As Ben, Evan, and Max stepped back into the Rust Bucket, the door creaking shut behind them, the three of them slowed almost immediately. Sitting on the couch was Gwen, still in her Lucky Girl outfit, arms crossed tightly and her face locked in a deep pout that made it very clear she was not in the mood.
Ben blinked, taking a second to process the whole scene before tilting his head. "Uh… don't you think it's a bit early for Halloween?"
The pillow hit him square in the face before he could even react.
"Shut it!" Gwen snapped, turning away from him and folding her arms even tighter, like she was daring anyone else to say something.
Ben pulled the pillow off his face, muttering under his breath as he tossed it aside, while Max stepped forward, more concerned than amused.
"Gwen, what's wrong?" Max asked, his tone softer now.
Gwen didn't answer right away. Instead, she lifted her arm and held it up so they could all clearly see the blue and gold bracer wrapped around her wrist, the red and black keystone set into it glowing faintly.
"It looks like it's one of the Charms of Bezel," Gwen said, her voice steadier now, though there was still a bit of frustration lingering in it.
Ben frowned. "That's impossible. The last charm we saw got absorbed into Evan's Omnitrix."
"Yeah," Gwen replied, nodding slightly as she turned her head toward Evan, who was sitting a little off to the side, half-floating in the air like he usually did when he didn't feel like standing. "But this one's different. This is the Keystone. The lost one. The one that's supposed to boost magic way beyond normal limits."
She looked back at the bracer for a moment, her fingers lightly brushing over the gem.
"It's not just a charm. It's the centerpiece."
Max stepped closer, studying it carefully, his expression shifting into something more serious as he connected the dots. "If that really is the Keystone of Bezel, then the stories weren't exaggerating. That kind of amplification… it could make even basic magic dangerously powerful."
Gwen smirked a little at that, clearly pleased despite everything. "So, yeah. Turns out it's not just some cheap convention prop."
Ben leaned in slightly, squinting at it like he expected it to do something else. "Man… you are so lucky."
"It's not luck," Gwen said immediately, lifting her chin just a bit. "It's magic."
She held the pose for a second longer than necessary, clearly enjoying the moment, before her eyes shifted toward Evan again.
Her expression sharpened just slightly as she angled the bracer away from him.
"And don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
Evan clicked his tongue quietly, not even bothering to deny it. His gaze lingered on the Keystone for a moment longer, analytical rather than impressed, before he leaned back a bit in the air.
"If I wanted it, I'd have taken it already," he said flatly.
Gwen narrowed her eyes, not fully convinced, but she didn't push it further.
Max, however, didn't miss the exchange. His gaze moved between the two of them, thoughtful, a bit concerned, but he chose his words carefully.
"Evan, I know your reason for wanting more power is to protect everyone is good and all. But try not to let that desire for power become the drive that makes you forget your reason for fighting."
...
The group watched the magic show at the Expo, clapping along with the crowd as one stage act after another tried to impress them. There were colorful props, flashy smoke effects, and all the usual tricks that were supposed to look amazing, but Gwen still sat there with a tired, unimpressed expression, like none of it was doing anything for her.
"And remember," the emcee announced as he walked out onto the stage, "the Magician of the Year will be crowned in just a few hours during the solar eclipse. Now, please welcome our next contestant, the Amazing Alan!"
A burst of white smoke rose from the stage trapdoor, and out came another wannabe magician with unnecessarily long hair and a dramatic expression. He was pushing a locked box across the stage with a fake sense of mystery, like he expected everyone to be blown away already.
"For my first trick," the Amazing Alan said in an obviously fake German accent, "I will need a volunteer."
That was when Evan glanced around and realized something was off.
"Hey," he said, looking around the seats, "where'd Ben go?"
Before anyone could answer, Ben suddenly appeared onstage with both arms spread wide.
"Ben Tennyson, at your service!"
The Amazing Alan nearly jumped out of his shoes. "Hey! Where did you come from?"
Max shook his head. "What is he up to now?"
"Five hundred bucks says he turned into an alien," Evan muttered.
Max gave him a quick sideways look, but he did not bother replying to that.
The Amazing Alan cleared his throat and tried to keep his act together. "And now… the boy goes in."
He motioned toward the box and somehow managed to guide Ben into it, still trying to sound theatrical despite clearly being thrown off. "But what comes out will amaze and surprise you."
"They won't be the only ones," Ben muttered with a grin that already told everyone exactly what he was planning.
The box rattled for a second, and then Ben shouted, "Abra kadabra!"
A green glow flashed from inside the box, and a moment later the lid burst open as Wildmutt leaped out and landed on the stage with a heavy thud.
The crowd exploded into cheers and whistles, loving the trick even more now that it had actually turned into something interesting.
Evan, Max, and Gwen, however, stood there with the same expression of mild disappointment.
Then the glass roof above them suddenly melted.
A red cloud of smoke shot down from the ceiling and burst across the stage, blasting Wildmutt and the Amazing Alan backward as Hex and Charmcaster emerged through the haze, glaring down at everyone.
"Hex!" Gwen screamed.
The Amazing Alan looked completely lost. "Hey, wait your turn, pal! You're ruining my act!"
Hex did not even look at him for long. "I have no time for amateurs."
With one sharp motion, he used his magic to lift the Amazing Alan off his feet and throw him straight into Wildmutt, sending both of them crashing off the stage in a heap.
Then Hex stepped forward and raised his staff.
"Give me the Keystone of Bezel!"
No one answered him.
That only made him angrier.
"If magic is what you want, then magic is what you shall have!"
He slammed his staff down, and several explosions erupted across the floor around the crowd. People screamed and scattered in every direction as the Expo turned into pure chaos.
"Hand over the charm," Hex shouted, his voice echoing over the panic, "or I will destroy you all!"
Max moved in closer to Gwen, his expression hardening as he looked toward the stage. "Hex is up to his old tricks again."
He started to glance around for Evan, only to notice that the boy had vanished from beside him only seconds ago.
Evan had already pulled off the Gold Family Secret Technique and disappeared before anyone had even noticed.
Gwen's eyes narrowed. She knew exactly what that meant.
"This looks like a job for Lucky Girl," she said, already running off toward the Rust Bucket to change again.
From the huge cloud of smoke left behind by Hex's spell, a golden flash suddenly burst through the haze, and a figure stepped out with complete confidence.
"Yo, long time no see," Fasttrack said, landing right in front of Hex and Charmcaster with his hands on his hips. "Do you miss me?"
"You…" Hex growled, his voice sharp with venom.
"Aw, you learned how to growl like a little puppy," Fasttrack taunted. "How cute."
That only made Hex glare harder, his eye twitching in clear irritation, while Charmcaster had to bite back a laugh at the insult.
After a moment, Hex forced himself to calm down, though the look on his face was still dangerously cold.
"I am not here for you," he said flatly, stepping aside and motioning toward Charmcaster. "She is your opponent."
Charmcaster immediately opened her charm bag and flung a handful of metal rings at him. Fasttrack simply shifted to the side, letting every single one pass him by without even slowing down.
Then he lunged forward.
Before Charmcaster could react, he grabbed her by the neck and drove her down onto the ground hard enough to knock the wind right out of her.
Hex saw the opening and raised his staff.
A powerful magical blast erupted toward them.
Charmcaster's eyes widened as she felt the magic coming in fast. She started pushing at Fasttrack in a panic, realizing that even if he was on top of her, she would still be caught in the blast with him.
Fasttrack just narrowed his golden eyes and stayed where he was.
The spell hit him full force.
But instead of exploding, or even harming him at all, the blast folded back in on itself and got absorbed straight into the golden Omnitrix dial on his chest.
Hex and Charmcaster both froze in shock.
Neither of them had expected that.
"What's the matter?" Fasttrack asked with a grin. "Surprise?"
This was one of the effects of his upgrade, [Eldritch Core]. It not only made him resistant to magic and mana, but also let him absorb it and convert it into usable energy.
That was part of the reason he had even come to this magic convention in the first place. He had been hoping the sheer amount of magical energy around him would give [Eldritch Core] something to lock onto, so he could take it in and add it to his upgrade.
While Hex and Charmcaster were still recovering from the shock, Wildmutt ran in and slammed into Hex, tackling him hard before starting to gnaw at his staff.
"Get... o...off... me," Charmcaster choked, still trying to shove Fasttrack away from her.
She reached into her charm bag again and pulled out a small totem, then shoved it toward his stomach.
It hit him cleanly.
But the moment it made contact, the mana inside it drained away just like the blast had.
Still, the impact was enough to push him back and make him loosen his grip, giving Charmcaster a chance to wrench free.
She shoved herself up, coughing as she clutched her throat.
"Charmcaster! Do something!" Hex shouted.
"Yes, uncle!" she snapped back, quickly reaching into her bag and pulling out a glowing purple orb. She hurled it at Wildmutt, and it exploded on impact, sending him flying off to the side.
Hex pushed himself back up and pointed his staff toward them again.
"Vinctum Aeternus!"
Purple chains burst from the ground and shot forward, wrapping around Charmcaster's wrists.
"Huh!?" Charmcaster shouted.
"Heh!?" Fasttrack echoed at the same time.
Both of them stared in disbelief, and for one brief moment they seemed to share the exact same thought: Hex had gotten so old he could no longer tell who he was attacking.
Hex ignored that entirely.
A smug smile crossed his face as he lifted his staff and chanted again.
"Attraho Nex-Unitas!"
Charmcaster's eyes widened as the spell took hold.
Her body was suddenly forced against Fasttrack's, the magical pull yanking them together and locking them in place. It was not just a simple grab either. The force of the spell pinned them together with enough strength to keep them from separating easily.
"Uncle! What is the meaning of this! Why are you doing this!?" Charmcaster shouted, struggling against the spell as she ended up pressed on top of him.
Hex only looked more pleased with himself, as he ignored his niece, eyes locking onto Fasttrack.
"Although I do not know how you developed such an interesting anti-magic ability, that trick of yours is useless against a master magician like me."
He held up his staff, speaking as if he had already won. "You only resist mana, not something physical."
He had figured out the weakness in Fasttrack's upgrade quickly. [Eldritch Core] could drain and resist magical energy, but it did not stop physical force. So Hex used the closest thing to Fasttrack, something which he couldn't easily break through. He turns Charmcaster herself into a living restraint by a binding spell.
"Dude," Fasttrack muttered, trying to push Charmcaster off him, "you are seriously messed up for using your own niece like this."
But it was no use.
The spell kept pulling them together with a strong gravitational force, her body pressing onto him, pressing tight to him. Because of the awkward position they were in, with their arms and legs tangled enough to make standing nearly impossible, making it hard for him to move, let alone get back into the fight.
If not for his immunity to magic, he might have been completely stuck hugging each other right there.
Hex kept his expression cold.
"It does not matter," he said. "She served her purpose."
He raised his staff once more, and several smaller explosions erupted around them, tearing up the floor and sending both of them tumbling down with the collapsing ground beneath them.
Then, just as the dust began to settle, Hex was suddenly kicked hard to the side.
Lucky Girl had returned. She landed in a crouch, then straightened up and glared at him as her bracelet flashed with a faint glow.
"You really are disgusting," she snapped. "Using your own people like that."
Hex stared at her for a second, then looked from her to the Keystone and back again.
"The Keystone and Lucky Girl?" he said, sounding amused now. Then he gave a low chuckle. "How convenient."
Without Evan in the picture, Hex did not have much, if any, trouble against Ben and Gwen. He could tell they were already at a disadvantage, and he was using that to his full advantage.
Gwen, even with her magic boosted tenfold, still had no real resistance to Hex's spells, and she was not fast enough to dodge everything he threw at her. Ben, meanwhile, knew XLR8 could probably help them close the gap, but unlike Evan, he could not shift between forms whenever he wanted. He also could not use his Omnitrix the same way Evan's Another Omnitrix seemed to work.
Right now, the Tennysons were running through the botanical gardens and the hedge maze, trying to keep moving while Hex kept pressing them from above and behind.
"Where is Evan?" Max asked as they hurried through the maze.
That was when a burst of magic sent them floating upward nearby, and Hex fired more magical blasts down at them, forcing all three of them to dive for cover again.
They kept moving, pushing through the garden paths until they reached the swimming pool area, only for Hex to descend from the sky and land in front of them, cutting off their escape route.
Ben stopped and looked down at his Omnitrix.
"The watch is still in the red," he said. "We'll have to wait."
"We can't wait!" Lucky Girl snapped, clearly not in the mood to listen.
She leaped forward anyway, but Hex's eyes flashed yellow and the three of them were suddenly held in place by his telekinesis.
"Give me the Keystone!" Hex shouted.
He reached out and grabbed Gwen's arm, then ripped the Keystone of Bezel from her bracelet.
Hex held the Keystone in his hand and let out a dark, satisfied chuckle. His head lifted slightly as if he had already won.
"Now then…" he said. "To make sure you will never get in my way again."
He turned toward the levitating trio and raised his staff, charging another magical blast.
Lucky Girl's expression shifted. For a second, she looked like she knew exactly how bad this had gotten, and without Evan's around to save them this time.
Her head lowered slightly, and when she spoke, her voice was quiet enough that only Max and Ben really caught it.
"I'm sorry."
The blast flew toward them.
Then a slender figure in black stepped forward and took the attack head-on.
The magic struck, folded back in on itself, and vanished as it was absorbed. Long silver hair swept behind them from the force, and everyone there widened their eyes in disbelief.
"Charmcaster!?" they all shouted at once.
Hex's face twisted in confusion and anger. "How!? How did you escape!?"
He could still feel his spell active, and yet here she stood before him, without any sign of Fasttrack. This caused Hex to tense up, his gaze moving left to right as he tried to locate Fasttrack.
Ben blinked, focusing on the changes.
"Grandpa, I think that is..."
Charmcaster's outfit had changed. It was now mostly black, with purple and magenta patterns running through it and golden markings along the edges. A white, sharp, tooth-like pattern spread upward from her high collar. The golden Omnitrix dial rested on the left side of her chest, and sharp golden eyes had formed beneath her own.
"Noir," Max finished quietly.
Realizing that, Evan had turned into Noir, and he had bonded with Charmcaster.