Before long, the team split into two groups because of the Golden Ultra-Rare Sumo Slammer card.
Blake chose to tag along with Grandpa Max and Gwen toward the pet section.
After all, he knew Ben would be perfectly fine, she was just going to get sideswiped by a giant frog but his own dinner arrangements were definitely in jeopardy if they lingered.
Meanwhile, back at the card display, Ben was still completely absorbed in staring at the Golden Sumo Slammer card when the television screen in front of her suddenly flickered wildly.
Driven by curiosity, she stepped closer to examine it.
Suddenly, the wall behind the display began to vibrate violently.
Reacting on pure instinct, Ben dove for cover behind the glass showcase.
The brick wall shattered inward, revealing the mad scientist riding atop a colossal mutant frog.
The doctor leaped down from the amphibian’s back and immediately began tearing electronic components off the wall.
Seeing this, Ben stepped out from her hiding spot and shouted at Dr.
Animo, “Hey!
What kind of crazy stunt are you pulling?!”
But the moment the words left her mouth, the giant frog lashed out its massive tongue, knocking over a towering stack of crates right behind her.
The heavy boxes collapsed, burying Ben underneath.
Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously hurt and managed to quickly scramble her way out of the debris.
“Step aside, little girl.
Don’t try to play the hero,” Dr.
Animo sneered.
Ben glared at her wrist, where the watch face was still flashing a recharging red light.
“You’re lucky I can’t transform right now,” she muttered angrily.
Dr.
Animo completely ignored her, climbing back onto his giant frog and preparing to make his exit.
The mall security guards finally rushed onto the scene, completely frozen in shock as they stared at the monstrous amphibian.
Leaving Ben’s area behind, Dr.
Animo barreled into the pet section where Blake and the others were.
He pointed his strange transmodulator device at the small hamsters and parrots, triggering an instant, terrifying genetic mutation.
Within moments, Gwen and Grandpa Max found themselves cornered by Dr.
Animo’s “little” pets.
Well, everyone except Blake.
“Man, talk about a high-protein pet diet,” a voice buzzed from above.
Just as Dr.
Animo was about to launch into his grand villain monologue about resetting the world to a prehistoric era, a giant, winged alien bug swooped down through the rafters, cutting him off.
Dr.
Animo looked up at the bizarre creature, utterly bewildered.
“What kind of freak are you supposed to be, daring to stand in the way of the great Dr.
Animo?!”
“The kind that’s about to kick your butt!” Stinkfly chirped.
Down below, Gwen and Grandpa Max instantly recognized the sarcastic tone.
It was Blake.
The battlefield split immediately.
Blake flew in to keep Dr.
Animo occupied, leaving the giant mutant hamster to pursue Gwen and Grandpa Max.
Sprinting for her life, Gwen turned to Ben, who had just caught up and complained loudly, “If you hadn’t run off to look at those stupid cards, you could’ve turned into a hero and stopped us from becoming giant rat food!”
The trio kept running at full tilt to avoid the snapping jaws of the colossal rodent.
Up in the air, Blake kept a close eye on Ben’s group.
Even though he knew exactly how the original episode played out, he couldn’t help but worry that his presence might alter the timeline.
“Ben!” Blake called out.
Sensing his distraction, Dr.
Animo ordered his giant frog to lash its tongue out, taunting, “Still have time to worry about your little friends, do you?!”
Back on the ground, Ben spotted a motorized scooter parked near a display.
Her emerald eyes hardened with determination.
“I don’t need a watch to beat a giant rat.”
She hopped onto the scooter, grabbed a stray football from a nearby sports display, and hurled it forcefully right at the mutant hamster’s nose.
Having successfully drawn its anger, Ben pulled off a series of sharp, tactical maneuvers on the scooter, leading the creature into a trap and pinning it beneath two collapsing, heavy-duty display shelves.
Grandpa Max and Gwen caught up, letting out massive sighs of relief when they saw she was completely unharmed.
Meanwhile, Blake had managed to beat the giant frog into a full retreat.
Realizing he was losing the upper hand, Dr.
Animo decided it wasn’t worth lingering.
He scrambled onto his mutant parrot, threw out a parting threat, and took off through the skylight.
“Farewell, freaks!
Soon, I shall turn modern Washington into a prehistoric paradise!”
Blake wanted to pursue him, but the ominous flashing of his watch warned him that his time was up.
He quickly ducked into an empty aisle to revert back to normal.
With Dr.
Animo gone, the store manager approached the kids, his hands shaking with gratitude.
“You saved my megastore!
Please, name anything you want, it’s yours!”
Ben’s eyes instantly darted toward the display case holding the Sumo Slammer cards.
“Well, since you’re offering…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Grandpa Max scooped her up under his arm and began marching toward the exit.
“Grandpa!
Come on!” Ben protested, flailing her arms.
“I was a second away from getting the complete Golden Ultra-Rare set!”
“Save it, Ben,” Max said, quickening his pace.
“We have to track down that giant parrot before it causes a national panic.”
Ben could only hang her head in absolute defeat as she was carried away.
By the time Blake caught up and slipped inside the Rust Bucket, Ben was already slumped in the passenger seat, radiating pure misery.
Finally, she couldn’t bottle it up anymore.
“I practically broke my back stopping a giant hamster from eating a whole megastore!
And what do I get for it?
Absolutely nothing!
It’s so unfair.”
Grandpa Max kept his eyes on the road, offering a calm, seasoned perspective.
“A real hero doesn’t do good deeds for fame or rewards, Ben.
Knowing you did the right thing should be reward enough.”
Ben rolled her eyes.
“Did you read that off a grocery store greeting card?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
From the back seat, Gwen tapped away on her laptop, pulling up a file.
“I found something on Dr.
Animo.
Five years ago, he was a rising star in the field of veterinary science.
Turns out he was secretly conducting twisted genetic mutation experiments on animals.
When he was denied the prestigious Vertigo Award, he completely snapped.”
“Washington is a massive city,” Grandpa Max noted.
“Where exactly do we start looking for him?”
Blake, sitting in the back, exchanged a quick look with Ben.
In perfect unison, both of them blurted out: “The Museum of Natural History.”
Realizing they had answered at the exact same time, Blake chuckled.
“Great minds think alike.”
Normally, Blake wouldn’t be one for playful banter, but he had a specific reason to catch Ben’s attention right now.
He walked over to the passenger seat and knelt down beside her, his voice softening.
“Ben, I know you’re upset.
Your grandpa is right, a hero doesn’t strictly *need* a reward.”
Ben turned her head away, looking thoroughly dejected.
Even if she possessed a weapon of mass destruction on her wrist, at the end of the day, she was still just a twelve-year-old kid who wanted her favorite hobby recognized.
“But you still deserve one,” Blake added gently.
He reached behind his back and produced a pristine, glittering card – the exact Gold Ultra-Rare Sumo Slammer card Ben had been pinning after.
Ben turned her head back around, her nose practically brushing against the glossy surface of the card.
A wave of shock and pure joy crashed over her.
“This is…
the Gold Ultra-Rare card!
How did you even know this was the one I wanted?!”
She instinctively reached out to grab it, but her hand froze in mid-air, a sudden look of hesitation clouding her face.
Sensing her reservations, Blake offered a warm, reassuring smile.
“It’s yours, Ben.
Consider it your official reward.”
Hearing his confirmation, she carefully took the card from his fingers.
She stared down at the golden foil, completely speechless, her breath catching in her throat.
“I…
I never thought I’d actually hold one.”
Seeing the massive smile returning to her face, Blake stood up to head back to the lounge area.
“I’m just glad you like it.”
Ben finally snapped out of her daze.
Watching his retreating back, her face flushed a furious, vibrant crimson.
She opened her mouth, stammering over her words for several seconds.
“Th..Thank you…”
Her heart was hammering so loudly against her ribs that she was certain it drowned out her own voice.
Overcome with sudden shyness, she buried her face in her collar, wishing she could sink straight through the floorboards of the RV.
Gwen, watching from her laptop, smirked playfully.
“Hey, dweeb, are you whispering for the ants to hear, or what?”
Ben’s internal processor completely overheated.
She let out a series of quiet, unintelligible squeaks, utterly unable to form a coherent sentence.
Seeing her panic, Blake turned around from the back of the cabin and bailed her out.
“Don’t worry about it, Gwen.
I heard her loud and clear.”
In reality, Blake was bluffing.
If Gwen hadn’t pointed it out, he wouldn’t have known Ben had spoken at all.
Thinking Blake was simply returning to his seat, Ben suddenly bolted upright and scrambled down the aisle after him.
She stopped right behind him, causing Blake to turn around in confusion.
“Thank…
thank you so much…
for the gift…”
The usual loud, brash Ben was completely gone.
She stood there like a perfectly behaved, demure young lady, offering her gratitude in a soft, quiet murmur.
Seeing her go out of her way to thank him properly, Blake scratched his head, a bit mystified by the sudden change in attitude.
He leaned down slightly to meet her eye level.
“You’re very welcome, Ben.
You earned it.”
Because he had leaned down, Blake finally got a clear look at her face.
It was as red as a ripe apple, and there was a faint, glistening hint of emotional tears in the corners of her green eyes.
“Huh?
Ben, what’s wrong?
Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
Completely misreading the situation, Blake stared blankly at the deeply flustered girl, who was now trembling so much she could barely speak.
“I-I-I’m perfectly fine!” she squeaked.
“I’m going to take a nap!
Don’t wake me until we get there!”
With that, Ben practically dove past him, scrambling into her bunk and pulling the heavy blankets entirely over her head.
“Well, that was weird,” Blake muttered.
Once Ben was tucked away, Grandpa Max looked over at Blake through the rearview mirror.
“That was an excellent display of teamwork today, Blake.
Should I get a special reward ready for you too?”
Blake caught the glint in the old man’s eye and immediately raised his hands in a frantic wave.
“Uh…
if that reward involves your signature sheep-and-snail surprise, I think I’m going to have to pass, Grandpa Max.”
Max let out a hearty laugh.
“Fair enough, Blake.
But seriously, thank you for looking out for my granddaughters.
I really don’t know how to properly repay you.”
Blake had actually picked up a small gift for Gwen earlier too, a high-capacity flash drive since he wasn’t entirely sure what her current hobbies were in this timeline.
“If you really want to repay me, let’s just have a completely normal dinner tonight.”
Max smiled, deeply appreciating Blake’s maturity.
The boy was always calm, patient, and incredibly perceptive, an absolute natural when it came to handling kids.
“By the way, Blake, how did you know exactly which…
Sumo Slammer card Ben was looking for?” Max asked.
To be completely honest, Max felt a twinge of guilt realizing how much he had lacked in understanding his granddaughters’ interests lately, though he was trying his best to make up for it now.
“Oh, that?” Blake shrugged casually.
“I just noticed her eyes kept drifting toward that specific display case while you guys were talking.
I figured she really wanted it, so I went back and asked the manager for it.
The guy insisted on giving it to me for free.”
Blake had no idea that if he hadn’t intervened, Ben wouldn’t have managed to get her hands on a single card for the entire summer.
Up in the top bunk, Ben was pressed flat against the mattress, shamelessly eavesdropping.
Hearing Blake’s explanation, the blush that had just started to cool down erupted all over again.
The corners of her mouth tugged upward into a helpless smile, and deep within her heart, a quiet, irreversible shift began to take root.