Ben 10 Omniverse - Believe

Chapter 5- Off the Rails

The night wasn't too good for Ben as he tossed in his bed, troubled by the extremes Gwen was going to to break him and Hope. A fresh new nightmare visited his subconscious, attacking yet another one of his dreams of him and Hope spending time together and transforming it into a dark and horrible experience. He and Hope had just been to the Bellwood Public Swimming Pool as a way of keeping themselves cool on an excruciatingly hot summer's day and were then on their way to the café across the road from it when Gwen showed up in Anodite form.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Gwen," he had told her. "Can you give it a rest?"

Her blank white alien eyes gave him no answer. Instead she turned to Hope as if Ben had not spoken to her at all.

"Release him," she spoke in a cold and demanding voice.

Hope frowned at her and crossed her arms. "Stop ignoring it," she said. "We're in love."

"How about you stop it with your lies! Set him free!" Gwen growled.

"He is free, Gwen."

Gwen's jaws set together in a furious clench. Her Anodite powers began to rise, levelling gradually up to their maximum. Hope sensed the threat coming from her and readied her magic to defend herself. Ben, seeing what was about to commence, moved forward.

"Gwen, stop. Just stop," he pleaded with her.

This time Gwen turned the wrath in her eyes on him. He flinched as he felt the solemn unbreakable dedication she was putting into her next action.

"No, Ben," she replied. "If she won't set you free, there is only one thing to do to save you."

Before he could do anything more to stop her, Gwen tapped into her powers and threw a wave of energy at Hope. Hope reacted in turn, building up a shield to protect herself and brought it back down to cast two energy discs at Gwen's head. Gwen's glowing violet-white hair snapped at the discs, breaking the both of them in half and causing them to vanish. Hope followed up on her attack by creating a whip of mana in her right hand and swinging it towards Gwen's left leg. Gwen caught it on her arm and, using her right hand, sent pink lightning zapping up the length of the whip. The lightning traversed into Hope's hand, burning the skin of her palm.

Seeing her hurt drove Ben into action. Activating the Omnitrix and setting it to Jetray, he threw his hand down on the plunger and to his satisfaction became the red stingray-like alien. He jumped into the air, grabbing Gwen by the shoulders with his clawed feet and lifted her up off the ground.

"Ben, put me down!" Gwen ordered him angrily as the coil of Hope's whip dissipated from her arm.

"Until you see the truth for what it is, I am not going to!" he barked back at her.

Gwen went silent; too silent for Ben's liking. He glanced down at her. Her round white eyes stared into his. Now they were revealing a reaction to him. They were wide with disbelief.

"You're - - - you're choosing her? Over me?" she gaped incredulously.

"I don't want to," he spoke truthfully. "I'd like it if you two got along just like you expected me and Kevin to when the three of us became a team."

"Me? And Charmcaster? Get along?" Gwen said distastefully. "You're out of your mind."

The hardness in Ben's eyes softened. "Why can't you see it, Gwen? Why is it so hard for you to understand?" he asked with a hint of sadness in his voice.