Chapter Text
~3 Years Ago~
"Y/N! There you are."
I glance behind me, grinning at Mom as she stands in the doorway. "Hi!" I wave happily, Mom chuckles and sits down beside me on the porch, "Hi. What the heck are you doing out here, Kiddo? I thought you crawled into the dryer again." "Not yet. I'm waiting for Benji." I tell her "Really?" Mom asks. "Uh huh! He should be here soon." I say, Mom ruffles my hair "Mmhm. And how are you so sure?" Mom asks. "Because I do. I'm magic," I beam proudly "Every time I think about Benji. He shows up. Always." "...Yeah, magic." Mom says quietly.
A car pulls up in front of Ben's house and I squeal excitedly. The back door swings open, "N/N!" Ben cheers loudly "BENJI!" I cheer just as loud, running over to him. I crash into Ben before wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him. Ben laughs and does the same, "Hey, check this out." He says, backing away from me to show a green alien plush. I gasp at it in awe, "Isn't this thing so cool?" Ben grins "Anyways, it's yours. I won it cuz I wanna give it to you." Ben tells me, he wedges the plush into my arms. "Wha-really?" I ask, Mom speaks up, "Aw, that's sweet, Ben." She coos "Yeah, I know." Ben says. I hug my alien plush happily.
~Now~
"-And I just want to remind everyone that I will be teaching summer school this year. It's not too late to sign up."
Ben snickers beside me, "Yeah, right." He scoffs. I perk up at the sound of the belling ringing, just like everyone else, I leap up from my desk and toss my backpack over my shoulder. "Yes! Out of here!" Ben cheers, tossing his arms up. The two of us join the crowd and race to the door, Ms. Reed still speaks calmly despite the chaos, "Have a good vacation, everyone. I hope to see you all again in the Fall." She says.
"Benjamin? Could I have a word with you before you go?"
Ben stops abruptly, letting out a soft grunt when I bump into him. We look back at Ms. Reed, she holds up a paper airplane and Ben winces knowingly. "Wait for me outside?" He sighs "Gotcha. Good luck, Benji." I say, patting his shoulder and running down the hall with everyone else.
~💚~
I hum, lazily doodling on the front page of my summer packet. There's no way they actually expect us to complete a 50 page packet...
"Hey! Come on, c-cut it out!"
I cringe at the sound of Cash and JT's laughter. Their joy never means anything good. A few cars down, I spot them surrounding a boy. I've seen him before, he's kid who moved here just a month ago. I look back at the school, Ben's not back yet and there's no other teachers around. I take a deep breath and fiddle with my bracelet nervously. Time to be a hero.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" I shout, there's a brief moment where Cash and JT freeze, but the moment quickly passed when they realized it was me. Cash scoffs, "Get lost, Crybaby." "Yeah, get lost," JT snickers "You know Cash doesn't care if you're 'just a girl' he'll still put you in your place if he has to. And then you'll just cry again." I frown, but remain determined, "Come on. You jerks are really starting the summer like this? Why don't you just leave the guy alone?!"
Cash laughs at me, "Why don't you go find your boyfriend? You look a little less pathetic with him around." I glare at him. Cash fully turns his attention to me, he approaches me with JT following close behind. "Oh? Looks like someone wants to play hero. Well, JT and I want to play villains. So, suppose we don't want to back off, L/N. Now what are you gonna do?" I clench my fist nervously.
A hand yanks me away from the pair, "Leave Y/N, alone." Ben says, glaring at the pair. Cash scoffs, "Hey, we were minding our own business. Your girlfriend started this." He says. "Well, I'm finishing it." Ben warns, Cash rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Ok." He snickers, cracking his fist.
~💚~
"...I mean, it was a good effort on our part. We tried to fight the status quo and sure we failed...really badly, but we tried. I'm proud of us." I ramble, squirming uncomfortably as I dangle from a tree branch. "Thanks a lot." The boy scoffs harshly, he's stuck on his own branch, but he's not making any effort to get down. "She was trying to help you." Ben defend, "Well, next time your girlfriend wants to play hero, make sure she can actually back it up." The boy says. Ben glares at the boy while I sulk. He's kinda right...
A horn honks as a RV pulls up in front of us. The window rolls down to reveal Ben's Grandpa Max, he grins at us. "Come on, you two. We're burning daylight. I want to make it to the campsite by nightfall." He states, Ben and I glance at each other before looking at Max again. "Um, Grandpa? Little help?" Ben asks, Max looks at us a little longer. He chuckles and climbs out of the RV.
It doesn't take long for him to get all of us down, the boy scurries off without even saying thank you at least to Max. Max shrugs him off and guides me and Ben into his RV, "We've so been looking forward to this," Ben says with a toothy grin "N/N and I have even practiced roasting marshmallows." "Well, I'm glad I picked up a couple of experts for the summer. I could use some marshmallow roasting tips." Max chuckles. I smile at him, but pause when I spot someone in the corner of my eye. I turn my head slightly to see a red head glaring out the window.
Red head...I think she's Ben's cousin we share a birthday with. Her name was Gwen or something like that.
"Gwen...?" I ask to test the waters, she glances in my direction. "Hi, Gwen." I greet, now having her name confirmed. Ben's eyes widen, "What are you doing here?!" He shouts in disgust, he turns to Max, "Grandpa, what is she doing here?!" Gwen rolls her eyes, "Tone it down, Dweeb. This wasn't my idea. Somebody convinced my mom that going camping for the summer would be a... 'good experience' for me." She sighs, Ben turns to Max with a betrayed frown, "Grandpa...please tell me you didn't." He groans. Max's smile remains unfazed, "I thought it'd be fun if your cousin joined us this summer," He explains "Besides, we wouldn't want Y/N to be the only girl, would we?"
Ben and Gwen silently glare at each other, I watch the two of them wordlessly. "Is that a problem?" Max asks, a little sterner than before. Ben and Gwen break eye contact to glare at the ground, "It's...all good." I say, I give Max an unsure thumbs up. Max's smile returns, "Good. Now, let's get this show on the road." He says, shuffling past me and Ben to get to the driver's seat.
I take a seat across from Gwen at the table. Ben slides beside me, leaning his back against me as he pouts. I glance out the window, watching the school fade away in the distance. "Aw, I can't believe it. I waited all school year to go on this trip, and now the Queen of Cooties is along for the ride." Ben complains, I look away from the window. "Hey, I had my own vacation already perfectly planned out too, y'know." She scoffs, Ben and I raise an eyebrow when Gwen pull out a colored schedule.
"Each activity is color coded so I never did the same thing two days in the row." She explains, proudly showing off her schedule. I stare at the schedule blankly before looking at Gwen, "I...who hurt you? Are you ok?" I ask. She rolls her eyes and neatly puts her schedule away, "And now, I'm stuck with my geekazoid cousin and his weird girlfriend for 3 months." She sighs.
How many times am I gonna get called Ben's girlfriend today? Why do I keep getting called Ben's girlfriend...?
My cheeks feel warm, but that thankful goes on noticed by Ben as he glares at Gwen.
"Geek."
"Jerk."
"Something tells me it's gonna be a loooong summer." Max sighs, looking at us through the rearview mirror.
~💚~
"Chow time!"
I look up from my sketchbook, Max places a bowl-OF ACTUAL LIVING WORMS in front of us. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, and those are just noodles or something. I lean closer to get a better look and nope, those are absolutely worms. Ben and Gwen join me in staring down the bowl, "Ok...I give up," Ben says "What is that?" "Marinated mealworms. Hard finding them fresh in the states. Y'know, these are considered a delicacy in some countries." Max explains. "...Maybe, but not is this one..." I mumble, uncomfortably watching the worms wiggle around. Max chuckles, "Don't worry. If these don't sound good, I've got some smoked sheep's tongue in the fridge." He states, I cringe more.
This is a picky eater's worst nightmare...
Ben knowingly picks up on my disgust, "Uh, couldn't we just have a burger or something?" He asks. Max scoops up the bowl, carrying it away "Nonsense. This summer's gonna be an adventure for your taste buds! I'll grab the tongue for you." He says. Ben, Gwen and I share looks, "I got a half eaten bag of corn chips and a candy bar in my backpack. What do you guys have?" Ben whispers "Some rice cakes and hard candy." Gwen sighs...is this girl 86 years old or something?
Ben and Gwen glance at me expectantly, "Uh...I have 14 8-count boxes of Poptarts and 4 and a half Lunchables." I state. "Awesome." Ben says with a grin, Gwen stares with a dumbfounded frown, "You have 112 Poptarts on you right now?" She asks. I nod, "Yeah, and 4 and a half Lunchables." I say, "You really are weird..." Gwen says, "Ha, thanks. I try." I snort. "But why did you bring so many?" Gwen asks "I really like Poptarts." I say with a shrug, "Ok? But that doesn't mean you need to bring so many-" "Gwen, word of advice, don't try using logic on N/N. It won't work." Ben tells her. Gwen lets out a sigh.
~💚~
I grin widely, tossing small branches into the campfire. The fire sparks and burns a brighter, Max walks up behind me, "Keeping the fire going?" He asks, I nod and he chuckles. "Who wants to roast marshmallows?" Max asks, he doesn't get a respond from Ben or Gwen, but I eagerly raise my hand. He grins at me before trying to coax a response from Ben and Gwen.
"How about we tell scary stories?"
I lower my hand, "Scarier than having to spend a summer with your freak of a cousin?" Ben asks, snickering. Gwen glares at him, "I'd like to, Grandpa, but I'm busy doing a web search on cure for Extreme Doofusness. Nothing yet, Ben, but let's not give up hope." Gwen forces a sweet tone. Max shakes his head, "Oh, come on, you two. We're all in this together. You can mope around like this all summer, or we can have some fun." "I vote for whatever gets me marshmallows." I announce. "I vote for moping." Gwen says flatly, "Oh my god, you suck." I groan, and for the first time today, Gwen glares at me instead of Ben. "Come on, N/N. We're taking a walk. Smell ya around, Gwen." Ben says, he tugs my arm until I stand up beside him. "Alright, but we're also gonna collect more wood for the marshmallows." I tell him and the two of us walk towards the woods.
Ben rest his arms behind his head, "Oh, man, this is gonna be the worst vacation ever," He complains "We should've just went to summer school!" "Benji, you would've been going to summer school alone." I remind him, picking up a large stick and dragging it behind me. "Oh yeah..." Ben huffs, he glances towards the sky and gasps, "Look! A shooting star!"
I look up, a shooting star zooms across the sky. It was pretty, but then it start hurling towards us...which made it a lot less pretty, I'm not gonna lie...
We both gasp, Ben's hand grabs mine, "Look out!" He shouts, yanking me away from the potential crash zone. The shooting star collides with the ground, causing us both to fall. "You ok?" Ben asks, I nod. "You?" "Yeah, I'm fine...but what the heck was that thing?" He asks. Ben helps me stand up before we approach the giant crater, "Whoa, look!" Ben gasps, pointing at what we thought was a shooting star. It glows green and the glow pulses. "It looks like a satellite or something..." Ben mutters "Or...maybe it's an alien that was sent her to kill us all~" I snicker evilly, Ben snorts and shoves me playfully, "No way."
The two of us stand at the edge, unsure of what to do next...
Gravity decides for us when the ground Ben was standing on suddenly crumbles, causing him to fall into the crater. "Benji! Are you ok?!" I gasp, Ben groans, rubbing his butt as he stands. "Yeah...I'm ok..." He sighs "But, uh, I think you might've been right about the killer alien..." "Don't...don't say that, Benji." I say nervously. The alien-satellite-thingy glows even brighter, it suddenly cracks open, revealing a glowing watch. "A watch?" Ben asks, slowly stepping closer to it. "Uh, Benji....buddy, maybe we should get you outta there. Before something bad happens..." I look nervously as he reaches for the watch.
The watch leaps off its original spot and latches onto Ben's wrist. He shrieks in surprise, "AH! Get off of me! Get off! Get off!" Ben shakes his arm aggressively, I jump into action, climbing into the crater to help him. I grip the watch and try to tug it off of Ben while he pulls himself in the opposite direction. We grunt, doing our best to get the watch off of Ben. Ben winces, "Stop, stop!" I let go of the watch and stare at Ben in concern. "Hang on, I got another idea." I tell Ben, I grab my large stick and wedge it in between the watch and Ben's skin. It snaps after a few attempts, Ben deflates, I climb back out the crater and pull Ben up with me.
"So much for that..." I sigh, tossing the stick to the side. Ben sits down in the dirt, he examines the watch curiously, he pokes and fidgets with it. "Be careful, Benji. We don't know what that thing does..." I say, I sit down beside him. The face of the watch suddenly pokes out and it beeps, "Whoa..." Ben and I gasp in awe. Ben presses the face back down-a bright green flashes blinds my visions. I shield my eyes, the air suddenly becomes hotter...extremely hot.
I uncover my eyes and see a large fiery...alien? Is it an alien? I mean, the watch came from space, so, it has to be an alien...
"...Benji?" I ask nervously, staring up at him. Ben remains completely silent and tense, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He begin screaming. I awkwardly back away from Ben as he hops and runs around erratically, "I'm on fire! I'm on fire!" He shouts. Ben slowly calms down, "Hey...I'm on fire, but I'm ok..." He mutters, staring at his hands. Ben snickers and poses like a superhero.
"Hey, N/N, check it out. I'm totally hot~"
I giggle, Ben looks at a tree. "Hang on, I wanna try something." He says, he forms a fire ball in his hand before throwing it into a tree. "Whoa!" We both gasp, "Nice, liking it." Ben snickers proudly, he throws another fire ball. This time, when the fire ball hits the tree, the tree burst into flames. My stomach drops and my eyes widen, "Uh oh!" Ben yelps, stomping the flames, "Benji! That won't work. The fire's getting too big!" I stress as the flames spread to the trees around us.
A flaming branch falls, burning my hand. "OW!" I wince, I bite my tongue. Ben snaps his attention to me, I pick up on his panic pretty quickly. "I'm fine, I'm fine..." I say, cringing in pain, "No you're not, we need to get out of here. Soon, there won't be any breathable air and you'll suffocate!" Ben says with a panicked tone. I frown nervously, "Well, uh, good job paying attention to that Fire Safety PSA at school..." I laugh nervously, fiddling with my hands. Ben reaches towards me, but pauses, staring at him fiery hands. Ben groans loudly, "This would be so cool if it weren't so not cool!"
"Y/N!" Gwen shouts, running up with a fire extinguisher. I look back at her, "What happened? Where's Ben?" She asks. I point at Ben, Gwen glances at him, looking at his fiery form up and down. She screams in horror, Ben tries to calm her down, "Hey, hey. I know I look weird, but there's no reason to be-" Gwen clocks Ben in the face with the fire extinguisher. "Ah, Gwen, wait! That's Ben!" I tell her, standing in front of Ben protectively.
Ben groans as he holds his face, Gwen stares at him in disbelief, "That's Ben? How?" She asks. "Well, we were just walking when this shooting star fell from the sky and almost smushed us. Except it wasn't a shooting star or a satellite, but this cool watch thing that latched onto my wrist. And then, when I tried to get it off-" Another larger flaming branch falls near me and Gwen, we shriek. Gwen sprays the branch with the extinguisher, "You know what...I'll finish the story later..." Ben says.
"Gwen? Did you find them-what in blazes?!" Max gasps, he runs up and pulls me and Gwen away from Ben, glaring at him. "It's me, Grandpa!" Ben says, gesturing to himself happily. Max stares at him with the same disbelief Gwen had, "Ben? What happened to you?" Max asks. Ben was about to start explaining the story again, but Gwen speaks up, "Uh...excuse me? Major forest fire burning out of control. Remember?" She stresses. "Yeah, but what can we do?" I ask, Max frowns in thought before turning to Ben, "Start a new fire and let it burn into the old fire. They'll snuff each other out. Think you can do that, Ben?" "Making a fire? He can definitely do that." I joke dryly, Ben nods, "Just get Y/N somewhere safe...and Gwen too, I guess." He says, Gwen glares at him while I smile. Max nods and carries me and Gwen away...he's surprisingly strong for an old man.
~💚~
"So...how much longer are you gonna be like this? What even are you?" I ask Ben, cleaning the soot off my lucky bracelet with my shirt. "He's an alien." Max states, I put my bracelet back on my wrist. Gwen stares at Max in confusion, "Wait, how did you-" "You can look at him and tell," Max says quickly "What else could he be?" I look at Ben, studying him carefully.
It's so weird that he's taller...and his voice is deeper too. It's like he's already hit puberty. I've never imagined what it will be like..."Uh, are you ok, N/N...? You're making a weird face." Ben says, I smile to myself, enjoying my older Ben daydream. "Mmhm, just picturing a beautiful future." I mumble with a giggle, "I hope there's a beautiful future," Ben groans "I don't wanna be fire guy forever! How am I supposed to play little league this fall if I charcoal the ball every time I catch a pop fly?!"
Oh...shoot, I didn't think that there was a chance of Ben still being stuck like that when we're older...
Max smiles at Ben sympathetically, "Don't worry, Ben. We'll figure this thing out." He says, we all flinch when the thing on Ben's chest starts beeping and flashing red. There's a final, blindingly-bright red flash before Ben's back to being his regular self. "Yay! You're normal again!" I squeal, hugging him. Gwen groans, she pokes at the campfire with a stick. "Aw, too bad. I liked him better when he was a briquette." She grumbles.
I remove my arms from Ben, he starts trying to pry the watch off of him again. "Ugh! I still can't get this thing off!" He grunts "Maybe we should cut if off." I suggest, Ben pauses and he and Gwen stare at me. "Yeah, we should save that as a last resort..." I hum, Max places his hand on top of my head, "Better not fool with it anymore until we know exactly what we're dealing with," He states "I'll go check out the crash site. You guys stay here until I get back."
My attention goes to the back of my hand as Max walks away, "What's wrong? Does your hand still hurt? You want some ice or something?" Ben asks. I shake my head, "Actually, no. My hand feels great..." I say with a confused huff. Ben tilts his head in confusion, "Isn't that....good?" "It could be, but it's more weird than anything," I move my hand closer for him to see "But look, there's no burn at all. It's like it never happened." "Huh, that is weird." Ben mumbles, poking the spot where the burn would've been. "What are you two talking about?" Gwen asks, I almost forgot she was here. I shrug, "Nothing..."
~💚~
I keep a bag of marshmallows under my shirt, quietly sneaking away from the campfire and to the other side of the Rust Bucket. I flinch at the sight of Ben, we stare at each other. "I won't tell if you don't." Ben says, motioning to the hidden marshmallow bag. "Deal." I grin and pull out the marshmallow bag. I pop a handful in my mouth as Ben messes with the watch. "Benji, are you sure you wanna do that? What if that thing explodes and you lose a hand?" I sigh "If this thing explodes, I'll be dead, N/N." Ben snorts. I shoot him a look, Ben only grins, "Relax, I'll be fine. Trust me." He says "That sound like the last thing someone says in a horror movie before the killer gets them..." I groan nervously.
"CAUGHT YOU!"
Ben and I shriek, latching onto each other and jumping back. Gwen laughs loudly, I roll my eyes and slowly Ben and I let go of each other. He huffs, "Hahaha, very funny. Just like your face." He says, I snicker quietly. Gwen rolls her eyes before glaring at Ben, "Grandpa said you're not supposed to mess with that thing." She scolds. Ben stares at her in annoyance, "Uh huh...and what's your point?" Ben asks, Gwen scoffs, "Did your parents drop you when you were a baby?" "Oh! Benji's dad dropped me when I was a baby," I tell her with a toothy grip, "He dropped me on the sidewalk in front of our houses. It's the reason why he's so scared of saying no to me! And why's he's so scared of my mom." Gwen stares at me with a dumbfounded expression, "...You two are perfect for each other..." She sighs deeply.
Ben stands up, "Come on, Gwen. You can't tell me you aren't even a little bit curious about what else this thing can do." He says "Nope, not in the slightest." Gwen says. "Seriously, were you born an old lady?" I ask, Gwen glares at me. "Look," Ben sighs, regaining our attention, "If I can figure out this watch, maybe I can help people. And I mean really help people. Not just make things worse or be useless." I frown in concern, "What's it like? Being an alien?" I ask.
"It freaked me out at first. It was like I was me, but I was also someone else too." Ben explains, we all tense when the watch beeps again, it turns from red to green. "Hey, I think I figured out how I did it before. I could try it again. Just once." Ben says "I wouldn't." Gwen scoffs "Of course you wouldn't, Grandma," I says, waving her off "Do it, Benji! Just try not to set the woods on fire again." Ben grins at me before his smacks his palm against the watch.
There's another green flash.
This time, Ben turns into a completely different alien, this one's orange and furry. "Whoa!" I gasp "Ew..." Gwen gags, we approach him. "This thing's even uglier than you normally are!" Gwen says "Are you kidding?! Benji's adorable! He's like a dog now." I say excitedly, running my hands over his fur. "Yeah, maybe we should put a flea collar on this mutt." Gwen scoffs. I look up at Ben's eyeless face, "Wait a second, you don't have eyes? Can you even see?" I ask. Ben lets out a roar, I yank my hand away from him instinctively.
Gwen sneaks behind Ben with a stick in her hands, smirking. She swings the stick-Ben quickly dodges, landing on top of the Rust Bucket. He growls at Gwen, "Huh, I guess he can see." I mutter "Ok, so, maybe it's not a total loser." Gwen huffs. Ben jumps down and lands in front of us, Gwen covers her nose and groans, "Two words: breath mints."
Ben turns his back to Gwen and begins kicking dirt at her, she screeches. I can't help, but laugh at the sight, Ben pauses before suddenly taking off, "Ben! Get back here!" Gwen shouts, I fight back more laughter, Gwen sighs in frustration. "Ugh, what do you even see in him!" She asks "He makes me laugh." I giggle, Gwen rolls her eyes and shakes her head in disbelief. "I fear for everyone's sanity whenever the two of you get together..." She groans, I snort, "You're just jealous we're so awesome together...even when we're just friends." "Yeah, right." Gwen scoffs. "Come on," She sighs "We got an alien dog to find in the woods." "Man, this summer is so majorly weird..." I mutter "Tell me about it." Gwen says.
~💚~
I finally spot Ben, he's back to normal again. I run towards him as fast as I can, I smack the drone-thing out of the air with shovel "Back off, Sparky!" I shout, standing in front of Ben protectively. "Whoa..." Ben gasps behind me, the drone attempts to move again, I hit it again...and again...and again. I grin at the sight of the drone breaking into pieces.
Ok, this so much fun.
"Y/N, it's down. You can stop..." Gwen says "Hang on, lemme get one more good hit. This is too fun to stop." I say, hitting the drone a final time. The drone then burst into flames, I can't help but grin at the sight. Ben grabs my arm and yanks me with him as he and Gwen run off. We're barely out of range when the drone explodes. We watch the smoke with shocked expression, "...Come on. Grandpa's waiting for us." Gwen says.
"That was so cool." Ben laughs, grinning at me "I wasn't gonna let my best friend die to a...actually, what the heck was that thing?" I ask as we walk inside the Rust Bucket. Ben shrugs, "I was worried that you might get popular with that thing on you wrist," Max sighs "That's why I asked you not to fool around with it until we knew what the heck it is." "Sorry, Grandpa, but at least I figured out how to make it work. All you do is press this button. Then when the ring pops up, just twist it until you see the guy you wanna be. Slam it down and BAM! You're 1 of 10 super cool alien dudes." Ben explains with an excited grin.
We take a sit at the table, "What about staying a super cool alien dude and not transforming back into plain old pizza face?" Gwen asks "I kinda haven't figured that part out yet." Ben huffs. I nudge him gently, "Don't worry, Benji. I'll help you out." I tell him, Ben grins. "That does not make me feel any better..." Gwen sighs. Max stares at us, frowning in thought. "Well...with a device as powerful as that watch attached to Ben's wrist, my guess is that you'd be better off helping him learn fast." Max says, "Alright!" Ben and I cheer, throwing our fist up in excitement. Max's radio suddenly cuts on.
"Mayday! Mayday! Somebody, please, help us! We're under attack by some sort of...I know you're not gonna believe me, but it's a robot!"
"Sounds just like those robots that attacked me." Ben says, staring at the watch. He frowns deeply, "They must be looking for the watch. People are gonna get hurt because of me..." He states. I share concerned looks with Max and Gwen, Ben stands up from his seat. "I'm going to help them." He says firmly "...You? How are you gonna help?" Gwen scoffs, I gesture to the watch, "Have you not been paying attention?" I ask. Ben only grins, clenching his fist tightly, "Just wait."
~💚~
Ben activates the watch, "Ok, here it goes!" He says before hitting down on the watch. Ben turns into a diamond alien, I stare at him in awe, "So shiny..." I mutter "So what can this one do?" Gwen asks. "I don't know, but I bet it's gonna be so cool." Ben says confidently, opening and closing his diamond hands.
"This is where the distress signal came from." Max says, gesturing to area behind us. The ground rumbles as a giant robot stomps around. "Looks like Papa Robot this time. I'll get gearhead's attention, you guys get the the campers to safety." Ben says, Max and Gwen head off. "Be careful, Benji." I say, Ben nods, "Don't worry about me." He says softly. I run off to join Max and Gwen.
I run up to a camper, "Hey, Mister! You gotta get out of here!" I warn nervously. "No way! This video's gonna make me rich!" The guy scoffs, filming Ben and the robot. "But, it's not safe." I stress, a bang and a loud scream causes me to flinch. Ben crashes into the ground beside us, "Cool!" The guy gasps. "What the-SERIOUSLY?!" I shout. Ben climbs out of the ground, dusting himself off. He looks at me a moment, "N/N, you need to get out of here. It's not safe." He sighs.
"I would love to get out of here, but this idiot won't leave!" I groan, the guy films us with an unbothered grin. Ben yanks me into his arms and swiftly turns around, shielding me from the alien's laser. Ben snatches the guy's camera, the strength of his grip breaks it. "What the hell, man?! I was finally gonna be rich!" The guy shouts angrily, Ben glares at him before speaking seriously, "Both of you need to get to safety. Now." The guy flips Ben off, but does finally leave the area.
I turn around to help more campers, I yelp when Ben grabs me by my shirt and carries me away from the chaos. "Benji, what are you doing?" I ask, glancing at him in confusion. My confused expression melts into an offended one as Ben hangs me on a high tree branch. "What the heck, Benji?!" I shouts, kicking my legs. "Stop it, you're gonna make yourself fall," Ben sighs "I'm sorry...but I really need you to stay safe. I can't fight if I know you're in danger. I'll get you down when everything's ok, ok?" Ben runs off and my jaw just drops. I scream at him in a panic.
"No, no! Not ok! You can't just leave me here! BEN, YOU KNOW I'M SCARED OF HEIGHTS!"
~💚~
"Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm gonna kill him." I grumble bitterly as I try to free my shirt from the tree branch. I hear crashes and laser being fired in the distance, I bite the inside of my cheek, "I really really hope he doesn't die, but I'm still gonna...sternly yell at him." I huff, I wince when my bracelet snags on the branch. I let out a hiss of air and try to free my arm, my eyes widen at the sound of something snapping. I watch in horror as the broken bracelet falls to the ground, "...Oh no..." I gasp.
Dad gave me that bracelet!
Actually...Dad gave Mom that bracelet before he died, and Mom gave it to me so I'd have something to remember him...I promised her I'd keep it safe!
"I...I have to get it back!" I gasp, lunging after it. My shirt is freed from the branch, which is good...but now I'm falling from a height that will definitely result in me either having broken knees...or worse. I take a sharp inhale of air, shutting my eyes in fear.
Instead of hitting the ground...I'm on the ground. Safe and sound like I was never falling in the first place. "Uh...ok." I mumble, I pick up my bracelet, frowning, "Maybe I could ask Max to fix it. He seems handy." I sigh, stuffing my bracelet into my pocket. I run towards where the battle last was. It's quiet...too quiet...
"There you are!"
I let out a shriek, Gwen runs up to me with a concerned frown. "Where have you been?" Gwen asks "Hanging from a tree branch." I state simply, I turn to Max. "Hey, um, my bracelet broke. Do you think you could fix it?" I ask, Max's eyes widen. Gwen and I shoot him a confused look, Max slowly smiles, taking the bracelet out my hand, "Of course. I'll...I'll do my best." He states.
Panicked footsteps approach us, "Grandpa! I think Y/N got eaten by bears!" Ben says with a stressed tone, "I thought she'd be safe on a tree branch, but she's gone! There's no way she could've climbed-unless she fell! Then her bones would've been all broken! And then Y/N definitely couldn't defend herself from bears!" Ben rambles as Gwen and I share glances.
Ben stops rambling and looks at me. "N/N! You're ok!" He shouts in relief, wrapping his arms around me tightly. "Ah! Your skin is cold!" I yelp, if this diamond material can even be called "skin". "Wait a minute, how did you get down?" Ben asks, "I dunno, one moment I was falling. The next thing I knew, I was safe on the ground." I say. "You realize what you just said makes no sense, right?" Gwen asks, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm being hugged by a real life alien right now, Gwen. Save your logic for the end of this summer." I sigh.
~💚~
"...It what?"
I swallow thickly, "It got caught on a branch and snapped..." I sigh "I'm really really sorry, Mom. I know I said I'd take care of it. Max is fixing it for me at least." Mom's quiet for a few seconds, "How have you been feeling otherwise?" She asks. "Pretty great, actually. I mean, it's weird sleeping in a bunk bed and Max's cooking is...traumatizing, but I'm looking forward to seeing where the rest of the summer will take us." I tell her. Mom chuckles, "Well, as long as you're having a good time. That's all that matters to me. Remember to take every new experience in stride." She says, I smile. "I will, Mom. Talk to you later." The calls ends.
There's a sudden breeze behind me too precise to caused by nature. I look over my shoulder to see that Ben's a blue alien, "Hey, Benji." I greet. Ben grins, "Wanna do something fun?" He asks, I tilt my head curiously, "Like what?" I ask. I yelp when Ben wraps his tail around my waist and places me onto his back. "Hang on!" He says, I tightly hold onto him as Ben takes off at the speed way faster than a car.
Ben zooms out of the rest stop, "Where are we going?" I ask "I thought we could make a quick stop by the summer school." Ben snickers. "Why would we do that?" I ask "To visit our old friends Cash and JT, of course." Ben says, we share mischievous smirks. "Oooh, let's do." I giggle, Ben moves even faster.
I have a pretty good feeling about this summer.