Kevin crossed his arms, impatience clear on his face as he shifted his weight. "What is it, Ben? Spill it. We don't have all day," he said, irritation flashing in his eyes. His stomach grumbled loudly, only adding to his frustration.
I hesitated, rubbing the back of my neck. "Uh… have you guys noticed anything different about me lately?"
Kevin gave me a once-over, then shrugged. "Nope. You look the same to me."
Gwen, however, tilted her head, her brows furrowing as she studied me. "Actually… now that you mention it, you look taller. And more muscular than usual." She narrowed her eyes, her gaze scrutinizing.
Kevin frowned, confusion written all over his face as he gave me another once-over. "Are you sure? He looks the same to me."
Gwen let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes at Kevin's lack of awareness. Ignoring him, she stepped closer, arms crossed, her gaze sharp with curiosity and concern. "No, he's different. It's subtle, but it's there." She studied me for a moment longer before meeting my eyes. "Ben, what's going on with you?"
Ben exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck, putting on a hesitant act. "That's the thing… I don't even know how to start."
"Try the beginning," Gwen suggested, her voice tinged with curiosity.
He pretended to hesitate, as if piecing it together. "Alright… it all started today, just after school."
Gwen leaned in slightly, her expression attentive. "What happened exactly?"
Ben shrugged, keeping his tone casual. "Nothing crazy at first. I got home, sat on the couch, watched the news for a bit. Omni-Man showed up, so I turned it off. Got some water from the fridge—"
"Get to the point!" Kevin cut in, frustration evident on his face.
"Right, right," Ben said sheepishly, scratching his head in mock uncertainty. "After that, I decided to take a nap. And when I woke up… I felt different. Better. More." He paused, pretending to struggle with the words, though he knew exactly what had changed.
Gwen's eyes narrowed, concern flashing across her face. "What do you mean by 'more'?"
Ben exhaled, casting a brief glance at his clenched fists before loosening them. "I—I think I have powers."
The words hung in the air, and he let the weight of them settle. He could feel the strength pulsing through him, an immense power he had instinctively been restraining. But he was barely holding on. He knew he needed to test his limits as soon as possible—train, refine, and control it before it spiraled out of control.
Letting his hands fall to his sides, he lifted his gaze to meet Gwen and Kevin's expressions. Skepticism was written all over their faces.
"Powers? Right." Kevin crossed his arms, watching Ben with a mix of doubt and curiosity, just as expected.
"What, you guys don't believe me?" Ben asked, slightly frustrated. Their silent exchange spoke volumes. Maybe a demonstration was the only way to convince them.
Kevin and Gwen shared a glance before Gwen spoke carefully. "We believe you've… changed."
"But you having powers? That's an entirely different matter," Kevin added, raising a skeptical brow.
Ben let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Alright. Maybe it'd be easier if I just show you."
Kevin frowned before he started to speak. "Ben, you don't need to try—"
But before he could finish, the world around Ben shifted. Everything slowed to a crawl, as if time itself had frozen.
Kevin's mouth hung open, his words suspended mid-sentence. His distorted expression almost made Ben chuckle.
At first, the sensation was disorienting—only his eyes could move, scanning the frozen world.
But then, as if his body were adapting to his perception, he felt himself accelerate. His muscles tensed, his arms stretched, and his legs moved. Step by step, he walked toward Kevin and Gwen.
Ben had experienced strange things before, in this life and the one before it, but this was something else entirely. Moving while everything else stood still felt unnatural, strange—yet, somehow, it also felt right. Like he was in his element.
For a while, he simply wandered, adjusting to the sensation. The excess time gave him space to think, and that was when the realization hit—he was fast. Beyond comprehension. He had been moving for what felt like ten minutes, yet from his perspective, neither Kevin nor Gwen had shifted an inch.
And the most terrifying part? They weren't normal humans. Their speed and reaction time should be beyond an average person's, yet they were utterly frozen to him.
Even more shocking was his endurance. He had been moving at this impossible speed for so long, yet there wasn't even a flicker of exhaustion. It was unbelievable—but then again, he should have expected as much.
Way Big's abilities coursed through him—an alien formed from cosmic energy, a force of nature. Immense strength, endurance, and, though rarely demonstrated, staggering speed.
His sheer size likely limited his movement in enclosed spaces, but the potential was undeniable. Then there was Jetray, capable of breaking the sound barrier effortlessly and surpassing even the speed of light. His perception had to be extraordinary.
And, of course, XLR8. No explanation was needed.
Beyond that, Ben possessed the abilities of countless aliens with superhuman physiques. Strength, endurance, speed—it all stacked. And now, for the first time, he truly grasped just how dangerous the combination he had chosen really was.
He circled the two of them, adjusting his pace before finally coming to a stop in front of Gwen. A smile crept onto his face as he took in her expression—she was as beautiful as ever.
"Why am I smiling like an idiot?" The thought flickered in his mind, but the smile refused to fade. His gaze wandered, lingering for just a moment—her lips, her figure, the graceful curves of her body. A fleeting temptation crossed his mind, the thought of pressing his lips against hers, but he quickly shook it away.
He liked Gwen for who she was, not out of desire. His feelings had been there long before he had even understood lust.
She was intelligent, kind, effortlessly captivating—everything anyone could want in a girl. Suitors had always surrounded her, yet she had turned them all down. Why, he didn't know—well, maybe he knew but he had been too dense to notice. He was grateful she hadn't been taken.
If he didn't take his chance now, he might eventually lose it. He made a mental note: this week—he had to make his move.
He finally turned to Kevin, a mischievous glint creeping into his expression. With deliberate steps, he moved to Kevin's side and placed a hand on his shoulder—carefully, of course. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally shatter the bone with an unthinking touch.
Then, with a subtle shift, he let his rate of perception unwind. Reality around him accelerated, details blurring as movement regained its natural speed. It took effort, but he managed to mostly shut it off—or, more accurately, tune it down until his sense of time aligned with everyone else's.
He was grateful. Of all the abilities at his disposal, this one had come with a level of control that felt almost... merciful. He couldn't imagine being stuck in that heightened state, where every second dragged into an eternity. That kind of disconnect from the world—it would be unbearable.
Turning his attention back to Kevin, a faint smile tugged at his lips. Then, time resumed.
Kevin's face unfroze mid-sentence, and his voice caught up with him.
"…fit in," he finished. But before the rest of his thought could form, his eyes widened—just slightly—as he realized Ben was no longer standing before him. Confusion flickered across his face, tinged with a flicker of something else. Surprise, maybe.
Across from him, Gwen's gaze snapped to where he'd been a heartbeat ago, her expression frozen in place, as if trying to make sense of the vanishing act she'd just witnessed.
"Do you believe me now?" Ben asked calmly, standing right beside Kevin.
"Ahhh!" Kevin shouted, startled nearly out of his skin. Acting on pure instinct, he swung his left fist toward Ben in a sudden punch. He didn't even register who it was until it was too late—the blow had already landed.
The punch was slow. Not because Kevin was weak, but because—even with his perception mostly restricted—Ben's body reacted on its own. His senses spiked just before the hit. Still, he didn't dodge. He let it connect.
Kevin's fist slammed into Ben's face. But instead of his fist landing a decisive strike, he was only met with a resounding thud.
Kevin immediately recoiled, a sharp grunt escaping his lips as he grabbed his hand in pain. His eyes snapped to Ben's, wide with disbelief.
"Ben?" he said, stunned. The shock was written all over his face. Ben hadn't just appeared out of nowhere—he'd taken the punch straight to the face and hadn't even flinched.
Kevin knew how strong he was. Even without absorbing materials, his base strength was enough to bend steel. He was well past human limits. And yet… Ben had taken the hit like it was nothing.
"What the hell are you made of?" he complained, cradling his bruised knuckles, still throbbing from the impact.
Ben flashed him a grin. "Well, I guess now you believe me."
Gwen finally snapped out of her daze, her expression shifting from shock to analytical curiosity.
"Ben, what was that?" she asked, brows furrowed. "One second you were standing over there, and the next... you were just beside Kevin. How does that work? Was that—teleportation?"
"No, not teleportation," Ben said quickly, shaking his head. "It's just... I moved so fast, it only looked like I disappeared from your perspective." He scratched the back of his head, a little sheepish.
Gwen's eyes widened, her face lighting up with surprise and curiosity. "Wait—are you saying you can move that fast?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah."
"So your power is superspeed?" Gwen pressed, leaning in slightly, that insatiable curiosity of hers shining through.
"Not exactly," he replied. "I think there's a lot more I can do... I just haven't figured it all out yet."
"Like what?" she asked, her interest only intensifying.
Just then, Kevin groaned and finally pushed himself upright, wincing. His fist was badly bruised from earlier, the knuckles already starting to swell.
"Hold on," he said, eyeing Ben warily. "Are you... an alien too? Is that what's going on? Are we all aliens?"