Chapter 40: Sombrero Man and Master Mechanic

Like I said last chapter, I have to update on Fridays. The plus side is that I'm 99% positive that next update will be on a Saturday like usual. I'll let you know if anything changes.

Also, I'd like to apologize for Evan's eccentric behavior in the beginning of the chapter. It was always my intention to make him one of the weirder characters, but it never really showed, and the one time it did...Anyway, I'm sorry. Maybe you'll find it funny...?

"They're so cute!" Gwen trilled annoyingly as she watched the footage in the video journal. Ben groaned loudly and she shot him a mischievous look.

"Well, they are," Newt attested. "In a bug-eyed moth-y kind of way."

Ben groaned louder and slumped in his seat.

Kevin, who was showing off the footage, turned the screen back to him. "Kind of hard to imagine something so adorable coming from you, Tennyson."

"Ha. Ha."

"You defied the laws of nature. We have the right to make fun of you," Sam pointed out calmly. Ben thumped his head against the garage's wall and pouted.

Cater nudged his shoulder and said, "You're too old to pout."

"I'll stop when you people let this go!" he said hotly.

"Can't Gwen and I make fun of you still?" Newt asked. "We just found out about your children; we have a right."

"No!"

Gwen chuckled and shook her head. "I think the others have tortured him enough."

"Thank you!"

Kevin stared wistfully at the video and sighed. "So much blackmail potential."

Ben turned to him, eyes narrowed into slits. "Blackmail?" he hissed.

Kevin turned the screen toward him. "These are technically your kids. You wouldn't want this leaked, would you?"

"And just who would believe they came from me?" Ben shot back, arching an eyebrow.

Kevin turned to Sam and asked, "Did you tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

"I think he figured it out on his own," Sam answered.

"Figured out what?"

"So do we really have to get rid of this?" Kevin pointed to the freeze frame of moth babies.

Carter nodded her head. "Most likely. The second Cordelia finds out about this she'll go on and on about some random conspiracy or something." She rolled her eyes.

"Must be hard, having a grandmother who's more paranoid than Nixon."

Newt, who had been searching for something on his phone, quickly went to his grandmother's defense. "Cordelia has five thousand years under her belt. She's had to deal with hundreds of threats and conspiracies. Nixon was just crazy."

Gwen took the phone out of Newt's hands and looked at the screen. "What are you looking up anyway?"

"Something for Evan's birthday," he said. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him. "What?"

"You still haven't found him something?" Sam asked him incredulously.

"Evan's birthday is coming up?" Gwen asked him incredulously.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ben asked Carter.

"Didn't you get the Facebook notification?" she shot back.

"When is it?" Kevin asked calmly, since the Tennyson cousins were freaking out.

"Next week," Newt said. He told them the exact date.

"So we have less than a week to find him a present." Gwen's nostrils flared. "Perfect."

"What are you guys getting him?" Ben asked the others.

"Carter and I usually get him something comic book themed, while Newt here gets him something from Star Wars or Star Trek," Sam explained. "As long as it's something geeky and weird, he'll like it."

"One year we got him the entire Star Trek series," Carter said, looking at Newt reminiscently.

"Including blooper reels and director's cuts," the blonde added.

"And the time I got him that Batman backpack and Carter got him the little toy Bat mobile," Sam said.

"He wouldn't stop playing with the car for a week," the Goth said fondly.

"And last year I got him Star Wars pajamas," Newt said for Gwen's benefit, since she looked extremely worried about what to get Evan.

"Is he a Doctor Who fan?" Ben asked suddenly-or perhaps not suddenly, since the idea had been cooking in his brain for a few minutes now.

"Definitely," Sam said.

He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. He was smiling triumphantly. "I'm all set then."

"Hey, does Evan have a car?" Kevin asked suddenly, a thoughtful look on his face.

"His dad's getting him a used one after he passes his driver's test," Carter told him. "Why?"

"'Cuz I got a car-"

"You have more than one car?" Ben sat up rigidly, incredulity etched into his face.

"Some guys at auto shop fix up old junky cars and sell them for used," the older teen explained. "They're old but in great shape. And since I've had to teach Evan how to drive, an old car might work for him."

"Is he really that bad of a driver?" Newt asked tentatively.

Kevin's left eye gave the slightest twitch. "No."

"You lie!" Ben shouted while pointing an accusing finger.

"He isn't!" he protested. "He'll pass his driver's test no problem. But he is never getting behind the wheel of my car again."

"I've seen him drive. He isn't bad," Sam noted. Kevin gave her a look.

"Never. Driving. My. Car. Again."

Sam held up her arms in the surrender motion.

Gwen took a sweep around the room. "Where is Evan anyway?"

"He said he forgot something in my house," Ben mused. "But he's been gone a long time. What's taking him?"

Evan chose that exact moment to walk through the door. He was texting someone with one hand. The other was smoothing the fake black moustache on his upper lip. Also he was wearing a sombrero.

It took a minute for that to sink in.

"Evan, where did you get the sombrero?" Carter asked slowly, afraid of the answer. Evan looked up, distracted, before hitting the send button on his phone.

"I found it," he said.

"And where did you find it?" Gwen asked hesitantly.

"In Ben's house," he said confused.

Ben gave him a look. "And where did you find it in my house?"

"In your closet."

"You own a sombrero?" Kevin asked him.

"No, I don't!" Ben cried, losing his cool. "How did it get in my closet? What were you doing in my room anyway?"

"I lost my math book in your room and I couldn't find it on your desk so I had to search," Evan explained. It was the most coherent sentence they've heard from him since the entire conversation began. Why didn't he start with that in the first place?

"And where does the sombrero fit in?" Ben asked at his wit's end.

Evan just shrugged his shoulders.

"You wanted to see me, Isaac?" Newt asked nervously in the Valentine study. His grandfather was sitting behind his desk as usual, a pensive look on his face. For a long moment he just stared at the teenager, calculating blue eyes boring into smoky gray ones.

Finally, the older man said, "I did."

"C-can we make this quick? I have packing to do," Newt said shakily. He was unbelievably nervous; Isaac never wanted one on one time with him. He usually talked to Carter about Slayer things, not him. Newt wasn't even a fighter, not really. He only used his powers when necessary, like the time with Morningstar.

The Morningstar incident. It was forever ago, yet it still left a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. Newt had been so utterly useless then-not even his best shield spell could withstand the leech's awesome power. And then he fainted just as the fighting became really bad.

And yet no one blamed him. No one, not even Gwen, the poor girl. She had been the one to finally stop Morningstar, sucking back the energy he stole from her. It was so completely awful that Newt couldn't do anything. But then he remembered that he was the host for Lyrica, the music and art god. He was a lover by nature, not a fighter.

Still, that left Newt feeling guilty. He wanted to make up for his incompetence. So when he found the flyer for the dance at Gwen's school, he took the chance. She was the one who most needed the apology, even if he could never say it. He couldn't prove himself in a fight, but he damn well made sure Gwen had a good time at the dance last night. It was the least he could do.

"Newt, do you want power?" Isaac finally said all business. Newt was startled to say the least. No one offered him power. He was simply the art man, the one who didn't need to hone his skills in battle like the others. Yes, he had received the training all Slayers got, but it never went farther than that. No one advised him to go into the business and he had no desire to.

But the Morningstar incident got him thinking. He was so useless then but he didn't know how to get stronger. There didn't seem to be any point in it. How could an art god use his powers for battle? Newt couldn't force life into his drawings to make them real. He couldn't use his words as blades to fight with.

He was simply useless.

He didn't want to be useless anymore.

"I want power," Newt said stonily. All traces of nervousness were gone. He had no reason to fear his mentor. He was the one who passed the Lyrica gene to him. He would always have his back.

"Why do you want power, Newton?" Isaac asked.

Newt could feel the shield splintering apart when Morningstar destroyed it. He had created it, branching out his feeble powers to stop the madman in his steps. It had been a part of him, and he could feel it when it was crushed.

He no longer wanted to protect.

"I want to fight," Newt said.

Isaac gave him a reptilian smile. "Good. And I know a way you can."

Newt was confused. "You mean like a spell?"

"Yes. You won't fight like Carter does. You'll be on the sidelines. But you'll send out your energy to her to give her a boost. You'll be there right alongside her without having to lift a finger."

Newt didn't know what to say. His fighting skills were mediocre-he could fight off any number of humans, but he couldn't do what a Slayer did. It was simply impossible for him.

But this was an alternative, and a great one at that. He had power-he knew he did-it was simply untapped. And to be an energy reserve, well, that didn't sound so bad.

"I warn you, Newton, that it will not be easy," Isaac said ominously. "The training will be severe. If you finish it and use the spell outside the time pocket, it will hurt you. The pain will be excruciating. It may blind you, it may destroy your voice, and it may even kill you. Do you wish to proceed?"

That forced Newt to think this through. It was unbelievably dangerous, and he had no desire to lose his life. But then he remembered that Carter and Evan and Sam went up against murderers and crazy people, risking their lives to get rid of them. They faced mental and physical pain he could only imagine in his darkest nightmares. This was no different.

"Yes," Newt finally whispered. Isaac smiled sadly and brought up his cane. He brought it down, letting the butt hit the floor with a resonating thud. Darkness was billowing out from it like demonic arms, and bits of the room were disappearing.

A hole appeared in front of Newt, a small one that he could just barely fit through. It was the way into the time pocket, he was sure. He looked up at Isaac for confirmation. He nodded.

This was his last chance. He could still back out. He closed his eyes and saw Gwen's lifeless gray face behind his eyelids.

He opened them and threw himself down the rabbit hole.

"Sam, you there?" Charlie called out to his sister. She was about to leave the house, but something in her brother's voice made her stop. He sounded worried, almost scared.

"Is something wrong, Charlie?" Sam turned to see her brother standing in the hallway, cell phone in hand. He was leaning against the wall, his beanie tucked into his pants pocket. He was running his fingers through his hair in an obviously anxious manner.

"It's Beck. We were talking on the phone and he was cut off. I heard a struggle."

"It could just be his mom. You know he uses his phone too much."

"I heard hissing noises Sam. Hissing," Charlie insisted.

That was some food for thought. The only aliens Sam knew that made hissing noises were the DNAliens, but they didn't have anything to do with Beck Alvarado. Did they? Beck was the vessel for the forge god Vala and was prodigious with machines. It wouldn't be too far-fetched if the creatures somehow got a hold of him.

"Do you know where he was while you were talking?" Sam asked. Relief flooded Charlie's face; if anyone was going to take him seriously, it was his sister.

"In his basement lab," Charlie hurriedly explained. "He was working on something top secret. Do you think whoever beat him up was after that?" he added in a conspiratorial whisper.

Sam shrugged. "Anything's possible. Now lead me to his house."

Like most Slayer residents, Beck Alvarado lived in Sterling Hills, so it didn't even take twenty minutes to get to his house. The DuBaer siblings snuck into the basement of the expansive house using shadow travel.

"You weren't kidding about a struggle," Sam said as she took in the carnage. The once pristine lab was destroyed, countertops falling apart, chairs smoking from getting licked with flames, priceless inventions dismantled and destroyed.

"Beck, where are you?" Charlie called out, launching himself through the destruction. Sam followed slowly behind looking for clues. No human could have done this-there wasn't a security system so no human came to help, and the amount of damage done to the place suggested a more otherworldly criminal.

And then she saw it: large globs of green slime congealed together on the floor and far wall. They had been recently spat, and judging from the scorch marks, the slime was fairly combustible.

Sam immediately got out her phone and speed dialed Carter's number. She picked up almost immediately.

"Sam, where are you? You missed Kevin making the teleporter pad explode."

"I told you it was a piece of crap!" Evan shouted in the distance.

"Shut up!" Kevin shot back.

"Flaming Beck's been kidnapped," Sam said. "DNAliens took him."

Carter drew in a breath. "What?"

"Yeah, I can't believe they took him either," Sam said. "He's been low-key about his inventions. They must have heard about it through the interstellar grapevine."

"Wait, if they took Beck, doesn't that mean they'd be after that Cooper kid too?" It seemed like Carter wasn't just talking to Sam.

Charlie had crept up to Sam at that point, listening intently. Finally he whispered, "Isn't Cooper the kid who can control human and alien technology?" Sam gave a curt nod. "We'll find him in Lo Soledad. Trust me!"

Sam gave him an even look but followed through nonetheless. "Carter, you take the others and go check Cooper's house," she ordered. "If he's been taken, we'll probably find him and Beck in Lo Soledad. I'll meet you there." She hung up.

"You're taking me too," Charlie declared. "He's my friend, I have to be there."

That wasn't a very convincing argument. "If you come along I'll have to watch you to make sure you don't get hurt. That could distract me," she added through narrowed eyes.

"I'm a decent fighter, I can handle myself," Charlie insisted. "And while you fight I can escape with Beck and Cooper."

Her brother was never going to let this go, was he? "Okay, you can come. I'm sure Isaac has new equipment at the hospital he wants us to try out." Sam added that last bit as a joke. She cringed at how in poor taste it was.

Charlie ignored it. "Thanks. Now come on, we have an idiot to save."

They were waiting for the car when the others finally showed up.

"Charlie's with us for today?" Evan asked once he was out. The others followed suit and Charlie waved excitedly at Carter. She gave him a smirk but otherwise ignored him.

"Who's this?" Gwen asked politely, since introductions had to be done.

"Charlie, meet Gwen, Ben, and Kevin." Sam pointed them out. "Gwen, Ben, and Kevin, meet Charlie."

The boy looked between Ben and Evan and said, "You really did find Evan's doppelganger!"

"Or we found Ben's doppelganger, depending on how you look at it," Kevin pointed out thoughtfully.

"So, wait, this is your little brother?" Ben asked. "You said we'd never see him."

"I said you probably won't see him at my house," Sam corrected him. "And we're obviously not at my house."

"Why is he here, exactly?" Kevin asked, since someone had to.

"Beck was talking to me on the phone when he was kidnapped," Charlie explained quickly. "I'm the only one who knows about his top secret projects."

"If they weren't totally destroyed in the struggle," Sam muttered under her breath.

"It'd explain why they took Cooper," Evan noted (he had forsaken the sombrero and mustache look). "He can control any kind of technology and Beck can create anything using human and alien tech."

"Wait, how'd you know we'd find Beck in Lo Soledad?" Carter asked Sam suspiciously. "We only know Cooper's here because of Gwen's mana tracking. How'd you know we'd find Beck here too?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that." Sam turned to her little brother. "Talk."

Charlie got out the magnetic earring out of his ear and pressed the fake diamond. Instantly a blue holo-map appeared above it, showing the blueprints to Lo Soledad and the surrounding desert. A cluster of red dots littered the entrance to the base while a single red dot was somewhere inside it.

"It's a DNA scan," Charlie explained. "Beck made it for me in case anything happened to him. Never thought I'd actually use it." He stayed silent for a moment before pointing out the red clusters. "This is me, Sam, Evan, and Carter, and this little lone dot has to be Beck." He pointed out the last one before shutting off the map.

"Neat trick," Ben complimented him. "Only problem is there's nothing going on." He pointed to the entrance to Lo Soledad which was as quiet and deserted as an abandoned military base could be.

"Deserted," Kevin noted. "At least last time we were here there was a monster to fight."

"The holo-map can't be wrong," Charlie said, freaking out. "Beck made it!"

"And I did my mana tracking right," Gwen pointed out. "I don't get it."

"Well, love is blind," Kevin said smarmily, "And apparently it screws up your powers too."

"My powers are not screwed up!" Gwen protested angrily.

"What's going on?" Sam asked Carter quietly.

"Cooper has a crush on Gwen," she answered back.

"So what are we looking at here?" Evan asked as he stood near the entrance. He began to walk through the space. "Is it an invisibility cloak or-!" And then he was gone.

Seriously. He was gone. It was like he had become invisible or was swallowed up by something. The others had seen some truly strange things in their life, but this was pretty out there.

Ben, who had been closest to Evan, stood near the entrance. "Evan, where are you?" he called out worriedly. And then a black-sleeved arm grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him through the invisibility cloak. Ben emanated a yelp before disappearing.

Now everyone was hovering near the entrance, unsure of how to proceed. And then Ben stuck his head out-just his head, not his torso or arms or anything-and said excitedly:

"You guys have got to check this out."

With that everyone followed him through the shield to find DNAliens everywhere: they were getting crates off of a ship; they were walking around doing odd jobs; they were even using clipboards. Three weather towers could be seen in the distance with snow falling from the sky.

A gigantic piece of shrapnel lay on the ground near the entrance and everyone hid behind it. "Its DNAlien day camp," Ben said like it wasn't obvious to everyone.

"Those are DNAliens?" Charlie crinkled his nose. "Nasty. When do we start busting heads?"

"No, we're not killing anyone," Sam told him sharply. "We find Beck and Cooper and get out. Got it?"

"Fine," he grumbled with an eye roll.

"Why do they have three weather control towers?" Evan pointed them out.

"Whatever the reason, it can't be good," Kevin said darkly.

"And Cooper and Beck are stuck in the middle," Carter said grimly.

"The cloaking field covers the entire city," Evan noted. "Does Beck have a generator that can power this place?"

"Only in theory," Charlie explained. "It's supposed to use carbon as a power source, but he never got around to building it. Chances are Cooper's being used to help him build it."

"Everybody down!" Gwen hissed suddenly. Everyone ducked their heads as three hover carts flew past them, DNAliens in the riding seat. Ben was the first to speak.

"With that cloaking shield up these guys don't have to worry about anyone seeing them build that thing." He pointed to the colossally large arch that covered the city from one end to the other. It was probably taller than the Empire State Building.

"You still got a fix on Cooper?" Ben asked Gwen. She nodded. He turned to Charlie. "There's a good chance Beck's with him."

"Way ahead of you." Charlie got out his holo-map. "He's not far. Anyone know a way we can get through these guys?"

"Gwen, you know any spells like that?" Kevin asked guilelessly.

"They're not spells," she said through gritted teeth.

"That's a no then."

"No worries," Carter suddenly said. "Just follow my lead." She ran out from behind the hiding spot. The Pride followed suit with the other four in tow, since the Goth had run out rather suddenly. They followed her past some occupied DNAliens to behind a house and into an alley of sorts.

Carter stopped suddenly and held out an arm. With it she grabbed Ben by the arm and she hissed, "Shadows!" She grabbed Charlie's hand and all three of them melted into the blackness. Evan grabbed Gwen by the waist and Sam grabbed Kevin's hand and did the same.

Just in time too. A DNAlien was directing his coworker to dock where they were standing, and on the other side of the alley DNAliens were riding their hover carts past them. It wasn't until the cart was docked on the ground and the aliens completely gone did they slip the shadows off them.

"That was so creepy!" Gwen hissed at Evan while Kevin shot Sam a scared look. Ben was about to show his discomfort when he noticed that Charlie hadn't let go of Carter's hand, even though her hand had slackened its hold on him. He glared at the boy who shot him a confused look.

Gwen's eyes glowed pink and she led them out into the open, near a laboratory. Sam quickly picked the lock and shoved everyone inside. It gave Ben the chance to swat Charlie on the back on the head. He gave a yelp and let go of Carter to hold his aching head.

Sam closed the door behind her as Gwen walked through the halls in a trance. She put a hand on each of the many doors in the hall, frowning as each one didn't show Cooper on her mana tracking radar.

As they walked down the hallway, Kevin said, "Why don't we just call out, 'Hey, Cooper'?"

"And have four thousand DNAliens crawling up our butts?" Ben shot back. "Good plan."

Gwen stood at the final door at the end of the hall. "This is it," she said with an air of finality. Ben put a hand to the tricked out lock.

"And if there's four thousand DNAliens behind that door?" Kevin asked. "Good plan."

And then they heard the sounds of fighting. Metal was being struck against metal, bodies were slammed against the floor, and the sounds of righteous fists breaking bones echoed through the hallway.

"WHO'S YOUR MASTER MECHANIC NOW, BITCH?!" a young, deep male voice screamed on the other side of the door.

"Don't touch that, it's sensitive!" a meek voice responded.

"BITE ME!"

Kevin chose that moment to absorb the metal of the door and knock it down. He stood over the fallen door in a fighting pose, yelling, "What's going on?!"

A young Hispanic boy was panting over the fallen bodies of two DNAliens. He was lean-built and wearing a black t-shirt with olive green cargo pants and a bright yellow tool belt strapped to his waist. He had an elfin face, slender with mischievous brown eyes and a single pointed ear to match. Only now his eyes were as crazy as his brown Jewish afro.

And then he stood up straight and grinned. "Hi, Sam, Charlie!" Only he was looking at Sam the whole time.

"Where's Cooper?" Gwen asked concerned. Out popped the overweight kid they were looking for. Blonde hair styled in an awful haircut, intelligent blue eyes set against a pudgy face, he looked like the stereotypical fat gamer nerd. This was coupled by his horrible taste in clothing: black shorts with a gray t-shirt and a purple wife-beater with a number three on it.

"Did you really have to beat them up?" Cooper asked Beck in an irritated tone.

"They were going to beat me up!" he countered. He held up some gold metal. "All because of some Farsympian metal."

And then Cooper got a look at Gwen and all animosity was forgotten. "Gwen! You totally came to my rescue!"

"Do you not see me standing over these guys?" Beck gestured to the groaning bodies beneath him.

Sam took that moment to say, "Where'd Charlie go?" And then Kevin got doused with frigid water right in the face. He blinked, shocked, as the water slid off his metal armor.

Charlie was standing next to him, an empty metal bucket in his hands. He smiled sweetly and said, "I don't like you dating my sister."

Before you ask, yes, Beck is based off Leo Valdez from Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series. Only my version of him is a lot more angrier, as you can clearly see.

One of the things Alien Force added is Cooper's crush on Gwen. As far as I know, Cooper never showed any amorous feelings for her when they were kids. So, to make fun of it, I made all the girls in the chapter the object of a certain boy's affection. XD

So, thoughts anyone?