It was a simple drive, a route I took everyday to work. Up through the canyon in the late fall, the further I drove in the more snow littered the rocky mountains. Almost always I had some music playing, my smartphone plugged into the car to let the tunes drown out my thoughts as I immersed myself in the drive. This time was a rare time, no music, no one else in the car to converse with, just me and the road.
It felt wrong somehow, a pit of anxiety welling up inside of me. Did I forget something? My phone was plugged into the car, my keys running the vehicle, my wallet firm under my pants, and the weight of my flashlight hanging on the left of my belt. The last thing I could think of was my bag, so I peeked into the rearview mirror to try and find it.
Only instead of my NASA themed backpack, I saw a familiar face. It wasn't mine, but I had been wearing it for weeks now.
There he sat, the ten year old boy with unkempt brown hair, a white shirt with black trims and a line down the center, military green cargo pants, and green piercing eyes staring right back at me. Only the thing missing was the omnitrix, where was it?
As my mind was suddenly searching for it, I felt the weight of it on my wrist. A burning sensation crept up my arm, binding me in place as I was frozen in my seat and hands clamped onto the steering wheel. I was forced to keep driving, the edges of the road collapsing as my very world began to rip apart by an ethereal force. Trying as I might, the barren path was getting more and more narrow before me, and it took all of my awareness to not drive myself over the edge.
Then the distraction came, Ben started climbing up from the back seat with his eyes never leaving me. His face came right up beside mine, a cold breath sending a chill across my face. I
couldn't dare look away from the treacherous fragile path I was on, letting Ben have free reign to do whatever he wanted in the safety of my car, my soul.
In a hoarse voice that carried ice in each word, Ben spoke to me. "You want out too, don't you?"
Whatever this was, the road I was stuck on or the way I was forced to drive a path I never would have chosen, I found myself agreeing.
The windows began to grow darker as shadows rolled up from the fog manifesting outside the vehicle, my vision of where I was going becoming more and more obscure. It was only Ben's face that remained fully visible, the light of my dashboard highlighting half of his grotesque smile.
"Then, give me control."
"Why?" I managed to utter as some force began to close around my throat, further pinning me down into my own seat.
"Because-" I dared spare a glance, seeing only half of Ben's face as the other was shrouded in the creeping void, with a single piercing eye of deathly purple standing out from the smog. "-You want, what I want."
"Freedom."
The omnitrix that continued to burn across my arm began to burn so hot that I gasped out in pain. "AH!"
Snapping up with a spike of adrenaline, my mind was flooded by a second sensation of pain as my forehead hit something. It sent a pulse of dulling warmth across my face, and I winced with a hiss of regret.
After collecting myself and dealing with the pain, I glanced around to actually take note of where I was. The Rust Bucket, I was back in the safety of the camper with the burning sky settling down for the evening. I must have taken a nap again but, wait, that's not right.
We were in D.C., those creatures, Animo, I beat him and then I what? Did I get picked up? Did my sleep deprived self wander its way back to the only place I knew I could go?
Without the others here, I could only assume they were still out and probably looking for me. If I had a phone I would normally send a quick text or even call them. Yet here I was, a ten year old in 2006. Of course I didn't have a phone.
With no means to contact Max or Gwen, I was left with the only option to sit tight and wait for them. Given how I ended up separating from them, and after what I said, there was going to be a lengthy conversation when they got back and probably a lot of scolding.
Poor Gwen, she was probably being kept right at Max's side so he would at least have the comfort of knowing where one of his grandchildren was. Sorry Max, you had this well thought out road trip in mind and the stress of looking after us with escalating dangers is probably dulling your spirits.
I would try and do something in return, from giving them the assurance that I could take care of myself, that I could keep them safe from the dangers, and for starters something to eat. Moving over to the fridge, I tried to figure out just what I could make from Max's collection of questionable ingredients. At least he had some things I could work with.
I was just considering putting the leftovers away when I heard someone approaching, and after taking a peek out the window I was relieved to see Max with Gwen and….so exhausted. My heart went out to them, feeling a wave of guilt because they had probably spent so much time looking for Ben after all that danger.
"Come on." Max tried to snap Gwen out of her stiff silence. "I'm sure Ben is alright. He's got some sense and knows where we can find him. We'll go drive over to the station and see if he's-"
I opened up the door for them, Max's tense shoulder sagging down with heavy relief. With a hollow chuckle he started dragging himself inside. "Should have known to check here first, we should-"
My hand nearly slammed onto the omnitrix when I processed something was barreling towards me, my hand an inch away when Gwen latched onto me with her fingers digging into my shirt. She was shaking, breathing heavily and trying to keep herself from crying. "Don't leave us like that again."
"I'm sorry." I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing twice. The more I thought about bringing them into the line of fire the more hesitant I was. Yes, in the show they could handle themselves but right now I'm looking at a retired man whose body was slowing down and a traumatized ten year old girl.
It would take more than words to convince me these two were supposed to be in constant life and death scenarios.
"I made some food." I tried coaxing Gwen towards the dining area, walking with her as she still needed some form of physical contact even if it was just holding onto the sleeve of my shirt.
"Thank you Ben." Max didn't hesitate to squat down, resting after a very long day and filling his empty stomach.
It was quiet for a while, the two of them slowly getting through their meal as I tried to think of what I was going to say to them. Before Animo's attack I was already spilling the secret of the watch to them but it wasn't working as well as I hoped. As far as I could tell Max already had suspicions about some alien involvement, mixed with his knowledge and experience he should have been very easy to convince.
Sometimes he appeared to suspect how much I knew, how involved I was, but he refused to say anything. Twice now I have tried telling him about it but he didn't want to accept his previous work was roping in two kids. Not that I blame him but he was making this way harder than it should be.
Then there was Gwen, her mental state was slipping each time something happened and if I wasn't there to walk by her with every step her thoughts fell into shock and her body freezing up in fear. She would likely believe me, but to reveal that I would be knowingly exposing myself to more threats could do more harm than good. Gwen might very well just shut down and refuse to involve herself anymore with this.
A yawn escaped Gwen's mouth, the girl was exhausted, so was Max, so was I but perhaps not as much. I had a nap, a deep one that I could probably ride on for another four to six hours easy. Wordlessly I took her empty plate, bringing it over to the sink and beginning to wash it without a second thought.
"Why don't you get some sleep Gwen." Max offered, getting up to join me next to the sink. "Make sure to wash up first."
With a bob of a nod she allowed herself to stand up, waddling into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
"I'm sorry Ben."
What?
I gazed up to Max, the strong confident man who exudes safety looking so broken and defeated. "Why are you sorry?"
"I haven't been doing a good job taking care of you lately."
"That's not true at all." I spoke up, but recalled how Max wanted Gwen away before he said anything so I returned to a hushed tone. "What made you think that?"
"You're taking care of yourself, and us whenever you can." He pointed out. "You're a boy on summer vacation and you haven't once suggested a place you wanted to go to, instead you're focused on what we're going to eat, making sure we're having fun, and when it comes to anything dangerous you're throwing yourself between it and us. And then you felt like you had to keep secrets to keep others safe."
That last line he spoke more so to himself, and I didn't know how exactly this was going to continue but I ended up blurting out the next thought that came to my mind.
"I didn't want it to be a secret, I didn't want it to be real and I just wanted to deny it was even happening. I think it caused a lot more problems than I tried to prevent." I uttered, and Max stopped to look down at me like I just mirrored his own, a reflection of his own actions.
Just as we finished washing and putting everything away, Max went up to the driver seat, myself following into the passenger like I belonged there.
"Gwen was really scared back there." Max said as we got back on the road. "She kept muttering about how we had to find you, because you knew how to keep us safe from the aliens, how you kept her safe before when Aunt Vera and I were taken."
While he took the time to gather his next words, treading the topic cautiously, I was waiting almost impatiently for him to give me the opportunity to say it or at least confirm it.
"She also mentioned an alien saving her today, a large bug with four eyes and wings. I saw it too."
As the Rust Bucket rolled up to a stoplight, Max took the short break to address the omnitrix with his gaze. I had mentioned it before, and brought it up again making sure he was listening intently. Given it was on his mind when things went down with Animo, and what had happened, my disappearance, I'm sure I didn't need to connect anymore dots for him. "Ben, was that you?"
So, there went another piece of the wall protecting my fragile identity. "Yes."
The light turned green, and we drove ahead together on the same road.
"Well, that explains a lot." Max sighed in exasperation. It's like he was still trying to accept it even if it made the most sense. "I wish I believed you sooner, and I'll admit I'm still having trouble believing it myself. So anytime anything like this happens again, I promise to take it seriously."
There was no excuse now. Someone else knew, someone I told and they knew it to be true now. The illusion was over, I could turn into aliens, I was in Ben's shoes, this was reality now, but I still didn't know what that meant for me.
Sleep came soundly again, shockingly, I was actually waking up and feeling well rested to the point I didn't want to just lay in bed for five more hours with thoughts drifting aimlessly. Making sure not to hit my head on the ceiling again I scooted towards the edge and plopped myself down onto the floor.
I could hear Max already getting ready for the day in the shower, and Gwen was still in her pajamas waiting for her turn sitting with her laptop typing away.
Gazing out the window, I could see we were still in the camping spot that Max took us to last night just north of D.C. in Massachusetts. I had never been this far north before, and the chill humid morning warned me that I should be wearing a jacket until the day officially heated up.
"Whatcha looking up?" I asked as I saw that Max had yet to prepare breakfast. Good, I could start using the kitchen before he could.
"Just refreshing on Salem's history." Gwen piped up, calm and in control of herself like yesterday didn't happen. "Grandpa said we could go to the museum of witchcraft today before we head into New York city."
The witchcraft museum in salem? I can't say I recall an exact time Ben and the others were in salem, if at all, but if we were going there then there was a good chance that Hex would be there. Anytime magic was involved he was there. Could this be it? Gwen gaining a taste of magic with confidence to use it could help her overcome her worsening fears.
Not that I suddenly was willing to let her battle monsters and aliens, but maybe it would help, give her a means of defense if needs be. Still, the fact that magic exists here means that there are witches.
Those witches at the salem witch trials, what was the truth behind them? Curiosity overcame me as I sat down next to Gwen, wanting to compare the history of this world versus my own.
"You think there could have been real witches back then?"
Saying it out loud sounded like the stupidest thing ever, even Gwen couldn't help but raise a brow at my question.
"Really Ben? Magic?"
"Did you believe in aliens a month ago?"
She opened her mouth to retort, pausing, and a wave of horrid realization came to her. "Could it-holy crap it could. Ben, what if it is? What else is real? How many people spend their lives trying to convince us that they experienced something we dismissed as fiction, calling them crazy, ostracizing them from society for trying to warn us."
"We don't know." This was a rabbit hole that I don't think either of us were ready for. "But I don't think we can dismiss it either. Why don't we use this trip to find out?"
Give her focus, give her purpose, give her a distraction. That's what she needed, that's what I always knew I needed whenever I was overwhelmed and stressed. We were more alike than I thought.
Using her computer, we delved into the rich history of salem, of wizards and witches, of magic and sorting through anything credible, questionable, and faked.
By the time we had bookmarked everything we were going to look into, Max was out of the shower and noticed we hadn't had breakfast yet.
"Why don't I whip us up some sautéed squid beaks? They're better than popcorn."
Should have made my purpose the kitchen instead of learning about magic.
I stepped up to the kitchen, ready to assist as Max to try and steer the meal to be halfway edible. I half expected him to wave me back down to sit with Gwen, but he took this chance to lean down to my ear. "Does Gwen know?"
It only took a blink of a second to realize what he was referring too. "I mean, I was telling both of you and she's seen things but I can't say the timing let her process it."
"Let's keep it between us for now." He must have been thinking this over quite a bit last night, his limbs still sagging as they pulled out the pan and searched for a tool I couldn't figure out the purpose for. "At least until we talk a little more about what you know so far about it."
I shouldn't be too surprised to learn that he wanted to keep it secret. Max had been keeping secrets from just about everyone from close friends to family his whole life. Yet in the show, Gwen and Max found out at right about the same time.
Gwen already knew about aliens, and I had voiced twice how I can turn into them. Now I was enlisting her help to prep us for what would probably await later today. While I could relate to Max on a lot of things just from being an adult, Gwen had been at my side and opened herself up to me. At some point I stopped viewing her as some character or an overly familiar stranger.
Even her mental maturity blurred my usual perception of her being a child, especially given how she was a fraction taller than myself.
Leaving her out felt, wrong.
"If it gets brought up." I told Max as it were a fact. "I'm not going to hide it."
At that moment Gwen's hyper focus on her research had dulled enough to pick up on that last part. "Hide what?"
"A secret ingredient." Max quickly intervened, giving me a sideways glance of contemplation. "Wouldn't want to overpower the raw flavor."
That quickly deterred Gwen from any further inquiries.
Now I could say something now, correct Max and get it over with, yet I could abide by his wishes and build up some more trust in this sensitive topic. After all, I was willing to bet that after today Gwen would see the omnitrix in action.
It was almost comical, the way that an experienced man who had gone toe to toe with otherworldly threats, now was entirely uncomfortable with the depiction of a cackling witch tied to the wooden post with fire around her feet. "You sure this is the place you both wanted to go?"
"This is one of the most confusing times in America's history." Gwen answered as we looked over the information plates, not as intrigued in the more eye catching theatrical displays, though some did creep me out too. "We don't know why so many people, women more notably, suddenly claimed that they were giving their souls to the devil and acting like they were possessed. There's not even many clear cases of them relaying what they were getting in return, but still they risked death."
"People turning on each other in paranoia of an evil entity is more understandable." I followed up as I tried flipping through the booklet for any historical texts that mentioned what exactly they saw, who did they talk to, what did they say?
What powers were demonstrated?
The more I read, the more a sinking feeling in my gut weighed down on my consciousness. The thing was, I believed in demons. Maybe not the traditional ones, but I knew something beyond the mortal plane existed.
Everyone I talked to, no matter what their religion, had a ghost story. Even those who claimed to be pure atheists with souls non-existent, grew weary as they spoke of apparitions that stepped into their lives if only for a moment. Some mentioned having lost loved ones call out from beyond the veil, others learning that the shadow creeping in the corner of their eye looked like someone who had died in that very home chained from unresolved emotions, or just something dark that sought to do someone harm because it could.
Did we have souls? Or was there something else with no physical form that mimicked our behaviors?
People could spend their whole lives trying to prove something that doesn't exist in their world.
Did I even have any proof that I wasn't Ben?
"They burned the spell books?" Gwen's mental nudge brought me back out of my crisis and back to reality, or at least what we commonly agreed as reality. I came over to join Max and Gwen towards one of the last parts of the tour. What little personal items remained, or recreated, were in glass cases. "They went through a lot of effort to get rid of any trace of witchcraft. Almost like they really believed it existed."
"You can make people believe a lot when they're scared." Max's wisdom spoke up as we stood in the halls of the museum of witchcraft. "That's all it was, a bunch of scared people."
"And this is what's left." I stared at the remnants of papers, of clothes, of dolls and furniture of people that lived many decades before ourselves. Well, we were here now. Did we just stand around and occupy ourselves until Hex showed up?
Was this even the right place or the right time?
Maybe if I didn't wonder these questions the universe wouldn't be reminded to throw the villain of the week at me.
I could feel the air grow heavy as it weighed on my very soul, something dark and powerful manifesting itself into our presence. Turning to its source with a hand already rolling over the omnitrix for safety I glared towards the large set of doors that slammed open a moment after I knew he was coming.
Huh, that face paint looked ridiculous in person. Or was it tattoos? It almost made me dismiss the threat with sickly gray skin that hovered forward with a foreboding aura around him.
Gwen's hand clenched around my arm, fright overtaking her mental fortitude as she could only stare at what we were seeing.
"I-it's real." She whispered as Max immediately sheltered us behind him, but Hex was not interested in us.
No, instead he ignored us in favor of locating one particular worn book that had manage to survive the test of time. Wait, weren't we supposed to be on the ceiling right about now? His approach to this was different, and the room we were in didn't seem like the one in the show.
We must have somehow caught Hex at a different point, either something bending our lives so that the show's events would still happen in some way or another or just an impossible coincidence.
Either way, it was a chance.
"It isn't here either." Hex muttered as he looked over the text. "But, this one will still prove useful to me."
With a flex of his gaze, the glass shattered into tiny factures, clattering onto the floor.
I had taken only one step forward before something pulled us towards the ceiling. There it was, our backs slamming onto the top of the room but the pull of gravity was still present.
Now or never, Hex didn't seem like one to needlessly linger around. I rolled my head towards Max who was trying to pry himself away from the spell alongside a scared stiff Gwen and one shaking tour guide. He soon caught my stare, and once I held up the omnitrix he gave a resigned nod.
Yet right before I could hit the dial we suddenly dropped, and this wasn't a two story room like in the show. Unknowing what alien was projected on the omnitrix, it would be better than myself.
In a bright dance of foreign energy, every strand of my DNA was rewritten and my mind placed into a new form. Tall, strong, and enough hands to catch everyone only a few feet before they hit the ground.
My large feet made a loud thump upon landing, no way to hide my new weight. So before Hex could turn his attention to the new player, I rolled the others out of my hands and lurched forward.
No puns, no witts, just immediate action before he could think. One hand to yank the staff away, another to clench around the amulets around his neck, a third to clench around his torso, and a final smack across his face.
His head snapped to the side, the man's body going limp in my hold as I feared for a moment that I miscalculated the strength I've never had before. No, I could hear his heart beating through his chest still and a barely audible groan escaped his mouth.
"Over already?" I questioned before holding the man up to eye level. Well, he did seem pretty old. Dangerous still, so taking a quick inventory of what was around I noted the metal railing to keep people out of the displays. Grabbing one of them, barely tugging to pull it out of the ground, I bent it around Hex to restrain him should he wake up before he was taken into custody.
Wonder what they're going to use to get him out of it.
Turning around, I saw Gwen stiffly frozen in place, staring up at me in fear next to Max who despite me telling him about the omnitrix was still wrapping his head around the idea. Luckily things happened so fast that the tour guide had yet to even get up from a crouch, and had their back to us.
Bringing one of my hands up to the omnitrix, I attempted to switch the setting over to human and pressed down.
Now I was blind, but saw more than I ever could on all fours with the staff and medallions under my paws. I let out a huff of disappointment before trying to correct the error.
Finally in one more flash I was me again, or, Ben at least.
Hang on, could I use the omnitrix to somehow turn me back? It wouldn't solve the issue of giving this world Ben back…or could it? Ghost Freak broke free at one point with an entire body. Could the omnitrix create separate bodies?
Making a mental sticky note and putting it on a HIGH priority to see if I could confirm or not, I returned my attention to Max and Gwen who approached me with some form of awe and shock.
"Holy crap you can turn into aliens." Gwen seemed to stabilize herself, seeing how the threat was taken care of, I was back to a familiar face, and no one was seriously hurt. She was recovering faster, great, I don't know if there were any available alien therapists on call.
With a playful smirk, I felt rather good about how things turned out this time. "Told you."
"Young man." The older woman who had finally turned around to see me holding Hex's items, the man laying defeated on the ground with no sign of getting up soon. "Did you stop him?"
"Yes he did." Max came in, putting a proud hand to my back while guiding me and Gwen out of there. "But this was still a scary experience so I want these kids somewhere more comfortable. I'll call the police and we'll hand over what we have from the criminal. Stay here and keep an eye on him will you?"
Still shaken by what occurred, the woman merely nodded along as she was given orders from someone who seemed to confidently handle the situation.
"Ma-Grandpa-" I started as I kept the magical tools a little closer to my person. "Are we really going to talk to the police about what happened?"
"I'll give a call." Max assured as we left the museum. "But just to report a robbery. Like I said before, we don't want your parents to try and end our road trip early now would we?"
Huh, I couldn't tell if this was because Max didn't want to try and give a false statement to the police or he really just wanted to get on with this once in a lifetime road trip. If that was truly his opinion, I felt the same way.
It wasn't long before we hopped into the Rust Bucket and gotten back on the road that we had begun to talk in earnest. I sat down, not in the passenger seat as Usual but in the couch seat closest to Max and across from Gwen who didn't seem as attentive as normal.
"-so far I can turn into ten different aliens." I fiddled with the omnitrix, just turning the dial and noting how there were different tones to the beeps but still nothing displayed. "And after dealing with that guy back there, I've turned into all ten of them now."
"That many times?" Max questioned as he shockingly glanced back at me through the rearview mirror. "I can't believe it took me this long to notice."
"Well, to be fair this was technically my eighth time using it." I tried giving him the benefit of the doubt between the fact that I was good at hiding it and how he could have been in denial about things becoming so chaotic on this trip. Still, for an ex plumber he didn't have a lot of excuses. "I'm just barely figuring out how to switch between them or change back early."
"So there's a time limit?" Gwen noted, still her eyes were on the table barely focused around the omnitrix.
"Good catch." I praised her to try and lift up her spirits a little more. "It's not exact but it's usually between ten to fifteen minutes. It usually takes half that time to recharge."
"Well, I'm glad you're taking this responsibility seriously." Max sighed as he began to accept the circumstances. "If you can't take it off, mine as well use it when you can help in serious circumstances."
"I've been trying not to use it very much." That was true, even if now I was messing with it now trying to find a pattern to the sequences. There was never any kind of display or menu I could access, all I had to go on were the beeps and the pattern of buttons I messed with. "But I'm starting to feel like if it's becoming unavoidable so many times I should know exactly what I'm dealing with, or at least what it's capable of."
"I guess I don't have to tell you to be careful now do I?" Max risked looking back to smile towards me, so proud of how responsible I was for a ten year old with so many powers at my disposal. "I trust you to do the right thing Ben. You've proved it many times this summer."
Guilt swelled in my throat, a feeling I hated that I was becoming accustomed to. It's not that I believed my actions were entirely wrong, but it was the fact that he was praising Ben. One big secret at a time, and maybe with my slowly building confidence in using the omnitrix I could use Gray Matter to try and come up with some solid theories about what happened.
"Hey Ben?" Gwen finally looked up from the table. "How come you didn't use it when you ran to that trucker?"
"Honestly-" I could at least tell the truth about everything else. "-I didn't think about it until after. It was mostly just a trained reaction to rush in and help."
Trained, crap. Should not have mentioned that and I needed to switch to something else before they even processed it. "Hey Gwen, could I have your help with something?"
"Hm?" She still had some thoughts racing through her mind but she still perked up.
Reaching beside myself, I pulled up the crow staff with the uniquely crafted metal charms along the necklace wrapped around the magical tool. "Think you can do some research and find out more about this thing and what it does? If we're going to encounter more magic maniacs I want to know what we can do to counter them, or disable their spells in some other way. Oh! And maybe see if they digitized that book he was interested in. If he had interest in what it said then there must be some actual application for it."
With an earnest smile and accepting the challenge of research, Gwen happily pulled out her laptop and began to work. "You are so lucky to have me. The fact that we have some real magical items I can use them as a reference for other materials that might be real. Wait, are you just making me do all the work?"
"You're the one with the laptop." I snarkily replied before softening up to raise the omnitrix. "Besides, I have the harder challenge of figuring out how an alien device works with nothing else to go off of."
"Maybe not." Max muttered in thought as I whipped around to stare at the man. Was he going to tell us now? Help me figure out how to use the omnitrix by exposing his past? He noticed my wide eyed gaze, coughing to correct himself. "W-well if we encounter more aliens you might be able to pick up some things they left behind."
Nope, he was keeping quiet on it. Besides, there were several species out there who developed technology in different ways and probably with different languages of code. It would take longer to try and work out how each of them worked from scratch.
"I'll think about it." As Max didn't reveal his past, I elected not to bring up mine. It was one thing to talk about the discovery of fantastical alien powers and mystic arts, but to reveal more than that at once would be, too much for them, and too much for me.
So, with a piece of paper and doing my best to note down all the different sounds the omnitrix made in what sequences alongside how many different command inputs there were while Gwen poured her attention into who knows how many texts and references to magic over human history.
"You two used to be so different." Max reminisced aloud from his position as he began to take us towards New York city. "To think all you two needed was a nice road trip to find so much common ground."
"Yeah." Gwen gently raised a friendly smile my way. "We're still kind of different but, I'll admit I'm appreciating your new attitude."
I couldn't bear to keep eye contact with her, instead distracting myself through a build up of tones as I twisted the dial through a new sequence that it seemed to be responding to and-
The dial jumped up, glowing brightly as energy circulated through the display as it began to rapidly cycle through each of the silhouettes.
I almost risked swearing out loud, I unlocked the master control that fast after trying for what, ten minutes? Guess my talent with messing with technology translated to super alien watches as well.
It solidified something in me, that no matter how the others perceived me or what body I was stuck in I wasn't Ben.
I was someone who was so adept at figuring out how to use equipment that I cracked the code to have complete control over the universe's most powerful watch. It was enough to strengthen my spirits to where I could begin to carry the weight on my mind that I didn't belong.
Alright, a bunch of things happened here so let's break it down in order.
Ghost Freak is starting to grow his influence/presence.
Max and Gwen are fully aware of SI-Ben being able to turn into aliens
Gwen now has all the charms of Bezel and Hex's staff, but still knows nothing about them and is only just starting to get over some of her fears.
SI-Ben has unlocked master control and is starting to begin to accept what has happened to himself.
Now, I'm going to write one more chapter, or maybe split it into a two parter as we arrive at the end of Season 1. SI-Ben is going to need Master Control if he wants to stand a chance against Vilgax, especially with the fact that he has so little experience in combat and just takes advantage of surprise and quick action.
I'm not sure if I'm going to let him keep master control for long, but I know that if I decide to take it away it won't be under the same circumstances. BIG NOTE ABOUT MASTER CONTROL, while I'm aware of how many uses the omnitrix has throughout the series and how amazing it would be to access all those functions and aliens on command (I wrote an entire fic about it) this story is sticking strictly to OG Ben rules, so master control will be limited to what we've seen it do in OG Ben. NOTHING from Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, Omniverse, Reboot or otherwise will be used.
It makes things easier that way and true to the lore that the writers anticipated for their original idea of Ben 10.
BTW, I haven't forgotten about Kevin, but SI-Ben hasn't remembered yet. Let me know what things you liked and what might have felt off, for example I was unsure how to feel about how much of SI-Ben's internal rambling I ended up writing in or how his reveal seemed to fall a little flat. I wrote most of this chapter very sleep deprived and I've been committing more time towards getting ready to move so I couldn't devote as much attention to this as I usually do in my writing.
Still, some people like my more raw writing than some of my more worked out scenes. Let me know what you thought of it and what you're excited to see happen next. While I'm wrapping up this season you can recommend what episodes of season 2 you would like me to put some effort on.
Shisui No Akatsukti: I have a plan for Kevin, one that I'm going to build into an overarching plot for him but I will say it's not going to be similar to the show at all. His starting point will be, but Kevin is in for a wild ride.
GhostFang GF: I've thought about it here and there, and I find it scary how you brought up my internal thoughts. Guess we are on the same page on this story. I'm really curious to see what else you manage to predict.
Ok, to go over love interest stuff I have very similar thoughts/plans. One, SI-Ben would have no interest in kids. Even though he's starting to see Gwen in an equal capacity mentally he still 100% sees her as a kid. Same would go with Kai.
Kai, I too hate as a character. I don't think I've seen a proper redeeming quality about her. It's going to take some restraint to not just write a hate chapter about her. I was actually questioning if I should do something along the lines of she has interest in him because he is actively avoiding her.
And I tell you what, I also bounced the idea of Charmcaster around as a potential love interest. Here's the issue though, SI-Ben was about to get married before finding himself in Ben's body. He still misses his fiance, and it would take years to accept that he's not going to see her again.
Not only that, but even if he has some interest in Charmcaster she's still 15-16 so he wouldn't really consider it. I also doubt Charmcaster would consider it because even though SI-Ben acts mature he's still a boy who's two thirds her size at best.
Maybe if the story gets to Alien Force I'll touch back on it as a possibility.
Lastly, Ghost Freak. I was trying to figure out how exactly I was going to plan his first contact and you sparked the idea for the dream sequence. I tried to make it a little more ominous and screw with Si-Ben mentally. Hope you liked it, and I look forward to your review.
jaimehuizar2005: Ben still being somewhere inside is a scary thought that I'm still considering to use or not. It just depends on what exactly happened to SI-Ben to find himself in Ben's body.
Fire turtle: Hope this chapter satisfied some of your nerves. Not sure if I'm going to have SI-Ben figure out magic, especially since it's not compatible with the omnitrix and he's got a lot to figure out regarding his aliens and his situation. Plus, if he has master control it's kind of overkill to give him some spells. I will possibly write a scene where he contemplates it or even tries, but even OG Ben 10 showed that Gwen had a very powerful talent for magic being able to use Hex's staff.
DarkMist: Yeah, I've written a lot of MHA content and I'm tired of it personally. Plus there's already a good handful of fics that explore that crossover. The Miraculous Ladybug one I like, and I could see it fitting with Adrien having a power ring. Hmmmmm, actually, I could see the miraculous of destruction being made from a power ring and Adrien unlocks its potential in some way to use abilities similar to Green Lantern…..Let me think about that one.
Can't say I'd be interested in Black Clover or High School DxD. I tried and hated both of them.
I haven't tried RWBY but maybe I should, given how many fics there are and I have a friend who's obsessed with it. Not to mention they did do a Justice League crossover recently so it wouldn't be out of the question.
I do like the idea of a fantasy world reacting to space age technology and a green lantern trying to preserve the technological level of a medieval world. Maybe Konosuba? I don't know, but I'm not against the idea of at least writing a chapter for a potential Green Lantern story.
Guest: SI-Ben was heavily sleep deprived as you noted, and it had been years since he last saw the show so some of the finer details can easily be lost.
Ushindi: I'm glad you see the massive dilemma that SI-Ben is dealing with not wanting to have a kid fight criminals or a retired man throw his weary body into deadly scenarios.
Murderleo: Yeah, I only recently started this story and while it has a high wordcount there's not a lot of chapters yet. You're not the only one to propose Charmcaster as a potential ally, so maybe I'll do something about that.