...Oh, yeah, that's right, I need to put out a chapter! Sorry, got caught up writing the finale.
Big thanks to WinterWitch for editing all this, and welcome to PrimalFan and Vvallahi to the crew.
The RV departed from the bus station, with Gwen in the back. She was wearing something casual for once: a blue raglan shirt with a cat symbol on her chest, paired with white capris and white and blue sneakers. A dark blue hair clip kept some of her short orange hair out of her face. Ben gave her a disdainful look, while Ruby did her best to ignore her; her current technique was just burying her face in her DS.
"Thanks again for picking me up from the bus station, Grandpa," Gwen said sweetly.
Max chuckled. "Not a problem, pumpkin. We were heading to Las Vegas for a convention when your folks called and asked me to let you join for the rest of summer. I can't say no to my only granddaughter, you know!"
"Yeah, that was a fun surprise," Ben said coldly.
Gwen glared at him. "Hey...You guys haven't been anywhere with those alien attacks, right?"
The RV went silent. Ben and Ruby did their best not to look at each other.
"Uh, thankfully not," Max said before the silence got too long.
"Yeah," Ruby laughed, "There hasn't been any weird alien activity near us. Right Ben?"
Ben gave a nervous smile. "Course not."
Gwen took a deep sigh of relief. "Good."
"Why do you ask?" Max asked, trying to mask his suspicion.
Gwen curled her lip. "I just don't want to deal with any freakishness this summer." She then turned her attention to something on her laptop. Ben and Ruby gave each other a worried look.
Sometime later, the RV was parked at a gas station. Max was preoccupied pumping gas into the RV and Ben and Ruby had left the Rustbucket to go grab something from the mini mart, a few dollars in their hands.
"So, how're we gonna hide the whole 'alien' thing from Gwen?" Ruby asked curiously.
Ben gave a half hearted shrug. "Dunno. We'll just have to be more careful than usual. Like, revealing the secret to that Edwin kid was kind of necessary, since we were all involved in a do or die situation. But with Gwen…"
"I have this strong feeling that she'll know in the coming days since our lives are constantly in danger."
"I really need to stop making enemies every place we go."
Inside the RV, Gwen was typing away at her laptop when a fly landed right next to her. She rolled her eyes and prepared a newspaper to kill it. But when she looked over again an army of ants, a million strong, had suddenly swarmed the RV. Gwen screamed and Max's gaze shot up to the RV. He yelped in surprise, before a seemingly infinite amount of bugs swarmed the vehicle.
Ben and Ruby exited the store, Ruby having a few bags of cookies in her arms, but she dropped them in open mouthed shock. Bugs devoured her sweets in seconds, and she wailed in despair as Ben dragged her away. Max ran over and joined the two, looking in horror at his roach infested RV.
"Looks like an old friend came by to say hi." Max grimaced. "And this time, it's personal."
Ruby nudged Ben's arm. "Make that 'coming days' comment into just a few seconds," she said right before Ben activated the Omnitrix, pulling up the icon to Water Hazard.
Ben grinned. "Time for a quick powerwash!" He slapped down the Omnitrix and green armor grew on the torso, his arms, his head and his legs. He suddenly formed a blue, black and white jumpsuit that covered all except for his arms and feet, as well as a grey and black mask.
Ben slowly realized that he was not Water Hazard, or any familiar alien. "Ok, now is not the time for a new guy!"
Ruby stared at Ben's new form. "What even is that thing?"
"Something that's powerless against me, that's for sure." The three looked up to see an even more disheveled Clancy standing on top of the Rust Bucket, smiling sinisterly. Clancy snapped his fingers as Gwen was suddenly brought out of the RV by a hand, made entirely of bugs. She struggled and screamed for help.
"GWEN!" Max yelled. Ben had never heard that much fear in his grandpa's voice before.
"Let my cousin go, Clancy!" Ben yelled.
"It's her first real day of summer, just let her relax!" Ruby added.
"Not until I get my revenge!" Clancy snarled. "Thanks to you, I'm once again on the streets, scraping by just to get my next meal! It's time you paid! And I'll start by shoving maggots into this girl's ears-"
Ben ran at Clancy, but was swarmed by bugs before he could leap onto the RV. He swiped and swatted at them to no avail, before he fell over and hit his back., splitting him into two small clones. The bugs scurried away, spooked by this. Max and Ruby were confused. Even Clancy was caught off guard.
Ben blinked. "Cool!"
"How'd we do that?" his double asked.
Ben shrugged. "I dunno. But toss me at Clancy!"
The clone threw Ben at the villain, tackling off the RV and to the ground. Clancy gasped as he felt his ribs crack under the weight of the alien; the thing was small, but by God he was heavy. He weakly threw Ben off of him and onto the ground, and, to his shock, Ben split into two smaller clones.
The clone blinked. "COOL!"
"Oh, I think I get it now!" Ben grinned.
Clancy quickly recalled his bugs to form some dermal armor around him. The bugs holding Gwen quickly released her, and she gracelessly fell to the ground. The bugs swarmed around Clancy, while Ben kicked the two clones at Clancy's armor like they were soccer balls. The bugs got crushed by the sheer weight of the clones, weakening his armor. Clancy could feel his bones crack with each hit.
While Ben was distracting him, Ruby got behind Clancy and swung her scythe right into the very weak part of his lower back. Clancy was knocked right into the wall, hitting his head bodily against the bricks. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Ruby patted Ben on the head. "Smart thinking, new guy. What are you gonna call this one?"
Two of the clones grinned. "Slapbac-"
"Bullfrag!" Ben grinned. Ruby and the two clones shot him a strange look. "I, uh, mean Slapback!"
Gwen, on the ground, shaking, and with tears in her eyes, looked to Max for an explanation.
Her grandfather sighed. "Let's just say you're in for an interesting summer."
Hope boredly stared at her book. It was, what, the hundredth time she had read through it? She would've tired of it, but the book was part of her sparse birthright. She could recite the entire history of it within seconds, but no one would understand her. Maybe her uncle, but no one else on this God-forsaken rock.
After all, Hope hailed from a dimension that was saturated in magic and arcana, her own bloodline long and filled with promise. She had not come from a wealthy family, or even a particularly prominent one in Ledgerdomain politics, but her family was full of scholars and soldiers, and Hope had always had access to the finest of studying material.
She should be back in Ledgerdomain now, tucked away in her father's library, pouring over ancient texts and journals. She should be honing her powers and deciding what she wanted to do with her future. Instead, Hope was an alien refugee trying to survive in a magicless, decaying rock, far from home and away from anything familiar.
Her room was tiny and box-like (unlike her room back home, with its canopy bed and tiny walk-in closet and beautiful hand-me-down desk). Her bed was a small single, alright for a girl her age but she would need a bigger one soon. Hope looked at her desk, a metal beast that used to belong to a teacher at the local elementary school; she liked it well enough, since it could hold all of her studying materials and potions, but it took up half of the already tiny space and if she shook it all the cabinet-like drawers would lock up tight. Her tiny closet was built into the wall, a small dresser tucked inside, and on the inside of the closet door was a thin, full-length mirror (bare, no colorful frame at all, just the cheapest thing imaginable).
Hope took in her appearance, just another black mark that made her unfit for life on Earth: her hair, so much like her late mother's, was a shoulder-length white with a black spiked headband; a black choker and matching necklace adorned her neck; and she had paired a black top with a purple sweater, paired with a magenta skirt, grey leggings and black boots.
Hope sighed and picked up her book once more. She murmured the words of the spell, slowly levitating into the air, her hair standing on end. Her eyes were glowing a soft mauve, she could tell, and with a spark of confidence she thrust her hand out. She recited an energy spell, relishing in the powerful thrum on magic in her veins, holding her breath as her fingers crackled with electricity-
Nothing.
The spell collapsed into a shower of sparks.
Hope dropped onto the bed, her book tumbling to the floor. She blinked back tears of frustration- the magic had been right there, she could still feel the power buzzing at her fingertips, but just like nearly every powerful spell she tried to conjure on this pathetic rock, it fizzled out the moment she tried to use it.
If Hope had been back in Ledgerdomain, she wouldn't have any of these problems. If the war wasn't going on, she would safely still be studying. If Adwaita hadn't murdered her parents-
Smoke belched from the hallway, and Hope wrinkled her nose at the stench. She wiped her eyes and made her way to the house's shabby kitchen. Her uncle, old as he was and so stuck in his eyes, was doing a better job of adapting to Earthen culture than she was. He hid the tattoos under his eyes with expertly done makeup; his hair was slicked back fashionably; he was dressed in slacks and a red dress shirt, one of many versions he wore for his job at the local university. He almost looked like a local.
Sadly, he hadn't adapted enough to be any good at cooking. Hope took a look at the charred mess inside the pot and glanced at her uncle. "Do I even want to know what this is?"
"It was supposed to be French onion soup," Hex said as he finished using the fire extinguisher. "One day I'll get the hang of cooking, but today is not that day. Let's go out to eat."
Hope managed a small smile. "Works for me."
Gwen was sitting in the clean RV, voice hoarse from screaming, a blanket over her shoulders, and a mug of tea in her white knuckled hands. Eyes dead, she says quietly, "I wanna go home."
Max and the others look at Gwen with concern.
"Blame the wedding for thinking all of our relatives were accustomed to the alien thing," Ben said nervously. He refused to look Gwen in the eye.
Max shook his head. "I can't blame you. Natalie and Frank have done a good job of making sure Gwen's never come in contact with anything of the unusual."
"Are her parents not a fan of the whole 'Plumber' thing?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not exactly. Natalie just really isn't a fan of the whole alien drama in the family and tries to avoid it as much as she can. Which is another reason they weren't at the wedding. They probably assumed this was going to be a normal road trip too."
"Well, it was, until…" Ben nervously scratched the back of his head. Gwen eyed him nervously.
Max knelt down. "Don't blame yourself for this, Ben. She was bound to find out in the future." Max palmed the two some cash. "There's a restaurant down the street that I thought you two would like. How about you two go down there? I'll stay back with Gwen." Ben and Ruby nodded before leaving the RV.
Max sat down next to Gwen. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked gently.
Gwen sighed heavily. "Sorry, it's just...all my life, I've been rational. Last year, if you asked me about magic or aliens, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. But with all this, it kind of...opened my eyes. There's this whole other world beyond anything science and rationality can explain, one I know nothing of and am afraid of, and that's all thanks to my sheltered upbringing."
"Gwen, it's not your fault," Max comforted her. "Blame your parents for keeping you away from all the dangerous alien weirdness. While they meant well, they left you woefully unprepared as a result."
Gwen blinked back fresh tears. "...Why didn't they tell me? Don't they trust me?"
"Of course they trust you, but they were scared you'd have a negative reaction, kind of like now."
"I'm...I don't really know what to say."
Max smiled gently. "And that's ok. Adjusting to things like these take time. You don't need to shame yourself for not being immediately used to the unknown, or the unnatural. Ben even had to take some getting used to wielding the watch. I remember, he said something about having this weird feeling of responsibility and fear."
Gwen perked up. "...really? Ben said that?"
He nodded. "The supernatural can change a person, Gwen. Either for the better or the worst."
She frowned. "The fact you add 'the worst' makes me feel you've seen what it can do."
Max smiled a bit sadly. "I've seen a lot of things. And not all of them are good."
Sometime later, when Gwen was feeling a little better, granddaughter and grandfather wandered through the makeshift market, eyeing whatever interested them. Gwen looked mainly disinterested, thanks to leftover shock and the general drowsiness that came from crying, but Max happily browsed some strange cuisine, probably to cook something none of the kids had never heard of.
Gwen sighed loudly. "Do you mind if I go back to the RV? There's really nothing here for me."
"You sure, sweetie?" Max asked. "We haven't checked out the entire place, maybe there's something you li-"
"I'm fine," Gwen cut him off. "I...I just need some rest. To be honest, this whole summer is really something hard to take in."
"I don't blame you." Max said sympathetically. "When I first found out about this whole supernatural thing, I couldn't sleep right for weeks! But that's another story."
Gwen smiled weakly. "Right. See you back at the RV." She wandered back through the market, silently mourning her old, normal life and trying to prepare for her new, stranger one, when she stumbled upon a ramshackle magic shop.
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Didn't expect something like this here." She walked over, eyeing the items critically. They were mostly dull-looking trinkets that a kid would wave around like it was real. Gwen felt sort of let down; what was the point of discovering the supernatural if you didn't see cool stuff every so often?
But then something fancy caught her eye. It was a vibrant red gemstone with an intricate symbol etched on it in black, attached to a thick golden bracelet. Gwen gingerly lifted it off the stand, taking in the simple but elegant design. Compared to the other baubles, it looked genuine. Like something you would wear to a fancy dinner or on a date to the movies. It might not have been magical, but Gwen was drawn to it all the same.
"How much for this one?" she asked brightly.
"Eh...$10." The shopkeep shrugged, barely looking up from his book.
"I'll take it!"
Gwen gave him the money right before putting on the bracelet, the metal warming on her skin. She admired it for a few seconds, smiling for the first time that day. It really was pretty, and it went well with her outfit. She grinned; maybe today wasn't so bad after all.
From the other side of the market, Hope was looking over the food stands, deciding what to eat. Her uncle was at least a block away, distracted by a new tea shop, which meant Hope had some time to herself.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up, and Hope looked around in alarm. In any other circumstances she would have written it off as a sudden cold breeze, but it was the middle of summer and the day was humid. Magic buzzed through her veins- she hadn't summoned it, but it was welcome all the same. Because now she knew.
A relic from Ledgerdomain was on Earth. And it was so close.
Without a second thought, Hope whipped out her grimoire, and suddenly paper covered her body. Bright light shone out, transforming her. Her stark white hair was now framed with purple highlights. She wore gothic "Eye of Horus" styled eye makeup and golden earrings, with a magenta coat with purple at the ends. Underneath she wore purple long boots with black straps around them.
The public gasped as she finished transforming. Charmcaster started floating above the crowd, using what little magic she had to hone in on the relic. From afar, with cartons of nearly cheese fries in hand, Ben and Ruby watched in confusion as the witch ascended into the sky and started heading towards the alleyways.
"Well, creepy witch floating through the market. Should we do something?" Ben asked, finishing off his fries.
Ruby nodded, doing the exact same thing. "Yeah. I mean, you remember that one witch who worshipped Cthulhu, right? Don't want her to start sacrificing humans or something."
"Good point."
Ben activated the Omnitrix and scrolled to Cannonbolt's icon. He slapped down the icon as he curled up into a ball, yellow armor surrounding his body...before he broke through it, completing the transformation into Cannonbolt.
Ben immediately bounced up and honed in on the witch, weaving through the alleys. He was ready to smack her into the ground and end this quickly. He was inches away from destroying her, only for him to get stuck spinning mid air.
"Huh?"
Charmcaster quickly slammed him into the ground. Ruby pulled out her scythe and started firing bullets at her. Charmcaster's book flipped open again and she waved her hand, causing the bullets to pause in midair before they reached their target.
She poked one bullet lightly, and it transformed into a bat-like creature made of stone, shaped like a diamond and with one side replaced by a single purple eye. Ruby's eyes widened as the bat creature started firing blasts of pink energy at her. She rolled and weaved between the blasts, as the other bullets started to transform into that same bat-like creature. Charmcaster reached into her bag and threw out some stones near the alien. Ben uncurled and looked at them.
"What, more bats?" He grimaced before they turned into tall, hulking golems. Ben gasped as they start to attack him, and he curled into a ball to protect himself.
Charmcaster grinned even as she felt her magic ebb away. "Nothing will stop me. Not anymore." She flew around again, far away from the crime scene. It was strange; that aura she was picking up was nearby, but she didn't see it. She looked around again, thinking she was wrong, until she noticed a red haired girl with an odd looking bracelet.
Charmcaster gasped. "The girl's already put it on! That leaves me with no other choice…"
Ruby started to tear through the stone bats with her scythe, slicing them open from the bottom up. Ben steamrolled a majority of the stone golems, while Ruby shot the other ones with lightning bullets, shattering them into pieces.
Ben uncurled from his massive form. "Where's the witch?" From across the way, they heard someone scream.
Ruby pointed. "I'm guessing somewhere over there."
Gwen's eyes went wide with horror as the witch descended to the ground. She wanted to cry and scream once more, but the witch simply put her hand underneath her chin, silencing her.
She smiled, her teeth sharp. "Hello there."
That was when Ben and Ruby finally caught up to them. "GWEN!" they yelled in unison, but it was too late; in a whirlwind of paper, the witch was gone. And so was Gwen, the alley empty except for them. Max rushed over, on high alert.
"What happened?" he huffed, out of breath. "Where's your cousin?"
"Some witch just took Gwen!" Ruby said.
Max looked ready to spit fire. "Goddammit!" He threw the groceries on the ground in a fit of rage. Ben and Ruby stared at Max incredulously.
He quickly collected himself. "Sorry. Just...why can't my granddaughter catch a break?"
Ben reverted back to human. "I don't get it. Why'd she even kidnap Gwen?"
Max frowned. "I don't know, but we better split up and find her. Who knows what that girl is doing with her?"
Gwen was mentally panicking. One second ago, she was on her way back to the RV. The next, a witch- an actual witch!- had spirited her away, and now Gwen was trapped in a dead end between buildings. Charmcaster slowly walked toward her, sweat beading at her temples.
Gwen cowered in fear. "G-get away from me!"
Charmcaster put her hands up, signifying she meant no harm. "Easy now. Don't want to get too crazy."
"Or what? You'll kill me or something?"
"You're more likely to kill someone right now."
That caught Gwen off-guard. "W-what?"
"That pretty little bracelet? It's one of the Follies of the great sorcerer, Bezel," Charmcaster told her. "Powerful in nature, but ultimately deadly."
"I...I don't understand…" Gwen stammered. "Like, actual magic?"
Charmcaster frowned. "That's beside the point."
Gwen stood up. "Listen! I just bought some stupid jewelry at the market. I didn't think it would be, like, some mystical tailsman! Just leave me alone!" Gwen's hands suddenly conjured up some glyphs that shot out a cyclone. The winds blew Charmcaster down the alleyway, scattering debris into the air.
Gwen stared at her hands, the glowing glyphs already fading. "N-no way…"
Enraged, Charmcaster flew back at her, her arms coated in sparking pink energy. She started throwing blasts of mystical energy at Gwen, only glyphs to appear in front of her, creating a white shield that protected the redhead. Charmcaster grit her teeth, while Gwen was even more confused.
She eyed a trash can and smirked. She levitated the disk and threw it at the witch. Charmcaster knocked it into the wall, but the glyph on the lid made sure it bounced right back at the witch's head. Charmcaster fell to the ground, her own magic giving out on her.
Gwen smirked, hands on her hips. "Good. Now you're back with all the other trash." She ran out of the alleyway and looked around wildly. "Wish I knew where Grandpa and the others were…"
Another glyph appeared right next to her, and Gwen immediately knew where to go. Odd, but considering she just beat a witch, it was the least weird thing that had happened to her today.
Charmcaster slowly stood up and scanned around the area. "Little brat," she growled, picking some trash off her outfit. "I suppose I'll need to search for her again. I should have enough magic to try."
Charmcaster noticed something in the sky; Astrodactyl, with Ruby hanging on his back. Charmcaster then opened her bag and pulled out some stone guardians. "But not without some distractions…."
She threw the stones into the air, laughing as they become an inumerable swarm of Scrutins. They all flew towards their targets as their creator snuck away.
Ben gasped when he saw the monsters. He spun through the air, dodging a blast of magic. "We've got some turbulence up ahead!"
Ben expertly maneuvered his way through the field of Scrutins, while Ruby shot at some. But she stopped firing as she realized something awful; she was gonna run out of bullets, and Ben was going to time out soon. Charmcaster would have the advantage too.
Ruby nudged Ben's wing. "We have to lose them on the ground."
Ben squawked. "Pretty bad idea, but considering how many of them there are…" He dove down, leaving the Scrutins in the dust. Ben and Ruby ducked into another alleyway as the monsters flew far away from them. "Alright...now to awkwardly wait to time out and rejoin society!"
Ben and Ruby stood there in silence for a few seconds.
"...this was a dumb plan."
"Yeah, I know."
Gwen ran hurriedly through the streets. People all around her were pointing up at the sky and screaming, mainly because they didn't know what the hell they were looking at, only that it was scary. Gwen had tears in her eyes; yesterday she was just a normal kid with a good, normal future ahead of her, not some freak with strange occult powers! It pained her to even say the word "normal" anymore. And not to mention, those monsters in the sky? Her fault!
GAHHH! Gwen screamed mentally. I wish I could just destroy all of them!
And then, something fell into her hands. Gwen stopped for a second, panting heavily, and looked down at her hand. In it was a brilliant blue spear, made from some strange, warm material she'd never seen before. Gwen blinked in surprise. When did she pick up a weapon?
Something swooped by, dangerously close. On instinct, Gwen ducked. The Scrutin flew past her, narrowly hitting her head. Gwen grimaced; that thing would have sliced off her head if she'd ducked a second too late.
Gwen, utterly fed up with today, launched the spear high into the air. It gained speed as it flew through the air, piercing the sound barrier just as it struck the Scrutin, shattering it. Gwen smiled, proud of her victory...but the spear just kept flying and flying, until it hit another scrutin...and another...and suddenly, that spear was flying all around the place, taking out any stone monster in sight.
Gwen smiled widely. "I wish Grandpa was here to see me do that!" She had been so overwhelmed by her powers that she never considered the good she could do with them-
The world went black. Gwen dropped to the ground, unconscious. Charmcaster walked over, fading pink energy glowing from her hands. She grabbed Gwen's wrist and inspected it.
"I still have time," she murmured to herself, and then warped away.
Gwen slowly opened her eyes. She looked around as much as she could; she was bound in some kind of weird magical ropes, on top of some casino tower. She immediately began to struggle.
"It's useless to even try to escape, kid." Gwen's eyes darted over to the nearby ledge. Charmcaster was sitting near it, overlooking the city with a thoughtful expression.
"Your world is beautiful," Charmcaster began. "I really do mean that. It's been a good home for me these last few years, but...it just feels wrong to be here."
"My world?" Gwen asked, curious despite herself.
"I come from a realm far beyond the Multiverse, called Ledgerdomain. It is the source of all true magic. We observe all life present within all dimensions, as keepers of time. We keep all things balanced, as it should be. We remain neutral in all moments. We write the best possible ways a life, or a world, could end."
"You're essentially the authors of fate," Gwen gasped.
Charmcaster chuckled at that. "That's one way of looking at it." Her mirth immediately died down. "However, because of this ability, some are willing to take away our lives. A threat in the form of something called Addwaitya. Because of his countless failures at the hands of a certain fate, he learned of our world, and of a certain continuity. One that was still being determined by our gods. He demanded we use our powers of reality manipulation to rule over the multiverse with an iron fist. We refused, and he responded."
Suddenly, the world around Gwen broke apart like glass, and she was restrained in the middle of a battlefield. Bloodless corpses littered the ground. "My world was shrouded in the hellish landscapes of war and took my parents lives…"
"...must've been hard, going from this to Earth," Gwen stated gently.
Charmcaster nodded, her gaze never wavering from the city. "After my parents died, my life changed. I had to be forced out of my home and the world I loved, the world that was being destroyed...and into this dead end. The war's at a stupid stalemate; they're debating whether they should give in to Addwaitya's demands or not. It's pointless. Give him what he wants, and he'll kill us all." Charmcaster took a deep breath. "I just want to go back to normal."
"I get that," and Gwen certainly could, "but what does this have to do with the gemstone?"
"You came in contact with a relic we call the "Follies of Bezel". Mistakes the great sorcerer Bezel made while he was creating the much more superior Charms. The gem unlocks the fullest potential of the wearer. In this case, it unlocked your magic capabilities. The more you use the device, the more it strengthens your powers," Charmcaster explained.
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "So, what? You want to take the stone and wage a one woman war?" She was honestly ready to give it over after hearing that. But Charmcaster shook her head and flipped to a page in her grimoire.
"There was a legend about a witch who wiped out all magic on Earth for centuries. Her magical powers far exceeded those of any Ledgerdomanian," Charmcaster told her. "I hypothesize that the gemstone may be able to repeat her actions, and wipe out those morons and Addwaitya. And then, from their remains, I'll recreate the world I once knew. A peaceful world."
Gwen's pupils shrank in fear. "W-wait! You're telling me that you seriously want to wipe out your culture just to screw someone over? The value of a human life isn't gonna get you what you want!"
"It's a small price to pay." Charmcaster flipped to another page. "Once I have that other gem, I'll just recreate the others. Then everything will go back to how it was before."
"But that much power could make you even worse than that Addwaitya guy!" Gwen shot back.
Charmcaster clenched her fists. "It won't! Now shut up while I-!"
Suddenly, a fishnet-like net of vines wrapped around the witch. Wildvine leapt up from below, carrying Ruby on his back. Ben tightened the net around Charmcaster until she was completely wrapped up in a vine cocoon.
Gwen was overjoyed to see the duo. "Ben! Ruby!"
"Sorry we took so long!" Ruby apologized profusely. "Had to deal with the Omnitrix recharging."
Ben rolled his eye. "You say that like it's my fault. You suggested we wait, y'know."
Ruby slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Hush."
Ruby cut Gwen's bindings in half, freeing her and helping her up. Gwen rubbed her sore wrists.
Ben waved his arm. "Come on! Let's get out of here before-" Charmcaster suddenly burst from the vine cocoon in a flash of light. Ben growled before he sent a flurry of fists at the witch. Charmcaster simply blocked all of them, using little pink shields that shattered upon contact.
She grabbed Wildvine's fist and took a deep breath. Suddenly, the fist began to wither like a weed. Ben yelped as the blight climbed up his arm; in a flash, Ruby cleaved the arm right off. The chopped off part withered away into dust as Ben regrew the limb.
"She's smart," Ben admitted. "Never really faced an opponent as versatile as this."
Charmcaster blushed despite herself. "Aw, thank you! Cloudordourus!" She pointed a finger at Ben, who was instantly crushed under intense gravity, the force of it making the roof slowly splinter apart. He could barely move a muscle without feeling the pain worsen...
Charmcaster turned to face Ruby. The reaper equipped some electric dust into her magazine cartridge, and started firing off dust bullets as quickly as she could. Charmcaster rolled out of the way, but got hit with one in the leg. The pain surged through her body, making her magic sporadic.
The witch snarled in fury before throwing out some sheets of paper. Ruby dodged as many as she could, but one clamped over her eyes. She struggled to remove it...and when she finally did, her eyes were gone. Like flesh had melted over her eyelids.
"B-Ben? Gwen? Where are you guys?" Ruby cried out in fright. She blindly stumbled around, as Gwen slowly backed away. Charmcaster simply ran over and grabbed Gwen by the wrist.
"Hold still! This will only hurt for a second, I promise!"
Charmcaster's hand glowed with a menacing red aura, as she slowly pried the gem out of the bracelet. It was like a nerve cluster or bone was slowly being removed from Gwen's skin, and she screamed in pain, collapsing onto the ground.
Charmcaster's focus on the other spells vanished; Ben could move without hurting, and Ruby could see again. Both quickly got their bearings and launched themselves at the witch… but it was too late. Charmcaster held the red stone in her hand as she was radiated a dangerous red aura, like the calm before a hurricane.
Dread pooled in Ben's stomach. "Oh no."
Charmcaster dropped a pink, magical "bomb" that blew everyone away and off the roof. Ben immediately stretched his limbs out and caught everyone, before leaping down to a lower balcony.
Ben gently let everyone go. "Everyone ok?"
Ruby nodded, but Gwen looked absolutely crushed. "It's my fault."
"Gwen, no it's-" Ben said as he reverted back to human.
"It is though! I picked up that stupid bracelet!" Gwen yelled, her voice hoarse. "I decided to go on this stupid roadtrip! And I decided to step out of my comfort zone! And look what happens! I find out my cousin is some alien freak and his best friend is the mini grim reaper!"
Ben sharply sighed. "Look, it's not your fault. I know what you've been through...scary, isn't it?"
Gwen nodded, wringing her hands.
"And that's ok. If you wanna stay here? That's ok too. I'll tell grandpa to come get you. But if you decide to come with us...if you're willing to step outside of your boundaries again, great. Then you're one of us." Dark clouds started to gather above the hotel. "...might wanna decide fast."
Gwen looked at her cousin, really look at him, and took a deep breath. She thought about how insane her day was. She thought about what Charmcaster did and said. She thought about her grandpa and what he might have done in her place. She thought about Ruby and how she stumbled around blindly, no longer strong but a terrified little girl, just like Gwen had been all day.
She looked at Ben and Ruby as they stared up at the darkening sky, fears and pain already forgotten.
Gwen stood up, her eyes filled with determination. "So, what do you need me to do?"
Ben grinned. "Well, here's the plan…"
On the roof, Charmcaster lifted the stone into the sky, lightning striking it six times. Small, bright orbs started to float around the gem, like planets orbiting the sun. Charmcaster grinned in triumph, only for something to hit the back of her head. She spun around to see Gwen.
"Miss me?" the girl taunted, hand on her hip and tone cocky.
"With every blast so far." Charmcaster's hands started glowing again, charging up another deadly explosion...but Gwen just stood there, smiling.
"You know," she said with a sly grin, "I really liked that gravity trick you did earlier."
"Flirting with me won't save you now, Gwen," Charmcaster said coldly. "I am not in the mood, and if you stick around too long I might eradicate you myself."
"Yeah, I figured. I just wanted to do it myself." Gwen stretched out her hand, and suddenly Charmcaster plummeted to the ground, gravity splintering the roof beneath her. Gwen caught her grimoire with both her hands.
"WHAT?" The gem was still in hand, but it hurt to even breathe now. Charmcaster lifted her gaze in disbelief. "I-impossible! No beginning witch can do these kinds of spells without a grimoire!"
Gwen scoffed. "Well, you know, just had a gem of incredible magical energy on my wrist. Maybe that's why I'm so insanely strong right now!"
Charmcaster growled; however, unknown to her, this wasn't the work of magic, but instead a small army of Slapbacks weighing her down. (It wasn't like she could see them anyway, she could barely move her head as is.)
"I can't believe she's falling for this!" One clone in the back laughed.
"Same, honestly," Another clone snickered. "Hope this buys enough time for Ruby to do her thing!"
From another rooftop, Ruby lined up a shot with her scythe. She carefully focused it on the gems above the building, and methodically fired. One by one, they shattered like glass. Ruby grinned as the storm clouds dissipated. Charmcaster screamed in horror.
"YOU...YOU BITCH!"
Gwen gave a sly smile. Charmcaster was about to scream some more obscenities at her, but suddenly a chorus of beeping sounds echoed above her. A bright, brief flash of red light blinded her...and suddenly, Ben Tennyson was on her back.
He waved nervously. "Hi there."
Charmcaster put two and two together. "You...YOU TRICKED ME! THAT'S IT!" She prepared to blast Ben to kingdom come, but Gwen decided to call her bluff again, and flipped open her spell book to a random page. Her eyes locked onto a promising spell.
"WORME PATHOS!" Gwen yelled, as her hands became surrounded in a blue aura. Suddenly, Charmcaster's body started to glow, and in a blink of an eye she was gone.
Gwen's jaw dropped. Ben gave her a shocked look. "The fuck was that?!"
"Uh, what just happened?" Ruby yelled out from the other building. "Did I accidentally kill her?"
"...wait, that's right!" Gwen suddenly remembered. "Charmcaster said the gem unlocked my magic. I guess I wasn't bluffing after all!"
Gwen then looked down at the book and read over the spell she cast. "I cast a teleportation spell, apparently. I sent her 30, maybe 40 miles away from the city. And she's kinda powerless without this thing."
"Playing dirty...that's evil, cuz," Ben said, actually sort of proud.
"I think it's for the best." Gwen smirked in triumph.
After a while, the group rejoined with Hex and Max at a small tea shop. Hex, with heavy bags under his eyes, sighed as he heard about his niece's fate. "I wish I taught her less about the occult. It's my fault and mine alone for her actions today."
"It's fine, Hex," Max comforted him. "What matters now is that you find her and teach her how to correct her mistake."
"I cannot ease the growing vengeance in her heart," Hex confessed. "I'm afraid even she won't learn a lesson from this. I've spent years warning her against using her powers for evil purposes, and at this point it is her choice alone if she continues down this path."
"What do you want us to do if we find her?" Max asked seriously.
"Stop her at all costs. I suspect that even now she may be gathering a new grimoire."
Gwen looked down at her original one. "Then I feel I should give this one back to you."
Hex chuckled. "Why? You certainly have magical potential right now. You cast a high level spell with ease."
"...wait, you want me to keep it?"
"I mean," Ben began despite himself. "We could use more hands on the field. You'd be like grandma!"
"...what?"
"Long story, pumpkin." Max shook his head fondly.
Hex smiled tiredly. "I must attend to other things now. I'm afraid my errands got...interrupted. Thank you again, Tennysons. And please...if you see her again, just...try to push her in the right direction."
Gwen nodded. "I promise."
"Thank you," Hex said, a hint of sadness in his voice. He walked off, blending into a crowd of people, with Ben and the others walking in the opposite direction. Gwen looked pensively at the spellbook.
She had a lot to learn.