Chapter 8: Hero Time
The sun had fully set by the time Ben and Gwen returned home, the sky a deep indigo canvas dusted with the first stars of the evening. They slipped back into the house as quietly as they had left, but the savory aroma of Grandpa Max's cooking met them in the hallway, confirming they hadn't been as stealthy as they'd hoped.
Dinner was a tense but quiet affair. The clinking of forks against plates was the only sound for a long while, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Grandpa Max set down his cutlery and looked at Ben, his sharp eyes missing nothing. "Are you still keeping your promise, Ben?"
Before Ben could answer, Gwen spoke up, her voice steady. "He is, Grandpa. I'm watching him all the time."
The lie was smooth, a protective shield she threw over him without hesitation. Grandpa Max's gaze shifted to her, and after a moment, he gave a slow, accepting nod. The rest of the meal passed in silence.
Later, as they were clearing the table, Ben cornered Gwen by the sink. "Thanks," he said, his voice low. "For covering for me."
She offered a small, tired smile. "Just don't make me regret it." With that, they parted ways, each retreating to the solitude of their own room.
But not everyone in the house went to sleep. Long after the lights were out and the house was still, Max Tennyson sat in his armchair, the glow of a laptop screen casting a pale blue light on his focused face. He was not just a worried grandfather; he was an investigator on the hunt. His fingers moved with practiced speed across the keyboard, navigating encrypted networks and obscure deep-web forums that the average person didn't even know existed. His search terms were precise and technical: "non-terrestrial energy signature," "unidentified fall capsule sector 7-G," "anomalous DNA-altering bio-tech."
The search yielded nothing but digital ghosts and dead ends. He found plenty of chatter from space enthusiasts and amateur vloggers who made tours of old meteorite impact sites, breathlessly speculating about alien life. But there was nothing about a functional pod, nothing about a device as sophisticated as the Omnitrix. He leaned back with a heavy sigh, the reflection of countless lines of code dancing in his eyes. The watch on his grandson's wrist was something completely unknown, and that was the most dangerous thing of all.
A few days passed, and the tension in Aldera Junior High became a palpable, electric buzz. The topic on everyone's lips was the same: the fast-approaching U.A. High School entrance exam. The hallways, normally just a river of bodies between classes, were now filled with excited chatter, nervous laughter, and the determined footsteps of students dreaming of a future in heroics.
Ben slammed his locker shut with a definitive clang, the sound echoing slightly in the bustling corridor. He turned to find Gwen leaning against the adjacent lockers, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
"Sounds like the U.A. exam is getting close," she commented.
He began walking, and she fell into step beside him. "It's not like you to talk about it," Ben replied. "Starting to think about the hero course?"
"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on in that head of yours," she said, her tone becoming more serious. "You're not going to use that device and do something foolish, are you?"
He glanced down the crowded hall. "It could save thousands of lives, and we wouldn't even know it."
Gwen let out a soft sigh. "I knew you were going to think that way."
"You don't seem that upset," he observed.
She shrugged, a gesture of uncertainty. "I don't know. If all the forms are as controllable as that last one, maybe… maybe you could even convince Grandpa."
The sharp, piercing ring of the school bell cut their conversation short. The flood of students poured into their classrooms, the sounds of scraping chairs and idle chatter filling the air before a teacher's voice brought them to order. In every classroom, the message was the same: an announcement regarding the U.A. exam, a brief orientation on the four major courses offered by the academy, and encouragement for students to push their potential to its limits.
Across the room, three sets of eyes held three different futures. Though they sat apart, the thought of applying to U.A. burned brightly in each of their minds. Katsuki Bakugo's piercing crimson eyes held a predatory gleam, a smirk already fixed on his face; for him, acceptance wasn't a possibility, it was an inevitability. Izuku Midoriya's large, green eyes were a turbulent mix of overwhelming anxiety and fierce determination; the chance given to him by All Might was a fragile, precious thing he could not afford to waste, for it would change everything for him. And Ben, his own sharp green eyes drifting down to his left wrist, where the Omnitrix lay hidden beneath his sleeve. His expression was contemplative, as if he were considering a path, a decision, he had never expected to take.
Later that day, the trio of Ben, Gwen, and Midoriya walked their usual route home under a sky of pale blue. As they passed through a busy street lined with shops, an unexpected event shattered the afternoon calm. It wasn't a villain attack, nothing so grand. It was something far more mundane, and far more real. A scaffolding rig on a building being restored groaned, shuddered, and then began to collapse.
"LOOK OUT!" a worker screamed from above, his voice filled with terror as the metal pipes and wooden planks began to rain down onto the crowded sidewalk below.
Directly in the path of the falling debris was a small elementary school girl, a bright pink backpack on her shoulders. She had been walking along, humming to herself, but the shout made her stop. She looked up, her eyes widening calmly for a second before the sheer scale of the danger registered, and she froze, a statue of pure shock, unable to move. People on the street screamed, a chorus of horror.
Midoriya's eyes trembled. "We need a hero," he whispered, his body tense with helpless urgency.
Gwen's head snapped left and right, her eyes frantically scanning the area. "Isn't there a fast hero anywhere?!"
Her gaze was suddenly arrested by a blinding, brilliant green light. The iconic VWOORP sound of the Omnitrix activating cut through the noise. The flash drew Midoriya's stunned attention just in time to see Ben's form replaced by a blur of black and blue.
"It's Hero Time!" the digitized voice of XLR8 declared.
He shot forward, a living projectile of azure energy. The sonic boom of his acceleration generated a powerful gust of wind that blasted through the street, whipping Gwen's hair across her face and making Midoriya stagger back.
"BEN!!" Gwen screamed, her hand thrown forward, her face a mask of profound worry.
Midoriya's mind reeled, the pieces clicking into place with shocking speed. Huh? Ben?
XLR8 was a streak of motion across the pavement. He reached the terrified girl in less than a second, scooping her into his arms without slowing down. A blue trail marked his path as he cleared the danger zone just as the scaffolding came down with a deafening, earth-shaking CRASH! The metal structure crushed the pavement where the girl had been standing, a breathtaking display of destructive force.
He skidded to a halt a safe distance away, the girl held securely in his arms. She was shaking, but unharmed.
XLR8 grinned down at her. "That was a close one, hahaha!"
The girl stared up at her bizarre, alien savior, her eyes wide with shock. Then, the terror she had held back broke free. Tears welled up and streamed down her cheeks. "Thank you… thank you so much," she sobbed, her legs trembling so violently she couldn't stand. "I was so scared!"
Suddenly, the shocked silence of the crowd erupted into a wave of applause and cheers. People were clapping, whistling, shouting their thanks. XLR8 looked up at the sea of grateful, admiring faces. He looked at their smiles, at the relief in their eyes. For the first time, he wasn't a monster in the woods or a wanted suspect on the news. This time, he wasn't a criminal.
This time, he was a hero.
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