* Results from last poll: The option "Put them to sleep" had 30 votes while the option "Kill them" had 11 votes.

* Some readers might notice I replaced Lucy with Looma in the character tags. I still have a storyline planned for Lucy, but Looma is going to show up first (spoiler: very soon), so her name gets the tag, at least for now.


"We are not killing anyone unless there is really no other way. We put them to sleep," Ben said.

Charmcaster threw her arms up in defeat, upset about Ben's decision, "Fine. Let's do it your way and hope we don't die."

Gwen, however, smiled. "I'm really proud of you, cuz. This isn't an easy call, but it's the right one."

Charmcaster quickly introduced Ben to the other witches who would be tagging along. Two of them were sisters: the older one, a blonde named Eliza, was the same age as Charmcaster, and the younger one, a brunette named Adrianna, was the same age as Ben and Gwen. And the third witch was a dark-skinned girl named Stacy. All three of them were extremely beautiful, but it came as no surprise, since Ben had a feeling Kevin wouldn't pick an ugly woman to join his harem. Gwen and Charmcaster were stunning as well.

Ben and the girls drank a liquid that tasted horrible - almost as bad as Grandpa Max's vitamin drinks - but necessary to counter the effects of the sleeping potion. A few minutes later when some guards came to check up on them, the girls invited them to eat the banquet. They happily accepted, and the others who were outside were invited to sit at the table too. The guards laughed and joked, and one of them, a Tetramand, thanked the girls for the "best meal he had ever had." Ben felt extremely relieved that he wasn't killing them.

After everybody had eaten enough, Charmcaster snapped her fingers and whispered "Altum Somnum". The guards immediately fell asleep. "Let's destroy their communicators before we go," the silver-haired enchantress said as she grabbed her weird bag that had a mouth-like zipper and eye-like buttons, "It might buy us a few minutes after they wake up."

Ben activated a holo-messenger device and said, "You are only alive now because we let you live. Kevin won't show this same kind of mercy. He will execute you for your failure. Leave this place as soon as possible and survive." He then left the device on the table for the guards to find when they were to wake up.


One hour later, the six were still walking through the spaceship-city sewer structure.

"Can we at least slow down for a few minutes?" Adrianna asked, panting heavily, "this long walk at this pace is making me really tired."

"Kevin was with us last night," Eliza said with anger in her voice, "My sister and I are drained."

"Sorry, the guards could wake up at any minute," Charmcaster replied, "We are actually going too slow."

"Can't you girls make a teleportation spell?" Ben suggested.

"You don't know how magic works do you?" Charmcaster giggled, "Let me try to explain: can you run 100 meters in under 10 seconds?"

"Well, I never tried," Ben replied.

"You can't, Ben," Gwen answered, "None of us here can. But world-class sprinters do it."

"Exactly. Technically, any witch can teleport, just like any guy can run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, but it takes training, practice and a lot of natural talent to pull off something like this. Any witch or warlock is usually naturally good at something specific and uses potions and rituals to help with all the other stuff. My main natural talent is to bring inanimate objects to life. I have a few stone golems here in my magical bag that I really hope I won't have to use today."

"I can turn invisible," Adrianna said.

"I can freeze things," Eliza said.

"I have super senses," Stacy said.

"What can you do, Red?" Charmcaster asked Gwen.

"I actually don't know. Grandma Verdona could have taught me about my powers, but she…" Gwen stopped talking for a second, "I never met her. When I was ten on a summer road trip with Ben and Grandpa Max, a blue aura started glowing around me and I felt good, like, really good. Grandpa Max explained the basics, but he's no warlock. The thing he and my parents emphasized to me was to never use my powers since witches and warlocks are automatically drafted to the Plumbers."

"Or to Kevin's harem, when they're attractive females," Eliza said in disgust.

"And you obeyed them?" Charmcaster asked Gwen, "I can't believe you actually never used your powers. Come on."

"Well…" Gwen hesitated, "I kind of do use them when I'm alone. Like, before I have a school exam or a karate practice, sometimes I just 'activate' my aura, but it never does anything besides boosting my own self-confidence and making me feel better."

"Have you ever considered that your powers actually make you better?" Charmcaster asked.

"What?" Gwen asked back confused.

"Maybe your power is to enhance all your natural abilities, like your intelligence, agility and strength, and to bring you good luck."

"That's why you always aced your tests!" Ben exclaimed, "You were cheating the whole time, Dweeb!"

"That's… That's not true!" Gwen said very surprised.

"It is, it is, and you know it! What about that time a few years ago when we made a bet to play Sumo Slammers? You beat me seven times and made me do your chores for the whole summer! Now I know how you pulled that off, with your aura of luck!" Ben complained.

"Hey, the initial bet was that the loser would do the winner's chores for one day. You lost and kept asking for rematches and raising the stakes until we were betting for the entire summer. I didn't even want to bet anything at all at first!" Gwen defended herself.

"You're not even denying that you used your powers! Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Dweeb?" Ben asked.

"I didn't use my powers, Doofus!" Gwen said, and then they realized that Charmcaster and the other girls were laughing, "Can we not do this now, especially not in front of Charmcaster?"

"Hey, I have the right to know these stories too since I'm family now. Don't forget, Red, I'm your soon to be cousin-in-law." Charmcaster winked.

"I'd really like to forget that," Gwen replied.

"Keep talking!" Adrianna said, "It's distracting me and making this walk a lot easier."

Another hour later, Charmcaster finally said, "This is as close as we can get to the hangar from the sewers." She looked at the holo-map. "Now comes the hardest part. We will have to go up and walk for about half an hour out in the open. Stacy, can you use your powers to hear if there is someone waiting for us out there?"

Stacy nodded, glowed in a white light and closed her eyes for a few seconds, but soon opened them up again in shock, "The streets are crowded with Plumbers looking for us! Their orders are to shoot Ben on sight, and to shoot the five of us if we offer resistance."

Charmcaster paused to think. Ben expected to hear an "I told you so", but it didn't come.

"I get that they'd kill me, but you girls too? I thought it would be a 'bring them back alive no matter what' order," Ben whispered.

"Do you know how Kevin lost his eighth life?" Stacy said, "One of his wives killed him. Ever since then, rebel wives don't get second chances."

"Adrianna, if we all hold hands, can you extend your aura and make us invisible too?" Charmcaster asked.

"What? Don't you remember what I said before? She was drained yesterday!" Eliza pointed out.

"I got this, Eliza!" Adrianna exclaimed, "I'm feeling a lot better already." Ben had the feeling that she was lying. She was very brave.

"If I get to be the President of the Galactic Alliance, I'll give you a fat lifelong pension so you can just spend the rest of your days laying down on a beach somewhere and never have to work again," Ben smiled to encourage Adrianna as the six lined up and held hands.

"You're sweet, but my parents are very rich. I don't need a pension. Don't you have anything else to offer, Ben?" Adrianna replied in a joking tone.

Ben thought for a few seconds and then said, "I'll give you every medal and honor award a President of the Galactic Alliance can possibly give. Better, I'll name a new award after you!"

Adrianna giggled, "Ok, I suppose that will have to do."

"Red, activate your aura too," Charmcaster said in a worried tone, "We need all the luck we can get."

"By the way, before we go, who here actually knows how to pilot a ship?" Stacy asked.

"Me. Kind of," Charmcaster said, "As I mentioned, I can bring inanimate objects to life. Ships included. I will magically put it into auto-pilot."

The six went up, lined up and holding hands, and started passing through dozens of Plumbers unnoticed. After walking invisible for several minutes - Adrianna was holding up like a real hero - they finally saw the hangar with the jets and their ticket way out of there. They were going to make it!

That's what they thought until they heard bark-like sounds.

Plumbers with Vulpimancers on leashes were approaching them, "We are close, guys. Our hounds will find them," one of them said.

Vulpimancers were alien dog-like creatures. They were big, orange and blind, but their smelling was fantastic. The barking got louder, and the alien animals became even more agitated as they were getting closer to the invisible group. They quickened the pace, but Ben knew they would never outrun the Vulpimancers. In a few seconds, one of the Vulpimancers would be close enough to jump on them and it would all be over.

Fortunately, Ben was the last one on the line, "Go, get out of here. I'll distract them," he whispered as he let go of Stacy's hand. He was happy that Gwen wasn't the next one after him, because he was pretty sure Gwen would try to stay behind too, but since she was in the middle of the line, she couldn't break formation because of the others.

"I'M RIGHT HERE!" Ben screamed as every Plumber pointed their gun at him, shocked by his sudden appearance. He fiddled with the watch not knowing what he was doing - and to no results. Then he just slammed it out of anger, "Do something, damn it!"

He felt his body burn and he was sure it was because of the lasers being fired at him. But then he saw his skin being covered by magmatic rocks and fire and he realized it wasn't that. Everybody - Ben himself included - stared in awe as he turned into a Pyronite - an alien species that he only knew through lessons at school.

"I have the Omnitrix!" Pyronite-Ben yelled, "Kevin Levin is a fraud. He is not worthy. Lay down your weapons."

"Kill him now!" One of the Plumbers yelled back, and they all started firing at Ben.

The Pyronite defended himself by throwing fireballs back at them, "Don't force me to hurt you!"

Then he saw a ship taking off. The girls had made it out.

"The President's Ladies are getting away! Take down that ship now!" Another Plumber yelled.

"Oh, no, you won't!" the Pyronite hero started to burn everything around him, especially targeting the other ships so they would have no way to pursue the girls.

But as powerful as that alien form was, it wasn't invulnerable, and he was vastly outnumbered. They shot at him from all sides with all kinds of different weapons and some - Ben didn't even know what was being fired - hurt like hell. He wasn't going to last long.

When a new group of alien Plumbers showed up, Ben thought that was it; he was done for. But to his surprise, the new group actually started fighting against the others. Even though the Pyronite hero was busy trying to blast his own opponents he still caught glimpses of the battle around him. He saw a Vaxasaurian growing up in size and literally stomping other Plumbers, but then he was the biggest target around and very hard to miss. The Vaxasaurian finally fell dead after being shot at too many times. He saw Appoplexians and Tetramands taking out many Plumbers - and dying too.

Ben didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually he turned back into a human. His old clothes were gone, but the Omnitrix seemed to have created a black and white jumpsuit for him. He fell to his knees, exhausted from the battle, and was helped up by a Tetramand.

"Are you ok?" The Tetramand asked.

"Did we win?" Ben asked back.

"For now. They will send reinforcements soon," The Tetramand replied, "We have to go now."

"And about your other friends?" Ben asked.

"They fought bravely, and they died bravely. There is just us now."

Ben looked at the carnage around him: fire, destruction and dead bodies everywhere. Thankfully, there was one ship left standing and the Tetramand - Kabeb - knew how to pilot.

Kabeb explained that half of the Ladies' Guards were touched by Ben's compassion and decided to defect. They were the ones who aided Ben. The other half, however, warned the Capital's security forces about the escape. That's why they encountered so much resistance on their way to the hangar.

Ben set up a holo-call to Gwen, "Cuz, it's me."

"Ben? Oh my God! I'm so glad you're alive!"


Ben smiled as he and Kabeb stepped aboard the ship with the girls. After introducing his new friend to them, Ben asked, "There is someone who deserves a special thanks, Adrianna. Where is she?"

Gwen bit her lip and Charmcaster lowered her head.

"She… didn't make it," Gwen said teary-eyed.

"What? How?" Ben felt his heart clench.

"She pushed herself to the limit for us," Charmcaster said in a soft voice filled with sadness, "But it was too much for her…"

"No," Ben gasped, "No, no, no, no…"

He ran around the ship, looking for Eliza, Stacy and Adrianna. He quickly found them. Eliza was sobbing and crying a river with Stacy by her side trying to give her some comfort, and Adrianna's lifeless body was lying over a table.

Hugs and condolences were exchanged, but Ben didn't think of anything meaningful to say that could possibly make things better.

He felt responsible. Adrianna's death was weighing heavy on his shoulders and a part of him thought he had killed her himself. He left, found some isolated corner on the ship and collapsed on the floor.

Gwen followed him and kneeled in front of him. She caressed his face, "It's not your fault, cuz. You did the best you could."

"If I had let Charmcaster kill the guards..." Ben whispered.

"Kabeb wouldn't be here. You saved his life," Gwen grabbed his hands and held them tight.

"But Adrianna wouldn't have died. I got her killed! I killed her!" Ben exclaimed.

"No, you didn't. If Kevin hadn't drained her, she would be alive. The only person who is to be blamed for this is Kevin, ok?" She said, looking into his eyes.

"But I-I… I…"

"Shhhh," Gwen hugged Ben's head against her chest and kissed his hair. "You're a good person. I don't want you blaming yourself for being good. Please, don't do this. Please..."


Soon they ditched the ship, communicators, cellphones, everything they had that could be used to track them down. Grandpa Max picked them up in the middle of a forest and drove them to a safe house. The day was dawning when they arrived there.

Ben's and Gwen's parents were waiting for them, and the parents happily hugged their kids, "We love you so much", "We're so glad you're ok", "We were so worried", "We're so proud", ...

"Eliza's and Stacy's parents will be here soon," Grandpa Max said, "and the Wizard Community will help us disappear too. That's the best course of action right now, lay low for a while."

"Accepting help from the Wizard Community is not an option for me," Charmcaster said, "I'm a wanted criminal in their eyes. They'd lock me up and throw away the key."

"It can't be that bad. You did something good today. That's gotta count," Ben argued.

"You don't know me, Ben," Charmcaster said with a sad smile, "My uncle is the most feared dark lord in the wizard world, and I... I helped him to do a lot of bad things. They won't just let me go."

"No offense," Natalie, Gwen's mother, intervened, "But the rest of us are going to take up the wizards' offer."

"As you should," Charmcaster nodded.

"But I can't, right?" Ben asked, "I have to stay with you, and protect you. It's our deal."

"Yes, Ben. I'm sorry about that." She smiled sadly again. "I'll do my best to make it up to you, though."

"You can go to my homeworld, Khoros," Kabeb said, "You are the true Wielder of the Omnitrix, young warrior. Princess Looma will help you defeat the usurper. And no outsider has ever conquered Khoros. You will be safe there."

"Wait a minute," Charmcaster intervened, "You are a Plumber because the Tetramands are Kevin's allies. Princess Looma is married to him."

"Technically, you are too," Kabeb replied. "Our Princess hates him as much as you do. Kevin Levin challenged the Princess in combat, defeated her and married her per our traditions, true, but he only did that because he failed to conquer our world through war and lost thousands of soldiers in our deserts. Kevin Levin didn't even bother to come and see the Princess since their marriage ceremony and, as a matter of fact, he didn't even consummate said marriage. The only thing he does is demand she send men to join his army and to mine taydenite for him. He cares not for our people and has no love for our Princess."

"No love? To me, it looks like he treats her better than all his other wives," Charmcaster said in a sarcastic tone, "Anyway, getting the Tetramands on our side is a huge opportunity that we shouldn't pass up."

"You are right," Ben said, "Kabeb, Charmcaster and I will go with you to Khoros. The rest of you should go into hiding with the wizards' help."

"Son, your mother and I won't leave you, we-" Carl began to say.

"No, Dad, you and Mom have no combat experience, no powers, and no alien watch. You can't help me. The best thing you can do for me now is to hide and stay safe, so I don't have to worry about you," Ben replied.

"He's right, son," Grandpa Max said to Carl, "Don't worry, we will set up some safe way for you to talk to Ben daily. You stay with the Wizards. I will go. I have plenty of combat experience and I'm a former Plumber. I can watch Ben's back."

"And I have powers. I can help too." Gwen stood up. "I'll go with you guys."

"No way, young lady!" Natalie yelled, "You will stay with us!"

"The reason Ben is in trouble now is because he was trying to save me from Kevin. I'm not abandoning him." Gwen folded her arms and stormed off. Natalie and Frank followed her, obviously to try to change her mind.

Eliza went to the first bedroom she could find and stayed there crying, obviously still very shaken by her sister's death. Stacy didn't leave her side.

Kabeb and Grandpa Max left to prepare things for the trip to Khoros and Charmcaster went with them, not wanting to be anywhere near there when the wizards arrived.

After a few minutes spent talking with his parents, Ben excused himself, looking to get some rest. He found a nice bedroom and jumped on the bed, but before he fell asleep Uncle Frank and Aunt Natalie showed up to talk to him.

"Son," Frank said, "We know everything, and we are really grateful for what you did for our daughter. You saved her. Thank you."

"No need to thank me. She's my cousin. I'd do anything for her," Ben answered.

"I'm glad you said that, sweetie." Natalie put a hand on Ben's shoulder, "Because there is something you can do for her now."

Ben had a feeling he knew what they would ask.

"You're going to gather allies to fight against the President of the Galactic Alliance. You're going to war. You know it's best for your parents to stay away from that, so we're sure you know that it's the best for Gwen too. We tried to tell Gwen that, but she won't listen to us," Natalie sighed, but then smiled, "We can count on you, right? We know you're going to do the right thing. You're not a selfish person. You're not going to take Gwen with you on this dangerous journey, right, sweetie?"

Ben gulped. He told his parents to stay and he would never ask Gwen to go with him, true, but if he were to be honest with himself, he was happy that she wanted to go. He tried to convince himself that it was different because she had powers or because Kevin was already targeting her, but deep down he knew it was much more than that. He couldn't quite explain - or didn't want to think about - but he felt more attached to his cousin than to his own parents.

Ben didn't know how long he would be out there in space. Months? Years? He simply didn't want to stay away from Gwen that long. He needed her. He wanted her with him. And she wanted to go. But was Aunt Natalie right? Would it be selfish to allow Gwen to join him on this dangerous journey?


Should Ben...

1) Take Gwen with him.

2) Leave without Gwen.

* You know the rules: poll in my profile; mobile users need to switch to desktop mode to see the poll; ten days to vote. You all can probably guess that I have a personal preference about this particular choice, but I want to be fair, so the choice is yours.

* Thanks to all who are reading this, and thanks to Aurora Nightstar for grammar corrections. If anyone wants to give opinions, comments or suggestions about the fic, please leave a review and/or talk to me in a PM. I really appreciate that.