Chapter 20: Fire and Ice: Part Two

I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to Chapter Twenty!

* So, this chapter will be tying up a few of the loose ends in the story's current run. Plot points will be resolved, and a few new ones will be opened up. I can't really say what changes will be taking place, you really just have to read to find out.

* Before we start the chapter, I just wanted to clear something up. The title of this two part chapter is Fire and Ice. But do the readers know what it means? Some readers may already know what it means. It means that the hero (Kenny) and the villain (Jenny) are polar opposites. Kenny is a pure-hearted individual, who just wants peace, while his sister is just evil and wants no part of peace. So, that's what that means.

* Anyway, the chapter begins!

Azrael/Jenny Tennyson

I heard my brother yelling behind me, as I heard the pitter-patter of his footsteps. I quickly turned around and out of instinct, stabbed him right through the stomach.

"That's the last time you try to outsmart me, Kenny Tennyson." I said, as I put my hand on his chest.

He stared at me, as his eyes clouded with disbelief.

"Jenny..." he choked up my former name in pain and disbelief. "What did you do?"

A look of sorrow appeared on my face as I looked into his eyes.

"Goodbye, brother." I said in a cold, emotionless voice.

I kicked him off of my blade and he fell backwards, and off of the platform. I watched as he fell and as his eyes began to close. I almost felt like crying. I almost felt like it. He eventually hit the the floor several stories below.

I watched his motionless form from above. For a second, I could have sworn he moved. I continued to watch his body, waiting to see if he moved again. I must have imagined it, because he didn't move again.

I allowed my sword to shut off. I clipped the hilt back onto my belt. I rubbed my nose a little, before backing up and away from the edge of the platform. I turned around and walked towards the exit of the giant room.

"Now to find out what's happening with the reactor." I muttered as I left.

Tomyx

The meltdown process had just begun. And I needed to get out before this place went up in flames, so to speak. I started to bash the console, that way the process wouldn't be able to be reversed. Once I was done, I grabbed my things and went to unlock the door so I could leave.

I unlocked the door and ran out into the hall. I had to make it back to the docking bay and get out of here. I noticed a dead soldier on the ground, with his weapon in his dead hands.

Even though I hated doing it, I picked up his Laser Pistol. I knew I would need to defend myself eventually. I began running down the hall. The first turn I went to make, I ran around the corner and into her.

The leader. I didn't physically run into her, no. But she must have been headed my way. She gave me a look of hate as I backed up from her with caution. She crept closer to me, scowling as she reached for the hilt to her Energy Sword.

"You. You. You did this." she said, as she got closer. "You set the main reactor to meltdown."

I continued to back away from her with fear.

"Stay back!" I said, putting up one hand. "Don't make me use this thing!"

Jenny ignored me, coming closer as she activated her Energy Sword.

"You wouldn't shoot me. You can't shoot me." she said. "You're a pacifist, as you're so fond of saying. Or did you change your mind in the last week?"

I shook my head, as I continued to slowly back away.

"I am a pacifist, Jenny." I said. "B-"

"Don't call me that!" she exclaimed. "My name is Azrael!"

"I can't call you that." I said. "I can only call you Jenny. It's who you are. I-"

"My name is Azrael!" she shouted, waving her sword at me. "And you are going to die here today!"

"Will you just let me talk?" I said. "I know I'm going to die. I came here today, knowing that I would die. Just let me talk. Are you really so evil that you won't let a dying person have their wish?"

Jenny looked at me, before eventually lowering her sword.

"Speak. Make it quick so I can dispose of you, you Vilgaxian piece of trash." she said.

I looked around me and down at the floor, struggling to find the words. Eventually, I spoke.

"I'm not a Vilgaxian. I'm a Vilgaxian-Human Hybrid. Whatever that means." I said. "I don't belong here. I don't belong there. I don't belong anywhere. You said it yourself, Jenny. I'm a piece of trash. I'm probably the result of some twisted genetic experiment. If that's the case, then I'm nothing."

I dropped my weapon.

"Go ahead and kill me." I said. "Just make it quick. I looked up to you, after all."

Jenny looked confused.

"You aren't going to fight back?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"Why would I? I'm pacifist." I said. "I abhor violence. It's against my nature to fight. Just go ahead and get it over with."

Jenny continued to look at me.

"That's it?" she asked. "You don't have anything else to say before I kill you?"

I looked down at the floor and then back up at her.

"Actually, I do have something else I'd like to say." I said. "May I?"

"Go ahead." Jenny said.

I let out a sigh.

"In my time with the humans, I thought I'd discover what my purpose was. I was sure of it. But then, I found out that I don't a purpose. I'm just kind of here for the hell of it. See, I've heard of so many stories where some hero decides to give their life to save the day. And because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everyone lives happily ever after." I said.

I took a breath before I continued.

"But the hero never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. And I always thought that in the end, I would be that hero. I would give my life for a better tomorrow." I said. "But that's simply not the case. I won't be that hero. I won't be any kind of hero because I have no purpose."

Jenny just looked at me in silence.

"At the end of the day, I'm a terrible excuse for a soldier. I can't fire a weapon, I don't follow orders and I abandoned our side of the fight." I said. "When I think about it, I understand completely why you want me dead. No one will miss me, half of the people on this side don't even know that I exist."

Jenny looked at the floor and the back up at me.

"With you killing me, it'd put an end to it all." I said. "If you don't kill me, I'd just go on questioning my very existence day after day. And I don't want that. So just get it over with."

Jenny said nothing at first. But eventually, she started speaking. Or, yelling.

"You are wrong! You are absolutely wrong! You won't ever be a hero, because you are nothing! You are cannon fodder, don't you see?!" she exclaimed. "I hate you, I hate everything about you! I can't believe you ever thought that you'd amount to anything!"

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"No, you're not! You're not sorry! You will never amount to anything! You are a waste of space! I wanted to kill you since the day we first met!" she continued to yell. "Like I said before, you were a mistake! Which is why I'm going to enjoy killing you! Goodbye, Tomyx."

She was about to strike me, when what I can only saw was a miracle from God happened.

Azrael/Jenny Tennyson

"No, you're not! You're not sorry! You will never amount to anything! You are a waste of space! I wanted to kill you since the day we first met!" I yelled. "Like I said before, you were a mistake! Which is why I'm going to enjoy killing you! Goodbye, Tomyx."

I was about to strike him, when something fell from the ceiling above me. Then, everything went black.

Tomyx

Part of the ceiling collapsed and hit Jenny in the back. She was knocked out cold instantly. I let out a sigh, grateful that I was still alive. I began running away from Jenny's motionless form, ready to leave. But I stopped before I could even get down the hallway, and turned around.

I looked at Jenny, feeling guilty about leaving her to die. I looked down the hall and back at Jenny. Finally, I let out a sigh and walked back to her. I grabbed and lifted the debris off of her back. Once I had thrown the debris to the side, I scooped up her motionless form into my arms and began to run again, this time carrying her with me.

I just couldn't bring myself to leave her behind.

Gwen Tennyson

Myself and all of the soldiers that I had decided to bring with me had arrived in the Vilgaxian Order's Mothership. We had docked in one of the hangers. I had expected that we'd be immediately engaged, but when we disembarked our fighters, there was no one in sight.

There were no enemy soldiers whatsoever in the hanger, and that worried me.

"Something wrong, General?" one of the soldiers asked.

I nodded.

"There's no one around." I said. "It's as of the place has been abandoned."

"So, what do we do?" another soldier asked.

I turned around to look at them.

"Do you even need to ask that?" I asked. "We do what we came here to do. We search the place, take down any hostiles, get my daughter and we get out."

We began to move out, but then a female voice came on over an intercom.

"Main reactor is approaching meltdown," the voice said. "immediate evacuation is advised."

I looked down.

"Damn it, Kenny." I whispered.

"General, what now?" a soldier asked.

I let out a sigh, before I looked back up.

"We obviously don't have time to find my daughter or Kenny." I said. "If we stay here, we could all die. As much as I hate to say it, anyone still here is on their own. We need to leave."

"Wait. We just got here, so now we're going to leave?" someone asked.

"That's the idea." I said, as I walked back to my fighter.

Tomyx

I had gotten back to one of the hangers, still carrying Jenny with me. With no fighters left to fly out of here, I decided that our best bet was to board an escape pod. So we did. Jenny hadn't woken up yet.

I put Jenny down into one of the seats and buckled her into it. I got into the pilot's seat once I had done that and buckled myself in. I activated the pod's systems and got ready to disengage the pod from the Mothership.

We flew out from the Mothership once I had initiated the process. Eventually, after a few more minutes, and once we were a ways away, I put the pod on auto pilot and got up to go look out the rear's porthole.

I watched just in time, as the Mothership began to glow a little bit, before eventually exploding entirely. I let out a sigh of relief as I sat back for a minute. The Emperor, the Vilgaxian Order, all of it. It was finally over.

I got back up to return to the pilot's seat.

"Now we just have to lay low for a while." I said, as I fired up the engines again.

I piloted the ship away from any debris that the Mothership left behind. Whatever came next, I'd be ready for it.

Gwen Tennyson

We had arrived back at the Resistance Base. I exited my fighter and ran to the entrance to the base, where everyone was waiting for us. Ben was there, who was feeling much better. Kirby was there, with his friend, Crystal. And Grandpa Max was there too, among the other inhabitants of the bunker.

The only person who was missing, was Kenny. I walked up to Ben and looked at him with concern.

"Kenny..." I said. "Where's-"

I stopped speaking once I had realized what was going on.

Please... No... He was on the Mothership when it exploded?

Ben looked down without saying anything. Grandpa Max looked at me, before speaking.

"I'm sorry." was all he said.

I looked at him, before fully realizing that my son wasn't among the survivors. I put my hand over my eyes as I began to cry. I fell to my knees in front of Ben as I continued to cry. He knelt down and hugged me to his chest, but it didn't help.

Kirby Tennyson

I looked down at the ground, unsure of what to think in the wake of my brother's death.

"Are you okay?" Crystal asked me.

I looked at her.

"My brother's dead." I said. "But, I don't feel sad about it. Is that bad?"

She looked at me.

"Yes, your brother died." she said. "But you never knew him that well. Why would you feel sad about losing a family member you barely knew?"

I just looked down.

"I don't know how to feel right now." I said.

It surprised me when Crystal hugged me.

"It's okay, Kirby." she said. "It's okay."

I eventually hugged her back, not knowing what else to do.

Azrael/Jenny Tennyson

I eventually came too, waking up to the sound of waves lapping against a shoreline. I looked up and around, to find myself lying on a beach. I groaned out in pain, as I laid back down.

After a while, I felt myself getting dragged away from the beachhead, before passing back out.

Author's Note:

* And that's it for this chapter, as well as the current run for this story! I'm sorry if it seemed short and rushed, but this chapter was mainly just wrapping things up.

* Do you actually believe that Kenny is dead?

* What do you think is going to happen between Jenny and Tomyx, as she is mentally not well?

* Expect a bit of a change when this story returns in late June or early July. The war is over, and the Resistance is getting comfortable with civilian lives again. And there will be a bit of a time jump as well!

* That's going to do it for me! I'm going to go though, so have a great day and, bye.