Watch Boy meets Lucky Girl
Gwen
"Bye, Mom, Dad, I'm going to my book club meeting now."
Gwen felt a little bad for lying to her parents, but it wasn't technically a lie. She was going to a meeting - with her grandmother Verdona - to discuss books - spell books. And it was for a good cause, to protect the Doofus.
"Darling, come back here," her mother Natalie called.
"What is it, Mom?"
"Did you see that?" Natalie showed the newspaper to Gwen.
The headline was "Sorceress frustrates jewelry theft" and the photo - taken from a cell phone - was of a girl wearing a cat mask with a magical blue glow pulsating from her hand.
Gwen's progress with magic was pretty fast, and, besides, she already knew how to fight very well thanks to her years of karate practice. About a month after she started training spells with her grandmother, both Gwen and Verdona felt that Gwen was ready to hit the streets. Also, unlike the cities of superheroes from cartoons and comic books, Bellwood was "the most normal town in America". There were no mutants, no aliens and no powerful gangs plaguing that town.
Of course, this also meant that a girl with magical powers frustrating a robbery at a jewelry shop would be the most important news of the week in Bellwood.
Gwen held her breath for a moment. Did her mother know it was her? Fortunately, thanks to the Transfigura Apparentia spell, the girl in the photo wasn't a redhead, she had long black hair, and her facial features were a bit different from Gwen's too. But would it be enough to fool her mother, who was also a Sorcerer?
"You have to be careful, Gwen. Looks like there's a Sorceress in Bellwood playing hero. It won't be long until S.E.C.T. finds her, but I fear that they may end up finding other Sorcerers here in our town besides this girl."
"Don't worry, Mom." Gwen smiled, trying to hide her real emotions. "Thank goodness, Mom has no idea."
"Forgive your grandmother's mistake, my dear." Verdona said, "I had no idea the local press would give that much attention to our Lucky Girl. Now you better stay out of the streets for a while so you won't risk drawing S.E.C.T.'s attention."
"Actually, Grandma ..." Gwen began to say, somewhat hesitant, "I intend to join S.E.C.T."
Verdona's eyes widened, but then chuckled, "Right, and I want to be the queen of England." All joking was forgotten when it was clear that Gwen wasn't joking. "Oh Gwen why would you do that? I mean, I know the paycheck is good, but I also know a lot of better ways to make money. Especially with someone of your talents."
"Certainly, unlawful ways." Gwen thought. Probably Grandma Verdona had stolen much more than the thieves Gwen had arrested before.
"Grandma, it's not about the money. Remember I told you about my cousin? He's working for S.E.C.T, and I need to protect him. This is why I wanted to learn how to use my powers in the first place."
Verdona sighed with a roll of her eyes, "Okay, okay. But don't tell them your real name and don't show your face to anyone there."
"What's the problem?" Gwen asked.
"I may be, and I can't stress this enough, MAY be, on the list of criminals wanted by S.E.C.T." Verdona smirked, "If they dig deep into Gwen Tennyson's life, they may find me, and that would be very unpleasant. You don't want your beloved grandmother being arrested, right?" The last part of her sentence was said with puppy dog eyes and a pouting lip.
Gwen rolled her eyes, "Okay, Grandma. I won't tell anyone who I am. "
Verdona glared at Gwen, "Nobody can know. Not even that cousin you're crushing on."
"I don't have a crush on Ben!" Gwen protested. "And I have to tell him. I want us to be partners. But don't worry, if I ask him to keep it a secret, I'm sure he'll keep it a secret. "
"Honey, I'm sure you can make any boy do everything you want, but even then, he still might end up slipping your name accidentally. It will be safer if he doesn't know."
Two days later, Ben's family went to Gwen's house to a dinner, and after dinner, the cousins started to play a video game. Gwen took the opportunity to test the waters and find out what Ben thought of the idea of having a partner.
"So, Ben, it looks like you're not the only hero in Bellwood, huh?" Gwen said as they picked their characters for the next Sumo Slammers match.
Ben scoffed, "I really hope this Lucky Girl is a hero, too."
"What do you mean? She stopped a robbery, of course she's a hero," Gwen said, confused.
"S.E.C.T. is investigating some disappearances that happened in Bellwood in recent months. Needy people without family - the press couldn't care less about. And now a sorceress appears out of nowhere? One of the theories that S.E.C.T. is working on is that this girl might be using people to do blood magic."
Gwen's eyes widened in horror. S.E.C.T. was completely wrong, of course. Although unfortunately blood magic was indeed real. Grandma Verdona had told Gwen that there was mana - mystic energy - flowing through the blood of all living beings, and Sorcerers could drain this mana to get a temporary boost on their powers. But of course Gwen was not involved in the disappearance of innocent people. And even though Grandma Verdona wasn't a very honest person, Gwen knew she was not involved in something terrible like that either.
Even in "The most normal town of America" there were strange things going on. And Gwen would find out exactly what it was. But first she needed to make sure Ben knew she - or better, Lucky Girl - was innocent.
"Ben. . . I know Lucky Girl. "
"What?" Ben looked at her, startled, "How-"
"Last week, a thief tried to steal my purse. Lucky Girl was around and helped me. She asked me not to tell anyone, she didn't want to draw attention." Gwen hoped Ben would buy it.
"That doesn't mean anything, Gwen. We already know she's stopping criminals. She might be a bad person fighting other bad guys just for the thrill. She wouldn't be the first one to enjoy the thrill of a dangerous life." Ben said, with a guilty look on his face.
"Lucky Girl is a good person. And she gave me a way to contact her, if I need to. I can set up a meeting between the two of you so you can talk to her. But you have to promise you won't take any other agent with you. I don't want her to be arrested. "
"Don't worry! They are still investigating all possibilities. S.E.C.T. won't arrest anyone without proof. But I can go alone if she is more comfortable that way, no problem. I mean, it's just a girl, she would have no chance against me." Ben didn't catch his cousin scowling at him. Lucky Girl could totally kick that brat butt of his.
There were times when Gwen would do anything to protect Ben, but there were other times - like now - when she had to control herself not to strangle him.
The boy with white hair and red eyes sitting on a bench stood out in the park. Gwen wondered why Ben had chosen to look like that. Probably because it was "cool". That dweeb did not even think how much attention he would draw to himself.
Lucky Girl and Verdona watched the spot where Ben was from a safe distance for about twenty minutes. They discreetly tried to find out if there were any suspicious movement of disguised S.E.C.T. agents around there. So far there was nothing.
"I told you, Grandma, he promised me he would come alone, and he has. We can trust him," Gwen said.
Verdona sat cross legged, looking somewhat bored. "Well, your cousin is either too arrogant or too dumb to think it's safe to meet an unknown witch without taking any precautions."
"He's arrogant AND dumb." Gwen sighed, "That's why I have to help him in this hero thing."
"Okay, I'll stay here, and if I notice something suspicious, I'll get you out of there. You can go, but please remember your grandma is watching and so none of that teenage making out, or whatever it is you kids do."
Gwen simply rolled her eyes and left. She walked to where Ben was and sat down next to him on the bench.
"Hello. Our mutual friend, Gwendolyn, told me about you. You can call me Lucky Girl." She smiled at him, and extended her hand.
Ben was completely speechless, staring at her wide-eyed.
For a second, Gwen considered the possibility that her disguise had failed and Ben had recognized her, even with black hair, purple eyes, and different facial features. She still tried to remain calm, though.
"O-Oh, s-sorry," Ben said, finally shaking hands with her. Lucky Girl watched him curiously. He was staring strangely at her. "I didn't th-think of a name for myself yet, the guys at S.E.C.T. w-want to call me W-Watch Boy, but that name is r-ridiculous."
Ben was nervous, stuttering and talking too much. And he had not yet let go of her hand. What was wrong with him?
"You can just call me Ben, and I'll tell you everything about myself if you go out with me!" He snapped his mouth shut. He had no real idea of what he was doing, but one thing was clear by now: he was totally hitting on her!
He was about to reveal his secret identity to a complete stranger. She wasn't actually a stranger, of course, and she already knew his true name, but Ben didn't know that! Could he be even more of a doofus? Gwen decided to put that theory to the test.
"I'm so curious to know who you really are... " Even if it was a little weird to do that knowing that she was talking to her cousin, Lucky Girl did her best 'flirty voice', "If I let you kiss me, would you tell me everything about yourself... handsome?"
Without missing a beat, he said "Yes!" though it was mostly a scream.
"You Mega Doo- Idiot!" She had almost called him by the usual nickname 'Doofus' but stopped in time. Gwen couldn't give her cousin any hint of her real identity. She proceeded, speaking in a low, yet angry, voice, "How can you be dumb enough to reveal your identity to a stranger? And accepting a kiss from a Sorceress? Don't you know that experienced Sorcerers know how to do a love spell that can control people with a kiss? How can you be such an idiot?"
"What? Oh PFFT I knew it was a test this whole time!" Ben folded his arms, his bravado forcing Gwen to roll her eyes, "And I thought you were here to ask me to believe you, that you're innocent and a good person. So I decided to believe you, and you're playing games with me? You're a total dweeb."
"I want you to trust me, but I don't want you to be easily fooled by every pretty girl who appears in front of you! Our friend Gwendolyn told me about you. You have a good heart and great powers, but it is clear that you are lacking responsibility. I can be your partner, and help you."
"And what do you get out of it?" Ben asked.
Well, he was finally starting to use the right head.
"Your people are investigating me because of those disappearances, right? With your help, I can prove my innocence. We can go after the real bad guys behind this."
"You're just a suspect, S.E.C.T. won't arrest you. You can go straight to them, register and explain that you are innocent. You don't need me for this."
If he kept asking good questions like that, Gwen might even start to believe her cousin had the potential to be smart.
"True. But they would probably keep me under surveillance and wouldn't let me take part in the investigations. And this is my city too, if there's anyone here kidnapping innocent people, I want to end it myself. You have access to the investigations S.E.C.T. is doing. We can check the other suspects."
"Seems fair. Okay, I'll tell you what I know. No one had noticed the disappearances until now. It was a girl named Julie who reported it. She volunteers in a place that distributes food for the needy, and she noticed that some people just stopped showing up and no one else had heard from them since. The police has this case open, and then a witch - you - suddenly appear in town, so because of the timing S.E.C.T. was called to see if there is any connection."
"It might be hard to believe, but it's just a coincidence. I have nothing to do with that," Lucky Girl said with sincerity.
"I believe you. It's very likely that these disappearances have been going on for quite some time, and only now someone noticed it. Unfortunately, poor people are invisible in the eyes of society," Ben lamented.
Lucky Girl felt the urge to put her hand on his shoulder. "We will stop the people behind this. We can start by checking out the place where this Julie girl is volunteering. The bad guys might be picking their victims there somehow," Lucky Girl suggested.
"It sounds like a good plan to me. I can check S.E.C.T.'s files and I'll give you more information later, if you give me your cell phone number of course. . . " Ben cracked his best flirty smile that she found very cute - err, very revolting.
Later, Gwen went to Ben's house to talk to him.
"So, Ben, what did you think of Lucky Girl?" Gwen asked, curious to know Ben's opinion of her alter-ego.
"I get why you two became friends. She's a dweeb just like you." Ben chuckled. Currently he was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling with the same look he had on when he met Lucky Girl. "We will investigate the disappearances together."
"I'm glad you got a partner to watch your back, Doofus," Gwen said with a smile.
Ben was silent for a moment, then said in a whisper, "Dweeb, I. . . need your help."
"My help? For what?" Gwen was a little surprised. Ben had a big ego, he wouldn't ask her for help with something he could take care of himself, so whatever problem he had, it was probably very serious.
"Don't laugh at me, ok?" Ben had a silly smile on his face, "I didn't believe in love at first sight until yesterday, but when I saw Lucky Girl, I immediately felt a connection between us . . . I think I'm in love with her."
". . . . . crap . . . ."
TO BE CONTINUED
Thanks to bearhow and Aurora Nightstar for the help, and thanks to all who are favoriting, following and reviewing!
Good news: I'll have more free time in the next three weeks, and with the right motivations (*hint* reviews, favorites, follows *hint*) I'll try my best to update more often. Every feedback is appreciated!
