Chapter 23: Speed and Strength Part 2
"That's really all you got?!"
As the pro-hero laid on the ground of the garage motionless, a pure hand to hand contest… had begun.
The tetramand held down Kevin's arms, and landed two punches to his ribs!
"And here I thought your alien group would be a challenge—!"
Kevin stomped on his knee.
"Ah—!"
The brute's grip loosened. Kevin shrugged him off and landed a hit right on his temple! "Push me more and see."
He switched out his stone armor with the plating on his car, and went back in!
Kevin landed a couple more blows, fully settling into his skipping, boxer-like combat style. The tetramand tried to punch him in return, bringing the hammer down, but Kevin dodged it all!
"Here is a thing or two I know about fighting Tetramands..!" Kevin ducked under another hit and swept his feet. "You know the expression of avoiding the horns?"
The brute found itself on the ground and the ex-con towering over him. The criminal jumped to land an elbow drop!
The brute rolled away!
Kevin raised his fist, as pieces of metal fell from it. He had a satisfied smirk. "Well, that's just the arms for your kind."
The tetramand grinded his teeth and he leaped back in, but Kevin landed another kick on the same leg, making him stumble!
Kevin then slyly pointed to it, as it was swelling. "And I'm just –!"
A fist, right on the side of his face, firmly interrupted his sentence.
It didn't blow him away or anything, but… It certainly made his head ring.
"Ten o'clock already?" he quipped, before shaking his head and seeing the blur coming back by popular demand.
"Oh great, two on one."
The XLR8 was dressed in the exact same way as the fourarms wannabe.
"Helen, what are you doing?"
"Cleaning up your mess Manny..." She responded and became a blur one more time. Kevin put up his arms.
It didn't take long for her blaster's fire to touch down on him yet again, but he just smiled. It wasn't hurting him.
"What do you think?" Kevin said. "Better than last time, ain't it?"
'Helen' didn't respond.
"So, she likes keeping dista—!"
"Hey, freak!"
Manny had called out to him… with all four of his arms lifting his car!
"Catch!"
"Not my ride!" Kevin opened his arms and caught the thing, however, with the angle and weight of the car, it still made him land on his back. They both flipped over and the car's trunk leaned onto the wall.
Kevin got up. This was the final straw… He was surprised he didn't pop a vein.
"Now you–!"
An instant double red fist connected with his gut! He was rattled, but Manny sure as hell wasn't.
He skidded back, his metal shoes causing sparks..
Kevin wiped his mouth. "Lucky hit…"
"Don't believe in luck." Manny quipped, and went for another blow.
The ex-con put up his hands to go for a counter, but the girl tapped him from behind the head, distracting him.
Another hit to his gut and Kevin fell on the floor.
The brute just kept on hitting.
"Manny!" she said, as he brought down all four arms like a hammer! "He's down. Cool it!"
"Nah." The tetramand said. "I saw this bastard take way mo–!"
However, in that moment Helen got knocked away, as a second blue speed streak… joined the battle.
Ingenium was standing tall, with blue fire on his elbows.
"I don't know what you two thought by coming here, but I know that I don't really appreciate it."
"Grrrrrrrr!" Manny gritted his teeth. "Why you–!"
Suddenly Ingenium vanished from both Kevin's and Manny's line of sight.
The four eyed brute was stuck looking around, only for Ingenium to jump from over the couch, and throw a blazing right cross!
The brute was supposed to be knocked to the ground, but he backflipped and got back to his feet.
"I…" Ingenium's breath hitched, as he rubbed his hand. "I really hate using this."
His arm was shaking after that hit, a crack also ran down the armor.
"Not as much as me having the fight here." Kevin shakily got up, looking at his garage which had gotten pretty messed up. "Thanks for the save."
"Don't thank me yet…" Ingenium stopped waving, and made his hand back into a fist. Kevin immediately got the implication.
The brute was standing in front of both of them, and the speedster was already in the wind.
Kevin steadied his own breathing. "One for each of us." He took a fighting stance. "How considerate."
"Indeed." Ingenium said, as the two duos clashed once more!
Ingenium vanished and Manny's stomps made sure both buildings next door could also hear the brawl.
He took a swing towards the running pro-hero, only to be barely dodged, and be met with the ex-con's fist!
Manny held up his arms, but it didn't help him from being knocked back. Kevin didn't let up. Fiercely, and relentlessly, he continued his assault.
Manny grabbed him with all four arms, and headbutted him. Kevin, despite the cracks on his armor, hit him right back!
The Tetramand let him go, Kevin saw him dazed. He was about to sweep the leg–!
Only to get hit by Helen's laser fir–!
"Sorry lady, but I'm not quite done dancing yet!" Ingenium then caught up behind her and knocked the gun away.
He turned off one of the engines, and then backhanded her!
It then revved up again. "Fair warning though, I'm a little quick on my fe–!"
It didn't even take a second for her to come back. Jumping up in the air, she landed several rapid fire kicks right on his chest, denting the shining armor!
"AH-!"
She landed back on her feet and vanished again. Ingenium tried to run after her, but Helen, increasing the speed even further, got a little more distance.
Ingenium gritted his teeth and did the same. Under the armor, he had started to sweat–!
But as Helen stopped, Manny appeared and turned the opportunity into a high-speed lariat!
The pro-hero couldn't stop himself. Even as he got knocked on his ass, he slid on the ground a little. He quickly opened his eyes, and got right back up on his feet.
The engines on his elbows were still blue, but…blood was trickling down his mouth.
Helen didn't waste a moment. She quickly started running around him, creating a tornado, while landing one high-speed punch after another.
Ingenium tried to hit back, but per every attempt, Helen would dodge and land three more punches of her own.
And once Manny jumped in yet again as a surprise attack, it was curtains.
Kevin tried coming in for his officer's sake, but Manny knocked him down yet again.
Both the hero, and the ex-villain… were down for the count.
However, Kevin was still conscious and Manny had plans about that. He riled back two more fists, ready to beat the guy into the ground.
"Hu–!" Kevin then suddenly grabbed one of his hands. "Hey, let go!"
He didn't. Kevin started squeezing his hand further like a hydraulic press with both hands! "AH!"
Helen took out a metal pole with a pink energy lasso on its end. Immediately it wrapped around Kevin's neck.
"Let go of him!" she yelled, not really pulling just yet.
Kevin still didn't give in, and Helen didn't wait to find out if he was just hesitating.
As she pulled, Kevin discovered that she wasn't particularly strong… but it was still enough. The armor was kind of helping, but it was already skintight, so it quickly started to be a non-factor.
"Come on Helen!" Manny also tried to assist with his three hands, soldiering on the pain. "Pull!"
Kevin clenched his teeth. Helen then put on her visor again, and started speeding back, pulling the lasso over her shoulde–!
She suddenly got wrapped with pink energy instead, and from the very sunroof they created on top of the garage, a new voice shined through.
"How about a dose of your own medicine!"
Kevin, who faintly had his eyes open, saw the figure on top of the pink floating platform.
"Gwen..?"
With her pink eyes and the pink orbs of energy on her palms crackling like electricity, she had a furious expression.
"You two took Midoriya…" She aimed with her other hand. "Where is he!?"
At that moment, Manny freed his hand and jumped out from the way of a magic blast.
He took his blasters out from his holster, and started firing, but Gwen just put up a barrier… blocking all of it.
Manny put them back into his holster, and opened all four of his hands, sending a massive seismic clap.
Gwen blocked that t…
"I got him!" Helen's voice suddenly cut through the battle, taking the attention of both Manny and Gwen.
Her pink eyes landed on the unconscious pro-hero in Helen's arms.
"No!" She let go of the barrier and tried to grab her with the magic, but Helen was faster.
She immediately ran out of the garage–!
"Beep beep!"
Gwen looked down as Manny jumped up, tackling through the platform she stood on!
"Ah!" The magician started falling down, but Kevin instantly sprung to his feet…
"Gotcha." Kevin windedly said, as she fell into his arms.
The two teens briefly made eye contact, before looking up at the hole in the building at the same time.
Manny had also escaped…
They had lost… yet another ally.
Kevin let her down and… his eyes fell on his red toolbox on the ground. A vein appeared on his forehead. Even though he was without armor, he kicked it to the wall!
"Argh!" He was winded, but more importantly angry.
"Kevin…"
His frustrated, black eyes turned to her, but Kevin… took a deep breath, and didn't snap.
"What are you doing here?"
Gwen… looked at the red toolbox, using it as a place to avert her eyes in reconsideration, before settling once again, confidently.
"I'm here to help."
Kevin… was a bit surprised, but didn't show it. "I thought we were following our own paths."
He armored up yet again with stone, and walked towards his car, holding the right front tire to flip it back over.
"You'll follow yours, and I'll follow mine… just like always."
He pulled, slowly and carefully, but the car didn't budge.
He wanted to be careful, because if the back slipped as he flipped it over, the suspension and bumper could be damaged further.
He knitted his eyebrows, as a hand descended in front of him.
"That's not how it works Kevin," Gwen said.
He, holding the car in position, looked up at her.
"Or, I guess that's what I had in mind." Gwen said. "You had others give you a chance here, a Plumber like Magister Labrid… and I'm curious."
"That's it?" Kevin asked. "You're curious."
"I want to see where it goes." She put a hand on her elbow.
"As in the *plans* that I have?" Kevin tried brushing it off, however Gwen didn't let go.
"As in what you'll do with it."
Kevin… did his best to hide his emotions from his face.
"Ben might be unsure, but I'm not. Now, together."
Gwen let her hands glow pink, as two magic constructs shot out, splitting into smaller tendrils and grabbing onto the car.
As she kept the car steady, he pulled again, managing to slowly flip it back over, and then making all four wheels touch down on the ground.
Gwen let the mana disperse, and Kevin… smiled.
"And what do you think *he* think about this?" He assumed a coy tone.
"He can think whatever he wants." She crossed her arms.
"But you… also know we're gonna need his help?"
"I know." She stated bluntly.
Kevin… couldn't help but laugh internally at this 'bolder' Gwen.
Her tone raised.
"If he wants to save the world, then he's gonna have to learn to make unlikely allies." A form of sass had overtaken her and… Kevin still wasn't complaining.
"For now, let's get moving." She walked towards the passenger seat, and Kevin went beside her.
"How did you track me anyway?" he asked curiously and Gwen… reached into her skirt's pocket.
"My sweaty handkerchief?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.
Gwen continued to hold it. "I… might have used my magic to grab it out of your backpocket… during the first fight at the school."
Kevin grabbed it out of her hand and the two separated to go to their respective seats. He threw it onto the ground, as he got inside and fired up the ignition.
"So?" He said. "We're gonna rescue them?"
"Yes." Gwen nodded.
"And you got a plan?"
"Working on one."
Kevin shrugged… and put down the e-break. "Good enough for me."
The car got moving and Kevin… was smiling.
"We're coming, Blue Blazes, don't worry."
Ben 10: Hero Force
Chapter 23
Speed and Strength Part 2
"Took us long enough…" Manny stretched his left shoulders and he picked up Ingenium from the middle seat. He got out of the van.
Even with their injuries, he had managed to drive them back to the warehouse they called home.
"Do you need help?" Helen asked, closing the passenger door.
"Nah, I'm fine–" He spat on the ground holding the side of the van… only to note that it was red. He then felt something on his tongue.
Helen stretched her aching neck as she looked over to him. "Are you okay?"
Manny spat again, into his palm this time. "Oh great…"
"Hm?" Helen questioningly grunted… to which he showed her the white pearl of a tooth.
She could see the fire lit under his four eyes.
"Yep, that's it!" He slammed Ingenium's limp body to the van, before taking out a remote from his jacket's body. "You're going into the furnace for this one!"
"Manny, wait a second!"
She held up her hands, but Manny was furious. "Wait?! Wait for what?! The guy to get up so he can whimper some more?!"
He continued to hold 'the alien' by one hand as he looked right at his partner. "We got one of them. Now it's time for termination."
"No." Helen, relatively calmly, insisted. "Don't you remember? This man… He has a Plumbers' badge—"
"So?" Manny asked. "If he has a badge, it's a fake. His pals and him– they are all dirty alien freaks!"
"How do you know that?!" Now Helen frantically asked. "He wasn't on the intel. For all we know, he isn't one."
Manny retorted. "He worked with the—"
Helen had her arms crossed. She didn't seem convinced, not even a little bit.
Manny, as a result of all the fighting and now this, was very irritated. He continued holding up their prisoner with one hand, as he used two others to take off his helmet and toss it to the ground.
"This mask wearing…" He must have been wearing an ID mask, he's gotta be!
He started prodding the prisoner's face.
Pulling on his face, opening his closed eyes, putting his fingers in his mouth—!
"Ah…" He whimpered.
"Manny, stop!" Helen called out. "It's not a mask!"
He let his face go. "It doesn't matter! He still helped his other pals, which we know are aliens, get away. I say we feed him to the eradicannon!"
Helen narrowed her eyes.
"Drop him."
Manny couldn't believe what he was hearing. He grinded his teeth and let him drop.
"Ow…" The body whimpered again.
Helen put his hands on him. On his arms, sliding down to his torso, belt…
"What are you doing?" Manny asked, as Helen then got back up… with the badge in her hand, and fashioning a curious expression.
The two then opened the door and walked in.
"Looks… different than I thought–!"
"See?" Manny didn't hesitate to jump in. "Let's get rid of him before his friends arrive—!"
Helen smacked him.
"Ow…" He remarked, rubbing his upper arm.
"You never listen, do you?" She spoke. "They still outnumber us. In the event that they attack us, we need to have some kind of leverage…"
She looked in front of her. "Besides, this is the largest alien group we found so far. We need to learn more about them."
Manny scoffed. "Pierce would've done it."
Silence overtook the compound.
He looked back and… saw the expression on Helen go empty.
Shock and sorrow had crossed her face…
"Helen, I—"
She pushed his hand away.
Her green eyes… They narrowed as she curled up a little, before every muscle of her body tensed.
"No!" She snapped back to him and pressed her finger on his chest. "And don't you dare use him as an excuse!"
"Pierce found all our alien junk and made it work!"
"*Pierce* brought us together!"
"And when *PIERCE* was in charge, WE WERE CAREFUL!"
She… She winced.
"The one time we weren't…"
Wind was taken out of her sails, and just then Manny found the courage to speak.
"Helen!—"
She raised her hand. She didn't want a word from him, not now.
"Fine…" Manny muttered.
He just put down the *presumed* alien onto the containment pad and then activated it, before ultimately… leaving the room. Quickly the pro-hero was lifted up, and trapped inside.
Helen reached for a small gadget on one of the terminals.
A journal…
She held it with both hands… letting her finger gently slide across the screen.
Helen caressed it, before pushing the button on its side, turning it on.
"March 27th– " Instantly someone's voice came through the device. "We zapped another DNAlien. Third one this month."
He was someone new. A teenager with several spikes coming out of his face, and forearms. He had long brown hair, with a white streak in the middle, and blue eyes.
As far as an outfit went, he was dressed the same way as Manny and Helen; a short-sleeved green and black jumpsuit, with boots and wrist bands.
His expression and his tone at that moment… was one of pride. However, he shortly recomposed.
"We found it in the desert outside of Bellwood, staking out a convoy of trucks… only something weird happened."
He opened up his palm, clearly distraught.
"We had the creep cornered. I got my energy lash wrapped around one tentacle, but just before Manny hooked him, he flashed a Plumber's badge."
He looked away.
"Figured it had to be fake… but now I don't know." The inner corners of his eyebrows were raised. "What if it was real?" What if we were wrong about hi—?"
Behind him, onto the rooftop, her and Manny entered.
"Helen, what is it with you?" The Manny in the recording spoke. "Every night, you're up here."
"Sometimes I like to look up at the stars." She said, "You know? Think about what's out there."
"Out there?" Manny seemed offended. "'Out there' is why we're all contaminated freaks, why we're treated as mutants!"
Helen backed off.
"We lived in the streets, because some sociopath forced us to be this way! THAT–"
The third, one closer to the camera, clenched his fist, and Manny… realizing his size and approach, backed off.
He clearly didn't mean to bare down on her.
"It's why we're kicking alien butt." He stated solemnly. "So that they can't do what happened to us, to anyone else. SO that nobody would need… to live like us."
Helen looked down. "I know… that it was hard—"
Manny's eyes opened.
"But, I… still think you're taking it too far."
"Helen!" His anger sparked. "After the stree—!"
Manny interrupted himself, putting a hand over all four of his eyes. "I don't get it. How are you—"
"Would you two stop it?" He turned to the two of them. "Every day it's the same talk."
He had a strict but disappointed tone.
"We're in this together, and I can't just baby-sit you forever, you know?"
The recording cut off, and Helen felt like she was just left there… behind and alone.
"I know." she bowed her head. "Pierce…"
She just wanted to stay curled up in her spot. Without him…
Trying to manage Manny, fighting this war against aliens, keeping the whole world straight…
"How did you do it, Pierce…" She rested her head on her knees.
Placing the badge on a nearby panel, she sat down on one of their chairs and… even though an armored pro-hero wasn't listening in on her, a green haired hero-in-training was.
He had been holding a serious expression on his face. Like he wanted to jump them with questions and yelling now that he had woken up, but…
When the two mercenaries were arguing, he promptly shut up and when Pierce came up… Midoriya really turtled in.
"You—"
"For what it's worth, I don't think you're freaks."
Midoriya put both hands on his mouth. Those words weren't from him.
Helen immediately jumped up. She zipped to grab her blaster and got to fighting form. He laid down, acting unconscious.
Who could that–!
"Hey, relax." the same voice spoke… and that's when Midoriya pinned who it was.
It was the pro-hero they brought in. Midoriya slightly opened his eyes.
The pro-hero was holding up his hands. "Can't exactly do much from… whatever this is."
He gestured to the yellow bubble he was sitting inside.
"Your name is Helen… right?" He said. "And your partner's Manny?"
Helen was aiming her blaster. "You heard that during the fight?"
"Eh, yeah…" He shrugged. "And when I was half-conscious on the car ride over."
She… put away her blaster. "Mind if I know who's asking?"
"Not at all." he nonchalantly said. "Name's Ingenium."
At that moment, Midoriya's eyes went as big as saucers.
I-Ingenium?! IIDA'S OLDER BROTHER?! HOW WAS HE INVOLVED WITH ALL OF THIS?!
"Local Pro-hero. Freelance Plumber…" The pro-hero continued. "And… I guess friend to all wildling creatures of the universe."
"Plumber?" Helen's stance was even more tense now.
"Freelance, specifically," he repeated. "Don't really have a boss, but, still trying to do right by the title."
"Doing right by the title?"
"You know, helping out the locals, keeping an eye out for any lawless bandits." He said. "Not really any arrests, but then again, not much happens around here."
She narrowed her eyes. Helen was still weary.
He crossed his legs and put on a hand on his chin.
"And you… are a Kineceleran, right?" he then asked. "And… your partner is a Tetramand?"
Helen shrugged. She… honestly didn't kn–.
"I've seen a bunch of your kind back in America." he continued. "But a Tetramand?"
That seemed to have caught him off-guard. "Thought the mighty Red Wind family wasn't big on allowing anyone off-planet."
"The Red Wind family?" Helen blurted out, and that Ingenium immediately crossed his eyebrows.
"Huh, then you're not from space... You were born on Earth?" he said and Helen immediately got back on edge. She should have pretended to know them! She let down her guard too much.
She reached back to her blaster.
"Look." Ingenium bluntly stated this time. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on, nothing else."
Midoriya immediately closed his eyes for a second, as Ingenium turned his head towards him.
He thought about rising up, and joining in on the conversation that Iida's brother had set up… but considering that he was a Plumber and what happened the last time he meddled… maybe he should leave this to the authorities.
Midoriya half opened one of his eyes, and saw Helen not relaxing.
"How about we both share?" Ingnenium asked.
Helen tilted her head.
"I can tell you some of my side. You can tell me some of yours." Ingenium said. "And then we see which pieces fit where."
She, after hesitating, put the gun back into its holster…
"How do I know you're not lying?" She asked, and Ingenium raised an eyebrow in response.
"The same way I do." he said. "You trust me."
He then gestured to his bubble, and to Midoriya's bubble. "And let's be honest, what can I gain here by lying?"
Helen didn't react. She looked at the journal sitting next to the badge.
"What do you say?" He followed up. "Five minute truce?"
Helen walked away… and pulled a chair.
"Five minute truce."
Ingenium felt relieved and crossed his legs. "So… who's first?"
Manny looked out from the street corner. The sky was clear, safe for some clouds that looked like they weren't going to rain. Good, the last thing he needed was to come back to the base wet… after dealing with another one of those alien freaks.
What did Helen know anyway… Letting the freaks take a time-out, right when they were ahead? No, if they outnumbered them, then the time to strike should be now! They need to keep hammering in those hits while they are still off balance!
He, reaching to one of the pouches on his belt, pulled out another device. Upon first glance, it looked like a top-shelf smartphone which had a navigation app open. It displayed the streets of Japan, with a sonar-like display over the yellow dot that was supposed to resemble him… if only the device could pinpoint his location.
"Stupid machine..!" He hit it on the side and immediately the device snapped back to order. His yellow dot blinked a couple of times as he scrolled out, despite his big red sausage fingers, he got to see his target.
The red dot… which could only mean one thing.
"Nice…" Those dimwits were still carrying around the ether-point energy cell. It must be in that green car that the other alien drove away, and he couldn't be more grateful for that. Now, to pursue the dot, it was probably wiser to not cut between the streets and take the high road.
He tried crouching… only for a jolt of pain to run up through his leg. ""That bastard…" He muttered under his breath. Oh, when he saw him again, he would make him pay back double. Do the same kind of hit to his leg… or maybe his arm.
In either case, he muscled through the pain and leaped up to the roof of the building in one go. After that, it was just a matter of working through the pain and getting to… a parking lot?
"Well, it's open… but I guess there are worse places." He took out the device again, and then double checked. Yeah, the cell must be on that kid, in that green backpack over his shoulder. He had a blue hoodie zipped up to his neck, with a black collared t-shirt underneath, and jeans. He also had brown straight hair and…
Manny's eyes widened. This was one of the aliens from the tip too!
He quickly grabbed his blasters and leaped! "Oh, things are getting interesting!"
Up in the air, he saw the teen's gaze greet his, as he unfortunately crashed onto the lot. He would normally try to land with a bit more grace, as per Helen's request, but right now… he wasn't thinking any of that. It was beatdown time!
A green flash happened as he brushed past the smoke and near the green backpack, he found… a cricket?
"What's wrong?" the weird looking cricket chirped. "Too much for you to handle?"
Manny wanted to laugh. "Yeah(!) With three hands tied behind my back, sure!"
Upon closer inspection, he saw that symbol on his chest. Oh, he knew exactly which alien this was… but all the cricket had was a puzzled expression. "He must be trying to play coy."
"Come on short-stack, I know you can do better than that." He put away three of his blasters, while keeping one aimed, and then beckoned with two of his hands. "I know you're the shapeshifter."
Now, the cricket's attention was on him, but… he shrugged?
"Eh, let's see you making it past Ball Weevil first."
Now, like it was the flick of a switch, Manny's blood against this creature started boiling. But he didn't want to show it… and let this little thing goat him. No, he would just… pull the trigger.
With four consecutive presses, four blue energy beams shot out!
Ball Weevil immediately threw up… a ball of slime and his laser fire… just got absorbed into it?
"Wait…" He put on a dumbfounded expression, before the little thing just kicked it back to him.
He dodged to the side, as the ball that was the size of his hand exploded?! The yield… it was almost as big as him.
"You wet your pants yet?" Ball Weevil quipped on top of another slime ball.
"You little!" Okay, so he could block his blasters. That's fine!
He put it away. He still had his energy lash with him, and other than that… Guess, the direct approach, it is!
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
He, despite his leg, leaped towards the little bug. And once he was done, he would—!
"It… wasn't that long ago actually." Ingenium said. "The time that I… quit."
Midoriya felt like he had to channel every fiber of his being to not flinch.
"5 years to be specific." Ingenium crossed his legs. "Surely, you're familiar with the time frame."
"Tennyson's hero days." Midoriya's eyes were all the way open. Thank everything that's holy that he had his back turned.
Helen, though, narrowed her eyes. "Enlighten me."
Ingenium was puzzled, yet he complied. "Alright."
"How familiar are you with the Forever Knights?"
Helen blinked in recognition.
"Plenty."
"HAAAAAAA!" Manny jumped up, but the little bug avoided just at the right time.
It sent a few slime balls, but he just slid under them!
"Alright, maybe I did bite a little more than I can chew." The shapeshifter chirped– only for Manny to come back!
"Still think I can't handle you?!" He had a staff with a pink tether around.
"EEK!" One stick leg clicked the watch.
The Fourarms then went for a punch through the green flash, only for a big hulking white, black and yellow alien to belly check him!
"Weren't expecting this?" He said in his new deep voice.
The fourarms scoffed. "I've brought down tougher guys than you."
"Really?" his opponent antagonized him. "When?"
"For starters, how about now?!"
"Whatever may be…" Ingenium continued. "Once the 'Plumber outpost' they destroyed was rebuilt, not only a new regiment was assigned, but the recruitment program for new Earthling cadets was started back up."
"Cadet program, huh."
Ingenium nodded. "After that hiccup, the local Plumber force of America wanted to go intergalactic."
He opened his hands. "The uptick in alien-related activity made them assume that it would be better to see the threat coming rather than just acting once it got there. And for good reason."
Midoriya, as silently as he could, jolted it down.
Helen in the meantime, had her arms crossed. "How could this relate back to you?" She asked bluntly.
"Well…" Ingenium said. "Don't you think they skipped over some important step? They were a local force, and now they are going intergalactic… They weren't…"
He was gesturing to her to fill in the blank.
"They were never…"
"Global." Midoriya reached the answer just before Helen did. The pro-hero nodded.
"So, they got right on that. Researching backgrounds, charting out locations… Akin to what they created for Vilgax, a network of satellite complexes all around the country, they wanted beacons and guardians for the entire world."
Ingenium crossed his arms.
"Due to my family's legacy in hero work and our wealthier standing, I was one of the first lucky twenty who were chosen to be recruited and trained to be the next officers of this system."
A smile fashioned Ingenium's face. "It was quite the experience which taught me a lot.., and allowed me to get friends from all sorts of backgrounds."
Helen didn't miss a beat. "Who are they?"
"In due time." Ingenium said, which Helen knitted her eyebrows.
"But most of them were kids of ex-plumbers though, am I right?"
Ingenium… tilted his head, before nodding. "Some were also pro-heroes, like me, coming from all over the world. Some had Plumbers as parents, and some… were more or less in my situation."
The hero recomposed though. "That place became… something like a second campus to me."
Midoriya, slowly but surely turned where he laid, putting the notebook away, and… listening.
"What happened?" Helen, rather innocently, questioned.
"They cleared the palace out." He said solemnly.
"The warning system they wanted worked too well, and against concerns for a galactic invasion…
Midoriya had the epiphany. "The Highbreed invasion!"
"Three years into our training, and most of the personnel started being recalled back to command." Ingenium said. "First, our teachers began to shift around, then classes were dismissed, and then… the offer came."
Helen unraveled her arms.
"We would be moved to the Plumber Academy… in space… to continue our training." Ingenium said. "After graduation, we would be assigned to other planets."
Midoriya could see the frustration of the hero.
"I asked to be assigned to Earth." Ingenium said. "Most of my friends did…"
"And they didn't let you." Helen bluntly stated.
Midoriya gasped.
Ingenium shook his head.
"They just told us that Earth was a backwater planet. Not worth the oversight after the recent lack of threats…"
His tone was frustrated. "They were willing to abandon Earth… because they had their eyes in the sky."
Helen remarked. "If it's a galactic invasion—"
"I know it is." Ingenium interrupted. "But, there are thousands of Plumbers out there."
"And so few of them, here." He assembled his hands.
"I… always thought I would make my difference *here*, on Earth. After all that's what the original Plumber directive asked for. Keeping people safe from the things that go bump in the night."
He couldn't help but laugh as he recited that from the heart. "Plugging the leaks in the normal everyday Earth, not just to help the common human folk, but sometimes the alien folk as well. It felt so… heroic, in just another medium."
Below the knitted eyebrows, he got a reminiscing grin.
"And reading about Ben and the Omnitrix basically confirmed it to me. However…"
"Ben and the Omnitrix?" Helen questioned."You're telling all this to your captor?"
Midoriya noticed the miss… but Ingenium committed to it.
"I told all this to someone who can be much more dangerous than you, Helen." he stated. "When I started, I wasn't afraid of you knowing it."
Helen seemed caught off guard. " And why would you do that?"
Ingenium smiled. "Because, call me old fashioned, but I like to believe I see the best in people."
He crossed his arms.
"If I learned anything during my combat exercises, it's that no one can carry a mission by themselves."
He spoke with conviction. "It requires a team, coordination, and organization. Even All Might, with a whole agency by his side, has only ever managed one country at a time. As much of a force that I know that kid to be, no one can protect a world alone."
Helen saw this show. "Where is your team?"
The pro hero played coy. "Around."
She took out his Plumber badge. Midoriya got the chance for a closer look. "So, this is a cadet badge…"
"Twelve of us who quit the program took our badges and went back to where we came from, applying what we learnt and… fulfilling the real Plumber directive the best way we can."
Ingenium took a breather. "...without the people in our agencies… or anyone really having a clue."
Helen had a curious gaze.
"Now, I think it's your time to share." Ingenium put his hands on his knees, as she continued to see cross-legged, and she… didn't resist.
She lowered her eyebrows. "Right."
Manny was dusting off his hands. It might have been more trouble than he first expected, but the puny alien was now resting, lying face first in a crater, with his hands outstretched.
"You've had this coming for a long long time, alien." He picked him up by the back of his shirt. One of his hands were sliding down to his gun, he could probably finish off this alien here, no one would know, and just save them the trouble later.
Eradicannon or not, this one was beaten… but he still looked around at both sides. If Helen realized that he was gone, and showed up now. Or when he went back to base, if she saw the new bruises on him… it would probably be better to have an explanation.
And besides, if Helen DID see this, she would finally understand that there is no reason to be so timid with these aliens. Sure they fought their hearts out, but that was it!
He put the transforming alien over his shoulder, and despite his leg hurting, still managed to jump away.
If only his four eyes had done a much more thorough scan of the area around them. Namely the green muscle car that had parked just behind some bushes, right next to the parking lot.
"Can you track him?" Kevin asked, as Gwen put her hands around the sides of her face… and let her eyes glow.
"Yes, I do have a lock."
That was enough for Kevin. He turned on the ignition, got the car in gear 1, and slowly started driving after the jumping brute.
"2 years?!" Midoriya internally exclaimed.
"Maybe it was longer." Helen replied. The five minute truce that they've set for themselves had passed, but…. Both of them were, at the very least, too intrigued to stop now. "But yes, that's when we started putting away aliens…"
"Putting away…" Ingenium still muttered under his breath. The sheer lack of emotion as she calmly confirmed eliminating people. Just the thought… made words stick to his throat.
This…
This was why he was against Mount Rushmore being closed again!
He couldn't help but let his inner protests and regrets roar!
"Me and everyone else! WE were supposed to be protecting this planet with proper coordination and a central base, so that kids wouldn't have to!"
He continued. "Kids like her, Manny, Tennyson Ben, Tennyson Gwen, Kevin or any of the other kids Magister Labrid employed under Mr. Tennyson!"
Ingenium once again thought about her age again… about when she started.
"SHE WAS 15! SAME AGE AS TENYA!"
It… had him defeatedly bowing his head. The only silver-lining to it was that all these people were from America, so maybe there was just too much for… his classmate in that sector to deal with.
In either case, once he saw Magister Labrid again, he would make sure to inform him so that he would direct it to the high command.
And when he got his badge back… he would see if he could get in touch with her.
Hopefully, *she* just didn't know—
"So, those were three questions answered. Am I right?" he asked Helen, who just nodded.
When he first decided to save up his questions, Helen had spent one question trying to fish out the reason. However, he remained tight-lipped.
(And as a reason, Helen declared that she would change the question she asked, to which Ingenium gracefully accepted.)
Right before he came from his concussion… When Helen was listening to that log… he had heard a name.
"What is your question?" Helen sat down back on the chair in front of him, and crossed her arms.
Ingenium took one deep breath…
"Who is Pierce?"
The question instantly had Helen pause.
"Sorry for holding out." He said, trying to do some damage control. "However, I heard the messa—"
Her visor came down, and she ran away.
"Helen!" Ingenium got up, and banged on the dome. "Come back! Look—"
"HELEN!"
Both prisoners' stomach sank. Both Ingenium, and Midoriya knew who the source of this new gruff voice in the base was…
"LOOK AT WHAT I GOT!"
Ingenium crossed his eyebrows, and Midoriya subtly tried to get a peak. "What *did* you—"
Shock crossed both their faces.
"Mr. Tennyson!/Tennyson!" Midoriya jumped up, completely blowing his cover, and putting his hands on the bubble.
"You…?" Ingenium was perplexed, but Manny didn't care.
"Oh, you woke up too?" The brute said. "Good. Now, both of you can either start talking or watch as your friend bites it first."
He shrugged. "Or vice versa, I don't really ca—"
"That's enough Manny." Helen flashed into existence once again. Her visor was off. "I already interrogated him and…"
Her eyes widened as she also took notice of the limp body over her partner's shoulder.
"Who is that?"
Manny flashed a cocky smirk. "Just some brat who got too big for his britches!" He flexed as he grabbed his blue hoodie with one hand. "Check it!"
"Helen!" Ingenium shouted.
He banged on the bubble. "Helen, you got to listen to me!"
"You got to listen to us!" Midoriya also banged on it. "He told you about him, remember?!"
Ingenium followed up. "You asked if there was a way to get rid of these DNAliens for good? Well, here he is!"
She wasn't registering their words. Her hands just reached for the energy lash, her blaster, and she gave a solemn nod to Manny…
The brute smiled.
"He's the key!" Ingenium said.
"We can't win this war without him, Helen!" Midoriya followed up. "You got to believe us–!"
"The key?" Manny scoffed, actually turning his head and responding to him. "This guy? He didn't even put up much of a fight."
"He–!"
"The device on his wrist." Midoriya had gritted his teeth. "If he could use it, he could–!"
"Oh, but he did!" Manny stated quite proudly.
He…
"What?" Ingenium stated, very perplexed.
"You mean transforming into those freaks, right?" Manny asked. "He did it, several times. And he was a pushover!"
Ingenium turned to Midoriya, and yeah, he had a stunned expression too.
"Are… Are you sure?" the kid even blurted out, and just in that moment, Helen faced them.
As Ingenium stared at her in response… he got to watch every second of the realization dawning on her.
"Manny–!"
The roof of the complex rocked like an earthquake had just hit and collapsed right between the two alien teens, and the bubble he was trapped inside.
Kevin stepped out, covered with his car's signature green metal yet again.
"Nothing like a little iron in your diet to perk you right up!"
Helen steeled herself. "How did he find our…"
Her eyes shot at Manny, but–
"Doesn't matter." The tetramand said. "We'll–!"
"Heh heh heh…"
Manny looked in front of him, at the tied up teen with brown hair and weird watch.
He raised his face, and a smirk of his own greeted him.
"Our turn."
The speedster became more distressed by that line, but Mann–!
"Hah!" he scoffed at the human looking alien. "That(!) was your big play?! I already beat him once before."
Manny pointed to himself with one thumb, and pulled Ben a little closer, probably to see his expression. " Why do you think it's gonna be any different?"
The nearby wall of their warehouse broke apart, like Ben had manually flipped a switch.
Two pink disks launched from the dust, breaking the containment pads of Midoriya and Ingenium.
The bubbles dissipated, and both Midoriya and Ingenium found their feet stepping on the table.
Ingenium then also caught a can of grapefruit juice.
Gwen emerged from the dust cloud, hands glowing with pink energy. "Kevin said it's your favorite."
Ben turned to Manny with a smirk of his own. "This is why."
Things… quickly descended into chaos.
"Manny, wait!"
But the red brute did no such thing and immediately leaped forward at the guy… only to land an uppercut below his chin, sending him skidding back!
Manny shook around for a bit, before coming to his senses and running right back at him!
But Kevin… had a surprise?
He jumped out of the way and… the kid with the green hair appeared from behind him, fist fully at the red.
"SMASH!"
"Stand still!"
Gwen was dishing out pink disks.
Helen grabbed her gun and fired back, but with the sweep of a hand, a barrier manifested.
"Hey!" Ingenium appeared behind her shield, helmet absent. Looked like the grapefruit juice worked wonders.
He said solemnly: "I can be the hook. Could you be the line?"
Gwen nodded, and Ingenium forced his engines into overdrive.
"Come on Helen, don't make this hard–!"
He tried to grab her, but was met with a punch.
"Come on!"
Again.
"Helen, you–!"
Again.
Every time he'd make a move, Helen would easily just pick up the pace and avoid it!
"NOW–!"
Ingenium accelerated his right engine further, and went for a right swing!
Helen however, easily avoided and countered.
The pro-hero crashed onto some boxes.
The trail was off so Helen slowed for a second, but then… ran on some pink ground?
Immediately the edges of the circle she stood on erupted forth, and a bubble formed around, capturing her.
"I got her." The redhead from earlier said as she kept her hands outstretched. "Don't know for how long though."
"Don't sweat it Gwen." Ben spoke, taking the pink lashes off his wrists, and putting his hands around his mouth. "Hey Kevin, Midoriya, how is it going?"
"Working on it Tennyson!" Kevin, getting the signal, sent Manny even further tumbling back with a left hook. "One more!"
Midoriya didn't waste any time as he landed yet another blow to Manny's chest. It sent him flying!
Ben saw it. He transformed into Chromastone to jump, grab him midair, and toss him next to Gwen's bubble. "Gwen!"
"On it!" The glow on her eyes intensified as she opened one hand and closed it. A larger dome appeared from under Manny and Helen, trapping both mercenaries!
Manny pounded on the field, but… there wasn't a crack.
Helen's original bubble disappeared, but she didn't join in on the barrier abuse.
"That won't work." Gwen warned. "I'm reinforcing the bubble every second. You two aren't going anywhere."
Then, all five of them approached the dome. Helen was… taking her defeat solemnly, as Ingenium expected she would.
"Helen…" Ingenium might as well call out again, but she didn't indulge him.
"You!" Manny yelled. He on the other hand… wasn't taking defeat so solemnly. "You're always reinforcing it, huh?!"
He took out a remote from his belt. Helen seemed alarmed. "MANNY!"
With the press of a button, the garage door opened.
"What is he doing…" Ingenium mumbled.
All fighters, Kevin, Chromastone and Midoriya, steeled their stances… but all that showed up was a truck… with an opened door of the cargo bed.
Ingenium then saw Kevin's face… be overcome by terror. Like every fiber of his being was standing on end.
"Hold onto something!" He yelled before the device inside turned on… and a red, swirling void… stared back at them.
"A Null Void Projector!" Chromastone said, as wind flowing into the portal picked up!
He, thankfully, had plenty of weight, but Midoriya was being dragged in!
"Tennys—!" Chromastone grabbed the greenette by the collar.
"We never tried using it like this." Manny stated from his safe and sound dome. "But it's getting the job done."
Helen, even from behind the dome, stared at Manny and looked horrified. "Manny, turn it off!"
"Why?" he asked her. "This way, all of them can be sucked in at once!"
"That remote…" She grinded her teeth. "Did you even look at it before pressing?"
"Of course I di…" He snapped back, before actually checking out the "remote" in his palms. "Oh…"
Half of it was completely covered in burn marks, while the other half had cracked with the wiring inside visible.
"The fight when we first met up…" Chromastone said, probably meant to be under his breath. "Gwen!"
She was still reinforcing the barrier, but… the pull on her was getting stronger as well. She needed to drop the dome! If she was going to protect h–!
Kevin, letting go of his strong stance, stomped on the ground, kicking up a concrete wall.
He started getting dragged in, making him fall down. Kevin's hand clamped down on the ground, hard. "We…"
He shuddered, as he looked at the portal.
"We need to shut this thing down."
Chromastone nodded in agreement, as his gaze wandered around from left to right and front to back—!
"Hey pro-hero!" he called out to Ingenium. "Can you get him off my hands for a second?"
Ingenium… nodded and immediately let go of the terminal.
The pull immediately took effect, so much so that his feet didn't touch the ground for a second!
But that's where his quirk came in.
"Engine!" He shouted and as steam came out from his elbows, he held up his arms to push him back down on the ground.
Keeping his hands upright so that he would be pushed down to the ground instead of zoomed forward, he walked over to Tennyson and grabbed Midoriya out of his hands. "What are you—"
Tennyson changed right before his eyes into a… an orange crab?
"Brainstorm!" The exoskeleton on his head then opened up, and covered the portal with yellow energy.
The pull on everyone ceased, and Kevin got up from where he fell. "You're getting lots of mileage from that form, aren't you?"
Brainstorm shrugged in response.
"But you know that's a temporary measure at best, Ben." Gwen said.
"No need for concern." He just waved his claw. "I only need to sustain my form until the device is properly decommissioned. And as it is apparent, we have quite the clique who are experienced in alien–!"
He felt a push against him inside the bubble.
Ingenium pointed back to the portal. "Too bad that wasn't what she was talking about."
Behind the yellow bubble, there was a head sticking out of the device.
It was grey in color, spines all around his body, along with a jaw that stuck out. No eyes, no nose, just… very defined yellowed out teeth and green slobber. Narrowing his eyes, Ingenium could also see some tentacles also squeezing out and… maybe some wings?
"What the hell is that?!" Manny yelled from the bubble. Helen gathered her hands and slid back.
"A Null Guardian…" Brainstorm looked over at Kevin, who had the words fall out of his mouth. His hands were clenched and eyes were shot with a hint of fear. "Drop the bubble, Tennyson."
"Are you insane?! No!" Manny couldn't believe what he was hearing. He slammed his hand to Gwen's dome. "Keep it up!"
"Tennyson!.. Ugh…" Kevin said to him. "The creature has the thing bottlenecked already. We need to push it back inside, before that thing gets *itself* unstuck."
*ROAR!*
Without the muffling due to the bubble, the creature's roars were in full effect.
Everyone seemed to be paralyzed with… surprise.
Kevin gritted his teeth. "Damn it."
He didn't want to get close to it, he didn't, but…
"Alright people, listen up!" The back haired ex-con raised his voice. "We have to pull the plug on this thing. Airbags, you protect Gwen, keep that dome from breaking. Tennyson, you're on portal shutting duty. Salad hair, you're with me."
He looked down on himself and saw the roughed up state of his current armor… A hand went down the ground and immediately stone covered his body. "I'm gonna shut that jaw down… and you're gonna lay one on that thing."
"Uh." Midoriya stared back rather emptily, but still obliged!. "Right!"
"Let's go then." Kevin took a deep breath, with Midoriya following close behind. As the two took the lead, Brainstorm crawled towards the side of the device.
"Okay…" Midoriya tried to calm his heart. He was about to punch something… that could probably rip off his hand if he got a bite of it. "No pressure… Midoriya Izuku."
He glanced over to Kevin. "Hey, Lev–!"
"It's Kevin." The ex-con quickly interrupted him from that.
"R-Right, Kevin…" He steadied himself. "Is there perhaps a *second* reason you're holding its ja–!"
The Null Guardian let out a thunderous roar once more, right at that second!
It then parted his yellow teeth as energy gathered down its throat, and fired forth towards Gwen!
"Engine boost!" Ingenium held Gwen by the shoulders and had her skid out of the way.
"T-Thanks…" Gwen was dazzled a bit from the sudden burst forward.
"Don't mention it."
Kevin looked back at him. "That enough of a reason?"
Midoriya violently shook his head.
"Good." He replied. "Be ready."
Kevin then widened his arms and… confronted the creature.
Midoriya held his left hand over his right. He let the power flow inside his palms… freely, before making them into fists. He was trying to regulate it, as well as he could.
The creature then dove its head down towards Kevin, trying to chomp him down in one go. But the criminal wouldn't let him, he skipped out of the way.
The monster tried again, and this time he rolled to the left. With his opening made, the ex-con acted!
With left hand at the top, and right hand at the bottom, he squeezed! "Come on, you–!"
He was failing though. Midoriya could see it clear as day. He had heard people say that the jaw contained the strongest muscles in the entire body. For an alien of this size, that mouth was probably like a small excavator.
Kevin's teeth grinded as he narrowed, and almost closed his eyes, but he was very much at the creature's mercy. It was shaking its body around now, trying to get Kevin off–!
"NO!" His hands opened like claws,and stabbed into the creature's sides! Its actions died down as it started squirming. His hands were closed like venus-fly traps, and… his eyes…
His pupils were dilated as a sadistic intensity came over them.
"Yeah, that's right! Respect me!" He yelled, and with one more push, he closed it!
"Midoriya!"
The greenette didn't need to be told twice! He rushed forward without a second thought. A flick wouldn't do it this time, it had to be a punch!
"DETROIT…!
Red veins ran up his whole hand. They pulsated with overwhelming intensity…. But Midoriya then got in front of it. "Don't let it burst… Do all you can right now, only!"
It flowed yet again, but… more faintly. "...SMASH!"
His hand made contact. It was soft, and slimy, but Midoriya REALLY wasn't trying to think about that right now. Kevin let go of the creature and it flew right back into where it came from!
"Now, Tennyson! Close it!" Kevin yelled… as Midoriya noticed the criminal's eyes… take a glance inside and widen.
He decided to look after him. After all, what could be the cause of such surprise?
There was a man there.
A grown older man, with yellow pale skin, muscular physique, silver hair… and a devious smile. He was completely shirtless, only wearing black gloves, black skintight pants… and a moss-green cape. He was floating above one other Null Guardian all the while surrounded… by many others. His solid black eyes, with the yellow sclera… were staring back at them.
"Ah… the outside world." He spoke. "It's been so long."
"Seriously Tennyson, cut the feed!" Kevin yelled as he started feeling the pull once again.
More of the Null Guardians dove towards them, right before the portal vanished… shut.
Kevin's breath… hitched as the stone armor got shed off his body.
"I've managed to uncover the emergency shutdown switch." Brainstorm spoke next to them, as in a green flash, Tennyson snapped into his place. "So now we can turn the thing off whenever we want."
"Wonderful…" Kevin walked off, his nerves finally settling down.
To Midoriya's surprise, Tennyson didn't press. As Kevin just moved to confront the two mercenaries, he saw Ingenium follow after h–!
"Oh my god, Ingenium!"
He just remembered. Midoriya put a hand over his mouth. "I CAN'T BELIEVE–!"
He couldn't believe it. The fact that Iida's pro-hero brother, the renowned Turbo Hero… also knew of a—!
He felt the nudge of his Omnitrix wielding friend on his shoulder.
"Tennyson!" He really was in fanboy mode, as his heart raced like never before. "Did you know?!"
The transforming hero shook his head. "Nope, only found out about an hour before you."
Apparently, that's who the Magister had tending to Kevin.
"What are the odds?!" Midoriya screamed on the inside. But… "Tennyson, does Iida know?"
His friend looked away. "I don't think so."
"Then do we tell the rest of the…"
Ben shrugged. "I… don't know. Even if it's just Yaomomo and Kirishima, I still want to respect the secret."
Midoriya nodded.
"But then again. " Ben then raised the Omnitrix. "What do I know about properly keeping secrets?"
Midoriya looked away. "Ditto…"
"What was that?" Ben asked.
"Nothing!" Midoriya replied.
"Oh… okay, then what say you?" Ben asked, and now, for this part, Midoriya was equally not sure.
It was just two people in theory, but there was the class dynamics to consider. For Yaoyorozu, she was the vice class representative. Every weekend, she had to see Iida for their meetings and would have to keep the secret. AtleastKirishimawasinabetterspothedidnotparticularlyhaveaconnectionwithIidabutKirishimawasalsoquitepassionateifhelearnedofthesecrethewouldbemuchmoreinclinedtotellevenifhewantedtorespectthespacecopjobthatwasassignedtoallofusandtheaggrementwemadeaswebecameateam
"Hey, Midoriya." His eyes turned as he heard the Turbo hero. "Maybe dial it down a little?"
Midoriya's body, mind and soul didn't process that though. "HE KNOWS MY NAME?!"
Tennyson shook his head, as he stepped towards the mercenaries.
Kevin stood before them with his hands on his hips, but Ben got in front of him.
"They're all yours." the ex-con said.
"Thanks."
"I'm going to make sure the dome holds." Gwen then added, to which Ben nodded in her direction before approaching further.
Manny didn't turn to look at him, whereas Helen looked confused. "So, it's not a disintegrator…"
"Nope, it's not." Ben crossed his arms. "Now, what…"
"Mr. Tennyson." He felt the hand of Ingenium on his shoulder. "Mind if I handle this part?"
The transforming hero was surprised. "Oh, sure…"
Ingenium had an officer-like look to him as well.
"Also, call me Ben?" The transforming hero also tacked on the end. Hopefully Iida would never be around as Ingenium referred to him by his first name, but it was better to be referred to than as "Mr."
The pro-hero though didn't send any sign of acknowledgement his way. His eyes were just on the duo that they captured, but the expression that he had wasn't one that harbored anger.
"I… think it's fair to say we weren't lying." he asked, and Helen… shook her head, no.
"I want to know what's going on." She said, not with her usual flat expression, but with a curious one.
"Good to hear." He then… actually cracked a smile. "Five minute truce?"
She looked back at the group, behind Ingenium. His supposed alien accompli…
The thoughts stopped there.
Helen sighed.
She tapped Manny, and the red brute turned to her. And as she gave a look and a nod to him, Helen laid down her blaster as well as the energy lash.
Reluctantly, Manny followed suit.
"We're all ears."
"I-Ingenium…"
The pro-hero turned around, and saw Midoriya standing relatively far away. Anxious, excited, and… most importantly conflicted. The greenette had his hand up, before he put it down.
Ingenium took a gander and Tennyson seemed to be currently explaining their situation to them so…
After exchanging a look of reluctance with Helen as well, he walked over.
"Hello Midoriya…" He extended his hand. "I don't believe we've met. Tensei Iida, also the Turbo Hero: Ingenium–!"
"I-I know!" He said. "I-I heard you when you introduced yourself to Helen–"
Midoriya stopped short on his words.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah." Midoriya said. "It's just… Deja vu."
Ingenium could see the greenette imagining a time before the two ever got on each other's radars.
"Right…" He continued. "I thought you wanted to talk about something?"
The nervous greenette nodded. "Yes… It's about what I… got to hear."
The pro-hero saw Midoriya's eyes darting all around, fingers tapping each other rapidly.
"I-I'm sorry, I've had a rough night."
"You mean the abduction or the wormhole?" Ingenium put together a light quip, and all Midoriya's overwhelmed head could put together was…
"Yes."
Ingenium put on a reassuring smile. "Deep breaths, Midoriya."
The pupil of All Might did as he was told.
He got his nerves in order… and shortly after, his words.
Midoriya sat on top of some boxes. "About your history…" He assembled his hands, and Ingenium bit his tongue. Oh, yep, that would be something he would want to talk about.
"I wanted to ask if Iida knew–!"
"No." Ingenium interrupted him curtly. "H-He doesn't."
Immediately he regretted that impulse decision.
"I'm sorry, that was really rude." He said, even though Midoriya tried to wave his hands and say it's fine.
He took off his helmet.
"You said no one had a clue." Midoriya said, as Ingenium threw the helmet by some boxes
"I did." he said. "And I… Sorry if this sounds selfish, but I'd like to keep it that way."
Midoriya opened his mouth. "I… "
"I'm sorry for pushing all this onto you." Ingenium lent his hand. "But what I've come to notice is that the people who are in danger because of this job, also tend to be the ones who… actually know of it."
Ingenium put his hands forward. "I already know you do, because of Tennyson, so…"
He tried to keep a relieving smile. "Could you keep a secret?"
The greenette's eyes immediately shrunk.
The pro hero tilted his head. "Midoriya?"
From what he could tell, Midoriya was having… an internal crisis?
Little did he know, the 15 year old was now entrusted with All Might's, Tennyson's and now INGENIUM'S SECRETS!
"Could you try… breathing? Again?" Ingenium asked, to which Midoriya, with pupils still like dots, nodded.
"In a moment–"
"So, you were not the third party?!" Tennyson's shocked attitude cut them off… as Helen shook her head.
"We only arrived here three days ago." She then looked over to Gwen. "The first base we ever showed up was the one where we fought your group."
Ingenium put a hand on his chin. "So, that won't explain the empty bases…"
"Look at it this way. It would be really disappointing if this was it." Kevin cut in with his hands on his hip.
Manny took offense at the statement. He walked up to him. "You wanna go another round?!"
"Anytime pal!"
Helen tried to zip in between the two, but the two were already ready to throw down.
"Think you're funny?" Manny said.
"Hey, you're the comedian." Kevin donned his usual smirk. "At least you got the face for it."
Manny gritted his teeth. "Boy, are you asking for it!"
"I'm begging for it!" Kevin's snark was through the roof. "Who's gonna give it to me?!"
"Me!" Manny pointed to himself. "With three arms tied behind my back!"
Then, Ben pushed the two apart.
"Hey, stop it, both of you!" His gaze traveled from one to the other. "What am I, your babysitter?"
He then heard Helen mutter. "You sounded just like my brother."
"Really?" Gwen deadpanned.
Ingenium turned around. "Wait, do you mean…"
Helen nodded.
"Pierce was the one who kept us grounded." The ends of her eyes were facing the ground. "The one who…"
She zipped away inside the compound. Once she came back, she had a small gadget in her hand. "This is what he was talking about."
Helen turned it on and immediately the video of the teen, with spikes on his face, blue eyes and white streak of hair appeared.
"Only something weird happened…."
Helen fast forwarded.
"...flashed a Plumber's badge."
She fast forwarded it again, and Pierce's desperate, answer-seeking eyes turned to all of them. Manny's four eyes also widened.
He… had never watched this far before.
"What if it was real? What if we were wrong about–?!"
Manny barged in onto the scene.
Helen turned it off, and approached Manny.
"Don't you see Manny? We captured all those other aliens, and the ones who had the badge–"
"Hold on." Ben cut in. "What other aliens?"
Helen turned on the device yet again, Pierce's face appeared, but this time, a different message showed.
Ben, Gwen, Ingenium, and Kevin all approached. Midoriya didn't want to be left out.
"I'm still working on that list of aliens we fried." Pierce spoke. "It's not complete but…"
His face then vanished, as it left the place for a completely different hud.
Midoriya marveled at the new alien before him.
It had a gray body, just like the Null Guardian from before, but had black spikes lines and spikes running all over. From the blue full body picture on the top left, it looked to have a ghost-like body considering the very notable tail instead of legs, along with tentacles coming out from its abdomen and long black nails on his hands.
As for the face… Midoriya was hesitant to look at it.
It looked like an upside down skull, with the wide jaw (not wider than the Null Guardian) that contained white uneven bone-like teeth residing above the one singular pink eye with black iris. In hindsight, the shades of purple were all over, like the gums and…
"Ectonurite." Pierce's voice stated.
The display then changed to another alien.
This one was familiar to Midoriya. It was the fire alien that Tennyson had turned into in his video.
"Pyronite." Pierce stated again.
The display changed.
Now it showed an orange dog-like alien, with… no real distinctive features. It lacked any eyes, ears, nose or tail. However, he did possess defined teeth, also with a bottom jaw that stuck out of his mouth. From the displays on the right, Midoriya also saw some spines coming from under his jaw, over his back and claws. It also had gill-like lines running over its neck.
"Vulpimancer." Pierce said.
One by one, many other aliens showed up, many of which Tennyson and the other seemed to recognize all the while he didn't… except for one.
"DNAlien…" Midoriya muttered, as he then looked at Manny and Helen. This was solid proof, they WERE fighting on the same side!
"Why did you attack us then?" Kevin spoke up, arms crossed.
"They had no information." Ingenium clarified in their place. "They didn't know–"
"Except we did."
Manny stepped forward, and reached into one of his vest's pockets. "I hope it's intact."
He then pulled out a picture… which alarmed all who stood there. It was them back at the Forever Knight temple! When Tennyson destroyed the weapons vault!
Magister Labrid, Midoriya, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Tennyson and him!
"We were told you were aliens." Manny said. "Like the ones who did this…"
He gestured to his own red skin, and four arms.
"...to us."
Midoriya visibly flinched over the idea. He knew he had heard of the recording Helen provided. How pained they were during that time, and…
"That may be." the transforming hero curtly stated. "But some of *these* might be other Plumber's kids."
He passed the device back to Helen. "Who did you say gave you this?"
Ingenium rapidly grabbed the photo from Midoriya's hand. "Answer us." His eyebrows were knitted. For the first time in this entire night he was demanding answers like a bad cop, with a sharp end to his sentence and passionate tone.
Helen approached in place of him though. "It was sent to us as a tip."
"From our usual guy." Manny also said.
"And the sender?" Kevin asked, arms crossed. "Got a name?"
"No. We don't know–"
"The guy just sent us info." Manny said. "Sometimes twice per week, sometimes once a month. We didn't know his name, or his look. All we get is some location, info about powers, and a picture–!"
"And you just followed it without question?!" Ingenium raised his tone.
"Pierce tried looking into it." Helen said. "But the guy is like a ghost. There was no trace–"
"And we knew that the getting was good." Manny added. "The info was always on the money, and the alien tech leftover was ours to take. After a while we stopped questioning it–"
"You!" Ingenium put his forearm over Manny's chest, ready to hit him with his raised hand!
Ben and Gwen raised their arms, just in case another fight broke out… but Manny didn't. If Ingenium was going to hit him, he was gonna get away with it.
Meanwhile, the pro hero's teeth were grinding by the thought of other kids, Plumbers, or both being sent there!
All… All for nothing they were sent–!
He didn't even realize his shoulders were shaking… up until Kevin put a hand over one of them. His expressionless face and dutiful look…
The pro-hero took a breath. It reminded him that he was acting unprofessional.
But Helen, just like everyone else, had managed to catch it. And… She bowed her head in defeat. They had sent all those people in there on false information. They let themselves be played… so…
"In that case…" Her voice cut through the silence, as her green eyes turned to look at Manny. "We have to go into that… um, what did you call it?"
"Null Void." Kevin stated, putting his arm down from Ingenium's shoulders.
"Null Void. Round up everybody we captured and free everyone who shouldn't be there."
Manny wasn't on board.
"Not a chance." he said. "Whatever happened, happened. We have to live with it, and continue fighting here."
He opened his arms. "Now that we're with the people on the correct side of the line–"
"Well Manny, I'm doing it!" Helen raised her voice. "Whether you're coming or not."
"What? Why?"
"Because…" Her voice immediately lowered, coming out like a whimper. "That's what Pierce would do."
Manny looked down–
Kevin stepped forward. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but the muscle for brains is right."
He looked at the rest of his group. They all seemed shocked… for some reason?
"That place is specifically made for the worst of the worst in the galaxy." He deadpanned. "The guys that went in there, even if it was six months ago, probably didn't survive."
"Pot calling the kettle black?" Gwen muttered under her breath, but very much audible with the intention of everyone to hear.
Her arms were crossed, an irritated expression on her face, she stared directly at Kevin, to which the ex-con tried to play off.
"Well, I'm me." Kevin gestured to himself. "That doesn't prove–"
"And so that immediately means zero survivors?" Gwen crossed her arms. "Kevin, we can't give up on the people who were sent there."
Kevin… was taken aback.
With the clicks of her heels, she approached to Kevin–
"Well, tonight is full of surprises…" Ben said. "Because, I'm with Kevin."
Shock ran over all four of their faces, especially Gwen!
"How can you say that?" She said. "When I went in there for y–"
"When you went in there, you were only in for a few minutes." Ben held her shoulders. "When I did, I only survived as long as I did because of the Omnitrix. Anyone else…"
"*You* had two supervillains chasing after you." Gwen said, much to Kevins dismay. "Not everyone will be in the same situation."
"I know…" He took a deep breath, not wanting to say what was obvious.
"Grandpa also told us that the space in there went on for forever." He gestured to Manny and Helen. "What do you think the chances are? Even if *all* of the aliens they sent in there survived?"
She… looked down, but before she could retort, someone else did, in her place.
"If there is even a one percent chance, I would."
The two of them looked at Midoriya. The teen puffed up his chest. Everyone in front of him here were alien experts… They probably…
No, they *definitely* knew the risk better than he did, but his heart on the issue was clear.
"They were thrown in there wrongfully." he said to them. "They need to be saved from their prison."
Gwen and Midoriya stood on one side while… Ben and Kevin somehow stood on the other, together.
Ingenium was… in the middle.
"Unfortunately…" He said. "We're not talking about what *we* would do."
He put a hand between the four who argued, and the two who were thinking about their decision.
"This is their choice." He said. "For better…"
Ingenium turned to Helen. "...or worse."
Helen however didn't waver.
"You have the remote?" She asked Manny and he raised the broken thing in response.
She then walked towards the portal, but… he moved beside her. "For Pierce."
She smiled, and he tossed the remote to Ingenium.
"For whatever's worth…" She called out to Ingenium, then all the other members within the group. "Sorry about…"
The words didn't come to her at the moment. "... you know?"
"Apology accepted." Kevin said. He really didn't seem glad about this decision… neither did everyone.
"Be careful." Gwen said, putting her hands together.
Ben solemnly nodded."Good luck."
"Come back as soon as you're done!" Midoriya naively said.
Ingenium, as he stared down the remote, gave one last look at them too.
"Stay safe out there."
Helen nodded towards him, in a promising manner. And Ingenium pressed the button. The red devil spawn of a machine turned on yet again, and sucked both warriors… into its epicenter.
Gwen, with a delicate mana blast, pressed on the emergency shutdown and let the area quiet down once again…
"That is so not gonna go well." Kevin said.
He knew it well. The wild and untamed nature of that place.
"I don't know." Gwen said. "On paper, this is not such a great team either."
Kevin nodded. "There is that…"
He sighed, and started walking back to the car. If it wasn't too wrecked, maybe he could start working at the garage or lie on the c…
"Kevin."
He turned around and saw Tennyson, along with Gwen. The shorter teen had his hands on his sides, half in his pockets, but his eyes still made contact with his.
"I…" He took a deep breath, all stressed and maybe a little embarrassed. "I'm gonna be honest–"
"Save it."
Ben… was perplexed by the cut in, and so was Gwen.
"Why?" She tried to cut in, before Ben spoke up again.
"I'm serious." he said, his flat tone actually showing emotion for a change. "You also did good work for today and, I–"
He crossed his arms, but Kevin didn't face him for the rest of this. He just kept on walking, leaving Ben to his own devices.
Gwen ran up to him, and stood in front of his gaze.
"Why are you so stubborn about this?"
"Think about it." He whispered. "I'm an ex-con. I've done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of."
He made eye contact with her. "Stuff that if you'd knew, you'd probably never trust me again."
He opened the door of his car, and got inside.
"I'm not taking back what I said." Ben's tone rose from the distance. "Thanks."
An answer did not come from Kevin… and Ben wasn't waiting for one in the first place.
The transforming hero walked back to the group, and Kevin turned on the ignition for his car. He tried to close the door… but Gwen's hand was in the way.
In it, there was a red and gold jewel. She dropped it right in Kevin's palm.
"Alertion charm." She says. "This way, you won't have to contact Ben every time you need help."
Kevin deadpanned. "Who says I'm gonna need help?"
"Call it a gut feeling." Gwen answered sarcastically. "When you need it, sound out the word inscribed there carefully."
"Sure." Kevin closed the door—
"No." She held it before it could. "You mispronounce it, and none of us will see you again."
Kevin confidently smirked as he then put it in the glove box. "I know one person that would appreciate that."
"I originally brought it for him actually." She said before turning away, letting go of the door.
"But it felt like… you would need it more."
As she walked away, the expression on Kevin didn't change.
"Uh-huh." He said to himself, before closing the door.
Kevin started the car, and—
"Don't forget about me." The passenger door opened, and Ingenium got inside.
Kevin didn't say anything.
"So…" Ingenium looked over, very glad. "Found what you were looking for this time?"
Kevin looked at him, with a contemplative expression.
"Don't look so proud of yourself, airbags." He put down the e-break, and adjusted the mirrors. "I know you forced the situation…"
"I did?" The pro-hero coyly asked. "What do you mean?"
"You let me take the badge for this." Kevin said. "Come on, two years at Mount Rushmore and you just *happen* to let the badge out of your sight?"
Ingenium crossed his arms behind his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. How could I see all this coming?"
Kevin clicked his tongue. Of course, he didn't see the two mercenaries coming, but he DID want him to keep the badge so that he would contact Tennyson.
His anger made way for a smirk. "I wonder what Clairwould say..."
Ingenium's heart sank. He froze with the mention of her name.
"W-Well…" he said. "It's been two years or s-so. I doubt she would even remember me."
"Is that so?" Kevin raised an eyebrow… as well as the cadet badge. "Let's ask her, shall we?"
The pro-hero didn't hesitate.
"HEY!" Ingenium reached for it, as Kevin kept it away. "GIVE THAT BACK!"
"GIVE ME A PLACE TO STAY FIRST!"
"No…"
From afar, several blocks away from where Helen and Manny's base was positioned, a mechanical figure with red armor watched on.
Its faceplate didn't reflect any emotion as neither a command to move, nor intercept had been issued. It was just being used as surveillance… for now.
A black, armored right hand reached out to the monitor displaying the feed, bearing the Forever Knight insignia in its original orange and purple on his shoulder.
"He manipulated Tennyson and his allies to do his test for him…" Enoch said, as he was on a second display next to the first one. He had clearly witnessed the same footage. "We've learnt nothi–"
He raised his hand silencing the knight.
Brushing past the shadows… the figure showed off his silver hulking high-tech armor, bearing the insignia once more on his chest, the three black horns on top of his head… resembling a crown which were chipped… and lastly a red visor.
With the glow in his visor… he slowly dropped onto his golden throne.
"Find another challenge." He instructed. "Keep it in Japan, and this time… tailor it for his subordinates."
Enoch raised a fist to his heart, before vanishing.
The figure… put his black arm under the faceplate of his armor.
"Whoever this is…" he muttered. "They are playing a game of their own."
Within the depths of an underground laboratory, a shorter figure was in a call of his own. "I'm unsure whether giving up those two teens was our best move."
He was a fairly old man of a portly stature, wearing a white, buttoned-up lab coat. With a completely bald head, and a large bushy mustache, he also had a set of goggles that looked like gears and obstructed his eyes from the glare of the screen.
"They were still bringing results…" He said. "With proper guidance, they could have been fighting for Tomura–"
"But it wouldn't have been natural, Doctor."
From the warehouse inside Kamino, behind the sounds of beeping of medical devices, and screens all over… a voice, sinister and cunning, responded.
"Tomura needs people who will rally behind his future convictions through their own volition, whatever those convictions might end up being." He stated… and brought his hands together.
"Those teens, whatever they ended up being challenged by, had a strong moral compass." He relaxed his arms. "Their reaction to the loss of Pierce Wheels was the obvious signal. If we tried our hand at conversion, they would never truly submit."
He put a hand near his chin, as he relaxed in his seat… letting a smile run up his otherwise featureless face.
"Besides, if it is going to get Tomura the resources he wants… why shouldn't we be happy to let them go?"
The doctor opened his mouth to retort… but arguments withered just at the tip of his tongue.
"I see your point, Master…" He crashed down to his seat. "Likewise, the Plumbers they could deal with were also almost exhausted."
The Doctor's eyebrows then shot upwards, like he was reminded.
"And what of the other mercenaries running around in the streets of Japan?" The glare that obstructed his eyes lifted, letting his blue irises show. "Should we not deal with them as well while we're at it?"
"No," he stated. "I have a feeling that they… might have a similar use."