Episode 5: A Middle Aged Rumble!
Summary: A medieval festival has come to the city of Bellwood and Ben and Gwen are part of it. While both of them are dressed in wonderful costumes, they soon found out that they are partners for a dance! After trying to find a way out of this situation, the Forever Knights, led by the Forever King (Driscoll) comes in to retrieve the sword Excalibur which is supposedly buried right beneath the castle. Unable to fight the Forever Knight army that aided the search, Ben calls up two ex-wrestling partners to help him even up the odds. But will they be able to stop the Forever Knights from completing their plan?
Chapter 1: Reliving The Past
(Bellwood national park)
If you were here today in Bellwood park, you would get the feeling that the time line has somewhat intertwined with each other. That the cosmic balance has been interrupted and the flow of time had been altered by some guy who went into the past and messed up history bringing technology of the future to the past. Well I guess your feelings weren't exactly far off.
Tell me, when you see a knight in shining armor sending a princess to her castle, what does he usually ride on? A white stallion with a saddle, a chariot with a valet? Nope… today… modern teenage knights ride chopper bikes to their destination with their sweet hearts. Who need horse power when you can have sixteen horsepower in one ride? Golden chariots? Ha! Those things with wheels have been replaced with jeeps and trucks, capable to taking a much larger crowd and carry a lot more supplies to their destination.
Usually during the middle ages the nobility would hirer fanners to keep them from sweating. But you can give those guys their last paycheck your majesty cuz technology is here to save the day! Need to cool down during a hot summer heat? Get an electric fan or an air-conditioned car to give that winter breeze.
Ahem…
Anyway… back to the story.
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For the first time in months, Max and Gwen were about to see the unnatural, the unbelievable, the extraordinary. For the first time in months a miracle has happened. For the first time in history six twins were born! You wish to know why?! Because for once in many months that had passed… these two were finally gonna get to see Ben in a new outfit! For too long had the boy remained the same clothes that he wore since summer vacation. For too long had they seen the black and white stripes on his T-shirt and for too long has he been wearing those long bagged pants for the past three months of summer.
"Ben, are you ready yet?" Max called out wearing his traditional medieval style blacksmith clothing. His clothes were a variety of a white inner shirt that extended right below his waist, a brown apron, leather cap and pants and the usual leather gloves. He also had a belt under his apron to keep his pants from falling down.
"Umm… not exactly" yelled Ben from the toilet room of the RV. "Is this thing supposed to be my pants or something?"
"The one in green goes on top and the blue one goes on your legs" Max instructed. There was a short pause for a moment before Ben finally said, "Oh…… uh… I knew that"
"Give it a rest grandpa" Gwen snickered as she came out in her pink princess attire. "It's gonna take a miracle just to get his shirt changed"
"I heard that!" Ben yelled out.
Gwen's attire was a pink dress with flower petals decorated on the edges and leafy long sleeves. She was a mid high heel on her feet and of course no middle age princess was complete without her royal long cone hat with a bow tie up top.
After a couple of minutes later, Ben finally exited the toilet room wearing a bard costume. "Well now… who looks like the young prince?" Max commented even though he didn't know it wasn't exactly a prince costume.
"Ugh… do I have to wear this, just to get into the fair?" the boy whined as he loosened up his neck brace. Instead of that raggedy old black and white T-shirt, he was now wearing a puffy green shirt with buttons just by the neck, along with puffy shoulder sides. He most out righteously refused to wear blue puffy shorts but he didn't mind the feathered hat. For some reason… he did look a lot better than in his old clothes.
"Sorry sport" Max apologized, "It was the only one I could find. They didn't have many in your size. I was lucky enough to find one for Gwen though"
"Couldn't you find something that was way cooler?" the boy asked, "A suit of armor maybe… or something with a cape?"
"You can always put in the jesters costume" Max replied holding a child size jester costume complete with silly bells on top and a maraca as props for when he plays on the field. With one look at that thing, Ben immediately realized that he was already lucky just wearing that thing. "I'll take this costume…" he groaned finally.
(Opening theme)
Once the trio had finished changing into their more 'respective' attires, they immediately exited the RV and entered the park where thousands of tourists and attraction were going around. Tents of different size and colors littered the area with decorations of all sorts of medieval style. Everything from the middle ages can be found there. There were sword fighting, jousting contest, archery and horseback riding for those who seek thrill in competition. For those who are not into violence can take up on more… civilized competition like painting and twelve different kinds of eating contests that were held in the food court.
The fair ground was practically teaming with entertainers that were both experienced in what they did best. There were jesters telling jokes, acrobatics doing stunts and magician doing tricks along the streets. But of course with this many people, comes security. Police officers disguised as guides hid in many places along the intersections keeping an eye out for those no do gooders who are bound to take this fair as an opportunity to make themselves wealthy or infamous.
But just as Ben, Gwen and Max head throughout the fair, they began to observe all the other shops scattered around them, "Wow… this place has everything" Max stated as he looked around at the many attractions. "This is something you don't get to see everyday"
"Actually, I get to see this every time in Gallows and Goblins" Ben replied scratching his neck piece, "Ugh… how do kids in the olden days wear this!? They must've learned not to breathe for 10 minutes or something!" annoyed by the collar's tight grip on his throat, Ben decided to loosen it up by ripping the zip off with his bear hands. "Ahh… much better"
"Well… so much for rental" Max muttered before he caught sight of the blacksmith, "Oooh a blacksmith!" it was a mystery why such an old way of metal smithing interested the old man. What could possibly be so interesting in hitting metal plates over and over again, heat it and cool it down with cold water? I don't know.
"What's so cool about the smith?" Ben remarked, "Man… why do I even have to be here anyway?! I should be watching the movies down by the mall or out shopping for a new video game! Why did my parents have to leave for some old friend's anniversary!?"
"Well at least your reason is better than mine" Gwen replied, "My older brother got straight As in his exams and so they're taking him to the beach for the weekend" she then noticed that Ben was giving her the odd and awkward stare again. "Wait a minute… since when did you have a brother?" he asked which was only replied with a groan from her.
As they return to Max's side, they noticed that he was taking smithing instructions from an old horseshoe maker. "Hey kids" he called to them, "Wanna learn how to make horseshoes? This man here is offering me a free lesson"
"Sorry but we're under the child labor laws" Gwen commented before going out, Ben quickly followed, not wanting to be dragged by such a job.
"Well that's fine with me" Max replied, "Why don't you two head onto the center? I'm sure there's something there that you kids would like. We'll meet back at the RV for dinner. Keep your communicons with you, ok?"
"Yes grandpa" they replied in unison before turning their attention towards the fair. There were really a lot of things to do here in the fairground, but so little time to do them. So since they were unable to decide which to do first, they decided to travel together to see which competition they would want to join up first.
The road around the fair was as dirty as it was during the middle ages. The road was full of mud and luckily, the rats that were on the ground were just decorations……… or were they? Who knows? Everywhere you step, you could help but say the same phrase in your head over and over and over again. 'I got mud on my shoe'
"Ugh… man… can this place get anymore boring than this?" Ben groaned. It was probably a new record too. He hasn't complained about the place for a whole five minutes now.
"Come on Ben" Gwen sighed back to him, "At least appreciate the work around you. This is probably the most realistic setting of the middle ages you're ever going to see! Even you should know that"
"Oh yeah… sure… realistic" Ben moaned as he gestured towards the new batch of people coming through the main entrance. Most of them were teenagers and they all had costumes of noblemen and knights in armor. "Knights in shining armor riding on a convertible…" Ben groaned before pointing towards the witch's shop which sells candies and cakes. "Witches using a modern day stove" and finally he turned towards a bunch of gossip girls wearing princess attires just like Gwen holding cell phones up their ears. "And old day princesses talking on cell phones. Yup… this is probably the most realistic middle age theme park in the world"
The boy did have a point though. With everyone here using technology from the 19-21st century, the middle ages here was nothing. There were barely any swords and spears around here either! The only real weapons you'll ever gonna see around here would be the competition area and the theater play which earned quite a reputation for some reason. Only toy swords and plugged bolted arrows were seen around these parts and even they were rare to find.
As Ben moved up towards the other areas along with Gwen, he suddenly noticed a sign board with a large picture of a chubby man holding a spoon up his mouth. "Sloppy Joe all you can eat. Be the last eater standing and win the silver trophy and two free tickets to an all you can eat buffet at the palace! HA! I'm in!"
"Hold it dweeb!" Gwen stopped him, "There's no way you can match against those guys. They've probably had years of practice. You'll just get yourself sick"
But Ben simply waved it off, "Oh please. If I can handle grandpa's meatloaf, I think my stomach can handle a little slop. Besides, I even had a light breakfast today"
And before Gwen knew it, the boy had already signed up for the competition.
(Conveniently hidden trailer)
The Forever Knights, an organization that had been founded during the middle ages. An organization where a group of selected few hides away from the rest of society to fight against the atrocity of the off worlders. They are a group of knights led by a man who they call the Forever King, an ex-Plumber known as Driscoll just like Max but went on the 'dark side' if you know what I mean. For generations they have been taking technology from aliens and replicating it to their own use. Their level of technology was equally match to the Plumbers, and even though their goals were the same, their methods were not.
They wanted to protect mankind from alien evil but in doing so, they had to hurt the very people they had sworn to protect. I guess the old saying 'we must destroy it in order to protect it' really does apply to their logic. But the bigger question was…… what did they want this time?
"Status report…" the Forever King ordered to his lowly minions. The two knights on the radio quickly flipped his head phones away before turning to his master, "Everything is going just as planned my lord" he began, "But due to the presence on the field, we cannot triangulate the location of the sword"
"Then send in the knights to plant cosmetic polls around the area" Driscoll commanded, "We cannot allow this opportunity to slip off our grasp. I want it done… now"
"Yes my lord!" the knight quickly got back to his post and alerted several of the agents that were on the field of their new mission. "Alright… if we put the cosmetic polls here, here… and here… we should…"
"Wait!" the Forever King interrupted, "Go back on that channel…" the minion gladly complied and returned to the last two channels on the screen. And to his luck, it was pointing directly at the blacksmith shop where Maxwell was learning how to make horseshoes. "Well well well…" the Forever King smirked under his adamantium helmet, "If it isn't my old comrade… Maxwell. That could only mean that the Tennyson boy is here as well. An unforeseen hindrance…" he hissed their names venomously, "No matter. This only adds up to our plans. Plant the cosmetic polls as planed but avoid the Tennysons at all cost. We've had enough interference for one day"
"But… my lord…" the minion stated a little worried, "What if they should decide to interrupt our plans?"
"A good point………" the Forever King knew that the Teynnsons had a tendency to interfere with his plans. If they hindered his plan once they'll probably do it again, "Have a cohort of my knights ready… just in case if things should get… ugly. Besides… the one with the Omnitrix is not to be underestimated"
(Back at the fair ground) (Sloppy Joe eating contest)
"Knights, nobles and ladies!" the commentator spoke up through the microphone which was attached to some serious sound amplifying systems. "Welcome to the Camelot state fair sloppy Joe eating contest! (cheers) As you all know, we have a total of six contestants today. You all probably know the rules, but for the sake of the newcomers, I'll explain" he then gestured to some of the guys on the long table with sloppy Joe in large plates everywhere. "All of you eaters will be eating these foods until none of you are able. Each plate is worth one point and you only have a minute break after each plate! If you stop eating for any other reasons, you will be immediately disqualified from the round. If you are unable to eat anymore, you may raise your hand and we'll take you out"
While Ben was on the table with a smirk on his face, he noticed Gwen on the stands looking at him with an annoyed look on her face. "A game where people eat until you drop (sigh) Ben was right, this place is very 'realistic' hmm…" she groaned as she starred at all of the 'healthy' looking people. As she looked at those chubby guys with big guts, she couldn't but wonder how much they could weigh. One of them that looked like a sumo wrestler almost looked like he could weigh a ton or more.
"And remember folks, the winner of this contest gets the silver glutton trophy and two tickets to palace buffet tomorrow! May the best eater wins!"
"This is going to be too easy" Ben remarked before turning to his other opponents, "Bring on the Joe!"
But then suddenly, a familiar voice came up his ears, "Ben?" the boy turned around and noted that it was none other than Gaterboy and Porcupine, the two ex-wrestlers that he met during the summer. "Is that… you?"
"Porcupine? Gaterboy!?" Ben replied knowing full well who they were. It wasn't exactly easy to forget two mutant teens. You don't exactly get to see them in these parts of town every now and then.
"Hey! I didn't know you were here" Gaterboy waved at him. The two brothers were no longer wearing their wrestling attire. Instead, they have been replaced with farmer wears which included a long brown apron and suspenders. "You like eating sloppy Joe too?"
"A little" Ben replied a little surprised to see them as well, "So what are you guys doing here? You're not in some kind of gang problem and they're forcing you to participate in this eating contest, are you?"
But Porcupine simply chuckled back, "No. Our mama told us we needed to get out of the farm a bit more and socialize with the locals, you know. Besides… no one here could tell if we're even wearing costumes"
"And the eating contests here are just for bonuses" Gaterboy added, slurping his lips as he saw all the food that was soon to come his way.
"Well you guys can kiss your stomach goodbye cuz I'm gonna win this one" Ben punched his chest to gesture that he had the stomach as hard as steel. "I was champ of sloppy Joe back in my school three years running"
"HA! Fourarms may have beaten us during that wrestling match. But when it comes to eating, we're second to none! Right bro?" but Gaterboy was simply too focused on the food to reply. He just wanted to referee to start the match already. Watching food getting cold wasn't exactly a happy sight for the professional eaters.
"Eaters… get ready! (pause) And……… begin!"
The moment the commentator announced the start of the match, Ben, Gaterboy and Porcupine quickly dove into their meals and began eating like some crazy pigs that hasn't been fed for days. By the time they finished with the first plate, they were still hungry.
"And look at them go ladies and gentlemen!" the commentator announced, "Looks like the newcomer Benjamin Tennyson is off to a good start with one point in just twenty seconds. That's got to be some kind of new record!" the audience quickly began cheering, shouting the same word over and over again. 'Eat eat eat eat eat eat!!' they chanted.
After a few minutes had gone by the points of each eater have gone up dramatically. Chunks of food were being gutted down one by one and plates were being emptied faster than the Rust Bucket using rocket booster to drive from here to the department store. The eating went on and on and on and no one seemed to be holding anything back. Ben was taking his time gluttoning himself on his ninth plate while others were still in their fifth or fourth. As he looked around, he saw only two people who he had to look out for other than Gaterboy and Porcupine.
The one on his left was definitely an excellent eater. Though he wasn't big or chubby, Ben knows that his stomach might just prove a match for him. Another was the one on his right. A large man who probably eats in his sleeps if he was given the chance. The guy was so huge that the chair he was sitting on just seemed to have vanished under all that lard (no offense to those who are large)
After another two or three minutes, the first skinny man in the contest burped out his last Joe and raised his hand up to signal his surrender. "And it looks like we have our first full contestant" the commentator announced, "Let's give him a round of applause for a job well eater ladies and gentlemen" the crowd cheered and clapped for him as the man exited the stage.
As time flew by slowly like the wind in the air, some of the people began to grow sick of the people eating there. Almost half an hour had already passed and Ben still kept the lead with more than fifty points. Time and time again, one or more contestants would raise their hands in defeat. One had already barfed out his food which made the audience felt a wee bit nauseous. The sight of all that gross food mixed with acid gut was some of the worst sight anyone would ever see.
But this didn't bother Ben at all. With his stomach of steel, he was able to withstand against anything that is gross and still be able to eat without a problem. However… his monstrous appetite did not go unnoticed. After gobbling down one plate after another with ease, the remaining contestants looked at him in amazement. He was already down to his fifty-fifth plate and still he didn't look like he was in trouble at all. Heck, some even began to think that the boy wasn't even human. Little did those people know that they weren't really that far off the mark.
But just as the meal was getting good, Porcupine suddenly felt his stomach began to tingle a little bit. "Oh… I… I don't feel so good" as the rumble on his tummy continued, he held a barf on his mouth and went towards the backstage to let it all out.
"That's it! Porcupine is disqualified!" the commentator announced.
It wasn't long then till Gaterboy followed suit, "Oh… I think that already hit the spot" and with that he raised his hand in surrender.
Seeing that the other contestants weren't giving up to their painful stomach aches, even though they were far behind, Ben decided to go on the gross factor to finish this match quickly so that he could claim his prize. After chomping his last bite to size, the boy stuck out his tongue and flapped the Joe around; making it some of the most disgusting thing anyone has ever seen.
With just one look the last remaining eaters gulped down their last meal and raised their hands in defeat. Not only did Ben make them sick to their stomach, he also made the crowd lose their appetite as well.
"Ugh…" the commentator groaned to his stomach even though he didn't eat anything, "Well umm… ladies and gentlemen, it looks like that's all! The winner of this round's sloppy Joe eating contest is newcomer… Benjamin Tennyson! Please give him and his iron stomach a round of applause!" the crowd gladly complied but most of them were still grossed out by that last act.
"Yeah!" Ben cheered out after gulping down the last plate. "Who's the king? Yeah that's right! Me!"
After the boy had been given his prized trophy which was smaller than he expected and the two tickets, several of the audience had to call it quits and head back home because there was something wrong with their stomachs.
"Nice chow-down-show-down Ben" Porcupine congratulated him, "Looks like you beat us at our own game"
"You got quite an appetite for a little guy" Gaterboy added with a smirk. "Your stomach must be made out of steal or something"
"Hmm… close enough" Ben answered with a grin. "So what are you guys gonna do next? Hit the restaurant? How about the game booths?"
But the two brothers had to politely decline, "Sorry Ben" Porcupine answered, "But we promised our mama to be home before lunch time. Maybe some other time. (walk away) Oh and if you ever see Fourarms, tell him we said hi" and with that they walked off towards their mama's farm at the other side of the main road.
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"A trophy for me and two tickets for tomorrow's buffet. What more could you want?" Ben cheered as he wiped his face with a face towel. He was still wearing his ridiculous costume but didn't mind it anymore. As long as he gets to enjoy the festivities offered here he was going to have a blast, "I wonder if they got any burgers or spaghetti in the buffet"
"You just ate five hundred pounds worth of sloppy Joe and you're still thinking about food?" Gwen groaned, "Just what is your stomach made of anyway?"
"Now that would be telling" Ben replied licking what's left of the Joes stuck on his fingers. "Hey, if I'm fast enough, I might still be able to join that cheese eating competition over by that corner"
"Ugh… forgive me if I don't follow you to your quest on an exploding stomach" Gwen said sarcastically rubbing her aching stomach, "Just seeing you stuffed your face back at that last one just makes me wanna hurl. Why don't we try out something I want to do?"
"Alright fine" Ben submitted in defeat, "But if it has anything to do with poem reading, I'll be crisscrossing through the states on my bear feet"
Just as they began to cross through the fairgrounds meeting many more oddly dressed people, Gwen suddenly noticed flyers being handed out by a court jester. She gladly took one and scanned its contents. "Hey!" she yelled out loud, "There's a play of King Arthur happening in the theater in fifteen minutes. Let's go and see it! It'll be fun"
"Oh great… how many times have I heard that story?" Ben once again groaned as he held his trophy in his arms, "It's all the same thing… over and over again. The kid pulls the sword out a stone, builds Camelot blah blah blah, gets the Holy Grail blah blah blah, and dies in the last battle. Same old same old"
"Well at least they're going to have a reenactment of the last battle at the festival square tomorrow" Gwen added, reading the rest of its contents. "Come on… even just a little act of culture can't kill you"
"Alright fine. It's not like I have anything better to do anyway" Ben grunted as he eventually followed her to the theater.
As expected, the place was jam packed with people. The ten row benches were already half full and the show hasn't even started yet. Luckily, Ben and Gwen were able to score some front row seats which were surprisingly unclaimed for some reason. It was good since their height wouldn't be able to see anything from the back rows.
But as the seats slowly began filling up, Ben soon noticed a salesman on the back selling hotdog and sodas. "Get'cha hotdogs here! Hotdogs here! Get them while they're hot!"
"Hey pops!" Ben waved back carrying some money on his hand, "I'll take two over here and make it spicy!" after he had done the transaction, the bell of the theater rung, signaling the beginning of the play.
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Back at the other corner of the fairground, Max was smiling happily as he finished making the first few horseshoes he had learned from the blacksmith in the smithy. The guy back there was kind enough to make him a few examples and allowed the old man to work on the anvil for a couple of tries. Once he was able to create the perfect horseshoe, Max decided to keep his first great work as a trophy of his accomplishments. He made a few more as good luck charms for his grandkids.
"This is great" he said to himself, "I'll bet the kids would definitely love these. Nothing says gift like a good old homemade presents. I'd better give them a call to see where they are" he quickly pulled out his communicon to call his grandkids. But just as he dialed the numbers, a weird static sound began to originate from the gizmo. "Heh? Well that can't be right?" he tinkered with the device to see if it was broken. It was impossible for the machine to get no signal since the Plumber had their own satellite channel up in space. The only reason why the communicon wouldn't be working was either that it was broken or a really powerful jamming device was somewhere nearby. "Hmm… well, this is certainly unexpected"
But just as he was moving through the dirt road of the fairground, he suddenly bumped onto a dark hooded figure wearing a hood and everything. If one would look at him, the guy would immediately pass as criminal suspect number one. "Oh I'm sorry" Max apologized, "I wasn't looking where I was going and I…" but the hooded figure simply grunted and walked away, not even wanting to let Max finish his sentence, "Hmm… a lot of costumes nowadays…" the old Plumber veteran muttered before turning towards the jousting grounds. "Oh well… I'm sure whatever those are doing, I bet they're having fun"
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If Max meant fun like listening to old cheesy actors who barely knew what they were saying speaking in some old middle age terms with 'thus' and 'thou' then yes, it was fun. But for Ben it was probably the next thing closest to hell. The play was terrible that's the only term he could think of right at the moment. During the beginning of the play the twelve year old kid who pulled the sword out of the stone was probably the only good actor in the entire cast. He said his lines perfectly and with emotions. These other wannabes just didn't have what it takes to be in a play this good. Heck, the show would've actually hit universal with just a couple of kindergarteners!
"Oh man…" Ben groaned as he walked out the theater, "I can't believe I actually went through all that! It's a miracle my ears aren't bleeding" he flicked his ear bags a few times to see if the senses were still good.
"Oh come on" Gwen reasoned with him, "It wasn't really that bad… was it?" this was only replied with a 'are you kidding me?' look. "Ok, it was bad, but at least they'll have the battle redone tomorrow afternoon at the fairground"
"Guess their just trying to find more ways to humiliate themselves in front the huge crowd" and with that behind them, the two Tennysons continued their tour around the fairgrounds to see what other attraction would catch their attention. But just when they were minding their own business, Ben suddenly bumped onto another hooded figure similar to the one Max bumped onto a few minutes ago. "Ouch… hey watch where you're going" Ben grunted as he stood back up. But the man he bumped onto simply walked away not realizing that he dropped a stick down to the ground.
"Rude much" Gwen grumbled.
But when Ben saw the stick that he dropped, he knew that it had to be returned, "Hey old guy, you drop your… walking… stick?" but the moment he saw what the stick was made of… he knew that this wasn't something made in the fairgrounds. The stick that he thought that was made out of wood was actually made in steel and iron. There were several electronic lights beeping on the top edge of the stick and a small satellite dish planted at the head. But what caught Ben's attention the most, was the Plumber symbol that was located at the center of the handle.
"Is that some kind of walking stick?" Gwen inquired showing a little interest to the gizmo in the boy's hands.
"It's too short to be a walking stick" Ben answered, "And even if it is… it must be the most high-tech thing I've ever seen. Let's show this to grandpa. Maybe he can shed some light into this"