Ben 10 - Keeping A Secret

There was a reason most people moved to the suburbs when they wanted to settle down or have a family. Your neighborhood had lawns, white picket fences, backyards, a mail route, even a neighborhood safety watch. You knew your neighbors by their first name, knew who were simply being polite, who were genuinely being friendly and who were naturally being crotchety.

Of course, the factor of safety comes into play more often than not. People liked the suburbs because of the general lack of danger. Certainly there were things happening all the time, someone accidentally dinged someone else’s car, someone had their paper stolen from their porch, someone’s kids refused to get off of someone else’s lawn and etcetera.

Trivial. Mundane. Normal.

Eleven-year-old Gwen Tennyson liked normal. Ever since that fateful summer vacation she and her cousin had with their grandfather, her life was anything but normal. She’s seen and experienced weirder things in the past year than most people have in their entire lives.

It had been an adventure but it had also been tiring. The hero’s life wasn’t something she wanted to throw herself into. At least not yet. Not when there were so many things left for her to learn, to experience. She had no qualms about moving to Bellwood, living in middle class suburbia without the hustle and bustle of the big city.

But sometimes, when the school day had been particularly uneventful, when there were no tests to study for, no project to research on, Gwen would find herself digging up a mask from the bottom of her drawer. Her hands would run across the feline shape, fingers fiddling with the tassels and smile at how a simple Halloween costume was so much more.

And sometimes, when the adventures she used to find annoying were surprisingly sparse, when opportunities to go hero alongside her cousin were few and far in between, she’d dig up the rest of the ensemble along with the mask. When the dark of evening fell and there was nothing of interest in the news, she’d sneak out of the house, climb on her bike and relive the events of her past summer.

Tonight had been one such night.

Gwen would have invited her cousin to come along had he and his family not been away on a trip.

Looks like Lucky Girl is prowling solo. She thinks to herself, somewhat warily. Her costume has grown snug since she wore it last, perhaps a sign that this would be the last time Lucky Girl would see some action? She sighs, wishing that things will be at least somewhat memorable before she puts away the costume permanently.

She had no idea her wish was going to come true.

There was a reason Gwen only went out as Lucky Girl when things were quiet. She knew better than to put herself in danger and the thrill of sneaking out without her parents’ knowledge was usually enough for her.

However, tonight seemed different. There was no way she could explain the silent hum of energy in the air, the unseen sparks that made her aura crackle. She knew something was going to happen, she could feel it.

As Gwen quietly pedaled into the shopping district, doing her best to remain unseen on her final patrol, she heard something from a nearby alley. She pauses, peering into the darkness, half-expecting some animal to emerge.

In a way, she was right.

A pinprick of light flickered on and off in mimicry of a firefly. It drew closer, the sounds of metal cans being knocked to the ground and scraping against the walls echoing. Finally, a large, hulking figure stumbled out, badly injured and completely disoriented.

Emerald eyes widened when she recognized the bloodied amalgam of alien parts that fell to his knees with an exhausted groan and a growl of pain. She didn’t mean for the gasp that escaped her throat to reach his ears. She supposes even if she had kept completely silent, the twitching of the sensitive quills along his arms meant he had managed to detect her presence.

Kevin 11 lets out a roar upon realizing he wasn’t alone, petrosapian arm sharpening into a dagger-point. He wastes no words, gives no warning, and charges on instinct. He’d learned it was always better to strike first.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been trapped in the null void. There was no sunrise, no sunset, no distinct way to mark the passage of time. There was nothing in the null void, just an endless expanse of darkness and danger.

The need to survive turned him feral, almost. The desire to escape kept him sane, almost.

It takes several exploding spheres to the chest to make him realize a direct assault would get him no where. His pyronite arm ignites the air around him in a fiery arc before sending blasting a jet of fire towards the other being.

He was in no condition to keep fighting, having nearly lost to a grotesque, reptilian canine crossbreed just before the portal opened. Kevin didn’t care what world the portal would have lead to, any place was better than the null void. Pushing through the searing pain of broken bones, torn lepidopteran wings and overused muscles, he charged into the vortex to emerge in that dark alley.

“Kevin stop!”

And he stops mid-strike from the shock of hearing another human’s voice. He doesn’t recognize whom the voice belongs to, nearly doesn’t understand the words that had been spoken. It feels like forever since he last heard someone, anyone talk in the human tongue. Let alone say his name.

Realizing he wasn’t going to be attacked, he sinks to his knees in agony though he keeps his fist still aflame to be safe. Three eyes take in the buildings, the cars, and more importantly the small, masked human girl floating in front of him.

He blinks in confusion, had he been away so long that humans had evolved into something else? Or maybe this world simply resembled Earth? His thoughts are interrupted as he tenses when he sees her land and takes a step towards him.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Gwendolyn promised, hands held before her to show she was unarmed, the glow of her aura dimming.

Kevin doesn’t trust her, can’t trust her. He had used that routine before, getting the other creatures in the null void to lower their guard long enough for him to do them in.

“Back!” he barks, the fire burning brighter.

“You’re hurt.” The compassion in her voice was sincere, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe her.

“Back.” he snarls through grit, piscciss volan teeth. Three eyes widen when he sees her remove the mask, giving him an unobstructed view of sun-kissed hair and vivid, emerald eyes.

He knew those eyes, didn’t he? A low growl rumbles in his chest, “Tennyson.”

She nods, swallowing in the process. Gwendolyn knew the dark-haired mutant was dangerous, knew his behavior was unstable. But she also knew that despite the massive size, despite the rage and the misshapen form, he was only twelve.

He was just a kid.

Like her.

“Kevin, let me help you.” With each word she takes one careful step towards him.

The boy within the behemoth allowed her to draw near, if only to sneer “How?”

Gloves are removed from small hands before being shoved into a pocket. The young girl says nothing, but places a palm over a visible bruise her earlier spell had given him. He winces and grabs at her wrist with one of his furred hands, easily prying her off.

“You wanted to see what I can do.” She looks up at him, hoping he can’t hear the thundering pace of her heartbeat. “I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

He grunts a warning but eases his hold on her.

Her hand glows blue, her voice reverberating despite its faint whisper and warmth spreads through Kevin. The sensation was not unpleasant, in fact it felt soothing. When the young girl lifts her palm, the bruise is gone.

“How?”

She shakes her head, quickly proceeding to heal any badly bleeding wounds. “No time to explain. I have to get you out of here before people come around to check the noise.”

He blinks when she gets to her feet, rights a toppled bicycle and asks “Can you run?”

Even if the searing agony hadn’t been reduced to a dull, tolerable ache, Kevin would have nodded at her question. The sound of an approaching crowd prompts his instincts to demand they get away from the incoming swarm.

“Over here.” she murmurs and quietly leads the way.

Gwendolyn comes to a stop at the high, grassy knoll between the suburbs and the shopping district. Glancing over her shoulders to make certain Kevin hadn’t lagged behind. For someone of his size, his movements were remarkably silent. A result of his time spent in the null void.

She shudders at the thought, feels guilt and shame for what she and her family had put him through. It had been justified at the time. Kevin had been trying to kill them.

Not hurt. Kill.

But they could have done something. Should have done something. No one deserved that fate. She wishes was stronger, wiser. She finds herself unable to look at him.

And Kevin misunderstands this as disgust. He glowers, tries to lumber off on his own only feel warm, slim hands grab at his vulpimancer arm.

“You’re not going anywhere.” She tells him firmly.

“Not going back!” he snarls angrily, finding speech difficult and uncomfortable after a long period of disuse.

“Back where? The district?”

Ridges formed where brows would knit together, “Null void.”

“Of course not.” She remarks, “But you’re in pretty bad shape. Let me bring you to grandpa, he’ll know what to do.”

“NO TELLING!” he roars, louder than intended as he easily pulls himself free. He can’t afford to let anyone know he’s escaped. Kevin doesn’t know who they are just that they’re out there and that they’ll want to throw him back into the Null Void. Vulpimancer hands suddenly clamp onto Gwen’s shoulders.

“Kevin, y-you’re hurting me.” She cringes.

And normally the mutant wouldn’t care whether or not someone was in pain. The beast within the behemoth relished it, because it meant he wouldn’t be in pain. But the boy, the human boy in the behemoth felt otherwise. He makes no apology for his actions, just grunts and lets her go.

“No telling.” He mutters.

Gwendolyn takes a deep breath and realizes she can’t reason with Kevin. Not at this point in time, not with his current state of mind. Reluctantly she agrees, “Okay. I won’t tell. But only if you promise you won’t try to hurt anyone.”

Kevin knew he was in no condition to hunt down Ben. For now he’ll lay low, recuperate, and regain his senses. When the time is right he’ll strike. He stares at Gwendolyn and slowly nods.

It’ll be their little secret.