I do not own Ben 10, or any of the characters that have already or will debut in the series.
Note: This project ignores the events of "Race Against Time", "Ben 10 Versus Negative 10". "Goodbye and Good Riddance" and "Ben 10: Alien Force". I have other plans for Ben, Gwen, Charmcaster, Animo, and all the others.
Secondary note: For this project, benwolf is Howlrunner, benmummy is Underwraps, and benviktor is Boltneck.
On the subject of benviktor: I'm not calling him benviktor because that's just a placeholder name that was assigned to him because the creators decided that none of the monster aliens were going to be used after the one story arc(the benmummy appearance in Season 4 doesn't count because the creators have said that the episode he appeared in doesn't count in the storyline). Anyway, I had to come up with a name, and I bounced the names off my little cousin, who picked Boltneck. I never thought of Frankenvolt, mostly because I already named the Megawatt ThunderVolt(now, praise be that the second future episode doesn't count, since that means I don't have to use their kinda crappy name for it). Anyway, that's a little insight into my twisted, diseased mind for ya.
Sorry this chapter's so late. Job hunt, deaths in the families, professionally mourning for some well-hated SOB and a couple of other unpopular people here in the middle of nowhere. Busy, busy, busy.
Everything about her said that she was angry. Her walk, her expression, everything. It was Xander's job to keep her in line, but all that meant was keeping her happy. And right now, he was failing at his job.
"Look, all we need is for you to do this show. It's the end of the tour, you can go home, rest up for a while, and then-"
She raised a hand and stopped walking. Xander stopped too; this response had been drilled into him by the record company. Whatever Gothika wants, she gets. Put up with her temper tantrums, deal with her problems, do whatever she wants. No questions.
"It's not the tour, lackey. It's . . . it's a family thing. I heard one of my dad's old enemies was in town, and I want one of his traveling companions here. Tonight. I'll give you his name, you take care of the details. Got it?"
"Yes, of course. But, this isn't going to be like Phoenix, is it?"
He hoped that nothing would ever be like Phoenix. What had happened had made Gothika very angry, and he'd taken the brunt of that anger. Never mind that it was her fault; she had thrown a fit. He just had to keep her from doing that.
"I'm not going to kill them, if that's what you mean. I've just got a little surprise in store for him. Now, bring me a Tennyson."
Ben 10
Wreck and Roll
Ben was in the middle of a nap when the sound woke him up. It was squealing. Someone in the Rust Bucket was squealing. Only one of the people that was usually in the Rust Bucket squealed. Groaning, he pulled the pillow out from under his head and threw it at Gwen.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to take a nap here."
Gwen ignored Ben, turning to Max instead.
"Please, can I go? Please, please, please?"
"What is she talking about? Can she go to what?"
Gwen shook her head, as though Ben should have known what she wanted to go to. Ben scowled at her in response. Max, as he usually did, stepped in to mediate.
"Gwen won tickets to a concert playing here in Cleveland."
"Ugh. What washed-up pop diva are you so eager to see this time?"
"She's not washed-up! She couldn't be more popular right now!"
"Whatever. Who is it that I'm not going to see?"
"Gothika."
This stopped Ben immediately, but the shock quickly wore off, to be replaced by incredulity.
"Wait, you listen to Gothika? Since when?"
"That's none of your business."
"Oh, man. You only started paying attention to her after the thing in Phoenix, didn't you?"
"What thing in Phoenix?"
"Nothing, Gran-"
"She twisted a bird's head off on-stage in Phoenix. It got played on all the news networks for a couple weeks. She got in a lot of trouble for that."
Max looked at Ben, trying to determine whether or not he was lying. When he was done, he looked at Gwen.
"Is this true, Gwen?"
"She apologized and everything. Paid a huge fine and-"
"I see. You know, your parents would be very angry with me if I let you go to something like that."
"They don't need to know! Besides, if I don't go, someone will end up scalping the tickets. You don't want someone to break the law over this, do you?"
"That's a pretty slim reason for me to let you go to this. I don't think you'll be going, Gwen."
Gwen made an arcane sign with her hands behind her back. A little twinkle flashed in her eyes, and then mimicked itself in Max's eyes.
"Please, Grandpa Max? Please can I go to the Gothika concert?"
"Sure, Gwen. What time is it?"
"WHAT!? You can't be serious, Grandpa! Gothika's a-"
"He said I could go, Ben. Isn't that good enough for you?"
Ben scowled at her. He'd seen enough to have a pretty good idea of how Gwen had gotten her concert, and he didn't like the idea. However, if it worked the way he thought it did, arguing would only serve to mess up Max's mind. Crossing his arms, he rolled over to stare at the wall.
"You're not seriously going out like that, are you?"
Ben was staring at Gwen. His normally killjoy of a cousin was dressed head to toe in black. She'd added a few leather armbands, and even a dog collar, set with gleaming metal spikes. She'd even spiked her hair and streaked it with black.
"Oh, come on. I can't go in my regular clothes. I wouldn't fit in like that. What do you think?"
"I think your dad would kill Grandpa if he knew you went to this concert dressed like that. Just like Grandpa would kill you if he knew you messed with his head using magic."
"Wh-what are you talking about? I didn't-"
"Right, so the finger-waving and the flash in your eyes just happens normally? I don't think so."
Gwen glanced around to see if Max was behind her, and then turned back to Ben, her eyes looking a little frantic.
"You can't tell him about this! He'd-"
"I'm not going to tell him. You are. Now."
"Do you have any idea what he'll do to me if he finds out that I-"
"Right now, you're up there with Charmcaster and Hex. I get grief from you about using the Omnitrix for personal reasons, and now you've just shown me that I shouldn't listen to you."
"How dare you compare me to Charmcaster? She-"
"Doesn't care what effect her magic has on others, just like you. You just haven't gotten to the property damage level yet. This isn't the first time, either. Just the first time you did it to him."
"I'll tell him after the concert, all right? That way, everyone wins."
"No, you'll tell him when he gets back in the Rust Bucket."
"Who'll tell me what now?"
Gwen stiffened at Max's voice. Ben smirked a little, though not enough to get Max's attention.
"Yeah, Grandpa, Gwen has something she wants to say to you. Don't you, Gwen?"
Gwen opened her mouth, but a loud explosion cut her off. Ben and Max rushed outside just in time to see a fireball shoot up about a mile away. Ben activated the Omnitrix, and was racing away as XLR8 in mere seconds. Gwen watched as the blue-black streak shot towards the source of the fire. Max jumped into the Rust Bucket while Gwen let out a sigh of relief. Ben would be too distracted by whatever had set off the fireball to tell Max that she'd clouded his mind.
"All hail Skinflint, the baddest brawler in all Ohio!"
XLR8 stopped to take in what he was fighting. The guy looked like he was made of rocks, some vaguely humanoid sculpture built by a caveman. And he was on fire. Blue flames wreathed his entire body, but it didn't seem to concern him in the least. Raising his right hand, he shot fire like a blowtorch at a mobile hot dog cart, sending the likely owner running in panic. Judging by the wreckage, the police had already tried and failed to stop him. I've gotta put out those flames. Then, he's not nearly as tough. I hope. XLR8 turned his head when he heard tires screeching. It was Max in the Rust Bucket. The rock guy, Skinflint, took advantage of this distraction to shoot a blast at XLR8.
"Ben, look out!"
XLR8 shot to the left, all the while praying that Skinflint couldn't actually control the flames after he launched them. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have that ability, and the flames shot harmlessly past. Looking around for something with which to fight the burning brawler, he found himself next to a fire station. That's it! XLR8 skidded to a halt just inside, and belatedly realized that seeing something just appear the way he did whenever he stopped suddenly might frighten people. His faceplate slid up, and he saw one of the firemen stagger to his feet. The other two were just staring at him like he was some sort of boogeyman escaped from a nightmare. Okay, that might not have been the best way to come in here. However, he didn't have all that much time to make nice.
"Grab a hose, and follow me!"
To their credit, the firemen didn't hesitate to follow the order, and in less than a minute they were carrying the hose to the nearest fire hydrant. It took even less time to get the hose attached. During this time, XLR8 had laid down the groundwork of what they would be doing with the hose. Then, all he had to do was get out of the way when the firemen turned on the hydrant, blasting Skinflint with a large amount of water. He let the firemen spray for half a minute, and then rocketed inward. He went low, knocking Skinflint's legs out from under him. Before he could do anything else, he heard that familiar beeping noise that told him that he was a few seconds from turning back into Ben, and that would be a bad thing if he was still around Skinflint when he changed back. In order to avoid that, he shot down the street, sliding into an alleyway just as the Omnitrix timed out. All in all, not a bad job. Less butt-kicking that he liked, but it still turned out better than some of his fights with whatever the universe threw at him.
It was hours later. Gwen was at her concert, and Ben and Max had just finished dinner. More accurately, Max had finished dinner while Ben had gagged over whatever lower life form Max had cooked this time. Ben stepped out for some air, thinking about how he was going to get Gwen to tell Max that she'd messed with his head. He normally wasn't really responsible, but this was dangerous to both Max and Gwen. He might get severely brain-damaged, while she might end up a rogue witch, like Charmcaster.
He was still mulling over the problem when Max called him into the Rust Bucket. Ben found him holding a CD case in his hand. One of Gwen's Gothika CD's, Ben noticed
"Ben, who is this on this CD?"
"I think it's Gothika. Why?"
Max didn't answer. Instead, he flicked a switch under the table. With the activation of the switch, a section of the table popped up, revealing one of the myriad pieces of Plumber tech hidden throughout the Rust Bucket. This was a computer of some sort, although there was no keyboard. Instead, it had what appeared to be a scanner. Ben's guess was confirmed when Max put the CD case face-down onto it, activating the device. In seconds, the image from the case had loaded onto the screen.
"Computer, compare visual image to Subjects E-4625 to E-5219."
The image of Gothika shrank into one of the corners of the screen. Images of various beings Ben didn't recognize began flashing onto the screen. Before Ben could ask what Max was thinking, the stream of pictures stopped. Ben got a good look at the image. It was a man who looked very similar to Gothika's picture. Sure, his hair was blond instead of metallic blue, and his eyes were less almond-shaped than hers, but there were more than enough similarities.
"So, what's this supposed to mean, Grandpa?"
"It means Gothika is related to an old Plumber enemy. All of a sudden, Gwen's winning that ticket doesn't seem all that innocent. Let's go get her out of there before something happens."
"So, who was this guy, and what did he do to get on the Plumber's radar?"
Max was driving towards the convention center that was hosting the concert as fast as he could without risking a cop pulling him over. As he drove, he educated Ben about this former threat.
"His name is Mark Reterford, stage name Marky Marvelous. He was a musician back in the late 60s. We got brought in after a few riots happened after his shows for five concerts running."
"That doesn't mean anything. Riots happen after a lot of stuff. Sports games, concerts, stuff like that."
"But Marky got the riots started. His guitar had a subsonic projector that brainwashed anyone that listened to his live shows. After a few encounters with him, we got him to turn over the guitar and the plans for the projector. We stopped watching a few weeks after that."
"And you think Gothika wants payback for whatever you did to him forty years ago?"
"If I were her, I would. But let's just hope she's not like that."
The convention center was deserted when they got there, which was strange, considering that the concert would have ended only about half an hour ago. Max pulled out a weapon from one of the secret compartments that littered the Rust Bucket. Ben knew that he might need to go hero, and was mentally sifting through his aliens, trying to figure out which one would be best for this.
The inside of the center was just as deserted as the outside. No one cleaning up the mess left by the concertgoers, no merchants packing up their T-shirt stands. No one at all. Max lead, with Ben following as quietly as he could. They eventually reached the room where the concert had been held, still without seeing anyone. Max pressed his hand to the door, listened for a second, and then shoved the door open.
There were only two people in the room when Ben and Max burst in. Gwen was one of them, sitting cross-legged on the stage, eyes closed. The other was pale-skinned, with long hair dyed metallic blue. Tattoos ran the length of her arms. She was Gothika, and she was strumming on her guitar as she sat on the edge of the stage. She looked up when she heard the door open, and a wicked smile blossomed on her face.
"Oh, there you are. I was worried you might cut and run. Guess I don't know you as well as I thought."
"You don't know me at all, but I know you, and all your little tricks."
And with that, Max fired on the guitar. The strings evaporated from the heat of the blast, while a huge hole blew open near the neck. Gothika looked at the damage, shrugged, and tossed the ruined instrument aside, still grinning.
"Please. I can just buy another one. Isn't that right, Red?"
"Yes, it is."
Ben looked at Gwen. Her statement had been completely emotionless. She opened her eyes, and both Ben and Max could see that they were unfocused, as though she were in a trance. Max was confused.
"But . . . without the guitar . . . "
"Looks like you don't know me as well as you thought. June of '69, Palisades Arena. You tried to take Daddy out with your Alpha Beam Projector. Shook him up enough that he surrendered the guitar and the plans to you."
"You had someone hack the files? But, that's supposed to be impossible."
"Yeah, back when you made the files, maybe, but all your security has seriously degraded by now. Anyway, you never followed up on Daddy after his surrender. Shelved the Projector, too. Right?"
"What does this have to do with my granddaughter?"
"The Projector mutated Daddy. Not enough to turn him into a monster, but his kids, on the other hand . . . "
Ben was sick of waiting for Gothika to finish her speech. He activated the Omnitrix, depressed the dial . . . and turned into a tall, tan alien. Green light shone from cracks in the skin. His fingers were flat as paper, and his head looked like an Egyptian headdress.
"Underwraps? Oh, come o-"
"No time to complain, Ben. Get Gwen out of here, now!"
Underwraps willed his fingers and arm to extend, and they shot out towards Gwen. Seconds before he could get hold of her, she opened her eyes and did a somersault over the appendage, landing a few feet to the left. Balling up her fist, she swung it like a punch towards Underwraps. He almost laughed, until he saw the ruined guitar flying at him. He pictured something he'd seen the mummy alien do the first time he'd fought it. Focusing, he separated the tendrils that made up his body, allowing the guitar to pass through him.
"Red, take it outside. I gotta have a talk with the old man."
Gwen nodded, and then rushed Underwraps. Before he could re-separate his body, she had grabbed him and was rushing him out the door. Either she was enhancing herself with magic, or Underwraps was a literal lightweight. Whatever reason it was, Gwen was dragging him through the convention center, and he couldn't do much to stop her without hurting her.
Max turned his head back from watching one grandchild give the other one the bum's rush. Gothika was giggling.
"It's so cute, isn't it? You know, watching one of your own destroy the other? Classic."
"All right, answer me. How are you controlling her?"
"Oh, I guess I can tell you. I mean, I already know you've got bupkus by way of gadgets to stop me. Your Projector messed with Daddy's DNA. When he and my mom made me that got passed on. I now project hypnotic subsonics through my skin. Cool, huh? And now, I'm going to use your granddaughter to destroy everything you ever cared about. And then, I'll kill you for making me into a freak."
"And what makes you think I'll let you do that?"
"You're right. I'll kill you now, and then destroy your family. More feasible, now that I think about it."
"How are you going to kill me? I'm the one with the weapon."
"Aw, man. Guess I didn't think about that. Man, it just makes me want to scream."
As the last word came out of her mouth, she dropped her jaw. A screech tore out of her throat, a wall of sonic force that blew Max through the back wall of the auditorium. It took him about a minute to get up. By the time he had, Gothika was about a foot away from him. She was still grinning toothily, like this was just some kind of sick joke to her. She opened her mouth to scream again, but her eyes suddenly unfocused, and she collapsed next to Max. Max looked up to see a bald man dressed entirely in black tucking a syringe into a pocket on the inside of his leather jacket.
"Max Tennyson?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Xander Cruz, Metahuman Surveillance Division. I've been watching Gothika for years now, staging as one of her hanger-ons. Thanks to you, we have the evidence we need to justify locking her up."
"But, what about my granddaughter? She's-"
"Gothika only projects when she's conscious. Your grandchildren will be fine. I'd advise you getting out of here before anyone else shows up."
Max nodded. He knew this drill, but this was the first time he was on the receiving end of it. Picking himself up, he went to look for Gwen and Ben. Hopefully, he could find them before anyone else showed up. Less questions to answer, the better.