Max and the kids walked out from a mall called Mega-Mall-Opolis toward the Rv while carrying groceries.
"500 stores, 72 restaurants, 48 movie screens, an indoor rollercoaster!" Gwen read the mall pamphlet with a huge grin.
"We could just spend the whole summer here." Ben suggested. "This mall has everything!"
Suddenly, an alarm went off and two silhouette figures are seen fleeing away from the mall security.
"Including their own police force." Max stunned.
"Looks like the rent-a-cops could use some help." Ben dialed his watch.
"Let's do this." Y/n dialed the Nemetrix.
"Hold on, Y/n." Ben interrupted. "I got this."
Ben transformed into Wildmutt and gave the robbers a chase. The rest entered the Rv and prepared an escape for him.
They traced Wildmutt to a parking lot and searched for him. They soon spotted him running to side and quickly picked him up. Unfortunately, the police gave them a chase, mistaken for being an accomplice with the robbers.
They escaped the parking lot but one of police cut off Max's path, forcing him to crash a nearby street lights. The security then entered the Rv but found no sign of Wildmutt.
The next day, they returned to the mall since the Rv is damaged and under repair with the mall paying all of them.
Y/n and Ciel are in the arcade, playing with the claw machine with Groot dangling on her hair. The two watched Y/n struggling to catch one plushie since the game is known so difficult to play.
He picked a small blue teddy bear wearing a turquoise bow tie and steadily dragged it to the slot with the controller. Seeing the plushie is slipping from the claw grip, he stopped the claw and slammed the release button in the same time to toss the bear into the hole.
The three became tense when the doll landed on the edge of the pit. However, as if luck is on their side, the doll fell into the hole
They all cheered in triumphant before giving each other a double high five. Y/n took out the doll from the slot and offered it to Ciel.
"Here." He said.
"But, it's yours. You won it." Ciel replied.
"Yeah, since it's mine, I can do whatever I want with it, and I'm going to give it to you." He added.
"A-are you sure?"
"Consider it as my late birthday gift for you."
Ciel hesitantly accepted the gift before gazing it and Y/n back and forth with uncertainty.
"But, we don't even know when my birthday is." She pointed out.
"True. We should've ask those military guys who summoned you." Y/n scratched his cheek before an idea appeared in his head. "Then, what about the night I saved you? Although, it's the same night as my birthday but, you decide."
Ciel looked back to the bear while contemplating her decisions. Smiling, she recalled every moment she experienced with the team, especially with Y/n. She then hugged the doll close to her heart and smiled at the boy.
"Thank you, Y/n. I shall cherish it." She said.
Y/n smiled in response as well before they exited the arcade. They strolled around the mall and bought bubble teas for them. Then, they spotted a crowd in front of a stage and got curious.
They slipped through the crowd and spotted an Mc midget standing on the stage with an elderly couples and Ben behind him.
"Now, clear your minds." The Mc instructed the three before pulling a pocket watch from his pocket. "Focus only on this pocket watch as it swings back and forth. Your eyelids are feeling heavy. You are falling into a deep sleep."
The three looked at the swinging watch but nothing happened. They shared each other a confuse gaze before the Mc pressed a button at the side of the watch and the three immediately fell asleep.
"Did you see-"
"I am Groot." Groot interjected Y/n while whispering.
"Yeah, that guy did something to his watch." Ciel added.
The hypnotist began to give command to the three. It was fun and all until Ben dialed the Omnitrix. Y/n was about to react but out of nowhere, Gwen already tackled his cousin to the back stage.
Later that night, Max is working on the Rv while the kids are inside. Gwen is showing Ben videos of him being hypnotized on stage and as Grey Matter serving Gwen while Y/n is playing his gameboy as Ciel tending Groot's overgrown parts.
Ben snatched the camera away from Gwen and trying to erase the footage, but his cousin protested and the two began to fight for it. Before the argument could gone to worst, Ciel snatched the camera off their hands with her mana.
"Can you two knock it off? Me and Y/n are tired being your third wheels." Ciel complained.
"Who needs a third wheel, anyway?" Ben shot back.
"You guys." Y/n countered without looking.
As if on cue, Max entered the vehicle and everyone went to sleep.
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The next day, the team returned to the mall. However, for some unknown reason, Ben is unusually tired.
They came across a broken Sea Dragon ride and the security claimed someone stole its rotor. Then, his co-workers showed him a piece of Diamondhead's shards, in which makes both Max and Gwen glared at Ben.
"What? I'm not the only alien in the galaxy, y'know?" Ben protested to them.
The rest of the day went by without incident, and the team is fell asleep but Y/n. The Nemetrix wielder is pondering if there's a connection between the crime scene and Ben's sleep deprive. And as if giving him answer, he found Ben wide awake and jumped down the bunk bed.
"Ben?" Y/n sat up from the couch. "Something's wrong?"
The Omnitrix wielder gave no response. The boy stood in front of the door and transformed into Upgrade.
"Ben!"
Y/n dashed at Upgrade, but the alien morphed through the door. The boy exited the vehicle and found the alien climbing up the mall building. The rest of the team soon awaked by the commotion and watched from afar.
Suddenly, the mall security arrived and cornered Upgrade by the roof with three heavily armed helicopters. The alien climbed to the clock tower, and the local police soon arrived to assist.
One of the helicopter opened fire but due to his body like liquid, the bullets has no effect on him. Upgrade jumped at one of the helicopter and merged himself with it.
Using his new form, Upgrade shot down the remaining helicopters and the local polices. They're lucky that Upgrade didn't kill anyone.
"Y/n, aren't you gonna help him?!" Gwen yelled but turned to deaf ear.
The Nemetrix wielder simply observed the event with his narrowed eyes. He wanted to see the end of this.
Once there's no more resistance, Upgrade approached the clock tower and merged with it. Then, he took the clock and escaped the scene. Y/n gave his partner a chase and transformed into Hypnotick.
He trailed the alien to an abandoned warehouse far away from the mall. He turned invisible and watched the warehouse garage door opened. Upgrade released the clock and confronted a person who came out from the warehouse.
It's Sublimino, the hypnotist.
"Who are you? What happened to the guy who looked like a walking chandelier?" Sublimino inquired. "Oh well, who cares as long as you do what I say? Now get out of here before the cops see you!"
Upgrade merged with a nearby bulldozer and drove off. Hypnotick followed suit, trailing from behind.
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The next day, the team is watching the last night news while Ben sleeping on the couch with Ciel holding his head with her fingers to find Sublimino's suggestion that is hidden in his mind.
"So, Sublimino planted post hypnotic suggestion in his volunteers, turning then into an army of thieves." Max concluded.
"But the sound of the Omnitrix's timing out snapped Ben out of his trance." Gwen added.
"Well, he doesn't need to rely on it anymore." Ciel chimed in before pulling out a white mana out from Ben's head. "I just took the suggestion away."
"Looks like student has become the master." Gwen commented. "What are you gonna do with that?"
Ciel looked down to the floating mana in her hand. "This is Sublimino's hypnotic signature. Using this, I should be able to find all of his volunteers and undo their hypnosis in one go."
"Hold that plan." Y/n interjected.
"What is it, Y/n?" Max asked.
The boy stared at the news, specifically the mall manager in silence before rewinding the television back and forth to listen to his words.
"I need to confront the mall manager." Y/n stated. "Max, can you accompany me?"
"Uh, sure.." Max replied unsurely.
The two exited the vehicle and made their way into the mall.
"You know, you reminded me a lot about your dad." Max recalled.
"Really? What was he like back in the Plumbers?" Y/n asked in curiosity.
"Before the Plumber, Larry was a young brave soldier, putting others first before him. And the most of all, he's very observant."
"So I got his sharp observation." Y/n commented. "What about mom?"
"For your mom, Morgan was a science geek in college before the Plumbers recruited her. Or more like, she volunteered after the Plumber arrested her for learning the existence of an alien."
"That explained my obsession with theories." Y/n sweated.
Without them realizing it, they made it to the mall manager's office. They entered the room and confronted the manager.
"This was an isolated incident. The mall is open for business. Shopper's safety is our number one priority." The manager said after informing the impending danger.
"Yes, yes, you said that already." Max replied. "But I'm saying your shoppers are in danger."
The manager repeated what he said before with the same tone and the same words. Just Y/n expected, the manage fell into Sublimino's hypnosis.
A familiar scent caught Y/n's nostril. The boy gazed to the door next to the manager and approached it. After Standing in front of the door for a good minutes of silence, Y/n transformed into Ork and bashed through the door with his claw.
Then, he pulled his claw out with Sublimino getting caught by it. The green beast pinned the mastermind on the wall and roared out loud to his face as the later screamed in fear.
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The next day, the team returned to the road after Sublimino arrested by the law enforcements for his crimes. With her magic, Ciel undid the hypnosis on all of Sublimino's victims.
Y/n is sitting on the dining table while tinkering the hypnotist's pocket watch that he collected as a trophy to disarm it for good. Ciel's soft giggled caught his attention. He looked to his front and found the girl is playing with the teddy bear that he gave by petting it.
Her smile and cheerfulness somehow made Y/n to stop his works. He tidied up the mess and returned the trophy box and tool box back where they belong. He returned to the dining table and opened up a certain page in his journal where he's been quietly sketching Ciel's facial expressions since day one.