We had positioned ourselves, ready to act, to strike, in case our prisoner ended up bringing danger through their awakening. Max, I could never understand how quick he was to trust kids to fight monsters and aliens in the show but here he was trusting me to handle this as he drove further south.
Then again, I didn't act like your typical ten year old.
Gwen had positioned herself at the table next to me, her back to Max while she was on her laptop appearing as casual as she could while searching for information regarding further mythical connections between the Charms of Bezel and the upcoming total eclipse.
Kevin I had sit behind Charmcaster, just on the couch at the back of the RV that would give him a chance to apply a simple shock.
Lastly, I was sitting sideways on the other side of the table from Gwen, allowing myself to have a total view of everything. I never let my eyes off Charmcaster's unconscious body, which had been restrained in a combination of Max's plumber cuffs and whatever spells Gwen found in the books she had gotten from Hex way long ago and now Charmcaster's.
In security, I had to learn how to keep an eye on cameras for longer periods of time and notice anything that wasn't typical behavior. When I knew there was a threat right in front of me? I don't know if I even blinked, my hand right over the omnitrix as I continued to witness her subtle breaths as her body was sitting on the floor.
With a few pillows to prop her up, I didn't want to necessarily declare her as a villain after my reunion with the Circus Freaks.
Did they commit obvious crimes? Yes. Did they deserve to be in prison? Also yes, but they were willing to try and do something different so I gave them that chance.
I can't say I'm aware of what exactly her goal was, other than to acquire more power and get back on those who routinely got in her way. Has she committed crimes before? Why did she want to gather more strength?
I doubt she would just tell us her life story upon waking up, but there was still a sliver of a chance the show didn't paint a full picture of her motives for the sake of throwing in a new recurring villain.
"So Ben." Max interrupted the silence we've had so far. "How come you're so sure that Hex is going to be heading to Las Vegas?"
"The city is in the total eclipse zone." I began, tying up another spun up theory. "He said he wanted to have global domination, and between him showing up not too soon before the eclipse looking for the keystone WITH backup there's too many things connecting to not be part of his plan."
"Ok." Gwen nodded along with my tale so far. "But I can't find anything about how the charms could be used during the eclipse."
"She's gotta know something." Kevin spat out the shells of his sunflower seeds towards her, some of them sticking to her sleeping face. "I'll make her talk."
"No." I turned that down immediately.
"And how come?" Kevin spat out in a spike of aggression.
Then Gwen, with no hesitation shot back. "Maybe because the word restraint doesn't exist in your vocabulary?"
Just as those two were starting to enter a bickering contest, I saw Charmcaster stir for a moment. Just a twitch of the eyelids, a sharper inhale, and her shoulders stiffening.
She had woken up, and was deciding her next move.
"We're not going to hurt her." I declared out loud. "Unless she tries to attack us, we're only going to ask questions."
Still playing asleep huh? She's probably still a little confused why she's only hearing children's voices so far. That subtle clink behind her told me she was testing her bindings.
That made Max's senses alert, the man already pulling off at the exit near St. George, one that I tried not to look at to recall the road towards my grandparent's house. Oh wait, they wouldn't live here yet, they were also in Cedar City.
That also meant that the neighborhood behind the nearby ridge wouldn't be built yet.
"Take a right at the first light. There should be a good stopping point there." I told Max as he searched for a better spot away from prying eyes. He gave me an odd look before complying, following the road bending past golf courses.
Now Charmcaster audibly let out a whine, slowly moving as she stretched out and 'woke up'.
"W-what?" She fluttered opened her eyes, having a trace of genuine shock as she looked to each of us and examined her surroundings. "Who are you? Where am I?!"
"Easy now." Max's nerve soothing tone came from the front seat. "We just want to talk."
"Talk? She attacked us!" Kevin yelled out, pointing towards her.
"Kevin." I spoke his name in warning, after already iterating how we are not going to just torture a prisoner.
"Oh, oh no I'm sorry." Charmcaster hung her head, shielding her face from us using her hair and the angle. "I really didn't want to hurt anyone, but my Uncle can be very….he…."
Something flashed across her, the girl suddenly dropping the weak and helpless act as she scowled furiously as she grit her teeth. "He didn't even help me. He didn't care that I was right there when he let off that spell. After all the work I went through to get him out of prison just for-"
Halting herself before she flew into a fit of rage, Charmcaster took in a deep breath as she leaned back, her lips barely moving as she whispered something to herself.
"Why did you help him?" I questioned, hoping I could interrupt her in case she was chanting some curse or spell.
That same distaste echoed over her, before she reverted her appearance back to being the stage damsel. "He's my uncle, he's the only family I have left. He's also, not the kind of person to take no for an answer. You've seen what he's like and-wait, where's the plant?"
She looked around more earnestly, skipping over Kevin, Max, and myself until spotting Gwen. "I remember you, you used magic in helping that demon."
Demon, ouch.
"Ben isn't a demon!" Gwen was immediately on the defensive, and I internally sighed because now it would be too difficult to keep my use of the omnitrix away from her. "That uncle of yours just attacked us out of nowhere twice!"
"An unfortunate coincidence." Charmcaster spoke out in almost a sing-song way, before correcting herself. "I'm sorry you had to deal with him multiple times, but if you are after the same magical artifacts as him then he's bound to attack you for them. The more you have the greater risk you are at being targeted. Especially if you took his."
The teen did have a point. Taking those charms, the book, and the staff from him wouldn't sit kindly with the man. I thought perhaps with him being disarmed of so many things he wouldn't have the ability to fully break himself out of prison. I forgot that he had help, and above all magic to me was too unpredictable.
"Finders keepers." Kevin blurted out, getting a quick glare from Gwen to silently tell him to shut up.
I needed to get things back on track. "Why is he after the keystone?"
"You know about it?" Charmcaster asked in a hesitant voice, glancing back over to Gwen to reanalyze the girl. "Only a master magician can fully utilize its powers with the Charms of Bezel and awaken its full potential soon."
"During the eclipse?" Gwen asked, now believing my theory given the hint laid out by the teen.
"Yes. You're young but, you seem to already know. Can you do the ritual?"
There was some angle she was still playing, one I couldn't see yet but this ritual seemed too important for her to go from her Uncle to it. I was aware there was some betrayal in the show, Charmcaster faking betraying Hex to get a hold of the keystone but I can't recall how the episode ends in detail.
She wasn't with Hex after that, well at the fountain of youth episode carrying a baby Hex at the end and laughing over it, but besides that nothing. Clearly she wasn't aligned with him, and between her interest in the charms and a moment in the future where she tries to get the omnitrix, but what would she get out of that besides power, something of this ritual?
"Can you?" I leaned in closer, trying to get her prying away from Gwen. Charmcaster rolled her eyes as she spared a glance towards me. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"I'm Ben." I answered, Charmcaster now realizing I wasn't just some inquisitive kid. It struck her then that the only adult present was driving, and that the responsibility towards this 'interrogation' was left to me to handle. Adding on Gwen's words from earlier regarding the identity of the 'demon' Charmcaster finally saw how the one to take on Hex, who defeated him swiftly before, was the one sitting closest to her.
"No." She stated, maybe a lie maybe not but-wait, that would make sense why she is hanging around Hex, why she asked Gwen that question,
Charmcaster needs someone else to do the ritual because she can't.
"What else can you tell us about the ritual?" I pushed, Max putting the Rust Bucket into park.
"With all the charms, Hex would make himself a god over the world."
"How?" Max asked, standing up and crossing his arms over her to add to the numbers of those demanding the information.
"With magic, duh." The teen couldn't help but let out the sarcasm.
"But he couldn't channel that much magical power through him without dying." Gwen pointed out, something I wasn't even aware of.
Charmcaster sat up a little straighter, almost more confident and less intimidated by Gwen. "Of course, that's why the ritual opens a direct path from the nexus of the realms through the charms. All he would have to do is direct the magic, not channel it. I guess you really don't know much do you?"
"Magic can let you do all that huh?" Kevin inquired with an interest he had not shown prior.
Charmcaster attempted to stand, only for the cuffs behind her to stop her abruptly as they were connected to the cabinet doors under the sink. Unbalanced, she hit the back of her head and hissed out in pain.
"Hold on." I got up from my seat, moving around her so I could get a better view of the back of her head. "Alright, it doesn't look like it's cut but after your concussion you really should avoid hitting your head."
"You don't say." She had no humor in her voice, the teen flicking her eyes up at me. "So, are you trying to stop my uncle from taking over the world too?"
"We are." Max confirmed, a little brighter now that we all seemed to be on the same side. "We could really use your help."
Charmcaster hummed to herself as I continued to double check for injuries, briefly glancing down her arms to make sure the restraints were on her and secure. Her abilities, her motives, and just everything about her was a mystery to me. Could she really be an ally, or another threat?
For now, I would have hope she could be more than what I saw of her in the show.
"Ok." She announced as I pulled away. "I'll help you. As soon as you get these cuffs off me."
We had taken advantage of the break, stretching our legs, planning, and getting a better idea of what was about to go down. At least, what we were being told by Charmcaster. Everything she was saying about the ritual could only be confirmed by her, as the details of the magic were not common enough knowledge to be publicly available through the internet.
Seriously, how did Gwen's family have the money to give this girl satellite internet in the mid 2000's?!
"So I only have the keystones of fire, telekinesis, and luck." Gwen reported, adjusted the modified belt that hung over her waist. "I can still cast some spells, but-"
"-no where near as strong as what my uncle can do." Charmcaster confirmed.
We sat along some of the rocks in the desert near the last town before the city, the eclipse only hours away but we needed to be ready before marching into the battlefield. I hope Vegas wouldn't suffer too much collateral damage, but I wouldn't mind if a few raunchy billboards had toppled over.
"What does luck even do?" Kevin questioned, eating from a bag of chips and overlooking some of the notes Gwen was going over with her magic.
"Tipping the possible yet improbable in my favor." Gwen tapped on the charm to show it off. "It'll come in handy."
"Only if you know how to passively use it." Charmcaster was quickly deducing Gwen's gap of knowledge when it came to the arcane. Something I worried about how she could capitalize on the fact. "To use it in unison with the other charms is only possible with the keystone."
As much as I was doing my best to keep an eye on them, I was also attempting to do my part. As Gray Matter, I had a set of tools around me as I was reconfiguring one of the Rust Bucket's computer arrays to try and pick up on localized weather disturbances. Detecting magic with science might have been beyond me at the moment, but detecting random lightning bolts or wind being controlled by magic? Yeah, that I could do.
"Ok everyone." Max stepped out of the RV, barely squeezing into his old plumber outfit with several gadgets scattered around his frame. There were stains, signs of patchwork, but all well maintained. It was the first time I ever saw it, and I questioned what else he had somehow been hiding right under our noses in the Rust Bucket. "We should get back on the road soon if we want to get there in time to stop Hex. Ben, how we looking up there?"
"I just need two minutes and thirty four seconds to synchronize the barometers." My squeaky voice relayed, capping off a few exposed bits.
"Sounds good." The oldest of us adjusted his belt before waving for the others to enter. "Let's get settled in. We're going to cut a two hour drive into thirty minutes so brace yourselves."
Gwen grabbed her notebook, quickly packing herself up while Kevin slipped off the rock following behind her, still chewing loudly as the children made their way into the Rust Bucket.
But just as I plugged in the last cable, I noticed Charmcaster was staring at me.
"What is it?" I questioned with a hint of caution.
"So, what exactly are you?" She asked, keeping her arms close to herself as she examined my miniature form.
"Right now, just another alien from another world." I began climbing down from the top of the RV, easily maneuvering with leaps and sticky fingers to get back to the ground.
"An alien?" She questioned with doubt palpable in her tone. "Right. But I wasn't referring to that."
Just then the omnitrix began timing out, the red beeping along my back signaling the inevitable. While I was now tall enough to avoid being stepped on, Charmcaster still easily looked down on me. Man I miss being tall.
"Or that." She gestured to my current human body. "Does this have to do with your relic?"
I assumed she meant the omnitrix, mentally sighing as yet another person easily deciphered I was not what I seemed to be. I couldn't let her have an edge on me though, I had to switch the subject and maybe even get a better idea of who I was dealing with. "What makes you interested in the omnitrix?"
"You were able to fight against my uncle with it, drive him away after he regained the Staff of Ages and the Keystone of Bezel." Charmcaster relayed, leaning against the side of the vehicle while holding up her hand. A small swirl of sparkling mist began to dance between her fingers as she toyed with it. "I wonder how it would compare to the full power he's after."
I may not be a hyper intelligent amphibian anymore but I was still smart enough to notice every time she brought up power, she was connecting it to her uncle. Coincidence, or a connection?
"He wants to rule the world." I restated, digging further into the subject. "Is that new or was he always that self obsessed?"
Capitalizing on their shaky familial bond worked, getting a small laugh out of her, but it wasn't as full as I predicted, it was more hollow. "He's been like that for as long as I can remember. Always thinking Earth had lost its respect for the arcane and its mystical properties, and in turn those who were more naturally attuned to them."
She twisted her hand, allowing the magical mist in her palm to reshape itself into two figures. One representing Hex, and another of a child. Charmcaster stared at the image, longing in her eyes before scowling and clenching her fist to extinguish the spell.
"Well, I guess I can see the difference between how the world used to see magic and now." I admitted, because yeah for a magic user back then they were practically treated as demi-gods. In today's day, maybe they would be put to some pedestal but we had figured out a way to meet our needs and our comforts. Magic at this point could just be a shortcut to what humanity had figured out how to do.
"What about you?" I continued, Charmcaster meeting my gaze with a suspicion in her eyes. "What would you do with the Charms of Bezel, or the omnitrix?"
She put on a playful smirk, staring me down. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
As a matter of fact, yes I did. Because I needed to know if she really was going to become a threat to people, especially those closest to me.
"Come on you two!" Gwen yelled at us. "The fate of the world is at stake today! Not tomorrow!"
My interrogation was over, and my feelings of unease had yet to dissipate. Charmcaster still claimed she would assist us, but if she was still after having the ritual completed she might immediately side with Hex just long enough to delay us.
It felt like things could go wrong by the flip of a coin, so I would have to do my best to prevent it from being flipped in the first place. If we get to Hex before he does the ritual, and manage to swipe the keystone, there would be no time for Charmcaster to even think of recovering it before it was too late.
Though, I couldn't help but have a sinking pit in my stomach that pointing all of my doubts towards Charmcaster would only ruin the chance to actually have her willingly assist us.
I needed to be careful, especially on keeping my mind away from how familiar the sites would be in a city I grew up in.
The trip was, fast. Max was not joking when he said we would be cutting down the trip to half an hour. I may have seen bits and pieces of the hidden technology that made up the Rust Bucket as Gray Matter or Upgrade, but it was an entirely different thing to experience it first hand.
We rocketed down the interstate, blurring past any speed traps that failed to register what had gone past. Somehow the massive bucket of bolts we were in was able to easily maneuver between the cars, all without flipping over on its side.
This was probably the greatest, and the longest thrill ride I was ever going to be in.
"We're coming up to the city now." Max was able to get out despite his body, and everyone else's, being pushed against the seats by the g forces. "I'm going to start slowing us down, hold on!"
He reached for the brake handle, squeezing the button on the top in before pushing it forward. It didn't budge, Max trying to overpower it with his own strength while also fighting the forces that were trying to throw us out the back window.
"It's jammed!" He growled out.
"You mean it's broken?!" Charmcaster, who had been probably the most terrified out of all of us screamed.
"Please tell me you have another way to stop this thing!" Gwen pleaded as the city came over the horizon, drawing too close for our current speed. Max kept trying the brake, starting to press other buttons and small switches but nothing was slowing us down.
I fought to hold my arm up, my limited child-like strength barely pushing against the racing vehicle's momentum. With my other I rolled the omnitrix onto my chest, letting my extended hand fall down next to it.
Something shook through the Rust Bucket, a sudden loud knocking as a green light flicked on at Max's console. The man was immediately alleviated, which eased my own worries.
"I got this!" Kevin shouted from the back, and everything went wrong.
Everything began sparking madly around the cabin, trails of energy zipping along anything conductive and spreading into every circuit the vehicle had.
Max clenched tighter to the steering wheel as it kept jerking every which way, the boosters along the back burning hotter as any safeties were sputtering out. The half an hour we had been enduring under intense pressure was reaching its limit, the blurry edges of my vision crawling to encompass my sight.
"Good job genius!" Gwen screamed as Max barely avoided an accident. "You just made it worse!"
"Like your magic could do any better!" Kevin retaliated.
"Oh would you two just shut up and let me think of a spell!" Charmcaster yelled at the kids.
We didn't have time to think, every car we passed was a near miss with plenty more packed together in heavy traffic up ahead. Pushing my hand up a little further up my chest, I reached where the omnitrix was and blindly pushed down.
Within the blinding change of the alien power, I threw myself out of my seatbelt and out of the passenger seat. My insect wings snapped out, propelling me towards the open sky before I surged back down. Stinkfly would have to do.
Diving down to try to catch up towards the speeding vehicle, I could see smoke rising from the boosters as they began burning through their own frame. While I was glad that it meant the Rust Bucket wasn't going to go any faster, it showed no signs of slowing. Only the risk of falling apart at any second, provoking me to go faster than I ever have with this alien.
The thought did occur to switch to someone else, someone faster, stronger, or even one I had more experience with. I had other flyers, but as much as I detested the idea, Stinkfly was probably one of the better ones to be able to catch up the Rust Bucket AND have a way to catch it without collateral damage.
Well, also the fact that there was a chance that if I tried to switch it would give me something worse.
I was starting to gain on it, evening out my path to be right over it. II tried reaching, only for the Rust Bucket to swerve to the other side to avoid hitting another car. Following from behind couldn't work unless I wanted to choke on a plume of smoke, or go up in flames.
The only idea I had, was going to hurt.
"Sorry about this Max." I closed my mouth, starting step one of my instant plan before bracing my shoulder.
This better not dislocate my shoulder.
Straining my wings to match the Rust Bucket's velocity, I kept going until I was right next to it, and charged. I got ready, but instead of slamming into it, the Rust Bucket slammed into me.
"GAH!" I gurgled out a cry before latching on with all my limbs, including my tail to stab into the side panel to anchor me on.
"Sorry Ben!" Max yelled as he kept his eyes to the road. I forgave him, I kind of had to if I wanted him to prioritize not crashing the car.
"S' good." I bit out as the spit continued to build in the back of my throat. I began dragging myself to the front of the Rust Bucket, propelling myself forward with every grab, every insect-like leg, my sharpened tail, and my wings to give me the extra thrust ahead.
The moment I got to the front, I flopped myself onto the front bumper, clutching it while my head rested on the bottom of the windshield. If I was a bystander I would probably laugh after screaming and ducking out of the way of the most dangerous runaway vehicle ever now rushing right towards the strip.
With the wad of mucus now fully collected into my cheeks, I spat it all out from every orifice that would allow so. A tangled mess of gooey vines erupted from my body, snaring everything we passed by. The road, the barriers, a few misfortune cars, all of them and their weight tying down the out of control rocket of a massive car.
"LOOK OUT!" A shout from inside warned me, two of my four eyes whipping towards the air that kept me pinned against the car. There was the city traffic, clogging up the wide roads, right in front of us.
My multiple views locked into the nearest empty space, a gap in the streets with no cars currently moving through right next to two towering buildings on the strip. Of course, it had to be under the elevated road we were already on. Stinkfly was by no means one of my heavy hitters, but I hoped he had enough strength to pull off this next maneuver.
Crawling up the windshield, barely keeping hold as I had to wrap myself around the entire front of the RV just to get a grip, I pulled myself upwards onto the roof where the wind pushed me back. I threw down my tail, dragging its sharpened end through the sheet metal until it latched onto a sturdy enough piece.
Now rooted on the Rust Bucket, I opened my mouth wide to eject a very thick paste onto the left booster that was already giving out. It bubbled through smoke and heat, but the propulsion on one side ceased. Peeking my head over the left side, I aimed my mouth, and my eyes towards the wheels that were steaming from the damaged breaks. Gunking them up from my vantage point granted an immediate reaction, a very sudden and sharp turn to ram the Rust Bucket off of the interstate and right towards the ground.
My mouth was already starting to feel dry, but I forced everything I could out of my glands to latch onto the two resorts we flew between, sticking them to the many tangled mucus trails that were already weighing down the Rust Bucket. A web, the most vile and repulsive alien phlegm from my own body was everywhere and touching everything.
The only part I took pleasure in, was feeling the weight of the Rust Bucket safely bounce in it, suspended in the air for a moment before the strands slowly stretched out to gently rest the tires back on the road below us.
The moment the subtle squeak of the suspension Announced our safe landing, the door to the Rust Bucket flew open as Charmcaster stumbled out looking as equally green to the mess around us.
"This…guh…you could have at least warned me about your plan!" She fought the urge to gag, a sentiment shared between Gwen as she exited with Kevin.
"If I had time to plan-" I began while unanchoring myself from the roof of the RV. "-I would not have used Stinkfly."
"Then why did you?" Max asked, while inspecting the damage done to his ride and wincing at every scrape and puncture.
Ah, right. I never did get around to telling them I lost the master control. In fact, being in the habit of keeping secrets made me hide the entire interaction with Zs'Skayr. Not that they would have really believed me until I had evidence, and he could have revealed my true personage as well.
But, I could have at least given them a chance couldn't I?
"About that." I fluttered down towards them. "The omnitrix settings were-"
A violent crack of thunder made me aware of the shadow encompassing the city I knew. Looking up, one of the stratosphere's rides was soaring through the air.
Right towards us.
Until all of a sudden an out of control crane just happened to swing its way into the path, the two objects shattering against one another as the pieces rained down around us. Not a single shard hitting us.
"See." Gwen showed off her flowing charm while making a snarky face towards Kevin. "Luck is a superpower."
"Magic." Charmcaster corrected with a roll of her eyes.
Before Kevin was about to retaliate, Max's commanding hand placed itself down on the boy to halt any argument. "Hex knows we're here and we're almost out of time. We need to meet him head on and stop him before he can do the ritual."
Just as he said that, storm clouds began to boil over our location, thunder roaring overhead. Darkness was falling over Las Vegas, the sun's edges being eclipsed by a pitch black circle in the sky that was crawling itself to snuff out the light.
"Ben." Max turned to me, still in my alien form. "How many can you carry?"
I was already sore, my muscles already aching from stopping the Rust Bucket. I had to put that pain away for now, I could hurt after the Earth was saved. "All of you, but I won't be able to maneuver well."
"I can use the Charm of Levitation." Gwen offered as a crack of lightning erupted near us.
"You're an amateur." Charmcaster pointed out. "Hand it over to me and-"
I cut her off, not giving her a chance to potentially betray us as I grabbed Charmcaster under her arms while motioning with my eyes for Kevin to get on my back. "I'll take these two, get Hex's attention. Gwen, you can bring Max up and sneak around to get a good shot."
"Hey wait!" Charmcaster began to squirm under me as my wings began to beat into the air. "I can already flyYYYYAAAAAAH!"
I zipped upwards, the winds picking up around us as I headed right towards where I knew Hex would be, where we all knew, right at the top of the towering observation tower a part of one of the popular resorts overlooking the entire valley. The closer we got, the more fierce the storm became.
I was shocked that we were allowed to get so close, Hex's back turned to us as he held up the keystone towards the darkening sun. My first idea was to intercept him right then and there, but I was warned by a series of beeping with red flashing that I was currently thousands of feet in the air. Finding a spot to land, I let Charmcaster go to stand on her feet as Kevin hopped off right before I reverted to human.
I cursed under my breath, seeing the omnitrix timed out and that meant I wasn't going to be able to do much despite the critical moment. Stuck in a ten year old's body, I couldn't even step in front of Charmcaster as she approached Hex. I grabbed Kevin, ducking behind one of the machines for the roller coasters so we could hide ourselves.
The teen took a step towards him, my eyes never leaving her as my limbs twitched in anticipation. Would she side with us? Or with him until she got what she wanted? "Uncle-"
"Charmcaster." Hex's voice boomed through the sky in rage. "Your betrayal will not be forgiven."
Whatever hesitation Charmcaster had, whatever fear she had for him, was thrown out the window. "Betrayal?! What about you just letting me be captured?! Or not even caring that I was in the way when you were casting spells?! You could have gotten me kill-"
"Silence!" Hex demanded in a mighty bellow of his voice, twirling around to show off the stump of his arm that had a oiled black skeletal hand to replace his missing one. "I should have known better than to trust you were capable of standing by my side. You are weak Charmcaster, and I will not share my power with you. Now go, before I decide to punish you the same way as those you brought to defeat me."
Whether or not he was aware that Kevin and I were already here wasn't clear. But, we still had to do something to grab his attention so that Gwen and Max would have a good chance of succeeding.
"Hey ugly!" Kevin was suddenly out in the open, taunting him.
I wanted to call out, to stop him before he was solely targeted.
But then a single drum beat, reverberating through the atmosphere stiffened me. It was deep, ancient, demanding the attention of matter and space. I wasn't hearing it with my ears, I was feeling it as it announced itself to reality.
"I'm talking to you!" Kevin began stomping towards where Hex was located, his image mindlessly staring towards the distraction.
The beat resounded again, a whisper enticing its listener to continue to awaken.
Having enough of it, his patience running out, Kevin put his hand on the remains of the mechanics for the thrill ride and began absorbing its energy. "Stop ignoring me!"
I was fully alert, trying to find the source of the ancient rhythm reentering the mortal realm. I caught the sight of Gwen, levitating with one of her charms and Max positioned at a point with a clear shot lined up at Hex. Charmcaster, who we had given her items back to was reaching into her pouch with fists clenched.
But Hex, the sound wasn't coming from him or the keystone that was hovering over his hand. Why wasn't he moving? Doing anything anymore? Where was that noise coming from?
I tried to follow it, my senses pointing me upwards towards the eclipse reaching its peak. That's when I spotted it, spotted him, but before I could let out the warning of the deception it was too late.
Max's rifle shot out, its beam ramming through Hex's perceived body and turning to mist. Literal mist, the illusion falling apart as the drums calling for action began to resound in full force.
The sun was blotted out from the sky, the air quivering, the storms blowing into full force, and the real Hex with the real Keystone of Bezel speaking out the last words needed to begin the ritual we were trying to stop. Each of the charms launched out towards the keystone, joining it as they shared the same power that took hold of the artifacts.
And echoes from the beyond were now answering the call, their voices speaking through the many charms as the walls of our universe were pressed together.
And I felt my very body splitting between them.
The space around us shivered, goosebumps rolling over my skin as I felt the universe recoil from the touch of magic over its surface. That's when I met absolute agony.
It all happened so fast, without the charm of levitation Gwen and Max were sent falling down, only the man's quick thinking and a grapple gun snapping out keeping them in the air. Charmcaster threw out a plentiful amount of pebbles that began sporadically growing into vicious beasts that flew upwards towards Hex. Kevin began running to the center of it, hands sparking as he tossed out an arc of electricity.
Hex's clawed skeletal hand reached up, touching into the pool of power channeling into the center of the charms, and released it.
The facts that held together our reality clenched, a powerful wave threw itself out, interrupting the space around us in a cascade of instruments. The observation deck of the tower we were on broke apart, gravity's shaky grip unsure of where to take the pieces as everything was being overwritten.
And as someone who did not belong in the universe, the shifting plates of what held it together grinded over my frame in violent strokes of strings and notes. I fell down to my hands, the body I was in shifting to try and match the soul occupying it.
How did I know all of this? I could hear it, the symphony as dimensions were twisting into one another from the chants of an arcane force. I was a wrench thrown into a machine, being pushed between the forces that were not meant to have foreign objects caught between them.
I pushed myself up despite the noise, the absolute grating feeling of entire worlds denying my presence in their attempt to harmonize. I witnessed Gwen atop one of the floating chunks, flipping through her spellbook with Max defending her from the shadowy figures conjured to attack them. I saw Kevin, climbing up one of the safety ladders that had been torn away from the structure leading towards Hex.
The very Hex, who was standing guard in front of the charms as Charmcaster flew towards him with a small army of her enchanted beasts taking the many spells that were aimed at her.
"Was it too much for me to care?!" Charmcaster screamed at Hex as one of her soldiers exploded into dust in front of her. "To want my only family to not want me dead?!"
"You're too attached to the idea that anyone would bother showing affection to you." Hex's voice carried through the condensing storm. "Strength is not given, it is earned."
"Then I'll just take it!" Charmcaster bellowed in rage as she faced her uncle head on, swarms of her beasts colliding against a barrier Hex erected around himself. The magical teen slammed her enchanted fists against his shield, only to be blasted away by a strike from Hex's staff.
I felt it, the strike rippling through the space around us and nearly drowning me in the chorus of the Charms. My body spasmed, my place in this universe destabilizing as my presence became more noticed by the natural forces.
The omnitrix attempted to compensate, a sudden flicker of green overcoming the red of the device turning me into an alien that was more durable. Rolling into myself, I surged forward to end the fight before the questionable result of the ritual could reach its peak.
As Cannonbolt, I threw myself at the nearest floating wall, bounding between the rubble and bringing me closer to Hex. The man saw me coming, bringing up his staff igniting with a thousand melodies of magic before slamming itself down on me.
The blow shook my soul, flickering my existence between Cannonbolt, my ten year old body, and Ben's body as I crashed nearby Charmcaster before my form settled into Four Arms.
Glancing over to Charmcaster, she was shaking herself off while drawing symbols into the dust of her broken army, whispering words in a tone I could hear carrying her very own song. The dust rose, coiling in on itself before becoming a tornado of shards rushing at Hex.
Yet the mighty winds already encircling him easily negated her attack.
But it did blind him.
Flexing my powerful legs, I leapt up, shooting right towards him with my fists primed and ready to strike him. But when I broke through the dust, I saw Kevin right in my way, and out of the corner of my vision I saw Max with a grenade ready to throw in our direction.
Thinking fast, I grabbed the boy, ignoring the stinging sensation of electricity over his skin as I let us fall down from our position, Hex barely noticing our temporary visit in his personal space. As we fell back down, the grenade erupted around Hex.
Landing on my feet, I put Kevin down, the boy glaring up at me. "Why did you do that?!"
"You would have nearly blown up!" I pointed back towards the black smoke around Hex, which the magician waved away before narrowing his eyes down at us.
"I would have been fine!" Kevin shouted back, shoving his sparking fist into my chest. "Just stay out of my way!"
I heard a rising note over the chants and bleeding realities, turning back up with my four eyes I saw the brightness of a volatile star channeled into Hex's staff as he blasted it our way. Moving myself over Kevin, I tried to shield him but then the tempo began to quicken, the universes that the charms connected to pushing further into one another.
I gasped out as my four armed body glitched back to Ben's body, then to Wildmutt, until I painfully settled into a smaller form I didn't recognize. But I knew I was too small to have shielded Kevin.
Instead of being an injured husk of a body, I saw Kevin crouched, the magical energies that chimed out in unison to his command flowing through him. He absorbed the magic directly, something I had no idea he could do.
"Oh." A twisted grin came over his face as he returned his focus to Hex. "You're so dead."
Hex would have noticed the new threat, if Charmcaster hadn't gripped the metal needle of the tower in a magical grip and threw it at Hex. It fell down towards him, the magician holding out his hand and uttering a chant under his breath. The bolts began to melt out of the beams, the structure slowly falling apart.
But one of the falling beams had a passenger, Gwen performing great feats of balance and acrobatics on the thin surface and leaping towards the charms. She leapt out, twirling through the air before stretching out her hand to try and snatch one of the charms.
Hex, who was right next to them intervened, surging out his twisted replacement for a hand and gripped Gwen's throat. "You have been a thorn in my side long enough."
My small battery of a body suddenly zipped up in a surge of lightning, following the metal still floating around him and reaching him in a fraction of a second. Channeling the electric properties of this alien, I made myself into a taser and threw myself into his side.
"GAH!" Hex screamed out before throwing Gwen aside, where Max quickly came to her aid. I continued to assault him from every angle, sending out several volts in an attempt to paralyze the man.
I would have succeeded, if the rising chants of a forgotten language didn't suddenly increase in volume. The voices made me stumble through the air, my body glitching and giving Hex the chance to capture me in his corrupted hand.
I grabbed his hand as my form continued to flicker in agony, from Gray Matter, to XLR8, before my body was in a constant shaking state of being undecided if I was a ten year old Ben, or a ten year old me. The fingers around Hex began spasming out as well, his new hand glitching between his old mortal hand and his replacement.
In fear he threw me away as I was left stumbling through the air as the increasing music only accelerated the rate of my degrading form.
Staring at his own destabilizing hand in fear, Hex demanded an answer. "What are you?!"
I couldn't even fill my lungs with enough air to answer, but my eyes could still peer through the haze of multiple realities squeezing me. All the metal that had fallen apart around him was slowly twisting, aiming themselves right at Hex before rushing forward.
He was distracted, his defenses temporarily lowered, which gave Charmcaster a chance to take control of the obstacles around us and ram them into Hex. The man was assaulted with the blunt metal, cracking bones and flooding his skin with bruises.
Attempting to mount a defense against them only made him less aware of Max, who had fired off another shot hitting him at his back. Hex fell, broken and littered with injuries.
He landed roughly onto the roof, his staff knocked away which Gwen was quick to intercept and point it back at the man in case he made a move. It wasn't long after that I joined him, my body switching between aliens while crashing onto the cement.
"Ben!" Max and Gwen ran to my side, unsure how to help as I continued to shift between different forms, each one attempting to ground my presence into this universe.
"Ben, what's going on?!" Gwen panicked, looking over me as I curled in on myself.
"T-the charms." I managed to utter out in agony, pointing up towards the source of my chaos.
Without another thought, Gwen and Max aimed their respective weapons towards them, about to save me from being ripped apart by the magical realities that were connecting into one source.
Yet their weapons were pulled away by an unseen force, Charmcaster pulling them away with a wave of her hand. "Sorry, but I only needed you to defeat my uncle after he began the ritual."
"But what about Ben?!" Gwen pleaded, pointing towards me as I could hardly distinguish what was real or part of some other world. "They're hurting him!"
I met Charmcaster's gaze, trying to push myself back up as I knew I needed to intervene if I was to live, if Ben was to have a life again. She stared at me, hesitant as she witnessed my many forms, each of them in equal pain as I silently begged.
Please, please prove me wrong. Please don't be the villain the show made you out to be, because Charmcaster wasn't an animated bad guy of the week. She was a real person, standing right before me, and I was starting to think she was seeing that in me too.
But then her eyes flickered to the side, and widened in fear.
Hex had risen, the storm around us channeling through his only good hand as the full force of the swirling magic around us was compressed into a single, violent spell that sung of one thing.
Death.
"AAAAGGGHHHH!" But it was Hex who screamed out in pain, those energies he channeled suddenly rushing back through him against his will as something else commanded them. Any strength he had was absorbed, leaving him a withered husk that was barely breathing to fall to the side.
Kevin stood there, in awe of the magic that was now in his control that his body could naturally channel.
"What, did you do?" Charmcaster approached, crouching over Hex in confusion as she heard no incantation, no spell, but leaving him without any strength to call his own.
Kevin then reached for her, gripping Charmcaster's face in a vice grip. "The same thing I'm about to do to you."
Charmcaster screamed out, her song crying out in every emotion I could hear as her very soul was being ripped out from her. There was fear, anguish, all of her soul screaming out for someone, anyone to help her. Once I heard it, I found the strength to demand action from my own unraveling body.
Screaming out in pain as I had to literally pull myself together, I surged out towards Kevin. I collided with him, gripping onto his arm that was pulling Charmcaster's soul open. The Charms of Bezel began reaching the climax of their chorus, interconnecting the bridges between multiple realities and seeking the person to lead their symphony.
Kevin cried out, trying to push me off while throwing himself up to claim the power for himself.
I refused to relinquish my grip, not while he continued to try and feed off Charmcaster's life, not even while my own began to fall apart as all the strength I had was now being used to save her.
The body I had been in all summer began slipping away from me, Ben's body starting to be pulled away from me, the anchor that kept me rooted in this universe.
I quickly realized that without it, without anybody to return to, I would die.
My conviction to save Charmcaster did not waver, and I prepared myself for the consequences. I didn't belong here anyways, but I had to hope that once I was gone, someone would keep this world safe.
Someone to save Gwen and Max from whatever Kevin was becoming.
As I roared out towards Kevin, ripping him away from Charmcaster, I felt my own body resurface. Not Ben's, not a child like version of my own, not an alien one, my real body.
My true self rose to the surface, my adult body finding the strength to hold onto Charmcaster and start to free her from Kevin as I felt the last strings holding me to this universe starting to stretch too thin.
Kevin tried to escape, reaching towards the call of the charms to try and summon more strength from them as they opened the doorways to the space between the dimensions they pulled power from.
I couldn't do both, I couldn't save Charmcaster and stop Kevin.
But someone else intervened.
I saw it, I heard it, a young voice of a ten year old surge out from what was left of my body. A boy who could have been a hero, a boy who was born in this world and always stepped in to help.
A boy, named Ben Tennyson.
Ben yelled out as his soul collided with Kevin, throwing them both towards the charms and disrupting their harmony. The delicate balance was shattered, the bridge connecting points of space collapsing around the charms, around Kevin, and Ben, as a vacuum of this universe began to throw out the disturbance.
It left me, in my unstable state to clutch Charmcaster in my own arms, with my own being, and grip onto the nearest rebar that was sticking out from the nearest chunk of rubble still floating around us. Gravity was returning to normal, pulling us down to the rooftop while the black hole where the charms were began to suck in everything around them as the universe was sealing itself.
Holding the girl close, I felt the open parts of her soul that Kevin tried to carve out latch onto me, someone to anchor to in order to be saved. I refused to let go, both with my own arms that I had strengthened over the years from climbing and the ones of my own spirit that would not let go of someone who needed my help.
The realities that were pressing against this one were pushed away, the bridge connecting them collapsing as the ritual had broken down. As I fought with the last of my strength to keep us from being pulled out from this universe, the shattered point of reality began to close, the song of the charms ending into a tragic lullaby.
When reality began to settle, my body shifted back to fill the gap that would have been left by Ben's absence. Gravity resumed its normal work, the hole above us sealing itself as Charmcaster and I collapsed onto what was left of the rooftop of the towering building that overlooked the Las Vegas strip.
I gasped, air filling my ten year old lungs as I felt my sore body settle into its stable rhythm that matched this world. I was wearing the same white and black shirt, the same cargo pants, and the same watch on my wrist. I was Ben, because the Ben that should have been here was now gone and someone had to fill his shoes.
Looking back towards the spot in the sky that I last saw the boy, all I saw was the clear sky and the end of the eclipse. My heart ached, the one true goal I had here now taken from me before I could fulfill it.
I couldn't return Ben to his life, and I couldn't return to my own universe.
I was a member of this universe now, and forever, in a life that I could never give back to its true owner.
A sudden coughing erupted next to me, making me turn over to see Charmcaster still in my arm. It was more awkward now that I wasn't taller than her, and even more so now that I was a child compared to her.
Still, when she opened her eyes and looked back at me, she didn't look at me like I was a kid. It felt like, she was looking at me.
"You…" She uttered as she continued to stare into my eyes, searching for something she just saw moments prior. "Was that, really you who saved me?"
I certainly tried, but without the real Ben stepping in to make Kevin release his grip on us, I don't think I would have succeeded.
"Ben!" But to others, like Gwen and Max running towards us, I was Ben. I had been the replacement for Ben for over the past month to them.
Getting off of the dust and the rubble, I assisted Charmcaster in standing up. Right after Gwen wrapped her arms around me, holding me tightly and confirming I was ok and alive.
"Are you two alright?" Max asked, looking between both Charmcaster and myself.
"I think so, but-" I stared back up to the spot in the sky, where the conflict had ended with more than one casualty. "-Kevin he's….gone."
"He destabilized the ritual." Charmcaster answered as she dusted herself off. "That stupid brat tried to absorb the Charms of Bezel while they were serving as a nexus point between the realms. If he's alive, he's lost in some other universe or somewhere in between."
Max let out a heavy sigh, feeling sorrow for the boy despite his blatant betrayal. "I knew he was having a hard time lately but, he didn't deserve that."
"He tried to kill me!" Charmcaster argued while gesturing around the place. "He would have killed all of us! He even killed my-"
She stopped, making all of us turn back towards where we last saw Hex. The barely living body was gone, the magician escaping right under our noses.
"He's gone." Gwen stated the obvious, if only to accept the situation. Clutching the staff in her arms, she became worried, very likely that Hex would return again.
"We'll get him." Max assured Gwen while bringing her into a comforting side hug. "And he won't have those charms or his staff to help him this time."
He, Gwen, and myself looked over towards the teen as she still stayed at our side indecisively.
"What about you?" Gwen asked the only other female magic user we ever met. "Are you going to help us?"
That seemed to spark Chamcaster's thoughts to settle on an answer, the girl turning away and starting to walk off. "I've had enough of my uncle. I'm going to focus on something else instead."
"And what's that?" Gwen asked again, and before Charmcaster reached the broken elevator she turned back towards me, asking a silent question that I couldn't decipher.
"Figure out who saved me." She answered, before a pink dust exploded around her. The wind quickly swept it away, revealing Charmcaster had departed in an instant.
All that was left for me, was to figure out the same part of her answer. In a world with magic and monsters, heroes and villains, aliens and mysteries, who was I in all of this?
Who would I be, now that Ben and I could never return to our proper places?
But as I looked out towards the rest of Las Vegas, seeing the familiar sights I grew up around, remembering the people both family and friends I knew before, the thought occurred to me.
What if they all existed here? What if I could relive my life in this universe just with a different face?
"We should head out now." Max nudged both of us as we stood among the debris from our battle. "Ben, you think you could get us down?"
Looking down towards the omnitrix, now re-energized and glowing its foreign green, it reminded me what I was tied to. No matter who I tried to be, I was still the wielder of the omnitrix, and its responsibility rested on my shoulders.
Before I could decide on what to do, I just needed to confirm something, to see with my very eyes what life I might have. "Yeah but, there's somewhere I want to go before we leave."
After using Upgrade to fix the Rust Bucket, Max had agreed to my request even if he didn't know where it would take us or what I would do. Gwen was in the back of the RV, silently going through what Kevin left behind and compiling it into a box. Max was driving, getting a feel for the repaired vehicle with his thoughts kept to himself.
Me? I was watching as we drove on the all too familiar road. This wasn't just an interstate, or a side road that took us to a restaurant I liked, no. This was the road that passed by the playground I ran around with my brothers on. This was the street that we took to get to the school I used to go to.
I could practically see myself, walking down the sidewalk marching back towards my house.
"Turn right here." I pointed out the spot, the Rust Bucket swiveling into the residential street with the houses I went trick or treating at. The past couple of days, my mind felt torn over the two lives I was living. My past one, and the one that wasn't my own. It was maddening to see a fictional world bleed over the one I associated with real, but now, I felt oddly accepting of the fact after getting a peek at the many dimensions that surrounded this one.
When we came up to the house, the one I had lived in, the one I grew up in, the house that during this year and this time I was living in, I stood up. "Stop."
Max gently applied the brakes, pulling off to the side of the thin road that hardly had room for a vehicle of this size. As soon as he was parked I got out, my eyes never leaving the front of that house, my house.
I knew that front drive, I knew those rocks, I knew that door. Looking up towards the windows of the second floor, I knew which one had my room.
This was my home, and I missed it.
"Do you have a friend here?" Max asked as he came out, Gwen accompanying him out of curiosity. "Maybe a pen pal?"
I didn't answer, instead I felt my legs move on their own, retracing the steps I took when I was this young, this tall, right back towards the front door where my family resided.
I rose my hand up, inches away from the handle before stopping myself. If I knew that my family was here, that the life I lived before was here, what would I do with that?
Could I really live the same life I did before, with what I knew, with what I had on my wrist?
What about if I already existed here? A version of me, living his own life with his own family. I couldn't replace him, and they couldn't replace the family I had before.
As much as it pained me to admit, to finally accept, this wasn't my family. It was just a reflection, a life that happened to mirror one I had lived before. That life I had, I already lived it. They existed somewhere else, without me.
Flooded with guilt for thinking I could replace the ones I knew and loved so easily, I stepped away with my head down. Marching my feet back into the Rust Bucket, I looked up to see Max and Gwen waiting for me, waiting for Ben.
I don't think I could be Ben no matter how hard I tried, I don't think I ever really did try. I was just myself, and that's all I could be. Getting back into the RV, I looked around the interior that had already become so familiar, one I had grown accustomed to with people that I had grown to care about. I hesitated to say they were family, but it was more clear than ever that whatever future I had in this universe, they would be a part of it.
Sitting down at the kitchen table, I heard Max get back into the driver seat, having yet to pull away as Gwen took a seat across from me.
"Are you sure you want to leave?" Max asked, his fingers hovering over the keys. "We can at least see if they're home."
Home, that's something I didn't know if I had anymore. But, in order to find a new one, I had to leave my attachment to the one I could never truly return to. If I did get my answers here, I don't think I'd ever stop thinking about the what if's. If there was a spot for me to fill and relive my old life, I don't think I'd ever be able to let go of it.
Ben or not, I had to figure out who I would be in this universe, and that meant letting go of it all.
Allowing Max to start up the Rust Bucket, the engine rumbled to life as he cranked the RV out of park. Just as we started to pull away, I looked back up through the window, to have one last look at my old home.
That's when a blond boy with a much too familiar face peeked out from the window to investigate the noise. I met his curious gaze, seeing my own eyes looking back at me as the Rust Bucket took me away from my old life.
My life, right there, was now something I knew I could never have. I was now forced to figure out who I was, and who I would try to be.
Sorry for the delay, I got sick and it's been hard to get into a writing mood. But I'm getting better and managed to finish off this chapter! Ben and Kevin are gone, with Hex missing and Charmcaster off to do her own thing.
Now after so long, SI-Ben has begun to accept that he needs to embrace this new life instead of trying to change things back to how he thinks they should be. Also, in case you were wondering, Buzzshock is the new alien SI-Ben turned into, or Megawatts as the aliens were called in the OG series.
IMPORTANT! Since we are so close to Christmas, I've been thinking about the next chapter. How would you all feel about the story visiting the Ben 10 Christmas episode and doing a new spin on it?
REMINDER! I won't be using any content created outside of the original Ben 10 show. No content from Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, Omniverse, or reboot will be used. That includes aliens, abilities, plot points, lore, and just about anything not seen in the OG show.
cesarahdz04: I've thought about it, but while there is some violence and heavy themes I don't think that we've gone far enough to bump it to teen. It's a big jump, and if I rated it teen I feel like it would have me go a little farther with the violence and word choices.
Lucius Walker: Well, Ben is gone now. I never really intended to go too in depth into their situation, but I also wanted to have some evidence for SI-Ben to see how there is no chance for him to restore Ben to this body.
1234andynguyen: Zs'Skayr will return, that's all I can say.
Chronosign: Oh I've got BIG plans for the Ben 10k episode.
Some1call4MR-E: We haven't reach the fountain of youth, that's the last season.
SI-Ben didn't just get a double whammy, he got a triple whammy.
stormsyaf: Thanks a bunch! I'm going to try and figure out how to do more arcs like that in the future.