CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE: BARGAIN SALE.
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Ben transformed into a brown bipedal prehistoric dinosaur designed to hunt creatures larger than itself, boasting immense power.
The prehistoric dinosaur leapt from the bridge and ran to the part where the bridge had lost its pier, standing to hold the bridge up while Gwen and Kevin handled the evacuation.
Ben increased his size as the prehistoric dinosaur seemed to evolve in real-time, developing tough skin and shoulder-like armour to meet the height required to hold the bridge in place.
Ben grunted through his teeth, feeling the weight of the entire bridge on his shoulders. He started seeing structural and civil engineers in a new light afterwards.
"Get everyone down!" the prehistoric dinosaur demanded as his muscles twitched.
"I can't hold this much longer."
"Here, let me help," Kevin said, creating makeshift piers with dark purple dense crystals that started from the ground up, making Ben's work much easier as Ben found no need to keep supporting the bridge.
With that, Gwen had more time to focus and noticed a girl in a white shirt and black skirt walking groggily on the road below the bridge into oncoming traffic—the same girl who caused the truck accident.
"The girl!" Gwen warned, holding her slide in place as Ben nodded to go to her aid.
Kevin just watched as the thing he sensed drew closer to his location faster.
A bright light, brighter than car headlights at night, was seen in the sky. It came down to the girl's position and lifted her into the sky while the car's brakes stopped three seconds after it passed the girl's initial position.
The source of that light was a blonde teenager who held the girl in a princess carry as he landed softly on the ground like heroes do in comics. Ben and Gwen were in awe! They had never seen someone who depicted the description of a superhero like that.
They saw themselves as people who saved the world behind the scenes, but right in front of them was a starman floating in the sky. They wanted to meet him and knew he would blow their minds.
Gwen had finished the evacuation, and Ben simply transformed back to his base state, unable to contain his excitement at meeting the shining boy.
The light around the boy faded away as he crouched to perk the girl up to know what happened.
Kevin's hair turned white and black after a while, but he couldn't help but feel the energy in the boy and the girl had similarities. He chalked it up since the team was excited to see a possible ally.
"I... I have to get out of here!" the girl said with urgency while in the boy's arms.
"I was running and I…" The girl stopped talking and felt dizzy.
Kevin's eyes widened when he saw that and he wondered if his senses were playing tricks on him. Could the boy in front of him be an Osmosian or just a mutant who can absorb life energy?
"It's okay, Trina," the blonde reassured the girl who rested on his shoulder, but he adjusted her once more to sit up.
"These guys saved you," the blonde said without looking at the trio who approached him.
There were knowing smiles on Ben and Gwen's faces. Finally, apart from them, there were others that might be saving people around. It wasn't easy with just Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max going around stopping alien invasions or attacks, monsters, mutated creatures made by a crazy doctor all the time with barely any recognition or favours, but they did it anyway. Even Ben was getting tired of that life and retired after sending the big bad, Vilgax, away. He could see himself becoming a successful and high-earning goalkeeper in European leagues due to his high agility and reflexes honed over the years of 'Ben tenning' all over the place.
Ben didn't even want to go back to that life as his existing foes understood that and carried on in secret without being too showy or loud for fear of Ben Tennyson returning. Even the stubborn Forever Knights had enough from Ben to lay low until the recent alien conspiracies and Grandpa Max's absence caused Ben to come out of his early retirement of handling threats to his home world.
Only Gwen practised her arts since she had an affinity for magic and to maybe one day free Kevin from the null void, but she never acquired enough power to pierce dimensions yet.
"Your friend's the one who saved you. He's just being modest," Ben smiled, gesturing to the blonde.
"Whoever you guys are… whatever you are, thanks," the blonde corrected himself after recalling the way the trio handled the accident and walked up to them. The boy wore a hazelnut sweatshirt over a black turtleneck, a burnt orange-coloured scarf draped neatly over his shoulders, khaki trousers, and black derbies.
"Something strange has been happening to the girls at our school lately," the blonde began to explain.
"Glad to help," Ben answered without even letting the boy finish. He related to the boy being a lone hero, handling cases alone just like he did with his cousin and Grandpa even though they were together, they still wouldn't turn down help from like-minded people. Therefore, Ben wanted to offer as much help as he could, and this time the merrier.
"We made a good team out there," Ben added.
"You've got a Plumber's badge!" Ben noticed, his happiness increasing by the moment. Maybe this was fate?
And no, it's not Fate who haunts Kevin's dreams.
The blonde looked at his badge, holding it up a bit and met Ben's gaze again, "Yeah, my father gave it to me."
"Is it a Plumber badge bargain sales week?" Kevin said, showing the Plumber's badge Ben gave him.
"I am Ben, this is my cousin Gwen, and the grumpy one is Kevin," Ben introduced, causing a raised eyebrow from Kevin.
"WAIT! Ben as in, Ben Tennyson?" the blonde asked.
"I am a huge fan of yours. I heard you disappeared," the blonde drew closer to Ben and shook Ben's hand with both of his hands.
"I am Mike Morningstar," Mike introduced himself and shook Kevin's hand.
'He is not Osmosian,' Kevin thought as he transplanted some of his nanites into Mike.
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