Ben 10: Saver of the Universe

Chapter 6

Ben's POV:

Gwen started towards the door, but her legs buckled underneath her. I caught her before she hit the ground.

"We need to go after him!" She weakly attempted to squirm herself out of my grip, but all she did was make me wrap my arms around her tighter in a hug.

"We will," I said, "but you need to rest first."

"No, we don't have time-"

"It'll be okay," I reassured her.

Seeing the tears cascading down her face, I guided her head to my shoulder. She gripped my shirt as she cried, and I stroked her hair comfortingly.

-

Kevin's POV:

"I know you're here, Vilgax!" I called down into the darkness of an alleyway. I'd found him easily enough. The rage and determination helped.

I sat on top of an electricity pole, sucking sustenance out of a power line, storing energy for the fight to come. He made me like this. He needed to be eliminated.

"Come out!" My eyes blazed, and my teeth were bared.

"What do you want, Kevin Levin?" The tentacled alien stepped out of the shadows, looking right at me.

"My fist wanted to connect with your face, and didn't want to disappoint it," I snarled. The wires in my hands sparked, and the lights along the street flickered.

"I don't have time to beat you in a fight right now. But you can still join me, and we can take down Ben Tennyson together."

"You think I'd help you?" An angry laugh forced its way out of my mouth. "After you did this to me?!"

I released the wires and absorbed some of the wood that I was sitting on, forming protection for my body.

"You turned me into a monster!" Leaping off of the pole, I slammed down into Vilgax, bringing him to the ground. The electricity I'd absorbed gave me more than enough energy to punch him several times before he pushed me off of him. We both got to our feet.

"You think you can defeat me? Vilgax, the conquerer of ten worlds?" He laughed.

"You no longer hold that title, Ben does," I growled.

After absorbing the brick from the wall, I lunged at him repeatedly, trying to lay a hand on him. I eventually grabbed his neck, and he made a choking noise, his hands finding my wrists. He threw me into the wall. I felt my armor start to crack, but other than that, I was fine. My stored energy really was helping.

Vilgax fired an energy blast from his glove, one that I simply absorbed. I took a moment to sigh. It was a mistake, because in an instant I was pinned down. I growled at him through clenched teeth, and fought to get free, but I couldn't.

"When you want to join me, Kevin Levin, just let me know." He got off of me, and in the time it took me to process it, Vilgax was gone. He'd beaten me. He let me live. I hadn't gone after him.

Yelling in frustration, I attacked the wall next to me, punching my fist through brick.

-

Gwen's POV:

"Ben! Can you come over?" I excitedly looked at the computer screen in front of me.

"But it's two in the morning," he complained groggily. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I wanted to search, and I think I found him!"

"Kevin?"

"Yes! But we have to go quickly; his location keeps changing." I clutched the wrench I'd borrowed from Kevin's garage in anticipation.

"Okay, just give me fifteen minutes."

Soon, we were flying over the dark city in which I'd believed Kevin to be. My cousin held me in his claws. He'd transformed into a red alien with black stripes, yellow wings, and two yellow horns on his head: Jet-ray.

"Where should I land?"

"Over there." I pointed to a building I'd seen Kevin by. Impatience crawled underneath my skin. Why couldn't Ben fly any faster?

As we got close, I saw the yellow tape surrounding the front entrance of the building, and the massive crowd on the outside of it. Pieces of the building were in ruins.

Ben set me down a block from the scene, and transformed back.

"Alright, let's go," he said.

Pushing through the crowd proved to be a challenge, especially since a few of them recognized my cousin and were clawing their way towards us. We walked faster.

"Sir?" I tapped a police officer on the shoulder once we'd made it to the front, and he turned around.

"Stay away from the tape," he grumbled. He was a beefy man with a balding head and a stubbled face.

"Sir, we-"

"Back. Up."

"Listen guy. We're Plumbers. We need to get in." Just as Ben stepped forward, another officer approached us.

"Officer Gonzalez, this is Ben Tennyson," he informed the man. The crowd riled up at this. "There's no reason to not let him and his cousin in." My ears perked up at my recognition.

The other officer lifted the yellow tape so that we could duck under it.

"Come with me," he said. He was a good-looking man with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. His uniform said: Carson.

"Do you know where Kevin is?" I asked, surveying the damage he'd caused.

"Who? Oh, the suspect? We are searching for him at this very moment-"

"So you don't know where he is?" Ben questioned.

"We are-"

"Okay. Can you just tell us what happened?"

"The suspect-"

"Kevin," I corrected.

"Kevin," he repeated, annoyed. "He broke in, and threatened the staff so that they could lead him to the generator-"

"So he was after the energy in the generator?" Ben asked.

"Yes, I believe so. Anyways, he got to the generator and started absorbing the energy or whatever it is that he does. Luckily, someone called the police, and we were able to shut off the generator before he could take any more electricity. Then, he just took off." I sighed at this in disappointment.

"Thank you Officer," Ben said, seeing my defeated expression. "Don't worry, we'll find him," he whispered into my ear.

I just nodded.