"LOST" BEN
Ben 20 had turned into Four Arms. After 10 years of monster-fighting, he had matured in his skills and has better control of his watch. Nearly every day, Ben was out battling evil and restoring peace to the city. Gwen fought alongside him, but sometimes she would think, Ben just doesn't seem himself anymore. He is so serious and even forgot Grandpa's birthday! It is such an important date. In fact, he doesn't even spend Christmas with us. On the other hand, Ben did not realize that he was actually neglecting his family.
Last year, during Christmas, Gwen and Grandpa were busy decorating the Christmas tree. Ben had agreed to spend Christmas with them and so, they were ecstatic and made preparations. Roasted turkey was laid out on a silver platter, hot chocolate was steaming in the mugs and the Christmas pudding and all the other delicacies were cooked and prepared with utmost care. They sat down and waited. And waited. And waited. Ben never did came. Filled with disappointment, the twosome ate their food half-heartedly.
Ben was losing himself. Life, for him, was monster-fighting and crime-fighting. Family was secondary.
--Back to the story--
With one hard blow, Ben sent the octopus-like monster sailing through the air. More octopus-like monsters advanced towards him, their tentacles waving about them menacingly. Their red eyes glowed brightly. It did not look good for Ben. It was going to be difficult for him to defeat these monsters. He was never going to win. At that moment, Gwen landed right beside him. Grinning, she said, "Need my help?" Ben ignored her and muttered, "I do not need help from anyone. No one at all." Upon hearing these words, Gwen's face fell and she pretended to ignore him. She began battling the monsters and sent them sailing through the air, one after another. Finally, the monsters were defeated. Gwen beamed at Ben and said teasingly, "So Mr. I-am-so-brave-and-know-it-all, what do you have to say?" Shrugging, Ben murmured a reluctant "thanks" and whizzed off in his latest Ben Mobile that could fly, swim and drive on the
rocky roads. Watching him fly off, Gwen shook her head in sadness. What was getting into him these days?
It was Gwen's birthday and Gwen was practically jumping with joy. She might have grown, but some things, she shall always remember. Things like her birthday. A sponge cake creamed to the fullest was laid before her and there were her favourite food like nuggets and chocolate chip cookies. "Is Ben coming?" Gwen asked Grandpa. "He said he could not make it. Duty calls," Grandpa replied quietly. Biting her lip, Gwen made her wish: I wish that Ben will spend more time with Grandpa and me.
Her wish never did seem to come true. In fact, Ben became more distant and was always off saving the planet from somewhat doom. One day, Gwen followed Ben too. Ben was off to fight a huge robotic monster. However, Ben kept repeating that he did not need Gwen's help. "What can you do? You do not have an Omnitrix, for pete's sake!" Ben exclaimed, irritated and exasperated. Hurt, Gwen looked at him and yelled, "Well, fine, Mr Smarty pants. Go and fight on your own. BYE!" With that, she hopped off the Ben Mobile and flew off, back to the city. Groaning, Ben shook his head.
In the end, the monster turned out to be larger than expected. It towered over Ben and had powerful arms that could squash Ben easily. Helplessly, Ben changed into Upgrade and tried to battle it. The bad news was, the robot was highly protected and its security network could not be tampered with. There was no way Ben could take control of the robot. The robot, however, needed to give Ben a hard punch and Ben whizzed through the air. They continued fighting, with Ben at the losing end.
At that very instance, Gwen appeared. She fought the robot alongside Ben, like how they used to fight monsters when they were young. Gwen used her brains and Ben, his brawns. When you have two against one, the "one" will surely lose. The robot came crashing onto the floor. It remained there, motionless. Panting, Ben smiled at Gwen and said, "Thanks". And this time, he meant it.
During Christmas, Ben sat with Gwen and Grandpa, laughing over dumb jokes that they used to tell when they were younger. Ben realized how much he had been neglecting his family and he also realized that after all this years, he had forgot how to have fun and how nice it was just to sit down and have a nice chat with his loved ones. To make up for
the time when he was "lost", Ben flashed a bright, pearly smile and said, "Let's go to the May Carnival and party our night away. In fact, I will win another music player with help from someone." Gwen burst out laughing and said, "Oh no you won't. You are NOT using Grey matter to cheat!"