Two Halfs, One Heart

Chapter 11- A Small Problem

We were now at a water park, ready for some fun. "Six stories of twists and turns," Ben said as the three of us gazed up at the ride. "Hurtling down a 200-foot plunge," Gwen continued. "At speeds of over 25 miles per hour," I added. "Then splash down in a churning 300,000-gallon wave pool..." "You've entered the Riptide Rapids Zone!" The three of us said together as we high-fived.

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The three of us ran to the ride. Gwen and I got through but someone stopped Ben. "You're too short," I heard an employee say. "What are you talking about?" Ben asked, confused. Then I saw a sign indicating the height required to get on the ride. But I'm almost..." Ben started to defend himself but was cut off when the employee spoke again. "Next," Gwen and I came up to him. I put my hand on Ben's shoulder. "Sorry. I heard the baby banana boats are fun for the smaller set," Gwen said before taking my hand and leading me away.

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Gwen and I got ready to go when I felt something on my lap. I looked down and it was Ben as Grey Matter. "Hey! My princess and I'll race you to the bottom," Ben said to Gwen. "Now, that rocked, princess," He said to me. Then I heard Ben scream as Gwen was coming toward him. So he dived under water. "Grandpa's not going to like you going alien just to sneak on a ride," Gwen said and I nodded in agreement.

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"That's why I'm not going to tell him. In a few minutes, I'll be back to normal... and he'll never know, will he?" Ben said as he stared Gwen and I down. "We got to towel off. Or in your case, napkin off," She said as we got out of the water to get towels. "Paige! Paige!" I heard Ben yell for me. When I went to see what was wrong, I saw a man holding him. "Let him go!" I said. I could feel my magic pulsing with anger. I wanted so badly to destroy this guy.

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The man didn't listen and Gwen and I ran to get him. I saw him put Ben in a lunch pale and I ran even faster. I saw Max coming. "Grandpa, the guy's got Grey Matter," Gwen said. He threw the three ice cream cones he was holding and ran to get his grandson. "I keep forgetting I'm not as young as I used to be. Go," Max said. Gwen and I ran to get the man. When we caught up with him, he was driving off.

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I could feel tears in my eyes. "No!" I screamed. Gwen put her hands on my shoulders in comfort. "It's going to be OK, Paige. We'll find Ben," I nodded, "I won't be OK until we do," I thought. "Don't worry, we'll find him. Somehow," Max said. We got back in the Rust Bucket and raced off to rescue Ben. "OK, so if he's Grey Matter now...he'll just turn back into Ben... then go Four Arms or something and escape," Gwen said.

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"But if you and Paige said he went alien when he did... Ben should have changed back before he was taken," Max told us. "Which means maybe something's wrong with the watch. Well, at least as Grey Matter he's smart, Gwen said. "This is all my fault. If I had just grabbed Ben before getting out of the water, this wouldn't have happened. How could I be so stupid?" I said, beating myself up for this.

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"Paige, you can't blame yourself for this. None of us knew this was going to happen. It's not your fault," Gwen said, trying to comfort me. I nodded, although I still didn't believe her. Suddenly, Gwen's phone started to ring. "Hello?" She answered. "Gwen, it's me," I heard Ben's on the other end. "Thank you, Arceus; he's safe," I thought, taking a huge sigh of relief. "Ben, you're still Grey Matter? "Yeah. The watch still won't work," Ben said, confused as to way. "Where are you?" Gwen asked. "Benji, are you ok?" I asked, concerned about my boyfriend.