Hello Ultras! I am back from my unplanned hiatus. I'm trying to get back into a rhythm, we'll see how long that lasts. For the time, expect chapters sporadically, but they will still be posted. Thank you for the continued reviews, follows and favorites, I really appreciate them.
There are three instances of choice language. The first is in the paragraph which starts with, "I tried that, Neb replied bitterly." The second is in the paragraph which reads, "Hey! Ben tried for a nonchalant approach..." The third instance is in the following paragraph.
The soundtrack for this chapter is "Wake Me Up When September Ends," by Green Day. You can listen to it on youtube by going to YouTube com/watch?v=V2joP93HHzs. It was hard to narrow down a soundtrack for this chapter, as it was both long in writing, and has several different tones. But I think that this song does it best.
Enjoy the chapter!
The Ultra 10 Chronicles Volume 3: Storms Gathering
Chapter 72: Back to the Beginning
Central California
Neb shifted in his seat at the mall, trying to find a comfortable spot on the cheap sofa. He absentmindedly scrolled through the playlist on his Omnitrix. Across the plaza he heard the annoying sound of a child throwing a tantrum and its mother trying to hush it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar face approach him.
"How long have you been waiting?" Eugene asked with his usual cheerful attitude.
"Not too long, about fifteen minutes," Neb replied as he stood up. "You finished your shift?" Eugene nodded.
"I don't know why you don't just apply to work there too," he offered as the two teens walked out of the mall. "You seem an alright-enough guy. Got a bit of an anger problem, but I've seen worse. Shoot, my manager Chris has a worse anger management problem than you…"
"I don't belong here," Neb replied.
"I'm just saying that getting back to wherever it is you're from would be a lot easier if you had money of your own," Eugene said. "Instead of just waiting for the universe to align." Neb winced a bit at the unknowing mention of his double life. The two teens approached Eugene's car and got inside. He started it up and began driving it towards Mr. Smoothie's as they'd made their unofficial ritual each evening.
"What's on your mind?" Eugene asked, looking over to his friend. "You're not usually this quiet."
"I don't want to talk about it," Neb equivocated.
"If you don't let it out, it'll just eat you up inside," Eugene quipped.
"Enough with your parents' ridiculous sayings!" Neb groaned.
"Then out with it!" Eugene prodded. Neb groaned.
"I'm not exactly who you think I am," Neb began. "I-I've done things I'm not proud of…"
"Who hasn't?" Eugene replied as they pulled into the parking lot of the smoothie chain. "But what's important is that you learn from your mistakes, and do better tomorrow."
"It's not that easy," Neb said. "I…" The words felt dry as they died on his lips.
"It sounds like you need to confront your past," Eugene guessed. "Whatever's eating you up inside, you gotta face it down."
"I tried that," Neb replied bitterly. "It didn't end well. I lost everything I had in this world. I lost my grandpa, my cousin, Hell! I lost everything we've sacrificed for!" He took a breath to calm his quickening heartbeat. "The worst part of it is… is that… is that I think I deserved it…" Neb felt tears start to well up in the corners of his vision. He forced his eyes closed, trying to force the tears back down.
"I don't know who I am anymore, I don't know where I am… I don't know why I'm here… And I think I'm being punished by fate or something." There was a moment of silent betwixt the two teens.
"You'll find it," Eugene said simply. The simple words forced Neb to look at him. "You'll figure it out soon enough, and you'll find a way to get back to where you belong, and with the people important to you. And in the meantime… we've got Mr. Smoothie's!" The ridiculous comment forced a scornful laugh from Neb. The two teens stepped out of the car, slamming the doors behind them.
"Neb!" The teen heard his voice be called out from behind him, sending a shiver down his spine. He spun his head around to stare at the owner of the voice.
"Newg? Xam?" Neb question perplexed to see his cousin and grandfather running from across the street towards him. It was hard for him to realize what was happening, right until Newg threw him into a hug.
"We've been looking so hard for you!" Newg exclaimed as soon as she broke the embrace. Xam stood a pace back, giving the two cousins their space.
"W-what are you guys doing out here? I thought the PLUMMERs captured you?" Neb questioned, still unsure whether he was actually seeing them here.
"Xam here broke me out," Newg said, jabbing a thumb back at the old man. "We've been trying to locate you ever since. It's been difficult without you using your Omnitrix."
"It was smart of you not to though," Xam piped in. "Using it may've tipped off Team Ultra about where you were before we could prepare."
"Prepare for what?" Neb asked.
"For round two!" Newg exclaimed. "You don't really think that we were going to just let them have the last word, did you?" From behind Neb, Eugene walked up with four smoothies in a paper tray.
"Hey, thought I'd let you guys get…. Uh…" He awkwardly stuttered mid-sentence upon seeing Newg closer-up. Instantly he began to sweat nervously. "Get, uh… re-uh… acquainted." He looked down at the smoothies nervously. "I'm uh… Eugene…" Newg gave him a quizzical look.
"Those smoothies? They for us?" She asked. Eugene awkwardly nodded his head.
"Y-yeah, they're um… B-berry Blue, uh… lime-mango, sweet-radish… and that one's um… Oatmeal Supreme…" he squeaked out, his charisma as fleeting as his confidence. Newg swiped the Bery Blue smoothie in a fluid movement, giving it a long slurp before nodding her head in approval. At the nod, Eugene seemed to gain a little confidence.
"You must b-be Neb's cousin?" He stuttered out, still not entirely able to speak properly.
"Who is this?" Newg questioned Neb as Xam reached for the sweet-radish smoothie.
"This is Eugene," Neb introduced his friend.
"Yeah I heard him mumble his name," Newg cut in. "But who is he? What's he doing with you?"
"He found me here after I got out of the Void," Neb filled in.
"Yeah, still not sure what the whole "void" thing is," Eugene admitted. "Sounds like some sci-fi thing."
Xam narrowed his eyes at the curly-haired boy suspiciously. "We should find somewhere to talk plans. Alone."
"Eugene's been good to me," Neb defended the subtle remark about the teen. "He's good to keep a secret, right Eugene?" The teen nodded his head.
"My parents' house has a gazebo my dad built in the backyard, it should be private enough." He fished his car keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car, inviting the two new visitors in. After an awkwardly-silent drive, they pulled up at the house. Eugene led them around the house and into the back yard.
"Here it is!" Eugene introduced them to the modest gazebo. There were a few lawn chairs set up around the railing, and a BBQ grill in the center. Newg plopped down in one of the chairs, as if she were sunbathing, despite it being already late into the night. "So, what are we talking about? Some sort of plans?"
"I said alone," Xam reiterated pointedly.
"Eugene's good to stay," Neb reiterated as well. "He's good to keep a secret."
"I say let the kid stay," Newg spoke up from her seat. "I'm not afraid of him tattling to the PLUMMERs."
"The plumbers?" Eugene questioned, confused. "You're afraid of leaky pipes or something?"
"Like I said, he's no threat," Neb said. Xam sighed annoyed, but didn't fight it any longer.
"Team Ultra's got a club that they've put together, call themselves Deputies of Ultra Lord or something," Xam began. "They've been giving the police over in Bellwood a hard time…"
"Bellwood?" Eugene asked. "Isn't that where that crazy alien invasion thing happened last year?" Xam glared at Eugene. "Sorry, please continue."
"Anyway, they seemed to have gotten out of hand, and required the PLUMMERs to help take them down."
"How is this important?" Neb asked.
"One of the guys that came out of the fight is some upstart calling himself Captain Nemesis," Xam explained. "And he's got Team Ultra's attention."
"Okay?" Neb reiterated.
"The PLUMMERs are focused on crowd control, rebuilding their HQ, training new agents and stepping in for the police," Newg explained. "Team Ultra is focused on this Nemesis character. Meaning that both are very distracted right now. So we can choose when to strike Ben and how to strike him, and they're going to struggle to do anything about it before we are out of there." Neb sighed. He'd heard snippets from the news, but nothing in detail. Still, he was struggling with this question for several days.
"Is it necessary to even strike him?" Neb asked. "I mean, killing him won't get us home any faster. It'll just paint a target on our backs before we're ready to leave."
"Wait, you mean kill him? Like, in a figurative sense, right?" Eugene asked. All three Tennysons ignored him.
"I can't believe what you're saying," Newg said. "It was your idea in the first place to take it to Ben and that team of his. Now you want to just let him go free? He almost killed you!"
"Because I was targeting him," Neb countered. "And it ended in a mess. You and Xam got captured, I barely escaped into the void, and if it wasn't for Xam, you'd be in a maximum security PLUMMER cell right now!"
"We'll use Captain Nemesis to our advantage," Newg countered back.
"We used Alex last time, and it still ended terribly. What makes you think this Nemesis guy will make it any different?"
"It sounds like Neb's made his mind up," Xam broke from his silence. Newg shot a betrayed look at him.
"You're taking his side?" She spread her arms in protest.
"You guys aren't talking figuratively, are you?" Eugene reasoned. He looked at Neb. "You really tried to kill this Ben guy?" Neb felt a little bit of shame in his chest. It was a heavy, sinking feeling. He hated it, but he wasn't sure if it was because of Eugene, or because of what he was saying to his cousin.
"Look, it's not like that…" Neb started before Eugene cut him off.
"I thought you were a good guy under there," Eugene bit back. "Like yeah, you're rough around the edges, but I didn't think you'd try to kill anyone?" The shame was definitely coming from Eugene, and it was starting to feel mike guilt now.
"Eugene…"
"Go away," the ever-happy teenager shot back with hurt in his voice. "I guess I was wrong about you." With that, Eugene left the gazebo and headed into his house.
"So he's the reason," Newg observed from behind him.
"He's what?" Neb questioned.
"You're actually enjoying life out here, aren't you?" Newg accused.
"I just don't see us going up against Team Ultra again and winning," Neb countered. "And even if we did win, its not like it would get us back into our own reality."
"You'll thank us later for what we're going to do," Xam said solemnly.
"About to do?" Neb questioned, growing anxiety in his voice. "What are you about to do?" He glanced at Xam who stared daggers of ice into him. He glanced over to Newg.
"Immobilus," she said, freezing him in place.
"Newg, what are you doing?" He questioned.
"I'm getting my cousin back," she said. "Whatever the cost." With that, a fireball sprung up in her outstretched palm.
"No, Newg, don't do this!" Neb pled. "Please Newg, don't do it!"
"Do it," Xam prompted her. Newg nodded.
"Circumdata ignis," Newg breathed out as a column of fire shot out, encircling the house. The night lit up from the flames.
"No! Eugene!" Neb screamed. "Eugene! Get out of there!" Neb was helpless to do anything but watch as the flames grew higher. Soon the inferno sent plumes of black smoke into the sky as the house burned up inside. Before long, firetruck sirens wailed in the distance.
"Newg? It's time we disappear again," Xam prompted her. Newg nodded.
"Invisibilis," she said, casting a charm on the three of them.
"Why?" Neb asked, tears still running down his cheeks. "Why?"
"You need to get your head back in the game," Xam answered him. "And he was holding you back. Just like Mot, you have to cut off the extra weight if we're going to be able to defeat Ben and his team."
"Off to kill Ben," Newg affirmed. "And we need you, Neb, if we're going to stand a chance."
"I hate you," Neb sobbed. "I hate you both!"
"You'll thank us for what we had to do," Xam replied. "When you finally kill that brat of a hero, you'll thank us."
Ruins of Nesmith Tower
Nemesis' suit powered on, the HUD inside his helmet cracked in multiple places, distorting the image outside. Not that there was much to see, it was pitch black.
"Powering on, running system diagnostics," the suit's female voice said calmly. "Severe damage sustained to multiple systems. Top priority, Nitron core compromised. Nitronic acid leaking out of battery cells. Nitronic acid may cause irritation and other unspecified damage. Immediate service is recommended."
"Ugh," Carl groaned. He felt like he'd tried to stop a train by standing on the tracks and waiting for it to slam into him. Every muscle in his body ached, and he was sure that he had multiple broken bones. Still, he was alive, and he wasn't complaining about that. He tried to move his arms, finding his left one pinned down, and the other had a sharp pain running through it. He felt a burning sensation in his right leg, no doubt the Nitronic acid. But he was unable to do anything about it now. Even if his arm wasn't broken, or his other one pinned down underneath a slab of rubble, he was still trapped underneath a pile of the stuff, and he wasn't sure if he could get himself out.
From outside, he heard multiple police sirens, and the sounds of construction equipment working to clear some of the concrete, steel and glass that littered all around the area. With any luck they'd be able to get him out.
"Ahh," Carl groaned again, the acid burning into his leg seriously uncomfortable. It felt like was a fire, slowly heating up as it burned its way through his flesh. The sensation was probably what woke him up in the first place, but although it could save him, it was not pleasant in the least. He felt sweat bead his forehead as he flexed his muscles trying to squirm away from the acid, but feeling his broken arm, and apparently broken leg, scream in response. He breathed in, attempting to shout out to the police, but felt his shattered rib dig into his lungs, stopping him from shouting out, and rather whimpering in pain. The pain from all around him started to crowd out his ability to think. Despite the pain from his broken limbs, Carl tried to move again to get away from the burning acid on his leg.
"There's someone over here!" Carl heard someone shout from a distance away. He started to loose consciousness as he saw the rubble around him be cleared away. With a sigh of relief, he blacked out.
"Ugh," Ben groaned. It felt like every bone in his body was broken, and every muscle bruised as well. A throbbing headache pounded in his head, and it was painful to even think, let alone breathe. Eventually he cracked open his eyes, wincing at the blinding light that burned his pupils.
"Ben!" Someone shouted next to him. "How do you feel, Ben?" The sudden noise made him wince again in pain, his lips letting out an involuntary groan of pain.
"That bad, huh?" Another voice spoke up. "I'd better give him a little more morphine." At that, Ben felt a cool liquid flow into his arm, numbing the pain as it went. It was a welcome relief to the bevy of aches sharp pains. Somehow he lost consciousness, perhaps able to sleep thanks to the relieved pain.
It didn't feel long before he was awoken again by voices talking just distant enough to be unintelligible. Ben opened his eyes again, this time able to cope with the bright light stabbing him.
"How are you feeling?" Julie's voice spoke out of the ether.
"I've been better," Ben managed to mutter. "I've been worse too."
"Not worse than having a building fall on you," Kevin's voice joined into their conversation. Ben's eyes were still adjusting to the light, but he could make out the blurry shape of Julie not too far away from where he lied.
"Honestly, its a miracle you weren't crushed by the wall," Julie commented. Ben blinked, his vision sharpening enough to look around him at the medical bay of the Guardian.
"How…" Ben muttered.
"-Did we get to you in time?" Julie finished. "Your suit sent a signal to Cooper. We located you, and Gwen teleported us there. Good thing too, you both were in quite the mess."
"He was in the mess," Kevin clarified. "I'd have been able to shake off my injury, even without your attention."
"You would've gotten tetanus, or who knows what else in your shoulder," Julie replied. "At the very least, you'd have been out of commission for a lot longer. And with Ben out for now, we're already short."
"Yeah, whatever," Kevin grumbled. "I didn't say that I didn't appreciate it, just that I would have been alright without it."
"You, however," Julie turned her attention back to Ben. "Are going to have to rest for a few days, at least. You cracked a couple of ribs, and got a nasty gash across your chest. Cooper's NanoMech is a lifesaver, but even it has its limits." She stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and walked towards the door. "Meanwhile there's someone that's been dying to see how you've been."
Ben smiled, the movement gave him some mild pain, though it felt like it was greatly suppressed. As soon as the door opened, Gwen stepped inside, locking eyes with Ben. A mixture of frustration, worry, exhaustion and relief emanated from her eyes.
"Hey," Ben tried for a nonchalant approach waiving his hand. In response, Gwen stepped forward and slapped him square in the face. "Ow! What the hell?"
"You think you can do whatever you want, just because you have that damn watch on your wrist?" Gwen exploded. "Like nothing you do affects us? Like you can't be killed? Is that it?"
"Obviously not," Ben retorted. "Otherwise I wouldn't have broken ribs and be in a hospital bed!"
"Then do you have a death wish?" Gwen fired back. "Because you keep acting like you got one!" A moment passed between them, Ben still offended and surprised in equal measure from the slap. But then he heard the quiver in Gwen's voice.
"We didn't know where you'd gone… We didn't know you were hurt… You could've died, Ben. And I would have never known where or how." Ben glanced back up at Gwen's face, seeing the tears welling up in her eyes.
"It was my problem to deal with," he blurted out. "And I thought that I'd be able to handle it."
"Do you not trust us?" Gwen asked, her tone now definitely upset. "Do you not think that I can fight too?" She sniffled, trying unsuccessfully to keep some composure.
"I…" Ben trailed off, not entirely sure how he should respond. "Carl became a threat because of my mistake. I misjudged him, and he became a threat because of me."
"And we all get to pay the price if he kills you," Gwen finished. "Which he almost did. When will you understand that not everything revolves around you? We're a team, aren't we? Let us support you." Ben could feel a pit in his gut that told him she was right. Even with the morphine in his veins, he felt terrible.
He wasn't used to apologizing, he wasn't used to admitting he was wrong, and he wasn't used to admitting that he needed help. And he didn't particularly enjoy any of it. However, the alternatives were even more unpleasant. He'd hurt Gwen, seriously hurt her, and the same was probably true for everyone else on his team. His team, the team that he'd built, that had come together to help him. And the team he'd been treating like second-rate sidekicks at best.
"Fine, no more solo act," Ben relented. "I won't try to run things on my own again. I'll be a team player from now on, I promise." The words tasted strange in his mouth. At the sound, Gwen looked up from the floor she'd been focusing on. Her eyes still glistened with tears, but it wasn't all pain anymore. There was a glimmer of trust in them as well.
"You'd better keep that promise, Ben, or I'll put you back in that hospital bed, just to be sure of where you are," she said, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Ben nodded.
"That stung, you know," he said, rubbing his cheek.
"Well hopefully you remember not to be a total Doofus by running off by yourself," Gwen shot back. She started walking back towards the doorway before hesitating. Quickly, she glommed Ben in a kiss, shocking the teenager.
"What…?" Ben started after she ended the kiss.
"Get some rest," Gwen cut him off. "We'll need you on the streets as soon as possible." With that, she quickly made her way out of the room. Ben nodded, closing his eyes and relaxing, exhaustion quickly dragging him asleep.
Later that afternoon, Bellwood First National Bank
Ethan stepped out of his car, walking up to the front door of the bank. Striding inside, he looked around for any possible security devices. Several cameras were positioned around the lobby's ceiling giving good coverage of the entirety of the room. The only way for him to keep his identity hidden would be to wear a mask, although he wasn't sure how much it would matter anyway.
"Can I help you?" The teller asked, noticing that he'd entered the bank, but hadn't approached the tellers. Ethan focused on the middle-aged woman in a neat blouse and skirt.
"My name is Ethan Marius, and I need to make a withdrawal," Ethan said. "No wait, that was stupid to say my name. Let's try that again…"
"Can I help you?" The teller asked. This time Ethan focused on her name tag pinned to her blouse.
"Hey Jill," Ethan tried for a friendlier approach. "I need you to let me into the vault, if you don't mind."
"Excuse me?" Jill replied, confused.
"Why can't I come up with anything clever?" Ethan blurted out. "I'll just have to try it later…"
"Can I help you?" Jill asked.
"Nope, have a good day!" Ethan said cheerily as he turned around and walked out of the lobby. Jill looked at him confused, unsure as to Ethan's strange behavior.
"Maybe I should just ignore her and go for the money?" Ethan questioned outside the bank. "It might get me farther along before I have to rewind and try again…" He nodded, liking his poorly-thought-out plan so far. "And I probably should bring a gun too, at least in case it gets out of hand." With that in mind, he got into his car and drove off to get his pistol from his house.
A/N: That's it for this one. We reunited Neb's trio, and introduced a new character, Ethan. What do you think happened inside the bank for that strange interaction? How is Ethan going to impact the story going forward? (*Hint* It is going to eventually lead to a storyline we never got to see in Ben 10: Omniverse, as well as more U10C-specific arcs.) We're not quite done with Captain Nemesis, but he'll take some time recovering. If you have any feedback, good or bad, make sure to leave it in a review! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next chapter!
Review Responses:
jasongd: And another great chapter congrats. I'll be waiting for next chapter! BWEN FOREVER!
Thanks, man! Glad you enjoyed it so!
yraj2004: Very very happy to see you again bro. Hope everything's going good for you.
Glad to be seen on this site still! Life's busy, but what else is new? Feels good to write when I can find the time.
