Forever and never

SUMMARY

Gwen's magic is becoming all too powerful and Kevin has come in peace with himself. Nothing prepares them however, for the Ben that comes back home from a solo mission as their worst enemy yet.

[ set after UA: Absolute Power Part 2 ]

•••

1 - BEN

Ben was used to crazy things. Some may even say that he ate crazy for breakfast. Every time someone asked him about the craziest thing he had ever seen, he'd laugh and glance at his watch. Sometimes, when she was with him, he'd even share a knowing look with her. His cousin, the lucky girl.

Gwen Tennyson knew almost everything about him. She'd been with him since they were twelve. And had her fair share of crazy too. After all, she herself was part alien. Made of magic, as Kevin had once said. Kevin Ethan Levin, her boyfriend, was part alien too. Crazy, right?

For all that talk though, nothing... And he meant nothing, compared to the oddities he saw in front of him.

Clouds made of buzzing blue particles swarmed his ride (cough, Kevin's ride, cough). He'd swerve the ship left and right, and the particles would generate a spark of blue electricity. Sometimes, somewhere beyond, a loud bang of thunder would echo and the blue particles would disappear to reveal a red sky.

The next time this happened, Ben let out a slow whistle and unbuckled himself from his seat, his mind running its own course of worrisome thoughts.

"Man, if only Gwen could see this." "Kevin would freak if he knew I spilled soda all over this seat." "Has grandpa Max ever been here?" "If I scream rubber duck, is anyone gonna scream back?"

The last thought especially intrigued him.

Ben had seldom been on a solo mission. And even on the rarest occasions, he was always surrounded by enemies, aliens or something that would judge him for his immature antics. Heck, even Kevin would tell sarcastic jokes about it. The only person who ever tolerated his goofying around was his grandpa. But these days he wasn't around enough to spend sensible time with either Ben or Gwen.

That left Gwen.

An awkward squirm, that had nothing to do with the twelve smoothies he had, settled in his stomach as he thought about his cousin.

Gwen and Ben were on best terms. Some might even say she was his best friend. Though he'd never admit it, he knew it was true. Kevin was his friend, all right. But he'd never take the spot that Gwen had, for so long, occupied in his heart. She was his confidant, his voice of reason. And above all, she was a kind and loving person.

Nowadays though, it was becoming nearly impossible for Ben to hang out with his cousin. While Ben and Kevin juggled between plumber duties and their future plans, Gwen was hardly leaving herself any time to breathe.

Ever since the incident with Aggregor, whatever spare time she had in between her studies, karate, plumber duties, helping Ben and Kevin with their essays and helping aunt Natalie with housework, Gwen had left it only for her magic training. Both Kevin and Ben, together and seperately tried to convince her to take it easy. But as always, she had stubbornly refused them both (together and seperately).

On the few rarer times when Kevin (who'd later complain to Ben) or Ben were allowed to disturb her, Gwen would ask them to help her with training. Her methods included a series of sparring matches or glaring at them until they agreed to spar.

The results of these 'spars' were unclear to Ben, because he refused to fight her. After all, a part of him still felt guilty for the way he had acted against Gwen a year ago.

Kevin, on the other hand, admitted to Ben almost everyday that Gwen was getting way too good at kicking his posterior.

"She literally set my butt on fire," he had told Ben last week. "Honestly, it feels like I'm back at plumber's academy. Nah... I'd rather be back at plumber's academy than get my butt whooped by my girlfriend. Even if this is the only way I see her these days. Or for my G.E.D. prep."

That left Ben quiet irrirated. He knew Kevin needed all the help he could muster. But he had to sacrifice a lot of his time with Gwen for that. According to Gwen, Ben needed little to no help for his college essays because he was pretty good at convincing people to trust him.

•••

Ben cursed as the ship jerked. While he was preoccupied with his thoughts, the blue particles had disappeared as if someone had blown out a candle. And with the now clear vision, Ben saw the mountain he was hurling his ship at. Pulling on the stearing, Ben's mouth chanted a series of curse words worthy to receive his grandpa's glare.

The ship, perhaps as revenge for the sticky smoothie, seemed only to be gaining it's speed. It ducked right into the thick white clique of rocks jutting out to his right and as a last attempt to save himself (and hopefully the ship) Ben let go of the stearing and hit the dial of his watch.

"Big chill," Ben announced a moment later.

Floating right through the window was easy. Now he had to save the ship and his right to pilot another space vehicle ever again.

•••

Big chill changed back to Ben as he landed near the crash site. And for a while, he reviewed the damaged. Big Chill had worked fast to build a shield of ice, which had taken most of the damage. But the ship's left wing was barely hanging on to the ship now. A little tug and it would fall off for sure.

Ben smirked to himself. It was nothing Upgrade couldn't fix. Kevin would never know what had happened.

Deciding he best put the repair work for later, he directed his focus on where he landed and clambered on top of a Four-arms sized boulder.

He couldn't see the top of the mountain; clouds of blue particles concealed it.

But something beckoned him to keep staring.

For a while, Ben listened to the sounds around him.

The rumble of the thunder. The winds that seemed to whisper to him. The cackle of damage on the ship and its steady low hum.

Standing absolutely still at a new place was unlike him. But now that he was on the ground, all his curiosity was replaced by a sudden chill that centered around the top of the mountain.

Ben took a step back in surprise and nearly slipped off the rock. Had he not been standing so still, he wouldn't have even noticed it.

The rocks were moving. And so was the ground. It was a slow, steady rise and fall; like a giant creature's breathing.

For a while, Ben stood petrified.

He should have jumped off the rock and flew away. But three things kept him rooted to the spot.

The first was an obvious will to complete his mission. After all, it was a special request by his grandpa. Ben was supposed to bring back a rare flower that grew only in this planet. For what reason, he did not know. But the request had a certain level of urgency that Ben couldn't deny.

The second (which would sound a little stupid to an ordinary human), he wanted to show off to his friends that he could do well alone.

The third was a simple pull. An invisible thread that tugged at him. It wanted him to go to the top of the mountain. Instead Ben stayed rooted to his spot and turned away to look at the sky.

A wide patch of crimson red sky was beginning to appear near the horizon. And sometimes Ben would catch a glimpse of red bolts of electricity striking another mountain far away.

He pondered at the thought of repairing the ship and leaving. But then he thought of his grandpa, who would never run away from things that needed to be done. Even if he was alone. And that thought was enough to steel his mind.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Ben muttered another curse, right before jumping off the rock.