Chapter 1: Missing

Kevin Levin was sound asleep in his boxers, his blankets wrapped around his waist as he slept. He had only gotten to sleep just after midnight. The clock on his nightstand glowed green and showed the time to be thirty minutes after four in the morning. He was mumbling in his sleep about DNAliens getting alien goo on his car again.

Rolling over in his bed he felt something was watching him, with all his experience it told him to open his eyes and beat up whatever alien that was standing by his bed. Kevin opened his eyes and saw a giant four eyed, blue fur coved spider monkey. Letting out a yell and moving backwards, Kevin fell over the edge of the bed and hit the ground hard.

"Tennyson… I'm going rip you a new one when I get my hands on you." Kevin growled as he got to his feet and glared at the giant upside down alien that was hanging off his bedroom ceiling.

Letting out a loud screech Ben's alien form jumped onto the bed and bounced up and down before changing back into his fifteen year old human self.

Kevin moved forward and grabbed Ben by the front of his jacket. "It's four in the morning you better explain why you're in my bedroom at this moment before I pound you into the dirt" the older teen said shoving the younger boy away as he made his way to his closet so he could dress.

Ben sat quiet for a moment before speaking. "My aunt and uncle called not too long ago… Gwen is missing. The police will take too long, so we should go looking for her." Ben said smoothing out some wrinkles on Kevin's bed.

The older teen pulled his black shirt over his head, the rest of his clothes all ready on his body "So you decided to scare me half to death to tell me all this." He grumbled as he grabbed his car keys and headed for the kitchen to find something with caffeine to keep him awake.

"Well I knew that if I caught you off guard I would be safer then you trying to knock me out for waking you up so early in the morning" Ben remarked taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Grabbing some instant coffee Kevin started to fumble with it trying to make it in his state. Every few minutes he was yawning, trying to keep his eyes open. "I wouldn't have knocked you out Tennyson… I would have killed you for waking me this early. You know I'm only doing this to help your cousin." He said pouring the mix into a large mug.

Ben smirked at what his former enemy said "Well I know that, you can't keep your eyes off Gwen… It's so obvious that you like her. You're always giving her those goo-goo eyes." he said hitting the nail on the head. Putting his feet up on the table Ben watched the older teen for any reaction to what he said.

Kevin kept his back turned to the Omnitrix holder; he was torn between throwing the coffee mug at him and blushing. He mumbled something as he poured the hot water into the instant coffee before looking at the drink and tossing it into the sink.

"Hurry up before I leave you here" he said going out the back door to his green camaro parked under the overhang. Getting into the driver's side he put the key in the ignition and started up his car.

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Gwen woke slowly, the last thing she remembered was brushing her hair as she readied herself to turn in for the night. She had just gotten home from another night out with her cousin and their friend Kevin trying to be normal teens for once.

"Ben? Kevin?" she asked getting up from the large bed she was laying on, looking around she noticed a silk robe at the end of the bed. Grabbing the robe she put it over her night gown and tied the belt as she got off the bed and walked across the cold stone floor.

Her feet were bare as she lit an orb of mana to use as a light source. She walked around the room trying to find a door. As she got close to the wall she started to look for a way out of the dark room.

Moving around the room, Gwen finally found a door and grabbed the handle. She dispersed her mana as she gripped the handle and pulled on it with all her strength. Growling lightly she kicked the door with her bare foot.

"That must have hurt quite a bit, you could end up hurting yourself even more if you keep doing that" A voice said as a figure said as it came closer to Gwen. The figure was wearing a hooded cloak.

Gwen turned around and summoned another ball of mana, backing up till her back hit the wooden door she stood there in the purple-pink glow staring at the cloaked figure.

"Who are you? And what am I doing here?" Gwen asked as the figure reached forward with a blacked gloved hand. "I brought you here for a very special reason, but it is late and you should go back to sleep. I will explain more in the morning. You shouldn't really try to leave just yet." the figure said pushing Gwen gently aside and unlocking the door before leaving and locking the door leaving the teen girl alone.

Letting out a light growl in frustration Gwen threw a ball of mana at the window, she ducked when the mana bounced off the window and flew back toward her and destroyed part of the canopy above the bed.

Where am I anyway, this isn't going to be easy… the room is charmed or maybe some type of alien tech. Knowing that how am I going to get out of here? Gwen thought to herself as she looked around the dark room.

The darkness seemed to engulf her as she looked at her surroundings.

Making her way around the room she found a high wing-backed chair, Gwen sat down and pulled her legs up to her chest as she let sleep claim her.

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Kevin drove down the road, every few moments he yawned as he tried to stay awake.

"Why don't you let me drive, it may just keep us ending up in a ditch soon" Ben said resting his head against the passenger side window.

Slamming his foot on the break, cars following behind had to swerve to miss the green sports car as it sat in the middle of the street.

"Don't even think about it, I'm never going to let you behind the wheel of my car" The elder teen remarked as he took his foot off the break and pressed down on the accelerator making the car move before someone called the cops on him.

Ben sat in silence for a moment before speaking again " We can't keep driving around with no destination we have to think of who could be behind this… or accept that aliens have taken Gwen somewhere." He said looking out at the sky which had begun to lighten on the horizon.

Turning down a road out of town Kevin drove toward the only place that would be open before the sun even was in the sky.

The green camaro pulled into the gravel parking lot of a road side diner, a small gas station was visible next to it.

Kevin climbed out of the car making sure to drag Ben behind him as they entered the diner. Not waiting for anyone to help them Kevin walked behind the counter his hand dragged over the metal counter as he absorbed the metal and allowed it up his arm.

He grabbed the young man at the stove top and shoved him against the wall.

"Where is she Riley?" Kevin growled as he looked over his shoulder at Ben "Ben I want you to meet Riley, he's a pretty good guy other then the fact that he's a trader in the alien slavery business." Kevin said as he rammed Riley against the wall harder.

Riley cowered under Kevin's grip "I don't know who you're asking about, besides I got out of the trading business when I got busted last year. So you can let me go now. I have no idea where that red-headed chick is" He said trying to save his own skin.

Kevin smirked as he looked at the young man whose feet were just brushing the floor "I never said what her hair color was. Now you better tell me where she is or I'm going to shove you into trash chute head first." He said lifting Riley a little higher.

Ben chuckled "You better tell him what he wants or you're going to be picking garbage out of your shorts till next week." The Omnitrix user said chuckling louder.

As Kevin carried Riley closer to the garbage chute he tried to squirm out of the teen's grip. "Some guy paid me a lot of money to grab her, I never got his name…but when I went to her place she was already gone… I swear, now I told you what I know, you can let me go now" he cried out.

Kevin grinned "I never agreed to that" He said throwing the young man down the chute and into the large dumpster below filled with rotting garbage. Leaving the diner Kevin climbed back into his car with Ben "This is both bad and good news, if Riley doesn't have her then we might have just gotten lucky." He remarked as he started the car up and pulled out of the parking lot and tore down the road at sixty miles per hour.

Ben sighed softly "So how many more people are we going to harass before noon?" he asked looking out the window once again as the scenery flew by.

"If the cops don't pull us over first, then about a dozen or so, maybe more if we're lucky and find quite a few of them quickly." The ebony haired teen said taking a sharp corner and heading down the empty road.

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Riley climbed out of garbage and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and pressed the speed dial button.

"We may have a problem; those two know she's missing. I swear I didn't say anything to them. I told them she was all ready gone when I got there. But knowing them, they will be on your trail soon. It's only a matter of time." The young alien trader remarked to his client on the other end of the line before hanging up.

The other end of the phone hung up as well before heading to his guest's room. After unlocking the door and opening it he looked inside as the sunlight began to filter in through the open windows. Gwen was asleep in the giant chair that was sitting in the corner of the room; her robe sleeve had slipped down a bit revealing the top of her shoulder.

Gwen let out a soft whimper in her sleep. "Kevin" The red headed teen whispered as she slowly opened her eyes and saw a figure standing over her. Out of pure instinct she summoned a disc of mana and shot it at the figure and sent him across the room.

Setting her plan in motion Gwen made a break for the door as her captor lay prone across the room covered by a few books that had fallen off the bookcase. Going down the very lavish hallway toward the grand staircase, Gwen heard her captor following her. Running down the carpeted stairs she tripped on the middle of the stair case and fell the rest of the way down to the stone floor below.

Griping her ankle in pain she felt a presence behind her.

"That wasn't very nice, and now you've ended up hurting yourself. Though I should have known you would come up with a plan like that. I'll just have to keep my wits about me when I come into your room from now on."

Gwen summoned more mana as she threw it over her shoulder and into her captor's face sending him skidding backwards. "Stay away from me…If you come any closer I send you flying through a window." The young Anodite said struggling to get to her feet as she favored her left ankle the most.

"There is such a fire burning in you lovely Gwen…I admire all that energy. It's a good thing you won't be getting away any time soon." the figure said as it reached up and pulled down the hood of the cloak that was covering his face revealing his withered face.

Keeping her wits about her Gwen stood her ground and locked eyes with the young man in front of her. "I thought we sent you to the Null Void, Mike…" Gwen said with a smirk as she put her hand on her hip.

"It's Darkstar…don't call me Michael … I've told you once before that Michael Morningstar is no more thanks to you. " the withered teen growled out as he removed his cloak entirely and discarded it on the floor as he walked forward and stood before Gwen.