I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 38: Billions

Tennyson Tower; Omnitrix City; March 8th, 2018; 2:14PM.

Within the command-deck dozens of floors above the ground, Ben and Gwen were both standing behind closed doors in the sectioned off med-bay where Julie ran tests on the latter's pregnancy. Being that both the Mother and Father had supernatural abilities, now even without the help of talismans or alien devices, checking on the health of their unborn child was their number one priority.

Spite being only a month into her gestation, she was already beginning to show the slightest of baby-bumps though, she insisted it just looked like she was getting fat. Julie typed away at a computer and prepared some gel in a white tube to lather over her stomach in preparation for an ultrasound.

"I'm not even delivering the baby and I feel like I'm gonna frea- Ahhh that's cold," she cringed out the last end of the sentence when Julie used her gloved hand to spread the awfully cold gel across her exposed abdomen.

Ben held her hand tighter than he had been to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, with a smile he looked down at her, meeting her gaze that she had aimed up into his eyes as well. Julie chuckled, "You can relax, Ms. Tennyson, pregnancy is a very natura-" she paused as she stared at the holographic screen where the images from the device gliding over the gel had been projected.

"Why'd you stop? Stoppings not good, why'd you stop?" Gwendolyn became even more agitated when she didn't receive an answer for several seconds, "Hello?"

Julie chuckled and turned back to face the two super-parents, a bit perplexed herself, she had to ask an uncomfortable question, "Uhm, okay, so, when exactly did you two… ya know, conceive?" she asked with her hands tucked into her white lab-coat pockets, swinging on her heels back and forth slightly.

Ben gulped and Gwendolyn only chuckled, glancing back up at him as he narrowed his eyes at the screen, "I think I might know where she's going with this…" an explosion of genetic energy blinded them for a moment as a bi-pedal frog the size of a pencil leapt onto the observation table to get a better look at the screen.

Julie unfolded her arms and pointed at the statistics scanned by the highly advanced ultrasound scans, Greymatter rubbed his chin and even stroked the thin whiskers the form had started to grow on his lower chin, "I see, the bone density is remarkable as well as its metabolic system processing at a rate dozens of times faster than any normal human fetus," Julie looked down at the most intelligent being currently on the planet, as his eyes widened at the screen before turning back to glance at Gwendolyn.

"What? Why are you both looking at me like that?"

Ben hopped off the table before transforming in a flash of light, standing upright with his hands on his hips, he sighed loudly as he wasn't expecting this revelation one bit considering the proof they had sitting around the newly installed holodeck just a few feet away.

Julie found Ben's silence as him going through just a bit of shock so, she did her job as she was paid to and broke the news for him, "The fetus is growing more rapidly than expected, it shouldn't effect either of your healths, however; beyond that it appears that its developing with some of the same properties Ben's superhuman physical attributes… it's too soon to tell what extent the child will exhibit these abilities," Julie brought up three more scans that diagnosed the fetus' vitals and development.

Handing her a cloth to wipe away the jelly, Julie expected Gwendolyn to have questions and boy, did she have questions; "Are you saying I'm going to give birth sooner than eight-months? Is he going to bust out of me with super strength or-or slice through my stomach with heat vision by accident?! What about-" she was calmed as Ben rounded the table and took her hand in his, helping her off the table as he did so.

"It's going to be fine; he won't be developing superpowers until he's at least out of the womb, what I meant was normally it takes eight-weeks to gestate before the embryo becomes a fetus, however," Julie pointed once again to the holographic screen that displayed their baby's information, "It's already beginning to form with bone density that's just a little above average."

As they were prepared to leave her new office within the command deck, Julie called out to them one last time, "Oh, and before I forget… you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, with all of the time traveling business Kenneth went through," she smiled one last time before turning around tapping away at her holographic keys, "Who knows, you may end up with a brand-new bouncing baby girl?"

Ben and Gwendolyn gave each other unsure glances as the latter wiped off her stomach and lowered her bright-blue blouse, giving it a bit of thought, they had never considered the idea that they may not end up with a son since the timeline itself had irrevocably altered by his arrival. Though, he didn't arrive until after their conception, now it really was anyone's guess how the pregnancy would turn out.

Before leaving the room to reenter the command deck, Gwendolyn pulled him aside to speak to her fiancé privately, "So, you really think he's- she's- it's going to be able to do all of the stuff you can do? Fly, shoot eye beams, super-strength?" she whispered as best she could, even making a cute gesture with her hands over her eyes flailing her fingers to represent energy discharges.

Ben reached up and grabbed her hands into his once more, instructing her to take a breath, as she inhaled it gave him a moment to speak, "Everything is going to be just fine, we have advanced tech, the smartest minds in the world, and all the money we could need; he, she, it doesn't matter to me because it'll have come out of you, and there isn't anything that could stop me from making sure our child is born safe and secure."

Gwendolyn's face turned beet red, grinning as she lunged herself forward into his arms, wrapping them around his neck for a quick yet passionate kiss, firmly pressing closer feeling the scruff from his growing goatee over her chin, "How the hell did I get so lucky?" she whispered the moment they broke apart for air.

"You never returned my favorite jacket," he chuckled, walking through the med-bay doors and out into the command deck but, not before turning over his shoulder and winking at her smoothly.

Cooper was at his large desk with four separate forty-inch holoscreens surrounding his field of vision, his hands flat on the metallic-desk, the screens were still being operated technopathically as the blonde super-human allowed his bright glowing blue eyes to scan across the planet via satellites he may or may not have illegally accessed.

Lucy and Rook were playing cards across the holodeck, apparently playing some version of gin-rummy though, it didn't look like the Revonnahgander was doing too well; Ben and Gwen approached the center of the room catching everyone's attention even Coop's spite his eyes never leaving the screens before him.

"Alright, so," Rook and Lucy stood up as the former collected the cards back into a deck, approaching the leaders of Team Ten Thousand, "Where are we on tracking this black ops Rooters team that's out to kill me?" Ben clapped his hands as all four of them turned to Cooper who still didn't take his eyes away from the information he was sifting through.

"No sign of them but," for the first time, Cooper stood and shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes still glowing with neon circuitry running into his iris', "Check this out; before he was impeached, the President was capturing alien children and training them as part of a military task force," bringing up images of the four they met in Bellwood only without their armor and years younger, "Here's the kicker, the designated leader of this squad? Kevin Levin," with just a thought a fifth screen appeared displaying the Osmosion's mugshot for lack of a better term identical to the others.

"So, when they say they want revenge for letting their best friend die?" Lucy remarked as she glanced back at the two heroes, prompting Gwendolyn to speak up.

"It was because Kevin probably kept them safe in whatever hell-hole that bastard had them in, he may have been a jerk but, not without a heart," Ben mentioned folding his arms and closing his eyes, ashamed of the Government he was doing his best to protect. Though it felt like the lies would never stop.

Cooper continued, reading off a log from one of the former President's personal scientist's mission reports even signed by the leader of the free world himself, "Take a look at this, 'While subjects Levin, Armstrong, Albright, and both Wheels siblings have made remarkable progress since their initial indoctrination, it seems they possess behavioral difficulties. Recommending immediate psychological reprogramming for more efficient results.' They must have literally been brainwashed to hunt you down and rationalize it whatever way they need to." Cooper shut his eyes, dispersing the other screens leaving only the single holographic report floating in front of the other four so they could read it for themselves.

Gwen spoke up next, taking a step forward as Cooper finally dispersed the holoscreen, "Manny said that after he was impeached the Government dumped them into the Null Void, sometime after Kevin escaped."

Rook spoke up for the first time, unfolding his arms as he detailed what he'd found while investigating Kevin's garage post his demise, "I did find an older prototype Null Void projector within Mr. Levin's belongings during my search of his work-shop, it is possible he had every intention on returning to the dimension to free them," he deduced which was a fair assumption, Kevin wasn't the type to make real friendships and then abandon them out-right, especially not friends that share his unfortunate circumstance so closely.

Lucy almost purred herself, swaying her hips with her hands behind her back, "Wow, cute and smart, you really are the whole package…" being that the females of her species were some of the most promiscuous in the Galaxy, Rook was very aware of how she could be even during serious times like this.

The team ignored this as Cooper sighed loudly, "I've been doing facial recognition on every satellite and Government network, legal or otherwise, all across the planet… whoever trained these guys must have been really good," his eyes flashed brightly once again as he gasped lightly only to sigh in disappointment… "I thought I saw a hyper-sonic burst on the highway fourteen miles from here, but it was just-"

As if on que, Kenneth as XLR8 phased through the wall and into the command center, slapping the dial on his chest as he exploded with emerald energy returning himself to normal. "Sorry, I was in California trying some of the best food there, ya know, in my future almost the entire state like totally fell into the ocean," he looked around at less than happy faces but, it didn't seem their frustration was focused on him, "What's with all the long faces?"

Ben suspired once again, rubbing his temples to relieve some of the stress, though Lucy spoke up before he could answer, "Your Dad is all frustrated because we cant find those assassins that tried to kill him," she was giving an oversimplification of events but, accurate none-the-less.

"Lucy…" Rook put a gentle hand on her shoulder as he muttered, it was clear the subject was a tad sensitive, Kevin never deserved to die, and these children were never meant to be raised by unfeeling military scientists.

Ben cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention, even Cooper who allowed his search to be put on pause, dispersing the screens that were hovering around them, "Alright, well, here's what we're going to do… Cooper, I need an alert application added to all of our phones, that way we can contact the rest of the team even if we don't have our Plumber badges."

"You got it, boss man," Cooper turned around and strutted calmly to his desk, his eyes lighting up once more as he entered the digital realm via his mind, accessing the cellphones of everyone in the room, including Julies.

Gwendolyn clapped with a smile, addressing the other females in the room, "Otherwise, I think the quiet before the storm is probably the best time to go out and finally pick a dress," Julie and Lucy nearly went wide eyed, smiling as they approached, "My Mom wanted to come along too but, she insisted on meeting us there for whatever reason," before she could even finish her sentence, a ping came over each of their cellphones aside from Rook who didn't ever wear civilian clothes and preferred his armor which had a Plumber's badge installed into it.

"All you guys have to do is swipe the red tag at the corner of your screens and hit the emergency alert button that pops up, when you do that…" Cooper demonstrated with his own phone which, once he swiped and pressed, sounded a not quite deafening but certainly attention gathering alarm as well as the overhead lights flashing in and out as it blared. Along with this, each of their phones that hadn't been touched also began buzzing and sounding with an alarm of its own, "Presto chango, I'm a genius," he boasted.

Julie looked down at her phone with a smile, amazed at how quickly he was capable of programming and installing an app wirelessly to their phones, "You certainly are," she noted as she sauntered toward him and placed a light kiss on his cheek, their relationship had progressed in the days following their first date, and even a second one a few days after that. Still, this didn't stop the pale-technopath to blush obviously turning a deeper shade of red than the alarm-lights that had just stopped flashing.

Gwendolyn gave Ben a peck on the lips before gathering up Julie, and Lucy; he knew he needed to ask her about Hope and what happened to Albedo that somehow resurrected him saner than he'd ever known him to be. Now wasn't the right time though, he couldn't bother her with all of that now, if Albedo was going to be civil about things than he saw no reason to be alarmed.

Rook, Ken, Cooper, and Ben were left alone in the command deck, the co-leader of their team still pondering what to do about the Rooters and about Albedo both being threats at the same time. Kenneth plopped himself down in one of the rotating seats that surrounded the holodeck, spinning himself around in boredom as Cooper returned to his personal desk and continued his search for the Rooters.

Everything was silent aside from the squeaking from Ken's chair spinning in place, Rook was looking over his proto-tool as he approached the youngest current member of their team, "Kenneth, you are a young male of an average attractiveness…" he strapped the rifle to his shoulder blade and took a seat next to the eighteen-year-old prompting him to stop spinning.

"I guess so, even if that's the weirdest way of telling me you find me hot I've ever heard," He wasn't sure where the Plumber was going with this but, he felt he needed to make certain he was clear, "I had… someone… back in my time and I hate to say it but, you aren't really my ty-" he was interrupted when Rook scooted closer to him. He still couldn't shake the memories of the times he shared with Chester before their final mission together, brothers in arms and partners in life… until the very end.

"While my assessment was correct, I too do not share those feelings for you, I was going to ask for advice with another attractive woman."

Ken raised his brows, giving a short sneaky smile to the Revonnahgander, "You sly dog, who's the lucky gal? Another Plumber?" he hadn't heard any fresh gossip in years since he graduated from military training when he was fifteen.

Rook blinked as a blush rose to the surface below his furry cheeks, "Actually, my species is closer to an Earth feline rather than a canine… but, to answer your question, yes she is indeed a Plumber," he answered sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Kenneth blinked for a second, noticing how he waited for the girls to leave the room before speaking up about and how he didn't ask Ben who was the only one on the team already engaged.

"You're totally crushing on Lucy, aren't you?!" he shouted toward the soldier in a whisper, though Ben could hear their entire conversation he was far too caught up in his own thoughts to pay any attention.

Rook glanced away embarrassed, not making eye contact with the boy, "Whenever we are alone I feel this sensation in my stomach, but not gastric distress… and when she touches my hand I begin to perspire almost through my fur, and-" before he could finish, Kenneth chuckled a bit.

"That's what having a crush feels like, and that stomach sensation, they're called butterflies," Ken leaned back in his chair as Rook pondered what they boy had just said, even rubbing his chin in confusion.

"How does one get these butterflies to vacate my ventriculus?"

"You mean your stomach?"

Rook simply nodded nervously as Ken stood up with him following suit, placing both hands on the Plumber's shoulders, and looking directly into his eyes, "Kiss her," he deadpanned, patting his right shoulder before turning and leaving him to think about it on his own.

Rook tried to rebuttal, "But, what if she does not reciprocate?"

"Dude, I'm an empath, trust me, she does," Kenneth was about to finish when an alarm similar to the one they'd just tested minutes ago began sounding though, Cooper shut it off immediately as Ben was pulled from his thousand-yard stare.

"Danger Alert just picked up a massive spike in radiation in downtown Reno, Nevada off Rowlands street and Lancaster road," Ben watched as Cooper projected his readings through the holodeck, Ken and Rook also noticed the CCTV footage had captured an image of a man with glowing crimson skin, there were people passed out on the ground all around him as he continued a nonchalant strut towards the Police officers that had attempted to form a perimeter.

"Look at those levels, whatever radiation he's producing has already exceeded three-thousand rads… and climbing," Ben announced, narrowing his eyes at the figure, "Can you tell if he's an alien, or maybe a hybrid like the Rooters?"

"Not without a full spectral exam, you'll need to get the omni-cam pretty close for me to get a scan like that," the technopath insisted, looking up at the hero to see what he would do next, "Should I call the rest of the team?"

Ben glanced between Rook and Kenneth before smiling, nodding to his future son, "No, I think we're good; Coop you're on Overwatch, Rook is on crowd control, Ken…" he glanced back at his teammates before returning his gaze to his son's matching emerald eyes, "You're with me."

…

Downtown Reno; Nevada; March 8th, 2018; 12:54PM

As slightly humiliating as it was, and no matter how much he preferred to use his own proto-truck, which could fly like any standard Plumber vehicle, there simply was no time forcing him to accept being carried in Ben's arms as two speedsters crossed the distance between South Dakota and Nevada in a matter of seconds. XLR8 arrived on the scene half-a-mile away dropping off Rook who immediately began warning those heading in the disasters direction to flee.

He showed his badge, which had been filtered through every official law enforcement databank in the country, to ensure the civilians knew that a Plumber was warning them and not some random alien-nut, "Please, for your own safety, do not proceed down this road," though nobody seemed to be listening to him, he frowned and grabbed his proto-tool off his shoulder, firing a high-density cable to one tree and then firing another to the tree across said street blocking peoples path as he detached the line from his tool. His device of many uses was almost the most advanced weapon Plumber's had, not the most powerful but, certainly the most advanced as it even formed into a megaphone for him to use.

"By ordinance of the Plumbers this area has been deemed too dangerous during an ongoing incident, please vacate the area for your safety and the safety of others!"

This time shoppers, children, and Police alike all took notice and backed away as the civilians began heeding his warning and running in the opposite direction, "C-Calmly please!" Rook insisted.

Kenneth arrived and transformed immediately into Fourarms, his hulking steps cracking the asphalt, although; his Father remained a Kinceleran, not even lifting his visor as he knew that this distance should be well enough for Cooper to get his scan. "What have you got?" his raspy voice asked.

Still on the other side of the country, Cooper answered through the comms, "He's human alright, whatever happened to him, he's exceeding almost five-thousand rads now, don't get close!"

Fourarms didn't head that warning as Ken stampeded forwards, "He's just one guy, one hit and he- he'll-" the Tetramand fell to one knee ten feet from the man who was engulfed completely in crimson nuclear energy, an aura of radiation flowing around him. Fourarms vomited before stumbling back, getting back to his feet as the Omnitrix dial on his chest flashed bright orange and red. Kenneth was forced through a transformation into Diamondhead, something he didn't at all attempt himself.

The crystalline alien stood up, feeling much better as XLR8 rolled back on his feet, "Diamondhead doesn't have any real organs for the radiation to effect, the Omnitrix life preservation mode must have switched him into something that could survive that much toxic energy," XLR8 waited as Cooper continued reading the scans he got from this new enemy.

"So," the man spoke up, his mouth not visible to them as it had been consumed by radiation burns long ago, though he didn't seem to feel them. "The heroes have come to save me, well, I don't need saving!" thrusting his palms forwards shot a beam of condensed beta-radiation found in the depths of space, hitting Diamondhead in the chest with enough force to knock him off his feet, flying passed XLR8 and hitting a parked car, shattering its windows, and popping its tired with his impact.

Ben transformed back into his human form, double tapping his Omnitrix to allow his nano-weaved suit to form over his body, the humming from his omni-energy that surged through emblem on his torso should have protected him, "Who are you, and what do you want?" he took apprehensive steps forwards receiving a warning from Cooper through their comms.

"Be careful, not even your super-human biology and my suit can withstand this guy's aura for very long," he paused for a moment, "six-thousand rads, if he reaches eleven we're talking goodbye Reno."

Ben nodded but, didn't respond to Cooper as he took yet another step forward, "I came to Vegas to make it big, and instead I became a freak!" the anonymous man fired off another beam of crimson energy which Ben was forced to counter with a discharge of omni-energy from his eyes. The two blasts met and in the middle formed an explosion that blew them both back only, Ben was flung through the air only barely catching himself with his flight twenty-feet up. The nameless man skated back on the asphalt, glancing up in realization that he couldn't be hurt by conventional means.

"Cooper, find out who this guy was," Kenneth stated out loud, getting off the car he'd landed on and allowing his white armor to stretch over his body and head, encasing him in protection.

"On it."

Ben pressed his silver boots into the ground, jumping into the air where he floated out of the line of fire of yet another crimson beam of energy, cutting into and forcing an explosion out of an SUV parked behind him. He frowned at the destruction as the man prepared another discharge of beta radiation, Ben's eyes flashed neon emerald as the energy he channeled drifted from his eyes almost like smoke. Using his full Kinceleran speed combined with his Aerophibian flight, he dashed forth tackling the man into the ground creating a trench in the solid asphalt. His Omnitrix warning him with loud alarms, his skin began to burn when he finally decided to take things seriously, "Let's see if I can't cool you off!"

"You'll never-" the nuclear man was interrupted by a bright explosion of emerald energy right atop him revealing a ghostly moth-like creature with a snow-white skin and dark, navy-blue spots across his thin body. Big Chill became intangible avoiding a beam of energy that flew through his body and into the air, he then sucked in a decent inhale before exhaling a massive blizzard that coated the entire block in icy fog. The Necrofrigian floated up while still piling on the blasts of cryokinetic energy, freezing him solid only worked for so long as the man's radiation increased and started to crack and melt away at the ice.

"We're at nine-thousand rads and climbing, whatever you're going to do, you better do it quickly!"

The tundra exploded sending massive chunks of ice through the streets like blocks of concrete, the nuclear man stepped out of the icy fog looking over his hands, "They wanted a super villain, well they got one!" he began charging up more beta radiation in between the palms of his crimson hands, his aura growing taller and wider around him. Searing everything in his vicinity with its heat.

"Who's they?" Big Chill asked aloud but, didn't get a response as he watched his son act on his own, transforming back into the Petrosapien to protect from the dangerous radiation.

"Oh, no you don't!" Diamondhead put the nuclear man in a full-nelson from behind, lifting him off his feet though, all he managed to do was redirect the aim of the massive blast of energy up into the sky narrowly missing a passenger plane flying by at the moment, cutting through the clouds before Ken turned and slammed him face first into the concrete. Ceasing the blast in a less than graceful manner but, he did manage to save lives given his level of experience, it was a job well done.

"Guys, I know who this guy is, it took a while but enhanced facial recognition clocks this guy as Harold Gein, he was no ordinary citizen before all this," Kenneth and Ben both listened in as they just so happened to take their attention off the enemy still on the ground in front of them, "He was a black ops assassin who was dishonorably discharged for cruel and unusual treatment behind enemy lines, he's one of the most dangerous mercenaries in the world."

Diamondhead suddenly found his legs swept out from under him, cracking the asphalt when he hit the ground with his head, quicker than they expected the nuclear man had gotten to his feet standing above Ken. Big Chill exploded in a flash of light at the same instant that Harold used super-human strength to kick Diamondhead in the chest hard enough to send his three-hundred-pound body skating across the road and into yet another car. Landing on his hands and knees, he weakly fell to his chest letting his chin hit the ground, too exhausted to continue. "The radiation is too intense, even for a Petrosapien now… you have to end this right now before he goes critical, Ben."

From the explosion above the street, a figure fell through the air landing on the asphalt with grace, his skinny body was wrapped from head to toe in white armor trimmed with luminescent neon green energy that coursed through his body. The canisters over each of his forearms were only slightly wider than his arm itself, though the energy flowed like a lava-lamp slowly and without end.

"None of your aliens are gonna stop me! This is what they wanted!" Harold swung his arms out and clapped them together with all of his strength, sending a thicker beam than any he'd used before directly for Atomix who didn't flinch as the blast crashed over him like a wave. He couldn't speak properly in this form, which only made him that much more ominous, without moving an inch, the energy Atomix was being struck with slowly began to funnel into the glowing trim across his body. Absorbing the radiation first from the attack until Harold ceased the beam and stumbled back in surprise, then finally reaching his left hand out and approaching slowly. The nuclear man backed away in fear as Atomix slowly and visibly sucked every last drop of crimson radiation from the man's body, like thick blood-red smoke all coursing through to a single point in the center of the alien's palm.

Harold continued to stumble back until he tripped and landed on his rear, though he had completely drained Harold of his nuclear energy, it seemed it was only tapped out and would sooner or later begin to replenish itself… Atomix narrowed his eyes behind the slits of his mask, whatever this man had done to himself, it was permanent.

Kenneth sped-walked over towards Atomix and the downed villain, clad in his armor and with the enemy drained, it was safe for him to approach now; transforming in an explosion of light, Ben spoke up into his comm, "Contact Wes Greene and get a specialized Plumber unit out to my location, make sure they have the right gear to contain this guy…"

"On it, I'll have Wes meet you here, should I tell Gwendolyn about this?"

Ben glanced back at Kenneth who was still behind an emotionless armored mask, giving an unsure shrug in response; he then turned and found several news trucks bypassing Rook's perimeter through sheer numbers, taking photos of them both with the downed villain. "Yea, if she sees me on the news and I don't tell her first, she'll be pissed."

Kenneth turned around to face Harold still on his back, wearing nothing but skintight black boxers, huffing as his armor could read the rads slowly rising at non-dangerous levels so far but, rising none-the-less. He grabbed the man by his throat and picked him up off the ground, surprising Ben as he pinned the man against a streetlamp hard enough to shake the iron pillar.

Ben tried to calm him, "Take it eas-"

Kenneth didn't let him speak as he shouted over him, "Where the hell did you get powers like these?!" his voice modulated by his armor only made it slightly more intimidating but, not nearly enough apparently. "I want names! Locations!"

Harold chuckled at him, "They wanted a super villain, they made me one; that's all I'm gonna say until I get my lawyer!" Harold spat on Kenneth's helmet, initially prompting him to chuckle until he snapped with his emotions flipping like a switch. He turned quickly and jabbed Harold in the face, breaking his nose before firing a right cross striking his face that would have been followed by yet another had it not been effortlessly caught from behind in Ben's right hand.

His eyes were furiously luminescent, trailing genetic energy with raw emotion behind the daggers from his stare, looking down on his son. Slightly confused but, mostly just angry, "I said take it easy. We don't interrogate people, that's a job for the police and even if we had to, we don't torture them for information," he released Ken's armored fist lathered in Harold's blood, dropping the man as he fell back to his feet.

"Listen to the old ma-" Harold was knocked unconscious midsentence by Ben who jabbed him just hard enough in the right temple to render him incapacitated, toppling to the ground at their feet.

Ben shrugged at his son's stare, "Sometimes it's okay to do that but, I still stand firm on everything I said… I don't know how you did things in the future but, if you want to follow me and do what I do? You need to control yourself," he nodded down to Kenneth's plated knuckles slick with crimson blood, splattered over his chest plate as well.

…

Omnitrix City; Downtown; March 8th, 2018; 2:30PM

Gwendolyn, Julie, and Lucy were waiting outside of the bridal shop for nearly fifteen minutes, chatting and almost getting tired of holding their purses; "How long are we waiting for your Mom again?" Julie had to ask considering it was getting quite hot out in the middle of the day, loosening her pink zip-up hoodie.

Gwen had been staring at her watch lost in thought, the sun beating down on her navy-blue blouse and jeans, "We aren't waiting for my Mom, I don't even know if she'd show… we're waiting for-" as if on que, an expensive black SUV Escalade pulled up in front of them, a man in a formal black suit exited the driver side, noticing his ear-piece, the two other girls were in shock while Gwendolyn only waited for her best friend to finally have the door opened for her.

"PSYCHO!" a short-haired blonde woman about their age practically flew from the car with her purse still dangling around her forearm. When Gwendolyn graduated University and began her studies for her doctorate, the two besties had lost touch especially with Colonel Rossum being deployed to a facility in Belize, but there wasn't any amount of distance that could force her to miss this. Plus spite her father having a stick up his ass most of the time, he did respect the Tennyson children nearly as much as he did their Grandfather, not wanting to miss the event either.

Gwendolyn rushed into an embrace, wrapping her arms around the young women's waist, pulling her in tightly and kissing her cheek lightly, "How has the other side of the world been!? Private jets and lavish hotels?"

"Uh, how is building your own city and living in a penthouse been, bitch!? I can't believe you're getting married!" they both locked fingers and hopped up and down squealing with excitement, high pitched whines of happiness would have cracked the glass window of the shop just behind them if they weren't careful.

Julie shoved her hands in her jacket-pockets, not taking her eyes off the spectacle as she asked to her left, "Have you ever seen Gwen act so… girly?" the doctor questioned.

Lucy chuckled into a snort, folding her arms, "She's almost acting like me, who knew she had it in her, hah!" the Lenopan slapped her knee out of the hilarity of it all.

"Emily," Gwendolyn finally calmed down and turned to face the high-end bridal store behind them, along with her new friends, "This is Julie, and this is my other cousin Lucy," she gestured to each of them as they waved in response but, Emily couldn't help but add her two cents in as per usual.

"Hey," she made her way to open the bridal shop door, "As long as you aren't trying to screw this one too," winking at Lucy casually as the door swung open with a chime, a furious blush rising to Gwen's cheeks while the four girls slowly walked in and lowered their voices a bit.

Lucy snickered trying to cover her mouth from the laughter as the store was much quieter on the inside than it was just outside on the sidewalk, "I wouldn't mind it, on my planet it's not even a question," she added in a whisper as Julie and Emily began looking around in awe at the stunning designs and dresses hanging in thin preservation bags, like the ones she used to see Ben keep his comics in.

"Can we not talk about an incestual three way while I try to pick the dress of my dreams?!" Shouting in yet another whisper, this time all three women aside from Gwendolyn herself were snickering and covering their mouths, forcing her to run a hand through her short crimson-orange hair out of exasperation.

Julie came from behind and grabbed the bride to be by the shoulders, shoving her through the store towards the front, "C'mon, we all know you're stalling," Gwen giggled her way all the way to the front desk where a woman was filing her nails, clearly having just opened and the fact it was the middle of the day left the store mostly empty.

When the petite blonde woman glanced up, she dropped her nailfile almost in awe as she practically leapt out of her feet, "Randy… Randy!" she called out to behind a curtain, as the four women waited, the velvet curtains split revealing a man in a very nice, and likely expensive, three-piece grey suit, a golden pocket square to bring the entire design together.

He was middle aged but, clearly dressed to impress as he waved them to come back behind the curtain with him, "Ladies! It's so nice to see you, I got a call from your fiancé, Ms. Tennyson, and in all my years I've never been given such a high budget for something like this," as the women stepped through the curtain they entered a lavish room with white couches, alluring designed dressing rooms, the carpets were softer than most beds, and the most expensive outfits and dresses were displayed on mannequins positioned around the room.

A woman who was also dressed very nicely in a silk lavender dress and matching heels, walked in with a tray in her hand presenting different types of waters including flavored and sparkling, a bottle of champagne was also presented to them. "Ms. Tennyson, your fiancé already called ahead and paid for, well, pretty much everything…" Randy insisted, motioning to the rest of the empty store as Julie and Lucy helped themselves to the champagne. "He insisted that we close down after two just for you and your guests, and well, here we are, ahaha!" he gave a bit of an effeminate fake laugh while Emily was too busy drooling over every last dress they passed, be it hung or modeled on a standing mannequin.

As Gwendolyn looked around and before they begun, Randy had to ask, "So, is everyone here?" prompting the mage to turn and look around with a bit of a saddened expression.

"Y-Yea, I guess th-" she was interrupted as the curtains from the entrance split open quickly, hearing the shouts of the attractive receptionist, the red-headed woman ignored her and stomped through. She slowed down however, when she noticed the state of the room she was in, never had she seen such luxurious décor or such pristine dresses.

Gwendolyn's lips curved into a brightly enthused grin, almost sprinting across the room to hug the woman, "Mom! You came!" she almost shouted in disbelief.

Natalie gave her daughter a coy smile, cupping one of her cheeks with her hand gently, "My baby girl cant pick out her wedding dress without her mother having at least a say in it! Have you started yet?"

"Nope, you're just on time to be fashionably late, Aunt Nat!" Lucy announced giddily.

Randy smiled and clapped his hands together, "Now that all the beautiful young ladies are in attendance," this remark did make Natalie blush slightly considering the man was both her age and one of the most well-dressed men she'd ever seen, "We can really get started."

Lucy downed an entire glass of champagne and held the glass back to the polite woman who, while perplexed by her drinking habit, didn't question it, and made her way to refill the glass, "Would you like a glass, ma'am?" the woman offered champagne to Gwendolyn who froze up, seeing her Mother watching her in her peripheral.

"Uhh…"

Natalie spoke up and chuckled, "Your Father's issues don't bother me one bit and they shouldn't bother you either, hun, if you want to have a glass, go for it! This is a special occasion after a-" she was interrupted by Gwendolyn cutting her off.

"I can't!" She shouted, looking around at all of the confused glances, though everyone aside from Emily and her own Mother knew exactly why she couldn't have alcohol. "I-I'm watching my figure… I cant start drinking empty calories before trying on all of these dresses, r-right?" she turned to Emily and Julie who both supported her though, the former only did-so out of pure friendship.

"Yea, yea, my Mom started drinking bubbly a week before the big day and popped a stich on the morning of, so… yea," Emily flattened out her black pan-suited skirt, giving her best friend a knowing glare that said 'you are telling me everything' in a way only they could understand.

Lucy had already downed two or three glasses of champagne but, ordered another from the polite lady waiting on them, "What's the most expensive dress in the store?" catching her cousin now glaring at her, Lucy shrugged with a chuckled snort, "Out of curiosity!"

Randy looked up at the ceiling and tapped his foot, thinking deeply about what they currently had in stock in Gwen's size, "Jenny Packham partnered with Dior to put together a multi-tiered Marchesa that runs upwards of three-hundred-forty…" Randy was as polite as polite could get but, he did have more than a vague sense that they could afford such an expensive dress, though Natalie was in disbelief at the numbers.

"Lucy, would you please hush, I don't need a three-hundred-thousand-dollar dress…" Gwendolyn insisted, folding her arms with her eyes closed, trying to feel above the need for unnecessary luxury, "I would love to see… something more conservative… maybe in the twenty or thirty-thousand range… maybe…" Natalie was still the most shocked out of them all, watching them discuss prices that were well over enough to buy a small house in her neighborhood back home.

"You call that conservative?!" Lucy once again broke out into snorting laughter, kicking her legs back and forth as Natalie grabbed a glass of sparkling water from the tray the nameless blonde assistant was holding out.

"Are you sure you or even Ben can afford to spend that much on just a dress?" Natalie pointed out, catching Randy's attention almost immediately but, all of the other women simply turned to blink at her. "Oh, c'mon, I know he's rich but, he cant possibly have three-hundred-thousand dollars to spare-"

Randy cleared his throat, his hands together in a polite manner as he took a step closer, "Actually, Mrs. Tennyson, when Benjamin called in earlier he attempted to buy the store itself… unfortunately we are a chain of high-end bridal shops but, he only reconsidered after we mentioned a number of, well," glancing back at Gwendolyn who hadn't heard the story yet herself, taking a sip of sparkling water, "Thirty-million. He instead opted to rent out the store for the afternoon so that his fiancé could shop in private."

Natalie didn't take her eyes off the handsome man, almost seeing her reflection in his polished glasses, "Oh, well, how thoughtful of him," she hadn't taken Ben's remark at dinner seriously when he claimed to have invested Max's money and turned it into billions but, it was starting to get hard to deny. To think, her nephew, the superhero billionaire... this only boggled her mind, what could she possibly get them as a wedding gift?!

Randy felt the silence building slowly so he opted to speak up first, clapping his hands together with a genuine smile, "I'll go take a look at our racks and find the perfect dresses in your price range, Ms. Tennyson," as he sauntered off into the further back, Natalie was in complete awe at the lifestyle her daughter was living, not only marrying a super-rich superhero but, also having her degrees and getting married, spite all the minor discrepancies that she would simply have to live with, she couldn't have been more proud of the young woman her daughter grew up to be.

…

Rachel Nevada; Area 51; March 8th, 2018; 4:44PM.

"The test was clearly a complete and total failure; the casualties were in the dozens and that's only because Ben Ten Thousand and his sidekick showed up!"

Within a large, dark room there sat an oval shaped round-table with seats positioned all around it for other officials to take their seats if they were in attendance. Currently, three people were in the room, an unnamed scientist who had just spoken up along with another man dressed in a very expensive burgundy suit, a golden pocket-square and ascot to match. The final person in attendance stared up at the wall where a holographic projection of the battle in Reno was played on loop, "Nucleon was just a test trial; the Rooters were proof that humans can withstand genetic mutation with aliens, Harold is the first in the next step of military warfare… providing the extra-terrestrial abilities without the nasty mutating side effects," the obviously brilliant man in his lavish suit folded his ankle atop his knee, pressing his fingers together and watching the feed.

"Are you talking about-" the woman sitting in the largest seat at the very back of the room spoke up, the seat just so happened to have the Presidential seal emblazoned across its back.

The billionaire military contractor spun around in his seat without changing positions, the light from the projector gleaming ever so slightly off of the perfectly applied gel in his hair. "Super soldiers, Madam President, no longer will you need to rely on the frankly amateurish efforts of one man and his rag-tag team of alien freaks," he spat the end of his sentence with a clear bias towards the hero and his world-renowned fame.

Susan was at a loss for words, her head scientist was completely against the idea but, she couldn't shake the feeling that the world needed this type of security. "Normally, Mr. Billions, I'd have to disagree but, after how close Ben Ten Thousand came to losing against Vilgax…" the tension in the room was so thick it could be cut with a butter knife, a long-exasperated sigh came from her lips, "I'll approve your funding, and provide you with research and development data on the experiments we've already done."

She stood up, prompting the head scientist to close his binder in a fit, shaking his head in disappointment as he left the room; he undid his waist button as he stood, shaking the President's hand as he extended forwards and gently gripped her elbow simultaneously, "You wont regret it, Madam President."

She kept her hand clasped with his, tightening her grip to put emphasis on her words, "I believe in Ben Ten Thousand, however; I also believe we can only rely on a single person for so long before we as a species need to defend ourselves," Susan made herself very clear to him, that this had nothing to do with outshining Ben or his team, "You've got your funding and classified research but, if you screw me… there won't be a dime left to your name, Mr. Billions," she looked directly into his eyes with the most devastating glare she could muster,

"Please," he insisted as he pulled back and adjusted the hem of his coat, a pearly white smile accompanied his smug follow up, "Call me Billy."

…

Short but Sweet

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