Gwen Tennyson, All Grown Up

Chapter 5
Shop Till You Drop

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Chapter Description: The family heads to the mall so Gwen could get some new clothes for her adult self. But as she was shopping, she bumped into someone and new feelings emerge. Meanwhile, trouble starts a brewing in the Mall. What’s going to happen to Ben, Gwen, and Max?

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After twenty minutes of driving around, the RV found the mall and entered the parking entrance. Once they got a parking space for the Rustbucket, the door opened up and both Ben and Max got out to get some fresh air. But someone else wouldn’t come out of the RV at all and that one person is none other then Gwen herself. The two looked at the opened door of the RV and was a little worried.

Grandpa Max: “Come on Gwen, we’re here.”

There was a harsh silence in the Rustbucket until they heard her mature voice.

Adult Gwen: “I don’t want to...”

That’s when Ben decided to intervene and make things a little interesting.

Ben: “Jeeze Gwen, don’t be so dramatic. Do you want to get some new clothes for your fully-grown body or do you want to stay in the Rustbucket forever? Besides at least your wearing some clothes that fit ya. Or you want to come out with all your old clothes that won’t fit anymore?”

Again, another harsh silence within the RV for about a minute. After that minute, there was a deep sigh they could hear as Gwen responded back.

Adult Gwen: “Okay, I’m coming out now.”

Soon enough, Gwen got out of the Rustbucket as Ben laughed at how she looks now. What she was wearing is a mumu dress that’s like her grandfather’s shirt that goes all the way down to below her knees and a pair of red high heel shoes that are three inches long. She was also sporting some kind of sunhat with a fake flower on top and some old sunglasses. Not only that, but an old purse was hanging over her shoulder to complete the look. Ben couldn’t help but to laugh hysterically on the clothes Max picked himself while Gwen was feeling more embarrassed then ever.

Adult Gwen: “Very funny Ben... Just keep on laughing and I’ll force you to stop it.”

Ben continued to laugh as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.

Ben: “Sorry Gwen... But you got to admit; you look like someone who got back from vacationing. All it’s missing is a Hawaiian drink and you’re good to go.”

As Ben kept on laughing, Grandpa Max approached Gwen and comforted her.

Grandpa Max: “Don’t mind him Gwen, you look fine. You know, your grandmother wore this on our first date when we were your age. Well, not the age you were but the age you are now.”

Gwen looked at her grandfather and was a little more embarrassed then before.

Adult Gwen: “Yes well Grandma didn’t look like she has taste in style. I mean look at this. This is much lamer then your shirt for crying out loud. There ain’t no way I’m going to come out in public looking like this.”

Grandpa Max: “This is the reason why we’re at the mall. We’re here to help you find the clothes you need the wear until you find a way in reversing the effect.”

Adult Gwen: “That’s nice and all, but I think it’s best I could shop by myself. I mean I respect the help and all but sometimes I worry on what you guys buy for me. I mean you would get clothes that would belong in a swamp market.”

She then turned to Ben and had a disgusted look on her face.

Adult Gwen: “And Ben over here would pick out something more embarrassing then this.”

Ben immediately stopped snickering and was completely upuled about what she said. He then looked back at her and protested against it.

Ben: “Hey! I don’t buy you things that make you embarrassed.”

Adult Gwen: “Oh yeah? What about the time you gave me that cat costume for my eighth birthday? I was SO embarrassed on that moment.”

Ben remembered that moment and snickered a little bit on that costume she wore.

Ben: “Okay, maybe that was a little embarrassing. But you got to admit; at least I bought a present for you. Plus you like cats.”

Adult Gwen: “That’s not the point!”

That’s when Max decided to break this up before things could get any worse.

Grandpa Max: “All right you two, that’s enough.”

The two then pointed at each other and blamed each other for this.

Ben: “She started it!”

Adult Gwen: “He started it!”

Grandpa Max: “I don’t care who started it. You two don’t stop then I’m going to be the one who will end it.”

The two immediately silenced themselves up before Grandpa Max could punish them. He then looked at Gwen and could understand what she means. He placed his hand on her shoulder and had a warm smile on his face.

Grandpa Max: “Gwen, I could tell that you need to shop all by yourself. So I’ll tell you what, we’ll let you go and buy the clothes you need.”

Gwen looked at her grandfather and smiled back to him.

Adult Gwen: “Thanks grandpa. I knew you were on my side.”

Grandpa Max: “Don’t mention it pumpkin.”

He then put his hand inside his pants pocket, took out his wallet, and gives it to his granddaughter.

Grandpa Max: “Here, you might be needing this.”

Gwen took his wallet and inspected it. Upon looking at it, she looked up at him and was a bit puzzled.

Adult Gwen: “You’re wallet?”

Grandpa Max: “Let’s just say that I really don’t know the first thing about woman’s taste for clothes and that your mother never gives you money unless it’s for an emergency. Inside my wallet is my Plumbers credit card and it has an unlimited amount in it. Just get a couple of clothes you need to last a few weeks, but don’t over do it. Ben and I will wait for you in the food court when you’re finished. Have your cell phone on and call us incase something happens.”

To that end, Gwen put Max’s wallet in her purse that has her cell phone and walked past them.

Adult Gwen: “Don’t worry about me Grandpa. As of right now, I am now grown up to make my own decisions.”

As she was heading to the mall, Ben approached his grandfather and was now a little worried.

Ben: “You’re sure that’s a good idea letting her go to the mall by herself?”

Grandpa Max: “Well, since she’s now an adult I guess it’s best to let her do her own thing for a while. And besides, she’s just going to get some clothes for herself. What’s the worse that could happen?”

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On the other side of the mall, an armor truck was heading to the mall’s bank to deliver a big time investment. At the back of the armor truck, two police officers were taking big bags of money into the bank’s safe. What the two didn’t know was that somewhere not far from them, someone was watching. Inside a small van, three people were watching the guards moving all the money into the bank. Though you couldn’t see their appearance, they shapes of their bodies were evident. One was big and bulky as his head looked like the shape of an opposing thumb. The other has a feminine shape and some kind of braided hair that is moving on its own. And the last individual was a little skinny and almost bald but had some kind of mouth guard over his mouth. The three watch the two leave the armor car and could tell that there would be more money in there.”

Female crook: “Look at that truck... I bet it got some cold hard greens just waiting to be taken.”

Huge crook: “Yeah, that and then some. This could be the biggest heist we ever had.”

Skinny crook: “I don’t know about this. This is a little too easy on our account.”

The female looked over at the skinny guys and got his head together.

Female crook: “Don’t back out on us now. Look it’s real simple, we go in, take out the guards, destroy the truck, and get all the money. It’s as simple as that. Besides, this is a piece of cake. Much easy then your idea stealing trophies at the campus one time. Hurgh... Can’t get the feeling of the ghost thing invading my body. So are you in on this.”

The skinny crook thought about this for a moment. Normally, this was a bit of a risky move and they would get caught. But this heist would be quick and they would be out of there in no time. And besides, the kid that took down their boss isn’t around so it would be too easy. After thinking all of this through he answered to the female crook with a determined look on his face.

Skinny crook: “All right, let’s do this.”

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Meanwhile, inside the mall, both Ben and Max were waiting for Gwen at the food court. Ben was enjoying a little snack of nachos with cheese and coke while his grandfather had another one of his own delicacies he made. While they were eating, Ben wanted to ask his grandfather a question.

Ben: “Hey grandpa, can I ask you something?”

Grandpa Max: “Sure thing Ben. What’s in your head as of late.”

Ben bit down on another nacho and started to ask the question.

Ben: “Well, I don’t know but... You think it’s a little too far to give Gwen your credit card? I mean, I know it’s not much but when you said an unlimited account, she would go crazy on it.”

He then sipped his soda as Max explained to his grandson what he thinks.

Grandpa Max: “Now what makes you think that she would do something like that. The reason why I give her my credit card is because I want her to get a few clothes for herself until she finds a way in reversing the spell she casts. I don’t think she would do something stupid and buy to many clothes to fit in the R.V.”

As Ben was listening, he dipped another nacho in the cheese dip and ate that one too, interrupting his grandfather’s reasoning.

Ben: “Yeah well you may never know. I don’t know much about women, but what I do know is that they have a thing of being shopoholics. They start looking at what’s cool and then goes right to buying it, know matter what the price.”

Grandpa Max: “Nonsense... Just cause Gwen now has the body of an adult doesn’t mean she would act like one. And besides, she’s only getting a few things to help fit her body. What could go wrong?”

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Meanwhile, on one side of the mall, Gwen was walking around looking for stores she could buy her clothes on. Unfortunately for Grandpa Max, his grandson was right. Gwen was using his Plumbers credit card to purchase not a few clothes, but every design and look she thought was cool. And since she had no clue on if there’s a reversal spell for her adult form, she had to get some more outfits incase this spell is permanent. She was carrying bags upon bags of clothes from Nordstrom, Macy’s, Old Navy, Gap, Urban Outfitters, Aebrocronium Phish, and Banana Republic. Not only that, but she ditched her grandmother’s antique outfit and put something different that’s her style.

She wore a dark blue super soft bottom T-shirt with long sleeves that go down to her wrists. Underneath that shirt, she had on a wireless white essential basic bra to help hold her new breasts in place. Even though she had some trouble trying to put on bras at first, she learned fast on how to fasten them properly. She was sporting a pair of white-cropped skinny jeans that go all the way down to her lower legs in an attempt to show some skin. Under her jeans, a pair of white printed high-cut panties fit snuggly around her hips. On her feet were a pair of white 3-inch heel sandal with three straps wrapped around them. She even cut her hair since it was too long for her taste. It was now down to her upper neck and was all done up in a wavy style women like. To top it all off, she got some make up on to enhance her mature beauty. She had on a tad of pink blush on her cheeks, blue eyeliner around her eyes, and dark red lipstick on her plush lips. Ask for that ridiculous mumu she had to wear, she put it away in one of her bags since it was her grandma’s. As she brushed her hair aside, she looked at the stuff she has and wonder if she’s missing anything.

Adult Gwen: “Now let’s see... Is there anything else I’m forgetting?”

She looked through her bags filled with shirts, pants, and shoes to see if there’s anything she doesn’t have. After looking through all of this stuff, she smiled and started to lift her bags up.

Adult Gwen: “Nope, everything looks fine. Grandpa’s going to have a fit when he sees me with all of these bags and thinks I over used his credit card. But hey, if I ever get back to normal, might as well give them to my mom as a vacation present.”

She started to walk to the Food Court to join up with Ben and Grandpa. As she was walking, Gwen noticed that the bags she was carrying were getting heavy for her.

Adult Gwen: “Okay... Maybe it was a bad idea buying all these clothes. They feel so heavy.”

Gwen felt like she was going to give way on all the excess weight she was carrying. As if on cue, her feet tripped on a loose tile and fall with all her bags flying around her. At first, she thought she was going to hit the floor, but then a pair of hands came up and grabbed the damsel before that happens. That was soon followed by a male voice she never heard before.

Male Stranger: “Hey, are you all right?”

Gwen slowly shook her head and started to rub her temples, relieved that she wasn’t going to hit face first on the floor. When she looked up, she noticed a man she never knew, but looked like he’s special. He was the same age as the now adult Gwen, but he was a bit taller then her. He had a muscular build and his face was quite handsome with defined cheeks, a nicely shaped nose, peach fuzz on his chin, a tuft of perfectly cut black hair that goes down his neck, and a pair of bright blue eyes. He was wearing a light gray T-shirt with a logo of a skateboarding store, a pair of blue jeans and Nike sneakers. Gwen stared at this strange man and had a million emotions that were in her head. But that wasn’t the half of it. Inside her body, she felt something completely strange, something she never experienced before. What she didn’t know was that when her body grew, hormones were developing in her anatomy, making her feel like she’s in love. When starring at this man’s face, her feelings intensify to the brink. Gwen didn’t know what to do as she stared at the man’s eyes for a few good minutes. That’s when the stranger broke his silence.

Male Stranger: “Mam... I said are you all right?”

Immediately Gwen blinked her eyes a couple of times and realized she was starring at him for a long time. After shaking her head a bit, she looked at the young man and replied to him in the nicest of tones.

Adult Gwen: “Um... Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about the fall. I guess I wasn’t watching where I’m stepping.”

The stranger picked Gwen up and stood her in place to keep her in balance.

Male Stranger: Don’t feel sorry... I’ve seen a lot of shoppers carry too many bags and they sometimes loose their balance. I try my best helping them up.”

Gwen immediately dusted herself up while this strange man gets a good look at her.

Adult Gwen: “Thanks anyways. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Before she would leave, the stranger offered Gwen a hand of greetings.

Male Stranger: “Wait, surely there is some way in offering you something after what happened moments ago. Perhaps a quick snack at the smoothie shop?”

Gwen looked at the strange man then looked at his hand. It would feel odd for her to take the hand of a stranger and walk with him. At first, she might run away from him, thinking it was a stranger. But now that she was an adult, she thought it would be best to talk to this person and get to know him. And if things go way down from there, she still knows her karate and has a cell phone on her just in case. So after thinking about it for a second, she took the strangers hand and began walking with him to the smoothie shop. While she was walking, Gwen wondered what his name was so she decided to ask him. But before she could ask, he said his name anyways.

Male Stranger: “My name is Jason Rogers. What’s yours?”

Gwen blinked a couple of times; surprised that Jason said his name before she could ask it. But she calmed down on the inside as she told him her name.

Adult Gwen: “My is Gwendolyn Tennyson. But you can call me Gwen for short.”

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Back outside the mall, a couple of bank guards were still busy loading all the money out of the truck and into the bank. Already, they are halfway done with the work.

Bank Guard 1: “Ah, we’re almost finished. I don’t understand why the bank needs all this money in the first place. This is a complete waste in my books.”

The other guard looked at him while he was holding the last bag of money for the bank and answered his question.

Bank Guard 2: “It’s pretty obvious, people are desperately in need of some cash. I mean think about it like this for a moment. Low slump in home mortgages, bad credit, no one buying cars or other luxuries, hell, the states are going downhill from here. Thank goodness the government was able to put up a stimulus package for the U.S. or we would’ve entered another Great Depression. Let’s hope this money does any good.”

He then moved the bag of money to the federal bank while the other guard keeps watch. Looking at all the money in the truck he shook his head and sighed to himself.

Bank Guard 1: “Humph... Looks like a waste of money to me.

He approached the truck and closed the back doors. But as he was about to lock it, a shadow was looming over him. At first, he thought it was the other guard that was meeting up with him.

Bank Guard 1: “What do you want this time?”

But when he turned around, he got meet with a huge fist to his face.

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Meanwhile, Ben and Max were still waiting for Gwen at the food court. So far they have already finished their meals and were sitting patiently for her to come. But so far Gwen hadn’t returned from her shopping. After tapping his fingers on the table Ben got up from the table and decided to find her.

Ben: “That’s it! I can’t take it.”

He was about to leave until his grandfather stopped him there.

Grandpa Max: “Ben, wait! Where are you going?”

To that end, the grandson looked at Max and answered him.

Ben: “Gwen is taking too long. I’m going to find her and see what’s the hold up.”

Grandpa Max: “Now Ben, don’t go a little ahead of yourself. Gwen is an adult now. There’s no way we don’t want to disturb her over something simple like shopping.”

Ben: “Oh no... I know Gwen, and she never stops shopping till she gets what she wants. And that Plumbers card you gave her got things much worse. I’m going to go look for her.”

So Ben walked away from Max and started searching for his cousin. Max on the other hand rubbed his forehead and shook his head at the same time.

Grandpa Max: “Oh dear... What did I do wrong?”

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Back to Ben, he was walking through the halls passing one shop to another. He looked through shops that Gwen usually goes to and areas where she could rest. But still, he couldn’t find her anywhere in the mall. So Benjamin lowered his head and shook it in frustration.

Ben: “Ah man, this is like finding a needle in a haystack. I can’t believe that Gwen ditched us just to shop for new clothes for her new body. Just because she is now an adult doesn’t mean she could go about on her own and do a little shopping spree. There’s got to be someway in finding her quickly.”

Ben thought this through for a second then looked down at his Omnitrix wrapped around his wrist. Looking at it, he got a smirk on his face and came up with an idea.

Ben: “Hmm... Maybe one of my aliens will help me find my dimwitted cousin. Now let’s see, which one of my aliens would do the job?”

He activated his alien watch and was about to pick which alien he would choose to spy. But before he could do that, he and everyone in the mall heard a huge explosion coming from the outside, followed by a rumble on the ground. Everyone panicked as they all ran to the exits, but Ben stayed calm and looked around at the chaos surrounding him.

Ben: “Sounds like trouble. Better find Gwen later, right now it’s hero time.”

He ran to where the sound came from to see what was all the commotion was about.

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Ten minutes before the event took place, both Gwen and Jason were at the smoothie shop having their drinks. Jason was having a strawberry booster with vitamins and minerals while Gwen has a banana orange mix complete with a low carb booster. While they were sipping their smoothies, they started to talk to each other.

Jason: “So what brings you here to this quiet town? It’s not like a stranger would come by and just shop around for clothes.”

Gwen took a sip of her banana and orange drink and answered the young man’s question.

Adult Gwen: “Actually, I’m on a road trip across the U.S. with my family.”

Jason: “So you’re with your mom and dad?”

Adult Gwen: “Actually, my mom and dad are busy at home, so they couldn’t plan a trip this big. But my grandfather has an RV so he was nice setting all of this up for us.”

Jason cocked an eyebrow the moment he heard the word...

Jason: “Us?”

Gwen combed the side of her hair behind her ear with her fingers and explained what she meant.

Adult Gwen: “Well, I had planned on my own summer back home until grandpa told my parents about going on this road trip. Plus my family forced me into this trip and not only that, my little brother has to come too.”

Jason: “Ah, so you have a little brother. I bet he’s nice to you.”

She chuckled about that a little and talked about her, ?brother’.

Adult Gwen: “Actually, Ben is the exact opposite of nice. He always gets into a lot of trouble when it comes to school or at home. Not to mention that he’s always a big pain to me whenever he’s in my room to make fun and distract me from what I’m doing that’s important. So being on this trip is a complete nightmare to me. But the road trip was pretty unique to tell you the truth. We went to new places, see new people, have a lot of fun somewhere along the middle. Let’s just say that this trip was a little... productive now and then.”

Jason took a drink from his smoothie and listened to what Gwen said. From what he could understand was that she and his brother, Ben, had a real good time on this trip.

Jason: “Sounds like you and Ben are getting along quite well.”

Adult Gwen: “Yeah, you could say that. Ben and I always go to all the cool places from New York, San Francisco, Miami, Boston. We even went to Fort Knox yesterday and was amazed at all the gold in the building.”

That’s when Jason swallowed hard on his drink and coughed up a little bit, completely shocked at what he heard.

Jason: “You went to Fort Knox?”

Gwen blinked a couple of times and was a little confused at what he said.

Adult Gwen: “Uh, yeah... Why you ask that?”

Jason: “Well, I heard on the news that there was an attack at Fort Knox yesterday that injured some people. Most of them were cops.”

Her eyes were wide in surprise, completely forgetting that Rojo attack Knox that day. But she stayed calm and explained that part to Jason.

Adult Gwen: “Oh yeah, that attack. Well, we all left Fort Knox before the attack took place, so I guess we were really lucky.”

Jason sighed in relief knowing that Gwen was safe. But he didn’t know that Gwen, Ben, and Grandpa Max were still in Fort Knox during the attack, so actually, she was lying.

Jason: “Oh good... I thought you were one of the victims. Though I am quite impressed that the crook didn’t steal any money, be that one of those things stopped her.”

Gwen blinked her eyes once and was a little confused at that statement.

Adult Gwen: “Things? What things?”

Jason: “You know, the aliens that are on the news all summer. They’ve been heroes ever since they came here and helped out a lot of people. Hell, one of the them was at Fort Knox saving all the gold in the building from that psychotic woman. He was completely made of crystal and can turn himself into any kind of weapon he chooses.”

She chuckled about it, knowing that the alien Jason was talking was in fact Diamond Head.

Gwen: “Yeah, those aliens heroes like doing something good for America.”

The two continued sipping their drinks and talking about each other for a few minutes. Soon after, Jason looked at Gwen and said his goodbye.

Jason: “Well, it’s been nice knowing you.”

Adult Gwen: “No, no... It was nice talking to you. And thanks for the drinks, never thought a smoothie would taste so good.”

Jason laughed at that remark a little bit.

Jason: “Well this town does have the best smoothies here. Thought it was best if I take you here and see how it tastes.”

Gwen looked at the big clock at the mall’s wall above them and noticed it was getting really late.

Adult Gwen: “Listen, I got to go. My brother and grandfather must be worried about me.”

Before she could leave, Jason took something out of his pocket and gives it to her.

Jason: “Here, take this.”

Gwen looked at the piece of paper that Jason was holding and took it from him. When she opened it up and looked at it, she realized what it was.

Adult Gwen: “You’re giving me your phone number?”

Jason: “Yeah. You are pretty unique Gwen and I need to know more about you. If you’re going to remain in town, I thought it would be best we get together again.”

Gwen was now in more of a shock then ever. Jason wants to meet Gwendolyn again and he doesn’t know that she was really a kid in an adult body.

Jason: “Hey, can I have your number? Incase you never got the chance in calling me.”

Gwen doesn’t know what to do. She only knew about Jason for a while and now he wants to meet her again. Now he wants her phone number. Should Gwen give him her cell phone number? Before she could come up with an answer, there was a huge explosion that rocked the mall’s foundation. Everyone started to scream and ran to the exits, but Gwen and Jason stood where they are and wasn’t sure what to do now.

Jason: “Whoa, what was that?!”

He turned his head to see Gwen but when he did, she was nowhere to be found. It’s like she disappeared out of thin air. That’s when he looked down and saw something written on a piece of napkin. He picked it up and noticed that it was Gwen’s phone number with a note below it that says, “Call Me”. Having a confused look on his face, he looked up to where Gwen was and said to himself...

Jason: “Uh... Thank you?”

 

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