(Quick warning! His behaviour might piss a lot of you off, but I've done everything for a reason. It will be more clear in the next chapter, as there will be some explaining.)
(I've been thinking, when he uses magic for a spell, like making fire or something, should I have him verbally cast it? Like Harry Potter, minus the wand.)
Only after having a nice long rest to recover from the events at the resort did the crew get back on the move, during which the usually proactive and always seeking improvement Ben, was showing an unusual amount of laziness.
While making their way to a prestigious and private academy that Gwen wishes to attend, Ben had spent his time napping or eating snacks. This strange shift in behaviour had caught the attention of his Grandpa and yet to be girlfriends, while Charmcaster didn't think much of it.
On the side, he read up on some Force abilities, but he never bothered trying them or practicing his current abilities. He himself noticed the change, but was just feeling too lazy to care at the current moment.
...
The journey to Bancroft Academy, the institution Gwen is interested in, was totally uneventful. So, Ben got to relax as much as he wanted.
When they got there, they went to the reception area and requested a tour, which would also be used to see if Gwen was 'Bancroft material'. Excluding Gwen, nobody was impressed by the snobby bastards, but said nothing so as not to ruin her chances.
After half an hour of waiting, which was likely a power play to show their 'superiority', a girl around the kids age, strutted her way over while hold her head high and puffing her chest out proudly. "You must be the ones desiring a tour of our prestigious academy. Follow me." Barely even looking at them and not bothering to greet them, she turn and started leaving.
Her behaviour irked them, but they still said nothing, seeing that Gwen was incredibly excited to be here. This didn't stop Ben from taking action in another, unseen way, as he was annoyed and decided to use the Force to trip the girl. He reached out discreetly and grabbed hold of the air, actually targeting her leg and then pulling his hand back, making her leg fail as she went to step forward and resulting in her falling forward.
Having fallen due to the unseen force, the girl was embarrassed and quickly stood up with a red face. She couldn't bring herself to turn around as she hurriedly dusted herself off and continued to walk, acting as if she didn't just face plant after being so snooty.
Gwen almost laughed when she saw the girl fall, showing how much she'd been influenced by Keira in their time together, but she restrained herself in fear of losing such a good opportunity.
Behind her however, there was a couple sniggers, just quiet enough so only they would hear them. At the back of the group, Keira and Charmcaster had seen that it was Ben who cause the girl to fall, making them quietly laugh as they enjoyed seeing the snob embarrassed.
Anyways, the tour began as it should have and they looked around the school, making Gwen go starry-eyed at everything that they had to offer.
Soon enough, they were walking through the courtyard and the lass was bragging about so gold award the school had been given. As they walked through, Keira was looking around and found it strange that there was so many kids around, so she asked. "Hey, what gives? It's summer vacation, so why are there so many people around."
The girl stopped and gestured towards the surrounding students. "Here at BA, the students are always expected to strive for improvement and as true, 'worthy' students, they are attending our magnificent summer school."
Pompously standing with her eyes closed, she revelled in what she was expecting to be awe or respect, but was cut off from such revelry by a bored and lazy voice.
"It sounds more like they just aren't good enough to do with the extra lessons." While yawning, Ben disinterestedly commented, drawing the girls and a few nearby students angry attention.
"Oh? And you think 'you' are good enough to not need any teachings?" The girl sneered at him, trying to literally look down on him, but failing as he was taller than her.
Ben scoffed in amusement and tilted his head down, while bringing his hand up to shift the sunglasses he was wearing. His red eyes intimidated the girl upon exposure and he provoked her. "Most definitely." He answered and then said. "But I doubt you will believe me, so how about a competition?"
Falling for his provocation, the girl instantly responded. "What kind of competition?"
Smirking at her, he shrugged and put his glasses back. "Whatever you want. Literacy, mathematics or science, I don't care which. We could also do athletics, but I don't advise it." He told her, leaving the decision to her, but making a kind suggestion not to challenge him physically. After a moment, he tilted his head upwards in thought. "Or, you can try all of them, it's up to you. In return, when I succeed, my cousin here gets a glowing recommendation."
At this point, a small crowd had formed and they were all unhappy with him. They notice he said "when" and not "if", making them think he was an overconfident brat, especially with the way he told them not to challenge him in athletics.
The girl in particular was fuming and standing with her fists clenched, before calming down and smirking confidently. "Fine. Follow me to the gymnasium and you can wait there while I speak to my father, the DEAN, about setting this up." She turned and started walking, but not before dropping the reveal that her dad is the Dean.
The fact that she did this was enough to make Ben ruthlessly grin for a moment as he thought. 'I'm gonna enjoy this.'
Her 'young master' behaviour had thoroughly annoyed him, so he'd decided to completely destroy her ego.
Following the girl, Ben's group and the swarm of angry student quickly arrived at the gymnasium. The girl then left them to go make some arrangements with her father.
When the girl was gone, Gwen went over and grabbed hold of Ben with a worried look. "Ben, why did you do that? What if they get angry and don't even think of letting me in!?"
Lazily smiling, Ben gently removed her hands and then ruffled her hair. "Aww, don't you believe in me Gwen? I'm hurt." He then laughed a bit and started removing the hoodie he was wearing, along with his sunglasses and shirt, revealing his solid and perfectly sculpted muscles.
With his muscles exposed, the jaws of the students dropped in shock, while the females also had a heavy blush. Now it made sense as to why he suggest the don't challenge him physically.
Figuring that he would have some time, he walked over to basket containing some basketballs and picked one up, before beginning to bounce it and do some tricks. He then started spinning it on his finger and looked at the students with a grin. "Anyone want to have a game while we wait?"
The students gulped, but being openly 'challenged' like this provoked them and some began thinking that his muscles were just for show, so they took off their blazers and went on to the court...
...
Proceeding the challenge to a game of basketball, Ben went on to dominate and humiliate the students of Bancroft Academy, not hesitating to show a portion of his physical prowess by occasionally flipping over his opponents or running circles around them without breaking a sweat.
Over the course of this, his athleticism gained him a lot of fans from among the student body, while his family was also cheering for him. Except for Max, who was stood with one hand on his hip and the other over his face, exasperated by the whole situation.
By the time the girl that was giving the tour returned, accompanied by some staff and a man walking right beside her, who was presumably the Dean, all of Ben's challengers were on the floor from exhaustion and sweating like crazy.
Meanwhile, Ben was still standing and bouncing the ball around, occasionally throwing it into the net from across the court.
When the girl and the staff entered to see this, along with his physique, their mouths hung open in shock.
Ben saw that they had arrived finally, so he made his way over to his shirt, showing off as he did. As he walked, without checking, he tossed the basketball back and over his shoulder, sending it straight into the basket he got it from.
Once he had his shirt on, he made his way to the new arrivals and enquired. "So, how shall we start this challenge."
Remembering why they were there, the Dean righted himself and coughed into his fist. "R-right, I was informed that you have challenge us to a test of academics. So, you shall compete against our star student in Science, Mathematics and Literacy." The man said while trying to keep professional attitude, not daring to mention that he was going to include athletics.
Not bothered by the challenges, Ben shrugged. "Alright, who's this star student?"
In response, the girl from before stepped forward proudly and announced. "Me!"
Still not bothered, Ben shrugged again and looked to the Dean. "I'm ready when you are."
Nodding, the man looked to some of the staff and two of them ran over to a closet, bring out a couple tables and chairs, which Ben and the girl sat on. Then, three different test papers, each a different subject, were placed before them. They were also given the necessary tools. (Pen. Etc.)
The Dean stepped forward and explained. "You both have one hour and thirty minutes to complete the three tests. Your time starts now." He then clicked a stopwatch and the challenge began.
Quickly picking up her pen, the girl began reading her first paper and got to work answering the questions.
Meanwhile, with far less urgency, Ben looked at his paper, only to pick up his pen and start writing lazily.
...
Thirty minutes later and Ben was now sitting with his eyes closed, practically asleep after having finished all three tests with ease.
His behaviour caused the Dean and staff to frown, now thinking that he was just some brat with big muscles and a bigger mouth.
...
Finally, when the remaining hour was up, the Dean announced that their time was up. "Time! Put your pens down and your tests will be retrieved to be graded."
Ben opened his eyes and stretched his body, completely carefree to the whole situation. The girls on the other hand, seemed agitated and annoyed as she didn't finish answering all the questions.
As he said, the staff went and took their papers, forming a small circle as they looked at the answer sheet and compared it with tests. As they looked, their mouths slowly began to open in shock and they looked over to Ben with surprise.
Once the papers were marked, it was time to announce the winner. The Dean stepped up with a disgruntled, yet amazed expression. "The winner is the challenger, Benjamin Tennyson."
A shock silence spread through the hall and then all the students shouted in unison. "WHAT!?"
Even though his victory had been announced, Ben didn't care, as he just stood up while yawning. "Like I said, I don't need extra schooling. The biggest challenge was not falling asleep." He boasted, not even intentionally trying to. "Maybe if you all weren't so arrogant, I wouldn't have bothered humiliating you like this."
He didn't bother looking at any of them and went over to his family, putting his hoodie and sunglasses back on, before deciding to simply leave.
As he got to the door, he turned and shouted over. "Don't forget about the bet now." And with that said, he left to the Rustbucket, ghosting through the door when he got there and going to bed for a nap.
...
It wasn't until late afternoon that Max and the girls returned to the Rustbucket, their arrival waking Ben up just in time for him to receive a orange haired missile to his stomach. Obviously this was Gwen, who was sporting an incredibly happy smile and bursting with joy.
Ben was confused at the sudden attack, but was mainly just glad that his body isn't normal or he would have had the wind knocked out of him. He wanted to know what had her so happy, but given the way she was practically shaking with excitement, that didn't seem possible, so he looked to Max for answer.
Standing with a joyful and proud smile on his face, Max let out a laugh and explained. "She just happy because the Dean promised her a place after talking with us." Having said that, Ben nodded in understanding. But then, Max pulled a letter out of his pocket and handed it over to Ben, still smiling proudly. "She's not the only one though."
While still being hugged, Ben Force pulled the letter to his hand. Opening it up and reading through, it turned out to be an invitation to the Academy, making him snort in amusement and toss it aside with disinterest, stroking Gwens head instead. "That's nice, but I'm not interested."
Seeing his Grandson act like this, Max sighed and shook his head. "Well, give it some thought. It's a good opportunity." He then went over to the driver's seat and started the engine, getting them on their way to their next destination.
Shrugging at his Grandfather, Ben managed to pry Gwen off himself and got up to go make food for them all.
---
By the time night came, they had arrived at their next destination, a swamp in Florida that was supposedly the location that a small festival like event was going to take place, they just had to sleep the night away and everything would be ready for them to have some fun.
When they got there, Ben was reminded of the episode, not because of the fact that Dr. Animo is supposed to attack, but because of the inaccuracy of the episode. Alligators are incredibly protective of their young, so having all those people around would just end in a bunch of deaths. Plus, Alligators don't leave their eggs so exposed like was shown, as that would just leave them clear for other predators to target.
To see the eggs, you would have to wait for the mother to dig them out when it's time for them to hatch. And when they hatch, the mother scoops them up into her mouth and carries them over to the water. In short, you wouldn't get to have a festival while this is happening.
But, in the end, he couldn't be bothered thinking about the contrast between a cartoon and reality, so he just went to bed and fell asleep.
---
Morning came and after breakfast, Max brought the kids out of the RV and they were met a completely different scene than the from last night.
A myriad of stalls had been set up, all Alligator themed and bustling with customers. Off to the side, Ben saw something that made him tilt his head incredulously and question whether these people had brains. The source of this thought came from the scene in which a couple of children were messing with some Alligators that had been put in a pool, meanwhile the apparent parents were standing off to the side and taking pictures.
Astounded by the lack of commonsense, Ben looked at Max and questioned. "Are these people stupid or do they just not care that they are messing with creatures that would happily eat them?"
Smiling wryly, Max rubbed the back of neck, unable to come up with a suitable answer and instead choosing to change the subject. "Well, why don't we go around and just enjoy the festivities..." He started walking and hoped to get away with it. Ben rolled his eyes at this, but couldn't be bothered to argue with him over the matter.
The kids followed behind Max and tried some of the 'delicacies' from the food stall, only for the girls to almost throw up from how disgusting they were. Though, that might just be because they've gotten used to eating the quality food that Ben serves them.
Soon, it seemed to be time for the hatching, so they went over to where some recently dug up eggs were. Upon getting there, Ben sat down in boredom, briefly glancing over to some foliage and seeing a wary, hostile Alligator mother glaring at the humans.
Smiling slightly and thinking about how stupid these people are, he stopped looking at the momma-gator and waited for the eggs to hatch. His patience was quickly answered and the eggs hatched, releasing several little gators into the world.
Unfortunately, humans are fucking stupid and one man decided to send his kid over to the baby Alligators to get a photo, even with the protests of the other people. Seeing this happening and sensing the mother ready to burst out in defence of her child, Ben sighed and stood up, beginning to make his way over to the kid that was now kneeling down and trying to get as close to the babies as possible.
As Ben approached, the father of the child got pissy and shouted at him to get out of the way. Fortunately for him and the kid, Ben ignored him and went straight for the kid, grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him back.
People were shocked that he threw the kid, but not as much as they were when they saw a large and angry mother Alligator's mouth snap shut on the air where the child just was.
Having just saved the kid from certain death, Ben looked down at the mother-gator and babies that were now looking at him. Knowing he was in no danger, he kneeled down and stroked the snout of the mother as he whispered. "Take your young and go."
Removing his hand, he stood back and turned around, walking back to the group with a bored look as the mother took the babies into the nearby water.
The people were staring at him in shock, but he ignored them and acted like they weren't even there. That was until the father of the child he'd save, rather than showing gratitude, went up to him and grabbed him by the shirt. "You brat, look what you did to my son!" His son was crying into a woman's chest, having a few scratched, but nothing more.
Looking at the man's hand and then at his face, Ben narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Remove your hand... Now."
He gave the man a moment, but he didn't let go. Angered by this, he clenched his fist and his veins began to bulge, which didn't go unnoticed by Max as he made his way through the crowd and also angrily grabbed the man's should. "I think you should let go of my Grandson and leave, before you cause anymore trouble."
The man turned brashly and knocked Max's hand off him while pushing him over. But, that was the point that Ben had enough and punched the man in his fat stomach, causing him to bowl over in pain and throw up.
Even though this was surely enough to settle the situation, Ben wasn't satisfied. This was primarily because the man still had a hold on his shirt.
Grabbing the man's wrist and squeezing hard enough to break it, he forces the man to let go, while he did not. Instead, he struck at the guys elbow with his palm and shattered his elbow, before kicking him over and spitting with disgust. "You ungrateful pig! Know your place you filth!" Sweeping his eyes over the crowd that had been shocked still, but were now staring at him with fear, he clicked his tongue distastefully and went over to Max, helping him up. "Let's go, I'm sick of being surround by idiots."
He didn't wait for Max to answer and started walking, being joined by the girls as everyone else made way for them. Max sighed and was concerned with Ben's aggression, but was angry at the man as well and said nothing for the time being.
The moment they got to the RV, Max left the festival, while Ben went for a nap after changing his clothes.
---
After the whole fiasco, Max decided to take a more leisurely approach to their next destination. On the way, he stopped by whatever town or city was on route, this allowed for the kids to go and relax in various ways.
With the amount of money Ben has... 'acquired', there was no concerns when wanting to buy something or staying in a nice hotel with all the comforts you might want. Thanks to this, Ben managed to buy Charmcaster something normal to wear, though most of it is purple.
While spending a bunch of money, Ben bought a few bags and enchanting materials, which he immediately used to enchant the bags and expanded the space inside to a small rooms worth. Of course, the only reason he did this is because he was sick of hiding his inventory for little things and wanted a way around it.
There was a bag for each of them, except for Charmcaster, seen as she has her own and it's better than the ones he made anyways.
In regards to the girls, they were enjoying the normal life, but also making a bit of a reputation, as in place of Ben, they were committing heroics while disguised. Even Charmcaster was pulled into it, though with a fair bit of resistance, as she didn't want to "play dress up and help a bunch of rando's" in her words, but inevitably fell to the nagging of the younger girls.
Ben was also nagged to join them, but he adamantly refused, using the excuse that he is too powerful for mundane things anyways and would cramp their style. Plus, there was the fact that he doesn't have the best reputation among all groups, as apparently his killing of hundred of alien invaders should be punished.
There is also the incident in which he destroyed that company trying to make a profit off him. Seeing that he did this, a lot of companies started throwing tantrums and calling him a criminal that should be locked up... Like there is anybody on this miserable, backwater planet capable of doing something to him.
When he wasn't doing anything with the girls, Ben would occasionally chat with Gabriel and got to know her more, as she does have her own personality. To his surprise, he found out that she was able to watch a bunch of anime and cartoons that he'd seen, while also experience the taste of the things he'd eaten before, so she had been binge watching stuff whenever things were quiet.
Anyhow, even with them taking their time, they eventually reached there destination and got to enjoy the natural force of nature that is Niagara Falls.
...
It was a lovely day when they got to Niagara Falls and following Max, they all got on a ferry that gives a closer look at the waterfall.
Upon getting on the ferry and shipping off, Max was happy to be able to bring the kids here and the girls were standing at guardrail, looking at the Falls with bright expression. As for Ben however, he was lying on the railing and chilling, even though he had been repeatedly asked not to do that.
Despite the rock of the ferry, he had no trouble keeping himself stationed there and was able to continue lazing about.
Max and the girls didn't quite like that he was so disinterested though, Gwen having no qualms voice her objections. "Ben, can't you at least try to enjoy this?"
Turning on to his side and propping his head up on his hand, he yawned in response. "I'm enjoying it, I just want the relax as I do."
Keira jumped in and made a comment about his strange change in behaviour. "Hey, are you okay? Ever since you fought that-" She stopped, bad memories being brought to the surface of not only her mind, but Gwen's and Max's as well. "Since your last big fight... You've been really... Lazy...?"
The other two nodded in agreement, while Charmcaster was left confused, not knowing what he was like previously.
Finally having his... 'Condition' brought up, Ben lifted himself up with a sigh and sat on the railing. As had already been said, he knew just as well as them that his attitude had changed recently and he even had a theory as to why, but he couldn't say anything to them about it and so he kept it to himself.
But, with the matter brought up, he couldn't just say nothing anymore. Running his hand through his hair with a complicated expression, he told them what he could to comfort them. "Look, I know I've been acting weird, but I was in an intense situation and don't know how to deal with it properly. I'm just doing what I can to be comfortable..."
With him saying this, the group looked at him with concern. It sounded to them like he was dealing with a lot mentally, but didn't know how to do so properly.
Ben then smiled at the apologetically and continued. "But I'll get better, I promise. I just need a little while to sort through it. Is that okay?" Looking at them, he saw their worry for him and felt grateful, but he really just needed to let thing go at their own pace right now.
Understanding that he was trying to assure them that he will be okay, they nodded their heads, but Max also told him. "Okay Ben, but just remember, we are here if you need us." The girls nodded in agreement, still worried about and wanting to be able to help in any way they can.
Now smiling at them gratefully, Ben nodded and internally sighed. All he could do from his perspective is wait for things to sort themselves out, so that's what he was going to do. But, if this goes on for much longer, he might end up looking to the system for help. For now, he and the others would just have to do their best to enjoy themselves.
Because he didn't want them to worry about him, Ben tried his best to resist the tiredness that had been causing so much bother, actively engaging in conversation with them and doing what he could to make them smile.
...
After the ferry ride, to beat the summer heat, they went back to the Rustbucket and took a short ice cream break, before then going up to the Rainbow Bridge to take some pictures.
For one of the pictures, Ben stood with arms out to his sides as he flexed his biceps. Meanwhile, Gwen and Keira were sitting on an arm each while blushing. They weren't the only ones though, as an embarrassed Charmcaster was sat on his shoulders, his roughly 5ft of height giving them all a boost. (A/N: I never actually said how tall he'd become...)
Once they'd taken enough pictures and showed up the other tourists, they went and got some more ice creams from a vendor for their trip over to the gondola for a better view of the Falls. However, before they could board, a familiar scene happened and the sky darkened as the sun was blocked out by an unforeseen arrival.
The group and all the other tourists looked to the sky in confusion, most thinking it was clouds and complaining about the forecast not mentioning anything, but immediately falling into a shocked and fearful silence.
In the sky above the Falls, three humongous purple space crafts could be seen. They had all seen the news of the last time one of these ships had appeared and were scared of what was to come.
The Covenant were back and with greater forces than last time. Ben looked at the ships with boredom, though there was a hint of excitement in his eyes as he commented quietly. "How many do I have to kill before they learn their place." He was somewhat looking forward to the slaughter to come, but disappointed that they only sent this many, as they likely won't pose a challenge with his new strength.
Pretty quickly, the surrounding silence was broken by shouts of terror and the civilians began scrambling to get away, not caring about the fact that they were trampling each other and only caring for themselves.
Putting his hands in his pockets with a small grin, Ben quickly checked his system for any available missions.
[Missions:
Just a bit of fun - Here are a series of challenges, none of which are enforced.
1. Unarmed - While fighting, don't use any weapons.
Reward - 100,000SP, Enhancement Magic book.
2. Personal Might - We could say no Omnitrix, but that's been done... Stick to human fusions only.
Reward - New Alien.
3. Prove It - Show your would be enemies why you aren't to be provoked. Instill fear into the Covenant forces.
Reward - 5AP, 50,000SP
Bonus! - Complete the three challenges and win a prize!
Reward - Surprise.
Control - Stop letting your emotions control you and control them instead. Wrath will not remain active, but is usable in a short burst, if you know how. What you can learn from this mission could be considered a reward, but here.
Reward - A legends armour, 5AP
Failure - N/A
Believe - Your companions aren't happy about being on the sideline all the time. Show that you trust them and utilise their help, but don't let them die.
Reward - Everything you need to expand the space in the Rustbucket. Plus, comfortable beds.
Failure - Deaths cannot be undone and you will suffer the emotional consequences.]
Seeing the last two missions made him pause in thought, considering whether it was worth putting the others in danger just for comfort, along with what it could mean by controlling his Wrath skill. Giving the others a look over, he saw them staring at him determinedly, giving him a look that refused to be put on the sideline again.
Sighing to himself, he decided to put his faith in them and accepted the missions. He was going to let them help, but not without warning them and trying to keep them from fighting as much as possible. "You four, I won't try to stop you from helping, but go back to the Rustbucket and get geared up before trying to fight. If possible avoid fighting altogether and focus on helping the civilians. Should you have to fight, target the small enemies and keep a distance from the larger ones, they are too physically strong for you and will instantly take you down."
Hearing that he wasn't going to stop them, the group was relieved and nodded in understanding at his advice.
With another sigh, Ben was about to begin making his way to the city, where he could see numerous Phantoms and Banshees making their decent towards. But, before he did, he looked at Max from the corner of of his eye. "These guys aren't going to accept surrender and won't give up... You'll have to go for the kill, because they won't show mercy even if you do..." He then glanced at the nervous trio of girls and back to Max meaningfully, before mentally equipping his Nightingale armour and fusing with XLR8 to run into the city.
There was a bunch of people trying to evacuate, so with the little time he had before the enemy soldiers get their feet on the ground, he helped some of the less able folk and ran them out of the city, putting them a decent distance away before returning.
He ran around the city a bit and helped those in the most need, simultaneously scouting the area in search of a decent battle ground and settling for a large park with plenty of space to let loose.
Dropping his current fusion, he exchanged it for Heatblast. Fortunately, his armour seemed to adapt to his body, allowing for glowing veins of fire to spread over his gloves and boots.
Bending his knees and gathering his strength, he jumped into the air, producing thruster like flames from his feet and hands to fly up over the city quickly, using a Mana platform to remain there.
Looking out over the city as smoke had started to rise into the sky, the Covenant forces haven started destroy property in search of their target, Ben. Raising one hand up towards the sky as he looked down at them, a ball of fire formed on his palm and then started to rapidly grow in size until it looked like a miniature sun.
The glow of the ball of fire drew the attention of many, both civilians and enemies. For the civilian, it was mainly a source of fear, considering they had no idea what was happening. But for the Covenant, it was beacon welcoming them to attack him, which was exactly what he wanted.
As he continued to stand in the sky with his beacon, he soon saw the Covenant marching their way through the streets towards him. Seeing them as nothing than lambs to the slaughter, Ben waited for them to get a bit closer, before lowering his hand slowly.
When his hand fell, the ball of fire began falling towards the street. Realising what they'd so foolishly charged into, the Covenant forces turned and tried to flee or seek cover. Their attempts were futile however, as the ball suddenly picked up speed and quickly impacted the ground, immediately consuming dozens of Grunts and Elites alike.
Many of them still escaped the initial hit from the attack and were about to have thoughts of turning around to continue their attack... Those thoughts never actually came to be though, as under Ben's control, the flames rather than bursting outwards in all directions, went straight forwards and wreathed the street in fire, burning his screaming enemies into charred corpses.
Watching this happen, Ben felt nothing as he listened to their agonised screams that quickly died out.
Feeling like he was being watched, he turned his head in the direction it was coming from, the Covenant ships. Raising a hand, he antagonised them by making a gesture for them to come at him, before looking away and dispersing his platform, using his fire to slow his descent.
Finding a decent sized rock, Ben sat down with one leg up and his arm resting on it. He cancelled his fusion and began waiting for the next wave of enemies, which he could already see being brought down from the main ship.
As he waited, he could still feel the Covenant cruisers watching him, but they were joined by another source that he didn't even need to look at to know who it was, as he could hear a couple helicopters overhead. It wasn't difficult to understand that it was the news being idiots and not understanding the severity of the situation, only wanting to get their next big scoop.
Putting his hand out, he used the Force to grab hold of one of the helicopters and moved his arm to the side suddenly, pulling them out of the way of a volley of energy shots. The shots came from three Banshees that were flying around.
The people in the chopper realised that they'd just narrowly escaped death and had a nervous sweat run down their backs.
Meanwhile, with his hand still extended, Ben shifted his focus on to the Banshees and tightened his hand into a fist, crushing them with overwhelming force. As a result of this, three explosions erupted in their place and the wreckage fell from the sky.
Turning his head to the chopper he'd just saved, his red eyes shining through the shadow created by his hood. He used used a bit of magic to amplify his voice, which was made deeper by his mask. "If you value your lives, I suggest you leave. What's about to happen probably shouldn't be broadcast on live television anyways."
After giving his warning, he no longer bothered with them and stopped caring about them in general. If they are stupid enough to stay and die, it's not his fault. Besides, his entertainment had arrived.
Staring at the approaching army with indifference, he saw that it primarily consisted of Elites Major's and then Elite Minor's, along with a few dozen Hunters. There were Grunts and Jackals as well, but not many. Though, from what he could see, the Grunts all seemed to be carrying the Covenant version of a rocket launcher, Fuel Rod Cannons.
'I guess they're taking me seriously now.' Standing up, Ben took a few steps forward and saw the Covenant stop in place and aim their weapons at him, making his smirk at their caution. Opening his arms and making them jolt, he laughed to himself before once again amplifying his voice and speaking in Sangheili, feeling theatrical. "You have all come to take something that belongs to me and for that, I will happily kill you! However, if you lay down your weapons, I might consider sparing your miserable lives!"
As he'd expected and hoped, none of them surrendered. Instead, a large hologram of an Elite with a unique armour showed up. "You damnable heretic, we will not submit to you and you will suffer for the dishonour you have brought upon me."
Hearing this, Ben looked at the alien for a moment and then realised what he meant, causing him to break out into an insane laughter. "Hahaha!!! You must be that coward that escaped last time!" His words immediately anger the alien in the hologram, but he wasn't done. "I guess it makes sense that you would only appear before me in a hologram, you clearly don't have the bravery to face me in the flesh!" He then looked at the soldier as he continued to mock. "Your bravery only extends far enough to send all these soldiers to their death!"
Angered beyond belief, the Sangheili Commander roared out to the soldiers. "Enough! Attack! Bring the heretic to me alive, I want to torture him before ripping his arm off with the Omnitrix!!" The hologram then disappeared and the soldiers prepared themselves to attack, cautiously moving forward.
Seeing them slowly progressing towards him, Ben used Intimidation to the max and ominously said. "I hope this isn't the limit of your forces, because once I'm done, even your God's will know to fear me!"
His words both terrified and enraged the army before him, his slander of their God's having hit a nerve. They all roared and began charging towards him without caring for their safety, not hesitating to open fire on him.
With a smile beneath his mask, Ben fused with Diamondhead and immediately erected a wall before himself, shielding him from the rain of plasma. He didn't stop there though and started making numerous small boulder like masses of crystal.
Using the Force, he began picking the boulders up and launched them at the enemy. Due to the suddenness of his assault, the front few enemies in the line of attack, were crushed and turned into a bloody. Unfortunately, once they knew what he was doing, they started moving out of the way.
Finding this to be boring anyways, he got rid of the wall in front of him and started walking toward them, turning his into sharp claws, his armour changing with him.
The Sangheili soldiers continued to shoot at him, but he could seeing where each shot was going and simply moved his body out of their trajectory. As he drew closer, he soon reach the first of his victims and swiped his claws his foes midsection, breaking through a weak energy shield, slicing through his armour and spilling his innards.
The thing is, Sangheili are strong, so such an attack didn't immediately kill the miserable being. Roars of pain immediately spread out and were heard across the battlefield.
Not even bothering himself to look at it, Ben showed no mercy and left it to suffer as he continued walking. Just this display of cruelty was enough to discourage his enemies, but he had only just begun.
Having just witness their comrade be torn open, the others decided to try maintaining a distance and shoot him, but he simply continued to dodge them in a lazy manner. This was somewhat of a nuisance to him though, as due to this only being a fusion state, he can't release crystals to the same degree as a full transformation. Plus, he noticed a considerable decrease in his speed, so chasing was a pain.
Fortunately, being in a fusion still left him with his magic. Thinking of whether to use his magic to attack or support, he chose support.
Lowering his body, an explosive burst came from his feet, shooting him in the direction of he was facing and allowing him to shred through many more enemies, only a few Grunts and Jackals receiving the mercy of death thanks to their short statures. Meanwhile, any Elites in his path got their legs separated from their bodies.
Without stopping, he twisted around and like a Demon, pounced on top of a Hunter and while standing on it's shoulders, dug his claws into its neck and savagely ripped its head off. With its head liberated from its body, the Hunter's body began falling as its orange blood sprayed out and pain the front of Ben's body.
Backflipping off the dead Hunter, he tossed the head to the side and continued to rip and tear his way through his enemies.
Now truly scared of their target, the Sangheili and other soldier tried even harder to kill them. Inside, they were cursing the one who brought them here, the coward who had ran once and now been ordered to redeem himself or die. There was no coming away from this mission if they don't retrieve the Omnitrix, so they had no choice but to fight or more appropriately, die.
Shooting around the battlefield like an unstoppable beast, Ben left the majority of his enemies alive, but slowly dying. Not even the skies were safe, as he occasionally launched himself up and tore through any Banshees that came his way.
Even with the amount of bodies on the ground however, the number of enemies didn't diminished as one might think. A constant flow of enemies was being brought down from the ships above, meaning Ben was never short of fresh flesh to shred through. But, he was quickly growing bored of this, his fusion making it to easy for him.
After just ramming his hand through the chest of an Elite, he suddenly stopped his slaughter and audibly sighed as the surroundings grew silent from nervousness.
Pulling his hand from the corpse, he tilted his head back and released a long sigh. "This is boring..." Despite him not using magic, his voice seemed to carry over the battlefield.
Hearing him say he was bored, everyone was shocked. From the alien invaders to the reporters that stayed to video everything, even the anxious viewers at home. It was only now that they realised... This was little more than a game to him...
"... Screw it, I'll stop using the power of aliens. It's not like you insect are worthy of it anyways..." Cancelling his fusion, his hands lost their claw shape and he his hands together, cracking his knuckles as he cracked his neck. "Hopefully you don't all die too quickly."
All the Aliens took a step back at this, but as scared as they were, they were also emboldened. Their target was looking down on them and not using their full might. For them, this was their chance and they didn't want to miss it.
Of course, they seemed to forget that he is able to actually transform into aliens, which could be even stronger for all they know.
With his body no longer weighed down, he sprung forward and punched the head of a Grunt off. It was easy, like punching through paper.
There was no hesitation in his movements as he went on to his next foe, punching an Elite in the chest, dispersing the energy shield and busting its armour as it was sent flying with its chest caved in. This made him sigh again that the Elite was so weak, knowing that it died thanks to his system.
Feeling as though Ben was distracted, a Jackal took aim at his head and shot at him. Sensing the incoming shot, Ben turned his head and with his enhanced perception, clearly saw the glowing blast coming towards him.
Sighing in disappointment, he just stood there and let the shot hit him. Thanks to both his natural durability and his armour, he didn't even feel it. For everyone observing however, they gasped in shock, thinking that this was the end of him.
Seconds later though, his figure was clear and he appeared unharmed. The fact that their target had just taken a sniper shot to the head and seemed unperturbed was enough to finally sew a seed of dread in the hearts of the Covenant.
After taking the shot and coming out unharmed, Ben turned and started steadily walking towards his shooter, all the while he was producing an extremely ominous air. The offending Jackal was stuck in place from fear, its whole body trembling under Ben aura.
Upon arriving in front of the Jackal, who's legs finally gave out as it fell back and feebly attempted to crawl backward, Ben stared down at it coldly, before lifting his leg and viciously stomping down on to the Jackals leg.
Crying out in pain, the Jackal was unable to think clearly. Meanwhile, it's allies in the surrounding faltered at the show of cruelty, which was enhanced when they saw Ben do the exact same thing to the other leg. Those viewing the torment on their TV's gagged and looked away.
The Jackals cries became even louder and more hysterical from the pain. This was a mistake on the Jackals part, as its cries only annoyed Ben further, leading to him kicking it in the face.
Having held back significantly, the Jackal was still conscious and crying in pain. Again, Ben kicked it. And then again. And again. Repeated kicking the pathetic creature, it wasn't long before he turned its face into a bloody mess and it's blood stained his boot.
By this point, the aura around Ben was nearing the degree of being Demonic and all his enemies felt only fear for him.
With all of Ben's disappointment and negative emotions, his connection with the Force began influencing the world and he unconsciously produced the effect of a Dark side ability, causing clouds to gather and the sky become dark, while thunder and lightning crackled with. He'd summoned a storm.
Turning back to the remaining enemies, he raised his open hand towards them and suddenly gripped it tightly. Without warning, hundreds of the present Covenant were crushed, their bodies seemingly collapsing in on themselves.
Looking to the ships in the sky, he roared with rage, not even bothering to speak in their language. The Force was channelled into his voice, carrying it further and creating a shockwave with him at the epicentre. "IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE!? IS THIS ALL YOU BROUGHT TO DEFEAT ME!!?"
Losing his temper, his hand shot out towards one of the cruisers in the distance, red lightning shooting out and hitting it, while blue lightning came from the clouds at the same time and joined with his own. As a result of the two lightnings, explosions happen all over the ship and it started falling from the sky.
"COME FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!!!" Pointing at a second ship, the same thing happened and it joined the other in falling to the earth. The Force was telling him that the leader was in the remaining ship, so he had no qualms with destroying the other two. Though, should the coward try to escape again, he was ready send every last bit of power he has at the bastard.
Fortunately, that wasn't necessary, as he saw a small fleet of Phantoms and a vehicle carrier come down, while he sensed his prey accompanying them. After waiting for them to get far enough from the cruiser, he shot it with lightning and destroyed it, along with any hopes they had of leaving.
Sweeping his gaze over what remained of the initial wave of troops, he used his still roiling anger to slowly choke them to death with the Force.
Even as he did all this, his rage had surely reached a point that his Wrath skill would have activated several times over, but it still remained inactive due to the mission. However, even without his skill, it was clear that he has been acting out of anger and not with a clear mind, meaning just as he was close to the end of this battle, he was close to failing the mission.
Thoughts of failing the mission irked him and with his prey coming to him, he finally gained a bit of clarity. Realising that he had recklessly destroyed the cruisers and sent them crashing down with unknown consequences, he began worrying about the others.
Trying to sense them through the Force, having to calm himself a bit more to do so, he felt that they were okay and released a sigh of relief.
A short wait was all it took for Ben's foes to show up, but continuing their cowardly ways, the leader of the attack still didn't have the guts to face him himself and was instead driving what seemed to be a modified Wraith. The armour looked heavier and capable of withstanding more damage, while the main cannon seem to have been redesigned to shoot straightforward, rather than the typical arching design.
Seeing the enemy once more showing his cowardice, as he sends his men to their deaths while sitting in relative safety, Ben was angered. This person, a Sangheili, is supposed to be warrior with honour and pride, but was tarnishing their entire races ideals.
However, thinking of his mission and all that had happened thus far, he tried to keep his calm even if slightly. Looking at his approaching enemies, there was only a hundred or so Elites remaining, but they all seemed to be higher ranked based on their armour designs.
Uncaring towards their ranks and simply wanting to end this already, he began sprinting towards them as they did the same. After closing in on each other, Ben jumped up and gave a powerful punch to the head of the closest Elite.
The Elite took the hit and was immediately knocked to the ground, skidding away for a few metres before stopping. After punching him, Ben notice that the armour was harder and the Elite itself seemed heavier.
Looking at his downed opponent curiously and with a raised eyebrow, he saw the Elite started to get up, though with a wobbly disposition. During his observation, he was distracted and gave way for another Elite to swing it's arm at him, smacking him across his head.
Taking the hit, Ben was knocked away while stumbling, a slight pain and ringing in his ear. Rather than anger at this pain, his eyes widened in surprise beneath his mask and an excited grin made its way on to his face.
Suddenly, he start to produce a deep and disturbing laughter. Righting himself and standing straight, he spoke out just one word. "Finally..."
Turning to the one that hit him, he started walking towards him quickly and threw a punch at him as test. The Elite saw this and braced itself, taking the hit and being sent sliding a few feet, but otherwise unharmed.
Now sure that he wasn't imagining it, Ben started laughing insanely. It should be noted that he currently has 87 tons of strength thanks to his Lust skill, so he never expected that an Elite would be able to get close to his strength. None of those that came before were strong enough to handle a punch from him, their armour and energy shields being the only thing keeping their bodies in a whole state. So, seeing that these Elites could challenge him, an excitement grew inside him.
Canonically, a member of the Sangheili race shouldn't be this strong from what he'd read, but it seems that they had more potential in this universe and wouldn't all be as boring to fight.
With renewed fervor for this fight, Ben charged back in, his inner beast reappearing as he started fighting the enemies that were now surrounding him. As he fought, it became apparent that he was at a slight disadvantage due to him not using a weapon, while literally all his enemies were carrying energy swords.
But, this disadvantage was lessened by the fact that whenever one of the Elites attacked him with their swords, they only aimed at none vitals. This was because of the previous order to capture him, rather than kill him.
As he fought, his fists failed to kill any of his foes, mostly due to their numbers preventing him from going to finish any of them, while he was starting to build up wounds on his arms and legs, having not used his Recoveries to not ruin the fun.
Though, just because he failed to kill them, that doesn't mean they weren't worse for wear. Getting pummelled repeatedly, even in turn, was quite taxing and painful. Slowly however, their efforts started to show fruit and the monster they faced began to weaken.
From constant fighting and accumulated damage, not only from being cut up, but also from being hit whenever they got the chance, he had reasonably become tired. It was this tiredness that made him commit mistakes that were readily taken advantage of by the surround enemies.
He threw another punch, but with far less strength than he could produce earlier. Capitalising on this, the targeted Elite caught his fist and then tight grabbed hold of his arm.
Going to punch with his other arm, Ben found that he wasn't able to, as a second Elite had grabbed hold of him and was restraining him as best it could.
Pulling his arms, he was able to pull the straining Elites, but not free himself. It was made even more difficult, as another two Elites ran over and assisted in holding his arms.
Once assured that he couldn't escape, the lift him up and started carrying him over to their leader, facing the Wraith.
Standing up out of the cockpit, the Elite leader commanded the Elites to stop while at a distance and with scowl, spoke loudly. "As much as I want to make you suffer, you are clearly too dangerous to be left alive. You will die here." Sitting back down, he began messing with the controls and aimed the large cannon directly at Ben's chest as he was lowered to his feet, the muzzle beginning to glow as it charged up.
Realising his situation, Ben considered transforming or using a Recovery, which would let him escape with ease, but something within him told him not to. Telling him that there was another way and that he already has everything that he needs, if he can just figure out how to use it.
(Cringe)
Chuckling to himself, he glanced around and thought. 'Seems my 'issue' has made me reckless... Letting a new power get a hold over me, I'd forgotten what I'd learn after years of fighting. But no more!' With focused rage, not at the enemy, but at himself for falling so low, he roared and his arms became covered in a red, wrathful aura. With a burst of strength 3x that which he'd already shown, he pulled his arms in, making the Elites fall and freeing himself. "Let's finish this already!"
Pulling a bunch of Elites in front of him with the Force, he created a wall with their bodies, using them as a shield from the cannon that had finished charging and been fired by the leader, with zero regard for his own soldiers. The few soldiers that hadn't been pulled, saw this and looked on with fury.
Taking an extra precaution, Ben erected a dense barrier of Mana in front of himself, which was fortunate, as the plasma from the cannon ripped through the bodies of the Sangheili soldiers, losing only a tiny bit of power as it hit his barrier and immediately cracked it.
The cracks quickly spread out like a spiderweb and ultimately shattered it. Slamming into Ben's torso, his body went flying back, carried by the cannon blast, before impacting the ground and carving through it for a few dozen metres.
When he eventually stopped, his state was unknown thanks to a cloud of dust, but all that saw this were certain he wasn't going to be getting back up.
Soon the dust began to settle, but as it did, a silhouette was seen standing within to the shock of everyone. Trudging out of the dust, a horrifying and decrepit body was exposed to everyone.
The chest armour and lower part of Ben's mask had been obliterated. His flesh was practically all gone, the bones of his ribs exposed and cracked, while a red glow seeped out from beneath them. He was beyond any point that should be reasonable to be alive and yet, most terrifying of all... He was smiling...
Around his arms, the red aura was dying out. The only reason he was alive being thanks to the temporary activation of Wrath and the Mana he used to protect his organs.
Yet again, a deep and disturbing laugh came forth from the humanoid monster. He used a Recovery and to the naked eye, his bones mended while muscle and flesh grew back in place of the lot that had been destroyed.
Despite the current state of his armour, the voice altering affect remained as he clapped his hands in applause. "That was a valiant effort, but it appears that's the end of this little game. I even enjoyed myself here at the end, so thank you." Fusing with XLR8, he ran over to the leader, killing the rest of the Elites as he went and appearing on top of the Wraith behind the leader. "But, it's about time you die..."
Ben then kicked out so fast that his foot cleaved through the leader head, while it appeared that his head exploded to the observers.
Closing his eyes and tilting his head back, he took a deep breath as he relished the moment after his long fought battle. Exhaling, he reopened his eyes and took a quick look to confirm whether he had finished his missions, before transforming into Upgrade and letting his body flood the battle field, putting all the bodies and weapons in his inventory.
Returning to form, he jumped and turned into a hovercraft, going to chas down the Phantoms and remaining Banshees that were in the sky, taking them as well and killing the crew, before flying over to the three cruisers that he shot down.
When he got there, being Niagara river, he saw that the US military was there. They saw his approach and nervously gulped, but humans are greedy and stupid, so a man that appeared to be in charge stepped forth with megaphone. "This is the property of the US military, stand down and surrender yourself for interrogation!"
Ben remained silent for a moment, before going down and returning to a humanoid form, choosing to look like Malware. He silently stood in front of the General or whatever, who had a cocky smirk on his face and was thinking Ben was obeying him. That idea was destroyed in the next moment, as Ben swung his arm and backhanded the man, turning him into a bloody paste on the side of one of their own tanks.
Sweeping his gaze over the fearful soldier, he ominously asked. "Anyone else want to tell me what to do?" They all took a step back in fright, many of them dropping their weapons in surrender. "That's what I thought."
He then proceeded to make his way to the cruiser and absorb them to place them in his inventory. Once done, his body produced a red flash and he turned into XLR8, before speeding away with a sonic boom.
Ben went straight to the Rustbucket, looking for the others and hoping they are safe. Upon arriving and seeing them all there, seemingly unharmed, he swept the girls up in a hug and spoke quickly while still transformed. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? You didn't have to fight did you? Why aren't you answering? Did something happen?"
Seeing his worry for them, they were grateful, but the rapid firing of questions was too much and they weren't given a chance to answer. Gwen put her hand on his mouth to shut him up. "Ben, stop! We are fine, calm down."
Hearing this, Ben sighed and detransformed, still hugging them while relieved. Realising how worried he was, Gwen and Keira returned the hug, while Charmcaster was stiff and blushing from embarrassment. As he hugged them and finally calmed, tiredness washed over him and all his strength left his body as he fell asleep, the girls grabbing panickedly.
[You have gained a total of 2,642,500xp]
[Missions Complete - 150,000SP, Enhancement Magic book, New Alien, 10AP, Surprise, A legends armour, Enchanting Materials, Comfortable beds.]
(I'm not sure what the bonus, Surprise reward should be for completing the three challenges. Any suggestions?)
[Status -
Name - Ben
Lv - 69 (123,060/245,000) (This was a coincidence)
Title - Wielder of the Omnitrix, Anti-Hero, Idol Slayer
State - Healthy MP - 12,093
STR - 3633
END - 3734
AGI - 3633
CHA - 3635
INT - 308
LUK - 666
AP - 108 SP - 1,715,200
Primary Skills: CQC Lv-5, Marksmanship Lv-5, Intimidation Lv-5, Danger Sense Lv-4, Sneak Lv-4, Mana Manipulation Lv-2
Secondary Skills: Drawing Lv-3, Math Lv-4, Science Lv-4, Writing Lv-3, Maneuvering Lv-5, Driving Lv-4, Engineering Lv-5, Cooking Lv-4, Pain Tolerance Lv-9, Bioengineering Lv-5, Programming Lv-5, Torture Lv-2, Acting Lv-3, Enchanting Lv-3
Unique Skill: Wrath, Love and Lust, Gluttony, Complete Language Comprehension, Eidetic Memory, Analyse, Night Vision, The Force]
(5 Recoveries Stored)