Chapter Four: Faith
Max looked at Gwen in mild shock at what the ten year old girl did. "What?" Gwen asked with an innocent smile."I am not going into the system for any time." She said with a mild glare at Max. The old man sighed and smiled at her. "Can we continue with the road trip, Grandpa?" Ben asked as he looked at Max. "Yes…we can." He said kindly with a smile. "Take good care of Ben, Dad. We'll meet you back at the house, barring any 'pit stops"." Carl told his father with a smile as the old man chuckled. "I think Gwen will make sure of that, son." Max said with a smile. As Ben and Gwen boarded The Rustbucket again, Carl and Sandra waved at them. As Ben looked around and did not see Lily and Frank, he got a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach but ignored it for the time being.
In a place just out of sight, a young boy with raven hair and dark demented eyes that flickered with blue arcs of energy as he watched the three leave was joined by two figures covered in shadow. Author's Note: I know this doesn't make sense, but in my timeline, Kevin used the Omnitrix energy to break out of the Null Void and, in the process, reverted to his human form. One was female and the other male. "Follow them." The man said as a little sunlight spilled in a rectangular form on his face and revealed the man and woman to be none other than Frank and Lily Tennyson! The boy nodded, asked "I will get all the energy I want by getting her back?" As the worst parents in the universe nodded, the boy brought a nearby car to life with his energy, jumped into it, and began to tail the Rustbucket as Frank and Lily watched the boy leave with smiles on their faces. "There goes a great kid, Lily." Frank said with a laugh. "He will get our daughter back, Lily. Don't worry."
Back in the Rustbucket, Ben was antsy as the feeling of unease continued to plague him. Ben continued to watch their six even as Max and Gwen tried to calm him down. "This is a time to celebrate." Max told him with a smile. "I don't know, Grandpa." Ben said with a sigh. "I can't shake the feeling something's going to happen." Gwen smiled and gripped Ben's hand that was closest to her. "Relax, Ben. Just enjoy the time." She told him with a look he couldn't resist. Ben smiled sheepishly and sat by her on the couch. "That's better." She said with a gentle smile as she held him. "After all the crap we went through, I'm not going anywhere." Gwen told him as he gave her a thankful smile. "Let's get back home." Ben said with a nervous tone as he looked around. Max nodded in the boy's direction. "You got it, Ben." He said as he hid a worried expression behind a smile. Loboan instincts are rarely wrong. Max thought as he mentally prepared for a fight.
As they were about to drop Ben off, Gwen saw that a car screeched to a halt behind them. She tensed for a long moment as time slowed. One foot got out of the car then another. Energy sparked off of the car's metal exterior. Gwen's heart jumped in her throat as Kevin got out. This made Gwen's blood run cold. Ben instantly flared. "What are you doing here?" Ben growled with a deadly glare aimed at Kevin. "I was hired to get Gwen." Kevin said with a dark chuckle. "You won't touch her!" Ben growled as he barred his fangs and went to his Loboan half. "Oh. Benji's got some new tricks." Ben snarled at the psychopath and ran at the kid. Kevin chuckled and created a ball of energy and threw it at Ben. The boy was too slow and caught the current to the face. Gwen shivered as Ben's hair stood on end, let out a scream of pain, and seemingly lost consciousness. Please, trust me, Gwen. Ben thought as he concentrated to stay as still as possible.
Unfortunately, the fake out was too effective. Gwen screamed when she saw Ben fall to the ground. "Ben!" She yelled out as she began to cry. "Aw…" Kevin mocked. "Did I break your boyfriend, Gwen?" Gwen just glared furiously at him as her hands glowed brightly with magical energy. "Oh, I'm so scared." Kevin said in mock fear. "You should be." Gwen growled darkly as her eyes glowed with the energy in her body. Kevin ignored her with his focus solely on Ben. As Kevin leaned over to gloat, Ben grabbed him by the throat. "If you want to kill me, you need to hit harder than that." Ben said as he began to squeeze Kevin's neck. "Benji, don't be so stupid." Kevin growled as he kicked Ben away with an energized impact. Ben groaned and glared at the maniac. Gwen glared at Kevin and blew him away with a spell. Kevin flipped, landed on his feet, and charged at Gwen. "You're coming with me!" Kevin growled as he captured Gwen and drained her enough to knock her out.
Ben glared at the boy and sighed. "Grandpa," Ben yelled as The Rustbucket screeched to a rolling stop. "Kevin's got Gwen!" Ben said "Get in." Max told him with a firm look as Ben jumped into the passenger seat and looked out the windshield worriedly. "There's no telling what he wants her for." Ben said with a fearful look. "We'll get her back." Max told Ben as they chased Kevin. "I've had enough of this!" Ben growled as he went XLR8 and shot of after Kevin. Gwen shivered as she woke up and looked around. "W-where am I?" Gwen groaned as she sat up and looked around. Then, she heard Kevin chuckle and shivered. "They didn't say you had to be alive." Kevin said with a dark chuckle as he pulled into Frank and Lily's house. As Gwen tried to bolt, Kevin gripped her arm and began to drain her. Frank and Lily walked out with fear on their faces. "Kevin, stop." Gwen pleaded as she started to pale and fought to stay conscious. "Ben, help me." She said in a weak voice. "Right here, Gwen." Ben said as he glared at Kevin and knocked him back with a burst of speed. Gwen went flying and passed out before she hit the ground. Frank and Lily looked in horror as they held their daughters limp body in fear. "We didn't want this!" Lily screamed.
"I was done with her anyway." Kevin said with a glare aimed at Gwen's parents. "I brought her back. It time to pay up." Kevin said as Ben looked at Frank and Lily in shock. "How could you?' Ben growled as he and Kevin clashed. The Watch timed out, but that didn't stop Ben. He went Loboan and started to maul Kevin. Gwen groaned and looked up to see her Mom holding her. The unexpected action freaked Gwen out and caused her to jump out of the woman's arms with a glare. "Faith…" Gwen growled. "You both need a good dose of it." She growled as she went to help Ben with Kevin. The two bewildered parents looked at the battle with wonder. Gwen covered Ben's holes in his attack. They flawlessly took down Kevin. Ben felt like he should offer the monster one last chance to amend things. Gwen looked at Ben with terror in her eyes. "Ben, this is stupid!" She yelled as he approached the boy. Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As Ben turned to leave the psychopath to his own misery when Kevin grabbed his wrist and remutated into his former, more fitting appearance.
"Thanks for the boost, Benji!" Kevin growled as he threw Ben into the wall. Gwen looked at Grandpa Max with a shiver as she saw him dogged a blast of fire from Kevin. Gwen glared at the monster and took out her spell book with a deadly glare. "Ben may have hope, but I've felt your hunger. It's time to end this!" Gwen said as her eyes glowed brightly with power as it ran through her. "Syphosis!" Gwen cried out. Energy tendrils shot out from her fingers and lacked onto him. "Let's see how you like it!" Gwen yelled really pissed by now. She took the mystic lines and attacked them to the Omnitrix. As the energy was pulled out of Kevin and put back in the Watch, Ben groaned. "Still the optimistic one, hey Ben." She said with a glare that quickly melted into a relieved grin. "What were you thinking?" She growled. Ben slowly stood and looked at her with sad eyes. "I thought he was like Vader, misguided but ultimately able to return to the light." Gwen sighed and shook her head. "Not everything has a happy ending, Ben." Max said as he walked up to them, glared at Frank and Lily, and got between them in a protective stance.
"What were you thinking?!" Max growled at his son, furious. "Dad, we wanted our daughter back." Frank said with a glare aimed at him. Max shook his head in annoyance. "So, to get her back, you hired a psychopath who would like nothing more than to kill Ben and Gwen?!" Lily blinked as it finally clicked in her head. "That's how he knew so much about Ben. I figured they were just friends." Gwen stared at her Mom in utter shock. "No red flags went off when he started the car without being in it and DROVE off? He can barely see over the dash!" Gwen said to the woman with a glare that could melt steel. She shook her head and walked over to Ben to cool off. Ben smiled at her and kissed her gently. As their lips met, Gwen's fury left, and she smiled at Ben contently.
Frank and Lily hated to admit it, but Ben was a good choice for her. Ben noticed their contemplative looks and walked over. Frank sighed. "We're sorry, Ben. You will be great for our daughter." Ben looked him in the eye. "If that was your attempt at an apology, it won't work!" His Loboan form began to bleed through in response to his anger. "You hired our most hated enemy to kidnap Gwen and get her back to you!" Ben glared at them with furious burning rage in his eyes. "Someday, I may forgive you, but it won't be any time soon!" He growled as he fought the instinct to maul them for putting Gwen in such danger. A gently hand on his shoulder and Gwen's kind voice quelled the desire. "Come on, Ben," she said with a smile. "I'll walk you home." Ben grinned at her. "Fine by me!" Ben said with a grin as she slipped her hand in his.
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