Chapter Thirteen: Truth and Unforeseen Consequences

As Eon's portal closed, a knock at the door made Ben and Gwen's heads shoot up at the sound. Ben's hand hovered over the Omnitrix, ready for a fight. Max held up a hand though. "Easy, you two." Max said calmly as he walked to the door and looked out. He saw his daughter-in-law and son, but something was off about them. They seemed to be deliriously happy and slow. Max was really surprised when Carl smiled at him. The man never smiled around Max because he never told them the truth. It was then that Ben started sniffing. The sight threw Frank and Lilly off, but the rest of the group was unfazed by Ben's seemingly odd behavior. Sandra and Carl smelled like tea bags. Ben didn't like the smell because it smelled like tea bags but was different enough from that to bother Ben. The scent made Ben gag because it was so strong. So, this is what they do when Ben is not around. Gwen growled in her mind with a sigh as she shook her head at her aunt and uncle and scrunched her nose at the scent they gave off. Ben scratched at his nose and whimpered as the scent overwhelmed his mind. "Come on, Ben." Gwen said gently as she led him outside to fresh air.

Inside the house, everyone was shocked at the state of Sandra and Carl. Frank blinked and coughed as Max handed out micro-filters, and everyone put one on. "That's better." Lilly said calmly. "Why would you do this Carl?!" Frank growled as he got in his brother's face. Carl just slowly grinned at his brother with blood shot eyes and started laughing. "M-man, you gotta try this." Sandra said in a slurred speech as she swayed. Lilly just shook her head. "This is no way to raise a child." The woman said as she glared at her brother-in-law and his toasted wife. Sandra laughed. "How…would…would you know how to raise kids, Mrs. Perfect?" "I know not to use drugs." Lilly said calmly as she shook her head and glared at them, pissed. "This is who raised Ben? I'm surprised he's not a druggie, too." The adults heard a beeping. Max and Xylene recognized the sound of the Omnitrix and started to get up. All eyes in the room turned toward a sudden green flash

Ben sighed and shook his head. "I've never seen them like that!" He said to Gwen. "Honestly, I'm scared to go home with them." Ben said quietly as he looked at Gwen sadly, torn between what he grew up knowing as his parents and what they'd become. He looked at Gwen, and she smiled at him comfortingly. "The choice is yours, Ben," She told him calmly. "No matter what you choose, I'll be with you." He smiled at her. "I need to talk to Mom about this." He said as he went XLR8 and motioned for her to get on his back. Once Gwen had her arms firmly around Gwen's neck, they were off to Arizona. Just as the dust was beginning to settle, Max and Xylene ran outside of the house. "Damn, he's XLR8." Max said with a bit of frustration in his voice. Now, because of Lilly's outburst, Ben is on the run. Max thought as hekicked the dirt in irritation. The worried grandfather looked at Xylene. "I have a lock on the hatchlings. Don't worry. Ben wants to talk to his Mother. He'll be back." She said to him kindly.

Max sighed as he realized why Carl and Sandra were unable to conceive and pulled two white capsules from his pocket. "Time to sober up, kids." He said as he put a capsule under each of their tongues. Sandra and Carl jumped out of their skin and screamed before they both ran to the sink and started downing water strait from the tap. After the two potheads drank their fill, they looked around the room confused for a second. Then, they noticed all the glares aimed at them. "What's your problem? You try having an alien for a son!" Carl growled. Xylene sighed and shook her head. "If you didn't think you could handle the responsibility, why didn't you tell your father?" Sandra looked at the alien, STILL slightly feeling the effects of the THC even after Max's Plumber issue Purge Pills. She laughed halfheartedly. "He was so…cute. We couldn't say no." Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I thought I raised you better, Carl Luis Tennyson! I expected you to treat him like a child, not a stray pet!" Max glared at his son. "Get out!" Max said with a glare as he pointed at the door, pissed. Frank glared at his brother and gripped him by the arm roughly. "Get out of my house…brother." Frank growled as he threw Carl into the street. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have my daughter and her boyfriend to find." Frank said before he headed back into the house.

Back with Ben and Gwen, Ben was trying to calm down as XLR8 ran across state lines and deactivated the Omnitrix once he got to the Navaho Reservation. He saw a lot of the familiar objects from their last trip there and smiled to himself because, unlike last time, he actually knew what he was looking at when he looked at the different items around the village. Mr. Green saw them and smiled. "What brings you back?" He asked with a smile. Mr. Green then looked up as the light, rapid footfalls of running reached Ben's ears. The boy groaned silently. Not again… He thought mournfully. Gwen saw Kia, but this time was not playing around like Gwen had when she first met Kia. She wasn't going to let the little bitch be able to hurt Ben this go around. "Hi, Ben," Kia said with a flirtatious attitude that utterly annoyed Gwen.

Gwen stepped between them and glared at the brat. "Don't talk to him, Kia. He's already in pain." Ben walked up to Gwen and nodded, letting her know that he could fight his own battles, this was one he had to fight alone. "We are here to talk to my mom, Kia, not you! So, get your self-diluted, prissy butt out of my way!" Kia was stunned at Ben's anger. Last they met, he was falling head over heels for her, but now… "Who is she?" Kia growled with bitterness in her voice. "'Who is she?' What do you mean?" Ben asked, playing dumb. "Who is your girlfriend?" Kia growled, "Ben, you are truly an idiot." Gwen could tolerate a lot of things, but Kia calling Ben "idiot" went too far. "That's it!" Gwen yelled as she marched up to Kia and mumbled a spell. As Gwen's glowing hand touched Kia, she said, "So you like anthropomorphic animals? Let us see how you like this." As Gwen spoke, her energy flowed over the girl and turned her into a Chihuahua. "Hope you like your new life, Kia." With that, Gwen and Ben continued up the mesa to his mother.

Meanwhile, back in Bellwood, everyone was getting in the Rustbucket, but Lilly and Frank were less than enthusiastic about taking what they saw as a piece of junk to find their daughter. "She's got a few surprises." Max said with a smile as he flipped a series of switches. Nothing seemed to happen from the inside for a few seconds until a wine started. Xylene smiled at Frank and Sandra as she saw they were not strapped in. "You two better buckle up." She told them calmly. They looked at the alien with a confused expression. When the large RV shot off like a top fuel dragster, Frank and Lilly were sucked into their seats by the force. They struggled to buckle up but finally did manage. "We're coming, Ben." Max said as he programmed the GPS to sync with the Omnitrix.

Ben and Gwen just made it to the top of the mesa as that was going on. Ben let her off his back. "Be careful, Gwen. This is unstable since the minor eruption when we first came here." He said as he gently led her down a safe path to Luna's cave. As they entered, Ben saw the purple eyes of his mother staring at him in the darkness. She slowly came into the light and smile at her son and Gwen. "Mom, we need to talk about a few things." Luna's ears perked up at that. "What's wrong, Ben." He sighed and looked at Gwen as if he was trying to gain strength from her. "I found out my adoptive parents are addicts." He said quietly as Luna looked away in an attempt to control her anger. "Max Tennyson…" She growled lowly. Ben quickly looked up at Luna. "It wasn't his fault! Grandpa didn't know!" Ben said as he looked at his mother, a little worried for Grandpa Max.

As if responding to Ben's thought, he heard the whine of The Rustbucket's jet engines in the distance. "Here they come." Gwen said with a smile. "I guess you can count on some family." Ben said with a smile as he saw them get out of the RV. They all floated up to the mesa with Xylene's help. Luna glared at the intruders and let out a warning growl. "Anyone that touches my pup besides his mate won't live to see the sun rise." She said with a deadly protective look in her eyes. "Luna, please, let us-" Luna cut him off. "Don't you try it, Magister Tennyson. I thought I could trust you to take care of my pup!" She began to cry. "It turns out I can't!" She growled. "You gave my son to strung out flea bags. I should kill you for that." Ben's eyes went wide when he heard that. "Mom, don't," Ben pleaded. "Grandpa had no idea what they would do. He thought they would take care of me. It's not his fault." Ben told Luna calmly, yet there was a hint of fear in Ben's eyes. Luna considered her pup's plea and smiled. "I won't, but who will raise you to adulthood?" She asked. Gwen's eyes lit up at the chance she had. Luna noticed and shook her head. "Gwen, I can't allow Ben to live with you. It would get too…complicated once he starts to physically mature." Frank and Lilly glared at their daughter. "You should know better, Gwen." Frank said as he tried to mask a grin as best he could behind a glare. Ben looked at the man who in many ways was already his father. "What do you say, Grandpa?' Ben's delight could not contain itself as the old man nodded. Ben grinned and let out an excited howl as everyone except Luna covered their ears in response. The she-wolf just laughed to herself at her son.

Meanwhile in the purple flowing Timestream, a female voice called out. "Benjamin! Benjamin." The voice became shaky with emotion. "You better answer me, Doofus!" The girl said, now clearly Gwendolyn. The Timestream rippled and sparked what appeared to be about a hundred yards away from her. "Ben?" She asked hopefully as she leaned forward with hope surging through her. A hand appeared in the rift. Then, it widened, and a leg appeared. Next, the rift grunted, and the rest of the figure came out. Gwendolyn's breath caught, and she sprinted over to the rift. "Benjamin!" She yelled as she hugged him tight with tears in her eyes. "Don't you ever leave me again! You hear me?!"

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P.S. The idea for this chapter was inspired by the hemp bracelets mentioned by Sandra in RAT.