Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10: Alien Force. It is the property of Man of Action.

Crossroads – Zero

Take Another Path

The glare of the sun prevented the players from seeing, but each team was determined to win. The match was almost over, only twenty seconds left. Cash passed to JT and he was heading for the goalposts. He tried to score, but the other team's goalkeeper caught the ball just as it was about to enter the posts. The other team had won.

As the cheers quieted down, they started again, this time for the MVP award that was presented to the goalkeeper. The stadium started to empty, as more and more people left. Halfway through though, something happened, that made it a necessity for them to get out of the stadium. Only the goalkeeper noticed.

"Um, guys," he said to the other members of the team, not really knowing how to handle the situation, "can these people get out of here faster?"

"Why, Ben?" one of his teammates asked, bemused.

"Because… there's this thing in the sky, that's coming towards us?" he said, the statement coming out as a question instead.

"What are you blabbing about, Tennyson?" Cash wouldn't miss a chance to insult the other boy.

"If you'd look up instead of just staying here offending me you'd know!" he shot back, ticked off.

"He's right; do you think it's an alien?"

Ben suddenly had the feeling that he knew who was inside that spacecraft, and he didn't like it, not at all… Not when it was so obviously the same spacecraft.

"Look, can you get the people out of here? I need to make a phone call." He told his teammates; they nodded, not missing the tone in his voice that revealed their friend was serious.

Ben ran to his sack and quickly pulled out his phone. He pushed the buttons with lightning speed, calling the number of the Rust Bucket. No one answered. Normally he would have found that strange, but today he was in too much of a hurry to think about it. He looked around; there were a lot of people left to go. Irritated, he called the second number that had popped into his head. He simultaneously went over to his friends to help get the individuals out of the stadium.

"Yes?" a female voice answered after a few rings.

"Gwen, come to where we have the match now! Can't explain, it has to do with- eh," he hesitated, looking at the people surrounding him. "… A certain Chimera Sui Generis, I believe."

The stadium was empty now, bar Cash and JT, his teammates, their coach and a girl with brown eyes and short black hair. She had an expression of confusion on her face. Ben didn't know why, but he felt a warm feeling when he looked at her, as well as something in his stomach, like fluttering. 'What are you thinking, Tennyson, this is neither the time nor the place to be thinking of how beautiful this girl looks', he chastised himself.

"Now, what was the emergency?" his coach wanted to know.

"This!" Ben pointed at Vilgax's ship, the one he could recognise anywhere, fast approaching. Despite being fast, however, it was still a few minutes away. "You've got to clear out, unless you want to get killed." he tried to make his tone light-hearted, but the warning was recognised as true by everyone except Cash.

"Don't you mean we have to clear out?" asked George, one of his teammates at the same time when Cash said, "I bet he just wants to take all the fame!"

"What fame?" he asked, taken aback.

"He'll see the alien first and all the channels will want to interview him!" Cash presented his brilliant- note the sarcasm- theory. Ben was left speechless, but not for long.

"Well, stay and get killed. I just don't want to have your death weighting on my conscience." he grumbled. "Will you all go?" he spoke to the others.

"What about you?" George seemed concerned.

"I'll… my bike is the other way. Now go!"

As they left, Ben let out a relieved sigh. He was a little surprised to see Cash heading away with the others, but he couldn't complain. He ran for his bike, which was just outside the pitch, in the opposite direction the others had taken (he had not lied about that). If he could just reach his house and the Omnitrix… He never made it there. A laser beam hit the ground before him, stopping him in his tracks. The spaceship was hovering in midair, allowing a figure to jump down a short distance away from the frightened child. Ben was sure to mask his feelings a moment after.

"How predictable. It figures that you would stay until everyone is gone, Tennyson, to make sure nobody has been left behind. You never were one to save your own skin and leave others to die. You'd rather have it the other way around. Such foolishness…" Vilgax's voice echoed through the pitch. He began to approach the fifteen-year-old, who looked very small in comparison.

"What do you want, Vilgax?" Ben asked, defiantly. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this but he would find a way. He always did. Right now, however, things didn't look so good; he didn't have the Omnitrix, he was alone in the centre of a pitch that had no weapons whatsoever- or anything that could be used as such-, nor could it provide much cover.

"Isn't it obvious, Tennyson? The Omnitrix." Vilgax replied, still moving towards him.

"Well, I don't have it anymore! I took it off years before!" Ben said, knowing that that wouldn't save him. He needed something else. He was backing up, slowly, but enough for Vilgax to continue walking to reach him.

Suddenly, the villain let out a laugh. It froze Ben as surely as if Big Chill had breathed on him- not that he could make the connection, seeing as he hadn't put the Omnitrix on again. It was the same laugh the villain had laughed when, all these years ago, when he had held his cousin and grandparent's unconscious bodies, daring him to surrender in exchange for their survival.

"Such a pity!" Vilgax exclaimed with mock sadness. "Then, maybe I should pay a visit to your house…"

"What?" Ben half-shouted, not having expected that. "Leave them alone, you- you- you villain wannabe! You couldn't even get the Omnitrix from a ten-year-old!"

This time, Vilgax didn't bother to talk. He fired a laser beam at Ben, who barely dodged it; it hit the pitch and made a crater-like hole. Ben had evidently hit a nerve with his insult. He shuddered to think what would've happened, had the weapon hit him. Vilgax continued to launch attacks, with a little less force than the first- if he killed the kid, how would he take the information he wanted?

Ben kept avoiding the beams for about half a minute, but then, one of them hit so close to him that he was blasted sideways. He couldn't get back up in time. Vilgax raised a gigantic fist, and stroke.

The former bearer of the Omnitrix put his hands up, wishing there was something separating him and the villain. There was no way out of this, he only hoped he was lucky but, knowing Vilgax, he'd never be able to escape. Without the Omnitrix he truly was nothing.

When he only felt a throbbing pulsing through his body, he looked up; and stared. His outstretched hands were somehow supporting a see-through shield, which was, shockingly, a magenta colour. When had Gwen got there? Vilgax seemed miffed.

"So, you have the spark, Tennyson? And I was so sure you didn't…" he trailed off, raising his fist for another punch.

"What 'spark' are you talking about?" Ben screamed at him. The second strike had sent an even stronger pounding through his already tired body. He began to doubt his earlier belief about Gwen having arrived. Where the hell was she?

"Oh, you don't know? That just makes it easier for me!" bragged the alien.

The hits landed one after the other, making cracks appear on the shield. When it shattered, Ben flew back a good eight feet away, landing on his back. The teen acted on impulse, putting up another shield. With its fate looking just as bleak as the first one, Ben used all his power and shoved. And Vilgax flew all the way to the other side of the pitch, Ben's shield dissipating to nothing.

The teen started running towards his bike, but Vilgax wouldn't stay down for long. An explosion rocked the ground, and Ben flew through the air, landing on his side, his body too drained to move- though that may have had something to do with all the smoke he'd inhaled, too. The alien walked over to him, picking him up with one hand easily. As he was approaching his ship, however, something got in his way.

It was a girl, wearing a pink hoodie and a short white skirt. Her hair was short and black, her features Asian-looking. Her eyes were a pretty brown. She had an expression of determination etched on her face.

"Leave him alone, you freak!" she shouted at Vilgax bravely, but, unfortunately for them, courage alone is not enough on some situations. The Chimera Sui Generis lifted a hand and hit her- or tried to- with enough force to shatter half of her bones. Luckily, she flung aside avoiding the blow, tennis training coming handy.

Just then, a shield covered her, protecting her from injury. A teenager redhead girl on a magenta see-through platform descended from the sky. Her eyes were the same stunning green as the teen now in Vilgax's grasp. She couldn't help but gawk at the scene before her.

"That is… unexpected. The puny cousin of Tennyson shows up to save the day. Too bad that you don't stand a chance against me." The squid-faced alien laughed. "I didn't imagine this would be so easy."

Gwen had cast a sneaky spell as Vilgax was absorbed in his megalomaniac ramblings. It would make the next spell she performed ten times stronger.

"Somnus!" she shouted with confidence.

"What?" drawled the extraterrestrial, "That pathetic excuse for a piece of magic didn't even hit me." he bragged. Too late, he realised his mistake, as fatigue started to overtake his body. He tried to resist, unsuccessfully. In barely half a minute, he was fast asleep. The two girls ran up to the crumpled figure, the scarlet-headed one searching for her cousin's mana. They pulled the brunet out of the creature's grip, realising he had lost consciousness. More people started approaching, one of them noticeably larger than the other two.

"What happened?" asked a perplexed George, expressing the collective confoundedness of his companions. "You're Ben's cousin, aren't you?"

"Even if you didn't know, it would've been obvious, with that jerk over there" she pointed to Vilgax's fallen form, "announcing it to the world!" she rolled her eyes.

"I knew Tennyson was a freak, ha, I so knew it!" the obnoxious voice of Cash piped up. His brain had evidently not had enough time to connect with his mouth, and that was proven just a second after, when his comment was answered.

"Don't you DARE call him a freak EVER AGAIN! There'll be hell to pay!" the voice coming out of the seemingly sweet black haired girl promised pain. Cash gulped, visibly afraid of the fuming teen.

Gwen then showed Vilgax's minions his body and made them take it and leave.

Just when the ship was taking off, the one on the ground started moving, his eyelids fluttering and jade eyes becoming visible. As they opened completely, the figure shot up so fast half of the people surrounding him took a step back in surprise. After confirming no threat was nearby, he placed a hand over his forehead, groaning from the dizziness the action caused.

"What happened? Where's squid-face?"

"He retreated," said Gwen conversationally, "because he needed some more rest. It's nothing to worry about."

"And all these..."

"They won't say anything; or I could erase their memories if you wanted."

"Nah, it's not necessary. If, however, they say anything, I will personally hunt you down and make you regret it." This was largely directed at Cash.

"I think you've found yourself a girlfriend, Tennyson," called George over his shoulder as he was leaving with the coach and Cash. Ben and the girl blushed.

After the three had left, Gwen said goodbye, and Ben promised he would put on the Omnitrix as soon as he went home. He was left alone with the black-haired girl.

"Hi," she said, "my name is Julie."

A/N: This is like the prologue story to a series of stories (one-shots or chaptered) called Crossroads. They will mostly be crossovers with other fandoms I am fond of, or follow episodes. Read & Review!