AU: Hey guys! Author here, back with another chapter, now as I've said before, this, and the rest of the other chapters will be pretty longer, although it would also mean it would take more time. I don't know long, days, weeks!? Depends on my schoolworks, really.
Anyways, on with the chapter!
"Oh how the tables have turned, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with-.. BEN!?"
"CHARMCASTER!?" Ben yelled in shock. "How are you-" he looked around and noticed the walls have a leather-y texture with the corners surrounded by Charmcaster's inactive golems. "Where am I!?"
Charmcaster repeatedly stomped her feet with both her fist clenched. "NO, NO, NO! That trap was meant for Gwen!..H-How did you even trigger it!? You have no magic!"
Ben grinned in response. "Oh yes I do!" He then held out his hand and between his fingers were a set of cards. "Pick a card, any card!"
Charmcaster raised an eyebrow, she approached Ben and picked out a one of heart.
"Now, don't tell me which card you got!" Ben warned as Charmcaster handed the card back to him. He then stacked the cards along with Charmcaster's and shuffled it. Ben then tossed all the cards in the air, slowly falling down like a leaf. With a smug, he then held out a joker card to Charmcaster's face. "Is THIS your card?"
Charmcaster narrowed her eyes to examine it.. and suddenly bursted into laughter. "HA! NO! It was a one of hearts!" She exclaimed and sighed. "And here I thought you actually had magic."
Ben groaned. "Ugh, whatever, I blame that rake...janitor..wizard guy."
Charmcaster scoffed. "His name is Bezel? I would appreciate if you would address the almighty father of magic formally." Charmcaster corrected him.
"I don't know, he didn't look all that mighty to me." Ben replied with his arms crossed. He then perked up when he realized something. "Wait! Why am I even talking to you!? It's time you face a rematch with..." Ben activated his Omnitrix. "Ghostfreak!" Slamming it with his hand, Ben is suddenly engulfed in green light causing Charmcaster to slightly step back. The green light dissipated with Ben turned into... "What!? Walkatrout!?" Ben looked angrily at the device attached to his blue, slippery chest. "I thought we were past this, Omnitrix!" Ben looked up and in his horror, saw Charmcaster walking towards him, her arms stretched out and a big smile was on her face. "Aww goodie!" She chuckled. "You are so CUTE, Ben!"
"Whoa, whoa who- hmfp!" He wasnt able to back away and Charmcaster gently picked him up and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing his body into a tight hug causing him to slip slip upwards. "Whoops!" Said Charmcaster as Ben is sent spinning uncontrollably mid air.
"Ow!" Ben said, falling on his back. "Sorry!" Charmcaster approached the fallen alien and helped him up. "Your alien is very slippery." She commented.
Ben's pure green eyes widen as he stares at the sorceress, he then steps back. "Yeah... he's pretty splippery."
"Ben!?" Suddenly, a voice was heard outside the walls.
"Hey, that sounds like.."
"Gwendolyn.." Charmcaster added.
"Ben!? Ben, are you there!?" Gwen called out.
"Yes! Yes! I'm down here!" Ben screamed as he jumps up and down.
"Yes, he's here, Gwendolyn! Caught in the trap laid out for YOU!" Charmcaster yelled.
"What!? You mean the one I used to trap you!? H-How is that even possible, Ben has no magic!"
"Well apparently I DO! Now I'm stuck here with little miss coo-coo!" Ben yelled.
"No that's impossible! Grandma said so herself!" Gwen said.
"Well he did perform magic with my Bezel totem." Charmcaster pointed out.
"What!? No! Skurd ate the totem behind Ben's arm and hid behind, giving the ILLUSION of it disappearing!"
"Skurd? Who's that?" Charmcaster asked.
"Oh Skurd?" Ben said. "He's a Slimebiote that attached to my Omnitrix because of its wide variety of DNAs." Charm caster raised an eyebrow. "And where is this.. Skurd?"
"Oh, he's right.." It took Ben a moment to realize the green blob is no longer attached to him. "Skurd? Skurd, where you at, buddy?"
"My boufett!" Skurd yelled from Gwen's shoulder. "Wha!? GAA! Ben, your slimy friend is on me!" Gwen said, trying to get the Slimebiote off. "My dear, hold on!" Skurd yelled at the pouch. "Don't worry, my sweet, sweet device of happy meals, I'll get you out!" Skurd said and leaped to the pouch, using his tiny arms, the slime tries to pull on the leather.
"Um, Tennyson is in there too?" Kevin said. "Aren't you supposed to be like, his partner or something?"
"No, I am Ben's partner." Said Rook.
"Oh, right." Skurd said and then clears his throat. "Ehem, Ben, dear boy! Be cautious inside with that treacherous sorceress!"
"I-It's alright, Skurd, we'll get him out." Gwen said, putting the Slimebiote in the palm of her hand. Suddenly, Skurd attached himself to Gwen's wrist. "What are you doing!?" Skurd detached himself from Gwen almost immediately. "Gah! An Anodite!?" Skurd jumped off of Gwen. "Disgusting, Anodites don't even have a single STRAND of DNA." Skurd made his way into Kevin, latching himself onto him.
"Hey watch it, pall, my body's off limits!" Kevin warned, trying to pull the Slimebiote off of him however it refused to budge.
"Hmm, a half Osmosian! This will do for now."
"This will do for never!" Kevin touched the wooden drawer and in an instant, his entire body has been transformed into wood. "Now stay still." His hand transformed into a sharp wooden sword.
"Kevin!" Gwen said, asking him to stop.
"Don't worry, Gwen, this wont hurt one bit.. hehe, for me at least." Before Gwen could stop Kevin with her magic, the boyfriend already halted to a stop, surprised by what he's seeing. "What? How?" He asked, Skurd was also turned into wood. Skurd then made his way to Kevin's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mr. Levin, I will detach as soon as Ben is released from the half Anodite's preternatural purse." Kevin relaxed and his body returned to normal, so did Skurd.
"Hehe, yeah, you're not getting him off you." Ben said from inside the bag.
"Wouldn't you mind coming out of there and get this thing off me already?" Kevin said, annoyed by the company of one little Slimebiote. "Watch your words, young lad! My name is Skurd."
"Whatever."
"Umm, yeah, Gwen could you let me out now? Please?"
Gwen thought for a moment. "Hmm... nope!"
"Huh!?" Ben and Kevin said in unison.
"Woow, that's so unexpected." Charmcaster sarcastically said from inside the pouch.
"Miss Gwendolyn, I do not see a purpose as to why we should keep Ben in his current state, what if Charmcaster harms him?" Rook asked, confused about the girl's intentions.
"Don't worry Rook, Charmcaster can't do any magic as long as shes a totem so Ben is perfectly safe there. Also,-" Gwen raises the pouch in front of her face. "this is timeout for you Ben, you're causing too much ruckus even when you're trying to clean."
"What!? But-"
"No buts!" Gwen cut him off.
"Oohhh grounded by his own cousin, how embarrassing must this be for you, right Ben?" Charmcaster teased.
Back in Gwen's pouch
"Ugh... whatever!" Ben said transforming back into his human self. "You owe me a smoothy, Gwen! Large size!" He then turns to Charmcaster. "Soo, Charmcaster, daughter of Spellbinder, conquerer of Addwaytia, ruler of Ledgerdomain, yada, yada, yada, what do we do now?" Ben said.
Charmcaster just shrugged. "I don't know, surprised you memorize my titles though. I'm kinda flattered!" She pointed out.
"Wha-!? Now see, this isn't.. Charmcaster behavior! Where's the magic? The tricks? The stone golems?" Ben said and sat down on the floor.
"Ben, the stone golems are over there." Charmcaster using her thumb to point to the corner where the golem statues lay inactive.
"Oh.. right."
"Also, even if I wanted to, I can't do magic, weren't you listening to Gwen earlier!?"
"Then why are you acting so nice all of the sudden!?" Ben continued to ask. However Charmcaster remained silent. "..Well?"
"I don't know! Why are YOU being nice all of the sudden!? Normally you'd have me restrained by one of your aliens by now." Charmcaster questioned back.
"Well duh! I TRIED doing that? Didn't end so well, remember?"
"Well why don't you try it again?"
"Uhh.. I don't want to!.."
Silence fills the room as both don't know what else to say to each other.
Then suddenly...
Rumble..
"Sorry! That was me." Both of them said at the same time.
"Hungry, huh?"
"Yyyep." Charmcaster replied.
Ben looked around. "Charmcaster, did you keep like a snack here or something?"
"Nope, just golems, cosmetics, totems of powerful sorcerers, the usual stuff." She replied causing Ben to sigh.
"Well, here goes nothing."
"Alright, books? Stashed and trashed, book drawers? Fixed, good job team!" Gwen said.
"I have to say, the process went swiftly without Ben's constant interferences." Rook commented.
"Now all that's left are the book shelv-"
"GWEEEN!" Ben screamed from the bag causing Gwen to groan. "What is it!?" Gwen asked.
"...We're hungry." He said with a hint of embarrassment in his tone, surprising Gwen.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Ben!" Gwen apologized. "Umm, what do you guys need?"
"Umm, It's been a while since I ate earth food..hmm." Charmcaster pointed out. "Ben, can you decide for me?"
Gwen's eyes popped open. "Ah- Charmcaster I don't think that's a good ide-"
"CHILLI FRIES!" Ben joyously yelled from the bag. Gwen sighed in annoyance.
"Alright, alright, Chilli fries it is, are you sure about this, Charmcaster?" Gwen asked, still a bit worried at how Charmcaster's stomach will react.
"Yeah, I'm sure, what's Chilli fries gonna do anyways."
"You have no idea.. okay then," Gwen then turned to Ben's partner. "Rook! Can you buy Ben and Charmcaster Chilli fri-"
"No, I'll do it!" Kevin intervened and volunteered himself.
"Kevin? Why?" She asked.
"Well, we just got my car back a while ago, and I've been itching to try it out since."
"Well alright, be careful!.. And probably buy four bottles of water please!" Gwen said as Kevin walks out the library.
Kevin looked over to Skurd while walking. "I hope you don't get car sick and throw up goo on my shoulder."
"No worries, Mr. Levin, a ride on your "car" as you say sounds mundane to my slimy ears."
"Heh, I'll take that as a challenge then." He said before walking out the library doors.
"Soo, Charmcaster." Ben said, both of them were now sitting on the floor, just staring at each other.
No response.
Ben got impatient and tried to come up with something to make the atmosphere less awkward. "..What? Want to do the eye staring contest?" He asked. Charmcaster's eyes narrowed and smiled. "Eye staring contest? You're on."
Ben activated the Omnitrix and lightly slammed on it. "Eye Guy!"
"An Opticoid!? Cheater!" Charmcaster exclaimed.
"Hey, EYE don't think there are any rules for turning into an alien!" Ben focused all eyes on Charmcaster.
A minute passed and Charmcaster couldn't take it anymore and blinked.
"HA! EYE WIN!" Ben cheered.
"Ugh, so not fair, Ben. You're lucky I don't have magic." Charmcaster said, pouting.
The Omnitrix timed out and Ben transformed back to his human self. "Well how about a game something that requires.. knowledge?"
Charmcaster smiled. "I'm listening."
[20 minutes later]
Twenty minutes and three games have past, Ben and Charmcaster are still going at it.
"Hey, Charmcaster can you hand me that piece?" Ben said. "Here." Charmcaster hands Ben a red block. "Thanks."
Between them stood a couple of small houses and buildings made out of blocks.
"Ooh! Yummy, I'm adding an ice cream shop." Charmcaster said, as she puts block and block together.
"Thought you haven't eaten earth food in a while?" Ben asked. "I still remember what ice cream taste like even after spending most of my time in Ledgerdomain.."
Charmcaster noticed the lack of blocks on her side and looks over to Ben. "Ben, break your arm again, I need some more pieces."
"Alright." Ben detaches his arm and hands it over to Charmcaster as another set of block arms took it's place. "Thanks."
"Finally! My masterpiece is complete!" Ben said catching Charmcaster's attention. "Oohhh, wacha got there?"
Ben the lifts the build and his hands and his arm transforms itself into a block pedestal to support the build. "Ladies and... evil ladies, I present to you," He moves himself away from the pedestal to not block the view.
"Block Mr. Smoothies."
"PFFT!" Charmcaster laughed out loud.
"Hey guys!" A sound came from outside the bag. "Food is here!"
"Well it's about time!" Ben said.
Suddenly Ben transformed back into human form. "WHAT!?.. Well, there goes the smoothy build." Ben said. "And my ice cream shop.." Said Charmcaster. "Why does the blocks detached from you still disappears when you turn back?" The sorceress asked. "Well it's still a part of me so..."
"Here you go guys!" A bright pink portal from the bag opened from above and Gwen's hand came in with bags of Chilli fries and water bottles.
"Good thing magic can shrink food, otherwise your bag would be very messy." Ben said while taking the Chilli fries bags.
"Ew! What is that smell!?" Charmcaster complained after opening her bag. "What? don't like it?" Ben asked, sniffing the insides of his bag. "No, no I don't, but I don't have a choice don't I?" Charmcaster sighed.
Gwen placed the final book in the shelve and then turned to the duo, who were chatting about. "Ehem, Alright, Kevin, Rook." She called out, catching the two's attention.
Skurd cleared his throat. "Aren't you forgetting something? Or someone?"
"Skurd." Gwen added. "Since we're all done, I have a confession to make... I... don't know how to turn Ben back to normal." She confessed, causing Rook to gasp.
"That is unexpected, it is unusual of you to be unaware of a spell's mechanism, Ms. Gwendolyn." Rook commented. "And why didn't you tell us sooner?" Kevin added.
"Because I wanted the both of you to focus on your tasks, and it's not like Ben's going anywhere, right? Also they never taught us about the spell Charmcaster used, nor did I find any mention of it in any of the books I've read." She explained. "Let's go see Professor Hex, he might know what to do." Gwen said motioning the two of them to follow her. The two boys nodded and followed suit.
Gwen, Kevin, and Rook made their way to Prof. Hex's classroom and found him on his desk, reading some papers.
Gwen coughed, catching the professor's attention. "Good evening, Professor Hex." She greeted.
"Ah, Ms. Gwendolyn, pleasure to see you, I appreciate you and your friends for voluntarily fixing my library." He looked at the group and found a certain Omnitrix wielder missing from the bunch. "Where's Ben Tennyson?"
"Well you see, Professor-" Kevin was about to explain when Gwen used her hand to cover his mouth. "Long story short, Ben accidentally got trapped inside Charmca-.. well, my purse using the same summoning circle I used to trap her." She explained.
Hex thought while resting his chin on his fingers. "Hmm.. that's quite odd, I don't remember your cousin having any magic." He pointed out.
"That's what we thought too, even Grandma Verdona...Does this mean Ben really does have magic?"
"Hmm.. no, I don't think so." The professor said causing Gwen to perk up. "My niece was brimming with mana at the time she activated the trap.. perhaps her magic gave it enough feul for another person."
"Is that even possible?" Gwen asked. "I don't know, however with Bezel in her possession, it's quite a possibility."
"Professor, do you know how to turn Ben back to his normal self?" Rook asked, catching Hex's attention. "I'm afraid not, it is a complicated spell." Suddenly, an idea pops out of Hex.
Ben burped loudly after eating up the last piece of Chilli fries. "Oh man, excuuuse me." He said, wiping the crumbs off his lips. "Gross, Ben!" Charmcaster exclaimed. Ben then noticed Charmcaster's bag only half empty. "Are you gonna eat those?" He said, looking directly at her bag. Charmcaster shook her head and handed it to him. Ben took it and began to viciously chow down on the remaining food causing the sorceress to almost throw up from the sight of it. Ben finished his meal and burped. "Excuse me..again." He said, laying down on the floor, satisfied with his meal. "You know, Charmcaster, it's pretty weird that you and I, totems, get hungry."
"True, it is pretty weird." Charmcaster agreed. "Well anyways, they sure are taking their time out there." Ben pointed out to which Charmcaster giggled. "They probably forgot about you."
"Man, I hope not." Ben replied, he then yawned as his eyelids began to close down. "Hey, Charmcaster, you're not gonna backstab me again are you?"
"No, I'm not." She replied. "For some reason, I find that very hard to believe, I don't know why." He said sarcastically.
Silence filled the room for a moment and after a while, Charmcaster broke the ice. "It wasn't my idea, you know.." She said, causing Ben to slightly open his almost closed eyelids. "It wasn't my idea to betray you guys back at Anur Transvil.. It was all Addwaitya's ruse." She laid on her back and used both her arms as pillows. "I was a little hesitant at first but when I put on the Alpha Rune... none of it seemed to matter, my doubts.. they were replaced with ecstasy."
"Too much power corrupts, huh..." Ben said, half asleep. "I want to get out of here before I fall asleep.. who knows what you'll do to my unconscious body."
"Heh, I'm having suspicions that Gwen doesn't even know how to undo the spell." Charmcaster said making Ben feel uneasy.
"Charmcaster!" Gwen yelled from outside the bag.
"And that proves theory~!" She said and grinned.
AU: Well, that took.. a lot more words than I had initially expected. Well here I am, true to my words, longer chapter, baby!
I don't know what else to say so I'm ending my notes here.
Bye and stay safe, everyone!