Ben 10: Bride To Be: Volume Three
Chapter 148: Aftershock: Part One
Brand New Day
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
Author's Note:
* Hello and welcome to Chapter One Hundred and Forty Eight, the first chapter of Volume Three!
* This will probably be the most ambitious volume that I will write at this point. Big things are going to be happening in this first arc, be sure of that. I won't go into detail, but you'll find out what I mean soon enough.
* I want to address right now, that if there are any readers who have no idea what they're reading right now, this story is a sequel to two of my past stories. So, go back and read Volumes One and Two if you haven't already. They're not the best stories out there, far from it actually, but they'd be essential in understanding the story here.
* This story also features an original character who debuted in the last volume, who has never been seen anywhere else, so reading the last volume at least will be vital to understanding his character. If you don't read through Volume Two, you'll have no idea what is going on with this original character.
* Also, just like I said in the closing author's note from the last chapter of Volume Two, this story isn't my primary focus anymore. I really have enjoyed writing this story for the last four years or so, but there have been times where this story causes me great mental stress. And last year when you-know-what started was the greatest example of this. So, if I go a month or more without updating this story, just know that I'm taking my time with it. Besides, there is another story that I should get back to working on and balancing just two stories is more difficult than you would think.
* Anyway, if you like what you read here today, then please by all means, favorite and follow the story. Reviews are also very much appreciated. With all of that having been said, let's kick off this first chapter!
Earth-Prime
Four Weeks Later – Wednesday, March 6th, 2019
The Tennyson House
Ben
I opened my eyes as I woke up, lying in bed with Gwen on top of me, snuggling against me as she continued to sleep. I looked over to the other end of the room to the digital alarm clock and saw that the time was five thirty in the morning. I could go back to sleep, but it was a school day and I didn't want to risk sleeping through my alarm. I gently kissed her on the forehead and rolled over to my right, laying her down on her back.
As I began to get up, she put one of her arms underneath my pillow and continued to sleep. I walked past the foot of the bed, where Snowball, our cat, laid and patted her on the head. I stopped at the dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans, following that up by walking to the open closet and pulling out a long sleeved cotton shirt. I got dressed and left the room, heading to the living room, where Mom was sitting on the couch watching one of the news channels. As she saw me, she spoke.
"It seems like you and that new costume of yours is gaining a bit of attention."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
She pointed at the T.V. screen and I looked at it, to see a news report on my recent exploit last night. I decided to take a look at this and walked over to the love seat that was diagonally across the room from the couch that Mom sat in, where I sat down to watch the rest of this report.
"It seems like there's a new costumed vigilante at work on the streets of Bellwood." The female newscaster spoke on the screen. "There have been pictures taken of this individual in action last night."
Pictures of me in costume apprehending a group of thugs that were trying to break into a car in the Downtown area last night.
"And it seems like we have the name of this new vigilante. Left behind at the scene along with the unconscious group of thugs was an index card and written on it was: 'Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Kaine'."
Following this, another picture appeared on the screen Diamondhead running up a wall, leaving the scene. I don't know why I had transformed into Diamondhead, I think I just wanted to get away from the crowd that was forming.
"However, we can see that the vigilante known by citizens of Bellwood as the 'Alien Guy' is still hard at work." The female newscaster continued speaking. "Is it possible that this new 'Kaine' individual is encroaching on the territory of the 'Alien Guy'?"
I rolled my eyes.
Did witnesses really miss the fact that I had transformed into Diamondhead? I mean, there were people around when I activated the Omnitrix, so what gives?
As I sat there, watching this relatively uninteresting new report, there was a knock at the door.
"Who could that be at five in the morning?" Mom asked as she got up.
I got up myself.
"Don't. I'll get it."
I walked over to the door, unlocked it and opened it, to see Nathan standing out on the stoop. Mom must have known that he was here about business or otherwise, because when I turned to look at her, she had turned her back to me. I turned back to the door and stepped out, shutting the door behind me as Nathan stepped off of the stoop to make room for me.
"How are you and your family holding up?" he asked once the door had been shut.
I chuckled with a bit of sarcasm.
"Nathan, I've lost count of how many times you've checked in on me. We're fine. We won. The Forever Knights are history. Enoch is gone, the Forever Knights are gone and they're never coming back."
I expected him to tell me to be careful, but he didn't, he changed the topic instead.
"Is your brother coming back to school yet?"
I shook my head.
"Nathan, I know it's been a few weeks, but let's be realistic. We both saw what happened to him during the raid."
"He never deserved that, it was bloody barbaric."
I couldn't actually tell if he was being sympathetic or not. But I think I knew Nathan well enough to say that he didn't give sympathy easily. Nevertheless, I continued speaking.
"I don't think he's going to be coming back anytime soon. Nathan, he can't even look himself in the mirror. He thinks that he's a freak."
As we stood there, I felt my phone in my pocket vibrate. I took it out to see that I had gotten a text message.
Will you meet me on the roof of The Bellwood Post before school? We need to talk. – Sunny
I let out a sigh as I put my phone back into my pocket.
"Look, can we talk more at school today? I kind of just got up and I haven't eaten breakfast yet."
And if I'm probably honest, I probably won't be eating breakfast, given what just happened.
"Alright, Tennyson. Just be careful."
Ah, there it is.
He offered me his fist and I bumped it.
"See you later, Nathan."
He turned and I watched him go on his way, before turning around myself and heading back inside. Once I had shut the door behind me once more, Mom turned to look at me.
"So?" she asked.
"So, what?" I asked with a confused look on my face.
"Was that a business talk, about your uh, you know..."
I put my hands up.
"Mom, it's just friends talking as friends. No business, just Nathan and I talking as friends."
She didn't say anything in response, which left this sort of awkward tension in the air.
"Anyway, I need to go somewhere before school."
She gave me a skeptical look.
"Are you taking your car or are you going the, um, other way?"
Even though it had been weeks since Enoch had died, since we had cut the head off the snake, Mom and I were still dancing around the subject of my super hero identity. And for all I knew, we could be avoiding that conversation for years to come.
"The other way." I said in a simple answer.
She pointed down the hallway.
"Go out through the attic."
I let out a sigh.
"I know, mother. You don't have to talk to me like I'm a dog."
"Of course not, dear."
"Will you close the door behind me after I get my things?" I asked as I pulled the stairs to the attic down.
"Sure." She said in a monotone voice.
I walked back into the bedroom, as Gwen began to stir.
"Shh." I said as I ran my fingers through her hair. "Sleep a little while longer. I need to go take care of something."
She seemed to read my eyes, knowing that I would be fine. She laid back down and shut her eyes once more. I walked past the bed and picked up the backpack the sat against the wall across from the door, in which I kept my new costume. I walked back out of the bedroom, grabbing my school bag alone the way and up the stairs to the attic. Once I was up there, Mom shut the door behind me.
So, yeah. Ever since I had gotten back that night, Mom had preferred that we don't talk about my double life. And if that's the way she wanted to play things, fine. I'd play by her rules. We had worked out – and when I say we, I really mean she – that whenever I had to leave the house to go partake in super heroics, that I would leave through the window in the attic.
She reasoned that leaving through the front door, in costume no less, would eventually draw attention that we didn't need. And she had a point. The costume change was a good opportunity to make a new method of exiting and entering the house. I came to a stop by the aforementioned window and plucked my bags down.
I took off my shirt and let out a breath as I realized just how chilly it was up here. I bent down and unzipped my bag, to reveal the green and black costume inside. I had told Nathan that I would lie low for a while after the raid. But I just couldn't resist the allure of web swinging. I grabbed the top of the costume and pulled it out.
Nathan Black
The Forever Knights' Main Headquarters
Four Weeks Ago – Wednesday, February 6th, 2019
The stairwell was filled with the sounds of thudding boots and shoes as Nathan's team made their way up. He could hear Ben and Lucky Girl panting slightly, and he smiled internally before focusing on the current situation.
"Security room is another three floors up, it'll be heavily guarded, so be ready for a fight you two." He said to Ben and Lucky Girl, to which both gave sounds of affirmation.
He knew that once they reached it, they'd have access to an emergency PA system that they could use to potentially make getting to Enoch a fair bit easier, but there would be significant resistance to prevent them from gaining access. Once they reached the fifteenth floor, he let the two catch their breath as he peered through the small window on the door, to see what was waiting for them. He saw around twenty guards, but he couldn't see any other guards. He closed his eyes and pressed his ear to the door, tuning out all other distractions as the sound of thirty or so sets of booted footsteps could be discerned.
"Alright, we've got a fair few waiting for us outside this door. I could see twenty, but there are definitely more that can't be seen from this angle." Nathan said as he backed away slightly from the door, speaking in a lowered voice as he looked at the pair, motioning for them to move closer.
"Alright, I'm guessing Enoch has his fanatics close to him, because they'll fight to their last breath, buying Enoch a fair amount of time. So most of these guards likely are forced to work here. They get one chance to walk, or they bite it. If they decide to decline the generous offer, I'll toss a flashbang into the room, blind and deafen them for a couple seconds. Once that happens, Gwen, I want you to incapacitate or take them out immediately, Ben, you stick close to me, watch my back. Team two should be near the fifteenth floor themselves by now, so let's hit the guards now before your brother has a chance to let his emotions get the better of him."
Nathan opened the door, having a flashbang in one hand at the ready before shouting to the now hostile guards, who were on alert after what happened in the warehouse.
"Gentlemen, as of right now you are all unemployed. Enoch no longer holds any of you on a leash, so throw down your weapons, head down to the lobby through the elevators and leave the building. You have my word that those who accept this deal will be unharmed by myself and my associates. Anyone who declines will be dealt with permanently, shortly."
There was silence for a few seconds before he heard laughter from several guards, which went quiet as weapons were dropped along with helmets, which quickly led to the other guards following suit and making it clear that they would no longer be working for Enoch.
However when Nathan, Ben, and Lucky Girl all heard one of the guards growl and shout the word, "Traitors!" he immediately shot around the corner and put a round through the guard's head, dropping him instantly as the wall he was standing next to was sprayed with bits of red and bits of grey matter. Nathan placed the flashbang back onto his belt as he pointed his rifle towards the guards who were still holding blasters.
"Anyone else feeling like pointing a gun at their colleagues, or are you gonna take the damn offer and leave?"
The guards only saw his hard stare, as he covered most of his face with a shemagh, and they shifted uneasily as they turned their heads ever so slightly at their dead comrade on the floor, dark ruby blood pooling around his head as it reached his shoulders.
"You can either accept the deal, or end up like him. Your choice." Nathan said with a shrug.
That sealed it, as the rest threw down their weapons and helmets, walking towards the elevators. Nathan hid a small smile behind the shemagh as he went over to the security room, which was currently locked shut as there was a guard inside, who clearly wouldn't be taking the deal. Nathan sighed and opened a small satchel on his vest, zipping it closed after taking out a small lump of what looked like pale clay. He held it up, showing it to the guard.
"Know what this is? It's plastic explosive. So you can either open this door, or be crushed by it when I blow it off its hinges."
Nathan's voice was cold and serious as he took more out of the satchel, moulding it and sticking small rectangular pieces at where the locks and hinges would be. He took out some wire, a detonator, some blasting caps and switches as he set up the explosives. The guard didn't move towards the door, staying where he was.
"So be it." Nathan said, quite coldly.
He turned to Ben and Lucky Girl about five minutes later and looked at both of them.
"I suggest finding some solid cover, this is going to make a loud bang." He said as he started walking towards a pillar some twenty feet away as he knocked on it before punching it fairly hard, nodding with satisfaction when it didn't cave in.
Ben and Lucky Girl immediately and overturned a metal work desk, getting behind it as they covered their ears.
"Fire in the hole!" Nathan said loudly before pressing down on the clacker, detonating the C-4 as the blasting caps were set off, immediately gliding the door inward, rather gruesomely crushing the guard inside flat against the other door, killing him near instantly as his neck was snapped when he was crushed between two doors.
Nathan stepped into the room, Team Two now arriving on the scene, seeing the body of the first guard, thought they noticed the body of the second dead guard quickly afterwards.
"One of them pulled a gun on their colleagues when they took my advice and stood down. The other refused to take the deal, and was uncooperative, so I huffed and puffed and blew the door down." He said as he went over and activated the emergency PA system.
"To all Forever Knight personnel, as of right now, you are all unemployed. You may leave the building at your earliest convenience through either the stairs or the elevators. You will not be harmed by myself or my associates if you throw down your weapons and leave peacefully. Do be aware that there are fanatics with you, and it's best that you take out the ones that are with you before proceeding to leave. Enoch will not go after you, as he will be permanently indisposed after tonight. That is all, have a nice day." Nathan said before turning the microphone off.
"There, now depending on how many decide to leave, we should have much less issue getting to Enoch. Cooper, do your thing, and take as many blasters as you want on the way up, there won't be a shortage of them. The rest of you, dig in, we'll likely be getting some company." Nathan said just before he could hear the sound of many sets of booted footsteps could be heard coming from both stairwells.
Nathan went and moved several metal desks together, creating makeshift cover facing the stairwell doors as he crouched down behind one, taking out the magazine from his and checking it before loading it back into the gun. He set the barrel down the desk as he pointed it at the door, aiming down the optics.
"I suggest you all take cover as well, last thing you want is to get shot by one of their blasters." He said as the door in front of them swung open, a guard peeking his head around the corner before getting his head blown off with a single precise shot, dead before he hit the floor as his blaster clattered as it hit the ground next to him.
"Places people, take them!" He shouted as a smoke grenade was tossed into the room, slowly filling the area with a thick, acrid, grey smoke.
Nathan watched as Albedo transformed into a black, white and red coloured alien hound that lacked eyes, ears and a nose, but did have a large mouth filled with teeth. He watched as Albedo bounded into the smoke, hearing the shouts as the guards were currently dealing with him at the moment.
"Well, that'll buy us a few minutes at the very least." Nathan said as he took a frag grenade off of his belt, waiting for Albedo to emerge from the smoke and get back behind some cover before he tossed it into the stairwell.
"Lucky Girl, Sunny, Ben, you guys handle the other stairwell, me and Albedo have this one. Remember, you guys have two flashbangs each, use them sparingly!" He said as they moved to the other makeshift barricade of work desks as Albedo came out of the smoke and leapt over the desks, taking cover immediately, now back in human form.
"I'm guessing there's quite a few?" Nathan asked as he barely poked his head up to look at the door to the stairwell.
Albedo nodded.
"Too many for Dark Wildmutt, and the stairwell is too small for him as well. Had to come back after realizing that."
Nathan nodded in understanding.
"Well I have a grenade for them, ain't a flashbang though." He said, waiting until the guards came back to the doorway, and once they did he pulled the pin and immediately rolled the grenade through the doorway, it coming to a stop halfway between the entrance and the railing on the stairs before exploding, taking out a few more guards before they decided to fall back. He could tell that Ben and the others were managing to handle the guards on their end as well, and about fifteen minutes later, they were clear.
"Alright, looks like they've pulled back for now, so we've got some time and room to breathe. Once we're good to move out, we'll start heading up again." Nathan went and grabbed a blaster rifle, bringing it to Cooper and setting it down on the table in the security room. "There you are, Cooper. Myself and my team will be heading on up, while Albedo and Sunny will stick with you for now until you guys are good to continue.
Nathan motioned for Ben and Lucky Girl to be ready to continue heading up towards their goal, Enoch.
"See you four at the top." Nathan said with a smile as he and his team headed up the stairwell.
Ben
Downtown Bellwood
Present Day
"Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" I exclaimed as I swung from a web line, high above the streets.
Hundreds and hundreds of people would kill to be able to swing like Spider-Man can, that's what all the video games are for! Who would have thought that Cooper would be the one to crack the code? I had once read something about real life web swinging being impossible because the whiplash would break your arms, so that begs the question, how could I do it? I just let the question go.
I let go of the web line and twirled through the air as The Prodigy's Stand Up played through the wireless headphones that I had on beneath my mask. As I swung, the rooftop of The Bellwood Post came into view. I lowered myself so that I would be able to land on the rooftop safely. I finally came to a landing on the rooftop, where Sunny was waiting, with her back to me.
I pulled off my mask, took out my earbuds and placed them back into their charging capsule as I shut off my phone as well. I took off my backpack to put the capsule back into the bag before putting it back on. I approached Sunny as she continued standing there. She turned as I spoke.
"I'm here."
"I just wanted to have a talk with you." she said in reply.
I lifted my hands on either side of me.
"That's... why we're here, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"So?"
"So..."
She let out a sigh.
"Look, I'm not the best at these kinds of talks."
"That's okay, Sunny. If this is important to you, then take your time. I don't mind being a little late for school."
She took a deep breath before she spoke.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry."
I was really confused by her comment.
"Sorry? Sorry about what?"
She avoided looking at me with an awkward, uncomfortable look on her face.
"Everything." She finally said.
"What do you mean, 'everything'?"
"Everything that I've ever done to you."
I was still confused.
"Um..."
She let out an angry sigh, which made me jump a little bit. She finally turned to look at me again as her cheeks turned a shade of pink.
"I'm sorry that I'm such a bitch, okay?! I'm sorry that I'm so mean to you!"
I was surprised by this.
"Sunny, you're not a..."
"Yes, I am! I'm such a stupid bitch!"
"Sunny, what's gotten into you? This is unlike you!"
"I'm trying to apologize for my behavior since we started living together, so can you let me do that?!"
I backed up a little bit and put up my hands in surrendering manner. Once I had done that, she continued speaking.
"I acted like I was some holier-than-thou bitch when you had sheltered me when you didn't have to—"
"Well, they sheltered you. It didn't have anything to do with me."
"You didn't kick me out, you never told the Forever Knights where I was hiding."
Why would I do that? How would I benefit from that?
"And how did I repay you for your kindness? By being a bitch and giving you nothing but the cold shoulder."
"Sunny, it was only fair that way. You were bred to kill me, after all."
She heaved an angry sigh.
"I am trying to apologize to you!"
I shut up.
"I know that you're a good person and that you try to mean well, and yet, I was still unnecessarily mean and rude to you."
I decided to break the silence.
"Can I say something, please?"
She gave me an irritated look.
"Fine."
"Why didn't you want me to know that you were the one who suggested to come back for me during the raid?"
Her irritated look changed to that of a confused one.
"How... How did you know?"
"Albedo told me that he overheard you talking with Nathan."
She avoided my gaze once again, with that same awkward look of discomfort on her face.
"I just didn't want to see you suffer."
I was surprised by her response.
"Um, okay."
She looked back at me with a serious look again.
"Speaking of Albedo, a few weeks ago, when I thought that Albedo was going to die, I was freaking out. I didn't know how or if I would make it through this."
"Sunny..."
She didn't allow me to continue speaking.
"But you were there at the hospital with me and you offered me your shoulder when I needed to cry. Just you being there to comfort me made me feel less alone."
I was surprised by her words, but I spoke, nonetheless.
"Isn't that what friends are for?"
She suddenly moved closer to me until there was only a few feet between us.
"I'm not done." She said as she surprisingly took my hands in hers. "I know that you're a good person and that you mean well, and I'm sorry for the way I acted since we started living together."
I was about to tell her that she didn't have to apologize, but she surprised me even further by kissing me on the cheek and then hugging me.
"You're a good friend, Ben and I'm honored to call you that."
I was still surprised by this, but I found myself returning the hug, patting her back as I did.
"You're family, Sunny. You always will be."
She didn't respond. After that, we remained for a few more seconds and I spoke again.
"So, are we good, then? You won't be like 'that' toward me anymore?"
She began to pull away from the short hug and so I did the same. Once we had parted, she nodded.
"Yes. I'm going to try."
I smiled at her.
"Then I'll try, too."
I offered my hand to her and she took it with a smile. We shook for a second before we let go.
"One more thing, though." She said, the look on her face changing to be dead serious.
"What?"
"If you ever tell anyone about this talk, I'll gut you like a fish."
Even though I was taken back by this after her being so kind to me, I eventually grinned at her.
"I wouldn't expect anything less!"
She let out a breath, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and I understood.
"Now that that's taken care of, we should get to school."
I nodded as I put my mask back on.
"Yeah. You want a ride?"
She looked at me with confusion.
"A ride? What do you mean?"
I chuckled as I turned my back to her.
"Just put your arms around my neck."
"Wait," she spoke as I detected fear in her voice. "Are you talking about swinging with those web shooters of yours?"
"What's the matter, Sunny? Scared?"
"No!" she said as I felt her arms circle around my neck. "Let's just go."
Ben
The Forever Knights' Main Headquarters
Four Weeks Ago – Wednesday, February 6th, 2019
After the shootout on the fifteenth floor, Nathan, Lucky Girl and I continued moving. We eventually came to a room that had its door shut. I turned to Lucky Girl before speaking.
"Lucky Girl, once we get in here, keep watch on the door. We need to be ready to defend ourselves in case someone hostile comes in."
She nodded.
"Okay."
Nathan threw the door open after a few more seconds were counted and we were greeted to a dark room. We entered slowly, looking around the room carefully as we walked. As we entered, I heard someone coughing from the opposite side of the room. Nathan immediately snapped in that direction, illuminating that side of the room with the flashlight on his rifle.
"Who's that coughing?!" I exclaimed.
"Over here." Someone spoke in a weak sounding voice.
Gwen and I looked to the opposite side of the room where the voice was coming from and saw a man in a suit resting against the wall. I thought that I could sense Nathan ease up a little bit, but when I looked at him, he hadn't lowered his weapon in the slightest. I looked back at the man resting against the wall as I got closer and finally noticed his stomach. Or rather, the blade that seemed to be buried in it.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed as I quickly began to run over to him.
As I ran over to him, Nathan spoke.
"Tennyson, not so fast!"
I turned to look at Nathan and spread my arms at my sides out of confusion.
"At least try to act cautious, alright?"
I ignored him and turned back to the man to finish my path to him, where I hunched down.
I mean, he had a knife in his stomach! How the fuck do you fake that?!
"Are you alright?! Who are you?!"
The man let out another cough.
"I'm Smith. I am, was, Mr. Enoch's assistant."
"Was?"
"I was fired."
"You have a knife in you!"
He started chuckling, which quickly turned into more coughing.
"Oh, do I really? I couldn't tell."
"Why did Enoch fire you?"
"You're Ben Tennyson, aren't you? Mr. Enoch really has a bone to pick with you."
"And I have a bone to pick with him, as well."
"I didn't like what he had planned for you, eventually I had enough of it and printed off all the evidence that I could find of his misdeeds in the past. And I threatened to expose him. In return, he did this—"
He gestured to the knife in his stomach.
"Why didn't you speak up earlier?"
"I'm a coward. I waited too long."
I shook my head.
"No, I don't think you're a coward. It must have taken some guts for you to threaten Enoch like that."
"Mmm-hmm. And now I'm sitting here, waiting to die."
"Don't forget about the evac window that we set up." Nathan spoke up.
"Oh, right!" I said as I looked at him, before looking back at Smith. "This is good news! We can get you to a hospital!"
To my surprise, he began shaking his head.
"No, no. I'm not the priority here."
"Look, we're not just going to leave you..."
Smith surprised me my looking at me and speaking up with an angry tone.
"I'm giving you an order, Ben! Save yourselves! I'm nothing but dead weight now."
I tried to protest again but before I could, he shifted in his place and reached into his pocket, groaning with pain and gritting his teeth as he did. He pulled out an index card from his pocket and sighed with relief as he settled once more.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's the self-destruct code. You can put it the code from Enoch's private terminal in his penthouse, on the top floor. You'll have fifteen minutes to evacuate and if you do it, keep in mind that it can't be shut down. It will destroy the top three floors. The Secret Project Labs, the Private Offices and Enoch's penthouse."
"Why fifteen minutes?" Nathan asked. "And why would Enoch have made a self-destruct switch in the first place?"
Smith shrugged.
"When he took over after his uncle died in prison, he had charges installed in the supports on the last three floors. It was a dumb thing to do, but he probably did it as a precaution in case he was compromised here."
He looked back at me and offered me the card.
"Here."
I shook my head.
"I can't take that from..."
"Stop."
I finally grabbed the card, but when I tried to take it from him, he pulled back on it a little bit.
"And don't you make my mistake. No matter how persuasive he may be, you can't make my mistake. If you see him, you kill him or you run, got it?"
I nodded at him without a word and he finally let go of the card. He leaned back against the wall again and let out a sigh as if just talking was putting him in pain. But he wasn't done talking yet.
"One last thing, I think he took the file that I had when I confronted him. If I know him like I think I do, he won't dispose of that file until he knows he's won. Please, finish what I started. Find that file and turn it into the police. And while you're at it, our databanks are on the lower floors. Take what you want, but completely wipe them. No one can be trusted with the research that Enoch's scientists have done."
I nodded at him.
"Of course."
He now looked at me with a serious look.
"Now, go. Leave me."
I didn't want to leave him behind, I wanted to do what I could to help him. But at the same time, I didn't have it in me to go against his wishes. And so, the three of us left him to his own devices, just as he wanted.
Madison High School
Present Day
"Okay, this is where I have to drop you off." I said as Sunny and I landed on the roof of the high school.
"Here? As in the roof?" she asked.
"No, not the roof." I said. "I'll use a web line to lower you down to the ground."
She looked at me with uncertainty, but eventually shrugged. We made sure that she wouldn't be lowered in front of a window, before she got onto her lowered herself off the edge of the roof, while holding onto the edge with her hands. I fired out a web line and she caught it. After that, I slowly began to lower her to the ground. Once she was down on the ground, I ripped the line from the nozzle and dropped the line to the ground. I then went to the middle of the roof and took off my backpack to get dressed.
Sometime Later
After having gotten dressed, I found a way into the school and made sure that I wasn't seen coming out from the faculty only stairwell to the roof. I ran in a hurry to make it to my first class, AP Chemistry. I ended up being ten minutes late and was marked down as tardy. In place of Mr. Fargas, was a substitute teacher today. As I went to sit down next to Gwen, I recalled how Mr. Fargas was currently fighting cancer and I couldn't help but be worried. As I sat down, Gwen looked over to me.
"Is everything alright?"
I nodded without looking at her as I got my stuff out for class.
"Yeah, everything's fine."
I got to work the best I could without another word.
The Forever Knights' Main Headquarters
Four Weeks Ago – Wednesday, February 6th, 2019
After finding Mr. Smith and getting the self-destruct codes from him, we moved onto the next floor, which according to the schematics I had read, would be the Observation Deck. We approached the door to the room in question and stopped. Nathan and I took opposite sides of the double doors, with Gwen taking my side.
After several seconds had passed, Nathan looked at me and nodded. I nodded back and then we breached the room, only to immediately find ourselves to be outnumbered. Standing at a long table that seemed to have some holographic capabilities, was Enoch, guarded by ten men clad in futuristic black armor and matching black helmets that covered their entire heads.
The armor covered their entire bodies and there didn't appear to be any weak points. They were armored with laser firearms that I had never seen before. And to make matters worse, across the room and just to the left of the armored men, bound in a circle and gagged, were Rojo, Cooper, Sunny and Albedo.
How. The fuck. Had they been captured?!
I noticed that Rojo was hunched over and had a bloody gash on her forehead, which still had blood trickling from it and that pretty much explained my question. Sure, Albedo and Sunny had fighting experience, but Rojo was a mercenary, so these guys must have been the real deal if they were the ones to capture them, anyway.
"Ah, ah, ah." Enoch replied as he wagged his finger at us. "Now boys, and girl, there are more of me than there are of you. Do you really expect to pull anything off here?"
Unfortunately, he was right. All of these men had their laser weapons pointed at us. As Enoch began speaking about how he was going to win and that we were wasting our time, I ever so slightly turned my head to see the look on Nathan's face. He seemed to be maintaining a calm composure.
Even he wouldn't make a rash decision, right?
He never looked back at me. He continued staring ahead of us, probably thinking about how we were going to get out of this. I turned to look back at Enoch and his private security, if that's what they were.
"You're only way out of this is to surrender yourselves to me and my Black Death squadron. There is no other way."
Before anyone could say anything else, blood sprayed onto the floor in front of the guards. The guard himself fell to his knees as he held his throat, coughing and choking simultaneously. The other nine guards immediately snapped in that direction to see what had happened to their colleague. It even took me a few seconds to process what had just happened, but the answer was pretty clear: He had just been shot through the throat. I turned to Nathan.
"Did you do that?" I asked.
He just barely turned his head to look at me and just shook his head without a word. I turned back to the Black Death squadron ahead of me. A few seconds later, a second guard was shot through the neck. And then another. And another. And another. Five guards had been shot down, five remained. However, no more shots were fired.
The remaining guards continued to look around, seemingly aware that we weren't causing this. That's when I saw it. The figure flying towards the window behind them. Only a second later, maybe less, the figure wearing purple and black armor smashed through the glass, wearing a new retractable helmet and piloting a hoverboard, with a Spas-12 shotgun strapped to his back.
Oh lord, it's him!
Leon took immediate fire from the remaining guards, but his armor seemed to protect him very well. He jumped off his hoverboard, which slammed itself a guard's abdomen, sending him to the ground. Leon rummaged through his belt as he took fire and took out something that looked like an explosive device.
He tossed the device to his left where the other five guards were and while they all tried to take cover, three of them were consumed by the ensuing explosion. Two of them remained after that and during all of the confusion, I noticed Enoch making a run for one of the two sets of stairs on either side of the room.
"Oh no, you don't!" I exclaimed as I began to run after him.
As I chased after him, Leon moved to the currently bound Team Two and as he did, he used the back of his armored suit to shield himself and the team from laser fire. I fired a web line, it could have been my first for all I knew, where it latched onto the railing of the stairs and I pulled myself toward the stairs after Enoch. It took me more than a couple tries to pull myself over to the stairs and at that point, I was just better off running.
"What is wrong with you, Enoch?! This isn't a comic book! There isn't any sequel for you to come back in!"
He spoke as I chased after him.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tennyson, but I have a date with destiny! And I won't let you stop me!"
He ran through an open doorway and just before I could reach it, an automatic door slid out from the right and blocked the doorway. A red light on the door appeared, showing that the door was locked. I punched the metal door, which hurt my hand a bit, but I was really too angered to notice the pain.
I turned back to the stairs and as I moved, I continued to watch Leon at work. He had cut Team Two from their restraints and removed the duct tape from their mouths. After they had been freed, Cooper, Albedo and Sunny dragged a still unconscious Rojo behind the cover of the desk on the left side of the room, by the now shattered windows, where they took cover as well.
Leon continued with his work. He took the shotgun off of his back and approached one of the two remaining guards, and fired. The shotgun blast obliterated half of the guard's arm and he fell to the floor, where he'd probably go into shock before dying. Leon returned the Spas-12 to his back, as the last standing guard leapt over the table to take cover or to hide.
Leon turned to the table and slowly walked around to the other side of it, as I slowly returned to my place with Nathan and Lucky Girl by the entrance to the Observation Deck. I continued to watch as he approached the guard who was making a fruitless attempt to hide from him. The guard began begging for his life, but it was no use.
A hidden blade sprouted out of the wrist of his armor as he stepped forward. Leon grabbed the guard's head as he let out a scream of fright and thrust the blade forward, probably through the helmet's visor. The guard fell silent after that.
Jesus, I thought.
I turned to look at Nathan.
"I guess the Black Death wasn't so deadly after all, huh?" I asked.
"Apparently not." He said in a simple reply.
I looked back at Leon, who shook the blood off of his blade before it retracted back into his armor, as he was now approaching.
Oh, shit.
He stopped once he reached me and I won't lie and say that I didn't cower at least a little bit.
"Tennyson, right?" he asked.
"How did you know?"
He obviously could hear the fear in my voice.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you. Or hurt any of your team."
"You're not?" I asked as some of my fear passed. "Then why are you here?"
"To help you carry out your mission."
"But you said that I didn't deserve my help after what I did to you!"
"And maybe you don't! But you were right about what you said. My wife, if she were still alive, wouldn't want me to sit back and refuse to go after the people who used me to do their dirty work."
He then retracted his helmet, revealing his burnt and bruised face.
"But I want to be clear on this. I'm not doing this to help you. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do! And once we're done here, we part ways and we never speak again!"
He offered me his hand.
"Deal?"
I looked at him and I didn't see a choice, so I took his hand and we shook.
"Deal."
Once we retracted our hands, I turned to Nathan.
"How about it, Nathan? Should we let Leon join our team in place of Clancy while he's off doing what he does best? Just until we catch up with him?"
"Understandably so, given his history, it'll be hard to trust him, but I've a feeling that I'd be giving fair warning that I'm going to be stabbed in the back ahead of time from him, while Clancy wouldn't bother a warning."
He walked over to Leon and offered his own hand.
"During this operation, you'll be taking orders from me. We already have one loose cannon with Clancy roaming around somewhere in the building, last thing we need is a second, I'm sure you understand?"
Leon's helmet reformed over his face as he spoke.
"Kid, I get the feeling that you're talking down to me. Don't. I'm former military, a U.S. Marine in specific. I'll play your game, just don't expect for me to like it."
Nathan let out sincere laughter.
"Oh I don't expect you to like the orders, I'm just expecting you to follow them as best you can. Besides, I don't think we need any macho shit right now, we just need to finish the mission and get the hell out of here once we have what we came for. I hope you have some training in field medicine." He said with a smile before turning his gaze to Team Two, now serious.
Nathan let out a sigh after he spoke.
"Alright, we need to check up on Team Two, tend to Rojo's injuries and plan our next move. Let's get a move on, people."
Author's Note:
* And that's it for this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed!
* So, what do you guys think of the start of Volume Three? I hope you guys like the duality of seeing the story in present day as well seeing flashback scenes. Do you have any predictions as to how this mini arc will end and where any plot lines could go? I'm really curious to hear anything that you would have to say.
* So, some of you may have already picked up on this, but there was actually a scene in this chapter that I didn't write. The first flashback scene of the shootout that takes place on the fifteenth floor of the Forever Knights' Main Headquarters wasn't written by me. That scene was actually written by my beta reader and the creator of Nathan Black, annihalator2015.
* While our writing styles may differ, I asked him to step in when I needed an additional scene for this chapter and I'm very grateful that he could lend a hand. Which brings me to my next point, annihalator2015 and I have been working together for quite a while now, over two years in fact. And I've noticed that a lot of you haven't shown him any love.
* Guys, please show him some love. He's not going anywhere, he's here to stay and so is his character, Nathan Black. And if I'm being honest, I owe a lot to him. He's pushed this story to new heights that I wouldn't have been able to reach myself. And my newest story besides this one, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, in its current form, would not exist if not for him. So, again, please do show him some love. I really can't thank him enough for all that he's done for the story.
* Anyway, I think that just about does it. Please, consider what I asked. It can't take that long for you guys to send him a private message or something like that. He and I both would be grateful. Anyway, I'm going to go. So, have a Bwen-tastic day and bye.
Review Responses
Daniel6 (Chapter 147): When the Tennyson boys marry the Tennyson girls, tell me it won't be a double wedding. 'Cause that would just be weird.
Thanks, Daniel. Now that you bring that up, I will say that the idea had never occurred to me. And, no. God, no. That would be weird, I agree and you can rest assured that it won't happen. Thanks for the review, as always.
Guest Review (Chapter 15): I have picked up the fic being very excited, but sadly it did not match my expectations. Happens. I'd like to command ur hard work as its nice fat fic with thicc second volume from what I saw, and the quality of writing is decent and well executed. What I did not like, and what made mw drop it was the brazilian telenovela angsty drama that you have goin with the fic.
Ben is agressive, possesive and obsessive over Gwen, and after learning she has a crush on his alter ego decuded... to not show her he and her crush are the same dyde. Why rofl. And Gwen isn't acting as disturbed at her cousin's behaviour as she frankly should be. I wish you wekl, and farewell.
Thanks. So, I want to thank you for not completely slandering me and my ability to write like some of the others do. Thanks for the compliments on the hard work I've done on this story. Anyway, "Brazilian telenovela angsty drama". Not sure what you mean by that. Yes, the story is a little dramatic, sometimes just for the sake of being dramatic, but I like drama. I think that full on action all the time without even a little drama is just boring.
That's why I make it dramatic sometimes. And as for Ben's behavior, yeah I get that it's a huge turn off. I'm not proud of how I've written most, if not, all of Volume One and some of Volume Two. I shouldn't have written some of the stuff that I did and I'm aware of that. Thanks for the review, I guess.
Next Chapter: Ben and his family continue to adjust to a new life. A bombshell about Leon Jones and SixSix is revealed. Albedo finds himself going through a night of pain that will drag on for weeks to come.