~💚~
I was asleep beside Ben, when he instantly woke up. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned. "Another nightmare, Ben?" Max asked his grandson. "It was that weird alien from my vision. Only bigger, uglier and scarier," "Sure you weren't just looking in a mirror?" Gwen asked. "Gwen!" I said, not liking what she said. "It was just a bad dream, son. We can talk about it in the morning," Max said.
~💚~
"It seemed so real. He looked right at me and said... I'm coming for you now." Something seemed to stop Max in his tracks as he froze. "Change of plan. We're hitting the road right now," He said. Ben, Gwen and I looked at each other. "Max, it's 3:00 in the morning," I said. "Best way to beat the traffic." Was the only response I got.
~💚~
"Grandpa, what's with the lead foot?" Ben asked. "Yeah, Max. What's the hurry?" I asked. "I want to make it to Mount Rushmore by nightfall," Max said, answering us. "I'm so bored. Let me play a game," Ben said. "I would, but I think this will be a good lesson for you... how to learn to entertain yourself," Gwen said. Suddenly, her laptop stopped working.
~💚~
"Hey! What gives?" Gwen said, trying to get her computer to work. "Sorry. You are a loser. And always will be," Ben said as his voice was coming from the laptop. He was now Upgrade and messing around. "Ben! Get out of my computer!" "What? I'm just entertaining myself," Ben said, throwing Gwen's words back at her. "This is my private property... and you're getting your cooties all over it," Gwen said, irritated.
~💚~
Suddenly, Ben had legs like a spider. "Ooh! What's this! A diary! "Dear diary... My cousin Ben is such a..." "Doofus, knock it off!" Gwen said. "Ben! Now is not the time to go alien. Do you understand?" Max said. "I was just fooling around," Ben said. "We can't afford to attract attention right now," Max said to Ben. "What kind of attention could I attract in here?" "Never mind," Max said, not wanting to raise the issue.
~💚~
Ben and Gwen looked at me with questioning looks. I know why Max was in a hurry but it wasn't my place to say anything. Max and I will tell Ben and Gwen our secrets when we're ready. I just hope they understand and aren't too angry. Ben's the most important person in the world to me, I'd hate for him to be angry with me.
~💚~
We looked out of the window and saw smoke nearby. "What's going on over there?" Ben said, concerned. "I'm the local authorities have the situation well in hand," Max said. "Looks like it's hero time!" I looked over at Max, worry written all over my face. "Ben, I don't think that's the best ide--" Max was cut off by Ben. "Time to turn up the Heatblast on these guys!" Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix and was now Heatblast.
~💚~
"Paige, use your magic," Max said. "Use it... for Ben." I nodded. "Now, remember where you want to be and focus," He continued. The next I knew, I was with Ben and... Vilgax! "No!!! This can't be happening! I thought Max told me he took care of Vilgax years ago?" "Ben! Come on, we have to go!" He looked over at me, "Princess, what are you doing here?" "I'll explain later but right now, we have to go!" I said, urging Ben to understand and come with me.
~💚~
All of the sudden, I heard the Rust Bucket pulling up. "Ben, Paige, grandpa says to get in now!" Gwen said as she opened the door. "What are you talking about? I'm just about to kick alien butt!" Ben said as the Omnitrix was timing out. "Benjamin, Paige Marie, get in!" Max ordered us. "Believe me when I say... you do not want to pick a fight with Vilgax," Max said. "How do you know his name is Vilgax?" Ben asked, confused.
~💚~
"Grandpa, Paige, what aren't you two telling us?" Gwen asked. Max and I looked at each other as I sat in the passenger seat, the guilt that I had was growing. "Two robot goons closing in fast!" Gwen said. "Hold on!" "We can't keep this up forever, Max!" I said, worriedly. "Things are going to get a whole lot worse if we don't get to Mount Rushmore, sweetheart," Max said to me. "Why? What's at Mount Rushmore?" Gwen asked her grandfather.
~💚~
"Gwen, this is not the time to explain. You're going to have to trust me," Max said. "Well, I'm not going down without a fight," Ben said, determined. "Ben, please don't do this. Stay here with me, please!" I begged him. "Everything will be ok, princess," Ben said. Then he activated the Omnitrix and was now Stinkfly. "Yes!" "Ben, wait!" Max shouted. He didn't listen, he just opened the door and flew off.
~💚~
"Where are we going? We have to help Ben!" Gwen said. "We will, but first, we'll need to get some special help," Max said. "Let me guess. At Mount Rushmore? Grandpa, you and Paige are really freaking me out," Gwen said, not knowing what to think. Finally, we made it to Mount Rushmore. My worry about Ben growing every second. "I don't think tourists are allowed on this road," Gwen said.
~💚~
"We're not tourists. We're tenants," Max said. We stopped, he pressed a button and we were going underground. When we got out, we were in the place where the Plumbers keep all of their weapons. Another thing Max told me about. He was now opening drawers, looking for something important. "That's it! I am not taking another step until you tell me what's going on! Why aren't we helping Ben? How do you know about Paige having magic? What is this place... and how do you know about that alien guy who's after Ben?" Gwen said, rambling everything off.
~💚~
I walked up to my friend and sighed. "I've had this magic since the day I was born. Your grandpa, my mom and aunt have helped me practice. I've never said anything because how many kids at school can create fire with their emotions?" I explained to Gwen. She smiled and hugged me. "I wouldn't have judged you for it, Paige. You're my friend too, plus I think having magic is kind of cool," Gwen said.
Max and I smiled. "Well, you'll be seeing a lot more of it, Gwen. Max said. "Now, about me. Well, it's kind of complicated, but let's just say... I wasn't exactly your normal plumber before I retired," Max said, showing us a huge weapon. I could feel that Ben needed me, so I knew what I had to do. "Max, Gwen, I'm going after Ben,, he needs my help. Please don't try to stop me... I need to do this," I said to both of them. I felt Max hug me, "I'm so proud of you, Paige. You can do this. We believe in you," Then Gwen hugged me. "I'm just as proud of you. Now go kick some alien butt and come back to us, safe," Gwen said.
~💚~
I focused on where I wanted to be, with Ben. "Ben, I will find you. I will always find you," I thought. Then suddenly I was on the spaceship next to him. "A child. I should have suspended as much. The Omnitrix being used as a play toy," I heard Vilgax say. "Princess, what are you doing here?" Ben asked me. "Helping you. I'll explain everything later, I promise." I said.
~💚~
"Hey! I've saved a lot of people by going hero!" Ben said. "You hold the key... to a power struggle so ancient, so vest... is it beyond your feeble comprehension. Picture an entire army... each in command of an Omnitrix.... and all at my command." "Oh, I am really going to enjoy kicking Vilgax's butt!" I thought. "I will be invincible! I will rule the universe! And the only thing standing between me and my destiny... is you," Vilgax said.
~💚~
"You lay one finger on him and I promise I will kill you!" I said to Vilgax but he wasn't listening. "Prepare for takeoff. Once we're in orbit, I will finally have the pleasure... of destroying this miserable planet... once and for all!" Ben and I looked at each other and mouthed, "I love you," fearing that we were both going to die. Suddenly, the Rust Bucket appeared. "Warning! Hull breach. Power surge,"
~💚~
Then Max came out with the weapon I saw earlier. "Claws off my grandson and future granddaughter, Vilgax," Max said, vemon in his voice. "Grandpa?" Ben asked, surprised. "Tennyson," Vilgax said, with just as much anger. Max shot the weapon at him and Vilgax dissapeared. "Grandpa, you knew this guy?" "It's a long story, Max said. Suddenly, Ben was transforming into many of his aliens. From XLR8, Diamondhead, Wildmutt and finally Four Arms.
~💚~
"The power surge must have affected the watch. Are you ok, Paige?" Max said as I nodded. Ben got out of the machine he was in with Four Arms' strength. "Look out!" Gwen said as drones were coming for us. Then Ben transformed more. From Four Arms, Ghostfreak, Grey Matter and finally Upgrade. "Try picking on someone your own size," Ben said as a drone had Gwen and I in it's sights.
~💚~
"I've got to get this ship under control," Max said. "He can fly a spaceship?" Ben asked. "At this point, nothing surprises me," "Me either, Gwen," I said. "Grandpa!" "Max!" I yelled. Then I went up Vilgax with a huge fireball in my hand. "If you think for one second, that you're going to hurt someone else I love; think again!" I said as I threw the fireball at Vilgax. It hit him in the back but sadly, it didn't affect him much.
~💚~
"Your weapon won't help, Tennyson. As you can see... I'm much stronger than in our last encounter," Vilgax said. "No!" Ben shouted as he ran toward Vilgax. "Ben!" I shouted when I saw him fly flew the air. "I messed up... again! What's the use of having this magic if I can't use it to protect the people I love?" I said as tears ran down my face. Max and Gwen came up to me. "You didn't mess up. You protected Ben the best you could, Paige. Now, let's go after him," Max said as Gwen and I nodded.
~💚~
We were now working on trying to get the ship under control. "We've got to get out of here!" Max said. "Better hang on to something, girls. This may get a little bumpy," Max said. Are you all right, girls?" "At times like this... going back to school doesn't seem so bad. Right, Paige?" I nodded, agreeing with Gwen. "Vilgax, no! Don't go back in there!" Max warned the villain. We found Ben sitting on a rock. He turned around and smiled at us. "Not bad for a doofus," Gwen said. "Paige, grandpa, we need to talk," Ben said. "So you've had magic since you were born?" I nodded, "Yes and I'm sorry that I kept it a secret. I just didn't want you to think I was a freak and leave me. But, I'll understand if you want to break up--" Ben cut me off with a kiss. "Princess, I'm not breaking up with you just because you have magic. I'm a little hurt you kept it from me but I understand why you did. I love you and nothing will change that," "I love you too, Ben," I said as I kissed him.