บท 18: CHAPTER 18: REPAIRING THE RUST BUCKET
"Special thanks to golaf_holow for the support. Now that the Omnitrix is charged, it's writing time.
Morning came all too quickly for the group of young heroes. The dawning sun heralded a new day and with it came a cacophony of strange alien wildlife calling forth the morning. Ben seemed to take everything in stride being the first to wake up. He even nudged Kevin awake when the older boy tried to remain steadfastly asleep. He disappeared off to one side of the camp and when he returned he held a bundle of alien fish in his arms. He distributed out the salted and dried fish to his companions before taking a seat himself and chowing down.
"I remembered I did have some fish hanging around. You should all eat. Get your energy up." He stated matter of factly. The rest of the human members of the party nibbled on the strange food. It's texture was slimy despite being dried out and it's taste was more like a vegetable than any kind of meat. Still they had nothing better to eat and it was going to be a long day ahead of them. Rook was the only one of them who ate the meal with gusto. Once they had finished eating Ben stood up and put out their fire. He made his way to the entrance of the camp beckoning his friends to follow. He opened up the locked gates to the encampment and allowed the group to step out onto the dirt path that stretched forward into the jungle.
"I'm gonna scout the area ahead. You guys hang back for five minutes and then follow behind me." Ben ordered.
"We can take care of ourselves ya know Ben." Gwen spoke up.
It was then that Ben scowled back at them. An expression full of condescension and anger the likes of which they had never seen on him before. The intensity of his glare shocked them.
"Oh really? Like you guys almost gotten 'taken care of' yesterday you mean?" He said with vitriol. "Thanks to that Julie almost gotten eaten!" He continued.
"Hey that wasn't anybody's fault!" Julie countered indignant.
"No but it wouldn't have ever happened if you hadn't been here in the first place!" Ben shot back. "The others can handle themselves in a fight fine enough but you're inexperienced. This planet will chew you up and spit you out if you're not careful." He retorted.
"Oh I'm sorry for coming all this way out here to make sure you were okay!" Julie exclaimed. The pair glared at each other their tempers flaring back up. The rest of the group was too stunned at the sudden outburst to say anything. But the tension was broken as Ben backed off, throwing his hands into the air.
"Whatever." He stated before activating the omnitrix.
In a flash of green light Ben's form was replaced by that of a familiar blue Arachnichimp alien. "I've gotta go scout ahead. Stay put until I come back for you. Ooh-ah." Spidermonkey called out before swinging through the trees. The group watched as he effortlessly disappeared into the jungle. Julie had turned away, arms folded in front of her chest and tears beginning to sting at her eyes. Gwen walked up to put a comforting hand on her shoulder but the younger girl turned away from the touch.
"I never should have come on this stupid trip." She mumbled to herself and walked away from the group. Suddenly a new voice spoke up from behind them all, drawing their attention.
"I hope you all see now why I had warned you off from interrupting Ben from his ordeals." Professor Paradox spoke up. The group whirled around in shock but the mysterious professor was not in the least surprised.
"Look Paradox, I know what Ben said was out of line but he's always been a bit of a jerk. I don't think this proves anything. Besides, Ben himself agreed it was good that we came to got him." Gwen spoke up, the least off put by Paradox's appearance. Paradox sighed and shook his head.
"Children you don't understand. Ben is in the middle of a transformative experience, and one not related to the Omnitrix. By interrupting him here and causing him to leave you are essentially taking him out of the oven half-cooked so to speak." Paradox explained.
"Professor, perhaps if you explained in more detail about what Ben has been going through and what is supposed to happen to him then we would have a better understanding." Rook tried to suggest.
"Yeah, because I can guarantee that until you give us more of an explanation we aren't gonna listen to you." Kevin supplied. Paradox checked one of his many pocket watches before sighing again.
"Gwendolyn, what do you know of Ben's future?" He asked pointedly. Gwen raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I know he's supposed to become Ben 10,000. The self-proclaimed greatest hero in the universe." Gwen replied.
"And how precisely do you think that happens?" He asked. Gwen's expression turned to one of surprise.
"You mean that's what he's been doing here? That's what's supposed to happen? So I was right before when I was worried about him turning into that version?" Gwen stood up.
"Not exactly but close enough. This Ben is of course Ben Prime but the future is still somewhat malleable. That is where my concern lies. Your Ben is supposed to spend a few years training to master the Omnitrix and return as the magnanimous Ben 10,000. But in the midst of that process is the potential for him to change into something worse. I suspect that whoever is behind organizing all of these villains is trying to force that change in Ben." Paradox explained.
"What? Ben go evil? Yeah right." Kevin scoffed.
"I do not know. Ben has told me of an incident in the past where he had to face multiple 'Bad Bens' from other universes. It is not too far fetched an idea." Rook said. But Kevin scowled and clenched his fists.
"So what? That doesn't mean our Ben will turn bad!" Kevin shouted back indignantly. His vitriol surprised all but the ever stoic Professor Paradox.
"Kevin." Gwen said softly putting a hand to his shoulder. Kevin grit his teeth and pointed at Paradox.
"Ben is my best friend. He's pulled me back from the brink more times than I care to admit, always with that same goofy grin. So I'd gladly do the same thing for him in a heartbeat. Even if he does turn evil we'll be there to pull him back. Because we're his friends, that's what we do." Kevin spoke passionately.
Professor Paradox as usual was nonplussed by Kevin's ardent words. He hummed thoughtfully while looking around at the group of them. Julie could have sworn his eyes lingered on her a little longer than the others but she couldn't be sure. "Did any of you ever think to contemplate what happened to your alternate universe counterparts?" He asked pointedly. "In the universes ruled by the 'Bad Bens' as Rook so politely put it, your fates were not always pleasant. In best case scenarios you were enslaved and tortured. In the worst cases he would outright kill you." Paradox stressed.
Gwen scowled and narrowed her eyes. "Our Ben would never do that." She fired back, incensed at the mere accusation.
"Perhaps if he was in his right frame of mind. But you saw what he was like didn't you? That is why I am here now. To beg you all one last time to leave him be and let him remain on this planet." Paradox pleaded.
"Even if we wanted to it's a little late now isn't it?" Julie spoke up hugging Ship in her arms.
"Not necessarily. Gwen can cast a memory erasure spell on him. Cause him to forget the last 24 hours and he will be none the wiser." Paradox suggested. Gwen scowled at him and crossed her arms defiantly.
"I am not doing that to him." She declared. Paradox sighed again.
"Very well. I have spent as much time as I can here. I hope for all of your sakes and for the universe's that your choice works out." Paradox said before opening a swirling blue portal. He stepped through and in another second the portal vanished. The group was left alone in silence to contemplate his words. However their silence did not last long as shortly after they all spied Ben swinging back to them through the trees.
"Do we tell him?" Rook asked aloud.
"No, absolutely not." Gwen responded in a hushed whisper. A few moments later Ben perched himself atop a nearby tree to speak down to them.
"Allright, the path ahead looks clear." He said. Ben then noticed the worried and concerned looks that his friends held on their faces. Quirking an eyebrow he spoke up. "Are you guys all right?" He asked with serious concern.
"We're fine Ben." Gwen replied back before any of the others had a chance to speak up. The pair stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. A silent message passed between them in that moment. It was the kind of understanding that could only occur between close knit family members. Gwen stared up at the Arachnichimp form with arms crossed and a neutral but determined expression on her face. Ben observed the group, his multiple eyes flitting between each of them individually. Finally he relented and shrugged his shoulders.
"Fine. Stick close together. Even though I said the path is clear surprises can still come out of nowhere in this place. I'll keep scouting ahead." And with that Ben took off again.
As Ben gave the all clear he rushed ahead of the group again, swinging deftly from tree branch to tree branch. He stayed far enough ahead of them to keep a look out, but close enough for the group to follow him along the trail. Unfortunately his proximity was close enough that his superior hearing would have picked up their conversation. Instead the group chose to remain quiet as they followed behind him. Ben lead them further along the path than they had travelled yesterday. They each noted they had walked around the muddy marsh where they had tried to traverse just yesterday. Even along the relative safety of the beaten path that Ben had made the quartet still noted plenty of dangers along their way. Large shadowed shapes moved just out of sight, the only sign of their presence was the rustling of foliage. A cacophony of hisses, chattering, and croaks sounded just off their path to either side of them. More than once they had passed by strange alien creatures, perfectly camoflauged into the environment that they only noticed because of their sudden movement.
A few times Ben called back for them to wait while he cleared some unseen danger from the path. This slowed their time somewhat but incredibly their hike to the Rust Bucket was much shorter than the slog they had suffered through yesterday. This was despite the longer route and frequent pauses. But they eventually reached the spot in the forest where the trees were all knocked down and a deep gouge was carved into the soil. They followed the trail of destruction to the downed vehicle where they finally began taking stock of the damage. Now that they finally took the time the damage appeared worse than they had initially expected. Pieces of metal were strewn about the landscape. Multiple panels were missing on the body of the rocket, exposing frayed and damaged wiring. The group of young adults stopped and stared up at the broken rocket with some dismay.
"It looks worse than I would have thought." Ben spoke quietly. No one had the chance to respond to his comment before he strode forward. He palmed the omnitrix symbol and in another flash of green light his form had shifted yet again to that of Brainstorm. As a cerebrocrustacean Ben circled around the Rust Bucket surveying the damage. He mumbled to himself as he did so, sometimes they were little more than 'ah's' and 'hmms'. Other times he actually muttered complex mechanical jargon under his breath. He returned to the group and began sketching in the dirt with his spindly legs. A rough schematic of the Rust Bucket was soon formed. The rest of the group watched in some surprise as Ben actually began drawing arrows pointing to damaged parts of the ship. Bulleted lists and complex equations were the next to be written down. At last seemingly satisfied with his scribblings, Ben spoke again.
"Eureka!" He exclaimed proudly. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my esteemed pleasure to announce that with a little gumption, hard work, and of course my technical specifications and know how, we can make this vessel space worthy once more!" He declared.
"Since when are you a mechanic?" Kevin scoffed as he started to look over Ben's work. He was surprised though to see that his work looked sound, at least from the parts he could understand.
"You forget my Osmosian friend that I have multiple alien forms with enhanced intelligence and mechanical reasoning and ability." Ben clarified. "Now we should get to work quickly. Gwen and Kevin, I need you both to start assembling the larger fragments of the ship to a central position. Rook I want you to start making what small repairs you can to the vessel with your proto-tool. You may as well evaluate the Rust Bucket's engines and other critical systems as well. Julie, I will upload specs to Ship. You can use his armor to begin repairing exposed circuitry, I'll have Rook show you where to start. I will go gather the farther off pieces then begin the process of refitting and repairing the ship. Any questions?" Ben rattled off with authority.
The remainder of the group looked at him with varying degrees of shock. They never expected Ben to take charge of the situation so quickly, and with what actually seemed like a solid actionable plan. Before any of them could comment on the strange turn of events though Ben had transformed yet again. This time he took the form of Upgrade and reached a finger out to Ship. The little mechanoid happily reached his head out to contact Ben where a brief flash of their circuits indicated a transfer of information. Ship chirped happily before making it's way back towards Julie.
"All right everyone, better get started." Ben spoke up before walking back along the impact path. The rest of the group exchanged incredulous glances before going about their separate ways to begin their tasks. They probably would have been more efficient at their jobs as well had they not stopped so frequently to marvel at Ben's work. The boy was flipping through his alien forms like pages in a book. It seemed the Master Control for the Omnitrix truly did grant him much more ability. He had begun with Lodestar, who used his magnetic powers to levitate the metallic debris to the ship. He then shifted to BallWeevil who gathered up the remaining non-metallic debris and deposited it into the growing central piles that Gwen and Kevin were constructing.
Once the debris was gathered together he began switching back and forth between a combination of Brainstorm, Upgrade, Juryrigg, and Grey Matter as the need arose. He worked with focused determination. Gwen had never seen the boy this dead set on a project, ever. In between it all he began directing them as well, moving them to other tasks with irregular frequency. Kevin was usually the one to put up the most fuss about the odd jobs until he realized Ben was almost always right about the tasks that needed doing.
The work was progressing quickly. With Ben's direction they were able to have half of the repairs done by the early afternoon. Yet despite the group following Ben's orders there was still an unspoken tension between them all. Julie had avoided Ben as much as possible, sticking near Rook or Gwen when ever able. Ben would become singly focused on his tasks, breaking concentration just long enough to give commands to the others before jumping back into his work. Gwen would have been impressed if it weren't for some of his other behavior. That being said, she could hardly find a moment to speak to him. Every time she tried to approach Ben would blow her off, stating he had more important work to finish. Gwen realized she would have to corner Ben if she wanted any chance to speak her mind and set him right.
"We need to corner Ben." Gwen finally said to her boyfriend. Kevin looked up from the lugnuts he was busy wrenching in place. He quirked an eyebrow at her and Gwen raised her own in an unspoken message. Kevin sighed and got up from the ground.
He headed into the ship's cockpit whistling innocuously. He made his way to the pilot's chair and leaned against the dashboard. He glanced around, seeing no sign of Ben or anyone else. He touched a hand to the metal console, absorbing the steel onto his skin. He then reached over to the steering wheel and cranked it far to the right. The metal screeched as the recently repaired components came loose again. He then reached under and yanked free some exposed wires from under the console. He then moved back outside where he could spy Ben working ontop of the roof.
"Yo Ben! You missed a spot in the Cockpit!" He called out. Ben as Jury Rigg looked up in surprise.
"What? That's impossible. I just checked in there." He called back.
"Yeah? Well then how come the steering column is all jacked up?" Kevin retorted.
"I know for a fact that I repaired that an hour ago. What did you do to it?" He shot back annoyed.
"Hey don't blame me! Blame your shoddy workmanship." Kevin said crossing his arms. Jury Rigg sighed and muttered under his breath about 'incompetence'. He then scuttered along the steel hull on all fours and into the interior of the ship. Once out of sight Kevin sent a thumbs up to Gwen who nodded at him in thanks. Gwen walked into the Rust Bucket and made her way to the cockpit. Inside she found Jury Rigg nearly having finished his repairs already. Gwen knew she had to act fast before Ben ran off again. She reached over and grabbed the little gremlin by the tail and lifted him up.
"Ow! Gwen?! What the hell are you doing?" Ben asked pained and indignantly. Gwen dropped him onto the floor and Ben rubbed his sore neck from the impact.
"I've been trying to talk to you for the last three hours." Gwen said putting her hands on her hips.
"In case you haven't noticed we're on a time limit. We can talk later, repairing the ship comes first." Ben said trying to move past her. But Gwen blocked his way. Ben looked up at her with a stink eye. But Gwen glared back defiantly.
"No." Gwen said strongly. "I'm not letting you leave until I say my mind Benjamin Tennyson." Gwen said. Ben glared at up at his cousin.
"You know I have a hundred different aliens now that could take you on?" Ben said eyes narrowing. But Gwen was unmoved.
"I don't care." She shot back sternly. Ben stared at her for a few more seconds before sighing heavily and sitting down in the captain's chair.
"Allright. Might as well get this over with." Ben said with a reluctant sigh.
"First turn back human. I'm not gonna have a heart to heart with one of your alien forms." Gwen said stubbornly. Ben groaned before pressing the omnitrix symbol. The familiar flash of green faded to reveal a stubborn human Ben sitting with his arms crossed.
"Happy now?" Ben asked sarcastically. Gwen's face softened and she frowned.
"No Ben, I'm not. I'm worried about you." Gwen said softly. "You've changed, a whole lot. And all of us are concerned for you." Gwen started before Ben shot up out of his seat.
"I've changed for the better!" He said angrily.
"Have you?" Gwen replied.
"Yes! I came out here to master the omnitrix! To be a better hero! You're the one that always told me I was never taking this seriously enough and now that I am you're complaining about it?" He said incredulously. Gwen shook her head.
"No, I won't deny you definitely seem to have better control of the omnitrix. I don't agree with the way you went about it but I'm not gonna argue the results. What I am concerned about is your attitude. Ever since we got here you've been a completely different person from who you used to be. Yeah some of that might be a positive change but overall you're ruder, more condescending, and less warm to us. And you were especially mean to Julie." Gwen pointed out. Ben bristled at the accusation.
"You never should have brought her here in the first place! I don't want to see her get hurt!" Ben yelled out.
"Well you've got a real funny way of showing it. And newsflash Julie wanted to come because she was worried about you!" Gwen shot back. Ben's eyes widened ever so slightly, surprised at that. He deflated somewhat.
"She was worried for me?" He asked in a quieter, disbelieving voice. Gwen stepped closer.
"We all were Ben. When you left the way you did you hurt a lot of us in the process. Do you have any idea how it felt spending every day of every year wondering where you were? Whether you were okay or if you were hurt or sick? Where you had gone to or when you were going to come back? If you were ever going to come back?" Gwen said eyes beginning to moisten with tears. Ben finally looked his cousin in the eyes and his shoulders dropped. Despite appearances, deep down both Ben and Gwen cared deeply for each other as family. Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, he had worried about her too while he was gone.
Gwen stepped forward and put a gentle hand on Ben's shoulder. "What's the point of being the universe's greatest hero if you're not a good person?" Gwen asked. Ben's eyes widened slightly. He dropped his gaze to the floor. He sighed as he ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Gwen simply waited with her hand on his shoulder. Finally Ben looked up from the floor with a sad melancholic smile on his face. "You're right. As usual." Ben spoke. Gwen released her hand from him and smiled back herself.
"You don't have to tell me that." She replied.
"So…" Ben trailed off unsure.
"Go apologize to her first." She said with a mock stern voice. "We'll sort the rest out later." Gwen said. Ben nodded and headed for the exit. He paused before stepping out and turned around just long enough to call out to Gwen.
"I missed you too dweeb." Ben spoke before rushing out. Gwen could only smile and shake her head.
"Pfft. Doofus." She whispered to herself.
Outside Julie had spent the last few hours repairing damaged circuitry around various parts of the ship. On Ben's suggestion she had let Ship's armor form guide her actions. It was as though Ship knew exactly what to do, she only had to be the conduit for him. She was loathe to admit she was glad she listened to Ben, especially now. But it was strange how he even knew Ship was capable of something like this when she didn't even know. Thinking back on it, she had discovered Ship was capable of a lot more than she thought possible. And that was just in the last few weeks alone. She wondered distantly how much more she would discover about Ship.
But Julie's thoughts were interrupted as she spied Ben approaching from her the side. She moaned inwardly. She did not have the energy to deal with another scolding from her ex. She wasn't some delicate child. Ok sure she had been caught by surprise by the plant monster but that was just because she hadn't seen it. Magister Ohm had even praised her fighting back on the plumber base. Before she could think any further she heard Ben's voice from the side.
"Julie can we talk?" He asked although his tone of voice made it seem more like a demand. Well she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. Julie glanced sideways at him, and was surprised to see him looking… pensive. It was an unfamiliar expression on Ben's face. But she returned to her work, refusing to give in to his demands like that.
"What is it Ben?" She asked curtly, not looking up from her work.
"I want to… I want to apologize." He said. Julie was so shocked she nearly burned out one of the circuits she was working on. Ben had never apologized to her this quickly before in the past. She turned to him and glanced him up and down. She saw his hand was held nervously over the omnitrix and his eyes were cast to the side, glancing back to her before adjusting his gaze somewhere else.
Julie frowned and stood up, Ship's exo armor sliding off her body to deposit the mechanoid onto the ground by her feet. She crossed her arms and stared at Ben. "So, apologize." She said plainly. Ben looked at her in surprise before, clearing his throat. He scratched the back of his head nervously, trying to think of the appropriate words to say.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to speak to you like that. You don't deserve that…" He said. He looked to see Julie remained staring passively at him. When it was clear she was expecting more he continued. "I just… this place is so dangerous, more dangerous than you could ever believe. I've had to fight almost every day of my life here. I didn't want to see you get hurt. And it's been so long since I've interacted with another person. I know that's not an excuse but I guess I've just forgotten what it's like." He said.
"And I'm sorry for everything before too." Ben said after a pause. Julie's eyebrow quirked.
"Before?" She asked curiously.
"Back when we were together. I realized a while ago that I had never apologized to you about all the crap I did to you. I was young and stupid then and you didn't deserve any of it then. You still deserve better now. I'm sorry for being such a shit boyfriend." Ben spoke. "And I'm sorry for making you worry and come all the way out here. I'm sorry for sticking you with the responsibility I did. That was too much to ask of you, I never should have done it. Hell I'm sorry for getting you involved in my stupid life in the first place. If you had never met me you could have just had a normal life! You wouldn't be in any kind of danger and you wouldn't have had to put up with how much of a selfish ass I was. I'm sorry for all the stupid shit I've done to you and I'm sorry for ruining your life and I'm sorry for - "
"Woah Ben!" Julie interrupted him, placing a hand on his wrist to snap him out of the self-deprecating ramble he had gone on. Ben looked up in surprise to find Julie looking at him softly and with eyes full of concern.
"It's okay. You're forgiven." Julie said compassionately. Ben stared at her, mouth slightly agape. "And I don't have any regrets about meeting you either. Without you I never would have had all this cool stuff happen to me. And I wouldn't have met Ship!" She said.
"Ship!" The little robot chirped happily from beside the pair.
"It's okay." Julie reassured him. Ben's vision went blurry as he stared at Julie. He realized vacantly that he had tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He inhaled sharply and stepped back suddenly, rubbing at his eyes with his arm.
"Wow, uh, must have gotten a really bad dust blown into my eyes." He said. Julie stared at him in confusion but also smiled gently. "How uh, how about I inspect your work?" He asked. Julie had no time to stop him before he transformed into Grey Matter and jumped up onto the circuitboard she had been repairing.
"Very nice, very nice. Very good work. You're a natural at this Julie!" He complimented.
"Thanks but it was mostly Ship." Julie stated, still recovering from the emotional whiplash from Ben's rapid change in attitude.
"Well keep up the good job! I've gotta get back to repairing the life support systems." He said before transforming yet again to Jury Rigg and scurrying away.
Julie could only watch him move away with great confusion.
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