It had been two days, Gwen thought, and Ben was already sitting on the couch in her living room all fixed up. Her cousin was always good for a surprise or two.
"You've only been at the hospital for two days. You're okay?" she asked Ben. It was clear that she was concerned about her cousin.
The brunette grinned, waving her hand around "Oh come on, they said I was fine. My arm wasn't even that badly broken.". Indeed, her arm had been restored to its old glory, which was strange. Everyone knew that a broken arm didn't just fix itself in a matter of days. The red-head voiced her disbelieve. Ben just shrugged her shoulders in response.
"I just used the regenerative powers of Wildvine and spent some time in the dirt. Literally." she explained.
"Hm- yes. That sounds logical. You could have called, though, instead of just walking in my living room like you own this place."
Ben dismissed Gwen's criticism with a smile; "I just need a place to stay, until I've learned enough from Hex to control those embarrassing power-leaks. I'll just be crashing on your couch for a couple of days."
There were a few seconds of silence until the red-haired young woman spoke up again. "I am not sure if I want that. You did attack me." she remembered. Her bruise was gone but her hurt feelings were still there.
The smile disappeared from Ben's face. "I am sorry Gwen." she excused herself, "But- you have to understand why I did it. Rook was in danger. If the roles were reversed-"
"You wouldn't have kept me from going, though." the red-haired witch remarked.
"Yes."
They stood quietly, exchanging glances. Gwen crossed her arms and sighed, "Fine, you can stay. I bet you're hungry, though. Let's eat!"
...
Because it was too early for lunch at to late for breakfast they had brunch. Over brunch they talked about the current events.
"I just can't believe that the state is going to cut the Plumber's budget.", Gwen complained to her uninterested cousin.
Tired, Ben laid her head in the palm of her hand. "Would it really hurt- them, though? They're not the only ones funding them.", the brunette pointed out.
Gwen scratched her brow, "Yet, it brought up a discussion about the effectiveness of us. I mean, you have managed just fine without them. An independent contractor was more effective all those years, than the hundreds of women and men serving our organization.".
Feeling uncomfortable with the subject the brunette tried to change it, "So- um- how's Attea?"
"She's currently back at HQ, getting medical treatment." they didn't delve further into it. Ben had read the news. That someone would just go and bite off her tongue, that was so many kinds of wrong.
The brunette had obviously chosen the wrong theme.
"And how's university?" Ben kept asking.
"Oh- we got a new professor of Philosophy, Hans Jung. He's from Germany- I think he is from Germany-", Gwen drifted off and they continued eating their breakfast. It felt as if Ben had exhausted all her dialogue options.
After a while the brunette stood up, "I think Hex might be back. I'll go find him.".
Gwen frowned at her cousin, "Okay. I still have to prepare for my finales-". As she looked after her cousin she couldn't shake the feeling that Ben was hiding something from her.
...
It was late afternoon and Hex and Ben were back at the library after meditation. She had been far more compliant today to Hex' surprise. Right now the brunette seemed very invested in the current newspaper, with a notebook next to her, scribbling down notes.
"Ben?" Hex stepped towards the desk and the brunette quickly closed the notebook.
Closing her pen she looked up. "What?", she asked. Hex noted that her tone was still not quite friendly and had a cutting edge. At least that had not changed.
The professor remarked, "I just noticed that there had been a- change in your recent demeanor."
"I am just- thinking, that's all." Ben replied and went back to her newspaper. Hex furrowed his brow, but didn't ask further silently glaring at Ben who was slowly becoming unnerved by Hex' silence.
"What do you want from me Hex? We already went through meditation.", her tone was defensive.
Hex leaned over the table. "You're hiding something." the sorcerer stated.
The brunette folded together the newspaper and stood up, obviously upset. "I'm not hiding anything." she denied and walked off. Yes, Hex thought, the youth was definitively hiding something.
….
And she wasn't the only one hiding something. Hans Jung, also known as Joseph Chadwick, sat in his new office on his comfortable chair. Behind him Charmcaster complained, putting her hands on her hips, "How much longer do I have to wait? You're aware that I could just jump in and get it without you?".
The doctor was quick to retort, "And get beaten by Gwen Tennyson again? Sure, just go ahead. Stomp unto college-ground and assault an elderly man to get some decrepit necklace. We see how far you can go."
This earned him a hateful glare from the witch. Neither of them liked this constellation, at all. They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Charmcaster blew some dust into the doctors face, changing his appearance for a few hours into that of an old man. In the moment that he yelled for the visitor to enter Charmcaster hid in the closet behind the door. With light steps a young, blonde woman stepped in. She was tall and politely shook hands with the doctor.
"Are you Doc-"
Before she could say anything else Chadwick interrupted her, "Call me Jung. Professor Jung. You must be Holly Winter.".
Politely he showed her a seat, "Is everything going as planed?" he asked, not caring that Charmcaster was able to overhear their conversation. Why would she be interested in anything he did?
"We are, as always, grateful that you support our cause.", the blonde woman bowed her head slightly.
"Of course." the Forever King closed his eyes. "After all it is important for me that the mutants will be treated just as equally as their peers.".
Holly chewed on her lower lip a question on her mind, "I um- I never got to ask- We've never really been face to face- um- why are you so interested in this? Just- just curious- really."
The old man gave her a mysterious smile, "Why? Because I am fully human? Let's say I am a visionary and leave it at that."
Holly blinked in confusion but decided not to press the matter any further, "As always, the Mutant Front is happy for your donation. May we meet again Do- Professor Jung.", with those parting words she turned and left the room.
Charmcaster stepped out of the room, "What was that about?"
"That? Nothing. Now I have to give a lecture and then we'll discuss our plan in detail."
...
Ben went through the newspaper again, sorting the small tiny tidbits of information she had. Lord Transyl was out there. She knew it. All those cows getting bled dry by two tiny holes in the neck wasn't a coincidence. A Vladat could be a serious endangerment for the people of earth. But right now he seemed to be too weak to do anything.
Though, if she didn't act now, the Vladat would get stronger and probably even travel to Bellwood. Which was a huge possibility: according to the map she made, the trail of bled dry cows was going into Bellwoods direction. She had already figured out a plan; luring him into a trap and capturing him seemed easy. The first time she's beaten him was easy enough.
But first she had to find some bait. What would be good enough for him to seek out Ben? Was there something out there that a Vladat just couldn't resist? Her eyes caught sight of the Omnitrix on her wrist. She had tried out some of her new forms.
Now, what about a female Vladat?
...
"Our plans have changed." Chadwick announced as he came back to his office later.
The witch scrunched up her nose, "What do you mean, they have changed? How long do you think this is going to be? We should act now!"
"We can't! Ben Tennyson is at the university."
Charmcaster waned, and sat down in the seat normally reserved for Chadwick. "That's just my luck. I thought that guy was out of commission for a while? Didn't Khyber deal with her?".
The dust slowly lost its glamor and he appeared to be his original age again, stroking his beard. "Well, he didn't finish the job. You shouldn't let amateurs do the job of a professional.", he replied smugly.
Charmcaster stood up, "And what now? There's no way we get to Bezel now!"
"Please," Chadwick sat down, "we merely have to watch Ben for a while and figure out her moves."
The witch frowned, "So, I guess you want me to watch hi-her now?"
"Such insight." Chadwick laughed. "Hope started thinking one of those days."
…
It was midnight. And Charmcaster was bored out of her mind. How could the doctor even order her around like that? She was after all the queen of her own domain and should be the one commanding him around. Yet, this was about winning. If anything was going wrong and she didn't get what she'd come for Chadwick was in for a hell of a time. Pompous little- what was that?
Out of the corner of her eyes she was able to observe a winged creature slipping through the entrance of the University. Clouding herself in darkness she went after the strange creature who jumped over walls until she opened her wings on the wall and spread them out. It was quite an impressive wingspan and with a jump she lifted off, leaving Charmcaster behind.
"Hm." she hummed as she sat down on the wall, pulling out a little bat-like stone creature, "Go on- figure out who that is and where they go."
In all likelihood that had been one of Ben's many forms. But she wanted to be on the safe side. If this was more than a one time thing, they could attack at midnight tomorrow, using the Circus trio as distraction for Gwen. Chadwick would deal with her uncle and she would get rid of Bezel.
"Hope started thinking one of those days." she mockingly quoted Chadwick and added a 'Jerk' to it, watching as her stone monster flew off.
…
Whampire landed on the roof of a warehouse. The wind was very difficulty to maneuver through. Unfortunately she discovered that Vladats had really strange sexual dimorphism. Early on she realized that she was unable to spit out corruptas, but had large leathery wings and a thin tail with a little spade.
For some reason she lacked any sense of shame. Ben would be embarrassed to walk around like Whampire: in thigh-high boots and what was basically a backless swimsuit with the stomach part cut out and showing a lot of cleavage.
Now she was here and tried to figure out how to reach another Vladat. She should have thought about that before she transformed and flew off to who knows where. But if she stayed at Friedkin her cousin would have figured out her plan. She really wanted to do this alone. It was then as her sensitive ears picked up a distinctive voice. It was one of Fistrick's thugs. Corvo, that was his name.
He was around Ben's age, she suddenly remembered.
She crawled inside the warehouse through an open window. Whampire kept her wings close to her body, careful not to get stuck anywhere, her nails sticking in the concrete. From a dark corner she watched, unnoticed, as the youth went through a list, keeping inventory it seemed, of their tech and strange small vials.
Now she could saw that he wasn't alone. Another one of Fistricks lackeys was with him. He had bright red hair and Ben faintly recalled his name; Bribon.
"What's that anyway?" Bribon inquired, picking up one of the phials.
It was only now that she could see the black liquid in it. Corvo looked up from his list, "Bro, stop that! Fistrick will be pissed if you break anything."
With a dismissive gesture Bribon put back the vial. "Where are they going?".
"No idea. I just know that Rojo is going to pick them up.." Corvo said, turning back to his list.
"Bro, let's call it a night. We've been at it for hours. They don't come back until tomorrow.".
The slighter built youth shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, we're done anyway. Just put back the lid and make sure nothing's damaged."
...
As they turned off the lights the Vladat stepped out of her little corner and was promptly discovered by the red-haired thug who went back because he forgot to put back the lid. Whampire looked offended as he wolf-whistled at her and turned around.
A grin appeared on his lips and he leaned casually against a crate, "What's a hot chick like you doing here? Looking for this?".
His hand motioned to his chest and Whampire shuddered in disgust. Ew, that guy didn't even seemed to care about the fangs in her mouth or the bat-wings. Some people seemed to be really desperate.
"Do you even know who I am boy?", she growled at him, sounding deeper than Ben had anticipated..
Bribon didn't seem scared at all, and kept leering at her. "I guess you're an alien?" he mustered up to say before his eyes wandered again openly staring at her chest now.
Either the youth was playing dumb or he was genuinely not aware of the fact that she was Ben. Even though she openly wore the Omnitrix symbol on her suit and was dressed in green. Ben tried another attempt, "So, what are you guys doing here? Seems awfully illegal."
"We do- stuff- for Fistrick's err- 'business partners'.", suddenly he looked away as if remembering his loyalties to Fistrick.
"Tell me what stuff." Whampire demanded leaning closer.
The youth scratched his head, "I'm not really sure if I can tell you.".
Then the red-haired thug grinned, and suggested they should get to know each other first. Because this was going to happen.
Having had enough and really not wanting to waste any time Whampire leaned closer and told Bribon to look into her eyes. As his eyes met hers a strange feeling overcame him. As if he lost himself in those green eyes and was consumed by the want to completely give himself to her.
"When is Rojo going to be here, tomorrow?". He answered automatically still staring at her eyes.
"Midnight." he answered.
The Vladat stood back up tall again and snapped her fingers, releasing Bribon who seemed quite confused unable to recall what had happened. Whampire turned around and slipped out through the window. But not before Bribon was able to capture a picture of her with his phone.
...
The bat returned to Charmcaster. It had listened in on them, sitting on the porch and waiting until Whampire spread her wings again. It sat down on her masters outstretched arm and obediently repeated what it had heard. With a satisfied grin Charmcaster patted the creatures head before putting it back into her little bag.
"Interesting. I guess there will be a slight change of plans." came the voice of Chadwick from behind her.
Surprised Charmcaster turned around towards the voice. Of course, you couldn't hide anything from him.
"We move tomorrow, at midnight?" Chadwick concluded, asking for confirmation.
The witch first made her priorities clear: "First you take care of my uncle. After he's out of the way, the Circus Freaks move in. And while they distract Gwen I take care of Bezel."
"You seem intelligent. Now that's a scary thought." the doctor mocked her.
She mumbled a "Shut up, Chadwick.", which the Forever King decided to ignore.
Let's give her the feeling that she was in charge for once. Chadwick knew that he was the true leader.
...
Gwen noted that her cousin seemed more tired than usual. Of course Ben wasn't a morning person, but his face had never landed in the cornflakes bowl before. She laughed up as Ben jumped up and tried to clean her face with a paper towel.
"What did you do last night?" she asked giving Ben milk and cornflakes.
"Nothing." she denied and took the items.
Gwen looked thoughtful, "Hm- okay. Hex just told me that you did a lot of reading lately."
The brunette was taken aback, "What? Is it- can't I read when I want to?". It was interesting, how the brunette was suddenly so on edge.
Gwen shook her head, "I'm sorry. By the way, have you heard: there's some weird bat-creature running around Bellwood?"
She blinked in surprise, "What?"
"Someone photographed it yesterday and since then it spread around." she pulled out her phone and gave it to Ben who saw a picture of- Whampire.
Well, she was really hard to make out but Ben knew it was her. The brunette stood up and excused herself. She suddenly felt very nervous. "I'm going to meet with Hex. We'll see each other.", those were her parting words.
...
It was late evening and Hex was pleasantly surprised that Ben had already advanced her level of composure. The brunette was quiet and accepting of Hex's tutelage. Though, he was pretty sure part of the reason was that she fell asleep midway through meditation. Oh well, you couldn't have everything.
Anyways, the new Professor had invited him to his study. He was a strange fellow but he decided to spent some time with him. The poor guy didn't seem to have any family or close friends. Or at least he never talked about them. Obediently he knocked on the door to his study and was quickly let in. Once inside he took note of a strange smell, but took the glass of wine that was offered to him anyways.
"What's this smell?" Hex asked as he took a sip of the wine. It was strong.
Prof. Jung raised an eyebrow, "Oh this- just a room-spray. As I took place in this room there was this strange air in the room. No matter how much I aired it out, I never got quite rid of it."
As Hex kept sipping on his wine and they continued talking, the strange smell kept spreading. It was surprising. Hans Jung also conversed in surprisingly good English. Germans had certain way of speaking English, most lacking the right melody of the language; the correct flow. Yet Jung's English was flawless, Hex hadn't noticed that before. The time went by becoming meaningless and lost in conversation and as Hex looked up from his glass he had to take a double-take, because Prof. Jung did not look like Prof. Jung. He took a step back and fell unable to get up. The glass landed on the floor besides him and broke. Immediately Hex called out the other man, recognizing the cheap glamor dust-trick.
What a fool he was for falling for it!
"You! You're not Jung. Who-" Hex felt his tongue giving up. It seemed as if he had lost control over his own body.
Chadwick laughed as he leaned down, kneeling besides the older man. A needle was pulled out of his coat jacket and he removed the plastic over it setting it on the jugular vein on Hex' throat and pushing down, the contents of the syringe disappearing into his bloodstream.
"Don't worry. I won't kill you.", the Doctor said, calmly, "It's just more interesting this way."
Hex was unable to move, his extremities kept down by their own weight. Chadwick kept talking, "I know Hope. Charmcaster- whatever- Between you and me I have no idea why she's after Bezel. Just for some old necklace?" The older man's eyes widened and he could see Chadwick's grin grow even wider. Despite fighting he slowly lost consciousness, hearing Chadwicks faint laughter in the distance.
...
Ben pretended to be asleep as Gwen walked in the living room. The red-haired witch walked towards the shelf and put back a book before turning around and retreating to her bedroom. As soon as the door closed Ben waited another ten minutes to make sure that Gwen was truly asleep and went up, tiptoeing to the exit and slipping out the library. Once Whampire was on top of the old warehouse she sat down and transformed back. Ben could change back at any time.
Despite the way Whampire was dressed, she actually sort of liked being her. Ben's eyes widened as the thought crossed her mind. Oh no, this was horrible! That meant she gotten used to this body.
It was close to midnight and Ben could already see the headlights of a truck in the distance. Rojo came earlier than she had anticipated. Below Ben the mechanical garage-door opened and Fistrick stepped out, waiting for Rojo. The truck stopped and Rojo stepped walking towards Fistrick, flanked by Azul and Amarillo.
She greeted the tattooed crook before going back to business.
"Is everything there?" the biker asked Fistrick who affirmed her question.
The tattooed mobster waved over Hoodlum to carry over the box. Hoodlum carefully sat down the box which Rojo opened.
Satisfied Rojo inspected the contents, "It looks good enough. Nothing's missing.". She put the lid back on.
"It's weird" Fistrick mumbled.
Rojo raised an eyebrow and turned towards him,"What's weird?"
Fistrick spread out his arms, "Why does Hera want us to distribute her Ichor? I just don't get what she gains from that, bro.". The biker shrugged her shoulders and turned towards Amarillo and Azul, motioning towards them to take care of the package.
"We get paid. That's all that matters to me.". They were still unaware of Ben sitting on the roof listening in. And now she knew that Hera was on earth.
"We're loading up!" she told her comrades and then turned towards Fistrick, "Shishkin will take care of the payment.".
...
The two women were busy loading up the truck as a winged creature jumped from the roof and landed with astonishing elegance next to the blonde woman. The case fell to the ground and Azul cursed loudly, right before she took out the gun at her holster and shot at the Vladat. Or at least she tried to. You'd think that such huge wings would be an easy target.
But Whampire was fickle and flexible and dodged them. It seemed as if the alien was actually enjoying herself. For one second Azule stopped to reload which gave Whampire enough time to get up close, grab her gun and ram it into her face.
With a groan Azule sank to the ground, knocked out by one punch. It was then that Whampire noticed a movement behind her and quickly side stepped a hit from Amarillo. Oh right, there were more to take care of.
...
A grin spread over Frightwig's lips. "Let's have some fun with this one guys.".
The campus was mostly deserted, however, they knew that if they were to attack it right now, surely that other hero would come along. Maybe, that Lucky Girl needed a little wake up call?
Acid Breath went to work and corroded the base of a column which caused it to fall down and break. That didn't seem to be enough though.
As far as the eye could see, no trace of the energy-being. The young woman managed to pry open a manhole and used the cover as a Frisbee, throwing it through a window. It shattered, shards dancing in the light of the moon for a few moments before they hit the ground.
Acid Breath reprimanded his sister,"Remember we have to keep her away from the library.". As if she needed any sort of reminder.
"What do you think I'm doing?" she asked, sounding annoyed with their eldest brother.
Thumbskull motioned towards them to be silent and pointed upwards towards a figure standing on the roof. Lucky Girl glared down at the villains before floating down on a platform which had appeared out of thin air.
"I haven't see you guys in a while." her fists started to glow, as she called down to them, "Trying to steal from Friedkin now?"
The Trio exchanged glances and went to fight the witch without another word. How long the fight was going to last? They weren't able to tell.
...
Bezel did come to the library. If someone was challenging him to a duel he had no intentions of keeping them waiting. Even though he was tired of it. His past had been filled with magic-battles. Random strangers and even indigenous people of the Ledgerdomain trying to beat him and gain his power, his charms.
At first it had been fun, but he quickly got tired of it and bored. Another hundred years went by and he decided to quit and sell most of his charms to a merchant. Except for one, which was hanging around his neck, granting him eternal life as long as he wore it.
And now, Charmcaster wanted to have it. Typical.
The young witch couldn't help but gloat about her status as the current ruler of the Ledgerdomain and erected a magical arena for them to fight in. Bezel thought that this was unnecessary, but while magic had no rules, the people who practiced it had. And one of the rules was that you couldn't just duel someone anywhere. No it had to be an arena.
Charmcaster grinned and balled her hands into fists, preparing to cast her first spell. But Bezel while definitively old, was no fool and could detect a freeze-spell before she even said the first word. He countered by erecting a wall of fire around him, blocking her.
Yet the witch had only used it as a distraction. The rules never said anything about using help. And technically her creatures could be counted as spells. Her bag opened and out rolled the little stone creatures who quickly grew in size.
Charmcaster commanded them to attack and with satisfaction realized that Bezel had turned his attention towards them ignoring her for a moment. Which was all she really needed.
...
At the same time, Ben had disposed of Amarillo and Hoodlum, via knock-out. And tried to deal with Rojo first. But she needed at least one of them still able to talk.
She'd just get rid of whoever charged at her first and then capture the other. And just as she had finished that thought, Rojo ran towards her, Fistrick following behind her. Rojo was clearly enraged, as she tried to punch and kick the alien.
First she ruined the whole crate of vials! Then she knocked out her gang-members like it was nothing. She felt offended. That some- her eye suddenly caught sight of something hanging of her hip.
A thin chain hugged her hips and swayed around and there was the Omnitrix symbol and suddenly a light went up in her head.
"You!" she took a step back, then brought up her fists again, "You're Ben!"
The Vladat grinned as both of the villains took a step back as they finally realized who she was. "It was about time you finally got it." she smirked, and waved them to come closer "Now let's speed this up.".
As Rojo once again came towards her, Whampire went down and tripped her shoving her elbow into the biker's back which caused her to fall down. During this time Fistrick had grabbed her tail and pulled on it. The Vladat howled in pain and furiously tried to kick the thug.
Fistrick easily caught her leg and caused her to lose balance.
Though, in a matter of seconds she was back on her feet again, escaping Fistricks grab before he could catch her again. And now Rojo was also back up but got immediately grabbed by Whampire whose superhuman strength managed to throw her against the truck, knocking the villain out.
Now the only one left was Fistrick. The tattooed mobster managed to evade one of her punches and kicked into her stomach. However, it didn't seem as if he was fighting with all his strength and surely enough he tripped and fell backwards giving Whampire a chance to knock him down. Before he had the chance to get up again she turned into Snare-Oh and tied him up neatly.
"Tell me where Hera is." she demanded from Fistrick who shook his head, refusing to say anything.
"Why should I?" the thug spat at her feet and then frowned laying his head queer. "What are you even wearing?"
Ben first wanted to ignore the question, the curiously looked down on herself. She wore the same thing she wore as her male self. Oh. Well, it wasn't like Thep Khufan's had any real breasts anyway.
"Just answer my question, Fistrick! The police are already on their way." she threatened.
He shook his head.
"You know I'll figure it out sooner or later anyways. Why not just give it up now?" she asked leaning down. If she hadn't changed she could have just hypnotized him.
A grin spread over Fistrick's lips as he looked up. His eyes wandered towards the truck. Rojo had gotten back up again and nodded towards him then she slipped away. "Bro, have you ever been to an opera?", he asked surprising the alien.
Snare-Oh looked confused, "Opera? I- What do you mean? Opera?"
She still hadn't noticed that Rojo was gone. Fistrick shrugged his shoulders, "Just saying. Culture, you know?"
A thick mist suddenly rolled over the dock, and Snare-Oh noticed that it was getting bigger. She jumped as a bomb went off inside the hall and her bandages loosened up for a while which Fistrick used to slip out. Surrounded by thick grey smoke, Snare-Oh was unable to see and the villains made their escape leaving her behind. What did he mean, opera?
...
Gwen had managed to subdue two of the trio us out of nowhere a Forever Ninja popped up. What the hell? Where did that one come from?
That- she was barely able to pull up a shield to keep the ninja stars from reaching her. What was going on? Why was a Forever Ninja helping mutants?
Maybe she could get some help? She decided to see if Ben- no- Ben wasn't there. Hex' energy signature was faint and unresponsive and Bezel- Bezel's was getting weaker!
It was then that she realized that this was a diversion!
It was too late.
...
Charmcaster had already captured the old man. It was her newest creature that did him in. A tiny stone snake, with sharp fangs filled with poison. Of course, it wouldn't kill him, but it managed to subdue him and weaken him considerably. She stepped closer to him.
"You know that I'm not just going to kill you?", her tone was mocking as she pulled up a little bottle.
On it was Bezel's name written with marker. This was the first time Bezel's eyes widened, obviously appalled that she would do something like that.
"Even if you are no longer the ruler of Ledgerdomain and I obviously beaten you- I think it would be a shame to waste such a powerful soul. But-" she put back the bottle, "Let's first deal with this.". She grasped for the charm around Bezels neck and screamed up as her hand was burnt by it. With a painful expression distorting her face she looked down at her hand. In the palm was the glowing red mark of the Charm of Resurrection etched forever into her skin. Then she laughed up ,"You think such a cheap trick is going to keep me from taking what's mine?"
Bezel shook his head, "Hope, I'd hoped it didn't come to this.". She took a step back in shock that he knew her real name.
"How how do you now my real name?"
Bezel didn't answer and instead seemed to repeat a mantra Charmcaster had never heard before. It scared her. Was he cursing her? She grabbed the talisman again with her unburnt hand and ripped it off in one swift motion, extended her other hand and shouted ,"Exige Animas Omnibus!".
Bezel gave her one last mocking smirk before he lost his life and soul, slowly drying up and withering in a matter of seconds. She stared at the now glowing bottle. Shaking visibly. Oh father, what had she done? How did Bezel know her name? She didn't have much time because it was this moment Gwen used to break into the library, making her own conclusions as she saw Charmcaster next to Bezel's corpse.
"Hah! You came too late, Lucky Girl!", she yelled. Her tone wasn't as confident as she had hoped it would be, instead it was shaky and cracking.
Gwen immediately raised her fists and charged at the thief only to be held up by Charmcasters stone minions as she teleported away.
...
Outside Charmcaster ran off into the woods, ignoring her other partners in crime. It was then as she felt herself cool down that she still held the bottle and the charm in her hands. With shaky arms she stared at her two items and sat down on the ground, unable to comprehend what she had just done. But, she had to do it. How else was she going to rule Ledgerdomain.
The other villains were just as quick to make off before the police sirens could be heard. Chadwick was displeased as he saw how easily the mgaic user dealt with his little machine.
Oh well, he walked into the direction where Charmcaster went. He wondered if she had managed to get what she'd came for.
...
The sun slowly rose over the old University, touching the signs of battle. Hex was found in a locked closet as they searched the fake Professors room and Gwen went back to her room, sitting on the couch. She had taken it upon herself to collect Ben's stuff.
The Professor wanted to dissuade her from her decision, but in the end he couldn't do anything.
"You'll become bitter." he warned her, "Please don't-"
"No! This is my life. Ben should have been here. She wasn't."
Hex tried to argue, "She's- having her own problems. And how should she have known-"
Ben stepped through the door and interrupted Hex; "What should I have known?"