Chapter 15 – The Alien Force; Part One

Los Soloedad; New York; July 14th, 1957; 1:29AM

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Within a secured black ops military facility on the outskirts of Bellwood, safely behind a pane of bullet proof glass, a decorated General spoke through a microphone into a room where equipment was still being set up, "This time machine of yours has cost the U.S military a pretty penny, Doctor."

There were two men left in the room after the technicians left through the secured door; one was short and timid, seeming very unsure of himself as he looked over the data on a clipboard in his hand, the other was a taller, more confident man with jet-black hair both sporting matching white lab coats. The taller man turned and lowered the safety goggles over his eyes, "The Chronal-Logger is hardly a time-machine, in the sense of a vehicle but instead, a sub-atomic drill built to burrow through the fabric of space and time," he turned around with his hands tucked behind his back, "As for cost, I believe the alleviation of untold suffering through out human history is ample justification, General."

Whispering over his shoulder to the assistant next to him, away from the microphone, the General chuckled just a bit, "It'll also give our red buddies across the seas something to think about."

The Doctor continued to respond to him, "As for your first question, there's only one way to find out," he approached a podium at the far end up against the glass, flipping two switched before pulling a lever down, against the wall on the other side of the room was a large ten-foot-tall Quartz crystal sculpted into a ring that sprouted large metallic antenna now pulsating with electricity. Within the center of the ring generated what seemed to be a mirage only, it was no illusion as energy formed and opened some sort of portal, startling even the men behind the protective glass.

The shorter man gulped, taking a step back, "You're certain we're safe, doctor?" he asked as the flashing lights were nearly too bright even for his shielded goggles.

On the other hand, the Doctor seemed to be more than confident in his own work, having done the calculations himself a hundred times that night alone, though he was a man of science and knew nothing was ever a hundred percent, "I'm not certain of anything, Hugo, however; the chronal-magnetic field being generated should protect us…" as the man named Hugo approached him to get a better look at their creation, the doctor held out a paper bag, "Have a gumball, it'll calm your nerves!" he nonchalantly shook the bag at him with his other hand in his coat pocket.

Without warning, the portal began to create a sort of vacuum that inhaled the air and sucked in matter from the room only barely being contained within the room by the glass and walls; Hugo immediately backed away, "I-I'm frightened, doctor, I have a wife and kids, I cant do this!" he turned, tossing his goggles and heading for the door, pulling it open and slipping through.

"Hugo, you cowered!" the Doctor shouted as the steel door shut behind him, locking automatically with a loud clank; he was pulled towards the portal as the chairs and panels were warped through space, elongating into the portal without actually moving. He tried to resist it but, it was too powerful as first his bag of gumballs was torn from his hands before being pulled off his feet entirely.

There was a bright flash of blue light, shrouding the entire room and blinding the General and his men; when it subsided, they blinked removing their protective glasses to scan the room, trying to make sense of the warped lab supplies and now missing their head scientist, "Where did he go?" one of the men asked.

The General only scratched the back of his head, pulling his camo-green cap off his head with respect, "He was tunneling through time-space, I believe the proper question is when did he go?"

…

Bellwood; New York; November 23rd, 2011; 2:41PM

Gwendolyn rushed out of her class at the sound of the bell, making her way through the halls with her books tightly wrapped against her chest by her arms; she didn't want to seem overly excited but, after not seeing her boyfriend all day long, the changeling couldn't help but speed walk her way to the bus-loop to meet him. As she passed multiple buildings, she happened to spot one of her friends from her Chemistry and Physics classes exiting from the stairway with the crowds of kids around her, figuring it wouldn't hurt if she did some socializing first. Gwen slowed down as her friend caught up to her, "Hey, Emily," she shouted.

The peppy blonde wearing an expensive red blouse and jeans, coupled with heels and a matching shoulder bag for her books bumped shoulders with Gwendolyn with a nonchalant greeting, "Hey, girl!" she responded with her phone in her hand, still scrolling through texts, "Guess what?" Emily asked as they started walking towards the busses together, dodging and weaving through the kids. Though she always walked home with Ben, Gwen still took the liberty of walking her friend to her bus almost every day, they had become quite close in the six or nine months since she was kidnapped by Vilgax.

"What?" Gwen responded with a raised brow, keeping her eye on her path as the careless students walked in every direction around them.

Emily rummaged through her bag before pulling out two laminated gift-cards, waving them in the air quickly before sniffing the plastic that still smelt faintly of fresh adhesive, "My Grandma gave me her old gift-cards she bought at the mall, we can totally go for a shopping spree!" she did a twirl and tossed one of the cards into the air, not expecting Gwen to catch it before it landed back in her hand.

"Sweet!" She announced looking the card over, "I've been meaning to pick up a new pair of underwear, when does Victoria's Secret close again?" Though she was never one to focus on her looks, she had been wanting to buy a special pair of lingerie, just so she could look extra enticing when making her move on Ben, not that she would ever admit it.

"We can go tomorrow afternoon since its Saturday, I have a few assignments to finish up today," She dropped the gift card that was meant for her in her bag, suddenly realizing that their couldn't be an innocent reason she wanted to buy underwear at such a fancy store. Emily giggled and shoved Gwendolyn's shoulder lightly getting her attention, "Who are you gonna buy it for?" she asked with a coy expression, narrowing her eyes with a knowing smile, and poking her sides as she tried to ignore the question.

Her cheeks grew bright red as the heat rose to her freckles, "I-It's just for me… I dunno what you're talking about," Gwendolyn found herself touching her index fingers together nervously out of habit, something she always found herself doing when she was embarrassed.

Emily gasped at her nervous expression, stopping in her tracks, grabbing her hand, and shaking it vigorously out of excitement, "Are you finally going to ask out Michael Morningstar? You know you two would make the cutest couple, and he's been eying you all semester!" she squealed a bit, looking across the courtyard as they passed Mike who happened to be standing at a lunch table with a group of Basketball players, taking a second to wave at her before turning back to talk to his friends, "You know he's like- filthy, stinking rich, right?" Emily chuckled waving back at him.

Gwendolyn only smiled nervously, tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear out of habit, it had grow a tad longer since she had gotten the pixie-cut, always ensuring it didn't get too long though, she was heavily considering getting another more stylish hair-cut, "I don't think so, he's super nice but, I get this weird vibe from him… like I get a bit weak near him but, not in the good way," though she couldn't put her finger on it, something about that boy always gave her chills and made her want to cover up, spite him never doing a thing to make her feel uneasy.

"Do you plan on being single till college, Gwenny?" Emily released her hand and grabbed her shoulders shaking her before pushing her forwards towards the sidewalk leading to the busses, "Every guy I suggest has something wrong with him. What about Ben?"

Gwen nearly choked on her spit, coughing a bit as she tried to gasp and failed, "Eh? Why would you suggest him? I have no idea what you're talking about… you're crazy!" she hadn't realized how defensive she'd been until she was done talking and Emily had her brow raised in dubiety.

"Uh, yea, he's your cousin; I meant you spend like all of your spare time with him, maybe there's something about him you like in a guy," Emily wasn't stupid, there had been at least half a dozen times that she had ideas for plans that involved Gwen but, she was almost always too busy with her cousin to join. It was already weird enough how often she spent time with him but, her reaction just now was a dead giveaway, "Is there something you wanna tell me, psycho?"

Being the overachieving and slightly neurotic teenager that she was, Gwendolyn had always been a psycho in Emily's eyes but, they had mutual understanding that she wouldn't have it any other way a long time ago. "No!" She responded in a shouted whisper, keeping her eyes on her shoes as they approached the metal gates separating the school from the bus lane.

"There so is! C'mon, psycho, you can tell me!" Emily insisted, pulling on the sleeve to Gwen's favorite navy-blue blouse mimicking an impatient child.

Gwendolyn looked around, noticing that in the last five minutes after the bell, most of the students had already scattered either to their respective cars, the parent pick up, or the bus-loop they were currently approaching before she pulled Emily off the sidewalk. Escorting her to the closest building where the stairway was now empty, giving them somewhere they could talk in relative privacy behind the stairs themselves, "Hey!" She squealed a bit as Gwen swung the door open, pushing her friend in, and shutting it behind them before she looked her in the eye, not knowing exactly how she should even come out and say it, "What gives? You're acting even crazier than usual, psycho."

Tapping her index fingers together again for just a second or two, Emily noticed this and folded her arms over her chest, waiting for her to spit it out, it was obviously starting to eat away at her "I sorta maybe might…" even though she finished her sentence, the words were still too mumbled and barely audible to hear properly.

"Huh?"

"I said I might be sorta-maybe-dating-my-cousin…" again barely able to utter the words to another human-being other than him in the first place, watching Emily's eyes go wide as one of her brows raised in a bit of confusion.

"I'm sorry… what?" She chuckled a bit, taken totally by surprise and assuming it might be a joke; that was, until she noticed the heat rising over the bridge of Gwendolyn's nose… the heat was so blatant you could fry an egg on her face at this rate, having closed her eyes to await some horrible judgmental response.

Gwen tightened her grip on her books, hugging them tightly, unsure of what her only friend would say or think; it wasn't until Emily spoke that she opened her eyes to see her response, "So, wait, you and Ben, Ben and you?" she gestured with her fingers, putting them together to symbolize two people kissing, as the fiery orange-headed teen nodded her head shamefully in response, though she wasn't expecting her to respond so giddily, "Ho-ho-ho, so, Gwen Tennyson's had a boyfriend all this time! That's why you haven't asked out any of the dudes I set you up with!" She raised her head quickly, looking into Emily's bright blue eyes as the girl giggled uncontrollably, "You've been holding out on me! Is he a good kisser? How big is he?"

Gwen's brow furrowed for a second as she processed the questions, her entire face turning bright red as it only took a second or two for her to catch on to what Emily meant by 'how big' Ben was, "I-I don't know! Why would you even ask that?! I'm a virgin, Emily!" though she was taking it seriously, it was clear that her friend was only poking fun at her when she covered her laughter with her hand out of habit.

Still giggling, she responded, "Of course, of course, how could I forget the biggest prude in Bellwood is my best friend… how long have you two been dating?" Emily asked as her fit of laughter finally subsided, leaning back against the steel door leading back to the path they took to the buses.

Being that she'd never told another soul about her relationship with Ben, part of her was relieved that somebody knew the truth; somebody that was unbiased and could tell her if she was being absolutely insane, "About a year and a half… and I'm not a prude," she whispered the last part with a pout, tightening her hug on her textbooks.

"Woah, so its serious then?" Emily noted as she tilted her head, looking into Gwen's eyes as she played with the end of her bangs that fell down the side of her head, "Do your parents know? Do his?"

Gwendolyn shook her head in response, glancing away to stare out the small window in the door as kids passed by in the courtyard, still a bit ashamed to be admitting her biggest secret to someone she'd met that year, "You're the only person who knows aside from my Grandpa but, he's not around enough to matter at this point," waiting for a reply but, not getting one as the blonde seemed to still be thinking on what she should say, "You think I'm a freak, right?"

Emily smiled coyly, folding her arms back over her chest, tilting her hips for emphasis, "Oh, totally, but not because you're crushing on Ben…" she shoved the over achieviers shoulder casually, turning back to face the exit, "Don't you think there are like… risks though?" she pushed the door open, gesturing for Gwen to follow her out before they missed her bus entirely.

As they walked out and back onto the sidewalk, Gwendolyn pondered what she'd just said, because there were certainly more risks to this relationship than just her parents reaction, "I've done plenty of research and I know what I'm doing…" which was true, this wouldn't be the first time since admitting she was in love with Ben that she'd considered marrying and having kids with him, not that it was something she was planning on in the next decade.

Emily raised a brow as she opened the gated door for them, letting Gwen through before strolling in herself, letting the door slam behind her as they walked passed the horde of kids looking for their bus home, "I mean it's illegal in half of America, there are birth defection risks, and that's not even considering what your family might think."

Gwendolyn stopped on the grass as they were approaching the asphalt lane with six or eight bright yellow busses letting out exhaust fumes that could kill an elephant, "I… I know all of that but," she started lowering her eyes to her shoes not knowing how to finish the sentence to anyone else.

Emily giggled and shrugged, lightly punching her friend in the shoulder prompting her to speak up, "But, what? Don't you think you should think that stuff through before continuing a relationship into your second year? Soon it'll be too serious to end things without hurting his-"

She simply gave a warm smile looking up into her eyes as pools of blue met bright emerald, grabbing Emily's hand in hers and pulling her closer so that she could hear her without broadcasting her feeling to the rest of the surrounding students, "But, I'm kinda in love with him…" at first she could swear the psycho was pulling her leg but, the look in her almost glowing pupils with a lovestruck expression was far too serious to ignore.

"Oh boy, you're serious aren't you?" Emily asked finding her staring off behind her blonde head suddenly, giving a wave to the crowd as she turned her head around, finding Ben standing by the car loop with his bag, waiting to walk her home as he'd done every day.

Gwen lowered her hand, looking back at her friend as her palm shifted to rest over her heart, "Yea, I think I am," she noticed him smile at her and look back to his phone, likely waiting for them to say their goodbyes, "So, you do think I'm out of my mind?"

"Only because of your straight A's, nine extra curriculars, and early college entry exam scores; but, not because you fell in love with your cousin," Emily heard the front bus's horn honk loudly, signaling her and the last of the students to get on while they could before they took off without her, "You're the smartest person I've ever met, and if you say you've thought this through… I believe you."

Gwendolyn lunged herself into the blonde's embrace, hugging her tightly with her book hanging in her hand, "Thanks, Emily, that means a lot more than you realize," pulling away, the peppy girl winked at her as she took a few steps back towards her ride home, waving as she did.

"Since you have a boyfriend though, you're obligated to give your best friend all the juicy details," Leaving Gwen slightly confused as she was about to turn around completely, Emily shouted in a whisper at her with her hands cupped over her mouth so only they could hear, "Including if he's got a big dick!"

"Emily!" Gwen shouted nervously looking around to see if anyone else had heard her; the blonde vanished behind the busses leaving her to her thoughts as the vehicles took off one by one. "I can't believe she asked me that," she noted to herself, walking towards Ben who hadn't noticed her yet, still looking down at his phone intently. She glanced down to his pants, gulping as she simply imagined the bulge he got in his pants whenever they kissed enough, "I wonder, though, how big is it?" she couldn't help but ponder that question, finding herself a bit curious as he looked up at her from the screen of his phone, smiling and pocketing it, she wasn't sure yet but, a part of her she would never admit existed, was eager to find out.

…

Bellwood; New York; November 26th, 2011; 6:30PM

After having quite the intimate moment and exchanging what they were thankful for this year up in his room, Ben and Gwendolyn made their way downstairs preparing themselves for a Thanksgiving feast that his parents were preparing, however; when they reached the kitchen Ben realized one crucial family member was missing. Frank and Natalie were talking with his mother on the couch as football played on the larger television facing the room and Ben could hear his father wrestling with pots and pans in the kitchen but, there was no sign of a familiar Hawaiian shirt, "Grandpa isn't here? He hasn't sent us a text yet…" he reached into his jean pocket pulling out his phone noticing there were still no unread messages. He turned to face Gwen who only shrugged in response, turning her own phone to face him, showing a blank screen with no messages.

Carl exited the kitchen holding a steaming pot of Yams with mitten wrapped hands, answering his son as he sat it down on the tablecloth, "You know he never comes to these things… he said he'd be here though, I just wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you," he gave a short sigh before turning to return to the kitchen, knowing exactly how his father could be.

Ben looked back down to his phone before glancing up at Gwen, he started typing as he walked away, scrolling through contacts to find Max's cell number, "I'm gonna call him, if he actually said he'd be here, he would have at least texted us about bailing, he dialed the number and turned around approaching the front door, passing Gwendolyn on the way. He didn't look up from the phone even as he grabbed an emerald snow cap and his black and white wind-breaker, throwing one over his mess of brown hair and running his arm through the others sleeve stepping out into the slow drifting specks of snow.

He waited for an answer watching his breath steam out around his face though, the dial tone kept ringing until the automated voicemail came on; Ben re-dialed the number three times but, didn't receive an answer, he looked down at his phone with a sigh, shoving his free hand back into his jacket-pocket. Grandpa Max hadn't been the most reliable adult in his life these last few years and, he certainly wasn't happy with the man but, they were still family and Max said he'd be here. It was hard to believe that he would forget about this holiday after how he betrayed his grandchildren's trust unless it was for an especially important reason.

Ben was brought out of his thoughts by a warm hand on his shoulder, he wanted so badly to just pull her in and wrap his arms around her for a sweet kiss, still a bit excited from earlier but, he knew his neighbors might see something as they stood outside on the small porch that led to the driveway; Gwendolyn closed the front door behind her and stood next to him, "He didn't answer?" she asked.

"I haven't heard from him in months, what if he's in trouble?" Ben asked pocketing his phone and staring back out at the street as a random car passed casually, sending a flurry of snow dancing through the air in its wake.

Gwen folded her arms, leaning her head over onto his shoulder as her hair just barely spilled over his neck, it had grown a bit giving her slightly longer bangs that Ben didn't mind reaching up and running his fingers through, "We could go to the Retirement Villa where he parked the Rustbucket, just to see if there's anything out place." Part of her couldn't help but wrap a hand around his upper arm, feeling his tightened muscles through his sleeves as she looked up from his shoulder into his eyes for a reaction, finding his emerald pupils locked on the snow still clearly deep in thought.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked not looking down at her just yet, "We could go back inside and forget about it… I'm just not sure it's worth the effort," he knew Max didn't necessarily deserve their concern but, he taught the boy to ride his first bike, took him to his first baseball game, helped him train with his aliens, and gifted him the Bunker even after their fight nearly a year ago; he couldn't just forget all of those memories.

Gwen tucked her head into him a bit, snuggling her hair into his neck for more comfort, knowing just how much he enjoyed the feeling of having her close, "He's my Grandpa too, besides I know how much he really means to you," slowly placing a hand against his chest, she smiled warmly at him, "No fight can ever change the fact that you care about him."

There was a reason he was in love with her, she always understood him in a way nobody else ever could, more than just sensing his emotions too, "You're right, I'll text my Dad and let him know we'll be back a bit late, I wasn't very hungry anyways…" Ben pulled out his phone again to message his father as the two of them turned towards the sidewalk, even as they walked away, she never took her hand from his arm. Even locking an arm with his before they walked out of sight from the window, where Carl had watched the entire interaction with narrowed eyes.

Carl had long since known that his son and his brother's daughter got along well these last few years, even accepting that they met up practically every single day to hang out together, it wasn't totally out of the usual but, was he going crazy? Or did they seem to be holding each other… endearingly? More so than they had ever let on in front of family… They were young but, not so young that it could be dismissed without question that perhaps something else was going on behind the scenes. He gulped and shook his head, it wasn't something he wanted to spend too long thinking about but, it was times like these that he was incredibly lucky to have only one child. He wasn't sure he could handle needing to have this type of discussion with more than just Ben, who usually handled these types of things with a fairly good attitude. What was he thinking? There was no way his son was having some sort of secret affair with his cousin, that was simply crazy.

…

Bellwood; New York; November 26th, 2011; 7:14PM

In a small grassy trailer park only two miles from his house, Gwen still had Ben's arm wrapped with hers as they walked over a hill where they were met with a white picket fence and rows upon rows of separated lots each having a massive recreational vehicle of a different model parked in them. Some of them had their own barbeque equipment out, others were setting up for a Thanksgiving dinner indoors, and some lots were empty for the Holidays but, one lot would always be familiar to them.

They strolled along the sidewalk casually, noticing that most people had retreated into their respective homes by now as the weather only grew colder and the moon peaked out of the clouds above slowly. When once the cold winter breeze would force a shiver down her spine, now after two years of nightly sparing in the chilly woods outside of the city, Gwendolyn had grown quite the tolerance to the cold. Still she found herself holding the sleeves of her navy-blue blouse, the metallic golden zipper over her cleavage tickled as it brushed against her skin; she was quickly regretting not putting her bra back on when she had the chance.

After a minute or two of walking in relative silence, they approached the familiar lot and mobile home still parked exactly where they knew he would have left it, "Do you think he's in there?" Gwen asked, taking her hand from his arm, and taking a step or two forward after Ben stopped to analyze the uncut lawn around the RV.

"Where else would he be?" He responded, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

She shrugged at him, turning back around to face the tan painted aluminum door of the Rustbucket, she remembered when she was little and she needed to jump just to reach the handle, the memory brought a half-smile to her face, "He's always keeping secrets and Plumbing without us, he could be on another planet for all we know…"

Ben narrowed his eyes at the thought of the man lying to them again to go on some top secret mission in another Solar System, it still made no sense that after everything that happened and everything he knew about their capabilities, Max still felt keeping them at arm's length would also keep them safe, "Grandpa! You better not be in there!" He shouted as he wasn't sure what he would say to the man if he were simply too lazy to make it to Thanksgiving dinner, it seemed like any outcome they found would only infuriate them more.

Gwen reached for the handle finally, opening the door slightly as it creaked slowly with rusted hinges revealing a darkened room that they couldn't quite see inside of considering it seemed even the high-tech self-sustaining battery that usually kept the vehicle running at all times, was completely silent. Stepping inside slowly, it seemed so much bigger when they were kids than it did now that they were nearly sixteen. Ben nonchalantly reached a hand up above his head, only a foot or two of space between him and the ceiling as he dragged his fingers over the cold metal, noting how much taller he'd become since he last checked his height in comparison, "It definitely hasn't changed much…"

Gwen announced herself into the relatively small vehicle, not needing to project her voice much, "Grandpa, you in here?" she turned her head towards the back, stepping towards the curtain pulled over the bunks in the far back, opening it and finding the beds stripped with no sign of him.

Ben sighed realizing the man actually wasn't in here, with no sign of him, he did the one thing he'd never actually gotten the chance to do; he sat in the drivers seat and leaned back, looking out at the tree the Rustbucket was parked in front of. He noticed the large pile of leaves on the windshield, "He hasn't been here in a while, Grandpa never lets his sight-line get cluttered like this…"

Gwendolyn finished looking around a bit before proceeding to the front where she sat next to him in the passenger seat, staring out the front windshield with a smile, "Where do you think he went?" she asked mentally noting that he was right about the leaves.

Ben tilted his head, looking over the dashboard controls with a pensive stare, feeling as though something was out of place somehow, "Dunno but… I must have watched him set these switches up a thousand times," he reached a hand out towards the many jury-rigged knobs, dials, and switches lined up under the radio, almost all advanced or alien technology, "These should be… like this," after setting them each a certain way a few clanks and the sound of gears audibly erupted from the inside of the engine, what they didn't expect was for a hidden cupholder to pop out of the dash suddenly.

"I don't remember that being there…" Gwendolyn mentioned reaching down to grab a metallic disc sitting in the cupholder, looking it over slowly as she pressed down on the center with her index finger.

Ben shifted his legs to face her as it sprouted a bright white light, projecting a hologram of Grandpa Max standing in his regular attire of a Hawaiian button up and beige slacks, "Hello Ben-" the hologram spoke still facing Gwendolyn as it obviously wasn't a live feed, "I recorded this message and left it where I knew only you could find it, I'm in a bit of a situation but, it's nothing I cant handle… certainly nothing for you to worry about," the hologram image of Max rubbed the back of his neck as it continued, "I know we haven't been on the best of terms lately but, I just wanted you to know not to worry. There's renewed alien activity on Earth, something big is happening that I can't go into detail about now, I'm investigating. Say hello to your cousin Gwen for me, and whatever you do, no matter how long its been…" Gwendolyn watched as Ben's eyes started to light up bright green reflecting off the message finishing its final sentence, "Don't come looking for me," it dispersed to static as the white light faded away.

With the hologram deactivated it left them with more questions than answers, though it did clear up a few things for them; Grandpa Max wasn't on another planet because he was still investigating alien activity on Earth and he'd left this message to ensure Ben wouldn't go searching for him. Something didn't quite sit well with Gwendolyn as she lowered her hand in disappointment, "Did you see the layer of dust over these controls, and the leaves… how long do you think he's been gone for?"

Ben stared down at the dull grey projector still in her hand, the mere fact that Max would directly instruct him not to go looking for him made the teenager ache to defy him even more, "We need to find him…" he spoke up, looking into her eyes for a moment as she reached out, grazing his had with her own for comfort.

"He told you not to go after him though," Gwendolyn noted with a raised brow.

Ben stood up and narrowed his eyes at the darkened inner Rustbucket around them, it was an absolute mess which was very unlike Grandpa Max in the first place, "An even better reason to-" he was interrupted by the sound of rummaging or light shuffling coming from the darkened closet sized restroom in the corner, "Did you check in the bathroom by chance?" he turned his head to her without looking away from the closed door.

Gwen narrowed her eyes as well, standing up to follow his example, her aura ignited with a flash of blue energy flowing around her fists now positioned in a fighting stance, "I didn't…" she answered noticing Ben quickly reach his hand over to his sleeve, pulling it up as the Omnitrix flashed a bright emerald light like a flash light out over the shadows cast across the room.

Something was clearly moving inside the bathroom, it must have knocked something off the counter as it made another noise akin to a rodent going through trash; the two super-human teenagers approached the door slowly, Ben nodding his head at her to ensure she was ready which she gave a nod back at him to confirm. He quickly kicked the door in revealing a large pasty-hunched over yellow alien creature awfully familiar to them, it had long tentacles under its face with only a single eye underneath an exposed brain. It screeched at them as soon as it laid eye on them, lunging at Gwendolyn who threw up a shield of blue energy that he slammed into instead, clawing at her, "A little help would be nice!" she shouted through her teeth.

Ben popped the dial on his Omnitrix and didn't take a second to search through his playlists, instead simply slapping his palm down on the faceplate without looking igniting a large green explosion of light. the DNAlien reeled back to strike down at the barrier, without her Charms to amp her magic it likely would shatter from the aliens enhanced strength but, it would never make contact. A teal crystal grip tightened over the beasts forearm stopping it from attacking as the Petrosapien kept his head down to avoid pultruding through the ceiling, "Paws off my girlfriend, ugly," Diamondhead right-crossed the creature in its face, sending it back first through the side of the Rustbucket, tearing through the sheet-metal and digging a trench through the dirt with its back.

Gwendolyn smiled up at him as he took several knelt steps forward to exit the recreational vehicle without doing anymore damage, noticing that he was almost her height like this, she thought it would lighten his mood a bit to thank him with a kiss to his cold crystal cheek, "Thanks babe…" she noted with a warm smile rushing out of the Rustbucket's thin door juxtaposed to the massive alien sized hole in it with Diamondhead close behind her.

By the time they had both exited the vehicle, looking over the grassy lot and the surrounding area, there was no sign of it anywhere; it had vanished just as quickly as it appeared before them, Ben slapped the hourglass dial on his chest returning to his human form as he knelt down next to the trench where it landed. "It didn't get up and leave, it teleported away… there are no tracks leading away from here… unless it can fly," he suggested with a smile, turning his head over his shoulder to look back at her.

Gwen folded her arms back over her chest as she felt the cold air hitting the back of her neck again, suddenly missing her long hair very much, perhaps one day she would grow it out again; she took a few steps forward to stand next to him as he continued to analyze the area, "What do you think it was doing here?"

Ben stood upright again, dusting his hands off together, before glancing around at the surrounding area to ensure that nobody had seen them use their powers to fight that thing; "Looking for Grandpa Max like us, what else?" he reasoned, turning back to her with a slightly disgruntled expression, finding things becoming more complicated than ever. Gwendolyn found it hard not to step closer to him as he stared behind her at the massive hole they put through the wall of their Grandfather's home, not that it seemed he would be needing it tonight. "How is that thing even still alive? I thought Way Big totally eradicated them along with the Hatchery?"

He turned to glance back at her, stuffing his hands back in his pockets at the chill of a long cold breeze, it was starting to drop temperatures even colder now, the fact that it could get his attention so blatantly was slightly alarming, "So did I but, it cant be a coincidence that thing was snooping around after Grandpa leaves me that message, did you hear the way he told me not to come after him?" Ben tried his best to ignore the weather.

She chuckled, raising a brow with a smile, "Yea, he might as well have begged you to do the opposite, he knows better than most people that isn't how you get Ben Tennyson to back off," she chuckled and punched his shoulder lightly trying her best to lift his spirits, "Right?" he was the strongest person she knew so to see him so distraught always made her heart ache.

"Right…" he responded with a smile, noticing the glimmer in her pupils that tried to cheer him up, it was the warmth he felt from the simple look in her eyes that made him feel a bit better. Ben reached over and grabbed the disc poking from her jean pocket, pulling it out to glance over it, "We should take this to the Bunker and see if it has any other clues to where Grandpa might have started his investigation."

Gwendolyn noticed his change in attitude, locking her arm with his again as she pulled down on his emerald snow cap, shrouding his eyes with cotton as she giggled uncontrollably, "Let's go fearless leader," she tucked her head into his shoulder and looked up at him as he smiled and pulled the cap up from his eyes slowly.

"I could get used to the sound of that," Ben having already checked to see if their powers had been spotted knew well that they were in a private enough place for him to grab her by the lower waist, pulling her in as his lips met hers suddenly, managing to surprise her as she squealed when he dipped her head back. Gwen had never actually been swept off her feet before, not in the romantic sense at least, so she was surprised enough when she was suddenly facing the sky with his sweet tender lips brushed up against her own. The crimson heat rising to their cheeks made them completely forget about the cold temperatures, melting into the passion as when he separated and pulled her back upright, she could only chuckle with her eyes closed.

"W-Wow," Gwendolyn's eyes fluttered open slowly to look into the dimly glowing emerald iris' staring back at her, however; she found that he must have stopped the kiss for a reason since he was staring off behind her with a more serious expression, "What is it?" she asked as her blush slowly faded.

"We're being watched," He muttered as he took a step in front of her, shielding her from whoever was spying on them; Ben narrowed his eyes at a man a few hundred feet away, staring back at them in a beige trench coat and hat shrouding his facial features in shadows as the sun set behind them, "Who are you?"

"That's need to know only, son; what I can tell you is that the Omnitrix doesn't belong to you!" The stranger pulled an energy pistol from within his coat and leveled at the two teens, aiming with his finger on the trigger prepared to fire, "Take it off now!"

Gwendolyn advanced forwards as her palms were reignited by her bright-blue mystic aura, though she was stopped in her tracks as Ben stuck his arm out signaling her to stay back, "You want the Omnitrix so badly?" he popped the faceplate with a simple mental command, not bothering to look before slapping the dial, and transforming into a random alien from his playlist, "Here!" a raspy voice shouted from within the emerald glow shooting darker green vines that attempted to strike the man. Instead, he vaulted to the left and rolled to a sprawl, firing his blaster as the vines pierced the ground where he was standing before.

Wildvine used his elastic anatomy to bend and twist his abdomen, dodging between the energy bolts as they flew by him and exploded at Gwen's feet, using her magic to manifest a teal energy platform to use as a shield protecting her from the small shockwaves. Standing upright, the man lowered his blaster for a moment, noticing the two teens had unique super-powers matching a certain description that was traveling through the interstellar information bracket. "Wait a second!" He shouted as the Florauna ceased his attack, still holding one of the toxic explosive seeds that hung from his back, prepared to launch it.

"What? Now you wanna talk?" Gwendolyn shouted dispersing her shield but, keeping her glowing hands in a fighting stance facing the man.

The figure raised both hands into the air letting the blaster hang loosely from one of his fingers like a symbolic white-flag of surrender, "You have magical powers," he referred to Gwen before turning to the still apprehensive Wildvine, "And you wield the Omnitrix, that must make you two Max Tennyson's grandkids, is that right?"

Gwendolyn took a few steps forwards standing next to Ben as she spoke up, letting her hands fall to her side for the time being, "How do you know our Grandfather?" she asked.

The man reached for his face with his free hand, pulling a thin grey mask from his face which deactivated some sort of highly advanced holographic disguise that shifted his appearance entirely. Now instead of sporting a beige trench coat, the man was suited up in white armor akin to a pressurized spacesuit the difference being the helmet was completely see-through giving Ben and Gwen a good look at the alien-creature within. He had purple skin and a oddly shaped head, using an only four fingered hand to pull out a badge with an hourglass symbol on it, flashing it at them, "Sorry for the mistake, I thought you two were some punks who stole the Omnitrix from the Rustbucket; I was working on a top secret interplanetary investigation with Maxwell when he suddenly went dark. I was staking out his old headquarters to see if anyone came looking for him," he lowered the hand with his weapon to his side slowly, "My name is Magister Labrid."

Gwendolyn tilted her head, turning to look up at her boyfriend, "Magister? Remember Grandpa called himself Magistratus?"

Wildvine's single yellow eye blinked several times with a thoughtful stare at the hourglass symbol on his badge, "Why does that thing look like the Omnitrix?" he rasped using a lankly vine-like finger to scratch his head.

Labrid raised the purple skin above his brow in confusion, looking down to the device in his hand and back to Wildvine, "It's the Universal symbol of peace created by the Galvan, it also represents the Plumbers. They're an-" he began to explain just as Ben tapped the dial on his chest, exploding in a green flash, reverting back into his human form.

"Intergalactic police force, we know; we've been fighting aliens and stopping criminals since we were ten years old," Ben finished as he approached the officer with Gwendolyn following his lead only a step or two behind him, "Did you see the creature that attacked us?"

Labrid nodded within his bubble-helmet, looking towards the trench Diamondhead had carved by punching the DNAlien through the Rustbucket, "It used a transmat-beam to escape, it was clearly looking for your Grandad but, like us came up short… the good news is, if they're looking for him-"

Gwendolyn perked up turning to Ben, "That means they don't have him…"

Ben closed his eyes for a moment, folding his arms across his chest thinking introspectively, "If that's the case that means he's out there right now, working." He looked back up at Labrid who had holstered his blaster and badge, "But, if he vanished on you, that means he's gone covert, we'd appreciate your help finding him if you're up for it."

"A chance to help the legendary Ben Tennyson?" Labrid gave an elongated grin and a thumbs up, noticing the perplexed expression on both of their faces, "Count me in."

"Did you say legendary Ben Tennyson?" Gwen asked nonchalantly, glancing between Labrid and her boyfriend for a moment.

Though, he only seemed confused that the two teens had never heard of their own stories before, "Of course, everyone in the Milky Way has heard the stories of how you defeated Vilgax the Conqueror as a child, stopped the Omnitrix from destroying the Universe, and your many heroics on Earth are even told as bed-time stories on some planets…" Labrid gestured his hands with a shrug, figuring this was all common knowledge however, the two seemed to be hearing it for the first time.

Ben simply lifted his wrist pulling back his sleeve to stare down at the luminescent emerald hourglass shinning up at him, he only sighed having not wanted the attention in the first place; he regretted being so careless with his identity when he was younger, he could never have known how his entire personality would shift through the years. He closed his eyes and lowered the arm, looking back at Labrid who noticed that Ben's eyes were now glowing as brightly as his watch, "Where to first?" he said trying to forget about his legends.

…

Bellwood; New York; November 26th, 2011; 8:31PM

"So, what are we doing here, again?" Gwendolyn asked poking her head out from behind a large shipping container built for a train-car; they were hiding in the shadows of an old train yard, currently abandoned for the holidays.

Labrid peered over the container at the movement below, "Stake out, according to a tip from your Grandfather, a criminal syndicate known as the Forever Knights are supposed to show up here tonight for a shipment of illegal alien weapons."

Ben looked up into his helmet, seeing the reflection of his radiant eyes in the protective glass, "I've tangled with the Forever Knights before, I thought they abandoned New York altogether?"

"They did, that's what makes this particular deal all the more interesting," Labrid placed his gloved hands on the container to get a better look, sitting up, "Max was about to tell me who was supplying them with the illegal tech but, he went missing before he could."

Gwendolyn sighed, "Figures…" she brushed her hair behind her ears with her index fingers, trying to get a good look at the two large sixteen wheeler trucks backed towards each other from opposite ends of the yard, "Look, someone's coming!" she whispered getting both of their attentions.

They watched as the trucks waited for a third-party, a shiny muscle car revved its engine as it pulled in next to them slowly, when the black vehicle stopped in the dirt and the door swung open, Ben and Gwen were shocked to see the eighteen year old exiting the car. "Kevin?!" they shouted in a united whisper as Labrid glanced over at their reactions.

"You know him?"

Ben slowly reached over placing his palm over the Omnitrix out of habit, feeling safer with it hovering over the dial as he spoke up to the officer, "Yea, we've tangled with him before, I thought the American Government had him locked up in the Pentagon!"

Gwendolyn looked over with a regretful expression, "Look's like he managed to escape in the last almost ten months…" she knew that was the answer but, didn't enjoy pointing out something so crucial that Ben had missed during his hero hiatus, "What should we do?"

"We wait and watch for the time being, we need to approach this as carefully as possible," Labrid explained as they watched the deal begin.

Kevin stretched his arms in his grey hoodie with black trim, dusting off his pants as he approached the men hidden under crimson cloaks, one of them handed the young adult a briefcase to which he popped the fastening and looked within, "Money's all here," he announced to the truck behind him, where men in nice suits stepped out of the driver and passenger seats. They smiled as they noticed the green piles of cash in the brown case, unlocking the back of their truck to reveal crates upon crates of silver weapons.

Labrid narrowed his eyes in disgust, "Well, your buddy is brokering the deal…"

Gwendolyn scoffed with a furrowed brow, "Why not? You said it was illegal…" she spat finding his criminal tendencies to be incredibly predictable and tiresome.

"And he's no buddy of ours," Ben finished as they turned back to the arms deal down below.

One of the men rolled one of the large crates out of the back of the truck, allowing Kevin to unceremoniously approach it with a smile handing the briefcase back to the buyer and grabbing one of the many rifle-lance weapons, "As promised," he noted picking up and holding the blaster in different firing positions as though he were modeling it, "Four dozen factory new laser-lances… ether point energy module, antenna focus emitter…" he walked away from them as they observed his sales pitch, aiming the short lance at a rusted over train car behind them, "it's good for thirty-five minutes of continuous fire at six terawatts, is that good?" He punctuated his sentence by pulling the trigger which fired a crimson beam of energy into the train, melting a hole in it first before combusting into a fiery explosion that totally consumed it. "You tell me…" he finished turning back around to face them with a grin.

Labrid's eyes went wide with rage, pulling out his blaster and holding it up, "Those weapons are level five technology! Earth is only level two!" He shouted though they couldn't hear him in the yard just yet, Ben stood up as he rounded the container hastily.

"What happened to the covert part?" He asked as the Plumber simply ignored him, skating down the hill towards the yard below as Ben glanced back at Gwendolyn who only shrugged in return. They nodded to each other knowingly, signaling them to jump into action, holding her palm out she quickly summoned a Bezelian symbol in the air made of yellow light energy, reaching through it for a second before pulling it out, revealing her black Kevlar armored sleeve imbedded with her charms wrapped over her arm. She tightened her fist at her boyfriend to let him know she was ready, starting their own journey down to the illegal weapons deal together, Labrid arrived first pulling out his badge to show his authority.

He announced himself proudly aiming his blaster at them as they were loading the mobile crates into the paying customer's truck, "Hands on your heads, air breathers! In the name of the Plumbers, you're all thoroughly busted!" He wasn't expecting the normal men working with Kevin to pull off identity masks of their own, revealing themselves to be tall, mutated, DNAliens which shocked even the teenage broker. Labrid was cornered by the three creatures surrounding him with screeching hisses, "Back off!" he shouted firing a beam into the dirt that sparked a fire between them, "Looks like we have ourselves an old-fashioned standoff."

"I don't think so," Gwendolyn spoke up from behind him with Ben right next to her, though she was facing the hill where five of the crimson cloaked Knight's had circled around, "The other guys are behind us," she backed away as they readied the new laser lances they purchased, pulling off the cloaks to reveal advanced iron armor with hydraulic enhancements much like the Knight they faced off against outside of Mount Rushmore.

"Alright, I guess it's hero time," Ben spoke without much enthusiasm, reaching for the Omnitrix and popping open the dial with his thumb; Gwendolyn threw up an energy platform that blocked a thick mucus-like adhesive vomit that the DNAliens hacked at them from the tentacles over their mouths. It took him a second to select a proper alien, slapping the dial, and exploding in a flash of light.

Labrid fired a few energy bolts at the Forever Knights while Gwendolyn did her best to keep the DNAliens from shooting them with their adhesive puke; a hulking crimson quad-armed behemoth stepped from the bright green light, clapping his two sets of hands together creating and directing a shockwave at the DNAliens. The force knocked them onto their backs briefly as Fourarms turned around to face the knights, having grown taller and bulkier since he nearly died against the Japanese Knight, the Tetramand wasn't afraid to sprint toward them with thundering steps.

They each fired their lances but, the ether point energy beams simply bounced off his thick hide, not doing any damage to his forearms as he swung in backhanding one of the Knights twenty feet away with one hand while grabbing another's weapon and snapping it in two. Without his blaster, the Knight attempted to right-hook the much larger alien in the chest with his armored strength but, Fourarms didn't even feel the attack flashing his fangs with a grin down at the now terrified Knight.

Gwendolyn turned around finding one of the armored goons flying over her head, denting one of the abandoned train-cars with a loud metal clank before he collapsed to the ground. As the DNAliens recovered and stood back up, the mage didn't hesitate to telekinetically lift the three creatures into the air twenty feet, swinging her arms down sending them plummeting to the ground cracking apart the concrete.

Labrid fired his blaster at the DNAliens who wouldn't stay down but, didn't notice one of the Knight's had slipped past Fourarms jumping the Plumber from behind, leaping onto his back and wrapping his armored forearms around the neck of his helmet, threatening to crack it. Labrid didn't hesitate to quickly thrust his body down and forwards, flipping the Knight onto his back, and proceeding to kick him in the iron helmet knocking him unconscious.

From the back of the truck they were loading the weapons into, five more of the DNAliens opened the shutter door filing out into the yard, screeching at the Plumber and the mage, both prepared to continue the fight. Fourarms swung a double right-hook with both of his fists at the last standing Knight, avoiding the attack by barely ducking under it, he tried to counter with a left straight to the Tetramand's face. He gasped beneath his helmet when his iron armor shattered on contact with his opponent's thick crimson forehead, not even feeling the punch. The alien hero uppercutted the Forever Knight off his feet, landing ten feet away in a groaning heap.

Fourarms turned around finally finding Magister Labrid pinned to one of the shipping containers by several mounds of adhesive vomit, struggling to get free as the four or five DNAliens that surrounded Gwendolyn slowly overpowered her. The raw force from the projectile spit cracking apart the energy shields she created too quickly for her to keep up, her legs were pinned together by it and the rest of her body was next. Fourarms furrowed his brow over his four emerald pupils, stampeding through the yard toward them with a scream; three of the creatures tried to stop him as the others made an effort to trap Gwen with their spit.

He backhanded the first one in the chest, knocking it to the side as it skated across the dirt and through the air from the force of his attack, tumbling into a stack of discarded metal barrels that collapsed on top of it. The next two attempted to jump the Tetramand at the same time, leaping onto him with their entire bodies but, it hardly phased him as he only swung his two thicker arms to either side, sending them both flying in opposite directions. As the first DNAlien managed to get to its hands and knees slowly, pushing a barrel off its back, it was hit headfirst with the second creature flying into it, knocking them both into an unconscious heap. He kept his sprint towards Gwendolyn who was nearly covered from head to toe in the disgusting goop, struggling even with her enhanced strength to break free of it, as it hardened when it dried like concrete.

"Ragh!" the two remaining DNAliens shrieked before quickly taking this opportunity to flee while they had the chance, jumping into the truck through the drivers and passenger side doors and attempting to escape, they floored the gas trying to accelerate as fast as possible. Fourarms got in between the truck and its path towards the exit, using his unbelievable strength to left-hook punch the container on the bed of the sixteen wheeler, knocking the entire vehicle onto its side, shattering steel like glass and incapacitating them simultaneously.

Gwen and Labrid were still pinned as Fourarms walked passed the truck with a huff, approaching her to free her first, however; before he made it across the yard where she was cocooned by the viscous substance… he was stopped by a familiar shout from the other end of the battlefield. Turning his head over his thick shoulder slowly, Fourarms raised his brow at Kevin who had an angered expression on his face, leaning one hand against his car, "Tennyson!"

"Oh, great," Fourarms mumbled turning around completely and using one of his shorter arms to slap the faceplate on his chest, transforming in a flash of light. Having access to the Omnitrix codes in his mind gave him unparalleled versatility in battle allowing him to choose any number of thousands of alien species to handle any type of foe.

Kevin grazed the hood of his titanium-iron alloy car with his fingertips, absorbing the material that could withstand grenade explosions point blank with no damage, across his skin like gleaming black armor, "You got me locked up, twice, and you got my necklace confiscated!" he got into a fighting stance as Ben stepped closer into view revealing himself as a new alien nobody on the field had ever seen before, not even Gwendolyn.

Kevin's eyes widened as Ben was now a seven-foot-tall orange furred tiger-like alien standing bipedal with a single sharpened claw pultruding from the knuckle of either hand; he wore a black and white sleeveless suit constructed by the Omnitrix which was now glowing in the center of the suit's torso. "Let me tell ya something, Kevin Ethan Levin, Rath doesn't care how long you spent in prison, you did all that to yourself!" he pointed a claw at him with a fanged smile, almost purring at the aggravated response he received from the older teen.

"And I don't care what you change into, I'm still gonna pound you!" Kevin ran in to the Appoplexian's close quarters, throwing wild haymakers aimed up for Rath's jaw but, this new form was bred for combat almost as thoroughly as a Tetramand, allowing him to easily dip to each side avoiding the uncontrolled swings. He sidestepped the next left-straight punch, catching his wrist and taking a step back twisting it up behind his back that prompted him to shout in pain.

"What's the matter, tough guy?! Rath could do this all day!" He proceeded to front kick Kevin in the lower back pushing him face first into the dirt, tumbling ten feet away from the force of his push. The Osmosian got to his hands and knees, looking down at the ground for a second before reeling back his right fist, bringing it down into the ground with a thundering strike that shook the dirt beneath their feet.

Sending cracks through the Earth, the ground ruptured into many pieces sending a shockwave through the dirt towards Rath who used his enhanced agility to crouch and leap upwards in a matter of two seconds. Reaching thirty feet into the air above the train yard and avoiding the large cracks that were approaching him, Rath landed gracefully behind Kevin, swiftly spinning, and sweeping his armored legs out from under him, knocking him to his back. He was on the ground facing the stars in the sky with a painful moan, barely realizing what had even happened before Rath quickly brought his fists down on Kevin's chest, pounding him into the dirt and creating a small crater with his body.

Rath took a step back, looking over his handy work with a proud smile, as Kevin's armor melted off of him and he fell unconscious from the blunt force; Labrid shouted out to him, still pinned to the shipping container, "Good work! Now free us while he's out cold!"

He turned with an animalistic growl, flashing his sharpened teeth, "Nobody tells Rath what to do! Not him and not you!" he jabbed his thumb down at the knocked out Osmosian on the ground, chuckling as he kicked his limp body lightly.

Gwen raised a brow at this, realizing that something was odd about this transformation, most of the time his forms were simply blank slates for his mind to inhabit but, this alien had a strong personality that Ben seemed to get lost in, even having its own name without him having used the form before, "Ben? Rath? Can you hear me?" she shouted from the adhesive cocooning her body from the neck down.

"Of course I can hear you, Gwen Tennyson! Rath has the ears of a predator!" He shouted back at her taking a few steps toward her as she smiled up at him, he sharpened the claw on his right knuckle, growing in length and placing the pointed end under the adhesive at her feet, "You trust me?" Rath asked, looking up into her warm eyes from his bent over position.

"Always," Gwendolyn replied with a faithful smile, closing her eyes as he quickly swung his hand upwards, perfectly slicing the hardened substance apart, crumbling to pieces around her as Rath took a step back from her, slapping the Omnitrix and transforming back into his human form. The moment she was free she jumped into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck gently, placing her head into his neck, "I'm so glad you're okay, you aren't hurt, are you?"

"No, I feel fine but, none of my aliens have ever felt that way before; like… Rath had instincts I couldn't overpower…" Ben responded pulling back and clasping her hands in his letting her hold tightly to his warm palms as they spoke.

Gwen tilted her head, thinking of explanations before giving her two cents, "Maybe because his species is so animalistic, like how you wig out as Wildmutt sometimes?"

"Could be…"

Labrid cleared his throat from behind them, still trapped and unable to move, "This is very touching but, I believe we still have work to do," Ben and Gwen gave each other nervous smiles, pulling their hands away and returning their attention to the mission they should be focused on.

…

To Be Continued…