บท 3: CHAPTER 3: THE DECISION
Julie Yamamoto sat on her couch relaxing on a relatively calm Sunday afternoon. She was watching her upcoming opponent in the Women's World Tennis Championships. Julie was scheduled to play her in a few weeks and was taking the time to study her opponent as it were. Her faithful companion Ship was curled up by her feet. Sure most girls had cats or puppies for pets. She had a galvanic mechamorph sub-species for her pet. Julie glanced down at Ship resting comfortably by her. She could only give a wan smile when she thought about how she had acquired such a strange pet in the first place.
Sure her relationship with her ex Ben was fun while it lasted, Julie knew deep down that it never would have worked out. For one, there were parts of Ben that were still too immature. As evidenced by their unconventional way they broke up. But more importantly Ben was, she hesitated to say it, but Ben was slightly obsessed with his hero persona. While Julie thought of herself as a generally good and courageous person, she could never do the sorts of things that Ben did. Leaping into danger like that was simply not her forte. But Ben did it nearly every day. And while she held a great respect and admiration for him in that regard, it didn't make for the most stable of relationships.
Still Julie could admit that she did sometimes miss the boyish charm he had. Her relationship after Ben hadn't worked out so well either. And there were times when she missed the good old days she enjoyed with Ben. Deep down she knew she still held some affection for the boy and likely always would. But for the time being she was content to keep herself single and focus on her own personal growth. It was at that moment that Julie heard the ringing of her doorbell.
"That's odd, I wasn't expecting a package." Julie mused to herself. Getting up from her comfy spot on her sofa Julie went to answer the door. What she saw shocked her, especially considering her most recent thoughts. Ben Tennyson stood a step away from her door bell, tilted slightly sideways. He raised his hand in greeting before rethinking it and awkwardly placing it to scratch at the back of his head.
"Hey Julie…" Ben started off unsure. Julie shook herself from her initial shock. She wasn't sure what Ben could possibly be doing here but she didn't want to be rude.
"Hi, Ben. What are you doing here?" Julie flinched a little. She hadn't meant for that to sound so accusatory. Ben dropped his hand and a frown came upon his face. He placed his hands in his jean pockets and awkwardly shifted his feet.
"Yeah about that. I came to… Well I," Ben sighed in frustration. "Can I come inside and talk to you about something?" Ben asked. Julie was a little taken aback by the request. Moreover she was taken aback by Ben. She hadn't seen him this unsure of himself since he had first asked her out. Not to mention he had bags under his eyes and his normally unkempt hair was even messier than usual. Something about the picture seemed off to her.
"Sure, come on in." Julie said and stepped back to let him in. Ben stepped through the doorway and gave a slight smile as way of thanks. Ship perked up upon seeing Ben and gave a happy digital chirp before settling back down. Ben took a seat on the recliner opposite the sofa. Julie sat in her previous seat on the sofa.
"So what's going on?" Julie asked inquisitively. She could tell that there was something bothering the young man. Everything about Ben's body language screamed it. Ben anxiously began rubbing at his watch arm. With a sigh to calm himself, Ben looked Julie in the eyes.
"I need to ask a favor from you." Ben stated simply. Julie looked at him skeptically.
"What kind of a favor?" She asked pointedly.
"The kind where you won't hardly have to do anything." Ben said rummaging through his jacket pocket. In a few moments he brought out a small cube shaped device. It looked like some kind of projector device if Julie remembered correctly.
"I'm sure you've probably heard the news by now." He said looking down at the ground. A memory clicked in Julie's mind. He was talking about the Tragulon. Immediately Julie's expression softened. He must be blaming himself she realized.
"I have…" She said, then after a pause. "Ben, you know I don't think any less of you for what happened right?" She tried to ask supportively.
"Thanks, but… I still blame myself." He said. A few moments of silence fell uncomfortably between them. After a few more moments where Ben's head continued to stare at the floor, Julie spoke up once again.
"Is this, related to that?" She asked curiously. Ben shook his head.
"It's sort of related." He offered with no real explanation. He looked back at the device in his hands and then back up to Julie. He held his hand out and offered the strange device to her. Julie took it from him delicately. She looked back at him with confusion.
"Ben I don't…" She began.
"Julie, I'm going to be going away for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I do know it'll be far enough away I won't be able to get back easily. I need you to keep that data cube with you. It has instructions on how to contact me while I'm gone. But I need you to promise me to only use it if there is serious danger. I'm talking about world ending, universe threatening danger. Do you understand?" Ben said seriously. Julie looked down at the device with confusion and skepticism. She had never seen Ben this serious before. It scared her a little bit. She wasn't even sure what was fully going on or what this had to do with the Tragulon.
"Ben, is everything ok? Does your family know about this, trip, you're planning on taking? And why not just tell them where you're going? I'm sorry but this is all kind of overwhelming." Julie said and tried to hand the device back. But Ben pushed it back towards her with a pleading expression.
"Please Julie, I just need you to do this for me. You're the only one I can count on." He pleaded with her. He clasped his hands over hers. She looked down at them and saw that they were scraped and roughened up, which made her all the more worried. Swallowing her anxiety Julie nodded.
"Okay Ben, I can do this for you." She said. Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He gave a very sincere thank you and released his hands from hers. He stood up to leave.
"With any luck, Gwen, Kevin, and the rest of them can handle things while I'm gone. So more than likely you won't even have to use it." Ben reassured her. Julie nodded in understanding. The message was clear, if things went south, she needed to get this thing to one of the plumbers. But there was still one thing that was bothering her.
"Ben, why give this to me? Why not give it to Gwen? Or your grandpa Max?".
'Or your new girlfriend?' Julie thought only slightly bitterly. Ben gave a slightly sad smile.
"Because you're the last person who would ever willingly try to get in touch with me." Ben replied simply. Julie's heart dropped a little at that admission. Did Ben really think her that petty? But before she could say anything further Ben was already out the door.
"Thanks again Julie. It might be a long while before we see each other again, so take care of yourself okay?" Ben said sincerely. Julie smiled despite herself.
"Yeah, you too." She replied. Ben nodded and then brought up his watch. In a flash of green he had transformed into Jetray. In the next moment Ben launched himself into the skies and flew off into the clouds. Leaving Julie to stare after him in concern.
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