Been a long while, life tends to get in the way. Also writer's block, but with a little help from an AI program to help me flesh out an idea; I finally got something written. Might have a few more in the coming weeks, maybe even some other stories on my account for anyone interested.

Update: Updated for formatting issues.

Beyond Ghostfreaked

Long eerie shadows, cast by the fading sunlight, stretched across the large warehouse. The sunset broke through the hazy mist inside the ruined building; illuminating two figures on the catwalks high above the concrete floor. Ben Tennyson, standing ready at the ready, and Gwen Tennyson; her eyes shining in the darkness with an unnatural magenta hue. Her pupils were solid black, her irises glowed that haunting magenta,
while her sclera were solid black as well. She cackled madly, her shoulders shaking, before throwing her head back with a maniacal laugh. "Idiot, simpleton, FOOL!" She shouted, her voice rasping.

"You and your family have been a thorn in my side for long enough; Tennyson. If I had known I could so easily take young Gwendolyn over again,
I would have done this AGES ago! Then it would have been you, and that moronic plumber Maxwell to deal with!" Gwen chuckled, her voice turning more and more raspy.
"No matter, one will be enough for tonight." Her voice took on another tone entirely, the voice of Ghostfreak: the twisted Ectonurite within the Omnitrix,
fully came through. "Say goodbye, Doofus." He said, in her voice. Suddenly, Gwen's eyes shone with fear,
the possessed color remaining as she threw herself from the catwalk.

Within what felt like a full minute: Ben watched his cousin's seemingly slow decent to the ground below,
before his heart wrenched itself to action in a boiling fit of anger and fear. "GWEN!" He shouted, diving off after her.
They had few seconds, he knew that, his brain seemed to work faster in those few seconds.

His brain ran through the combinations on the dial of the Omnitrix,
scrolling for a specific shape without taking his eyes off of his cousin as he fell towards her.
He slammed his hand down on the watch with a primal yell, a flash of green blinding all,
before wrapping four large red arms protectively around Gwen and crashing into the concrete floor below.

Ben let out a low groan as his Tetramand feet cracked the pavement: sending a jolt of pain through his legs.
The cold air of the warehouse stung Ben's cheeks as he clutched Gwen tightly in his arms.
The darkness around them echoed with Ghostfreak's mocking laughter, a chilling reminder the danger that yet remained.
The sensation of Gwen's soft, trembling body against his made his heart race, in the moment he didn't know or care why.

"Get out here, you raggedy old FREAK!" The Ectonurite flickered into Ben's field of view, anger evident in it's eye. "Very well, two for
one it seems." Gwen's eyes shot open and she fired a beam of light into the advancing ghost. He screamed in pain, recoiling from the light before retreating through the warehouse walls into the dark night. "THIS ISN'T OVER TENNYSON!" They heard his voice echo. "You may have destroyed part of me again, but I'm still with you. ALWAYS." In that moment, the Omnitrix on Four-Arms shoulder flashed red and timed out.
Ben stood there, still clutching Gwen tightly against his chest, but suddenly grunted under their combined weight.
Gwen quickly hopped out of his arms, a slight blush on her cheeks as she looked him over. "You okay, Doofus?"

Ben's eyes went wide, darting to hers for a moment, before he relaxed. Shaking slightly as he took a few breaths; steadying his racing heart.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'll be fine." Back at the Rust Bucket, the two are with their grandfather in relative silence.
Max had probed them when they first returned to the RV, but had thought it best to let them process this battle on their own after the explanation.
He did however watch them with worry, Gwen seemed a little shaken by her near possession and near death experience; but Ben seemed more-so.
Their Grandfather had gone out and bought beef, cooking up burgers on one of their campsite's grills, then served them up with a soft smile to his grandkids.

Gwen chewed thoughtfully on her burger, while Ben simply poked at it for a moment, shoveling a few potato chips into his mouth before
slipping away from the table. "Ben, you aren't finished." Max raised an eyebrow at his grandson, who gently shrugged him off.
"Not hungry right now, I'll eat it later." Ben stalked to the front of the RV, glancing back at Gwen and Max as he stepped outside.
"I need some air, I'll be back." Gwen frowned, gulping down her current bite, before she and Max exchanged worried looks.
Ben leaned back on top of the Rust Bucket, the AC unit rattling nosily behind him as he stared into the night sky.
Stars twinkled off in the distance, reminding him of how small and insignificant he felt; even with the device on his wrist.
Gwen had come close to dying, wasn't like she had before, but something had felt different this time.
Some emotion had boiled up within him when he saw her panicked face, it bubbled in his gut currently; killing his appetite.
What had gotten him so riled up after a fight with GHOSTFREAK of all people!? Fear. Ben sighed, his face warming slightly.

He'd made a connection or two, Ben wasn't a dumb kid, he was afraid of losing Gwen. There were times the two had stared death
in his ugly Halloween costumed face and laughed, Ben knew that, but this had been different; it was closer to his first REAL encounter
with the Ectonurite. When they had visited Gwen's future college in the early days of the trip, when Ghostfreak had possessed her then.
Except that time, Max had been close by. This time? They had gone alone, Gwen had basically been held hostage and was powerless!
It was then Ben realized, Gwen was his partner; his friend. It hurt to remember how often they had fought as kids, even that summer!
And it hurt even more as the fear rose in his chest, watching as she was flung to her death.
Ben's heart pounded, the girl who meant the most to him was going to die if he didn't do anything.
Now, staring at the stars, he finally realized what that meant. If he was honest, that terrified him.
His heart twisted with guilt, but his stomach suddenly made itself known as his appetite returned. "Doofus?"
He heard a voice call, his heart skipping a beat as he sat up.

Gwen slowly climbed up the ladder, balancing a plate laden precariously with food on a small platform of blue mana, a small smile on her face.
"Oh, hey." Ben choked out, his face going red as he glanced at her, he was suddenly thankful it was dark.
She hauled herself up, before taking the plate in her hands and stepping up beside him, Ben averted his gaze as she plopped onto the roof beside him.
"Grandpa already took care of the dishes, so you got off easy tonight." She elbowed him with a slight grin, mischief in her eyes.
He never could understand how her eyes seemed to pierce the darkness, or how his did either, he avoided her gaze with a nod and a half-hearted chuckle.

"Sweet." A tense silence sat between them, before Gwen huffed. "Come on, Doofus. Talk to me."
Ben sighed, bringing his knees up to his chest. "It's just... We've done so much this summer, been kick-butt heroes! But..."
He screwed his eyes shut, Heroes don't cry; he reminded himself. "The whole Ghostfreak incident today wigged me out,
I was legit scared I was going to lose you." Ben's eyes opened, he turned to meet Gwen for a moment before turning his gaze back
to the stars. "...To be honest, Ben. I was scared too, scared of leaving you and Grandpa behind." He heard her lay down beside him,
her gaze going to the stars above. "I mean, imagine how much trouble you guys would get into without me to save your sorry butts!"
Ben snorted, ease settling into his heart for the first time that night. "I had to save your big butt today."
Gwen scoffed, her face going red. "My butt is NOT big!" Ben snickered, his heart feeling light. "Yeah, well I happen to like big butt-"

He cut himself off, scooping a pile of chips from the plate and shoving them into his mouth. Gwen snorted, a curious look on her face.
"Yeah, whatever Doofus. You're the only one with a big butt in this family." Ben relaxed, his pulse slowing but his heart slightly aching.
His stomach growled loudly, so now he had a reason to keep shoveling food in his mouth.
He belatedly realized that Gwen had reheated his burger, he thanked her for that through a mouthful; which she flailed her arms and sputtered at.
"Chew and swallow first, Ben!" He gulped down his mouthful and laughed. "Sorry, sorry!"

He placed his burger back on his plate, before joining his cousin in staring up at the stars. "You ever think we'll get to
see space?" Gwen wondered, Ben shrugged. "I mean, eventually. But maybe not this summer, I don't know..."
As they laid there, Ben continued to munch on his delayed dinner, his eyes going to Gwen every so often.
His heart quickened as he stared, her green eyes scanning the skies. "...I wanted to a few years ago, be an astronaut I mean."
She turned her head to meet his gaze, a smile on her face. "Now all the outer space stuff is coming here, to this goofy little planet."

Ben slowly nodded, finishing the last bite of his burger with a smile. "And we're ready to face it all, you and me."
Gwen giggled, a smile on her face. "Don't forget Grandpa, you doofus." Ben's smile faded slightly.
"Oh, yeah. And Grandpa, forgot for a second there." Gwen playfully shoved him.
"Well, you don't seem sick anymore, you sure you're okay?"

Ben stiffened, his eyes meeting hers. The two sat up, staring into each others eyes. Gwen's mouth quirked up into a smirk.
"A staring contest won't keep me from asking, Ben." Ben's heart was racing, this was so stupid what was he doing!?
He leaned in and gave Gwen a quick peck on the mouth, before pulling back with a look of horror on his face.
Gwen's face, shining in the moonlight mirrored his; a bright blush on her face and confusion and horror all across the board.
"...Ben? What was that?" Ben fidgeted with the dial of the Omnitrix, it's faceplate glowing brightly as it settle on XLR8;
he could just run away, never come home... Let the Dweeb say what she wanted, he didn't care anymore.
His heart said otherwise. He raised a hand above his head, only to have it caught by Gwen.

He struggled against her, reminded just how capable a fighter she was as she wrestled him onto his back. "Ben, BEN!"
She straddled him, pinning his shoulders against the roof. "Let go!" Ben growled, his face red with anger and his eyes wild with fear.
"I'm not angry!" She shouted, Ben suddenly went still. "...what?"

She released his shoulders, yet still straddled him; her white capris pressing against his lucky shirt. "...I'm not mad, just a bit confused."
Her eyes were unreadable as Ben stared into them. "Ben, we're... We're cousins." She said, sounding upset as she leaned back.
"I just..." She hesitated. "I understand, I think. Especially after today, Doofus but..."
She fell back off of him, her hands going to her face as she groaned. "I totally get it, Ben. I hate that I get it, because it means we're both freaks and..."
She sighed. The two slowly sat up, looking each other in the eye once more. "...really?" Ben asked, his eyes wide. Gwen slowly nodded, a frown on her face.
"Dweeb, I don't think we have to worry too much right now. I mean, you've seen Grandpa with Xylene right?" Gwen laughed, her smile growing.
"Well, yeah. But they aren't-" Ben silenced her by pressing his lips to hers again, for a second longer, then pulled back.

Something in her snapped at that, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back for a deeper kiss.
The kids broke apart twenty seconds later, breathless. Gwen's face went hot, and she quickly shoved Ben away.
Silence stretched between them for a moment, before Gwen cleared her throat. "Despite what I just did, Doofus... I think we should take this slow, whatever it is."
A warm smile stretched across Ben's face, he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I can do slow. Slow sounds perfectly awesome."

Gwen snickered, smiling at Ben before scooting next to him and laying her head on his chest. "Good part of slow, Ben; we can just lay and watch the stars together."
She wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same, his fingers caressing her short red hair. A soft smile broke out on his face as he realized he liked slow.
"So that comment about big butts...?" Okay, Ben decided in that moment he hated slow, too quiet, let Gwen get in a last second jab.