Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
Another Myself – Chapter 91 Part 1
Originally Written: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 ~600PM to Wednesday, October 11, 2017 1220AM
Song: Susumu Hirasawa - Narshisas Jiben Kara Kita Hito; Anubis - Osiris Houtei ~Epilogue~
. . . . .
Jenrya's hand felt warm in his own, somehow fending off the cold of his fear. It seemed so hard to breathe on this world, to keep his composure. He wanted to run, but there truly was no place he could do so. He somehow handled all the Tennysons on the Digimon Adventure Earth with relative ease he believed. Did the knowing presence of what the masses foolishly perceived as a good Ben Tennyson truly make that much of a difference for him? The thought made him feel dead inside. The horror Tennyson put him and Albedo Prime through. This truly was no way to live.
He couldn't bring himself to speak anymore, and even if he did feel like speaking, he couldn't think of anything to say. He let Jenrya slowly lead him back to the scene of their previous battle. Many faces he already knew, and a few he didn't greeted him.
"You two alright?" Ryo stood next to Monodramon, a tired smile on his face.
He assumed Renamon had already come to, because she wasn't standing next to Rika. Albedo thought Rika's frown perfectly matched how he first felt when he was around the Tennyson back home.
He slipped behind Jenrya, who idly tapped his fingers against one of the guns hooked onto his belt loop. Terriermon jumped down from Rika's shoulder, and rushed to Jenrya, tiny feet tapping against the street.
"We're just fine." Jenrya knelt and scooped Terriermon up into his arms. "Where's the fearless hero?"
Rika snorted in response. Swamps rolled his eyes, at least that's what Albedo believed he was doing. In his current Methanosian form, he had no pupils.
"He went to scout around the area. The Ben's took off running like ants. I guess they thought there was no point after both Albedos skipped out." Ryo replied. "We're gonna meet up after he and future Ben are done."
From behind Jenrya, Albedo saw a taller, older, tanned woman with black hair and brown eyes. A sword hooked onto her back diagonally. Albedo wondered if she was bored, from the way she looked around with a hand on her hip. She looked at him, and nodded. Oh. She was waiting to see how long it would take someone to notice her. He assumed she hadn't been who was standing there before. Interesting...
"Your sword..." He spoke. He drew his eyes to the gold handle and hilt of the weapon. Was that weapon really what he thought it was?
She pressed a finger to her lips, and smiled. "Spoilers."
Ah. He nodded. The group looked at her. Swamps jumped back with what Albedo thought was a bit overkill for a shout.
"Whoa." Rika murmured. "Where'd you come from?"
She only winked at her. Rika folded her arms.
"She switched out with Ben 10K." Ryo jerked a thumb in her direction.
"Decent," The woman spoke softly, "but not enough."
"Not enough for what?" Frigga narrowed her eyes at her.
"Only two of you noticed that I'm new to the group." She looked around the area, "And one of them isn't even a person I expected to do so. One of them also wasn't even here to begin with. That's decent, but not good enough. Your instincts told me that I wasn't any harm to you, so you all let your guard down and didn't pay attention to me. You wouldn't think so, but Eon can do the same." She looked around once more. "He can trick you into letting your guard down by making you think he is no harm to you."
Rika shuddered. "Dammit."
The woman nodded to her. "The majority of you would be dead by now."
"I-I d-didn't even s-see y-you." Hugh shied away from her.
"I came along with Ryo." She replied simply.
"The hell you did." Swamps spat. "You weren't no where near him."
"She was hiding in the shadows." Albedo spoke up softly, "She didn't walk up until Ryo started speaking." He lowered his eyes, "You're older, but I can still tell who you are. Kai Green, reluctant ally of Ben Tennyson."
The woman performed a haughty sweeping bow, "A pleasure."
Jenrya held his hand tightly, "What are you here for?"
"As Ryo said, I switched out with Ben 10K. I'm here to take you to a safe place you can rest without being ambushed by Eon and his victims." She walked to the middle of the group, hair swaying. "All Plumber bases and related buildings or areas are no go. You, you, you, and you." She pointed to Fridge, Frigga, Swamps and Hugh. "You were planning on going home. You four are probably safe there, but the others are not. They'll be attacked before the sunrise."
"Don't they sleep," Terriermon whined. "Everyone needs to sleep. I need to sleep. This is ridiculous."
Jenrya reached his free hand up and patted the small digimon gently.
"Eon doesn't need to send the four Ben's after you. He has access to himself and quite a few bits of...advanced machinery." She turned around, walking past the group. No one followed her.
Albedo wondered why she didn't just say robots.
"Your instincts aren't wrong. You're all quite skilled and experienced. Trust your instincts, but don't let them control you." Her eyes swept over the group. Albedo felt her gaze deep within him. It almost made him feel confident.
One by one they followed, wary of her, but more afraid of Eon.
"So, you're the one who tasered Ben." She spoke up after a short while. She walked backwards, looking at Jenrya.
"I was trying to get him to stop." Jenrya clenched his hands. "He was only making things-"
"I should try that on him sometime." She snorted out a short laugh. Then grinned.
Frigga laughed a short trill laugh. Fridge only smiled a strained smile. Swamps laughed heartily. Hugh ducked his head and wiped off his glasses with a cloth he pulled from Albedo didn't know where.
"Y-you tasered Ben?" Albedo looked at him.
Jenrya flushed, embarrassed.
The knowledge made him want to smile, so he did. He smiled at his Jenrya. His Jenrya was fearless, or crazy. He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if it mattered either. He couldn't vouch for his own sanity some days. Either way, he knew where Jenrya stood, no matter what planet or timeline they stood in, and that brought him a greater comfort than he thought possible. "Did he flop around like a wet fish?"
"Did he!?" Terriermon spoke up excitedly. He quickly spoke of a dramatic story that somehow started with Ben being tasered and ended with Geckomon drinking Saki.
He shook his head in amusement. He looked at Kai. She walked confidently, her hands folded behind the back of her head, as though she were trying to lay down while walking. Albedo decided she was weird. The Kai Green he knew of Plumber records was a good deal more serious than this. Still, she wasn't Tennyson, so that was a boost in his book.
She led them to a small building that didn't quite look inhabitable from the outside. The foundation itself looked unstable, and the siding unfinished. Paint chipped all over the place. The inside however, revealed that it was a small single floor home, not suitable for everyday living, but perfect for setting up a base where one needed to scout the surroundings. She set everyone up in the kitchen, the only room large enough to hold everyone for the time being.
She pressed what looked to be a light switch on the wall in the kitchen, and the floor opened up silently, revealing a set of stairs.
"This is Paradox's work." Albedo murmured as she led them down. The walls were gray, a stark contrast from the white and green usually marking a building used by Plumbers and their allies.
"Yep. We needed something Eon wouldn't directly catch onto." Kai explained. "This way. We need to get you patched up. I'm not sure how bad your injuries are, but I can tell from your breathing you're quite winded."
Albedo wondered how long she and Ben 10K had been in this timeline. Was this one of their normal haunts that they used over the years? He touched his chest tenderly. He hoped Eon truly wouldn't be able to find such a place. She didn't say it, but he already knew. He could probably handle the four Tennyson's attacking him in his condition, but Eon was another story. Eon could have killed him easily before. Now he wouldn't need to break out in a sweat to do so. The thought made him shiver. Jenrya wrapped an arm around him, and sent soothing words to him mentally. Neither helped as much as Terriermon's ridiculous rendition of Jenrya attacking this world's Tennyson.
'Ben Tennyson Detected.'
Albedo resisted the urge to shield himself behind Jenrya. He straightened his shoulders, as Kai led them to a much larger sitting room. Jenrya immediately glared at the teenager sitting at the large table. The brown haired teen leaned back in his chair, resting it on two legs. He folded his arms behind his head and returned Jenrya's look with a casually raised eyebrow. Albedo wondered if this was Trang in disguise, and not this world's Ben Tennyson.
Rook coughed loudly and dramatically, holding a pale blue fist to his lips. Tennyson's look changed to a frown of disgust that left Albedo wondering if he swallowed a lemon.
Kai ignored the two and led the others to seats and refreshments. Jenrya stood in the doorway, still looking at Tennyson. Albedo couldn't move because Jenrya was holding his hand. He wasn't sure if he wanted to move anyway. Hugh fiddled with his hands, much like Albedo was used to his Hugh back home doing. The Vaxasaurian's gaze switched between him and Jenrya and Tennyson and Rook occasionally. Swamps watched them with a smirk, as he drank water from a glass. Rika and Ryo took seats next to each other. Monodramon sat next to Ryo, and Renamon stood behind Rika, as though trying to disappear into the room's few shadows. Ryo rolled his eyes as he watched Jenrya.
Rook coughed once more. Frigga started humming that odd prayer again, as they sat next to Fridge in their own corner of the room. Fridge gave them an odd look that Albedo couldn't read.
A female with orange hair cut short and familiar green eyes hiding behind dramatically shaped blue glasses entered from the door on the other side of the room. She wore a blue short sleeve shirt with a cat face on the front, and a matching blue and white plaid skirt. She calmly walked up to Ben and smacked him upside the head. Ben made a loud whining unbecoming sound. He folded his arms against his chest, a glare fixated on both him and Jenrya.
'No threat detected.'
Albedo released a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Thank you Miss Tennyson." Rook nodded in acknowledgment.
She gave him a terribly calm stare.
"Gwendolyn, I mean thank you Gwendolyn." Rook raised his hands in defense. Albedo swore he saw him shiver. Kai snickered from somewhere in the area.
Gwendolyn walked in front of Jenrya and stood there. She held up a finger, narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her face in concentration. Pure pink mana surrounded her finger. Very different mana from his odd bluish pink energy. She moved her finger so it was now in front of Albedo. Her eyes widened in surprise, "Oh! It's you!"
"Him?" Ben pointed a finger at him.
Albedo wondered if he'd like it if an alien bit it off. Too many times had he lost his fingers in one of his nightmares. He shivered next to Jenrya.
"He's who you're sensing?" A tall male with shaggy black hair stood in the other doorway. His short sleeve black shirt was full of jagged cuts around the hem and sleeves. He wore a striped shirt underneath the black shirt, and blue jeans. He rested a hand on the door frame.
'That's Kevin and she's Gwen, right? Who let them get dressed in the dark?' Jenrya mentally asked Albedo.
He ducked his head behind Jenrya's shoulder, so no one would see the unexpected smile he was failing at holding back.
'I'm so glad they don't wear this back home.' Jenrya continued. 'Like, what terrible friends they have to have, to let them go out looking like this.'
He circled around Jenrya and leaned his back against Jenrya's, holding his arms around himself. He clamped his lips shut, unsure if he was shaking from fear from them if they caught wind of his mirth, or from the laughter he wasn't to display.
"Mhm. Feels like it." Gwendolyn lowered her finger, "You don't feel ill do you?"
"Ill?" Jenrya questioned.
She waved a hand at him, "You wouldn't know what I mean."
'Scanning.'
'You cannot scan mana.' Albedo attempted to correct Juggernaut. Then he remembered that Juggernaut was the being that gave him the ability to use said mana.
'35 percent Energy reserved for healing current injuries.'
'Huh.' He heard Jenrya in his mind. 'Is that new?'
Albedo turned around when he felt safe to do so. 'Later. She's looking at us.' He raised his head from behind Jenrya's back.
"No..." Gwendolyn shook her head, "It's more than just physical injury. I can sense him healing from that." She tapped a finger to her lips. "Can I see your-Wait." She held up a hand. She partially leaned back, vision directed towards the doorway Kevin Levin stood in. "Would that go against the whole time-space thing?"
"Best not to risk it," Kai called from another room. "You never really know with these things, even if you think you do."
"Right. Got it." Gwendolyn stood up straight. "I'm Gwendolyn. Pleasure." She held out her hand to him.
Albedo stared at it. His mind knew that he should probably take and shake said hand, but his mind and body told him that she was a Tennyson. She was practically a slightly smarter, slightly...immensely stronger, female Ben Tennyson at that. Ben Tennysons around Albedo equal pain, a simple equation. So he stared at her hand, feeling like an utterly useless fool.
"Right." She moved on to Jenrya easily enough. Jenrya gingerly shook her hand. Albedo wasn't sure how he managed to do so.
"Hey hey! I wanna shake hands! You feel strong." Terriermon stood up on Henry's head.
"Really?" Jenrya questioned.
"Mhm. It's-"
Renamon appeared behind Albedo. He looked behind him for a moment and then quickly ducked. One of the tall Digimon's paws covered Terriermon's lips, silencing him. Albedo took in a deep breath. He glared up at the fox digimon. He decided to move. He circled around the two. He felt mana not his own, press up against him, as though testing him out.
He backed away further from Gwendolyn. He did not need to see her fight. From what he felt, he knew she was immensely stronger than Sakuyamon mana-wise. Rika folding her arms and glaring at the floor made a bit more sense now. The mana was not vengeful. It didn't caress him. It didn't push him away. For now, it did not care who he was or how Gwendolyn felt about him. It was just there. Sitting there in wait. Almost everywhere, waiting for her to use it. He didn't know whether to run from her, or the Tennyson sitting at the table. If he did run, who'd kill him first? How many of the aliens Tennyson had access to was she stronger than?
He walked over to Ryo and Rika. He sat himself next to Monodramon. He was closest to the corner of the room. He ignored Rika. She glowered even more intensely. Monodramon looked up at him. He ran a hand down the digimon's back. Monodramon's tail wagged back and forth. He wondered how strong his merger with Millenniummon had made him. He seemed to have the most energy remaining of the digimon here, yet he had fought the most, in his rookie form no less.
He shrunk back into the chair. Tennyson looked at Ryo with confusion and then looked away. He watched Ben do this for a long time, even past Gwendolyn sitting down next to his Jenrya and falling into quiet conversation with the others. Ryo rolled his eyes and hand signed a message behind Rika's back.
Albedo blinked. 'Stop that. They don't know.'; that was a message in silent Plumber communication. As though one would communicate silently in the military. What were they talking about, and what did Ryo mean? He looked at Tennyson. Tennyson looked away from Ryo, a frown on his face. He looked down at the table, as though racking that tiny brain of his for thoughts. He looked back to Ryo. Ryo sighed quietly and leaned back in the seat. He closed his eyes.
He looked around the room. Swamps and Hugh looked at him with looks of confusion. He wondered if they had seen what he had.
Frigga had stopped singing. They calmly stood. Fridge reached his hands up and grasped theirs. They sat down once more, and resumed their singing. Kevin Levin had disappeared somewhere. Albedo had few qualms with the Osmosian Human hybrid, but he still preferred having one less Tennyson supporter in the room.
"What are you singing?" Rika asked Frigga.
Frigga looked at her, their pale eyes unfeeling and calm. "It is a prayer. I am wishing Ben well in his battle. There are tough times ahead, but I know he will prevail."
Fridge ducked his head, blushing. Hugh and Swamps looked at her wide eyed. Rook and Gwendolyn looked at each other, Rook frowning and Gwendolyn's eyebrows furrowing. Albedo refrained from shaking his head. He folded his shaking hands in his lap.
Ben looked at Frigga surprised. He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Wow, thanks!" He smiled brightly. Even he seemed at least in part surprised that they would do such a thing.
"Many welcomes to you." Frigga smiled that odd Necroffrigian smile of theirs. If they were a human, Albedo would have hidden all the knives in every building they entered after the first time he had seen it.
Albedo refrained from correcting Tennyson. He didn't want to draw his ire. He sat with his back straight, staring at nothing in particular. 'Wrong Ben, Tennyson.' He tried to silence his thoughts with thoughts. Typical Tennyson. He'd just ran into like five different versions of him, yet he still was egotistical enough to assume that he was the only one anyone was capable of singing a prayer of support to. He deserved the omnitrix again, why?
Frigga easily resumed their hymn that left chills running down his spine.