CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: DINNER AND STAKEOUT.

 DINNER AND STAKEOUT.

"Is that you, Kevin?" A woman with long dark hair looked through the small space between the door and the frame, allowed since it was restrained by a chain lock. She wore a black sweater and green trousers, peering cautiously as she tried to temper her expectations about the chances that it was her son in front of the door.

"Yes, Mom. It's me. I have returned," Kevin responded, putting a hand on the door. It had been way too long since he had human contact, enduring a challenging time in the null void since his late master passed away. He felt a tug in his heart hearing his mother's voice for the first time in a long time.

Kevin's mother immediately closed the door to undo the chain lock and opened it quickly. In the next second, she jumped at her son and hugged him.

"You know you didn't have to run away that time… even if you destroyed the house. We could have gotten through it together… I was just a little mad at you… But I can never stay mad forever!" Kevin's mother said between tears, her voice growing heavier with each pause, causing another tug in Kevin's heart.

"Honey, is everything okay?" Harvey said, grabbing a metal bat and rushing to the door after hearing his wife cry. Harvey wore a cream-colored sleeveless sweater, a white long-sleeve shirt, black pants, and plain black shoes.

"My God… It's you… Kevin," Harvey said, taking in the image of Kevin. The young man in front of him, whom his wife couldn't help but cry at and hug, had long shoulder-length hair with a black and white colored parting. He also wore a black jacket that almost reached his knees, with a grey inner shirt highlighting his necklace featuring two teal-colored stones and a dark purple one in the middle, all shaped like claws. He wore black denim trousers and black shoes to complete his look. The duo lived in that moment for a hot minute until they decided to break it off and acknowledge Harvey's existence.

Kevin looked at Harvey with respect for keeping his mother happy, even though it was clear to both of them that she favored Kevin's late father over them anytime.

Harvey met Kevin's gaze and was taken aback by the intensity. Kevin had the gaze of someone who had lived longer than he had, the gaze of someone with a lot more responsibility than he could fathom, a gaze that told him of trials and tribulations he wouldn't wish on his enemy, a gaze that made the teenager in front of him look more powerful than he had already shown himself to be, a gaze that demanded respect even though he was older, a gaze of a tyrannical king.

"Just… what happened to you?" Harvey asked. Kevin paused for a while and tried to answer but was interrupted by his mother.

"Oh my, did someone dye their hair? You even grew your hair out? Look at these muscles… watch out town, the local heartbreaker is back!" Kevin's mother said jokingly, pressing his developed biceps and chest. She also fiddled with his locks before letting him have his space.

"Look, what happened last time… Kevin said as he tried to explain his actions when he was still eleven years of age.

"Hey, it's fine. Come in, I made steak and your mom made her best Italian-style pasta with meatballs," Harvey said, surprised by the need to please Kevin since they had never had the best relationship.

"Sure thing," Kevin said as he walked in and settled in the dining area as both parents rushed to the kitchen to plate the food. Three minutes later, Kevin's mother came to the table with a plate featuring a rather large helping of pasta, some sauce, meatballs, and a large piece of steak on the side. Harvey soon sat down at the side of the table opposite Kevin's mother. Harvey said grace, and the trio dived into the yummy delight in front of them.

.

.

Meanwhile, Ben and Gwen managed to find the DNAliens' hideout thanks to Gwen's location spell. Without Gwen's cloaking spell, the duo would have been found out by the thousands of DNAliens who were busy doing one task or another. Still, the cloaking spell was draining Gwen's mana constantly, which didn't help them much in the long run since they were discovered immediately after Gwen decided to deactivate the cloaking spell, as she would still need some of her energy to defend herself and her cousin.

The DNAliens wasted no time and began spitting sticky dark green fluids at the duo. Gwen came in front of Ben and activated a pink transparent barrier to protect them from the assault.

"Anytime now, Ben!" Gwen said as more DNAliens began to gather around and circle the duo.

"Alright," Ben said as he scrolled through alien holograms on display from his Omnitrix. A large-looking alien hologram hovered above the watch's dial, and he decided something big would help him in this case.

"IT'S HERO TIME!" Ben yelled and slapped the dial as hard as he could. A bright green light flashed as Ben's physiology began to morph down to his last cell. After the light dispersed a second later, a giant brown bipedal creature that looked like something from the dinosaur ages announced its presence with a roar.

"Humungousaur!" The creature bellowed, creating a stunning effect lasting two seconds on the attackers who beheld his image.

The dinosaur-looking creature began sweeping through mobs of DNAliens, assisting Gwen in the process until the area was clean. They continued their investigation until they came across a door that paused their investigation. Gwen gave way for Ben to do his thing as Ben, with his new alien form, rushed the door as if he were tackling an opponent in a game of rugby. The door gave way immediately and revealed a storage containing hundreds of high-end handheld weapons. Gwen stretched both hands forward, creating a pink spherical disc on both hands as pink-colored waves of mana leaked from them and covered all the weapons, destroying them to atoms in the process.

"I am feeling cold again ever since we stopped fighting those DNAliens. Do they make here cold because that's how it is on their home planet?" Gwen asked as she tried to warm herself by rubbing her hands together.

"In any case, maybe you could have made those weapons explode louder so we wouldn't be heard," Ben said in a deep voice sarcastically. Gwen ignored his remarks and continued investigating the area filled with unconscious DNAliens.

"Whatever let's… Oh," Ben said as a Highbreed came into view.

"What are you creatures doing on my ship?" The Highbreed asked.

"I don't want to repeat myself, lower life forms," The Highbreed said, clearly getting irritated.

"Hey, now that's rude," Gwen replied and wondered what Kevin would have said.

The battle soon ensued, but that altercation did not go unnoticed by Kevin's ship as his AI sent a telepathic message to Kevin, who was sleeping after a good meal in his room.

'Alright, it's about time I name you, computer… It's about time I give you a name… Raven,' Kevin replied in his thoughts since he calibrated his ship to have neuro-telepathic function linked to him.

"You can assist them, Raven," Kevin said as he went back to his sleep.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read up to 20 chapters of 'Gilgamesh Reborn in Naruto' ahead on patreon.com/heavenlyenel.

Read up to 10 chapters of 'The Crazy Adventures of Kevin' ahead on patreon.com/heavenlyenel.

Leave an honest review and I might be moved to publish another chapter today!

.