Ben 10 Fan Fiction ❯ Original Ben Ten: Th Machaliens ❯ Age of Aquarian ( Chapter 6 )

CHAPTER SIX

After being on the road a long time, Max finally decided to stop the Rust-Bucket and let its engines cool. They were parked by a lake where the kids could swim, but sadly Camille was forced to stay inside all day or the sunlight would set off her illness.

Joel stayed inside with her, despite the many times she begged him to go out and have some fun, but Joel wouldn't leave her side, especially when her temperature went up anyway, even in the air-conditioned motor-home. Luckily, Joel fed her another vial of serum to keep her safe.

“Don't worry, Camille.” He said as he stroked his wife's lovely face. “We'll get you better soon.”

His wife smiled at up at him and they shared a kiss.

…

Gordon, and BJ were outside just basking in the sun while Max tended to the engine and weapons. Gwen was sitting on the docks reading when suddenly she felt like something was about to happen. Here fears were answered when she heard Ben yell, “CANNON-BALL…!”

SPLOSH! Gwen didn't get out of the way and was drenched. “Ugh! Ben!”

Ben popped his head out of the water. “Ah, come on Gwen… why do you have to spend such a great day being so boring.”

Gwen protested that she was studying her spells for when the machaliens attack again. “How can you be not so concerned?” she asked.

“Don't know… just am.” Ben said as he kept swimming around. Suddenly, he could feel something touching his legs. “Huh…? Whoa!” Someone or something was in the water with him. He was about to hit the omnitrix, when… “Boo!” Lucy popped up and scared Ben so hard he fell backwards in the water.

“Oh, no!” he gurgled under the waves.

Lucy giggled and splashed away. Even though she was a sludge-puppy, water was bad for her. “Ohh… I just love the lake water in summer.” she cooed. “It's so cool, and fresh in the sunlight-- it's so romantic!”

Ben tried to slip away but even in water, Lucy morphed legs into sludge tentacles and grabbed him. “Come on, Benny-Pooh… swim with me!” Like Ben even had a choice, she was dragging him like a water-skier with her tentacle.

“Whoa… Wha-Whoa… Lucy! LUCY----” cried Ben.

…

Meanwhile…

Dread was still searching through his long list of his loyal machaliens to determine who to send to Earth next. “No. Not that one.”

“No…”

“No…”

Just then, he had a report from Mr. Mann. “Mr. Mann… report at once.”

Mr. Mann had reported that he had found the locations of other Tennysons, in the town of Bellwood. This pleased the count, and he ordered Mr. Mann to proceed and capture all Tennyson's. “If anyone interferes… you know what to do.”

“Understood, my lord…!” Mr. Mann then signed out, and Dread finally got the idea of whom to send to attack Joel's party. “Send for Aquarian at once! And this time, do not fail me.”

“At once, lordship.” said Jorgen, and he left to carry out his orders. “Mrs. Mann…” the count nearly bellowed, “Send a fleet of troopers down to the lake to sir up our little friends.”

“Yes, Sire.”

…

Ben got out of the water and felt like he had just ran down raging rapids. He was leaning on a rock panting heavily. “Now… I know… what a life-raft… must feel like.”

Lucy didn't seem tired at all, and she was still swimming, and having one of those lovey-dovey blurry fantasies: Where she was in danger at sea, and Ben was the handsome lifeguard who rescued her, and in the end they share a warm embrace.

She was suddenly snapped out of her trance when she felt something grab her and try to drown her. “Whoa…! Uhn… Ugh! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

“Nice try. Not fallin' for it.” Ben simply snuffed with his back turned, but Lucy continued to scream, and then Gwen looked up and saw Lucy tangling with an odd creature. “MACHALIEN…!” she screamed.

Max hit his head on the hood, “Ah…!”

Gordon and BJ fell out of their chairs, and Joel kicked the door open. That's when the creature stood perfectly on the surface of the water. She looked pretty and shiny and sparkling, with her blue shiny alien flesh, but she still had metallic-parts on her as well. “I am Aquarian.” She hissed in a pretty, yet gurgled-bubbling voice. “My allegiance is to Count Dread. My mission is to annihilate Joel Tennyson, and party.”

Ben and Gwen growled and clenched their fists, and that's when small explosions bombarded the area. The alidroid troopers were rushing down the slopes and firing their lasers. “AMBUSH…!” cried BJ.

“Everyone inside!” cried Max. “Gwen, Ben… you have to deal with this!”

Gwen and Ben rolled their eyes in disgust, and then they realized that Lucy was still in the water and being terrorized. “I'll get the troopers… you get Lucy!”

As much as Ben didn't like having to save Lucy, knowing fully well he'd never hear the end of it. He went through the omnitrix-menu and decided XLR8 was best. “It's hero time!” He slammed down on it and changed into, “Heat-Blast?! Ah, come on!”

Fire against water was not going to be a good one, but he flew up over the lake anyways, and fire from above. “Hey! Water woman… take this!” as expected, his flares barley even fazed her, but it did distract her enough for Lucy to swim to safety, but no sooner had she jumped onto land was she the target for the troopers fire. The Rust-Bucket was still very far. “Lucy! Change to your sludge forum!” Camille called form the Rust-Bucket window.

Lucy did as she was told, and while she did get hit several times, she was able to regenerate herself unharmed. This also distracted the troopers allowing Gwen to shoot at them. The troopers were shocked and fell off their feet. Some even fell in the water and shorted out, but as soon as the last one was shot down, more trouble was on the way…

A swarm of Dread's fighter-crafts swooped in. “LOOK OUT!” cried Gwen as the ships began to open fire. Lucy slithered under a rock away from the shelling.

BAM! One of the crafts hit near the Rust-Bucket. The motor-home wasn't damaged, but it did get bumped and rocked about. Everyone inside swayed with the stress. Camille held onto Joel and shut her eyes tight, and Joel was growing more and more anxious to go out there and help the kids. “You stay right here, boy!” his father would warn him.

The craft were too high and too fast for Gwen to hit, “Maybe she can't… but I can!” growled Ben. He soared up high into the air and gave chase to the fighters.

“Warning…! Warning!” cried one of the troopers. “Target is too fast to acquire!” Though the troopers still felt no fear, Ben blasted them out of the sky with ease. “Oh, yeah… I'm all fired up now!” he bragged, but suddenly he was shot at by a power spray of water. “YAAAAHH…!”

He crashed hard on the ground with his flames getting dim. Aquarian was the one who sprayed him with the hydro-cannons build into her arms. “Then perhaps you should… as you Earthlings put it… cool off- Hee, hee, hee…!” she blasted him again, but he rolled out of the way before the water could damage him anymore.

This let Gwen try to counter-attack while she was unnoticed, “Badickinis Metalalurca!” That was a spell used to wrap her enemies and bind them tight, unfortunalty, she hadn't quickly realized that Aquarian was a liquidy type Machalien and was able to mold herslef out of the binidng with ease. “Eww… gross!” cried Gwen.

The evil creayure glared at Gwen. “I'll teach you some respect for the beautiful!”

Gwen and Ben both tried to blast her with all they had, but her gooey body also made her flexible and a good dodger. Even still, she hardly felt any pain either, her body aloways healed itself instantly, just like a a sludge-puppy.

Gwen and Ben took refuge behind a tree. “Exactly… where did we lose control here?” Ben asked in dismay. Gwen had no idea, but she did have another idea. “I think its time she dried up a bit!”

Ben didn't understand, and then Gwen whispered what she wanted him to do. As much as Ben thought this was crazy, due to the risk he'd be putting himself in, he saw no other way either.

Aquarian was losing her patience. “Come on out and fight!” she roared. “Or do you finally admit defeat?”

Ben sped around from the tree and grabbed onto Aquarian from behind. “What?! Hey! Let go!” she bellowed. “Not until you dry up a bit!” snapped Ben. “Let's turn up the heat!” and he flared up as powerful as he could. Aquarian yelled in pain as the flames consumed her. “NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I'M TOO BEAUTIFUL!”

At such a close range, Ben was overheating her causing the watery-like goop all over her body to dry and evaporate, rendering her weak enough for Gwen to try another spell. She gave Ben the signal and he let go of Aquarian and moved to the side. “Eterla Morbulous!” A spell that broke types of matter up, rendering Aquarian even weaker and more frail than before.

Max saw the whole thing and saw his chance. “Charing freeze-rays… Fire!” KAPOW! Aquarian screamed like a banshee as the ray hit her and she shrank into a figurine. Ben and Gwen were overjoyed and slapped a high-five, except Ben forgot to change back first and Gwen burned her hand…

“OW…!”

“Oops… sorry.”

Once Ben changed back, Lucy slithered out from under the rock she was hiding, changed to her human shape, and tackled Ben to the ground smotheirng him with the usual “My hero” gestures and thankfulness.

“Ugh!” Ben groaned, “I should've waited another ten seconds.”

Still, with another Machalien out of the way, the family decided to retreat before Dread sent anymore monsters after them.

…

Mrs. Mann and Jorgen were outraged.

“They actually beat a creature that was nearly indestructible!” growled Mrs. Mann.

Dread realized that they were more clever than he anticipated. “Perhaps it's time for a new change of action.”

In the meantime he instructed Mr. Mann, still on Earth, to continue on his mission in Bellwood, and Mr. Mann reported that he had sighted another Tennyson; Gwen's mother Lili! She was on her way home from work when Mr. Mann and a gaggl of troopers surrounded her and forced her car off the road.

She tried to run away, but to no avail. Mr. Mann did exactly to her what he did to Ken, and digitized her, and soon he would take her to Dread's colony where she would join her son as prisoner.

“Ahh…!” Mr. Mann sighed heavily as he stretched out. “I enjoy this.” Sadly, he had no time to relax, he had other Tennyson's to capture. His count wished it so.