"One more time," Ben said, scratching the back of his head.
"Does your kind have defective hearing?" the alien snapped.
"Well, when we're forced to listen to something that sounds stupid, it can get a bit selective," Ben said with a shrug. "And your name certainly qualifies. I mean... Kitkallos? Sounds like a bad candy bar."
The Vaxasaurian roared before aiming to swipe at him, but Ben only jumped out of the way and sat on top of a light post while crossing his leg.
"Is this what Ben Tennyson has to offer? Nothing more than running away?" Kitkallos growled at him. Ben opened a portal and stuck his hand through it, flicking the Vaxasaurian in the face with just enough force to make him flinch.
"Well, are you gonna prove to be anything more than a knuckle dragging fart in the wind? Cause you're not proving that you're anything different," Ben told him.
Kitkallos grew to his max size from that statement, and Ben only smirked.
"You ain't scared, are ya?" he said, gesturing for the alien to come at him with both hands.
"I'm going to crush you," Kitkallos said before charging at him and aiming for a swipe that Ben jumped over before sitting on his outstretched arm. The Anodite swung his legs back and forth before raising a shield to block the punch the Vaxasaurian aimed at him to try and knock him off.
"You're gonna have to do better than that. I could do better than that. And I don't spend twenty-four hours a day as this alien," Ben said, transitioning to flight when Kitkallos flung the arm he was sitting on to send him flying.
"I expected a warrior when we arrived on this planet. Not..."
"A teenager? That's kind of what I am. I'm just not your average teenager," Ben said with a shrug. Kitkallos went for another hit, but Ben raised his right arm and the blow bounced off the shield he raised around it.
"Do you plan on wrapping this up any time soon? We're already done," Gwen said, looking at him with a hand on her hip.
"Just having a bit of fun," Ben said, giving her a smile before shooting a mana blast at the Vaxasaurian's face that was powerful enough to knock him to the floor. Gwen then followed up with an energized mana blast that knocked the alien unconscious.
"That feels so good," Gwen said before going back into her human body.
"Doesn't it?" Ben said with a wide grin.
"You've spent a little too much time on Anodyne," Aurra said, coming up from behind them.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to have a little fun with things. At least when no one's in danger of getting hurt," Ben told her.
"Sounds like that vacation was exactly what you needed," Kevin said with a wide grin.
"Certainly feels like it. Feel free to move on. I'll get this band of meatheads out of here. I'll meet you at grandpa's in a few hours," Ben told Gwen and Kevin before teleporting away.
"Is that all?" Pierce questioned.
"For now. I don't expect it to last long. We would be back to work the day after you two get back," Kevin said.
"And on that note, I'd like to extend an invitation to the rest of you. We're doing a bit of camping later on. You want to come?" Gwen asked.
"Sorry Gwen, but I already made plans for more volunteering," Pierce told her.
"Yeah, it totally has nothing to do with the fact that your dear Sara will be there," Kevin said with a smirk. That earned him a glare scathing enough to sear through metal.
"Alan?" Gwen questioned.
"Sounds like fun. I'm in," Alan said with a nod.
"Awesome. Aurra? What about you?" Gwen questioned.
"Do I really look like the camping type?" Aurra questioned with a raised brow.
"Dunno. Have you ever been camping?" Gwen asked. Aurra frowned before shaking her head. "Well, perfect opportunity to try."
"Plus there's gonna be smores and hot dogs. Gonna be some good stuff," Kevin said.
"Besides, it's better than hanging around be being bored all the time," Ben said, appearing in a flash of light. Aurra shot him a scowl, and the only response she received was a jaunty salute before he walked over to the next Vaxasaurian and teleported away with him.
"So? How about it?" Gwen questioned.
"I refuse to make this a habit," Aurra said with her arms crossed in the chair.
"What? Hanging out with your team? We're not all Kevins and Mannys," Gwen said.
"Hey!" Kevin said in an offended tone.
"If you were, I wouldn't have come at all," Aurra said, twirling a stick in her hand with a critical expression on her face. "I'm not the most social person in the world."
"I would never have noticed," Kevin said sarcastically, and Aurra poked him in the leg with the stick. Hard. "Ow!"
"You've taken worse without a complaint. Suck it up," Aurra said with a roll of the eyes.
"An impossibility. Even with all the powers he has now, he'll still find it in him to whine," Alan said, taking a bite from his roasted hot dog.
"Keep talking, and you're the one going to be whining once you become the new campfire," Kevin said with a scowl.
"Well, even with all the arguing, it's gotta be better than being bored, right?" Gwen questioned.
"I completely hate the fact that you can now exploit that," Aurra said in a surly tone.
"Well, the fact that you aren't saying no despite that says plenty," Gwen said with a shrug.
"What about the other two? Why aren't they here?" Aurra asked.
"I offered, but Helen and Manny said they had to keep studying. And I'm happy that they're taking their studies seriously. Hot dog?" Gwen asked, offering the bag.
"I would prefer a marshmallow," Aurra said, her eyes glancing towards the Rust Bucket.
"Speaking of that, where is Tennyson? How hard can it be to find one marshmallow bag?" Kevin asked.
"With how many different compartments the Rust Bucket has? A potentially long time. But Ben knows most of them," Gwen said, frowning as she got to her feet.
"You're kidding us, Cooper," Max said with an expression of disbelief.
"Afraid I'm not, sir. Area 51 is gone," Cooper emphasized.
"How does an entire facility just disappear?" Ben questioned.
"I don't actually know. It wasn't blown up or teleported away. The entire place just disappeared somehow," Cooper said.
"Well, in any case, it's local business. It's the Air Forces' responsibility to conduct their own investigation," Max said.
"They did. But anything they found out, they aren't saying anything. I've asked," Cooper said.
"Helpful," Ben said sarcastically.
"You two know that I know technology unlike any other person, and I've never seen anything like this," Cooper said.
"Which means it's definitely a problem to solve. We just got back, dammit..." Ben said, shaking his head. "I'll get the others. We'll be there ASAP."
"Good," Cooper said before disconnecting the call.
"Just got back, and that's already call number two. Proof that you're just a crime magnet, Tennyson," Kevin said, poking his head into the Rust Bucket.
"Don't I know it. Just radio Pierce," Ben said before raising the Ultimatrix in the air in order to signal the starship to make its way over here.
"Do you really need a Plumber ship?" Gwen asked.
"I mean, need is a strong word, but I'd like it," Kevin said.
"At this rate, you're gonna need a hangar for all the ships you want," Alan said, causing a gleam to enter Kevin's eyes. "I was not serious."
"But you still might be on to something... Tennyson can totally foot the bill," Kevin said.
"Why do I have to... You know what? Not the time. We need to focus," Ben emphasized.
"I'd like to search the site for any traces of magic," Aurra told Ben.
"Cooper seems to think that this was because of some sort of technology, but it never hurts to be sure. Gwen, go with her," Ben told his cousin before heading straight for Rozum. The Anodite nodded before walking ahead with Aurra.
"And just like that, he's back to business," Kevin said with a sigh.
"Because this seems serious," Alan said.
"An entire base disappearing is nothing to scoff at," Pierce reminded him.
"I know, I know. Let's just get to the bottom of this," Kevin said, shaking his head. Alan and Pierce looked at each other and nodded in a silent understand before moving forward to join them.
"Max Tennyson. Ben Tennyson. Been a while," Colonel Rozum said, holding out his hand.
"Colonel Rozum. Still handling the 'weird stuff' for the Air Force?" Max said with a smile, shaking his hand with Ben following right after.
"I just go where they send me. We were hoping you could enlighten us on what happened here," Rozum said, gesturing to the crater.
"How long has Cooper been here?" Ben questioned.
"About forty-five minutes. Hasn't seemed to discover anything quite yet," Rozum said.
"He seemed to be under the impression that this was caused some sort of technology," Ben said.
"We have nothing that would ever cause something like this," Rozum told him.
"Which begs the question as to what did," Kevin said with a frown.
"Magister?" Cooper called from next to the crater. Aurra and Gwen were with him.
"Cooper. Did you find anything?" Ben asked, walking over to him.
"Yeah. We cleared some rubble from the bottom, and there's something... interesting down there," Cooper said.
"Then we'll check it out. What about you two?" Ben asked Gwen and Aurra.
"No traces of mana anywhere around the site," Gwen told him.
"And the none of the scorch marks around it were related to magic whatsoever. If this was related to magic, we wouldn't know," Aurra told him.
"So this was definitely some sort of tech. Alright Cooper. Lead the way," Ben said, creating a slide for everyone to go down.
The thing that caught Kevin's eye as they made their way down was the material he was looking at. That metal he was seeing certainly wasn't anything you could get on Earth.
"What is it made of?" Ben asked, his arms crossed as he looked down at Kevin.
"Solid castrodinium. You don't find this stuff on Earth," Kevin said with a frown, rubbing his fingers together after he absorbed the material.
"That's level three technology. Earth's a good five hundred years from stuff like that," Cooper said with a frown.
"Colonel?" Max and Ben questioned at the same time. Max looked serious, and Ben had an eyebrow raised.
"Sorry. It's above either of your paygrades," Rozum said.
"Above our paygrades. When you asked for our help," Ben said with a nod.
Rozum almost winced at his tone. When it was put like that, it really did sound really foolish. But he wasn't going to go back on orders.
"Well, how's about some incentive to give us a raise. Tell us or we walk now. This is your problem after all, Colonel. I'm not sending my team into a situation we know nothing about," Ben said, a deep frown on his face.
"You gonna let him talk to me like that?" Rozum asked Max.
"He's the one in charge here. I'm only here as a favor to you," Max said, crossing his arms.
"Let's go guys," Ben said, moving to walk away after a few moments of silent staring.
"It's a holding facility," Rozum finally said.
"For what?" Gwen asked.
"Alien combatants who've landed on Earth over the years," Rozum said.
"For how long?" Gwen asked.
"Four, maybe five... decades," Rozum said.
"You've kept people down there for fifty years?" Ben questioned, clenching his fist.
"Not people. Aliens. Held on suspicion of being a threat to planetary security," Rozum said.
"And they were never turned over to the Plumbers because... why exactly?" Kevin questioned.
"The Plumbers haven't exactly been the best at doing their job before you three showed up," Rozum said with a point.
Ben, Gwen, and Kevin couldn't deny that he had a point there. Aside from their grandfather and Magister Labrid, there was absolutely no investigation being done on the Highbreed invasion. And everyone would've been caught completely off guard if they hadn't done some investigating of their own.
"I'm gonna take a look down there," Ben said before transforming into Big Chill. Then he went into the bunker before Rozum could even get another word out.
To say he was disgusted at what he found was a bit of an understatement.
Each cell was lined from wall to wall, made of the same material as the plating that covered the place. Some cells barely fit most of them. Dust covered nearly every inch of the place, and various bugs crawled back and forth on the walls.
Every alien was in their cell lined up against each wall. Some were restrained. Some were free to just sit there. Some were missing limbs. Some had appendages nailed to the floor to prevent them from going anywhere. And there were several who just... weren't moving.
Ben continued further down the hall until he stopped a dried bloodstain in front of him. He looked further ahead and noticed the skeleton of what was once a Vulpimancer. There were scorch marks on the floor near him, which pointed towards some sort of automated security system.
"No one ever came down here. This was intended to be a 'lock up and throw away the key' kind of prison," Big Chill thought, grimacing as he looked all around him. "What the hell was Rozum thinking?"
Looking further down the corridor, he noticed that there was a panel on the far end that was flashing with red letters that spelled out "reboot security." Ben was almost hesitant to do so, but if these aliens really were criminals, then it was better to keep them in place rather than risk them getting out. So that's what he did.
"Seven hundred and seventy-four prisoners over the course of fifty years. How many of you lost your lives for no reason just because you got caught?" Big Chill thought to himself as he read the panel.
It was a question they were going to have an answer to by the time the night was finished.
"Grandpa," Big Chill said as he floated back to the surface, grimace still locked on his face when he transformed back to human.
"What'd you find?" Max asked.
"Aliens. Hundreds of them crammed into cells. The conditions are horrendous. Some of them were restrained humanely. Others... not," Ben said with a shake of the head.
"That's because they're not human. We're not running a hotel," Rozum said, and Ben barely managed to keep a lid on his temper. Gwen however, had far less worries about that.
"That doesn't just give you the right to hold them in a prison that no one knows about!" she exclaimed with an angry expression on her face. "You haven't the slightest bit idea on how to run an alien prison! That's what we're for!"
"And we've been doing a mighty fine job of keeping them imprisoned without your help," Rozum said, an annoyed expression on his face.
"Locked up and properly imprisoned are two entirely different things," Pierce said with a frown on his face.
"You're not running a prison here anymore Colonel. You're going to release them to the proper authorities, and they'll be let go unless made to stand trial," Max said.
"All seven hundred and seventy-four of those that haven't been chewed to bones by maggots now," Ben said grimly.
"Wait, what?" Rozum asked.
"Several of the aliens in there are dead, Colonel. Like I said, you're not..."
"Not that," Rozum waved off, and Kevin grabbed Ben's arm to stop him from taking more than one step forward. "Your count is off. There's seven hundred and seventy-five prisoners."
"Not according to your chart," Ben said with a scowl.
"Then there's one missing," Rozum said, an alert expression on his face.
All of the heard the Plumber ship immediately start to take off, and everyone quickly wheeled around as the ship took to the sky. Ben and Gwen immediately took to the air and started flying after it, Gwen changing to her Anodite form in an instant as they held on to the ship with a mana tendril.
"We're not even sure if this guy is a criminal, so try your best not to hurt him," Gwen said, and Ben nodded in agreement before transforming into Big Chill and phasing them both through.
The ship was completely empty, which made both cousins frown.
"Did he just set the ship on autopilot and slip away?" Ben asked before Gwen attempted to find any mana signatures in the ship.
"No, there's someone in here," she said with a frown.
The door behind them suddenly opened, and then Ben felt something crash into him as he fell out of the ship. He caught himself with his flight and immediately flew back inside.
"The hell was that?" Ben questioned.
"He might've been invisible. For now, let's worry about getting this ship down safely before it lands on someone," Gwen said, using her Plumber's badge to override the autopilot.
Once the ship was safe on ground, the Rust Bucket drove near up right next to them. The two of them then stepped inside, frustration evident on their faces.
"Anything?" Kevin asked.
"He got away. Looks like he can go invisible whenever he wants to," Ben said with a frown.
"He's got nowhere to go now. My guess is that he's going to be heading into town for some kinda transportation," Kevin said from the driver's seat.
"Sounds like as good of a place to start as any," Ben said as the Rust Bucket started to speed away. "Where's Grandpa?"
"He stayed behind with Rozum. You know, in case he ever got orders to 'get rid of the evidence,'" Kevin said sourly.
"I wouldn't put it past them," Alan said, crossing his arms.
"This alien might be an actual criminal, but is it crazy that I'm more concerned about what was in that hole the Colonel calls a prison?" Pierce questioned.
"No. It wasn't pretty. Aliens just crammed into cells either in the shittiest of states - practically comatose, or even dead," Ben said grimly.
"How do you expect to fix this one?" Aurra asked.
"I can't fix this. Not all of it. I can't fix death," Ben said bitterly. "But what I can fix is that hole Rozum's got set up. I won't rest until that facility's shut down."
"I'd rather burn the place down," Alan said with a scowl.
"We need to focus on the alien that got away before we do," Aurra reminded him.
"And it looks like we have a good place to start," Kevin said as he stopped the Rust Bucket.
The alien did seem to want to find any sort of transport for the moment. There were upturned car, trashcans, and bent street signs. With an unconscious police officer in the middle of the road.
"Well, so much for the idea he was just looking to get out of here," Kevin said as Gwen teleported to the officer, putting two fingers on his neck.
"Still alive," Gwen said as the others joined her. "Just unconscious."
Aurra cast a spell that sent a wave of yellow energy over the officer. He immediately started to stir from his unconscious state, pulling himself to an upright position.
"Gwen Tennyson?" the officer questioned.
"It's alright. The alien's gone," Gwen assured him. "Could you tell me what happened?"
"The alien came charging right at me. Bullets didn't do anything, and he said he was going to kill me. And I... I..."
"You..." Gwen coaxed gently.
"I begged for him to let me live," the officer said, looking ashamed. "He looked at me for a long time. Then he asked if I had a family. I told him I did. And that was the last thing I remember."
Ben and Gwen met each other's eyes. It sounded like this guy hadn't been a criminal at all. Chances are that he was just lashing out from his time spent in the hole. Which meant there was a chance they could reason with him.
"Don't tell anyone that I did that. Please," the officer begged.
"There's no shame in doing what you did. Your secret's safe with us," Gwen assured him.
"As for the rest of the town though, that's up in the air," Pierce said, looking towards a plume of smoke rising from the sky.
Ben opened a portal in front of them and they all stepped through it, appearing in the middle of the street. There was a strange, light purple alien approaching a mother and her child.
Gwen created a mana wall in front of him and forced him back until he was forced to turn around to look at them.
"Stop what you're doing! These people have had nothing with what you've been through!" Ben told him.
"Neither did my family," the alien said before leaping over the wall and disappearing.
The truck that the mother and child were standing in front of started to get pushed, but both of them were already gone by the time the trunk started moving.
Kevin, who had already absorbed the metal on a car next to him, utilized the strength of Humungousaur he had in order to stop the car from going any further.
Aurra in the meanwhile, cast a spell that created a small rainstorm around the car. And the water hitting air gave away the alien's position. Which Alan took as a chance to blast the alien with a large fireball, knocking it to the floor with a grunt.
Gwen immediately took the chance to restrain the alien to the floor, mana tendrils coming up from the ground and pinning it there.
"Release me! I'll never go back there!" the alien said viciously. "Never!"
"And we're not going to send you there. That prison's days are numbered," Kevin told him.
"We just found about this place. The Colonel never had the right to create a prison like that for aliens in the first place," Ben assured him. "You'll be given the help you need. It'll be ok."
"Nothing will ever be ok! Years I spent there! YEARS! I did NOTHING!" the alien yelled, furiously writhing in the tendril's grip before slipping out by dragging his arms along the ground.
Ben immediately dashed up to him as XLR8 before transforming into Wildvine and holding him in place, making sure to keep any spikes away from him as he dropped sleep grenades from his back. The alien only gave up a fight for a few moments before falling unconscious.
"I can only imagine how much hell would've been raised if all of them got out," Pierce said.
"Well, now that he's accounted for, it's time to get the rest of the Plumbers involved," Ben said before raising the Ultimatrix up to his mouth. "Plumber HQ, please respond. We've got a big one on our hands. And it's bound to raise all kinds of complications."
It had taken each of the Plumber ships almost an hour to arrive, during which, Ben and most of the team took over securing all of the prisoners while Alan, Max, and Aurra watched over the prisoner in the Rust Bucket.
The Air Force had called in reinforcements, but Max put his foot down and told each soldier they brought to piss off right back to wherever they came from. Alan and Aurra hadn't ever seen him that angry, and it was definitely a fearsome sight to behold.
"The Plumbers are here," Aurra told Max and Alan as she was leaning by the doorway when the ships arrived.
"Where's Magister Tennyson?" the Magister of the squadron said. He was accompanied by four other Plumbers.
"Still properly securing the rest of the prisoners," Aurra told him. "It's up in the air as to how long he'll be."
"I can imagine. Seven hundred and seventy-five prisoners. We had to bring eight starships in order to hold all of these guys," the Magister said before scoffing. "This is one of the biggest violation of the Casey Kelley accords I've ever seen, and it's from the planet that has one of the smallest capabilities of maintaining a good prison for aliens, barring any uninhabited ones."
"From what he's told us, the inside isn't much better," Alan said from inside the Rust Bucket.
"Yeah, I can only imagine," the Magister said with a grimace, noticing the alien on the inside. He was bound by mana tendrils - still unconscious. "That one of them?"
"Yeah. And from what we can gauge from his story, he was forcibly isolated and had gotten captured. He hadn't done anything wrong," Max said in a tight tone. He was clearly trying to stop himself from flying off of the handle.
"Poor excuse for a government," one of the other Plumbers said in a disgusted tone as there was a flash of pink and green light, revealing each Plumber who went inside, and a prisoner for each of them.
"Everyone's accounted for. I hope you've brought enough space to transport five hundred and twelve prisoners," Ben said with a stone-faced expression.
"Five hundred and twelve? Didn't you say..." The Magister immediately got the gist of what he was saying, and he immediately looked horrified along with his partners. "Don't tell me..."
"We went up and down each of the cells and checked each of them," Pierce said, closing his eyes.
"Two hundred and sixty-three prisoners counted amongst the dead. The causes I couldn't really tell you," Kevin said, his jaw clenched with anger.
"Just... let's get these prisoners away from here. ASAP," the Magister said.
"Once all of them are aboard, I need to talk to him when he wakes up," Ben said, pointing to the alien in the Rust Bucket.
"Why?" the Magister asked.
"Before this, Area 51 had completely disappeared. If he had anything to do with it, I just want to know how to fix it. That's all," Ben told him. "Believe me, I have no intentions on preventing him from getting the help he needs longer than I need to."
"You sure you really want to help these people after this?" one of the Plumbers asked. "I get that it's your sector, but still..."
"I can't just ignore an entire military facility disappearing on the spot. Especially when all signs are pointing to alien tech being responsible for this. Besides, I doubt most of the soldiers in there even knew what they were guarding," Ben said.
"And if they did, do you think they would've cared?" Gwen asked in an uncharacteristically bitter tone.
"Don't know. But it doesn't hurt to hope that a couple would," Ben said before turning away. "Beam these prisoners away. There's a lot to be done."
It had taken another twenty-five minutes to port every single prisoner in and out of each starship, and there had been very few aliens that hadn't looked like absolute hell besides a few species. This had easily been the worst day any of them had ever had on the job, no contest.
In Kevin's opinion, it sucked having to grab a prisoner and help them to their feet, telling them that it was going to be alright when he didn't have a single guarantee of that. Pierce had looked horrified the entire time, and when they learned of the news, Aurra was disgusted, and both Alan and Gwen were angry. God forbid Helen and Manny were here.
But Ben... hadn't give any sort of reaction. He just remained stone-faced the entire time, moving from one prisoner to the next. But Kevin knew he was just bottling up everything until it was all done. Trying to stay strong in the face of his team. Like he hadn't wanted to fly off the handle and wring the throat of anyone who had thought that this was ok.
Though the moment he came face to face with the last prisoner, Ben's expression had softened as he picked him. It was somewhat difficult for him to keep a grip on him due to how naturally slippery this species' body was, but he managed. During which, the Ultimatrix had also scanned his DNA.
"I'll be back later. Just keep an eye on things until I get back," Ben had told his team before being beamed up to one of the starships.
"The interrogation room is..."
"No. No more rooms. Just find some place we can have a simple conversation in private. Get the guy some food if you can," Ben told the Magister firmly, and the man didn't even think about arguing it.
Apparently, this guy's species was known as a Merlinsapien, who mainly dined on insects and some forms of meat. So he was given a combination of both.
Ben and the alien were both lead to an office space with a desk, and the Magister had excused himself as Ben checked his file.
The guy's name was Try'Zl, and from what he could see, he was absolutely telling the truth. He had been a law enforcer on his own planet and had a record that was about as spotless as it got. But anything after that was a completely mystery.
"'Plumber presence no longer allowed to Chameltron after the planet's power dynamic was changed to a dictatorship, quite possibly due to some sort of coup,'" Ben read off.
"That must've been when he ended up on Earth," Ben thought then frowned.
"Neither did my family" was something the alien had said earlier. But there hadn't been any other Merlinsapien locked in the cells. What did that have to do with anything?
"Where... am..."
"On a Plumber starship," Ben told him, causing Try'Zl's gaze to immediately snap his gaze to Ben. Then he noticed his lack of cuffs, which was surprising to him.
"You've spent enough time imprisoned. Here," Ben said, setting the tray of food down in front of him before taking a seat.
"I do not have an appetite," Try'Zl said, looking down.
"Just try," Ben said softly.
"There is nothing to live for anymore. There is no try," the alien said.
"There's always hope for something. A better tomorrow. New things. Something," Ben encouraged.
Try'Zl looked at Ben and the sympathetic expression on his face. There was nothing but empathy etched on his face - a kindness he had not known for in over forty years. So at the very least, he attempted to eat from his plate and least got a bit of Dasypodidae down.
"Better?" Ben said with a hopeful smile.
"To eat something that is not dirt or the few scraps your Air Force left in our cells is an improvement," Try'Zl said in an angry tone. Then his temper mellowed out. "Why are you here?"
"Two reasons. To make sure this went over smoothly, and to ask you a question," Ben told him.
"What is it?" Try'Zl questioned.
"Do you know anything about why Area 51 disappeared?" Ben asked.
"No. But it was likely that if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here right now. And I am equal parts glad and regretful," Try'Zl told him in a sharp tone, causing Ben to sigh.
He had a feeling that was what the alien was going to say, but it never hurt to ask.
"What is your name?" Try'Zl asked, snapping Ben out of his thoughts.
"Ben Tennyson," he told him.
"Do you have a family, Ben Tennyson?" Try'Zl asked.
"I do," Ben said.
"How many?" Try'Zl asked.
"Why?" Ben asked in a suspicious tone.
"Making conversation. And I have no intentions on doing anything to them. You have done nothing but try and help me, despite how pointless it may be," Try'Zl said, keeping his gaze locked on Ben.
"A mother and father. An aunt and uncle. And my grandpa and my cousin," he told him.
"A mate of any sorts?" Try'Zl questioned.
"My cousin is also my girlfriend, so I guess that kinda fits the bill," Ben told him. Try'Zl tilted his head at him in a confused fashion, but that was about it.
"Children?" Try'Zl asked.
"No," Ben said before a hesitant look crossed his face. He was afraid to ask his next question. "Did... you have a family, Try'Zl?"
"I did. A mate and children of my own. A boy and a girl. I was a proud warrior of my race - I fought against oppression and tyranny back on my home planet. Something I explained to your Air Force a hundred times, but they did not believe me," Try'Zl said, going from anger to grief in three seconds.
"I saw your file, yeah. I... I'm sorry. Is there nothing I..."
"Your own Plumbers have confirmed that the resistance that I was part of was decimated. Entire civilizations - razed. Everything that I have ever known is dead. Everyone that I've fought for is dead," Try'Zl told him in a flat tone. "So you would ask me if there is something you can do? Could you reverse death? Could you turn back time by several decades? If the answer to both questions is no, then there is nothing. I have nothing."
Ben clenched his fists on the table out of frustration. He could do those things. Alien X could. That alien could do anything. But despite the mood, it didn't feel right. He knew it wasn't his place to do so. But he wanted to. He desperately wanted to.
"Do not burden yourself with things you cannot control, Ben Tennyson. Focus on the things you can control. Which is the prison that I escaped. That is within your power to deal with," Try'Zl said, causing the corner of Ben's mouth to twitch in anger.
"Yeah. Yeah, it is," Ben said, getting to his feet. "I... I hope you find something for you."
The almost pitying smile the Merlinsapien shot him on the way out just made Ben feel even worse.
He walked out with his hands in his pockets, letting the Magister know to beam him down to Earth. Some part of him ached with a pain that he couldn't put into words. But it only took moments for that pain to change into anger.
And he let all that anger out on the prison underneath what was once Area 51. It was one of the few moments Ben could let all of his power run wild, and it after he was done, there was nothing left - not even a speck of ash.
It was painfully unsatisfying.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Max yelled at Rozum.
"I did what I felt was necessary for the security of our planet. And if put in that same spot, I would do it again," Rozum said with a fierce expression.
"Two hundred and sixty-three dead aliens Colonel! All in the name of planetary security that we're in charge of helping you with! And only God knows how many of them were actually innocent!" Max yelled.
"None of them, I bet," Rozum said.
"I looked up the file of the alien that escaped. He was an officer of his planet's law enforcement and had a family of his own! He had a clean record! He was innocent in every sense of the word! The biggest crime he committed was being exiled for fighting for his planet's freedom, but I guess that was enough!" Max yelled, a vein starting to show in his forehead. "Let's just lock him away and throw away the key! No due process, no idea on how to make sure he's kept in a secure and safe environment, nothing! That surely isn't a bad thing to do in the name of planetary security, right?!"
"I don't have to hear this from you any longer," Rozum said, starting to walk away.
"But you do have to hear it from me," Ben said, appearing in front of the door with his arms crossed. And his expression was ice.
"Move aside Tennyson," Rozum said. He moved to walk past him, but Ben stopped him with one hand on his chest and bodily threw him into the chair on his right. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I would've asked you the same question if I had been one of the government officials present when that nonsense was approved!" Ben snarled, pointing at the window. "I had to go from row after row of cells to see all kinds of prisoners in the worst states! You broke your galactic laws, but said screw it because they weren't humans, and they might be threats!"
"And you out of anyone knows the dangers these aliens possess. I did everyone a favor by making sure they couldn't hurt anyone else," Rozum said in a firm tone.
"You could've just told the Plumbers so they could process them! But wait. Let me guess. It was above our paygrades. Even though it's a situation that directly involves us - something that you know very well, seeing as how it violates the Casey Kelley Accords. Something that all military officials are made to understand. That includes you."
Ben's anger had been raw, and Max knew his voice would be hurting had he be human. But Rozum deserved nothing less than an Anodite's anger for this level of cruelty.
"But I'm not going to stay here much longer, because a large part of me wants to throttle you. So I'm going to leave with this," Ben said, walking over to Rozum and putting a finger in his face.
"Don't you dare take custody of an alien ever again. You call us, and we will take care of it as it is our job to do so. If I ever find out you captured an alien and are keeping them hostage, I'm going to arrest you and hold you off planet. And I'll do it for any bastard that thinks they can try that shit while I'm around. You won't ever place a foot back on Earth for a long time," Ben snarled in his face.
"You can't do that," Rozum told him, feeling an uneasy sensation of dread crawl up his spine. It felt even worse when Ben let out a laugh that held absolutely no warmth. Max could feel a tingling sensation in the air, power rolling off of Ben at a steadily increasing rate.
"Can't and won't are two entirely different things, Colonel. You forget who I am and what I'm capable of. You helped ruin the lives of hundreds of aliens, and the last thing you deserve is a warning for it. But since the government even approved this nonsense, I can't fully pin it on you as much as I would like. But test me, Rozum. I beg you to test what I'm capable of... And see how far you'll get in life," Ben said in a dangerous tone.
Then Ben teleported away, and it got a lot easier to breathe. Max took one last look at Rozum, who was trying to recover from Ben's tirade. An Anodite's anger was something you didn't want if you could avoid it, and he had gotten off easy.
"You gonna let him do that?" Rozum asked, looking to Max.
"Be glad he's the one in charge. I would have already arrested you had I been in his position," Max said, approaching Rozum. "And I think I speak for everyone when I say that you deserve this."
Max socked Rozum in the face hard enough to break his nose and knock him out of the chair Ben threw him in. Max then moved towards the door, putting a hand on the doorknob as he looked back at the military officer.
"I stand by my grandson's threat. Try something like this again on our watch, and see how far you get," the ex-Plumber threatened with a point before walking out of the door, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the hinges.
When he went home, still upset and angry, Ben already saw Gwen and his parents were there waiting for him. All three of them gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Rough day?" Gwen said rhetorically, and Ben snorted.
"Worst day I've had on the job," he said, collapsing on the couch. "I'm starting to regret taking this promotion."
"Gwen gave us a brief rundown on what happened. Son, I'm sorry you had to see that," Carl said in a sympathetic tone.
"You know, I've been to a lot of planets. Seen a lot of people do a lot of messed up things. But this... this is something I expected from Vilgax. This is something I expected out of Ghostfreak. Or even some random criminal. But not our own government," Ben said, putting a hand on his forehead.
"People have a tendency to be scared of anything they don't know," Sandra said.
"That doesn't make it any less wrong!" Ben exclaimed, getting to his feet. Gwen grabbed his hand, but Ben had shrugged it off. "I can't understand the logic of any of this, because all of this could have been avoided if they had just told the Plumbers that they had aliens restrained for them to take into custody! Hell, I'm sure the Plumbers would've appreciated a facility like that to help them round up potential criminals."
"But no. No, it had to be some poorly run excuse of a prison that has no idea how to care for the aliens they capture. No due process. No background checks. Not a single thing. Just lock them up and throw away the key because they're aliens, right? Who even cares as long as it's not a human, right?!"
Ben's anger had shown through how over a dozen tendrils had started writhing out of his head, and the fact that he had grown big enough to nearly break through the ceiling.
"Ben! Ben!" Gwen exclaimed, flying up to him and putting her hands on his face. "Look at me, Ben!"
Ben looked up at the girl in front of him, and his anger slowly started to abate at the worried look on her face. Some part of him just wanted to hold onto his anger, but knew that wasn't the right way to do things.
"You ok?" Carl asked hesitantly after Ben had shrunk down to his normal size.
"Better, yeah. Ok, no. If this is what Area 51 had been made to hide, then aside from the people inside, I'm glad it's gone," Ben said bitterly.
"Same," Gwen said. "Speaking of which, I know this is a bad time to ask, but..."
"He wasn't responsible. Besides, as a prisoner, I don't know how he would've gotten access to technology Cooper can't even readily identify in his situation anyway," Ben said, and Gwen couldn't deny his point there. "I just... Sometimes I wish..."
"Don't. Don't put that on yourself," Gwen said softly, kissing him on the cheek. "You are the last person who should feel responsible."
Ben nodded, and Gwen grabbed his arm and gently led him up to his room. Sandra and Carl looked at each other, expressions equally worried.
"It's almost as if someone out there doesn't want him to enjoy himself," Carl said, pushing himself up to his feet in a frustrated tone. "He just got back from vacation, and then this."
"Carl, that expression on his face..."
"I saw it. It's an expression a teenager his age shouldn't ever have. Sometimes, I can't help but wish he had chosen a different occupation. First killing someone, and now having to put a stop to cruel madness like this... can he ever just get a break?" Carl questioned.
"I wish. But it's what he chose to do. And the best thing we can do is support him when we can," Sandra said, and Carl nodded.
In an instance like this, Sandra started to get what Verdona meant when she called Earth a backwater planet. And that said a lot, considering she hated every instance she said it.
A/N: When I was writing this chapter, I hadn't expected for it to go in the direction that it went in, but I can't say I'm unhappy with it. There was definitely a deeper potential conflict in something like this, but because Ultimate Alien is Ultimate Alien, it was nothing more than a one-off episode. I decided to dive deeper, and the implications that were there had to be addressed. And believe you me, this situation's going to be brought up again sometime in the future.