The Dragon
Ben
Ben, completely immobilized, closed his eyes, wishing only for the fire to kill him quickly without causing too much pain.
He heard the roar of the dragon and felt the fire touch him, but strangely he felt no pain at all. The tree roots that restrained him melted and he could move his hands freely. Was he still alive?
The roar ceased. Ben opened his eyes and finally realized that he had turned into Heatblast! Hex and his henchmen watched in astonishment, and Lucky Girl had a smile on her face from ear to ear, still trapped inside a mana bubble.
"Oh, yeah, baby! I am the unburnt! Or rather, I'm the one who burns the others!" Heatblast shot fireballs at Hex's minions who lost their focus, undoing the mana bubble that trapped Lucky Girl. Once she was free, the heroine rushed to Heatblast's side.
"My dragon can still chew you to pieces! Your fire does not hurt him at all," Hex shouted, and the dragon tilted his head dangerously towards Heatblast.
Lucky Girl quickly positioned herself in front of Heatblast like a human shield.
"Get out of the way, my ungrateful granddaughter!" Hex yelled.
"No! If you want to get to Ben, your dragon will have to kill me first, Hex!" Lucky Girl challenged her maternal grandfather.
Hex took a deep breath and began to speak in a quiet and somber tone, "Do you know how old I am? Do you know how long I dreamed of leading the sorcerers? "
Lucky Girl was silent.
"I'm hundreds of years old. I can have other children and grandchildren, but I will not have an opportunity like this to ascend to the leadership of my peers ever again. You have one last chance to abandon this pathetic excuse of a hero and stand by my side, or you will suffer the consequences with him," Hex said.
Suddenly, Heatblast felt a strong propulsion and found himself flying up very fast, with Lucky Girl next to him.
"What's happening?" Lucky Girl asked, startled.
"It's you, Gwen! You're making us fly!" They were both enveloped in the characteristic blue glow of Gwen's magic.
"Me? Maybe it was an involuntary reaction triggered by Hex's threat?" As soon as Lucky Girl realized she was making them fly, they both stopped in mid-air.
"Uh-oh ... AAAAAAAAH," now they were in a free fall, "Less thinking and more magic! Make us fly again, Gwen!"
"I don't know how to control this!" Lucky Girl screamed, "Ben, please use one of your aliens!"
Heatblast turned back to Ben and then into Stinkfly and grabbed Lucky Girl, "And the hero saves the dweeb in distress!"
But Stinkfly spoke too soon. They heard a big noise of wings flapping against the wind and realized the dragon was flying towards them.
The insect-like alien flew as fast as he could, trying to get away from the dragon. But the beast began to spit huge fireballs at them, and Stinkfly had to zigzag to avoid the fire - which slowed him down. And the dragon was getting closer...
"He's gonna get us!" Lucky Girl shouted.
Suddenly, a blue portal appeared out of nowhere in front of them. Stinkfly flew with Gwen through the portal and it immediately closed after. Stinkfly looked down and saw Anodyne's exotic trees - they were still on the planet - but no sign of the dragon anywhere near them now.
"I think you teleported us, Gwen." Stinkfly landed on the ground.
"Did I?" Lucky Girl was still a bit confused, "Of course I did. And the heroine saves the doofus in distress."
"At least we got some time to breathe," Ben turned back to normal.
"But he still has that dragon." Lucky Girl sat on the ground, crestfallen, "That's why he didn't even bother to 'evolve'. My grandmother told me that others are still not sure if Albedo's evolution device can cause any problems in the long term. Why would Hex risk using it? He already has a dragon, he doesn't need anything else. We will never defeat him and take the hostages safely out of here."
Realizing that he and his cousin were too tired, Ben gave a suggestion, "I think we both haven't slept in over a day. We'll probably figure out a way out of this problem if we get some sleep."
Lucky Girl nodded in agreement. She took off the mask and undid the spell to change her looks, reverting her black hair and purple eyes to her natural red hair and green eyes.
It was cold, so Ben turned into Heatblast again and created a small campfire for the two to warm up. Meanwhile Gwen set up a bed of leaves for them to sleep on.
Ben laid down, and Gwen laid on top of him - a rather comfortable position for the young lad. Gwen began to caress his face, "Hex almost killed you today. I'm so glad you're okay. "
"Oh, that was nothing. I can deal with your psychopath grandfather. I'm much more worried about your mother actually. She is trying to get a boyfriend for you, that Natan Salas guy, that's much more difficult to handle." Ben played with his cousin's hair.
Gwen chuckled, "Only you would make me laugh in a moment like this, Doofus."
Ben's eyes were glued to her face. She was his cousin, but she was also the most beautiful girl in the world. As a cousin, he wanted the best for her. As a man, he wanted her. The question that kept coming to his head was, "Is there a conflict of interests between Cousin Ben and Man Ben?"
It was easy to dismiss that thought when Kevin was hitting on Gwen. Even Gwen's mother would admit that between her daughter dating a cousin or a psychopath, the cousin would be the lesser of two evils.
But Natan seemed kind, polite and respectful. He was very handsome, charming and he was not her cousin. Ben was ashamed of that, but he was secretly hoping that Natan would be working for Hex, so he would have a good reason to see himself as the best option between the two of them. But if Natan was actually a genuinely good guy... Cousin Ben would say that Gwen should go with Nathan, while Man Ben would want Gwen for himself.
"What are you thinking about, Doofus?" Gwen asked with a smile, gently rubbing her fingers on his cheek. Feeling her body - and her "assets" - on top of him, feeling her touch, looking at her perfect face... Goodbye, Cousin Ben. Man Ben was definitely in charge now.
He began kissing her. He kissed her hair, her ear and her cheek again and again. Ben tried to kiss her on the mouth, but she turned away from the kiss.
"Ben, you know we can't ..." Gwen said, "Remember our deal: just cousins until we're officially adults. My mother is already starting to become suspicious of things as they are."
"We're alone here, Gwenny-poo. Just a few harmless kisses," Ben pouted.
"These 'harmless kisses' are already making your 'wand' poke my belly, so they can turn into something very serious if we don't stop now," Gwen replied, "You can give me one last goodnight kiss - on the cheek."
Ben gave Gwen a long kiss, pressing her lips against her cheek for several seconds to savor Gwen's smooth skin as much as possible. Then they both fell asleep.
Looking around, Ben realized he was no longer in a forest in Anodyne. He was on a beautiful beach that seemed endless. Ben saw that there were two other people there with him: Gwen and Hope. He blushed, noticing that he was in swimming trunks and Gwen and Hope were in bikinis. There was no one else there besides them.
"How did the three of us get here?" Ben asked approaching them.
"We're dreaming," Gwen replied.
"I think we're in your dream, Red. I know I didn't cast any spell to pull you two into my dreams," Hope said.
"Me neither," Gwen shrugged.
"But you're in Anodyne. Verdona always said that if we were in Anodyne, magic would come much more naturally to us. Have you felt any differences in your powers?"
"Gwen flew involuntarily. And she teleported us too, purely out of instinct," Ben said.
"Flying and teleporting are things that take a long time for sorcerers to learn, and you're doing it on instinct..." Hope arched an eyebrow, "Yeah, Red, I have no doubt we're in your dream. Ben and I with you in a desert beach? I already had a suspicion that, despite your angelic face, you were a naughty one," she smirked.
"SHUT UP!" Gwen shouted. Her face turned red - either embarrassment or anger, probably both - and she remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking again, "Ok, I think I have an actual reason for my subconscious pulling you into my dream, CC. You might be able to help us. Hex has a dragon. Did you know that? Do you know how to kill the beast?"
The expression on Hope's face shifted from playful to worried, "His name is Badret ... It's like he's our family's pet, Red. My father used to take care of him before he was... killed. An ancestor of ours did a blood magic thing to create a bond with dragons. His descendants can tame dragons more easily than other people."
"Can you teach me how to tame Hex's dragon so he doesn't attack Ben and I?" Gwen asked.
"I could get him to accept you under normal circumstances. But Badret is obeying Hex now, and he doesn't even know you. You definitely won't be able to make him listen to you," Hope replied.
"CC, if you were here, the dragon would obey you, right?" Ben asked.
"Badret likes me, maybe more than he likes Hex. I think he would, yes," Hope said hesitantly.
"I'm sure if you let yourself be captured, Hex will order for you to be brought here. We can save you, then we take care of Hex and you talk to the dragon," Gwen said.
"Hex would use the mind control spell against me. It won't matter if the dragon is obeying me if I'm obeying Hex," Hope replied.
"Grandma Verdona was able to get you off the spell's influence, I might be able to do that too," Gwen said.
"It wouldn't work," Hope said, "It would drain you for a good while, and Hex could immediately re-trigger the spell again if he's nearby."
"Isn't there anything else?" Gwen asked.
Hope bit her lip.
"You know something." Gwen arched her eyebrows, "Come on."
"I was talking to Verdona, and maybe there's something else that might work temporarily, but there's no guarantee it will actually work. It might even make things worse," Hope said.
"Desperate times, desperate measures," Ben said. Gwen nodded in agreement.
"Do you know when Ben is as Magus Viridis and you two touch, fusing your auras? The mind control spell acts directly through the magical aura. If I merge my aura with that of another person, there is a possibility of Hex's spell not being able to breach through a more powerful combined aura," and then she added after a dramatic pause, "Or maybe it will, and Hex will end up controlling my mind and that of the other person."
"For two auras to merge, there has to be a connection between the two people, but it doesn't have to be romantic," Gwen said, "CC, you and I are cousins, family. We might be able to fuse our auras."
"It could work. But even if it works, it's still possible that Hex will end up controlling both of us," Hope warned.
"We have to take a chance," Gwen said, "We have no better plan to defeat a 100 foot tall dragon. It's this or nothing. We're going to do it. You let yourself get captured by Hex's minions-"
"Wait a minute," Hope interrupted her, "You forgot that I'm not a hero like you two. I don't do this kind of thing."
"We're out of options. Hex will kill us. Please, we need you, CC," Ben pleaded.
"And you know that as soon as Hex takes control of Anodyne, the next thing he's going to do is send his minions to look for you on Earth," Gwen said, "You don't want to spend the rest of your life hiding from him, CC. This is your best chance to fight."
"Okay, I'll go," Hope sighed, "I swear, I don't know if you're my friends or my enemies."
"I consider you my best frenemy," Gwen said with a smile.
"Hey, I thought I was your best frenemy, Dweeb!" Ben said looking at Gwen in surprise, "Now I'm getting jealous."
Hours later, Ben and Gwen saw the huge black dragon again flying in the sky.
"The ship with Charmcaster must have arrived, and Hex is probably on his way to get her." Gwen put on her Lucky Girl mask.
Ben turned into XLR8 and grabbed Lucky Girl, "Let's follow them through the ground."
A few minutes later, XLR8 and Lucky Girl approached a clearing, where Charmcaster was being watched by two Vilgaxian soldiers.
"The right one is mine, left one is yours," Lucky Girl said. The young heroes surprised the Vilgaxian soldiers and knocked them out, XLR8 with quick punches and kicks and Lucky Girl with blasts of mana.
XLR8 turned back to Ben and then into Ripjaws. With his sharp teeth - and surgical precision - Ripjaws freed Charmcaster from the iron inhibiting collar around her neck.
"I almost didn't come, you know that?" Charmcaster said.
"I knew you'd make the right call," Ben said with a smile.
"Honestly, I'm still not sure if I did." Charmcaster fixed her ponytail, "I actually think the three of us should leave now. The small ship these Vilgaxian soldiers used to bring me here from their mother ship is back there. If Ben turns into Upgrade we can use it to leave this planet. There's still time to give up on that crazy idea of facing Hex."
A small black dot on the horizon approached, growing in size - it was the dragon, and Hex was certainly riding him.
Lucky Girl turned to Ben, wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her forehead against his, "Ben, if the plan goes wrong and Hex ends up controlling me and CC, I want you to do what CC suggested and get off this planet."
"No way," Ben replied emphatically, "I will never leave you two behind."
Gwen sighed. Ben imagined she knew it was useless to argue with him. Then she smiled and surprised him with a kiss on the mouth. It was a short, bittersweet kiss, because it was almost a way to say goodbye in case something bad were to happen. But, still, it was a wonderful kiss and made Ben feel in the clouds.
"I guess now it was my turn to steal a good luck kiss from you, lucky boy," Lucky Girl smiled.
"You can steal as many kisses as you want from me," Ben replied.
Lucky Girl positioned herself, preparing for the imminent arrival of Hex.
And then Charmcaster turned to Ben, "There's something I need to tell you." She cupped his face in her hands, "If the plan goes wrong and Hex takes away my free will again, I want you to know that I love you."
She was admitting that she had feelings for him. Ben blushed and didn't know what to say, but he knew he had to let her know - in a gentle way - that in his heart there was only room for Gwen. Before he could say anything, though, the silver-haired witch gave him a quick peck on the mouth.
Then the dragon landed on the ground. At least that simplified things. There was a bad guy who needed to be defeated. Everything else could be solved after this was over. Lucky Girl also didn't seem happy with the fact that Charmcaster had kissed Ben, but she also knew that this was a problem for later.
Lucky Girl and Charmcaster held hands.
Hex levitated from the dragon to the ground. He seemed to have no difficulty with flying. Ben gulped, Hex was indeed a very powerful sorcerer.
The villain chuckled, "I knew it was too much of a coincidence that my niece was captured shortly after the two of you escaped. I still came here because, honestly, any plan you have in mind won't work. "
"Pride goes before the fall," Lucky Girl said. She firmly held Charmcaster's hand.
"Gwendolyn, Hope, you've fused your auras, I see that. You probably think that this will stop me from using my mind control spell, but it won't. On the contrary, I will control both of you. It's actually better for you that way too, Gwendolyn, so I won't have to hurt you," Hex said, and then shouted, "Imperius Maledictum! Now, kneel before your master, my kin."
Ben noticed that Lucky Girl and Charmcaster began to sweat. That was not a good sign... A few seconds later, they were on their knees.
Both were under the effect of the spell now.
Ben could see the desperate look in the girl's eyes. They both were silently saying, "Run, Ben! Get out of here!"
Hex turned to Ben with a grim smile on his face, "I have a dragon, two powerful witches under my control, and my own powers. Surrender, and your death will be swift. It's no good trying to run away. "
"Who said I want to run away?" Ben dialed the Omnitrix, "Going hero!"
Ben slammed the watch and transformed. He was still looking exactly the same, but now he was wearing leather boots and a belt, rustic pale green clothes, and a dark green cloak. He was now Magus Viridis, a wizard.
TO BE CONTINUED