July 7, 2009
The Appalachian Mountains, VA; 11:46 pm
The shadowy creature grabbed the last of the Dittos and crushed them together. Ben felt the last of his strength leaving him as the symbol on his forehead began to flash red. The cave walls illuminated from the crimson hue for just a second before fading back to a pitch black. The moonlight peeking through the hole in the rocky ceiling allowed minimal aid for the eleven-year-old boy. The ghostly pale face of a woman appeared from the dark figure. With nowhere left to go, Ben looked into the specter's soulless eyes.
"You came even though you knew you'd fail." It came as a whisper, but it echoed loudly throughout her chambers. "So young. So ignorant."
"Give me back my grandpa!" He screamed, feeling the fire inside him grow. The woman's cold gaze pierced through him. She had been feeding off of the older man for half the day, but she was still hungry for more.
"Those eyes are just like your grandfather's." A look of confusion plastered his face. "Oh, not the color, of course. No, no, no, it's nothing so trivial." She brought her bony hand barely covered in flesh to his face. "No, these are the eyes of a killer." He bit at her thumb, tearing the skin causing black ooze to leak onto the rocky floor.
"I'm not a killer." He said with a fierce look. "I've never killed anyone!" She inhaled deeply; the wound began to close and form new flesh. She looked into the boy's eyes and smiled.
"You've never killed any humans, but you're still a killer. How many alien lives have you slaughtered in your journey to be the hero? You were ready to end the entire universe for the girl you love. You're a cold-blooded murderer with delusions of grandeur."
"You're a liar!" He screamed. He continued to scream and kick until his throat was sore and his legs were sore. When he finally looked back up, the woman seemed more lively. More of her figure has formed from the dark mist. Her torse was now exposed only covered by her long black hair. Under normal circumstances, he would be freaking out about having a naked old lady in front of him, but his mind was racing at a mile a minute. "I don't love Gwen…" It came out in a whisper, but it was enough for the creature.
"Of course you love her." She said in a whisper. "She's everything you could ever want. At least she used to be." Ben looked deep into the void that formed her irises. "Why would you love a girl that doesn't even want to be a hero?" Ben started to struggle again. "She never wanted this life, Benjamin. If it weren't for you, she would be at Bancroft Academy living happily with all the other elites."
"You're wrong…"
"Am I? Do you think she's happier with you?" The woman pulled his face to look at her. Her full form was now exposed. Minutes ago, she looked like a witch from the wizard of oz. Now, she looked like something out of the dirty magazines' Cash and JT would bring to school. "You need to face the truth, child. She will never love you."
Eight hours earlier
The Rust Bucket has broken down again. Max decided that camping in the mountains was just what the Tennysons needed, but now they were hours away from the closest town. Ben offered to run into town and pick up anything they needed, but Max insisted that he could take care of his old girl.
With the RV out of commission and nothin to do, Ben went into the woods to have some alien fun. Gwen, reluctantly, followed behind to make sure he didn't cause another invasion or discover some terrorist group trying to bring about America's downfall. They've been lucky to only stumble upon the usual bank robbery or car chase. Nothing Ben couldn't handle, and if needed, she only had to use a little bit of karate to protect herself.
A flash of green was her cue to speed up and find out what kind of trouble the Doofus was causing, but it wasn't hard to find. A few yards away stood a giant orange ball revving up to go down the steep hillside.
"I knew you were stupid, but this is just plain crazy!" She screamed, hoping to get him to see reason. To no surprise, he didn't. Using a slanted rock as a makeshift ramp, the giant bowling ball like alien flew off the side of the mountain. With a wave of panic washing over her, Gwen rushed to see if he caused any serious harm to himself or others. Thankfully, she found that he cannonballed straight into a small lake. The smash was giant. It looked like a geyser erupting or one of those fountains they saw in Las Vegas. She was flipping through dozens of different insults to throw his way for scaring her, but everything stopped when she realized that he hasn't come back up for air. With her panic renewed, she half haphazardly covered herself with the mana skin before swan diving after him.
The water was ice cold compared to the hot July heat. The mana helped cushion the impact, but she still felt some of the air escape. She began to swim to the surface for some fresh air before continuing her search. Forcing her way to the lake bed, she found a crater leading to a tunnel. The tunnel wasn't very long, but it seemed to lead to a cave underneath the lake bed. Lifting herself out of the water, Gwen made her way through the dark cave using her cell phone to light the way mentally thanking Ben for making them waterproof before plotting his demise.
After what felt like an eternity, she found the giant rolly polly standing over a box made from rock. It looked like he was deep in thought, probably debating on whether he should open the box or not. Before she could tell him how stupid of an idea it was, the Doofus opened it anyways. They both stood motionless, waiting for some trap or monster to attack. When nothing happened, they both released the breaths they were holding.
"Aside from being the biggest Doofus, the universe has ever seen, what the heck is wrong with you!?" Her angry question sounded five times louder, echoing throughout the cave. "You go and pull that crazy stunt, and now you're opening who knows what in a cave that probably hasn't seen human contact in centuries. What would you have done if that ended up being Pandora's box or something!?"
"Would you relax?" Ben said none too concerned about the prospect of some new world-ending event. "Can you bring the light over so we can check out what's inside here?"
Curiosity had gotten the best of her. She did her best to look annoyed as she brought the light over the open container. To both of their disappointment, it was empty.
"Who puts a mysterious box under a lake just to leave it empty!?" Ben yelled, not even hiding his annoyance. Gwen wanted to give him some smart-aleck response but felt a chill go up her spine. She chalked it up to her soaking wet clothes but still didn't want to take any chances.
"Come on, Ben. Grandpa is probably getting worried."
"Not gonna happen," Ben said, still annoyed. "I don't think I'll be able to swim back through that tunnel."
"Then what are we going to do? It's not like there's another way out of this place."
"Relax, after the watch recharges, I'll go Ripjaws and take both us back through in no time." Gwen didn't like the idea of waiting in a dark cave for an hour, but she hated the idea of leaving Ben alone in here for an hour a lot more. Another chill caused her to start shivering. Noticing this, Ben picked her up and curled up into a ball. She started gagging and complained about being soaked up in his stench. "You're soaking wet, and unless you want to catch a cold, you should just suck it up and accept my warmth." She had to admit that he was pretty warm but was finding difficulty breathing.
"Can you just hold me instead?" She asked shyly. "I can't breathe like this." Coming to a compromise, the two sat with Gwen on top of him. She was thankful for how dark it was since Ben would be unable to see how embarrassing this position was for her.
Another chill caught her attention. She was so warm, but she felt like something had touched her. She rubbed Cannonbolt's large hands to make sure they were still wrapped around her waist. Another chill. This time she was convinced that they weren't alone. She swiped at the air in front of her and went through something thick like it was underwater or in a cloud. Ben, realizing what's going on, lets her go and gets ready for a fight.
Gwen pulled out her phone and tried to make out anything in the darkness of the cave. After frantically waving her phone around, she found a dark spot that wouldn't light up. Noticing the cloudy haze, Ben revved up and rushed creature. Before he could make an impact, he was thrown to the ceiling breaking through the cave roof and letting in the bright sunlight.
She shielded her eyes from the bright light, but when she opened them, she was face to face with the creature. A skull emerged from the shadowy mist and seemed to be searching for something within her. A bony hand began to reach for her face.
She was motionless as the skeletal creature examed her. Her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest, and her mouth was as dry as the Mojave. Not even her thought could process what was going on as it seemed to be going too fast for her to think.
"Move!" A loud voice followed by a crash brought her out of her senses. Diving to the side, she watched the giant orange ball crash into the wall where she had previously been. But the creature was no longer there either. Searching the cave, she found it standing in the sunlight looking to the sky. "Get it together, Dweeb!" Ben yelled. "Fight, use some magic, do something! We don't know what that thing is, but we can't let it escape."
"She can't, Benjamin." A soft yet loud voice rang throughout the room. "She no longer can control her magic." The two looked at the creature, which was now looking directly at Gwen.
"What's it talking about?" Ben asked with deep concern. Gwen stayed quiet. "How long!?"
"Since September… maybe earlier than that…" She lowered her head in shame. Ben felt a pain run through his chest, but knew now wasn't the time for this.
"Magic or not, you're still a hero." He said, trying to cheer her up.
"But she's not. She doesn't want to be a hero." The creature said calmly. Ben looked to his cousin again, who refused to raise her head. Tried of listening, he rolled at the shadowing figure. Again, he was thrown into the air out of the cave. "You're so smart, Gwendolyn." The creature began, "yet so naive. Maybe your grandfather would be able to satisfy my hunger." The creature flew through the hole, leaving her all alone.
It took her close to an hour to find her way back to the Rust Bucket. The sun was starting to set, and she felt exhausted running around in soaking wet clothes. Throwing the side door open, she searched for her grandpa and cousin. "Ben! Grandpa!" She screamed repeatedly, but to no avail, neither were anywhere to be found. She brought out her phone and searched for their locations. Max was back towards the lake while Ben's was a little up the road.
Ben was unconscious on the roadside. Gwen struggled to carry him back to the RV and set him down in her bed. None of his injuries were too serious, but she did her best to clean any cuts and bruises she found and let him rest. Not sure of what else to do, she took a shower, changed into dry clothes, and waited for the hero to wake up.
It was almost nine by the time Ben woke up. His head was pounding like a jackhammer, and his muscled ached. He wasn't used to having to fight when he wasn't in an alien form, and his body was suffering because of it. He stumbled out of bed, landing hard with a loud thump. His cousin rushed over to help, but he rejected it.
"When were you going to tell me?" Ben asked, trying to clear the fog lingering in his head. "I thought you wanted to be a hero too!?"
"I do… I mean, I did…" She avoided looking at him, knowing it would be too much for her. "Ever since we got home… it's just not the same." She backed herself into a corner and slid down, bring her knees to her chest. "We're just kids, Ben. How can we decide who the bad guys are?"
"What are you talking about!? Kevin. Hex. Animo. Vilgax! Can you really say that we were wrong about them being the bad guys?"
"What about the ones with the broken femurs? Those who've been sent to the hospital with collapsed lungs, internal bleeding, second and third-degree burns? Does robbing a bank or stealing a car justify having permanent damage done onto them?"
Neither said another word after that. The interior of the RV was dead silent save for the dull hum of Gwen's laptop. Ben stood up and grabbed his phone. Quickly punching in the code, he brought up their grandfather's GPS. It hadn't moved since Gwen checked earlier that day. Not wanting to waste any more time, Ben made his way for the door, but Gwen stopped him.
"She's a mind reader." She said quickly. "She's read both of our thoughts and is probably getting everything she can out of grandpa."
"Who is she?"
"I got a hold of Wes. He didn't have a lot of info about her, but she can only read the mind of one person at a time. He's on his way, so we have to wait here.
"How long?"
"'Til tomorrow morning…"
"So we just sit on our butts while grandpa gets his brain fried!? Screw that!"
"Ben!"
"No! If you don't want to go save him, then I'll do it myself." Ben pulled the girl off him and ran into the forest. Back at the RV, Gwen felt a single tear fall before she continued with her plan.
It was a long walk back to the hole Cannonbolt had made. It would have been faster to go XLR8 or Stinkfly, but he had a plan, and he needed all the time in that form to do it. The cave was pitch black, but the GPS said he was right on top of Max's location. With a quick selection and a flash of green, Ben turned into Ditto and started splitting apart, forming a ladder down into the cave.
It didn't take long for the Dittos to get to the bottom, but they felt like they were being watched. Something was moving in the darkness, watching their decent. "I know you're in here!" One of the Dittos spoke. "Come on out!" Screamed another.
"You've come knowing what I am capable of." The voice was a whisper and a shout all at the same time. The shadow creature moved into the moonlight. The skeletal form had grown skin and now looked like an old woman. Her eyes, however, remained as dark and empty as the cave they were in.
The Dittos began to charge at her, but she threw them around, never taking her eyes off of the original Ditto. The connected nerves sent pain throughout the clones, but they continued to charge at her only to start getting slammed back together.
"You may all have individual wills," the woman began, "but you all share a singular subconscious." This wasn't going to go as he had planned.
Up above, Gwen watched the fight. She recalls her conversation with Wes. He had explained what he knew about her and how her mind reader had worked, but he wasn't able to offer much. This creature was old, much older than anything he knew of. But, he did have a way to stop it.
There were hundreds of different rituals to trap spirits, and the most effective could only be done on a full moon with powerful magic. Luckily tonight was a full moon, and this would be her only chance to trap this creature. Searching deep within her, she searched for the source of her mana and began the ritual.
She wasn't able to hear what the two were talking about, but it was clear that Ben was losing the fight. She felt her chest ache to see him in so much pain, and she wanted to go down and help him, but she had to complete the ritual if she wanted to save her family.
Below, Ben having an internal battle. The woman was accusing him of being a killer. He tried to deny it, but he knew the truth. He has killed and hurt so many people, just like Gwen had said. But it was all in the name of good. Right?
He was a hero, and heroes did what they had to if it was for the greater good. A memory of an older version of himself itched at the back of his head. A version that didn't care about anything except taking out the bad guys. Even going as far as tearing apart the biggest bag guy out there. Gwendolyn brought them to the future to stop that from happening, but he was still on the path to become that man. He felt it back on Xenon when he was ready to destroy the universe after losing Gwen.
Gwen.
He had denied her the most because he knew with absolute certainty that he loved Gwen Tennyson. He doesn't know when it started, but he knows that it all started last Summer. But he also knew that he couldn't be with her. They were cousins, and there was nothing that they could do to change that. And now that he knows she doesn't love him why bother chasing after her.
"You're right." Ben stopped struggling and looked up at the woman. "I'm in love with Gwen." The shadows holding him in place began to loosen their grip. "I'm a killer." The shadows have no completely retracted, leaving the woman's bare body in front of him. "But, I'm also a hero!"
A bright light struck down onto the woman burning away her flesh. She didn't scream, just continued to stare at him. Gwen flew down on a blue disk and pulled her cousin away.
"Your grandfather is within my coffin." The woman said, having almost all of her flesh burned away. Not wasting time, Gwen ran over and started pushing the large stone lid.
"You were wrong," Ben said, looking deeply into the abyss of her eyes, "she is still a hero."
"I was wrong, hero." The woman gave him a soft half-smile as the rest of her skin was burned to leave the skeleton on full display. "But not about that." Ben's blood started to turn cold. "She does love you. She just hasn't realized it yet."
"Ben!" Snapped out of his daze, he looks back at his cousin. "We have to get Grandpa out of here, or else he will be trapped with her!" At that moment, the dial on his wrist turned green, and he quickly changes into Four Arms.
Within seconds, the lid was off, and he had both Max and Gwen in his arms jumping out of the cave. He gave a quick look down at the skeleton as it turned to dust and flew into the stone coffin having the lid seal itself.
When they got back to the Rust Bucket, Gwen quickly got to work taking care of their grandfather. Just like she had said, Wes was there with a team of plumbers to extract the coffin and lock it away. They got a truck to tow them back into town so someone could give the old girl a proper tune-up while Max continued to rest. The entire time Gwen led the operation and signed all the reports. Under normal circumstances, this would never be allowed, but the Tennysons were anything but normal. All the while, though, Ben continued to think about what the creature had said.
Ben loved Gwen. And Gwen loved him too.
AN: So usual apologize for not updating sooner but hey this is the longest chapter I've done. I was heavily debating ending at the 2000 words mark but it didn't feel right breaking this into a two-parter. The next chapter won't be as long and intense as this one but I hope that you're enjoying the story. I'm not giving up on this so keep an eye out for the next chapter!
