FIC: Instinct (3/4)
Title: Instinct (3/4)
Characters: Ben, Gwen, Kevin
Summary: Ben and Gwen return to the farm to face off against the woman who'd started it all. However, things aren't always as they seem.
Notes: Yay! Action!
Disclaimer: Ben 10: Alien Force belongs to Man of Action
Ben, currently in the form of Echo Echo, looked up at his cousin. “Ready when you are.”
She took a deep breath. “You sure you’re okay?”
He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. “Can’t smell a thing.” He turned around. “Can we, fellas?”
His numerous clones all chimed in their agreement, each giving a thumbs-up of their own.
“Lucky you. The fertilizer hasn’t gotten any fresher.” She wrinkled her nose before reaching into her pocket. “Okay. I’m putting in my earplugs. You guys go out there and cause trouble.”
“No problem.”
“And, Ben?”
The short alien looked up at his cousin.
“Don’t get too close to this lady.” Gwen looked really worried. “She might have other ways of getting that pheromone into you.”
He and his clones gave her a salute. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.” Then he turned to the others. “Let’s go, guys!”
“Right behind you!” they called back as he leaped over the fence.
The men in the fields paused for only a minute at the strange creatures that came towards them. Then they turned their attention back to the soil.
“Huh. Guess they don’t really mind other guys, do they?” Ben mused aloud.
He glanced around, seeing only the enslaved townsfolk.
“Where’s Kevin gone?”
One of his clones poked him. “We need to distract them for Gwen.”
“Right.”
They formed a circle facing outward towards the “farmers”. Each took a deep breath and then started yelling. It wasn’t a full-blast attack, but it certainly brought the men to their knees.
“That oughtta do it.”
Sure enough, men from other parts of the farm ran towards their fallen comrades, ready to fight off the tiny invaders with pitchforks, shovels, and anything else they could get their hands on.
“This is just sad,” another of Ben’s clones muttered before they let loose with another attack.
Wave after wave of the enslaved men hit the dirt. It relieved the teenager-turned-alien that they went down with relatively little fuss. That is, he was relieved until two of his clones went flying by.
“Ow! Ow, ow! Ow!” the pair yelled before crashing into the ground.
Ben and the rest of the clones turned to see the missing black-haired teen standing there, his body covered in absorbed iron. The little white aliens brought up their fists and readied themselves.
“Hi, Kevin. Did you ever figure out what animals Old MacDonald had?”
Gwen ran overhead using her powers. She glanced down for only a moment as Ben duplicated himself some more before engaging Kevin. She silently wished her cousin luck as she moved in on the barn. If her hunch was right, their friend was the strange woman’s best “mate” and strongest defender. When all of her other men had fallen, she’d sent out Kevin as a last resort.
Meaning, she was probably very vulnerable right now.
Unfortunately, Gwen was wrong about there not being any more men in the barn. Fortunately, her assumption that her black-haired friend was the strongest of the bunch was correct. In addition, hovering in the air as she was, she had the high ground. She easily ripped away the pair’s pitchfork and shovel with her powers, flinging them upward with such force that they embedded themselves into the ceiling. She struck the farmers themselves with a ball of energy, sending them back into the ancient hay with enough force to stun them.
Gwen jumped down the last few feet and entered the barn. “Come on out!” she demanded.
A shadow moved by one of the empty horse stalls.
Gathering some of her power around her fist in order to prepare herself for a potential firefight, the redhead walked deeper into the dimly-lit barn. She reached up with her free hand to remove her earplugs, no longer at risk of losing her hearing from Echo Echo’s attacks. She needed all of her senses on high alert.
Entering the stall where she’d last seen the shadow, she readied her powers, ordering, “Don’t move.”
The woman huddled there held up her hands. “Please. Please don’t hurt me.”
Well. That was…unexpected.
Gwen blinked, releasing the energy gathered around her hand into an orb for solely providing light. For now. In an instant, she could’ve turned it into an attack. Still, judging by the woman’s trembling, the “enemy” was more afraid of her than anything else.
Also, the teen wasn’t very enthusiastic about striking someone whose pregnancy was just starting to show.
“I didn’t mean to take them. I swear,” the woman sobbed. Sobbed. “They just followed. They always follow! I can’t help it!”
Suddenly, it all clicked in Gwen’s mind. The poor lady in front of her must’ve been born of alien heritage but had no idea about it. And, therefore, had no control over her powers.
The younger redhead leaned forward. “Shh…It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you. This is just one big misunderstanding.”
The teary-eyed woman looked up hopefully at her. “I’m sorry if I took your friends. I want to give them all back, but I don’t know how.”
“It’s okay. Look, I can call some friends in who can find someone to help you, teach you how to control this. But you’re gonna have to trust me. And, believe me, it’s gonna be pretty weird.”
A nod of agreement.
“Okay. That black-haired kid. Did you manage to get a circular device off of him?”
A vigorous nod this time. She pulled the Plumber’s badge out of her pocket. “He insisted on giving it to me. Said it was a gift.”
“Great. I’m gonna use it to call my friends. In the meantime, you need to calm down. Right now, that kid’s probably beating the tar out of my cousin ’cause you’re scared and he’s trying to protect you. Can you do that?”
Another nod as the woman started to take deep breaths.
“Great.” Gwen smiled and started dialing up the Plumbers, hoping someone was close enough to help. As a Galvan’s face appeared, she gave a little grin and said, “Listen. We’ve got a bit of a situation here and could really use some help…”
“Wall…of…Sound!”
Kevin’s metal fist stopped centimeters from Ben’s face. The black-haired teen tried desperately to press his attack, but the little white alien and his clones just as desperately kept up theirs. Finally, the pressure of the sound knocked the teen backwards.
The teenager-turned-alien gasped for breath, looking over towards the barn. ‘Hurry up, Gwen. I can’t keep this up much longer.’
He and his tired clones leaped all over Kevin, latching on wherever they could get a grip. “Got you! Got you! Got you! Got you!”
Unfortunately, the teen who absorbed metal simply snarled and started yanking them off, hurling them away.
“Don’t got you!”
Ben gave a cry of pain as Kevin grabbed hold of him and threw him, wrenching his right foot. He rolled along the ground, stopping as he ran into one of his clones. Both attempted to get back to their feet, but only the clone succeeded as Ben’s foot screamed in protest, forcing him back down into the dirt.
He whimpered as his clones regrouped around him, prepared to defend one of their own.
As Kevin approached, the townsfolk began getting back up, their earlier stunning finally wearing off.
“Not…my…day…” Ben groaned.
The only thing working in his favor was that as long as his clones remained separate from him, the Omnitrix couldn’t time out and he couldn’t become another one of these zombies.
Small victory given the circumstances.
The black-haired teen pulled back his fist, preparing to pound the closest clone into the dirt when his face turned blank. He slowly lowered his fist and stood there, confused. All around, the other men looked equally baffled.
“Um…okay. We’ll go with this,” one of the clones said.
The original looked towards the barn to see Gwen leaving with a woman encased in an energy field.
His cousin waved to him before cupping her hands around her mouth. “It’s okay! One of the Plumbers should be here any minute!”
As if cued, a beam of light encircled the woman who waved goodbye to Gwen. The mana-wielder said something just before the woman was whisked away, obviously by the Plumbers.
The gathered men looked around, stupefied, their eyes still a bit glazed.
“She wanted you to all go home,” Gwen announced. “She’s thankful to all of you for protecting her.”
Apparently, that was enough for them since the men started walking back towards the town.
Gwen ran over and stopped Kevin from following. “She told you to stay with us.”
The black-haired teen blinked but nodded.
Ben winced. “What just happened?”
“I’ll fill you in in a minute. Anyway, the Plumbers said that without her here, the pheromones should be blown away in the breeze after a few minutes. That’s why I put the energy field around her: That way it’d go away quicker. You should be okay changing back to yourself.”
“That’s…” All of his clones rejoined him, and his DNA reverted back to that of Ben Tennyson. “…good.”
Gwen gave him a smile before her eyes widened. “Ben, you’re hurt!”
“I’m okay.” He gave her a grin that warped into a grimace as he started to stand and put weight on his bad foot. “Just got into a little fight with Kevin.”
“No, you’re not! It’s all swollen!” She put his arm around her shoulders before nudging Kevin. “C’mon, you. You’re driving us back to town.”
“Huh? Oh. Okay.” The black-haired teen turned and started walking back in the direction of the Camaro.
“So, how long’s he supposed to be like this?” Ben winced as he put a little too much pressure on his injured foot.
“Wikol said he and the rest of them should be able to sleep it off tonight. Still, there might be some side effects.”
“Side effects?”
The redhead nodded. “Turns out that Sarah was part Aphrodisan and didn’t know it. She couldn’t control her powers and when she got pregnant, it just cranked them up about twenty notches. Apparently, it’s a natural defense mechanism for that species.”
“Wait. Her name really was ‘Sarah’? Jeez. Did her parents hate her or something?”
“Yeah, well, Aphrodisan pheromones are apparently able to increase the sex drive in other species as well.”
Ben frowned deeply. “Okay, that’s it. No camp out tonight. Hotel with two rooms.”
Characters: Ben, Gwen, Kevin
Summary: Ben and Gwen return to the farm to face off against the woman who'd started it all. However, things aren't always as they seem.
Notes: Yay! Action!
Disclaimer: Ben 10: Alien Force belongs to Man of Action
Ben, currently in the form of Echo Echo, looked up at his cousin. “Ready when you are.”
She took a deep breath. “You sure you’re okay?”
He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. “Can’t smell a thing.” He turned around. “Can we, fellas?”
His numerous clones all chimed in their agreement, each giving a thumbs-up of their own.
“Lucky you. The fertilizer hasn’t gotten any fresher.” She wrinkled her nose before reaching into her pocket. “Okay. I’m putting in my earplugs. You guys go out there and cause trouble.”
“No problem.”
“And, Ben?”
The short alien looked up at his cousin.
“Don’t get too close to this lady.” Gwen looked really worried. “She might have other ways of getting that pheromone into you.”
He and his clones gave her a salute. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.” Then he turned to the others. “Let’s go, guys!”
“Right behind you!” they called back as he leaped over the fence.
The men in the fields paused for only a minute at the strange creatures that came towards them. Then they turned their attention back to the soil.
“Huh. Guess they don’t really mind other guys, do they?” Ben mused aloud.
He glanced around, seeing only the enslaved townsfolk.
“Where’s Kevin gone?”
One of his clones poked him. “We need to distract them for Gwen.”
“Right.”
They formed a circle facing outward towards the “farmers”. Each took a deep breath and then started yelling. It wasn’t a full-blast attack, but it certainly brought the men to their knees.
“That oughtta do it.”
Sure enough, men from other parts of the farm ran towards their fallen comrades, ready to fight off the tiny invaders with pitchforks, shovels, and anything else they could get their hands on.
“This is just sad,” another of Ben’s clones muttered before they let loose with another attack.
Wave after wave of the enslaved men hit the dirt. It relieved the teenager-turned-alien that they went down with relatively little fuss. That is, he was relieved until two of his clones went flying by.
“Ow! Ow, ow! Ow!” the pair yelled before crashing into the ground.
Ben and the rest of the clones turned to see the missing black-haired teen standing there, his body covered in absorbed iron. The little white aliens brought up their fists and readied themselves.
“Hi, Kevin. Did you ever figure out what animals Old MacDonald had?”
Gwen ran overhead using her powers. She glanced down for only a moment as Ben duplicated himself some more before engaging Kevin. She silently wished her cousin luck as she moved in on the barn. If her hunch was right, their friend was the strange woman’s best “mate” and strongest defender. When all of her other men had fallen, she’d sent out Kevin as a last resort.
Meaning, she was probably very vulnerable right now.
Unfortunately, Gwen was wrong about there not being any more men in the barn. Fortunately, her assumption that her black-haired friend was the strongest of the bunch was correct. In addition, hovering in the air as she was, she had the high ground. She easily ripped away the pair’s pitchfork and shovel with her powers, flinging them upward with such force that they embedded themselves into the ceiling. She struck the farmers themselves with a ball of energy, sending them back into the ancient hay with enough force to stun them.
Gwen jumped down the last few feet and entered the barn. “Come on out!” she demanded.
A shadow moved by one of the empty horse stalls.
Gathering some of her power around her fist in order to prepare herself for a potential firefight, the redhead walked deeper into the dimly-lit barn. She reached up with her free hand to remove her earplugs, no longer at risk of losing her hearing from Echo Echo’s attacks. She needed all of her senses on high alert.
Entering the stall where she’d last seen the shadow, she readied her powers, ordering, “Don’t move.”
The woman huddled there held up her hands. “Please. Please don’t hurt me.”
Well. That was…unexpected.
Gwen blinked, releasing the energy gathered around her hand into an orb for solely providing light. For now. In an instant, she could’ve turned it into an attack. Still, judging by the woman’s trembling, the “enemy” was more afraid of her than anything else.
Also, the teen wasn’t very enthusiastic about striking someone whose pregnancy was just starting to show.
“I didn’t mean to take them. I swear,” the woman sobbed. Sobbed. “They just followed. They always follow! I can’t help it!”
Suddenly, it all clicked in Gwen’s mind. The poor lady in front of her must’ve been born of alien heritage but had no idea about it. And, therefore, had no control over her powers.
The younger redhead leaned forward. “Shh…It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you. This is just one big misunderstanding.”
The teary-eyed woman looked up hopefully at her. “I’m sorry if I took your friends. I want to give them all back, but I don’t know how.”
“It’s okay. Look, I can call some friends in who can find someone to help you, teach you how to control this. But you’re gonna have to trust me. And, believe me, it’s gonna be pretty weird.”
A nod of agreement.
“Okay. That black-haired kid. Did you manage to get a circular device off of him?”
A vigorous nod this time. She pulled the Plumber’s badge out of her pocket. “He insisted on giving it to me. Said it was a gift.”
“Great. I’m gonna use it to call my friends. In the meantime, you need to calm down. Right now, that kid’s probably beating the tar out of my cousin ’cause you’re scared and he’s trying to protect you. Can you do that?”
Another nod as the woman started to take deep breaths.
“Great.” Gwen smiled and started dialing up the Plumbers, hoping someone was close enough to help. As a Galvan’s face appeared, she gave a little grin and said, “Listen. We’ve got a bit of a situation here and could really use some help…”
“Wall…of…Sound!”
Kevin’s metal fist stopped centimeters from Ben’s face. The black-haired teen tried desperately to press his attack, but the little white alien and his clones just as desperately kept up theirs. Finally, the pressure of the sound knocked the teen backwards.
The teenager-turned-alien gasped for breath, looking over towards the barn. ‘Hurry up, Gwen. I can’t keep this up much longer.’
He and his tired clones leaped all over Kevin, latching on wherever they could get a grip. “Got you! Got you! Got you! Got you!”
Unfortunately, the teen who absorbed metal simply snarled and started yanking them off, hurling them away.
“Don’t got you!”
Ben gave a cry of pain as Kevin grabbed hold of him and threw him, wrenching his right foot. He rolled along the ground, stopping as he ran into one of his clones. Both attempted to get back to their feet, but only the clone succeeded as Ben’s foot screamed in protest, forcing him back down into the dirt.
He whimpered as his clones regrouped around him, prepared to defend one of their own.
As Kevin approached, the townsfolk began getting back up, their earlier stunning finally wearing off.
“Not…my…day…” Ben groaned.
The only thing working in his favor was that as long as his clones remained separate from him, the Omnitrix couldn’t time out and he couldn’t become another one of these zombies.
Small victory given the circumstances.
The black-haired teen pulled back his fist, preparing to pound the closest clone into the dirt when his face turned blank. He slowly lowered his fist and stood there, confused. All around, the other men looked equally baffled.
“Um…okay. We’ll go with this,” one of the clones said.
The original looked towards the barn to see Gwen leaving with a woman encased in an energy field.
His cousin waved to him before cupping her hands around her mouth. “It’s okay! One of the Plumbers should be here any minute!”
As if cued, a beam of light encircled the woman who waved goodbye to Gwen. The mana-wielder said something just before the woman was whisked away, obviously by the Plumbers.
The gathered men looked around, stupefied, their eyes still a bit glazed.
“She wanted you to all go home,” Gwen announced. “She’s thankful to all of you for protecting her.”
Apparently, that was enough for them since the men started walking back towards the town.
Gwen ran over and stopped Kevin from following. “She told you to stay with us.”
The black-haired teen blinked but nodded.
Ben winced. “What just happened?”
“I’ll fill you in in a minute. Anyway, the Plumbers said that without her here, the pheromones should be blown away in the breeze after a few minutes. That’s why I put the energy field around her: That way it’d go away quicker. You should be okay changing back to yourself.”
“That’s…” All of his clones rejoined him, and his DNA reverted back to that of Ben Tennyson. “…good.”
Gwen gave him a smile before her eyes widened. “Ben, you’re hurt!”
“I’m okay.” He gave her a grin that warped into a grimace as he started to stand and put weight on his bad foot. “Just got into a little fight with Kevin.”
“No, you’re not! It’s all swollen!” She put his arm around her shoulders before nudging Kevin. “C’mon, you. You’re driving us back to town.”
“Huh? Oh. Okay.” The black-haired teen turned and started walking back in the direction of the Camaro.
“So, how long’s he supposed to be like this?” Ben winced as he put a little too much pressure on his injured foot.
“Wikol said he and the rest of them should be able to sleep it off tonight. Still, there might be some side effects.”
“Side effects?”
The redhead nodded. “Turns out that Sarah was part Aphrodisan and didn’t know it. She couldn’t control her powers and when she got pregnant, it just cranked them up about twenty notches. Apparently, it’s a natural defense mechanism for that species.”
“Wait. Her name really was ‘Sarah’? Jeez. Did her parents hate her or something?”
“Yeah, well, Aphrodisan pheromones are apparently able to increase the sex drive in other species as well.”
Ben frowned deeply. “Okay, that’s it. No camp out tonight. Hotel with two rooms.”