Now the story returns to the viewpoint of Ben, Hope and the others. Will they discover the plight that Gwen has brought unto herself? And will they be able to stop Ghostfreak?

Only one way to find out. Read on


Chapter 9 - A Warning from a Visitor

The night passed much more quietly than anyone that was currently a resident in the Tennyson household expected it would. After dismissing the others and ordering them to get rest, Max arranged an hourly watch. Carl and Sandra were the first to volunteer, which he argued against, given the fact they had already been on watch for Hope's sake for a good few hours. Sandra returned the argument, saying that everyone else had been out in the town looking for Gwen, driving and taxing their senses until they were worn down. Finding no way to counter that, Max conceded.

Now on the watch himself, he glanced through the window up to the gradually brightening sky. Dawn was arriving. In less than an hour, he was going to have to wake everyone up to resume the hunt for Gwen. Max gazed across the room, looking at all those that were sleeping peacefully.

Kevin was the only other person awake. Having risen from sleep two hours prior and unable to get back into it because he thought about Gwen continually from the moment he opened his eyes, he took on an extended watch. He, as Max saw, was standing silently on the other side of the room. Kai, Alan, Helen and Manny were all bundled together alongside one wall; Manny in particular had slung his two right arms around Helen's form as the two slept side by side. Carl and Sandra, refusing to sleep in their bedroom upstairs after their watch ended, chose to rest underneath the window so they would be ready to defend their family and home if Gwen or Adwaita came calling. At Sandra's invitation, Natalie slept in the other armchair in the room; Frank was propped up by the side. Hex occupied the chair Sandra offered him earlier; the usually intense sorceror had never looked so serene and peaceful to Max that the very sight of it was starting to creep him out. Julie had taken up a space in the centre of the room; Ship proved his dedication to her by reforming into a sleeping bag for her to sleep in.

But none of these grabbed his attention as much as Ben and Hope were. His grandson was lying on the sofa, his back to the surface and the lower half of his legs perched on the arm. Hope was resting on top of Ben, the side of her head nestled against his chest, her hands gripping his shoulders almost as if she was afraid Ben would be torn away from her in their sleep. With Gwen on the loose, Max reckoned it wouldn't be a surprise if that were the case.

Ben had also done a similar protective and subconscious action for Hope. His arms were wrapped around the young woman he loved, embracing her. This, Max smiled at. In spite of the danger they were in, Ben and Hope were proving they were not afraid to risk Gwen's wrath by continuing to remain together. A small frown crossed the old Plumber's face as he reminded himself of his wayward granddaughter. Regarding Kevin again, Max wondered if there was any way he or her boyfriend could have foreseen the girl they both cared for taking the path she was going on in order to split Ben and Hope up.

He shook his head, redirecting attention to his post, knowing full well why he had asked that question despite witnessing Gwen vowing commitment to her goal. For most of everyone in the house, the emotional response to Gwen's moral deterioration was pure, shocked disbelief. For Max, Kevin and Ben, that disbelief also came with a sick feeling of guilt. Not for the first time since Sandra contacted him with the news that Gwen could be starting trouble, he questioned if he should have returned home faster and helped settle things before that could ever happen. That line of questioning only led to him blaming himself for trusting that Gwen would act the way she normally did when confronted with something she didn't like. Using her gift for verbal intervention and debate.

His granddaughter had a talent for wording her side of an argument usually, more often than not, bringing support to her benefit. From an early age, she tried to sway him, her parents, and her uncle and aunt so many times that it reached the point where the five of them had taught themselves to be wary and reinforce their status as adults when she would argue her point.

Ben on the other hand had no need to learn. Like Gwen with her effective arguing, the boy had a natural, built-in defence to it. Ben always refused to listen to Gwen whenever she got into, as Max named it, her wanting-to-be-in-control temperament, justifying constantly that the other side deserved to be heard. Max grinned wryly, recalling that that was the start of Ben and Gwen competing as to who was the better child, Gwen standing in for maturity and responsibility and Ben speaking for all things cool, awesome and fun. A lot of parental stress and headache tablets to help in attempting to calm things between the two children or just plain endure the arguments was more like it, Max commented.

But this, what he had come home to, was horrifyingly different. Through the things she had done, Gwen had become a remorseless scheming manipulator, bent on proving herself right about Hope and uncaring as to who she used or hurt in the process. Many of the people around him had all suffered in some way at her hands.

Ben, hurt by Gwen turning on him. Hurt that she did not believe the love he held for Hope was genuine. Hurt that she was so determined that Hope had put a spell on him or something, she was willing to go to extreme methods to prove him wrong.

Kevin, just like Ben, was in pain having to watch Gwen fall. Bearing witness to nearly every instance of her rapidly developing obsession and unable to do anything to stop it. Forcing himself to arrest her, his emotions overflowing with guilt at each step taken in the procedure.

Julie, Ship and Kai, all three of them victimised when Gwen perceived them as traitors and held them completely against their will. For Julie and Ship, the horror was being imprisoned inside their own home by someone they counted as a dear friend. Kai's suffering was more violating on a personal level; possessed and bewitched to do Gwen's bidding, coerced into stalking Ben and throwing herself at him in a romantic advance, and reliving through it all with her mind once Ben's resistance freed her of the spell.

Carl and Sandra, forced to make a hard decision once it was clear how far Gwen would go. To protect their son, Hope, and the couple's shared happiness, they risked opposing Gwen and were prepared to stand against her, even if it meant splintering their friendly relations with Frank and Natalie if the latter two chose to side with their daughter. Max turned to his other son and daughter-in-law.

Frank and Natalie were also suffering, suffering from a deep-rooted sense of something that was all too recognisable for Max. Although neither of them had voiced it, it was plain to see the two were condemning themselves as failures at being parents. Attached to the idea that Gwen was a perfect, mature and responsible teenage girl, they had not seen the changes that had come over their daughter after she was told about Ben and Hope's relationship. Not once did they have any hint of what was coming, until Gwen was brought home contained inside Ship and they were informed she was under arrest.

Max sighed, drawing his eyes to the window, changing his focus to look outside into the quiet and empty street. There was his pain to think about as well. To just simply imagine the young woman he called granddaughter doing all the things she had recently done was agonizing enough, but to arrive home and see it was all true, followed by his witnessing of her escape and her promise to see her obsession through, it was beyond any contemplative form of emotion known to even a man of his age and experience. In his mind, he pictured the ten year old Gwen eagerly taking up magic, her playful teasing and insulting of Ben, the many cheerful smiles, the rare show of concern for Ben whenever he was in trouble. Max shivered miserably. Once more, he did not know if he could handle this. All throughout his life, he placed his duty to the Plumbers first and his family second, which created the somewhat distant relationship between him and his sons, but ever since the memorable summer trip he shared with Ben and Gwen, he had learned to reverse those priorities. Now, circumstances were forcing him to overlook that change. They called for him to be as tough and hard as he was in his youth, to find and capture Gwen before she inflicted any more damage.

He asked himself if he would be able to follow that. There was a part of him that did not want to arrest her as he knew where that was going to lead to. Could he face her going through the consequences for her misdeeds if he caught her? Could he watch as the Commission punished her?

Yes, the stronger, dedicated side to his nature spoke. He had to. Because if he didn't, there was likely to be noone else to stand in defence of her.

If she even wants that defence, he grumbled privately.

A yawn pulled him out of his thinking. Glancing downward, he saw Sandra was beginning the motions of rising from her slumber.

"Max," she groaned, her voice coming out like a scratchy croak. Max blinked as she rubbed her eyes. He realised then that his grumbling had been uttered out loud and enough to wake her.

"Go back to sleep, Sandra. It's not dawn yet."

"No," Sandra refused, climbing to her feet. "If you intend to continue the search at dawn, then right now is a good enough time to start thinking about breakfast for all of us.

Max's shoulders sagged. He should have seen this coming and now he knew where this conversation was going to lead. "Actually, I was thinking we should - -

"If you're going to say 'order in' or 'get drive-thru on the road'," Sandra interrupted her eyes hardening into a glare, "then don't."

"Sandra, you've already done enough with the snack food last night," Max said placatingly. "We don't want to eat you of house and home. Remember we've got teenagers here."

"That's okay then. I'll just put out cereal. We've got plenty of Rice Pops and fruit juice."

"Uh, when you say fruit juice?"

"Fruit. Juice," Sandra emphasised plainly. "Not fruit drink."

Max closed his mouth. He knew by now it was useless to argue with his daughter-in-law when she was insistent on playing host, especially when it looked like people were going to have takeout as an option for food, an option that was profane when she was around. Once she displayed her disapproval, a hard glare with a scrunching of the nose, that was a signal to end the discussion.

And now that the signal had appeared, Max relented.

With a victorious smile, Sandra walked towards the kitchen. As he watched her leave, Max picked up a reaction from Kevin. The young man was raising an eyebrow at him, obviously amused he had given up so easily.

He scowled in return.

:*:

The lounge room slowly came alive as everybody awoke one by one. Carl was the next to rise after his wife, his body having informed him of her absence from his side. Hex followed him, his eyes snapping open to show the others he had no more need of rest. Julie, Kai, Helen, Manny and Alan all woke in quick succession when Sandra announced breakfast and greeted their share of a bowl of Rice Pops with milk and a glass of juice with enthusiasm; Ship, pining for his own sustenance, lapped up spoonfuls of milk Julie gave to him.

Their reactions gave Sandra cause to glance over Max's way with triumph. Max ignored her by digging a spoon into his breakfast bowl. Frank and Natalie awoke to the combined noises of teenagers munching on food. Natalie frowned at the kids, grumpily figuring out they were the reason her sleep had been disrupted but she took her breakfast without complaint.

Ben and Hope had not stirred at all. Keeping a light giggle hidden behind her teeth, Sandra stepped over to the two, her amazement with them growing the closer she approached. It was just too adorable for her to see Ben sleeping so peacefully. More times than she could count, whenever she had to get him out of bed in the mornings, Ben always slept messily, sprawled all over the bed with at least one limb hanging limply over the side and his jaw gaping open. But here, before her, there was none of that. He was lying in a mostly straight position, his arms circled protectively around Hope, his legs were propped up on the sofa arm without hanging in the least, and his mouth was closed into a relaxed smile.

All the more evidence Hope's the right girl for him, she thought lovingly. He makes changes for her without even realising that he is. She sighed, knowing she had to wreck the beautiful sight. Holding out her hand, she tapped Hope on the back below the shoulder. The girl jerked, lazily lifting up her head in bleary confusion as to what had woken her. Hope blinked her eyes, clearing them instantly, and recognised Sandra hovering over her and Ben.

"Oh. M-morning, Sandra," she mumbled, blushing.

Sandra smiled at her. "Sorry about that, but I wanted to get you two up for breakfast."

Hope looked all around the room, noticing greatly just how oblivious she and Ben had been to the sounds of everyone eating as the two of them slept. She glanced back at Sandra, the surprised reaction still fixed to her face. "Okay, thanks. Don't worry about Ben, I'll get him up."

Turning away to get their bowls and glasses from the kitchen, Sandra replied, "I don't doubt it."

Hope answered her back with a teasing grin as she rounded her face to Ben. Mischief glinted in her eyes as she thought about all the fun ways she could use to wake him. She could conjure up a cold breeze and have it brush past his cheeks. Maybe use a tickling charm underneath his chin and enchant his voice to sound like a little girl's; that'd startle him, she thought. Or maybe she'd send a spark of electricity in to jolt between his eyes. Or-

Or she could just be traditional. Her mouth still formed in the smirk it had taken as she pondered on her ideas with impish delight, she lowered her head and gave Ben a peck on his upper lip. She kept the peck lingered as he began to stir, finally pulling away as he moved, awakening with a compressed stretch. His eyelids dragged up, revealing the pair of unfocused emerald green irises.

"Morning," Hope greeted him.

At the sound of her voice reaching his ears, the haze in Ben's evaporated, clearing them. "Morning," he returned, smiling warmly.

"Your mom says to get up if you want breakfast."

"What if I don't want any?" Ben winked slyly at her.

Hope giggled. "Ben Tennyson, you're impossible."

Ignoring her playful jab and the amused looks of everyone else in the room, Ben made to rise up to a seated position, all the while keeping Hope firmly tucked in his embrace. The happy expression on his face switched, changing to a serious one as he kissed her on the cheek and reverted his eyes to hers.

"I almost lost you last night," he confessed. "I don't know what you're going to do now that Adwaita's taken Ledgerdomain again, but I want to have as many moments with you as I can get."

Unbeknownst to either of them, the audience that was watching the two converse reacted. The majority were smiles, manly from Carl, Frank, Natalie, Max and Hex. Sandra too added her own smile to the mix, as she re-entered the room carrying a tray laden with Ben and Hope's breakfast. Manny mimicked a silent gag, which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Helen. Alan, afraid to show similar behaviour, took the simple route of politely looking away. Julie and Kai's reactions could only be described from the inside; outwardly they were expressing smiles like most of the others, but for Julie there was a bitter tinge of memory as happier moments of the relationship she and Ben formerly had were brought back to her, and for Kai there was feeling she recognised that only amounted to wishful thinking as she imagined what could have been for her. Ship covered his eye, believing he was watching a privately intimate moment. Like Julie and Kai, Kevin's feelings were mixed; happy that Ben's love life was going well, hurt that his was not.

Hope's feelings rose as she drank Ben's words into her heart. Moving her hands from his shoulders to tenderly caress the sides of his head, she edged and replied with a kiss she made sure was held longer than the peck she used to wake him. When they parted, she offered him a smile.

"I know what you mean," she said. Ben smiled back at her.

Taking the silence that followed as her cue, Sandra came forward and handed the tray to them. Blushes emerging on their faces as they once again remembered they were not the only ones in the room, Ben and Hope thanked her and accepted the food.

:*:

After finishing off his own breakfast, Max checked to see if all the others had done the same. Once he was certain they were, he coughed to get their attention. As all eyes were directed toward him, he opened his mouth to begin assigning the areas that had not been covered in the initial search to each person or team when a strange throbbing cut him off. Alerted by its appearance, Ben mentally followed it to outside in the front yard where his eyes spotted a glimpse of a familiar, telltale flash by the window.

"A teleporter," he announced, standing and bringing his hand over the surface of the Omnitrix. Hope stood beside him, readying her magic with one hand and zipping the satchel containing her stone creatures with the other. A watchful eye on his niece, Hex called upon his power. Everyone else took to arming their defences when a second sound brought them to a halt.

Someone was knocking at the door.

Blinking in astonishment, Helen mentioned aloud, "Um, I don't think Gwen or Adwaita would have bothered with that, do you?"

Noone dared to answer her as another series of raps were pummelled at the door. Then an amount of unintelligible rambling was heard, rambling that Ben realised he knew well. If he was right, then the rambling was about to be punctuated with a very impatient outburst.

It was.

"Look! If someone doesn't open this door right now, I'm going to go back to Galvan and getting a Knockback to blow it down!"

"AZMUTH!"

Exhaling with relief, Max hooked his blaster back in its holster and proceeded to the front door to open it. Azmuth, the inch-high Galvan creator of the Omnitrix, hobbled inside on his walking stick, muttering under his breath before addressing them.

"Yeah, Azmuth. What did you think I was? Albedo?"

He gazed sharply at everyone, daring for someone to reply to his sarcasm. When they didn't, he glanced back to the floor where he noticed the emptied bowls and drained glasses left all over the room in the rush to be ready for an attack. He snorted, "Hm. I didn't realise I was crashing a party."

"Uh, it's not a party, Azmuth," Ben chuckled nervously. "We, uh…

"Save it. I'm aware of what's been going on lately," Azmuth waved his hand, frowning. "I was just hoping the report from the Plumbers' Commission was exaggerating about Gwen. Clearly not, which compounds our problems."

Max shut his eyes, groaning, "I knew it. Had to be bad news for you to show up. What is it this time?"

Azmuth turned to him, a grim look on his insectoid features, and then turned his eyes to Ben. He breathed out and said finally, "I'm afraid Ghostfreak has broken out of containment and that he has been at liberty for at least a month."

"WHAT?!" Ben, Kevin and Max cried, causing everyone to jump.

Ship yelped and leaped into the sanctuary that was Julie's arms. Julie in turn held on to him for dear life. Kai, Alan, Helen and Manny, only knowing the alien sorceror by name and reputation alone, traded looks of concern. Hex froze in a quiet, sharp discomfort. Hope, the last person in the room to recognise Ghostfreak by name and had knowledge of his deadly enmity with Ben, was apoplectic with rage.

"A month?" she screamed. "Why didn't you know he's been out that long? He could have tried something against Ben before now and you wouldn't have known until he'd done it!"

"Hope," Ben turned to her, speaking gently to help rein in her temper.

Azmuth raised his hand. "No, Ben, she's right to ask and think that. The reason why we never knew is because he hired a shapeshifter assassin to covertly break him out and take his place in prison. Investigations revealed the assassin knocked out the guards and Ghostfreak later cast a spell on them all to make them forget the whole incident."

"So how do you know about it now?" Kevin asked. "The shapeshifter slip up or something?"

"Or something," Azmuth affirmed. "The poor soul had a disease of the heart. It caught up with him a few days ago."

"Returned to his normal shape?"

"Yes. We've been tracking Ghostfreak since."

"He's here, isn't he?" Ben asked gravely.

The Galvan shuffled over to face him again. "It took us a while to figure that out. He didn't come straight to Earth. He moved from planet to planet at random to disguise his route, according to the information we've gained, but as his trail came closer to the Solar System, I began to suspect. And sure enough, the trail led here." He circled around, centring his stern gaze on each person who would understand the meaning of his news. "And the trail has not continued on. So yes, he's here somewhere on Earth and he has been for some time."

In response to his statement, the room became heavy with silence. A clueless Sandra looked at every person, seeing haunted faces at every turn but one. Her eyes locked onto Hope; her son's girlfriend was still with fear, her worried eyes pulling her close to Ben.

Sandra recognised the instinct to protect and asked, "Who is Ghostfreak?"

"One of Ben's worst enemies," Max answered her. "He was one of the alien Ben could change into when he first used the Omnitrix. But Ghostfreak had a higher level of individuality than he was supposed to. He broke free and got out, with knowledge of Ben that no other foe of his had. Ben's every secret, flaw and weakness."

"Yeah, but that's not all," Kevin interrupted, putting his own addition to the explanation. "Ghostfreak is able to possess people. Unless they're prepared for him, he can learn everything about them. He's done that to Gwen. He's done it to me."

"And me," Hex spoke.

"And me," Hope admitted slowly. "But we get the same feelings from him. His every thought, his every desire." She paused, stopping briefly as she trembled. "And all the times he's managed to possess me, it was always the same top two priorities with him."

"What are they?" Sandra asked, her eyes widening in apprehension.

Hope tried to speak in reply. But her courage failed her and the words fell flat, a tight choking noise the sole sign that they existed. In a fit of tears, she moved a step and threw her arms around Ben, unable to hold herself away from him any longer. Ben consoled her with a one-armed embrace.

As Sandra's fears intensified by the show of emotion in front of her, Kevin stepped in to cover for Hope. "One of them is to obtain the Omnitrix."

"And the other?"

"Ben. Dead."

The two words attacked Sandra, pushing her to the verge of collapse. Carl, equally shocked by the revelation of the threat toward their son by Ghostfreak's hidden arrival, took her into his arms. Morosely, Azmuth came to a summation, nodding sadly, "Problems compounded, alright. On one side, we have Gwen going through a breakdown and on a warpath, ready for any opportunity she can take to tear Ben and Charmcaster apart."

"And on the other, we have Ghostfreak plotting who knows what," Max finished solemnly.

"Well, there's some good news. It's daytime. Ghostfreak can't move freely in the sun. If he's gonna try something, he's got to do it at night," Kevin reasoned in a hopeful tone.

Just as everyone was about to agree with him, a sudden change in the air put paid to their newfound relief. At first, none of them could tell what was responsible. Kevin, Max and Azmuth surveyed the room in different directions. They found nothing. Ben and Hope tightened their grip on one another, both facing in the opposite way of the other in search of any enemy that was suddenly going to appear and surprise them. Hex meditated, his mind skimming over the astral plane to see if the danger was coming from there. The others stood on edge, waiting for a physical assault to happen.

It was Helen who recognised what the change was. "It's…getting dark again," she voiced in fear.

With a snap, Kevin whirled around to the window to look. Outside, the yellow glare of the newly-risen morning sun was dimming, seemingly returning the day to a state of night. Azmuth hopped up onto the sill and pressed his face against the glass as everyone waited for him to announce what was going on. His bulbous eyes wide with confusion, the Galvan turned around.

"It's a solar eclipse, but how?" he mouthed loudly. "The moon's not supposed to intersect with the view of the sun for a good deal of years."

"Magic," Max declared.

Kevin rolled his eyes, remembering what he had said moments before, "Man, me and my big mouth."

"I don't think so, Kevin," Hex refuted.

"What do you mean?" Kevin replied.

"Ghostfreak would not be able to conjure an eclipse, not on his own. The process involved requires a balanced mastery of solar and lunar energies. As sunlight is deadly to him, he is incapable of attaining that without destroying himself. And since Hope and I are here, there is one other known person in the present area and moment with that ability."

Kevin stilled as Hex' coolly-worded explanation struck him. His mouth failed to make a response, gaping openly. His eyes trembled from the torrent of grief threatening to smash in and wash all over him as he realised the suspicion made complete sense. He planned to argue and mention any Anodite could have summoned the eclipse or Verdona could also be around, or even Adwaita preparing an attack. Instead his mind turned inward, thinking.

There was one element in all the theories that held back every one of them from being the truthful one. Why would Gwen, Adwaita or any Anodite need to eclipse the sun? It couldn't harm them, which left Ghostfreak as the one behind it, but as Hex explained, Ghostfreak would not have been able to pull it off without help.

The endless circle of examining theory to theory kept running through his head as the last of the sunlight died, leaving Kevin unaware that some of the others were devoting ideas to different theories. He did not hear Alan suggest that Gwen maybe knew Ghostfreak was on the planet and was planning to frame him as a scapegoat for her next plan. Neither did he listen to Carl putting forward Gwen was using the eclipse to unsettle and intimidate them, or to Natalie accusing everyone of suspecting her daughter without proof. Max arguing with his daughter-in-law was just background noise. Ben and Hope made no sound at all, the couple remaining alert for danger and keeping any suspicions to themselves. It was the absence of noise from them that distracted Kevin long enough for him to hear an idea from Manny.

"What if, uh, Ghostfreak and Gwen kinda…joined forces?"

Kevin's concentration broke as he rounded on Manny in a rage. "What?" he roared fiercely. His response was shared by a livid Natalie, who glowered at Manny with erupting reddened fury. Kevin raised his hand, getting to ready to punch when something figuratively hit him and brought him to a halt.

He had not heard or seen any reprisal similar to his and his girlfriend's mother from anyone else, gazing at everyone in unrelenting shock. Max appeared like the suggestion itself was forcing him to bow. Frank was too distraught by obviously just thinking about to either speak or deny it through expression. Carl and Sandra seemed to simply accept it, but Kevin chose to wave that aside almost immediately as it was understandable for Ben's parents to think like that after everything. Julie, Ship, Kai and Alan all stared at other points of the room, unsure of whether to side with Manny's theory or not. Helen gave a halfway response; her torn emotions showed easily on her face, giving Kevin the impression she was picturing the idea in her mind, but at various moments she gestured clearly at Manny to retract the idea. Well, her movements were clear to Kevin anyway, as Manny was unable to discern her signals and was confused as to what she was telling him to do.

The worst of it though was Ben. As he turned to gain support from his best friend, the expression of anger he wore fell to become an open-mouthed figure of disbelief. Ben had his head down, looking at his feet, his green eyes in a severe state of contemplation. Hope offered no response at all, her attention solely placed to comforting Ben in his abrupt change of mood. It snapped into Kevin that Ben was having no doubts that the idea could be the reality.

"Aw, Ben! Seriously?"

His exclamation revived Ben. The blank look in his eyes filled in with sadness as he tilted his head up to answer Kevin. "It could be true. None of us knew what Gwen was going to do, what lengths she was going to take, and we definitely don't know what she's going to do now since we don't have anyone watching her."

He stopped as his face quivered with a range of emotions in his ordeal to summon up the words he was going to say next. Kevin went still with acknowledgement, bracing himself for the verbal impact. He knew Ben had an unfortunate habit of blurting things right off his tongue without thinking, so for him to struggle with trying to say what was on his mind signified a total of two things; the first was that he'd mean it. The second was that he hated he was going to say it. From that, Kevin realised he was going to hate it too and so he waited for the axe to fall.

"I mean," Ben forced the words out. "Do we really know her anymore?"

Kevin nearly threw himself back out of mere shock. This was happening. It really was happening. All of the others but he and Natalie were believing Gwen was capable of teaming up with one of their longtime adversaries. Then again, he supposed, noone at all would have believed Ben and Hope would fall in love and be a couple if they were told of it even a year ago. Or that he himself would become a hero after everything he'd done as a monster. But Gwen joining Ghostfreak? To him, that was too strange a thing to accept.

A little voice, one he often ignored, reminded him of the other things Gwen had done and how none of them could have ever imagined her doing them in their wildest dreams. He slouched over in defeat, realising he had just admitted through that there was at least a possibility.

"Max, call Cooper," he said. "See if he can find out what's going on on his scanners."

Nodding in agreement with him, Max activated his communicator. "Cooper. This is Max Tennyson, please respond."

"Cooper here, sir," came the reply. "Is this about the eclipse?"

"Yes. What can you tell us about it?"

Cooper replied hesitantly, "It's not a real one. According to the satellites, the Earth and the moon are still in their correct positions, and none of my sensors have picked up a device that could trigger that kind of illusion. It's, well, it's got to be magic."

"We came to that conclusion already," Max stated bluntly. "I want you to keep your attention on Bellwood's town limits. Expect anything and identify everything to me, especially if it's an incoming attack."

"Attack?" Cooper exclaimed. "Magister Tennyson, you can't honestly believe Gwen would-

"I said anything," Max growled.

There was an audible gulp heard on the other end of the line before Cooper responded verbally. "Understood, sir. I'm beginning scans now - - - wait. Hold on."

"What?" Max inquired as the others gave looks of alarm at the urgent change of tone in Cooper's voice.

"I'm getting readings. Dozens, no hundreds, no, a thousand. More. Let me get a satellite view - - - oh God!"

"What?" Max repeated, his eyes moving rapidly to each person in the room to ensure the conversation had their complete attention. Their already frightened stares were answers enough. "Cooper!"

"Whoever it is, they're - they're creating an army! An army of stone creatures and energy beings."

"Energy beings?"

"Yeah. By my readings, they're made of pure mana!"

Max's grip around his communicator tightened. From his experience, there were only two reasons why anyone created an army entirely from magic. To defend themselves was the least likely of them. "And what are they doing now?"

Cooper's next answer filled everyone with dread. "They're marching towards town, heading for the forest," he spoke quietly.

Within a second, the environment of the room changed again, transforming into an electrified, ready-to-explode tension. Julie, Ship, Kai, Alan, Helen and Manny stood ready to receive orders from their commander. Hope took Ben's hand, letting him know she would be right beside him. Ben grasped her's in return, all his thoughts resting on one priority: to protect her from Gwen. Hex glared in preparation, determined to protect his niece and her boyfriend. Carl, Sandra, Frank and Natalie watched with scared fascination as the demeanour of the people they were sharing company with switched from palpable fear to a strong will to put up a fight. Kevin closed his eyes, took a breath, and turned silent; he was ready for battle.

Azmuth jumping onto his shoulder, Max gave out the command.

"Let's go."

:*:

Across Bellwood, the word 'Danger' was passed through the emergency communications systems. The police department was on alert. Fire engines waited at their stations, with crews ready to go at any report. Hospital staff were all on standby to receive any casualties, ambulances prepared for the call.

Nearby sections of the military were notified. Some requested to get involved and take part in the presumed conflict. They were given the universal command to remain at their respective bases and to deploy only if news that the Plumbers were failing reached them.

Civilians were warned to return to their homes and families and to stay safely indoors. The possibility of evacuation was also advised, though that was cautioned to be done before the army's arrival and to not leave town the way the army was marching in.

As with all things in an immediate crisis, there were naysayers. The local news treated the whole affair with ridicule. Claims circulated through the social media websites that Ben and the Plumbers, one way or another, were becoming a vigilante force ambitious for an absolute right to rule over and pass judgement on others. Other people just plainly did not listen and went on with their lives, expecting that nothing was going to happen.

:*:

En route to the town boundary where the forest lay, Max transmitted a message to the Plumber's Commission. In it, he detailed all of the current events not yet officially on file, starting from the time he started investigating Gwen's crimes right up to the present moment. Once he completed the report, he added in a request for reinforcements. They wouldn't arrive in time, he knew that, which meant he was counting on who he had with him and whichever Plumbers could come immediately to hold out until they did.

An analysis of the screen projected from his wrist gauntlet displaying the army of magically-created creatures on radar told him it was no good to think about stationing their defensive stand at the boundary itself. Already the potential enemy had bypassed that line and were marching unsteadily around the trees, restricted to a slow pace by the haphazard paths they were taking.

In another scenario, that would have given him the opportunity to stage an ambush, but here that course of action would not go well. For one, they did not know exactly who was behind the army's creation, what their specific goals were, and where they were positioned. He had asked Cooper to see if he could locate the leader but the computer genius reported back with negative results. Max was not surprised to know that; mana was one of the few forms of energy in the universe that could not be picked up easily by Plumber tech, not unless the magic user wished it so. He had learnt that from Verdona.

One other important issue that befell the idea of an ambush was that many of his team, Ben and Kevin included, were not inclined followers of strategy. Without Gwen to keep them all in line and focused, the only ones he believed could follow a properly-planned offensive were Hex, Hope, and possibly Helen. The others were more like a get-into-it-and-think-on-your-feet style of fighting or, in Carl, Sandra, Frank and Natalie's cases, not experienced enough. Fighters like that in an ambush against a force that massively outnumbered them was asking for pandemonium, something that the army's creator would most likely take advantage of in order to achieve their objective.

No, Max thought. This was going to have to be fought out in the open, in the area between the forest and the town.

And so it was in that area that he, his family, the kids and any Plumber quickly available in town set up battle stations. In the short time it had taken to develop the line, Max noticed with a thin smile that neither Ben or Hope left the other's side for a moment. Even without discussing it, his grandson and his girlfriend had each other's backs.

There was a small sense of worry that could be seen from Ben though. All along the trip towards the boundary, Ben had cautiously kept an eye on Hope, clearly on the watch for any indication she was getting into action too soon after her recovery. He was not alone in that frame of mind either; both Hex and Sandra had been seen by Max sneaking glances at the young woman out of concern for her wellbeing.

Max was tempted to grin. From his point of view, it appeared that his daughter-in-law was already accepting Hope into the family. Then, just as quickly as the idea came to mind, it hit him why the grin was only a temptation and not a display on his face. Because it, in a way, looked like Hope and Gwen had traded places, Hope being the beloved figure, Gwen being the enemy.

He shook his head, turning his attention to how the others were faring. Helen had been the first to arrive at the site, choosing to travel under her natural Kineceleran speed to scope it out and prevent any evacuees from running straight into the path of the creatures. Alan utilised his Pyronite powers as well, coming in after her and staging himself as an aerial lookout. Ben, Hope and the other kids all came along with Max and Azmuth in the Rustbucket, while Carl drove himself, Sandra and Hex to the location with Frank and Natalie trailing behind them in their own car. Once they were all there to meet the other two, Manny had rushed over to Helen, earning a few chuckles from their companions.

An urgent beeping alerted Max, bringing him out of the recalled moment. Raising his gauntlet to his eyes, he responded to the appearance of the blinking red light. His amused nostalgic expression turned serious, knowing what the light meant. The creatures of stone and energy were about to come marching into the open.

"Get ready!" he called. The others fell into line beside him, waiting intensively for whatever could unfold next.

What did come next did not leave them waiting for very long.

In the dark unlit gaps between the trees, a pale glow started to emanate. As the glow brightened into a more illuminating shade of pink that now was obvious belonged to the energy beings, the loud trampling footfalls of the stone creatures came towards them like thunder. The thunder strengthened in volume, echoing deeply. Shapes formed in the gloom, bringing a blurred set of outlined figures into view. The outlines solidified, becoming more clear-cut to the naked eye as the first row of creatures departed from the shadows of the forest and crossed into the open space of land.

Sweat dripped on Max's creased face. He counted the steps the enemy were taking in their approach as row after row of the army followed the first. Something, an instinct, ticked within his mind, telling him they had come close enough. Jerking his Plumbers badge off of his armour, he held it in front of him and declared, "I am Magister Max Tennyson of the Plumbers. By the authority the Commission has invested in me, I order you to cease your advance."

Almost as if he were their master, the creatures obeyed, all uniformly grounding to a halt. Knowing better, that he had only caught the leader's attention, Max continued, "Thank you. Now, as protector and guardian of this quadrant, I must therefore ask your reason for this intrusion and of your intentions by it."

This time, the army did not respond to him, electing to remain silent. Max warily moved his eyes, gazing carefully from one end of the enemy force to the other. None had even taken a step or shown a provoked reaction to his demand. Everything suddenly fell into place. The actions the creatures had taken so far had all been under their creator's orders, including stopping to listen to him. They had not yet been allowed free will.

This signified one thing. The creator was not in some distant place, having ordered the army to attack and awaited the inevitable fallout of a coming battle. The creator was there with them.

"All right then. Come out," Max raised his voice. "I know you're here. I know you're listening. You have to be, otherwise your army would never have stopped."

A foreboding quiet fell on both sides, allowing a thick level of tension to be raised and be given power over all, until it was broken up by a repetition of faint noises. All those on the Plumbers' side turned their eyes to the treetops, tracing the noises to there. A small shake of the head from Alan above signalled he could not see anything from his vantage point. The foreboding feeling evolved into creeping dread once Hex commented out loud, "Someone sounds amused."

Ben wondered what he had meant by that. Then he figured it out by listening more attentively. The noises that were repeating were not a series of a mixture of different sounds combining into a pattern. They were all the same single sound happening over and over, a tattoo of flesh and bone in a single-beat rhythm. Someone was clapping.

"Very good, Max," called a voice that was so strangely ethereal and disharmonic that it strongly resembled two differently-pitched voices being played on a radio at the same time. Ben felt an icy chill run down his spine as that idea inspired a dark thought in him. The voice did sound like two people were speaking at once, two voices that he was now finding he knew. He glanced at his grandfather and saw the same plummeting terror he had written all over the old man's face.

Before either of them could speak, a pair of trees standing on the forest's edge were forced to traumatically bend away from each other, groaning deeply in resistance, as the leader appeared, hovering out into the air above its army.

"No," someone moaned miserably in recognition of the figure. Ben knew it was Kevin. He himself was far too overcome with horror to say a word as tears slipped from his eyes.

The figure that he was sure they were all seeing as Gwen was something that looked as though it had been born from the worst eldritch nightmare. Its basic form was that of an Anodite, midnight purple and created of mana, but these were the only things that were even remotely similar. There were no humanoid legs; in their stead was a wide, ghostly pointed tail waving instinctually at unpredictably random intervals. The hands had lost their fingers, the digits replaced with elongated, hard, cold black talons. The pink and white of an Anodite's signature flowing hair of energy was now as pitch black as an empty and starless night. The mouth that was once as plain as a human's was filled with jagged, disjointed bony teeth. But the most disturbing change of all, the alert as to what was really going on, was with the eyes. The blank white sockets were gone, filled in with a tiny, diamond-shaped black pupil surrounded by an unwelcome hue of laser pink.

"Or is it Grandpa?" the figure spoke mockingly.

"Ghostfreak!" Max spat, his voice strangling itself with rage. "What have you done to my granddaughter?"

"I? I have done nothing," the figure replied. "She and I struck a bargain. She helps me, I help her. We both felt the two of us had a stronger chance of getting what we want if we shared one body combined with all of our powers."

"You're lying!" Kevin shouted.

"Give my daughter back to us!" Natalie screamed.

"It's no lie," the Gwen-Ghostfreak hybrid shook its head. "I have been Gwen's ally in all of this. The poor girl was just so distressed by her dear cousin courting with her enemy. And she will be given back to you, I promise. This fusion is designed to end when I have fulfilled my side of the deal without breaking any of Gwen's conditions."

"Conditions?" Max asked, privately hoping Gwen had inadvertently left an opening.

"Conditions," the hybrid nodded. "They are why I've held my army back from attacking. To listen to you, and for me to negotiate if I'm allowed. She does not want any of her friends and family to die."

"And just what is the bargain you made with her!" Julie exclaimed. "Breaking Ben and Hope up?"

The hybrid directed its eyes to her, grinning maliciously. "No, Julie Yamamoto. It is clear to me that breaking them up will not work. So, Gwen and I decided a more extreme solution was required." The grin slid down, converting into a determined scowl as the hybrid proclaimed, "We agreed that, to save Ben, Charmcaster must die!"

Everyone on the Plumbers' side turned on instinct, looking to shield something from its sight. Interested as to why they had reacted in such a way, the hybrid followed their gazes to the central point they all shared. Its eyes fell on Hope.

"Well," it smiled sadistically. "You brought her here. Maybe negotiating will be useful."

"You can forget about that!" Ben snapped. The hybrid answered him with an affronted flinch, a solitary hiss sliding through its teeth. Ben ignored the hybrid, whispering to his parents, "Mom. Dad. Get Hope out of here."

Hope reacted, glaring at him. "Ben Tennyson, if you think I'm going to leave you here with-

Ben grabbed her by the arms before she could finish her sentence, a desperate expression breaking out over his face. "I'm not letting them kill you. Ever. But I need to know you're safe, not somewhere in the fight where I can't see you."

Hope faltered in front of his pleading eyes. "Hope, please. I almost lost you." A gentle hand found its way to clasp over her shoulder. She looked towards its owner. She stared into her uncle's eyes. "He's right," Hex spoke, aiding Ben in his plea. "We don't know how much this battle will affect your long-term recovery, especially now that we know you're the target. There was already danger enough in you facing one magic user on their own, but two magic users merging together into one body, that danger's become greater. And…it's better for Ben to focus on his survival rather than dividing it between his and yours."

Conflicted, Hope looked between her uncle and her boyfriend. In spite of everything the both of them had said, she wanted to stay and fight, but when she sought the will to talk back against them, she discovered there was no will to be found. She sighed in defeat.

"Okay, but you two be careful. And tell the others that goes for all of them."

Ben nodded, releasing her from his hands. Hope sprang forward, kissing him quickly before parting reluctantly from him and followed Carl and Sandra to their car. Ben and Hex silently watched them go and drive back into the relative safety of Bellwood.

The two turned around, facing the hybrid and its army again alongside the others. The hybrid too had watched the three depart, seething and stewing in anger as its goal was taken away from it after being so nearly in its grasp.

"So that's how it is, is it?" it asked baldly.

"It is," Ben and Hex answered in unison. Max and everyone else murmured in agreement.

"In that case, I have one thing left to say," the hybrid said. Spreading out its arms, flexing the claws in wild directions, it amplified its voice to reach the farthest extent of its army. It gave the Plumbers one last stare of fury, to which they answered back with defiance. Unperturbed, the hybrid gave its creations the free will they had been lacking with a single worded command that relieved them of their mentally-controlled leash.

"Attack!"


tbc