I don't own Ben 10...honestly I don't.

Opposing sides

Chapter 11

"So this is where you spend your summers." Gwen stated as she beheld the Vehicle in front of her.

"No this is where I've spent this summer." said a small voice. " I used to spend my summers in a tricked out alien hunting machine, but someone went and destroyed it." it said in an accusatory manner. "This one may be roomier and have more commodities but the old Rustbucket had character." the tiny voice sounded more downcast with its last statement.

"sorry about that... Charmcaster didn't want you guys following us so she destroyed your vehicle." the young sorceress truly sounded despondent "look after... I mean at some point ill make that up to you alright." she said turning to the small gray alien on her shoulder. " I mean it." the sincerity in her voice was clear as day.

"Eh. Its alright... grandpa said that he was gonna upgrade this one as well at some point, but it'll take some getting used to." Ben said as he shifted uncomfortably as Gwen's hair passed in front of his face. It smelled like tangerines. "umm... could you let me down." the tiny Galvan said his voice wavering some.

The young girl held her hand next to her shoulder. "Whats up with this little guy anyway. I thought you were going to turn into that speed freak so you could get us here faster." Gwen said as Ben jumped down into her hand. " Though you are adorable like this" she abruptly grasped him in her hand and began to poke at his face. " cant you stay like this for a while." She said almost cooing.

"agg... would you stop that." Ben said trying feebly to defend himself. "look sometimes the watch just has a mind of its own. Even if I did choose XLR8 it sometimes likes to give me Graymatter as a punishment, I think. Though my cognitive faculties are greatly increased in this form." he said while slapping at her finger.

She giggled a little at his defense but finally decided to let him down. He began to sulk and pace on the ground, muttering to himself about girls being emotional beings that he would never fathom. As she waited for him to calm down a little she looked around. Ben and his grandfather had setup camp a little way out of the city in a small park. It had a nice tranquil feel to it. As she took in the scenery a thought occurred to her.

"where is your grandfather anyway. I mean if he sees me he might not be to happy." she said becoming a little concerned, not that he would be mad. She knew he would be mad at her, but she didn't want to get Ben in trouble. She would most definitely be on his grandfathers list of people his grandson should never talk to. "i mean I am a notorious thief." she stated flatly.

"Don't worry about it. Me and grandpa were walking around town when we got some info that, strange things were going on in the city so we split up to cover more ground. He is most likely still looking around . We were supposed to meet up back here at around 6." Ben said still pacing back and forth on the ground. "Besides grandpa has only seen you in that ridiculous, cat bugler outfit of yours."

Gwen looked at her watch. It was only three o clock . Plenty of time to take a look at this video, and get out before his grandfather came back. She looked down at Ben who had stopped pacing and was now looking at her expectantly. They sat like that for a moment until the young witch became confused by the look.

"What?" she said a little defensively.

Ben just looked at her for a second more before replying. "I cant exactly open the door like this. Other wise I would play the gentlemen and get it for you." Ben said in a slightly mocking tone. "or we could wait for this thing to turn off itself." he said motioning to the omnitrix on his back.

"right, right I get it." Gwen said as she opened the door to the RV. "Geez you guys don't even lock the door someone could just walk in and take all your stuff." she said as she stepped into the cabin of the vehicle, Ben hopping up the steps behind her.

"well, you would know miss notorious thief. He probably forgot that this thing no longer has a defense grid on it." Ben said matter of factly, as he made his way over to the chair in front of the TV.

The tiny hero jumped up and grabbed the remote. Meanwhile Gwen began to look around. She liked it in here, it already felt more like home than anywhere she had lived in the last year or so. The curtains especially made the room feel like home, the warm color gave off a comforting vibe.

" I like the curtains in here it makes this place feel more homey." Gwen said turning to face Ben, as she did so the emblem on his back began to blink red. In a flash a young brown haired boy was sitting in the chair across from her.

He looked at her with a wry smile on his lips. "you should your the one that picked them out." he said sounding slightly sardonic.

For a moment Gwen had absolutely no clue what he was talking about until she saw the look in his eyes. That glassy unfocused look. He was having another attack... of whatever was wrong with him. She walked over to him and looked directly into his eyes, and it unnerved her to a certain degree. It almost felt like she was looking into a mirror. After all they nearly had the same color eyes, and he seemed to be holding himself more like she did.

"Alright lets see this tape you have." she said trying to get his attention away from her. She said as she positioned herself behind his chair to get a better look.

Ben pressed the play button and the video began. It started when Ben as XLR8 ran up next to Charmcaster as she was complaining about her accomplice. As the scene progressed and he did his disappearing act on her a couple of times Gwen couldn't help but laugh when he made that knock knock joke at Charmcaster's expense. It was still a little disconcerting when Ben also began to laugh with the exact same inflection as she did. Then she saw herself appear on screen and Ben laughing at her name. She couldn't resist hitting him on the head lightly, for his transgression.

"ouch." he said reflexively. "I was just expecting something more...costume oriented...or more sinister." he said in his defense.

Gwen just ignored him and leaned forward on the chair to get a better view of the recording. She was now kicking him across the street into a building. She flinched with sympathy as she saw him collide with the brick wall. She then looked down at Ben apologetically.

He just shrugged at her. " its alright we kick like a girl anyway... I mean you." The twelve year old said grabbing his temple.

She began to focus on the video more intently soon he would be put to sleep and she might be able to see what had happened. As she did Maxwell Tennyson entered the screen with a small pistol shaped object. The Gwen in the video insulted him, calling him a geezer. This is to strange seeing myself doing these things. The young girl thought to herself. As the Charmcaster on the screen fired a bolt of energy at the two of them Ben jumped in the path so fast it was hard to see on the video, and was sent flying closer to the camera.

As the alien on the screen turned back into the young boy he always was, Gwen saw herself dashing over to push him out of the way of the bus. She shuddered involuntarily when she had seen just how close that bus had come to flattening them.

As the most important part started to play, she was concentrating so hard she had almost forgotten to breath. As she lay there on top of him, which brought a blush to her cheeks now, she began casting the sleep spell.

"stop the tape." she said to Ben who didn't say anything but complied instantly. The video paused just as the Amulet of Bizel began to glow. Gwen scanned the picture with her eyes, moving slowly in a slowly descending left to right,right to left pattern. On her third pass she noticed something back near the museum entrance.

There was something about the mirror of Bizel. Something she couldn't put her finger on. The young witch moved around the chair to get closer to the screen. When Gwen finally got close enough she found what it was she was looking for.

There in the mirror she could see the reflection of everything, and where she and Ben were laying instead of her lying on top of him. She was laying on top of herself.

"I think I know what happened... but your not going to like it." the young witch stated apologetically, as she turned around to face her friend.

"BEN!" she cried out as she dashed to the chair, where the young boy had passed out. Pain still evident on his face.