Chapter 7
Roxas backed away fearfully, raising his hands protectively as Kim, Gwen and the fish men Ben and Benjamin walked slowly towards him, all of them giving him dark looks or smirks.
"Come on guys, that wasn't intentional, I promise." Roxas said hastily as they got closer. "I only meant to block the Ben duo's path, create a giant wave."
"Well, you did." Benjamin said lowly, Ripjaws' voice making him sound even scarier. "And now it's payback time."
"Eep!" Looking positively terrified, Roxas turned on the balls of his feet and ran as fast as he could towards the RV, much to the amusement of the others.
"Come on, let's go scare him some more." Ben chuckled, pointing towards the vehicle. However, before he could get more than three steps, the Omnitrix started flashing red and a second later, he was consumed by a flash of red and reverted to normal. "Oh man! He's not going to be afraid of me now."
"Neither is he." Roxas shouted, glaring up at the sky. Tensing, the others turned just in time to see a dark clothed, pale figure floating cross legged in the air before a ring of magic was released from his raised staff. The ring increased in size dramatically as it rapidly approached them and created a huge wave of its own.
"Everyone move!" Benjamin shouted, causing the group to scatter. However, only Gwen, who'd managed to grab Ben's body board and used it and a wind spell to take off into the air, was able to avoid the assault, the other three being blown straight off their feet with garbled gasps and cries for help. The spell didn't stop there however, as the ring followed the wave it created to the shore and struck the three again just as the wave tossed them onto dry land. Before they could even move, the sand that was blown onto them by the ring's approach turned to stone, leaving only their heads free.
"Argh! What a spell." Kim groaned painfully, struggling to turn her head towards the approaching enemy. "I haven't even seen Lucky Girl do anything nearly as impressive. Who is he?"
"The world's most dangerous sorcerer." Gwen said lowly, her expression conveying an interesting mix of ferocity and fear. "And the man with the Archamada Book of Spells. Hex."
"That explains how he managed to acquire a spell that could affect both the water and the earth." Roxas gulped, summoning both of his Keyblades. "Future you told me that that book is the Ultimate book of sorcery. There's only one other book of magic as great as that one and no other can compare to them. If he's using spells from that, then we're screwed."
Floating almost lazily, Hex landed lightly on the sand, moving his book from his lap to a small bag connected to his belt at his side as he stood up. Scanning the group around him, he smirked at the three trapped on the ground, ignored the old man running from the RV and focused his gaze squarely on Roxas.
"You are the one with the unique magic." Hex stated scanning him over with critical eyes. "Strange. Definitely unique, and powerful, but not even close to what I sensed before. Tell me boy, who used the immense power that brought you to this realm?"
"That was a freak accident that involved a sorceress in the future and a powerful piece of alien tech. The sources are beyond your reach." Benjamin shouted angrily before Roxas could respond. "Leave this place Hex, and don't come back."
"Now why would I listen to a fish out of water?" Hex smirked, letting it grow larger as he noticed Ripjaws' air was running short. "You'll be dead very soon, so if I were you I'd stop talking. Besides, I have other business with the sorcerer too." He added raising his staff at the Keybearer, yellow energy gathering in its mouth. "Your magic is different from any I've ever sensed before. Nor have I ever seen someone cast a spell that slowed down time, if only within a set range. I want to know all of your secrets."
"If you think you're going to learn anything from me then you have a few screws loose." Roxas growled, raising his blades. "But I will give you a taste of what I've got. Light!"
Hex was quick to respond to the nine light javelins flying his way, creating a yellow force field himself, and grunted as the power behind the attack still managed to push him back two feet and back into the shallow water. The spell was much stronger than he expected and it was a challenge to keep his shield up.
"Aquata Risa Spackwata!" As Gwen chanted, a blue glow appeared on the water's surface around Hex's feet before it sprang up like a huge geyser, surprising the dark sorcerer so much that his force field dissipated.
Taking advantage of his unbalanced position, Roxas ran straight at him as fast as he could, his Keyblades glowing with light magic. The magic grew brighter and stronger before he thrust his Keyblades forward, pointing them right at Hex's chest, leapt forward and was consumed by the magic, streaking like a white comet at higher speeds than anyone could hope to run.
However, the light attracted Hex's attention and due to the large distance between them, he was able to levitate out of the way before being hit. Without any solid to strike, Roxas ploughed right into a wave, creating a very large explosion of water.
"An impressive trick, I must admit." Hex commented as Roxas pulled his upper body back out of the water, choking on water, smirking smugly at the boy. "Mixing magic with your physical strength and weapons in such a way is a rare find, but it hides nothing of your intention. At such a distance, it is child's play for a master magician to avoid it."
"Not...entirely true you night of the living dead reject." Roxas snapped between breaths. "I did intend to hit you, but that wasn't my only intention. You've failed to see the other."
"And what would that be?" Hex asked confidently, his senses detecting no other magic aside from Gwen's.
"Our friends managed to free us." Hex's eyes widened as Ripjaws burst from the water and up passed even his level of altitude before he spun in the air and slammed his tail into Hex's torso, sending him sailing back towards the dry sand with a pained gasp.
Grunting as he picked himself up from the small crater he'd created in the sand, Hex looked back to where the others had been trapped just in time to see Max putting what looked like a wrench with a small laser coming from it away while Danny put his hand through the stone holding Kim and pulled her out effortlessly.
"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this." Kim stated, smirking darkly at Hex as she, Gwen and Danny approached him, each with their fists clenched and ready. "No one seals us in stone and gets away with it."
"Aw man! The stupid watch is still in the red. I'm useless." Ben whined, smacking the Omnitrix in frustration.
"It doesn't matter, we can handle this guy just fine on our own." Danny responded as his hands glowed green.
But before anyone could make even the smallest movement, green laser beams simultaneously struck Hex and Danny, as well as Benjamin and Roxas just as they made back to the shore, while strange, black ropes were lassoed around Kim, Gwen, Max and Ben and tugged them to the ground with shocked cries.
"Didn't we just get out of confinement?" Kim cried exasperatedly, struggling as hard as she could. However, despite the rope looking thin and frail, it refused to snap.
"Don't bother girl." Looking up, Kim followed the snarling voice to an overly bulky man clad in a very familiar green ninja garbs. However, this guy carried a lot more weapons and gave off a much more menacing air. "That's made of sphinx hair. It suppresses magic and is nearly impossible to break."
"Um, I think we're in trouble." Ben cried, panicking as another Huntsman tied the other side of his rope around Ben's feet. "Hey, let me go!"
"Quiet boy!" Another snarled, dragging a groaning Danny unceremoniously across the ground towards them via another sphinx hair rope, two more tying up Benjamin and Roxas behind him. "We don't listen to magical freaks like you, we slay them."
"And with all of your magic suppressed, slaying you will be easy." The Huntsmaster stated triumphantly, aiming a laser at Hex. "We'll start with this new one."
Hex however, enraged as he was, had other plans.
"Eterla Morbulous!" At Hex's spell, the laser exploded and the outburst of raw power from it sent the Huntsmaster careening into the sand dunes, screaming loudly and painfully all the way. Growling, Hex turned to the ten elite Huntsmen, his staff pointed right at them and their guns and bazookas pointed at him.
Taking advantage of the distraction again, Danny repeated his performance and phased through the rope. Placing his hands together, he prepared an ecto blast, but his movements caught the attention of one of the Huntsmen.
"Look out, freed prisoner." He growled, whipping his bazooka around and firing a large, green energy blast at the same time Danny shot his own beam, cancelling each others' out. "How did you get free?" He snarled, preparing to take another shot.
"My powers are ectoplasmic, not magical." Danny retorted, quickly throwing up an ecto shield as two lasers came his way. "And I'm not the only one to draw power from a non-magical source." He added, catching Benjamin's movements in the corner of his eye. At that moment, Benjamin's hand made it to the centre of his chest and the Omnitrix was quick to respond with a flash of green light.
"Spidermonkey!" The smaller form found it easy to free himself from the rope, though his arms got tangled for a few seconds. Before the end of the rope had even reached the ground again, Benjamin smirked and shot a spider web at their enemies. The Huntsmen tried shooting it out of the air, but the attack was so unexpected and fast that all of their attempts went harmlessly through the holes and hit Danny's shield and the web struck home, ensnaring the Huntsmaster, all of his elites and Hex , slamming them into a pileup against a tree trunk. "Why don't you guys just stick around for a while?" Benjamin joked, jumping up and down as he laughed merrily.
"That alien is too much like my Ben." Gwen groaned softly as Danny placed his hand on her and turned her intangible, causing the ropes to fall from her body. "Weird sense of humor and a totally gross weapon of choice."
"Hey, don't bag me! Besides, that guy just got them all in one shot. He's totally cool." Ben responded excitedly as the ropes were removed from him and Kim, jumping to his feet as Danny moved on to Roxas and Max. "I can't wait to get that one."
Any response was cut off as a flash of yellow blew the web and every Huntsman away from the tree, leaving Hex standing there, upright and his eyes glowing with yellow magic in his rage.
"Do you think a simple cobweb can stop me?" He yelled, thrusting his staff up again. "Tempestus!" Huge streams of water surged from the sea, either striking everyone but Hex or forcing them to dodge away from everyone else before gathering in a large area around Hex, Roxas and Ben, turning into walls of rapidly moving water that ensured that anyone who hit a wall would go up and away from those trapped within.
"You think that will keep me away?" Danny shouted smugly, taking off into the air and over the wall. However, just as he was able to see within the circular battlefield, a yellow beam burst from Hex's staff and struck home right on his chest.
"Argh!" Danny screamed as he crashed into the ground, throwing sand everywhere. Grunting, he pulled himself to his feet and immediately had to go intangible to avoid a high tech mace. "Has anyone else noticed that this is getting more and more difficult?"
"Oh yeah." Kim answered, jumping into a sliding kick as she simultaneously attempted to dodge one Huntsman's laser and attack another, only managing the former as the second guy leapt expertly out of the way at the last minute. Quickly whipping out a pair of sais, he went to impale Kim with one and sink the other into her head only for her to knock his lower hand higher up with her arm and catch both of his wrists with her legs. Using all of her strength and weight, she pulled herself into a backward roll and pulled the guy along with her, smacking him into the ground.
However, he was quick to recover, ignoring all the pain she'd caused, and got back to his feet while her original antagonist prevented Kim from attack him, expertly swinging nunchucks and forcing her to back away. Despite her quick reflexes and maneuverability, the nunchucks made plenty of accurate landings that left her crying out in pain as welts quickly formed on her arms and legs. The long the attacks went on, the more her muscles hesitated to do what she asked of them and the landing blows became much more common, leaving Kim watery eyed before the sai guy even joined back in.
Seeing her situation, Benjamin leapt into a flying kick and landed his foot right on the guys chest while simultaneously slinging a web into the face of the other Huntsman coming up to his left. Pushing off his foe's chest, he leapt into the air again, pushing the ninja into the ground harder as he flew towards Kim. Slinging his tail forward, he shot a web string at the nunchucks before whipping his tail and the thread back, ripping the weapons from the surprised Huntsman's hands. The split second distraction and loss of his weapons was all Kim needed and she instantly lasted out with a kick to the stomach. The sai guy leaped and performed a mid-air flip over Kim with the intent of slashing straight through her shoulders along the way, however, taking in the airborne fighters, Kim smirked at Benjamin and ducked. Spidermonkey easily landed on her back and the second he did, Kim ripped herself upright again, propelling Benjamin right at his target. The sai guy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as four arms shot at him, two grabbing his wrists and the other two unleashing a barrage of punches on his head, chest and shoulders. Meanwhile, Kim continued her own assault with an open palm across the face with enough forced to knock the hard mask protecting his head away before finishing with her best uppercut to his jaw. By the time their attacks were done, Kim and Benjamin were the only ones still standing and quickly leapt away as Benjamin's original targets lashed out furiously at them in place of their fallen friends.
"Saphirius Expectorium Perpetua!" Gwen's glowing hands released a fierce looking whirlwind at another two Huntsmen, but before the winds could reach them, they activated the bow setting on their staffs and shot green energy arrows straight at her. While they jumped into the whirlwind when it reached them and expertly kept themselves upright, the arrows cut straight through it like it wasn't there.
"AAHH!" Gwen screamed, unable to act before she'd be hit. However, nothing stopped Max as he dived straight at her and pushed her safely to the ground, narrowly avoiding the energy arrows, before he jumped right back up, whipping out a small laser gun faster than anyone could see.
"How about a taste of your own medicine?" He growled, firing at the two as they charged in for their newt assault and successfully blew the staffs clean out of their hands. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared for the explosion behind him, courtesy of the two that had been chasing him before.
"Argh!" He screamed as the force of it blew him forward, flames burning his back, before crashing into the sand with a belly flop. Though he twitched and groaned, he showed no signs of being capable of rising.
"No, Grampa! You gotta get up." Gwen screamed, ignoring her own burnt arm as she ran to his side. As she reached him the movement in the corner of her eye alerted her to the four ninjas doing the same thing, daggers and high tech lasers in hand and targeting. "Grampa, we're in real trouble here." She shouted, becoming consumed with panic, but all Max managed to do was groan, his hands shaking as he tried to rise before they just gave out. Seeing the laser barrels about to fire, Gwen ignored her first reaction to scream and raised her hands, the blue glow returning.
"Vortress Nebulae!" The force field appeared just as the Huntsmen fired and successfully protected Gwen and Max from the blasts. However, the lasers were made to combat magic and the fact was made obvious as Gwen groaned and the force field flickered for a second after the impact.
"Great, I won't be able to handle this for long." Gwen muttered worriedly, scrunching up her face in concentration as the two lasers hit again while a guy with a dagger and the other with a metal ball on a chain lashed at her from the other side. "What do I do?" She cried, staring desperately down at Max. "How can I stop people who are highly trained in combating magic?"
"By getting a little help." Danny called cockily, pointing his fingers like guns at the laser shooters. Small lasers shot from his fingers and blasted the guns right out of their hands. He then turned invisible and flew behind the close range fighters and overshadowed the ball and chain wielding one. Spinning the chain as fast as he could, Danny slugged the ball into the dagger bearing guy's gut. The poor victim dropped like a pile of bricks, his light armour doing nothing to protect him from the combined strength of his ally and Danny behind the metal weapon.
"I guess he got too much iron in his diet." Danny smirked as he turned to the other two charging at him and yet a third pair firing energy arrows from where he'd been fighting before. Danny just grinned and exited the body as it was blasted by the other Huntsmen. Raising his arms, he swept them to the sides, releasing a wave of blue, icy energy at the four of them, only for them to leap over or roll under it. Surprised by the expert evasion, he was caught off guard by the first to reach him.
"Argh!" A powerful jab with a green glowing staff to his right collarbone was his reward, sending him spinning to the ground and completely helpless as the other three leapt at him, two preparing energy arrows and the other raising a very nasty looking, jagged toothed sword. Looking up from his spot on the ground, Danny's eyes grew as large as dinner plates as they conveyed pure terror.
"Seco Sofom!" The Huntsmen gasped as their weapons suddenly glowed blue and ripped themselves from their owners' hands. The staffs spun around before their masters and released their arrows straight into the Huntsmen's chests while the sword smashed it's blunt side into its owner's head.
"That'll teach you not to play with knives." Gwen taunted, giving the three a confident smirk. However, it quickly disappeared as all three rose to their feet again, their growls and posture overflowing with rage. Suddenly very scared, Gwen took a step back towards her grandfather and summoned her shield again while Danny sweep kicked the man who'd been shot by his allies as he tried to get back to his feet.
"Man, these guys just don't quit." Danny growled, taking into the air. Checking the other side of the battlefield, he noticed that Kim and Benjamin were having the same problem, even the two that had been down for a while were rising back to their feet. "Did these guys learn how to turn off their ability to feel pain or something?"
...
Within the wall of water, things weren't going much better. Roxas was definitely the more powerful spell caster of the two and his physical capabilities were far superior to Hex's, but Hex possessed far greater knowledge in magic and spells. In addition, Roxas had one weakness that Hex was quite happy to exploit: the defenseless ten year old Ben.
"WHOA!" Ben screamed as an invisible force suddenly tugged him towards Hex. "Help me ROXAS!"
Roxas, focusing his magic through Oblivion, gasped as Ben flew between him and Hex and immediately pulled his magic back. He charged toward the distressed kid, but water shot from the walls and wrapped around his legs, prohibiting his movement. "No, Ben! Let him go you coward." Roxas growled venomously, his knuckles going white around his blades.
"Now why would I do that?" Hex sneered, grabbing the back of Ben's neck and leaving the boy screaming. "This brat has foiled my plans more than once, so I'm very happy to kill him, and he appears to be very important to you. That makes him perfect for getting what I want from you." Hex's staff came to life as he talked and was pointed right at Ben's temple for emphasis. "Tell me about your magic and every spell you know, or I shall destroy him."
"My spells and knowledge are useless to you." Roxas shouted, letting his Keyblades disappear. "You're incapable of using them."
"Do not take me for a pathetic magician." Hex yelled, tightening his grip on Ben threateningly. "I am a master magician, capable of any spell."
"My power is pure light magic." Roxas snapped, getting a raised eyebrow from Hex. "No one can use light magic unless they are master sorcerers who have trained for decades with a very strong light dominating their hearts or one of the seven princesses. Besides mine and my friends' unique cases, Keyblade bearers are the only exceptions, and even then it's only the light magic of the weapon and not spells. Forces of darkness can never use light magic."
"The power of light?" Hex scowled, not liking what he was hearing. "Such power is supposed to be harmless. How can what you possess possibly be holy magic?"
"Light must be able to defend itself from darkness or it would succumb to it." Roxas replied, closing his fist so Hex wouldn't see the light gathering in his palm.
"If that is the case, and yours powers are of magic a dark being cannot wield," Hex snarled, looking Roxas right in the eye. "Then I have no more use for the boy."
"AAH-uh." Ben's scream was cut off as Hex's hand tightened so much it cut off his breathing. Meanwhile, content with strangling the ten year old hero, Hex aimed his staff at the fifteen year old one.
That was more than enough for Roxas and his hand shot up at a speed even Gohan would be proud of. "SLOW!" The flash of light occurred again, this time much stronger then when he stumbled onto the spell, and sent everyone on the beach into slow motion. Before the flash even faded, Roxas had already summoned oblivion and a second later, the white aura around it was stunning. Again moving with greater speed than any normal person could ever hope to achieve, he flipped the blade upside down and struck the ground. "Clear Light!"
The spell unleashed an enormous amount of light from the Keyblade that spread throughout the ground. The water holding him in place was completely blown away from him as the light past his feet and spread to the wall of water. Upon reaching the wall, for columns of light, as thick as castle pillars, shot up from equal distance from each other before pulsing and exploding, neutralising the magic holding the water and blowing the liquid away. Freed from all restraints, Roxas ran as fast as he could towards Hex and the still very slowly struggling Ben, relieved that the boy was in slow motion too. If he weren't he'd be dead by now.
Reaching them just as they started speeding up again, he slammed Oblivion into the staff, sending it spiraling away, before spinning and ploughing his elbow into Hex's face.
Screaming in pain fell back to the ground, releasing Ben in the process who fell into Roxas' waiting arms.
"Th-thanks." Ben gasped, rubbing his throat as he leaned on Roxas' chest, breathing deeply. Just as he was calming down, Roxas' grip on him altered and he pulled the kid back to avoid the claw shaped end of a blue, mechanical staff.
"Power such as yours cannot be allowed to exist." The Huntsmaster roared, taking another swing. Roxas quickly responded by leaping onto the staff, just below the glowing claw end, and leaped into a back flip, putting a good couple of meters between the heroes and the leader of a dark clan. In all the commotion, Ben almost didn't notice the chime of the Omnitrix as the faceplate changed from red to green.
"Huh? YES!" Ben cheered activating the controls. "Time for Four Arms to kick some... Aw man!" slapping the controls back down as Four Arms' picture appeared, the green flash took place, but a very different form appeared in Four Arms' place. To be specific, one that looked like a cross between a blob and a circuit board. "Upgrade? What good is he here?" He asked irritably.
"Figure it out fast." Roxas grunted, parrying the Huntsmaster's staff with Oblivion as Hex rose back to his feet. "I'm gonna need help." Leaning his body weight onto his blade, Roxas forced the Huntsmaster back a step before using the force of his attack to spin and horizontally slash at the Huntsmaster, leaving a large cut in his chest armour.
"Ok, this might work." Ben stated, the ring on is head frowning. Looking straight at the Huntsmaster as he charged at Roxas, he released a powerful yellowish green beam that struck the dark hunter right in his exposed chest.
"AARRGGHH!" The raw power of the beam proved to be far too much for him as it blew him away, dropping his staff in the process, screaming in agony until colliding with a tree just off of the beach, the blast blowing clear through it and sending it to the ground with the unconscious Huntsmaster.
"Nice sho-"
"Reanima Dinamica!" Before Roxas could even finish his compliment, sparks exploded from all over his body.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" His blood curdling scream sent everyone into a split second standstill as he fell limply to the ground, his arms wrapped protectively around his torso as his whole body smoked and shook, his eyes clenched shut and the look of pure agony clear as day on his face.
"A split second is all I really need." Hex smirked, raising his glowing staff as the Huntsmen continued their attack, forcing the other heroes to stay away. "Now it's time for you to die."
I've gotta save him. Ben thought desperately, running as fast as he could as Hex gathered power for an especially powerful spell. He fired another beam at Hex, but the sorcerer merely raised his hand and blocked it with an energy shield before beginning to chant. Oh man, it's too late! There's only one way to save him now. Shoving his foot onto the ground, he made a quick change in direction and leapt in to the air towards Roxas. Even if this costs me my life.
"Tempestus Impaetus!" Benjamin, Danny, Kim and Gwen watched in horror as a lightning bolt shot straight down from the sky, aiming directly for Roxas. However, right before it hit home, Upgrade's warping form appeared over him, shaping himself into a dome and taking the shot himself.
...
"NO, BEN!" Gwen screamed, tears falling from her eyes as she took off towards him. But before she could make it three feet, a firm hand pulled her back.
"NO, LET ME GO, HE'S HURT, I'VE GOT TO HELP HIM!" She screamed, fighting desperately against Danny's grip. However, it proved completely futile.
"No, your Grampa need you more." Danny replied, throwing an ecto shield as three Huntsmen tried to impale them. "Besides, Ben is fine."
"How could you possibly think that?" Gwen snapped, whipping her face to his angrily. "You saw him take the lightning bolt and the only movement he's made since is twitching, like he's in pain."
"That's how I know." Danny answered as he pointed across the battlefield. Gwen looked up and gaped openly as Spidermonkey planted one Huntsman's head into the sand with his foot before jumping into a back flip, hitting the Omnitrix as he landed again and transforming in a flash of light.
"Echo Echo!"
"If past Ben was hurt, future Ben would disappear." Danny stated as Gwen physically calmed down. "Now protect Max while Echo Echo and I finish these guys off."
Taking a deep breath, Gwen nodded and re-erected her shield, leaving Danny free to take to the sky.
"What do you say to a little tune?" Echo Echo's mechanical voice asked, gathering everyone's, minus the three fighting further off, attention before leaving the bulk of them wide eyed as he multiplied until there were thirty of him. Opening their mouths, the Echo Echos only waited long enough for Danny to motion Gwen to cover her ears before unleashing his sonic scream. The Huntsmen screamed themselves as they were forcefully and painfully knocked of their feet by the sound alone, all of them throwing their hands up to their ears. Stunned, groaning and bearing sever migraines that they couldn't ignore, they failed to notice as the horde of Echo Echo had surrounded them, making a perfect circle.
"Time for... The echo chamber." Two stated, one completing the other's sentence as they took a deep breath.
"What do you say we amp it up to the next level?" Danny interrupted, getting curious stares from the Echo Echo as he created three clones of himself before the four of them landed at different points in the circle. "How about a wail chamber?"
Benjamin gave him a smirk and nodded before returning to the recovered Huntsmen. Taking deep breaths, every copy of Benjamin and Danny screamed, the invisible sound waves enhancing the power of the eerie, green ones as they struck home. Weapons were blown away and shattered under the immense power and their owners quickly fell to the ground, not even given the time needed to scream. After a few seconds, the sound attack ended, all of the clones disappearing as they noticed that all of their opponents had lost consciousness.
"Um, I hope we didn't just kill them." Danny muttered nervously, scratching his head. "That might have been too much."
"They're alive, I can feel the vibrations of their breathing." Benjamin responded, looking relieved himself. "Any longer though and that would have killed them."
"Well, I'll tie these guys up, you go check on Ben junior and Roxas." Danny stated, grabbing some of the sphinx hair rope. Nodding, Benjamin took off towards where the last battle was still going on.
...
"How foolish. Now I can destroy you both." Hex sneered, raising his staff one last time. "Farewell." A powerful yellow beam straight for the heroes as Hex laughed, promising death upon impact. But much to Hex's surprise, before it could get close to them, Ben shot back up to his feet in his usual bipedal form and fired a beam of his own, one much more powerful than Upgrade was normally capable of on his own. The beams collided in mid air, clashing at a standstill for a couple of seconds before Upgrade's beam overtook Hex's with little resistance.
"What?" Hex cried, his eyes wide in fear as he cut off his attack and leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the beam. "How is he able to even move? That lightning bolt should have left him at least on the brink of death."
"I'm part machine." Ben shouted cockily, his body relaxing from its previously spasms as he stared up at Hex. "All that lightning bolt did was give me a sudden boost of power that came in real handy a few seconds ago."
"You little pest." Hex growled, throwing out his hand, "Prepare to burn. Berdi – ARGH!"
Before he could complete the spell, a flash of red and green blew by behind him as something metallic struck his back and sent a surge of painful energy into his back. The blow was more than sufficient and resulted in him fall face first into the sand. Pulling himself hesitantly up onto all fours, Hex coughed up sand as he turned to the where his attacker had landed to find Kim preparing for her next attack, the Huntsmaster's staff in hand.
"When fighting alone in a three way battle, you really need to know how to watch your back." Kim taunted, eliciting a growl and venomous glare from Hex. "What's the matter? Can't handle the truth?"
"Let's give him something else he can't handle." Ben called as he leapt towards Kim. Upon reaching her, his form reshaped and became more serpentine before touching and fusing with the staff. Kim watched in amazement as the staff thickened twofold and turned black, decorated by the green circuit board patterns that cover Upgrade's back. The claw grew larger and the mini spikes on the inside became much more defined. Finally, what looked like a laser barrel grew out from the base of the claw, one also appearing at the opposite end of the staff.
"Now this is what I call a weapon." Kim grinned confidently, the extra weight of the staff not hindering her movements at all as she adjusted it to attack.
"And with all of its anti-magic weaponry amplified by me, it's the ultimate weapon for fighting Hex." Ben boasted, the circle from Upgrade's face flashing merrily just below the claw.
"No weapon will ever be enough to stop me." Hex screamed furiously, raising hid hands. "Terra Tremo Eradiko!" Aiming his palms at the ground, Hex released his magic blew up the rocks below the sand, sending an unknown amount of sharp, pointy debris at Kim.
Unphased, she charged straight at it, twirling the staff to knock the potentially lethal projectiles away, Ben releasing a rapid fire from both barrels to protect Kim from what she couldn't hit.
"Impossible!" Hex cried as Kim passed the last of the flying debris with no more injuries than she started with, seeming to be ignoring even them as she sped up. "She has no power, how could she survive that? No mere human could with just a thin pole for protection."
"Clearly, you haven't met a 'mere human' like me." Kim retorted as she leapt into the air. Clasping the Ben-staff firmly in her hands, she swung the brightly glowing claw straight down at Hex's head.
"I won't fall so easily!" Hex growled, throwing a yellow shield around himself. It managed to protect him just fine, but the power of the staff proved to be too much for his reserves as if shattered under the pressure. Twisting around in the air, Kim swung the staff in a diagonal arch Hex's completely exposed back.
"Galeus Disruptus!" At Hex's panicked scream, a fierce wind burst from his body, blowing Kim away. However, refusing to be stopped, Kim used the wind to spin her body like a spinning top at high speeds before tossing Ben like a javelin. With the momentum of her movement combined with her high than average strength and a rocket like burst of energy from the back barrel, the staff broke through and above the wind before beginning its decent, straight at Hex.
"No escape this time." Ben stated viciously, using the back barrel to fire and energy burst to enhance his speed while simultaneously making the whole staff glow with green energy. By the time Hex noticed him, he could do no more than openly and fearfully gape at Ben before he was struck with an explosive bang, throwing sand sky high. Before even the sand settled, a beeping came from the crash point, followed by a red flash, moments before a disoriented Ben walked out into view, Kim smiling in relief from where she landed painfully on her already injured arm. However, she and the others slowly approaching, Gwen and Danny, widened their eyes in horror as another, much bigger form stumbled forth, his glowing yellow hand pointing to the sky while the other held his reopened book.
"I had enough! Prepare for the most destructive spell I know. The hurricane spell." Hex yelled before looking to the sky. "Rava Eelartas Galla-"
"Don't think so!" Two identical, mechanical voices shouted as storm clouds, lightning and wind began gathering above where they stood. Before Hex could finish his spell, a pair of Echo Echo jumped up from behind him and flung a rope around Hex. Holding either end, they each created two more copies of themselves and pulled back, bringing a surprised Hex to the ground and quickly tying him up as the clouds disappeared.
"Gallametroy! Gallametroy!" Hex shouted, panicking as the clouds only continued to dissipate, taking the elements with them. "What is going on? Why isn't my spell working?"
"Sheesh, learn to pay attention." An Echo Echo sighed exasperatedly.
"You're tied in sphinx hair." Stated another.
"And it blocks magic." A third one added before the six became one again and changed back into Benjamin. "So you're not going anywhere."
"But we are." Danny said happily, snatching the Archamada Book of Spells from Hex, ignoring his protests. "I mean, when Roxas is fit enough to cast the spell."
"But he's really hurt." Ben said worriedly, looking back to see his older self carefully picking the blond up. "I don't think he'll be ready to move for a while."
"Actually, it shouldn't take him that long to get ready." Benjamin grinned, bringing confused looks from everyone. Not even his team mates had any idea what he was talking about.
"Benjamin, he looks really bad. Worse than me, that's for sure." Kim said slowly, rubbing what looked like a broken arm. "How could he possibly be ready any time soon without Namine here to heal him?"
"You'll see." Benjamin grinned before looking down at Roxas as the blonde opened his pained eyes. "Roxas, do your thing." Roxas stared up at Ben's eyes for a moment, looking a little confused. There was no doubt in Ben's mind that was because he was drunk on pain. However, after a moment, it changed to a look of realisation and he slowly brought his hand to his chest.
"Curaga!" The word could almost have been mistaken for a groan as he said it, but the white surge of magic covering his body couldn't be mistaken by anyone who had seen Namine's healing abilities before. It didn't last nearly as long as Namine's did, nor did it seem nearly as effective, but when the spell was completed, Roxas' wounds were much smaller and paler, close to being fully healed, but still far enough that they'd be sore and hinder some movement. Smiling proudly, Benjamin set Roxas down, but kept one of Roxas' arms around his shoulders to help support him.
"Since when can you heal?" Danny asked, gaping openly at the blond, Kim duplicating his look.
"I found a spell book on light magic in the Null Void and gave it to him when he pulled me out a few weeks back." Benjamin answered for him. "He's learnt more than one spell from that book"
"Can it heal my arm?" Kim asked, biting her lip in pain as she moved it.
"Not entirely." Roxas said softly, having Benjamin help him lean down and placing his hand on the injure limb. "The spell's only meant for small wounds. But I can reduce the damage of larger ones. Curaga!" Again, his magic flashed and covered Kim's body. She almost immediately relaxed as his magic soothed her pain, not only on her broken arm, but everywhere else as her other wounds completely healed. When the spell had run its course, the only pain left was in her arm and it was significantly less.
"Thanks Roxas." Kim sighed with relief as she rose to her feet. Roxas just smiled before having Benjamin take him to where Max was still lying on the ground.
"Let's see, an animation spell, a transfiguration spell, a spell for a firestorm, ah, here we are." Danny cheered, showing everyone the page he'd found in the book. "A time travel spell."
"Let's see." Gwen said, taking the book. "It says here that we need three ceremonial candles in a triangle for the spell. I think my scented candles in the RV will do it." Handing the book back, she ran towards the RV.
"I guess it's time to say goodbye." Ben said softly, staring sadly up at the four teens as Benjamin, Roxas and Max rejoined the group.
"Yep, plenty of people will go nuts trying to find us in our own time if we don't get back." Danny answered with a shrug.
"And Gwen probably needs healing." Roxas added, refusing to let the other possibility cross his mind.
"Well, at least I got to see that I'm going to make some totally awesome friends." Ben grinned, looking over each of them in turn. "And I know that even normal humans can become as great as super heroes now." He added, giving Kim a bright smile, which she returned. Turning to Benjamin, he took a deep breath before looking him right in the eye. "And I know that I'll grow into someone to be proud of."
"You're already closer than you think." Benjamin replied, smiling proudly down at him. "You showed true selflessness and bravery when you risked yourself for Roxas. Keep those traits and you won't ever go wrong." The smile that crossed Ben's face at that was one of shock as he nodded, promising to keep that in mind.
"I got the candles." Gwen called, lighting them and setting them down into a large triangle as she reached the group. Stepping back to observe her work, she nodded in satisfaction before turning her gaze back to the group, focusing on Roxas in particular. "Are you ready?"
Nodding, Roxas took a few steps forward, with Benjamin's help, and took the book from Danny. He briefly scanned the page, nodding as he got the gist of the spell before turning to Gwen.
"Give me a hand Gwen? I'm not sure I'm still strong enough to cast such a powerful spell." He asked, carefully lowering himself into a sitting position, holding the book out from his chest. Nodding, Gwen took a seat next to him, placing one of her glowing blue hands over his white glowing one. "Leave the time and place to me. Just focus your power into the spell."
Gwen nodded as they both stared down at the page. As one, they began to chant.
"Quis quandum era maflictus, iem feachus mas redentegero, quis venit pro mas nesquam essei!" In centre of the triangle of candles, vibrant blue and white magic swirled like a whirlpool before forming a triangular portal that looked far more impressive than Roxas' usual, pure white tunnels.
"Goodbye young ones. Stay safe." Max said solemnly, looking on the group with pride. "Make the future a place worth living in."
"Make sure we have what it takes to do it." Benjamin replied, hugging his grandfather. "Take care Grampa, Gwen and mini me." Messing up his younger self's hair, he gave the trio one last fond look and stepped into the portal.
"Sorry for causing you trouble." Danny smiled sheepishly as he headed towards the portal.
"And thanks for helping us through this little experience." Kim added gratefully from Danny's side. With a smile and a wave, they walked through the portal and out of sight.
"I guess this is yours now." Roxas stated, offering the book to Gwen. However, the redhead ten year old just shook her head and gently pushed it back to his chest.
"Give it to me in the future. That way, we ensure that Hex doesn't get his hands on it again." She said firmly. Smiling, Roxas gave her an understanding nod and tried to get up, only for Max to help him when his limbs started shaking. Smiling appreciatively, he let Max support him to the portal and dived through it a moment before it closed.
Staring at where the portal had been moments ago, the three remaining behind remained in silence as they thought about what the day had shown them. They had been given a glimpse into both Ben and Gwen's future, though one more than other, and it promised greatness, both as heroes and as people. Now, the only thing crossing their minds was the day that they'd meet these friends again and being ready for when that day comes.