Anti Ben 10 ch4: Permanent Retirement
The Rust bucket sat in the car park of the Booze and Ribs Bar, Max the only one inside, enjoying a beer, plate of ribs and a few smokes.
Gwen sat inside the R.V texting her friends, updating her twitter and window-shopping on her new phone. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye, which made her pause her multi-taking. This took all of her attention. Out of the window Ben was shadow boxing, dodging and weaving invisible punches. Putting her phone down and kicking open the door she watched him for a couple of seconds with a puzzled look. "What are you doing?" She asked in the mortified tone used by teenage girls when someone they know is doing something embarrassing.
"Shadow boxing" Ben answered as he ducked a blow and followed with an upper cut and a hook.
"Okay... Why?" She asked more puzzled than ever.
"To get stronger, I figure if I get stronger as Ben my alien forms will get stronger. Especially four-arms." Ben explained as he stopped moving and wiped some sweat out of his eyes.
"That's... Actually pretty smart, for you." Gwen jumped from the steps and landed a kick on Ben's back sending him stumbling forwards. He overbalanced and fell to the ground. "Though boxing is one of the weakest forms of fighting," She said with a snide grin. "when compared to martial arts." She chuckled. As Ben climbed to his feet he clenched his fists, ready to show Gwen just how 'weak' boxing was.
They were suddenly distracted as a man came flying out of the bar door. After him Max stepped out and puffed on a cigar. "Nothing better after a beer and a plate of ribs than a fight and a smoke." Max chuckled, stepping over the man towards Ben and Gwen and holding up two doggie bags. "Why don't you kids eat these, then I'll show how good a fight feels afterwards."
Ben and Gwen glanced at each other and shook their heads "Other than that, I can handle anything" Ben grabbed the bag Max threw to him. Opening it he grabbed a sticky rib and ripped off what meat was on it
"Good, cause we're going to stay with your Aunt Vera for the weekend."
Halfway to swallowing Ben choked on the meat, earning a hard slap on the back from Gwen "Vera?" Ben choked, his eyes going wide. "But she's boring, and pinches my cheeks, and boring. And still treats me like I'm five. And Boring, did I mention how boring she is?"
"Maybe, but she's rich" Gwen smiled, Ben could swear her eyes were about to change to dollar signs "Quick grandpa, what're her favourite things?"
"Why do you want to know those?" Ben asked as he grabbed another rib, getting the sauce everywhere but his mouth
Gwen rolled her eyes as though Ben was being deliberately stupid. "Duh, if I get in good with aunt Vera she'll put me in her will then when she's gone I'll be set for life. Hello serious money!"
**...**
Ben looked out of the window gloomily as the drove past the main gates of the retirement community.
Max shouting over his shoulder, "Here we are, Aunt Vera's Retirement Village."
He meant that literally, Vera had made a lot of money in wise investments over the years
"Great, the closest thing to fun around here is probably watching the grass grow" Ben moaned, slamming his head hard onto the table.
"Well too bad you don't want some more money from aunt Vera," Gwen smiled as she typed away at her laptop, she'd just spent the hour long drive through the desert looking up Vera's favourite hobbies, stuffed bird collecting and bird calling, commemorative plate collecting as old Las Vegas casino chips. She'd spent a good part of the journey trying to perfect birdcalls and driving Ben to try and knock himself out, there was a sufficient dent on the bathroom wall.
As Max parked the Rust Bucket in front of Vera's house. She was waiting at the door for them, giving a big cheery wave and smile. As Ben and Gwen stepped out of the R.V she rushed forwards and hugged them hard "Benjamin, Gwendolyn. It's been so long since I've seen you. Why it seems only yesterday you were both just little babies."
"Hi aunt Vera." Ben and Gwen said in unison, muffled and half suffocating in her ancient cleavage. There would be many nightmares to try and repress from those few seconds.
"Let me see your faces, oh Gwendolyn you're growing to be a beautiful lady" Vera smiled brightly as she grabbed Gwen's cheeks and squeezed them so hard Gwen felt like her face was being torn off.
"Thanks aunt Vera" Gwen rubbed her cheeks, which were quickly turning red. "Ow" She said to herself
"Benjamin, growing to be so handsome." She grabbed Ben's cheeks and squeezed them just as hard "and so strong."
"Thanks," he slurred through his stretched lips, as his cheeks were squeezed, but in his mind he thought. 'Let go of my face bitch, and give me money.'
"Max!" Vera squealed happily. She let go of Ben's face and hugged Max. Ben rubbed his cheeks and wiped sweat from his face
"Why do old people have to live in places SO hot?" He muttered to himself as Vera and Max entered the house. Suddenly something ice cold splashed on the back of his neck and he gave out an involuntary yelp as he felt it run down his back. Turning he saw Gwen holding a water pistol and laughing "What the hell?"
"Its called water dweeb." Gwen laughed pointing the pistol at Ben, "you can do more then drink it, you can even use it clean yourself." As she ran passed him she squirted another shot at Ben, hitting him in the face.
Clearing the water from his eyes he grumbled to himself as he looked up and down the street, checking to see if anyone had witnessed the small humiliating yelp. The only person he saw was an old man on top of his roof trying to get to his satellite dish, who didn't seem to have noticed a thing. He'd almost reached the top when he suddenly lost his footing and slid down the roof toward the ground. His feet slammed into the gutters and for a few second he managed to keep balance before, slowly, started to fall backwards.
'Good' Ben thought to himself, a grin emerging on his face. 'An old geezer breaking his hip is the laugh I need right now'
Suddenly the old man jumped back, flipping around in the air in a way that would make the most flexible gymnasts jealous he landed safely on his feet without a hair out of place. He straightened up and walked into his house as if nothing unusual happened. Staring, with a shocked look on his face, Ben snapped back to reality. "Okay...that happened." He decided it would be best to ignore what he just saw. Trying to work it out would cause nothing but headaches.
Entering Vera's home he looked around and it was exactly how he expected it. Boring. The walls were a dull colour, the furniture was covered by plastic and all the walls were shelves of stuffed birds, glass cases filled with boxes of old poker chips and commemorative plates. Just standing in the room Ben felt 60 years older.
"Ugh, why do old people homes smell like someone's boiling gym socks?" He asked out loud as the smell of the place wafted up his nostrils. He wasn't even breathing through his nose, the scent just invaded them whether he wanted it to or not.
"Now you three must be starving" Vera smiled, walking into the kitchen "I've got some delicious jello moulds ready for just your visit, sit down and I'll bring it through"
As Max Gwen and Ben sat at the table Ben noticed Gwen's eyes shooting around the place, trying to take in as much as possible. Before he could say anything Vera entered with a tray carrying a large pink jello mould with brown and white chunks in it and three plates with large bits of the jello on them "That looks delicious Vera" Grandpa said as the tray was placed on the table "What are those brown chunks in it?"
"Pork chop" She replied happily as she placed a plate in front of all of them "and the white one's are cauliflower."
Ben looked from his plate to Gwen. They had thought Grandpa's choice in food was weird but this made his night-worm fricassee seem almost normal by comparison. She had a look on her face that told him they were both thinking the same thing. This made Ben happy, it meant Gwen would have to work harder to get the money she wanted, a lot harder.
"So Benjamin, what have you been doing so far this summer?" Vera asked.
"Robbing stores and banks across America. And I found a cool alien watch that turns me into different aliens" Ben answered with a straight face. For a second Gwen was worried and was about to follow an urge to kick Ben under the table when Vera, who didn't miss a beat, simply laughed
"Oh you!" She chuckled "Its good to know you have a healthy imagination."
Gwen gave a small sigh of relief, but still had an urge to kick Ben. To distract herself she looked around the room and saw a cabinet full of stuffed birds, some looked a little exotic. Standing up she took a closer look at a small red one "Aunt Vera, is that a stuffed red bill north chickadee?" She asked.
"Oh how perceptive Gwendolyn" Vera gasped, standing up and putting a hand over Gwen's shoulder "and did you know that call of a red bill north chickadee, indicates-"
"Alarm or excitement." Gwen chimed in, both letting out a long trill noise, a copy of the birds call.
"Kiss-ass." Ben muttered under his breath.
While Gwen distracted Vera Ben scooped up his piece of jello and quickly dumped it on Gwen's plate, it seemed he wasn't going to get a normal meal either here or camping with Max.
"Man, I'm Totally stuffed" Ben leaned back in his chair and stuck out his stomach, trying to make it look larger than usual
"Benjamin, would you like some candy?" Vera asked, picking up a large red bowl and showing Ben what looked like dark chocolate, not his personal favourite but chocolate was chocolate
"Now we're talking" Ben smiled as he took the largest piece he could see and threw it in his mouth, after a single bite he stopped chewing and slammed his head into the table 'Coffee! As candy?' He thought to himself, as he let the piece of thinly chocolate-layered coffee fall from his mouth and onto the floor.
"I got to use the bathroom." He said suddenly, springing from his seat and charging across the room, slamming the door behind him and leaning his back against it. "It's the attack of the old people." Ben said to himself as he looked around the bathroom, there was only a small window and unless he pulled it out of the wall he was trapped, at least a normal person would be. "I got to get out of here, and there's only one guy for the job." Pressing the face of the Omnitrix Ben turned the screen until he found the image he was looking for "Or should I say alien."
Slamming down the screen Ben felt his body change, he could feel it get lighter and his vision change slightly, he could feel one of his eyes disappear completely but his perception remained the same. A chill ran through him as his body temperature vanished, then his nerves and bones and, finally, gravity's effects.
"Ghostfreak saves the day." Ben said to himself, his voice changed to a raspy whisper. Turning invisible he glided through the wall back into the main room of the small home where Vera was showing Gwen her small collection of conch shells. They had no idea he was in the room.
"And this one is a Valen Teara, I got this when I travelled to Greece a few years back." She handed Gwen a pale shell, which had a few large spikes on the top "Can you hear the ocean?"
Holding up the shell to her ear Gwen heard a raspy, whispering voice coming from behind her "Looooseeerrr" It said, she knew the voice, Ben had used it to play pranks on her and try to scare her several times. She had just enough restraint to not react. It would raise a lot of questions from Vera she didn't want to answer. "Loooseerrr" It said again and laughed, the laugh alone could send a shiver down anyone's spine. "Slut!"
"Ben?" Gwen spoke out of the corner of her mouth, making sure Vera was distracted by talking to Max first before looking around the room "What are you doing?"
"This summer was supposed to be about F-U-N." Ben floated around Gwen, enjoying the bewildered look on her face as she tried to find where his invisible body was "So that's what I'm going to do" again he laughed before flying through the wall into the street.
"There has to be something I can mess up," Ben said to himself as he looked up and down the street. There were plenty of old people to scare. Maybe he should see how good their heart medication was.
Flying into the home across the street Ben thought no one was home. He hovered from room to room, looking for anything valuable. He saw proof someone was home, a fresh pot of coffee on the burner and a half finished cup, still steaming. Sounds were coming through the thin walls that sounded like snoring. "Time for a good scare" He though to himself "and possibly a broken hip." He stuck his head through the wall, into the bathroom where he saw one of the oldest members of the retirement village in the bath tub, asleep, and unfortunately her bubbles had almost vanished, giving Ben a full view of a very wrinkly, and entirely naked, ancient body.
"Aaaaaggghhh! My eye!" Ben screamed out loud, waking the old lady with a start. Falling backwards through the wall Ben covered his eye with a hand "It burns!" He flew straight up and out of the building.
The image was branded into his brain. The source of many therapist bills for years to come "God damn it, I'm suppose to traumatise them not the other way around!" Ben screamed. He flailed in mid air, clawing at his face as if he could prise the image out of his head. Slowly floating back down to ground level Ben looked at the various houses "I don't know who its gonna be, but someone's gonna have a heart attack before the end of the day or ooh apple pie!" Ben sniffed the air and caught the smell; following it he saw a fresh pie sitting on an open window. "There's nothing I like better than fresh pie." Ben thought to himself, he was about to grab the pie and flee when he noticed an old woman trying to hit a fly with a swatter, it flew out of her reach and landed on the ceiling. Throwing the fly swatter to the side the woman leapt up onto the ceiling herself and ate the fly. She stayed there for a few seconds then dropped down, landing onto the floor as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. She twisted her neck slightly and Ben swore he could hear it cracking. "No way, ninja old people?"
Deciding to leave the pie Ben turned to leave. He saw one of Aunt Vera's neighbours driving one of the community carts with a rolled up carpet in the back. It looked like a golf cart and probably had been one. Suddenly the sprinkler system of the gardens rose up and started spitting water everywhere. The old man's eyes widened in horror and he turned the car sharply to avoid the water, almost tipping the cart in his speed and desperation. A terrified look on his face.
"I wonder what Mr Belvedere is up to?" Ben asked himself, following the old man.
Less than ten minutes later they arrived at the very back part of the retirement village where the dumpsters were kept. Ben watched as the old man picked up the rolled up carpet as though it were nothing more than a bag of groceries, tossed it over his shoulder and hauled it to the gates. Which were tied together to keep animals out. Not even breaking his stride the old man's legs stretched, growing and elongating like stilts, raising him up to ten feet tall. He stepped over the gates then shrank back to normal height.
"This place keeps getting weirder" Ben thought to himself as he passed through the metal fence. He watched as the old man moved a dumpster to reveal two thick, heavy looking metal doors leading into the ground. The doors were definitely too heavy for a normal old man to open, a young man might struggle, but this one opened it like he was opening a refrigerator door.
Ben was about to follow the old man when he heard a beeping sound and the symbol on his chest started flashing red. With a sudden flash of light he was Ben again.
The old man looked over his shoulder. His head twisted around like something in the exorcist, so it was looking the exact opposite of where it should be. Ben stared in shock as the man dropped the carpet and door. His body twisted and shifted as Ben heard the bones snapping and changed, without taking a step the old man's body twisted so it had turned around, facing Ben now. Giving a loud roar he charged at Ben with unbelievable speed, grabbing him as soon as he was close enough. His grip was like iron and his fingers like talons, he lifted Ben like it was a feather pillow, bringing them face-to-face. Reacting out of instinct Ben threw his leg up and kicked the old man in his face. The head whipped back like his neck had broken; his face was upside down and backwards. The old man dropped Ben out of surprise. Ben scrambled away from the fence. He heard noises like bones cracking, catching a quick look Ben saw the man's head righting itself, the bones of the neck shifting back into place. His face was bent inwards where his foot has hit him. Then suddenly it snapped back into place like a balloon inflating, as though it had never happened.
Running as fast as he could Ben leapt and scrambled up the fence. He leapt from the top and as soon as he hit the ground he raced to the cart the old man had been driving. Behind him Ben could hear the old man following him, stretching and stepping over than fence again. Jumping into the cart Ben slammed his foot down on the accelerator and the cart shot off. Daring to look over his shoulder he saw the old man chasing after him, and getting closer "Fuck off!" Ben yelled over his shoulder, willing the cart to go faster. Stretching his arms the old man grabbed the back of cart, which dragged him along as he slowly pulled himself closer, looking over his shoulder again Ben saw what he was doing and shouted "Oh you are NOT pulling a Terminator 2!"
Climbing up onto the back of the cart the old man stretched his arms again, reaching to grab Ben "HEY, no back seat drivers!" Ben shouted as he dodged the hands. A few fingers came too close and he bit down hard. His hands too busy holding the wheel. Not watching where he was going Ben drove the cart into the kerb, which sent it flying into the air and crashing down on its side onto the grass. Pulling himself up Ben shook his head, trying to clear it. Looking around he saw the old man pick his distorted body up, slowly twisting back into his normal shape. Suddenly he stretched his arm again at Ben, who tried to dodge by leaping off the cart and out of reach, but the arm wrapped around his leg and pulled him back. He was dragged across the grass Ben tried the watch pressing the button frantically and tapping the red screen but nothing happened. Suddenly Ben felt water spray onto his face and felt himself stop moving. Sprinklers had emerged from the soil and were starting to water the lawn. The old man screeched fearfully, running away from Ben. "That's right old man, you better run" Ben panted as he lay on the grass getting slowly wet "You just saved yourself an ass-whoopin!"
**...**
"Grandpa, Gwen" Ben shouted as he entered Vera's home, they were standing at the kitchen sink obviously just finished cleaning the dishes. Max turned around quickly and shushed Ben
"Your Aunt Vera's in bed." Max told him in a hushed voice, he had an annoyed look on his face as he looked at Ben.
"Seriously? It's like only six-thirty? Never mind, this whole place is worse than I thought, first this old guy does a back flip off his roof, then this old lady runs up a wall and eats a fly then that weird old guy living across from Aunt Vera is an E.T. or something with a face on the back of his head and long stretching arms and legs and-"
"Ben" Gwen snapped. "You snuck out, Aunt Vera was hurt."
Ben showed a blank face "She's old, she'll forget."
"You could have had the balls to say you were bored and walked out but you just had to go alien." Gwen strode up to Ben and poking him in the chest hard with every other word.
Max interrupted before se really got into her stride. "Perhaps we should check out Ben was saying"
"Alright!" Ben grinned. "I say I go Four-Arms and we bust up the old guys apartment." Ben smiled, about to activate the watch.
"No, you stay as you are." Max pulled out a cigar, as Ben looked disappointed, Gwen smiled and slapped him around the back of the head "Vera won't want us smashing up her village. I doubt the insurance covers Alien Attack." He lit the cigar and let out a long puff of the blue-grey smoke.
"You know, ever since you found that thing, you've been a magnet for the weird" Gwen said glumly as Max walked away. Ben suddenly looked like he was trying to resist some kind of pull, failed and slammed into Gwen
"You're right!" Ben smirked
"Very funny" Gwen said in an unamused voice, grabbing Ben by the shoulders and pushing him away from her, without warning she brought her knee up swiftly, hitting her target dead on and causing Ben to collapse and shrink into a foetal position, clutching his groin tightly. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt Gwen dragged him across the kitchen floor, half choking him as she did.
**...**
Max gently knocked on the door, no response from within. After waiting a few seconds he tried the door, it was locked. From a pocket he pulled a piece of twisted wire, which he slid into the lock, with a few skilful twists he heard the satisfying sound of the tumblers clicking into place.
Max eased the door open gently. "Hello?" He called out as he entered "Anyone home?" Behind him Ben and Gwen followed, Ben was still hunched over slightly and Gwen a smug look on her face. Max signalled for them to keep quiet and silently moved into the house. The only sound they heard was a grandfather clocks heavy ticks and tocks as the seconds went by. The place was dark, the shades were drawn. They didn't turn the lights on as they moved through the house trying to keep their presence to a minimum.
Suddenly something flapped in Gwen's face she gasped and kicked. They heard something snap and land heavily on the floor. Turning on the light Max, Gwen and Ben saw a hat, a long jacket and half a coat rack lying on the floor.
"Congratulations, you killed a piece of wood." Ben smiled as Max looked around.
"Well it doesn't seem like anything's out of place." He said as he scratched his chin.
"Except for the rolled up carpet I saw him dump, which was right here." Ben pulled the jacket out of the way to show a patch on the floor, which was lighter than the rest.
**..**
Back in Vera's home Max had pulled the sofa out into a large bed "You two sleep well, I'll be in the guest room if you need me."
"But grandpa." Ben started.
"There's nothing more we can do tonight." Max cut him off, passing over a few pillows and blankets, knowing they'd fight over anything if they had to share it. "Now I'm going for an early walk in the morning but once I'm back we'll check things out again, now get some rest."
**..**
The Next Morning.
Ben opened the fridge to look for some breakfast. "Prune juice, prune juice... And hey look, more prune juice." slamming the door shut he turned to Gwen, who was pouring a glass of water "Why does it seem like old people were always old?"
Hearing someone walking behind them Gwen and Ben turned to see Aunt Vera standing behind them, her face not holding her usual cheery smile.
"Morning Aunt Vera. How'd you sleep?" Gwen asked. One offer to to make breakfast for her would get her in her aunts good books.
"Just... Fine" Vera replied in a monotone voice walking up to them. "How about you?" She reached forwards and grabbed Ben by his cheeks, squeezing them even harder than usual.
"Fine, Aunt Vera" Ben groaned, wanting to snap her thumbs as she stretched his face.
"I made you some coffee" Gwen offered Vera in an overly cheery voice. She held up a tray with a cup of coffee and the glass of water. She held the tray out but it slipped out of her hands and dropped the tray. The coffee and water smashing on the floor and spilling everywhere. Gasping Vera leapt into the air and did a perfect splits, holding herself off the ground by the two counter surfaces "Clean it up, clean it up right now!" Vera demanded.
"Sorry Aunt Vera" Gwen said as she grabbed a cloth and started to wipe up the mess. Once enough had been wiped up Vera landed back on the ground with a heavy thud, noticing the guest room door was open and the bed had already been made. "Where did your grandfather go?" She asked sternly.
"He said he was going for an early walk" Gwen answered, looking as Ben and they both knew something was wrong with Vera.
"Well, behave yourselves, I'll be back soon" turning Vera left Ben and Gwen by themselves as she left the house.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, I totally messed up my chances of being in her will now." She sighed.
"NO!" Ben snapped. "That she's totally one of them." Ben said as the door shut and Gwen tossed the cloth into the sink.
"One of what?" Gwen asked as she carefully picked up the broken mug and pieces of glass.
"Whatever's possessing these old fossils, someone or something got to Aunt Vera and who knows how many other of the living dead around here."
**..**
The day wore on with no sign of Aunt Vera or Grandpa Max. Even Gwen was starting to get worried by the middle of the day, not that she would admit it openly to Ben. He desperately wanted to go looking for clues but Gwen made him stay put, mostly with threats of reporting him to grandpa.
But when sunset started to come around Gwen finally agreed to go looking around with Ben. Max and Vera had been gone far too long.
"So where are heading Sherlock?" Gwen asked as they walked down a small alleyway, Ben's idea to stay out of sight, and put her backpack around her shoulders.
"We need to get back to that trap door by the dumpster." Looking around the corner Ben watched as two old people walked by, they were slowly looking left and right, obviously looking for something, or someone.
Once they walked by Ben and Gwen ran out of the ally, across the street and into another. Negotiating between them they slowly made their way to the dumpsters until they got to the last street
"Its right over there" Ben said as they walked past two old ladies playing shuttlecock
"Ugh, just follow the smell" Gwen nearly gagged. "I thought you smelled bad."
She glanced back at the two woman who stared at her for a minute, then growled at her and whacked two pucks at them "DUCK!" Gwen shouted and pulled Ben down, the pucks flying past where their heads had been.
"Better idea, RUN!" Ben shouted as the two woman/creatures hit puck after puck at them as they ran down the street. They skidded around a corner Ben and Gwen took a second to catch their breath.
"Guys? What's going on?" A voice asked as Max stepped out of the shadows
"Grandpa, they're everywhere" Ben panted,
"I know." Max smiled, his teeth turning into fangs "There's nothing to be afraid of." He growled. "Just come with me." Gwen grabbed Ben and dragged him back around the corner. Max's arms stretched out to grab them; they raced back down the street as fast as they could.
They stopped when they saw Aunt Vera and two other people coming down the street toward them. Fangs in their mouths and their arms stretched to almost two metres wide.
"Come to Aunt Vera." The creature/woman growled. "It'll all be okay."
They turned but the Max/creature barred their path.
"This is not good." Ben said as all four creatures walked towards them.
"Ya think?" Gwen yelled. "What was your first clue?"
Suddenly the Max creature lunged for them. Ben and Gwen ducked, lunged and rolled out of the way, watching as he overbalanced and staggered straight into the other three.
"C'mon!" Ben yelled. He raced for the trash area, Gwen close behind. The three creatures untangled themselves and started after them again.
"Stop!" The Max/creature yelled.
Gwen pulled open the chain link gate and rushed into the garbage area. Ben skidded to a halt at the gate and turned to face the approaching creatures.
"Go, the trap door!" Ben shouted to Gwen. He slammed down the button of the watch, not caring which of his aliens he turned into. His arms became longer and thinner, his eyes shrank and were removed completely, his body grew in size, his spin twisted, forcing him onto all fours as thick orange fur sprouted all over. The fierce creature he called Wildmutt!
Meanwhile Gwen looked among the dumpsters for the trap door. She saw it and slammed herself against the dumpster trying to move it, but was too heavy for her.
Wildmutt growled at her, stepping aside Gwen let him grab the dumpster and throw it at the creatures. The huge and heavy pile of metal slammed into them like a truck, knocking them back ten feet. Turning back to Gwen he growled, barked and slobbered at her. She looked at the bolt on the doors "Got it." she said. "That's scary," She muttered as she pulled at the bolt. "I'm starting to speak Mutt," She complained out loud. "I guess after knowing Ben so long I'm an expert talking to non-human freaks."
She pulled the doors open. Wild-Mutt scooped her up onto his back and leapt down the hole. Just in time. Behind them thick green ooze had leaked out from under the dumpster, a huge puddle of it which was growing and shaping itself into four separate beings. They shimmered like jello and morphed into the people again, complete with fangs and freakishly long arms. Max was different than before, his eye was damaged, red and a different shape than before.
Gwen gripped two fistfuls of fur as they fell, trying not to scream as the wind and darkness rushed around them. Ben dug his claws into the wall to slow down then leapt and landed roughly on the ground "Does look before you leap mean anything to you?" She asked angrily, Wild-Mutt looked over his shoulder at Gwen. "Right, no eyes."
Hearing something above them Gwen looked up to see the creatures were crawling down the side of the walls like gigantic spiders. "Move it!" She shouted, grabbing the fur again and kicking Wildmutt in the sides. He charged forwards into the dark cavern as the creatures landed behind them. Gwen looked behind her after a few seconds but couldn't see anyone chancing them. Skidding to a halt Gwen climbed down from Wild-Mutt as the tunnel forked "These tunnels must go under the whole complex" she said to herself.
Opening his gills Wild-Mutt 'saw' the body heat of someone, their arms stretched forwards, reaching to grab them. His jaws clamped around them before they grab Gwen, yanking hard Wildmutt sent the creature that looked like Max flying towards a wall. Before slamming into it he twisted, flipped and landed on his feet like a cat.
"We can't let you go any further!" He growled and charged at them again.
Growling loudly Wildmutt charged at Max. They collided and Max grabbed him around the neck and picked him up, slamming him into the ground in a reverse body slam. Getting to his feet in astonishing speed Max watched as Wild-Mutt staggered and struggled to get up.
"We don't want to hurt you!" He then punched him in the face. Wild-Mutt's hackles stood on end as he lunged at Max, trying to bite him but the creature dodged. Wild-Mutt threw his weight into Max tacked him into the stone wall. Biting into Max's arm wildmutt flailed his huge head, slamming him into the ground. Flipping him up again Wildmutt shook him like a dog with a toy then threw him hard across the tunnel.
Wild-Mutt charged at the creature and reared on his hind legs, raising his large calwed arms above his head. "You call this a fight!" The Max creature said angrily, its face looked completely like Max again, right down to the twin looks of anger and disappointment playing across his face, he even sounded like him "If you were a real Tennyson you'd have finished me by now!" Using the hesitation it caused in Ben the creature kicked Wild-Mutt in the stomach sending him flying backwards as Max flipped back onto his feet.
"Hey short, dumb and hairy rule 1. That isn't grandpa its an alien freak" Gwen said as she climbed back onto Wild-Mutt "and that leads to Rule 2. Which is we kick alien ass and rip them to shreds. GO!"
Charging at full speed Wild-Mutt slammed into the creature sending it into the wall. With a deep rumbling and cracking sound parts of the ceiling collapsed bringing down huge boulders of stone on top of the creature.
'Sniffing' the air again Wild-Mutt caught something
"Crap! What is it now?" Gwen asked. Suddenly she clung onto his fur for dear life as Wild-Mutt raced down a tunnel as full speed "Slow down you idiot! You don't come with seatbelt" She screamed as they headed for a section of the tunnel that was locked off with huge wooden boards and a weird goo.
The symbol on Wild-Mutt's arm started to flash, instead of slowing he sped up. "Ben... Ben, BenBenBEN!" Gwen screamed as they crashed through the wall. Not a second later there was a red flash and Ben was back to normal, with Gwen sitting on his back.
As she stood up Gwen made sure to dig into Ben's back as much as she could "Hey freak show, what do I look like? A crash test dummy?"
"No you look like a whore to me." Ben grunted as he stood up, he stretched and his back cracked loudly. "I was an alien creature and I bet that wasn't the weirdest thing you've between your legs." Before Gwen could say or do anything Ben cut her off. "Anyway listen, I don't know what it is, but I picked up some kind of scent in here."
They rushed down the tunnel, Ben and Gwen came to and opening which led into a cavern. Down in the centre was a weird looking ship surrounded by scores of huge egg-shaped pods. Climbing down Ben and Gwen could see people through the pods translucent surface. "Holy crap! It looks like everyone in Aunt Vera's Retirement Village has been podded up" Gwen said. She looked and saw one of the people who'd been chasing her and next to him was one of the women who'd tried to take her head off with a shuffleboard puck.
Ben found the one he was looking for "Grandpa!" Grabbing the pod he pulled and tore at its gelatinous surface until it eventually came apart. With a puff of smoke and the sound like air being released from a balloon. Max's body collapsed to the floor. He groaned, clutching his head as Gwen and Ben helping him to his feet.
"Ben? Gwen? I was out on my walk and then... I can't remember what happened next."
Ben reached over for another pod but before he could touch it a voice chanted, "Stop! You cannot!" Stepping out of the shadows were the creatures in the shape of Vera and other members of the retirement community.
"No one tells me what I can't do!" Ben clenched his fists but stepped backwards
"We won't let you put us in danger!" Said the one who looked like Vera's neighbour. His shape suddenly twisted, swelled and melted away. The human form was gone and what stood in its place looked like giant green blob. The other two returned to their original shape as well. Even though all three were green and what little insides they had could be seen their shapes were different from each other
"You can fill me in later!" Max gasped as he reached for a cigar but found none in his pocket.
Gwen stepped backwards as the giant blobs got closer, her hand brushed something when suddenly she almost fell backwards. Looking around she saw she was inside the ship, in a room full of more pods "Look what's back here!"
"Their ship." Max looked over his shoulder, the three blobs stopped in their tracks.
"They found it, quickly we must make sure none of the pods are damaged or disturbed!" The lead one said.
"Why? So you can enjoy eating them later?" Ben demanded.
The blobs stopped again. It was hard to judge their expressions, not having much that could be recognised as a face, but at a guess Ben would say they looked confused. "Eat them? We do not eat humans." A second one said.
"Eat them, fuck them, anal probe them. Whatever the hell you do with them, you're still kidnapping people and putting them in these pods." Gwen stated. She looked around and saw the pod that was holding Aunt Vera in it.
"You do not understand." The lead blob said. "We came to this world to observe humans. We found that when one reaches a certain age their biological functions cease. The state you refer to as death. This brings great sadness to their family. Many of their loved ones wish for them to continue functioning. We decided to help with this wish. In these pods their ageing process is halted, they are preserved and we are able to share their thoughts and memories. By taking on their forms we become a combined entity, a unity of knowledge, through us they can live much longer lives." The lead alien explained.
"So let me get this straight, you kidnapped these old people, replaced them and took their shape just so they can live longer and people don't get sad when they die?" Ben asked.
"We do not 'Kidnap'." the lead alien replied. "They voluntarily chose to be placed into this stasis when we explained the benefits to them. You yourself have observed the great strength and stamina we have brought to their frail forms. The abilities our morphological bodies have given them."
"Yeah!" Ben snapped back. "When you tried to kill us!"
"Kill?" The blobs looked confused again. "We did not wish to kill. We wished only to apprehend you, so we could explain that we are no threat and how your loved ones are safe. This is why we borrowed your grandfather, a form which would be familiar and safe to you. A being you would trust and listen to."
Ben and Gwen remembered one of the first things the Max/Creature had said to them 'There's nothing to be afraid of.' It was hard to trust something that had fangs, elongated arms and a growling voice.
"I don't remember volunteering for that!" Max yelled at them.
"Unfortunatly it was necaserry to contain you, when we wished to talk to you, you attacked us." The alien explained. "We wished merely to borrow your form and knowledge to explain there was no threat to these young ones. We would have released you when the task was complete."
"Then you came into our tunnels." Another one started to speak. "If they came to the ship without knowing its purpose they could have endangered all our lives. We became more desperate to halt your progress."
"You attacked us!" Gwen yelled back. "The one that looked like Grandpa tried to kick Ben's ass!"
"It was he who attacked the unknown creature." One of the blobs replied. "Force was thought necessary to subdue the wild beast. Once it was no longer a danger we could attempt to explain our actions."
Ben and Gwen were left speechless, for a few seconds. Everything they had said had some ring to the truth about it. Maybe they hadn't gone about it in the right way but everything they'd done could have been for the right reasons.
"In the movies we get invaders trying to kill everybody." Ben sighed. "How come in real life we get this star trek crap?"
"So that's all?" Gwen asked. "You just wanted to help these old people live a few years longer in healthier bodies? What happens when they die?"
"You still do not quite understand." The lead alien said in a gentle, understanding, tone. Or as gentle and understanding as they could manage through their globular faces. "Their biological functions have halted. They age no more. Through the symbiotic link they share with us they will live on indefinitely. You will never have to witness those you love grow old and perish ever again. You will never have to suffer the pain of their loss. They will continue forever."
"Fuck that!" Ben yelled. "People live grow old and die. And I get my big fat inheritance!" Ben shouted. The watch turning green.
The aliens looked shocked, almost horrified. "You value material possessions and wealth over aunt's life?" The third alien asked. "A loved one? A member of your family? You wish to lose her to satisfy your selfish desire to possess things?"
"Duh!" Ben pushed the button and twisted the screen; slamming it down he felt his body change. Once the green light disappeared in Ben's place stood Heatwave "Cooking time!"
Shooting a large column of fire the aliens weren't even fazed by it. They shifted and twisted, merging together the four aliens became one very large gelatinous blob.
"We had heard of the selfishness of your people but we had never thought it could be so extreme." The single voice growled. "Yet the memories we hold tell us it is not true of all your people. Whatever you are, you just made a terrible mistake" The combined alien opened his huge fanged mouth and stretched many tentacles. "We Llymax's live for the heat, there is a reason we chose a place in the dessert, in summer." Wrapping a slimy tentacle around Heatwave it threw him into the air, grabbing him again the slammed him into the ceiling, floor and walls "You are a danger to our experiment, we must stop you."
They noticed Gwen and Max were removing the pods from the ship. With a ripple across its huge body two blobs separated themselves from the whole and followed them into the ship. Gwen struggled and groaned to move the pod holding Aunt Vera. She noticed the alien behind her just in time an ducked as it swung for her, ripping the backpack open, spilling its contents onto the floor.
Hearing what was happening behind him Max raced over to help Gwen but the aliens stopped in their tracks, in front of them was Gwen's water pistol, as they realised what was in it the aliens screeched and stepped backwards. Gwen picked up the water pistol they ran away, an idea in her head Gwen followed them trying to shoot them but they ducked and dodged, slithering out of the way of the water.
"They hate water! Ben, remember Aunt Vera in the kitchen!" She shouted at Heatwave who was trying to wrestle with the larger alien.
"Or Belvedere on the golf cart." Ben said to himself, looking above him he saw a large thick water pipe across the ceiling "Someone's got to love me enough for this to work." Heatwave thought to himself. He shot a fireball upwards, hitting the pipe bang on target just as the slimy tentacle started to tighten around his body.
As the water sprayed out of the pipe the Llymax screeched in pain. They dropped Heatwave as they writhed, twisted and jerked trying to escape the spray that surrounded them. They were melting into a giant puddle as more water rained down on them.
On the ship Max grabbed the last two pods just as he heard the engine start to power up. "Sorry, but no aliens are gonna mess with my planet." He ran off the ship, a pile of goo slithering past him, onto the vessel as the doors closed.
The ship floated for a second before its rockets fired and it shot up through the roof of the cavern and out of sight.
Looking through the hole in the wall Max could see the night sky and a few stars. "Immortality sounds nice." He said in a dreamy tone. "But no way would I let them do it. People living forever? Maybe even outliving their kids? If news of this spread would there be enough aliens for everyone? Or would the aliens decide who got to live and who got to age and die? Taking only the people they thought were good and leaving those they thought were bad? They don't have a right to judge people like that. And letting Vera outlive me? No way!" He sighed and then seemed to remember he wasn't alone in the cave. He felt around his pockets for a cigar, he could really use a smoke. But it seemed the aliens had taken them from him.
Finally he acknowledged the dozens of pods of old people lying around them. "I guess we should put them all back in their beds. There's gonna be a lot of disappointed people tomorrow when they start to feel their age again. They might as well be comfortable in their homes."
"Do we have to? That could take hours." Gwen moaned as she slumped down to the floor, she was exhausted from just pulling them off the ship. She was hot, sweaty and a lot more dirty than she ever wanted to be outside of the bedroom.
"We could just leave them here, let them find their own way back." Ben suggested. The look on grandpa's face told him what he thought of that plan. With a sigh Ben nodded. "Give me a few minutes, perhaps XLR8 can help"
Ben smiled as he flicked a small flame at Gwen's foot.
**..**
The Next Day.
"Well..." Aunt Vera sighed. "I don't know how you did it. But I guess it was for the best. I did like the extra stamina but not being able to have a nice hot bath, or even a cup of coffee. And that urge to eat bugs all the time..." She shuddered. "Having an alien in your head like that seemed fine at the time but now I look back, it was just too odd, too...inhuman." It seemed that any memories Vera might have shared with the aliens fight with Ben had been lost when she had been removed from the pod. Everyone in the village seemed to remember almost nothing about yesterday.
"Now don't be strangers" Aunt Vera said in her usual cheery voice as she hugged Max. "Call, write or visit any time you want."
"We will Vera" Max said as he grabbed the last of the bags and put them on the Rust Bucket.
"Bye Aunt Vera." Gwen said as she stepped forwards. She gave her aunt a hug, it couldn't hurt to keep showing kindness. Who knew, Very might still consider writing Gwen into her will.
"Bye dear, oh and this is for you" Vera knelt down, Gwen held her hands out eagerly and Vera passed her a container with a jello mould in it "Benjamin told me how much you loved my jello moulds, this one is lime with chunks of pruffer-fish and chick peas."
"Er, thanks Aunt Vera" Gwen faked a smile and glared at Ben as she walked past him.
"I'm sorry if there wasn't enough excitement Benjamin" Vera said once they were alone "I hope you weren't board to tears"
"Well, it wasn't too bad" Ben admitted reluctantly.
"Well I'm glad, have fun on the road" Vera smiled as she hugged Ben "Now, try not to do any more petty robberies, you have a family name to live up to and the means to do it easily." She glanced down at his watch as she said it.
As Ben stepped on to the Rust Bucket he turned and stared at Aunt Vera "You're... Kidding right?" Who only gave a soft chuckle as they drove away.