Chapter 4 - Search

After several minutes, the police officer left. Once they were on the road again, Ben emerged from the bathroom, still as Four Arms. "It looks like I'm stuck this way for a while."

"Maybe I can use my magic to turn you back," Gwen said.

"That's probably not a good idea," Max interrupted. "Remember what happened when Ben had a cold? Mixing magic and alien technology could be a lot worse."

"Well. Maybe I could use a spell to tell me how to deactivate it. You said Vilgax was able to turn the Omnitrix off against your will."

An hour later, "I managed to find three spells I could use for this. The first would figure out how something works, but it might not work on something as complex as the Omnitrix. The second spell would let me attempt to deactivate something, but like grandpa said, it might not be a good idea to mix magic and alien technology. Finally, the third spell will let me see into an object's past. I could see what buttons Vilgax pushed to turn it off. It'll take longer than the other spells though."

"We're in no hurry," Max said. "Let's play it safe and use the third spell."

"I don't know, grandpa. It's a little cramped in here," Ben said, still as Four Arms.

"Alright. Ben, come over here," Gwen said.

Ben stood by the table as Gwen began the incantation for the spell. Her became eyes unfocused, as if she were staring at something in the distance.

"I can see the jewelry store robbery from earlier. And the car chase from before that. And... this could take a while."

Ben and Max waited patiently while Gwen continued to explore farther into the Omnitrix's past. After a few minutes, "There it is! Vilgax was holding you in the air and then he pushed these little buttons, like this."

In a flash, the Omnitrix deactivated, leaving Ben as himself. Gwen was straining against the spell to return her vision to the present.

"Gwen?" Ben asked, with some concern in his voice.

"I'm all right. It's just taking a little effort to end the spell." In her mind, she saw the Omnitrix being launched from the alien ship as Vilgax shot it down. She saw it being stolen from Vilgax's laboratories. When she caught a glimpse of the Omnitrix being created, the shock snapped her back to reality. She let go of it like it was poisonous.

"What's the matter Gwen?" Max asked.

"Nothing," she said, shaking off the experience. "Nothing, grandpa. It's just... I saw a little of how the Omnitrix was made. Vilgax wasn't exactly gentle in extracting the DNA for it."

Ben looked at the Omnitrix with mixed feelings. It wouldn't come off in any case, and if those aliens' lives were sacrificed to make it, the least he could do is put it to good use. He remembered the war Hoverboard had talked about. He hoped it was going well for the good guys, especially since Vilgax was out of the way.

"Are you alright, Ben?" Max asked.

"Yeah grandpa. It's just... something to think about."

"I've been doing some research, grandpa. I think I know where Hex might be headed."

"Since he can create those magic portals, couldn't he be anywhere?" Ben asked.

"Those only work over short distances. Anyway, Bezel was a great magician 800 years ago. He created the Keystone and then used it to create the Charms. Bezel supposedly left behind a diary that told how he created the Keystone. If Hex got a hold of that diary, he can create another Keystone."

"So where is this diary?"

"That's the thing. No one has seen it in over a hundred years, but just recently, it turned up in an auction house in L.A."

Ben and Max looked at each other in surprise before Max quickly turned the RV around and headed back towards L.A.

When they arrived at the auction house, they could already tell that something was wrong. People were running out of the place.

"I'm going in," Ben said, as he turned the dial to show Ghostfreak. "Alright," he said, in a hollow voice, as he floated out through the wall of the RV. Shortly afterwards, Gwen ran outside as Lucky Girl.

Inside, Ben found several gargoyles defending the entrance to the storeroom. "You don't look like the regular security guards," he quipped. When the gargoyles lunged at him, they simply flew through him and crashed into the floor on the other side. As they were getting up, Ben went into the storeroom.

Gwen ran around the corner just as the gargoyles returned to their posts. When they dove at her, she quickly slid under them. This time, instead of crashing into the floor, they crashed into each other. With their heads destroyed, they became simple statues again.

Inside the storeroom, Gwen found Hex and Ben battling among the shelves. Hex's magic was affecting Ben, even though he was intangible. The magic couldn't get to him when he passed through objects though. All in all, neither was making much progress.

Quickly, Gwen picked up a large stone, which she hoped wasn't too valuable, and threw it at Hex. He dodged it but it hit the corner of a shelf behind him, which toppled forward.

Hex managed to dive out of the way, but while he was distracted, Ben snuck up on him. With a few good punches, Hex was out cold.

"Quick, hold his hands up," Gwen said.

Ben did so, and Gwen began wrapping a piece of cord around his wrists, reciting an incantation as she did so.

"There," she said afterwards. "As long as that's on his wrists, he won't be able to use magic. Now we just need to turn him over to the proper authorities."

"And who would that be?" Ben inquired.

"Us," said a voice from behind them.