Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
The Invasion – Chapter 30
Originally Written: Friday, August 7, 2015 354PM to Friday, September 11, 2015 417AM
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A/N: Have you taken a look at my profile? Right at the top, I post little blurbs of updates on my story writing and upload progress there. So if I don't update or something, and don't say anything in an author's note, the reason why will probably be there. The newest update is at the top. Whether or not you look at that part of my profile, thank you for reading 'Humanity and Heroes'. I'll usually upload one chapter of this story a week. That will be until I finish writing the story. Once it's complete, I'll be uploading two or more chapters a week. It's really too long a story to post only one chapter a week as I currently am.
Also, please take care and stay safe in this heat, rain, wind, and whatever else kind of crazy weather you are experiencing where you are. Check up on your neighbors as well.
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Around noon in Safehouse Six, Albedo found himself on the hard tiles of the floor on his side. His plumber blaster partially dug into his side. His legs hooked on the bench he had been sitting on and underneath the side of the table top he had been working on top of. He felt a bit like a piece of that instrument, an accordion he believed it was. Next to him, Hugh, no longer wearing his ID mask, lied on the tile behind Albedo, dazed. Hugh's arm weighed heavily on Albedo's side, as the vaxasaurian moaned softly.
Anyone who had been sitting at the same table as Hugh had been thrown around like children's toys. If they hadn't actually flown through the air, they were injured when they got caught between the table and the bench when forces attempted to get them in motion. Therefore, some of the various aliens and humans that had been sitting across from Albedo hung over the table as though they were clothes hung on the line to dry.
Albedo heard a human male shout various curses as he screamed about his arm among the other sounds of chaos. A female's cries caught his attention as well.
Anything on the table had been thrown as well, with stronger forces applied to the objects. They lied across the tile, scattered and broken, adding to the unrest of humans screams about aliens, and aliens screaming in reaction to the human's screaming.
Albedo ignored the growing pain in his legs and sides, despite the support his back received from the tile and bench he had been sitting on. As Plumbers ran about trying to bring some sense of order, Albedo looked at his deactivated ID mask sitting on the floor. He figured it was a matter of time before this situation occurred, but he had not expected it to occur so soon, nor in this manner.
He saw Spinelli in her Splixson form, trying to calm the humans around her down. The human children Fridge had been singing to looked at him in wonder, touching him as though they were trying to make sense of what he was. He thought he saw the Gourmand companions Michio and P'Goro, but he couldn't be sure. He didn't know where Swamps was but something had set off the sprinklers on the far side of the large room.
Among the humans, many of whom were screaming about Incursean Alien allies, Albedo saw many civilian versions of Tennyson's aliens.
"It is noon." He murmured. "The sun is out." he shut his eyes. So many aliens. "They are not Tennyson." He held in a scream as he attempted to turn so he could push Hugh's arm off of him. His initial position, as well as Hugh's arm, stopped him from doing so however. He opened his eyes and stared at his ID mask. Plumbers rushed around him, many joining civilians, human and alien, to get the table flipped upright.
He felt Hugh's arm shift. It tapped his side pretty softly considering what Hugh was. His heart raced in his chest, and adrenaline coursed through his veins. If the aliens didn't get him, the Plumbers would. If they didn't, which he doubted occurring, the Incurseans would take him. There wasn't an alien species out there who didn't want a Galvan mind as a spoil of war, even if it was trapped in a human shaped cage.
"Vaxasaurian right?" He heard someone ask.
"Y-yes." Hugh spoke still not one hundred percent aware. Hugh's arm reached around Albedo fumbling, probably searching for his glasses.
Albedo froze under his arm, flashes of dreams where Humongosaur took pleasure in tearing him limb from limb flooding his eyes.
"Can you shrink down for us? You're weighing the table down. We can't move it as you are." The voice was female, resembling an older woman speaking to a child.
"...O-oh!"
He felt Hugh's arm shift off of him. His eyes widened, as he noted Hugh wasn't on top of him anymore. As civilians on the ground next to the table climbed from it, Albedo did the same.
"With me on three!"
"Get a good grip on this table, everyone!" Someone else shouted.
Various voices shouted, when they got a good grip.
"One! Two! Three!"
His legs hurt, but among people calling for him, he took off in a fast limp. He heard a familiar voice say, "I'll get him," but he paid little mind to it.
He stumbled up the stairs in the back of the Safehouse, vaguely aware of the weapon weighing on his back. When he reached the top he leaned against the wall with a hand.
"Albedo."
He jumped and turned around, wielding his weapon with the speed of a seasoned veteran Plumber.
Swamps held up his hands.
Albedo narrowed his eyes at the Methanosian and lowered his gun. He pressed his back against the wall and slid down it. "Go away." He muttered.
"Where to?" Swamps stepped forward, "Plumbers are everywhere, and I don't think you really want me to." Swamps knelt in front of him. "You hurt anywhere?"
Albedo only stared at him.
"No one can help you if you don't speak." Green eyes looked at him in frustration.
"I'm not starting that again."
"Was talking about you being injured, not whatever's going on in your head." Swamps folded his arms. "And I used to think I was the most stubborn alien ever."
Albedo rolled his eyes.
"Fine. Whatever." Swamps sat next to him, leaning his back against the wall, "They won't miss us too much. It's too crazy down there. Not even Ryo's having luck calming anyone.
"Ryo won't be able to. The humans see him as an alien support, since he's openly shown his allegiance to the Plumbers."
"Then..."
Albedo fished his D-Terminal out from his pocket. Luckily, it was one of the few things that hadn't gone flying. It was missing a small portion of it's casing however, but that could be easily fixed. "Locate Takato Matsuki." He spoke. The piece of equipment beeped a few times. "Send location to the closest D-Arc."
Swamps leaned over looking at the device while Albedo fiddled with it, ignoring his actions. "They'll listen to him?"
"More than Ryo. I am not certain why. He has managed to calm civilians down before. Personally, I'm more inclined to follow Ryo."
"Takato's not too bad." Swamps, rested his arms on his knees.
"You don't know about, how do they say it, his dirty laundry?"
Swamps chuckled, "Guess not. Luckily, I don't wear clothes."
Albedo smirked, rolling his eyes. He sent a message to Takato via text. "I suppose it's their luck that he's already in the building."
"Don't you mean our?"
"Humans are down there, freaking out and quite near shunning a room full of aliens all capable of killing them with ease. We need no luck." Albedo pressed the back of his head to the wall. He looked up at the ceiling. "I..."
Swamps looked at him, "Huh?"
"I think I sprained my ankle or something." He spoke softly.
Swamps moved so he knelt in front of him, "I'm no healer, but you know I'm the best with splints."
Albedo just held up his D-Terminal. A dot marking Takato's location blinked on the map on the screen. It's position updated every thirty seconds or so, a red dot slowly traveling through the schematics of the building. He opened and fiddled with settings on his D-Terminal as Swamps wrapped vines around his ankles, seeing as he hadn't indicated which one was injured.
"The Incurseans are ridiculously giddy." Takato's voice spoke from the D-Terminal. "Shh, Guilmon." Takato whispered as he traveled.
Albedo needed to turn up the volume on his Terminal.
Swamps looked up at him.
Albedo placed a finger to his lips "He can hear us." He mouthed.
Swamps nodded and studied his handy work.
"Bad out there?" Ryo questioned.
"Humans are trying to figure out who's a bigger threat." Takato responded, "It's crazy. What the heck is going on?"
"Not sure exactly." Ryo responded, "Aliens use disguises here in Japan. Way more than in other countries. Every single one just failed. At least the ones here."
"No alien disguises on the streets. I'm pretty sure I saw a group of the cutest pixies fly on by. Suzie would like them."
Swamps and Albedo looked at each other. Albedo closed his eyes.
"Is there a signal here? Like an extra one?" Takato asked a bit later. Both Swamps and Albedo heard Takato walk through the building. The footsteps, the jacket and shifting of his clothes and Guilmon's heavier footsteps.
"Oh, that's Alex." Ryo responded quickly.
Albedo rolled his eyes.
Swamps gave him a look.
"The Plumber?"
"Yea. He's cool." Ryo replied.
Albedo lowered his head and held in a scoff.
Swamps gently pushed his shoulder.
Albedo looked down at his D-Terminal. Then he quickly stood and grabbed Swamps. The two entered a restroom. He muted his speaker on the equipment. "Takato." He spoke as Swamps looked at him.
He leaned against the sink, purposely facing away from the mirrors. He looked at Swamps, who looked at him, in silence. He looked back at his D-Terminal and switched connections so he was connected to Ryo's D-Terminal instead of Takato's. The duo heard two sets of footsteps pass them by. Swamps sighed as the footsteps died down.
"He's taking his time huh?" Swamps questioned.
"Humans tend to do things slowly."
"Hah." He shook his head. "Course you'd say that." He sighed again. "We're in some deep shit, huh?"
"When everything dies down the Plumbers will come after me." Albedo looked down at the floor. "They will then connect you, Hugh and Fridge to me." Albedo looked at Swamps.
"Pretty sure when you break into a prison, you know what you're getting into." Swamps folded his arms. "I know you're all about your independence, but I don't regret any help I've given you whether you wanted it or not, and I'm not gonna let you make me regret it either."
"The Incurseans are more important."
"No, no they're not."
Albedo looked at Swamps. "Are you insane? There's currently an invasion that could destroy the very planet we are currently residing on, and you claim it's not important."
"Not more important than you." Swamps looked away, rocking on his plant feet. "You can help all you want, but if it turns you into a right mess at the end, was it worth it?"
Albedo stared at him. He wasn't sure what was wrong with the look he gave him, but he knew two things: Swamps confused him, and Swamps didn't like the look he gave him.
"Shit...What the hell do they do on Galvan Mark II?" Swamps ran a hand over his eyes.
"Work towards not going extinct. As most species on planets tend to do." Albedo replied in a bland voice.
Swamps sighed, "...Never mind." He pointed to Albedo's D-Terminal. "Anything new on that doohickey?"
"Humans still say doohickey?" Albedo raised an eyebrow.
"Hell if I know." Swamps shrugged his shoulders.
"Al...?" Ryo's voice spoke out, the second Albedo turned back on the volume.
He turned on the D-Terminals microphone, "I'm here, Ryo."
"The hell happened to all the ID masks? Are you alright?" Ryo questioned
"One of two things. Once I get some equipment up and running to check further I'll know for certain. The Incurseans either jammed the signals that help ID masks to function, or they took down the entire system. Think of it like how an EMP takes out electronic equipment, temporarily. This however is more of a permanent situation..." He looked up at the door of the stall in front of him.
"Until the Incurseans leave." Ryo questioned.
"Precisely. We could find their equipment being used to disrupt the ID masks, and break it, but the second we leave, they'd start rebuilding it."
"Pretty sure they fried them, or some of them." Swamps coughed.
"So, you were the fire starter." Albedo looked at him.
"It wasn't a big one, and I didn't hurt no one. The darn mask shocked me and a bunch of other aliens. Caught us all off guard. Freaking ridiculous."
"That probably was what happened to Humphrey." Albedo spoke, "The Vaxasaurian sitting next to me."
"Shit." Ryo spoke, "He flipped the table over."
"People went flying." Rika added in her comments. "It was like a full line of convertibles just flipping over in a terrible car accident."
Takato whistled, "Are there any serious injuries?"
"Not so far, but we're really out staffed medically. I can't imagine how it is at other Safehouses." Ryo replied, "With everyone up in arms, it's only a matter of time before something big happens." Static among the quiet of the tamer's conversation and the filtered background noise of panic chatter filed out Albedo's D-Terminal. Albedo and Swamps looked at each other.
"Let's give the panic a rest here!" Takato shouted. "HEY!"
Swamps whistled as the background and panic died down. Albed muted his microphone.
"Yes, there are aliens among us. Yes, they hid in plain sight, but right now, they're being attacked by Incurseans alongside humans. Every single alien and every single human! The Incurseans attacked our buildings. Now they're attacking the other aliens directly. And ya, we just got caught in the crossfire of such an attack. The aliens may seem scary and weird and odd or whatever, but they're hurt just like us. They are bleeding and physically injured, just like us. They're trying to make a better life for themselves on a new planet, just like humans do when we move to a new city or country. They think we're odd, and scary and weird or whatever too. They feel just the same. And as beings who hurt and feel and have compassion, we help each other during tough times. Look around you. If you're human, there's a nonhuman helping you. If you're an alien, there's a human helping you. Helping to overcome this Incursean attack. So let's overcome our fears and skepticism and work together!"
Swamps looked at Albedo.
Albedo leaned up against the stall door with his arms folded. Albedo focused on the D-Terminal in his hand. "That was a terrible speech."
"It shut up all that screaming." Swamps retorted.
Albedo rolled his eyes.
"I liked it more than Ben's speech."
"A Cerebrocrustacean could give a better speech. There's no real achievement here."
Calmer conversation of people coordinating activities quickly replaced the previous panic heard via the D-Terminal.
"It still amazes me that you can do that, gogglehead." Rika commented in a haughty tone.
"I didn't do much." Takato's voice wavered, "At most, I told them the enemy of my enemy is my friend in a ridiculously long winded monologue. Is that the word?"
Albedo looked at Swamps with a bland expression.
Swamps scoffed and waved his arms dramatically.
"Ryo does a much better job." Takato continued.
"Civvies haven't really listened to me in the longest time. It's annoying at times, but I'm glad for it." Ryo spoke in a solemn voice, "A Plumber's flagging me. Make yourselves useful minions!"
Albedo shook his head.
Swamps laughed.
He could just see Rika and Takato staring at Ryo in his mind.
"So, what's the plan?"
Albedo looked at Swamps.
"I know you're not running. There'll be Plumbers looking for us. We gotta get Fridge and Hugh. Make sure they're okay. Then there's Henry's bodyguards, including Ms. Bitch." Swamps sighed as his shoulders slumped, "How the hell did we get into this mess, and how the hell are we getting out of it?"
"We are not." Albedo walked towards the bathroom's exit. "We are betting that you are wrong, and everyone involved is smart enough to see that the Incurseans are most important for the time being. That they are the greater threat."
Swamps followed him obediently.
"For now, we're headed back to the apartment." If Swamps had realized that was code for Albedo not being ready to return to the Safehouse, he hadn't said anything or made any sign that he did. For that Albedo was grateful.
He stiffly walked through the halls with his hands in his pants pockets. If Swamps noticed him ever so slightly shaking, he again didn't mention it. He wished to run into an Incursean. They were the idiots who started this. They had made an already difficult situation all the worse. It wouldn't be so bad if Jenrya had been here, but the Incurseans took Jenrya from him too.
Plumbers were stupid, like Incurseans, but nowhere near as annoying. More than the anxiety that filled his very being, the want of the Incurseans to go away overwhelmed him. He needed to get back to work as possible, Plumber threat be damned.