Chapter Nine: Magic Ben and Omnitrix Gwen

Gwen looked at Ben. "That's…complicated." Gwen said to Ben with a nervous look as she intercepted looks of fear from her family. "Who's that guy, Gwen?" Frank asked her. Max looked at Frank. "He's a very dangerous human-like alien and his species, Chronosapiens, has control over time. They live outside of the Timestream." Max said with a dark look on his face. Gwen nodded. "That's ONE version of Eon, yes, but there's also a version of Eon that's…" Ben felt a shiver crawl up his spine. "A Ben 10,000 who siphoned the powers of time off his Professor Paradox and is searching Crosstime for Gwendolyn." Ben said as Gwen nodded in surprise. Frank and the rest of the family minus Max and Xylene looked at Gwen and Ben in confusion. "Professor Paradox?" Ben's eyes burned intensely. "That's a long story. Don't ask, Uncle Frank." Ben said as his fist tightened. Ben relaxed when Gwen put a hand on his shoulder. "You straightened him out, Ben." Gwen said soothingly. "Relax." Ben was tempted to ask if she used Magic to make him turn to putty at her words. Magic or no, Ben felt the anger leave him as Gwen spoke to him. "Thanks, Dweeb." He said with a smile.

Gwen kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "Anytime, Doofus. I'm going to see if I can pin down where Eon is in the Multiverse." When Gwen went to her bedroom, Frank looked at her in confusion. Natalie gritted her teeth and answered her husband's silent question. "Gwen has to sleep for the spell to work. I accidentally was pulled into her mind. That's how I found out about…" She gave an angry look at her nephew. Xylene, in turn, glared back at Natalie, daring the woman to strike Ben. "How long will this take?" Ben shrugged. "Hard to say." Ben felt another cold shiver run down his spine. Charmcaster is here. The boy thought as he looked toward Gwen's room ran as quickly as he could in that direction.

Gwen looked around her black dreamscape and shivered. "Hello, Gwen." The orange-haired girl turned to face her arch-nemesis. "You know? I can't pass this opportunity up." Charmcaster neared Gwen. The girl didn't move. "Do what you want! You're not getting to Ben again!" Charmcaster grinned and laughed. "Oh, I already have." Gwen looked at Charmcaster in confusion as the elder witch waved her hand. Gwen growled in anger as her view slowly changed. "Enjoy the show, Red." Charmcaster's disembodied voice spoke before Gwen looked at the alternate timeline before her.

"Charmcaster," Gwen growled as she prepared to watch yet another reality unfold in front of her eyes. An Alternate Gwendolyn was fighting Charmcaster. "Charmcaster and I are fighting." Gwen observed. "Nice start…" When Benjamin and an alien ran up to the fight, Gwendolyn didn't even acknowledge Benjamin. Passively, Gwen thought, I wonder if this is another reality where Charmcaster and I end up together. Gwen banished the thought and returned to the fight in front of her. Charmcaster and Gwendolyn tried to release spells at the same time. The resulting combination of two partial spells rang a bell in Gwen's mind. That spell…marks soulmates. Gwen thought as the alien, Benjamin, Gwendolyn, and Charmcaster were thrown back by the resulting explosion. The Omnitrix slipped off Benjamin's arm Gwen looked on in shock as the Omnitrix then proceeded to fuse itself to Gwendolyn. As the four people woke up, Gwendolyn roused and saw the Omnitrix was now on her wrist. Gwendolyn's younger counterpart wasn't nearly as interested in that development as the strange mystical tattoo that her older alternate gained. It matched the primary fur color of the alien. Gwen blanched and bit back fear as she dared to look at Benjamin. The teen was covered in a magenta rune pattern. Ben looked at his hands and smiled, "I always knew in the back of my mind Kai wasn't right for me." Benjamin said with a smile. Gwen's eyes widened as she saw green lines across Charmcaster's body. Gwen narrowed her eyes at the sight.

"Charmcaster!" Gwen growled as her eyes burned with blue power. Gwen was shocked when the four people turned to look in her direction. Did they hear me? The alien looked at the others. "Did you not just hear a voice?" The other three nodded. Gwen shook her head. "You Doofus!" Benjamin looked at Charmcaster and smiled, "Hope…" Benjamin mumbled before he chuckled and shook his head. "Oh…the irony." Gwen couldn't believe what she was seeing! Benjamin's eyes suddenly glowed with magenta power. "I knew it! You brain-washed him!" Gwen growled with a glare. That hope died when Benjamin said, "Ostendo Specialis!" Benjamin looked through the Magic window and sighed. "Gwen, don't freak out!" Gwen shook her head. "You're mine." She said quietly. Benjamin chuckled. "Crosstime is tricky. In my reality, Charmcaster is the one for me. Stop freaking out, Dweeb." Benjamin smiled at her. "Go back to YOUR Ben, and tell your Charmcaster…" Benjamin dropped his voice to a whisper. Gwen's eyes widened, and she blushed.

When Gwen woke up, she saw Ben looking at her. "Charmcaster attacked you. Didn't she?" Gwen nodded and held Ben tight. "Don't let her talk you into ANYTHING." Ben took a half step back at Gwen's unintended venom. "She showed you a reality where she and I were together instead of us, Gwen?" Gwen only nodded and hugged Ben tighter. Well, Charmcaster is a lot like Gwen. Ben thought as he held Gwen. "He wasn't even brainwashed into it!" Gwen said with a shiver as she looked into Ben's eyes. "Dweeb," Ben said. "I'm here now." He said gently. "I don't like this." Ben said as he looked at Gwen with pain in his eyes. "I think you need to dissolve the Time Spell." He said as he kissed Gwen. "Are you sure? We may not be able to counter Eon unless we know he's coming in advance!"

Ben looked into his love's eyes as his own hardened. "Charmcaster has attacked us both through your Time Spell. We were asleep, vulnerable in all points. We can't afford to be caught off point because we are still licking wounds from Charmcaster when Eon attacks -either version." Ben looked at Gwen. "It's more than tactic, Gwen." Ben said as he brushed her bangs out of her eyes and plundered the depths of those beautiful green orbs with his own. "I hate how these Alternate Timelines keep putting you in doubt, Dweeb." Ben grinned. "I will ALWAYS love you. You don't need to change every Ben in the Multiverse." Tears began to stream down Ben's face. "I'm right here! D-don't you *hiccup* ever forget that!"

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