Gwen Tennyson, All Grown Up

Chapter 11
Hex's Cottage

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Chapter Description: The four made it to Hex’s cottage and begins searching for the book that can help reverse Gwen’s condition. But Charmcaster has other intentions once they get the book.

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After that horrendous experience with the Earth Guardian, Ben, Gwen, Grandpa Max, and Charmcaster continued on with their journey to Hex’s old house. This time, the group won’t split up after Ben’s unexpected attack from the monster and followed Charm’s advice to avoid any traps along the way. During the search, Gwen was feeling all right now. After using up most of her powers, she nearly lost control of them and was about to blow up just like what happened last time in the mall’s parking lot. She calmed herself down by breathing deeply and conversing all the power in her. Now she’s back in tiptop shape and was able to walk by herself without her grandfather holding her by the shoulders. But for Charmcaster, she knows an opportunity when she sees one. Since she noticed a weakness in Gwen’s new body and powers, she started to strategize when would be the right time to attack. She figured the moment they get the book for her, she will take it and attack Gwendolyn till she use up too much energy. And if her grandfather and stupid cousin get in the way, well, she’ll figure some way to get them out of her hair. While she was planning, she heard Gwen’s voice in the distance.

Adult Gwen: “Hey Charmcaster! Are we close to your uncle’s house?”

Charm snapped herself out of her strategy and played it cool so the others won’t get suspicious at what she’s doing.

Charmcaster: “Not that far.”

Ben groaned to himself and couldn’t take all this walking anymore.

Ben: “That’s the last time you said that. My feet are all ready tired and it almost feels like we passed this area a couple of times.”

Charm smirked to herself and reminded him about what happened just recently.

Charmcaster: “All right. If you want to leave again, then by all means leave. We won’t help you this time if you step into another trap and encounter another Elemental Guardian or something a whole lot worse.”

The alien hero just remained their completely dumbfounded, remembering the last time he went on his own. Laughing nervously, he looked at the sorceress and had a serious look on his face.

Ben: “When this is all over, I’m going to send you back to jail one way or another.”

Charm shrugged her shoulders and wasn’t impressed by his threat.

Charmcaster: “Yeah, I’ll remember that.”

The group continued to journey through the woods while avoiding traps Charm’s uncle placed. After over five minutes of walking, Charmcaster stopped and remained where she was. The other three immediately halted and wondered why she stopped in the first place.

Ben: “Hey! What’s the hold up?”

There was a harsh silence from her until she spoke up.

Charmcaster: “We’re here. This is my uncle’s cottage.”

Gwen to a peek and didn’t see any house to begin with. All she saw is nothing but trees and shrubbery. Raising an eyebrow, she was a little confused.

Adult Gwen: “That’s funny… I don’t see your uncle’s house anywhere.”

The sorceress groaned to herself and explained it to the young woman.

Charmcaster: “Just because its not there doesn’t mean it can’t be seen by human eyes.”

She then closed her eyes and chants a spell very quietly. When she lifted her hands up, it was glowing pink and was getting brighter. Placing her hands in the air and there was a pink light wall coming around her hand. That’s when the Tennysons realize that there was an invisible barrier in front of them. The pink wall grew and grew until it covered into a huge dome. In a matter of seconds, the dome disintegrated away into nothing. Finally, everyone saw the cottage that Charm’s uncle use to reside in. It was a huge house with two floors and was created in a renaissance kind of style. All three Tennysons stared at it with eyes wide and mouth agape. Charmcaster on the other hand, smiled and could understand their reaction.

Charmcaster: “I always love it when strangers come here and couldn’t believe there’s a house appearing in thin air.”

Gwen slowly approached the sorceress and was amazed at what she saw.

Adult Gwen: “A invisible barrier that keeps your uncle’s house a secret. Now that’s impressive.”

Charmcaster: “What can I say? My uncle has a thing with privacy.”

The four approached the house and was about to reach the front door. But Charm immediately stopped and was worried about something. Gwen looked at her and thought it was another trap.

Adult Gwen: “What’s wrong?”

Charmcaster: “We got a problem. We can’t get through the door.”

Adult Gwen: “Why can’t we get in? Is it another trap?”

Charmcaster: “No. That’s not the case.”

Adult Gwen: “Then what is it? Tell us.”

Charm sighed to herself and told her about it.

Charmcaster: “I don’t have the key to the door.”

There was a bit of a harsh silence throughout the place as everyone was thinking that she was joking. When they realize it wasn’t, all three of them were angry with her. Especially Ben as smoke was coming through his ears.

Ben: “Whoa, back up. You mean to tell me we got you out of prison, hiked all the way here, nearly got killed by a monster made completely out of rock, and now you don’t have a key to enter the house? You got to be kidding me!!!”

She turned to the wielder of the Omnitrix and told him it’s the truth.

Charmcaster: “I’m sorry, but I’m not kidding. You see, like every other house, this house is locked on the outside. I need the house key just to get it open. And the only person who had the key was my uncle. And being that he’s in a highly secured prison far from here, I don’t think we’ll be able to open this door sooner or later.”

Gwen then came up with an idea in breaking in and told Charm about it.

Adult Gwen: “Why don’t you use your magic to pry the door open? You know, just so we can get in easily.”

She then turned to her and had that ‘Are you serious?’ look on her face.

Charmcaster: “Yeah, and break into my uncle’s cottage like an uninvited guest. Like that would work. Sorry, but I’m not going to break a door open and sneak unto a family relative’s home without him knowing it. You know how he is.”

Gwen listened and realized she had a point. It’s one thing to get into a house and get what she needs. But it’s another to break into a family member’s house for no other reason. So she kept quiet and tried to figure something else out. But Ben was still angry and was talking to himself.

Ben: “Great, this is just great! We went through all this trouble for nothing. She knew she needed a key to get in, but didn’t tell us. And to make matters worse, she can’t use her magic to bust open a door because its her uncle’s cottage. Urgh… I should’ve just been killed by that Earth guardian when I had the chance.”

Max looked up at the house and wondered how to get into the house without causing any more problems.

Grandpa Max: “There must be some other way getting in. Like a secret passage, or hidden tunnel, or something.”

The sorceress looked to the kid’s grandfather and shook her head.

Charmcaster: “Pfft… Good luck with that. Do you have any idea on why my uncle built this place? So that way no one won’t find it. And even if someone would find this place, his clever traps would catch them. Like that Elemental Guardian Ben kindly brought forth. Besides, I don’t know if there was any other way into the house besides the front.”

Adult Gwen: “Actually, there is another way into the cottage.”

Charm turned to Gwen and had a questionable look on her face.

Charmcaster: “What are you talking about?”

She noticed Gwen was in a crouching position and was starring at something highly noticeable.

Adult Gwen: “See for yourself.”

All three of them wondered what she was looking at and approached her, crouching down to her level. When they look at what she was seeing, they noticed a crack that was small, but had a gap that’s a couple of inches wide.

Adult Gwen: “Look at this. There appears to be a crack in the wall close to the door. It’s pretty wide enough for someone to get into the other side and open the door on the inside.”

Everyone looked at her curiously and wondered if this was a plan, or another half-baked idea.

Grandpa Max: “That sounds like a good plan Gwen. But there is one flaw you didn’t notice yet. You see…”

That’s when Charmcaster interrupted the old Plumber and told her thoroughly.

Charmcaster: “The crack is too small. None of us can’t get in there.”

Adult Gwen: “True… But I know a certain alien that can get through there.”

The young woman turned to Ben and had a confident look on her face. Then both Max and Charm looked at him and realized what she was talking about. Ben, not knowing what Gwen was saying, turned to them and looked at them very confused. When he found out why they were looking at him for, he lowered his head and groaned to himself.

Ben: “Oh man…”

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Seconds later, within the crack, something came through it and entered the steep passage between the outside and inside. That something was none other then Grey Matter as he navigated himself through the creases and small compact areas. Looking for the hole that goes to the other side of the wall, he sighed to himself and couldn’t believe what he was doing.

Grey Matter: “This is just ridiculous. First I break into a high security prison, now I have to break into a magician’s house. Can’t believe my heroics is taken to a whole new low.”

He continues to find the opening on the other side and unlock the door that’s blocking their progress.

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Meanwhile, Gwen, Grandpa Max, and Charmcaster were waiting for him to open the front door but it was taking him too long to do so. Charm tapped her foot a couple of times and was getting impatient.

Charmcaster: “Ugrh… What’s taking this boy so long? It’s not like him to waist too much time over opening a door.”

Gwen took that opportunity, and joked about what they face earlier.

Adult Gwen: “Maybe he encountered a Dust Guardian along the way.”

Charm looked at Gwen and had a disturbing look on her face. Max turned to them and told them to calm down.

Grandpa Max: “That’s enough you two. I’m sure Ben’s finding his way to the door. It’s not like him to get into the house and lounge around for no reason.”

Gwen turned to her grandfather and had a cold look on her face.

Adult Gwen: “Grandpa, it’s Ben we’re talking about. All he does is lounge around and do nothing. You think he would get in there and let us in the moment he found his way through?”

Max thought of that and realized that Gwen was right. Ben was always a lazy couch potato most of the time. So he sighed to himself in complete defeat.

Grandpa Max: “Guess you have a point there.”

The three continued to wait for Ben to open the door, hoping he doesn’t waist any time. A few minutes later, they all heard a ring coming from one of them. Max looked at Charmcaster and wondered if it was her. Charm looked at him and waved her hands in confusion.

Charmcaster: “Hey, don’t look at me. I don’t have a cell phone in my magic bag.”

Both of them then look at Gwen and wondered if that was her. The young woman looked at them and lowered her head to take out her cell phone that was in her side pocket. When she noticed it ringing, she realized it was her phone. She then turned her head to see the others and told them that she needs to take it.

Adult Gwen: “Sorry. That was my phone. Let me get this. Excuse me.”

She then ran from the group to find a place private to herself. Both Max and Charm looked at her and wondered what she was up to. Rubbing the back of his head, the former plumber member guessed it was nothing.

Grandpa Max: “Must be something important.”

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Back to Gwen, she was heading to the private spot just to see who it’s from. She looked at the phone call and noticed that it has an unknown caller on the screen. Thinking it is who she thinks it is, she press send on her phone and answered it.

Adult Gwen: “Hello?”

After a few seconds she heard the line from the other side.

Jason: “Hey Gwen. It’s me Jason. I just want to call you to not forget about our date tonight. I don’t want you to miss it and all.”

Gwen sighed to herself, knowing that she won’t be able to go on the date since there’s a chance she’s going to be back to normal. But he has to keep him happy incase she fails in the spell that could reverse the condition she is in. So she took a deep breath and lied to him again.

Adult Gwen: “Oh come on Jason. You know I would never want to forget about our date tonight.”

Jason: “Great to hear.”

There was a bit of silence between the two until Jason asked something on the other line.

Jason: “Is everything okay where you are? Your voice sounds a little rough on the phone. Is there interference on your side or something?”

Gwen eyes were wide and now knew she was in trouble. She knows that she’s in the forest in the middle of nowhere and even though she has reception, it’s a little hard to understand with static in the receiver. Thinking fast, she told him what she was doing.

Adult Gwen: “Uh, yeah… Well, you see… I’m…taking a jog through the park. Yeah that’s right. I’m jogging down a path in a park nearby. There are a lot of trees around here that’s impossible to get a reception. That’s why there’s interference on my phone.”

Jason: “Oh okay. For second there I thought you got lost in the woods out in the middle of nowhere. That place is dangerous no matter who you are.”

Gwen nervously laughed a little and hopes that was a joke.

Adult Gwen: “Yeah… That would be really troubling. Got to go now. I got a couple of laps to go.”

Jason: “All right. I’ll let you get on with your exercise. See you tonight.”

Gwen hung up the cell and groaned to herself.

Adult Gwen: “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

As she was contemplating what she would do, she heard her grandfather’s voice booming in the distance.

Grandpa Max: “Gwen! Get back here! Ben was able to reach the door on the other side. Let’s go!”

Gwen looked up at the direction where her grandfather yelled and responded back.

Adult Gwen: “Okay, I’m coming!”

She ran back to the cottage and met up with the others. Once she joined up with them, Charm looked at her and wondered who was calling the young woman.

Charmcaster: “So, who was calling?”

Gwen looked at her and lied about who it was.

Adult Gwen: “Oh, just my mom asking how’s my vacation with Grandpa. Had to clear my voice to make it sound a little more kiddush. Don’t want mom to know I have grown up pretty quick right?”

The sorceress cocked an eyebrow and find what Gwendolyn said very suspicious. But just before she could get a real answer, they all heard the doorknob turning and looked at the door. Within seconds, the door opened slowly and finally gave the group access into the house. When it was fully opened, it revealed Ben Tennyson who returned to his human form. He was in the small passage for so long that he was able to get out of it before his Omnitrix timed out. Upon opening the door, he looked at the others and smiled while laughing a little nervously.

Ben: “Sorry it took so long. Place was hard to maneuver with all the cracks and all. And you can imagine the size of the cockroaches and rats are when your Grey Matter.”

Charm folded her arms and was arrogant at the boy’s own folly.

Charmcaster: “Well it took you long enough. Now come on. We’re wasting too much time.”

She walked into the house and past Ben. The three looked at her and was a little curious about her behavior.

Ben: What’s up with her?”

Adult Gwen: “Don’t have a clue.”

Grandpa Max: “She’s just a little anxious is all. She hasn’t been in this house for a long time it’s obvious that she misses it so much. Let’s follow her and find this spell book.”

The three then entered the cottage and followed Charmcaster. As they entered the house they notice they were in what appears to be the main hall of the house. There were two staircases on both ends, a chandelier on the top, a center door at the other end, and in the middle, a table with an assortment of flowers, all wilted. But this house is no ordinary house it was a magical one. Once the group entered the house, the chandelier came back on, illuminating the room. Once the room came back to life, the group was amazed at the place.

Ben: “Wow… This place is amazing. Never really thought your uncle had taste at Home and Garden’s Charm.”

The sorceress shrugged her shoulders and responded to the compliment.

Charmcaster: “Well, what can I say? My uncle has a unique taste. But it looks like this place is seeing better days.”

She placed her finger on the stairway and slid it up. The moment she removed the finger, she inspected it and notice the thick sheet of dust on it. She sighed to herself and shook her head.

Charmcaster: “Since my uncle’s now a baby, this house is showing signs of age. Without a good clean up, it’s going to be a complete mess. What a shame.”

There was a bit of silence until Gwen came in and broke it off.

Adult Gwen: “Well? What are we waiting for? Let’s go find this book and return myself to normal. You know where it is right?”

Charm turned to her and answered her.

Charmcaster: “Of course I know where it is. It’s within the library. Follow me.”

She then went upstairs with the others going after them. Once they reached the top, they went through an archway and entered a hall. The hall had purplish wallpaper with paintings on the walls, and empty armor knights everywhere. Walking down it, the Tennyson’s were still impressed by it.

Grandpa Max: “Gotta say, Hex certainly was living the highlife.”

Adult Gwen: “Yeah… Who would’ve thought that Hex was a rich man?”

Charmcaster just look back at them and warned them of what’s to come.

Charmcaster: “Just be careful. My uncle set more traps in here then out there. He didn’t like strangers entering his house, even if it is his guests.”

Ben’s eyes were wide and couldn’t believe that was hearing.

Ben: “Are you serious? You mean that we have to get through more traps again? You could’ve warn us about that sooner.”

Charmcaster: “And ruin all the fun? I don’t think so. Besides, someone needs to learn a lesson in stepping onto my uncle’s trap and awaken the Earth Guardian.”

Ben looked at her and had a very sour expression, like he was going to beat her up for not telling him. Gwen noticed that and started to calm him down before he looses it.

Adult Gwen: “Now Ben calm down. We need to get the spell book that can make me normal again. You can beat her up all you want when this is over.”

The boy calmed himself down and decided to follow what his cousin said.

Ben: “All right, fine. I’ll wait. But when this is all over, I’m going to give this girl a beating she will never forget.”

Gwendolyn smiled about that and could agree with her dorky cousin for once.

Adult Gwen: “Dully noted. Just save me some okay? I really need to give her some pay back of my own.”

As they were talking, Charmcaster was listening in. She could tell they would fight her once they get the book and take her back to jail. But she needs to fight with Gwen and Gwen only. And she has already set a trap up for her to fight with her while the others were busy in trying to escape. All she needs to do is to play along until its time to strike. So the group continued walking down the long path until Charm made a complete stop. She looked around and noticed that something just doesn’t feel right. Everyone looked at her and wondered what she was thinking.

Grandpa Max: “What’s wrong Charmcaster?”

There was a bit of silence until the sorceress told them.

Charmcaster: “I don’t know. But there’s something wrong with this hall. It’s quiet, too quiet.”

Ben looked around and noticed nothing going on.

Ben: “Funny… I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

But after a few seconds, something strange happened. The armor around them had their heads turned to them. They then stepped down from the pedestals they were on and turned to them fully, getting into their stances and had their weapons ready. The team looked at them all and realized that this was another one of Hex’s trap.

Ben: “Oh… Now I see it.”

The group huddled together and prepared for battle. But there was one problem. Ben looked at his Omnitrix and noticed the hourglass was still red. He sighed to himself, realizing they were in deep trouble.

Ben: “Well this is just great! My Omnitrix is still recharging. I can’t get any alien to help us.”

Charmcaster: “Guess we have to fight them off ourselves.”

But Gwen thought of something and turned to Charm.

Adult Gwen: “Hey Charm. Why don’t you use your magic to order them to get back? This is your uncle’s mansion.”

The sorceress sighed to herself and told her about this type of situation.

Charmcaster: “That’s going to be a problem. You see, the magic that was casted to these armor knights was that of my uncle and it’s way advance. Only he is the one that could tell them to back off. And unfortunately, I don’t know much of this spell.”

Ben then groaned to himself and knew this was going to happen.

Ben: “As if things couldn’t get any worse.”

One of the armor knights charged in and used the spear to penetrate the group. Max pointed his rifle at the guard and fired a huge energy blast, knocking it off its feet and crashing on the floor. Each part of its armor fell apart after the hit and was completely immobile. All the other armor knights looked down at the broken armor then looked back, realizing they were a complete threat. They then prepared their weapons and began the assault. Grandpa Max lifted his weapon up and told the kids about this predicament.

Grandpa Max: “Listen to me. We need to work together if we are ever going to stop this. Let’s take them down!”

All three of them got into position and agreed with the former Plumbers member for once.

Charm, Gwen, and Ben: “Got it!”

The armored knights then started to charge in and began their attack. The first knight raised its sword high into the air and was about to cut the group up. They quickly split up and avoided the attack. Soon enough, everyone got into position and took on the empty pieces of armor. Max used his rifle and blasted the knights one after another. Those who were closest to them got the worst part of the attack as the energy pulse knocked them to next week. Gwen used her karate skills and dodge and avoids the attacks by the knights. With her adult like body, she was more flexible then before. She used her kicks to remove their weapons and used her powers to fire purple projectiles at their breastplates, blowing them away. Ben on the other hand was having difficulty with the enemy. Without his Omnitrix in full power, he won’t be able to fight against the bodiless knights. So all he could do is to duck and roll out of the way. But for Charmcaster, it was an easy breeze. She used a magic spell to remove the guards protecting the hall.

Charmcaster: [color=#800080]“Removous Aspectourous!”[/color]

With a quick wave, her hands emanating pink magic and engulfed the armor. Since all the armor was completely empty, the knights started to fall apart by force and scrambled on the floor. So far, the fight was on the group’s side. But then the armor knight’s numbers grew more and more by the second. So then the group was completely surrounded by the armor clad soldiers.

Ben: “There are too many of them! We can’t hold them off for much longer.”

Grandpa Max: “We have to fallback and regroup. Find another way to reach the library.”

Adult Gwen: “But where are we suppose to go? We’re trapped!”

Charm then came up with an idea to keep them occupied.

Charmcaster: “Hang on. I think I know how to get them off our backs.”

Grandpa Max: “Well, hurry up before we get overwhelmed!”

Charm nodded and focused long and hard. Finally, she opened her eyes and they were glowing pink as she chanted another magic phrase.

Charmcaster: [color=#800080]“Ingornious Flashous!”[/color]

Within moments, she lifted her hand up and a huge flash of pink light engulfed the entire hallway. Ben, Gwen, and Max shielded their eyes to prevent them from being blind. In a matter of seconds, the light filled the hall so much that you can’t see a single thing. But as soon as the light appeared, it faded completely. The knights guarding the hall were a little surprised but went back to the fight. But there was one little problem, the intruders weren’t present. The all looked around and searched the hall, just to see if they haven’t gotten that far. What they didn’t know was that there was one of the doors that were a little opened on one side of the hall. There was a brown eye peeking through the crack and skimmed the hallway to see what the knights were doing. On the other side of the door, Ben, Gwen, Max, and Charmcaster were hiding from the guards protecting the hall. They were inside a guest bedroom with fancy wallpaper, a huge king size bed, a vanity table, closet for clothes, and a bathroom for some privacy. Ben peeked through the doorway just to see the guards leaving, he then sighed in complete relief knowing that they were gone.

Ben: “Phew… That was close.”

Charmcaster: “Don’t count on it yet. Though we are safe, it will only be a matter of time before they start searching the rooms. Then we’re in big trouble.”

Ben turned to the sorceress and told her something.

Ben: “Well if you know a way in getting out of here, I would glad to hear it.”

Charm smirked and knew what he was trying to say.

Charmcaster: “Gladly.”

She turned around to approach a wall with a candleholder hanging on to it and explained to them what she has in mind.

Charmcaster: “When my uncle built this place, he had to put together some secret passages around the place for either quick getaways or shortcuts. They are the easiest of access when it comes to reaching rooms quicker. It’s possible one of those passages can get us to the library. But I got to warn you, it’s not going to be easy.”

Gwendolyn sighed to herself and realized what that meant.

Adult Gwen: “Let me guess… More traps within the secret passages?”

Charm turned around and was surprised the Gwen knew about it already.

Charmcaster: “And how did you know about that?”

Gwen shrugged her shoulders and answered.

Adult Gwen: “Believe me. Everywhere we go is always a trap one way or another.”

Charmcaster groaned to herself and knew she came to that conclusion.

Charmcaster: “Yeah, I know. My uncle’s a little bit uptight around here. Always like to seclude himself and all.”

Ben folded his arms and rolled his eyes around.

Ben: “Yeah, noticed that.”

Charm turned back around to the wall and looked up to the candleholder on it. Once she grabbed hold of it, she then turned it to the left. At first, there was nothing, but a second later, the wall started to shake. Suddenly, the wall pushed back and moved to the right by itself. In moments a passage was revealed in front of them and lead them the way. The group stared in complete awe as Charmcaster smirked to herself.

Charmcaster: “Let’s move.”

She walked into the passage as the others followed behind her. Once they entered the passage, the wall behind them closed and sealed itself up. Within the passage, everything was completely dark and you couldn’t see anything. Ben could tell that and he was starting to complain again.

Ben: “Darn it, I can’t see a thing. It there a light around here where we could see or something?”

Charmcaster: “Hang on. I got something that could work.”

She chanted something in a low quiet voice and her hand was glowing bright pink, illuminating the entire area in one go. She looked back at the Omnitrix owner and had a sly smile on her face.

Charmcaster: “Happy now?”

Ben just shrugged his shoulders and wasn’t impressed.

Ben: “Eh… Guess its better then being in the dark.”

So the group continued their journey through the passage. As they were walking, they looked around and saw what the passage looked like. All there is were wooden panels with supports keeping the passages intact. There were many passages, each one leading to a different area. Charm looked around and tried to figure out where to go. At the same time, she told the others what she was doing.

Chamcaster: “Okay, here’s the deal. My uncle used these passages for an escape or a quick way through the cottage. I always have the tendencies to use the tunnels to run around when I was young. Too bad my memory is a little blurry since the last time. But at least I have much of a good memory. If I remembered correctly, the way to the library is this way.”

But Gwen didn’t believe her and had a questionable look on her face.

Adult Gwen: “And what if you were lying to us?”

The sorceress stopped in her tracks and turned around to see the young woman.

Charmcaster: “Come on Gwen… Did I ever steer you wrong since we got here?”

Gwen cocked in eyebrow and finds her behavior a little bit suspicious.

Adult Gwen: “So far, not yet. But I know you’re up to something.”

Charmcaster: “Really, you think I can trick you after what we’ve been through?”

Adult Gwen: “Well I know you planning it. And after the most of the summer you put us through, I know what you can do.”

The two stared at each other and had cold icy eyes. Ben and Max noticed this and knew it was going to be a matter of time before they explode and fight each other. Max then decided to stop this and separated the two before things get worse.

Grandpa Max: “That’s enough you two. We’re not here to fight it out. We’re here to get this book and end this mess that has happened. And the only way we could fix this is that we work together. End of discussion! Understand?”

The two looked at him then at each other and remained silent. They then turned their heads in disgust and responded at the same time.

Adult Gwen and Charmcaster: “FINE!”

The two then walked together and turned right with their heads turned away against each other. Ben just looked on and could tell this won’t be too easy.

Ben: “Something tells me that this is going to be a long day.”

Grandpa Max: “Tell me about it. If this keeps up, I don’t know if we’re going to save Gwen in time. Now lets go after them before they lash each other out again.”

Ben nodded as the two followed the girls. A few minutes later, things were going back to normal. Both Gwen and Charmcaster had got the chance in cooling their heads before they loose it so they didn’t get into another fight. But Ben and Max knew it would be a matter of time before they got back to their fighting again. As they continued to walk, they noticed that something that’s not right. So Ben asked the sorceress a question.

Ben: “Hey Charmcaster. You did say that there are traps in the secret passages right?”

Charmcaster: “Yeah. Why you ask that question?”

Ben: “Well because we’ve been going down this path for a while now and I haven’t see a single trap being set.”

Charm thought about this and realized that he has a point. They’ve been walking around and didn’t find or stepped onto any traps.

Charmcaster: “Really? That’s strange…”

After thinking about it, she came up with a conclusion.

Chamcaster: “Hmm… Maybe it has something to do with triggering something. Remember that attack with the Earth Guardian?”

Ben sighed and remembered what happened a while ago.

Ben: “Yeah… How could I forget about that?”

Charmcaster: “Well, I believe if we step into something the trap might be triggered. So even though we’re walking and nothing is happening, any one of us would step on a trap right about…”

Suddenly, someone stepped on something and the room began to shake. Within seconds, wooden boards came to life and closed off both passages from left to right, sealing the group completely. Everyone was caught by surprise as Charm asked who did that.

Charmcaster: “Okay! Who stepped on the trap’s trigger?”

Everyone looked at each other and wondered who did it. Then all three of them looked at Ben thinking he stepped on another one again. The young boy looked at all of them and realized they were starring at him for a bit and protested.

Ben: “Hey, don’t look at me. I was the one following Charmcaster. She would’ve stepped on the trap herself if she was leading the way.”

Just before anyone would come to a conclusion, the ground below them started to shake. With no way in getting out, the group had no choice but to waited it out until it was over. But just as they were waiting for it to be finished, the ground they were standing on began to break apart. Being that they can’t escape, the group fell from the destroyed ground and went into the deep darkness. After that, the hole sealed itself up with new dirt and the planks of wood opened up. So far, everything was back normal with the exception of the group that fell into god knows where.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Moments later, the group was in a dark and desolate place; someplace they don’t know where they are. All of them slowly regained consciousness and tried to figure out where they are now.

Ben: “Urgh… Didn’t see that one coming. Where are we anyways?”

Adult Gwen: “Don’t know. Can’t see anything in all this darkness. Charmcaster?”

Charmcaster: “All ready on it.”

She lifted her hand up and brought back the pink light that illuminated the place once more. When the group could see where they are, they noticed that they were in some kind of cavern. Max looked around and didn’t know where they were this time.

Grandpa Max: “What is this place?”

Charmcaster: “An underground cavern. Didn’t know there was one under the house. Uncle must’ve known this and used it to place unsuspected guests into some of the traps above.”

Ben: “Gee… Who’d of thunk it?”

Max turned to his grandson and told him to be quiet.

Grandpa Max: “That’s enough Ben!”

He then looked at Charmcaster and asked if there was a way out.

Grandpa Max: “Is there a way back to the mansion?”

Charm looked at him and shook her head.

Charmcaster: “Unfortunately, I don’t know. My uncle didn’t tell me about this place. He must’ve kept it a secret from me.”

Gwen just rolled her eyes around and couldn’t believe this.

Adult Gwen: “Terrific… We’re lost.”

The sorceress looks around and notice something that could help them get out of there.

Charmcaster: “Maybe not… Look up there.”

Everyone looked up and noticed pipes on the ceiling.

Grandpa Max: “Those look like pipes.”

Charmcaster: “Yeah… Those look like plumbing pipes, something you should understand about.”

Max looked at her and didn’t like that joke.

Charmcaster: “It’s possible these pipes could connect to the house in some way. If we could follow them, we could find a way out of this place.”

Ben: “Either that or another trap set up from your uncle.”

Charm looked at him and just ignored him.

Charmcaster: “Let’s go.”

The group then started to walk, following the trail of pipes and finding a way back up to the mansion. What they didn’t know was that someone, or something was watching them quietly, waiting for the right moment to attack. As it kept on watching the team was journeying through the caves, tracing the pipes that are connected to the house. As they were walking, Gwen couldn’t help but to be amazed at the caverns. The way the design of the sharp edges and the arch like tunnels were truly breathtaking.

Adult Gwen: “Wow… This place is amazing! You’re certain you never been to this place.”

Charmcaster: “Positive. I’ve never seen this place before in my life. I still couldn’t believe my uncle would keep this secret from me for so long.”

Ben decided that it would be funny to joke about it.

Ben: “Well maybe you uncle like to be very secretive, even from a niece like you.”

Charm looked back and gave Ben a deep glare.

Charmcaster: “Can I shut his mouth completely? I have a spell that can do that.”

Adult Gwen: “Naw. Only I can torture Ben.”

Charmcaster groaned and decided to let that pass.

Charmcaster: “Huh… Point taken.”

The two continued to walk through the caves, hoping there’s a way out of there. They weren’t even aware of that someone was watching them, or something. As they walked down the place, Max got the strange feeling that it was too easy. He looked around and noticed nothing out of the ordinary, but he knew deep down that there was something wrong. Ben looked back and noticed his grandfather checking the place out. Noticing him acting a little paranoid, he asked him what’s the problem.

Ben: “Hey Grandpa, is something wrong? You look like you have forgotten something.”

Max looked at his grandson and could tell that he’s getting worried about him.

Grandpa Max: “No, I’m fine Ben. It’s just that this place doesn’t feel right.”

Ben: “And that means…”

The former plumber member looked at him and told him what he thinks.

Grandpa Max: “Think about the trap that Hex set back at the secret passage. There has to be a reason it sent us down here to begin with.”

Ben: “But Charmcaster said she believes there are no traps around here.”

Grandpa Max: “Well, she also said that she never been here before in her life. So it could be possible that there could be another trap waiting for us.”

Ben thought about it and realized that his grandfather was right. Charm didn’t know about this place till now and there’s no telling if there were any traps or anything else within the cavern. As he was thinking about it, the girls noticed them leaving far behind and tried to get them going.

Charmcaster: “Hey! What are you two doing? We have to go.”

Ben turned around and approached her, letting her know what he discovered.

Ben: “Charmcaster, are you sure you haven’t been in these underground caves before?”

Charm cocked an eyebrow and was confused at what he was saying.

Charmcaster: “Why of course I’ve never been here before in my life.”

Ben: “So you don’t know if there are any traps around here?”

Charmcaster: “No. At least I don’t think there are any traps. Why are you asking me all of these questions?”

Ben: “Because if I remember correctly, you said that your uncle set up traps in and around the house. Then that means its possible that there could be a trap or worse under here too.”

Charm thought of that and realized he has a point. Even if she didn’t know about this cavern, her uncle must’ve placed something in there. And even if there was a trap they fell for back at the passageway, there was a reason why it lead them here. So if what she thinks its true then that means that there could really be a trap. Looking around, she got the funny feeling that they are being watched. So she looked at the others and told them to keep on moving.

Charmcaster: “Come on guys! Let’s get out of here before we run into more-“

But then, without warning, there was a loud roar from all around them. They all immediately stopped dead in their tracks and looked around to see what was that. They then notice shadows coming from all around them in different caverns. So they waited to see what’s coming towards them. After a few seconds, they notice a group of rock monsters coming towards them. Of course they were made of rock and stone with red eyes and sharp pebbles for teeth. Max had his weapon ready and wasn’t sure what they were.

Grandpa Max: “What are these things?”

Charm looked at them more closely and realized what they were.

Charmcaster: “Hmm… They appear to be rock golems, protectors of caverns of all kinds. My uncle must’ve created them to protect the underground caverns.”

Gwen looked back at her and asks her about these creatures.

Adult Gwen: “Let me guess… You can’t control them as well?”

The sorceress looked at her and shook her head. Gwen then look down on the ground and sighed to herself.

Adult Gwen: “Wonderful…”

All the golems surround the group and were ready to take them on. Gwen, Max, and Charmcaster prepared themselves for a fight. Ben then looks down at his Omnitrix to see if it was ready. That’s when he noticed that the red light turned green and it was glowing away. Seeing that, he smirked and was ready to battle.

Ben: “Don’t worry guys. I got something that can rattle their pebbles.”

He activated his watch and turned the dial to find the proper alien for the job. Once he got the right alien, he lifts his hand up and slapped the dial down. A green light came out of the watch and engulfed the place, blinding his family, Charm, and the golems. The moment it faded away, the golems looked back at their prey and discovered something in Ben’s place. It was an alien that stands on four legs and was covered with orange fur. It had a mouth with razor sharp teeth but no eyes, or nose. All it did have were a pair of gill like things on each side of its neck. Along the way there were claws on both its hands and feet, long hair spikes and act as its armor, and a shoulder protector on its left side with the Omnitrix symbol. It was clearly evident that this creature was another one of Ben’s aliens, Wildmutt. Charmcaster looked at the creature and could smell the horrible stench it possessed. She covered her nose and couldn’t stand the smell.

Charmcaster: “Ew… Gross… Is this your pick for battling these golems? You can’t be serious!”

She was so worked up on the alien, she didn’t realize that one of the golems approached her first and was going to attack. It raised its hands up and tightens its fist to flatten her. Ben then sensed something and his gills opened up. What those gills really are is a sonar mechanism where even though he can’t see; he can sure sense any thing for miles. Once he noticed that the sorceress was in danger, he turned around and pounced on the golem, using its claws to scratch it completely. Charm watched on and was amazed by the unexpected save.

Charmcaster: “Okay… I guess he’s good.”

At the same time, the other golems did the same thing and attacked the others. Max pointed his weapon at one of the creatures and fired a huge energy blast at the center of its chest. Charm charged up her hands and threw multiple projectiles at the second creature. The third golem was able to attack Gwendolyn by giving her a straight punch. But she was able to use her hands to spread them out of form a purple shield to deflect the attack. The rock being continued to punch and punch while the young woman blocked them with all she could muster. Her shields were great to handle all the attacks, but she could see signs of cracks emanating from the center. She had to come up with a plan fast before this beast kills her. She then quickly rolled away and avoided another attempted attack by the golem. Once she was in the clear, she waved her hands and purple strips came out of them, wrapping both its arms and legs. With the monster trapped, she finished it up by tightening her fists and squeezing the arms and legs completely. Seconds later, the appendages broke apart and left the creature armless and legless. With that out of the way, Gwen pulled the finishing blow and raising her hands up and formed a huge block that’s heavy enough to crush it completely. Meanwhile Wildmutt was having his own fun. As he finished off his first prey, he sensed another one coming towards him with its arms ready to pound. He leaped away seconds before the creature starts to kill him. Unfortunate for it, the golem destroyed its comrade and broke it to a thousand pieces. Ben skidded to safety and went on the attack with the next one. It pounced on its back and used his claws again to scratch and tore it up. The fight was tough, but the team managed to get through it. But more golems came out of the blue just to assist the others. The team knew this wouldn’t be good as Charmcaster told them to forget about the fight.

Charmcaster: “Forget about them! We have to get out of this place and back to the cottage!”

Adult Gwen: “But what about these things? Surely they will follow us.”

She didn’t know that another golem came up behind her and was going to strike. But then, Wildmutt just appeared in mere seconds and took down the golem with incredible strength. Gwendolyn looked behind and saw her cousin took it down with ease. The alien then punched it many times as it could until its nothing but rubble. Then two more golems surround him and decided to attack him. Ben decided to strike the two by attacking the first one with its feet and giving a sucker punch with the second one. Max watched the battle and knew Ben can take them on.

Grandpa Max: “Don’t worry. I think Ben can handle them. Let’s move!”

The three make a break for it while Ben in his Wildmutt form remained to do battle with the golems. A few of the golems who were hiding saw the three leaving and knew they can’t let them escape. So they followed them and make sure they won’t. Wildmutt was busy with the two golems when he stopped and his gills opened up. Under his sonar, he saw the three getting out of the fight and turned to see a bunch of golems following them. So he rushed in and tried to stop them. But three more golems came up in front of them and blocked his way through. Upset by this, he decided to attack all three of them and lunged at the one in the middle.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Meanwhile, the three ran past through the caverns, following the pipes that would take them to an elevator or lift or something. None of them weren’t aware that more golems were following them. Charm continued to look at the pipes and noticed they were getting closer. It’s obvious that there were less and less pipes on the ceiling so that could mean they’re near.

Charmcaster: “I think we are getting closer. Just hang on just a bit further.”

They kept on running and turning until they noticed something out of the horizon. There was an open shaft with a bright light at the end. Realizing what that means, she told the others what she found.

Charmcaster: “That must be the elevator that can take us back up. Let’s go!”

The all ran to the elevator and thought they were going to make it. But just as they reach it, four golems came out of nowhere and blocked their exit. They were about to turn around until more golems came up from behind. They all looked around and realized they were completely surrounded. Gwen looked back to Charmcaster and had a stern look on her face.

Adult Gwen: “So much for getting out. Now what do we do?”

Charm looked at her and told her simple.

Charmcaster: “We fight them off.”

She tightens her fist as they glow pink. She then threw pink hexes at the first few just to get them damaged a bit. Gwen nodded and knew this would be inevitable. She tightens her fists too and they were glowing purple spheres. She stretched one of her hands out and shots of purple beams came out of her hand. She was able to make a couple of attempted hits, but that didn’t kill them. The group looks down at the marks Gwen made and looked up at her growling lowly. They then charged at her and were ready to attack her. On self-defense, Gwendolyn lifts her hands up and formed another barrier to protect herself from the golems. The shield was able to hold them back but it would be a matter of time before it breaks apart from the pressure. The golems continued to hit the shield until it starts to break apart. They were about to crush her until something unexpected happened. A beam of light hit each of the golems on the knees and took them down in one go. They fall to the ground with their backs on the floor and were completely vulnerable. Gwen looked down at them with a flick of her wrist created a purple cutter to chop their heads off. With them all gone, the young woman looked around to see who saved her. That’s when she found her grandfather holding his rifle at the direction of the golems. She smiled at him and waved her hands.

Adult Gwen: “Thanks Grandpa!”

Max nodded and was proud in saving her. But he didn’t know that two more golems were behind him. But Gwen saw them as she pointed to the golems and told him and look out.

Adult Gwen: “Behind you!”

The former Plumbers member turned around and saw the two ready to attack him. He immediately rolled past them and went under the first that was going to hit him. Once he got back up, and pointed his weapon at the first one and pulled the trigger. The golem didn’t have time to avoid this as the blast hit it in the chest and exploded on the inside. He turned around and was about to get the second one. But the second one was prepared and knocked Max to the ground. The Plumber fell to the ground and made while his rifle flew out of his hands at the same time. He tried to get up, but the golem placed its foot on him and make sure he didn’t get out. He looked up at the creature and noticed it was going to flatten him. Unfortunate for the monster, it didn’t realized what’s going to happen behind it. A purple sphere came out of nowhere and was incased around the golem’s head. It felt that and tried to get it off it. But no matter how hard it tries, the sphere is still intact. Before it could find a way out of it, the sphere grew smaller and smaller until the walls touched its head. Within seconds, the head got completely crushed by the sphere and left the golem headless. And without a head, its body just fell to the floor and broke apart in a million pieces upon impact. Max blinked a couple of times and looked around to see who saved him. That’s when he saw his granddaughter with a purple orb surrounding her fist. He smiled at this and was glad she saved his life like he saved hers.

Grandpa Max: “Nice save Gwen. Guess we’re even now.”

Gwen smiled and was right with him. Too bad she didn’t know there was another golem right behind her getting ready for a sneak attack. Max saw this and was about to tell her the same thing she told him. But then, an unknown array of pink strips came out of the blue and cut the creature up to bits. With it down for the count, the young woman looked behind her and was surprised that there was something that would attack her, yet wonder who saved her to begin with. There was a whistle and she turned to the left to see where it came from. That’s when she saw Charmcaster trying to fend off against the group of golems. She looked over to the two and told them to come to her.

Charmcaster: “Hey, can I get some help over here please? I can’t fight them off all by myself!”

Both Gwen and Max looked at each other then looked back at the sorceress. Knowing they don’t want to loose her, they both charged in and help her out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

While the three were busy ducking it out against the golems, Ben in his Wildmutt form is handling his own problems. Surrounding him were a number of golems that were ready to destroy anything in their path. He was standing on a torn apart golem he disposed of just recently. Looking at each of them with his sonar gills, he knew he was in a bit of a problem. And there’s no idea on when his Omnitrix will time out on him. So he had to do it hard and fast before it’s too late. The first golem headed towards him and ready to attack. Wildmutt sensed that and lunged at the creature in the face. The golem was blinded and couldn’t see a thing. It flailed its arms wildly as it try to get the alien off of it. What it didn’t know was that while waving its arms, it took out of few of its friends, knocking them in the arms, chests, and heads. Some of the golems noticed this and decided to attack the one responsible before more get hurt. The moment they pounced on it, Ben jumped off its head and went to the next golem that wasn’t involved. When he landed on it, he used his claws to slash it in the face, tearing it apart bit by bit. It didn’t know however that another one was behind him and was about to flatten him to a pancake. But seconds later, Wildmutt’s gills detected the attack from behind alerting the alien of what’s going to come. Quickly he used his back legs to hit its chest and let it fly away from him. Two more then approached him and were about to flank him. Ben used his incredible agility to jump over the first golem and grabbed it by the head. As he was landing, the golem fell along with it, sending it crashing to the floor and shattering it to pieces. The second golem charged to him and was going to hit him to the wall. Sensing that through its gills, Wildmutt jumped high in the air and avoided the attack, flying over the creature. The golem, on the other hand, missed him and crashed right into the wall, killing itself in seconds. Once he landed on the ground, he looked around and saw a few more of them around, waiting for the right moment to attack. Ben growled to himself and knew this was going to take a while. So he charged in and started attacking the others.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Back with the others, they were having better luck then Ben. The golems continued to grow by large numbers and it was getting hard for them to hold them off. Charmcaster used her hexes to create sharp objects to cut the creatures up. Max used his rifle to blast two or three through the holes of the chests. And Gwen was firing purple orbs at whatever’s close to her. With all that they have, the golems continued to grow more and more numerous by the second. Gwendolyn was getting frustrated and couldn’t take this anymore.

Adult Gwen: “Argh… This isn’t getting us anywhere! We have to take them all out now before they overwhelm us!”

Charmcaster: “And how are we going to do that? I don’t know about you, but we don’t have that much firepower to take them out!”

Gwen looked at her hands and came up with something that might work.

Adult Gwen: “I think I got an idea. But it might be risky. Everyone stand back!”

Both Max and Charmcaster got back, wondering what she’s going to do. To their answer, the young woman took a deep breath and started to focus. Just then, her hands started to glow purple and was getting brighter and brighter by the second. At the same time, the golems approached them and surrounded them, ready to finish them off. But they didn’t realize what Gwendolyn was going to do. After she gathered up all of her energy, she looked up to them in glowing purple eyes and opened her hands. In an instance, multiple projectiles and strips came out of her hands and attacked all of the golems. Half of them got blasted while the other half were cut to pieces. Once the smoke was mayhem was cleared all the monsters were nothing but mere rubble. Max was surprised by this and was going to congratulate her.

Grandpa Max: “Nice work Gwen!”

But just as he was about to hug her, he noticed something wrong with her granddaughter. She started to look a little woozy and it would appear that her vision was getting blurred. She was slowly loosing her balance until she tripped and fell to the ground. The grandfather and scared at this and successfully caught her before she could fall to the floor. After he got her, he tried to wake her up.

Grandpa Max: “Gwen, are you okay? Snap out of it. Say something.”

He shook and talked her out of it but it was no use. She was still in a sleepful state. Charmcaster noticed this and soon realized that there is a problem. She approached the two and began to examine Gwen’s condition. Max looked at her and wondered about Gwen.

Grandpa Max: “Well? Is there anything wrong with her?”

After looking at her condition, Charm got up and told him straight away.

Charmcaster: “I was afraid of this. Looks like she used too much power to bring down those golems. She seems to be resting if off until she can recover.”

The two then heard loud growls coming from all around them. They looked up and noticed more golems coming from every direction.

Charmcaster: “And by the looks of this, she picked a really bad time to sleep.”

She turned her head back and saw the lift is open, ready to enter. She turned back at the ex Plumber member and told him to leave.

Charmcaster: “Get to the shaft and take Gwen with you. I’ll hold them off as long as I can!”

Max nodded and carried his granddaughter to the lift. Charm then looked over at the golems getting closer and prepared herself for a full on attack.

Charmcaster: “All right boys. You want a piece of me? Come get me!”

She then tightens her hands to glow pink and threw hexes and sharp objects at them.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As this was going on, Ben, A.K.A. Wildmutt, was finished with his fight. All around him were the remains of the rock golems. He was able to take down and last one and crushed its head completely. After that onslaught, he got up and looked around to see the damage. Satisfied, he decided to head back to the others and see if they need some help. Problem is after all the mess he’d been through; he doesn’t know where they are. That’s when he heard the sounds of roars from the left. Thinking that they could be there, he dashed towards them, hoping they would be safe.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Turns out, that’s just the opposite. Charmcaster continued to throw sharp hexes at the golems while Max was able to take her granddaughter into the service elevator. Once he got her in, he turned to the sorceress and told her to leave too.

Grandpa Max: “We’re in! Hurry back here now!”

Charm looked back and saw the two in the elevator. So she swiftly waved her hands at the other golems and formed a barrier to block them. It did work, but it will be a matter of time before they can break through. So she made a break for it and headed to the lift. What she didn’t was one of the golems were on top of the ceiling and was looking through the hole, waiting for the right moment to come down at her. Once she had her back turned on it, it knew it was the right time to strike. The three of them didn’t know about this until Max noticed a shadow from high above and warned the young sorceress on what he saw.

Grandpa Max: “Charmcaster, behind you!”

Charmcaster heard that and turned around to see if anyone was following her. She saw no one except for the creatures she trapped in the barrier. But if he said that there was something behind her doesn’t mean it’s in front of her. She slowly looked up and saw the golem over her head. It jumped down to pounce while Charm formed a pink high wall between the creature and herself. But just as the golem was about to pound her to death, a lone creature came out of nowhere and tackled it to the ground. Charm saw this and was confused as to what happened. She then turned her head to the left where the takedown took place and saw Ben’s Wildmutt beating the ever-living snot out of the monster. When he turned it into nothing but pebbles he turned around to see the Charm and little shocked by the immediate attack. Ben got closer to her and snorted out something, being that he isn’t able to talk. But Charm knew that he saved her and sighed in relief.

Charmcaster: “Thanks for the help Ben.”

Wildmutt nodded in approval and was glad to save her, even if she is a villianess. They then heard loud roars coming from behind. They turned around and saw the beasts trying to break the wall Charm has made. They could tell that cracks were forming on the walls and it was about to break. Wildmutt positioned himself for a fight and roared out loud. But just as he was going to attack the hourglass symbol on his left shoulder pad started to blink red. Seconds later, a flash of red light came out of it and engulfed the entire place. Charm covered her eyes and waited for the light to fade. When it did fade, she didn’t see the alien anymore. Instead all she saw was Ben returning to his human self, standing there wondering what happened. When he looked at his hands, he started to realize what happened and groaned to himself.

Ben: “Argh… I hate it when it does that.”

Charm sighed to herself and looked up to see the golems that were about to break through the barrier. She then grabbed Ben by the arm and started to run.

Charmcaster: “Oh forget about them and just run!”

The two hurried to the elevator at the same time the golems destroyed the shield completely. Max, understanding the predicament they’re all in got out and aimed his rifle at the horde that was heading towards them. Once Charm and Ben got in, the former plumber member took something out of his back pocket, armed it, and threw it at the creatures. As it hit the middle of the floor, and exploded and create a quick flash to blind the golems temporarily. He then got in and pushed the button to close the doors and raised the elevator upwards. Once they were out of that mess, Ben took a deep breath and was glad that was over with.

Ben: “What a nightmare. At least we got out of that mess right guys?”

He turned around to see the others only to find Gwen out like a light in Max’s arms. Shocked by this, he rushed to her to see if she’s all right. He sighed in relief to know what she’s still breathing. But like always he has the tendency in jumping to conclusions. So he pointed to Charmcaster and threatened her.

Ben: “What have you done to my cousin you crazy witch?!”

Charm and lifted her hands up in protest and told him that it wasn’t her fault.

Charmcaster: “Whoa! Hold on there just a second. I didn’t do anything to her. She was trying to save us from those golems that were surrounding us and used up most of her powers to take them all down in one blow. She was sapped out of that much energy that she passed out. For a girl with so much power, she doesn’t know how to control it.”

Gwen started to stir and slowly wake up.

Adult Gwen: “I heard that…”

Everyone looked at Gwen and noticed she’s opening her eyes. Once she’s fully awake, Max asked if she’s fine.

Grandpa Max: “Gwen, are you okay?”

Gwendolyn looked at him and answered his question.

Adult Gwen: “I’m fine Grandpa. I just fainted is all. So what happened? Was I able to take out those golems?”

Charm sighed to herself and explained what happened.

Charmcaster: “Yeah Gwen, you gotten rid of those golems. But more of them showed up out of nowhere. We had to bail out as soon as possible.”

Gwen got up after hearing that and groaned about it.

Adult Gwen: “Should’ve guessed. All that for nothing then.”

Ben: “Don’t worry about that Gwen. We’re out of that cavern and away from the golems. Once we get back to the cottage, we’ll get to the library, find that spell book, and return you to your old self. What can go wrong?”

The elevator slowly made a stop and reached the cottage. But just as the doors were opening, they were introduced by the armor guards. The empty moving metal shells turned their heads and spotted the group, pointing their swords and weapons at them. Ben saw this and was shocked with his mouth agape and his eyes completely wide. Charm then looked down at him and gave him a deep glare.

Charmcaster: “You know, you should stop talking about what can go wrong. Because sometimes it can.”

Ben then looked down at his watch and noticed its still in the red.

Ben: “Aw man… Picked a good time to time out now huh?”

Max shoved his grandson out of the way and pointed his rifle at the group. Charging it fully, he pulled the trigger and sent a wave of energy at them, knocking them down and scattering the parts on the floor. With them down, the group got out of the elevator and ran over the pieces of armor.

Grandpa Max: “Move! Don’t know if those things can stay down after that.”

They ran through the hallway and passed a few doors. Once they got out of the hall they noticed that they are back at the main hall. Ben looked around and sighed once more.

Ben: “And now we’re back where we started. Terrific…”

Charmcaster: “Well at least we can retrace our footsteps. Let’s hurry on back up!”

They were about to head up then they saw a group of armor guards coming out of the of the stairs and went down one section on the right. Charm then told them to head to the next section of steps.

Charmcaster: “This way!”

They then headed to the next set of steps and were about to reach it. But once again more guards came down the steps and blocked their path. They looked at both sides and realized there was no way going up. Ben looked at the sorceress and wanted to know what to do now.

Ben: “Any other bright ideas?”

Charm tried to figure this out until she came up with a good idea.

Charmcaster: “Oh I think I got one.”

She unzipped her magic bag and took something out. She then threw something up in the air and above the guard’s armor heads. As it reached up one of the stairs, it grew up and out and was a huge boulder with purple markings on them. It then landed on the floor and rolled down one of the stairs the armor guards were standing on. The group looked back and saw the huge rock heading towards them. They didn’t have time to avoiding it and got crushed like a pancake. Thankfully there was no one in the pieces of armor or it would’ve been messy. With the guards gone on one side, their path was cleared. The Tennysons watched this and were surprised by it. But Charm smiled and was pleased with her work.

Charmcaster: “I love my job. Let’s hurry!”

The group then ran up the stairs that were cleared and started to retrace their steps while the other knights ran up and after them. They kept on running to the hallway until they spotted more guards blocking their path. Max took out his rifle and charged it at full power. Once he let go of the trigger, a beam of energy came out of the nozzle and blasted all the knighted guards to pieces. With the path cleared, the team continued to run, searching for the one place they need to be. Charmcaster, leading the group, searched the hallways looking for a specific door.

Charmcaster: “We’re getting close. Everyone stay sharp!”

As they went forward, there was another group of guards blocking them. Max charged his rifle again and fired another blast at the group. With the path cleared up again, the team kept on moving. As they ran, they approached two doors on the left. Charm noticed this and told them that she found it.

Charmcaster: “There it is, that’s the library! Everyone should head in there now!”

They immediately rushed to the door the same time more knights came out of the blue on both sides, entrapping them. Both Charm and Gwen kicked the doors open and they all entered the library. The moment they got in, Ben and grandpa Max closed the doors while Charm and Gwen levitated any loose objects to barricade the door in order to prevent any of the guards from getting in. They were able to succeed as the huge army tried their best to break through it and fail so many times. Ben slouched down to the floor and took a breather.

Ben: “Phew… That was close…”

Max turned around and took a look at where they are. They knew they were in the library with aisle of books with ladders on each of them. But there were other things that got his attention. Stuff like bone chandeliers on the ceiling, demon sculptures on the podiums, and the eerie environment that gives people chills. Looking through all this, it gave Max the creep.

Grandpa Max: “Boy Charmcaster, your uncle has some strange tastes.”

Charm approached the library and chuckled to herself.

Charmcaster: “What can I say? My uncle likes to read in a comfortable environment.”

Gwen looked around at the place and begins to wonder where the book is.

Adult Gwen: “So, how are we going to find this spell book?”

Charmcaster: “Well, all I know so far is that this place always have things in order. Just so my uncle would know where the books of his choice is. Now let’s see… We are looking for a specific spell book that can reverse your conditions. There must be a section of advance spells around here. C’mon, let’s start searching.”

They all left the door and approached the isles of books just to search for the one section and one book. While they were searching, Ben looked at one of the demon statues and finds them to be a bit creepy.

Ben: “Man, Hex certainly has some creepy tastes.”

He then overheard, his cousin telling him to move.

Adult Gwen: “Move it Ben! We’re burning daylight here!”

Ben looked to the left to see Gwen entering one of the sections of books. He then joined in on the search. What he didn’t know was that the moment he was leaving, the statues eyes were beginning to glow crimson red, as if it was actually alive. Meanwhile, the team looked through the isles and didn’t find anything. Gwen looked at all of the books and was amazed about the many types.

Adult Gwen: “So many books… Finding this spell book is going to be like finding a needle in a hay stack.”

Charmcaster: “It’s not going to be that hard. All we need to do find the advance spell section and look for the book we need. What can go wrong?”

They all approached the end of the isle when they noticed a few doors going through a couple of other libraries, each with different forms of magic from potions to mind control all the way down to levitation. Charm looked through the passages she found the one with a sign on top of the archway said, ‘Advance Spells’. She pointed to it and told them she found it.

Charmcaster: “Over there! Our book is through that archway. Let’s get in there!”

They all rushed into the archway and thought they were in the clear. But then the doors for the entrance along with other entrances closed all around them, locking them tight. Everyone looked around and noticed they can’t get in anywhere.

Adult Gwen: “Great, another trap! You’re uncle certainly loves to keep his reading private.”

Charmcaster: “Relax… This is just regular everyday magic. Something I can take care of myself. I just need to be careful and not get distracted on the little things.”

Ben just wondered what Charm was going to do next until he heard what sounds like growls from behind. He turned around to see what was that and saw something he didn’t expect coming. He tapped on Charm’s back and told her what he saw.

Ben: “Um… Charm, I think it’s a little too late for that.”

The young sorceress turned around to see what he meant by that. Surrounding them were the same demon statues they encounter earlier only this time, they were livelier. Their eyes were glowing red and their movements were very freely. Their claws are shard and their teeth very pointy. Starring at all of them Charm suddenly realized what she’s looking at.

Charmcaster: “Great… Inanimate spells. My uncle must’ve used it to bring these statues to life.”

Max got his rifle out and wondered what’s the plan.

Grandpa Max: “So, what do we do now?”

Charm looked at all of them and thought of a much simpler solution.

Charmcaster: “They are made of stone. It’s obvious what we need to do. Break them apart!”

Charm lifted her hand up and fired a pink hex at the first one. The shot hit the stone demon in the head and it got detached from its body. The headless body then flailed around until it fell to the floor and shattered into pieces. The rest of the group looked at the destroyed statue and looked back at the intruders, screaming to them for blood. Ben looked at the sorceress and knew this was bad.

Ben: “Wise move Charmcaster. Why not let them kill us in the process?”

The demonic statues then charged straight to the to the group as Max told both his grandkids to follow Charm’s advice.

Grandpa Max: “You heard her kids, take them down!”

He charged his rifle and fired it at the second statue that was getting closer to him. He then turned to the right and fired another shot at the third. At the same time, Gwen looked at the others decided to do the same thing. Her hands projected purple disks and she threw them at the group. The disks sharpen on the edges and cut all three of them through their arms, legs, torsos and heads. She then sensed something that was about to happen. She turned to the left and formed a barrier to protect herself from a stone demon that was close to her, using its claws to cut her up. While all of this was going on, Ben was trying to activate his Omnitrix to get another alien out of it. Sadly though, the watch was still glowing red, recharging to its full capacity. Ben just looked at it and was getting tired of it.

Ben: “This is getting really tiring.”

He looked up at the scene going on and saw one of the stone gargoyles approach him with its claws sharpened. It attempted the first strike at the young boy but Ben quickly ducked down and rolled out of the way. When he got up, he ran away from the creature but it followed him wherever he goes. Meanwhile the others were doing a better job then him. Charmcaster got her hexes charged and threw them at a couple of stone demons that were heading towards her. One of them got hit from the blast and crumbled away to nothing while the other two dodged them. But the way they dodged the attack was different. Instead of rolling or sidestepping, they jumped up and flew through the air with their wings flapping. Charm looked up at them and noticed them flying. She then turned to the others and warned them of what she saw.

Charmcaster: “Careful! Some of these creatures have wings. They might have a really good advantage against us!”

The moment she said that, two of the demons she missed flew down and was ready to chop the sorceress’s head off. She immediately ducked down and avoided the attempted cut while at the same time got up and fired more hexes at them. Gwen fired more purple orbs at the others and was successful in destroying three or four. But there were others that flew up and avoided the shots. They then flew back down and were ready to destroy the young woman. Gwendolyn looks up and saw them heading towards her. She instinctively opened her hand and spread it in front of her, creating another purple wall to protect her from the creatures. But it failed the fact that another group of statue demons came out of nowhere and tried to flank her from behind. Gwen sensed that one coming and formed another purple wall to deflect that next attack. With both groups and two ends, Gwen’s job is becoming more difficult then before. Grandpa Max was having the same type of trouble as his granddaughter. He kept on shooting the little cretins with his rifle as much as he could, but the little creatures continued to swarm him too fast. So he decided to do something a little more drastic. He pulled the trigger and the weapon started to charge up with high dense energy. Once it was filled to the brink, he shoved the rifle to the ground nozzle first and let go of the trigger. At that moment, an energy blast came out of the gun, causing all the living statues to get hit from the impact and flew away from him. Half of them got hit on walls and shattered to multiple pieces, but there were others that managed to spread their wings and stopped themselves in mid air. Once they were flying, they were ready to perform an aerial assault. Max then got up and continued to shoot the creatures that were in the air. Back to Ben, he was still trying to get away from the statue demon that’s chasing him. He just wishes that he would go Alien and stomp on that thing. But with his watch still recharging, there’s nothing he could do.

Ben: “Get away from me you freak! I don’t want to play with you!”

The stone demon kept on following the kid, wanting to get its claws on him. At the same time Ben had to think of a way to get the creature off his back. That’s when he noticed a pillar in front of him. Looking at that, the young boy came up with a great idea. He approached the pillar and stopped to turn around to the thing that was chasing him.

Ben: “Hey ugly! You want a piece of me? Here I am!”

The stone gargoyle saw him and decided it was now or never. It flew straight towards him and was going to slice him away. Smirking, Ben waited for the right moment to put his plan in action. Once the monster was in position, it leapt up and was about to kill him. But Ben immediately sidesteps out of the way and avoided the attack. The monster on the other hand missed him completely and hit its head on the pillar. In the process of doing that, it caused the pillar to slant forward. The living statue fell to the floor and was a little dazed, unaware of what’s going to happen. Once it shook off the feeling, it decided to attack again. But then, it noticed the pillar falling onto it fast and with little time to get out. The pillar crushed it, shattering it to a million pieces. Ben looked at the fallen creature and got over excited.

Ben: “Oh yeah! That’s right! That’s what you get when you mess with Ben Tennyson!”

But just as he was celebrating, he heard groans coming from right behind him. Slowly he turned around to see what it was. Turns out, he saw three more demon statues flying over him with death glares right at him. Ben just starred at them blankly and found out that it was all too easy.

Ben: “Uh… Hi?”

Immediately, the creatures flew down to him and attacked. Ben ducked down and rolled out of the just in time for the demons to pass him. When he rolled back up, he immediately ran for his life again while the flying statues start to chase him.

Ben: “Ah!!! I’m beginning to hate this!”

The fight continued to move on, but it wasn’t getting them anywhere. With the living statues that were flying and the ones on the ground, it wasn’t a piece of cake. Gwen looked around and has about had it with all of this. She quickly turned to Charmcaster and asked her something really quick.

Adult Gwen: “Charmcaster! Can you use your power to open that locked door?”

Charm was a little busy handling all the little creatures that was swarming her when she continued to fire her hexes at them. But she immediately looked at Gwen then at the door that was locked. She quickly looks back at her and told her she can do it.

Charmcaster: “I think so. But with so many of these things around us I don’t know if I can unlock it.”

Gwen smiled and told her to not worry.

Adult Gwen: “No sweat. I think I know how to handle this mess.”

She then turned to both her cousin and grandfather and told them to get back.

Adult Gwen: “Ben! Grandpa! Get behind cover quick! You don’t want to re experience this one.”

Ben and Max looked at the young woman and were wondering what she was talking about. But then they noticed her concentrating really hard on something. Just then, her hand opened up and light purple strips protrude out of her fingertips. The two soon realized what she’s planning and decided to make a run for it, hiding behind the bookshelves. As they made it to someplace safe, the strips grew longer and were getting wavy. In an instant, she waved her hands and sent the strips flying in many directions. All of the strips then grabbed the living demon statues and sent them flailing around the library. Charmcaster looked on and was amazed by that type of power. Plus, with the creatures busy, she might be able to open the door without any distractions. She approached the locked door and started enchanting a spell that will unlock it. All the while, Gwen was using all of her powers to get rid of the statues that were trying to kill both her and her family. One by one each of these demonic statues got smashed and were crumbled to dust. One of them hit one of the bookcases, causing the shelf to tumbled down and creates a domino effect on the rest of them. All of the shelves fell and books were scattered about on the floor. All the creatures got destroyed until the last one was smashed through the ceiling. With them all dead, both Ben and Grandpa Max got out of their hiding places and noticed the devastation that was around the library. Ben whistled and was relieved that he wasn’t hurt.

Ben: “Wow… Talk about overkill. Good thing, we didn’t get caught in the crossfire again. Huh Grandpa.”

Max looked around himself and could agree with his grandson as he sighed in relief as well.

Grandpa Max: “Yeah… Good thing…”

They looked around the place to find the others. As they were searching, they found Gwen kneeling on the floor, taking deep breaths. The two then approached Gwen with shocked expressions and see if she’s okay.

Grandpa Max: “Gwen! Is something wrong? It looks like you’re hyperventilating.”

Gwendolyn looked up at her grandfather and smiled to him.

Adult Gwen: “Nothing’s wrong Grandpa. I used up too much power to take these creeps out. Guess that’s what you get when you use up so much energy.”

Ben heard this and didn’t like what she said.

Ben: “That can’t be a good thing. If you’re using up too much energy, that means it could be disastrous for us. We really need to get you back to normal. Where’s Charm?”

She looked at her cousin and answered him.

Adult Gwen: “I told her to open the locked door. She must be done by now.”

Ben and Max looked at the spot where the young sorceress was finishing her spell. That’s when they saw her waving her hands in the air and chanting her spell. The two then lift Gwen of their feet and slowly approached the sorceress. As they went to her, she was finished with her spell as the door started to sparkle. The door then slowly slid up and revealed the opening to another section for advance spell. The very same section they need to be. Charm took deep breaths and was fortunate to finish with it. She looked at the Tennysons and smiled to them.

Charmcaster: “Good, you guys are here. And just in time too. I got the door opened.”

Grandpa Max: “That’s great. Because we need to get Gwen back to normal and fast. She’s already reaching the brink of her powers.”

Charm nodded, being that this was a good time to get her plan into motion.

Charmcaster: “All right then. Let’s go. Follow me please.”

Soon enough, the four entered the next section of the library and looked for the right isle that has the book. However, as they entered, they noticed a huge arraign of books on every wall and every isle. Ben looked at all of them and were annoyed even more.

Ben: “Argh!!! Now I’m getting really ticked off! There must be millions of books in this section. How are we going to find this book?”

Charmcaster: “Relax boy. I’ve been in the library before so I know which book is where. I’ll start searching.”

Charmcaster was about to check for the right book, but Gwen wanted to help.

Adult Gwen: “Maybe I can join you in searching for this book. With this many, I don’t know if you can do it yourself.”

But Charm lifted her hand out and told her not to.

Charmcaster: “That won’t be necessary Gwen. There are a lot of books on these shelves and it might take you a while looking through all of them. Hell, I don’t think you know which book you’re looking for. Let me take care of it. I’ll let you know if I found it.”

So she approached the bookshelf and started to skim through each book. As she was busy searching, Ben didn’t like this at all.

Ben: “I don’t know about this.”

Max turned to Ben wondering what he meant.

Grandpa Max: “About what?”

Ben turned to his grandfather and told him what he’s thinking.

Ben: “About Charmcaster looking for the book without our help. I find that very suspicious.”

Gwen then looked at him and told his cousin to calm down.

Gwen: “Don’t get too worried Ben. I’m pretty sure Charm is helping us find the book. Besides, she lived in this house before so she knows what to look for.”

Ben: “It’s not helping us I’m worried about Gwen. It’s what would happen after she helps us.”

Gwen sighed to herself and tried to snap him out of it. But just as she was going to do that, she heard the sorceress’s voice in the distance, telling them she made an immediate discovery.

Charmcaster: “I found it!”

They all turned to Charmcaster and noticed that she got a book right out of the shelf. She then had her back turned to the Tennysons and looked at the book. This book looked like the book Gwen has but with a different color and design. It’s like a volume two from the volume one. Charm starred at the book and knew this was the right one. As she was starring at the book, Gwen called her out if she has the right one.

Adult Gwen: “Hey Charmcaster! Is the book you got the right one?”

There was a bit of silence until Charm told them.

Charmcaster: “Oh yeah… I think this book is it.”

Adult Gwen: “Then what are you waiting for? Hand it over to me so I can return to my old self!”

Charm smirked behind to herself and charged a Hex unknowingly to the others.

Charmcaster: “All right then… Here you go!”

She then turned around and threw a Hex right at the group. Gwen’s eyes were wide in total shock as she put her arms together and formed a purple dome around her, her cousin, and her grandfather. The hex hit the dome and sent all three of them flying to the other end of the library. They all crashed hard as the group slumped to the ground and the dome disappeared. Gwen shook her head and looked up to see the young sorceress approaching them, with eyes and hands glowing pink. Ben looked at Charm then back at his cousin to tell her that he was right.

Ben: “See, what I tell you? She was going to betray us sooner or later.”

Both Ben and Max got up and were about to fight. But Charmcaster snickered and lifted her hand up. Just then, both of them were incased in a pink glow and were lifted up off the ground. Both Ben and Grandpa Max tried to get out but it was too strong for them to escape. Charm shrugged her shoulders and threw her hand to the right. Immediately, the two were thrown to that direction and flew out of the library through the hidden doors within the bookshelves. The books flipped themselves around until they stopped and sealed doors completely. Once she got rid of the two, she looked down at Gwen and had a sinister smile.

Charmcaster: “Good… Now that your family is out of the way, we can have the time for ourselves.”

Gwen glared at her, blinking surprisingly of what just happened.

Adult Gwen: “What? What are you doing? I thought you were going to help me reverse this spell!”

Charm just laughed about it when she heard that.

Charmcaster: “Help you? You got it all wrong Gwen. I needed you to help me. You see, I have perfected every spell in that book you ‘borrowed’ from me and I needed more to learn. With this book, I will be able to master even the most advance of spells. Ask for you, well, you can keep that old book since I don’t need it anymore. And don’t worry about that body you now have. You‘ll get use to it along with your powers.”

She then slowly turned around and walked away from the young woman, looking deeply into the book. Ask for Gwen, she couldn’t believe it. All this time Charm was helping them was the other way around. She was completely betrayed by the sorceress. She should’ve listened to Ben when she had the chance. But she let her objective get the better of her. So much anger and rage has filled the young woman as her hands started to glow purple. She then got up and pushed her hands forward. Doing that caused two huge strips to come out of her hands and surround Charm in a wall like barrier. Quickly, she stopped and turns around and saw the now adult Gwen extremely ticked.

Adult Gwen: “I won’t let you get away with this!”

Charm’s eyes went from shocked to just plain sly and placed her hand on her chin.

Charmcaster: “And what are you going to do about it? You’ve used up so much power during this little adventure that you are going to explode if you’re not careful.”

Gwen then opened up the barrier and got the strips back to her hands. Once her powers vanished, she gave Chamcaster a deep glare and was positioned for a fight.

Adult Gwen: “I’ll take my chances…”

Charm’s eyes narrowed and positioned herself for the fight as well. The two stood there and waited for the right moment to strike. After a few minutes, they all charged in and attacked.

 

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