Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
What Happens in Bellwood... – Chapter 60
Originally Written: Thursday, February 16, 2017 1241AM to 337AM
. . . . .
She stayed quiet as she watched him, yet her presence still unnerved and annoyed Albedo. Juggernaut alerted him to her prying eyes, but not her identity as it usually did with other plumbers in the apartment. Maybe he had never met her before? Maybe he had, but Juggernaut wouldn't tell him as she wasn't a threat to him? Maybe she wasn't a she? She could be, but many females walked around the apartment as males. Sometimes they shared identities to give any outside prying eyes pause in looking at the mundane ongoings of an apartment building.
He carefully finished tacking on the curtain rod on the wall over the mirror. He made sure it was secure. It took no time at all. He wondered if anyone besides her noticed. He couldn't remove this one, so he took on the next best task. He dropped a simple thin cut sheet over the rod.
He looked at horrid red eyes, disgusting pale skin and monstrous white hair one last time before letting the trimmed cloth fall. He smiled the barest of smiles as his reflection disappeared behind the cloth.
Terrible that she caught him taking care of the last one, but it had to be done. It could not wait a second longer. Better to do it on a day someone more important wasn't here.
He was certain Jenrya would find disappointment and he did not want to step back into the world of those wretched stares. He knew what he was doing. He pulled on his long black sleeves as he exited the bathroom. It was better this way. He could blame the guards or something. Jenrya thought they were crazy and cruel enough.
She sat quiet, taking all sorts of notes in that book of hers. No matter, he knew what was best for him. No one else did. No one else could. Not his mentor, or Tennyson or the plumbers. Not Jenrya, the other Tamers, the digimon. No way.
He passed a small pile of wooden backed boards carefully stacked up against the wall. Exhausted and perhaps relieved, he flopped down comfortably on the couch. He stretched his legs out and closed his eyes. He'd move the screwdriver and nails later.
He heard papers shuffling, and scrunched up his eyes. "Why are you still here?"
"Our appointment isn't over yet." She replied simply.
He picked up his D-Terminal sitting on the table and looked at the time. "Pity." He put the device down.
"Ever the optimistic one."
He scoffed, "What do I have to be optimistic for? Nothing." He looked at her for just a moment. "Nothing for one such as I. Born with intelligence greater than an overwhelming amount of life forms known. Cursed with this..." He waved a hand.
"Cursed with what?"
He rolled over facing the back of the couch. He considered his options carefully. Would she squeal to him? To them? Despite whatever NDA's she, or he had signed? Would she point Tennyson in his direction? He looked at his hands. He gripped the edge of each long black sleeve with its respective fingertips. He raised his arms and looked at the pale skin of his hands. Jenrya so liked touching his skin. He couldn't understand why, even with the explanation of romantic or sexual desires to guide him. He blinked a few times. "What does it matter?" He spoke softly to himself.
'Illogical conclusion.'
"He is already here."
'Incorrect statement. Illogical conclusion.'
He fell back onto the couch. He tilted his head. He felt his hair shift, saw strands of white partially cover red eyes. "Cursed with this wretched appearance." He looked up at the ceiling.
"You hate the way you look?"
He laughed. A slow chuckle that sent chills down his own spine. "This is not what I look like. Wrong. All wrong." He murmured. He looked at her. She didn't stare at him. Not how anyone else did. Maybe they already knew. He pulled at his shirt sleeves. "I am a mighty Galvan. No sane Galvan would want to look like this."
"Like?"
He glared at her. How could a plumber not understand!? Not one! Not one! It made his insides cold. The way they just expected him to accept the guise of his nightmares. From Earth to Galvan Mark II and back.
"Is that why you moved all the mirrors?"
"I couldn't look anymore." He rolled over on the couch. He felt his shirt ride up his back. He pulled it back down. He wished he had a longer shirt. But perhaps he didn't. A longer shirt would be a larger shirt. It may not fit his shoulder's right. It may show off more disgusting pale skin. He held in a shudder and sneered in disgust. "I'll move them out the way later."
"Albedo?"
He waved a hand.
"What do you look like?"
He raised his head and gave her a blank stare. "A lowly human as yourself, call yourself a plumber and not know what a Galvan looks like?"
"I am a psychologist first," She replied, "but I will use the resources given to me in a more efficient manner."
"You almost impressed me." He laid back down. He hoped Jenrya would take his time in coming to visit today.
She chuckled softly.
"I did try my hardest to keep the mirrors, truly. Jenrya will see something off, and he will stare as though my mind is gone." He growled out, "He'll see the missing curtain in my room. It'll be terrible. I hate that look. My mind isn't gone." He closed his eyes, and curled up on the couch. "My body. My body and my form which were mine and mine alone. Taken from me and replaced with this-"
"You do resemble Ben Tennyson quite a bit. I heard you aren't too fond of him."
"He is a monster! A nightmare! A plague upon my very being! An insult to anyone with a modicum of intelligence! A nuisance who dares to upstage anyone worth a damn!" He clenched his fists, "What I wouldn't give or do to open the eyes of the sheep! Those who keep their ears and eyes closed, unwilling, unseeing, unbelieving of the threat he and the Omnitrix create!" His heart beat wildly in his chest, as his breathing became ragged and erratic.
He wasn't sure what he said for some time as he shouted, but he knew it was true. The lights flickered and he still yelled. The plumbers care nothing for him, and nothing of them.
"No, I want to hear him." She protested.
He wasn't sure when he stood, but he knew he pointed at her currently. "You! Hear me!? So you can mock me!? What worth are you to me!? I'll not have it! To take my words and send them to Tennyson! To my mentor galaxies away!? T-to torture and speak slander of me! I'll not have him overshadowing my words, showing to me at night with that watch of mine, mocking me in front of the Greatest Fool to ever cross the distant stars!"
Someone grabbed his arm. He struggled, wide-eyed as they moved to push up his shirt sleeve. He looked at the plumber guard and screamed. A loud wail that made his throat sore within moments. The lights shattered and popped and exploded. A large needle pricked his skin. He threw his free arm out, a long swirl of dark bluish pink lashing out at the guard. It shattered in pieces, crackling loud like glass.
He fell back on the couch, dazed. He blinked a few times, his vision hazy.
"Just like Mr. Wong. Fascinating."
His heart calmed. He couldn't remember what he was yelling about. He pulled down his shirt sleeve.
"Do not mention that name, Doctor. We've been over this before."
He looked at the guard. Juggernaut roamed around in his head, causing the barest tingling. Not enough to cause discomfort, but enough to be a nuisance. He lethargically raised a hand, and massaged his head, fingers combing through unkempt strands of white hair. He felt a bit more of his mind clear as he watched this lady, this annoying persistent ant of a woman walk to the table.
She knelt on the floor and pressed her hands palm side down on the table in front of him. "Albedo?"
"The sedative doesn't work as normal. It only calms him. Doesn't put him to sleep."
He looked up at the plumber again. He nursed his right arm, slowly running his left hand against the forearm.
"Let's take a deep breath together, okay?"
He looked at the woman and blinked a few times. He breathed in slowly as she counted from five. Her eyes were bright, and she did not stare. He couldn't remember why that was okay, but he found it was. He dropped his arm as he exhaled and inhaled again. He felt as though he were yawning.
"Albedo?"
He pulled at his shirt sleeves, "Hm...?"
"Can you understand me?"
He dropped his head, pressing his chin to his chest. He breathed in deeply again, as he closed his eyes, "Go away."
"Okay." She spoke softly.
He got the feeling she was lying.
"May I show you something first?"
"Doctor!" The annoying plumber guard protested.
"Will you go after?" He so knew she lied.
"Yes." Her voice sounded familiar.
It still felt like she was lying. What was wrong with this guard? He rubbed at his arm. He lifted his head anyway.
"Doctor! You're defeating the point of the mask."
Small brown eyes looked at him, neatly settled on a face of milky white skin. Thin stringy black hair framed the woman's face. A plain white mask sat on the table underneath her hands.
Albedo smiled a wry smile, "You are not a plumber."
"No, I'm not. Do you remember me?"
"Doctor Matilda Iris. Isn't it against something to do this? You are Jenrya's doctor?"
"What do you think?" She looked at him as though she were holding a regular conversation with him.
He slumped into the couch, "I think that I am not crazy."
"I know." She smiled at him.
"And therefore I do not need you." He breathed in deeply as though he were holding in another yawn.
"But who would I talk to then?"
He turned his head and pressed his hands against his pants.
"I'm glad you decided to speak to me today."
He huffed and looked at the wall, "Whatever for?"
"Because now I can help you."
"I'm not crazy." He snapped, feeling some of his strength returning.
"I know, but you have been hurt, and I would like to help you."
He narrowed his eyes, looking at her. He looked at the guard. He couldn't tell if the male looked annoyed or pleased.
"If you want me to," she continued, "you're quite smart, and with your brains and my knowledge of people's interactions, I'm sure we can assist you."
He blinked slowly. He remembered when the Board of Education wanted to test his maturity and sanity. She had stood up for him then, though he hadn't asked. He wondered if she would do that again, even if he rejected her. She was an odd human. Odd humans were all he ran into lately.
He looked down at his lap, suddenly feeling small. Here he was, a couple hundred years old and at this moment he could relate to the sixteen and seventeen-year-olds running around feeling inadequate and stupid and overly unfit for life anywhere, let alone Earth. He pulled at his shirt hem. He supposed they were better off than him though. He looked at the doctor and nodded ever so slightly.
They were not stuck in the form of their nightmares.
