THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: PART 1

While Ben was dreaming about his love life, he received a call from Gwen.

"Hey Ben, we need backup. Zombozo stole a brain from the brain bank and is making a run for it. Be here ASAP."

"Okay Gwen, I'll be there in a minute," Ben responded. After hanging up, Ben transformed into Jetray and flew towards Gwen.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Gwen were in pursuit of Zombozo, who was playfully taunting them as he escaped.

*Clown laughter (your imagination) *

"You cannot catch me, and this brain is mine!" Zombozo cackled maniacally.

Kevin and Gwen were visibly irritated, cursing him in their minds. Just as they were strategizing how to catch Zombozo, Ben made his dramatic entry.

Zombozo spotted Ben and exclaimed, "Ben Tennyson, hehehe, catch me if you can, hehe."

Ben retorted, "Run while you can, Zombozo," as he remained in Jetray form, quickly firing lasers at the clown. One of the lasers accurately hit Zombozo's hand, causing him to drop the brain container.

Kevin approached Zombozo and declared, "It's over, Zombozo. Time to surrender."

But Zombozo had other plans. He threw a clown bomb at Kevin and retorted, "Not yet, Levin hahaheh." Then, stretching his arms like Mr. Fantastic, he grabbed the brain and made a run for it.

Ben intercepted Zombozo, flying at high speed and colliding with him. He fired a laser at point-blank range, knocking out Zombozo. The impact caused the brain to momentarily fly through the air, and Gwen used her magic to grab hold of it. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Ben transformed back to normal and congratulated Gwen and Kevin, saying, "Good job, guys. You handled him pretty much by yourselves."

Gwen said, "Well, we need to make sure that Zombozo doesn't pull any other tricks, so I'm just making sure."

Ben responded, "Okay, that's fine. Let's send this clown to prison and then we can have a break at the smoothies."

Then Gwen dropped the bombshell, "Well, about that, Ben, I'm leaving Bellwood for college."

[Ben's inner monologue: Well, I already knew this. I'll just play along with them.]

"What do you mean you're leaving for college? There are plenty of great colleges in Bellwood. You can stay here. We haven't hung out as much as before, and we can still catch the bad guys like old times."

Gwen sighed, "Well, Ben, not quite. The Ivy League is another level I want to explore. It's the next chapter of my life."

Ben turned to Kevin, saying, "Looks like it's just you and me, buddy."

Kevin had a wry smile and replied, "Sorry, man. I'm going with Gwen, and I got a job at a mechanic shop."

Ben looked at them sadly, saying, "Wow, this really is goodbye, huh?"

Gwen tried to cheer him up, "We'll still be in touch, and whenever you need my help, I'll be there for you," then proceeded to hug Ben.

Kevin fist-bumped Ben and added, "I'll take care of Gwen. You just take care of yourself, Tennyson. Don't do anything stupid."

Ben chuckled, "How can I? You're taking the dweeb with you."

Kevin shrugged and started the car while Gwen got in, shouting to Ben, "Bye, Doofus. Take care."

Ben waved at them until they were out of sight and sighed, "Well, this marks the new chapter in my life. Let's live it to the fullest." There should be my new partner waiting for me. Let's be ready for that, and there's also Khyber and the Nemetrix. Hohoho, I'm looking forward to this day.