Hidden inheritance

Chapter 4: Incomplete Truth

Besides, while he couldn't show up on Earth again like he did before, it wouldn't stop him from regularly checking on the young boy, just to see how his son could manage living on that pitiful planet for the time being. When they would both get home, he'd show Ben everything he missed, everything he was supposed to see, the place where he should have grown up with other Vilgaxians, where he was always meant to live with his real family.

Now he had to be patient, and await the right moment to go back to Ben. While he missed his son more than ever now that he finally got to properly know him, he needed to go undetected from the Plumbers' surveillance. That damned Uxorite that carried the Omnitrix had damaged his body enough to force him to stay back and use his drones rather than go fetch it himself.

It would be better if he interacted with the boy while being whole, not wanting to go back into the healing pod for who knew how long, especially with the injuries he already had. He wished he was still intact when he met Ben again, instead of having to rely on mere enhancements and a breathing mask to make his body function correctly. He needed to go back to training as soon as he was healed, otherwise he was running a big risk staying inactive for too long.

But he knew he didn't have to worry much about Ben. The boy had proven himself to be quite resourceful when it came to fending himself, and if he managed to defeat the girl his drone has possessed this well, he would do fine in a low territory such as Earth. But he was still only 10, and without help from anyone outside the Plumbers, he could end up in a fight he wasn't sure to win.

He pondered, coming to the conclusion that if he couldn't help his son now, he could still send him help and feedback until they met again. He also needed to be wary of who to hire, knowing the "Tetrax Shard" and "Hoverboard" incidents should never be repeated.

Well, he just hoped that while he wasn't there to supervise Ben, his son wouldn't complain too much about having Bounty Hunters bodyguards for now.

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Ben wondered if it was possible for someone's mood to get this sour in only a few hours.

He pouted. After being mocked by a weird dwarf alien, getting shot by that Phil guy (he began to sense a pattern with what happened on the Chimerian Hammer), receiving ear (gill? nostril?) torture from the same Phil, being humiliated twice and accidentally revealing to that old Plumber partner and friend of Max that the Omnitrix existed, he now found himself in a hotel room, still owned by that Phil guy.

He halfheartedly listened to both Plumbers' conversation, unnerved by the attitude Max's old friend was showing. Phil claimed having all of that room thanks to helping out the manager with his "alien problem" as if it was just a casualty. Although being related to an alien and being able to turn into ten of them was a factor, that wasn't what annoyed Ben.

Something smelled fishy about this whole thing (and it wasn't the bowl of shrimps he had been angrily munching on to drown his terrible mood in food). The guy looked filthy rich and had prime quality room service, but how did he get all of this? Max said the Plumbers were (mostly) disbanded, and even if they were active, was it normal to draw the public's attention to their activities like Phil had been doing?

He had spent a good portion of the summer hiding the watch from the rest of the world, as advised by Max. Now why was someone that worked with Max doing the exact opposite? Sure, Max may have been a bit hypocritical with how he treated Ben by hiding his whole bloodline from him, but this wasn't about being hypocritical, this was about having common sense.

Usually, people saw dangers like the ones Ben kept dealing with as something terrible, nothing to be excited about. Ben was the only one who liked danger because it meant it was his time to shine, as reckless and selfish as it was.