A/N: Episode based on "The Purge." Oh, yeah. We're starting this episode. Forgive me for taking so long. But I've got some crazy ideas for this segment, and I can't wait to let them rip. This was gonna be one chapter, but the whole thing extends to 18k+ words. So I figure it's better to split it up. Let's get into it!
"Pierce has got a girlfriend! Pierce has got a girlfriend!" Kevin and Manny mocked as Pierce kept his face flat on the table.
"You have to come up for air at some point. Can't imagine the spikes feel very good," Aurra quipped before sipping her smoothie.
"No, they don't, and not any time soon," Pierce said, sounding a little muffled.
"Can't you give him a break guys? Like, ever?" Alan questioned.
"Nope! Not until he masters the art of not caring whatsoever," Kevin said.
"And we're here to teach him the hard way," Manny said with a wide grin.
Helen and Manny's week was up after a quiet last two days of their vacation, and now it was Pierce and Aurra's turn. The former of which managed to ask out his crush of choice, Sara Jones, out on a date. It was a good time to do so, considering he now had a week off from work. The only problem that he was currently facing was letting Kevin or Manny know anything about his love life.
If he somehow didn't know that giving them access to this information was going to be maddening, he definitely knew it now.
"Both of you, shush," Gwen said, giving both boys a glare before giving Pierce a sympathetic smile. "Ignore those two idiots. I'm really happy for you, Pierce."
"Same here. If you're as lucky as we are, you will have found your dream lady right off the bat," Ben said, giving Gwen a smile that she returned.
"How are you two this sickeningly domestic at sixteen?" Aurra questioned with a small grimace. To her ears, they sounded like middle aged married couples - not teenagers.
"Life. And aliens," Gwen told her.
"And funnily enough, you sound just like my cousin Sunny," Ben said.
"Don't insult me," Aurra said with a scoff.
"She's not as bad as your typical Anodite," Ben assured her.
"And if she didn't have your influence?" Aurra questioned.
"She would've had Verdona's, and she's gotten a lot better over the past few years," Gwen said.
Aurra only nodded before taking a sip of her smoothie. Helen however, wanted to get back to the subject at hand.
"Where are you going to take her?" Helen asked.
"I was thinking dinner and then drive her out to the woods to see the stars. Less chance we'll be interrupted out there, and it'll be clear skies," Pierce admitted, blushing when Helen and Gwen 'awwwwd.' The other boys smirked, but decided to remain quiet.
"That sounds great," Gwen encouraged.
"Definitely a date to remember. Can't ever see Manny coming up with something that good," Helen said.
"Hey, I can be creative!" Manny defended.
"Chances are you'd take the girl to the gym," Kevin said.
"Or a race," Ben added.
"Mark my words. When that day comes, I'll come up with something creative," Manny said with a warning point.
"Try not to break your brain," everyone said at the same time. Including Manny.
"Yeah, yeah. I saw that one coming a mile away," the Tetramand said with a grumble. Helen took a bit of pity on him and patted his arm sympathetically.
"Take it easy, Manny. There's nothing wrong with being single. We're just joking around," Ben said, popping a chili fry in his mouth.
"Yeah, there isn't. But there's an issue. You're too damn happy with Gwen," Kevin said.
"So... you want us to pretend to be miserable when we're with each other?" Ben questioned.
"Tall order, Levin," Gwen said, stealing one of Ben's chili fries.
"Yeah. We all want some of that eventually. We probably won't get the sunshine and roses that you two have, but something at least a little pleasant would be nice," Kevin said.
"Likely for you, a good-looking girl that can kiss, doesn't scratch the car, and doesn't spend too much money," Alan said before taking a bite of his burger.
"Nailed it, little man," Kevin said with a smirk, putting his hands behind his head.
"How could I have ever guessed it..." Alan trailed with a laugh.
"Except, I would also add an extra clause to where she doesn't treat me like shit," Kevin said.
"I feel as if that should go without saying. If you want a girl to treat you like dirt, then you can always try..."
"Kai?" Gwen quipped before taking a sip out of her drink. She chuckled at the look on Ben's face. "I'm kidding."
"Ben?" a voice questioned.
The person in question frowned before turning around, seeing that Julie was standing there with her family. Ben immediately pursued his lips before turning back around.
"Oh, yeah. Now I remember what that unimportant thing was," Kevin said with a full mouth. Then he swallowed his food. "Julie wanted to talk to you when you got back."
"I kinda get that," Gwen admitted.
"May as well get it over with," Ben said, getting to his feet.
"You really don't have to," Kevin pointed out.
"No. But I figure I should anyway," Ben said before getting to his feet.
Julie looked surprised at the fact that Ben had actually gotten up, and he sighed. He hadn't seen her in months. During which, he had resigned himself to the fact that he might not ever see her again. But it looks like he had been wrong about that.
"Hey Ben," Bruce said in an awkward tone. His response was a death glare from the Anodite that quickly had him turning away.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Ben asked Julie, and there wasn't an ounce of warmth in his voice.
"Yeah. Um... mom, dad..."
"We'll put your order in," Julie's mom said. Julie nodded and then led Ben outside, who had his hands still in his pockets.
"I'm sorry," Julie immediately said.
"Alright," Ben said with a shrug. Julie looked more upset at his statement. "Did you expect me to be happy about that?"
"Well... I wasn't expecting that," Julie said.
"I've had my time to be upset and make my peace. I can't bring myself to care about an apology that came months too late," Ben told her.
"I guess that's fair," Julie said with a sigh. "I... It's been a while."
"It has," Ben said, crossing his arms.
"Right," Julie said in an awkward tone. "How've you been?"
"Busy. But happy most days. I was just having lunch with my team," Ben said evenly. Despite how neutrally he was speaking, he was close to just telling her to get to the point.
"You seem really happy with Gwen," Julie pointed out.
"Yeah, I am. It helped me deal with the fact that I was going to lose people by dating her," Ben said with a shrug, making Julie wince. She could almost physically feel the weight of that statement.
"I deserved that," Julie said, looking down at the ground.
"I get that I was dating my cousin. I get that you may have liked me and would've been upset about it. But I considered you my friend. And if the shoe was on the other foot, I would never have turned my back like you never mattered," Ben said in a vehement tone.
Julie looked up at his tone. Unlike the flat, uninterested tone he was using initially, his voice was full of emotion - anger and hurt mostly. That gave her a little bit of hope - he hadn't completely stopped caring.
"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just... I couldn't wrap my head around it. You were this amazing guy and nearly every girl wanted you, but you had gone for your cousin. It was jarring to hear, and I couldn't handle it. So I figured distancing myself away from you would be better. Maybe I'd get over it. Or at the very least, be able to pretend it never happened," Julie explained.
"And your verdict?" Ben asked.
"Well, everything that came after drove home how hopelessly naïve it was to believe that I'd just be to pretend like it never happened. You'd come up somehow. Whether through someone else talking about you or someone from your team, and then I'd just think about you all over again. Then I thought about who you're dating, which would just make me feel mad or sick. And it was in my face all of the time. Media was all over you - always talking about you. And it made more people talk about you, and I hated every bit of it."
Ben pursued his lips. So far, a lot of this hadn't sounded reasons as to why she suddenly had her change of heart. And it seemed like it showed on her face, because the expression on Julie's face shifted into one more contrite - almost apologetic.
"Then one day when I just couldn't get you out of my head, I went for a ride to clear my head. People were talking about whether or not things were safe without you on planet, and I was surprised to find out your had left. For a moment, I worried it was permanent. And then I decided to take my chances and find out what was going on through the papers. They said you had gone on a vacation with Gwen off the planet, and people really started to acknowledge what it was you two were. That you were, you told me before, two teenagers in a type of forbidden love."
"I thought it was ridiculous for a time, but then I took a proper look at the two of you and when I saw pictures of you two, you both looked happier than I've ever seen the either of you. Over time, more people started coming around - appreciating you two for what you were. They even started doing the name combining thing people love to do with celebrities. And then something really sad hit me: This is what you really wanted for yourself. Who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. Random strangers had been able to learn how to be happy for the relationship you wanted for yourself before I did. And I was supposed to call myself your friend."
Ben listened to her words with more attention than he was before. There was plenty of guilt in her voice, and some part of him didn't exactly like being the cause of it. But harsh truths were often what pushed people to become even better. But even then, he felt the need to offer a little something.
"It's not something most people are raised to accept," he told her.
"I doubt you were. But you didn't let it stop you," Julie said, and Ben felt a twinge of sympathy at her tone. Half self-deprecating, half bitter. He was sure she was feeling an awful bit of cognitive dissonance considering the situation.
"More than anything, I want you to know that I'm sorry. For proving you right, in the end. I know I haven't been the friend I should've been to you. But I'd like to try being friends again. I don't expect it to be easy, especially with your job, and everything else but..." Julie trailed, looking increasingly nervous as Ben stayed silent. "Please say something."
"I'm going to talk to Gwen about it first," was the only thing Ben said, and Julie nodded in acceptance.
"What'd she want?" Gwen asked once Ben walked back over to them.
"We talked. She admitted she was wrong. She apologized. And she said she wanted to try the whole friend thing again," Ben said, tossing a chili fry in his mouth.
"Is this some ex-girlfriend drama I want to be absent for?" Aurra questioned.
"More like an old friend who lets a crush ruin their friendship. Granted, it's a little more complicated considering our circumstances, but it's still an accurate statement," Gwen said with a shrug.
"I get it. I do. But after all this time, I don't know if I even want to bother anymore. I've made my peace about the situation, and now she suddenly comes to terms with everything and wants to try being friends again. I'm not gonna say I didn't miss her sometimes, but I don't have the time or the energy to be sent on another emotional rollercoaster if things don't go well," Ben said, leaning back in his seat.
"If you care about my two cents..." Aurra trailed before wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"I do," Ben said.
"If it were me, I wouldn't bother. Last time I checked, friendships are supposed to be based on trust. And how much trust can there really be from someone who thought cutting all ties with you was worth the friendship you had already built?" Aurra said, and her tone was as cool as refrigerated air. "I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I'm pretty sure friendships don't work that way."
"I'm with her," Kevin backed up.
"She does have a point," Manny added.
"Yeah, she does," Ben said with a thoughtful frown.
"I think you should at least try," Gwen suddenly said, and everyone gave her a look of surprise.
"I didn't expect you to be for this," Pierce said in a shocked tone.
"To be honest, I really shouldn't be. Emily had wanted to ask Ben out, and it took her two school periods to reconcile things. Julie disappeared for months without a word. But..." Gwen trailed.
"But..." Ben repeated.
"I'm reminded of Verdona's situation. She made a choice that went along with the way she was raised, and then once she realized what she stood to lose, she ended up way better at the end of it all. Maybe Julie might be the same way," Gwen said.
"So you're really for this?" Ben questioned.
"If you're that set against it, then I won't say another word on it. I'm just saying that Grandma Verdona royally screwed up, and we haven't regretted giving her a second chance. Why not give Julie one?" Gwen questioned, making Ben sigh.
"Alright. You've convinced me," he said before getting to his feet.
Gwen watched as he walked up to Julie, and saw a relieved smile spread across the girl's face as Ben said he would give her another shot.
"You are far more forgiving than I am," Aurra said, dipping a fry in ketchup.
"That's cause I could see you condemning someone to the Null Void if they spilled your drink," Gwen said with a wry smile.
"Make it a smoothie, and they would deserve it," Aurra said, making everyone laugh as she shook her head. "Ever since I've gotten to this planet, I've filled up on more greasy, unhealthy foods and beverages than I ever have in all of my life..."
"And you love it," Kevin and Manny said at the same time, wide grins adorning their faces.
"Much to my disgust. If I'm being honest, this is the real danger of this planet. Is Earth just always looking to fill you with the unhealthiest, addictive foods and leave you wanting more?" Aurra questioned.
"Absolutely," everyone said at the same time.
"That is horrible," Aurra said.
"That is fast food," Kevin corrected.
"You may join the class clowns of fast food that is America. Welcome aboard, Aurra," Ben said as he walked back to the table, proudly popping another chili fry in his mouth.
"Someone throw me back over," Aurra said moodily as she took a greedy looking bite out of her burger, eliciting grins from everyone.
"You checked off the list I gave you?" Ben questioned, lounging on Pierce's couch with his feet on the coffee table.
"Breath, shower, and clothes. Yes," Pierce said with a roll of the eyes. "You can chill out now, Ben."
"Said the guy who was damn near in hysterics before Ben even got here," Manny said, who was sitting next to Helen on the couch.
"No playing it cool now," Ben said with a smirk.
"I just don't want to screw this up," Pierce said.
"You've gotten this far by being you. Why stop now?" Ben questioned.
"Speaking of which, I never thanked you for forcing me to go without the mask, by the way. You were right," Pierce said.
"I told you that you would eventually appreciate it. You deserve to have your efforts for who you are. Not some alter ego. And it seems this Miss Sara seems to appreciate that," Ben said.
"It still kind of amazes me," Pierce said.
"If no one noticed how amazing you were Pierce, then all of Earth's girls would have some serious brain damage," Helen said.
"Or just bonkers for the jack of all trades hero here," Pierce said, gesturing towards Ben.
"That has toned down far more since me and Gwen took our vacation. I think most of the teenage girl population has gotten their brain back if they had one beforehand," Ben told him.
"Fair enough. Anyway, I'm off," Pierce said, and his friends each gave him an encouraging smile.
"Make sure you two kids don't do anything I wouldn't do," Manny said with a grin, and that earned him an elbow from Helen.
"Enjoy yourself," she told him.
"I plan on it," Pierce said before walking out of the door.
"There he goes. And on that note, I'll be off as well. I told Kevin we'd hang out after I got Pierce set up," Ben said before looking at the lack of books around them. "No studying this time?"
"Hell no. We've done enough of that lately. One night a week, we have a movie night to rest. If we don't, we'd go insane," Helen said, zooming in and out of the kitchen with an arm full of snacks.
"Agreed. Have fun, you two," Ben said, receiving two waves in return before he teleported away.
Pierce took a deep breath before knocking on Sara's door. He had been fine when he left the house, but now that he had actually gotten close, that nervousness had returned tenfold.
"You're gonna panic when you actually get there. You're probably gonna panic harder when you realize how much better she looks compared to you. And all I got to tell you is to breathe, remember that she likes you for you, and go from there. You'd be surprised by how much easier it gets."
That earlier advice from Ben came back to his mind, and he was actually able to let out a few breaths that helped calm his pounding heart. Thank the stars him dating Gwen made him knowledgeable on this stuff. Cause he nailed exactly what he was feeling right now.
But there hadn't been any time for him to process much more before the door opened, revealing a grown man standing there with a perplexed expression on his face. He wasn't as muscular as Kevin, but he still looked like he could deck someone really hard if he wanted to.
"You're that Pierce guy, right?" Mr. Jones questioned, and he nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak right now. "Come on in and sit. Sara shouldn't be long."
Pierce nodded before stepping inside the house, surveying the room around him. He noticed several photos on the wall - most of them of Mr. Jones and her daughter, but two of them with a woman in the frame. Though Sara was significantly younger in those.
"You want something to drink?" Mr. Jones asked, and Pierce forced his mouth to unstick.
"No thank you. I'm fine," he said, taking a seat on the couch. Mr. Jones took a seat in the chair near the couch, surveying Pierce with a father's scrutiny.
"You always this spiky?" Mr. Jones asked.
"I can tone it down, but not really get rid of it," Pierce said as he made the spikes on his arms shrink.
"Won't be a problem, now will it?" Mr. Jones asked with a raised brow.
"I have complete control of my spikes. There won't be any accidents, Mr. Jones," Pierce assured him.
"Good. Now... I trust Sara's judgement, and I know you're a teammate of that Ben Tennyson, but I'm still a bit wary on aliens. Don't know what to make of the ones that aren't causing trouble," Mr. Jones said.
Pierce couldn't blame him there. Aliens had a long history of coming to Earth and causing trouble, so any law-abiding ones might've just seemed weird in comparison.
"You been talking his ear off dad?" Sara asked, causing both males to wheel around.
"Again, why do you have to be so spot on, Ben?" Pierce thought, cursing his friend for being right. She was only dressed in a tank top and jeans, and she still made Pierce look as if he may as well be wearing a paper bag.
"Just getting a feel for what's going on inside his head. He seems normal enough," Mr. Jones said.
"I told you," Sara said as she joined Pierce, shooting him a smile that he nervously returned.
"Nothing like confirming it for myself," Mr. Jones said before looking at Pierce. His gaze was piercing. "I want her back before eleven. And if there are any of those alien emergencies you got going on, you better either ignore it or bring her straight back here. Got that?"
"Absolutely," Pierce said, leaning back slightly. Suddenly, facing Vilgax with his new powers was less nerve wracking than this.
"He has it, dad," Sara stressed with a fond roll of the eyes, and her dad only grinned.
"Just have to rile him up a little bit. If I can spark a little fear in a guy who saves lives for a living, then I must be doing something right," Mr. Jones said with a wide grin, and Sara only guided Pierce out of the house while he looked a bit dumbstruck.
"Sorry about that. He's only having a little fun with you," she apologized.
"He considers that fun?" Pierce asked in a baffled tone.
"I wouldn't fault you if you called him a little senile," Sara said with a smile that made his heart jump. "Now that you're past that hurdle, got anything planned?"
"Um... dinner and then there was a spot out in the woods I wanted to show you," Pierce said after clearing his throat. "Has a good view of the stars."
"Sounds nice," Sara said, and this time Pierce was able to return a comfortable smile. He hadn't screwed up yet and was looking to keep it that way.
"You know any of the constellations out here?" Sara asked.
"Afraid I don't. Never was the biggest astronomy fan," Pierce said with a shrug.
"Neither was I. I couldn't really look at those things without thinking, 'That looks nothing like you say it does.' It was way too confusing," Sara said.
"Sounds about right," Pierce said before putting his hands behind his head. "I got a question for you."
"Go ahead," Sara offered.
"Why'd you agree to this?" Pierce asked.
"You mean, why don't I mind going on a date with an alien? Well, half alien you mentioned," Sara corrected.
"Yeah," Pierce said.
"I wouldn't be lying if I didn't say it was a little weird. I mean, you got spikes coming out of your body," Sara said, gently putting a finger on the top spike on his right arm. That made him feel a little embarrassed, but not in a bad way.
"But if I gotta give you an answer, I'm gonna go with the fact that the spikes don't really change much for me," she finished.
"They don't?" Pierce asked.
"Not really. I mean, I remember walking in for a usual day of volunteering when I see some guy with spikes coming out of his body working the kids I normally see everyday. I thought you were scaring them at first until I saw them laugh," Sara said, a gentle smile on her face as she recalled the memory. "They really gravitated towards you - no matter what you looked like."
"Part of me remembers what it was like being one of those kids. Not having a place where you felt like you belonged. I understood that more than anything, and I think that helped," Pierce said, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You were an orphan?" Sara asked, and Pierce could've cursed. He didn't know why he let that tidbit loose.
"For a while, yeah. All I had was my sister Helen and that musclehead Manny who I may as well call a brother at this point," Pierce said before a smile creeped on his face. "But now I found a place where I belong. A team. Friends. And I consider them my family now."
"I'm glad for that," Sara said with a smile. A thoughtful expression crossed her face before the smile reappeared. "I'm guessing if Ben 10 hadn't found you, I wouldn't have met you."
"That's possible," Pierce admitted.
"Just another thing to be grateful to him for," Sara said, grabbing his hand. Pierce smiled at the contact, and he was thankful that there were no spikes on his hands naturally.
Also naturally, was the fact that the moment had to be ruined by a bright light being shined on them.
"Pierce Wheels?" a voice questioned.
"Officer, I promise you that..." Pierce cut himself off when he realized that it hadn't been a police officer to interrupt them. Instead, there were Forever Knights. Over a half a dozen of them, and he was immediately wary.
"Out of the car. Now," the Knight said.
"Whatever you want, she has nothing to do with anything relating to the Plumbers," Pierce assured them as he and Sara stepped out.
"We don't care about that," the Knight said, and Pierce blinked in surprise as he looked at Sara. "Leave this place girl."
"What are you going to do to him?" Sara questioned in a fearful tone.
"Nothing that concerns you. Leave," the Knight said in a firmer tone.
"Sara, just go. I'll handle this," Pierce said, shooting her an assuring smile that should've eased her worries.
But she still felt like she had a stomach full of lead as she ran in the forest, immediately pulling her phone out of her purse. 911 may have been the best she had, but they would know how to get Pierce's teammates involved.
"Now that she's out of harm's way, would you mind telling me why you're interrupting my date?" Pierce questioned in an annoyed tone.
"Your alien presence on Earth's sovereign soil will no longer be tolerated. Leave the Earth immediately or be destroyed," the Knight said.
"Are you cracked? I'm a Plumber. I live here. Got a place of residence and everything. And you tin cans think some new suits of armor will give you any leverage over me?" Pierce said, his spikes lengthening in preparation for a fight.
"Then you have made your decision," the Knight said, and before he could even move, Pierce kicked the guy back away from him before immediately creating two spikes in his hands that were the length of a bo staff.
The moment the Knights advanced on him, he brought both staffs around for a swing, but were surprised when they were immediately sliced in half from the laser swords that had come out of nowhere. Pierce's eyes widened when he immediately felt his hands restrained above his head. And these Knights were stronger than him by a long shot.
"Get off of me," Pierce said before his eyes zeroed in on the hand that was sparking with electricity. They went wide before he lashed out with a foot, kicking the guy back while shooting spikes out of his arms that didn't even scratch the armor they were wearing.
"These aren't normal Knights. Have to..." His thought was immediately cut off by the sudden feeling of electricity on his sternum.
Sara had heard Pierce's scream echo throughout the forest, despite the distance she made. And the noise immediately evoked a feeling of terror and worry in her. There was no way he was losing out there, right? He had handled plenty of bad guys before. They... just got a lucky hit in. She was sure of it.
"The police are on their way Sara. Just hold out until they get here, and it'll be fine," Sara thought to herself as she started to make more distance away from where Pierce was. But suddenly, adrenaline was fueling her legs and they refused to stop running.
And all the while, no matter how much she reassured herself, terror still sat in Sara's gut.
"A non-alien related police call? In this city? Where in the world did a double rainbow sprout up?" the first officer asked as they were driving through the forest.
"Don't get too excited yet. That girl sounded nervous - sounded like she might be in real trouble. Especially since her description sounded like the Forever Knights to a t," the second officer said.
"If we know for sure, then we'll try and get ahold of Ben Tennyson. For now, let's see if we can actually do our job and help and save someone," the first officer said as they noticed a girl running towards them, causing him to immediately stop the car. "That must be her."
"Please! You have to help Pierce! He's..." Sara wanted to say hurt, but another part of her just wanted to scream that he was fine. Like that bloodcurdling scream she heard from him and then silence afterwards wasn't a sign that he was...
"Don't worry miss," the first officer said before looking to his partner. "Keep her safe. If it is Forever Knights, you get the girl out of here and get the people down here who can handle that circus act."
"Got it," the second officer said as the first officer continued.
He continued to head forward through the clearing until he could see a flash of headlights up ahead. There was no chatter going on, but the officer still drew his pistol and held it securely in his hands as he approached the headlights.
Peeking out from behind the tree, he could see no Knights standing there. Although, his sense of smell was certainly alerting him to something. Something burnt.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, the officer turned the corner with his pistol aimed in front of him and laid his eyes on a sight he hoped he wasn't gonna have to see tonight.
He recognized that name. Pierce. As in Pierce Wheels - one of Ben Tennyson's alien fighting teammates. And from what he could also guess from seeing pictures of their team in papers, close friends. And he was lying here, dead with practically all of his skin burnt to a state where it was almost black. He didn't really want to know from what.
"Bastards," the officer thought before clicking the radio on his collar. "Wilson."
"Any hostiles?" the officer named Wilson asked.
"No, they seemed to have moved on. Although... you're gonna have to get a meat wagon down here. We got a body down here," the first officer said grimly.
"Do you mean..."
"Yeah. He's dead," the first officer said in a heavy tone of voice.
Sara, who was sitting in the backseat on the police car, had heard everything. And there hadn't been any denying that the body was Pierce. Suddenly, the only thing she could find the effort to do was start crying.
"Keep up, Kevin!" Spidermonkey said as he leaped over a junked car.
"You gave me the shittiest spot to have to climb trash on!" Kevin exclaimed as he climbed to the top of a stack of junk before leaping onto the next one with finesse.
"Gets you more practice," Spidermonkey said with a grin before swinging down to ground level with a web and then building altitude before leaping again, landing several trash piles away.
"Least it's a good workout," Ben said as he transformed back into his Anodite body.
"Yeah. It is," Kevin said, looking at his hands. Then he closed his eyes with an expression of satisfaction on his face. "Feels good to be this good."
"You have done well, young Padawan," Ben said in an old man voice.
"You are having way too much fun saying that," Kevin said.
"Yeah. I am," Ben said with a grin.
"Your experience in using alien abilities has improved exponentially since you began practicing," the Ultimatrix told him.
"Exponentially?" Kevin questioned.
"Roughly 43.54 percent," the Ultimatrix said.
"Well, I guess it's kinda good to have hard data. Forty percent is pretty decent," Kevin said with a shrug.
"I told you that you would have nothing to worry about, didn't I?" Ben said, his grin shifting into a genuine smile.
"Yeah, yeah. It worked out," Kevin said as he moved a bit of garbage around using Lodestar's power. "I still think you shouldn't have put some much faith in me just because you trust me."
"Then think about it like this. If you couldn't handle at least one alien with all the years of getting a handle on your powers, then you have to really suck as an Osmosian," Ben told him.
"Now that makes a lot more sense," Kevin said with a laugh.
"It would also be wrong," Ben said before his watch started to beep. "Oh, great."
"Ignore it. It's probably not that important," Kevin said.
"The signal is coming from the Bellwood police station," the Ultimatrix told him.
"The police station? What do they want with me?" Ben questioned.
"It is within my ability to tap into their comms and find out," the Ultimatrix said.
"It would probably just be faster to just answer them," Ben said as the accepted the call. "Tennyson here."
"Ben Tennyson, your presence is urgently needed at the Bellwood Police Station. It's important," the officer on the line said.
"Does it concern an alien?" Ben questioned.
"Pierce Wheels," the officer said, and Ben was immediately alert.
"What about him?" the Anodite asked.
"He was found dead in the forest," the officer said, and Ben's eyes widened as he froze in place.
"Are you sure... You could've..." Kevin looked back over at Ben, and the expression on his face had Kevin on high alert. He didn't think he'd ever seen him look so stricken.
"Quite sure. It... wasn't a pretty sight. Severe electrocution, it looks like," the officer said grimly.
"Understood. I'll get everyone," Ben said before disconnecting from the call.
"What's the matter?" Kevin asked, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder as he leapt back over next to him.
"Pierce just turned up dead," Ben said, looking to the side.
"What?!" Kevin exclaimed.
"Police said he was electrocuted to death," Ben said, looking like he was in physical pain.
"Did they say anything about who might've been involved?" Kevin asked.
"I'm guessing that's why they want us there," Ben said before raising the Ultimatrix up to his mouth. "All of you. We're all needed at the Bellwood police station."
"Can it wait?" Gwen asked.
"No," Ben said, and his tone left no room for argument. He sounded angry, yet... sad.
"What's going on, Ben?" Helen asked.
"There's no easy way to put this, but... Pierce just turned up dead," Ben said.
"What?!" everyone yelled.
"Electrocuted, they say. Look, we gotta get there. Only way we're gonna get a lead on what happened," Ben told them.
"I'll be there too," Aurra suddenly said.
"Aurra..."
"I'm coming," Aurra said in a sharp tone before Ben sighed and disconnecting the call.
"Come on," he said before teleporting them to the station.
They instantly appeared inside - much to the surprise of many of the other officers, but the police chief walked up to Ben with little hesitation. The look on his face looked about as grim as Ben felt.
"Your friend made it here first," the police chief said, pointing to Aurra. He was somewhat surprised she hadn't left the planet for her week off.
"Let's not start until the others are here," Ben said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
After a few more minutes, Gwen appeared in a flash of light with Helen, Manny, and Alan. Alan looked stricken, Helen looked like she was barely holding it together, and Manny looked angry. And he immediately strode towards the police chief.
"Who did it?!" Manny roared.
"Mr. Armstrong..."
"Mr. Armstrong nothing! I wanna know..."
"MANNY!" Ben shouted with a faint echo, and everyone in the station jumped at how forceful his voice was. "We're going to know, but I need you to remember that the police haven't done anything wrong and ease up."
Ben then looked at the police chief, who wordlessly led them towards Sara, who was sitting in a chair with her head bowed.
"This was the girl who phoned in the call in the first place," the police chief said.
"Have you talked to her yet?" Ben asked.
"No. We wanted to wait for you, and she's obviously taking the news hard," the police chief said. "Besides, your team is more suited to handle whoever did this than we are."
"We'll talk to her," Ben said before walking up to Sara, kneeling down next to her.
"I figured you'd show up at some point," she said in a hoarse voice.
"I did. I just need to ask one thing," Ben said in a soft tone.
"They were a bunch of guys in armor. Weird symbol on their chest," Sara immediately answered.
"Forever Knights," Kevin and Manny growled.
"Regular Forever Knights couldn't beat Pierce. No way, no how," Helen said, finally managing to speak up in a hoarse tone.
"These ones looked different from the ones on TV. Armor looked better," Sara said before looking at the ground, her eyes getting watery again. "He didn't deserve to die like that. He didn't do anything wrong. All he did was help people."
"I know," Ben said in a sad tone.
"Believe me. Those sons of bitches are gonna pay," Manny growled, immediately moving to walk out of the door. But Gwen created a barrier in front of him to stop him from leaving.
"Manny, slow down," Gwen said.
"What is there to slow down about. We know..."
"No, we know that the Forever Knights got some new armor. Not the specific Knights that did it," Gwen told him.
"Does it matter?" Manny asked.
"Yes. It does matter," Ben spoke up, getting to his feet. "We are Plumbers first and foremost. And we're not going to go around slaughtering Forever Knights."
"So says the guy who ripped Vilgax apart," Manny shot at him, and Ben's face barely changed. "What's the difference if we go after a group of murderers?"
"There's a big difference," he told him.
"Not much one from where I'm standing," Manny told him.
"You're crossing a line, Armstrong," Kevin said in a dangerous tone, flexing his fingers.
"Manny, quit it!" Helen exclaimed, putting a hand on his arm.
"Why? Just stating fact," Manny said.
"That's not the point! You know what Ben thinks about-"
"You're grieving. I understand," Ben suddenly said, causing everyone to look at him. It was unnerving how little his face showed. "So say whatever you want about me. I don't care. Do whatever you need to do in order to get to through the day. But you disobey my orders, and I'll have your hide. We'll deal with the Knights together. Not on our own, and certainly not by killing all of them. We are better than that."
"Manny, think about it," Alan pleaded, putting a hand on the Tetramand's shoulder.
"I know, I know. Shouldn't have said that," Manny said, shaking his head regretfully. "I'm sorry. I just..."
"If you want to make it up to me, then don't lose your head," Ben said evenly. Manny looked at Ben with all of the respect that came with his station before nodding.
"We're gonna get them. I promise you that," Gwen said as she closed her eyes, trying her hardest to keep it together.
"Where do we start?" Alan asked.
"We don't. Not until tomorrow," Ben said before turning around to stare out of the window. "We bury Pierce. We make sure he's put to rest properly before we do anything. That's my priority right now."
Manny looked away, his expression looking regretful. He hadn't even thought about that part. Ben saw his expression and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't beat yourself up too hard about it. Emotions are high. Yours just happens to be anger," the Anodite told him before looking towards the police chief, who walked up to him. "Where's his body?"
"Down in the morgue. We'll keep it safe. Don't you worry about that," the police chief assured him. Ben then looked at Gwen.
"You have any idea on how to prepare a funeral?" he asked.
"Mom might. She helped with a lot of the preparations for my great-uncle. And even if she doesn't, I can figure it out," Gwen said, her expression straight even though her eyes were wet with tears.
"Then try and get started. I'll help out as soon as I can," Ben said.
"Where are you going?" Kevin asked.
"To talk to someone I really don't want to talk to. But I'm gonna need to go ahead and prepare ourselves to get rid of the Forever Knights," Ben told them.
"Get rid of?" Alan questioned.
"They've been nothing more than a thorn in our sides, so we never took them as seriously as we should've. And that cost us all Pierce. So as of now, they're now labeled as a serious threat. If they wanted our attention, they've got it," Ben said, his voice coming out in a small growl. "We're going to rid ourselves of them. Permanently. I trust no one has any disagreements about that."
It wasn't phrased as a question. He knew everyone was going to be on board. And if they weren't, he would do it alone if he had to. He was not going to take this lying down.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Aurra asked. She was hiding it best she could, but her right arm was trembling. In anger and some other emotions she really tried to steer clear of.
"Tearing down the chain of command - piece by piece," Ben said seriously, the slightest bit of malice laced in those last three words. "You may not know this, but the Forever Knights have been separated thus far - split apart by four different factions because of their personal differences on how the Knights should be run."
"But you just let me worry about the rest of the details. Try and get some sleep for tomorrow. I'm off," Ben told them before teleporting away.
Gwen looked at the spot he disappeared for a moment before addressing everyone.
"Chances are me and Ben are going to be busy for most of the night, so it'll be good for you all to take his advice," she told everyone.
"We want to help," Helen offered immediately.
"If you want to help, then try and get some rest. You're going to need it for tomorrow. Because I know Ben. And he's going to go after the Knights with everything he's got," Gwen said.
"So am I," Manny said, clenching his fists.
"Those two can work all night if they want to. The rest of us don't have that luxury," Kevin reminded them. "And none of us want to carry you through a battlefield half rested."
"You won't," Manny told him.
"Then go to sleep. Those two'll take care of him," Kevin told him, and after a few seconds, Manny nodded in agreement.
"I'll take you home before I stop at the house," Gwen said, creating a portal for everyone to step in. All except for Aurra, who had a strange whirlwind of emotions on her face.
"You alright?" Gwen asked.
"I hadn't expected this to happen," the sorceress said, looking to the side.
"This line of work is dangerous," Gwen said.
"Not that. For this to bother me so much," Aurra said, crossing her arms. It almost made her trembling unnoticeable.
"He was your teammate. And you may not have exactly been friends, but you were at least friendly with each other. It's ok to be upset about it," Gwen told her.
"When are we moving out tomorrow?" Aurra said, her tone neutral.
"We'll call you. I don't know when we'll be able to get it all set up," Gwen said, and Aurra nodded before leaving through a portal. The Anodite held an orb of mana in her hand before crushing it in her hands, her expression fierce.
Ben had been mostly levelheaded throughout the entire thing, but he couldn't hide anything he was feeling from her. And he was angry. Sad. Hurting. And just dying to get back at the people who had taken Pierce's life. And she was right there with him.
"Hope it was worth it. Because we're going to make sure you get what's coming to you," Gwen thought before teleporting away.