Chapter 3:
For a moment, Ben found himself back to that horrible night six years ago. He was a little kid again, holding onto his brother’s hand, staring up in shock and horror as a monster rampaged. He was being dragged along, but a small cry drew his gaze away from the horror. It was Mrs. Whiskers, the neighbor’s cat.
She was meowing and hissing in distress. Ben pulled at his brother’s arm to get him to stop. His brother's masked face turned to look at him as Ben pointed. Their parents stopped too to look. And then the whole world became fire and pain.
Ben shook his head so violently that it felt like it might fall off.
No. It was not happening again. It couldn’t. Not again.
He focused hard on the monster. He took in its massive size, towering over all the buildings around it. The largest building here was only two stories tall while it was at least six stories. Maybe more.
But it was smaller than the one from that night. And even then, size wasn’t everything.
Ben ignored the familiar four-petal mouth filled with serrated teeth atop a long tube neck. He ignored its glowing blue bulk and the long tentacles that seemed to writhe around it. Instead, he focused right above its head and waited.
Waited for the city’s grid to finish analyzing it and label it.
It had to be an ‘A’. It was just a big ‘A’. Be an ‘A’ damn it!
Finally, a red hologram bloomed above the thing's head. And Ben’s heart dropped.
A big bright ‘S’ hung over the monster's head. And out in the distance, even more sirens began to ring out.
For a long moment, Ben just stared.
He barely noticed the two monsters around him rush away. But he did notice as the monster’s massive head turned in their direction. Then he screamed as he felt a massive rush of air as one of the creature's enormous tentacles rushed out and wrapped the two monsters up in an instant.
With another rush of air, the tentacle retracted and went to the creature's mouth. There was what sounded like a muffled scream for a second before the only sound was crunching and gnashing teeth.
Ben gaped, unable to move. Barely even able to think. Just simply horrified at the power and brutality on display.
Then the thing swallowed and turned its gaze to Ben and the horror redoubled. His whole body tensed and he kept his wide eyes locked on the creature. His fists started to clench tightly against the ground.
But there was nothing he could do. Even if the single monster had been enough earlier, he still would have been completely powerless before this thing.
Damn it all. Damn this thing. Damn all monsters and damn this unfair world. Why was this happening? Why! Why again! Damn it all, why!
Ben’s face twisted into a snarl he pushed himself to his feet. He ignored the pain in his side. He ignored the way his vision was starting to blur. Instead, he just kept his gaze on the damn thing still staring at him and screamed. “WHY!”
Ben’s yell seemed to echo for a moment, even with the sirens still blaring. Then the monsters shifted. There was a rush of air. And everything went black.
For a long moment, Ben thought that was it.
Everything was over and he was dead.
But as the seconds ticked by, he realized he was still hearing the sirens. And the blackness was just because he’d closed his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Ben opened his eyes to see what was happening. And for what felt like the hundredth time that day he was stunned.
At first, with his slightly blurry vision, and seeing a familiar purple glow, Ben thought it was Vortex—The strongest Hero in the city. Then he noticed the dripping liquid and he was horrified to think that Vortex had been injured saving him. But then he saw the person’s face and realized it wasn't Vortex at all.
They were a Shifter maybe?
They looked like a blue man, but with orange hair that looked hard. They wore something like a cross between modern power armor and medieval plate. Accenting the slightly charred metal were large sections of gleaming purple crystals that glowed with a strong inner light. On the sections of the armor that weren’t charred, the light from the gems seemed to glitter off the metal with geometric patterns.
Most importantly though, was that the man was holding their hand toward the S-Rank monster with a massive clear gem floating just in front of his hand and glowing orange. It was about the size of the man himself. And off in the distance, now much further than it had been before—When had they moved? Or had the monster moved?—orange energy seemed to be enveloping most of the monster's body. The energy constrained the monster’s movements and even wrapped around its mouth, making it only able to growl as it tried to escape.
Seeming to sense his gaze, the person turned to Ben.
And Ben’s eyes widened with his mouth agape before what he was seeing caught up to him. Then he recoiled in horror.
The entire right side of the man's body looked like it had been ripped apart. Their armor there was non-existent. The man’s skeleton could be seen beneath ripped flesh and Ben had just noticed that the man’s right eye was missing before he had to turn away in horror.
“Sorry about that,” the man said, and then Ben saw a dark red light reflect off the pavement below. “I must look like a mess.”
Bile rose in Ben’s throat. Not because of the memories of the man's appearance but because of guilt. This was his fault. If he hadn’t been here then the man wouldn’t have gotten so hurt.
Taking a deep calming breath, he turned back to look at the man, ready to take in the damage that happened because of him. Only to blink in surprise. Floating next to the man was another crystal, this one dark red and about the size of the man’s torso. The ruined right side of the man's body was now covered in a glowing red substance. It seemed to fill and replace all the damage done, leaving the man looking strange but no longer gruesome.
It did nothing to repair the armor but now he just looked like a strangely colored man with broken armor instead of… what he had looked like before.
“There, better,” The man said, his voice sounding kind but tired. “Sorry about that. Didn’t really think about it. Oh, and you look like you could use some help too.”
The man waved his hand over Ben and the crystal shone red for a moment. Then a shiver ran through Ben’s body as the aches and pains from earlier disappeared. His mind cleared up too and the edges of his vision sharpened, leaving him stunned. Ben had been healed with powers once before, but he’d been unconscious at the time. He’d never experienced something like this while awake and it was incredibly strange.
He looked down, expecting to see something like the red substance making up the man’s right side attached to him. But there was nothing there. He prodded at the holes in the shirt and only saw unblemished flesh. He was fully healed…
It didn’t seem fair. For him to be alright with a wave of the man’s hand while the man still looked like that.
Bile rose in his throat again and Ben frowned. He shook his head. “Please don’t apologize. I’m the one who's sorry. If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. I’m so sor—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa there, kid,” The man said, only to pause and tilt his head. “Actually, are you a kid? You sound kind of like a kid, though I suppose I shouldn’t assume with a new Race. Even if you kinda look similar to my people… So are you a kid?”
Ben just looked at the man for a moment, not quite understanding what he was saying until it finally clicked. “Wait… You’re an alien? And, ugh—kind of. I’m a teenager. I’m pretty much already an adult.”
The man laughed, which seemed rather strange given where they were, the monster still struggling in the background—now being attacked by Heroes that appeared on the scene—and the horrible damage that had been done to the man. Or Alien man… Person. “Yeah, I’m an alien. At least alien to you. Though our species seem to have a lot in common. Our kids always love to think they’re already adults too.”
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Ben frowned. That was rather patronizing. It’s not like he was fifteen or something. He was seventeen. Literally one year away from being a legal adult.
“Anyway, kid, you're misunderstanding something really big. You see this,” the Alien said, gesturing to his right side and still laughing a little. Then he pointed at the S-Rank monster in the distance, still struggling, still making no progress in freeing itself even as it was attacked by Heroes. “That little chump had nothing to do with this. Which means you aren’t to blame for anything. Goddess Below, I should be the one apologizing. That thing’s only here because it slipped in behind me.”
Ben froze at those words… There was a lot to unpack in what the alien had said. Part of him was extremely relieved that the man’s injuries weren’t his fault. But most of him was focused on the other thing the man had said. Little chump?
Was that a System translation issue—no that wasn’t the important part.
Ben looked back at the struggling monster. It was still completely unable to break out, even as it was attacked by more and more arriving Heroes. He could see figures coming out of Vortex’s iconic purple portals, as well as Vortex herself and what must have been Pyrofrost and Dynamis.
He was too far away to make out details, but the figure he assumed was Dynamis was slamming into the creature's head, sending the thing reeling back as far as the restraining energy would allow, before she slammed into it again and again. Even from where Ben was, he could hear what sounded like an explosion every time they hit the monster.
At the same time, ice was starting to cover the monster, while beams of bright red plasma tore into the creature's flesh. The ice didn’t seem to do much to the creature, but the beams kept growing inside and doing more and more damage. That should have been Pyrofrost.
Finally, there was Vortex, who was forming portals around the monster. Ben couldn’t really make it out, but he knew that they were peppering the monster with ever increasingly fast projectiles or portal cutting what volume of flesh they could from the monster.
Yet, despite the concentrated attacks of all three of Cascade’s S-Rank Heroes, who were able to attack freely because of the monster being restrained, it looked far from defeated. It was wounded now, but the wounds looked so small on its bulk. Like most S-Rank monsters, it was really tough. Last time… the S-Rank monster had rampaged for far too long before the Heroes managed to put it down.
And yet, the alien, who looked like they were half dead, thought of it as nothing. Just how strong were they?
“Now,” the alien said, sighing. They seemed to deflate a bit as if they just remembered how injured they were. “Don’t worry about that thing. I’ll take care of it before I pass. Though maybe those Empowered will be able to kill it in time. But before that, let it act as a little distraction while we talk.“
“A little distraction,” Ben repeated, stunned.
“Yes,” the alien said, turning their gaze back to Ben. All humor was gone and only a serious gaze remained. It was strange how similar to humans but at the same time alien they looked. “Don’t worry. It’s done all the damage it's gonna. It will cause no more harm while I have it contained. But I think it will be better for both of us if only you and I are involved in this discussion. Better an honest kid than potentially less trustworthy people.”
The alien sighed again and his eyes seemed to dull even more. He looked very much resigned.
“As you can probably tell. I’m kind of a mess. It’s honestly worse than it looks. The things I’ve fought… The powers they used… Well, even if I was fully stocked, I might not be able to save myself. As I am now, I probably won’t last another five minutes.”
“What?” Ben gasped. That seemed unbelievable. Sure their injuries had been horrifying, but they were so powerful. The idea of the alien dying, and so soon, seemed insane. “Then we need to get you some help. I can try and—”
“None of that,” the alien said, raising their good hand. “I’ve already connected to your planet’s System. At this level of development, there is no chance anyone here could help me. All bringing others here would do is bring in the carrion eaters.”
The alien shook their head and then gestured with their glowing red hand. A dark blue gemstone appeared there, much smaller than the other two floating gems. This one was only palm-sized. It started to glow blue and that same color seemed to be coming out of the alien’s eyes. “Now. Honestly, at this point, you’re probably already my best choice. But I just want to do this for my piece of mind before death. So tell me, kid. Do you want power?”
Ben blinked at the question. “What?”
“Do you want power,” the alien repeated calmly. “Do you desire it? And what would you do if you got it? Got enough of it to render things like that beast over there trivial matters.”
“I—” Ben started to say but stopped. He knew the answer already, obviously. If he hadn’t wanted power, he wouldn’t be out here. But because of that desire to be strong. To have power. To be a Hero, he almost got a kid killed. If he hadn’t been there, maybe that kid wouldn’t have run into the monster so soon. Maybe his mom would have caught up with him and dragged him away before he could have ever been in danger. “I… I do. But I don’t think I deserve it.”
The alien let out a laugh. Unlike the one from before, this one was tired and harsh. “Deserve it? Deserve it…” They shook their head. “Most people don’t, kid. But they get it anyway. Whether from the System or their birth or elsewhere. But just cause you don’t deserve it when you get it, doesn’t mean that will always be the case. If you feel unworthy, then make yourself worthy in the future. Strive for whatever your ideal is for being worthy. Now enough of that. If you got power, kid. Real true power, what would you do with it?“
“Protect people,” Ben said, not needing to think about it. “I’ve been chasing power, chasing the chance to become a Hero for some time now. And… I just want to use it to protect people.”
“And that’s the only thing you’d do? And why exactly do you want to protect people?”
Ben bit his lip and looked down. He knew the right answer to this. But he also knew the truth even if he hated to admit it. And even though he’d only just met this alien, it felt wrong to lie to them in their final moments. “Part of me just likes helping people. And I also don’t want anyone else to ever suffer the feeling of loss like I did. But… Most of all, I feel like I should. I lived when a lot of people died in the past. Good people. People who could have done so much more than me. If I don’t do what they could have… It feels like I’m spitting on their memories.”
For a long moment, the only sound between the two of them was the sirens and fighting in the distance.
“Well… Honestly, I didn't expect that kid,” the alien finally said, his voice somber. “I apologize for bringing up something so personal just for some reassurance. For what it’s worth—and I’m sure you understand this, even if you can’t make yourself accept it—no one needs to make up for surviving a tragedy… Now that’s enough of that. In my opinion, you are worthy to inherit my power. Your reasons for wanting to be strong are better than most in the galaxy. I just need you to promise me something first. To help me complete my last duty.”
Ben looked up, hope and also revulsion at himself blooming in his chest. He shouldn’t be feeling hopeful when someone was about to die. “What is it?”
The alien reached for their armored shoulder which opened up a small compartment. They pulled out a metal disk from it. “This is… Well, it's a lot of things. But for you, it's a tracker and it can deploy a containment unit. Somewhere on this world, probably relatively close to here, is a cube. It’s about palm-sized and looks to be a solid piece of shiny metal. I need you to use this to track it down and contain it. Then you need to take it off-world to Galactic Nexus 7 and bring it to a being called Talzor the Infinite. Tell them that Guardian Zelter recovered this and give him both the contained cube and the disk. I’ve recorded a message in there so once that’s done, you're all set.”
Ben took the disk numbly before shaking his head. “But… I’ve never even been off-world before. I don’t—and we don’t even have any spaceships.”
“That’s fine,” the alien said, waving away his concerns. “The Galactic Nexuses are named that for a reason. Once you start going off-world on System missions, you should be able to figure out how to get to them. For now, focus on containing the cube. You should try and contain it in four standard cycles or else its abilities will start to become apparent. If that happens, you’ll have a much harder time trying to keep the cube to yourself. Even so, I suggest you take your time before going after the cube. With my luck, and its nature, it might already be in someone's hands and they might not be willing to just give it up, even if they don’t know what it is yet.”
Ben frowned at that. “Just what is this cube?”
The alien let out a tired sigh. “That… is a complicated question… And it would be better for you if you didn’t know. There are many powers out there that can sniff out secrets if you don’t have enough Resistance to protect yourself. Just know that my dying wish to you is that you get it to Talzor. Anytime is better than never, but please try your best to get it to him in nine cycles. If you can do that… Then maybe all of this would have been worth it.”
The alien said that last part while looking at the red side of their body.
Ben looked down at the shiny metal disk, then back at the alien. It felt a lot heavier in his hands now. “I can try my best. But if getting it to your friend in nine cycles—which I don’t even know how long that is—but if it's that important to get it to them fast, wouldn’t it make sense to ask for help from someone stronger than me? Someone who's been off-world and might have ways of leaving right now?”
The alien paused for a moment as his eyes moved about like he was using his interface. “A standard galactic cycle is about… two of your world’s months. So nine cycles would be eighteen of your months and four is eight. As for going asking for more help…”
The alien trailed off as he looked to where the Heroes were still fighting.
“I told you before I would rather get an honest kid than less… scrupulous people. I don’t know much about the people of your world. But what I know is that some things are too tempting. My inheritance and this cube… It would be for the best if only those you trusted knew about them… But I won’t be around for much longer. If you think that there is someone you can ask for help who won’t abuse the cube, and you need their help to get in on time, then I will leave that decision up to you. In the end, all I can do is put my faith in you now. Now, I’ve said my peace. Let me set up the inheritance before the pain gets too much. Give me a moment.”
The alien stood still again, their eyes were moving about. Ben looked on, incredibly conflicted. He wanted to say something. But he wasn’t sure what it was. So in the end, he just stood and waited.
Ding!
Ben jumped slightly in surprise as he heard a soft noise despite the sirens still running. Then his heart stilled in his chest as he finally saw the bright blue message screen he’d seen renditions of, and hoped to see for himself, but had been beginning to think he never would.
Zelter Thaperius would like to assign you as their Inheritor.
Do you accept?
Y/N