Chapter 5 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5



Watching the execution of his own grandfather is far too much to take for a 10-year-old boy.
Ben went mad. Somehow, he could tear apart the goo. He slammed the omnitrix several times, but it was still recharging.
- Work! Work you good for nothing waste! – shouted he in tears. To no avail, the watch remained red.
As soon as Kevin finished Max off, he wanted to do the same with Gwen. But she wasn’t there at all.
- Hey, where’s your nerd cousin? What ever! – said Kevin.
- You shall pay for this! – roared Ben. He freed himself, and ran to punch Kevin. He wasn’t fast enough. Kevin slapped him on the face, with his crystalline hand. Ben retreated and collapsed. He touched his face... His palm was bloody.
- Well, my work here is done! I figured revenge tastes much better this way! – laughed Kevin.
- I’ll rip your head off!!! – cried Ben.
- I wouldn’t count on it! Well, see you around, Benjie! You will hear from me again, sooner than you think! – said Kevin and ran away with Xlr8’s speed.
Ben slowly stood up, ran to his grandpa, but it was too late. He broke out in tears, and cried heavily above Max. His tears washed away his blood from his face.
- He won’t get away with this, Grandpa! I’ll take care about it! – vowed Ben.
After all of this, Ben realized, that Gwen’s disappeared. Suddenly, he heard a groan behind his back. He turned around and saw Lantara. She’s just came to. She touched her head.
- What happened? That thing was so powerful; he tossed me away like a little piece of rock... – said Lantara. Then she looked at Ben and recognized his wound.
- What happened?
- Kevin murdered him. – replied Ben coldly. Lantara looked down to Max.
- I’m sorry. – said the ectonurite with condolence.
- Not your fault. It’s mine. I was not powerful enough to save him.
- Power isn’t everything – answered Lantara.
- But it could have save my Grandpa. – said Ben in tears.
- You can’t save everyone.
- Why? Some day, I will be able to save everyone! Some day, I promise. – Ben hissed. He fell into his thoughts.
They were just standing there, in the middle of destruction, as the crowd slowly surrounded them.
- You’re like Ghostfreak, you could merge with him and bring him back... – enthused Ben.
Lantara bent down to the boy, and put her hands on his shoulders. She looked into Ben’s eye.
- Ben. He’s gone. Nothing can change this. Nobody can bring him back. – said she.
- I know... replied Ben. They were just stared into each other’s eye, and in this moment, Ben didn’t found the ectonurite ugly or hideous. At this moment, she was the only one who stood beside him and understood his feelings. He didn’t care anything else. His gash was still bleeding and the crowd around them went bigger and bigger. He didn’t care.
- We should go... – said Lantara and pointed to the people.
- I can’t leave him here like this! And Gwen’s disappeared! – yelled Ben.
- We will find her! But not now! We already have too much unwanted attention! – declared Lantara.
- You’re right! – admitted the boy. He stood up looked at Max once more. Lantara grabbed his hand.
- What are you doing? – But he understood soon. As Lantara touched him, he became invisible as well. They could leave the premises unobtrusively.
When they got far enough from the city, Lantara turned visible again.
- What now?
- We have to take care of your injury first. – said Lantara.
- I don’t want to go to any stupid hospital! – declared Ben.
- Then let me help you.
- How?
- If I merge with you, you’ll heal much faster. – explained Lantara.
- I don’t know. I knew an alien like you, who wanted to merge with me to control the omnitrix. – said Ben doubtfully.
- I don’t want the omnitrix. Not every ectonurite is evil! It’s merely a malignant tattle! I just want to repay you for saving my life. That’s all. But if you don’t want it, it’s okay. – replied the alien.
Ben touched his gash. It was deep and bleeding very intensively.
- Okay, let’s do it. - agreed the boy.
- Trust me. Ready? – asked Lantara.
- I think so.
Lantara changed her protoplasma and merged with the boy. Ben’s eyes turned black as the ectonurite took over his body. Accompanied by white flashes his wound began to heal. It slowly shrank, like if somebody would have reversed a film. The gash disappeared from his face, but a strange looking scar remained at his eye. Lantara got out.
- Wow... that was... weird... – stuttered Ben and touched his face. The blood and the gash disappeared. Then he felt the scar.
- What’s this? – asked he.
- The petrosapien crystals have irreversibly damaged your tissues there, even I couldn’t fix it. You’ll have to live with this scar for the rest of your life. – explained Lantara.
Ben walked to a puddle. He saw his reflection in the dirty water.
- Strange scar... Like a lightning... – mumbled he. – It will always remind me of this day. It will help me to never forget what happened today. To never forget my vow. Kevin shall pay with his life for taking my Grandpa’s.
Lantara just blinked, didn’t know what to say...

Soon, they went back to the city, to find Gwen. The hours of their search were useless.
- My capsule! – Lantara yelled suddenly.
- What? – asked Ben.
- I left my capsule in your vehicle! We have to get it back! I don’t want to make a new one!
- Why?
- Because it’s painful and takes a lot of energy. – replied Lantara.
They rushed back to the disaster area. The cleaning had already begun. The police have just towed the Rust bucket away.
- There! – shouted Ben. – Can you get the capsule out with your mind?
- No, something’s blocking the contact! I have to get closer. – replied Lantara.
Ben sighed, and slammed the watch. He turned into Stinkfly.
- Come on! – said Stinkfly.
He grabbed Lantara and took off, after the Rust bucket. He could quickly catch up, and landed on the top of the rv. Lantara phased through the roof. A few seconds later, she came back with the capsule in her hands.
- It’s already solid! – said Lantara.
- Good. – replied Stinkfly and grabbed her again.
They left the Rust bucket behind.

Later, Ben and Lantara were in a park. There was nobody else, only them.
The boy spoke his mind.
- I don’t know what should I do... There are so many problems came from nowhere... Grandpa’s gone... I don’t know where’s Gwen... And what for? Why he did it, I cannot understand... I don’t know what to do... I should go back home... that would be obvious...
Lantara listened to Ben’s words patiently. However, she was from another world, she couldn’t comprehend everything that Ben said. She believed that death is a natural part of the life.
She couldn’t do anything else, just floated beside Ben and put her arm around the boy’s shoulders. This movement surprised Ben, he gave a start at first, the ectonurite’s hand was cold and harsh, but it was a friendly gesture. So he touched her hand. They made a strange couple, the ectonurite and the human. Both of them found it weird, but didn’t tell the other. The moment lasted for a few minutes only.
Then the boy made a few steps ahead.
- I wonder how I’m gonna tell my parents about all this... – said he. – I should go Xlr8 and ran home, but that would be suspicious, how I got home so fast...
He put his hands in his pocket. He found nothing there.
Suddenly, Kevin’s words echoed in his ears: “you will hear from me again, sooner than you think!”
- He took my wallet! - he yelled.
Lantara looked at him and blinked.
- Why does he need my wallet?
- Maybe you’ve lost it, during the battle... – speculated Lantara.
- No, I don’t think so. Kevin took it... – replied Ben.
“You will hear from me again, sooner than you think!”
- He must have taken it when he slapped me...
“You will hear from me again...”
- My address is in my wallet...
“...sooner than you think!”
- HOME! – shouted Ben.
- What? – asked Lantara.
- I don’t have time to explain! – said Ben and slammed the watch. He turned into Xlr8 once again, and stormed out.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment