Lo and behold, it is chapter 5! This is a kind of meanwhile chapter until near the end, just so you guys know. Okie dokie, not much to say so read on dear readers!

Chapter 5

Gwen watched her cousin walk up to his house even as Kevin began to speed away. She worried about having him out of her sight at this point, but knew he could take care of himself for now. She tried to make sense of it all, the DNA anomaly and the return of Ghostfreak, but nothing connected. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kevin.

"So Gwen," He began, never able to sit in silence for very long. "It's just us today…"

"Don't even go there." Gwen snapped, emphasizing her point with a glare. Kevin continued to grin however, not at all put off by the denial. They continued in silence for a few more minutes, Kevin thinking of different ways to cheer Gwen up when she decided to speak up.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Kevin kept his eyes on there road as he considered the question. It was pretty open if you considered what you could add on the end, such as 'do you think he'll be okay by himself', or 'do you think he'll be okay if we find anything bad?' Kevin took it in the general way it was presented to him which would've answered all the other possibilities as well.

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Kevin answered simply, glancing at Gwen out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look reassured. Kevin didn't get that. Why do girls ask questions when they just doubt you anyway? He wisely decided not to say anything about it lest he get any energy powered slap. Those hurt no matter how shielded you were.

Thirty minutes later, fifteen of it spent walking, they arrived at the demolished ship. Kevin saw Gwen give an unwilling shiver of fear. He had no doubt that the ship had some negative effects on her psyche too. She had been a target for the demented ghost at one point as well.

The space craft itself looked rather innocent during the day. It was nothing more than a wreck, but at night, it seemed to hold a menacing quality that Gwen couldn't shake. Ghostfreak had really been one of their worst enemies.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Kevin. He wasn't quite looking at her, but it was an attempt at comfort and Gwen appreciated it immensely. She nodded at him and they went down inside the huge hole, Kevin sliding while Gwen walked down on energy platforms. It seemed no matter what time of day it was, the inside of the ship remained eerily dark, mocker her with its memory. Gwen had no problem understanding why her cousin had broken down.

Kevin stepped in first, his form disappearing as the shadows seemed to swallow him. Gwen surrounded her hand in glowing pink energy, took a breath and stepped in after him. She wasn't so frightened of the ship the first time simply because she had had no time to be. The first time she frightened for her cousin, just as she was the second time only that time she had quickly come into check to see what had happened before quickly rushing out. So, of course, now she had time, so now she was. She refused to let it stop her this time either, though, as her cousin's very life could hang on this information and she'd be damned before she let her fears hinder her chances to help him.

Kevin was waiting for her inside, watching as she seemed to fight some internal battle. He was about to go back out to help her when a certain form of resolve flashed in her eyes and he knew she'd be fine. He followed her after she stepped inside, being as she was the only one with a light source. That and she probably knew the layout of the ship better than him. He, of course, was not scared as he had never met the out of control version of Ghostfreak. He did worry somewhat for his two friends as he had gotten mixed into a forbidden part of their past.

They reached the room quickly, the door stuck open from the last time while dim yellow light poured out of the room. The room was exactly as they left it, half destroyed yet still intact enough to have power. You had to admit, alien technology was pretty amazing.

"So, obviously, somethin' more happened in here than we thought." Kevin pointed out, sifting through the broken tech scattered about the room.

"Well, he didn't just get electrocuted." Gwen replied, examining the two rods in the center of the room. They were obviously something more than she thought, but what? The familiarity was killing her. They couldn't just power the ship, not after the episode they had. Suddenly she realized exactly what they were. She gasped and took one step back too many as she tripped on the remnants of a control panel and fell. Kevin was by her side in a heartbeat.

"You okay? What happened?" Kevin asked, crouching by her side. He offered her a hand but she refused it, knowing that her legs would give as much support as Jell-O. She was staring intently at the machine as if willing some piece of information she had gathered to not be true. Gwen caught Kevin's eye, knowing she have to explain herself.

"I was wrong before about the machine. It did used to have energy coursing through it, but…"

"But…?" Kevin urged her to continue.

"Kevin, it's a DNA replicating device." Gwen looked extremely miserable as Kevin processed this piece of information.

"… So you're saying that this machine would've created another Ghostfreak?" Gwen nodded.

"It's how he returned last time. His lackeys used a machine like this to replicate Ghostfreak's DNA to bring him back to life. Ben told me about his encounter with another on like this…" Both of them were at a loss. How were they going to tell Ben that he had Ghostfreak DNA? Kevin already knew he was going to blow a gasket if he didn't completely loose his mind first.

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Gwen shook her head. Their last hope was the Omnitrix as the little device seemed to be good at it. Kevin helped her up and took her back outside for some fresh air. Kevin was glad it was late in the year or the air wouldn't be so much fresh as hot and dry. He gave her about ten minutes to regain her composure before confronting her.

"What do you want to do?" She took a breath, her answer already prepared.

"Call him." She pulled out her cell phone as they walked back to the car. It rang once, twice, three times before she heard a click and someone fumbling with the phone.

"Hello?" She was not at all pleased that he sounded a little freaked out.

"Ben? Are you alright?" Kevin looked back at her, hoping that Ben hadn't managed to get into trouble while they were gone.

"No, not really… All this stress must be going to my head."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm dreaming of Ghostfreak." Gwen grimaced; that wasn't a good sign. "You found something out, right?"

"Oh, yeah… but you're not going to like it."

"Well, I wasn't expecting anything good."

"Ben," She began, afraid he may go into shock. "The DNA anomaly… When you were electrocuted, the energy transferred some of Ghostfreak's DNA to you." Silence fell on the other end. That was what worried her the most. No panicked breathing, no angered yelling, nothing.

"Ben?" She pulled the phone away from her ear and realized that he had hung up. That made her panic.

"He took that well, didn't he?" Kevin commented. He was lucky Gwen was too busy running frantically back to the car to give him one of her dreaded energy slaps. He sprinted after her, jumping into the car and not bothering with safety measures such as seat belts. Kevin floored it and they were within the city limits in five minutes. Another seven and they were screeching to a halt in front of Ben's house. Gwen could barely contain her anxiety as she knocked on the door. Ben's father answered and greeted them with a smile.

"Hello, you two," He said, inviting them in. "Ben's upstairs. He was sleeping for awhile but I'm pretty sure he's awake now. Made a bit of a ruckus, but he's been quiet ever since." It was a good thing that Mr. Tennyson had no idea how badly those words stung them. But Gwen mustered up a smile and a thanks before going up the stairs as calmly as she could, Kevin right behind her.

The quick walk slowly turned into an even paced one as they reached Ben's room. The door was slightly ajar, until Kevin pushed it the rest of the way. The room was a mess. A pillow and several books were throw half-hazardly about the floor while a lamp had been pushed off the night stand, shining a beam of light through the top of the shade against the opposite wall. The blinds had been shut a little lopsidedly so that the sun still poked through in thin streams. One wall had a shallow fist-sized hole in it, the paint gone so that the plasterboard underneath was visible.

Ben, however, was nowhere to be seen among this mess until Gwen rounded to the other side of the bed where he sat in the corner, curled into a ball. On his right hand, his knuckles were bleeding, indicating how the hole in the wall came to be. He seemed to be unaware of there presence. Gwen gently laid a hand on his shoulder when suddenly Ben freaked out. He inhaled sharply and made to press himself even further into the corner until he saw who crouched before him.

"You scared the hell out of me!" He shouted angrily, pulling his legs back up to his chest. Kevin wasn't put-off by his tone.

"You scared the hell out of us!" He retorted.

"Ben, what's going on?" Gwen asked gently. Ben gave her a slightly cynical look.

"What's going on? You can't possibly expect me not to be furious with myself after that!"

"You made a mistake! You're only human!"

"Not anymore!"

"Don't yell at her!" Kevin defended, picking Ben up by the front of the shirt. He didn't seem deterred by that as he made to yell back when a beep made them all freeze. That was the sound the Omnitrix made when it activated. Kevin put him down as Ben raised the watch to his face.

"DNA anomaly." It repeated. Ben felt an uplifting feeling when realized something that made his stomach sink. It had given him no course of action.

Kind of left you with a Dun-dun-dun feeling huh? lol I already have everything planned out from beginning to end, but I would like to hear your guys interpritation on how it should end. Little bit of a challenge there, so tell me your opinion cause I am interested! (I don't care if it's a review or a PM by the by.) Xangebell3