Author's Notes: Guys! I am SO sorry this has taken so long. School has definitely been taking up all my time lately. I'm enrolled in a bunch of hard classes this year and my time has just been eaten up. I'm happy to present the conclusion of this story to you, and I promise I'll update Whole New World as soon as I can. Really, you guys rock for sticking it out with me. My schedule has been insane, but I want to make more time for writing!

Tell me what you think of the ending! :) Thanks again!

“Do you see anything?!”

“Not really – it’s too dark.”

“Hey! Look!” Kevin drew Jetray’s attention over to a trail of broken down trees that led towards what seemed to be an abandoned building in the far distance. “I bet you three month’s gas money that those giant freaky salamanders came from over there!”

“It makes sense,” Jetray agreed, flying off in that direction. As the two followed the path of broken trees, the building became clearer. “Looks like an abandoned factory…”

Jetray flew the two of them down and set Kevin gently on the ground before descending himself and transforming back into Ben. The two stared up at the cold, stony building, chilled just by its abandoned appearance. “Looks pretty deserted,” Ben remarked.

“You think?” Kevin asked, walking over to the other side of the building. Ben followed him and his jaw dropped as he saw a very new looking huge metal door on one old stony wall. “Now what would you need a door that big for?”

“This must be where the Salamanders are being kept!” Ben reasoned. “It makes sense – the path comes from here, and that door is huge enough to let those monsters out for sure.” Ben stared at the huge metal wall. “Now we just have to find our way in—Kevin!”

Kevin, never cautious, had already run up to the door, absorbed the thick steel, and had forcibly ripped the door aside with brute strength. Ben, flabbergasted, could only call after Kevin as he ran into the factory blindly. “Kevin, wait!”

“Where are you?!” Kevin shouted, looking around the dimly lit factory. He could barely make out his surroundings. “If anyone’s in here, come on out! I got some questions for you!” To illustrate what he meant by “questions”, Kevin slammed his two fists together, creating a resonating sound that echoed throughout the building.

“Kevin!” Kevin turned to see Ben wandering in after him, whispering. “Keep it down! Discretion is the better part of valor—“

“Rrrrr…”

Ben was interrupted by a distinct growling sound coming from the echoing darkness. Kevin and Ben immediately snapped to attention, looking around for whatever had made the sound. “You hear that?” Kevin asked, and Ben nodded. “Who’s there?!” he shouted, and his voice echoed throughout the building, resonating back at the both of them.

“RAAAARRR!!”

The boys heard a clicking sound that reminded them of a door opening, and a huge roar filled their ears. They turned their heads frantically looking for whatever was growling, but before they knew what was going on, Kevin had been tackled to the ground.

“Get off me!” he screamed as the monster growled and tried to drive its claws into his neck. He could barely see what was attacking him, let alone fight back. The monster scratched and bit at him uncontrollably, trying to break through his steel shell. Overpowering it, Kevin pushed the monster off him, throwing it against a wall. It fell down to the ground and whimpered for a bit, trying to get back up.

“What is that thing?” Kevin asked as they both tried to see through the darkness. “Not another Salamander, that’s for sure.”

“I don’t know—“ Ben began, but was once again cut off. Bright lights, unnatural for the factory, were suddenly turned on, blinding both Kevin and Ben. They covered their eyes and tried to adjust to the brightness, slowly blinking open their eyes. “Wait a second…”

Kevin and Ben focused their vision and looked towards the monster that had attacked them. Both of their eyes widened as the monster rose to its feet, pulling its long red hair out of its face. There was no doubt – the ripped blue sweater and black skirt, along with nearly destroyed nylons and long red hair – she was deformed, she was violent, she wasn’t herself, but she was definitely—

“Gwen!” Kevin shouted, terrified. He ran towards her, “Gwen, I’m so sorry! What happened to—“ But Gwen obviously didn’t want Kevin’s concern, as she simply lashed out at him again with her huge claws, trying to gut him. “Gwen! What’s wrong with her?!”

“Something’s transformed her into that!” Ben shouted, fiddling with the Omnitrix.

“Not something,” a young woman’s voice echoed through the vast factory, and Ben redirected his attention to where the voice was coming from. Even though Kevin was trying to escape Gwen, he too caught a glimpse of the young frizzy haired girl and the lumbering blond boy at the top of a tall control tower, “Someone transformed her into that! Me!”

“Who are you?!” Ben shouted.

“You don’t know me?” the girl laughed cruelly, “That’s funny, because I know everything about you, Ben Tennyson!” She clenched her fists and stared down at Ben, an angry glare in her eye. “You ruined my Uncle, the great Dr. Animo!”

“Your uncle?!” Ben asked, his eyebrows raising. “So you were the ones making those Salamanders!”

“Uncle taught me everything about his research!” the girl said, “I’m his heir, Chondria Animo, destined to carry on Dr. Animo’s greatness!”

“Your Uncle’s insane, and so are you!” Ben retaliated, fiddling with the Omnitrix again. “And since you know everything about me, you know what’s going to happen if you don’t change my cousin back right now!”

“Use your pathetic Ominitrix!” Chondria laughed. “It’ll be no match for the brains of Dr. Animo and his heir!”

“It was a match for him before!” Ben snarled as he looked around at the piles and piles of machines that Chondria had built developing her monsters. “And I now the perfect alien to dismantle your whole factory from the inside out!”

Ben turned the dial of the Omnitrix one more time until it rested on his gooiest alien, Goop. Slamming the plate down, Ben felt his muscles and bones start to proverbially melt. His brain seemed to separate from his body as his consciousness was transferred to Goop’s tiny control device.

“Mito!” Chondria turned to her brother, and Mito nodded. Without any warning, he jumped off the high control tower, and Goop gasped and dove forward to save Mito.

But Mito needed no such saving. Just as he had done earlier that night, Mito began to transform into his monstrous other form, wings bursting from his back, arms and hands growing ripped with muscle. Goop moved out of Mito’s way as he flew down and made a swipe at the jelly alien. His claws sailed right through Goop, but he continued his assault, keeping Goop busy.

Kevin was busy himself trying to fend off Gwen without hurting her. Gwen wanted nothing more than to mercilessly kill Kevin with her bare hands, and Kevin knew he couldn’t fight back even if he had the strength to. “Gwen! Snap out of it!” he shouted, blocking along slice with his steel arms, which were becoming more and more scratched with every swipe. “GWEN!”

“She can’t hear you!” Chondria laughed cruelly, and Kevin blocked Gwen long enough to look up at Chondria will disgust. “She doesn’t even recognize you! I’ve completely altered her brain!”

“Turn her back now, or I’ll kill you!” he screamed. “I swear to God, I’ll kill you!”

“You’re not in a position to be making threats,” Chondria smirked. “Then again, you could probably beat Gwenny to a pulp and come after me. But she’s not going to stop until one of you is dead.”

“You little—“ Kevin began, but was cut off by a hard punch to the face that sent him slamming into a nearby wall. His steel coating stayed on rather well, but he still felt the pain of the slam. He turned back towards Gwen, but she was already on him, attempting to dig her sharp teeth into his arm. He screamed as her teeth pierced the steel and subsequently his skin, and, as a reflex, punched her back, knocking her off his arm and to the ground. “Gwen! Are you okay? I’m sorry, I—“

“I told you!” Chondria laughed once more, “She’s long gone! Might as well treat her like what she is,” she looked down at Kevin with an awful, dark, sinister glare. “A monster.”

“YOU’RE THE MONSTER!” Kevin screamed, grabbing onto the base of the control tower and shaking it violently. Chondria gasped and grabbed onto her control panel for support as Kevin attempted to rip the tower apart. But he didn’t get to finish his attack – Gwen had slashed his back and he felt her claw tips rip through the steel shield.

Meanwhile, as Kevin and Gwen grappled, Goop was having his own trouble with Mito. Even though he could simply goop his way through Mito’s hard punches and kicks, he wasn’t able to get around the behemoth either. Goop kept its control satellite far above Mito’s head, for fear of it being destroyed, but that also restricted Goop’s mobility.

“Who are you anyway?!” Goop’s high pitched voice asked, letting Mito slash through his goo once again.

Mito was obviously not interested in conversation as he slashed over and over through the goo with no affect. He began to grow frustrated and grabbed Goop’s goo and smashed it between his fingers. But the tiny control center simply picked up the goo and reassembled the gooey alien.

“Mito is one of our Uncle’s first great creations!” Chondria yelled down to Goop, whose control center moved to look up at her. “My brother had the honor of being one of Dr. Animo’s first human guinea pigs!”

“Your brother?” Goop asked. “That’s sick! He turned him into this monster!”

“Mito’s pretty dumb and isn’t good for much else than fighting,” Chondria crossed her arms. “So this form suits him well. Takes advantage of his brawn.”

“Mito, are you listening to her?” Goop asked, gathering up the goo of his form and levitating it above the angry Mito’s head. “She doesn’t care about you at all! Why are you fighting like this?!”

“She’s my sister!” Mito growled out the words, his diction slurred by his abnormal mouth. “I have to look out for her!”

“She’s just using you!”

“Get the flying machine, Mito,” Chondria called down to her brother, and Goop realized he was in trouble. “That’s what’s really controlling it!”

Goop’s eyes widened as Mito’s huge, blood-shot eyes turned towards the control satellite. He reached for it, and Goop had to fly away quickly to avoid the huge fingers threatening to crush him.

“Sorry!” Goop’s eyes frowned at Mito as he came charging at him, “But I’ve gotta get past you!”

Goop’s satellite charged forward, dragging Goop’s body along with it. Mito reached up to grab the satellite, but his fingers nearly missed, and Goop instead wrapped around Mito’s body, encasing his torso in the slimy substance and threatening to crush him as it pulled tighter and tighter. Mito screamed, his wings bending until the stress of Goop’s crushing hold. Mito spat, trying to scream but lacking air.

“Give up!” Goop shouted up to Chondria, who looked on with mild interest. “Fix Gwen or I’ll crush him!”

“Do what you like,” Chondria muttered, and Goop’s eyes widened. He slackened a bit on Mito, which turned out to be a mistake.

The mutant tore away at Goop, breaking free of his hold with his monstrous strength. Trying hard to piece himself back together, Goop was strewn across the factory, his satellite buzzing around trying to collect the pieces.

But Mito was too quick – with lightning reflexes, he grabbed the satellite and tried to crush it. Only a small bit of Goop had been collected and was currently crawling on the ground, barely able to move. “Why are you doing this?!” he squeaked out as Mito continued to try to crush the satellite. It was made of an extremely hard material, and even Mito’s muscles were having a difficult time breaking the device. “She doesn’t care about you! She’s using you!”

“Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-She’s my b-b-b-b-big s-ssssiiissterrr!!” Mito spat out, his words slurring, his language choppy. It was obvious he had trouble speaking in this form. But Goop could understand him well enough, and could read the desperate expression on Mito’s mutated face. “I-I-I have to h-hel-hel-help h-h-h-her!”

“No, you don’t!” Goop insisted. “Why should you help her when all she does is treat you like you’re nothing?!”

“Ch-Ch-Chondria is sm-sm-smarter than m-m-me…” Mito breathed, his wings seeming to crumple with every word. “Sh-Sh-She’s right…I-I-I’m just…a d-d-dumb br-brute…”

“No! She’s not!” Goop insisted. “You don’t have to fight! And you’re not dumb!”

Mito looked over at the tiny Goop on the ground, and suddenly, the device in his hands erupted into a bright green and black light. He shielded his eyes, and the next thing he knew, Ben was standing in front of him where the tiny Goop had been. He had transformed back.

“You don’t have to fight me,” Ben assured Mito. “Even if you love your sister, helping her do the wrong thing isn’t what’s best.”

Mito frowned, and slowly, Ben saw his wings begin to grow smaller, his muscles loosen up, his eyes returning to a normal color. He was changing back, much to Chondria’s dismay. “What are you doing Mito?! You had him right where you wanted him!”

“Look!” Ben told Mito, trying not to lose him to Chondria’s shouting. “That’s my cousin over there!” he pointed to Gwen, “And I love her a lot! But I’m going to have to fight her to change her back!”

“Chondria—“

“Is a lot like Gwen,” Ben reasoned. “A monster.”

“She’s not a--!” Mito began, but Ben cut him off.

“No, she’s not a monster, is she? You know a better side of her, deep down,” Ben told him, and Mito looked at his shoes. “But she’s lost that – you’ve got to help her find it again! That’s your job as a brother! Not to mindlessly follow her!”

“Mito! Don’t listen to him!” Chondria screamed. “He’s the one who put Uncle in jail! He’s just trying to fool you!”

Mito looked up at Chondria, then back at Ben. “Uncle Aloysius…was a monster.”

“I know,” Ben said sadly as he looked at the younger boy.

“But Chondria isn’t that bad…” Mito murmured. “She always called me dumb and stuff…but…but she wasn’t like this…not until Uncle got thrown away in prison.”

“Don’t let her become like your Uncle,” Ben said firmly. “Stop her while she can still be stopped.”

“I-I can’t…” Mito murmured.

“Then let me,” Ben suggested, placing a hand on Mito’s shoulder. Mito looked at Ben, then back up to his seething sister. Finally, he turned around to the brunette boy and nodded. Ben gave Mito another pat on the shoulder and ran to the scaffolding of the control tower, fiddling with his Omnitrix.

“Don’t move another muscle, Tennyson!” Chondria snapped, grabbing a device from her control desk. It looked like a detonator, and Ben froze up, staring at her. “Don’t look so worried, idiot! I didn’t put a bomb in here!” she laughed. “This is the detonator for the device in Gwen! It’ll diffuse it and she’ll go back to normal!”

“Let me guess,” Ben muttered. “If I try anything, you’ll destroy it?”

“Bingo!” Chondria cackled. “And Gwenny will be stuck like that! So make your choice Tennyson! Option A: Try to attack me and have Gwen stuck as a monster forever or Option B: Let yourself get offed by your dear cousin and I’ll consider my revenge complete. I’ll free her.”

Ben looked up at Chondria, a dark glare in his green eyes. She stared back down at him, feeling quite pleased with herself.

Meanwhile, as Ben and Chondria stared each other down, Kevin was still struggling with Gwen, trying not to become her dinner.

Gwen sliced at Kevin, but he grabbed her arm. She retaliated by trying to punch him with her other fist, but he caught that one too and stared at her, trying to do whatever he could to reach her. “Gwen! I know you’re in there! It’s me – it’s Kevin!”

“GARRRRHH!!” she screamed, golden spray flying from her mouth.

“Yeah, I know you’re not too happy with me right now,” he said, blushing a bit. “And you have every right – believe me!” Her teeth gnashed, trying hard to reach him. “But I didn’t mean to kiss that girl! She just attacked me, I swear!”

Gwen’s eyes seemed to glow even brighter, and she rose up one of her legs to kick Kevin straight in the gut. He flew backwards, skidding across the floor, before Gwen jumped on him. He had to react fast, grabbing her arms again, trying to hold her back. “Gwen! Listen to me! I wouldn’t do that to you!”

She rolled the two of them over and, using her muscular legs again, kicked Kevin into the air, this time slamming him against a beam in the scaffolding. He came down, head hurting, steel coating wearing away. “Gwen!” he screamed as she came at him again. He wasted no time in absorbing more steel to protect him from her, but her onslaught of punches and kicks continued. He was tossed around the factory like a rag-doll, unable to fight back.

“Gwen…” he murmured, lifting himself up once more as Gwen charged at him. His steel shell was nicked and dented, but what more could he do? Nothing he could say was getting through to her.

Strangely enough, in that moment, as Kevin saw Gwen’s monstrous form growling at him, ready to slice his head off, all he could think of was his conversation with Ben only an hour or so ago.

“You’re still scared,” Ben said. “You put on a big, tough-guy image because you’re afraid of letting anyone, especially Gwen, get close. Because if they get close enough, they’ll see everything you don’t want them to.” Ben frowned at his friend. “You’re distant Kevin.”

“I’m not ‘distant’!” Kevin insisted. “I’m around you guys all the time!”

“But you’re never really with us, are you?” Ben asked and Kevin looked away. “You’re always cracking sarcastic jokes, being tough, finding the next alien to beat up.”

“Well, I guess it’s not such a bad thing, to be distant,” Kevin muttered, “after all, Gwen seems to like it.”

“You’re wrong,” Ben said sternly, and Kevin turned to the brunette. “I notice it – when you’re vulnerable, when you’re open, that’s when Gwen smiles at you.”

Kevin closed his eyes, and then opened them, determination in his look. Gwen’s fist connected with his face, and he was slammed back into the wall again. But this time, when he got up, he undid his absorption, the stainless steel coating disappearing from his flesh. “Gwen! I’m not running away anymore!”

“GAAARRRHHH!!” Gwen couldn’t hear Kevin – she just ran at him again, her long, claw like nails extended and sharp as ever. She was sprinting at him, eyes wide with fury.

“I’m not going to run away from you!” he screamed, opening up his arms as if she were running towards him to embrace him. “I’m not distant anymore! I’m right here Gwen!”

“KEVIN!” Ben screamed as he saw Gwen running towards him. “KEVIN, NO!”

But it was too late. Gwen sunk her claws into Kevin’s stomach, and he gasped as he felt the sharp pain. Blood began to seep through his shirt, running over Gwen’s hands. Kevin could feel his legs giving out, but he knew he had to stay standing, if only for a little longer. “I’m not scared,” he whispered, raising his hand to pull her hair out of her distorted face. She looked up at him, confused as to why he hadn’t fought back. “I’m not scared of you…I’m not scared of letting you see me anymore.” He smiled at her, his head beginning to spin. “I’m right here Gwen,” he repeated, eyes watering up as he looked at the creature in front of him, who, despite her strange mutation, was still strikingly beautiful. “I’m right here…” he whispered, and with what little strength he had left, he leaned forward and gently placed his lips against hers.

With that, he fell to the ground, her claws sliding out of him, his wound continuing to bleed profusely. Gwen stared down at him, then down at her bloodied claws. Her jaw began to tremble, and her muscles began to spasm.

“Kevin!” Ben screamed again, wanting to run to his friend. But his attention turned to his cousin as she did something that surprised all of them.

She began to sob.

She couldn’t speak, but tears ran down her face as she fell to the ground over Kevin, her form racked with sobs as he continued to bleed.

“…one down,” Chondria muttered. “Two to go.”

“Not so fast,” Ben said darkly, and Chondria looked down at him condescendingly. “Remember those options you gave me?” he muttered.

“Yeah, so what?” she asked, holding the detonator in her hand.

“Well,” he snarled, “meet Option C:--“ With that, Ben slammed down on the Faceplate of his Omintrix, and before Chondria knew what had happened, a gigantic dinosaur like creature was standing in front of her and had picked her up with its humongous hand. “HUMONGASAUR!”

“D-Don’t you--!” she screamed, but Humongasaur had no sympathy for the writhing girl, He pulled at her hair with two of his mammoth fingers, and she screamed.

“Detonate it now!” he shouted.

“N-NO!” she screamed. “I won’t!”

“Do it or I’ll kill you!” he growled into her face, eyes nearly red with anger.

“Y-Y-You don’t have the guts Tennyson!” she laughed, her confidence trying to regain itself.

“Try me,” he snarled, but he had no chance to prove to Chondria if he was bluffing or not. Suddenly, all of them heard a “click” sound resonating from Gwen, and the next thing Ben knew, she had spat out the device and was beginning to spasm, just as the salamander monsters had. Humongasaur looked at Chondria, who turned her head around, eyes widened.

“Mito! You!” she screamed, and Humongasaur looked to see none other than Mito at the control panel, his finger on a button, his eyes looking sadly at his sister. “How could you?! You ruined everything!”

“This detonator was a decoy?!” Humongasaur snarled.

“The real device was always at the panel here,” Mito murmured.

“I never told you that!” Chondria shrieked, writhing in Humongasaur’s fist. “How did you know?!”

“I-I dunno,” he shrugged, playing with his thick fingers. “You don’t seem like the type to have…a detonator, you know.”

Humongasaur threw Chondria down to the control tower, and she hit her head against a metal bar. She blinked rapidly, but lost consciousness, slinking down next to Mito in a crumpled heap. With a flash of light, Humongasaur had turned back into Ben and was running to his teammates’ sides.

Gwen’s spasming had ceased, and Ben saw, to his great relief, that she was pretty much back to normal. Her clothes were ripped in various places, she looked exhausted, and Kevin’s blood was still on her hand. She hadn’t stopped crying as she held Kevin’s head up, trying to speak to him. “Kevin, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…I didn’t mean…” she could barely speak through her crying. “No…please no…”

Ben put his arm around her, also feeling tears coming to his eyes as he stared down at Kevin. “Th-this is…all my fault,” she cried, shaking.

“No, that’s not true,” Ben assured her.

“If I hadn’t…jumped to conclusions and run off,” she whimpered, “none of this would have happened.”

“Gwen…” Ben began, but Gwen shook her head.

“I just want to save him,” she cried. “I just want to save his life like he saved mine!”

Gwen threw herself on Kevin, still crying, holding herself close to him. Ben looked on at the sight, his own heart beginning to ache slightly. None of this was fair – just when Gwen and Kevin had figured out their feelings for one another, and everything was going horribly wrong.

“Please, no…” Gwen whispered, fingering Kevin’s wound where her own claws had pierced his flesh. “Let me help you…”

Ben looked down at Kevin’s wound as Gwen looked at his unconscious face. While both were feeling a dragging on their hearts, as if both weighed a ton, they both held out a little sliver of hope.

And it was rewarded.

“Gwen!” Ben breathed in astonishment. Gwen flipped her head around to see that her own hand seemed to be gathering soft purple energy from Kevin’s wound. She was drawing mana from him without even knowing it. She had never actively drawn mana before, at least not to her knowledge. From what her Grandma Verdona had told her, apparently Gwen’s energy naturally came from the things around her. But here she was, drawing life energy out of Kevin – the only question left in her mind was “why”?

But that too would soon be answered. The purple energy began to glow around Kevin’s wound, and Gwen noticed his face contort in what might have been pain. She glanced back at the wound and saw, to her astonishment, that he bleeding had stopped, and the wound was being healed by her mana.

“Where am I?” Kevin murmured, opening his eyes to see the two astonished Tennysons looking down at him. “What? Something on my face?”

“Kevin!” Gwen cried out, throwing her arms around his neck and holding him close to her. Kevin turned beet red, but slowly returned the huge, smiling. “You’re all right…I’m so relieved.”

“Yeah, me too…” Kevin murmured. “What happened to the terrible twosome?”

Ben looked up at the control tower to see Mito had slung Chondria over his shoulder and was climbing down the tower’s ladder. He reached the bottom and turned to them, “I…I guess I-I’ll go to the police…turn us in.”

“That’s it?” Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow and allowing himself to be helped up by Gwen. “You’re just gonna give up?”

“They’ll incarcerate you,” Gwen told them. “And the charges—“

“When Chondria wakes up, she’s gonna be even madder than before,” Mito mumbled. “So I should p-put her somewhere where she can’t hurt people.”

“Good thinking, pee-brain,” Kevin joked, and Gwen frowned at him.

“Kevin!”

“No, it’s okay. I know I’m dumb,” Mito mumbled again.

Ben stepped forward, “I don’t think so. You figured out that Chondria’s detonator was a fake. None of us could’ve figured that out.” Mito frowned and looked at the ground. Ben, smiling to himself, walked up to Mito and put a supportive hand on his shoulder, “And you’re smart enough to do the right thing. I think Chondria’s underestimating you.”

Mito smiled up at Ben. “Y-Y-You mean it?” Ben nodded, and Mito smiled. “Thanks! Well…I’m gonna get going. I gotta walk to the police station.”

Mito walked away from the trio, his sister still out cold over his shoulder. He maneuvered through the torn steel doorway out into the open air and began to walk towards the highway. The highway police station wasn’t too far, but as Mito disappeared into the night, Ben and the others couldn’t help but reflect on how far he had gone.

“I guess we should get out of here too,” Kevin mumbled. “I think I can stand now.”

“I know,” Gwen said, not releasing him. He smiled down at her, and she smiled back up at him, the two still continuing to hold each other sweetly. Their faces reflected in one another’s eyes, the two stared at each other, happier than ever for an uninterrupted moment.

“So how’d you change back anyway?” Kevin asked as he, Gwen, and Ben drove down the highway back towards the heart of Bellwood.

“Mito disengaged the device,” Ben explained.

“And…well, it wasn’t just that,” Gwen murmured, blushing pink. “You helped me come out of it, Kevin.”

“I did?” Kevin asked, and Gwen’s eyes widened.

“Wait…don’t you remember?” she asked, and he shook his head. “H-How much do you remember?”

“Man, it’s all a blur,” her rubbed his head, and Gwen’s face fell in disappointment. “That stab you gave me must have given me such a shock, I forgot pretty much everything. Last thing I remember, I was fighting you—“

“Yeah!” Gwen said, “And do you remember what you said?”

“…Not really,” Kevin sighed.

Gwen frowned and turned away, crossing her arms. She couldn’t believe it – her first kiss and the kisser didn’t even remember it. “Wait – are you mad?” Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

“No.”

“You’re totally mad at me!”

“No, I’m fine.”

“If this is about Cassie,” he started, “I did not mean to kiss her! She jumped me, I swear!”

“Why should I care?” Gwen asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “After all, it’s not like…”

“It’s not like what?” Kevin asked, frowning.

“It’s not like…we’ve ever kissed or anything,” Gwen murmured, and Kevin blushed pink. Ben looked at Gwen, but decided that it was definitely better to stay out of the situation. Kevin looked ahead at the road, suddenly feeling a dull pain in his head. “And why would we?!” Gwen asked. “It’s not like we’re dating!”

“Yeah…” Kevin murmured, frowning and clutching the steering wheel.

There was an awkward silence in the car, and finally, Kevin turned to Gwen. “I’m really glad you’re okay.” Gwen’s eyes widened, and she turned to look at Kevin, whose face was still pink. “I mean…really, really glad. I was afraid…back there. If you left m—us…I don’t know what I—we’d do.”

Gwen’s lips parted in sweet admiration for Kevin’s honesty. Even if he didn’t remember the promise he’d made her earlier, he was definitely acting on it. He had never been this open with his emotions before. And even though she could tell that he wasn’t quite ready to open up completely, she had seen the glimmer of hope that would keep her hanging on.

Before Kevin could say anything more, Gwen unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to give Kevin a kiss on the cheek. Kevin nearly veered off the road, but managed to keep his cool as Gwen coyly slipped back into her seat and rebuckled her seatbelt, smiling at him sweetly.

Kevin smiled too, the warm spot on his cheek radiating with her lips’ touch.

“Let me go! Do you KNOW who you’re imprisoning here?!”

“Oh, we sure do little lady. Your Uncle has given us loads of trouble in the past. Apple don’t fall far from the tree, do it?”

“I’m the great Chondria Animo!” Chondria shrieked as she and Mito were led towards cells in handcuffs. They had been transported from the Bellwood police station to a station up north. Chondria had woken up only an hour before they had arrived, and had been screaming and shrieking ever since. “And you peons have no idea what you’re getting yourselves into--!”

Mito remained silent, also hand-cuffed. He looked over at his writhing sister and smiled a bit to himself. He had been right – she was definitely angry.

“Look, we’re cutting you a pretty sweet deal,” the police chief remarked, and Chondria scoffed as they were led down the rows and rows of cells. “You think we transported you up here for you health?”

“What favor could you possibly do me?” she snarled, but her question would soon be answered. The three of them reached the back of the cell block, and Chondria and Mito were greeted by a very familiar sight. Their eyes remained glued to the prisoner in the cell adjacent to the one they’d be staying in, unable to believe their vision.

“In you go!” the police chief remarked, tossing the now calm Chondria and Mito into the cell and locking the door. The two of them scrambled to the front, staring across the aisle at the familiar prisoner.

“It can’t be…” Chondria murmured.

The prisoner lifted his head, a cruel smile dancing across his pale, sickly face. His hair had thinned even more in the past five years, but his crooked back, wide crazy eyes, and long, spindly fingers were all the proof the siblings needed.

“Why hello there, children,” Dr. Aloysius Animo smiled, licking his lips. “Come to visit old uncle Alyses?”

DUN DUN DUN.

Will there be a sequeal to this story? I'm really not sure at this moment. I've definitely set one up, but I'm not exactly raring to go on a sequel just yet.

For everyone who wanted Gwen and Kevin to throw them arms around each other and make-out passionately, sorry! Don't get me wrong, I love the Gwevin making out just as much as you guys do, but I felt it would be better to leave the story as sorta a "status quo" return, in order to make it feel more like a real episode. And this also allows for a sequeal should I choose to write one.

Thanks for reading this story guys! And I'm sorry the conclusion took so long to get to you!