Ben 10 Fan Fiction ❯ Original Ben Ten: Th Machaliens ❯ The Truth hurts: Part One ( Chapter 9 )

CHAPTER NINE

Shortly after breakfast the next day, the Rust-Bucket was finally nearing its destination, a lonely area miles from anyone in the plains and parries. “Wow.” Kai exclaimed. Ben gazed out the window with her, “Man… it's all green.”

Joel and Camille knew this place all too well, so did Gordon and BJ. “This is where it all happened.” Max explained. “The plumber's most secretive technology was kept here.”

Joel suddenly caught a look at an old hillside and he began to feel upset again. His sadness then faded into anger as he thought of the further upcoming battles with the machaliens.

Ben and Gwen were also egger to get those guys, especially since they were capturing members of their family. Ben began to feel just like Gwen did, fearing that his parents had been captured.

…

At that very moment Mr. Mann was capturing Ben's father that moment.

Carl was trying to lose the “Alien freak!” that was chasing him, but to no avail. Mr. Mann caught him in his sights. “Tennyson sighted-- Digitizing…!”

“Hey! What's happening?! NOOO…!”

Mr. Mann stretched out, now all he needed was Ben's mother, and she wasn't too far now.

…

Mr. Mann reported to Dread that his task was nearly completed. “Good!” Dread complimented. “Once you've finished report to the following coordinates. We'll be there.”

“Understood, my lord…”

The monitor closed-off and Dread was thinking deeply, and even clicked on the side of his visor-mask causing it to mechanically lift, split into two parts and sink into his shoulder pads. His full face was still hidden by the shadows of his dark chamber, but he knew he was going to do the right thing when he confronted Joel. “After all this time… you will finally learn the awful truth.”

Mrs. Mann and Jorgen entered the chamber and were amazed to see the count's face with his mask down. They gawked at him in awe. He noticed them and clicked his mask back on. “Preferred it if you hadn't seen that.” he said to them.

The minions apologized for intruding, and couldn't help but think that something was odd about the count's face… as if they had known it from somewhere before.

They came and reported that everything was ready for the confrontation. Dread nodded. “Come!” he said as he stood and walked to the door “I've really been looking forward to this.”

…

Max drove the Rust-Bucket inside a secret underground building in the side of a cliff-floor. They drove down the tunnel, and emerged in a big round room and all around them were shelves after shelves of plumber-tech unlike anything Gwen, Ben, or Kai and Lucy had seen.

Max and Gordon explained that the plumbers always one day knew the machaliens would return, so the plumber-scientists had developed and kept all this equipment for just such a time. “I must say… I never thought we'd ever have to use this stuff.” said Max.

“Well… we always did say it would be good for somethin'.” said his brother.

BJ tried to assure Camille to stay in the Rust-Bucket, but Camille felt just fine. It was nice and cool in the base, and even though she had no serum left, she remembered Joel telling her about this place, and how there was a special serum here that would cure her of the heat-atrocious virus.

There were all kinds of interesting tech; Max loaded what he could onto the Rust-Bucket. Gwen would get to have some of the cool stuff, but Ben wouldn't need any, much to his dismay. “Ah, man…! For once I thought I could actually be really cool.”

“Pft… yeah right.” Gwen mocked at him.

Lucy waltzed up to Ben and fluttered her eyes at him, “I still think you're cool, Benny.” she cooed. This only made Ben feel not so cool anymore, in a sick kind of way. He just was glad Kai didn't see this… as she was too busy looking at all the tech there was. “Can we really capture Count Dread and save my grandpa with all this?” she asked...

Gordon and Max nodded, but Joel… “What do you mean, capture?” he scorned. “A murderer like Count Dread doesn't deserve any shred of justice. I want that ugly creep destroyed!”

His angry voice echoed throughout the base, and everyone was gawking at him. “Joel…” Camille said softly. Joel apologized for snapping, “Forget it… it's not important.”

But Ben and Gwen had taken enough. “Oh, no you don't, Joel!” snapped Ben. “You've been keeping something from us too long. Now tell us… what is it with you and the Machaliens?”

Joel, again, tried to persuade everyone to that, “It's nothing.”

But Gwen, for once, agreed with Ben, and recalled all of Joel's behavior, secretive attitude, and the way he just rushed at Dread and tried to fight him. Even Max and Gordon agreed it was time to know the truth…

“And if you don't tell them… one of us will.” Max stated.

Kai and Lucy were eager to hear what was going on too, and so… realizing he was licked, Joel began to explain what the cause of his chronic nightmares were.

“It all started when I just a boy…”

…

Joel met a boy who later became the best friend he ever had. They both wanted to work with the plumbers and they shared many ideas together, and one day, Joel became a plumber police officer and his friend became a plumber-scientist.

Though their jobs meant seeing less and less of each other, their bond was never broken. They loved each other like brothers, and their friendship became even grater when Camille joined in…

Joel had brought Camille to Earth, sometime during the feud of the plumbers and the sludge-puppies. Camille was sick and Joel's friend found them as he was passing along and fed Camille a vial of liquid which healed her injuries.

“She's not safe here… we have to get to my lab.”

When Camille woke up, she was glad to see Joel, but she gazed around and asked. “What happened? Where I am?”

That's when I, Joel's friend came out to greet her, “You are in my laboratory.” I said to her, “I'm Dr. Mykan Farix. You were injured, but my serum saved you.”

Camille was at first impressed, but also curious as to why he wasn't repulsed by her alien-form, and why he, a plumber other than Joel, helped her; an alien.

I was a man whose heart was like gold. Unlike other plumbers I was different. “Humans… Aliens… Robots-- it makes no difference to me. I just live here in peace with nothing but my… experiments, and research for company.”

One of my dreams was that life in the galaxy could be peaceful; Humans, aliens, and robots could all learn to live together in peace, and the only wars would ever have would be against those unwilling to listen and understand.

I was the inventor and discoverer of the serum Camille drank, which was a type of medicine that could nourish aliens back to life and also cure them of sicknesses. It also worked on humans who had contracted diseases, and it lubricated machine joints as well.

My biggest goal was to study the tissues and anatomy of the three species. I believed that all three weren't so different, and that there would be ways to help one another.

I was able to give some plumbers who had lost parts of their bodies a mechanical arm, leg, or even aliens pieces to help them survive, and that was how my legacy almost came to be…!

Joel, Camille, and I were really good friends, even when Joel and Camille first announced their engagement, I was ever so thrilled… but a few months before the wedding… something bad happened.

The plumbers-superiors, led by Max, had declared that the research I was handling was too dangerous and a possible threat to the survival of humanity, since it was believed that aliens from other worlds would discover my secrets and use them to become invincible.

Max ordered that all my research and everything I had conjured was to be confiscated, and shut down immediately. In other words, they were just taking everything I worked so hard for away from me, and were forcing me to transfer my line of plumber's work.

I begged them not to, and I even asked Joel to help me… but…he was on their side. He agreed with them that my work was dangerous and I should do something else. Before long… for the first time in so many years we knew each other… we had a huge fight. We lost our tempers, and Joel… in an act of impulse and frustration… punched me in the face and knocked me to the floor.

Joel felt very remorseful and tried to apologize, but I wouldn't forgive him. I never wanted to see him again… or Camille… or anyone who ever had a close relation with him. I told him to leave me so I could stay in my now, seemingly empty laboratory, and enjoy what little few minutes I had left of my legacy.

The one time I needed Joel most, and he turned on me in the most harmful of betrayal!

Joel walked sadly out of the lab in despair that he had lost his best friend in the whole world. The guy who was going to be best man at the wedding too…

…

Kai and Lucy felt shocked, but Ben and Gwen never heard anything so awful. They felt sorry for Joel, “But that doesn't explain what that has to do with the machaliens.” Gwen pointed out. But Joel assured her that it had everything to do with his attitude, “Because at that very moment the whole building exploded!”

The kids all gasped.

…

KAPOW!

BOOM!

Flame were everywhere, and Joel rolled down the hill that where the lab stood. “MYKAN!” he shouted. Quickly… he rushed to the other buildings to get help. The plumbers did their best to put out the flames, but my body was nowhere to be found.

That's when Joel looked thought he flames and he saw a creature emerging from the ashes and covered in human blood…

…it was Count Dread! “Gah, ha, ha, ha, ah, ah, ah…!”

Joel strongly assumed that it was Dread who murdered me. Why else would he be drenched in my blood, and my body never recovered. A fierce battle ensued, and Joel was nearly defeated by the all mighty force of Dread.

However, Dread was not as powerful as he was back then to take on reinforcements, and in a last minute effort he escaped the Earth and vowed one day he would return, more powerful than ever, and finish what he started.

“Especially with you… JOEL TENNYSON! AH, HA, HA-- AH, HA, HA, HA, AH, AH, AH…!”

…

A tear ran down Camille's cheek. She never forgot that day.

The grownups felt upset too.

Ben and Gwen finally understood the cause for Joel's attitude. He had been having those recurring nightmares out of guilt. Blaming himself for my death… if he hadn't had that fight with me, I probably would have left the lab with him and escape from the explosion and Count Dread, wherever he came from.

He wanted to destroy Dread to avenge my death and hopefully ease his regrets. BJ said the same thing she had always said to her son, “Running on a vendetta won't help matters.”

The others agreed with her, and Joel was fully aware that destroying Dread wouldn't bring me back. “I know… but… I could never live with myself if I knew I could do something for it.”

Joel knew he and I had that fight, but it didn't change the facts that I was once and always kind to him. It was my serum that was keeping his wife alive, and it was going to be the same serum that would cure her.

Joel would not rest until Dread was defeated. For Camille… for his family… and especially for me.

…

While they all continued to chat away, nobody realized that outside the machaliens and their troopers were closing in on the base. Dread remembered this place all too well himself… and now… “It is time! Heh, heh, heh…!”

To be continued…