Chapter 14: Into The Ring

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters. I Don't Own The Rights To Nathan Black Or Any Associated Characters, The Rights Go To annihalator2015

Disclaimer: This Series/Story Has Nothing To Do With The Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Cartoon Series. Any Similarities That May Pop Up Aren't Intentional

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to Chapter Fourteen!

* So, this chapter will have Ben trying to win the prize money. I hope you guys enjoy this one. With that said, let's get into the chapter!

Earth-6101

Friday, September 8th, 2017

Bellwood – Red Light Shopping District

Ben

I had found myself standing in the Red Light Shopping District, where the Northwest Entertainment Center in which The Second Annual Bellwood Fight Club was taking place in. The Red Light Shopping District was only down the road from the area with all the fast food restaurants and the arcade, so it wasn't much of a hassle to walk there.

Once I reached the Entertainment Center, in became clear to me that it wasn't going to be easy to get in. And that was because there was a guard-looking person standing outside one of the doors, but there was only one of them. There was a line of people in front of him and he was letting them in, one-by-one. And I had a good feeling that he wasn't going to let a fourteen-year-old kid in. I stuck to the wall of the building and slowly shimmied towards the door behind him.

I can't let him notice me. Maybe if I stick to this wall, he'll keep his back to me and won't notice me going by.

As I shimmied along the wall, I looked back at the line in front of the guard, to see the couple of people at the front of the line were giving me weirded out and suspicious looks.

What were they going to do? Tattle on me?

As I looked away for a brief second, I began to feel a pain in the back of my head and neck, as well as a bad feeling deep in my gut. I looked back at the guard, to see that he had just ever so slightly turned his head to his right. I saw a trash can ahead of me and I quickly, and quietly took cover behind it. I remained there in a crouching position for a few seconds.

How will I know if it's safe to look up from this spot? And if it is save, will I be able to get into the building before he begins to look over here again?

I sat there for a few seconds, before I decided to quit being a coward and just look up already. Once I looked up from my hiding spot, I noticed that the guard had turned his attention back to the line of people again, however, a couple of the people still casted suspicious looks my way. I wasn't going to sit here and risk being outed any longer. I quickly got up from my hiding spot and made a dash into the Entertainment Center. I'd find a place to hunker down for a few minutes just to make I'm in the clear, before I join the competition.

The Tennyson House

Sandra Tennyson

I had gone upstairs to use the bathroom after sitting in the living room watching T.V. for the last hour or so. After leaving the bathroom, I thought that I would check in on Ben to see if he was able to get to sleep. I came to his bedroom door and knocked on it.

"Ben, dear, are you asleep?" I called out.

I didn't get an answer. I quietly opened the door and looked at Ben sleeping in his bed. I felt relief at seeing that he had fallen asleep. I walked closer to his bed to feel his forehead again.

"Ben." I whispered as I felt his shoulder.

I realized almost immediately that I wasn't touching a human body. What I was touching was too soft to be a human body. I pulled back the sheets and felt the terror set in when I realized that Ben wasn't in his bed, but a few pillows had been placed under the sheets. I looked up to see that Ben's bedroom window was now open. I finally regained my wits long enough to say the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh my God!"

Northwest Entertainment Center

Ben

After keeping a low profile for five or ten minutes, no guards, security or anything like that came looking for me. So, I think I was in the clear now. I began looking around for a reception desk or something where I could sign myself up for the Fight Club. After a brief period of looking, I eventually found a long line of various costumed people, contestants, I was assuming, standing in front of a series of tables.

Looks like that's where I want to be, I thought.

I turned the corner out of sight from the desk and looked around me. Unfortunately, there were a good bit of people around me, so transforming out in the open was out of the question. So, I went off in search of a restroom. After a few more minutes, I eventually found a restroom. I entered the restroom and thankfully, it was vacant. I pulled the black ski mask out of my sweater pocket.

Can't risk being identified if I time out before I can compete, I thought as I pulled the mask over my head.

I then activated the alien watch and turned the ring until I found a form that I could go with. I'm pretty sure I picked the form that I first transformed into. The one whose skin seemed to be made of crystals, gemstones or whatever. I looked down at the familiar emerald green hands.

This is good and all, but it kind of looks too good. What if people realize that this isn't a costume that I'm wearing, but a real thing?

I took a deep breath and decided to just leave the restroom.

You only live once, I thought.

I returned to where I had seen the line, to see that it had shortened significantly. There were maybe five people in front of me as I got to the back of the line.

No way! What happened to the rest of the line? I wasn't gone any more than two minutes, if even that! Could some of them have been turned away?

As I stood there, the guy in front of me, dressed like someone from a punk rock band (what did that have to do with a fight club?) turned around and looked at me. After he got over the initial surprise of seeing me like this, he spoke.

"Whoa, dude! Killer costume!"

Costume? This dude actually thinks I'm wearing a costume? He's either got to be on something or crazy to think that!

"Um, thanks!" I replied.

"So, I take it that you're signing up, too?"

Am I not standing in the same line as you?

"I want my shot at the prize money."

"Right on, right on."

After that, he turned away from me and was silent again. About five minutes later, maybe less, I was at the front of the line. The lady in front of me was looking down at the clipboard sitting on her desk.

"Name?" she asked.

Name? As in what regard? I can't give my real name!

When I didn't answer, she looked up as she spoke again.

"Name?"

She started in a confident and impatient tone, but once she saw me, all of her confidence was dashed and replaced with what looked like fear. I stared back at her as she stared back, speechless.

"What's the matter?" I finally asked. "Haven't you ever seen someone in a costume?"

She finally worked up the courage to speak.

"That's a costume?"

"Does it not look like one?" I asked.

She shook her head as if to clear her mind, before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, I was just a little surprised. Name?"

"Can I give you like, my uh, stage name?"

She chuckled.

"That's fine. We can go over everything else later, if you win. And let's be realistic, you probably won't."

Wow, you're just a nice bundle of joy, aren't you? And "everything else"? I'm not sure I like the sound of that!

"So, anyway, your name?"

I blinked, pulling myself out of my thoughts.

"Oh, right!"

What's a fitting name, that would make sense for the form that I'm in?

After a couple seconds of internal debating, I spoke again.

"Um, call me Crystal Man!"

She snorted.

"Okay, then."

I didn't exactly like the tone of her voice, but I decided not to say anything. She looked up at me once more.

"Okay, you're signed up. Keep in mind there are five people ahead of you, so it may take a while for your match to start."

Five people?! At that rate, who's to say that I'll still have a shot at the prize money?

Nevertheless, I thanked the woman and followed the instructions that she gave me to the waiting area.

Sometime Later

It turned out that I had nothing to worry about, with there being five contestants ahead of me. Most of them were beaten by last year's champion pretty quickly. All of them barely survived for a minute in the ring. I watched the punk rocker guy ahead of me get thrown from the ring, having his fall broken by a couple of folding tables, where he didn't move anymore afterward.

Oh my God! They want to kill people at these things?!

Even in my current form, I was feeling pretty nervous. Sure, I may have been made out of an impenetrable crystal-like material, but I still had my doubts. After the guy ahead of me met his maker, the fight announcer came backstage where was and where I had barely witnessed the last fight.

"You got a name that you want to be recognized by?" he asked.

This time I answered without hesitation.

"Crystal Man."

He then lowered his glasses just a bit to give me a serious look.

"Is that really the best you could come up with?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It sucks. It fucking sucks, man."

Well, I rarely hear foul language like that!

He knew I was serious, pushing his glasses into place once more and speaking again.

"Have it your way. You'll be up in a few seconds."

Wait, just like that? A few seconds?! But I'm not even prepared!

The announcer walked out of the backstage area and I was alone again. It was only seconds later that he announced the next round and my stage name with it. And when he did, I understood why he said that the name sucked. Because it did! I heard the cringe in his voice when he said it and a good amount of people laughed and booed at the name. I hesitantly made my way toward the main area, not at all prepared for the fight to come.

As I left the backstage area and people got their first look at me, the laughing and booing intensified. As I got closer to the ring, I now saw my opponent. And I could say that he looked more like a body builder than a fight club champion. I guess that was answered my non-existent question on how he won last year's competition. As I approached, the same two words seemed to run through my head.

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, I can't believe I'm doing this! What was I thinking?! There's no way that I can win this thing!

But still, I made my way into the ring, as if I was running on auto-pilot. The announcer spoke out the rules of the match to me and my competitor, but if I was being honest, I wasn't paying attention. My mind was running too rampant for me to think straight or to comprehend what was going on. It was only when the bell began ringing, signaling the start of the match, that I was finally brought back to reality. My opponent snarled a threat at me as he approached.

"I'm gonna rip that stupid costume off ya after I kick your ass!"

I wanted to chuckle, but I was just too nervous to do so.

Not a costume, you couldn't do that even if you tried your best. But what if I time out and revert back to my normal self during the fight? He seriously wouldn't hurt a fourteen-year-old kid, would he?

As I thought to myself, he continued approaching and as he reached me, he threw a punch in my direction. I snapped back to reality once again and I instinctively stepped out of the way, avoiding his strike before I threw my own punch. I hit him in the abdomen and was surprised when he stumbled backwards with a grunt of pain.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed over the roar of the crowd as he looked up at me with anger. "That freaking hurt!"

I stopped momentarily to think about what I had just done.

I barely touched him, but at the same time, my fists are as hard as a rock! Maybe I do stand a chance, after all!

But as I thought that, the moral side of me kicked in. If I didn't pull my punches, I could end up seriously hurting this man. I had to try to use as little force as possible to beat him. And with already rock hard fists, that shouldn't be much of an issue!

The Tennyson House

Sandra Tennyson

After making a phone call and receiving no leads to where Ben could have gone, I went upstairs to Carl's office to tell him that our son was missing. When I walked in, he was unfortunately on the phone. That wasn't going to stop me, however.

"Carl!" I said as I entered his office.

He held up his hand as he briefly quit talking into the phone to say a few words to me.

"Hold on, hun." He said before returning to his phone call. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Carl" I repeated.

He ignored me this time. I was appalled. I was clearly in distress and he didn't seem to care in the slightest. I walked up to him and grabbed the phone from his hand, promptly hanging it up.

"What the hell, San—" he began to speak, but I interrupted him.

"Carl, Ben's not here! He's gone!"

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"He's not in his bed and his bedroom window is open! He snuck out!"

"Okay, then what—"

"Carl, you're not listening to me!"

A look of anger appeared on his face as he spoke in an impatient tone.

"I am listening, Sandra! But the way you're explaining this isn't making it easy to understand! Now, have you called anyone?"

I nodded.

"I called Nathan's parents, thinking that maybe he had felt better and went to hang out with Nathan for a while, but he and his parents both insist that they haven't seen him since yesterday!"

"Okay. What about that girl he's been hanging out with? Is Gwen her name? Did you call her parents?"

"I don't know their number."

"Okay. Have you called my parents?"

I shook my head.

"No, they already have a child to care for. I can't bug them unless it's necessary."

He let out a sigh.

"Okay, then." He said as he stood up from his desk. "Then we need to go find him."

Finally, some progress!

"Great! Let's go, then!"

Northwest Entertainment Center

Ben

The fight continued, however, not for much longer. My opponent approached once more and threw a punch at me, one that I couldn't dodge in time. Once his fist struck me, he immediately recoiled with pain.

"Agh!"

Even punching me causes him pain!

It was just now that it was occurring to me that this fight may be unfair. But did you think that would stop me? I approached him and threw two punches with as little force as I could muster, catching him in the stomach and chest respectively. He backed up in pain once more and when he looked back at me, ready to approach again, I could tell how dazed he was.

I almost felt bad about this, but I wasn't going to stop now. He threw another punch, but I blocked his strike and struck him back. He once again grunted with pain. I threw one last punch at him, dazing him further, before I approached and picked him up off his feet, lifting him up above my head with no effort.

"Hey, put me down! Put me down!"

"Not a chance, pal!"

I kept him lifted above my head for a few seconds, before I slammed him down onto the floor of the ring below us. He didn't move after that and wouldn't move in time for the match to continue. The referee confirmed that he was out. Even though it was clear that I had won, I was back in a daze. The ref approached and lifted one of my arms as he said something, but I didn't catch what he said. Eventually I was brought back to reality when I heard the announcer exclaim something.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion: Crystal Man!"

I still heard the cringe in his voice when he said my name, but that was beside the point. I heard the mixture of people booing me and cheering me on. It felt real.

I had done it. The prize money was mine!

The Suburbs

Sandra Tennyson

Carl and I had been out searching for Ben for at least half an hour, with no luck. Eventually, we just had to stop and give up.

"Carl, he's nowhere to be found! I have no idea what to do!"

He let out a sigh as he put his hands on my shoulders.

"Relax, Sandra. Everything's going to be fine. It's dark and it's late. Maybe we should go home and hope that he's there when we get back. If he's not, we can go out again to search for him in the morning."

"But I won't be able to sleep!"

"Searching around in the dark isn't going to us much good either, honey. Come on, we'll be better off to search for him in the morning if he's not home when we get back."

I sighed with defeat. However, before I could say anything, I heard the sound of a car approaching. Distracted, I turned in the direction of the noise, to see that there was in fact a car approaching at an alarming speed. You weren't supposed to go over twenty five miles an hour in a residential area and this car was going well over that limit. Carl walked ahead of me, probably to get a closer look at the car.

As I got a look at it, I recognized the colors of the car to be the colors of a gang that made their base of operations elsewhere in the city. But what were they doing here? They weren't active in the suburbs, we wouldn't be living here if that were the case! Just then, one of the cars occupants leaned partially out of the window, with a gun clearly visible in his hands. I felt a sense of dread run through me as I saw this.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed as the car got closer still. "Sandra honey, get behind me!"

Author's Note:

* Okay, so that's quite a way to end the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed!

* So, what do think's going to happen, both with Ben at the Entertainment Center and with Ben's parents? I look forward to any speculation.

* That's going to do it for me. I'm going to go though, so have a fantastic day and bye.

Review Responses

Heroverse3 (Chapter 13) I'm impressed. I have my own theories on this but I won't ask so as to keep everyone else in suspense. That's all. Just a piece of advice, though. If you're really going forward that way with Ben, be sure to go all in. Still a fan either way, though!

Thanks, Heroverse. You know, if you did have your own theories, you could have sent me a private message asking about them, as I really do enjoy hearing speculation from my readers. But of course, that is up to you and I wouldn't mind your decision either way. As to you piece of advice, if I'm going "forward that way with Ben, be sure to go all in", how do you mean? Thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: After the fight, Ben's actions cause disastrous consequences.