The Next Episode

"Let's see…the most logical one would be Pokémon. Ash is ten, you start your Pokémon Journey at ten, I'm ten. Boom. But how am I going to set that up…"

After forcing Gwen to swallow his semen, Arthur let her go. 

The girl then pushed herself away and distanced herself from Arthur before turning and vomiting by a tree. She then turned back to him with tears beginning to fall and demanding answers.

Arthur explained that no, what she was made to swallow was not urine and give a brief explanation of male development and semen production. Then, an idea occurred to him and he thought to use this. 

Taking advantage of the fact Gwen would believe whatever he said, Arthur began to explain that 'apology blowjobs' are an extremely sincere and 'mature' form of apology. He did not think someone as mature as her would have a problem with giving one. He then apologized for 'getting over eager' in receiving his first one. 'I know someone so mature wouldn't hold that against me.'

As Arthur expected, though still seeming hurt and upset, Gwen dropped the issue. She wiped the tears from her face and confirmed that all was forgiven. When he agreed, she did not wait to storm off.

 Arthur then got dressed and returned to camp to find Max and Kim waiting. They naturally believed his claim that he and Gwen were having a heart-to-heart conversation. 

Max then declared they were going to bed to be up early. He wanted to reach Washington, DC tomorrow. 

Kim seemed eager pulled a quiet Gwen into one tent as she exited the Rustbucket with a glass of water - Aelita furling her wings and flowing them. 

Arthur and Max shared the other. 

Arthur was now lying in his sleeping bag next to Max trying to think of the next part of the story. 

"I can give myself time travel powers, skip to after the summer is over, and then come back whenever I have a good idea to continue things here. Then, instead of school, I'll go on a Pokémon Journey. I remember this one fanfiction that gives me a pretty good setup…"

"Let's see. I'll have five words to work with. I can travel through time. Pokémon exist in hidden Regions. Kanto Region exists near Japan. Government's keep Pokémon a secret. Ben starts his Pokémon Journey. Grandpa knows Professor Samual Oak…But how do I get from point A to point B? The idea is to get Max to convince his 'friend' to sponsor me and let me go on a Pokémon Journey like in that fanfic. But how do I write that in five words? I could convince him of it easily enough since he'll believe whatever I say, and I could probably do the same with Professor Oak. But I'm sure there are logistics that won't just magically resolve themselves because I convince them to."

It was while trying to figure out how to make it possible to embark on a Pokémon Journey that Arthur eventually fell asleep. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Morning came. 

Max was surprised to find Arthur having woken up earlier than him. 

Arthur claimed he was just excited to see the Big Apple. However, he chuckled nervously after being corrected that the Big Apple was New York not DC. 

It was at this point that Max took notice of the strange 'watch' on Arthur's arm. 

Put on the spot, Arthur made up a story about finding it at a thrift shop.

Max believed him and brushed it off as 'looking like something he heard about'.

Arthur then retreated to the Rustbucket to brush his teeth and wash up. Once he finished, he stepped out and helped Max in packing up camp while the older man took his turn in the bathroom. 

While Arthur was cleaning, Kim and Gwen seemed to get up. Kim greeted him while Gwen did not seem to know how to react to him and hurried off to the bathroom. 

"What's wrong with her," Kim asked. "She's been weird and barely said a word ever since you two talked."

"Well, I told her she was being mean and rude to you for no reason," Arthur lied. "Maybe she's reflecting on her actions."

"Maybe…Here, let me help you." Kim then began to help pack up camp. 

Once Kim was out of sight, Arthur directed his attention to the floating angel beside him. Aelita had also exited the girl's tent before unfurling her wings and hovering at his side. "I didn't think you needed sleep."

"I do not," Aelita replied. "However, seeing as Gwen and Kim are intended to be the main characters of the story, I chose to observe them."

"See anything good," Arthur asked offhandedly. 

"Confusion, rejection, guilt, disgust, etc. Gwen did not seem to sleep well last night."

"Maybe I can fix that," Arthur claimed knowingly. "On a related note," he lowered his voice as Kim returned, "can you tell me about the Notebook's next upgrade?"

"Following another level up, your range of freedom will be extended to a full sentence of whatever length or comprehensible structure you wish. Conjoined or run-on sentences will not be accepted. The next level up will occur once a proper plot is established."

Arthur moved over to the tents to get the sleeping bags and take them down before responding. "What do you mean 'establish a proper plot'? Hello, I have the Omnitrix, and Vilgax is going to come after me. How is that not a proper plot?"

"All you have done is acquire the Omnitrix. You have not specified anything else. It is an idea, not a story. Even if individuals come for the device, it will be viewed as happenstance and will have nothing to do with the story."

"Wonderful," Arthur thought. "So I can't get the story I want until after I get the ball rolling here. I refuse to just write something dumb to get things moving, so I have to figure out how I'm going to get this going."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once camp was packed up, the group was on the road again. Max was at the wheel, Kim was sitting at the table watching TV, a reticent Gwen was on her laptop, Aelita was sitting next to her while playing on Arthur's phone, and next to Kim sitting by the window was Arthur with a scratch piece of paper. 

Arthur decided to use this time to figure out his course. Starting simple, he listed out the original Ben 10 episodes to use as inspiration. Then, he decided to do the same with the Kim Possible episodes to see about fusing the series and drawing inspiration. However, he largely discarded the idea due to the number of episodes and prospect of the series covering four years when he only had three months. Still, he'd keep it around for when he got to her character later on.

Tapping his pen against the paper, Arthur thought, "A plot…A plot needs a main character, some sort of antagonistic character or element, and some reason for these two to be in conflict…Okay, this is basically supposed to be a superhero story. What ideas can I pull from to make a good story? DC and Marvel, obviously…Danny Phantom, American Dragon…TMNT…Generator Rex…Totally Spies!, Martin Mystery…No! Stop. I'll just over complicate things. Might want to start setting those up though. Maybe mix Kim Possible, Martin Mystery, and Totally Spies! later."

"Wait, wasn't there a crossover episode in Omniverse between Ben 10 and…S…Saturdays…" Needing help remembering, Arthur turned his attention to Aelita across from him. He then reached out as an indication to return his phone. 

Aelita momentarily raised her gaze before returning it to her game.

In response, Arthur pressed his hand out further to indicate his insistence.

Aelita raised her gaze to meet Arthur's and the two seemed to carry out a silent conversation with their eyes. 

'Give me my phone.'

'No.'

'I need to look something up.'

'I'm in the middle of a game.'

'You aren't downloading anything so I know there isn't any games you can't pause.'

'After I'm done.'

'You're playing a puzzle game with who knows how many levels! What I'm doing affects the story which last I checked was basically your job!'

Aelita frowned slightly before reluctantly giving Arthur his phone.

Over the next hour, Arthur proceeded to find and take notes on The Secret Saturdays. The instant he seemed to finish, Aelita reached out her hand to make a grabbing motion toward him. He stared at her expressionless face before conceding and giving her his phone to resume her game. 

The angel distracted, Arthur returned to his notes. "Let's see. I am definitely bringing this into the story. I forgot how much of a crush I had on Doc when I was a kid, and from what I'm remembering of the crossover episode, so did Ben. No, focus! Nothing about this helps me with my problem now. Alright, how did The Saturdays handle their story. We have core plot devise, bad guy, and stopping the bad guy…Simple enough."

"Okay. Main character is Kim and Gwen. This is a Ben 10 story, so the big bad should be Vilgax. Other candidates include…the Forever Knights…I'm not quite sure what do do with Kevin's character, but I'm slowly bringing in the X-men, so maybe something there…There's also Ghostfreak and his minions…as for the nobodies…Animo, Hex and Charmcaster, Zombie Clown, Biker Girl, Vulcanus, Bug Man, Max's old Plumber buddy…"

"I could mix in some of Kim's enemies or just save them for her arc later…Maybe replace Hex with Shego? Turn her from a former superhero empowered my mystery meteor into evil sorceress? Meh. Again, thoughts for later."

"Keep it simple. Vilgax wants the Omnitrix. Gwen is discovered to have mutant powers. These are the main points. Vilgax is out of commission right now. He's end game. That means we focus on Gwen discovering her powers. The Omnitrix will play a role in that…and I can make that some sort of mystery in the background that builds up to Vilgax's attack! As the mystery builds we focus on finding out the origin of Gwen's powers. Yeah, okay, I can work with this. But how do I get her to discover her powers. Hmm…"

Arthur was suddenly broken from his thoughts as Kim tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, he turned to her. 

"Do you think you could tap you pen a little more quietly," Kim asked. 

Only now did Arthur realize how incessantly he had been tapping his pen to the point of disturbing those next to him - though Gwen seemed pointedly ignoring him. "Sorry, I was trying to figure something out and thought I had it."

"No big," Kim said before returning to her show.

Arthur looked back to his notes. "Okay. Phase one: Mystery of the Omnitrix. Something happens and I 'accidentally' discover the Omnitrix's ability to turn me into aliens. Phase two: Gwen's powers. Something happens to cause Gwen to discover the mutant abilities I haven't given her yet. Phase three: Plot. Gwen uses these powers to save the day and be a hero and figuring out what is happening to her while doing what's becomes a guiding principal for the story."

"Now, phase one can be any dumb thing. How do we begin phase 2?…Something to trigger her…With how I've got it planned, there should be some sort of villain attack where I 'go hero'. Something happens to Gwen and I go to help her and coming into contact with my alien form helps induce her powers. So, I just need a villain that fits the bill…Maybe I can use Animo for something after all…"

And so, a plan finally came together for Arthur. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

That night, the Notebook became operational again.

Stopped for dinner, Arthur had already eaten and drifted over to the side to quietly speak with Aelita. "Hey, Aelita, since the next episode has not started yet, that means I can make whatever changes I want now and then get a refresh once it does start, right?"

"That is correct," the angel responded. 

Arthur nodded and opened the Notebook. When he did, he noticed something different about the rules written in the cover. 

Only five-word sentences are applicable.

Sentences must follow a structure of noun/target, verb/effect, and subject/result.

Established characters can be referred to by their title, first, or last name. 

Terms can be addressed by recognizable names.

You can only affect a particular target once per plot development.

Angelic observer - Aelita - is an entity who has no physical needs and is unaffected by reality - making her immune to the Notebook.

Besides the user, no one can perceive or will acknowledge notebook's existence.

Because reality itself changes, effects of notebook will not be noticed or recognized by anyone but user (unless user makes it so they will notice).

Notebook is indestructible.

Notebook can be summoned to the user whenever they want.

Notebook will twist the altered reality onto the user where needed. 

While mostly the same, it seems some had been added for clarification. It was already mostly things Arthur had figured out, but he still appreciated the specifics. 

"What'cha doing there Ben," Max asked after spotting Arthur sitting on his own in a wired pose - unable to notice the Notebook.

Arthur jumped at the sudden address and rushed to find an explanation, "I was, um, thinking about how we were going to sleep tonight."

"What do you mean?"

The conversation had gotten Gwen and Kim's attention.

"Well, were we going to find a motel or are we sleeping in the Rustbucket tonight?"

"Well, I hadn't really decided yet. We still have a little ways to go-"

"It's just, if we're sleeping in the Rustbucket, there are only three beds but there are four of us."

A mild look of realization appeared on Max's face as he looked over the beds. Seemingly not having considered this, he quietly mused, "Well, I suppose I can sleep at the table…"

Arthur internally cringed at the thought of how that would affect the older man's back when an idea occurred to him. "I'm not sure that would be very good for your back Grandpa. If someone needs to sleep at the table or maybe the floor, I don't mind. However, these beds don't seem too small. I mean, if each one is big enough for you, then maybe we could double up?"

"What do you mean, Ben," Kim asked.

"Well, I mean, Grandpa Max gets one bed, one of us gets another, and I share the last bed with someone else," Arthur answered simply.

Max blinked at his grandson before considering the idea. "It would be a snug fit, but I guess that would work."

"I don't mind sharing with Kim," Gwen quickly interjected. 

Max turned on Gwen before smiling. "I must say I'm surprised. I didn't think either of you would be so willing to share your bunk. Especially, you Gwen. I know this wasn't exactly the summer you wanted, but I'm happy to see you getting into the spirit."

Gwen smiled weakly. "Well, you know, if I'm going to be here, I may as well make the most of it."

Arthur then chimed in, "How about a rotation? That way everything's fair." Seeing all eyes on him, he continued, "I mean, Kim and me one night, Kim and Gwen another, and me and Gwen the next. That way, we each have the one bunk to ourself."

Gwen's expression twisted slightly at the suggestion. 

Max was more thoughtful. "It sounds good, but it's not like we'll be sleeping in the Rustbucket every night. Kim, what do you think? This involves you too."

Kim just shrugged. "I mean, there are only three bunks, and it sounds fair to me. Besides, if we get a motel or sleep in a tent, we'll probably have to share anyway like last night. At least this way, I get a one-in-three chance of getting a bed to myself."

Max scratched the back of his neck. "I guess that settles it then. So who should-"

"I think Gwen should get the first night to herself," Arthur interrupted. "She is the one who didn't exactly want to be here. Letting her get a bunk to herself first seems fair."

Seeing the other two in agreement, Gwen nodded to the arrangement as well before casting a confused glance at Arthur. 

"Is it okay, if I step out for some fresh air," Arthur suddenly asked. 

"Sure, just don't wander off again," Max replied. 

"I won't," Arthur said cheerily as he left the RV.

Stepping away from the Rustbucket, the area around Arthur was illuminated by Aelita's light. "Gwen seemed off," he offhandedly said.

"She is unsure of how to handle her trauma," Aelita flatly explained. "The actions of intelligent beings is influenced by their physical, mental, and emotional states. Your condition of 'everyone believes me' resolves the issue mentally and instills an emotional state of faith and trust. However, physically she knows something is wrong. This in turn is effecting her emotional state which itself is based on input both mentally and physically. The contrast of her physical rejection and mental belief is hightening her confusion. Furthermore, just because she believes your words does not change the discomfort, revulsion, and fear she went through during the experience."

"If before you and her had a more sibling-like relationship, now it is suffice to say she is fearful of and wishes to avoid you. The dictonomy of her current impression of you and your presumed kindness is causing her further confusion."

"Okay," Arthur said while pulling a pen out of his pocket and sitting down. "You think this whole situation will resolve itself without me using the Notebook?"

"You'll probably use it anyway but...," Aelita paused as she tilted her head in thought. "It depends on how you act from here on. If you behave like a decent person and try to build a healthy relationship with her, then it will mostly work out save some issues regarding sex during her developmental years. Although, you won't be doing that and would likely try the alternative of using manipulation, guilt, and further abuse to break her down - even if it would fail."

"What's that supposed to mean," Arthur asked opening the Notebook in his lap.

"The only reason her trauma is not more severe is due to her believing your words. Otherwise, the best case scenario would have been as it currently is but rather than simply ignore you, she would try to keep as much distance from you as possible. That is assuming you would have been able to manipulate her so easily which you clearly can't. If it were not for her believing whatever you said, she would have seen through your flawed words if not outright rejected you and told your grandfather."

"Ri~ight..."

"Furthermore, even your current deception is entierly contingent on her believing you. You played on her self-preceived notion of her own maturity. If she decides to let go of that notion and accept that she is only a child, then she will likely hold your actions against you. At best it deteriorates the situation and at best she tells your grandfather."

"I know I asked…but why do I feel that was just a very long way to say I suck…" not getting a response, Arthur turned his attention to the Notebook.

I can travel through time.

Ben recovers and heals quickly.

Omnitrix Master Control is unlocked.

Gwen can assimilate genetic material.

Gwen Tennyson's meta-gene lies dormant.

Kim possesses naturally high athleticism.

Max is deceptively strong physically.

The Tennysons possess great physicality.

The Possibles are natural geniuses

Azmuth has hidden himself away.

Xylene has gravely injured Vilgax.

Vilgax is out of commission. 

Aliens rarely visit the Earth.

Mutants typically awaken during puberty.

Meta-genes may awaken through trauma.

Charles Xavier is first mutant.

Gotham City of DC exists.

New Jersey includes Gotham City.

Bruce Wayne's parents died 1981.

27-year-old Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. 

Metropolis City of DC exists. 

New York includes Metropolis City.

The Kryptonian race did exist.

Krypton was destroyed decades ago.

25-year-old Clark Kent becomes Superman.

Women grow prettier with age.

Beauty is rated from negative-ten-to-ten.