Chapter 2: WHISPER

AK: Sorry, I goofed on Ken's age. He's ten.

XXXX

"...Dating?!" Ben fumed. He kicked a rock with his sneakers. "How did I not ban you from doing that?!"

Kira glared at her future father. "Uh...because I never told you?" She waved at the Illusion twins as the made mirages of oranges in the twisted weird trees.

"AND you're hiding it from me?!" Ben groaned. "Come on! I'm a cool parent right?"

"Right!" Ken chipped in. "She shouldn't date."

"Wrong, she should- and she should have to argue this. You don't even come here often enough for me to tell you," she accused. " It's always 'Hey, Kira, how's school? Great? Great...Well, gotta go save the Angara Galaxy from the Anubians now. Bye!'"

She tossed a coin to the fruit vender, who returned an apple. She cut it into three pieces with her magic and handed a slice to Ken and then Devin. "Fruit's good, eat it." she told Devin, who was wrinkling his nose.

"Its good for you, Devin." Gwen repeated, gently touching Devin's shoulder.

He flushed, looking down at his fruit slice. "You sound like my mom..."

"She is your mom, dufus!" Ken snorted, earning a forehead flick from Kira.

"Eat. I'm not buying you anything else until you do." she warned them.

"No problem; Ilk buy him food." Ben reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

"We use these." She threw a golden coin at him. "Its a magical mineral precious to Ledgerdomain. Earth money has no purpose here."

Her words were clipped, precise and short. Like Charmcaster's.

Ken and Devin didn't seem to notice a difference. They marched along behind her like she hung the moon.

Soon, they arrived at Charmcaster's castle which, Ken informed them, was not the capital building.

"Whisper, we're back!" she called as they entered the grand entrance. It, at least, hadn't changed at all.

A Tetramand woman dressed in a gladiator dress with her hair pulled back into a ponytail appeared, her sword hanging on her hip. "Kira, you have returned!" she smiled.

She embraced Kira, Devin and Ken, setting them down to assess them. "Your shirt is torn... Did you run into the Collectors?"

Kira fingered the fringed remains of her shirt sleeve. "A few..."

"Ken transformed into Heatblast to fly to the top of the building." Devin tattled.

"I said I was sorry..."

"And I said I understand." Kira sighed. "I'll go change. Could you show them to the study? I'll be back soon."

She took the winding stairs and disappeared into a corridor.

Ben frowned. Tetramands were warriors, and loved to fight. Even Manny, a half breed, loved violence.

The Tetramand known as Whisper tapped the jewel on her forehead. "The gem of peace. It allows me to think rationally and control my rage. A gift from Mistress Charmcaster."

"Charmcaster gives gifts?" Kevin chuckled.

Whisper's eyes flashed with indignation before she turned to usher them farther in. "Mistress Charmcaster must be different from your time."

"Yeah, last I saw her, she tried to annihilate me after we helped her get her Alpha Rune back!" Ben replied.

"Aunt Charm did that? Awesome!" Devin grinned.

"Whoa! Not awesome." Ben retorted.

"I am merely a token of friendship given by my planet to win favor with her." Whisper revealed. She tapped the gold circlet on her head, which was just above her head gem. "I was the princess of a kingdom. A mighty kingdom filled with warriors and battleships. Our arenas were the envy of the planet."

"That's sounds sad..." Gwen murmured. "The token part, not the homeland."

"Ah... We were against the Incursions, the frogs. She helped us. Saved us. And asked for nothing in return." She turned down a hallway. "But my father found it just to send me. The runt. The disgrace. Although I never lacked in bloodlust, I was crippled. My arm,"she raised the lower left one, which was wrapped in crisp white bandages. "A birth defect. But Mistress Charmcaster saw potential in my eagerness to learn. And the hindrance my shirt temper raised."

"So you lean magic under her, too?" Gwen said.

"Yes, and take care of the castle." Whisper smiled contentedly.

"So you're the maid?" laughed Kevin.

Whisper's sword was pointed at Kevin's Adam's apple, her upper left arm steady. "Tread lightly, Osmosian. My rage is contained, not eliminated."

"Sorry, got it..." Kevin apologized.

She relaxed and sheathed her sword. "We have arrived." she pushed open the doors to reveal a room with couches and and arm rests,and a ceiling to floor window overlooking the courtyard.

"I'll bring some cookies and sandwiches. Please wait here for Bo."

When she had left, Ben scoffed. "Bo? So he's finally showing up, eh?"

"Watch it, Ben, Kira really seems to like him." Gwen warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he muttered.

"He's a Plumber, Ben." Gwen reiterated. "He's pretty reliable."

"That still doesn't mean I should like him!" Ben and Ken shouted in unison. They looked at each other in shock.

Devin grinned. "Ken's just jealous that Bo trained under Grandpa Max."

"I am not! He's just a big dork, is all... He's not good enough for Kira!"

"Then who is?" Devin retorted. "He's way better than her other boyfriend..."

"Other boyfriend?!" Ken and Ben parroted in unison.

"Oops..." Devin looked away. "You weren't supposed to know. She made me swear..."

"A lot of good that did." Kira remarked, walking into the study. She'd ditched the jacket and was wearing a wide necked shirt with a black tank top underneath. Behind her stood another teen with black and white hair.

"Who's that?" Kevin asked.

"That," Devin replied. "Is Bo Prowler. Kira's boyfriend."

Ben frowned. White tipped wolf ears twitched on his head. He had three piercing in them, two on the right and one in the left. His Proto-Tool was loosely held. If hanging with Rook for years had taught him anything it was that the Tool was supposed to be secure at all times.

"Yo, Dev." Bo Prowler greeted the young boy. They bumped fists, and Bo ruffled his hair.

"How's the front line holding up?" Devin asked.

Bo scratched the back of his head. "We're holding; the first squad took down three Collectors before they had to retreat. We managed to grab the Black box out of one. Can you work your mechanical magic on this?" He pulled a small black rectangular box from behind his back.

"On it!" Devin snatched the box and plopped himself into a couch.

"So, you're Kira's boyfriend?" Ben frowned.

Bo looked startled by the presence of others. "You-" He looked to Kira."You managed the spell? That's amazing!" He wrapped her in a hug. "I knew you could do it."

"Ehem!" Ben cleared his throat. "Standing right here!"

"Oh, right... I'm Lieutenant Bo Prowler, third Earth Squad. Nice to meet you, Benjamin Tennyson, Gwendolyn Tennyson, Kevin Levin."

"Same here." Kevin replied.

"Nice to meet you." Gwen responded.

"Whatever..." Ben griped. "What's this enemy we're facing anyway?"

XXXX

Whisper brought them two trays of food then went to call Charmcaster from the Council meeting.

They all sat around the study table, Bo beside Kira at the head, Ken on her other side.

"The enemy we're facing... He's unlike any other in history..." Kira began.

"He's not only a galactic criminal, but an ex-Plumber elite." Bo supplied. He tossed a green and silver cube onto the table. In a flash of light it expanded into a holographic display. "His name is Damien Nelson, alias MAESTRO. He considers himself an elite villain, as he extensively studied the greatest villains ever faced by Ben, Kevin and BJ."

"So why haven't I beaten him already?" Ben asked.

"You were too cocky, got frozen as one of your aliens and captured." Kira explained in a clipped tone.

"Gwen was surprised on route to rescue you. He managed to synthesize Darkstar's mana draining powers and used a device to trap her in a suspended state. Kevin was harder to take down, and we're still not clear how... But you all fell to his plans. And so did almost all the Plumbers in this and the nearby galaxy. He's more dangerous than even Eon..." Kira replied. "He's made it clear he'll take away everything I hold dear and hurt anyone he can."

"Why you, specifically?" Gwen asked.

She clenched her fist. "He was my classmate in school.

Until I came here to study magic five years ago, I lived on Earth. We've been in the same classes since third grade. I guess he has a grudge against me for always being first in studies...and sports rallies...and club activities...and even in that talent show I didn't enter."

"You won a talent but didn't enter?" Kevin raised a brow.

"They said it was a unanimous vote due to my singing during intermission..." she confessed. "But that's not the point! He was always pretty imbalanced about losing to me. I thought it would get better when he entered the Plumbers. And it did, according to BJ. But then... He suddenly started acting out. I heard about it, even in Ledgerdomain. He was stripped of his status after he was found out to be too cruel towards some of the small time crooks. He put one near death..."

"That sound psychotic!" exclaimed Gwen.

"It was. He disappeared after that. And resurfaced last year, and kidnapped Devin and Ken." She gripped her wrist, as if to hold in her emotions. "He threatened to throw them into the Null Void. We barely managed to stop him. Ken was nearly in before Aunt Gwen and I managed to rope him back."

"Heavy..." Ben remarked.

"Not as heavy as fishing Devin out of the Null Void." Kira muttered. "He was this close to being Guardian food- not the point."

"The point is," clarified Bo. "That MAESTRO's a serious threat. More bloodthirsty than Vilgax, more cunning than Darkstar, more financially endowed than Billy Billions... He's too much for us to handle by ourselves."

"Why not take his past self out?" Kevin asked. "Then he wouldn't be a threat."

"Paradox. He says we can't mess with what is to happen. He only told us that our time will be secured if we get help from you guys in the past." Ken revealed.

"Paradox..." Ben moaned.

"Look, the thing is-" Kira bit out. "Our world is in danger from this guy. We need your help, Ben, Gwen, Kevin. Will you help us?"

A long moment passed before the trio nodded among themselves. "Its Hero Time!" Ben announced, brandishing his Omnitrix.

AK: Lots of OC's in this one. Try to get along now Benny Boy! You still haven't met Charmcaster.