It was a dark stormy night in Chinatown. And inside a small magic shop, a familiar wizard was speaking with the store's owner.
"You have drank my every potion, my most special herbs. I'm sorry, but there is nothing that I can do to stop you from getting older."
"You will be very sorry if you cannot help me."
"Well, there is a bright side," the storekeeper went under his desk and pulled out some beans. "Here. Chew these and you will regrow hair."
Angered, the aging wizard, who revealed himself to be Hex, lifted his hand to the clerk.
"Meton Weights!"
The storekeeper was enveloped in a red aura and was slammed against the wall, helpless as he saw Hex struggle on his cane.
"Lucky Girl did not take all my strength," he said. "I want my power; I want my youth. Give it to me!"
He released his spell and glared outwards as the storekeeper struggled to his feet in fear. He reached into his shirt and revealed a vial strapped to a band around his neck.
"Water. From the Fountain of Youth. I have only a drop left. But I know where you can find more."
Hex took the vial and dropped the water into his mouth. Instantaneously, he stood back up on his feet again and his skin grew less wrinkled and hairy. He had retained some of his youth.
"This is only the beginning! Now, tell me where I can find more."
Little did Hex know, he was being watched by none other than Princess Celestia as she sat on her throne and glared at her crystal ball.
She glared as she whipped out her enchantlet.
"Yes. Tell him. So that the Protectors can stop him," she said as she activated her enchantlet and contacted Scarlett in Cinnibar.
"Princess Celestia," Scarlett said with a bow. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"I'm sending you on a mission to the Prime Universe once again," Celestia explained.
"No offense to you, Your Highness, but I'm a little tired of going to the Prime Dimension. I got us the Sword of Ek Chuaj. I got us the Charms of Bezel. I need a break from that place for awhile."
"Trust me," Celestia said. "This is something you're going to want to take on. You're going to find a Fountain of Youth."
Scarlett's eyes widened in shock as she put her hand to her heart and started hyperventilating.
"The Fountain? I thought those didn't exist," Scarlett said.
"We did too," Celestia said. "But it turns out, that they are very, very real. I'm sending you there as you are our most trusted Protector."
"More than Sofia?"
"I would send Sofia there, but she's busy settling a dispute on the Isle of Unicorns at the moment," Celestia nodded.
"Fine, I'll go. But I'm taking Korra with me."
"I don't see the problem with that. Good luck."
She then hung up and nodded at the situation.
The group was taking the tour at Ponce de Leon Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park in St. Augustine, Florida.
The kids looked on and took in the sights of the park as the guide explained the history of the park and Ponce de Leon.
"Juan Ponce de Leon arrived with Christopher Columbus on the adventurous second voyage to America in 1493. While in Spain, de Leon heard stories of the legendary Fountain of Youth and made it his mission to find it. He located this very stream here in St. Augustine, Florida. However, he never did find the Fountain."
The tour guide walked away after they passed the bridge above the stream as Ben scoffed.
"What I want to know is where's the Fountain of Soda?"
Allison nudged Ben and Gwen glared.
"Be quiet. Show some respect, Ben. We're in the oldest city in North America."
"She's right. I think that warrants a bit of respect for the culture," Allison said, crossing her arms.
They then approached a plaque depicting the voyage to America and the quest for the Fountain.
"You can read it in this text: de Leon's description of his discovery."
Max stepped forwards and put on his glasses so he could see the words better.
"Now why do the words have to be so damn small?"
"Well, if you can't read the words, Grandpa, maybe we should get you a magnifying glass or a big telescope," Ben said as it was Jen's turn to jab him in the arm and glare at him.
"Bro, that's not nice," she said.
"What? What did I say?"
The girls silently glared at Ben as Max walked over to read the text next to a fountain.
"The thing about old people is that they don't want to be reminded that they're old, bro," Jen said.
"Yeah, Grandpa is 60 years old," Becky said, crossing her arms. "Show him some respect."
"Yeah, well, I don't think that Grandpa is going to be worried about me making comments like that," Ben said, sticking his hand into the fountain.
"And why would that be?" Gwen asked.
The girls gasped as Ben stuck out his water gun at them.
"I got you beat, sis."
"I heard that," Max said as he looked to them and Jen crossed her hands over her throat as a gesture to stop while he was ahead. "What do you guys mean I have lead feet?"
"Told ya," Ben said as he squirted his sister and she chuckled and shook herself dry.
"Oh, it is so on!" she smiled as she ran towards him and the others all followed her as she laughed and ran at him.
"Oh, I can still catch both of you!" Max said as he ran after them as well.
The team laughed and ran into the 20th Annual Fair at the Ponce de Leon Amusement Park.
"...If you stop running," Max said, trying to catch his breath.
Ben ran in and his behind a stand, on the lookout for any of the girls with his water gun at the ready.
Suddenly, he turned around and was squirted as well by Jen with her water gun, which she held tucked into her pants.
"Gotcha, bro!"
"Okay, you got me," Ben smiled as Gwen, Becky and Allison walked over to them.
Suddenly, Max rushed over, out of breath, and looked to them.
"Are you okay, Grandpa?" Becky asked.
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine," Max said, panting. "It must be the Florida heat and humidity."
"You now, they say that old people need to stay indoors in the summer," Ben suggested. "Maybe you should go inside the Rust Bucket."
"Who are you calling old?" Max asked.
Gwen them jabbed him and smiled to Max.
"Ben meant age-challenged."
Max then looked his shoulder and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dunk tank.
"I think I see another way to cool off," he said.
"I agree," Allison said as they all walked over to the dunk tank, where the booth's owner, named Hector, was waiting.
"One ticket please," Max said.
"Sorry. This booth is out of order," Hector said.
"Looks fine to me," Jen said.
"Come on," Max said. "Let my grandkids take a couple of throws. They need to see I'm not some old fuddy-duddy."
He then handed Hector some cash and walked over to climb into the tank.
"Just one toss each," Hector said, handing the five kids a ball each.
Ben walked up and then took up a pitcher's position before smirking and winking to Max. He then gave up the wind up and the pitch and barely missed the target.
Jen then tossed the ball in her hand before she looked and tossed the ball to the target and missed as well.
Allison and Gwen smirked and did the same as their comrades, having no luck as well.
"You all must go, now," Hector urged.
"Hold on, man," Becky said as she tossed the ball in her hand. "I still need to take my turn."
She then smirked and examined the distance to the target and turned the ball in her hand as she smirked before she felt the ball leave her hand and go sailing directly into the target, triggering the platform Max was sitting on to drop, sending him falling into the water beneath.
"I expected no less from the Huntress," Ben smiled, crossing his arms.
"No! No! No!" Hector panicked as he witnessed Max getting dunked.
"Dude, it's no big deal," Jen said. "He'll dry off."
Max surfaced from the water and panted with a smile to the kids.
"How's the water, Grandpa?" Gwen asked.
"It could be a little warmer on these old joints of mine."
Suddenly, they heard a panicked shout coming from the crowd as they scattered as they saw Hex levitating overhead and he glared down at our heroes as they glared.
"You can hide from me no longer, Guardian!"
"Hex!" they all shouted taking no notice of Hector turning and running.
"He looks older," Ben said.
"Don't worry," Gwen said. "We drained him and Enchantress of all their powers, remember."
"He still looks pretty powerful to me," Allison said as he glared. "Bring it on."
"We kicked your butt before, Hex," Jen glared. "We'll do it again."
"I will deal with you six later," Hex glared. "Kalecky Erupt!"
He pointed his staff at them and a red light flashed from it, causing the ground beneath them to shoot up with rocks, sending the five heroes flying away, leaving Hector standing in fear.
"And you now!"
Hector gulped and turned to run, but Hex was two steps ahead of him. He was instantly in front of him in a flash.
"Look at me. Too much time has already been taken. Where is it?!"
"Uh, um..." Hector began.
"Yo, Hex! Haven't you ever heard of the word 'please?!'" Jen shouted as she and Ben ran up to him and prepared their Omnitrixes.
"Bretov Alagoria!"
He pointed his staff at the flying octopus ride and levitated one of the seats from its foundation and sent it flying at the twins.
They gasped and ducked, sending the seat flying towards the dunk tank, shattering it and soaking our heroes and Max with the water in the area.
"The location! Now!"
"I was sworn to keep it a secret!" Hector shouted.
"It's not nice to keep secrets!"
Angered, He xtossed Hector away from him as the others rushed up to the twins and Max as they stood up.
"He may look older, but he's still pretty powerful," Becky said as she prepared.
"So are we," Jen said, preparing her Omnitrix.
"Going hero!" Ben said as the twins slammed down the cores in a flash of green and pink light.
Ben's Omnitrix sank into his wrist and his entire body started to bloat into a more rounded shape as he clutched his eyes shut. And when he opened them again, they were fully golden. His body was covered in yellow armored plates with a white inner body with black markings on his eyes and the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his forehead. He spun his body around like a ball before striking a pose as his transformation finished.
Jen's Omnitrix sank into her wrist and chlorophyll started to pulse through her veins, replacing the blood in her system. As a result, her skin turned a pale green and her eyes turned a full glowing pink. Her clothes morphed into a flower petal-like dress of pink, red and white colors. The Omnitrix symbol growing on the clasp and her shoes morphed into leaf-like flats. Her hair morphed itself into a green flower-like bud on her head and she struck a pose, ending the transformation.
"Okay, slingshot time," Blossom Rose said as Cannonbolt rolled into his ball form.
She then cracked her joints and then shot her vines out and wrapped them around two stands' metal poles and formed a slingshot.
Allison absorbed the concrete nearby and walked up to Cannonbolt's shelled body and pulled him backwards on the makeshift slingshot as she shouted out and sent him flying and colliding into Hex, sending them both flying into the spinning seat ride, where they spun around the spinning top part of the mechanism.
The others suited up and ran over to assist Cannonbolt in his endeavors.
Max, meanwhile, helped Hector out of the barrel he was blasted into and helped him to his feet.
"What does Hex want with you?"
"Something so powerful and secret. If the truth was revealed, then the world would never be the same."
As the action was taking place, a portal opened up and Scarlett stepped through with a new soldier.
She wore a shirt that was split in light blue, in the front, and dark blue, on the back, with decorative patterns on the front. She also had long dark blue arm warmers that reached her shoulders and revealed her fingers. She had a fur pelt that was slight purple in color with white fur lining attached to a belt on her pants which were slim and had brown boots with a purple diamond shaped at the top. She had brown hair that was done in a low ponytail, with edges of hair flaming both sides of her face and bright cyan eyes and had a long katana strapped to the side of her belt.
"So, this is where our mission is? It looks so... ordinary," she said.
"This place is anything but ordinary, Korra," Scarlett said as she put her hand to her temple and gave out a deep breath and the two ran over to the area where the dunk tank crashed and Scarlett nodded.
"Well?" Korra asked.
Scarlett scooped some of the water up in her mouth and sipped and shook her head. "This definitely isn't normal water."
She took out a vial and Korra posed her hands and moved them in a circular pattern as the water raised upwards and levitated into the beaker.
"Celestia, I'm sending you a sample of the water I found at the signal you sent me."
"Very well, my friend," Celestia said as Scarlett cast a spell on the beaker, teleporting it to the Mystic Isles.
Scarlett looked to see Cannonbolt and Hex fly out of the mechanism and Cannonbolt smashed onto the hard ground.
"While we're here, I think I should introduce you to my charges," Scarlett said as she took out her swords and run to the area with Korra by her side.
"Very well, my Queen," Korra said as she ran over to join her leader.
Cannonbolt glared towards the evil wizard and charged towards him, but he was ready this time.
Hex grasped his staff like a baseball bat and whacked Cannonbolt, sending him flying right into the paths of Lucky Girl, Matter Girl and Huntress, who screamed before running off as Cannonbolt crashed into the ground, the knockback sending them flying into the bumper car arena.
"Ow," Matter Girl groaned in pain, rubbing her aching joints.
"That could've gone better," Lucky Girl said.
"You think?"
Hex walked over to the spinning teacups and glared as Hector hid from view, just as Scarlett and Korra appeared in front of him with a glare.
"Can we get this over with?" Korra asked. "I promised Mako that I would be at dinner at 6 a.m." (A.N.: Yes, Korra is still paired with Mako in my AU. I intend to rewrite The Legend of Korra as well in my own way. *wink*)
"Your boyfriend will understand," Scarlett said as she looked at Hector and showed her enchantlet.
"A Protector," he said. "Your exploits are legendary in the multiverse."
"We'll take it from here, sweetie," Scarlett smiled as Korra levitated up two large rocks and glared at Hex and Scarlett lit her hands up in flames.
Max approached as well.
"You'll have to get past us to get to him."
"That can be arranged," he said as Korra crushed the boulders together and created a ton of pebble bullets that she tossed towards Hex while Scarlett thrust forward two flamethrowers from her hands with a shout of effort.
Hex fired a similar spell from his staff towards them and deflected the pebbles and sent a blast towards Scarlett, sending her flying backwards, crashing into the water from the dunk tank, cutting herself on the glass.
She groaned in pain as she looked at her wound from the broken glass before the skin sealed itself shut in a few seconds, but the pain was still slowly ebbing away as she rushed over.
Korra pulled out her sword with a shout, but Hex simply used his telekinesis to send her flying back into the carousel.
That left Max standing there. Hex sent out a telekinetic blast, sending Max crashing into a teacup and the teacup crashed on top of him.
Hex then looked to see Lucky Girl, Matter Girl and Huntress flew towards him in an enchanted bumper car while Cannonbolt rolled towards him and Korra ran up and fired two flamethrowers from her hands towards him and Blossom Rose fired her solar beam at him. Thinking quickly, he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a puff of red smoke.
Korra gasped and quickly raised three rock walls from the ground, causing them to crash into each other and not harm each other while the Omnitrixes timed out, transforming back.
Scarlett walked back up to them and sighed.
"Scarlett," Jen said, bowing to her.
"You're too kind," Scarlett said. "I'm sure that you've already met Korra. As the Avatar, she has the power to control and manipulate the four elements: fire, air, water and earth."
"Pleased to meet you," Korra said, shaking Jen's hand. "Scarlett has told us much about you and your family. It'll be my honor to fight alongside you."
"Ben, Jen, Gwen! Under here!" Max said.
The kids gasped as Scarlett and Korra ran over and used their strong muscles to lift the teacup.
"Are you okay, Grandpa?" Ben asked.
All 7 of the group gasped and Jen's eye twitched.
Max had suddenly decreased in height and muscle mass and his grey hair was replaced with red and his skin was free of any wrinkles. His clothes were also noticeably baggier.
"You know, I've never felt better. I almost feel like a kid again!"
"We may have problems," Jen said.
"Hex was here," Scarlett said, crossing her arms. "Where's Charmcaster?"
"You mean Hope?" Jen asked. "We haven't seen her... But considering her uncle's up to his old tricks again she should be arriving momentarily."
A flash of purple smoke appeared and the young magician stepped out with a smile.
"I came as soon as I was sure that Hex came and... whoa," Hope stopped herself when she saw Max. "Who's he?"
"Max," Allison said, crossing her arms.
"Avatar Korra, nice to meet you," Korra said, shaking her hand.
"Grandpa Max, you're like... us," Ben said.
"This is so awkward," Becky said, shivering.
Max looked into his scanner and gasped at his reflection.
"I'm young? I'm a kid again!"
"What do you think Hex did to you?" Gwen asked.
"Besides getting rid of my grey hair, my big gut and my bad back? Not much."
"In all my years of magic, I've never seen a spell like this," Scarlett said. "And I'm over 300 years old."
Max then ran off and did a frontflip over a nearby bench, causing a nearby kid to lose his grip on his ice cream.
"Hey, I can do somersaults again!"
"Hey! Watch where you're going, loser!"
Max ran off again as Gwen and Becky glared.
"That's no loser! That's our grandpa!" Becky shouted.
"He's not even my grandfather and even I'm uncomfortable," Hope said, shivering as Korra sighed and shook her head.
"You're telling me, sister. And I just met the guy," Korra said.
Max handed the kid a replacement ice cream and had his own with three scoops.
"Forget about watching what I eat anymore. I got rocky road, mint chip and Chunka-Hunka Bubble! Real pieces of bubble gum in every bite. See?"
He then blew a bubble into Gwen's face, causing gum to go onto her face and she peeled it off.
"Forget about what my sister said," Gwen told the kid. "I've never seen this kid before in my life."
The kid shrugged and walked away.
"Now, act your age," Jen seethed to Max.
"Okay," Max said. "...How old am I now?"
"You look about 10," Ben said.
"We have to turn you back," Allison said.
"I'm getting my spellbook," Gwen said.
"I'll see what I can do as well," Hope said.
"Wait," Max said. "No aches, no pains. I want to enjoy this for awhile."
"Hello!" Jen said. "Hex is on the loose. And he's obviously after something major important. Otherwise, Scarlett and Korra wouldn't be here."
"Exactly," Scarlett said with a nod. "If I'm right, what Hex is after is what we're here for."
"I never realized that your sister and Gwen were such spoil sports," Max said.
"Tell me about it," Ben said.
Korra glared and snapped her fingers in front of Max's face with a glare.
"You're right, Gwen," Max sighed. "We'll figure this out... right after we play tag! You're it!"
He patted Jen and ran away as the others glared after him.
"Oh, this can't be happening to me," Gwen said with a groan as the twins shrugged and ran after Max, giggling.
"Feel free to study what happened to him while we investigate the dunk tank," Scarlett said as she and Korra left.
"I'll help you, Gwen," Hope said with a nod.
In the Rust Bucket, while Ben, Jen, Becky and Max were playing Sumo Slammers on the game station.
"No," Gwen said as she and Hope looked through their spellbooks. "That won't work either. Wrong spell. Only works on armadillos?!"
"You're toast, Ben!" Max said as he used his character to smash Ben's Ishiyama into the ground while Jen's ninja character walked away with a sword.
"I've got nothing, guys," Hope said as she closed her book. "At this point, I seriously doubt that my uncle had anything to do with turning Max into a 10-year-old."
"Well, if he didn't, who did?"
"Not who," Korra said as she walked into the RV. "What."
"That game booth guy did seem to be keeping something a pretty big secret," Allison said.
"Maybe there was something in the water?" Becky suggested.
"The water was what Hex was after, wasn't it?" Jen told Korra, who chuckled.
"You've got a pretty wild imagination, kid," Korra smiled. "That can be a dangerous thing."
"We could use the elemental breakdown meter to test a core sample," Max suggested. "...Right after the twins and I go skateboarding."
"Grandpa/Max!" Ben, Jen, Gwen, Becky, Allison and Hope shouted.
"Okay, okay," Max said as he went to a kitchen cabinet and pulled out some kind of machine. He picked it up before he fell over onto his back. "I never realized how heavy this thing was."
"Hang on, this is a woman's job," Korra said as she hefted the machine onto one arm and exited the vehicle. "Come on. Scarlett's waiting for us."
At the site of the accident, Scarlett lifted the breakdown meter as Max examined the water with the machine.
"Well?" Becky asked as she and the kids stood by.
"The meter's picking up 12 times the amount of oxygen in the water than hydrogen," Max said.
"So instead of H2O, it's HO12?" Allison asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Max said. "And it's also registering high levels of carbon."
"Hold on," Becky said as she examined a piece of stray wood in the wreckage and picked it up. "Amazing Amusement Company, 1257 Northfield Lane, Jacksonville FL."
That was when two security guards came over with handcuffs.
"This is a crime scene! Drop the weapon and everyone come with us!"
Scarlett dropped the meter and glared at them as the twins stepped up.
"You know, we should give these guys a hand. Or better yet, four of them!"
The twins slammed down the cores and transformed into Four Arms, but something was clearly off.
"Oh no," Korra said, facepalming.
"Not you two too!" Gwen said.
The twins' Tetramand forms were much shorter than normal and had much less muscle mass.
"You guys get out of here! We'll catch up!" Scarlett said as she and Korra raised up a rock wall between them and the guards before Scarlett used her Keyblade to open a portal and out stepped her alicorn, Oleander.
She and Korra got onto the winged unicorn and she flicked the reigns, setting off into the sky towards the address.
"The RV wasn't going to fit all of us anyway," Allison said as Jen picked up the meter and they ran for the Rust Bucket.
"So what do you think happened to the Omnitrixes?" Ben asked.
"Nothing," Becky said. "It's the water."
"It splashed all over you and Jen when the booth smashed, too," Allison said. "That means that you and your aliens are younger just like Max."
They went into the Rust Bucket and started up the machine.
"We need to go to that address in Jacksonville," Gwen said.
"Allow me," Hope said. "I'm 16 and I have my license."
"Hey, no one drives my baby but me!" Max said.
"You're too young to drive right now!" Jen said, placing the meter in the cabinet again. "Give her the keys."
Max groaned and handed Hope the keys and she started up the RV, driving off as Allison typed in the address into the GPS.
The Omnitrixes timed out, leaving the twins back in their human forms, now being reduced to four-year-olds with their clothes baggier as well while Jen gasped and Ben glared at Gwen.
"This isn't funny," Ben said.
"I knew I was more mature than you," Gwen smirked as Becky squealed in delight and hugged Jen.
"Oh my gosh, you're so cute!" she said as she cuddled her to her chest and Jen glared and pushed her away with an energy pulse, only it was much weaker than normal.
"Try not to do that," Jen said, crossing her arms.
Outside, Scarlett and Korra flew on Oleander as they noticed the RV driving along.
"We have to follow them," Scarlett told her friend, who nodded in response. "They know what to do."
"I agree," Korra said with a smile.
"Come on, Oleander!" Scarlett said, flicking the reigns and Oleander flew after them.
The team arrived at the Amazing Amusement Company warehouse in an open farmland in Jacksonville with Scarlett and Korra shortly behind in the sky.
"We're here," Allison said as they all left the RV, Max having changed into one of Ben's spare shirts.
The team then walked through the fields of Florida orange trees as Becky looked up to see the flying unicorn in the sky with Scarlett giving a nod as she flew ahead.
"My feet hurt," Ben whined. "I don't wanna walk anymore! I'm tired!"
"Quit being such a baby, Ben," Jen said to him.
"In case you haven't noticed, Jen, I am one!"
"Well I don't want to listen to you whine all day!"
"Well I don't want to hear you complain all day!"
This whole thing eventually devolved into a shouting contest between the Omni Toddlers as they shouted arguments and insults to each other with Allison groaning.
"Didn't we used to do this when we were 4-year-olds?" Becky asked her sister.
"Don't remind me," Gwen said.
Hope groaned and separated the two with her magic.
"Will you two please stop?" she asked politely. "I don't want to hear you argue any more than you guys want to argue."
"Fine," Ben said.
"Fine," Jen said as they both turned their backs to each other with a scoff.
The group continued and made their way to the back of the shack and saw Hector tied to the roof.
"I have a feeling that we're too late," Max said.
"I warned you not to get in the booth," Hector said.
"Where's Hex?" Allison asked.
"You just missed him. I had no choice. He forced me to tell him."
"Tell him what?" Jen asked.
Meanwhile, Hex was spying on them in the shed of the farm and his eyes gazed over to a tractor parked in the garage.
Hex then glared and used his magic to cause the tractor to mutate into a Transformer-like creature that burst out of the garage and growled at our heroes.
"Move or get turned to pulp!" Max shouted and they all took off in different directions as Scarlett and Korra zoomed in overhead and dropped down in front of the beast.
Scarlett bared her sword while and pointed it to the monster as it brought down its wheel mace and opened its mouth, revealing its flaming engine.
"Going hewo- I mean hero!" Jen shouted as she and Ben slammed down the Omnitrixes, transforming into younger versions of Wildmutt and Wildcat.
"Oh great. Wildpup and Wildkitten," Allison said as Wildkitten mewled up to her and nuzzled her leg.
"Aw, she's so adorable!" Becky said before snapping out of it.
Wildpup and Wildkitten then growled and ran towards the mechanical monstrosity and flipped over and hissed and growled at it as Scarlett and Hope blasted up magical spells at is as the battle ensued.
Korra then used her waterbending to cut the rope that Hector was attached to and caught him before setting him down.
"What does Hex want?" Becky asked.
"He's after the water. You see, I have been a protector of the Fountain of Youth," Hector said.
"So, the legends of the Fountain are true," Scarlett said as she leaped out of the way of the mace.
"Indeed."
Wildpup and Wildkitten leaped out of the way as Korra fired two flamethrowers from her hands towards the machine as Wildpup whimpered.
Hope smirked as she caught the two aliens and lifted them up to the back of the tractor.
The two then clawed and bit off massive pieces of the machine before leaping off as Korra glared and sent out a whirlwind, blowing the machine onto its back.
"Way to go, guys!" Max said.
"Good boy," Becky said as Wildpup yipped and licked her. "Ew! Alien slobber!"
"We must gather and find the Fountain," Scarlett said as she looked towards Hector. "As the protector, you know where it is. Show us."
"We're trustworthy," Gwen said.
"Very well. Follow me," Hector said as he led the way with the others following.
Meanwhile, Hex was levitating through the forest and found himself in a bog.
"They're going to be going after me. Let's slow them down a bit. Awakatelo Foligeto!"
He separated his glowing hands and sent out a mist before flying away, the trees coming to life around him.
"So," Korra said as the group followed Hector. "The Fountain of Youth is real."
"Yes. Or rather, the Fountains of Youth are real. There's more than one in the world," Hector said. "It was decided back then that they would remain a secret."
"But wait about the rumors of the Fountain of Youth through the centuries?"
"It was a rumor made up to protect them so people would only pursue and never find the others," Hector said. "As for the one in the New World, I alone was chosen by Ponce de Leon and bound by honor to look over it for all of eternity."
"So that was you as that Spanish soldier carved into the inscription," Allison theorized.
Hector nodded.
"But that would make you over 400 years old," Becky said.
"Yes," Hector said. "Drinking the water from the Fountain of Youth will allow me to live forever."
"Staying young forever," Max said. "Now that's a dream come true."
"More like a nightmare," Hector said. "Immortality is both a blessing and a curse. I have been unable to fall in love or start a family like yours knowing that they would grow older while I did not. Time is your friend, not your enemy. Appreciate what you have."
"*Ahem*," Scarlett cleared her throat. "Forgive me, but I'm an immortal myself. It's a hereditary thing since my grandmother was an Amazon. You actually chose to keep drinking the water and remaining eternal. I had no choice in the matter. It's different for us."
Hector nodded.
"Why weren't you affected by the water?" Korra asked her. "You drank it too."
"I think it doesn't work on me because I'm already immortal by birth," Scarlett shrugged. "That means that it wouldn't work on Drake Flame either."
"Okay, that makes sense," Becky said.
They looked to see Wildpup and Wildkitten close by as Wildkitten groomed herself and Wildpup scratched behind his ear as the Omnitrixes timed out, leaving the Omni-Toddlers still ongoing before they immediately stopped in realization.
"Aw man!" Ben said. "Fleas!"
They were instantly snatched up by Max and Allison and the group ran as fast as they could through the field with Scarlett smiling as she and Korra decided to give the twins a piggyback ride, much to their delight.
"But now Hex knows the Fountain's secret location," Hector said.
"And he's gotten more powerful after every drink," Gwen said. "That's not good."
"There's no way that we can let Hex be around forever," Becky said.
"But how can we get to the fountain before he does?" Max asked.
"I've collected a few things over the years," Hector smiled.
Pretty soon afterwards, Hector drove a Jeep towards the Fountain as Hope and Lucky Girl levitated beside it while Scarlett and Korra rode on Oleander right beside it. Matter Girl, Huntress, and Max sat in the passenger seats of the Jeep while Ben and Jen were stuck in booster seats.
"This is not cool!" Jen pouted.
"Get over it, you big baby!" Matter Girl told her as Jen quivered her lip at her and gave her the puppy dog eyes. "Oh no! Not the puppy dog eyes!"
Not long afterwards, our heroes suddenly found themselves in the path of a monstrous plant monster with tons of Venus flytrap-like heads and thorned vine tentacles.
"Hex!" Everyone shouted as the monster shot out its vines at them and grabbed the Jeep, quickly dismantling it in an explosion as everyone was thrown away and quickly ran down the vines, dodging the monster's snapping heads as they ran for their lives.
Ben and Jen, however, were stuck in their booster seats falling down and screaming their little heads off.
But Scarlett and Korra swooped in on Oleander and snatched the booster seats upwards and unfastened the seatbelts.
"We had it under control, you know," Jen said as she adjusted the dial on her Omnitrix.
"You're welcome," Korra said as Scarlett bared her sword and hiked up her horse as Korra's eyes started to glow white.
Korra levitated in the air on an airspout generated from her legs before she lifted up two major pieces of earth and degenerated it into pebble bullets that she used to pelt the monstrous plant, severing a few of its vines as she used her airbending to move around while Scarlett ran in and used her swords to slice up the vines that came near her with a shout and grunt of effort each as she looked up to see their friends dangling from the heads of the plant.
Hope flew overhead and shouted out as she fired pink beams of magic from her eyes, blasting off pieces of the monster as she dodged its vines while the twins looked below.
"Going hero!" Ben shouted as they slammed the cores down, transforming into...
"Before there was Stinkfly, I was Stinkyfly!" Ben shouted.
"And I'm Flickerfly!" Jen cheered as she noticed she lacked the crown-like horns that Firefly normally had.
The pair then flew upwards whooping and firing their heat beams and noxious gas clouds, which caused the plant to either burn or shrivel up and die.
Stinkyfly flew upwards and saw Scarlett and Korra blasting out fire and slicing the heads away with their swords and elemental powers.
He saw Max terrorized by several plant heads and Stinkyfly used his razor-sharp tail to slice the heads off and grab Max by the pants and he smiled.
"Alright, Ben!" Lucky Girl shouted before she gasped before she, Matter Girl, Huntress and Hector were caught by more heads while Hope flew around, dodging the plant heads and firing out spell blasts with a shout of effort for each one.
Our heroes regrouped as Scarlett flew by on Oleander and sliced off the heads that were holding her friends as Korra fired out a water whip, slicing off the heads as Stinkyfly glared.
"Can't catch what you can't see!"
He then shot out his slime blasts from his eyes, blinding the plants (although they didn't have eyes anyway) and glared as Scarlett grabbed Matter Girl and Huntress while Korra deactivated the Avatar State and grabbed Max and Hector and hit the ground.
"You guys have heard of silent but deadly," Flickerfly said as she prepared her fireballs. "Well here's hot and deadlier!"
She and Stinkyfly flew in and fired out several blasts of fire, slime and noxious gas while also slicing through the heads with their thick claws and tail, causing the plants to shrivel up and die before Flickerfly and Stinkyfly flew out of the gas cloud and Flickerfly flew in and fired her heat ray downwards to detonate the gas, resulting in a huge explosion that took out a small number of trees.
Scarlett smiled and took an orange that fell from one of the trees and took a bite of it, satisfied.
"Nice work, guys," Max said as they all ran away from the scene as Matter Girl sighed.
"Guess that we're walking the rest of the way," she said.
"Follow me," Hector said. "We're almost there."
Later, the group walked through a deep cavern, similar to the caves in New Mexico as Ben and Jen looked outwards, disturbed before Hector stopped the before a huge body of water.
"There it is," Hector said. "The American Fountain of Youth."
"One of life's greatest mysteries: solved," Max said. "The Plumbers never thought to deal with something like this."
"I'll send out a message to the Protectors," Scarlett said. "They will make sure that only the worthy ever find this place again."
"Hey," Hope suggested. "Maybe Hex never found it?"
Then, everyone felt the ground shake as Scarlett and Korra bared their swords and they gulped.
"Then again..."
They ran into a secluded part of the cavern as they felt the room shake. They looked to see Hex, now restored to his original age, rise up from the Fountain's waters and glare at them as Scarlett, Korra, Hope, Lucky Girl, Huntress and Matter Girl prepared for battle with him as Matter Girl absorbed the stone from the ground.
"You are too late," he said. "With control of the water, I shall become immortal! My power is becoming greater than you could ever imagine!"
Lucky Girl flipped through the pages of her spellbook and shot her glowing hand out at her enemy.
"Teewat Ligara!" she shouted.
A whirlwhind burst forth from her hand towards him, but Hex merely caught the spell in his grasp and redirected it towards our heroes, sending them flying away.
Korra strategically created a whirlwind spinning in the opposite direction, which cancelled Lucky Girl's out and Hope flew forwards and her eyes glowed pink.
"Kemo Char!" she shouted and fired out her blast of magic energy towards him, which he blocked with his forcefield.
Scarlett flew forwards and fired out energy blasts from her hands and kicks that dazed him as she engaged in hand-to-hand combat as he roundhouse-kicked her in the head as she groaned and then gave a sweep to his legs and fired energy beams from her eyes to him, which he blocked with his staff.
Korra shouted out as she sent out fire blasts and air sweeps towards him, which blasted him back and she shouted out as she levitated the water from the Fountain, froze it with her ice cold breath and shouted out and blasted him in the chest, but not before he sent a spell blast out to her, which knocked her into the wall.
Matter Girl, Lucky Girl and Huntress glared outwards and ducked back towards the twins, Max and Hector.
"You cannot defeat me now that I am all-powerful!" Hex shouted.
"Don't go into the Avatar State," Korra told herself. "It's too big of a risk."
She then shouted out and bended up a rock wall, which protected our heroes from his attacks.
"That was merely the beginning!" Hex shouted as he levitated up in the air and generated a huge field of energy around himself, leaving everyone stunned.
"Okay, screw attacking him now," Scarlett said as she and Korra stood and ducked behind the wall and looked towards the evil sorcerer before her.
"What are we going to do now?" Matter Girl asked.
"Give up," Lucky Girl said. "I mean, what good would the twins be as baby alien heroes against Hex now? Not even Scarlett and Korra can match his power. What chance do they have?"
She then smirked and winked to her friends who smiled slyly at her.
"Hey, who are you calling babies?!" Ben asked.
"I mean, come on, guys," Huntress said as Hex levitated the water up. "Even if you guys went, say, Heatblast or Flataurus, he'd just blow you guys out like birthday candles."
"Oh, yeah?!" Jen asked as she and Ben slammed down the cores and transformed into Heatblast and Flataurus and charged towards Hex as Flataurus snorted out in anger. Besides the obvious change in scale, Flataurus' belly merely had four teats since her udder didn't have the time to properly develop yet.
"We'll show you!"
Heatblast generated a fireball in his hand and shot out a fireball at Hex, which he just caught and extinguished with no effort at all.
Flataurus shouted out and charged forwards in a cloak of flames and charged forwards, shouting out, before Hex merely uppercut her and sent her tumbling to the opposite side of the cavern.
"I am working up quite a thirst," he said and levitated up the fountains' waters.
"Told you, guys!" Matter Girl said, waggling her finger. "Told you, told you, told you!"
The twins glared and started heating up and glared.
"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Heatblast shouted out and she and Flataurus shouted out and charged forwards, tackling Hex with supernova heat and sending him crashing through the walls of the cavern as Flataurus charged him and hit him with her small horns and glared.
"No!" Hex shouted as Heatblast continually heated up and Lucky Girl smiled.
"We knew they'd go supernova hot. Four-year-olds always have meltdowns."
"Korra, protect the Fountain!" Scarlett shouted as Korra nodded and flew over to Flataurus and glared and fought through the intense heat.
"Get it together, Korra," she told herself as she looked over and shouted out and pinched Flataurus' shoulder, which caused her to suddenly widen her eyes as her muscles seized up and she fell into her arms, snoring peacefully, the heat dying around her and she used her airbending to fly back over and hand the sleeping alien calf to Scarlett who smiled and pet her head as she looked to see Heatblast laying waste to Hex as he shouted out.
"Stay away!" he said.
"Let's get out of here!" Hope said as they all ran/flew away out of the caverns and back through as Heatblast used his intense heat to blast Hex through the roof, sending him flying away from the scene.
"I must be eternal!" he shouted as he was sent flying who knows how far away.
As they all left the area and Flataurus groaned as she woke up and smiled at Scarlett.
"Mommy?" she asked.
"No, Jennifer," she said. "I am not."
"Oh," she said as she stood by her brother who dusted himself off as his heat died down.
"Oh yeah, who's hot!?"
"Oh yeah, who's smart?" Lucky Girl said as Max sighed and looked himself over.
"Who's going to be 10 forever?"
"Don't worry, Max," Hector said. "You must keep drinking the water to remain young. Its effects should wear off of you and the twins shortly."
"Hector," Scarlett said as she dialed in her enchantlet. "The Protectors will take charge of protecting the Fountain now."
"I gladly hand over my duties to your group, Scarlet Warrior," Hector said as he bowed to her.
Scarlett and Hope sighed and positioned their hands and shot them out towards the cave entrance, which then shimmered and faded from view.
"Simple illusion spell," Hope said. "No one will find the Fountain of Youth again."
"But I've mapped down its location for the Protectors. Only the worthy may be allowed entrance," Scarlett said as she looked to Korra and smiled. "My job here is done. Until we meet again."
"Great meeting you, Korra," Allison said as she shook the Avatar's hand and she smiled.
"You too. You know what to do to call me or one of the others," Korra said as Scarlett whistled for Oleander who walked over and generated a portal from her horn. Scarlett then got onto the alicorn and then rode off into the portal with Korra behind her, the portal closing behind them.
"Guess I should be going too," Hope said as she smiled and left. "I've got places I need to be as well."
"Great seeing you again," Lucky Girl said as the two hugged and Hope smiled and teleported away from view.
"What about you?" Huntress asked. "If you don't drink the water anymore, you won't be immortal anymore."
"No. But it might be nice to finally start acting my age."
Later, after the effects of the water had worn off of Ben, Jen and Max, they waved goodbye to Hector and regrouped back to the Rust Bucket.
Ben smiled and opened the door, as Jen smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Now, now, bro. Age before beauty," she said. "Go ahead, Grandpa."
Max then smiled at them and walked into the RV with the others following and Ben going last.
But he tripped on the step and fell onto his back.
"Oh man," he said. "I think I just threw my back out."
Scarlett stepped through the portal as Pink Diamond waited for her in the area and smiled.
"A job well done as always, my friend," Pink said to her as Scarlett bowed with respect.
"Thank you, Pink," Scarlett said to her. "But do me a favor. Next time you have a mission to the Prime dimension, send Sofia or Samus instead."
"As you wish," Pink said as Scarlett smiled and departed for her palace before Pink sighed and entered the meeting hall in the Protectors' headquarters before she parted the curtain to reveal her, Celestia, Hippolyta and a few other warriors painted on a stained-glass window.
One of said warriors was a being embodying pink energy with a purple body, blazing pink hair and wings and a masquerade-like mask on her face at the very top.
"There is so much more meaning to us in the Prime Dimension than you even understand, Scarlett."
"I am still all-powerful!" a squeaky voice said as a familiar chuckling was heard in the woods.
"Uh-huh. Sure you are."
"Put me down, Enchantress!" Hex, now reduced to nothing more than a mere child, commanded to his eldest niece.
"Oh, Uncle Hex. Something tells me that I'll be the one giving the orders from now on."
Next time on Ben and Jen 10:
Big Fat Alien Wedding
Take a note guys, I'm going to be on a road trip to Dallas, Oklahoma City and Wichita until the 1st of April, so I'll try to work on the new chapter as much as I can, but I might be a little late with the release.