“Spend the summer with your grandfather, sweetie, it’ll be so much fun,” Gwen grumbled to herself as she soared through the sky, still firmly clutched in the giant parrot’s talons.
Down below, Dr.
Animo was using his prehistoric Tyrannosaurus rex to smash through everything in sight.
Grandpa Max pushed the Rust Bucket to its limits, arriving at the base of the high tower where Gwen was being held.
Ben glanced down at her fully recharged watch and slammed her palm onto the dial.
In a flash of green light, she transformed into Stinkfly.
Her appearance was difficult to describe – resembling a massive, four-eyed dragonfly.
Seeing that Gwen was about to slip from the bird’s grasp, Stinkfly shot into the air and caught her cousin just in time.
Held tightly in Stinkfly’s arms, Gwen automatically looked up and deadpanned, “A giant housefly?”
“It’s Stinkfly!” Ben corrected.
Their relief didn’t last long, as the giant mutant parrot spun around in mid-air and dove straight toward them.
Ben quickly banked upward to evade.
“Hang on!”
Fortunately, Ben’s flying skills were decent enough to keep them out of harm’s way.
“Watch the claws, you oversized parakeet!”
Riding on Stinkfly’s back, Gwen was nearing her absolute limit.
Dizzy and disoriented, she groaned, “I think I’m gonna barf.”
Ben immediately shot back, “I’m warning you, if you puke on me, I am dropping you!”
Luckily, Blake had anticipated this part of the script and had already scaled the inside of the tower.
He leaned out of a high window, waving his arms to signal Ben.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Max was still trudging up the endless flights of stairs, wheezing a complaint.
“Did the architects assume our ancestors didn’t know how to use an elevator?”
Spotting Blake waving from the window, Ben instantly caught on to the plan.
Executing a perfect 360-degree aerial flip, she tossed Gwen precisely toward the window opening.
Blake didn’t disappoint, catching Gwen smoothly as she came flying through.
(Whew…)
With Gwen safely out of danger, Ben turned her attention to the giant parrot, quickly grounding the mutant bird.
Grandpa Max finally made it up to the landing and shouted out the window, “Go stop Animo!
We’re okay here!”
Hearing his reassurance, Stinkfly buzzed away, speeding toward the Vertigo Award ceremony to put an end to Dr.
Animo’s rampage.
Back in the tower, Blake looked down at his own newly recharged watch.
Because he had transformed back to human form a bit later than Ben earlier, his watch had taken longer to reset.
If it hadn’t been for the delay, he wouldn’t have had to climb all these stairs just to pull off a rescue.
“I’m going to go help her.”
Grandpa Max nodded in agreement.
Blake pressed the button, popped up the dial, and quickly weighed his options.
His eyes settled on XLR8.
Transforming into Stinkfly might not get him there fast enough, and besides, Ben already had that form covered.
Without hesitation, Blake slammed down the faceplate.
Shifting into a streak of blue and black, XLR8 rocketed out of the tower at supersonic speed, tearing toward the convention center.
By the time Blake arrived, Ben had already reached the ceremony, where Dr.
Animo was proudly hoisting the Vertigo Award and shouting out his victory speech.
Suddenly interrupted by Stinkfly, the enraged T-rex whipped its massive tail around, aiming a devastating blow right at Ben.
Fortunately, Blake arrived in the nick of time, delivering a high-speed kick that deflected the dinosaur’s tail away from her.
The T-rex then snapped its jaws around an innocent bystander, preparing to swallow him whole.
In a flash, XLR8 delivered a swift, powerful kick to the side of the predator’s head, forcing its jaws open while Stinkfly swooped in to pull the man to safety.
“What on earth are you creatures?!” Dr.
Animo shrieked.
Before Ben could offer a heroic introduction, Blake swept in and kicked Dr.
Animo squarely off his feet.
The scientist crashed to the floor, shattering both his award and the transmodulator device into pieces.
As the T-rex and the rest of the mutated animals reverted back to their normal, harmless forms, Dr.
Animo stared at his ruined life’s work and let out a tragic, anguished cry.
“No!!”
The following morning, Dr.
Animo was securely locked in the back of a police cruiser, heading straight for prison, while Ben and the others watched the spectacle from a distance.
With the crisis officially resolved, the group piled back into the Rust Bucket to resume their summer road trip.
As Ben carefully tucked the salvaged core of the transmodulator into a storage box, Gwen looked over and offered a genuine smile.
“Thanks for saving me, Ben.”
Ben leaned back against the couch cushions, puffing out her chest proudly.
“Hey, it’s what we heroes do best, saving major dweebs.”
Gwen rolled her eyes, realizing she had spoken too soon, and quickly turned to Blake.
“And of course, thank you too, Blake.”
Blake waved his hand dismissively with a warm smile.
“Don’t mention it.
Glad I could help.”
Hearing his humble reply, Gwen shot a judgmental look at her arrogant cousin and sighed.
“See?
Look at him.
Why can’t you learn to be a little more like that?”
“I am learning, you mega-nerd!” Ben retorted, crossing her arms.
She turned her head away toward the window, her fingers gently tracing the glossy surface of the Gold Ultra-Rare Sumo Slammer card in her pocket.
A soft, content smile lit up her face, and she whispered in a voice so quiet no one else could hear:
“This really is the best reward ever…”
*(Preview of the Next Chapter: Ben Tennyson in a swimsuit?
The legend of the Loch Ness Monster?)*