Gwen's Letter
Ben was bored as the Great Plains rolled by the RV at unusual speed. A smile spread across his face as the boy spotted Gwen calmly fiddling with her computer. He went in the bathroom and became Upgrade. From there, Ben made his Galvanic Mechamorph body so flat that it could not be seen and slipped into the laptop unnoticed. This should be fun. The boy thought as he explored the computer's memory core. Strange files swirled around him, and it took the boy only a fraction of a second to rebuild the dismantled data. What came of Ben's efforts was shocking. In the deleted data was a letter that read as follows:
Dear Ben,
You are such a doofus! I've watched you through the summer, fighting bad guys and doing good deeds, but why do you crave being noticed? You stand on a stage and proclaim, "Who's your hero?!" You prank me constantly. You are always seeking a way to unlock more power from the Watch. What do you have to prove, Ben? I'm asking because to me you don't have to prove anything. You crave the attention and admiration of others constantly as if you are trying to fill an abysmal chasm inside. What do Uncle Frank and Aunt Sandra do to you to make you crave such attention from others? Do you feel isolated from them or not good enough? Ben, you shrug off school, but you are smart. No kid could pick up the Watch and intuitively figure out what alien has which ability unless they are smart. I think I have a pretty good idea of why you hate school, Ben. School is nothing but tests and work. You need to get your hands dirty in order to learn, Ben. Your mind won't let you passively learn. I can help with that if you are willing.
What am I saying?! Ben…you have to know…the Watch has helped me see who you really are under the mask you wear. You've grown on me, Doofus. I'm glad this letter is not going to be seen because that would be embarrassing.
Your loving cousin,
Gwen
Ben stared in shock at the typed letter before him. "Why did she never tell me?" Ben mumbled as he heard Grandpa Max yell at him. That was strange. The old man rarely became angry, and as far as Ben was concerned, he wasn't doing anything wrong. Then, it registered what the man said, "Now's not the time to go alien, Ben." Something about that statement troubled the boy. "Vilgax…" Ben mumbled to himself, too low for Grandpa Max to hear but not Gwen. When Gwen gave Ben a questioning look, he motioned for them to meet in the back of the Rustbucket near their bunks.
With the makeshift meeting convened, Gwen voiced her question. "Who's Vilgax?" Ben shook his head and whispered, "I don't know exactly who the guy is, but as far as I've been able to piece together, I can tell you a few things…" Ben held up a finger and continued. "1) He's a conqueror like Doctor Doom and probably has a planet full of loyal citizens under his control somewhere in the galaxy. 2) He's after theOmnitrix because, as the Oracle in The Matrix: Reloaded said, 'What do all men with power want? More power.' 3) Grandpa and he most likely tangled in the past." Gwen stared at him. "Ben, how do you know?" Ben sighed. "How does Grandpa Max know all the stuff he does? There's no way he knows about a secret society of alien tech smugglers from fixing leaky pipes, or the fact that he knows how to work a nuclear reactor?" That got Gwen.
"If this guy is as bad as I think he is, Grandpa won't be any help. He's too shell shocked to do anything but run." Ben said sadly as he gripped Gwen's hand. Gwen looked Ben in the eyes. "If you think you're facing off alone with this monster, you're dead wrong." Ben raised an eyebrow at Gwen's response. "Why?" Gwen blushed and looked away. "That's not important. What is important is getting you back to Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra in one piece." Gwen said with a serious look in her eyes. Ben sighed. "Shall we?" He asked as he offered her a hand. Gwen took it and got on Ben's back as the boy went XLR8 and raced away.
"Come get me, Vilgax." Ben challenged, sure Vilgax could hear him. Vilgax growled with a glare at the boy through a pirated Earthling satellite. "You dare to challenge me, puny human?!" Vilgax growled. "That is the last mistake you'll ever make." Vilgax vowed as he launched his vehicle toward the earth below. "Wise for a human, if less fun," Vilgax observed as the vehicle crashed in the dirt of a barren stretch of desert. Ben sighed and looked up at the massive warlord. "Give me the Omnitrix now, and your death will be swift." Ben sighed. "You can have it when I'm dead!" Ben roared as he went Greymatter. Vilgax laughed. "You are just delaying the inevitable, human." Ben just sighed as he dodged Vilgax's attempts to capture him. "There has to be a hardware junction somewhere." Ben mumbled as he continued up Vilgax's back. Ben just fount the link he was looking for when he heard Gwen scream. Ben grabbed the link and yanked as the Watch timed out.
Vilgax growled in frustration as his body started to malfunction. Ben hit the ground on his feet with a grunt and ran to Gwen in worry. When he got to the redhead and saw she wasn't moving, Ben glared at Vilgax with a deadly look as the boy growled with an angry look in his eye that seriously sent a shiver down Vilgax's spine. "Did I hurt your girlfriend?" Ben's eyes flared and his body began to shake as the Omnitrix flashed between red and yellow in a rapid, almost panicked, series. Ben's breathing became shallow and rapid. Then, Ben's body grew fur and changed into a wolfish form about six feet tall and glared at Vilgax with murder in his eyes. For a moment, fear registered in Vilgax's mind. Then, Ben began ripping the warlord apart without remorse.
When Ben stopped, he turned his attention to Gwen and held her close in worry. Ben brushed the hair out of her eyes gently. "Hey, Dweeb, you can't go yet. There's so much we haven't done together, and you're right. I do hate school because I don't learn that way. I crave attention because I'm a loser at school. Two bullies, JT and Cash, terrorize me." He said sadly. "I was thinking about using it against them and did that first day of summer. Then; I met guys like Animo, Kevin, and Clancy. I got scared but the attention was too much not to resist. Without you, I would be a total jerk, so come back to me." Ben said as he kissed her cheek gently in worry. When Gwen coughed, Ben's heart jumped and he smiled. "Glad to have you back, Dweeb." He told her quietly with a shining smile.
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