Monsters Keepers, Part I


Gwen


"Crap, crap, crap . . . Ben has a crush on Lucky Girl?! But that's me!" Gwen thought to herself.

"Err ... Ben, that's not a good idea. I mean, you and this girl are going to be partners. It's never good to mix personal and professional life. It can be a problem," Gwen said.

"Yeah, you're right." Ben sighed looking somewhat defeated. "But I can't be just her partner. I can't ignore how I feel about her."

"But you barely know her! What's so special about her besides the cool magic powers?" Gwen asked, folding her arms.

"It has nothing to do with her powers. She's …" Ben shut his mouth wanting to drop the subject. "Will you help me or not, Dweeb?"

"I'm trying to help you, Doofus. By making you see that these 'feelings' you think you have are nothing more than a silly infatuation. You and she can be great partners. Don't ruin this!" She snapped.

"Do you think I'm not mature enough to have real feelings for a girl? Do you think I'm going to ruin everything?" Ben said in a hurt tone. "I'm sorry I asked you for help, Gwen. You can go now."

Gwen felt guilty and she decided to change her strategy. Instead of Gwen trying to convince Ben to give up on Lucky Girl, Gwen would play the supportive role and Lucky Girl herself would turn Ben down.

"I'm sorry, cus ... I was just trying to protect you." Gwen sat down on the bed next to her cousin, "How can I help you?"

"You know, Gwen, the impression I had of Lucky Girl ..." Ben's face went red "... There's something about her that reminds me a lot of you. You know, for a second, I even thought she might be you in a disguise. Ha crazy right?"

Gwen gave a halfhearted laugh. "Ben, what a silly idea heh, heh."

"Yeah, I mean, Lucky Girl is a Sorceress. That means her father and/or her mother has to be a Sorcerer too. And Uncle Frank is obviously human like my dad, and your mother . . . Well, don't get me wrong, I love Aunt Lilie, but she's kinda prejudiced towards aliens. Of course, she's definitely not a Sorceress."

Every once in a while, Gwen's mother would make some mean comments about aliens. Gwen always thought it was a defense mechanism, so nobody would suspect that Natalie Tennyson was actually an alien sorceress.

"And besides ..." Ben said putting his hand on her shoulder, "You're my cousin and my best friend. If you were an alien, you would've told me a long time ago. "

"Heh, of course." Gwen tried to hide her shame with a smile and felt a pang of guilt.

Ben never hid anything from her - about the watch, about S.E.C.T., all she had to do was ask and he would answer anything, even if S.E.C.T. had asked him to keep it a secret. But Ben was the rule breaker son, while Gwen was the dutiful daughter. When her mother said she couldn't tell anyone about her heritage, she obeyed. And when her grandmother said she couldn't tell anyone that she was the Lucky Girl, she also obeyed. She wanted to tell Ben because she didn't like to hide things from him and it would also make things much easier for him to stop crushing on Lucky Girl, but she couldn't say anything.

"So, Gwen, considering that you and Lucky Girl are so much alike ... Give me some tips, what does a guy like me have to do to get noticed by a girl like you, er, Lucky Girl?"


Charity Keepers Hall, 2:00 P.M.

As Lucky Girl had suggested to Ben the day before, the pair was going to start investigating the mysterious disappearance of homeless people in Bellwood. Their first action would be going to the place those people were last seen and talk to the girl who reported the disappearances, Julie Yamamoto.

Lucky Girl - wearing civillian clothes, black jeans and a purple blouse, saw Ben wearing his standard black S.E.C.T uniform, standing in front of a large hall.

"Hello Ben. This is the place, right?" She asked, staring at the sign that read 'Charity Keepers - Institution founded by Eric Edwards.'

Lucky Girl wanted to stay professional, so as to not encourage him in his "feelings", but clearly he had other ideas.

"Hey, Lucky Girl!" Ben smiled at her with his best macho, flirty and toothy grin, "I hope S.E.C.T. doesn't find out about our little investigation off the books. I mean, I'm not officially authorized to be part of this investigation . . . But, of course, I can't say no to you." His chest was puffed out and his hands were on his hips.

They entered the hall, and, for a while, Lucky Girl just watched the volunteers giving soup to people. "This is very nice," she thought.

"Good afternoon." Ben spoke to a volunteer. "Where can we find Julie Yamamoto?"

"Oh, uh, she's not here." He seemed a little uncomfortable with the kid with red eyes and white hair. Gwen knew the Doofus should've picked a more normal look for his disguise. "Julie's in an office at Mr. Edwards' company's building behind this hall."


Conduit Edwards building, 2:05 P.M.

Gwen was aware that the founder of the charity institution, Eric Edwards, was a businessman too. He was also the owner of "Conduit Edwards", an engineering company.

Watch Boy and Lucky Girl identified themselves to the receptionist and were directed to a small office where they found a short-haired Asian girl sitting at a desk with a computer and a telephone nearby. She seemed about the same age as Gwen.

"Hi, Miss Yamamoto. This is my partner Lucky Girl and I'm Watch Boy. We are agents of S.E.C.T." Ben showed his S.E.C.T. ID to the girl. "We want to talk about the disappearances you reported."

"Oh, yes, of course. Anything to help find them," Julie said.

"The first thing I have to ask is, how did you notice the disappearances if you don't stay at the Charity Keepers hall?" Ben asked.

That was a good question. Gwen was thinking about it too.

"Well, actually, I used to be there, but I was 'transferred' here. Mr. Edwards thought I was too emotionally shaken with the disappearances and asked me to stay away for a while. My work is now to talk to the people who contact the Charity Keepers wanting to ask questions or make donations."

"Hm ... Is Mr. Edwards really worried about Julie or does he just want to prevent her from seeing more strange things happening in his institution?" Lucky Girl thought.

"What led you to report the disappearances to the police?" Lucky Girl asked.

"The other volunteers said that a person no longer showing up is not actually uncommon. But there was a woman, Adriana, I was teaching her to read and write. She was so excited. . . And she just stopped showing up and no one had heard from her. That's when I thought I should talk to the police. None of the people who disappeared had a family to worry about them. I had to do something. "

"You did the right thing," Ben said.

They asked a few more questions, before deciding it was time to go.

"Well, if anything else happens, or if you remember any more details, you can call me at this number," Lucky Girl said, writing on a piece of paper the number of an untraceable cell phone Verdona had given her.

"Thank you." They were about to leave when she got their attention, "Err ... I'm new in town, my family moved to Bellwood this past summer. I don't know many people around here, so ... You two seem to be about my age. I'd love to go out with you guys sometime, if you're up for it." Julie gave them an awkward smile.

For Julie's own sake, it wouldn't be good for her to hang out with Watch Boy and Lucky Girl, two heroes/agents of S.E.C.T. But she could still befriend Ben and Gwen Tennyson, two normal teenagers.

"Which school do you go to, Miss Yamamoto?" Lucky Girl asked with a gentle voice.

"I will be going to Madison High School," Julie said.

"I'm sure a nice girl like you will make lots of friends there. My partner and I are kind of . . . weird. I don't think you would want to hang out with us." Julie thanked them and the two of them left the small office.

After they left the office Lucky Girl asked Ben, "Which school do you go to, Ben?" Gwen already knew the answer, of course, but Lucky Girl didn't.

"Well, in my secret identity, I attend Madison High School," Ben replied.

She smirked at Ben, "Hm ... the same school as Julie. I think you two can be good friends... Maybe even more than that."

Ben's eyes widened, certainly realizing what Lucky Girl was implying. "No, no way. I ... I'm already interested in someone else . . . " he said in a whisper.

Gwen already knew that too. She had to make him give up on that 'someone else'.

"Well, Julie has a good heart, and she's cute ... you shouldn't ignore her." Lucky Girl tried to persuade him.

"I'm sure Julie is a great girl, but ..." Ben looked into Lucky Girl's eyes, "The girl I like has a good heart too, she's a hero! And she is stunning! There's no way I can look at any other girl with her in the same room."

Lucky Girl bit her lip. She had to feel disappointed that her plan to make Ben give up on her wasn't working . . . but she was also . . . flattered.

"What girl doesn't like to hear compliments?" Gwen thought to herself, trying to justify why she couldn't stop that awkward smile from crossing her lips.

Ben, noticing her smile, shortened the distance between them. He was leaning in towards her . . . Lucky Girl quickly took a step back before her cousin could get too close.

"Watch Boy, our relationship has to be strictly professional," she said, her tone of voice way less convincing than she intended it to be.

"Of course, of course," Ben said. But Gwen knew him very well. His words agreed with her, but his eyes said "Next time, I'll get to steal a kiss from you."

"We should talk to this Edwards guy. I think it's very suspicious that he transferred Julie. . . Maybe he was really worried about her emotional health, but I think it's more likely that he's trying to avoid drawing attention to any future disappearance. . . "

"Do you think . . . Eric Edwards might have created the Charity Keepers just as a way to find victims that no one will care about?" Ben asked in a low and somber tone.

"I think we should talk to him," Lucky Girl replied.

Unbelievably, Eric Edwards agreed to meet with them that same day. Watch Boy and Lucky Girl sat down on a very comfortable couch to wait for the businessman. A few minutes later, a dark brown haired man looking about 40 and wearing a very expensive Armani suit gestured for them to enter his office.

"Good Afternoon. The agents of S.E.C.T are getting younger and younger nowadays, aren't they?" Edwards smiled. "How can I help you? I want to do everything I can to help find those missing people. "

"Mr. Edwards, just out of curiosity, when did you decide to create the Charity Keepers?" Lucky Girl asked.

An expression of deep sadness appeared on Edwards' face. "When I was about your age, my friends and I went mountain hiking. But nobody knew there were aliens hiding there. Vilgaxians. . . They attacked us and I ran. I was the only one who survived, but the guilt of running and leaving my friends behind still tears me apart to this day."

A tear fell from the man's eye. Lucky Girl thought about telling him that there was nothing he could've done and he was not to blame for what happened, but. . . there was something about him that she didn't fully trust.

"I'm trying to make up for it. That's why I decided to create the Charity Keepers." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve before giving them a charming smile.

"Do you have any thoughts about why people being helped by your institution are disappearing?" Ben asked.

"Well, I'm not always there in person, but I know that, unfortunately, some people end up involved with drugs and other bad things and they stop coming. But I don't know, with a witch in town I really fear that this could be a criminal activity... If this witch needs victims for her blood magic or what not, unfortunately I can't think of easier targets than the poor people that my institution helps."

Now Gwen was starting to like him less and less. Of course the guy didn't know he was talking to said witch.

"Lucky Girl so far has only done heroic deeds. I find it very hard to believe that she is responsible for something terrible like the kidnapping of innocent people," Lucky Girl replied.

"Ah yes. But you never know, maybe she's just playing hero so people don't get suspicious of her. There are a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing out there," Edwards said.

"Yes, indeed, there are a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing out there . . . " Lucky Girl said, in a tone a little bit more aggressive than she originally intended.


Gwen's house, midnight.

Lying on her bed, tossing and turning, Gwen couldn't sleep. She was still suspicious that Eric Edwards was rotten, but there was nothing she could do to prove it.

Then a message popped up on her untraceable cell phone. "Lucky Girl, it's Julie. Please, meet me right now at the following address: (...) Just you and your partner, I won't talk to anybody else."

Gwen tried to call Julie, but no one answered. Anyway, it was a weird message, but she couldn't just ignore it. She called Ben, and asked him to be at that address as soon as possible and wait for her.

"Transfigura Apparentia!" Gwen recited the spell, this time not only changing her looks but also trading her pajamas for Lucky Girl's costume.


Near an abandoned warehouse, a quarter past twelve a.m

"Hi Lucky Girl! I'll admit, I wasn't expecting for you to want to move on with things that fast, and I could think of better places than an abandoned warehouse, but I still liked your idea . . . " Ben spoke with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Lucky Girl asked confused.

"You and me, alone in a deserted place, this late. . . Didn't you call me here so we could take our relationship to the next level?" Ben asked.

"First off, we don't HAVE a relationship. We're PARTNERS!" Lucky Girl snapped. "Second, I got a message from Julie asking to meet us here."

Strangely he didn't seem dejected in the slightest. "Oh, I understand. A meeting here is weird, but I suppose this is the only lead we have. Let's go then."

The warehouse was empty, but there was a floor opening. A stone staircase led them to a cold and dark place underground.

"Lux!" Lucky Girl said, and a small blue ball of light appeared in her hand. The place was totally enclosed and surrounded by stone walls, and just ahead of them there was some kind of pool full of water about 32 feet long 10 feet wide and very deep.

Suddenly they heard the sound of metal clacking on the floor. A metal barrier closed the passage from where Ben and Lucky Girl had come from, leaving them trapped there.

Before the young heroes could react, the lights went on, and they saw Eric Edwards standing on the other side of the pool along with two bad looking men holding a teenage girl - Julie Yamamoto - who was trying to free herself from their grasp without success.

"Welcome, heroes. I'm glad you got my message," Eric Edwards said with a wicked grin, holding a cell phone in his hand.

"It was you who sent the message for us to come here," Lucky Girl said.

"Exactly. And now you're all going to disappear."

The water began to bubble.

There was something in that pool.

"Crap, crap, crap . . ."

TO BE CONTINUED


* Although I'm not a fan of UAF, this small arc is actually inspired by an UAF episode. Do you guys know which one?

* Thanks to bearhow and Aurora Nightstar for editing this chapter, and thanks to all of you who are reviewing, following and favoriting! I want you all to know that you're my motivation to write. So, please, write a small review (or a long one, your choice xD) and let me know your thoughts on the fic (praise, criticism, suggestions, anything). I will be very happy to hear from you :)