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I was running. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to leave. I knew by running away I was just avoiding having to deal with everything that happened, but I didn't know what else to do. It's been weeks since the incident and I just kept running. I would stop in abandoned alleys or buildings if I knew they wouldn't collapse. Sometimes I would use one of my aliens to sneak inside places to sleep, use the bathroom, and get food. Other than that, I would be on the run. I ditched anything anyone could use to find me back in Bellwood, except my Plumber's badge. I had it off the entire time so that no one could track me, but kept it in case I needed Grandpa. I was only going to use it in an emergency though.
I was wearing a gray plain hoodie, black pants, and wore an old backpack I had lying around. My hood was constantly up so no one would recognize me. I was far enough from Bellwood that no one would take a second glance at me. Towns were a blur at this point, once you've walked through a few of them you've walked through them all. They all had some shops, movie theaters, houses, malls, restaurants, etc. The weather was sunny with a breeze I could feel through the hoodie.
I sat on a bench in the park. I could see a bunch of children running around the playground. I could hear them squeal in delight, and laughing with what I assumed was their friends. Must be nice to be young again and not to worry about anything. I was almost jealous.
"Hey Dweeb catch!" I heard someone yell.
I turned my head near the voice to see a young girl standing there with a basketball in her hands. She vaguely reminded me of Gwen when we were both younger. She had entirely the wrong hair color and eyes, but she still reminded me of Gwen based on her hair style.
I was being chased by Khyber and his mutt for what had to be the millionth time. Gwen and Kevin were in town since she was on a semester break. Gwen and I teamed up like the old days to take on Khyber's dog, while Rook and Kevin went after Khyber. Gwen was using her magic to trap the dog, while I tried to use one of my aliens to find someway to take it down. We just had to hold it off long enough for Rook and Kevin to get Khyber to use his whistle to retreat, but it was getting harder to hold it off. Quick changing gave a slight advantage but only until the mutt transformed into a predator of whatever I transformed into. It didn't even need to hear Khyber's whistle, it learned to transform on its own. When did it learn that?
My thoughts stopped when I heard someone sit down next to me.
"Is this seat taken?" A voice asked.
I looked up and saw a teenage girl with blue eyes, she could've been older than me but I wasn't sure. She was wearing a red baggy hoodie and gray sweatpants. Her clothes were ragged as if she's been wearing them for days at a time, she was wearing a backpack on her back. Her hood was up, but I could vaguely make out that her hair was purple from underneath.
"Help yourself," I said.
She sat down and moved her backpack so that it was on her lap as opposed to her back.
"I'm jealous," she said, "These kids are having the time of their lives while we're here fighting for survival."
I raised an eyebrow at her. How did she know that?
"Don't look so shocked," she said leaning back on the bench, "when you've been homeless for as long as I have you run into a lot of other troubled teens running away from home. So what's your story?"
I didn't respond. I looked away and got lost in my own thoughts over focusing on this random girl sitting next to me.
We were fighting near abandoned buildings in Undertown. Gwen and I were exhausted from how long this was taking. How did Khyber's mutt get so strong? I could tell that Gwen was getting tired from how weaker her mana shields were becoming. Where were Rook and Kevin with taking care of Khyber? Did he get stronger too? This fight should've been over hours ago. The Omnitirix timed out a few minutes ago and I was stuck being human. Gwen was saving us with her mana shields, but I don't know how long she could hold up. She tried to keep the dog trapped in a mana ball, but somehow it was able to phase out of it. The last time something like this happened it was with Charmcaster's creatures. Did Khyber somehow team up with her?
"We need to run and regroup," Gwen said while struggling to hold up a mana shield, "I'll blast it to buy us some time."
She dropped her shield and blasted the mutt away. We took off as fast as we could run. We needed time to make a plan or try to regroup with Kevin and Rook. If the mutt was this powerful, was Khyber giving them a hard time? I know Kevin would be okay, but would Rook be able to handle it? We haven't faced that many powerful people until now. I couldn't think about Rook when I had to worry about myself and Gwen.
"Look out!" I heard Gwen scream before being pushed away.
I fell to the ground and heard something crumbling. I looked where I was standing before and saw parts of the building we were running by starting to crumble down. Gwen raised her hands to throw a mana shield up to stop the debris from falling on her. Her face was pained as if it was a struggle to keep all the debris up. I looked down at the Omnitirix and saw that it was still timed out. Clicking it to bring up the holograms just resulted in an error. Before I could rush over to try and push the debris away from the shield Gwen was struggling to hold, we both heard more crumbling. In a matter of seconds more of the building fell down and I couldn't see Gwen anymore. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. I felt myself collapse on the ground. I was having flashbacks to when Gwen sacrificed herself for me when the old Omnitrix was in self destruct mode.
"Gwen!" I heard a familiar voice scream.
I couldn't look away. I felt someone come up behind me and their arms wrapping around me but I didn't focus on that. Why couldn't I get up to see if Gwen was okay? She could've done a last minute teleportation spell and she could be somewhere else right now.
It was too late. Everything was a blur after that point, I vaguely remember Kevin pulling out Gwen's body from the rubble. Throughout all the years of fights and all the injuries, I have never seen Gwen as battered and broken as she was then. I have never wanted to see her like that, or anyone in my team. When I had the chance I grabbed things that I could from my house and left. Time was on my side since my parents weren't home so I could grab things without being questioned. This was all my fault, it should've been me. No one else should get hurt from my actions, especially Rook. He was assigned to me, and I didn't want him to have to pay for my actions like Gwen had to. I will not let another person that I care about die.
"Must've been rough," the girl beside me said, "I'm sorry for whatever happened."
I didn't respond. I didn't need anyone's pity.
"You look familiar," she said looking directly at me.
It looked like she was trying to figure out who I was.
"You can't tell?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"I'm Ben Tennyson," I said.
A look of recognition went across her face.
"So this is where you ended up," she said, "Everyone's been looking for you you know."
"How do you know that?" I asked raising my eyebrow again.
I was shocked that people were looking for me. I figured everyone would be better off without me in the picture. Everyone would be safer that way.
"I saw it on TVs when I would pass by stores," she said, "You can hide out with me for the time being until you decide to move on. I'd be a hypocrite if I told you to go back home."
I smiled a little bit.
"Thank you," I said grateful for this girl's actions.
Before she could reply further we heard sirens go around the park.
"I think that's our cue to leave," she said as she got up, "They usually don't come after me but they'd probably follow us if they know who you are."
I got up and I followed her. I didn't want to have another person to worry about, but we're in a similar boat. I didn't want her to get caught because of me, but she was also trying to help me as well. Maybe she could end up being a good friend.
I kept following her until we ended up in an alley. It reminded me of what happened. I gripped the Omnitrix with my right hand. If something were to happen, I wouldn't want this girl to get caught up in the crossfire. She led me to a section of the alleyway that had a bunch of boxes covering where the door was. She moved the boxes enough that the door could be opened. She looked inside before going in, then she directed me inside as well.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"A place I found months ago to live in," she said closing the door behind me, "This is the only entrance and no one can tell that anyone is occupying here. This is where I've been staying since I found this abandoned building."
"I forgot to ask what's your name?" I asked.
"Oh, it's Ella," she said, "Ella Johnson."
I looked around to see what type of place this was. There was an old beat up couch that looked like its seen better days, a few beat up kitchen chairs, a kitchen table that had a leg leaning on one side, and a small square TV with an antenna attached to it. This place looked like it could've been an apartment at one time, but it was a shell of what it used to be. We went to the couch and sat down.
"Now that we're out of the clear of everyone want to tell me why you ran away?" she asked, "The media came up with theories but no one knows for certain."
I sat there looking at the wall. I didn't want to talk about it, it would hurt too much. Ella sat there waiting for my response, but didn't push.
"It was almost a year ago," she started to say, "Mom and I were making dinner at home when a burglar squirmed his way into the cheap apartment we lived in. We lived in a bad part of town since money was tight. He broke into the apartment, and my mother tried to fight him off. She told me to hide upstairs. I heard a bang but stayed where I was until I heard a door shut and everything was silent," she paused before continuing, "I went back downstairs and saw my mother in a pool of her own blood. I think a neighbor called the police since everything was a blur after that point." she stopped talking and wrapped her arms around herself, "Next thing I knew I was trying to be hauled off into foster care, but they left me alone for too long. I ran off the moment I was able to, and never looked back."
I could see the tears running down her face. I reached over and pulled her into a hug. Nothing was said as she continued to cry. I kept hold of her to try and comfort her the best I could. We sat there until she calmed herself down and pulled away.
"Sorry," she said apologizing and wiping her face, "It's been almost a year, I shouldn't still be crying over it especially the amount of times I've told people what happened."
"It's okay to cry," I said trying to comfort her, "I can relate in a way."
I proceeded to explain everything that happened that lead me to this moment.
"I needed to leave," I said hearing my voice crack from unshed tears, "I didn't want partner Rook getting killed because of my actions."
Ella leaned over and wrapped her arms around me. I felt tears run down my face as she was hugging me.
"You did what you could," she said rubbing my back, "Your cousin wouldn't have blamed you for what happened. I know your family and friends miss you. I have nothing to go back to, I'm all alone. You're not Ben, you have people who care about you," she said trying to cheer me up.
"I'm supposed to be a hero, and yet I can't even save my own cousin," I said trying to stop myself from crying, "She had so much ahead of her too. She was in college early, she would've been great. Now the world will never see the incredible things she was going to be able to do."
We didn't speak further. There was nothing she could say or do that could convince me that I was still the hero that everyone thought I was. I pulled away after a few minutes.
"You should go home," she suggested.
"What about you?" I asked.
"I'll do what I've always done," she said shrugging, "Live here until I find a job or somewhere that can support me. I refuse to be put through the system. I just got to wait a few more months until I'm 18 then no one will care."
"Come with me," I suggested, "I can help you."
"I'll think about it," she said.
No one deserved to live on the streets. I've only been gone a few weeks and if I didn't have the Omnitrix I know I would've been struggling more. How could someone like Ella have survived this long on her own? She deserves to not be homeless anymore. I saw Ella get up towards what seemed to be the kitchen.
"Shit," she said closing a cabinet door, "I didn't realize I was that low on food."
"I can go get something for us," I said.
"No," she said, "I know you have your watch but if you get caught you're done for. I know my way around here and can get something from the locals."
She made her way back to the door.
"Feel free to make yourself at home," she said, "or if you decide to leave feel free. I won't hold it against you if you want to find somewhere else to crash."
She went through the door and made her way back out. I repositioned myself so that I was laying on the couch. I stared at the ceiling, might as well take a nap while I have somewhere decent to sleep. Everything turned into a blur as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A loud shriek awoke me from my slumber. I opened my eyes and slammed the Omnitrix down to turn into Big Chill. I phased through the building and went outside. I saw Ella collapsed on the ground with a bag full of food on the ground.
"Ella!" I yelled flying towards her.
"Ben?" I heard her ask. Her voice was weak and I could barely hear her.
I looked down and saw a pool of blood underneath her. For a split second I saw Gwen there instead of Ella. This couldn't have been happening again.
"Why couldn't you have saved me?" I heard a voice ask.
The voice came from Ella but it was a mixture of her and Gwen's.
"I tried to help you," the voices said, "why couldn't you keep me alive?"
"Well, well, well," I heard another voice say, "Look who decided to come out of hiding. Are you done being a coward Tennyson?"
I turned around to see Khyber standing there with his dog.
"I would love to see your pelt on my wall," He said with a villainous grin, "I already have the Anodite, the Osmosian, and the Revonnahgander on my wall all I need to complete my collection is you."
"You're lying," I yelled.
Kevin and Rook couldn't be dead. I saw them both alive when I left, that's why I left so they'd be safe.
"You shouldn't have left them by themselves in their grief Tennyson," he said in a mocking tone, "They kept begging for their hero, especially Rook. I could see the moment he gave up hope that his hero wouldn't be there to save him.
"Why didn't you save us?" I heard the voices of Kevin, Rook, Gwen, and Ella ask.
I felt a hand on my chin and realized I was back to human and on the ground.
"You'll make a lovely pelt on my wall," Khyber said.
I saw him use his other hand to pull out his sword. I didn't even try to get out of his grasp. Maybe I deserved this. I couldn't save them, why should I still live when they all died trying to save me? I felt nothing.
I quickly shot up and opened my eyes. I looked around in a panic and realized I was still in the abandoned apartment Ella took me to.
"Morning sleepyhead," I heard her say cheerfully.
I sat up on the couch as she was in the kitchen.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.
"I've been back for about an hour," she said, "If you fell asleep when I left, about that time."
Now I remember why I barely slept anymore. I'd get nightmares like that. It was more comfortable than sleeping in an alleyway, but it was still hard to get a good night's sleep. Could I stay here with Ella? That wouldn't be fair on her though. She shouldn't have to take care of another person when she's trying to take care of herself.
"Will you come with me if I go?" I asked debating what I wanted to do.
"I can't," she replied, "I wouldn't want to impose on you and your family. I'll be okay, I promise."
I got up and went towards her. I reached into my pocket and found my Plumber's badge.
"This hooks up to my Omnitrix," I said, "If you need anything call me or my grandfather Max. He'll help you if you say you're my friend."
Ella took the badge from my hand and pulled me into a hug.
"Are you going back home?" She asked after we pulled apart.
"I don't know," I said honestly, "Thank you for helping me for the short time that I was here."
I made my way outside the door to see that it was dark outside. I popped the hologram on the Omnitrix and turned into Big Chill with the life form lock on. Flying in the night sky with him was always fun. If I flew high enough no one would ever see me. I flew high up into the night sky. It was always peaceful up here, especially with the stars in the sky and the moon lighting up everything. It was always easier to fly at night since it was dark and cooler as opposed to the daytime when it was sunny and hot.
The sun came up and I was in another town once again. I wasn't paying attention to where I was flying, but everything looked familiar. I flew to the ground and changed myself back to human. It was tiring staying in the same form for too long, but I couldn't risk falling out of the sky with a timeout. I walked through the streets with my hood up. Was it too late to turn back? Did I want to go home yet? Everytime I turned a corner I could've sworn I saw a familiar red Hawaiian shirt in the distance. Was Grandpa Max around, or was I just paranoid and seeing things? Could I have been asleep again?
"Ben!" I heard a familiar voice scream.
It was too soon to go back home. All the confidence I had was gone once I heard Grandpa Max. I popped up the hologram to try and turn into Fasttrack to make a fast escape. A flash of light later and I was not Fasttrack, I was Pesky Dust.
"Why do you even have a dial if you aren't going to give me the right alien?" I asked out loud to the device.
I flew around trying to hide somewhere, but Pesky Dust wasn't as fast as I needed him to be. I went into the closest alleyway that I could. I attempted to fly upwards but I heard the Omnitrix beep. A moment later it timed out and I was sent towards the ground.
"Seriously?" I asked sighing in defeat.
It was over. I had nowhere else to run. This was a dead end. I slid myself down by the dumpster I landed by. I put my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around myself. There was no way out of this without a confrontation with Grandpa.
"Ben?" I heard a voice ask.
I looked up to see Grandpa walking down the alleyway.
"Ben?" He asked when he saw me.
"Hi…" I said weakly.
Grandpa knelt down on the ground and pulled me into his arms. I felt like a little kid again when he'd grab me into a hug.
"Why did you run away?" He asked.
"I didn't want to put anyone else in danger because I couldn't protect them," I said wrapping my arms around Grandpa Max.
"She wouldn't blame you," he said with a comforting tone, "It's not your fault."
I felt tears run down my face. Grandpa squeezed me tighter. We stayed silent as I continued to cry in his arms. She was really gone this time.
"Let's go home Ben," he said with a quivering voice as if he was holding back tears.
This had to have been affecting Grandpa too. Why did I think running away would be better for everyone? They all were hurting too, not just me. Grandpa obviously didn't blame me if he went all this way to come find me. We pulled apart and Grandpa held out his hand to help me up. I felt water coming down. I looked up to see an drizzle starting to come up.
"How about we go to the Rustbucket and get out of the rain?" He asked.
I got up and we headed out of the alleyway. I felt Grandpa's hand on my shoulder as we walked to where the Rustbucket was. Once we got there I hopped in the front seat, while Grandpa went to the driver's side. I dropped the backpack I was wearing to the floor, and Grandpa started driving us back towards Bellwood.
"How did you find me anyway?" I asked.
"Your friend Ella," he said.
"You mean her finding me was all a set up?" I asked with slight anger in my voice.
Was everything she said a lie? Was she a plant by the Plumbers to find me?
"She called me using your Plumber's badge," he said.
"Oh," I said sighing.
I didn't think that one through. I didn't think she'd use that to call Grandpa to find me.
"She just told me she was your friend and where you headed off to," he continued to explain, "We got to talking about how she knew you, and I offered her a job in Undertown."
I smiled. Maybe it was a good idea that I gave her my badge. I put my elbow against the window, my head on my hand, and looked out the window. I felt my eyes start to droop down. I start to drift off to sleep due to the warmness inside of the Rustbucket. Before I was fully asleep, I felt the Rustbucket stop for a few minutes and a warm blanket being put over me.