NOTE: Happy New Year! Apparently, there are rumors about a Ben 10 live action movie being in the works. Not sure if I believe it or not. What about you guys?

Enjoy and Review!

Log 23: Through the Mirror


Cover Image: Gwen's face held no emotion as she stared at her reflection through the television. Her reflection, however, was the opposite, it was smiling maliciously at its counterpart. Their eyes were bright yellow instead of green. The reflection's hand had reached through the tv, gently touching the side of Gwen's face.


Gwen stood in a hall of mirrors, not sure where she was or why there were mirrors. Her feet lightly tapped against the ocean blue floor as she approached one of the mirrors. The sorceress noticed that the object held a faint orange hue around it. Carefully, she tapped it with her finger and was shocked when it rippled like water. The mirror rippled for a few moments before a human shaped figure appeared in front of her. Gwen gasped when the ripples stopped, allowing her to see who it was that appeared.

The image was of her father, Frank Tennyson, the man stood firm like he always did. Dressed in a light blue polo shirt, brown pants, and business shoes. His glasses were black, light reflecting off of them and hiding the green orbs she and her brother had inherited from him.

Gwen was confused as to why her father was there instead of her own reflection, but as she stared at the image, she couldn't help but frown. It wasn't that she didn't love her father or that he didn't love her, but he was very soft. As far as she knew her father was never one to really stand up bravely or meet challenges openly, especially when it came to her mother. He often allowed her to take charge when it came to raising herself and her brother, only ever stepping in if she got too strict. It was strange thinking about her dad like this, but Gwen couldn't help it. The man wasn't very noticeable and often plain compared to most others.

Before her thoughts could go further, the mirror crumbled to dust. Blinking a few times at the crumpled dust, the magical girl turned to the other mirror. Just like before she touched it, allowing it to ripple a few times before the next person appeared. And this time it was her older brother, Kenny Tennyson.

Gwen's first thought after seeing him was that he felt exactly like their father. Sometimes his presence was unnoticeable as if he blended into the background too easily. Her brother's characteristics were very different from herself. Kenny was never the overachiever their mother wanted and often settled for what he was able to get in school, which admittedly disappointed their mother. Gwen would often scoff at her brother's laziness and try to get him to take his studies seriously like their mother wanted, but he never listened to her. His interests just didn't align with school and all of the achievements that come with it. That always puzzled her, and she's not sure if she'll ever come to understand her older brother.

Then just as that thought finished the mirror crumbled to pieces, allowing the next one to take its place. She repeated the process of touching the mirror, watching the ripples, and awaiting the next person to appear in front of her. Not much of a surprise to her at this point when the image ended up being her mother, Natalie Tennyson.

Natalie Tennyson is a strict woman when it comes to them, and she never allowed much room for fun or games. Gwen often caught her mother frowning at her aunt Sandra for letting Ben get away with as much as he did. Whenever Ben would come to spend the night at their place in the past, he would get reprimanded by her mother a lot, but that's mostly because he kept breaking things. It was her mother who convinced Gwen to focus more on her studies rather than make friends, since to lead a successful life, one needs to be academically talented. That was her reason for taking so many extracurriculars, because they'd all look good on high school, college, and job applications. It was satisfying to have accomplished so much thanks to her mother's constant pushing. Though, a small part of Gwen will admit that even with all these achievements she couldn't help but feel lonely.

That was when the mirror crumbled to dust, repeating the process of bringing in the next one. This time Gwen didn't know who to expect from this next mirror after her main family members had already passed. Once the ripples had stopped the first thing Gwen noticed was the red Hawaiin shirt. It was her grandfather, Maxwell Tennyson.

For her, Maxwell Tennyson might as well be a mystery. For most of her life she never questioned much about him or his strained relationship with her father and uncle. He had always been that loving grandfather who would spoil her, Ben, and Kenny. But this summer trip had opened her eyes about him in ways that she didn't think she'd had ever expected. Grandpa Max was a retired space police officer that had gone on who knows how many adventures in his youth. It was strange to really think about all of the history behind her family, and how much of it has been locked away from prying eyes. Add in the fact that she had never met her own grandmother either and nobody in their family ever talked about her, the mystery surrounding Max Tennyson seemed to grow even more. But for the moment that was fine, he was still her grandfather and she loved him all the same.

The mirror collapsed into the dust immediately after and another took its place. Gwen saw that this one was green in color, meaning that it could only be one person. She touched the mirror and watched as the next person appeared through the ripples. It was none other than her doofus cousin, Benjamin Tennyson, the Omnitrix glowing brightly on his left wrist.

He's an annoying selfish doofus that always knew what to do to piss her off without even trying. Just the sight of his pizza-stained face would irritate her to the point of wanting to smack him on the head. But even with all of that, Gwen couldn't think of another person she'd rather have at her side than him.

Not that she'd ever verbally admit that.

It was just that since the two were born on the same day and grew up with each other, their bond was closer than cousins, almost like siblings. Ben was in every way her polar opposite, always getting into trouble, not taking his grades seriously, eating junk food, playing video games, and being obnoxious as obnoxious could be. But under all that, Gwen could see the loneliness that ate at Ben whenever she'd see him, since he had no friends at his school. She related to it and subconsciously always tried to ignore it. It was never her problem if Ben couldn't make friends and it irritated her that she had so much in common with him because of it.

But this summer had taught her that even with all of Ben's faults, the doofus had a heart of gold under all of that immaturity. Ever since he got the Omnitrix he's been putting himself in danger to fight evil and save lives, something she never would've thought he could do. Gwen found her respect for Ben growing ever so slowly.

After that though the mirror crumbled to ashes, letting the next mirror appear. This one was red and after touching it, Gwen felt her lips curl up at the sight of the new image. This time it was the newest addition to her close circle, Yukiko Amagi.

Gwen didn't think she had any family outside of America, but the discovery that her father and uncle had a brother who lived in Japan was a shock. And learning that her newest cousin over in Japan would be joining in on their summer trip and came from a famous Inn was even bigger. Gwen was ecstatic to finally have a cousin who would be as smart and sophisticated as her, a major contrast to Ben. When she did finally meet Yukiko, she tried her best to make a good first impression and earn the heiress' favoritism, but then Ben went and ruined it by finding the Omnitrix. It didn't take long for her to notice just how close Yukiko was getting with Ben, giving most of her attention to him rather than her, someone who could match her in etiquette and smarts. But it wasn't like she could blame Yukiko; Ben was a troubled mess that required constant attention before he ended up blowing something up. Gwen didn't understand why, but there was some part of her that was hungry for Yukiko's attention more than anything else.

It wasn't until she became Lucky Girl that Yukiko finally took more notice of her than Ben and it felt amazing. To have an older woman figure that was supportive of what you wanted to do instead of trying to tell you what to do was refreshing. Yukiko always knew what to do or say whenever she needed it any before Gwen knew it, she started to see Yukiko as a big sister. A big sister she wished she had known her entire life.

The mirror shattered after that, leaving Gwen with the very last one. The girl wondered just what this mirror could hold for her, especially since it was broken and burned in some places. The glass itself was cracked, even some had broken off. When she touched the mirror, it rippled for a few long minutes. When it stopped and Gwen got a good look at who it was, she turned away. A soft smile gracing her lips.

"No… not yet. I don't think either of us are ready for that yet, but one day we will be." Gwen spoke to the mirror. "And when we are, I'll come back here and finally give you, my answer." She said, not expecting a response. She turned around and just like the mirrors, she crumbled to ash.

Leaving the mirror and the image to wait, holding Gwen to her promise of returning to him.

Log End

NOTE: This felt like a character study than anything else. Can you guess who that was at the end?

I hope the way Natalie was described didn't make her seem too bad. The woman does just want the best for her kids, but she's way too strict about it. Which differs from Ben's parents, since they are more laid back with how they raise him.

I won't do one for Ben and Yukiko, since how they feel is already found in the main story.

Have a great day!