Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
The Invasion – Chapter 28
Originally Written: Monday, July 13, 2015 146PM to Monday July 20, 2015 151AM
. . . . .
Albedo looked around as he stood in the corner of the Mr. Smoothy restaurant. He pressed his hands against the wall, fully ready to sprint. Ben Tennyson's various aliens watched him, green eyes blazing with frustration and fury. They stood oddly stiffly and not one had yet to make a move towards him.
Daring, he took a side step, slow as he could. They did not move, or seem to notice that he had moved. Quietly, nowhere near willing to make any bets or questions as to why they frozen in place, he took off out the smoothy joint. He sharply turned around and looked at the door. It swung back and forth like a person who couldn't decide if they were coming or going.
His heart slowed ever so much, but remained quick enough to pump adrenaline through his dreaming body. He stared at the door and slowly backed away from it. No aliens busted out the joint, destroying it in their rage and haste as they usually did. From the outside, it looked as though no one was even in Mr. Smoothy.
He took down the street, every once in a while looking behind him. His head turned every which way, and he stumbled on his feet as he turned around and around, observing. He kept looking to answer the question he dare not risk jinking himself to ask.
He somewhat passed the To'Kustar sitting on a building, minding its own business. Somewhat because he had really had no chance at passing such a large creature in his slow, small state.
The streets of Bellwood had not a sound in its name. Not a sound in it's streets or a person who called Bellwood home around. Even though nothing charged at him, and nothing tried to kill him, fear wrapped its cold arms around him, embracing him alongside the cool night air.
He looked up at the To'Kustar again. He dared not ask the question, but as a scientist and a man of question, he nearly could not help himself. The To'Kustar was not watching him. It was always watching him, that much he knew. Except for this lonely, quiet time.
He followed it's line of vision and nearly froze in his movements, his breath stuck in his throat. A feral To'Kustar, in all it's feminine, purple donned, gray skinned glory, sat seductively staring at the To'Kustar Ben marked as WayBig. One leg crossed on the other, showing off clear, smooth, gray legs leading up to short purple articles of clothing meant to be shorts, but clearly designed as feminine underwear. It's upper half rested on a building next to it, and yet another held the weight of it's arm which propped up it's head. A purple bra barely contained the feral alien's assets, and Albedo was almost certain that those assets were a part of what held Waybig's attention.
The building the feral To'Kustar sat on struck Albedo as odd. It stood taller than any building in Bellwood he knew of, and it reached high above the surrounding buildings, determined to reach beyond the clouds. It's dark outer walls immediately placed it as a building new to Bellwood, or perhaps not even from Bellwood! As he studied it, he realized one of the feral To'Kustar's legs was behind the building and the other in front. The creature's leg's wrapped possessively around the building.
Albedo's eyes widened, "This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Building! What is it doing here?" He lowered his eyes in thought. He looked up and caught sight of pale human skin and deep blue eyes. "Juggernaut?" He took a step forward.
"Hypnos is where we reside." Juggernaut, once again stealing Henry's physical form, spoke in a dull, synthetic, robotic voice. "Hypnos..." It's voice trailed off.
He looked at the Feral To'Kustar. It's attention shifted from WayBig to him. He noted that Waybig focused on him now as well. He shut his eyes.
"Unidentified entity." Juggernaut spoke.
Albedo quickly spun around while swinging his fist. A tall male Incursean caught his hand in a strong grip. The Incursean dressed in form fitting black, showing off his in shape physique. Black shades covering his eyes gave off an air of cool superiority. A suave stereotypical bad boy that could have any Incursean female swooning and kissing his boots.
"Uploading data."
The odd version of Jenrya spoke as the Incursean dropped Albedo's hand. In a quick movement, the Incursean grabbed his black shirt. His red jacket flopped and fluttered at the force. Albedo looked solemn, defeated, and caught as he realized once again there was no escape for him. Ben Tennyson's arsenal of alien's charged towards Albedo, as though they were taken by blinding rage, fueled by embarrassment that Albedo had somehow gotten so far.
The Incursean's long tongue shot out of it's mouth, quick as a bullet and wrapped many times around Albedo' nose, mouth and throat. Albedo reached his hands up and attempted to pull the muscle from around him, but it would not budge. His hands stuck on the tongue as he kicked at the new alien. The Incursean easily dodged, being taller and stronger than Albedo, and it's tongue tightened around Albedo's head.
Albedo saw spots in his vision as he pulled at his arms. He imagined Juggernaut standing behind him just watching him struggle in vain against the Incursean. Pain wracked his chest, throat and head. He heard a sickening crack and suddenly everything from his neck down went numb. He fell in a heap on the asphalt only kept in an upright position by the Incursean's tongue. He felt liquid run out of his mouth, flooding against his face for it had nowhere else to go. He closed his eyes and consciousness left him.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt surprised that he even did so. Someone was yelling at him, in a panicked but hushed voice. He looked at his arms stretched outward by Fridge's hands tightly holding onto his wrists. He saw Hugh standing behind Fridge, teeth chattering and frantic eyes looking around. He felt someone hugging him from behind.
"O-oh! Not good! N-not good!" Hugh cried.
High lungs burned and yet he only stared.
"You gotta breathe, Albedo." Swamps spoke in his ear.
He looked around the small apartment, was it an apartment? He saw bars on all the walls and windows. Suddenly, he gasped and sputtered, spittle flying from his mouth. He pulled at his arms, the urge to check his neck overwhelming. He was alive, but now he was trapped. Fridge dropped his arms, looking at him in surprise.
When he found that Incursean, he'd kill it with his bare hands! He touched at his tender, hurting throat. He pulled at Swamps' arms, taking in deep gulps of air. The arms around him let go and he quickly attempted to stand. He fell to his hands and knees against the floor. He breathed heavily, wheezing and gasping. His head pounded and something or other he sure hoped was rage tore at his eyes, liquid blurring his vision.
How dare those degenerate frogs take Jenrya and trap him in Hypnos! He heard footsteps and running water. He heard more footsteps and Hugh knelt next to him and held out a glass of water to him. He threw out his hand knocking the glass and water to the floor.
He stumbled to his feet, eyes watching him as he swayed. He stumbled out the room with little resistance. He scoffed when Swamps said "He's gonna kill himself with these dreams."
Oh this was no dream. Filthy degenerate frogs had his Jenrya! He leaned against the wall in the hallway and slid down to the floor. He rubbed at his throat. He leaned his back against the wall behind him. He sat and stared, slowly recognizing the mumbled jumbled mess that was his mind.
Someone sat next to him sometime later. A pale skinned girl with white curly locks matching his own. She looked up at him with shining brown eyes. A wheelchair sat behind her waiting to be used. She tilted her head so she was underneath his tilted downwards head, looking up at him. "Did you have a nightmare too? Mommy says it's important we don't make ourselves sick with worry."
Albedo looked at the girl. Süß's daughter, one of her two children. "Hello Schokolade."
She smiled up at him, "Hi." Her smile showed off a mouth full of missing baby teeth.
"Shift your legs around. Even as a paraplegic, it's not possible or healthy to sit like that."
The girl looked down at the odd split her legs formed. A delicate skirt covered much of them. "Mommy says daddy's legs do whatever they want too." She pulled one, and then the other, with surprising ease so her legs laid out straight in front of her.
"Better."
She smiled at him. She fell into childish rambling he ignored, though it reminded him of the faintest memories back on Galvan Mark II where all he had to worry about were chores. He needed to find a way to let the others know of Jenrya's predicament. Though he dreamed that part, every fiber of his being told him that the odd mix of Jenrya and Juggernaut who only existed to speak to him while it watched him die was telling the truth.
Still, he could not just tell the others. Nearby Plumbers may ask him for proof. The tamers would ask for proof as well. "I had a dream," would not suffice with all the Incurseans bumbling around. He needed to find something that would give them the evidence they all would accept.
He stood and walked away. Schokolade followed, feet not touching the floor as her legs dangled occasionally flopping like noodles.
"You forgot your chair." Albedo spoke calmly as he worked to put the unhelpful portions of his dream out of his mind. the Incursean stayed in the forefront no matter what he did.
"Oopsies!" Schokolade giggled.
"On this floor it doesn't matter, but there are humans on the lower ones."
"Okay, Mr. Albedo."
The male nearly cringed. That had a terrible ring to it. Wasn't anywhere near as terrible as an Incursean title luckily.
He walked back to the apartment he left. He ran a hand against the wall next to the door. Just a trick of his mind. No bars lined the walls. No signs of any kind of containment cell. He quietly entered, Schokolade following him. He ignored Fridge, Swamps and Hugh looking at him. The water he spilled was cleaned up already. The faint smell of food permeated the dwelling.
"Hey there kiddo!" Swamped called with a wave.
Schokolade floated up and down, as though mimicking a human child jumping. "Hi, Mr. Swamps!" She smiled brightly.
As the trio huddled around her, Albedo muddled through boxes of old electronic things that could be used or were in need of repair.
"I had a nightmare." Schokolade spoke up as she followed the trio into the kitchen.
"Oh yea?" Swamps replied.
Albedo heard dishes and utensils clatter around from the kitchen. He went through a small closet and pulled out an old but still sturdy box.
"The In-frog people were beating everyone us!" Schokolade cried, "Daddy said they're like simple minded App-appo-Apopxians!"
Albedo shook his head as he set the box down and placed various electronic pieces in it.
"Don't worry." Fridge replied, "We will rid Earth of the Incurseans sure enough."
"Yay! Mommy said that too! Daddy says it'll go fast because we have Mr. Albedo and he's much smarter than Mr. Ben!"
Albedo stared at the box. By now it was decently full of electronic scraps. 'Superior...' He rested his hands on the edge of the box. He ignored his aching knees. Was he the reason why the aliens mainly in the apartment were so at ease? No...that couldn't be. Not stuck in this monstrous form. She only confused him with Ben, just as many others did. Surely their minds would change when they realized he was not Ben. They'd be wrong now, but their minds would stay firm to the new belief.
"Albedo?"
He looked up at Hugh. His human form reminded him just a bit of that cursed Incursean. He so wished to suffocate him and break its neck all in one motion.
"A-are you alright?" Hugh twiddled his thumbs.
"Why would I not be?" He snapped, returning his focus to sorting electronics.
"You were gone for an hour."
'No way.' Albedo clamped his jaw shut. He could not have sat staring at a wall for over an hour as a result of a dream. A part of him imagined for a long while, that an Incursean shot Tennyson in his head instead of shooting him off to space. He stood and clenched his fists. He nudged the box with his foot.
Obediently Hugh picked up the box. Silently he waited for Albedo's next orders.
"We can't afford to waste time. The Incurseans will become suspicious if they see me with this box." Albedo called.
"You don't want to eat first?" Fridge stood in the doorway, his robe falling off as a shoulder as it was loosely tied.
"No. As I said, time is of the essence."
Fridge nodded, looking at him with concern. "We'll wrap you up something." He leaned back into the kitchen holding onto the doorframe. "Don't forget your ID mask." He lingered for a bit partially in and partially out the kitchen.
Albedo walked to his bag sitting next to the display of folded sheets in the corner of the living room. He grabbed the appearance altering device and placed it on. He walked to the bathroom and checked his appearance. Alex Strong looked back at him, more of a human and less of a monster fashioned after Tennyson, but incorrectly believed to be lower than just another of his pawns.
He closed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "The Incurseans will not know who tore them to shreds." He walked out the bathroom and back into the living room.
Swamps handed him his temporary possession, a standard issue Plumber blaster. The very same blaster he had the other day when the Incurseans first showed up. It wouldn't do anything against the Feral To'Kustars, but a standard weapon given to the grunts was more than enough to take down any Incursean peons who happened to cross him today. He sure hoped none did. He'd have one dead Incursean and an entire apartment complex of civilian prisoners of war.
Schokolade floated next to the kitchen doorway, hands oddly holding onto a Tupperware of food nestled neatly into a bag. Fridge, Swamps and Hugh looked at him. He barely gave them a return look as he headed out the door. They followed him in obedient silence.
