The Anodite Within
AN: Thank you to hardrocker21 for leaving a review, I appreciate it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or anything related to Ben 10.
"Die" Kevin choked, turning to Gwen where she remained motionless up against the wall.
"There's nothing we can do for her now," King Orote spoke, motioning his Miners of Vast to assist Dreca in constructing a stone cell reinforced with dwarven runes. "She must be left to her fate. The Cimmerian War must be our main priority here."
"Agreed, the war is of utmost importance, the very survival of our world depends on the outcome," Queen Teria replied sternly.
"NO!" Kevin bellowed. "We've been pulled into this world of beings that only exist in kids' fairytales to help fight a war against a race nobody has ever heard off or knows anything about! Gwen gets caught in this guys mind bond, control, whatever the hell it is, and you want me to just walk away, fight your war, and leave her to die?" He asked in disbelief.
Queen Teria stood. "I don't know these stories of yours, but death is part of life, and this is war, some causalities are to be expected. Don't think she will be the first, nor the last. But don't let her death be in vain."
Kevin clenched his fists. "She will NOT die!" He stormed over to Gwen to gently cup her cheek. "Fight him off, Gwen," he whispered to her, "You're stronger than this." Hardening his face, he turned to Ben. "Come on Tennyson, don't you have an alien in that watch of yours that can do something?"
Ben slowly shook his head. "The only alien that could help would be Ghostfreak, but I have no control with him and we can't take the risk of letting him loose in this world."
Kevin punched the wall getting his frustration out. "Amperi. What about Amperi?"
"Amperi can only allow me to read minds. If this is a battle for mind control, only she can fight it, Kevin. Ever since Lucubra and Diagon, she's been strengthening her mental defenses. She can take care of herself, but right now we fight a war, that's what we were called here for." He glanced once more at Gwen before heading back to the group to discuss strategies.
Kevin turned back to Gwen. "You better not die on me." He ran his fingers along one of the bruises on her face before following Ben.
In Gwen's Mind
Images were flashing by her mind's eye to fast to focus on any of them, making it difficult for her to concentrate on anything. Gritting her teeth, she found her bearing and was able to make the images stop, finding herself standing on a rock at the lake where her grandfather used to take her and Ben. It was a place she felt safe, so she was not surprised to find this as her minds safe haven.
She could feel the pressure on her mind from the Cimmerian. He had got past her initial walls of protection and was inside her mind, it made her feel sick. Her deepest most secure place had been violated by this intruder. Her eyes glowed pink as she raised an arm, the hand also glowing pink with her manna. Scanning her mind, her power easily latched onto the intruder and with a simple thought, she appeared behind him in the middle of the park she loved playing at as a child.
Immediately getting into a fighting stance, she threw a manna disc at his back to get his attention. The manna disc shattered as soon as it made contact with his skin. Gwen's eyes narrowed as the man slowly turned to face her. She hadn't been up against too many enemies where her manna at this level had absolutely no effect.
"Get out of my mind," Gwen demanded, watching him closely for any sign of attack.
"That command is not possible; too much knowledge to be gained."
"I said GET OUT!" She raised both her hands above her head, charging a manna sphere, and sent it flying towards him. To Gwen's surprise, he managed to catch her manna sphere and send it racing back at her. She barely had enough time to roll to the side and dodge the splinters of the tree that exploded behind her.
"You are strong to have lasted this long, but I am stronger and will win in the end. Defeat, for you, is inevitable."
Gwen gritted her teeth. "You may be in my mind. You may be able to get information from me and about me, but you DO NOT know me." She jumped up and charged him, jumping in the air doing a roundhouse kick followed by an uppercut and leg sweep, all of which he blocked with lightning speed. Gwen moved to do a jab when he attacked with his own roundhouse kick, getting her right in the stomach and sending her flying a couple feet landing on her back, the wind knocked out of her.
Clenching her fists, she stood back up glaring at her opponent. Bringing her hands together in front of her, she sent a strong stream of manna down to the ground, propelling her through the air and towards the male Cimmerian. With manna behind her kick, she aimed for his head. His arm shot up, grabbed her ankle and forced her to the ground, aiming a punch for her head. She moved just in time, her eyes glowing pink as her anger grew.
Wisps of manna wound their way around the Cimmerian, the wisps that shattered were replaced by ones stronger, lifting the male off her and sent him flying into a tree. Gwen rose, her eyes glowed a dark pink with manna sparking out the sides as her anodite side started to take over, glided towards the tree as the man rose, a bit surprised.
"I told you to leave my mind!" Gwen's voice rang as both Gwen and the anodite combined.
"I was made to outlast all," the Cimmerian replied, shooting into the air.
Gwen grinned. "A chase is always fun, too bad for you, I don't have time." She whispered deadly. She levitated into the air, sending a manna tendril after the Cimmerian, wrapping around his leg and throwing him to the ground, causing many cracks to spread out from beneath him from the force. Landing next to him, she focused her glowing eyes on him. "I will give you one last chance to get out of my head!"
"You cannot hurt me." He replied. "I was made to outlast all. You can do nothing." He rose, snapping his head both ways to crack his neck and got ready to attack.
Gwen had had enough. Her body was surrounded by a bright pink light as manna tendrils appeared around her head, her skin flaking of, like it was being burned away, leaving a floating purple form that let off a soft glow. "You have no idea what I'm capable of!" At a mere thought, the Cimmerian was entrapped in manna and levitated into the air and brought face to face with the anodite in her true form. "You will get out of my head NOW!" With a massive manna ball, she hit him in the stomach, sending him flying, disappearing as the pressure was lifted from her brain, her anodite form able to be free.
Back with Ben and Kevin
The two teenage boys stood with the others present going over the best plan of attack.
"I say we split them up, put them where they will be of most use," Queen Amil added her opinion, "the Omnitrix wearer with the Elements; the absorber with us elves."
"First of all," Ben cut in, "we have names, want our help, use them. Second, we are a team, we work best together. Lastly, what about my cousin?"
King Jos stood. "Your friend, Gwen," he started, looking from Ben to Gwen, "is in no condition to be of assistance. There is no guarantee she will even survive her current ordeal. By all accounts, she should already be dead."
"That's enough death talk!" Kevin shouted. "She aint dying! She's strong, she'll get through this!" He glanced at her. "She'll come back to me," he added softly to himself.
"If she survives and makes it to battle, we will put her –"
"With us dwarves," King Orote cut Queen Teria off, earning him a glare from the Queen of Faes.
"There you have it," Queen Amil addressed the group. Turning to Kevin, "Your name, abosrober?"
Kevin crossed his arms, "Kevin," he replied coolly. "But you're crazy if you think I'm leaving Gwen here alone."
King Jos placed a hand on Queen Amil's shoulder, drawing her back. "You must understand, Kevin," he started as he walked forward, "she will die a warriors death, there is no greater honor. Do not disgrace her spirit by refusing to fight."
"She aint dead yet, and she aint gonna die! But believe me, if she does, and she aint, but if she does, nothing will stop me from killing anything and anyone who causes her death!" He turned on his heel and started back towards Gwen.
Brutus started to follow him, when Ben stepped in front of him. "I've been dealing with Kevin for a long time now, let me talk to him." Brutus nodded as Ben chased after Kevin, stopping him.
"Get away from me Tennyson."
"We got a job to do here, Kevin."
"Screw it! This isn't our home, it isn't even our universe. Look at her, Ben; she wouldn't be fighting for her life if we weren't needed to fight a war here. There isn't even anything we can do to help her!"
"She knew the risks when she agreed to be a Plumber. She will be fine, Gwen's a fighter. But you know she would do anything to help, to make sure the job was done and that everyone was safe, even if it meant giving her life in the process." Ben paused, running his hand through his hair. "I don't like saying or doing this anymore than you, but we need to leave her here and trust that she will fight through this."
"I just don't –"he stopped as a blinding pink and purple glow took over the room, radiating from Gwen. Everyone in the room shielded their eyes until the light died down. Kevin and Ben had a good idea what happened. "She didn't."
"She did," Ben said, noticing his cousin's human skin on the floor, her anodite form levitating above it.
Manna tendrils shot out towards the trapped Cimmerian. Dreca and the dwarves dived out of the way as the tendrils shattered the stone cell and broke through the dwarven runes, to wrap around the Cimmerian and pulled him to her. "My mind is off limits!" She threw a manna ball at him right as the tendrils released him, sending him crashing to the floor.
"Her power is remarkable," Flurina said to her fellow masters as they watched the fight, prepared to jump in if need be.
'Quite," Forca agreed. "She would be most useful."
"We need to get her to calm down and fast," Kevin said to Ben as they ran to her.
"Gwen, listen to me," Ben said. "You need to stop, you need to go back to you human form."
"You'll lose your sanity, you'll lose everything about being human, Gwen," Kevin added with urgency.
Manna arrows shot out her fingers at the Cimmerian, going right through him, leaving him lifeless. The two boys looked at her with slightly widened eyes at what she had just done. Slowly she turned to face them.
"I can do so much more like this!" Her voice rang out with glee.
"But you haven't mastered these powers; now isn't the time to try," Ben replied, close to begging, knowing the danger that his cousin was in.
"No, Ben, you're wrong. You knew nothing about the omnitrix until you started using it. This is no different."
"It's completely different!" Kevin yelled. "Ben had no chance of losing who he was, you do."
"Sunny was able to do it and so can I."
The Element Masters flew forward. "If we may," Lauric addressed the two boys. "She is quite powerful in her true form and would be a huge asset to our team for this war."
"Absolutely not!" Kevin replied. "She risks losing too much by staying as an anodite."
"Kevin's right," Ben nodded. "She's a member of our team, she's a Plumber, and she has a family to get back to. There's too much of a risk."
"Warriors take risks everyday of their life. It is their job to fight and lay down their life, so that everyone else may live. That is the way of the warrior, the protector, the guardian, the plumber. Whichever name you choose to give to them, their mission remains the same," Spury replied.
"Be that as it may," Ben answered, "she needs to survive this and make it back home. To do that, she must return to her body before it gets destroyed forever."
"We weren't really asking you," Forca cut in, crossing her arms. "It's more like a proposition for Gwen. It is her power after all. Only she can choose where her fate takes her." All five of the them focused their eyes on Gwen.
"Think about this, Gwen," Kevin pleaded.
"You know what grandma said," Ben added. "You need to be trained. You saw how out of control Sunny was."
"We can easily train you," Dreca cut in. "We have full elemental power in us and have only ourselves to train us. It's no different with you."
"It's time I embrace who I am," Gwen said to the two boys.
"No, Gwen," Kevin approached her. Gwen landed in front of him as he brought her in for a hug. "I don't want to lose you."
"There's no guarantee that you even would. I can do this while maintaining my humanity. They need me."
"I need you."
Gwen pulled away. "I need to do this." She backed away slowly, summoning a shield around her and the elements, taking back to the air.
"What say you, Gwen?" Flurina asked, the elements circling around her. "Join as a Master?"
Gwen glanced down at Ben and Kevin once more. "I will join you for this war, as I am, as anodite. But I must return with my team after this war is over."
The elements smiled. "Let the training begin then! We have much to do and not much time to do it!" Spury said. The elements all disappeared in their signature way. Gwen gave a weak smile to the boys before finding the elements manna trail and disappeared in a flash of light.
Kevin hung his head, picking up Gwen's skin.
"What are you doing?" Ben asked.
"She'll need it if she can come back to me, us," he replied softly, heading for the elves.
Ben looked one last time at where his could used to be. "I hope she's right," he whispered. "I don't even want to think about how the family will react if this doesn't work the way she hopes." Turning on his heel he headed back towards Queen Teria.
"The Element Masters have chosen their new member," Queen Teria said to Ben. "You will be assisting the dwarves with prep of all traps and explosives, then join the elves on the battle ground once the first strike has been made. Stay brave, Warrior Ben, we have a long war ahead of us." She nodded her head and took her leave.
"This is where we part ways," Brutus bowed to him. "Until we meet again for battle." Ben bowed back to him.
"You better hope nothing happens to Gwen, Tennyson," Kevin threatened, falling in behind Luis, still cradling Gwen's empty body.
King Orote approached him. "Come Ben, we have much work. The time for battle is near upon us. You'll want to be fully prepared."
Ben shuffled his feet as he fell in with the dwarves. He had a very unsettling feeling. Everything had changed so fast, the only question on his mind now was if it would ever go back to the way it was. He just couldn't see that happening. Gwen was lost. Her anodite form would slowly destroy her humanity, he just couldn't see ever getting Gwen back, no matter how much he wished he was wrong.
