I don't own Ben 10
Chapter 3: Hopewolf
The team was making their next stop at a small village in New Mexico, where they were taking in the local history. In order to avoid attention, Charmcaster told the other that he trust them enough for Ben to use his real name while in public.
They also agreed to add the Tennyson name to it and tell a lie that she is adopted and is 'Ben' older sister, Hope Tennyson.
Max was standing by a stand with a native of the village was next to him as he told him about the dreamcatcher on display. A Native American man who wore a green vest, a tannish yellow polo shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties and had long, grey hair tied in low ponytail. His name was Wes Green.
"Navajo legend says the web of the dreamcatcher protects the dreamer by holding the nightmares in the center, while good dreams travel down the feathers to bless the person's sleep." Max and Wes walked down the market.
Charmcaster was yawning, as he didn't get a lot of sleep last night as Ben and Gwen stood by him.
"Speaking of sleeping." Ben said as she pushed Charmcaster down the dirt road.
"I know Mr. Green is Grandpa Max's old buddy, but could this trip get any more-" Charmcaster's grumbling was suddenly cut short when his eyes fell on someone. She was a Navajo girl around his age with copper skin; long black hair tied into a ponytail, and was wearing a blue and red dress. She was performing some sort of ritual dance in the street while a few men kept the beat by playing a drum.
Charmcaster blinked a couple times as a dopey smile appeared on his face. "-cooler." He said, finishing his previous statement.
Charmcaster ran up to Max and Wes. "That's my granddaughter, Kai." Wes said proudly.
"Well, Wes, the last time I saw her she was barely walking." Max smiled, placing an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Now look at her."
Kai continued dancing to the beat of the drum nearby.
"She is performing the ceremonial Navajo dance." Wes explained.
"You know, I was hoping to see one of those before the summer ended." Charmcaster said, although it was clear he was lying. Gwen and Ben walked up and stood beside him.
Gwen turned to Charmcaster incredulously with her hands on her hips. "Since when have you been interested in Native American spiritual dance?"
"Only like forever, Princess. It rocks." The dance finished and the audience that Kai had applauded her. Kai then walked towards the group. Charmcaster was fixing his hair to make himself look more presentable. Gwen and Ben meanwhile just rolled their eyes.
Normally, Ben would by affected by Kai beauty but since she is in a teenage girl body, Kai beauty have no affect on her.
Suddenly, Gwen and Ben looked up to the sky to see storm clouds rolling into what was once clear beautiful skies illuminated by the sunset.
"Are you sure you're not doing a rain dance?" Gwen asked Kai.
"Positive, why?" Kai asked.
Suddenly, storm clouds completely engulfed the sky and blanketed the village in darkness as it began to rain hard. Then, without warning, a purple lightning bolt struck in the middle of the street. Villagers and tourists screamed out and scrambled to safety.
"That's why!" Gwen shouted.
"Take cover in the Rust Bucket!" Max said as he and Wes rushed Kai and Gwen into the Rust Bucket and a still-smitten Charmcaster stood by as Ben glared at him and snapped her fingers in front of his face.
"Hello! Wake up, lover boy!" she shouted to him before she slapped him on the head, snapping him out of it as she pushed him to the Rust Bucket. "Get a move on!"
That was when a cloud of dust kicked up from the lightning ten feet away from Ben and Charmcaster from behind, stopping Ben from pushing Charmcaster to Rust Bucket as they turned and looked at the cloud of dust. In the cloud of smoke, there was a wolf like figure that had purple glowing eyes and seemed to be humanoid, but stood on all fours. Wes looked upon the creature with a look of horror.
"Anyone want to ask that thing for an umbrella?" Ben asked, coating her hands in energy while Charmcaster hide behind her.
The creature stood up and seemed like it was about to attack them, but it turned around and ran when it saw Max and Wes join Ben and Charmcaster.
The was a crashing sound heard and a few seconds later, a wave of water was going down the rows of buildings
"Flash flood!" Wes shouted. Gwen and Kai were climbing up the ladder of the Rust Bucket. Wes, Max, Ben, and Charmcaster managed to climb up on the tops of some of the buildings as the floodwaters carried off whatever wasn't attached to the ground.
Kai was trying to get up the ladder, but the flood waters were too strong. She was ripped off the ladder and carried off. "Help!" She screamed.
"Going Ripjaws!" Ben said as she slammed the core down... only for nothing to happen.
"I got it!" Charmcaster shouted. He ran along the roof toward Kai and jumped off the edge, but surprisingly landed on a floating barrel. He grabbed hold and balanced himself so he wouldn't fall off.
"Help!" cried a panicked Kai.
As the young Native American girl started being pulled under, the barrel Ben was riding reached her just in time.
"Grab my hand!" Charmcaster yelled, outstretching his left arm.
Kai immediately took it and pulled herself to the barrel, climbing onto it behind Ben. Once she was, they both collectively gasped when they spotted a wall ahead of them. If they collided with that wall at the speed they were going, then the duo would certainly be in trouble.
"Jump!" Charmcaster commanded.
Without hesitation, the two jumped up hand-in-hand and grabbed hold of the underside of a wooden rooftop for a shop with Ben on the roof. The barrel they were previously on smashed into the wall, breaking in half.
"Thank you," Kai thanked Charmcaster with a smile. "Can I-"
"Repay me?" Charmcaster cuts her off with a suave smile. "No need. I'm one of those, 'leaps first, looks second' kind of guy." Charmcaster proudly proclaimed.
"That's nice, but what I meant was," Kai gestured with her chin down to their joined hands. "Can I have my hand back now?"
Charmcaster noticed that he was still holding onto Kai's hand. Charmcaster blushed as he let go of Kai's hand. Ben rolled her eyes as she helped the two of them up.
The camera transitioned to the nearby satellite where the werewolf figure grabbed the satellite dish and stole it in a flash of lightning.
Later in a museum...
Ben, Gwen, Charmcaster, Max, Kai and Wes was standing in front of an old tapestry hanging on the wall.
"I never thought I'd see one." Wes said.
"One what?" Ben asked.
"A Yenaldooshi. A Navajo werewolf, but I thought they only existed in folklore." Wes exposited as the group looked at a tapestry that showed a creature similar to the one that attacked. "Their presence is a sign of pure evil." Wes unslung his rifle from his back and loaded a cartridge into the chamber. "I must find it. I'll tranquilize it and bag it."
"I'll go with you." Max said.
"Count me in." Charmcaster proclaimed confidently.
"Me too, Grandpa." Kai offer, excited.
"You know only Braves can be trackers, Kai." Wes stated.
"Who made up that rule?" Gwen asked while Ben narrowed her eyes as for some reason she feel insulted from what he said.
"It's been that way for centuries. Times change, but traditions don't." Wes declared. "You, Hope, and Kai will remain behind."
Kai closed her eyes and walked away in disappointment and frustration.
"But-" Gwen was about to protest until Max grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Their land, their rules, Gwen." Max stated.
Max walked off after Wes as Gwen lowered her head in disappointment.
Ben angrily gritted her fists and teeth tightly as she couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm going too!" Ben exclaimed, surprising everyone.
"Hope, listen-" Wes was about to get her to understand but Ben cut him off.
"No, you listen." Ben said, cutting him off. "What you said about that rule was nothing more than an insult to the female races. I believed that whoever the person was that made that rule was nothing more than a sexist punk who believe women can never strong as men and if you chose to follow that rule, then you share the same view as well. So I'm going with you to prove you that women can be strong as men and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
Gwen and Kai looked at Ben with wide eyes as they feel inspired at she said. Max sighed as he know what she said speak the truth and there is nothing they can do to stop her.
"Let her come." Max said as Wes looked at him surprisedly. "There's no stopping her once she made up her mind."
Wes sighed in disappointment as he know his old friend was right.
"Alright," Wes said as the two young girl look at him happily but quickly disappeared at what he said next. "But only you will come, Hope. And that it."
Ben nodded as she, Max, and Wes headed out. Charmcaster, however, saw that Kai seem depressed.
"Kai seems bummed. Maybe I could cheer her up?" Charmcaster said to Gwen in a confident tone.
"Since when do you care about what girls care…" Gwen's eyes widened slightly as it dawned on her why Charmcaster was acting this way. "...about."
"Unless you LIKE HER!" Gwen informed Charmcaster in a slightly accusatory tone.
"WHAT!?" Charmcaster's eyes widened in shock.
"That's it!" Gwen pointed at his nose. "Like you so like, like, like her."
"No Way!" He vehemently denied.
"'Ben's' got a crush! 'Ben's' got a crush!" Gwen started singing.
"SO NOT!" Charmcaster denied.
"So do!" Gwen replied.
"So don't," Charmcaster folded his arms over his chest and smiled, "but…if you're hanging around Kai or something, could you do me a favor?"
"What?" Gwen looked at him suspiciously.
"Sort of let it slip how cool I am. Yah know, like you're lucky to have me for a 'cousin'." Charmcaster boasted.
"So, basically, you want me to totally lie?" Gwen deadpanned.
"Well...when yah put it that way…sure!" Charmcaster responded as he ambled away with confidence in every step.
Ben, Max, Charmcaster and Wes wandered through the desert and Wes picked up and examined a few stray hairs from the Yenaldooshi.
"You know, this reminds me of the time we went after that yeti in the Himalayas that time." Max reminisced.
"You're a Plumber?" Ben asked.
"Was," Wes remarked before standing up. "It appears the prints lead this way."
He gestured to a canyon with rocky walls on both sides as far as the eye could see.
Back in the village, the girls were sitting on a rooftop as Jen gestured to her cousins and friend as they nodded with a smile.
"So..." Gwen said. "I guess my 'cousin' saved you."
"Yeah. He seems okay." Kai replied.
"By okay, do you mean on a dork meter, he'd only be a nine out of ten?" Gwen joked.
They then heard a howling nearby and looked out to see into the desert. Tonight was full moon.
Ben, Max, Charmcaster, and Wes looked down over the mesa to see the Yenaldooshi was ripping apart electronic equipment through a pile of scrap metal and sparks were still flying from the area.
Wes took aim at the beast, but when he pulled the trigger, the Yenaldooshi heard that and was able to dodge the dart. It ran at the four, Wes firing another dart, which it dodged as well. The Yenaldooshi jumped over them and landed on a large rock. In the moonlight, they saw its fur, which was black on its head and tail and dark grey on its arms, legs and torso It knocked the four off the mess, Charmcaster, Max, and Wes on one side, Ben was knocked off the other side.
"Time to go pure Stinkfly!" Ben shouted as she then slammed down the Omnitrix and transformed. But instead of Stinkfly, she got Wildvine. Wes gasped when he saw the plant alien in the teenage girl's place. "Aw man!"
She then shot out her arms and they stretched around the seniors and Charmcaster before she stretched her leg roots upwards and wrapped them around a rock above to stabilize herself and when she reached the bottom, she let Max, Wes and Charmcaster go before she slingshot herself back up onto the cliff.
Wes gave Max and Charmcaster a confused look.
"Yeah, I know." Max said after catching his breath. "We have some explaining to do."
Wildvine got back onto the cliff and looked around to find the Yenaldooshi only to find nothing.
Later...
The Yenaldooshi was climbing up a mesa. It ran when it reached the top, but seconds later, it was wrapped up by Wildvine's vines. Wildvine rose out of the ground.
"Tag. And you're it, Fang Face!" Wildvine taunted the wolflike creature that she had captured.
The Yenaldooshi then chomped down on Wildvine's arm, causing her to yelp in pain.
"So you want to fight dirty, huh?" Wildvine asked as she went back underground, bringing the Yenaldooshi with her. She traveled underground, hitting the werewolf against several large rocks. "Going up." Wildvine tossed the Yenaldooshi to the surface. Right after Wildvine emerged, the Omnitrix dial started beeping. "Not now!" In a flash of red light, Wildvine was reverted back into Ben. "Uh, that Fang Face nickname; I meant it in a nice way." Ben sheepishly spoke. The Yenaldooshi jumped at Ben and tried to claw her, but Ben got out of the way and ran. The werewolf gave chase. Ben turned around to see the Yenaldooshi claw at her. Ben raised her left arm to block the slash. One of the Yenaldooshi's three black claws hit the Omnitrix.
"Hope!" Max shouted as he, Wes, and Charmcaster had climbed up and caused the creature to retreat and leaped of the mesa.
Ben stand up and looked down at her Omnitrix, which had its faceplate spinning and it was glowing yellow. She shrugged and walked towards her grandfather, Wes, and Charmcaster.
Later...
Max, Kai, and Wes were speaking to a group of people.
"So, Kai say anything about me?" Charmcaster asked Gwen, who was sitting on top of a picnic table.
"Maybe." Gwen said. "Maybe not."
"Gwen!" Charmcaster whined.
"Just don't seem overly interested." she cautioned. "Girls can totally sniff out desperation out a mile away."
"Right." Charmcaster said.
They looked to see the tourists walking away.
"Where are all those people going?" Gwen asked.
"Off the reservation." Wes explained. "They fear the Yenaldooshi's return. And since the full moon is tonight, it's power will be greater than ever." Wes and the others walked back to the table where Gwen and Ben were sitting.
Well, after I went Wildvine on it, I'm sure it's long gone!" Ben said.
"My grandpa told me what you did." Kai said to Ben. "'Ben's' lucky to have an older sister like you."
"Yep, it's just one of her many talents." Charmcaster butted in. "She's pretty much this total super hero twenty four seven." Charmcaster and Kai walked off.
"So what things has she done?" Kai asked.
"You know the usual. Arrest criminals, take down aliens, save mankind."
"Scratch herself like a monkey? Oo oo oo ah ah ah!" Gwen joked.
Kai turned around to see Ben doing what Gwen described. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just can't stop itching!" Ben turned away from Gwen. "Gwen, could you scratch my back for a sec?"
"My fingers on your back?" Gwen asked in disgusted. "Echh! I'd rather pull out my nails one by one."
Ben was on the ground and had taken her shoes off. Her skin turned dark grey and she was scratching her face with her foot in a manner similar to how a dog or wolf does.
"Hope, your face looks..." Kai was struggling to find the right word.
"Beautiful? Yeah. I get that a lot." Ben said, it true since a lot of people called her that during their road trip even children.
"Actually, more like really hairy." Ben's ears became pointed. Her hair colors changed as grey color of her hair turn black while white turn grey.
"Hope, what's going on?" Gwen asked. Ben felt her face and noticed that she had rather angular sideburns. Ben's fingers had become claws.
"I don't know!" Ben panicked.
"So this isn't one of your superheroes?" Kai asked.
"No-ooooo!" Ben said, breaking into a howl towards the night sky.
Ben got on the picnic table and removed her shoes, only to find that her toes now had sharp claws.
"Were you bitten by the Yenaldooshi?" Wes asked as they examined Ben.
"When I was Wildvine, but it didn't even break the skin. Or should I say the roots." Ben joked.
"Hope, this is nothing to make light of." Wes said. "The Yenaldooshi can create others in its own image, and when it does, those followers will seek to destroy those closest to them."
"Lucky we don't like each other, right?" Gwen asked.
"So how does Hope unwolf?" Max asked Wes, ignoring Gwen question.
"The only way to reverse its spell is to stop the Yenaldooshi." Wes answered.
"With a silver bullet?" Ben asked.
"That's in the movies." Wes replied. "You must dip a silver pendant in the juice of the Arbol del Matrimonio cactus and place it against its heart. And we must do it before tonight's full moon or you could remain like that forever, Hope."
"Forever?" Ben gulped.
"The Navajo also believe the Yenaldooshi to be a god." Kai told Ben.
"I'll get the pendant." Wes said before walking off.
"Hey, is anybody else hungry?" Ben asked as they looked over to see a cow grazing in the grass.
Later, inside the Rust Bucket.
Ben had placed a dozen eggs in a bowl. She poured milk on them and after licking her lips, in an animalistic fashion, ate them. The got bits of egg and drops of Miko on everything that was in front of him, which included Gwen's computer and Kai.
"Heh heh." Ben held a napkin in her teeth. "Napkin?"
Gwen had found what she was searching the internet for. "The Arbol del Matrimonio cactus," Gwen found a picture of cactus.
Ben hopped out of the booth by the table and ran over to the fridge."Let's see what else I can wolf down." Ben peered up from over the door of the fridge. "Get it? Get it?" Ben's muscle mass suddenly grew exponentially and her faced pulled out into a small muzzle with wolf-like ears perched at the top of her head, her hair is no longer tied in low ponytail, and her eyes were reduced to two fully green glowing orbs. Gwen, Charmcaster, and Kai were giving her concerned stares as she looked at them with a roast chicken in her hand that she had taken a bite out of.
"You're looking more and more like a Yenaldooshi." Kai spoke up.
"Well, I still feel like just me." Ben said. She then turned and gave out a sniff with a more sensitive sense of smell and then gripped the roof of the Rust Bucket and she flipped her way onto the roof and gave out a smirk and a glare before shooting her gaze towards a jackrabbit loaming in the ground below.
The rabbit then gave out a frightened squeak and ran away as Ben pounced onto the ground and ran after it as it burrowed downwards into the ground with Ben digging down after it before she suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked backward to see that she had coated Kai with the dirt and sand and she looked pretty upset.
"Guess you can teach a new wolf dumb tricks." Gwen joked.
"Uh, sorry." Ben apologized to Kai.
"The NASA tracking station on the north ridge was just destroyed by some sort of werewolf." Wes said as he and Max walked up. "It almost ripped apart the guards there."
"What did it want?" Max asked.
"It took some satellite equipment." Wes said.
"And it ripped down that receiver you had here." Ben added. "What do you think it wants?"
"Obviously, it's angry that technology has invaded what it considers its sacred land." Wes said. "We need to find the Yenaldooshi, and find it fast."
"You won't be able to look for both the Yenaldooshi and the cactus." Kai said.
"Let Kai and me look for the cactus." Gwen said.
"Once we find it, we'll call." Kai said.
Wes nodded as he and Max went off.
"Be careful." Charmcaster and Kai said to each other.
"I think I'm gonna puke." Gwen said to herself.
Soon...
Wes, Charmcaster, and Max were kneeling as Wes came up with a strategy.
"The NASA station is west of here," Wes drew an X in the sand. "It's surrounded by lakes to the north, south and east." He drew three lines around the X. "Which means the Yenaldooshi should've come this way." Wes pointed to the section that represented west of the tracking station.
"Let me see if I can help." Ben offered. She was perched on a rock. Ben howled. It echoed for a bit before the unmistakable howl of the Yenaldooshi came in response. "He must be this way."
Ben jumped off of her perch and ran in the direction of the Yenaldooshi howl, followed by Wes, Max, and Charmcaster.
At an abandoned pueblo village...
Max was shining his flashlight on the mud made buildings. He found a footprint that was made by the Yenaldooshi.
"The footprints end here." Wes said as he looked at the print. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. "I sense its presence."
"There!" Max pointed at an opening in the side of the mountain that had a shadowy figure that resembled the Yenaldooshi, although this one had green eyes. Charmcaster shined his flashlight on it to find that it was Ben. She looked almost exactly like the Yenaldooshi, but a female and her hair grew longer and she had gray color at the tip of her tail and she wore clothing that resembled her getup as a human.
"No! It's me, Hopewooooolf!" Ben howled.
"Your transformation is complete." Wes was worried when he saw Ben's current state. "We need that cactus." Wes was going to call Kai, but found that he had no reception. "No reception. We'll have to summon them another way." Wes readied the flare gun.
Meanwhile, the girls were wandering through the desert into the cacti field they were searching for.
"The Canyon de Chelly is a sacred place." Kai explained to them. "It's where our spirits go."
"Well maybe the spirits can help us find that cactus, because I'm about ready to give up," Gwen said before she sat down and yelped outwards into the air as she held her bottom and fell face-first into the ground with prickles and vines in her bottom.
"The Arbol del Matrimonio!" Kai exclaimed. "I guess the spirits work in strange ways."
"And painful ones." Gwen said.
Kai tried to call her grandpa, but found that there was no reception."No phone signal." she groaned as Gwen stand up holding cactus vine.
The girls then looked outwards and saw a flash of light in the sky and they saw the flare shoot up in the sky before it disappeared.
"Over there!" Gwen said. "They must be sending us a signal."
Back with the other...
"I hope they found the cactus." Max said after Wes fired the flare.
Behind them, some rocks fell down a cliff. They turn around and look up at the Yenaldooshi, which stood on top of a small mesa and had the moon shining behind him. He jumped down and landed twenty feet from the group.
"Who're you looking at, Ugly?" Hopewolf taunted at the Yenaldooshi.
"Hope, we need the cactus to destroy it." Wes mentioned.
The Yenaldooshi let out a growl, bent its knees, and leapt toward the teenage heroine. Impressively, Hopewolf grabbed the Navajo werewolf and tossed it over her head behind her.
"Yeah, but it doesn't need anything to take us out." Hopewolf countered.
The Yenaldooshi then inhaled and his muzzle split into four and he howled outwards, giving off a purple sonic wave. It hit the group and sent them back towards the wall of rock. Max, Wes, and Hopewolf hit the rock, but Hopewolf managed to catch Charmcaster and prevented any serious damage to her former body.
"Guess its bark is worse than its bite." Hopewolf quipped as she placed Charmcaster down and then lunged at the Yenaldooshi. The two of them got into a literal dog fight.
Hopewolf managed to strike the Yenaldooshi with an uppercut, but the Navajo monster grabbed onto Hopewolf's ankles and tossed him in the air and on the way down, slammed down on him with both of its fists. But when Hopewolf tried to recover, the Yenaldooshi began clawing at her face. The Yenaldooshi had Hopewolf pinned down at the edge of a cliff.
The purple-eyed wolf-man growled at Hopewolf as it prepared to strike, but Max was quick to step in.
"Back off, now!" Max yelled, hitting the back of the werewolf's head with a stick; which shattered upon impact.
The Yenaldooshi stood up and turned its sights on Max and Wes, who cautiously stepped back. It narrowed its eyes and snarled in ire as it ambled towards them.
Ben saw the monster approach Max. She decided it was time to activate the Omnitrix
"Going XLR-wolf." Hopewolf growled. But when she lifted her left hand, there was no watch on it. "Wait." She huffed and panted. "It's not on my wrist."
Hopewolf had her ears pinned back as she looked around for the Omnitrix. She then decided to just throw a rock at the monster that was going to disembowel her friends and family. The Yenaldooshi turned its attention from the humans back to the female version of itself. The two werewolves got in a fight where they rolled around, trying to rip each other's throats out.
The Yenaldooshi then charged after Hopewolf when Gwen and Kai popped up from the cliff face and went to the other before looked back to see Hopewolf and the Yenaldooshi were back on their feet, Hopewolf trying to keep her attacker from getting the upper hand. Hopewolf clawed at the Yenaldooshi muzzle and then tackled it.
Kai then went to Wes and handed the cactus to him. "Here."
Wes squeezed the plant, getting a single drop of its juice on a silver pendant that had a carving of a wolf on it, and determinedly ran toward the Yenaldooshi. Wes held the pendant in front of him, pointed at the werewolf. The Yenaldooshi's eyes widened and broke free temporarily to throw Hopewolf into the ground and hurl Max into Wes, causing him to drop the silver coin. Gwen picked it up and ran at the Yenaldooshi.
Hopewolf got up and managed to grab the Yenaldooshi's arms, pinning them behind its back. With its chest exposed, Gwen held the pendant up to it's chest and expected it to work, but it didn't. The Yenaldooshi seemed to give Gwen a smirk.
"Wait, shouldn't something happen?" Gwen asked as she stepped back, distraught that what Wes said would happen didn't happen.
The Yenaldooshi smashing its head backwards into Hopewolf's face, grabbed Hopewolf and flipped him."Look out!" Max shouted as the Yenaldooshi jumped over Gwen. It then made a run for it up the side of the mesa.
The group gathered closer to Gwen while Wes bent to pick up the silver pendant and examine it in startled disbelief.
"I don't understand. That should've worked." Wes argued.
"Grandpa, the pendant didn't work because…maybe we're not dealing with a Yenaldooshi." Kai spoke up as she gave Hopewolf a meaningful look.
"But it bit me." Hopewolf inputted in confused tone. "Isn't that why I'm like this?"
She then started twitching before she hit his hands and knees to the ground and convulsed before she let out a low roar and looked to see her clothes turned into a (A/N: Look up Deviantart: Howl in the Night by UsaRitsu) the Omnitrix symbol which formed on her belt.
"Kai's right." Gwen said. "Maybe you're not some Navajo werewolf. Maybe you're some alien werewolf. Which is why you haven't been able to go hero, because you're already an alien."
"That would explain that howl of his." Wes said.
"And why the Omnitrix isn't on my wrist anymore." Hopewolf added. "But how did I go alien then?"
"Did that thing ever grab the watch or anything?" Charmcaster asked.
"Right, when we were fighting " Hopewolf remembered being attacked by the Yenaldooshi.. "Both times it scratched it with its claws and it glowed yellow."
"An alien werewolf." Max said, rubbing the back of his head as he turned to Wes. "Just when I thought this summer couldn't get any stranger."
"Aw man!" Hopewolf said.
"What?" Max asked.
"Well, if I knew that I could just go different aliens if they touched the watch, I'd have let them scratch it a long time ago. I'd been an awesome Vilgax."
"Well right now, I'd just worry about you being Hope." Gwen said.
Suddenly, they felt some sort of earthquake suddenly shake the ground beneath them, causing them to lose their footing for a few seconds.
"Something tells me we have may have some other worried as well." Wes said.
At a cave...
The group came up the opening of a cave. They could here bat chirping as they flew out.
"Aaah!" Kai screamed at the bats that flew at her.
"Ha ha ha!" Hopewolf chuckled at her.
They entered the cave, the walls and floor made of a rather smooth rock that gave off a strange green glow due to the moon's light.
A strange, yet familiar scent hit Gwen's nostrils. "Do you smell that?" She asked.
Hopewolf thought that that was an insult directed at her. "What? My wolf breath's not that bad."
"A sulfur smell is the sign of lava." Wes said. "But the volcanoes around here have all been inactive for millions of years."
That was until the room light up in orange light.
"So then that's not real lava?" Hopewolf said as she turned around and saw the molten rocks flow in the direction of the group.
"It must have reactivated the volcano somehow." Max said as he and the others ran from the lava flow.
"Maybe it wants us off our land, one way or the other." Wes inferred. They came to a cavern that had a way across, but there was a gap in it that had fallen into the lake of yellow hot lava that was below them.
Hopewolf looked to see the lava coat the other side, thwarting their way back.
"Time to see how far this big, bad wolf can jump." Hopewolf grabbed Gwen, Charmcaster, and Kai. "Who wants a ride?" She leaped over the gap and stuck the landing before setting the three kids onto the ground and jumping back for Max and Wes.
As she did so, the pathway she was on was starting to crumble from the intense heat of the lava. She took the two seniors in his grip and nodded.
"I'll need to take both of you, and I'll need all the help I can get." Hopewolf opened her jaw in four section to reveal that the inside of her jaw was light green. Jackwolf looked at the ground and used her sonic roar attack to propel himself into the air. When she was in range of the side where Gwen, Charmcaster, and Kai were, he heard the Omnitrix start to time out. She tossed Wes and Max onto the stone platform. In a flash of red light, Hopewolf went back to being Ben.
"Hope!" Max shouted as he ran to the edge of the cliff to find Ben hanging onto the side of the stone surface. Max grabbed Jack and pulled her up.
"The Omnitrix finally timed out, and check this out." Ben showed the group her newest alien, which was represented by a hologram of the female Yenaldooshi.
"The watch absorbed its DNA." Gwen realized.
"Welcome to the club." Ben said to her Omnitrix.
Later...
The group came to the end of cave system.
"Look! a way out!" Charmcaster expressed his joy. They began walking towards the opening, which was at the bottom of an incline.
"So, I wonder where all the satellite equipment is he took." Max stated.
They heard growling coming from nearby. The group stopped in their tracks and looked around for the source of it. The Yenaldooshi dropped down from the ceiling and landed in the space between the group and the exit. The alien werewolf opened up its jaw and unleashed its purple tinted supersonic howl at the group. They jumped out of the way.
"Going hero!" Ben shouted as she activated her Omnitrix and slammed the core down.
Transformation scene
Ben's Omnitrix sank into her wrist and her entire body started to bloated into a more rounded shape as she clutched her eyes. And when she open them, they were fully green. Her body was covered in magenta armored plates with white inner body with black markings next to her eyes similar to Ben's side hair bangs and wrap around her legs like zigzag line and the green Omnitrix symbol appeared on her forehead. She spin her body around like a ball before striking the pose as the transformation.
"Yes! Finally!" Cannonbolt shouted. The Yenaldooshi tried to attack him, but he just body slammed the werewolf away. Cannonbolt jumped up and then rolled into her attack mode, which was her curled into a ball. She rolled towards the Yenaldooshi, using a section of rock as a ramp to land on the creature that gave Ben a new alien mode. Cannonbolt was then bounced up and hit the ceiling, which forced him to unroll. She landed on the Yenaldooshi, who lifted her up and tossed him at the wall of the cave. Cannonbolt's rear end was stuck in the rock. She managed to break out of the rock, but not without causing even more problems. "Huh?" She wondered how the lava didn't burn her behind.
"We can't let this lava go down the mountainside and reach the village." Wes was concerned for the place he and others called home.
"I'll seal it all up." Cannonbolt pointed to the exit. "Go!" Cannonbolt was tackled by the Yenaldooshi. A large section of the cave collapsed, revealing a massive lake of lava that was flowing underneath their feet. The Yenaldooshi exhibited some signs of fear by taking a few steps back, but a few seconds later, it jumped on Cannonbolt again, trying to get her to fall into the lava.
"Hope no!" Max shouted as she tried to rush in to help his granddaughter, but Wes stopped him.
"Just go!" Cannonbolt shouted as she engaged the Yenaldooshi.
The others saw rocks fall on the two dueling aliens. Some rocks then fell into the lava as the platform that they stood on started to break apart. They hightailed it outta there. Wes almost tripped over as he ran through the archway that was the exit tunnel of the cave system. They made it out as the cave collapsed, sealing Ben and the Yenaldooshi inside.
There was rumbling. Then something went boom. "Oh, yeah!" Cannonbolt burst out of the sealed entrance/ exit. "Shell power!"
"Way to go, Hope." Max said as they all smiled before Kai looked at Charmcaster as she rubbed her arm before she looked to the side and sighed.
Later, back at the village...
Wes was speaking with two other people. After a minute or so, they turned and walked off. "Good news." Wes told the group. "It seems a few people are returning. Thank you."
"Eh, it was nothing." Ben said.
"What do you think that alien wanted anyway?" Kai asked.
"Since we never found any of that satellite equipment or your receiver, I can't say for sure." Max replied.
"Who cares? We kicked its butt, and now maybe I can collect alien DNA." Ben said as she looked at the new alien that she got.
"Come in the museum. I can't send you on the road without a few souvenirs." Wes said as he and Max walked into the museum.
"It's a long summer." Charmcaster said. "Maybe I'll see you again."
"'Ben', I don't know how to say this..." Kai said with a sigh as she rubbed her arm. "You seem like a nice guy and it was great meeting you and your family, but you're just not my type."
"Huh?" Charmcaster went wide eyed and slack jawed. "I-I thought you really liked me?" Charmcaster was confused.
"No, no. I do, I really do... but only as a friend." Kai said with a bow of her head. "It has nothing to do with you, 'Ben'. It's me."
"What do you mean?" Charmcaster asked as Kai bowed her head.
"I have a confession to make to you three." Kai said before vibrating her lips and sighing. "...I like girls...I'm a lesbian."
At that mention, the two kids and teenager eyes widened and their jaws dropped open as Kai nodded and Charmcaster walked to her.
"Well, why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Charmcaster asked.
"I didn't want to hurt you because I knew you were interested in me." Kai said. "What kind of friend would I be if I broke your heart like that?"
"It's okay." Ben said with a smile. "We understand, Kai. You'll find the right girl one day."
"You're not mad?" Kai asked.
"Not at all." Charmcaster said with a smile. "I'm not the kind to judge people for who they are."
Kai then nodded as she and Charmcaster gave a hug to each other then let go as Kai begin to walked away.
"The thing about a crush is…sometimes you get crushed." Gwen stated in a sagely manner. She then gave her 'cousin' a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. There's lots of other girls out there."
"Yeah." Charmcaster said. "But how do I impress them as me?"
"Two secret words is all you need to know." Gwen smirked as she walked away.
"Really?" a bit of hope returned to Charmcaster's visage. "What are they? C'mon! You got to tell me!"
Charmcaster turn to Ben, "Do you know what's those two words are?" Charmcaster asked.
"Sorry, can't tell you. Figure it out yourself." Ben said as she walked away with a knowing smirk on her face as she been in Charmcaster's body long enough to know what those two words.
Charmcaster groaned in disappointment, "So this is how the men feel." Charmcaster said as he walked after them.
Meanwhile, in the caves where the battle had ensued, the camera zoomed into the caves where in a dark cavern, the satellite equipment and the receiver were revealed to have been used to create a satellite machine of some sort. It suddenly activated and glowed with a green light as a swarm of bats flew towards the camera as the screen faded to black.
There will some episodes I'm planning to skip due to that there no female alien version of Charm-Ben in this story. For example, Snare-oh, Upchuck, and Frankenstrike. There a poll in my profile for future pairing for Charm-Ben after Charm-Ben 10 for anyone to write.