This one's a little on the short side, sorry :I
You guys are really perceptive!
Disclaimer: IDOB10
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After hearing of their destination, the journey had lapsed into silence. Gwen was a mixture of emotions. On the one hand she was confused, scared and anxious about the whole situation. The world as she knew it had ceased to exist; everything had changed. And apparently she was part of some kind of resistance group against an emperor whose Empire she was sure had been destroyed.
On the other hand she was calm – perhaps more so than she should have been – and a sense of ease had washed over her. She suspected it had something to do with Kevin's presence in the seat beside her. Even though he, too, had been affected by whatever was going on, he had still heard her out and come to get her. He'd helped her escape from the alien security, and had given her more answers than she'd gotten all day; albeit not nearly as many as she would have liked, and having him look at her like she was an amnesiac or insane didn't do much for her inner turmoil.
But he was taking her to Ben. That was something, at least. And from the sounds of things even in this messed up world Kevin and Ben knew each other. They could still fix things.
"We're here," Kevin's voice jolted her from her thoughts.
They'd pulled up beside a large lot surrounded by a black metal fence and a row of hedges. It was the first peaceful scene she'd come across since her friends had disappeared.
But it was a grim peacefulness.
Gwen opened her mouth to say something but the words wouldn't come, stuck somewhere in her throat. She turned her attention to Kevin and the sad frown he was giving her did nothing to appease the pain that had gathered in her chest.
Without a word the Osmosian slid from the vehicle and walked through the main gate of the lot. Gwen copied his actions with numb detachment.
No words were exchanged in the short walk. Kevin led the way, walking a few paces ahead without looking back. He seemed to know where he was going and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
And then all at once they were there.
The words burned her eyes and branded her mind and she fell to her knees in the soft grass, barely aware of the tears that had started falling down her cheeks like she'd been dealt a physical blow.
"You really didn't know," Kevin's voice was soft, lilting with his realisation.
But Gwen didn't register the words. Her attention was focused solely on the inscribed stone before her.
Benjamin Tennyson
1995-2006*
Beloved son, determined protector;
The world is a darker place without you
How?
How? How? How? How? HOW?
It wasn't possible. How could it be possible? She'd seen him that very morning. She'd talked to him. She'd touched him! How could he have died so long ago when he'd been so alive only hours before? How could everything have changed so suddenly and without warning?
How was she the only one who realised something was wrong?
"It's wrong," she whispered without realising. "It's wrong."
Kevin, standing behind her, said nothing.
Something had happened that caused this. There was no other explanation. Nethersian had done something when he'd disappeared.
And suddenly she thought she knew what.
With renewed determination Gwen pulled herself to her feet and turned to Kevin, wiping her eyes with the heel of her palm.
"Where's Grandpa Max?" she asked, pleased that her voice hadn't shaken.
"Why are you asking me?" Kevin frowned. "How should I know? You're the resistance fighter here."
"No, I'm not," Gwen shook her head. "I'm not from here."
Kevin raised a brow that clearly displayed his scepticism.
Gwen took a deep breath. He was probably going to think she was insane. Well, more so than he already did. "Ben was alive this morning."
The other eyebrow rose.
"We were fighting Nethersian. You were there, too. He had some kind of tech and after he disappeared, so did Ben. I think he might have gone back in time and… and killed Ben before he could meet Syvux and stop him the first time. That's why everything's different."
Kevin didn't look like he believed her. "If that was the case then why are you here? If the rest of us changed, then you should have, too."
Gwen bit her lip. She didn't have an answer for that because it was a question she was asking herself. Why did she remember that but have no recollection of the present?
"It is more than just a mere decoration. That bracelet has special… properties. So long as you are wearing it, it will protect you from certain 'magic' and extradimensional forces."
Syvux's voice echoed in her head and she looked down at the glowing bracelet fastened around her wrist. Was it just her imagination or was it a little brighter than it had been that morning? Her eyes widened as the full implications of the Arkhirathi's words sunk in and she realised exactly what had happened.
"Because of this," she proclaimed, raising her hand so Kevin could see the piece of jewellery. "This was given to me yesterday by Syvux. He told me it would protect me from certain 'magic' and extradimensional forces. When the timeline was altered, I was protected from the changes by this."
Kevin still looked sceptical but seemed to accept the explanation. "Okay then, what about all the resistance work you've been doing? If you're from 'another timeline', then does that mean there are two of you, or…?"
Two of her. That was a scary thought. But it was a logical conclusion – after all, she hadn't had anything to do with this timeline and it wasn't like she had just ceased to exist. Which meant there would be another her – like when she'd gone back in time to stop Kevin's mutation that time. There'd been two of her then. Her current life was one that existed outside of the time-stream.
"Yeah, there's probably another me around somewhere…" she conceded. "…Which means I may be able to use that as a basis for finding where the resistance and Grandpa Max are."
It was weird, she decided, to track herself. As she'd expected, she'd picked up two signals – herself and the other her. Kevin was watching her with an indecipherable expression on his face; like he wasn't sure whether to be amazed or sceptical.
"Got it."
...
...
A dump. The resistance base was in a dump. Well, he had to admit it was clever; no one would think to find a bunch of rebels toiling through garbage.
Kevin parked his car between two large piles of trash where it wouldn't be easily spotted. He just hoped those piles were stable. The last thing he wanted to do was dig his ride out of a pile of garbage.
Speaking of which, why was he even here? Sure, the graveyard was a fair distance from this particular site, but he certainly didn't owe the red-head beside him anything. She claimed that they'd been friends (along with Ben – which he found incredibly hard to believe) from whatever whack-o timeline she was from (and even that was barely believable), but that was a different Kevin.
Maybe it was pity. Maybe it was boredom. Maybe it was that spaceship she'd promised him (she'd seemed to realise there was nothing really in it for him and as a joke he'd requested a spaceship as payment. Apparently she had one to give). Whatever it was, he still found himself walking alongside her as they navigated through the rubbish following whatever mystical trail Gwen was seeing.
"It's through here," she announced as they came to a stop in front of a particularly large heap.
"You sure? I'm not seeing it," he replied, eyeing the trash dubiously. She wasn't expecting him to crawl through it, was she?
"It's just a disguise," she said, stepping forward and tugging on an empty can.
Kevin stared as a wall of rubbish swung open like a door, revealing a darkened metal corridor inside.
"Well what do you know," he grinned, following the strange version of Gwen inside. The door closed behind them.
It was like no base either of them had ever seen. Rather than sleek and high tech, this was more like a hide-out; pieces of it made from scraps clearly having been found in the landscape outside. There were doors made of modified tables, access panels from calculators and old phones, even part of the floor and walls were clearly second hand.
They had yet to come across any of the rebels that inhabited the place, but it was only a matter of time. Chances were they already knew they were there.
Gwen turned down corner after corner, knowing the way with absolute certainty. Kevin was a little uncomfortable with the prospect of coming across another her.
"Gwen."
The pair turned back the way they'd come to see an older man in a red Hawaiian shirt watching them.
"Kevin Levin?" he gasped, his eyes drifting over to the Osmosian. "You led Kevin Levin to our base?"
"Grandpa," Gwen sighed in relief. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."
He was staring at her in confusion now. "Gwen, I thought I told you not to leave the base. So would you care to explain what he is doing here?"
"He is here because he has a car and she doesn't," Kevin said pointedly, crossing his arms.
"Grandpa, I need to ask you something," Gwen cut in.
"What is it?" Max asked, his voice and expression softening only a little.
"How did… how did Ben die?"
"Killed by the Emperor," Kevin told her when Max only stared.
Gwen frowned at him. "I need specifics," she said. "When and how?"
"Gwen…" Max's voice was both a warning and tinged with sadness. "You already know. Why are you asking?"
"That's the thing, I don't know. Nethersian changed the timeline by killing Ben this morning – this," she gestured around them vaguely, "was never supposed to happen."
Max looked confused. Perfectly understandable in Kevin's opinion.
"She has a magic bracelet that stopped her from disappearing as well," Kevin grabbed her arm and lifted it so the old man could see it. Although his voice hinted to his own disbelief. "Apparently there's another her running around somewhere."
"If I can figure out exactly what happened, I can go back in time and stop Nethersian from killing Ben and everything will go back to the way it was."
"I hope you understand how farfetched this all sounds," Max sighed.
"I know," Gwen relented. "But I'm telling the truth. I need your help."
"Alright," Max said at last. "Come on, we'll go somewhere a little more private."
They ended up in a small dormitory room, bare except for the essentials and a small framed photo of her family before everything went wrong. Gwen smiled as she looked at it, remembering the picnic and appreciating the opportunity to see her cousin, even if he was frowning in the photo.
"Take a seat," Grandpa Max instructed.
Gwen sat on the desk chair with Kevin leaning against the desk itself while her grandpa took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about what happened," Max began, his voice tight. "He was alone – walking home from school. He was still wearing the Omnitrix, but a ten year old against someone like Nethersian... he wouldn't have been able to defend himself properly; not against whatever was sent after him. We're not sure if it was the emperor himself who did it or someone else, but by the time we found him he was gone." There were tears in Max's eyes, his expression a sadder version of the one Sandra had sported earlier.
Gwen suddenly felt terrible for what she had unknowingly made her aunt remember. "W-What day?" she forced herself to ask.
"September 23rd 2006."
Gwen nodded, averting her eyes. "Thank you."
"Tell me about… the way things are supposed to be," Max said after a moment's silence.
"You and Ben are as close as ever," Gwen smiled fondly. "And we don't fight like we used to. He put the Omnitrix back on – although he has the Ultimatrix now, since the Omnitrix was destroyed. Saved the world a few times, which we wouldn't have been able to do without you, Kevin," she turned to the Osmosian in question. "You and Ben are best friends. Don't look at me like that; the two of you sorted out your differences ages ago."
"It sounds like a much better place than here," Max gave a small, sad laugh.
"So then let's do something about it," Kevin stood up properly.
Gwen likewise got to her feet. "There's just one more person we need to find and then we can go."
*I used the dates for the release of the original series as reference ^^;