Hidden inheritance

Chapter 6: What if: Gwen 10

Now she had to hope this mess of a vacation wouldn't end this soon, or at least not this way. A mugger had her cornered, Max was helpless over there. One bad move and she'd be done for.

He had to make sure the burglar wouldn't hurt his granddaughter. Maybe he could use the gasoline hose, but he needed to be precise and quick. The garbage can was close, but could he get to it without Gwen being hurt? He could try to take on the man barehanded, but he also had to worry about the other robber.

It was at times like these he wished he still was on service, but he quit his job a decade ago, and an energy gun would be overkill for now. At least it'd help Gwen, if he could just...

A second went by, and somehow, Ben was there. Right behind the man.

Max was about to yell his name. Ben had sneaked in silently, right into danger! What was he thinking?!

But before he could react, his grandson had pulled a tiny bottle out. And it looked quite familiar with what he used to work with...

In a swift movement, Ben hit the man's elbow, getting his attention, before spraying him with the bottle's content. The man looked dizzy, got pale and abruptly fainted. Ben seized him by the shirt, dragging him away on the ground.

Max and Gwen stood speechless. What... what just happened? Did Ben pull out a secret agent move like in the movies? Did he just take out the burglar that was threatening Gwen? Was he taking the man away, as if it was nothing?!

"Ugh, I could really use Four Arms right now!" they heard him complain.

"Ben, what the heck are you doing?!" shouted Gwen. "You could have gotten yourself hurt you big..." she interrupted herself when she saw the other burglar laying on the ground, in the same state of dizziness Ben had put the other man in.

"You should call the cops quick, grandpa. Here, have your 'bug spray' back." said Ben, putting both criminals together, fully paralyzed. He threw the spray bottle to Max. "And before you ask, no, if I couldn't use the watch, it's not because I was playing around with it. We got a problem." he added, showing his bare wrist.

Ben knew Max wouldn't talk easily, that Gwen wouldn't put the blame on him like he did, that he should've tried to stay awake to prevent the watch disappearing.

He expected Max and Gwen to freak out, to ask him where the Omnitrix went, to tell him he should know better to use Plumber equipment in public, or maybe even ask where he had gone off to last night, if they noticed he was gone. Instead...

"Ben, you idiot!"

Well, that was to be expected.

"Ben, don't throw yourself of danger when you can avoid it, that was dangerous!"

That was less expected.

"Get inside while the cops are coming, you two. Ben, we're gonna need to talk about your recklessness later, including looking through my gear like that." Max said, pointing to the sleeping gas bottle Ben had disguised as bug spray.

"But Grandpa, the watch!" Ben whispered. "We need to look for-"

"What are you talking about, doofus?" Gwen asked, her hands on her hips. Ben knew things were rocky, but he didn't expect her to be this mad about his safety when they've been doing dangerous stuff for one-third of the summer.

"Look." Ben said, showing his bare left hand.

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Gwen said, clutching her face.

"See? Now-"

"For something that acts like a dog and smells like a pig, you have five fingers on your hand, including an opposable thumb. If you're not a human being, I sure wonder what species you are, doofus. Come on."