Episode 7: The Show Must Go On!
Chapter 2: Now You See Me, Now You Don't
(Rust Bucket) (10:45 AM)
After the little skirmish at Bellwood Elementary, Ben and his companions returned to their mobile fortress to hide from the vengeful Hex and his awesome magical powers. Even though they were on the winning side they knew that if the battle lasted longer than it had back then, things would've only turned out for the worst.
"So let me get this straight" said Cooper as he was getting some more information on their new enemy, "This Hex guys is a master magician you met during your summer vacation and Gwen changed into Lucky Girl so you guys fought them off?"
"Back then I still had the charm of Bizel" Gwen added, showing a picture of what the object looked like. "It gave me extreme luck and power over everything I do. I had it around for a few hours"
The blonde boy then placed his head on the table with a sigh, "Oh man… I knew I shouldn't have went to summer camp. I missed out on all the excitement"
"But we destroyed those things back during the solar eclipse" Ben intervened, "What could he want from you now? Revenge or something?"
"He did say something about draining my powers. Maybe by turning him younger, it made his powers weaker than usual"
"So why can't he just take it from that niece of hers? Was it… Charmcaster?" Cooper implied.
But Ben simply shook his head in response, "Not since we sent her to this strange magical realm. I don't know what happened to her after that"
It was then grandpa Max came in, "Well whatever Hex wants from Gwen, I don't think he's planning to return it ever again. It'll be best if neither of you go to school today until this whole thing blows over"
"Oh yeah!" Ben cheered, "No school for a day and I get to kick Hex's butt! What could be better than that?"
"But grandpa! I have to go to school" Gwen pleaded, "The annual talent show will be starting in a few hours!"
"Sorry sweetie, but as long as Hex is out to get you, you're not safe anywhere. The only thing we can hope for now is that we'll be able to catch him before he does anymore damage to the city" the old veteran then turned his attention back on the wheel and on the road. "For the mean while, Ben, you and Cooper can stay at Gwen's place while I go around the city"
"Awww man" Ben groaned, "I was hoping to get home so I can finish my Sumo Slammer 5. Now I got to baby sit my own cousin"
"Hey I didn't ask for your protection Mr. Smarty Pants!" Gwen argued. "I'd rather be off facing Hex than to share a room with you" and while the two of them continued to barked at one another like a viper and a mongoose, Cooper could only dart his eyes back and forth telling himself that this was just another day with the Tennysons.
And stranger things could happen at any moment at any given time…
After a few more minutes of driving, the Rust Bucket soon made its way to Gwen's house. "Alright kids we're here" Maxwell announced, "Remember, stay close together and don't try to be a hero. Keep your communicons close so that I can keep you three updated" and when the last of the kids disembarked, the old man drove off, leaving the three kids behind to be themselves. And if luck was with them, they won't even have to lift a single finger to defend themselves.
(Magic pawn shop)
In a small magic pawn shop outside the city limit, Hex was recovering from the minor skirmish with the Tennysons. The sorcerer had recovered a small portion of his magic but it was only enough to get him to a safe distance away from Ben and his alien heroes.
Learning from his past mistake on taking the enemies head on, the wizard made his way to one of the old magic pawn shop areas to better arm himself for future battles. Although not a lot of people believe in magic anymore, there are some circles on earth that still practice these ancient arts.
"Keeper…" Hex hissed out to the magic shop owner who was about in his late 50s wearing a blue magician's robe with vinyl decorated around it. His face bore the resemblance of that of a wizard long, long ago. He had a beard that seemed to had aged with time itself and his eyes seemed to be filled with knowledge beyond normal man. "Hex, how nice of you to drop by" he replied closing a book that he was just reading. "It's unusual for an exile such as you to be visiting one of our sanctuaries"
"I am not here for one of your games, Mentor!" Hex spat back at him with a disgusting tone. If it were not for the tone of his voice, a person could say that these two were acquaintances. "I have come to seek some magical artifacts"
"My store is open to all who bring no harm to me and my items" the old man replied cunningly with his hand clasped together, "And as long as you have the right coin, I will be happy to show you what I have" Hex quickly pulled out a strange silver coin from his pocket and flipped it right onto the old clerk's hands. The clerk tinkered with the coin for a moment before letting out a sly grin, "What can I get you? Old friend…"
"A few magical stones" the sorcerer demanded, "And a facemask. The one that can change even the shape of man"
"Ahh… the mask of a thousand faces" the clerk smiled brightly before procuring the said product onto his hand. "Be careful when handling these. They don't come cheap you know. Not since our supply routes were severed by the recent earthquakes. What do you need of it?"
"Let's just say that I owe someone… a nice warm visit" Hex replied with an evil grin appearing on his face. How he plans on capturing Gwen and her magical body from Ben and his family would require something only a cunning magician could conjure. "A warm and painful visit"
As Hex was about to leave the shop, the one he called Keeper gave him a fair warning. "I warn you Hex, the Circle is not pleased with your actions one bit. I am giving you these items for old time's sake, but if you should cross the line, I will have no other choice but to take action"
"Bah! Who ever cared of your silly society?! By the time this all ends, no one, not even you, the Circle or that silly brat Tennyson will be able to stop me!" and with a gush of wind, the evil sorcerer vanished into thin air along with the items he procured.
"(Sigh) Then I guess this is goodbye, old friend"
(Gwen's house)
After grandpa Max dropped the kids at Gwen's place, they soon found out that Frank and Lily, Gwen's parents had already left for work and so the place was left all to themselves. At first it seemed like a brilliant idea to have a whole house stocked with food and goodies left for three ten year olds to stay in. But right after they all gave themselves a little snack, Gwen decided to perform her magic spell to them to prepare herself for the talent show.
"Ugh… please tell me you're not going to pull a rabbit out of the hat again, are you?" the young Tennyson boy groaned as he was forced to join Cooper to watch Gwen practice her show in front of them.
"Ben, can you please be serious?" Gwen nagged. She was in a beautiful modern magician suit with the top hat and magic wand to boot. Her black jacket covered much of her body and it ended just below her waist. But her most attractive sense would be the inner sparkle dress inside. The dress was something like that of a one piece bathing suit that exposed her leg and arm and her collar bone showed clearly too as well. If she wore that when she was six years older, and highschooler or college boys would probably be eyeing her 24/7.
"I am serious! Seriously bored that is" ignoring Ben's last remark, Gwen decided to go on with her program and continued with her show. "Ladies and gentlemen!" she announced with her eyes closed as if she was standing in front of a large audience. "For my first trick, I will be sending pigeons out of this hat (pause) Azura, birtodias!" immediately a flock of pigeons poof out of the hat flying gracefully around the area for a moment before going out the window and disbursing into magical energies.
"Whoa……" Cooper said in awe, but sadly Ben didn't see it in his perspective. He had seen so many explosions and magic spells that it doesn't really seem to amaze him anymore. I guess you could say that he was like a boy filled with the experience and knowledge of a warrior.
"Thank you thank you" Gwen bowed politely to her so called audience. "And for my next trick, I will require myself an assistant. Are there any brave volunteers out there?" Cooper quickly began raising his hand excitingly like a kid in an old carnival show. "I see we have a brave one here. Come on in"
"Boring……" Ben yelled out while eating some chocolate that he found in the fridge. "Why can't you do something more interesting? Like making ice cream out of air or poofing out a chocolate bar from a piece of paper"
"Well for your information, magic isn't exactly as easy as it looks!" the young magician wannabe shot back, "Besides, making ice cream out of……… what are you eating?" she suddenly noticed that Ben was eating something that he wasn't supposed to. "Oh this?" the boy gestured with a loud burp at the end, "Its just some chocolate I found in the fridge"
"You ate my wacky choco supply!!" Gwen burst like a gas tank lit by a guy who accidentally dropped his cigar on the ground. Quickly sensing a killer intent coming from the girl, Ben thought that it would be in his best health to put the weapon down and run like he's never run before. "Come back here Ben! Get back here so I can crush you! Once I get my hands on you, you'll…" and the rest of her words were intelligible.
(Rust Bucket)
Near the edge of town leading towards an old diner, Maxwell was again driving his trusty Rust Bucket through the road looking for any clues that might lead to the location of Hex. The old man was already using all the high tech equipment on the vehicle to search for the sorcerer, but so far the results haven't been good.
Seeing that he can't do this task alone, Maxwell decided to call in for some support. With a flip of a switch, a monitor appeared on his right side, revealing the face of Oswald, the Plumber leader. "Oswald"
"Hey there Maxie!" the old man replied as cheerful as ever, "You haven't called me in awhile now, I thought you might've forgotten about us. How are ya?"
"Just fine" Max replied smiling, "But I need to be quick. There's someone after my granddaughter and I think this person might be somewhere in the city. He's a sorcerer, but don't let his face fool you. From what Gwen told me, he looks like a ten year old but he's actually older than all of us combined"
"Hmm… he must be using that aging cream that I saw on TV" Oswald humored to himself, "Can you describe him for me?"
"He's not that hard to find. He's wearing a black robe with red lining, carries a staff like a club and tattoos that spells out even his own name.
"Alright, I'll tell the guys to keep a look out for this kid. It should be a matter of time before we find him. In the meantime, why don't you bring Gwen over here with the kids? It'll be a lot safer here than your RV"
"Yeah, I think I'll do that. Max out" and with that done the old man quickly switch on to another frequency to call Ben's communicon. But to his surprise, it was Cooper who answered. "Hey Mr. Tennyson, how are ya?"
"Cooper? Where's Ben?" in the background of the screen, he could see Gwen chasing Ben around the house with a heavy textbook of some sort.
"Umm… they're in a little pickle right now. Ahehehehe… mind leaving a message?" if Max could've groaned any louder, the people outside the RV would've heard it. "Never mind" he answered finally, "Just tell them to be careful. I'll be coming over in a few hours so be on the look out for any suspicious activities outside the house"
"We will" Cooper replied smiling, "But I don't think we need to worry. Not even a century old timer can break through here"
(Gwen's house)
After Cooper had finished the call with Maxwell, the doorbell suddenly rang up which caused everyone to stop what they were doing. Heck even Ben and Gwen seemed to have turned silent after the doorbell sounded. "Uh… you wouldn't happen to be expecting someone… would you?" Cooper said to Gwen shakingly. Unfortunately, Gwen shook her head in reply.
Knowing that the person outside could be the villainous Hex, the team decided to prepare themselves for battle. Ben took one of uncle Frank's golf club from the bag below the stairs, Gwen readied her magic book and Cooper put on his fingerless glove. As the door slowly creek open, a bright sunny happy face showed up, "Telegram" the mail man stated as he handed the letter. Much to the gang's dismay, they quickly drop down their guard and returned their guard positions.
"Thanks" Gwen took the mail and closed the door. There were only a few bills and some magazines. "Well that was a bummer"
"You said it" Ben replied before noticing something shiny on top of the kitchen fridge. With both Gwen and Cooper busy with themselves, the boy decided to do a little snooping around before returning to his original position. As he took a closer look at the shiny container, his eyes brimmed with such brightness that he would've gone blind already.
Atop the fridge weighing about five or eight pounds colored in white, a decorated with a beautiful bowtie… was the safety location of aunt Lily's super secret chocolate chip cookies. She usually made them during special occasions and even during those times she would never reveal its hidden ingredient to anyone. Not even her husband. "Ah… hey Gwen" Ben called out, "I'm gonna… check out the backyard for a moment" and without even waiting for a reply, he began scaling the fridge wall in hopes of retrieving those delicious treats.
He climbed onto the nearby faucet hoping that it would somehow support his weight and then he tried climbing onto the wall cabinet to get himself into a position to grab the container. Knowing well that the object was beyond his reach from that position, Ben quickly grabbed a spoon from the cabinet so that he could extend his arm length just a little bit more.
But just when Ben was about to reach his goal, the container of the delicious treats suddenly lifted from its sitting area and floated right onto Gwen's arms, who was standing just right below the cabinet area. "Nice try, but you're gonna have to be quicker than that Ben" she humored while taking a bite off a cookie. And with that last statement, she went off back to the living room, leaving Ben behind to get himself down the way he came up. However… getting down from there was a little harder than getting up.
But to his luck, he was going to get down from that cabinet the hard way. As the Tennysons thought that nothing would dare attack them from the sanctity of their home, they were proven wrong when a sudden tremor shook them from their feet. "Huh?" Ben was the first to notice the rumbling on the ground. As the shock became more obvious and louder than before, the kids knew quickly exited the house to see what was going on.
And as they came out, they wish that they still had the courage to go back in.
In front of Gwen's house standing at least three times the size of a man, made completely out of solid rock and stones was a golem, an elemental being of Mother Nature. Its body was formed into a humanoid figure with two arms and legs. Its face was shaped like that of a knight's cross helmet. And the only one riding on its shoulder, was none other than Hex himself, still in his young form. "Tennyson!" he yelled out angrily to the kids below him. "Your time has come!" if it weren't for his childish voice and miniature figure, he would've been a person to be feared.
Cooper of course, was the first to recover from the shock of the golem's size and appearance. "Ugh… ok… who here votes for running back to the house?" but when the golem razed its hand for an attack, the Tennysons only answered by dashing away from the area.
"After them!" Hex ordered. "Destroy all but bring me the girl, alive!"
Just as Gwen and Cooper were safely secured inside the house, Gwen noticed that Ben was still standing outside looking at the monster that was attacking them. His face seemed to be brimming with determination and at the same time it was filled with fright and horror. "Ben! What are you doing? Get in here, hurry!"
But surprisingly, the boy rejected, "You two stay inside" he ordered with a commanding face, "I'll try to lure this guy away" and without even waiting for any reply from them, he simply closed the door and barricade it using the picnic chair outside. Knowing that Gwen was safe from the clutches of the sorcerer, Ben turned the knob of his Omnitrix and prepared for battle. "Hey rock head!" he taunted the golem, "You think you're the only hard guy around here? Well then let me introduce to you my good old friend… Diamondhead!" and with a smack of the button, he immediately turned to one of his alien heroes. But unfortunately for him, the Omnitrix decided to give him another alien rather than his selection. "What the? Upgrade? I didn't choose you!" and while he was caught off guard with selection of his hero, the boy was unable to know that the golem had already smashed his hand on the ground, sending a shockwave of mass proportion in the area.
"Ben!" Gwen said in horror as she saw the golem's fist smashed right onto her cousin. But her worries were proven unneeded when the young bearer of the Omnitrix rose back in his semi-liquidated form. "Oh man… I'm glad I saw that one coming" he said to himself.
Unable to believe that the boy survived the attack, the stone golem made a tactical withdrawal, distancing himself from the opponent. Hex knew that this was probably a better move since fight Ben head on would only spell disaster for both him and the golem. "Crush him!" the sorcerer ordered. But before the Golem could comply, Ben (Upgrade) quickly morphed his onto a nearby car to get himself some firepower.
"Alright rock head! Wanna play tag? Well you're it!" and with one long and loud screech of the wheels, Ben flung himself onto the golem's body, then using his horse power to the limit, he plunge a hole right through the monster's body. "Oooh… now that's gonna leave a mark" Ben chuckled. But his little laughter was cut off short when he noticed the hole he made slowly regenerating itself. "Oh man… me and my big mouth" not that he had any mouth to begin with anyway.
"Keep him busy while I find the girl"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When Gwen and Cooper saw Hex approaching the main entrance, they quickly closed the door and prepared themselves for battle. "Ugh Cooper, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to barricade this door" he answered while pushing the sofa in place, but Gwen simply grabbed his arm and pulled him away, "That won't be necessary. He doesn't use doors" and to her truth, Hex entered the house, blowing the wall away with his magic.
"Come with me child!" he demanded, "Your magical powers are destined to be mine once more!"
"In your dreams! Windgadium leviosa! (Harry Potter)" immediately three inanimate objects flung themselves onto Hex, but for a master magician, that was simply child's play. "Fool! I may have lost most of my powers but I am still stronger than you!" with a swing of his staff, Cooper was telekinetically thrown out of the house like a trash being dumped outside in the morning. "Now come with me!"
"As if!" sensing that she could not fight against Hex alone, Gwen decided to make a quick withdrawal back to the second floor of her house. But doing that only seemed like a princess running to the tallest room of a burning tower. She tried hiding in her own room, but even that was no sanctuary from Hex. He simply busted the door open with his palm and entered. "Hey, there's this new thing, it's called 'knocking!'. Ever heard of it?" she mocked venomously as she exited the house through her room window.
From the roof of her house, she could see Ben and the stone golem duking it out for the finishing blow. Fortunately, Ben in his Mechomorph form managed to find a garbage truck nearby and merged with it, creating mech-like machine. "Ben, a little help over here!" Gwen tried to call out, but the boy was a little too preoccupied to lend a hand.
"Can't you see I'm a little busy here?!"
But before Gwen could reply, Hex decided to make himself another entrance by blasting a portion of the roof with his magical powers. His entire body glowed strangely with a golden energy wave making it impossible to tell what else he has up his sleeves. "You are now truly becoming a nuisance little girl" just when Ben noticed that he was reaching out to her, a surge of anger seeped through his veins as for a moment he forgot about to golem completely. So by placing his eye on the right area, he fired his plasma beam from his eye socket, sending the sorcerer back into the house and down into the basement.
"Oh… now that had to hurt" Ben snickered out before he got socked on the face by golem's fist. "Hey! (groan) Alright that does it. You wanna play rough? Well it's GO TIME!" he then balled up his fist and let the golem have a taste of his own medicine.
Whoop!
Bam!
Pow!
Zap!
Using every knowledge he had in destroying everyday objects learned from self experience during the summer vacation, Ben made quick work of the golem elemental reducing each and every part of its body to dust. "Booyah! That's what I'm talking about" the boy said triumphantly, "Sometimes I even impress myself"
"Yeah… tell that to my parents when they find out that they find out that you tore my house inside out" Gwen groaned as she came down the roof. A few seconds later, the Omnitrix symbol on Ben's chest flashed red, returning him back to his normal human self. "Well, I guess now's the best time" he muttered before joining the rest of the team at the entrance of the house. Cooper was there too, but his head still hurt when he was thrown out like a sack of manure.
As Gwen inspected the house from the outside, she realized that the damage done through the extensive use of their powers was a lot more than what she had expected. The roof of her house and her neighbor's house were all but utterly messed up, the garden that her mother tended with her every waking day was ruined, the garage where her father kept the family van was burnt to a crisp and what was left of the road was best described as a badly mown lawn.
"My mom is so gonna kill me when they find out about this"
But Ben only smirked back proudly at his work. For him, this was probably just a daily basis. "Ahh don't worry. They'll probably just ground you for a century… or until you reach college if you're lucky ahehehehe"
"Well anyway, I think the obvious thing to do is call Max and tell him to pick us up" Cooper suggested as he picked out his communicon. And while the brain boy was busy chatting with Maxwell, the two Tennysons decided that it was best for them to stay as far away from the house as possible. They know that Hex was strong, and he was bound to come back sooner or later.
"So what did that guy want with you anyway?"
"He said something about taking my powers away" Gwen answered, "From what I'm guessing, because he turned younger, his powers became weaker as well. So that's why he needs me"
"Well in any case, Upgrade sure showed him who's the big boss around here" but just as the boy grinned proudly at himself, a golden beam fired from within the house, sending his off towards the road doing a triple back flip all the way. Gwen of course, didn't see that attack coming but she knows very well who did it. She readied her energy attack at the palm of her hands preparing to defend herself.
"You really should make sure I'm down, boy" Hex spoke up in his soft kid like voice. "… or I might just come back up again"
When Cooper saw this he quickly drop his communicon and dash to Gwen's rescue, "Gwen, look out!" But before he could even take a step further, the golem elemental that they thought was down for good, rose back to life with all kinds of earthly material stuck in its body. And with no warning whatsoever, Cooper was caught in the creature's grip. "Gackk!! Hey, let go!"
"Cooper!" Gwen said in distress. She turned her eyes to see Ben standing up, but with the Omnitrix out of power, he was nothing more but meat bait.
"Surrender now child!" Hex demanded, "If you lay down your arms, I will spare your friends from being golem's first… crush" and he wasn't kidding either. With Golem's strength, Cooper would be little more than a gum to those teeth.
With no other choice, Gwen lowered down her arms in defeat. She knew that there was no way to defeat Hex in the state the team was in at the moment so she had to make a self sacrifice, to buy time. Her only hope now, was that Ben would come to her rescue, like he always have.
Since Gwen did not resist, Hex was able to capture her in a powerful magic bubble with little trouble. After he made sure that she wasn't going anywhere, the magician signaled his earth golem to release the boy from his grip. "Come Golem" he ordered, "We have much work to do"
Just as he began to cast a teleportation spell, Ben hastily got out from his cramped position with a major headache. "Oh… man… I'm gonna feel that one tonight" but his groan ended fast when he saw Gwen trapped inside the magic bubble along with Hex. "Gwen!" At that point on all his aching body parts felt like a child bump compared to the horror stacked within his heart. Clutching what little strength he had left the boy turned his attention to his Omnitrix but sadly it was still in need of recharge, "Oh man, come on anyone! Fourarms? Heatblast? Ripjaw? I'll even take Graymatter!" but the device refused to change him even to the simplest of forms. "Fine, I'll do this myself!" he quickly made a dash for the sorcerer, but just as he got there, the golem slammed its fist onto the ground, creating a shockwave that even made Ben stopped right on his own tracks.
"Try and try as much as you like boy" Hex grinned victoriously, "But without your powers, you're simply nothing more but a mere child"
And before he could recover from that, they were already gone with a flash…
"No………" those were the last words Ben muttered out before falling for the first time in defeat…