I know I have left you all waiting for this. So here we go. The long-awaited battle begins now…
Chapter 10 - The Siege of Bellwood
Chaos and pandemonium broke free and raged. The army of the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid charged forward, their master following in their wake.
At Max's word, Azmuth leaped off his shoulder and scampered over the ground back towards the Rustbucket to finish construction of the shield generator the Galvan had been in the process of building on their way to meeting the enemy.
Kevin grasped his hand onto Max's armour, calling on his body to take on the physical attributes and strength of the specially designed steel. His clenched hand transformed into metal. The molecules in his flesh, blood and bone adapted rapidly, allowing the foreign material in and accepting it as the more logical and basic structure for Kevin's body. Inch by inch, the steel travelled up his arm, converting everything along the path to take on its cellular makeup; forearm, elbow, upper arm and shoulder, all of it became steel itself. The steel made its way into Kevin's abdomen where it fulfilled its most major work, transmogrifying his chest, stomach and hips in the same manner it had changed his arm and giving itself passage into his three remaining limbs and his head. Completely and definitively, he transformed into a man of metal. Ordering his arms to lengthen into spears, replacing his hands with razor-sharp points, Kevin dove into the enemy, barrelling past the first line and into conflict.
Helen dashed in after him, knocking stone creatures and energy beings alike over as she propelled herself past them at lightning speed. Manny grinned at her unnatural ferocity and produced a blaster pistol in each of his four hands. "Oh yeah, come and get some!" he roared, pulling at the triggers multiple times and sending a spray of bolts at the hybrid's army as they closed in.
Adjusting the Omnitrix to an alien of his selection, Ben followed Kevin and Helen in their countercharge. Finding the alien he wanted, he pressed his palm down hard on the watch. The hybrid's army halted in surprise as the green flash signifying his transformation occurred, stepping back to prepare to counter whatever threat they were about to face.
No preparation could have helped them, they realised as they all inaudibly gaped with horror as Ben's skin colour turned red and grey, his eyes from green to yellow, and his height extending to two hundred times its normal measure. All were helpless as Ben changed into Way Big, smashing through their numbers as he reached his towering size. Way Big swung his arm outward, collecting dozens more and sent them flying.
Way Big stood, eyeing the eldritch being that was once his cousin.
"Call them off," he demanded.
"Never," the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid spoke emotionlessly, turning to its soldiers below. "My army, bring Ben Tennyson to ground."
Forgetting their cautious fear, the stone golems obeyed, lunging at Way Big as though they were a rabid pack of animals. The energy beings aided their brothers, raising their hands and firing projectiles of mana. Way Big frowned and swung his arm in a downward arc, cutting yet another path through the hybrid's creatures.
Realising the powerful opposition Way Big presented on his own, those not engaging him directly concentrated on resuming their charge past him and onward to the Plumbers' defensive line. Way Big caught sight of them and turned to stop them. The several few lucky to avoid his swipe continued unheeded. Line after line followed suit, leaving Way Big surrounded by those charging around him and those that were attacking him.
From their defensive line, the Plumbers opened fire, bringing down many with blaster bolts. Alan brought forth his fireballs, raining them over the creatures' heads. To their surprise and alarm, whenever they successfully struck any of the energy beings in the melee, the monsters exploded. Ship calculated the danger and ran over to Julie, beeping worriedly at her. Julie nodded to him. He threw himself at her, his form expanding and wrapping around her until he converted his body into the shape of her mecha battlesuit. Kai, a witness to it, felt her mouth falling open as she was wowed by the sight. Her amazed expressions changed into a grin as she remarked, "That is so awesome."
Julie found herself smiling at the other girl through her battlesuit's visor. "Thanks."
The two turned warily back to the fight as the enemy made the final approach to the line. The golems and energy beings tore through it with reckless ease.
:*:
The hybrid watched uncaringly as the battle unfolded before it. Inwardly, Ghostfreak grinned. There was no guilt, no remorse that the heart he held mastery over felt. More evidence that his scheme to lure Gwen into trusting him and giving him her body worked better than he ever imagined, he thought with pleasured satisfaction. Gwen had been unable to resist his takeover and fight back with any measure of power. For once, it had all been so easy for him to overcome her and lock her away in the isolated cell he had provided for her inside her own mind. He was sure that even now, she was in there, witnessing all he was seeing, crying out to her loved ones and begging them for forgiveness as her body was being used by him in the battle against them.
Yes, he thought. All the feelings his body was experiencing were his own. There was no rush of terror as the Plumbers were swarmed by the creatures he fashioned from either stone or mana. There was no concern for Ben, Kevin and Helen as they battled amidst its forces, unable to seek aid from one another as the number of opponents far outweighed their singular. There was only his clinical observation of the conflict, noting in turn all of his adversaries were distracted enough for him to proceed. At last he displayed a reaction; a slight grin etched onto the hybrid's face as it looked at what it deemed its most potential obstacle. Way Big was now being attacked on all sides by its creations, his efforts focused on destroying their ranks with his long arms.
The Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid scoffed. The alien had entirely forgotten about tangling with it. Good, it thought, facing in the direction of Bellwood. After all that was what it had created its army for; to distract all the heroes while it targeted Charmcaster.
Satisfied its army was achieving their objective, the hybrid moved forward, gliding unhindered through the sky, its pointed tail wiggling in anticipation of its victory.
A shadow crossed its path as a hooded figure rose up to confront it.
The hybrid stopped, its sharp pink eyes glaring into a pair of black-and-yellow ones. Hex glared back stoically, one arm at his side and the other clutching his staff.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Hex asked impassively.
The creature before him scowled, its teeth gleaming dangerously. Hex remained still, anticipating the fury of his opponent's attack. The hybrid tensed and lowered into a curved angle to prepare a lunge. Hex moved his staff arm to his back as he put the other arm in front of him, forming a defensive stand. The hybrid flared its eyes at him, its scowl melting away to develop an open, strangled roar. It leaped forward.
Hex swung his staff around, batting the hybrid over the head. He placed his hand against its chest and emitted a pulse of mana in through its ribs. The hybrid shrieked as the impact forced itself back. Opening its eyes, it managed to catch the sorceror's next assault; Hex thrust his staff towards its chest, the top encircled in a field of black energy.
The hybrid swerved itself out of the way. Hex turned and performed a second thrust. The hybrid dodged. Glowering at Hex, it decided it was getting thoroughly annoyed at being delayed from hunting Charmcaster. Spitting out another enraged roar, it attacked with a stronger intent to finish things.
:*:
Carl Tennyson was sweating like mad.
Since leaving the others behind at the battle lines and driving away with Sandra and Hope in the family car, he switched on the radio to listen out for any troubles that the road traffic of anyone trying to get out of Bellwood might cause them. For a time, the trip was intensely silent. In a way he wasn't surprised by that. It was obvious that all of their thoughts were based on the people they had left behind for the sake of keeping Hope safe. Every time Carl took a glance in the rearview mirror after checking on his morbidly quiet wife, he noticed the girl in question had turned to gaze anxiously through the back window. He tried to think of something to say that could relieve the two of them, but eventually he gave up, having found nothing he could say without sounding hypocritical, and he settled back on driving.
Then, to his bewilderment, Sandra broke the tension.
"You're driving us home?" she exclaimed suddenly.
"Uh, yes," Carl answered in confusion.
"No. No, no, no, no, no," Sandra argued. "Home would be the first place Gwen would expect us to go to. And if she expects that, then so would that monster."
"So where then?" Carl raised his voice, keeping his eyes to the road. "Frank and Natalie's?"
"No. That would be the second place she'd expect us to go. Not to mention we would be giving Gwen, Ghostfreak or whatever that thing is, a home-field advantage by going there."
"Okay then. Well, if you know one place Gwen wouldn't think to look that's safe, I'd love to hear it."
"Um, Carl, Sandra?" Hope spoke up quietly.
Sandra turned around to the girl while Carl glanced momentarily at her reflection in the mirror. "Yes, Hope?"
"How about my uncle's place?" Hope suggested. "Gwen would be thinking to look in all the places you two would take me to first. It's a good chance she'd think you wouldn't know enough about it to go there."
Both the Tennysons eyed one another, considering her idea. To them it was true that they did not know where Hex lived so Gwen would probably not depend on labelling it as a search location because of that. But that was the operative word: probably. Because while the two of them did not know, Hope did and Gwen would know that, which would have Ghostfreak note it as a place to look after all.
"Is it safe?" Carl asked Hope.
"Yes," she nodded. "Uncle Hex has magical barriers set there to keep the house and everything inside it protected. I can activate them once we get there, so even if Gwen does find us, she and Ghostfreak are going to have to work very hard to get past them."
Carl whistled. "A literal fortress in suburbia, huh?" he joked, drawing a laugh from both women.
"Yeah, I guess," Hope chuckled.
Carl looked at Sandra for reassurance and agreement. His wife nodded. "Okay then, one sorceror's house, here we come," he decided.
Sandra giggled. "Hope, you better give him directions, otherwise he'll get us lost."
"Honey, this isn't Spider Lake, Washington. This is Bellwood. I can't get us lost here."
"Take a right here, Carl," Hope pointed ahead. As Carl turned to take the corner, she leaned in close to Sandra and whispered in interest, "Spider Lake, Washington?"
With a second giggle, Sandra regaled her with the story of a camping holiday they and Ben took to Washington State when Ben was six years old. Carl had wanted to do a little fishing at the aforementioned Spider Lake, one of his favourite childhood spots to fish with Max and Frank, but because it had been so long since his last visit, he had forgotten the forest authority did not allow motorized vehicles at the lake itself, meaning the area was only accessible by way of a walking trail. Inevitably, without this knowledge, Carol missed the trail's entrance and parking spot.
Due to Carl's stubborn refusal to use a GPS or look at a map as he wanted to rely on his memory, they ended up driving in circles around the Olympic National Forest until they got to view from a distance what Carl thought was Spider Lake. When he mentioned that it was a lot bigger than he remembered, Sandra activated the car's GPS with an impatient huff and selected the "Where Am I?" option. A quick survey of the image that appeared caused her to scowl and she directed her husband to look at the screen. Cluelessly, he read the lake's name.
Lake Cushman.
"And where was Lake Cushman?" Hope asked, smirking knowingly.
"About forty two miles northeast of Spider Lake," Sandra frowned. "And believe me, between a stubborn husband and a six year old boy throwing a tantrum, that was a very bad day to be a wife and mother."
Hope covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud, unaware that Sandra was smiling and glancing at her husband as the two of them listened to her reaction. Carl fumed under his breath, "One mistake and you're marked for life."
Sandra raised an eyebrow, hearing him and said loudly to Hope, "Remember, dear. You're supposed to be giving Carl directions."
Hope gave her a thumbs-up.
Carl grumbled.
:*:
Her growl echoing within the confines of her battlesuit, Julie aimed her blast cannon and dispatched in turn five golems and three energy beings. Another two golems came barrelling at her; one she punched into rubble, the other she threw metres away into an energy being. The energy being exploded on contact, taking the two of them.
"Ship? How are the others doing?"
The Mechamorph responded, blurting out in several bleeps to her question. Julie processed everything. Ben was fine, transformed into Way Big, mostly unaffected by the enemy attacking him. Hex was engaged in a one-on-one fight with the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid. Manny and Kevin were in the thick of it, battling back to back. Alan was still in the air, attacking from above but getting surrounded and assailed by enemy fire. Max, Frank and Natalie Tennyson, and the Plumbers were attempting to keep the enemy contained to the battlefield, failing at times as more and more creatures stormed their way through to enter the town. Helen, due to her speed, kept transitioning between two roles: fighting on the frontline and getting the wounded to the aid station. Kai, the ally nearest her location, was also locked in conflict.
All the information now in her mind, Julie wondered what she should do. From Ship's analysis, it sounded like Alan was getting into big trouble and the Plumbers, being only armed with blaster weapons, could use a great deal of her assistance. But there was one concern that was irking her; like the Plumbers, Kai was armed solely with blasters, two pistols if she recalled correctly, and she was stuck surrounded by enemy soldiers. All her other friends had their natural abilities or someone else alongside them to help them fight, but Kai was alone.
"Ship? Give me Kai's exact location!"
Ship beeped in reply. "Take me to her," Julie instructed. Ship beeped again in a positive answer and commanded the battlesuit to turn around and run to where he had scanned Kai to be.
"What's the condition of her pistols?" Julie asked when they were almost there. "How close is their power supply to being emptied?"
Ship issued a series of bleeps in answer.
"What do you mean they still have eighty-five percent power? What is she doing there?"
As she shoved two golems aside and Kai was finally in her view, Julie halted as she discovered for herself exactly what Kai was doing.
Facing down half a dozen golems and one energy being operating as the group's commander with an anticipating smirk on her features and a daring look in her eyes, Kai invited the enemy in with an air of confidence. All seven bounded in to attack at once.
In a practiced motion, Kai leaped away, twirling through the air as the seven closed in on what was now an empty space until she landed outside the circle they had formed and pointed the blaster in her right hand to the back of the energy being. The laser projectile she triggered struck dead on target. The energy being lurched, seizing upward as it exploded and obliterated two of the golems. Four opponents left, Kai dove back in, spinning both blasters in an arc and smashing the steel armaments through stone.
The four creatures fell, crumbling into piles of rubble around her.
"Wow," a stunned Julie gaped in amazement.
Ship was about to chirp in agreement, finding himself impressed with Kai's skills, until he detected a change in his mistress' emotions and held off. Almost at once, he put his internal scanners to work in investigating the source of the change. The analysis report answered that her heart rate had elevated in a number of beats per second, with an addendum noting this was known as a highly possible symptom of an organic lifeform developing a romantic attraction.
Developing a romantic attraction? Ship re-read the information. Confused by that particular find, he put in an order for a comparison between Julie's current heart rate, a randomly chosen time to get a normal reading, and one from whenever she was with Ben during their relationship.
The first and third were a close match.
Bearing a metaphorical teasing smile, he concluded he had the correct answer and directed his physical attention to Julie. Cheekily, he blurped several times in mischief.
Julie flinched, understanding his remark, and tilted her head up. "I do not," she told him off heatedly and intended to say more, but before she could express her denial further, a flash of pink appeared suddenly in the corner of her eye. Pulling the suit away from Kai to where she had seen the flash come from, Julie saw one of the energy beings stopping to gawk at the number of its brethren that had fallen to the athletic girl. A silent snarl forming on its mouth, it raised its arm and targeted the blast of mana being summoned from within its open palm at Kai's back. Julie did not need Ship's sensors to know Kai had no idea of the attack that would come from behind her.
"No!" she cried, bringing her left arm up. Ship reacted in unison with her, programming the armour alongside the limb to reform into its blaster cannon mode. Julie wasted no time upon its completion and fired.
Just as its prey was unaware of it, the energy being had no clue that Julie and Ship had spotted it making its sneak attack. It turned, hearing the whine of a laser blast that did not match the reverberation of mana or Plumber weaponry, and gaped in horror as the green jet of energy shot through the air toward it. The blast slammed into its body, combining Galvan Mechamorph power into its form. It was a power it was not created to hold. Before it could shout, the energy being blew up.
The explosion distracted Kai from singling out more opponents to engage and she peered over her shoulder, catching the last rays of pink-white light before they died away. Wondering what had happened, she turned fully. Then she saw Julie a short distance away from her, the blaster cannon housed around her arm pointed to where the energy being once stood.
It all clicked into place for her. The energy being was coming up behind her, readying to launch a surprise attack and Julie had seen its approach, moving to take it out before it could succeed in its strike. Julie had saved her.
The one thing though that did not make sense to Kai was that she was absolutely sure she had not seen Julie anywhere near her, especially not at that close a range. After all it would be difficult to miss the contrasting metallic black and green of the Mechamorph armour against the protective silver steel of the Plumbers' suits, the brown and grey stone skin of the golems, and the shining pink and white of the energy beings, even in the furore of the battle around her.
Julie lowered the blaster cannon, turning to look at her. With a start, Kai realised she was staring at the girl in awe, much like she had earlier when the battle began. Then, adding on to her surprise, she glimpsed Julie returning her amazement with a smile that looked to her as if it had been born from relief. Kai blinked for a temporary moment, trying to figure out for herself why Julie would even be showing relief in saving her. She did not get the time to ask; Julie's smile fell as Ship alerted her to the three golems coming at her. Julie rushed off to meet them, leaving Kai alone to her thoughts.
Kai looked on as Julie engaged the golems in physical combat, throwing fist after first at them. As the fight dragged on, she felt her confusion washing away. An entranced smile came to her lips as she heard Julie's battle growls, indicating to her the girl was devoting everything to conquering her opponents.
"Awesome," she whispered.
Another new feeling took root within her; an inspiration that she knew Julie had given her brought a rise of exhilaration to the surface, driving her to seek out her next challenge. Sighting a pair of energy beings nearby, Kai glanced back, grinning, "I hope you're watching, Julie Yamamoto."
:*:
As much as he liked to live for excitement, Alan had to admit an all-out battle like this was where he had to draw the line. Again, he thought grimly, remembering he had such thoughts two years ago in the final battle against the Highbreed and the DNAliens. That battle seemed somehow okay in hindsight as that one was basically a free-for-all combat; fight as hard as you can with the enemy and fall back if you got hurt or if the effort was overwhelming you. Today, that luxury was not available.
Responsibility was on his shoulders. With no other candidates for the job, especially with Ben playing as the berserker warrior, he was the Plumbers' sole figure of aerial support. It was left to him to form an assault from the sky, taking out scores of golems and energy beings left and right with his firebombs. As he soon discovered, that was not the only duty he had to perform.
Many times throughout the conflict thus far, he had sighted either Helen, Manny or Kevin being surrounded and he launched attacks to thin out enemy numbers and rescue his friends constantly from capture. His position in the air also still made him the most suitable for reconnaissance, keeping an eye on any advances the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid's army made.
The energy beings had realised the latter was an advantage they could no longer allow the Plumbers to have and sought to remove it. A contingency of them pulled away from the main force, dedicating their abilities to assaulting him. This was what was leading him to think the line had been drawn in the amount of action he would have liked to see; a consistent, rapidly periodic volley of energy blasts being hurled at him from the ground, forcing him to seek safety only through dodging.
"Max!" he pressed into his communicator, shouting to be heard over the din. "I'm taking fire up here!"
He waited for the response to come, shifting around array after array of mana blasts, knowing that if the magister gave him the order to retreat from his post, it would mean losing one of their major ways of keeping the monsters in check at the line. Getting him backup of course was not impossible, but it was unlikely as the enemy still clearly outnumbered the Plumbers in spite of his and Way Big's efforts.
"Get to ground," came Max's order. "You've got more mana beings coming up on your nine o'clock and two o'clock."
Alan nearly froze in terror, risking the time to look the two directions Max had named. Sure enough, in each of them, there was another contingency of energy beings assembling into position to strengthen the original's attack on him.
"Understood. Going to ground."
Propelling himself, he soared downward away from the three forces aiming to shoot him out of the sky. The energy beings reacted in anger, pulsing with growing fury that they had been unable to get him, and they started their combined attack early.
Hearing the series of mana blasts hurtling towards him, Alan groaned. "Don't like it when I'm not being an easy target, huh?"
:*:
At times, separately, Gwen and Ghostfreak had always been a handful for Hex. Even from the start, the two held power potent enough to counteract with his, the one difference being that Gwen only fought in defence of herself and others while Ghostfreak ambitiously desired power. Not once, until this battle, did he ever think he would face them as a fused being, but here he was, avoiding and attacking the creature in a duel for his niece's very life.
Whirling through the air, he turned to face the hybrid.
The creature leered at him, its impatient scowl jutting out between its lips. Hex found himself smirking; his opponent was clearly infuriated that he was delaying it well enough to give Hope plenty of time to hide. Already the hybrid was putting its all into the fight instead of attempting to get past him, having realised that he placed his niece's safety before his own. He himself had stopped talking right from the beginning, knowing from that point it was useless to try to appeal to Gwen as long as she believed what she believed of Hope and as long as Ghostfreak had what he sensed was a complete majority of control over the body.
Foolish girl, he thought, conjuring two solid cubes of magic and casting them forward. What made you think you could ever trust Ghostfreak?
The hybrid caught both cubes in its claws, channelled a flourish of electricity into their shapes, and threw them back with a sadistic grin. Hex readied his staff; he swung as the first cube came within reach. It exploded, pushing him back. He looked up. The second was about to collide into him.
Grimacing, he put his hand out and fired a blast of mana. The two spells, his simple counterattack and the cube he had created that they hybrid had modified, smashed into one another, detonating a much larger explosion of light, power and electricity than the one that occurred a mere moment or two ago.
Hex was thrown back, his body subjected to the tremendous shockwave. The Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid was better prepared; in the instant before Hex's blast had struck the altered cube, it brought a shield up in front of it to absorb the power of the wave and raised its arms to its eyes to keep itself from being blinded by the intense light.
As the light faded, the hybrid cancelled the shield and looked around eagerly to see if it had defeated its opponent. Its anticipation soured as it saw Hex regain his balance and rise up to meet it again.
"Funny, Hex," it spoke derisively in its disharmonious voice. "I know your niece is important to you, but I never thought she was this important. According to Gwendolyn, you wouldn't even go to Ledgerdomain to save her life."
Hex smirked. "Because, as I'm sure Gwendolyn would have told you, I knew what Charmcaster would do once she was rescued. She would go back and fight Adwaita anyway. As much as it pained me, I had to let her go. She's her father's daughter, stubborn in the face of everything." The smirk slipped away, his face turning serious again as he regarded the hybrid with a different gaze. "But she's not in Ledgerdomain. She's here, where she should relatively be safe which is why I stand here now."
"That will do you no good," the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid cackled suddenly. "Don't you understand? Nowhere is safe for her anymore. Adwaita has had enough of Charmcaster, just like he had enough of Spellbinder years ago. He won't stop until she's dead. Let her go like you say you did before, otherwise you'll just get your heart broken."
Its jeering and threatening words rattled Hex. His eyes widened as he was forced by memory to remember the fateful day Ledgerdomain first fell to Adwaita, when he lost his beloved brother and sister-in-law, and when he fled from the dimension he once called home, taking Hope with him. Guilt swam through him like poison, bringing back all the years' worth of regret for being so distant and harsh with his niece and then for all the times they argued about her returning to Ledgerdomain which led him to practically abandon her to her choice and never going to her when she needed aid.
Then he thought about all that had happened lately; Hope falling in love with Ben, her and the boy actually beginning a healthy and happy relationship, Hope dividing her time between ruling Ledgerdomain and being with Ben on Earth, and Hex himself and Hope renewing their family bond on a much more stable level than it had ever been. It was more than he had ever wanted for his niece, and for himself. But with all this, his line of thought continued, Gwen, Ghostfreak, Adwaita. The recent memory of him finding the wounded and unconscious Hope lying on the sofa in then Tennysons' living room came unbidden to him.
Something inside Hex snapped. All the emotions he was feeling were surging chaotically together, swirling around violently in a bowl until they combined, mixing into a single emotion the sorceror was only too familiar with.
Rage.
The fury of his temper climbing into his voice, Hex replied, "I don't expect you to understand my motivations, Ghostfreak, but I will tell you this. My relationship with my niece in recent months has never been more positive. She and I are in a good place now, and she is in a good place with others. It is something I thought I would never see her have, that she'd just throw away her life battling Adwaita alone for the rest of her years." The rage in him erupted outward, spilling out over his tongue in heated words. "And when I saw the condition Adwaita left her in, I realised one thing. Now that she is attaining the better life I always wished for her, I will not! I WILL NOT LET HER GO!"
He blazed forward through the air. The Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid, thrown by the passionate devotion neither Gwen or Ghostfreak had ever known him to express towards his niece, snarled in response to the incoming assault and sailed onward to meet him for the final clash.
Hex fought to the end, matching the hybrid blow for blow. Yet in spite of his invigorating rage, there was the basic fact that in essence he was still one sorceror against two. For every blow the hybrid inflicted on him, he had to try and retaliate with two successful hits of his own to level the balance between them. A great many of attacks and replies found their mark, but as their duel was fought on, more and more were either met with a defensive block or avoided by the hybrid simply moving out of their path, his endurance paying the price with every miss until both it and his power were bare.
Sensing victory, the hybrid cast one final mana blast. It struck Hex square in the chest. Winded, Hex struggled to stay in the air, slipping in and out of consciousness, daring his weakening body to return the assault.
The last of his endurance left him. Hex groaned in exhaustion, closing his eyes. He surrendered, sinking gradually down towards the ground in an ungraceful arc. His limp form hit the solid land with a softened thump punctuated by another groan emitting from his throat. Battling to open his eyes again, he raised a trembling arm to the sky as if he was putting in an effort to resume the attack he had meant to make before his fall. With his concentration being forced entirely into this single gesture, he was dimly unaware of the two figures running to his aid. He remained unaware; the overwhelming sensation the duel had left him in winning over him, Hex succumbed to the sweet, silent peace of an unconscious state.
:*:
Keeping themselves to the defensive line alongside the Plumbers and shooting down any of the creatures that came their way, Frank and Natalie had little choice but to watch the havoc that their daughter had helped to manifest in the battle laid out before them. All throughout the length of the conflict, their eyes were perpetually wide with horror and, in Natalie's case, further disbelief at the monsters the hybrid had summoned to be its army.
Tempted to shake his head in misery, Frank once again discovered he was focusing his mind at how much he believed he had failed at being a father. Proud and confident in Gwen's maturity, he had felt it sensible to leave her to her devices as she presented she was smart and intuitive enough to make the responsible decisions on her own, but here now was the proof that even a teenager like Gwen still needed close watching and guidance. Thinking on this led him to seeking the hybrid out.
He finally found it duelling with Hex in midair. Clapping his wife on the arm to get her attention, he gestured over to the two sorcerors. Natalie nodded in reply and the two of them ran along the line. By the time they reached the hybrid and Hex, the duel was over and Hex had fallen to the ground, passed out from exhaustion. They switched their goal to him, hoping that their daughter had not just participated in one of the worst things imaginable: murder.
Natalie fell on her knees at Hex's side, pressing her fingers at his throat and listened for the throbbing of a pulse. She was granted slight relief as her search was definitively answered with a tiny pounding touching the surface of her fingertips. Grabbing the communicator Max had lent to her and Frank, she turned it on and exclaimed, "Aid Station, this is Natalie Tennyson."
"We read you, Mrs Tennyson. Are there any injured near you?"
"Yes, one. Lock on to my current location, please," Natalie answered.
"Understood. We are sending a response team. What's the condition of the patient?"
"Unconscious, but he has a pulse. All his injuries seem to be caused by magic."
"Got it. Team's en route."
Sighing, Natalie turned to put the communicator away when she saw that Frank was no longer paying any attention to her or Hex. She followed her husband's transfixed gaze up to the sky where, with a jolt, she saw the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid sneering back at them with its demonic eyes and toothy grin, its black hair waving silently on the wind. Natalie looked to Frank, questioning what was going on in his mind. When he had signalled to her he was going to where it and Hex was, she presumed it was to stop the fight before it got out of hand, but it was too late for that.
The hybrid seemed to have decided that too, as it averted its piercing eyes away from them and centred its attention back on Bellwood. Considering its path clear again, it moved to enter the town. The movement startled Frank into making him take a step back, the lifeless expression on his face flinching to mild anger.
"Gwendolyn Tennyson!" he called up to the hybrid.
The hybrid stopped, frowning as it looked back down on Frank. "It seems I need to relay this message once more. Gwendolyn has no modicum of control of this body at present. Despite what you see, Frank Tennyson, I am just Ghostfreak."
"But that doesn't mean she can't regain control," Frank fired back. "Gwen, fight him. You know you can't let him murder anyone. Whatever blood he spills, he will be using your hands, your power, to do it! Don't let him!"
A moment passed. Frank's face brightened, interpreting it as a sign that Gwen was beginning to fight back. Natalie glanced from her husband to the hybrid and back again, starting to believe that Frank's words were getting through. Then, to their heartbreak, their hopes were dashed as the hybrid laughed coldly.
"I'm afraid there's no response from her, for you that is," the hybrid smirked." I can hear her though. She's screaming for help. Oh, and crying for me to stop everything." The hybrid tutted, clicking its tongue and crossing its arms. "She still does not understand that the only way for us to save Ben is to kill Charmcaster."
"You tricked her by making her think the two of you were going to do it another way!" Frank yelled furiously.
"Of course. She wouldn't have agreed to the deal otherwise," the hybrid grinned smartly. "She possibly would not have agreed at all if she wasn't in such a desperate situation, the poor girl. Poor, poor girl, thinking her family had turned on her when in fact she had turned on them."
"We didn't!" Natalie shot up. "We - - -
"You just stood by and allowed Max to arrest her," the hybrid snarled, unfurling its arms. "And it appears from your presence here, you aimed to recapture her with the Plumbers."
"We want to help her!" Frank cried. "Before she did something she wouldn't be able to take back! Something that you're trying to make her do right now, murder! Gwen, stop him now! Take back control!"
The hybrid scowled, throwing its arm in a forward curve. "I've had enough of this," it spoke. Bidden by its master, a blast of mana flew out from its claws, slashing viciously from sky to ground until it struck Frank in the chest.
Oblivious to his wife screaming his name, Frank surrendered to the shock of the blow's delivering. His eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped, unconsciously falling on his back.
The hybrid acted ignorantly to the result of its attack, choosing not to listen to Natalie's second cry as she ran to her husband's side or to Gwen roaring in tears from within its mind and resumed its progress towards entering Bellwood.
Natalie looked up in tears, watching the thing that was partly her daughter leave, her heart broken by the mere fact that it neither paid her or Frank any real heed in listening. Moving her eyes away from it back to her husband, she reluctantly changed her priorities from saving Gwen to participating in the battle, bringing the communicator back out and activating it.
"Aid Station, this is Natalie Tennyson, updating my previous message," she reported.
"We read you, ma'am," the same voice from before answered. "What is your update?"
"There is now a second casualty at my location. Similar injuries like the first and unconscious. Please send an additional team."
"Understood, Mrs Tennyson. Will do."
Lowering the communicator, Natalie gazed helplessly between Frank and Hex and then, as her thoughts were brought back to Gwen and all that her daughter had done and become, broke down and sobbed tears into her hands.
:*:
Grinning as it finally reached the edge of town without further opposition, the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid stopped before it crossed over, turning around to regard the battlefield with a questionable frown. First, it cast its eyes to the Plumbers' defence, noting that in spite of being massively outnumbered, Max Tennyson and his allies were holding as steadfast as possible, barring its army from progressing forward in full strength with only a lucky few managing to make it past them and push their own way into Bellwood. The frown deepened, curving lower into its face as the hybrid's amusement and interest waned; it was obvious to it why its soldiers had not made the devastating impact it had planned them to have. Its glare shifted towards Way Big, watching as the towering alien swung both its arms, collecting dozens and dozens of its creatures and launching them into the air for them to land in a rock-shattering crash or a crackling explosion of mana. Scowling, the hybrid sent a mental transmission to its creations.
"I told you all to bring Ben Tennyson to ground," it hissed. "Forget about trying to get through the Plumbers and centre your assault on Way Big." It paused for a moment, halting in its instructions to consider something else as it spotted a black-and-blue flash blurring through the density of its army. "Oh, and prevent the Kineceleran from leaving the battlefield." Turning its head, it focused its willpower into the depths of Bellwood. "For those of you who have breached the town, track down Charmcaster and report her location to me. Engage her if necessary, but do not kill. She's mine."
Confident and assured enough that there was noone to stop it and sensing the bulk of its army were changing their prerogative as ordered, the hybrid entered Bellwood.
Not a very good start for the heroes, was it? Stick around and witness their comeback in the upcoming chapter.