Imagination Gamer: I am so sorry for taking so long. In fact, it took me forever to get started due to being swamped with school work. But, I have some free time now and I can get this bunny off my back. Let's get this Slow Fic back up to a Fast Fic.

Disclaimer: I get the point. I don't own anything except my OCs and the establishments they live in.

The Newscast With All The Answers

Ben was walking home to try to mull his strange behavior over. He never yelled at his assistant, he hasn't touched his chemicals, he hasn't wrestled with any of the creatures, and he was proofreading his friend's works which was the most confusing thing because she doesn't like having her things touched at all.

"Why am I doing all these odd things?" he asked himself mentally, "It's almost like I have a feeling that Kate's in trouble. But, can I trust my lesser instincts?"

As it turns out he was gonna have to start trusting his animalistic instincts because of what he heard on a TV that is being demonstrated behind the shops' glass window. Ben doesn't watch TV at all for fear that he may kill his brain cells. He doesn't even own a TV for that reason. The closest thing that he has to a TV is the monitors of his scanners. But, what he heard on this interrupted channel that went from a very popular drama to a newscast might change his views on watching a television for the first time in his life. The reporter was in front of his desk giving the news that was obviously important enough to interrupt one of Haven's favorite shows.

"Looks like Jim Sparks has something important to preach about." Ben muttered, wondering why Kate saved this aggravating, over exaggerating man from a life sentence in the DWP.

Flashback: Trial of Jim Sparks

It was in the courthouse that Sparks was tried for harboring Underground secrets which was a lie, but they wouldn't listen. Since Jim Sparks was the only reporter alive in Haven City, this case was a very serious issue because if he is found guilty he could be thrown in the DWP and possibly never be seen again. Jim was dragged in by the Guards with locks on his wrists and ankles to keep him from escaping. They forced him to sit down in the box of the accused which made him feel offended for being sat down so forcibly, but he knew better than to speak out against the Guards for fear they may shock him with their shock rods with enough Blue Eco to power a Zoomer.

"This court will come to order." the Erol stated, "All rise, the honorable Judge Norman presiding."

Everyone stood up and sat back down after Erol gave the order. The judge handed Erol the charges since he's the prosecutor.

"Commander Erol, read the charges." the judge ordered.

"James Rodney Sparks." Erol stated which offended Sparks because he hated his middle name, "Reporter of the Haven Hotwire News. You stand before this jury accused of conspiring with the Underground!"

Jim couldn't hold his sharp tongue back any longer.

"That's a lie!" Jim shouted, "You just want me because my family once consisted of Eco Channelers!"

"Silence you city scum!" Erol shouted.

"Look in the mirror, flame head!" Sparks yelled, "You'll see another one!"

"Why you ungrateful little..." Erol started before the judge cut in.

"Order in the court!" he yelled while banging his gavel.

"More like, 'Order in this corrupted city!'!" Jim shot, "I know all about your heinous experiments on suspected channelers!"

"I thought I told you to shut up!" Erol shouted.

"Why?" Jim fired, "Because you don't want this unsuspecting city to know that many of their so-called 'criminals' are being experimented on with Dark Eco to turn them into monsters for the Baron which usually ends in their deaths?!"

After that tirade the Guard zapped Jim with his shock rod which did not tickle to put it lightly. In fact, the poor man almost hit the ground from the shock. Jim was silent after receiving that nasty shock.

"Now, that we have order." The judge stated, "Commander, do you have proof that this man has been harboring these secrets."

"Yes, the Guard caught him talking to one of them." Erol stated before Jim cut in.

"How was I talking to one of them if I was giving the news that day?" he demanded with pain laced in his words.

The Guard shocked him again to silence him which was worse than the last.

"As I was saying," Erol explained, "this 'man' was also caught handing off weapons to them."

"I've never... handled a gun in... my life!" Jim grunted in protest.

The Guard shocked him again which was even worse that had poor Sparks on his knees in pain. Ben, who was one of the jury, could barely stand to watch this.

"This 'man' was even sharing our secret plans with the Underground." Erol stated.

"That... wasn't... me!" Jim groaned loudly, preparing for another shock.

It didn't come...

The reason it never came was because Kaitlin happened to have shown up late for jury duty and had about enough of seeing one of his favorite reporters suffer. she grabbed the rod from the Guard, broke it in half out of anger and threw the remaining pieces on the ground as hard as she could which shattered it into a million pieces.

"Now that we're done with the eighth amendment violations!" she stated hotly which confused all except Ben, "Let's get through this case without anyone being carted off to the hospital due to Eco poisoning!"

She kneeled down to scrape poor Sparks off the ground and whisper to him.

"Don't worry, I'll get you outta this situation." she whispered confidently.

"How?" Jim whispered painfully, "Erol is there along with the most hardnosed judge you can find."

"Erol is a piece of cake." she smiled, "As for the judge, leave Norman to me. I'll have you outta here in less than an hour."

She kept her promise on that one. She countered every statement Erol previously gave with Jim's alibies that were proven via the tapes that she recorded just so she'll have a good laugh. It's lucky she had the tapes for the days which Jim is 'supposedly' working for the Underground and harboring secrets. The tapes disproved the statements made by Erol which really ticked him off. Erol tried to make a liar of Jim, but Kate happened to have a Lie Detector which is proven to had not been tampered with. Erol also tried to make an Eco terrorist of Jim. Tests from Ben proved that Jim can resist the effects Eco, but he can't channel it. Erol tried everything to get Sparks behind bars, but he was beaten by Kate at every turn. Eventually, she had the judge, the entire jury, even his own Guards turn against Erol for lying under oath. In less than an hour Jim was claimed innocent and free to go back to reporting the news. Kate and Sparks became fast friends that day the same way she did with all other people that she saved in court through her odd methods. But, looking back, Ben often wishes that Kate would've arrived too late to stop them because of Spark's over exaggerated way of reporting the news.

What interrupted Ben's flashback of that trial is Jim's loud voice that would grab anyone's attention even if they never watch TV to begin with.

"We interrupt our scheduled program with breaking news!" he claimed in his usual overexcited tone, "If witnesses and video reports are to be believed there has been a Dark monster breach for the very first time in Haven City's history. Quick hide your pets and save your children!"

Anyone whose known Ben for even a minute would know that the words "Dark monster breach" would arrest his attention and listen to the newscast even if it's against every fiber of his being to watch a TV.

The background changed to a clip of what looks like the slums and a crime scene in the heart of it. A Guard was standing in front of the electrical tape beside a Krimzon transport. Inside the crime scene you can see many dismembered Guards being carried into a medical transport on floating stretchers.

"We cannot confirm or deny the appearance of a Dark creature here tonight." A Guard explained.

The scene changed to a red-headed, white, male witness standing near an alley about eight feet away from the crime scene.

"I was walking the streets to home when I suddenly heard Guards screaming, 'Shoot that thing! Shoot it! Shoot it!'. I wanted to see what this 'thing' was that they were trying to kill." the man explained, "I turned to the corner that I heard the Guard screaming from and I saw the Dark monster! It was pale blue with claws, teeth, and horns! And those eyes! Ugh, I'll see them in my nightmares! They were the blackest eyes that you will ever see! And you should've seen what it did to the Guards! That scene was nightmarish!"

The scene changed to a blonde, white girl in her twenties with a scratch on her eye who was being tended to by field doctors. She looked scared out of her wits and a bit erratic from exposure to insane amounts of Dark Eco.

"I-I was in the wrong place at the w-wrong time." she sobbed with her voice breaking, "I-I was just trying to get home to my kids w-when this m-monster came outta n-nowhere and started attacking the guards in ways y-you just can't imagine. W-when the Guards were all gone it came after me! I t-tried to run from it, but it was horribly fast. It grabbed me b-by my throat and was about t-to tear me limb from freaking limb! But, l-luck was on my side when a Guard ran in and zapped it. It's claws managed to graze m-my face which was felt searing hot before it dropped me and took off after the G-Guard. I fell unconscious after feeling a horrible sensation that f-feels like getting e-elect-tro-cuted."

Another person who was a male with bluish-red hair and glasses ran in with half his face on camera to shout, "It's true! I saw the whole thing!"

The scene changed back to Jim's newsroom as he continued to speak about what he just saw.

"Well, all of this seems to bordering onto paranoia, eh?" he laughed, "Next thing these yahoos will say is that an army of Metal Heads are in the city!"

Ben groaned as the reporter laughed at his own joke. He wondered why he was watching the news of all things. In fact, he wondered why was he watching TV to begin with. He hasn't watched television since his grandfather died. But, what drew him back to the TV before he could walk away is what the amateur reporter said next.

"This just in," he claimed after he was handed a metal tablet, "a video of the creature's attack was just sent to our station. Looks like we'll get to see this creature firsthand. If he is as terrifying as most claim, parents may want to move their children out of the rooms immediately."

Ben watched as Sparks played the video which showed the monster attacking the guards. Ben's eyes lit up at the sight of it with the sort of light you'd only see if someone reached nirvana. He even chuckled a bit which is crazy rare, but he managed to calm himself before he reached hysterics. He grabbed his heart to try to steady it from the sheer excitement he felt. He was also bordering on tears because what he saw wasn't just any Dark Creature.

"A Dark Demon Halfling." Ben breathed.

He was amazed because they were so rare that even Ben didn't think they existed and to see one caught on tape was amazing to put it lightly. He went into his usual scientist mode to try to study what he has in front of him to try to learn about this creature.

"Definitely male and a fairly young one at that. I'd say about seventeen or eighteen. Overflowing with Dark Eco energy since it's sparking from his body like mad. The fact he is wearing clothes shows that this creature is part of a Elfan. The Dark one is not naturally born with this power like I am and it may be forced upon him due to the lack of a tail." he muttered while looking closely at the video, "He seems to attack the Guards more than the civilians which tells me that this particular change is triggered from nearly dying and not from anger. Otherwise, he'd be lunging at whatever is nearest civilian or not. Definitely inexperienced with his powers by how erratic his attacks are and that he's taking massive damage from a young guard. This attack seems to be out of basic instinct to kill whatever he deems a threat. This creature looks somewhat... familiar. Where have I seen him be-"

Ben's analysis was interrupted when Jim gave the damage report which is where the answers of Ben's behavior was.

"Twenty Guards are dead and their names are Jenny (Gem) Parsons, James (Richie) Rich, Hannah (Pickle) Olive, Penny (Yen) Davis, Richard (Nix) Garson, Tomas (Harvey) Harvard, Olivia (Olive) Yun, Jas (Jason) Young, Jake (Parr) Parsons, Kim (Dragon) Yuma, Edward (Eddy) Steward, Wilson (Nutsy) Dame, Barton (Watts) Walton, Harry (Hairy) Mason, Veranda (Randy) Qulin, Tommy (Cane) Kane, Olive (Dill) Haran, Luna (Moony) Lyon, and Isa (Lizard) Hornsby." Sparks proclaimed, "Jeez, does every Guard have their own little codename?!"

Ben rolled his eyes, but mentally agreed with that because every Guard seemed to earn their little nickname during basic training based on their name or their personality.

"It seems that only four civilians were hurt. But, it was nothing the medical teams couldn't handle." Jim joked, "I almost wish that the Guards had that kinda luck... ALMOST!"

Ben sighed because he couldn't blame the man for his hatred of the Guards because they arrested him on false pretenses.

"The four civilians are Gary Kenton, Elizabeth Hamilton, George Ruston, and Peter Damson." Jim read, "Ruston?! Damson?! Hah! What a name!"

Ben sighed, but he tried to bear with it because he wants to know who got harmed.

"As we already saw on the video which was... quite gruesome." Jim gulped, "Over twenty Guards were on the scene and most of them died by the monster's claws. But, three made it out alive... barely."

Ben was fidgeting a bit with anticipation with what were the three that survived and mentally hoped that a certain someone was not one of the three.

"The three Guard's names are:" Jim read, "Scott (Deadeye) Barton, Amy (Gossips-A lot) Glades, and K-"

Jim sputtered the last one because he knows the person. He read it over again to make sure he read that right, rubbed his eyes a few times, and cleared his throat. He momentarily forgot that they were on the air and asked if this was a typo, but he learned that it wasn't.

"Th-the last one who was badly injured is... Kaitlin (Hothead) Darkens..." He choked from shock.

Ben was just as shocked and just as much in denial that it was her that got harmed. Sparks looked shocked, but he tried to keep his cheery air by explaining the surviving Guard's dilemmas.

"Scott's and Amy's detox's were very successful and they are sure to survive since they tried to attack the creature from a distance." he informed trying to stay cheerful, "Well, I guess there are smart Guards on the Force after all, eh?"

"Never mind those two." Ben murmured, "What of Kate?"

"On the other hand, Kaitlin's detox failed because she pulled off her namesake and hotheadedly took the creature head on." he stated sullenly which is alien to those who know this guy, "From the video, she very nearly finished it off despite taking massive damage herself. She failed on the final blow due to a cheap shot on the monster's part, tearing the majority of her face off, and gave her a massive dose of Dark Eco radiation to boot."

Ben was shaking at this point from the huge shock to his system that almost agitated the darkness in him enough to trigger a dark out. But, he managed to hold it back so he can listen to the rest of the report.

"The doctors state that the poor Guard may not survive her wounds." Sparks choked, They t-tell us that she may die... due to the amount of Dark Eco in her body that is... that is destroying her from the... inside out."

"Are you okay, Sparks?" one of the directors asked when he noticed that Sparks looked a bit teary eyed.

"I'm fine." he stated before reading on which seemed to be getting increasingly difficult for him, "Kaitlin only has a few hours... t-to live due to her failed detox... and her severe injuries make it... im-possible for the surgeons to operate without... killing her."

Sparks was starting to shake and shed tears from this heartbreaking news about his friend that saved him from the jaws of the DWP. Even Ben's eyes were getting a bit glassy from this horrible news about his dearest friend.

The stage hands were trying to get Jim to get ahold of himself while Ben thought angrily to himself, "I knew something was wrong with Kate! I just didn't listen to my instincts and see the signs..."

Ben's thoughts were interrupted when Sparks managed to get the stage hands away from him and seemingly got ahold of himself.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." Jim muttered rapidly, "Just keep rolling."

"If you say so." the cameraman stated off-screen

"Th-the main reason that her de-detox was so unsuccessful is... is that her body is s-soaked with... Dark Eco." he stated with a quivering tone, "The d-doctors stated that... th-the poor girl's exposure to... D-Dark Eco tops the charts at... at eighty percent..."

That stopped Ben's mourning dead in it's tracks and turned it into shock.

"What?!" Ben yelled, "Eighty percent?! How in the name of the Dark Makers is it that she's still alive?!"

"Th-the... doctors are shocked th-that she's still... still alive with that kind of... exposure." Jim sobbed, "I... p-personally know that sh-she's a... a hardheaded, young channeler and that... sh-she's not g-going down without... a fight to her last b-breath."

Ben smirked because that sounds like something she would say aloud if she were here to speak about her deadly predicament.

"If they... lose her..." he sobbed, "I'll lose my... my only friend in this... crazy... corrupted world! Why her?! Of the tens of th-thousands... of G-Guards in the Force why her?! She's the only one who t-tried to... to help me when no one else would! Why is it that I'm the one who loses friends in this city?!"

"I know that Kate would help anyone in need of her services." Ben stated, "She was always a bit lighthearted when it came to helping those in danger of being wrongfully forced into the DWP. Why she always does things like that and how is beyond me. It's almost like she learned from a skilled DA about the loopholes of the legal system-"

Ben's statement was overpowered by Jim's increasingly loud tirade that was dangerously turning into hysterics.

"WHY IS IT THAT THE GOOD ONES ALWAYS DIE YOUNG?!" he wailed, "WHY MY FRIEND?! WHY ME?! WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY?!"

He went face-first on the desk crying and the stage hands were trying to calm him down.

"Back to our regularly scheduled program." the director stated quickly before the TV switched back to the drama show which was ending.

"Poor Kate..." Ben muttered before becoming determined, "I must try to help her! her old friend would've done it..."

Ben finally blurred straight back to his Observatory, turned the power on, and started grabbing all sorts of things to help his friend through the extreme exposure to Dark Eco.

"Let's see." Ben muttered while looking through his shelves of potions to help those with Dark Eco exposure, "This is going to be one of the most delicate and personal operations that I've ever done. So, the main surgery is out of the question."

Ben started looking through his shelve and grabbed a bottle of disinfectant that works like a Dark Eco detox agent along with a rag that he often uses for it and washes out unreasonably often.

"That might help with any scratches that she may have." He muttered.

He looked through several boxes of old inventions and found his Dark Siphoning tool that looks like a futuristic vacuum cleaner with dozens of tubes that connect to one main tube that can siphon Dark Eco from over forty wounds of different sizes.

"It's not very effective." he murmured, "But, it's one of the safest remedies that I have."

The Dark Sage looked through his lab and found his experimental device that can burn off Dark Eco inside and out. It's a method he borrowed from the Aeropans called: Thermal Decontamination. It's extremely effective, yet extremely painful. The device has a large capsule filled with yellow eco connected to a tube which connects to what looks like a laser that has three power condensers and many loop circuits which allows the laser-like device to fire a powerful, steady stream of highly concentrated Yellow Eco mixed with Red Eco.

"This thing has burned many a lab rat to a crisp." Ben sighed, "But, due to the fact that Kate seems to be potent, I'll take this with me to help her."

After Ben finished grabbing his arsenal of tools to save her he placed them all in a large backpack, strapped it on, turned off the power to his Observatory, and took off en route to the hospital.

"I've never came across such an extreme exposure percentage before nor such a risky operation." Ben thought, "This is gonna be a long night."

Imagination Gamer: Little does Ben know how right he is about that. As for the names, I made them up as I went along and almost went overboard. What will happen once Ben gets to the hospital? We'll find out soon in the next chapter of this Ancient Fic. Also, I know people who favored this would flock to this immediately since I took so long. What may be taking me so long is, not only life, but a severe lack of reviews. I'm surprised because this fic is doing surprisingly well for my first, but I don't know how I'm doing or what I might be doing wrong which almost makes me hesitate to continue writing. So, can I get a little more feedback please and maybe I can have the confidence to update a bit faster.