Chapter 18 - Where The Magic Happens

Bellwood; New York; January 5th, 2012; 8:21PM

After their house was entirely demolished by the now incarcerated Charmcaster, Ben and Gwen waited on the street only long enough to watch Government agents in black suits scowl at them as they escorted the unconscious Albedo to a secure transport facility. This time he would be transferred to the Psychiatric Ward of the Null Void's Incarcecon prison where he would receive the treatment he needed. It wasn't long before their parents were bombarding them with questions, so they only managed to hold off until they made it back to Ben's house; sitting the four adults down and telling them a story about a boy who found a watch on his Summer vacation took only a few hours but, it was worth it to finally clue them in on all of the crazy things they'd been through. Saundra had to pour a glass of wine around the part where Ben was about to get his arm brutally removed by Vilgax, Natalie wasn't far behind pouring her own glass of alcohol when she found out Gwen had nearly been killed on Xenon, a different planet. Carl and Frank were more accustomed to hearing about these types of super-natural craziness but, even Carl didn't expect his son to be bonded genetically to the most powerful device in the known Universe. On the other hand, Frank was always a bit lucky in his day-to-day life but, never considered that his Mother's mystical abilities were passed down through her genetics. They had always hoped that their lives and the lives of their children would never be as complicated as their parents were and yet, not one but both of them were super-powered crime fighting teenagers.

Saundra teared up when she learned of the awful nightmares Ben had suffered through before he was forced to commit murder against his longtime rival, something she could tell still kept him awake at night to this day. It was hard for her to imagine that her baby boy could have been through so much without telling anyone about the pain he'd endured, well… anyone aside from Gwendolyn. Which brought them all to the most obvious question, how on Earth did the two of them end up falling in love with each other in the first place? Through flustered expressions and nervous stuttering, they managed to pick out the most important parts of their relationship thus far, as uncomfortable as it made both Fathers, more importantly though they explained how the rush of being vigilantes may have spurred certain emotions in them and instead of pushing them down… they simply acted on them instead.

Saundra took a long sip of her wine, glancing around as the teens finished their explanation and waited for their family's response, Frank had already given them his blessing but, they hadn't really heard from their mothers yet. Natalie cleared her throat, glancing up into Ben's eyes as she folded her legs in the leather armchair, swirling her wine in her glass a bit before speaking up, "Well, I guess I should say… thank you… Ben, for saving Gwenny from Vilegax," she was still absorbing everything she'd been told and didn't care to remember the war-lord's actual name especially now that he was gone, "I'm sorry you had to do… that in order to protect her," her voice sounded genuinely sincere which was a paradigm shift compared to just a few hours prior.

Benjamin rubbed the back of his neck, he couldn't stop his eyes from glowing brightly even in the well-lit room around them, and they all caught notice of how the irises grew brighter at the mention of what he'd done and dimmer when Gwendolyn habitually reached over, clasping one of her fingers with his tightly.

Saundra took this time to follow her lead, realizing that if Natalie were speaking up maybe it was time for her to swallow her pride and do the same as well, "And I suppose I should thank Gwen for being there for and… consoling him when he needed it most," it still felt weird talking about it, this would definitely take some getting used to, "I just wish you had told me about all of this, any of this!"

Ben grew a more serious expression, glancing down as he spoke with more conviction than Frank nor Natalie had ever heard him use, "We didn't want to burden you with the decision we made, it's not easy to do what I- what we do but, this city is dying… the world is dying, and I can save it, I have more power in the palm of my hands than anyone else in the Universe," Ben glanced down to the Omnitrix with emerald genetic energy emanating from the hourglass faceplate as he spoke, it looked more like Ben Ten Thousand's each passing day, "I can't stand by and do nothing, especially not when I know I can do something."

Gwendolyn smiled proudly at him though he wasn't looking at her, her Mother was always watching, and she could see the gleam in her daughter's eyes when she stared at the back of his head. It was the same look she gave Frank, more specifically the one she recalled giving him in the years before they married, when their love was the most passionate it had ever been. Natalie didn't like the idea at first but, the more she realized how unconventional their lives had become, the closer she came to the understanding that if they had gone through any of this alone it may have broken them completely. Maybe she had misjudged Ben after all, considering they had kept it all secret, she rightfully assumed all of his spare time was spent napping, playing video games, and eating unhealthy food but, to find out he spent almost every spare moment for the last half decade saving lives? It changed her perspective on her nephew to say the very least.

"Don't you think that might be too much responsibility for someone your age?" Frank spoke as he caught their attention, he stood up from his seat and folded his arms, "This is all incredibly dangerous, you two could get yourselves killed out there or worse, we're still your parents after all," he reasoned.

Saundra chimed in with her opinion, "You should be enjoying time with girls, doing homework, and worrying about Homecoming, not the fate of the Universe!"

"You guys don't understand," Gwen tried to explain but, Ben simply tugged lightly on her pinky finger still linked to his, prompting her to let them air their grievances.

"She's right, sweetie, you two are young and inexperienced, you can't take on criminals with machine guns and even the police are hunting down vigilantes these days," Frank never really thought he'd have to use such an odd sentence before in conversation with his daughter and yet here he was, "Both of you have a choice to make, your Uncle and I had plenty of opportunities to follow in our father's footsteps and we still live normal lives, you can choose to-" he was interrupted by an exasperated breath sounding loudly through the room.

Ben sighed deeply, giving a pensive stare back down at his forearm, the pulsating energy of the watch gave a glow that felt almost sentient at times; "It isn't a choice, it's not something I can just choose not to do, not to me it isn't. My whole entire life I felt like I was meant for something more… and then I found this device and it gave me the power to do some real good…" he decided to with hold his encounter with their pedophile neighbor in the trainyard, it was probably too much information anyway.

Carl held his head, still nursing his headache, and staring at his hard-wood floor, he remembered when they first moved in and saw these floors, what a simpler time he thought, "I know you might think this is destiny or something but, you still have a life to live… college, marriage, children," he cleared his throat realizing that his son was on the path to having children with his niece and that still didn't sit right in his mind, "My point is that all of that might not be possible for some super-vigilante, especially if you die in the process, son. How is that fair for anyone?"

Ben turned away, pulling his finger from Gwendolyn's as he quickly faced the door, knowing for years that this day would come when he would have to tell his parents the truth, that he was becoming something else entirely. "Remember the part of the story where Gwen and I ended up in the future?" He asked his father directly, staring at him from across the room with his body still facing the door.

"Unbelievably, yes…" Carl responded as they all watched the Father and Son argue, "Still trying to wrap my head around that one."

Ben balled up his hands into fists at his side, looking down at the floor still as he spoke, "When we were in 2026, I met a future version of myself… he became a world-renowned superhero, he had giant towering monuments all over the world built of him in the name of the great works he performed for man-kind," he kept his deep stare while slowly reaching over to caress the alien-device over his forearm, "But, he wasn't Ben Tennyson… he gave away his humanity for the sake of the world, and I didn't really know why until I faced Vilgax for the last time."

Even Gwen had turned to listen to him as another member of the family he was confessing to, because even she had never heard him talk deeply about these struggles. It always ruined the mood and never seemed like the right time to ask, but she could always see a darkness clawing its way through the light in his eyes. He had finally rejoined the fight as a hero but, while he still cracked jokes and acted like a genuine doofus, he just wasn't the same.

It was hard to explain the feelings brewing inside of him, he couldn't stand having this conversation but, he had to speak his mind. He'd been keeping these thoughts to himself for far too long now, "When I stared into his cold eyes, when I looked into the abyss, it looked back at me… it saw right through me… I knew then that I couldn't be the hero the world needed and live my life the way you all expected me to." His Father looked into his glowing eyes with a solemn expression, seeing such an intensity bubbling beneath the surface but, also a certain pain that seemed to be drowned by rage, "We don't live in a world that's fair, we live in this one, and I'm just doing everything in my power to make it a better place."

"Son… I- I cant let you die out there," Carl reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, but the boy pulled away from him, taking a step towards the door and putting a hand on the doorknob, "If- If you go out there, you're grounded!" he tried to assert.

Before Ben walked out on them, he turned his head over his shoulders to glance back at his family, he didn't seem angry but, sad, "The truth is I'd rather die as the Shifter than live as Ben Tennyson," he swung the door open and stepped out, slamming the door and this time not caring to hide the bright emerald explosion of light erupting from the porch as he took off.

Gwendolyn was a bit stunned but, she knew there was something bothering him ever since he lost the fight against the Highbreed, she stood staring at the closed door for only a second to process what he'd just said. It couldn't be easy dealing with the guilt of killing someone, and it couldn't be any easier to tell his entire family before even accepting what he had done himself. "Ben, wait up!" she shouted, swinging the door open again and running after him, trailing his life energy with her powers, her eyes flashed bright blue as she ran down the street in his direction.

…

Los Angeles; California; January 5th, 2012; 10:02PM

After he left his house, XLR8 ran straight for the shoreline where he was really able to cut loose on his speed, upping the velocity to that of over a hundred-thousand times the speed of sound, moving across the surface of the Earth with such ferocity that he created a typhoon of waves over the water in his wake. He rounded the continental United States, passing the tip of Key West in Florida and streaking through the mountains of Mexico in a matter of seconds. He slowed down when he reached civilization again, still blitzing through the streets in a blur of speed too quick for any human eye to catch sight of him.

As he dashed up the Hollywood Hills and over Mount Lee he finally came to a stop, when the plume of dirt and dust around him settled, XLR8 was standing with his claw against the giant 'H' of the famous Hollywood sign; he transformed in a flash of green light, looking out over the city of dancing lights and tall buildings with his own two eyes. Ben had never shared any of what he told his family with anyone but himself, and he had no idea where that last line came from but, it was true for him none the less.

He sighed deeply once again, only slightly out of breath from his jog; he stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and watched as the heat billowed out like steam from his lips, even after Gwendolyn healed him he could still feel where there would be bruises from his fight with Albedo. He glared back out over the city again, the weather was heating up as they slowly approached spring but, it was still cold enough to send a chill up his spine. Something about watching innocent people go about their lives in the streets below, something about knowing that each of them were alive, with loving friends and family, children of their own to raise… it made him ache to protect them all. Ben knew he was destined to become Ben Ten Thousand one way or another, no matter how much he wanted to deny that part of himself, he couldn't be the Shifter forever.

His next mission had to be stopping the Highbreed, then there was always the Forever Knights to deal with, and Kevin was still out there somewhere. There was only the next mission, and nothing else; but, if that were the case, why didn't he go straight back to the Bunker? Why did he arrive here of all places? He took off in that direction when he left his house but, his feet brought him all the way out to the West Coast. Ben felt like he might have a full-blown anxiety attack, quickly slumping back and landing on his butt, sitting and wrapping his arms around his knees without ever taking his luminescent eyes off the twinkling skyscraper lights. Taking deep breaths, he suddenly heard the wind picking up around him and a certain vibrating shook the dirt at his feet sounding a high-pitched whine in the air. He recognized the sound as he watched golden sparks forming a Bezelian seal out of light in his peripheral vision; he knew there was only one person that could have tracked XLR8 moving as fast as he did, so he simply waited.

Gwendolyn stepped out of the portal onto the grassy dirt next to him, looking out at the city herself for a second or two before closing the portal behind her and glancing down at him; "How long have you been sitting on all of that?" she asked aloud, looking back up at the city.

While they had acknowledged each other, neither looked the other in the eye just yet simply staring out at the view seemed more appropriate for now. Ben sat his chin on his forearm, "Since Vilgax really, sorry for springing it on you like that…" his apology was sincere though she could tell he didn't regret it.

"I'm not mad, I'm concerned… you always told me that you didn't want to become Ben Ten Thousand but, pushing your family away? Throwing yourself into your hero work?" Gwendolyn finally looked down at him, holding her hand out at eye level with him prompting him to look over at it and then up to her, "It's taking you down a path headed right where you don't wanna go."

"It's time for me to be who I am, instead of who I'm supposed to be," Ben responded taking her hand and helping himself up, he looked into her eyes reflecting the glow in his own pupils, he smiled warmly at her though his expression didn't really change, "I have to make Ben Ten Thousand my own, I'm not going to be the cold-hearted jerk from the future but, I cant be the Ben Tennyson everyone expects me to be…" tears started to well up as his hand shook in her grasp, she glanced down quickly before peering back into his eyes again, "I just can't…"

"Oh, Ben…" Gwendolyn quickly took the back of his head, pulling him down into a warm hug, feeling her gentle arms wrapping around his torso, holding him close. She felt him quiver into her as he slowly reached out and embraced her, squeezing tightly as though he wasn't sure this moment was real at all, "C'mon, we should go back to your house, they're all really worried about you…"

Ben sniffled just a bit, pulling his head back but looking away to avoid her gleaming gaze, staring once again out at the city lights, "I don't want to talk to them yet…"

Gwendolyn pressed a hand up against his cheek that faced away from him, caressing the thin peach fuzz growing over his jawline, what she knew would one day be a full-grown handsome beard, she pulled his eyes back towards hers with a smile, "Than, sit with me until our parents go to sleep and we can sneak back in?"

"Deal," Ben mumbled slowly, smiling down at her as they took a step forward toward the cliffside, sitting next to each other close enough for their thighs to touch. Gwen stared out at tall buildings stretching into the sky before finally fixating on the stars above, leaning her head over to lay on his shoulder.

It was only a minute or two of silence before she spoke up again, glancing up at him from his shoulder, "Hey, can you promise me something?" she asked.

Ben raised a brow but answered anyways without looking at her, "Depends on what it is," he always took his word very seriously and didn't give it out unless he knew he could fulfill it.

Gwendolyn reached out, taking his hand, and intertwining her fingers with his, tightening her grasp until he finally glanced down at her, "I want you to promise me that… no matter who you end up as, whatever path you take, whoever you become… promise you'll keep me by your side?" she didn't hear a response right away, instead his head dropped, lying on top of hers on his shoulder.

He shifted closer to her, caressing the top of her hand with his thumb slowly, feeling her fingers wrapped around his own, he couldn't help but close his eyes, "I promise."

…

Bellwood; New York; January 6th, 2012; 1:41AM

Gwendolyn poked her head through the second story window of Ben's bedroom, looking around to ensure the door was closed and that their family wasn't still up and awake enough to hear them. She nodded behind her and proceeded to step into the room carefully, shuffling over the carpet and holding her hand towards the window to help her boyfriend into his own room.

While Gwen made her way into the bathroom to wash her face from the make-up she could already feel starting to irritate her skin, Ben sat down on the edge of his bed, looking down at his sneakers. It wasn't long before he felt something slipping under his covers behind him on the bed, staring so intently at his shoes, he hadn't noticed Gwendolyn making herself comfortable leaning on the wall his bed was up against. She pulled his navy blue covers over her lap, after using her magic so consistently all day long and enduring the family drama that likely still waited for them in the morning, she couldn't fight off the light squeak of a yawn that attacked her senses. Pulling the covers closer, she could smell his essence, the scent of his cologne, even his musk was inviting to her.

Ben snapped himself out of his pensive stare, glancing back over his shoulder to find Gwendolyn cuddled into the corner, scrolling through her phone slowly with drooping eyelids. He slid off his shoes as he grew a slightly mischievous half-smile over his lips, pulling on the opposing end of his comforter, and vanishing within the sheets.

Gwendolyn obviously noticed as he snaked his way towards her, taking her eyes off the phone screen to follow the imprint of his body; she felt his warm hands sliding up from the blanket atop her lap, wrapping themselves around her waist, she lifted her arms up so that he could grab her with nothing in his way, "What are you doing, doofus?" she mumbled with a raised brow.

He didn't respond, instead his arms around her waist pulled the rest of his body closer, his head sliding up her lap until it was rested on her lower abdomen. Ben couldn't help himself but to shin a warm smile, and Gwendolyn wasn't too far behind as she noticed his peaceful expression almost glowing. He seemed so much more peaceful when he was just cuddling into her like this, finding quickly that his warm, strong arms coiling around her waist only made her even sleepier. Without being able to help herself, she smiled and reached a hand over to caress his brunette head of hair, running her fingers through it only made her even sleepier.

It wasn't until she was almost fast asleep that she realized Ben had fallen into slumber himself, feeling his rising and falling chest on her lap and thighs; there was nothing more they wanted than for this moment to just last forever, because there was no family to judge them, no evil villains to fight, and certainly no government conspiracy to unravel… it was just him and her.

…

2 Months Later

Bellwood; New York; March 10th, 2012; 8:21PM

The Anti-Crime-Unit consisted of some of the most highly trained and well decorated officers in the entire New York Police Department roster; top of their class in marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, and critical thinking, all of which being incredibly important to their job. Though, tonight might prove the last decade of intense training completely useless, even with over a dozen men on their squad and a clear mission objective, this would be the most difficult mission of their lives.

Using an abandoned warehouse as their target-zone, they had spread the news through their snitches that this would be the prime location for a black-market weapons trade that would hand off thousands in military grade weaponry. In reality, this was all a trap for an extremely specific vigilante and his partner, there was no weapons trade, and they had a shoot on sight order for the Shifter and his accomplice. Four trained snipers kept a watch on every angle of the building from over a thousand feet away on four indiscriminate rooftops but, even they couldn't have spotted the black and white blur that sped through the street at high speeds, phasing through the concrete walls without being detected.

The officers were gathered together near a wooden table, strapping on their swat gear and kevlar vests, loading up their automatic rifles and testing their night vision scopes. "Have you guys read the mission report on the targets, are we really supposed to be taking out a couple of kids?" one of the men asked in a burly voice, aiming his rifle, and testing the feel of its grip.

"It's a little messed up but, did you see the order-seal? It was Presidential…" Another officer answered whilst loading incendiaries into his ammunitions belt, "Not much we can do to argue with that."

There were three men that were already fully equipped and armored up, standing around the perimeter of the warehouse near the exits and entrances, keeping guard while their squad mates prepared for the mission itself. One of the men closest to the entrance turned his back to lean against a large stack of wooden crates that lined most of the warehouse, though there was a large patch of shadows cast over by the crates where two luminescent emerald pupils followed his movements. The hidden figure waited until the man was facing away from him completely, also making sure that none of the other men could see when he reached out from the darkness clasping his palm over his mouth and his arm around the officer's neck. Pulling him off his feet and into the darkness with a thud, using his enhanced strength to put the man to sleep without drawing any attention.

Suddenly, just as most of the officers had completely geared up, the artificial lights from above were shut down remotely cutting power to the entire building, Ben smiled as he could fully see them through the dark as though the room were completely lit, the advantage of having a brilliant hacker girlfriend and the most advanced super-computer on the East Coast. Finally, able to step out into the open room strutting towards the group of officers that scrambled to activate their night-vision goggles, slipping them over their eyes.

One of the men had finally gotten his goggles on and turned to peer out into the dark room, before even managing to turn around, he was met with a fist that shattered his night-vision sending glass into his eyes before feeling a boot planted against his chest with such strength, he was sent flying back first through the room.

"He's here! Target has engaged, I repeat, target has engaged!"

The lights suddenly flash back on from above, blinding every man wearing a set of goggles immediately while Ben's night vision was natural genetic alteration, switching perspectives for him on its own as the light hardly made a difference to him. He quickly swung in grabbing the barrel of a rifle that was about to be aimed at him and warping the metal with his grip, tearing the weapon from his hand before turning smacking him across the face with the blunt end of the handle. Gun shots rang out as Ben leaped to the left, rolling across the floor allowing the bullets to embed themselves in the concrete ground. He landed crouched down at another man's feet, quickly spinning in place with his right leg outstretched knocking the man onto his back, Ben pulled the pin on one of his flash-grenades without taking it off the man's belt, leaving it to detonate in his face and knock him unconscious. The explosion also stunned the surrounding men, allowing the super-human teen to plow through the rest of the officer's one by one.

Through the smoke of the flash bomb, two officers kept their eyes locked on their scopes and their fingers dancing dangerously over the trigger, "M10, this is G35, adjust fire, over," speaking through his radio, the rest of his team heard at the two of them split up.

"G35, this is M10, adjust fire, out."

Hundreds of rounds were fired in the span of a few seconds, none of them hitting their intended target as Ben dipped through his line of fire, using his indestructible watch as a bullet proof shield for his face, and knocking the gun out of his hands. It clattered on the ground behind him as he grabbed the officer by the neck, pulling him off his feet and slamming him back first through the wooden table holding their weaponry. Ben turned on a dime with the reflexes of a trained military veteran, catching the barrel of a pistol inches from the back of his head, gripping it with enough force to keep it from cocking back and firing. He quickly grabbed the officer by his kevlar vest with one hand, tossing the gun aside and grabbing his vest with the other hand as well; he spun the man around, off his feet and body slammed him on top of the officer he'd just put through the table.

One of the men tore his blinding goggles off and spotted Ben through the smoke, pulling his knife from his belt, and launching it like a tomahawk at the changelings back. He wasn't, however, expecting the boy to turn on his heels and catch the blade by the handle mid-air, not hesitating to throw it right back, imbedding itself into his shoulder.

Ben felt one of the burlier officers jump him from behind, attempting to subdue him with his raw physical build, however; this struggle only forced the vigilante forward a step or two, quickly grabbing hold of the man's arms and using his enhanced strength to flip the two-hundred-pound man overhead and back first into a wooden crate, shattering it on impact. The last thing he wanted to do was fight police officers that were just following orders but, if this didn't send a message to the President, than nothing would.

"Tell your superiors that I'm on your side, I don't want to fight you," Ben spoke up, his voice modified to sound deeper and more intimidating, especially when all they could see through their disorientation were his glowing emerald eyes, "And I'm not going to stop."

Suddenly, there was an echoed pop that erupted from behind him, something had struck him in the shoulder forcing him to recoil forwards a step; he turned around where a downed officer had pulled a secondary glock from his boot, the barrel was still smoking when he pulled the trigger again, watching the bullet go straight through his chest. Ben felt sick to his stomach, suddenly incapable of walking without a limp though his legs weren't injured, he panicked and sprinted toward the wooden crates as fast as he could manage. Bullets bounced off the surrounding concrete as he hopped on top of the crates that were stacked against the wall, using them as a ladder to reach a window hidden in the shadows. Watching as a chunk of lead struck the wall inches from his face, he had no time to open the window, using his body to shatter it as he fell out the other side, hitting a dumpster back first before rolling onto the ground.

Ben slid to his rear, reaching into his jacket pocket, and pulling out his phone, only to find a bullet imbedded into it with the cracked screen slicked in crimson blood, "Agh~h," he spat uncontrollably, reaching his free hand up to glide over his lower lip. He found an unhealthy amount of blood also dripping out of his mouth, without a phone to call Gwendolyn with, there was only one place close enough that he could go to for help, and he really didn't want to.

…

Bellwood; New York; March 10th, 2012; 9:14PM

"Bye, Mom! I'll be home before midnight!" Emily wasn't normally the type of girl to go out to parties this late in the evening but, she was invited last minute to a get together at her friend Eunice's house, and being the most popular girl in school, Emily wasn't about to miss the invitation because her best friend was busy waiting for her boyfriend to come home. Speaking of which, she opened the driver side door and sat down, closing the door behind her as she rummaged through her pocket for her Mother's car keys.

She pulled them out and brushed her shoulder length blonde hair behind her ears, sticking the keys in the ignition, turning the car on, and resting her hand on the passenger seat to look into the back and reverse out of the driveway. In that final motion though, as she turned her head back, she noticed a figure in black laying out over the seats, nearly giving her a heart attack, "AH!" she shrieked but, before she could reach the handle and open the door, preparing to run for her life, the figure spoke up in a voice that seemed vaguely familiar.

She heard some sort of device beep as his voice modification shut off, "I'm not going to hurt you, Emily…" he muttered through clenched teeth, his hood still hiding his identity along with the darkness of the backseat.

Emily shook a bit, leaning back and narrowing her eyes, "How do you know my name?" she asked carefully.

"Because you know mine," He pulled the hood back apprehensively, looking up into her blue eyes with luminescent pupils, she immediately gasped as her classmate Ben Tennyson revealed himself with a groan.

"Ben…?" Emily scanned him for a moment, finding the blood streaking down his jacket from his chest, "Y-You're bleeding!" she shouted almost reaching out to him but, pulling her hand back skittishly.

"I don't need to be told that, Emily!"

She shook her head at him, closing her eyes, and putting her hands back on the wheel at the ten and two position, "Right! Right, you need a hospital!" she was about to shift the gear into reverse when his firm grip grabbed her forearm suddenly from behind, startling her once again.

"T-There's an abandoned warehouse on the far side of town, behind an old gas-station with the broken s-sign," Ben sputtered as the crimson liquid spat over his jacket and part of the seat.

She tilted her head with a confused look, squinting at him, and looking out the windows as if to confirm that she wasn't dreaming this insanity, "I know the place, you need an emergency room, dude, not a tour of the ci-" his hand simply tightened around her arm, squeezing not hard enough to hurt her but, just enough to stop her train of thought.

"You have to p-promise me that you're going to take me to the warehouse and nowhere else, okay?" he would have shouted if his lungs weren't so strained already from the bullet currently logged in his chest, if it weren't for his super-human genetics, he would have been dead by now.

Emily blinked a few times, nodding slowly, "O-Okay, fine, I promise…" she finally shifted the gears as Ben let go of her arm and leaned back, laying back down on the seat.

…

The Bunker; Bellwood; New York; March 10th, 2012; 9:38PM

"So far, the police are unwilling to comment on the unsubstantiated eyewitness reports that the vigilante was caught in an altercation with the Anti-Crime-Unit tonight, there were no casualties in the assault," The Danger-Alert projected a news outlet that covered the mission Ben was on tonight, the last Gwendolyn heard from him, she shut off the lights and reactivated them on his mark, stunning the officers that had apparently laid out a trap for him.

She was supposed to go out with him but, he insisted on taking down the weapons trade alone, not realizing it was a trap until he was already inside the warehouse. Gwendolyn was even fully armored up in her kevlar navy-blue suit gifted to her by Ben, pulling on the hood over her head, impatiently watching the news outlet and scanning the area for his cellphone which went offline nearly an hour ago now. She was so focused on Ben vanishing that she didn't even notice someone use the four-digit code to walk through the front entrance, "Excuse me?!"

Gwendolyn pulled her mask up over her nose and turned on her heels in one motion, aiming her now glowing right palm out at the intruder behind her, a young girl no older than herself with blonde hair and a white blouse on, smeared in blood that wasn't her own over her chest, "Can you help me? He's really heavy!" Emily panicked with her hands out as if the blood on her hands was just paint she didn't want to dirty anything with. Gwen slowly lowered her hand, dispersing the flaming blue aura that had engulfed her palm, and using her opposing hand to pull down the mask that hid her identity.

…

They wasted no time unloading Ben from the back of Emily's Mom's SUV onto a stretcher which they rolled through the entrance and into the Bunker; Gwendolyn quickly found a knife and split open his black jacket down the middle, pulling it off to reveal his broadened chest with a bullet wound in his upper righthand pectoral. He was laid out flat and unconscious when Gwendolyn quickly pressed down on the wound to keep it from bleeding out any more than it already had.

"Press down here," Gwen demanded grabbing Emily's wrist and placing her hand flat on Ben's chest, keeping pressure over the wound while she floated across the room towards the Danger Alert, hey fingers flying over the keys for a moment.

"I-I should have taken him to a hospital," Emily muttered loud enough for Gwen to hear it as she quickly returned to the stretcher, answering without hesitation.

"No, Emily, that's why he asked you to bring him here, because he knows the police are going to ask him how and why he got shot tonight," Gwendolyn's hands lit up again with a calmer blue aura over her hands, this time her eyes followed their example and illuminated the whites in around her pupil's bright blue.

Emily only raised her brow in total confusion as Gwen glided her hands over his skin, as though she were scanning the inside of his body without even touching him, "I'm guessing that 'how and why' are the questions Ben Tennyson hates the most…"

"It's up there with 'where and when' too," The mage responded as she pulled off the white, now stained dark red and purple, bandage tossing it behind her as Emily took a step back and watched as only one of the odd talismans on her arm illuminated itself with yellow light.

As Gwendolyn asserted her telekinetic grip on the bullet logged in his chest, Ben's peacefully resting unconscious expression twisted suddenly, screaming in pain, "AGH!" he shouted but, still remained mostly out cold.

"Ah!" Emily mock shouted back in absolute cringing panic, "What did you do?!"

Gwendolyn pulled her hand back and turned around, looking at the ground in reluctant nervousness, "I can't pull the bullet out without tearing an artery and killing him, I cant heal his wounds fast enough to avoid him bleeding out but, if I had the Death and Luck charms…"

Emily glanced behind the sorceress at Ben before shaking her head and looking back into Gwen's eyes, "I'm not going to pretend I understand any of whats happening right now but, if you have to do it to save him, than do it!" she waved her hands around ecstatically.

"It's not that simple," Gwendolyn responded, turning around shamefully scared of what she might have to do, "To get those two artifacts I would have to cross dimensions into Ledger Domain and retrieve them by hand…" she placed a hand on Ben's stretcher, looking down at him to try and force herself into having the courage to go through with this.

Emily saw her hesitation and knew there must be something about this place that was really frightening to scare her best friend who was actually some sort of wizard working as a vigilante with the Shifter, "Look, you go wherever you need to go, I'll watch him and make sure he doesn't seize out or anything… just hurry back."

Gwendolyn gulped and finally turned back to face Emily, holding her arms nervously, "Timing isn't the problem, Ledger Domain operates on different space-time, five hours over there is only five minutes here…" she explained as she held her palm out, summoning from her purse atop the Danger Alert desk a small palm-sized notebook with golden designs drawn over a magenta hardcover. "What scares me is who I have to take the charms from, I was able to recreate the others in this world but, these last two are way too dangerous to try that with."

Emily scratched her head as Gwen flipped through the pages of her book, scanning over the ancient scripture quickly before shutting it again, "I should be at a party drinking beer out of a plastic cup right now…" she was hopelessly confused and didn't understand at all what was happening anymore.

Finally, the red headed mage turned around, pulling her hood down completely to look into Emily's nearly tear-filled blue eyes, taking a step closer to her, "Hey, thank you for being so cool about all of this, I didn't want you to find out this way…" she said.

The blonde flipped her hair over her shoulder sarcastically, "You know me, coolest bestie ever, just… swear that you're going to tell me everything once he's not about to die?"

Gwendolyn smiled warmly, nodding in agreement, "Promise," she answered, turning around, and allowing her mystical energy to flood the whites in her eyes once again, her hands lit up with a flaming aura summoning a portal of golden sparks in the shame of an ancient circular symbol. The doorway finally opened completely revealing a stone pathway on the other end and a bright pinkish-purple sky, "Just keep an eye on him, if I'm not back in exactly six minutes, go straight to the hospital, don't wait up for me," she stepped through leaving Emily alone with the unconscious hero, she knew there was no way it would take more than half a day for her to retrieve what she needed.

"Great… hurry back…" she squeaked nervously as she peered around at all of the advanced technology and training equipment set up in the bunker; how could she have been so clueless about something that seemed so much more obvious in retrospect? He pulled back her sleeve to look at the white and gold wristwatch her Grandmother had gifted to her last Christmas, "Five minutes and fifty-eight seconds left."

…

Ledger Domain; The Dimension of Bezel; Unknown Time.

Gwendolyn immediately sealed the portal behind her, conserving her energy for the trials she knew laid ahead of her though, this was no field trip, and her mission was more important to her than her own life this time. Using her telekinesis to glide across the ground rather than walk, her cloak and hood hid most of her features, trying her best not to draw any attention to herself.

She floated down a stone trail that led aimlessly into the void, sometimes with incredible inclines and at other times there were massive structures to block her path, she never let them slow her down though. Gwen had spent dozens of hours mapping this realm through different texts and ancient stories she gathered from both the internet and her personal stash of mystical books, one way or another, she figured she'd end up here one day. She didn't stop for a moment, levitating down the path for nearly half an hour before reaching a giant open jaw made of stone in the form of an arch over the path, stopping only briefly before floating through it reluctantly. As she approached a large clearing in the widening path, there were long-since destroyed shelters and houses around her, which hid the half dozen stone golems identical to Charmcaster's until they revealed themselves to attack her.

Gwendolyn floated up ten feet as her arms spread out revealing her Charms of Bezel to them, ready to engage in combat though, she noticed that the energy coursing through the cracks in their body, the magic that animated them, was glowing a bright yellow just like her charms. "Meenah Goh!" she clapped her hands together firing off a beam of bright orange energy, blasting a hole in the chest of the golem closest to her. Though, it simply regenerated itself filling the hole with more stone until it was as though it had never been shot.

Her eyes widened in shock but, she wasn't out of ideas yet; she flew down landing in front of it and the rest of them slowly surrounding her, she turned, roundhouse kicking the one which just regenerated in the head, shattering its stone skull into pebbles. Before it could regenerate, she slapped a hand on its cold stone chest, "Sigillum Grauioribus Aduersariorum!" the creature immediately slumped over as she mystically severed the seal to whoever was controlling them and supplying them with regenerative magic.

She turned around firing a bolt of bright blue neon electricity through the other five around her, connecting to each one like a circuit board as it quickly caused them all to implode one by one, sending chunks of stone out across the ground at her feet. Gwendolyn scanned the area slowly, peering through the houses in ruin to ensure there weren't any stragglers left over but, what she hadn't expected was for the rubble of the stone golems to emit a golden smoke that drifted up into the air above her forming a visual apparition of some sort.

The vision appeared before her as some sort of massive figure shrouded in darkness, he was a tall man with long black hair spilling out from a black hooded robe with golden trim tied together by a tattered grey belt with a shinning buckle, his pupils were illuminated by a sickening yellow glow as he held a large, opened book in one hand. "Who dares steal from the great wizard Bezel!" his voice boomed, shaking the foundation of the structure she was standing on, and possibly the entire realm around her.

Gwendolyn raised her brow and took a step back, could he know why she was here already, or was this some sort of test, one thing was for certain, she definitely wasn't expecting to see him this soon, "I haven't stolen anything from you-" before she could finish her sentence, he interrupted her by shouting over her voice.

"All who live in Ledger Domain are stealing mana from me, the Alpha Rune is mine! The true name of all magic, the very nexus of this dimension, hangs around my neck!" Bezel shouted letting his eyes glow even brighter followed by the glow of his belt which had the six Charms almost identical to her own set embedded in it. Around his neck though, emanated a powerful angelic pink glow radiating with divine energy that she could feel even through the holographic spell that manifested only his image.

Trying her best to ignore the massive amounts of raw magical energy pouring out from his giant towering figure, she tried her best to explain herself, "Well… excuse me for living? I'm just trying to find my way through," she didn't think she could lie to the father of all magic but, she definitely didn't expect to actually succeed though, something felt like it didn't matter if he believed her or not.

"You…" he stopped as his manifestation knelt over to get a better look at her standing before him, the glowing eyes beneath his hood narrowing down at her, "You have massive reserves of mana the likes of which no mortal in my realm has ever possessed, and where did you obtain my collection of talismans?" he referred to the items in her sleeve, asking without any room for her to answer in any other fashion than with honestly

"I created them myself, based on another set that must have been stolen by one of your former followers, his name was Hex in my dimension," Gwendolyn spoke as truthfully as she could but, it didn't seem to impress the figure, not that she could see his expression beneath his cascade of shadows littering the image like black flames.

Bezel paused for only a second or two before continuing his irritated tirade, recalling memories from years past, "I remember that pitiful mortal and his brother, attempting to overthrow me, and take my throne nearly two decades ago… what is it you come here in search of?" he asked with a bit of curiosity.

"I'm seeking the Charms of Death and Luck," Gwendolyn shouted up at him with conviction in her voice, not ready to take no for an answer, "My dimension is too unstable for me to recreate them there! My body can't handle the incantation! I only wish to borrow your-" pointing at the image of his belt, she couldn't even finish her sentence before he shouted at her.

"None can withstand the raw power the concepts of death and fate, only I possess the fortitude to resist its corruption!" Bezel shouted in response, and he was right; there was a good reason Hex was considered a murderer and a sociopath, the Charms were too much for him but, she couldn't leave empty handed no matter what, "Leave this place at once!"

"I… I know the risks, and I can't leave until I retrieve the Charms of Luck and Death!" Gwendolyn glanced back to her feet, tightening her fists by her side with an irritated expression, "If you won't let me borrow them, I'll just take them from you!" she asserted loudly with a convicted shout.

Bezel was silent for nearly a half minute, staring down at the young mage with a skeptical gaze, as though he was deciding how he would react, "You would dare defy the great Bezel?! Sacrilege!" His hooded manifestation vanished quickly, dispersing into golden smoke that drifted up into the purple atmosphere, leaving her in absolute silence as she glanced around at the calm before the storm.

Gwendolyn gulped, only slightly regretting her course of action, "That could have gone over better…" she was surprised when only a few seconds later, a species of stone creature obviously created by Bezel flew in a flock towards her from the skies above, "Scrutins!" she shouted to herself having studied detailed records of them in her books, she recognized them as the eyes and ears for the father of all magic resembling stone bats. "Electrica Trabem!" her hands surged with bolts of blue lightning as she fired a beam of pure electricity into the sky, clipping a few of them as they exploded on impact but, still flew down in overwhelming numbers to surround her. They screeched at her as she formed a spherical half-bubble of blue energy protecting her though it wouldn't do that for awfully long at this rate. Gwendolyn held her hands out to support the bubble before clapping her palms flat together, closing her eyes and opening them again with a bright blue neon glow, "Omnia Distincte Generatimque!" the bubble expanded, pushing away the swarm of Scrutins as it shimmered with glittering physical energy. They quickly reformed into their horde and flew up into the sky again, finding nothing on the ground around them, they automatically flew off in the direction of Bezel's castle. Her cloaking spell had worked for the time being but, it wouldn't keep him off her back forever, soon enough he would track her down and she needed to steal those Charms before that happened.

Gwendolyn tracked the trail of magic the Scrutins left in their wake as they returned to their master, it would effectively lead her to Bezel though, him being the most adept magic user to ever live was still a bit daunting to say the least. She trekked for another hour and a half, only vaguely getting closer to the castle until she eventually made her way up a large stone pillar that was sitting the center of her path. It looked as though it had once been a large bridge of some sort, possibly even a landmark but, now it laid in ruin as only a reminder of the battles that took place here millennia ago. Ledger Domain was quite beautiful in some rare respects, the sky was a bright pinkish purple with cotton candy white clouds though, they seemed as though they were hundreds of miles away. The mountainous ranges around her went on for what seemed like forever, and no matter how high she got into the air, she never saw the curvature of what the planet would be below under normal circumstances.

Even though there was no star or sun to speak of, she still felt the need to cover the light from her eyes, using her enhanced senses to look into the distance from her vantage point atop the pillar; from hundreds of feet up, Gwen noticed a massive black-stone castle towering into the sky, evidence that her path was the right one. She never thought she would have had to do this alone, always just assuming that Ben would be here with her to face these challenges together but, now his very life hung in the balance instead. Shaking her head free of those cluttering thoughts, she refocused on her path, leaping off the pillar and gliding through the air straight towards the intimidating stronghold in the distance.

…

It took Gwendolyn nearly a full hour to reach the castle itself, only making it into the courtyard out front before realizing there was a massive moat between the castle itself and where she stood. "Industria Pontem," her right hand was engulfed in a bright blue flaming aura, projecting a bridge of sparkling mystical energy only, it reached some form of invisible barrier before shattering completely. Gwen raised a brow, focusing more energy into her palms and lifting both hands up to aim over the moat, "Industria Pontem!" with more force the bridge extended out not even making it an inch further than the last time she attempted, shattering with a loud vibrating hum.

Gwen could feel the connection between her, and her telekinetic Charm was dulled, almost as though it were being muffled by a blanket; she couldn't fly or float her way over and none of her projection spells were working either. She'd read about security incantations like this, mystic sinkholes that negate all matter of sorcery used to move across certain distances. Narrowing her eyes, she intertwined her fingers together and bent them back, cracking her joints in preparation for her next spell; she outstretched her right arm, forming a small portal that allowed her to reach inside up to the wrist, quickly grabbing hold of and pulling out slowly a five-foot-long wooden staff with the skull of a dead bird on its end. The Staff of Ages, when wielded by the proper sorceress, can amplify inherent magical power, coupled with the amp she received from her Charms, and it just might be enough for her to get across.

Looking over the staff slowly, Gwen took a breath, twirling it between her fingers before aiming it ferociously at the moat which led to a massive cavern of darkness below, "Viribus Fortis Pons!" a stronger and more powerful bridge of pure physical energy manifested, shooting out from a beam emitted from the end of the Staff of Ages. Quickly, she twirled the staff back into a defensive position, sprinting forth as quickly as possible. As soon as she stepped on her own platform, it began to crumble like shattered glass behind her with every step, getting closer as it came apart faster than she could run.

Just before she was about to fall to her inevitable death, she leaped at the last possible second, landing and tumbling in the dirt at the other end of the moat. Gwen got her knees, dusting her outfit off slowly as she turned her head to look up at the massive wooden doors that led into the castle before her. As she got to her feet and approached the door, she felt the ground at her feet start to shake vigorously as though something very heavy was stampeding toward her.

From around the corner of the stone walls, a massive dark green creature with crimson eyes, short stubby legs, and a large jaw with thick sharp fangs; Gwendolyn gasped as it trampled toward her at a speed she didn't expect, jumping into the air with the aid of her telekinesis, she front flipped over it, landing behind as gracefully as she could. It was clearly a Pallorfang, a watchdog for the Sinadome she was currently standing in being the entire courtyard surrounding Bezel's castle.

"Vehemens Trabem!" both her Electro and Pyro Charms lit up with a radiant yellow light, engulfing her hands in both a burning and shocking blue aura; quickly clapping her hands together she was able to fire off a thick beam of heat with rings of blue lighting surging through it. Though her blast did push back the Pallorfang at first, it slowly used its thick hide and durable jaw to power through her attack, even as Gwen clenched her teeth in physical strain, feeling a droplet of sweat forming over her brow, it wasn't enough to keep it back. It plunged through her beam and headbutted her back into the stone wall, which her back managed to crack with her impact. Gwendolyn landed on her face with grey brick dust raining down over her, landing in her hair though, she had no time to shake it all off as the beast snarled loudly and stomped towards her again.

Just barely dodging out of the way, she landed in a roll and summoned the Staff of Ages from the ground a dozen feet away, as it flew into her palms, she twirled it and shouted, "Eradiko!" firing a pink beam of mystic electricity from the sunken eyes and mouth of the bird-skull embedded at the staff's end. The bolt of lightning struck the Pallorfang in the side of its rotund face, turning to use its forehead as a shield, it howled in pain but, only became angrier the longer it was shocked. Letting out a vicious roar, it closed its widened jaw for a brief moment before opening up to let loose a massive wave of scorching flames, "Contigo!" she shouted at the last second, halting her blast, dropping her staff, and forming a platform of blue energy that obstructed the pillar of fire which slammed into her defense, pushing her back on her heels.

Gwendolyn was running out of ideas though, she wasn't nearly ready to give up, quickly thinking deeply on her memory of spells before stuttering just a bit, "Confractus Terram!" stomping her boot heel into the ground at her feet, she sent a wave of mystical energy through the ground like a directed quake. Still feeling the heat of the red-hot flames that were only inches from her face, she waited for the cracks in the ground to spread beneath the Pallorfang. When it lost its footing, the flames were directed upwards before dispersing completely as it fell over on its side, struggling to get back up.

She huffed as her pane of energy shielding her finally shattered and fell apart as her hands dropped to her knees, huffing loudly to catch her breath; Gwen wiped her brow, summoning the Staff of Ages back into the palm of her hands, twirling it to her side before stepping forwards. "Siphonis Vitae," she spoke softly, allowing her to collect the magic energy that animated the Pallorfang, syphoning it out of the mindless creature, and putting it to rest. It simply fell apart, crumbling into a pile of rocks and debris as she walked passed, using that excess energy to refill her reserves of power before facing the massive wooden gate that stood in her way.

Gwendolyn sighed in preparation for the next step, swiping her hand slowly across her face manifested a glittering blue butterfly mask made entirely of mana over her eyes, just barely covering her cheekbones. Pulling her hood down, she gathered her shoulder length red hair into her hand, tying it up into a ponytail with a thin band that had been around her wrist the entire time.

"Falloon Quarca Daminigan!" Gwendolyn waved her right palm over the thick doors with a blue spark of electricity cackling into them from her hand; the hinges to the door were dematerialized as a pulse of energy pushed both of them over. The massive wooden gates fell flat into an open courtyard within the castle walls, the pinkish skies were still vibrantly shinning down from above.

"My name is Lucky Girl! Show yourself! Father of Magic and King to Yahwahtacsip!" Gwendolyn demanded her audience with the most powerful mage to ever live, even it might be the last thing she ever did, she might as well do it with confidence, "Face me!"

Suddenly, she felt the entire stone castle begin to shake, the air vibrated at a frequency that she could feel in the back of her teeth; from the sky shot over twenty individual beams of golden light, striking the ground, and dropping ten-ton stone golems each of them landing with a thundering boom. Once they had all spotted the intruder, a single beam of white light shun down in the center of a small army cracking the cobblestone courtyard and dropping a single average sized man.

Bezel turned around to face her without looking up from a book that was open in his right hand, the cover looked almost as ancient as his robes; being of an all-black color scheme, the golden trim did pop enough to catch her attention but, what truly fascinated her were his mystic artifacts. Around his belt were clearly the first Charms ever crafted, being slightly misshapen and dulled, the carvings a bit rougher and less precise. Though, even amongst those powerful relics, the rune around his neck blazed with the holy light of providence, nearly bringing her to her knees in its presence.

Recollecting her composure, she spoke up, "Bezel? I cha-" Gwendolyn gulped, only stopping when the wizard refused to look up from his texts, giving her a single finger as a sign for her to be patient. Scanning through the book with his golden luminescent pupils, she glanced around awkwardly waiting for him to finish, unsure if this was really happening.

Without warning, he shut the book with a loud clap, glancing up at Lucky Girl, analyzing her cloaked outfit and weapon of choice, Bezel reached up and pulled back his hood ominously; Gwen's eyes widened in response when she saw his face, surprising her. "What is the meaning of this?" the man announced though, he was no god or villainous demon, he was an ordinary human with not unattractive features including a soothing voice and chiseled jaw line, "How did a child get through the defenses?" was he really the father of magic she had been searching for?

"A-Are you the wizard Bezel?" Gwendolyn announced, pointing the head of her staff at him, she wasn't very sure of what she was doing but, it had to be better than guessing.

Bezel glanced around with an uninterested expression, he seemed not void of emotion but, distant- as though he was a watching a movie he had seen many times before, "Who else did you think I would be? As you can see I was actually quite busy before you interrupted me, is there something I can do for you?" he referred to the book he was reading but, he didn't seem rude or anything like the tyrant she read about.

Gwen lowered the Staff of Ages reluctantly, shrugging her shoulders, "You don't sound much like the giant security ghost that shouted at me earlier…" she pointed out fairly to which he rolled his eyes in response.

"I recorded that spell four thousand years ago, it was… a phase," Bezel dispersed his book into atoms, dematerializing it from sight without speaking a word, "No human has passed through this realm since the great war, aside from the misfit who stole my spare charms nearly two decades ago…" He spat his words like venom, clearly harboring no love for the evil mage Hex who attempted to usurp his throne. "You aren't with that traitorous fool, are you?"

Gwen shook her head, growing a smile as she realized they shared a common enemy, "No! I did face him though, I took your Charms back but, I was forced to destroy them in the process, now I'm trying to recreate them and-"

"You can't withstand the magnitude of power it takes to manipulate conceptual aspects of reality," Bezel finished her sentence for her, "That's why you want my Death and Luck talismans, to complete your new set…"

"That's right," Gwendolyn confirmed with a short nod, standing her staff up next to her, "I was going to challenge you to a duel, in exchange for them…"

Bezel narrowed his eyes, looking away and staring pensively at the ground by his feet, his stone army waited for his reaction eagerly, "Imagine… to be mortal again…" having total control over life and fate for thousands of years could become rather predictable, he hadn't felt vulnerable almost since time immemorial. He finally turned his gaze back to meet hers, speaking up on his decision, "I will gladly give you the charms of Death and Luck, on one simple condition…" he finished ominously.

Gwendolyn was still optimistic, however; she remained cautious when agreeing, "Sure, what condition?" she answered as he pulled the two stones from his belt telekinetically, one representing life and death, the other representing luck and fate, they slowly floated into the space between them in the courtyard.

"You have to take them from me!" Bezel spun on his heel retrieving a ten-inch white wooden wand from his draping robe sleeve, firing a bolt of mystical lightning at the sorceress who only barely threw up an energy barrier to defend herself. His wand was intricately carved, woven from the sturdiest and rarest trees in the realm, imbued with ancient knowledge lost to time itself.

Gwendolyn twirled her staff and slammed it down in front of her, "Fabecio Kai!" the stream of white lightning suddenly took the form of a liquid, melting into puddles of energy at Bezel's feet. "Interdamoto Ilaborator!" she retaliated without hesitation firing a beam of molten heat from the mouth of the skull embedded on her staff.

The beam collided with Bezel's free hand, bouncing off his palm and striking one of the stone creatures beside him, shattering it to pieces in one shot. "I'm surprised a mage of your skill level is still reciting her spells out loud…" from the tip of his wooden wand sprouted a massive ethereal glowing fist, as he swung it down the projection moved with him attempting to crush Gwendolyn beneath it.

"Keeps me focused! Hespera Sophian!" She finally responded strenuously forming a defensive blue energy platform above her head to stop the thundering punch from hitting her, "I'm s-surprised the father of all magic-c still needs an old w-wand!" she vaulted to the left and out of the fists path, crushing the ground beside her instead. Rolling to her feet, she swung the staff sideways sending a slash of pink mystical energy at Bezel, "Industria Segmentum!"

Bezel formed a bright white dome of glittering holy magic over his body, her slash of energy exploded over his defense without a scratch but, what really gave him pause is what she said before her attack, "This was the first tool I practiced magic with, I suppose you could say my affection for it is purely sentimental," he waved the wand at her feet a few times like the conductor of a major symphony, animating the ground beneath her feet, Gwendolyn was forced to dive upwards into the air, avoiding the tentacles of stone that attempted to grapple her; she turned letting loose several concussive blasts that shattered the incoming restraints one by one.

"Magnus Vox!" Gwendolyn shouted aiming her Staff of Ages down from the sky at the mystical dome that protected Bezel before firing a cascading pink and blue beam of cataclysmic force consisting of the combined energy of all her individual Charms. Bezel simply stared down at his wand, narrowing his eyes as though he were conflicted but, still effortlessly tanking the full might of her blast without flinching within his defense. She huffed, lowering her staff just a bit to get a better look at the target of her attack, realizing that he was far too powerful for her to fight head on. Then she remembered, the very first thing he said when the battle began, all she had to do was take the two Charms she needed, and he did seem distracted enough for that to work in her favor.

A smile curved over Gwendolyn's lips, quickly clapping her hands together with a burning blue aura engulfing both palms, "Speculum Geminae!" a cloud of pink glittery smoke exploded at her feet while simultaneously erupting in twelve other sparkling clouds that summoned as many illusionary clones as possible identical to Gwen in her current attire.

Bezel raised a brow in an unimpressed confusion as his protective dome was surrounded by all twelve of her clones, each one holding their palms out in front of them, and forming twelve intricate seals made of light, "Mico Lucis!" with them all projecting the spell at once, the resulting flash-bang effect was able to disorient the father of magic if only for a quick second. Meanwhile, the real Gwendolyn floated down in front of a spherical orb of white light containing her prize and objective, "Rest Ituo Nowitus," Gwendolyn's eyes shun bright blue, encompassing the whites in her eyes as her palms cupped the sphere.

From the smoke that surrounded Bezel shot a beam of light that struck through one of the clones, killing and dispersing it, as a ring of the same light-energy formed beneath his dome sprouting large white light tentacles that proceeded to impale the other clones one by one. "Wespinaetro Intus," Gwendolyn continued her chant as her remaining illusionary distractions used simple concussive beams to draw Bezel's attention away from the real sorceress. The wizard swung his wand up and down, truly conducting a personal symphony of the mystical arts in his head, outwardly manipulating the tentacles to offensively attack each clone, cleaving through their basic shields with no effort.

"Quis Venit Promas," Gwendolyn stuck her fingers into the orb, struggling as bolts of divine electricity cascaded over her fingers, burning her thoroughly; thought she felt her last clone vanish, taking the risk and forcing herself to plunge her hands deeper, finally grabbing hold of the sones, "Vigoratus Perwita!" with the final shout of her incantation the orb protecting the Charms dissipated and Bezel's attack stopped in the same instant.

Gwendolyn had shut her eyes when she notice his attack aimed for her before she had completed the spell, so she slowly creaked her eyelids apart finding his razor-sharp energy manifestations to be only inches from turning her into mincemeat. They too dissipated like the protective sphere, noticing that Bezel took a deep breath, tucking his wand back into his sleeve, "How invigorating, to fight a mage of your caliber again without the aid of immortality is quite the thrill," he smiled for the first time, turning around as his army followed him with their sunken glowing eyes.

She looked down into her slightly burnt fingers, even though she might need a few healing sessions when she regained her stamina, she was overjoyed to be looking down at the completion of her collection. Gwen quickly fumbled with them in her hands, cringing through the stinging pain as she grazed her finger over the Luck talisman like an old friend, she hadn't seen that specific carving outside of a book since she was ten years old. Turning around to face Bezel again, she slapped the Charm of Luck and Charm of Death into her kevlar sleeve; the combination of having all six Charms of Bezel gathered together amplified the properties of each individual charm.

"Thank you for letting me take these, I know you weren't trying in that duel," Gwendolyn admitted as she had sensed his apprehensive battle nature, which was nothing like the ruthless lord of all magic she had read about in stories.

Bezel waved his hand over the cobblestone wall, shifting the bricks apart warping a hole into the structure leading deeper into his castle, "I should be thanking you; I haven't felt alive like that in six hundred years," he smiled over his shoulder at her, flipping his hood back over his head, and disappeared within his fortress.

He was not at all what she was expecting but, couldn't argue with the results as she felt the Charm on her sleeve bending causality around her; holding her open palm out, Gwendolyn opened a portal in front of her spinning with golden sparks until she could see the inside of the Bunker.

…

The Bunker; Bellwood; New York; March 10th, 2012; 9:48PM

It had only been a total of ten minutes since she got here, about four since her best friend opened a magical portal and disappeared, she glanced at the stopwatch timer on her wrist and gave out a sigh, "Two minutes left, then I have to drive you to the hospital and answer a bunch of questions that I dunno how to answer!" Emily was starting to have a panic attack, feeling her own pulse, and taking a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. Only a minute later, Ben choked on a bit of air with a gasp, still lying flat on the metal stretcher in the middle of the room, it caught her attention as she glance over. He suddenly started spasming, convulsing on the table with his eyes closed, his entire body cold and clammy, shaking the entire stretcher, Emily quickly made her way to his side.

"Oh man, oh man!" She shouted with tears forming behind her eyes, running her hands through her blonde hair, she was only forty-two seconds away from pulling it out by the handful. Emily placed her hands flat on his chest, never realizing just how solid it would feel, she pressed down as she had been taught to by her father who had been in the military for decades. Though, he was far beyond the point of needing chest compressions, the blood that trickled down his chin was puddling up by his face.

Emily's stopwatch went off, the beeping sounding in her ears like a thundering drum spite being occupied thrusting onto the boy's chest, "C'mon, dammit!" she shouted as a ring of golden sparks slowly manifested behind her, forming a portal where an odd castle with purple skies was visible.

Gwendolyn stepped back through onto the metallic floors of the Bunker, closing the portal behind her slowly with a simple wave of her hand, now more powerful than ever, she felt no need to rush. Emily turned with tears in her eyes, one step from streaming down her face, her best friend put a handout separating her from the injured boy. Nodding to Emily as she passed, Gwen stuck both of her hands out, igniting a bright yellow energy that outlined the carvings of the Death and Luck Charms embedded on her sleeve.

"Perfectam Sanitatem!" With those echoed words, Ben's entire body radiated with golden light for a moment, the bullet wound sealed itself up, spitting two chunks of metal out onto the examination table he was lying on. He suddenly gasped, not opening his eyes just yet but, clearly alive as he choked and breathed oxygen into his lungs again. "He'll be out for a while but, he'll be okay," Gwendolyn's cheeks heated up as her hand moved up, grazing the side of his face before combing through his hair with her fingers, "He'll be just fine."

Emily wiped her tears away with her sleeve, taking a breath of her own as she stepped back and leaned against the wall, sliding down until her butt touched the ground, "Okay, okay, now that we've settled all of the obvious stuff, can you please tell me what the hell is even going on here!?"

…