Ben draws Hope in close to his chest and out of the line of sight of the window. The sound of gunshots zipping through his aunt's house gives the man a spike in adrenaline. The spray of gunfire halted as abruptly as it had begun, and the car slipped off Gwen's front yard and raced down the street. Ben, who had shielded Hope with his body, remained still until he was certain the attacker had vanished. His heart fell at the sound of a blood-curdling cry. Upon raising his head, he witnesses Gwen hurriedly approaching Natalie Tennyson, who was lying in her own blood at the moment.
"No…" he mutters.
Ben looks down at Hope, doing a cursory check for injuries before hurriedly heading over to help Gwen. He is unsure of what to do as he stands over them. Gwen does her best to maintain her composure as she holds her extremely motionless mother. She used magic to try to heal her, but no matter what she did, her mother refused to open her eyes. She is cradling her mother while tears stream down her cheeks. Ben could only relive the image over and over in his mind, still in disbelief. The situation's steepness has finally hit, bringing with it a rush of incapacitating despair and agonizing rage.
Another individual close to the man has been injured. In the heat of the moment, he was helpless despite having all this power on his wrist. No, he wasn't helpless; granted, he couldn't stop the incident, but he would definitely get revenge.
The automobile speeds along the street at night, blowing through stop signs and swerving around corners. A few goons hoping to earn some serious quick cash were the occupants of the vehicle. They were short on finances and considered this bounty to be a gift.
"Yo, you think we got 'em?"
"Ain't nobody surviving 130 rounds."
"Well I heard the hit was on Gwen Tennyson," the driver comments.
"Ben Tennyson's kid cousin?" the passenger scoffs. "And if it is?"
"You ain't worried about Ben finding out?"
The passenger was quiet for a moment, "Fuck 'em."
Deciding to stop talking, the driver concentrates on driving. A brilliant orange light enters his field of view, prompting him to swerve to escape whatever the bright object is. Heatblast observes as the vehicle passes him by and collides with a tree. He witnesses three armed guys stagger out, aim their weapons at him, and shoot without thinking. Before the bullets ever make contact with Heatblast, they melt. Empty cartridges and magazines fall to the ground, indicating that the attackers had become even less dangerous to Ben.
"Are you done?" Heatblast growls.
The driver's eyes bulged with confusion. Why was Ben 10 at this particular location? Just now, their greatest nightmare had materialized right before their eyes. How do they act and what are their options? Become obedient and plead for forgiveness? There was nothing they could do after shooting up his cousin's home. The man felt a wave of terror sweep over his whole being; he has faced his own mortality. Few individuals can truly understand how dire things are when they face approaching death. The years of life he believed he still had had been reduced to a few minutes.
The driver casts a quick peek toward the individual he was recently chatting to in the automobile. Even though he was staring at the alien with disdain on his face, the guy remained still in this dire predicament. The initial shooter who fired at Gwen's house was the only one to move, and he fled down the street. The man had hardly taken ten steps before a jet of flame consumed him entirely.
It happened so quickly—like a bolt of lightning—and filled the air with heat. The chauffeur looks at the ground. As the other shooter reaches into his jacket to retrieve a hidden weapon. The man's stupidity in pulling a pistol on this beast astounded the driver. One shot sounded in the darkness, and it wasn't directed towards Ben. The sound of the corpse striking the ground causes the driver to twitch slightly. As the alien approached, the driver felt himself whispering prayers to himself.
The unexpected fall of rain heightens the suspense and heightens the horror film ambiance. In the hopes that this is all just a terrible dream, the guy tightly shuts his eyes, afraid to look at the extraterrestrial. The man's clothes were eventually soaked by the sudden rainstorm that swiftly intensified. As the raindrops evaporated due to the extreme heat, he could hear the sizzling noises of steam emanating from the alien. The man could tell when Heatblast was directly in front of him because his garments dried swiftly. He felt his spine tingle at the crackling of the flames.
"Who sent you," Ben says with a gruff voice.
"N-nobody-"
The flames explode in height, enveloping the man in a bubble of sweltering heat. He felt as if he were roasting to death in an oven.
"I swear! I swear man!" he cries out. "It was just a bounty job."
"WHO PUT OUT THE HIT!"
The alien's fiery glow soon dried up even the man's tears. He could never have imagined finding himself in this predicament. It was meant to be a fast job; he wasn't going to get his hands filthy; he was only going to be a driver. It was all for the sake of keeping food in his daughter's mouth. There was nowhere else for him to go. His foolish brother told him all he had to do was drive, so he didn't even know the context of the work until he arrived at the house. However, that was all irrelevant now that he had reached the end of the line.
"I don't know…I'm just a driver."
There was a brief moment of silence before Ben spoke, "Then you're useless to me."
The man's eyes enlarge upon realizing Ben's assertion. There could only be one meaning for that, and he knew it. For the first time, he saw Heatblast up close; the monster appeared to him to be a mound of sentient molten rock. Heatblast glares at the man with narrowed orange burning eyes.
"Please man I got a d-"
The man's head was consumed in a scorching inferno before he could complete his sentence. It was a horrible but quick death, and Ben feels the man got off lightly. Ben tenses up when he notices a presence behind him.
"Is this what you ran off to do?" Hope quivers. "To slaughter people in the streets?"
"You say that like they didn't just shoot up my aunt's house."
"I say that because you left your cousin holding your dying aunt in her arms."
Ben shivers at the mention of death and his aunt, "Is she okay?" Ben asks. Ben went crazy not knowing what had happened to his aunt during the brief period of quiet that shrouded the scene. "Is she-"
"For now," Hope answers. "Gwen stabilized her but they're taking her to the hospital."
"...okay."
"But she needed you there and you just up and left."
"I'm going to the city," Ben said, ignoring the woman's previous statement.
"Why?"
"To look for clues," the man finishes. "Don't follow me."
Hope stands there watching the burning extraterrestrial shoot out into the night sky. She didn't even bother to respond. In the long term, it would be so much simpler for everyone if she let Ben do what he needed to. She didn't see that Ben was evolving and that things weren't as cut-and-dry as they first believed. It wasn't for the better or for the worse; it was just change, and it was what he desired. Attempting to revert him to his former self would be futile; in fact, interfering with his transformation would be detrimental. They only needed to step back and wait for the individual to emerge.
Ben moves toward the metropolis, or more precisely, the areas of the city that are plagued by crime, shooting through the air like a missile. He felt awful for acting so coldly toward Hope, and he felt even worse for leaving Gwen alone at the time. But the man had to take responsibility for this; he had already failed to save one life today. This comes to an end tonight. He'd have to travel to the criminal underworld to discover who put out the bounty on his cousin. Not a world he knew much about, but Kevin's connection had benefited them in the past.
Although it wasn't his style to mention names, he will have to do so to achieve his goal. He's Ben Tennyson, but he's searching for information, not a battle. His final resort will have to be to try to intimidate others. Ben landed on a club's rooftop that was well-known for serving as a cover for the shady selling of extraterrestrial weaponry. Even though he despises arms merchants, he will have to be diplomatic in order to achieve his goals. Even Gwen is unaware of Kevin's past visits to this location, where their departed friend used to hang out. After taking off and discarding his immediately identifiable jacket, Ben descends the fire escape and enters a dimly lit alley.
Ben saw a busboy come out the side door and discard two large trash bags. Without making a sound, the man slips past the staff member and goes into the club. Slinking from the kitchen into the corridor, he slips by a gullible bouncer and into the dance hall. The dance floor was nearly completely occupied; to say the venue is packed would be an understatement. He shoves past patrons to get to the booths and tables that are reserved. He was trying to find the VIP area. Ben hurriedly heads over to the VIP entrance after spotting it in the corner. He wanted no unwanted person to identify him. Just as Ben got closer to the door, a bouncer appeared from the opposite side and sent him a shady glance.
"You're not allowed to be here," the bouncer says, putting his hand up.
"I want to see the owner."
"Yeah right, get the fuck outta here."
" It's about business," Ben states bluntly.
"Didn't I tell you to fuck off?"
"Tell him Kevin Levin wants to chat."
The man looks at Ben suspiciously and then returns to the VIP area. A few minutes later, the bouncer reappears and gestures for Ben to come in. Ben follows the bouncer around, making an effort to look the other way as several unlawful activities take place at the booths and tables. The bouncer gestures for him to enter a door at the end of the hallway. Ben is a little taken aback by the room's furnishings, which all seemed to be at least a million dollars apiece. In all his life, he had never seen so much gold. Ben shifts his focus to the individual seated at the desk ahead of him. In their office chair, they were facing away from him, turned around. Ben hears the unmistakable click of a handgun just as he is about to move forward.
That was most likely the quickest a strategy has failed for the man. If there weren't a pistol aimed at his head right now, he would chuckle. The last thing he wanted to do was turn to plan B. Ben is about to raise his wrist when the individual who's hiding starts talking.
"You know I believe in many things; money, power, privilege. But I never thought I'd see the day I would be talking to a ghost." The man spins around in his chair with a frown on his face. "That is if you actually were Kevin Levin."
"I need your help," Ben states.
"Oh? The great Ben Tennyson wants my help?"
"I need information on someone who put out a hit."
"And why the fuck would I help Kevin's killer?"
Ben's blood runs cold.
"Yeah I know your dirty little secret; it took some digging but I looked into it, God knows nobody else would."
Ben's silence is damning.
"So again I ask you; why would I help Kevin's murderer?"
"I didn't want to kill-"
"Save it for someone who cares; you did it regardless of what you wanted or didn't want to do."
Ben feels a knot in his gut and a longing to throw up in his throat. This guy was shoving it in Ben's face as if he wasn't Kevin's best friend—how could he know he killed Kevin? However, this man is correct; why should he aid him? Given their apparent friendliness toward Kevin, it seems inexplicable that a friend would assist their murderer. Ben couldn't possibly turn it to his advantage.
"I always told Kevin the hero's life would come back to bite him in the ass; I could have given him honest work, but he was determined to change for the better," The owner spoke gracefully. "Look where that got him."
"Someone just shot up my cousin's house and damn near killed my aunt."
"And here I was thinking you wanted to come say hi."
"The offenders told me that there is currently a hit out on my cousin, Gwen," Ben grumbles.
"You think I did it?"
"I need help finding out who did," Ben corrects.
"What happened to the shooters?"
Ben stays quiet but exchanges a cold glance at the man.
"I see." The man picks up a cigar and lights it. "Out of respect for Kevin's romantic interest in Gwen, I will throw you a bone."
Ben stares at the man waiting patiently.
"There's a new alien dominating merc work in the area; if you need somebody strong-armed or killed then that's your man. Thing is, it's real tough to get in contact with him but word on the street is he gets his jobs from 31st and Martin."
"What is on 31st and Martin?"
"The hub for any merc work floating around."
"That doesn't really help me."
"You asked who put a hit out on your cousin and I just gave you the location of the place where all the goddamn bounties in the area come out of. If you wanna know who's gunning for your family then I would start there."
"Thank you."
"Consider that your one and only favor from me. May Kevin rest in peace. Now get the fuck out of my club."
Ben hardly had time to reply before the bouncer threw him out of the club. Ben traverses the streets with a fresh destination in mind. He is considering how to handle this; he could murder everyone inside but that one individual and extract the information from him. Ben shakes his head, there's already enough blood on the streets. It wouldn't be possible for him to enter with the most recognizable look in the cosmos. As much as he would like to think otherwise, he needs her support. Ben had to figure things out on his own; he couldn't bring her into it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am back! Surprise! Happy birthday, Happy Holidays and New Year! I AM BACK!