my end."
As the girls complained about the heat the same person who snuck in was wearing a black skin suit and had his head covered by a mask. But, there were traces of a slick dirty blonde and the man murmured in a strong Brooklyn accent.
"The less of these dangerous guards on these streets the better." he murmured quietly as he placed boards on the handles of the booths to keep the young guards from getting out of the booths turned ovens.
He snuck out of there and ran into the high security cells to take a short cut out of the fortress. He ran past a cell that was opened and had an unconscious guard beside it. The skin suited spy leapt out the window, bounced clumsily off an awning, and landed face-first in his escape zoomer with three others. They drove off as fast as they could the second he straightened himself out to avoid being seen by the guards.
After all of that, there was screaming and banging at the booths. Inside were the two girls whose skin was burning off and the glass in the booths shattered which cut the girl's already damaged skin due to the extreme heat. Also, the suffocating heat caused a fire in the room which did not help the cooking girls. Just as almost all of their skin burned off and the girls were about ready to give up their screaming, the door suddenly busted open just like it was just a graham cracker. Whoever it was his face couldn't be made out in the fire. But, the shock of green and yellow hair could be made out despite the flames.
"Wh-what was that?" the girl thought to herself, "Is it the reaper coming to claim us? Is it someone here to help us? Is it the Metal Heads? Is it..."
The child passed out before she could finish her numerous mental questions. The man started coughing from the smoke. When he ran through the flames and ducked down to avoid the smoke it revealed he was wearing slightly torn prison garments that looked a little worse for wear and it was slightly burned from jumping through the fire. How he escaped from his cell again is what nobody but he knows. He strained his ears for who was screaming in there that tortured him mentally to the point that he beat up the guard and "borrowed" the key to open his cell. That was when the young girl started to moan in one last cry for help.
"Help us..." he made out from what seems to be the moan of a young woman, "We're in the... tanning booths. Help us... Help..." the voice trailed off in a stupor.
Seemingly filled with heroism for the first time in a long time, the man got up despite the smoke and ran in the direction of the voice to find this poor girl who was unfortunate enough to be trapped in the flames. He saw the tanning booths that were cooking the guards alive which made him hesitate to save them. His curiosity drove him to find out what caused this by using what he learned from sight to his advantage. He looked under the table and saw that the UVA levels reached to the point that it could rival the surface of the sun! He smelled what he recognized as burnt chocolate from his past, looked at the table, and saw the burnt remains of what caused the fire. He quickly looked at the booths and saw the boards lodged in the handles. He looked ahead and saw that the boards came from shelves that are the opposite of where they're lodged in the handles of the booths. He looked to his left and saw the open container of the thermostat that was almost as hot as the Wasteland which is against Krimzon Guard regulations. He realized in about a minute of looking around that this fire was no accident. Someone was trying to kill these two who are in these booths!
"Help us..." he heard another voice that belonged to Amber, "Please... Help us..."
His face contorted into a rage that burned hotter than the flames in the room at this injustice and tore the boards off of the handles of the booths so hard that the boards snapped in half. When he opened the booths, he coughed and wheezed from the blast of heat and the smell of burnt flesh and blood that hit him hard to the point that he's staggering. When he recovered, he was horrified at what became of those two that he recognized as the young women that passed his cell earlier talking about the child's promotion to elite guard. Their skin was almost completely burned to the bone. Their hair, eyes, teeth, fingernails, limbs, noses, ears, and mouths were horribly damaged. They were both out like a light, but they were miraculously still breathing. The child's eyes flickered in an effort to wake up and see who was the one who opened the booths and alleviated some of the pain.
"Wh-who are you?" the girl whispered. But, a hand covered her burned mouth which sent a shockwave of pain all through her and she had a gnawing sense of déjà vu at the feeling of the hand itself.
"Shh!" the unknown prisoner whispered just as the girl passed out again.
The prisoner also felt the same sense of déjà vu when he looked at the child that was lying there. The feeling was short-lived as the rafters fell next to him which shocked him out of his trance. He picked up both the girls and barrel carried them all the way to the exit. But, a rafter was going to fall and trap him in this fiery tomb. He barrel rolled through the door just as the rafters fell and blocked the exit. He only had a moment to catch his breath because the fire department was coming. He ran away to hide from what he thought were the guards coming to catch and most likely punish him.
After the guards came they wondered how they got out of that death trap and who caused this incident. When she told them that it was an escaped prisoner they knew who it was. It wasn't long before they caught and questioned him which, as usual, ended with the poor man getting it tortured out of him. But, they got nothing out of him. When the girl finally woke up after two days, she looked a bit worse for wear, is unable to move due to the body cast, and she was blind as a bat from the damage the booths caused to her eyes. But, she desperately wanted to "see" her rescuer by using a technique she learned from a different world called seismic sense which allowed her to see by feeling vibrations around her to see shapes, sizes, predict attacks, and see even more precise things than she could with her regular sight. She just has trouble with projectiles and details when she uses this ability.
"I want to see my saviour." she demanded in a raspy, but masterful voice, "So I can find out what caused that unfortunate incident."
"He won't talk." the gruff guard told her.
"It's probably because you weren't nice about it."
"Alright, I'll bring the freak in."
It wasn't long before she felt the strong presence of the prisoner and the gnawing sense of déjà vu. He sounded like he suffered by his heavy breathing and his posture was fairly weak. She felt his heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and calculated his movements. The girl could tell that this man hated guards with a passion by his fast-moving heart rate, growling, and his struggling when the guards dragged him in. But, when he saw her, everything slowed down and he seemed willing to speak. She still has to word her questions right and not make it feel like an interrogation.
"Hello." the girl rasped, trying to sound friendly.
The prisoner didn't speak for a couple of minutes, but he finally muttered, "What do you want from me?"
"I want nothing from you. I just want to have a talk with you." she rasped honestly, "I kinda like talking to the prisoners. Especially the new ones."
He seemed wary, but when he saw how honest she seemed he let his guard down just a bit and started talking to her, "Yeah, I can tell."
"You seem to be having lots of fun in the fortress." she said in sarcastic humor.
"If you call getting beaten to a pulp, tortured into submission, and pumped full of Dark Eco nearly everyday fun. Then I am having a great time!" he growled with sarcasm dripping all over his words.
"Well, you're an angry one." she smiled which surprised him, "You seem surprised."
"Most of those damn guards have no sense of humor!" he shouted, "I make one little joke, they take it seriously and I get covered in bruises!"
"They are a bit sensitive." she remarked.
"SENSITIVE?!" he screamed in outrage, "They are nothing but a bunch of sadists twisted to kill or hurt anything they find suspicious!"
"You seem to hate the guards."
The man looked at her as though she's told him the understatement of the century. She decided to catch him before he starts ranting about the guards.
"If you hate guards so much," the child pointed out, "then why did you save me?"
That stopped him cold and made him think about what he did that day. It made him wonder why he decided to save one of those people that he vowed to kill more than once.
"I-I don't know." he muttered, "I think its... something about you that seemed... familiar."
That made her think about it and she realized that there is something familiar about this man that she can't place even though she can't see his face. She shook it off and had a talk with him that was, for the most part, easy enough because they were talking as though they knew each other for years. She found out that it was her stupid milkshake that caused the trouble and that the Underground is really laying the law to her and those with her. When the man saw that her damaged eyes were emerald-green and glowing slightly he tested a theory by way of a vial of Green Eco that he "borrowed" from the labs.
Before he poured it on her hand, he warned her, "This is raw Green Eco, kid. It might sting you a bit. But, it might help if I'm right about you."
She just nodded as he slowly poured it onto her badly burnt hand. The kid expected the raw Eco to sting her like mad. But instead, it felt as though all the overwhelming pain washed away from her body momentarily as if she was in a healing waterfall. She sighed with comfort as the skin on her hand grew back in a rather grotesque way. But, when the Eco's power ran out, her hand was nearly healed which amazed and astonished the young man. The girl smiled as the long-forgotten memories of her past came back like a tidal wave.
"I forgot what I was capable of." she laughed in a rasp, "How could I forget? The talent of channeling Eco is almost as rare as a rucksack of Eco Ore."
The young man coughed slightly, obviously to disguise a laugh because it's true that such a talent was that rare because of the Baron stealing them off the streets the second he hears of them. Most of them died from Eco overdose and the channelers are approaching near extinction or they are just hidden far away from Haven City. Whatever the case may be, it was getting increasingly difficult to find new "participants" for the DWP.
After the talk that managed to kill two hours, the girl wanted to reward the young man for saving her life. She rewards him by forbidding torture upon him and shortening his Dark Eco sentence to just two years. If he lives and shows no sign of change, he has to be granted a full pardon and set free. Most of the guards don't like the idea of rewarding a prisoner. But, due to the guards respecting and fearing her, they had no choice but to leave the prisoner alone and let his 'treatments' go as planned with no sort of punishing beatings.
The extra crispy girls were sent to the hospital for severe burns. Amber had skin grafted onto her to replace the skin that burned off. The child, who the doctors just recently knew to be a channeler because of the young man telling the guards and the guards telling the doctors, had Green Eco poured on her which healed most of the damage to her skin. Her entire body was wrapped with bandages that are laced with Green Eco to heal the rest of the damage to her skin. They both recovered in a week and both of them never used a tanning booth ever again.
A Month Later
After the tanning fiasco, the girl was faced with death threats which she considered almost as dull as dishwater. One day, at a friend's house, she got another letter at the door. As she opened the red letter with the underground symbol she had to tell her curious friend who was a brunette, pale, brown-eyed, and about 16. Her name was Jamie Young.
"Who's it from?" she asked.
"My old friends." the child answered a bit too sarcastically to be true and Jamie caught the sarcasm.
"My mom always told me that this symbol on a red letter was a bad thing." she pointed out.
"Not always. They love pushing the idle threats." the girl answered, "They've given me these for nearly a month now and I'm still here!"
Jamie looked concerned as the girl read the letter. She was smiling the whole time which looked a bit disconcerting. When she finished reading the letter she did the unthinkable: she laughed like she read the funniest joke in the world. Jamie decided to read it and see what the joke was. When she read the letter, it was terrifying. It ran this way:
"Dear Krimzon Brat,
We warned you about this matter for nearly a month now! We've seen what monstrous things you are capable of! We've even seen what kind of creature they've turned you into at the fortress in nearly a year! We should've killed you while we were sheltering you from the guards. You're a real danger to the Underground! We highly advise you to quit the guard now and join the Underground immediatly. If you don't follow our orders, you and your friends lives are going to get real INTERESTING!"
Jamie thought that it was a terrible threat to read in a letter. But, her insane friend was laughing about it like it was a big joke.
"I don't see what's so funny." Jamie whimpered, "It looks like a horrible threat to come across."
The girl was still laughing like a hyena as Jamie voiced her opinions about the threat. When the child composed herself, she decided to explain herself about why the threat seems like a comedic act to her.
"Apparently, you've never seen their death threats before." she explained, "I'm laughing because this little threat is tame compared to what I usually get from low-life criminals. You know, the kind of crooks that would push me in a pool of super-concentrated Dark Eco just to get rid of me!"
Jamie was shocked that her friend would simply throw all caution to the wind like that and laugh at death threats like they were mere chain letters. Also, she talked about it like it was a normal everyday conversation to her. Jamie finally came to terms that her friend was far from normal. Not because of her incredible powers or her strange looks. But, it was because of the way she reacts to life-threatening danger. She treats the concept like it was a regular thing for her.
"You're dangerous!" Jamie shouted.
"Yep, that's me in a nutshell." she joked
"You're INSANE!" Jamie screamed.
"You just now realized that?!" she asked with confusion in her voice.
Jamie realized that she won't get anywhere with her friend's questionable sanity. Her friend got a call from the guard about Metal Heads in the Pumping Station her friend was still shouting the unthinkable.
"Metal Heads near the city, eh? How many?" the child inquired as a hushed voice was heard and she started shouting excitedly, "Yes! Finally! I've haven't had any excitement for almost a week now! Alright, I'll be there faster than you can say, 'Hurry up! My men are pinned down!'!"
Just as the kid started packing her modified weapons in her backpack, Jamie was asking all sorts of questions as her friend was packing. It was as if she was going on a long trip to the Wasteland.
"Were you always this crazy about danger and risk?" Jamie asked.
"No, not always." she answered, "In fact, I used to avoid both like the plague."
"Why not now?" Jamie inquired, "What changed that outlook on life?"
"I've been hanging around with the kind of people who decided that danger and risk is a part of their trade." she smirked, "Also, some of my best friends are thrill-seeking dare devils."
"Have you ever thought about choosing your friends a little more carefully?" Jamie asked.
"Yes, I had thought about that." she answered, "But, I believe that everyone deserves a chance at friendship. Even to the criminals and the anti-heroes most of all."
"But, why to crooks and rogues most?" Jamie inquired.
"Because these people need it most." she explained, "Criminals and anti-heroes are one of the most misunderstood people in the universe. Everyone thinks that they are bad from start to finish. But, I know that everyone has good inside and that they've been either hanging with the wrong crowd like most criminals or they just had a bad start in life like most anti-heroes. People need to learn to not judge people by what they do or by their friends or by their family. They just need to give them a chance because the amount of good they can do in life will surprise you."
"But, you can't just throw caution to the wind and make friends with those maniacs!" Jamie shouted.
"I know that you can't give people who are too far gone into the crime bug a chance." she answered, "But, you can give those who still have good inside or those who are just confused a chance and even go as far as to turn them to the right direction. Everyone who just starts a life of crime or commits a single wrong in the name of justice always causes a spark of guilt and good in them. That's usually hardly worth anything and doesn't last long. But, if used in the right way, that spark of guilt and good is worth more than a king's ransom."
The girl's sagely advice left Jamie speechless as her friend finished packing her things and went to complete her mission to hold back the advancing Metal Heads.
"I see your point there, Benny." Randall admitted after Ben snapped out of his flashback, "She does tend to throw all caution to the wind and damn near get killed in the process. But, her reasoning as to why she does those things are so sound that she can make a clinically insane man seem perfectly normal."
Ben couldn't help, but laugh at what Randall told him because his friend is not that good at an argument. Then again, she did manage to talk a Dark dog out of a meat truck in his native tongue. It was a bit stupid of her because it was about the size of a Hellcat Cruiser. But, she did it in an attempt to help him capture it to see how it got that way.
Randall noticed one more thing that was peculiar about Ben: he wasn't wearing his glasses for his horrid astigmatism and his severe myopia! Without them he can't see a damn thing! Not even his hand in front of his face.
"Uhh, Ben." Randall asked curiously.
"Yes?" Ben huffed in frustration because he lost his place in the girl's story of when she was in the Underground before her time in prison.
"Why aren't you wearing your glasses?" Randall asked worriedly.
"You mean my specially made bifocals?" Ben inquired.
"Yes, your special bifocals! Why are you not wearing them?" Randy asked backing away and holding up three fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Ben didn't even squint or lean forward like he usually would when he's not wearing his glasses. He just laid back and answered Randall's rather simple question.
"I can see your three fingers as clear as day and I've lost the need for my glasses for nearly three years now." Ben answered blatantly, "Whenever I put them on I can't see my hand in front of my face. But, when they are off, I can see so crisp and clear that it's almost inhuman."
"What caused that to happen?" Randall asked.
"Hmm, I don't remember at the moment." Ben explained, "But, I do remember that I just woke up one morning on the day that I had to study the girl's behavior with music. When I woke up, I could see as clear as day. I thought I fell asleep with my glasses on again which usually buffs or scratches them. But, they weren't on my eyes at all. I tried my glasses on to test my theory and it turns out that I can't see anything at all through the glasses."
"Why did you wear them when you went to work?!" Randy asked.
Ben thought about what he read in his book and he remembered what caused his horrible sight to clear up in the first place.
"Apparently you are not very observant." Ben smiled, "Those glasses I use nowadays are just plastic and to make sure no one knows that my horrendous sight cleared up because of my Dark powers that has manifested in me since I just entered college."
"That's what caused your horrid sight to clear up?" Randall asked.
"Yes," Ben answered, nodding his head, "I just remembered reading that in a book after my sight cleared up on me."
"Why don't you want anyone knowing about that?" Randall questioned.
"I'm afraid they'll fear me and revile me as a monster if what I can do gets out." Ben muttered as if ashamed of his natural abilities.
"I can see what you mean." Randall murmured. "But, seriously, what caused you to lose the need for them?"
"All Dark Demons, DV's, Humanoids, and anything exposed to Dark Eco can see farther, sharper, and clearer than any creature known to man." Ben remembered, "Any two-bit Eco Sage would know that."
Randall was really starting to get concerned about his friend who was slowly losing his humanity over the years. Becoming stronger, faster, and inhumanly athletic was one thing. But, losing the need of his glasses for his horrendous sight, being able to speaking Dark Demon fluently, and physically changing bit by bit every now and again really drew the line that separates Randall from calling Ben either Elfan or a monster.
"I'm afraid for you." Randall murmured under his breath.
"See? Even you're starting to see me as a monster." Ben sighed looking very crestfallen.
"Ben, I said I was afraid for you. Not of you!" Randall corrected.
"Oh, right." Ben muttered, "Sorry about that."
"You know," Randall pointed out to try to change the subject, "you look a lot like that kid without your glasses."
"Which kid?" Ben questioned.
"The one from the history books." Randall remembered, "The one who killed those two Dark Eco Sages who were in the Precursor Robot with his raw Eco powers alone and without anyone to back him up!"
"You mean warrior Jak?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, that guy!" Randall exclaimed, "You look a lot like him in the face."
"Yeah, I get that a lot from the girl." Ben murmured.
"Come to think of it," Randall muttered, "that new case of yours looks a lot like that guy from the books."
Ben thought about that for a moment and he realized that Randy's right which is a rare occasion. His new case looked almost exactly like the teen warrior from the history books. The kid had the same hair color, same eye color, same skin tone, same physique, and can channel all kinds of Eco. Even the kid's name was Jak. But, he could've been named that because he looked a lot like him. What debunked that theory is the fact he could channel all kinds of Eco which none of his cases can do. Well, maybe except for the young girl who claims to have known the warrior personally and she even went as far as to claim that she was rigorously trained by the Eco warrior himself for almost a year. Ben didn't believe her at first and thought she was sick or insane. But, after seeing her sword that looked new and made in the ancient way, her dagger which was made with elements that are nonexistent here; her Eco bracelets that are fused to her wrists and ankles which is illegal in Haven City; and the way she fights was almost in the same style as the warrior himself he was beginning to believe her claims because of how accurate all of her claims and objects are.
"Yeah, he kinda does look like him." Ben answered, "Remind me to ask him a few questions the next time he comes around."
"Be careful Ben." Randall warned, "I've seen that guy's horrible temper and that he's quick to anger. I don't want you to get on his bad side."
"Don't worry about it." Ben chimed, "I know how to handle those kind of people. I've done it before with the girl when I questioned where she was from without making it feel like an interrogation."
Randall was still wary of Ben's newest case for some reason. He always felt an evil, dark aura around the young man from the moment he walked in. The aura was like a wall that makes people feel that it's not a good idea to meet and greet him. Randall feels that this guy may be a lost cause because of how much Dark Eco was in a single drop of his blood alone! Over 70% of that single drop of blood was contaminated by Dark Eco which made it close to impossible to determine his blood type! But, he can deny his boss any of his orders despite the fact that Ben is only twelve.
"Okay," Randall grumbled, "whatever you say, Benny."
Ben nodded while putting the last creature in its cage for study tomorrow. He looks at his watch and realizes it's time to go home. He put away his tools, chemicals, books, files, everything. Just before the duo went out the door, Ben took a good look at his lab before shutting down the power to it.
"Do you want me to escort you to your home?" Ben offered Randall.
"Uhh, err, umm, ehh..." Randall hesitated, "Sure, what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger."
"That's a... fairly odd look into that." Ben answered.
Randall looked a bit nervous about Ben escorting him home because he half expected Ben to grab him by his arm and run so fast that he could rival a jet plane just to drop him off at home which is a 45 minute walk in 4.5 seconds or less. But, he didn't use that power of his for some reason. Ben didn't even go as far as to borrow a two-seated zoomer to drive them home either. Whatever motive possessed Ben decided to make him walk the whole 45 minutes to Randall's home must've been important. Randall couldn't help, but to sigh with relief because being dragged home at the speed of a jet car really tears into his already frayed nerves. But, he had to ask why because it's very unusual for Ben to not speed run him home while dragging him along for the wild ride.
"Ben?" Randall inquired.
"Yes, Randy." Ben answered.
"Why aren't you speed running me home?" he asked.
"I think you meant blurring" Ben corrected.
"You get the idea!" Randall shouted, "Why aren't you doing that?! That used to be a regular thing with you! Why not now?!"
"I want to talk to you about the girl." Ben stated which made Randall stare at him in shock.
Imagination Gamer: Looks like we're going to find out more about our mystery character. Sorry about the delay because I have two school projects to work on and my birthday's coming around. It's just hectic on my end.