Chapter Fourteen: While You Were Away
As Ben and Gwen looked at Grandpa Max, they noticed he was older and many years of pain in his eyes. "It's been a while, kids." Ben raised an eyebrow at Max's odd statement. Then, Gwen ran ahead of him to the old man, and Ben instantly knew why Grandpa Max was talking about. Gwen was at least twenty! The years made her gorgeous! Her hair was longer and her…chest looked to be a heavy B-cup. Ben noticed her scales were more pronounced and caught more light, enhancing her angelic appearance. Then, there was her body. Ben felt like an old cartoon character staring at a beautiful woman. He swore his eyes were going to pop out. Her body made Ben start to pant. Then, Ben actually howled. Ben stared for a little too long and his howl didn't help Ben. It caused Gwen to turn with an angry glare aimed at him that could melt steel. Of course, that glare melted into a stupefied expression as Gwen started to study Ben more closely. His arms were well muscled but not bulky. His face had a hardness to it that made Gwen melt. In fact, Ben looked like a younger Ben 10K minus the beard. "Gwen, what are you-" It was then Ben heard his deeper voice. "What happened?" Ben asked as he looked in one of the Rustbucket's mirrors. "Not bad…" Ben mumbled as he looked at himself with a smile.
Max looked at Ben and Gwen. Sadness came over his eyes and the man looked toward the setting sun. "Come one. We have to get moving. Hunter Drones hunt better at night." Ben and Gwen looked at each other. They shared a bad feeling. "Grandpa…?" Gwen asked nervously. "A lot of things changed in your eleven years missing." Max said as a hard scowl grew on the old man's face. "Vilgax secured Earth and made it a vassal state of his empire." Max said with a growl as his bionic arm wined and drew attention to itself. "This happened the last time I stood up to Vilgax." Max said bitterly. Ben and Gwen's faces hardened in anger. "Where is he Grandpa?" Ben asked with a deadly tone. Max laughed. "He has a sense of irony. Shortly after conquering Earth, he turned Bellwood into his fortress capitol." Ben growled in anger as his hands clenched tightly into fists. "Squidface is mine!" He growled. "Think, Ben. You'd need a full army to take on that place!" Gwen said with fear in her eyes and voice. The jewel in Ben's forehead began to blink with light. "I may be able to help with that." Arya said as she took over Ben's body to be heard. "Unless you can pull an army out of nowhere…" Max said with a glare as Danny and Ashley smirked at the man for some reason.
"Ben and Gwen hold hands and repeat after me, 'Shur'talar, risa!'" As they spoke, a portal opened and out stepped an army of Shur'talar, that is to say Dragon Riders, with their mounts. The elves and dragons looked at Ben and Gwen calmly. "What are your orders, sir?" One asked that Gwen recognized as Eragon. Ben turned to Ashley and Danny. "I need you two for recon. The rest of you will wait until they come back and report." Gwen smiled and walked up. "Then, we free our home from this bastard's grip and send him to Helgrind!" Arya smiled in Ben's mind. "It will be nice to be home again." She said to herself with a soft smile.
After Danny and Ashley returned, they laid out an attack plan. "Vilgax's ego makes him underestimate us." He told them as he drew a quick sketch of the fortress. Then, Ashley pointed to various lapses and weaknesses in the fortress. "Attacking all these points all at once will overwhelm the light guard he has posted." She said as she looked up from the plan. "I suggest we break off into teams of two: Dragon and Rider to exploit these weaknesses while Ben and Gwen take point and go after Vilgax." Danny looked at the amassed army. "Ashley and I will assist as much as we can. Our main objective is to keep reinforcements from getting to Vilgax and keeping them off Ben and Gwen until the job is done. Understood?" Danny said with a firm glare. "Mount up and move out!" Ben said with a grin as he and Gwen started toward Vilgax.
As Gwen flew in with Ben on her back at the signal, Ben smiled at the fortress in shambles. "Old Squidface is probably pissed." Ben said with a grin as they landed. Ben's ears twitched as he heard Vilgax yelling in fury. "WHERE DID THIS ARMY OF BEASTS COME FROM?!" Ben flinched as he heard a drone smash against a wall. "Yeah. Vilgax hasn't changed." Gwen said with a small laugh as she and Ben looked at each other and charged in. Vilgax's eyes narrowed at the sight of them. "YOU!" Ben chuckled. "Did you miss us, Vilgax?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. In response, Vilgax lunged at Ben, but Ben easily dodged the attack. "You're getting slow in your old age, Vilgeek!" Ben taunted. "You will die, insect!" Vilgax promised. Ben shook his head. "Aren't you wondering where the army that's kicking your tin cans all over the place came from?" Vilgax glared at him. "This 'army' is nothing but a mild annoyance. As you banter uselessly, Tennyson, my drones are destroying them!" With this statement, Vilgax backhanded Ben hard enough to make a crater in the wall on the opposite side of the room. Vilgax was surprised when Ben started laughing when he landed against the wall and started coughing up blood. "Gwen…" Ben mumbled before he passed out.
Gwen's eyes blazed with anger as the Dragonborn took to the air. She then dove for Vilgax and waited until she was about to hit him before she unleashed a white fury of fire at the warlord. Vilgax screamed with agony as the pissed Dragonborn let her full rage be felt by the monster. Vilgax's screams were so agonizing that all battle around the stronghold froze at the terrible sound. When Gwen landed, she walked up to the shivering mass of flesh that just a few moments before had been the most feared being in the galaxy and lifted his face up, so he saw her. "You can't treat Ben like that and expect to get away with it." She said darkly before she snapped his neck with a simple flick of her wrist before she ran to Ben.
"Ben!" The one being called looked up with a weak smiled at the voice. "H-hey…" Her lips began to quiver as a coughing fit took Ben. "Stay with me, Ben!" Gwen pleaded as tears streamed down her face in fear and pain. "Gwen…" Gwen shook her head frantically and trembled as she brushed his hair lightly. "D-don't talk." Gwen said quietly. Gwen focused her energy and started pouring it into Ben's broken body. Slowly, he looked better and began to breathe easier. Gwen didn't stop until she passed out herself and fell into his lap. Together they laid, the only sign of life: the rising and falling of their chests.
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