Episode 4: So Not A Tennyson!
Chapter 2: Can We Please Keep Him?
(Bellwood city streets) (Rust Bucket) (04:00 PM)
Right after school, grandpa Max quickly picked up his grandkids from their respective meeting spot and drove them straight to the country fair. It was still a long time till they get there and so Ben and Gwen decided to use that time to finish their homework. It seemed like an average day for an average family but sadly, it really wasn't going to last very long.
"Hey kids" Max called out as he drove through the tight city streets. Dismissal times were always busy on the streets since most offices closes by this hour. "You guys doing alright over there?" surprisingly for Max, his two grandchildren seemed oddly quiet today. Sure he was surprised that Ben was doing his homework too, but for the two cousins to be in tune with each other was like a dream come true. No longer did he hear screams and shouts of their constant bickers, no longer he could hear the sound of pranks being plot or snickering laughs being done. Nope… as he looked back at them now, they seemed to be like two normal kids having their normal problems on this normal day.
The two kids didn't reply to his question, they just simply sat there, doing their homework. Gwen and Ben were doing math together. Since they were in the same grade it was obvious that they had similar lessons.
"Arghh!" Gwen grumbled, "This is so not working! I can't figure out this problem!"
Ben noted her loud grumble and quickly offered his assistance, "Why don't you let me see?" after a quick scan of her notes, he immediately spotted what she was doing wrong, "Oh… this is a trick problem. These numbers makes you think to multiply it with this, but in truth you have to divide it first then form with the formula. We had this problem during math class this afternoon"
After Gwen rechecked and done what the boy explained, she was surprised that it was actually…right. "You're… right! How'd you do that?"
"Simple math really" he explained modestly, "It's all about the eye. Once you know a dance trick or two, you don't have to learn how to 'square' anymore" they both let out a soft chuckle together to his so called joke. "Anyway, I'm all about done for my homework. I'll do the rest after dinner. How about you?"
"Pretty much done here" she replied, "All I have is some left over science project. But now all I want to do is hang around at the fair and enjoy the weekend"
"Yes! I can't wait to see all the clowns and phonies!" Ben cheered out loud to which Gwen only let out a soft chuckle in the end. After a few giggles she began to laugh out loud which made Ben cocked a brow of curiosity. "Uh… did I say some thing funny?"
It was awhile before Gwen was able to reply after her continuous chuckle, "Well… I don't mean to sound ironic, but you hate clowns Ben"
"What?! No way! How about the animal shows??"
"Nope, you hate those too. Especially the big tiger ones"
"Oh man…" the boy groaned, "So what exactly do I like?"
Gwen thought for a moment and remembered everything the old Ben liked. He definitely didn't like any of those girl stuffs and no way was he into those affectionate romantic novels like she was. In fact he was the total opposite of her. He liked everything bad from the grossness of eating to the destruction of public property. If he was fifteen years old, people would actually think that this kid was the leader of a notorious gang of some sort. He had the charisma and the power to prove it, all he needed then would be the evil in him.
"Well……… usually it would have something to do with destruction and mayhem. (pause) Oh and who can possibly forget your major eating habits?"
"Uh… define major" Ben asked hoping that it wouldn't be something too gross for him.
"Let's just say that even grandpa got sick to his stomach" Gwen clued him a little.
"Man… just what kind of a person was I?"
"You have no idea how many times I asked you that question" Gwen mumbled barely loud enough for Ben to hear her. "Anyway… hey grandpa, how long till we get to the fair?"
"Not long now" he replied, "In fact… we're already here" after a short step on the break the two Tennysons quickly looked out the window and grew out a smile so wide that it stretched right out of their faces. "So… who wants to have fun?" and with that offer the kids quickly got out of the RV and enjoyed what was to be their best night yet.
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Benjamin did not hesitate to go out first. Right after they got the tickets to get in, he immediately began sightseeing every flashing light in sight. It was like he was just kid, coming to the country fair for the first time. Well, it would only be half true except that this wasn't the first time he came to a fair.
The moment he got in, he immediately went to the clown nearest to him and asked to do some kind of balloon trick. The guy with the makeup and the honky red nose smiled back cheerfully and gladly complied with the boy's request. He first made a wiener dog, then a giraffe, then a horse, then a hippo, and then a strangely colored fish. Ben loved the show and gladly took the balloon from the guy.
Right after that he quickly went onto the mini-game booths where people play to earn tickets to get themselves prizes from the prize tent. The prizes there were unique in which one may call it that way. The cheapest thing you can get from that place would be a bunch of stickers. A dozen of them for one fair ticket. The more unique prizes were the stuff bears, some books, pencils, some minor accessories like watches and funny wigs and masks. But the biggest of all of them would be the scooter which was rated with one thousand fair tickets. A lot of people have tried to account such a large number of tickets before but all attempts were met with failure.
After about twenty minutes of playing and going through rides, the trio came to the place in which they call the test of strength. A person hits the dumbbell as hard as he can with a hammer and sees if it goes to the top. If it does, they get five tickets. "Hurry, hurry! Step right up! Come and test your strength!" shouted the attraction owner, "Which one of you has the strength of Hercules? Anyone? Anyone?" he gestured to the crowd to see if one of them would dare try.
"Hey grandpa, maybe you should try it" Ben recommended carrying a balloon on his hand. But the old man simply declined politely, "Oh no… I don't think I have the strength. Besides, I'm too old for that kind of thing"
"Oh come on gramps" Ben cheered him up, "You're not that old. Like they say… you are as young as you act. Let these guys see what a real man does his work"
Surprisingly, Max suddenly agreed, "Well… ok… I guess it can't hurt to try" as he approached the dumbbell, the attractioneer quickly handed him a hammer which was surprisingly light for its size. I guess this is one way for the attraction to cheat on its customers. With the crowd giving him a loud cheer altogether, he lifted the hammer up, and with one good slam… WHAM!!" the dumbbell went up so high that it only hit the bell, but the plant that was supposed to lift it, broke in half in reflex of the weight.
"Well well well! I guess Hercules still does exist around these parts" the owner said in amazement. "Let's give this man a big cheer everyone! Nice job! Nice job indeed" as the crowd cheered Max with applause and whistles, the owner gladly took out five tickets from his booth and handed it to him.
Right after that little show of old muscles, the Tennysons decided to take a little stroll around the area to kill time while enjoying the other entertainment around the area. The jugglers were great to watch and the fire breathers brought a lot of viewers from every side of the fair.
"That was great grandpa" Ben congratulated, "I knew you still had it in you"
"Yeah… for a moment there I thought that hammer was going to rip my arm off" the old man replied holding smile, "Maybe I'm not as old as I thought I was"
"I guess that's what they call 'positive thinking' around these parts" Gwen added. "What do you guys wanna do next?"
"Well, I'm done with my part" Ben answered, "I've got enough tickets to get me a couple of prizes. What do you wanna do?" he returned the arrow question at Gwen who looked back at him with a questionable face. I guess it wasn't usual for Ben to ask what she wanted to do. Usually the boy could care less about what she liked or what she said. "Well…" the girl didn't really know how to respond to that question. She asked out and didn't have the answer of her own.
Without a good enough answer she decided to look at her surroundings to find what to do for fun. And then luck seemed to strike when she came across a shooting gallery where they were giving out tickets to the one who shoots at least five targets. "How about we try one of those? They look like fun"
"Why don't you two go on ahead?" Max told them, "I'll go grab us a couple of cotton candy and meet you at the pier. We can all see the sunset after that" with a nod from the both of them, Ben and Gwen quickly made their way towards the booth to try out the game.
"Step right up everyone!" came the attraction owner's call. "Come and try shooting Billy The Kid and test your precision! Three bucks a round, one round with twenty shots! Who's next?"
"Game for two please" Gwen requested, dropping the exact amount on the table. Once they were given their toy rifles the immediately took to their positions.
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On the other side of the fair however… Rojo and a bunch of her gang were preparing to make a deep strike in town. The ex-biker was still in the combat suit that was given to her by the Forever Knights. After her fight with the Tennysons back in Mt. Rushmore, she immediately bailed on the Negative 10 and took the gizmo with her. Not only did it give her a portable weapon, it also enhanced her natural abilities, ten fold.
"Alright you peons, listen up!" the boss shouted, getting the attention of the gang, "We just need the equipments so no funny business"
"Aww… come on boss" one of the members groaned, "Look at this place. It's just ripe for the plucking!"
"Did your momma drop you when you were a baby?!" Rojo shouted out, "When we're done with my plan, this place will look like the beggars nest compared to our new mansion! Now go! And don't make me come after you!" and with that, the gang quickly began working on stealing the stuff needed for the big heist. As the men did their best on busting in one of the large wooden buildings, Rojo took a little peek in her portable binoculars. "Hmm… everyone looks like they're having a good time……… why don't we stir up the ants nest and make them go wild?" a grin immediately appeared on the gang's face as they knew well what she was planning.
To stir up a nest, you're gonna have to make one loud boom!
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Back on the shooting gallery, Ben and Gwen were having a great time. But mostly Ben was having a good time. The boy was practically an ace with firearms. Not one shot got wasted and every shot he took was precise and accurate, heck he could probably beat this game with one arm tied behind his back and his eyes closed. Gwen on the other hand barely managed to get even five down with one round. Her aim was so way off since she never really held a real weapon in her hand.
After another two rounds of perfect shots, the owner of the booth gladly pulled out another batch of tickets to Ben. "Nice aim there kid. Keep this up and my booth will be out of business in no time ahehehehehe. Though it's too bad I can't say the same thing for your girlfriend though" he pointed his thumb at Gwen who was already on her fourth round and was still unable to hit the targets no matter how many times she shot.
"Ughh!" she groaned out after missing another few shots.
Ben noted this and quickly stopped her from shooting. "Whoa… easy there Gwen" he calmed her down with one simple touch on the shoulder. "Here let me show ya how it's done" with a move that surprised even Gwen herself, Ben reached out for her arm and put her in a rifle shooting stance. "First you've got to keep your arms and hands steady, take your time and wait for a target to come to your sights. After that… fire" and surprisingly, his advice worked and the girl managed to shoot down three targets in a row.
"I did it!" Gwen said amazed.
"Of course you did. Want to play another round?" the boy offered. But just when Gwen was about to say yes, a strange feeling began to creep up to her skin. She knew that the boy next to her was her cousin, but now that she looked back at him… she realized that this was definitely not Ben. He would never help her out like that and would laugh the moment he saw her doing something so foolish. In fact…… everything the boy has been doing today has been a complete opposite of the boy. It was like he was a totally new person or something.
She blushed and quickly turned and shook her head out to get rid of the thought. "Nah…" she answered, "We should probably go to the pier and meet up with grandpa. Wouldn't want to make him worry about us" agreeing to the girl's suggestion, they quickly made their way towards the pier. But that was until Ben caught the prize exchange booth nearby.
"Why don't you go on ahead? I'll go and get something from the prize booth first" and without even waiting for a reply, he headed off towards the booth to get his prize.
Gwen didn't wait very long at the meeting point at the pier. After a few minutes when she got there grandpa Max arrived not soon later with three large cotton candy in his hands. "Hey Gwen" he greeted, "Isn't Ben with you?"
"Nah, he went out to check the prize booth" she answered, "He'll be here in a few minutes" and sooner than she thought as well. By the time Max handed her a cotton candy, Ben soon arrived with a few prizes on his shoulder.
"Hey sport" Max greeted, "Looks like you got yourself a large haul there"
"Ummm… not exactly" Ben answered which the other two gave out a questionable brow, "I got you two something as well" he quickly reach out for his pocket and grab a small silver pocket watch. From the looks of it, it was similar to an antique one that can be found in a pawn shop. "I saw your old pocket watch in the RV broken… so I got you new one grandpa. I hope you like it"
Indeed, Max was surprised beyond belief. As he took the pocket watch into his own hands he remembered instantly that his old pocket watch needed part replacements which could take ages to find in a high-tech city like this. "Wow…… uh… thank you Ben. This is the best present you gave to me yet. Not that you've given me any present that it"
"Oh and here's something for you Gwen" the boy gestured to the hand sized teddy bear on his shoulder, "Sorry, but they didn't have any new books so I got you this instead"
"Oh Ben, that's so sweet" she immediately began cuddling the little thing. And just as the sun settled beneath the seas of the city, the fireworks began to shoot out into the sky, filling the cold dark air with lights and colors.
"Awesome! Fireworks!" Ben said astounded as he looked up into the sky, "Hey come on guys, check it out!" as the boy headed off towards the edge, the other two Tennysons followed right after, sitting on the nearby bench to enjoy the rest of the day. With Ben looking at the colors with sparkly eyes, they just couldn't help but think that this was actually the boy that saved the world from destruction, constantly. As he laughed, chuckled and ate through his cotton candy, Ben and Max gave out the first happy sighs of the day.
"Looks like Ben is really enjoying himself" Max stated seeing how the boy was being so child like. It reminded him of himself when he was young. Well… a little bit of himself.
"Yeah…" Gwen agreed, "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but he's really acting like a… normal… kid" they both nodded out to one another as Ben continued to watch the fireworks up in the sky, "Too bad he won't be like this forever (groan) After tomorrow, he'll probably get him memories back (groan) and he'll probably go back to being the old selfish Ben that we knew. (annoying groan)" after thinking about it now…… the two of them could gladly agree that they would rather keep this Ben around than the other one. "Grandpa, is there a way we can make this change, permanent!?" Gwen begged.
As much as the old man wanted to keep the new Ben Tennyson with, he knew it would be just wrong. Besides, how will he be able to explain this to Carl and Sandra? "Now Gwen" he began, "We all like the new Ben, but we can't change the fact that he'll turn back to normal"
"But this is Ben so much better!" she explained, "A whole lot better than that doofus of a cousin of mine!"
"Oh come on now. I'm sure the old Ben had some good in him"
"Oh really? Name one good thing that Ben has ever done for us other than being hero" she challenged to which the old man quickly got to thinking. As he looked back to the summer he had with Ben… it seemed like everything the boy had done was just to endanger his family. There was a time when he gave both of them a slushy drink, but it was backfired when they realized it was rigged to splatter all over their faces upon opening.
After he thought for awhile, he definitely couldn't come up with a good enough answer that would satisfy the question. "Hmm… good point" he said finally.
"Hey guys" Ben approached them, "What are you guys talking about?" but before the two of them could reply, a sudden explosion occurred once again causing them to flinch upon the sound. As they turned to where the explosion came from they saw Rojo and her gang making away with a haul of equipments on their backs.
"It's Rojo!" Max recognized her almost instantly, "How'd she get out prison!?"
"I don't know" Gwen added, "But whatever she's up to, can't be good for the community" Just when they were getting relaxed, a shot of Rojo's laser gauntlet found its way to the pier wiping the wooden area clean off from the city shore.
Max quickly ducked his grandkids below the bench as the explosion occurred. Surprisingly for both of them, Ben hadn't turn into one of his aliens yet. Max and Gwen then turned their attention to the boy who seemed scared at the moment. "W… what are you guys looking at me for?"
"Uh… isn't this your cue to go hero?!" Gwen said sarcastically.
"Go what?"
"You know, 'hero'!? The Omnitrix? Don't you re… mem… ber…" it was then that it hit her. The boy had amnesia of course he wouldn't be able to remember. "Oh man… the amnesia! Grandpa!" she turned to the old man who also seemed to have the same expression on his face. How could they have overlook such a simply area?
"It looks like Ben forgot more than his own name"
Knowing full well of the danger, Gwen quickly pulled Ben by the arm to a secluded area so that he can change into one of his alien heroes. But of course Ben couldn't remember anything about that. As Gwen made sure that there was no one around for another few meters she quickly began tinkering with the Omnitrix. "Ah! Hey, what are you doing?!"
"Trying to save our butts, that's what!" she yelled back as she continued to randomly turn the knob, "Come on… how do work this thing?" but then suddenly the image of Heatblast appeared on screen, "I hope this works!" with a press of a button, the watch quickly activate, changing Ben into his Pyronite alien hero.
At first Ben didn't know what was going on, but after looking at the fire on his head, he began screaming like a manic, "AHHH!! I'm on fire! I'm on fire! AHHH!" he began dousing himself out blowing on his hands rolling out. But soon, Gwen quickly grabbed a bucket of water and splashed it all over him.
"Cool it hot head! You're a hero now!" she nagged, "This is what you do for a living"
"What kind of a freak am I?!" Ben looked at himself and soon noticed that the fire wasn't affecting him at all.
"A hero kind" Gwen answered, "Come on, we've got to stop Rojo from getting away!"
"Are you nuts?! Didn't you see that laser out of her hands? Besides, I'm only 10! How do expect me to fight against that?"
"You're Heatblast now!" she explained, "Fire doesn't affect you! You've taken on worst things that her back in the days. Trust me… I know"
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Back on the booths ground, Rojo and her gang were having a great time causing panic and mayhem throughout the fair. As they burned, crush and destroy the place into pieces, a truck suddenly drove in with one of her gang members on the driver's seat. "Ok… boys, it's time to hit the road!" the boss ordered as she burned the shooting gallery to the ground.
But just before the gang could load in the equipment on the back, Maxwell suddenly appeared from their blind spot and whacked them with the sledge hammer that he borrowed from the 'test of strength' area. "All I wanted, was to have a peaceful day with my grandkids!" the old man yelled at them after swinging the hammer around, hitting another guy by the stomach, "And you guys! (whack!) Had to ruin it all! (wham!)"
When Rojo noticed Max clobbering her boys, she immediately recognized him, "Oh man… not you again. That means that hero kid and that doofy cousin of his must be somewhere nearby" and right on cue, Ben (Heatblast) and Gwen arrived right on scene.
"It's over Rojo" Max stated, "We've got you surrounded"
But the ex-biker boss simply grinned evilly in reply, "Sorry pops, but I can't let you go cramping my style!" and with that she quickly fired a laser on Max but luckily he dodged it. When Gwen saw opening, she quickly cast a spell, "Galas! Disruptis!" she invoked a strong and power wind out of her hands which sent a couple of un-nailed objects right at the villain.
"Whoa!" Ben shouted once again astounded, "You can do magic too!? This is totally awesome!" but Rojo wasn't going to go down without a fight. Utilizing her suits capability, she opened up a missile pod from her shoulder and fired it back. The explosion was big enough to knock Gwen back a few meters away.
With both Max and Gwen down for the count, Rojo knew that her biggest challenge would be Ben, "Looks like it's only you and me kid. How about we make this a quick fight?" she pounded her fists together gesturing that she was going to make every bone in his body ache with pain.
If Ben still had his memories back, he would've burned her armor to a crisp and tied her around a metal pole before she could even blink, but instead the new Ben decided to take the more…… 'civilized' method. "Uh… can't we talk about this over a cup of coco? I'm sure we can resolve this like real humans ahehehe"
But in truth, neither of them were humans. Ben was an alien matchstick and Rojo was a mechanically enhanced cyborg. "Nah…" and with that last word, the boss of the gang simply shot our a flame thrower from her gauntlet, which was a stupid move, seeing that Ben was made out of fire.
"Hey… I'm… ok" Ben muttered, "Listen, we don't really have to fight now… do we?"
"Actually… we do" she replied before firing off another one of her shoulder missiles. The attack hit Ben and it sent him straight towards the water tank in the 'dunk me' booth. "That should cool you off ahehehehe"
"Hey boss! We got to go! The 5-0s will be here soon!" the driver shouted out and he was right too. The sounds of the police sirens were getting louder by the minute and if they get caught then the heist would be over before it even got started. Rojo really wanted to finish off the Tennysons once and for all but I guess she'll just have to wait for her next opportunity. "Later losertons! The next time we meet, I'll make mince meat out of ya!" and with that, the truck drove off with a whole lot of loot stacked in the back.