Neither Ben nor Gwen had been expecting what had happened. The two had been just about to capture Charmcaster when a bright flash had blinded both young heroes. Ben and Gwen were surprised to find themselves waking up, having not realized they had passed out, and discovering they were in a small stone room with a solid wooden door and a small barred window. Neither seemed significantly injured or at least no more so then when the battle had ended and neither one were secured using the ominous chains hanging from the walls. Still, the nature of the situation was clear; they had been captured and were being held prisoner. By whom and for what purpose neither knew.
"Are you alright?" Gwen asked, rubbing her head to get rid of the last of the sparkles from her vision.
"Yeah, I guess so but wherever we are I have no intention of staying in here!" Ben replied, clearly quite annoyed by their situation, "Fourarms can get us out of this place easy!"
Ben with pride, or more likely hubarius, reached for his wrist and attempted to activate the omnitrix. Though the device had suffered no damage and seemed fully operational, it didn't activate.
"What the hell?" Ben shouted, trying again to activate the device, "What's going on?"
"Your device has been temporarily disabled by a tachyon field young creature." A deep, inhuman voice said. Though the sound clearly emanated from above the two, neither could spot it's source. "You will find your magic has been similarly disabled."
"Why did you bring us here? Why are you working with Charmcaster? What did she pay you?" Ben shouted at the disembodied voice.
A moment passed before the voice responded and when it did Ben and Gwen could easily detect the confusion in its voice despite it nonhuman nature.
"Is Charmcaster the creature you and your mate had viciously defeated when we collected you? If so, you may rest assured we are not working with her; any advance she has received from your departure was quite unintentional." The voice replied.
Ben was too angry from having his omnitrix disabled to notice the strange wording their captor had used. Gwen, on the other hand, had noticed though decided it would be best to remain quiet until they could determine why they had been captured.
"Fine, so you're not working with Charmcaster… that still doesn't explain why you abducted us and locked us in this prison cell!" Ben shouted.
"You need not be alarmed, my associates and I are simply curious about your species. We have studied the signals your kind broadcast via the primate network of reflection stations aligned around your planet but we have reached a point in our research were certain data must be tested. The two of you have been selected to assist us in our efforts."
If human standards could be applied to the alien voice it would almost seem as if the voice expected the two to consider their selection and abduction to be an honor.
"But why us? And why not just ask us?" Gwen asked, finally chiming in.
"Quite simple; you may have said no. And as for why the two of you were selected, it is because the two of you fit our collection criteria so perfectly. One male, of post infant but preadult age of development and one abnormal female of similar age. The two of you also demonstrate a common type of interaction, by that I mean while you two are clearly emotionally close-knit you still compete regularly. Our observation of your species indicates that such scenarios are common among mating pairs of your age and disposition."
"Mating pairs?" Ben shouted back at the voice, having noticed the strange word choice this time and clearly not liking what it implied; sure he liked Gwen, in fact she was practically the only girl he ever thought about. Still, she was his cousin and he had no intention of letting her know about his little crush.
"Yes, and in fact the two of you have already provided us with much evidence to support our theories. Despite only being conscious for a few moments the two of you have already demonstrated what we believed to be a standard of your species… male aggression balanced with female calmness. I had not expected the two of you to begin providing data so quickly. You are much better subjects then any of the others we've collected." The voice replied, a hint of pleasure in its tones.
While Ben was now angrier by the voices reply, Gwen hadn't even listened to what was said. Her mind was stuck on 'abnormal female' and was terrified by what it implied. She had kept her true nature a secret from even Ben and Grandpa but if the alien's that had captured them meant what she thought they meant then they knew already her dark little secret and perhaps abducted her and Ben specifically because of it.