Hidden inheritance

Chapter 4: Incomplete Truth

How could Ben even trust him now? How could he ever tell Ben about what happened to him and his parents as a baby? Would Ben even accept hearing him?

Would Ben even believe Max now?

"Ben." Gwen started. "Look, Grandpa didn't mean to-"

Ben shook his head and walked away, looking down as he went in direction of the Rustbucket.

"Ben!" Gwen called. "You doofus! I'm not finished yet! Wait, I-"

She was stopped from following him by a hand on her shoulder.

"Leave him be, Gwen." Max sadly said.

"What?! But Grandpa! Didn't you see what he just did? He needs to-"

"What your cousin needs is some space. Away from my past as a Plumber, away from all the alien attacks, and away from me." He sighed. Things weren't going to be easy.

Gwen looked insistently at him, but rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'll leave that doofus off the hook for talking like that. I know he doesn't like when someone is hiding a secret from him - trust me, I speak from personal experience - but right now, he's acting weird. Even more than usual."

"Ben just has a lot on his plate, he's doing the best he can to cope from what I did. I think everyone here needs a little rest. Come on, let's go inside."

She nodded, and followed him into the RV.

She gave a glance towards Ben's bunk, and winced as she saw he pulled the curtains around him. Ben usually wasn't one to want that much privacy, he was more like the kind of guy to invade other people's privacy. If he wanted peace while sleeping, the heavy and lazy sleeper he is would wait until morning, when everyone is already up and about, to shut out the rest of the world and sleep in.

If he already went to bed before they came back, it meant he really didn't want to talk to anyone. She didn't expect him to be any more compliant the morning after.

She sighed. Summer vacation was supposed to be about fun, not family drama. If there was drama, she thought Ben would be the cause, not Max, and it felt strange to know Ben was right about complaining, although she didn't think he'd be that serious about it.

She went to her bunk and pulled the covers over herself. She'd think about the rest tomorrow. For now, she needed a good night sleep and stop thinking about her alien cousin.

..............................................................................................................................

Ben didn't feel like he could fall asleep anytime soon.

He just mauled Phil and sent him to another dimension. He attacked someone after putting them in a defenseless situation and taunted the hell out of Phil before getting rid of him as if it was nothing. Worse, he didn't feel that bad about it!

This was wrong, Ben was a hero, he wasn't supposed to take pleasure in hurting someone else like that, even if Phil was a jerk. But for a moment, it felt... satisfying.

He felt like he was in power when he got rid of the Plumber, like he was unstoppable. Like he was meant to win and got what he wanted. It felt... empowering to be this way, he didn't feel like anything could have stopped him. Had he been any other alien or his human (he still had to figure that out) self instead, he felt like he could've won anyway.

If only he had that confidence more when he needed to become a hero. And speaking of being a hero...

Vilgax.

Ben frowned, still not forgetting what he learned about him. Vilgax was a warlord, he took over planets, conquered them, made whoever opposed him a slave or killed them, and he obviously didn't have the look of a choirboy.

It screamed 'bad guy' material to Ben, not to mention he barely even knew the guy, but he knew he had no choice.

Only Vilgax knew the answers that Ben needed about himself. Max obviously wasn't willing to tell him anything about it, and it didn't look like anyone else knew anything about his past, judging from how Carl and Sandra let him go with Max for the summer despite the high risk it presented and how Phil, despite knowing Max for years and being his old partner, never heard a thing about Ben.

Whether or not Vilgax was a good guy, Ben needed to know more, he needed to learn about what part of his life he was missing, and he knew that Vilgax would be more than happy to tell him the truth.

The man threw himself in front of a deadly blast and tried to convince Ben to come with him, rather than forcing him to obey, and he accepted Ben's choice in staying on Earth for the time being. Even if Vilgax was as cruel and rough as he was told, Ben felt that the alien king still had a heart, and was willing to give Ben what he asked for.

He didn't care if it was to get the Omnitrix or to have Ben as his heir, Ben knew that at least, Vilgax cared. He just hoped he wouldn't become as bad as Vilgax was said to be.

He was supposed to be a hero, a good person, someone people would look up to and admire, not a monster or a tyrant making everyone scared. He wished that what Phil and Max told him about Vilgax wasn't too accurate. The man had people to reign over, and he didn't hear anything about Vilgaxia (that planet seriously needed a name change) being a bad place.

If anything, Vilgax seemed protective when he talked about the planet, he couldn't be a tyrannical and heartless jerk if he really wanted his planet (and, his son) to be safe and out of harm's way.

Even if Vilgax was a bad guy, he couldn't have been completely horrible.

Right?

If you like this story I suggest going to the original source here
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12886550/1/Hidden-inheritance

And if you want more like this I suggest going to the original author of this story Heato-kun's home page here
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7748632/Heato-kun