FIC: Instinct (1/4)
Title: Instinct (1/4)
Characters: Ben, Gwen, Kevin
Summary: A small town is missing all of its men after they'd done everything in their power to follow a strange woman. When the trio goes to check it out, they find themselves in over their heads.
Notes: This fic is completely finished, but I’m not sure how much space to put between the parts. I definitely want to put it all up before I leave for Italy this coming Saturday. And I know that this type of alien has been used a few times, but I’d like to put my own spin on it. I’d like to have Gwen in a positive light while not being all “Girl power!” or going “Oh, Kevin!” while having some (eventual) Kevin/Ben action. And speaking of action, I kind of like writing action sequences. ^^ Set at some point in the future of the series when the group can contact the alien Plumbers.
Disclaimer: Ben 10: Alien Force belongs to Man of Action
“Okay, this is getting really creepy,” Gwen Tennyson stated as they waited for the waitress to notice them.
The diner was a “seat yourself” little place, and-apparently-the trio had hit the breakfast rush. (Who knew such a thing even existed?) The locals and other regulars were predictably served first while the teenagers drew straws to see who would play “Spin the Ketchup Bottle” today, allowing fate to decide which direction they traveled in to try and find a signal from a Plumber’s badge.
“What’s creepy?” Kevin Levin asked dryly. “The fact that we’re in the middle of Small Town, USA, or the fact that everybody from the gas station attendants to the short order cook is a chick?”
“Before this whole road trip started, I’d’ve picked the first one,” Ben Tennyson commented, plucking a straw from the dispenser and breaking it into three pieces. He rolled them between his hands before holding them out to his cousin and friend, clutched in his fist. “Though the lack of guys is weirding me out, too.”
Gwen pulled out a straw as Kevin did the same. “The lack of guys is what I’m talking about. I don’t think we’ve seen a single Y chromosome over the age of twelve since we got here.”
They all displayed their straw pieces. The black-haired teen’s was shortest, signaling a win.
As he reached for the ketchup bottle, he commented, “Maybe they’re all at some kind of derby or somethin’?”
“All of them? At the same time?” The redhead gave a snort as the waitress-her nametag reading “Denise”-approached. “Doubtful.”
The comely woman blinked in seeming amazement as she gazed upon their group. “Well, well. Here’s a sight for sore eyes.”
The threesome gazed up in confusion.
“Um, what is, ma’am?” Ben asked politely.
“Been a while since we’ve seen any young men around here. And gentlemen on top of that?” She flashed the brunette a smile before giving Gwen a warning look. “Keep an eye on these two, hun.”
The redhead looked at her two companions before turning her attention back to the waitress. “Actually, we were just wondering why we hadn’t seen any men around.”
The waitress glanced this way and that before leaning over their table, clearly to share gossip that the rest of the little town didn’t want to spread. “Well, it happened about a week ago. Some woman came into town, and the men started actin’ funny. Went out of their way to do things for her, ignorin’ their wives in favor of her, stuff like that. Then when she left, they all followed.”
“Wait. All of them?” Kevin asked.
The woman nodded. “That’s right. Strangest thing I ever saw. You tried holdin’ any of those boys back, and they’d do anything to get to her. Poor Mabel…her husband knocked her clean across the room while tryin’ to catch up to that witch.”
The group leaned over to see a blond woman with a still angry-looking bruise on her cheek.
“Which way did she go, ma’am?” Ben asked. At Denise’s look of alarm, he hastily added, “Just so we can avoid her.”
The waitress relaxed considerably. “She went right up the road.” She pointed. “Like I said, the men followed right after her. Jesse and a few of the other girls chased after them until they reached the old MacDonald farm, tryin’ to bring them back, but got scared and came back. Said that the whole lot of them were more like zombies than any of our men.”
Gwen exchanged looks with her traveling companions. This looked like a job for them though it also seemed like yet another situation where they could be in over their heads.
“Now don’t you kids worry. How ’bout I get you some of the specials?” Denise gave the group a wink. “On the house?”
Kevin gave a huge grin. “Thanks.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Coffee.”
“Milk, please,” both Tennysons replied.
As the woman walked away, the redhead raised an eyebrow towards the ex-con. “Taking advantage of an old woman?”
“She offered,” he answered, shrugging a shoulder without a hint of remorse. “Besides, that’s more money towards gas.”
“Not like the alien tech in your engine doesn’t extend the mileage,” Ben snorted. He folded his hands and leaned forward. “So, which is it? Check out the farm or look for another Plumber signal?”
Gwen gripped her elbows. “We should check out the farm, but we also need to find more Plumbers or Plumbers’ kids.”
Kevin leaned over and grabbed the forgotten ketchup bottle. “Why don’t we let the power of processed tomatoes decide?”
Laying the bottle on its side, he gave it a spin. It whirled around and around with a woog woog woog woog. The three teens watched with anticipation.
Finally it slowed and stopped.
The metal bottle cap pointed in the direction the waitress had indicated, the same direction the men had disappeared.
“Looks like we’re about to see what animals Old MacDonald really kept,” the black-haired teen said.
They drove past the farm to see if they could get a good look at the situation.
Ben summed up the entire thing quite well in three words: “This isn’t good.”
Men worked the fields in slow, rhythmic patterns. But it wasn’t the way they diligently tilled the soil that worried the Omnitrix’s owner. It was their haggard, exhausted features yet their blind devotion, born of their obvious worship of their captor. And “worship” truly was the only way to describe that beyond lovesick look on each of their faces.
“It’s like they’re all under a spell,” Gwen noted.
“Charmcaster?” Ben asked.
“Not likely. She lost her powers years ago.”
The brunette saw Kevin roll his eyes thanks to the rearview mirror. “It’s not magic.”
“We know,” the Tennysons muttered in a monotone.
“So what else could it be?” the redheaded teen asked, looking over at the driver.
A shrug. “Beats me. Hypnosis?”
“I guess it’s possible.”
They parked the car about a quarter-mile away and walked back.
“Okay, we need to do something about these guys…without hurting them,” Ben said, adding the last part as he saw Kevin make a fist.
“Aw, c’mon. It’d be faster if we just knocked them out and moved right to the lady in charge.”
“Ben’s right, Kevin,” Gwen said, exasperated. “Those guys are just bystanders.”
The ex-con groaned. “Fine. Any ideas?”
“Just one.” The brunette rotated the dial on the Omnitrix, selecting Spidermonkey. As he slapped down the face, his DNA reorganized itself until he was the four-armed, hyperactive simian.
However, it was in this new form that he noticed something he hadn’t as a human. He sniffed the air. “You guys smell that?”
The other two teens took a whiff and gagged.
“You mean besides fertilizer?” the mana-wielder demanded, holding her nose.
“Yeah. Other than that.” Ben’s nostrils twitched again. “It’s kinda…sweet.”
“I think the answer’s ‘no’,” Kevin replied, voice sounding funny since he’d also pinched his nostrils shut. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Still confused, the blue simian started wrapping up the lovesick workers. All the while, that too-sweet scent-kind of like the scent of cheap perfume-grew stronger.
And then his body started feeling sluggish as his mind started reacting to it.
Come to me, Love. I need you.
“Ben? Are you feeling okay?” A pause. “Kevin?”
“To be honest, I’m not doin’ so hot but not as bad as he seems to be.”
The blue-furred alien came to a dead stop as the scent overwhelmed his senses.
“Ben?”
She wants to hurt me, Love, and take you away. Stop her.
The simian narrowed his four eyes as he turned towards the redheaded female intruder.
“Something tells me that that’s not good,” the black-haired male commented, backing up.
“Ben! Stop!”
Screeching, teeth bared, he launched himself at the female, prepared to defend his beloved mate.
It was sheer luck that allowed Gwen to get an energy force field up in time to block her crazed cousin. Ben easily recovered and squirted webbing in her direction, intending to entangle her before finishing her off. Kevin caught the sticky threads on his arm and jerked the blue alien to one side as she severed the chords with a beam of mana.
“Ben, snap out of it!”
“Gwen, go,” Kevin ground out through what must’ve been clenched teeth.
The mana-wielder paused. “Why?”
“Because I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be on your side.” He looked back at her, and she saw the sweat pouring down his face. “Whatever that lady’s got doesn’t seem to affect girls. Get out of here.”
Forming energy panels, she jogged up into the air, turning back to encase her cousin in a ball of energy. As she did so, she saw a rather plain woman step outside of the barn to see what was going on.
Pausing for a moment, the redhead chewed her lower lip as she watched Ben screech and pound against his prison before looking at the older teen.
“I’ll come back and get you out, too,” she promised.
“You’d better.”
She ran off through the sky, hearing the ex-con start to alert the men in the fields about a “redheaded female intruder”. All the while, she dragged her cousin behind her, listening to him scream to return to the woman by the barn.
Characters: Ben, Gwen, Kevin
Summary: A small town is missing all of its men after they'd done everything in their power to follow a strange woman. When the trio goes to check it out, they find themselves in over their heads.
Notes: This fic is completely finished, but I’m not sure how much space to put between the parts. I definitely want to put it all up before I leave for Italy this coming Saturday. And I know that this type of alien has been used a few times, but I’d like to put my own spin on it. I’d like to have Gwen in a positive light while not being all “Girl power!” or going “Oh, Kevin!” while having some (eventual) Kevin/Ben action. And speaking of action, I kind of like writing action sequences. ^^ Set at some point in the future of the series when the group can contact the alien Plumbers.
Disclaimer: Ben 10: Alien Force belongs to Man of Action
“Okay, this is getting really creepy,” Gwen Tennyson stated as they waited for the waitress to notice them.
The diner was a “seat yourself” little place, and-apparently-the trio had hit the breakfast rush. (Who knew such a thing even existed?) The locals and other regulars were predictably served first while the teenagers drew straws to see who would play “Spin the Ketchup Bottle” today, allowing fate to decide which direction they traveled in to try and find a signal from a Plumber’s badge.
“What’s creepy?” Kevin Levin asked dryly. “The fact that we’re in the middle of Small Town, USA, or the fact that everybody from the gas station attendants to the short order cook is a chick?”
“Before this whole road trip started, I’d’ve picked the first one,” Ben Tennyson commented, plucking a straw from the dispenser and breaking it into three pieces. He rolled them between his hands before holding them out to his cousin and friend, clutched in his fist. “Though the lack of guys is weirding me out, too.”
Gwen pulled out a straw as Kevin did the same. “The lack of guys is what I’m talking about. I don’t think we’ve seen a single Y chromosome over the age of twelve since we got here.”
They all displayed their straw pieces. The black-haired teen’s was shortest, signaling a win.
As he reached for the ketchup bottle, he commented, “Maybe they’re all at some kind of derby or somethin’?”
“All of them? At the same time?” The redhead gave a snort as the waitress-her nametag reading “Denise”-approached. “Doubtful.”
The comely woman blinked in seeming amazement as she gazed upon their group. “Well, well. Here’s a sight for sore eyes.”
The threesome gazed up in confusion.
“Um, what is, ma’am?” Ben asked politely.
“Been a while since we’ve seen any young men around here. And gentlemen on top of that?” She flashed the brunette a smile before giving Gwen a warning look. “Keep an eye on these two, hun.”
The redhead looked at her two companions before turning her attention back to the waitress. “Actually, we were just wondering why we hadn’t seen any men around.”
The waitress glanced this way and that before leaning over their table, clearly to share gossip that the rest of the little town didn’t want to spread. “Well, it happened about a week ago. Some woman came into town, and the men started actin’ funny. Went out of their way to do things for her, ignorin’ their wives in favor of her, stuff like that. Then when she left, they all followed.”
“Wait. All of them?” Kevin asked.
The woman nodded. “That’s right. Strangest thing I ever saw. You tried holdin’ any of those boys back, and they’d do anything to get to her. Poor Mabel…her husband knocked her clean across the room while tryin’ to catch up to that witch.”
The group leaned over to see a blond woman with a still angry-looking bruise on her cheek.
“Which way did she go, ma’am?” Ben asked. At Denise’s look of alarm, he hastily added, “Just so we can avoid her.”
The waitress relaxed considerably. “She went right up the road.” She pointed. “Like I said, the men followed right after her. Jesse and a few of the other girls chased after them until they reached the old MacDonald farm, tryin’ to bring them back, but got scared and came back. Said that the whole lot of them were more like zombies than any of our men.”
Gwen exchanged looks with her traveling companions. This looked like a job for them though it also seemed like yet another situation where they could be in over their heads.
“Now don’t you kids worry. How ’bout I get you some of the specials?” Denise gave the group a wink. “On the house?”
Kevin gave a huge grin. “Thanks.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Coffee.”
“Milk, please,” both Tennysons replied.
As the woman walked away, the redhead raised an eyebrow towards the ex-con. “Taking advantage of an old woman?”
“She offered,” he answered, shrugging a shoulder without a hint of remorse. “Besides, that’s more money towards gas.”
“Not like the alien tech in your engine doesn’t extend the mileage,” Ben snorted. He folded his hands and leaned forward. “So, which is it? Check out the farm or look for another Plumber signal?”
Gwen gripped her elbows. “We should check out the farm, but we also need to find more Plumbers or Plumbers’ kids.”
Kevin leaned over and grabbed the forgotten ketchup bottle. “Why don’t we let the power of processed tomatoes decide?”
Laying the bottle on its side, he gave it a spin. It whirled around and around with a woog woog woog woog. The three teens watched with anticipation.
Finally it slowed and stopped.
The metal bottle cap pointed in the direction the waitress had indicated, the same direction the men had disappeared.
“Looks like we’re about to see what animals Old MacDonald really kept,” the black-haired teen said.
They drove past the farm to see if they could get a good look at the situation.
Ben summed up the entire thing quite well in three words: “This isn’t good.”
Men worked the fields in slow, rhythmic patterns. But it wasn’t the way they diligently tilled the soil that worried the Omnitrix’s owner. It was their haggard, exhausted features yet their blind devotion, born of their obvious worship of their captor. And “worship” truly was the only way to describe that beyond lovesick look on each of their faces.
“It’s like they’re all under a spell,” Gwen noted.
“Charmcaster?” Ben asked.
“Not likely. She lost her powers years ago.”
The brunette saw Kevin roll his eyes thanks to the rearview mirror. “It’s not magic.”
“We know,” the Tennysons muttered in a monotone.
“So what else could it be?” the redheaded teen asked, looking over at the driver.
A shrug. “Beats me. Hypnosis?”
“I guess it’s possible.”
They parked the car about a quarter-mile away and walked back.
“Okay, we need to do something about these guys…without hurting them,” Ben said, adding the last part as he saw Kevin make a fist.
“Aw, c’mon. It’d be faster if we just knocked them out and moved right to the lady in charge.”
“Ben’s right, Kevin,” Gwen said, exasperated. “Those guys are just bystanders.”
The ex-con groaned. “Fine. Any ideas?”
“Just one.” The brunette rotated the dial on the Omnitrix, selecting Spidermonkey. As he slapped down the face, his DNA reorganized itself until he was the four-armed, hyperactive simian.
However, it was in this new form that he noticed something he hadn’t as a human. He sniffed the air. “You guys smell that?”
The other two teens took a whiff and gagged.
“You mean besides fertilizer?” the mana-wielder demanded, holding her nose.
“Yeah. Other than that.” Ben’s nostrils twitched again. “It’s kinda…sweet.”
“I think the answer’s ‘no’,” Kevin replied, voice sounding funny since he’d also pinched his nostrils shut. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Still confused, the blue simian started wrapping up the lovesick workers. All the while, that too-sweet scent-kind of like the scent of cheap perfume-grew stronger.
And then his body started feeling sluggish as his mind started reacting to it.
Come to me, Love. I need you.
“Ben? Are you feeling okay?” A pause. “Kevin?”
“To be honest, I’m not doin’ so hot but not as bad as he seems to be.”
The blue-furred alien came to a dead stop as the scent overwhelmed his senses.
“Ben?”
She wants to hurt me, Love, and take you away. Stop her.
The simian narrowed his four eyes as he turned towards the redheaded female intruder.
“Something tells me that that’s not good,” the black-haired male commented, backing up.
“Ben! Stop!”
Screeching, teeth bared, he launched himself at the female, prepared to defend his beloved mate.
It was sheer luck that allowed Gwen to get an energy force field up in time to block her crazed cousin. Ben easily recovered and squirted webbing in her direction, intending to entangle her before finishing her off. Kevin caught the sticky threads on his arm and jerked the blue alien to one side as she severed the chords with a beam of mana.
“Ben, snap out of it!”
“Gwen, go,” Kevin ground out through what must’ve been clenched teeth.
The mana-wielder paused. “Why?”
“Because I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be on your side.” He looked back at her, and she saw the sweat pouring down his face. “Whatever that lady’s got doesn’t seem to affect girls. Get out of here.”
Forming energy panels, she jogged up into the air, turning back to encase her cousin in a ball of energy. As she did so, she saw a rather plain woman step outside of the barn to see what was going on.
Pausing for a moment, the redhead chewed her lower lip as she watched Ben screech and pound against his prison before looking at the older teen.
“I’ll come back and get you out, too,” she promised.
“You’d better.”
She ran off through the sky, hearing the ex-con start to alert the men in the fields about a “redheaded female intruder”. All the while, she dragged her cousin behind her, listening to him scream to return to the woman by the barn.