Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

The Island Misadventures of Ben and Charmcaster	By : GrayNeko Category: +1 through F > Ben 10 Views: 59435 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Ben awoke first, his eyes bleary with sleep and his body clammy from sweat. His hand ran along Charmcaster’s body, making her shiver and mumble in her sleep. Waking with her by his side after last night was probably the greatest way to start a day ever, in his opinion. He pushed himself up and strode to the door, concern over his nudity the farthest thing from his mind.
He rubbed at his eyes as the morning light assaulted them, taking several moments to adjust. As he yawned and stretched in the doorway he scanned the campsite through narrowed eyes and then let out a yell.
There was something moving through the camp, a lump of white that he almost hadn’t noticed except that it scurried forward a few feet just as his eyes passed over it. It looked up at Ben as he yelled in surprise and he nearly yelled some more when he saw a humanoid face looking back at him from the body of a spider. It turned and darted into the brush, its many legs carrying it away at a quick pace.
“What?! What is it?!” Charmcaster asked from where she had sat up, startled awake by Ben’s cry.
“What the hell is it?” She pressed as Ben stumbled away from the door and grabbed up his club and then his underwear.
“There was something out there.”
“And?” Charmcaster asked as she slipped her shirt on, she wasn’t going to remain naked if he wasn’t.
“It was a spider something but with the face of a person, and it was the size of a Rottweiler!”
Charmcaster began to dress faster as the picture in her head of Ben’s description gave her chills. In a matter of moments the both of them were dressed and peering cautiously though the door.
“Is it still there?” Charmcaster asked as she stayed farther back. She didn’t have a super powerful alien device or even a club; her spear was lying in the middle of camp so as far as she was concerned this was a job for Ben Tennyson, Boy Hero.
“I don’t see anything,” Ben said as he slowly stepped out of the hut, club hefted before him in both hands as if it would ward off the creature he had seen.
Charmcaster was right on Ben’s heels, she wasn’t going to left alone so the creature could scurry into the hut and corner her. They inched their way through the camp, looking for anything that seemed out of place.
“What’s that doing here?”
“What?” Charmcaster said, trying to look everywhere at once.
“That,” Ben said rather flatly as he pointed at the one of the giant fruits that they had gotten wasted on yesterday. It was obviously a fresh fruit, it was mostly intact and through the cracks in its shell the seeds still glistened brightly.
“It’s… it’s mine,” Charmcaster said, dropping her eyes as Ben glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. Why did admitting that make her feel guilty, it’s not like she had done anything wrong.
“Why would you get more of that stuff?”
Ben’s tone only made her feel worse, like he was disappointed in her and she grimaced as she struggled not to let shame redden her cheeks.
“Because… I liked the way it made me feel and I figured it would make everything… easier to deal with,” Charmcaster ended falteringly.
Ben frowned as he looked between Charmcaster and the fruit before sighing which Charmcaster struggled not to scowl at. She was about to open her mouth and tell Ben off when he shrugged and said, “Okay.”
“‘Okay’ what?”
“Just okay. If you want to keep the fruit then keep it, I’m not going to try boss you around. I get enough of that from Grandpa and Gwen so, okay.”
“Okay,” Charmcaster said softly, more to herself in surprise than to Ben. For a moment it was like she forgot he was there, biting her lip as her thoughts carried her far away from their little campsite. Was this what he meant about trust? Was he giving her a chance to show him she could be trusted to do the right thing?
“The meat is gone.”
Charmcaster blinked as Ben’s odd statement distracted her from the quandary she was becoming mired in.
“What did you say?”
“The meat from the eel, it’s gone. That thing took it.”
“Did you see it take it?”
Ben shook his head and gestured towards some marks in the dirt.
“These look like tracks and they’re all around the spear and then they go off that way,” Ben said, pointing and following the trails of marks.
“Well then why don’t we try and follow it.”
“What? Why?!” Ben exclaimed, turning to Charmcaster with eyebrows raised.
“I don’t know, maybe to see if it’s a threat or just to know where to stay away from,” Charmcaster argued. She didn’t like the idea of any more monsters wandering around unbeknownst to her, she was tired of being on the defensive with this place.
“Well, we did want to start exploring more of this place so I guess that’s not such a bad idea. But let’s get something to eat first, being terrified and hungry doesn’t sound like a good time to me.”
Charmcaster couldn’t fault Ben for his reasoning and it wasn’t like she was going anywhere without him anyway. She grabbed up her spear and followed him to the beach.
“So did your grandfather teach you to follow tracks? Because it all just looked like dirt to me,” Charmcaster said they made their way down to where the fish swam in the shallows outside the bay. She was surprised Ben walked beside her so calmly as they made their way out on the crescent tip. After what he had told her happened she didn’t think he would handle being near the water so well.
“A little, he showed me and Gwen how to recognize an animal trail in Yellowstone right before a giant space tick tried to eat the whole planet.”
Charmcaster paused to give Ben a quizzical look but his gaze was focused on the water so she shrugged and turned back to the task at hand.
It didn’t take them long to get enough fish, they were both becoming quite adept as it proved the only constant source of food. Back at camp Charmcaster found her eyes drawn to the canopy above them, keeping a wary watch for anything watching back.
“Relax, you’ll exhaust yourself before we get very far,” Ben said, remaining almost eerily calm as he cooked his fish.
“Weren’t you the one freaking out earlier?” Charmcaster asked, a tinge of frustration entering her voice.
Ben shrugged, “Yeah because it had a face like a person. But it took off when it saw me and as weird as a spider with a guy’s face is, it really doesn’t rate with the stuff I’ve run into.”
Charmcaster sighed, “Well as least one of us is confident this will go well.”
“Until the prey becomes the predator,” Ben said in a deep, gravelly voice before bursting into laughter.
He wiped tears from his eyes as he finished laughing only to find Charmcaster looking at him with wide eyes like he was a madman.
“What? You weren’t quoting ‘Alien Manhunter 2’?”
Though Charmcaster was already tired of asking it already she couldn’t help from uttering a dumbfounded, “What?”
“‘Alien Manhunter 2’, one of the greatest sci-fi action movies ever? How have you not seen it?”
“Young sorceresses usually don’t have time or any interest in seeing movies.”
“Please tell me that means you’ve just never gone to a movie theatre?”
Charmcaster was quiet as she tried not to feel indignant over Ben’s surprise.
“Are you telling me that you’ve never seen a movie?”
“Magic requires all of one’s focus and doesn’t allow for distractions,” Charmcaster recited the indoctrination she had been taught but here in this place with Ben it felt more like a lame excuse rather than one of the fundamental pillars she had been raised to believe.
“That tears it!” Ben exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pointing to Charmcaster in proclamation. “When we get back I’m hijacking Gwen’s laptop and we are going to have the greatest movie marathon in the history of the world!”
Charmcaster smiled weakly and dropped her gaze to the dirt.
“Do you really think it will be that easy?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your grandfather and sister are just going to be okay with me being part of your life?”
Ben cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at Charmcaster as she spoke with such melancholy. He sat back down beside her and took her hand in his, squeezing it firmly as he looked her in the eyes.
“How many times am I going to have to tell you? Gwen is my cousin.”
Charmcaster jumped up to stomp off in exasperation as Ben laughed but he held onto her hand and pulled her back around to face him.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. The truth is I don’t know how they’ll react but I’m a part of their lives just as much as you’re part of mine now, hopefully they’ll understand that. You’ll just have to give them a chance… though Gwen might be a little harder to win over.”
“How is this so easy for you?” Charmcaster asked softly while her hand squeezed the feeling out of Ben’s hand to keep from trembling.
“It’s not but it’s the decision I’ve made and Gwen always says I’m too stubborn to change my mind,” Ben said with a reassuring smile before pulling Charmcaster back down to the log so they could eat.

***
They ate quickly and armed with spear, club, and Omnitrix they turned to the trail in the dirt. Ben led the duo and Charmcaster once more watched the upper branches for anything out of place.
“So tell me what happens in this ‘Manhunting Alien’,” Charmcaster said, hoping for some conversation to take her mind off how quiet and creepy the woods had become with the knowledge of a giant spider lurking somewhere.
“And ruin the movie for you? No way,” Ben said as he knelt to get a better look at the tracks.
“Come on, at least tell me what it’s about.”
“It’s kinda obvious really. Anyway, it takes place in a jungle which is why I thought of it so quickly after you accidentally quoted a line. So this group of soldiers is in this jungle trying to capture this alien from the first movie and they’re all cocky about hunting this thing except for the guy who was also in the first movie and he’s always grim and serious which is where my line comes from.”
“I see,” Charmcaster said as Ben excitedly rattled off what he liked most about the movie and the other films in the series, which it seemed, were a lot.
She found herself studying Ben’s back more than the trees as he talked. He had the beginning of a tan all across his upper body, probably due to the fact that she had taken his shirt. The scratches and bites she had left on him were slowly fading.
If his family saw those marks what would they think of them? Bug bites? Or would they turn their eyes to Charmcaster knowingly? Worse, once they found out that she had willingly and wantingly laid down with him. She was beyond hating herself for what happened last night, being with Ben was something other than a pedophilic urge. She knew that about herself now, perhaps she had known earlier but she didn’t think she could put to words the need that had filled her as Ben created this glowing vision of a world she desperately wanted to be part of.
“Do you have parents?”
“And there’s this really hu-what?” Ben asked, caught off guard mid-explanation. He looked up from the tracks at Charmcaster with eyebrows tented and a confused frown.
“I realize I don’t really know that much about you and I’ve only ever seen you with your grandfather and cousin.”
“I’ve got parents, but I didn’t get to spend much time with Grandpa Max on account of him being a Plumber so this was supposed to be a summer where we just hung out.
“What about you-?” Ben nearly bit his tongue as he tried to take back the question as he realized he already knew the answer.
He cringed inside at seeing Charmcaster grow quiet as a frown creased her face and her eyebrows sank.
“Uncle Hex has been the only family I’ve had for a while. My parents are gone, they… died saving the two of us.”
“I’m sorry,” Ben said softly as he tried to focus on the trail. He felt terrible for bringing the subject up and hoped they could just move past it by returning to the task at hand. He pushed forward through a thick stand of ferns and let out a yell as his foot met nothing but air.
Ben threw his arms out to catch himself but all he caught hold of were handfuls of fern leaves. His hand instinctively went for the Omnitrix as he fell forward but his flight was a short one as he hit the ground almost immediately and had the wind knocked out of him.
“Ben!” Charmcaster yelled, pulling the ferns branches aside so she could see where he went.
Ben groaned as he rolled onto his back and found himself in a pit, Charmcaster just visible as she peered over the edge.
“Are you okay?” She asked as she studied the width of the pit. It looked about ten feet deep or so and the sides were smooth and practically vertical, there was no slope or handholds for Ben to use.
“Ugh… bruised but intact… I think,” Ben moaned as he sat up, coughing a little as he found it hurt to take a deep breath.
“This hole is weird,” Charmcaster said as she leaned forward to get a better look.
“That’s one word for it,” Ben said as he got to his feet and brushed the dirt from his chest and pants.
“No really,” Charmcaster said as she knelt to run her fingers along the edge. “It looks perfectly round and the sides are too smooth. Even the ground at the bottom is evenly flat. Magic made this hole.”
“How-?”
“Trust me, I know what I’m talking about,” Charmcaster said with a sudden sense of urgency as she reached down into the pit for Ben. “That means we need to get out of here right now.”
Ben nodded his agreement as he reached for Charmcaster’s hand and then froze, his hand just shy of hers. Charmcaster saw Ben’s face twist with surprise and alarm as his eyes focused on something above her and felt her heart jump in her throat. Ben and Charmcaster lunged for each other as many limbs grabbed her around the waist.
Charmcaster was too scared to look back as whatever had hold of her tried to pull her off the ground, her grip on Ben’s hand tightening like a vice. Ben grunted with effort as he planted his feet against the wall and grabbed Charmcaster’s wrist with his other hand.
“Hold on Charmcaster!” Ben said as he fought to keep the spider-thing that had a hold of her from pulling her away.
Charmcaster tried not to scream as it tightened its grip around her waist but she couldn’t keep back a shriek as what felt like two burning darts struck her in the neck. Fire shot through her shoulders and down her arms, a blazing agony that robbed her of her strength. Charmcaster and Ben shared a panicked look as her limp hand began to slip from his grasp. Ben snarled in desperation as her fingers squeezed through his hand until he was left grasping nothing but air as she was yanked skyward.
“Charmcaster!” Ben yelled as he fell back into the dirt, the look on her face as she disappeared into the trees burned into his brain. He fumbled with the Omnitrix as he made it to his feet, his hands shaking with equal parts rage and fear.
His mind was a jumbled mess of what alien he needed, almost any of them would do he just needed to be quick about it.
Quick!
He needed to be quick! And there was only one choice for that.
A flash of green light later and a blur of blue and black was running along the wall of the pit, building up enough speed to escape it with a jump. Ben, as XLR8, paused after he landed long enough for the visor of his helmet to open and scan the area where Charmcaster had been taken. He didn’t see so much as a falling leaf to mark her passage so the visor slid back into place before he sped forward, zigzagging so he could cover more ground.
Everything should have appeared as a blur to him as he raced from one spot to the next but his senses were adjusted to moving at high speeds, if anything things felt like they were moving in slow motion even when he was standing still. Though Ben had started out frantic and angry he found wearing another form calming, like it was the most natural thing in the world, and he was quickly filled with a sense of driven focus.
He began systematically searching the jungle, not even truly aware of the fact because XLR8’s species possessed a keen sense of spatial awareness. As he ran faster and faster he was beginning to truly appreciate how big the island was as the minutes and miles dragged on and he found himself still surrounded by jungle.
After five minutes of endless searching and still no sign of Charmcaster or any spider creatures Ben was beginning to feel a little disheartened. How had they disappeared so utterly?
He circled back and retraced the steps they had taken, examining every little thing while wishing Gwen and Grandpa were there. They were always able to pick up on things or think of something that would never have occurred to him. His frustration got the better of him as the familiar beeping of the Omnitrix filled the air and left him as plain old Ben kicking and swearing at the air in the middle of camp.
“Shit! Shit! Fucking hell! God damn son of a-”
Ben stopped mid-curse as he realized he wasn’t alone in camp. Sitting on a stump was the spider creature, studying him intently with an intelligent eye that made Ben’s skin crawl. As they both watched each other Ben became aware of the fact that its two front legs were different from the others, they had several more joints and were tipped with numerous little claws that flexed like fingers.
“She is safe.”
Ben jumped as it spoke, it sounded like a parrot, more of a squawk than a real voice.
“She is safe,” it repeated.
“Why… why did you take her?” Ben said as he licked his lips, trying to stay calm so he didn’t grab a rock to bash this thing’s head in.
“Mistresses wanted her, wants you. She was easier to catch, now you come.”
With that the strange little creature turned as if to lead Ben to where ever it wanted him to go and Ben saw his opportunity. In a crouching run he grabbed hold of a fist-sized chunk of crystal and raised it high as he straightened up to sprint across the distance between them. The creature turned at the sound of Ben’s footsteps and instead of darting for safety it raised its spindly little arms and cringed fearfully.
Ben paused, standing over the spider with the crystal stopped mid-swing.
“Why don’t you run? I’ve seen how fast you are, why aren’t you running?!” Ben tried not to snarl at the creature.
It looked at him through the gap in its arms, beady little eyes still narrowed in expectation of a blow.
“Mistresses said to bring you, gave nothing but that, not speed, not no-sight, not even proper venom to stun. So hit if you must but then come.”
Ben stepped back and lowered his arm, the crystal falling from his hand as he frowned at the spider and sighed.
“Lead the way then,” he said, realizing this was his best chance to find Charmcaster.
The creature bowed its head and turned back around. The path it took was the same as the one they had been following before but when it reached the spot where the pit was it veered off onto a path that was hidden under the leaves of ferns. Ben had to hurry to keep the spider in sight as it scurried under the brush with ease. The brush turned out to be a boon as Ben’s thrashing through it hid the sound of the Omnitrix recharging, the spider only glancing over its shoulder as the device chimed.
Ben eventually found himself in front of a cave. It was set into the bottom of a cliff with the stream they had been drinking from forming a waterfall nearby. Ben wasn’t sure how he had missed it in his search as XLR8, he didn’t remember any caves whatsoever. The creature entered the dark hole in the rock readily but Ben hesitated. He believed Charmcaster was in there, he had to, but that didn’t make walking into such a blatant trap any easier.
“She will not be safe if you do not come,” came the voice of the spider out of the dark, leaving Ben with no choice.
He kept his right hand on the Omnitrix as he stepped into shadowy entrance, his eyes wide and darting with alertness. Just as it became too dark for him to see anything he became aware of a soft glow deeper within the cave. Approaching it cautiously showed him it came from small deposits of crystals that gave off a pinkish light. Before long Ben could see just fine as the crystals were everywhere.
Ben was beginning to wonder how much further he would have to go when he heard chuckling overhead. If seeing a spider with a man’s face was freaky, seeing a woman who was spider from the waist down was horrifying.
There were four of them, sitting in massive webs that spanned the huge cavern the cave suddenly opened into. Their upper bodies were that of full grown women, skins covering their chests and bones decorating their ratty hair. However that is where their humanoid qualities ended because at the hip their bodies were vividly colored spiders the size of horses, connecting where the spider’s head would have been.
“See sisters? I told you if we took his mate he would walk in here all on his own,” the largest of the spider-women cackled, chorused by laughs from the others.
Ben barely heard her as his eyes were drawn to a figure held in a web almost tucked out of sight. Charmcaster’s head hung limply at first but as the spider-women spoke up she stirred and her eyes found Ben at the mouth of the cavern.
“Yeah, I’m here, now give her back,” Ben said, anger threatening to ignite into rage as it burned away his fear.
“Oh, such spirit in this little male. I bet it tastes lovely,” mused another spider-woman, crawling to the edge of her web so she could lean forward to examine Ben more closely.
Ben glared back at her, fighting the urge to go for the Omnitrix and set the whole place on fire.
“Come now sisters, we must show some respect. After all, this one escaped our snares and survived the Leviathan Sea, most impressive feats.
“We are the Shaldoth and this is our island, all that lives here pays us tribute or dies,” the largest of the Shaldoth said, pausing expectantly.
Ben’s brow furrowed as his glare intensified. If she wanted him to bow or get down on his knees then she would be sorely disappointed.
“So what do you want from us then? I’ll get it as soon as you give back Charmcaster.”
“No!” Charmcaster suddenly shouted, struggling to no avail against the steel-like strands of silk that held her. “They steal energy, that’s where my magic has gone! They can-”
“That’s enough out of you!” bellowed the largest of the Shaldoth, jabbing a finger at Charmcaster. Her hand glowed and Charmcaster’s cries were silenced by a gag of webbing that materialized in place.
As she turned back to face Ben her snarling features were smoothed over by a smile that could only be described as simpering.
“It’s true that we feed on the energies of all that lives and your lovely mate has provided such a bountiful tribute but you have yet to pay your tithe and we simply cannot abide that. Now if you were to willingly offer us some of your great strength we would leave you and your mate be for however long you were to reside in our home.”
As the largest Shaldoth spoke her sisters had crept along their webs, gathering together to stare at Ben hungrily. Ben’s eyes fell to the Omnitrix, it was obvious even to him that the device was once again protecting him in some way. The Shaldoth couldn’t feed off of him so they had resorted to this to get at him.
If this had been the start of summer then Ben might have been foolish enough to give them what they wanted. But they didn’t know he had spent almost every day of his vacation facing down people and aliens who would have done terrible things with the kind of power that the Omnitrix contained.
“How about this, you give me Charmcaster and we leave here safely and I won’t squash you like the bunch of ugly bugs you are!” Ben shouted, his right hand on the Omnitrix.
A chorus of hisses filled the air as the Shaldoth seethed with rage, all except the largest who had a cold smile painted across her face as her black eyes burned with fury.
“It looks like we shall see what that spirit tastes like after all sisters. Get him my lovely husbands!”
At her cry the clattering of hundreds of little legs moving across stone filled the air as scores of the spiders with faces came scurrying out of the darkness. Ben took a step back as he began turning the dial on the Omnitrix, thinking he knew what alien to choose. And then with a cry from all the Shaldoth, the spiders began to grow. As their size increased massive muscled torsos sprouted out of their arachnid bodies, turning into pale skinned monstrosities that were as big as the smallest of the Shaldoth.
Ben turned and ran, his initial choice forgotten as a new idea came to him. The sound of his pursuers was like the continuous rumbling of thunder chasing him through the cave. Ben’s heart pounded as he ran for all he was worth while still turning the dial of the Omnitrix to make a new selection.
The mouth of the cave was a growing ring in the distance as the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end. Ben ducked and felt the passage of air overhead as something tried to catch hold of him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw two of the hulking spider monsters stampeding over a third that had become unsteady from swinging wildly at him.
It gave him the few seconds he needed to sprint out of the cave, smashing down the plunger just as he crossed the threshold. The light from the Omnitrix poured into the cave, a twinkling of green light even reaching the cavern.

***
Charmcaster feigned unconsciousness as she watched the Shaldoth out of the corner of her eye. They continued to hiss and chatter angrily, scattering away those little spider-men that had been left unchanged to tend to their needs and wants. If they were speaking to each other it was in a language she didn’t know.
She let her eyes drop to the ground and immediately regretted it as she found piles of small bones littering the floor of the cavern. The Shaldoth may be sustained by the energies they drew from the living things of the island but it was obvious they still enjoyed devouring the flesh of anything they could catch.
That made her think of Ben and she turned her eyes to cave he had run down.
“Your mate is impressive.”
Charmcaster stiffened in her bindings, her eyes wide as terror shot through her like a chill wind. The largest of the Shaldoth hung from a rope of silk beside her, having descended silently as Charmcaster stared after Ben’s escape.
“I mean that, truly. Not only did he escape our Entangling Flowers and Chameleon Fruit, two very effective snares that have caught us much prey in the past, but he also rescued you from those very same traps. That takes a spirit born of fire, but I wonder if it burns too hot too quickly, already he has abandoned you to us.”
Charmcaster turned a baleful eye to the Shaldoth and thrashed as she cursed her through her gag though it only came out as a series of muffled grunts.
“Do you really think he will come back for you?” the Shaldoth asked, running a claw-tipped hand along Charmcaster’s face before yanking the gag away.
Charmcaster stifled a cry as the sticky gag was torn painfully off and tried to wet her lips to speak but found her mouth dry.
“He will,” she croaked. “He’s something you’ve never encountered before.”
“Oh,” the Shaldoth said with insincere interest. “And what is that?”
A twinkling of green light caught both their eyes and Charmcaster found a smile creeping across her face.
“A hero,” she said quietly before the whole cavern shook as if a bomb had just gone off.
The Shaldoth let out screams of confused anger as they were jostled in their webs. The largest was silent but frowning as she grabbed hold of the web that held Charmcaster to steady herself.
The cavern continued to shake, the tremors growing stronger and soon all eyes were drawn to the ceiling high above as a rhythm of thunderous booms shook everything. They all watched as a spider web of cracks began to travel across the ceiling, small chips of stone and dust falling free.
“What is happening? How is he doing this?!” The Shaldoth hissed as she grabbed hold of Charmcaster’s face, her claws like needles on the verge of breaking the skin.
Before Charmcaster could laugh in her face that she didn’t know, a massive fist crashed through the cavern roof and even Charmcaster yelled in surprise. Another hand joined the first and they ripped up huge chunks of the ceiling while pieces still as big a person’s head rained down into the cavern.
Charmcaster blinked as sunlight flooded everywhere, making it hard to see until a colossal form cast a shadow over everything. The face she saw was definitely alien, a blade-like horn sticking out of the top of its red and white head. Yellow eyes as big as kiddy pools scanned the cavern before narrowing at the sight of Charmcaster and then one of its car sized hands reached for her.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you Charmcaster,” Way Big boomed.
He was about to pluck her free of the web when his arm recoiled as the largest Shaldoth snapped a cord of energy like a whip, leaving a black gash across the back of his hand.
“I warned you,” Ben yelled, his gargantuan form making it sound like the roar of a hundred cannons.
Ben reared back to his towering height of 200 feet and raised a foot that could flatten a big rig truck. A crater formed around his foot as he slammed it into the cavern floor, smashing through almost every web the Shaldoth had, sending most of them crashing to the floor.
“Sisters!” shrieked the largest Shaldoth, still clinging to the web that held Charmcaster.
“Let her go or I tap dance all over them,” Ben said with a growl, glaring down at the Shaldoth.
Charmcaster turned her head towards the Shaldoth and winced at the look of rage twisting her face into something inhuman. For a moment she feared the Shaldoth was going to lash out at her in revenge but with Ben ready to strike with the force of an avalanche she sliced her hand through the air and the strands of web that held Charmcaster were cut.
Charmcaster’s stomach flopped as she fell but Ben was right there to catch her and she found herself sprawled in the palm of his hand. His fingers closed around her protectively but she was still able to peer through them once she righted herself and crawled across his hand. Seeing everything fall away as he pulled his hand back was a little dizzying and had her digging her fingers reflexively into Ben’s skin though he seemed not to feel it.
She wasn’t sure what was going to happen next but she found herself surprised when the world swiveled as Ben turned away, drawing his foot out of the hole.
“Ben! We need to go back!” she shouted, turning to look up at him.
Ben paused, the look on his alien face still managing to convey confusion as he looked down at her.
“Why?”
Charmcaster knew he was trying to speak softly but the wind of his breath nearly knocked her flat against his hand. She stood up and nearly fell over again as Ben raised her up to be level with his face.
“Well, for starters we need to stomp those bitches into paste! And then we need to get my magic back!”
“What?”
“It’s a basic rule of magic, energy drawn from a source other than the caster of the spell must be stored in a container or spent immediately. Those spider-cunts draw energy from every living thing on this island and they don’t use it all at once so it has to be stored somewhere, including my magic! So we need to go back there, kick their asses, and get my magic back!”
“No.”
The word echoed through the air for a moment before Charmcaster started shouting at the top of her lungs.
“What?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Are you afraid or something? Look at you, you’re fucking huge! Turn around and stomp the shit out of them until there’s nothing left but dust!”
Charmcaster would have continued yelling but the ground, that is, Ben’s hand, fell out from underneath her and she experienced another gut wrenching moment of freefall before she landed on her ass. He continued lowering her to the ground until he could tip his hand and dump her gently, if inelegantly, onto the dirt.
Charmcaster glared up at Ben as he knelt before her, still looming a good fifty feet over her. For a moment they just stared at each other and then the sound of the Omnitrix timing out filled the air like a siren and Ben shrank in a blinding flash of light.
“That’s why!” Ben shouted as he ran towards Charmcaster, having found himself a good distance away from her after changing back. He didn’t stop except to take hold of her hand and pull her along behind him.
“Going Way Big uses a lot of juice, we were lucky it lasted as long as it did,” Ben said when he had the breath as he led Charmcaster through the brush of the jungle.
“So what about my magic?” Charmcaster insisted, trying to get Ben to slow down.
“Won’t do any good to go after it right now, the Omnitrix needs to recharge,” Ben said, pulling even harder. “Besides the Shaldoth are pretty pissed off right now, if we don’t stay out of sight for a while they’ll come at us with everything they’ve got.”
“Why didn’t you just kill them when you had the chance?”
Ben was silent as he pushed forward, purposefully staring straight ahead. His silence made Charmcaster’s eyes narrow and she added, “You know it’s going to come to that, right? Ben?”
“Why?” Ben asked as he suddenly stopped and turned to face Charmcaster. “Why does it have to be that way?”
“Because a hero kills the monsters! Don’t be confused just because the top half looks human, they’re monsters and you can’t lock them up once you’re done punching them! They’ll keep coming after us until we’re either dead or hung up in a web for them to feed off of, and then we’ll wish we were dead.”
Ben looked away from Charmcaster, he couldn’t argue with her when she was so very right. The Shaldoth wouldn’t rest until they had their revenge, but he wasn’t going to just accept that her way was the only one.
“None of this changes the fact that we need to find a place to hide for now,” Ben said softly, his face aching as he fought to keep from frowning.
“So where do we go? We can’t go back to camp, they’ll be all over that place.”
Ben froze mid-turn as her words triggered a tumbling of thoughts that left Ben pulling her into an excited hug.
“That’s it!”
Charmcaster looked at Ben in bewilderment as he broke the hug and began towing her along once more.

***
Ben and Charmcaster lay on their stomachs, side-by-side as they watched their campsite from the cover of a series of exposed tree roots with brush piled up around them to create a makeshift blind. They were waiting for any sign of movement in camp, any hint that the Shaldoth’s minions were already there.
Ben breath hitched as his eyes caught movement and he could feel Charmcaster tense beside him. They watched in taut silence as a horde of the little spider-men burst into the clearing, scattering around the campsite. A moment later one of the Shaldoth emerged from the brush, barking orders and stampeding over those minions of hers that were too slow.
“Search everywhere, if they’re here I want them found! And bring me anything that looks like it belongs to them!”
The spider-men rushed to obey, turning over everything that wasn’t rooted to the ground. Several even stormed into the hut and came out moments later tossing down the pile of leaves Ben and Charmcaster had been using as a bed. The Shaldoth scooped up a handful of the leaves and held them under her nose, inhaling deeply the scent of their mingled sweat and juices. She plucked a single leaf from the lot and ran her long purple tongue across it, her eyes closing as she relished the taste.
“What’s she doing?” Ben asked as quietly as he could.
“Nothing good, with the right spell they could target us with their magic without needing to know where we were,” Charmcaster answered, her eyes narrowed as she studied the Shaldoth’s every movement.
One of the minions brought Charmcaster’s piece of fruit before the Shaldoth and she tucked the leaf away in her bosom before reaching down to heft the fruit easily in one hand. She cracked it open to expose the glistening seeds and sniffed the pungent fruit before smiling.
“I don’t like that,” Ben said before trying to flatten himself against the ground as much as possible as one of the spider-men scurried past their hiding spot.
The Shaldoth dropped one half of the fruit, not even acknowledging the spider-man who caught it and carried it away as she drew out the leaf again. She smeared the leaf into the seeds until it dripped with the mind-numbing juices. They watched with mixed amounts of curiosity as she rolled the leaf until it was a crumpled little ball before tossing it in to the ashes of the fire that still had heat to them.
For a moment nothing happened and then smoke burst from the fire pit, billowing up only a couple feet before spreading out in all directions. It looked more like fog as it rolled across the ground, barely rising a whole foot into the air.
“Hold your breath and cover your face!” Charmcaster hissed, clapping her hands over her nose and mouth, Ben following suit as quickly as possible.
The smoke seeped into their little hiding spot and Ben realized how different from smoke it was as it felt like a wave of snakes were crawling over him, a shiver running down his spine at the cold touch of the smoke.
Ben’s heart beat in his head as the seconds ticked by, the Shaldoth watching the whole area for any sign of reaction from her spell. After what felt like an eternity the smoke began to clear and she snarled in disappointment before turning around.
“They aren’t here. Move on to the next area! Except you!”
The Shaldoth jabbed her finger at the smallest minion amongst the lot of them. The other spider-men moved away from that one like it carried the plague and it clearly didn’t look forward to whatever task it was about to be set to.
“You stay out of sight and watch over this area. If they come back you come get me and only me! Fail in this and I shall tear your limbs off!”
The spider-man did its best to bow complacently but the Shaldoth was already charging off in another direction, the other spider-men running ahead of her. As soon as she was gone Ben heard Charmcaster exhale in a great burst and then whimper. He looked to her and saw her face had become flushed as she lay there gasping for air.
Though his heart pounded in his ears and his lungs ached Ben redoubled his effort to hold his breath. With his head swimming he turned the dial on the Omnitrix it to an alien he hoped would help and pushed the plunger down.
The black of the Omnitrix spread along his skin as green circuitry lines raced over his body. Upgrade’s liquid metal body had no need for air and Ben was relieved to find his senses returned to him, but he realized before he could help Charmcaster he had to make sure the spider-man couldn’t go get his mistress. He saw that he had settled on the roof of the hut and was squinting in their direction; the flash from the Omnitrix must have caught his attention.
Ben raced along the ground, a snakelike cord of black and green that didn’t disturb a single leaf. He shot straight up the side of the hut that the spider-man was peering from and slammed into him with enough force to send him airborne. The little creature shrieked in pained surprise but Ben had no time to be nice, he stretched an arm out to grab hold of him and smother his cries.
With the spider-man caught Ben wasted no time in racing back to Charmcaster, pulling her free of the tree roots with ease. He thought that getting her above what remained of the smoke would help but he quickly realized he had misjudged the situation in his panic. Charmcaster hadn’t been having trouble breathing, she had been panting as her body was thrown into a sexual overdrive.
Her face was flushed and her nipples peaked underneath her shirt. Both hands were furiously working at her pussy, her juices drenching her panties and running down her legs.
“I… I can’t… stop… help… meeee!” Charmcaster pleaded to Ben before she was overcome with an orgasm. Ben expected her to slump over as she came but instead she continued to jam her fingers in her pussy and rub at her clit as her moans grew louder.
Ben hurried Charmcaster and the spider-man into the hut where they would be away from prying eyes and Charmcaster cries of pleasure wouldn’t carry so far.
“What’s happened to her?” Ben asked the spider-man, his cycloptic eye/mouth doing its best to glare at him as he pulled back enough of his body to allow the creature to speak.
At first he was silent but after an aggressive squeeze from Ben his tongue was loosened.
“The mistresses do that to prey for amusement. The prey, usually two, mate until death.”
“Is there a way to stop it?”
“Death.”
“Another way!” Ben yelled as he fought the urge to throw the creature.
The creature shook his head and Ben felt his heart crack. There had to be something he could do, anything! Maybe if he went to the Shaldoth and begged they could stop it. Or maybe they would laugh and force him to watch Charmcaster die.
Ben was so distraught as he tried to think of something he almost didn’t hear Charmcaster call out to him.
“Ben! The… beach…”
“What? What about the beach?”
Charmcaster squeezed her eyes shut as she fought the urges tearing through her body.
“Nearly… drowned… saved me… do it… agaaaaaain!”
She arched as she came again, tears pouring down her face as it was becoming more painful than pleasurable.
Ben wasn’t sure what she meant at first but as his mind raced understanding suddenly clicked on like a light.
“You can’t… You want me to stop your breathing and then bring you back?” Ben asked, his whole form trembling at the immensity of what she was asking him to do.
Charmcaster thrashed her head back and forth in a nod before screaming as another orgasm shook her body.
Ben looked to the spider-man still in his grasp and stretched his arm out across the room, depositing him in the corner farthest from the door.
“If you move so much as a step towards the door I’ll kill you,” Ben said, his voice completely flat as dread filled him.
The creature nodded in understanding and turned to face the corner, leaving Ben alone with the task that terrified him beyond belief.
Charmcaster was squirming on the ground, writhing in as much pain as pleasure. Ben rolled over her body, encasing her within his body until only her head was left uncovered. She cried and moaned as Ben pinned her arms to her side, her body fighting to keep masturbating to death. Ben did his best to ignore her cries as he focused on the pulse in her neck, he wanted to be sure he could feel that through his metal skin before he went any further in this madness.
Once he could feel her galloping pulse he tried to be as quick as possible, covering her mouth with a film and plugging her nose with two tendrils. Ben wished he could block out his senses as he felt Charmcaster struggle, her whole body rocked with wild spasms as he suffocated her. It almost became too much for him as a scream rumbled uselessly in her chest and then she began to grow still. Ben wanted to be sick as her pulse grew weaker and weaker and he hated the fact that he couldn’t get rid of that sensation because of the body he was in.
He almost screamed when her pulse finally stopped but instead he sprung into action. He began pushing on her chest as the film over her mouth ballooned out until it looked like a pump from an emergency room. He pushed air into her lungs through the pump and resumed chest compressions but Charmcaster just lay there still as a stone.
“Come on! Wake up Charmcaster! Wake up!”
Ben was shouting as he began to panic again, his fear triggering a reorganization of the nanites that made up his body. There was a soft whine in the air and then Charmcaster’s whole body jumped as a jolt of electricity was passed through her. Ben almost didn’t realize what he had done but he froze as he felt the pulse in her neck flutter before stopping again. He put all his focus into creating another shock and his vision swam as he used the energy of his own body.
Charmcaster’s body flopped again but there was no response from her heart. He zapped her again and again while pumping her chest and working air into her lungs, he could feel himself growing weaker with each discharge but he wasn’t going to stop.
Ben became aware of his body crumbling into metallic dust as the energy that powered it was passed into Charmcaster, already his feet were gone and it was slowly traveling up his body. But none of that mattered because he still had enough juice for one more try.
“Charmcaster!” Ben yelled as he shocked her with the last of his energy.
Charmcaster’s eyes flew open as the electricity shot through her, her heart kick-started back into working. She gasped and rolled onto her side as coughing racked her body. Once she could breath she looked up from the ground and over her shoulder.
What was left of Ben was kneeling there beside her, the edges of his body eroding away faster and faster.
“B-b-Ben?” Charmcaster stuttered, her eyes going wide.
“It worked, it worked, thank God,” Ben sounded exhausted and his voice seemed very far away as he spoke.
“Ben, what’s happening?” Charmcaster asked as she sat up, propping herself up with one arm.
“I burned up all the power I had as Upgrade, this body isn’t able to hold itself together.”
“Change back!” Charmcaster demanded as tears poured down her face.
“Don’t… think… can… stay… with… Grandpa… Gwen… tell… love… them… you…”
Ben’s words were broken bits that were barely more than a whisper as his body deteriorated until just his head and the Omnitrix symbol were left. Charmcaster reached out and caught them before they could fall to the ground, cradling the remains as tears rained down on them.
“Good… bye…”
Sobs racked her body as Ben’s last words rang in her ears and she squeezed her eyes shut tight as if she could deny the reality of what just happened if she didn’t see it. She couldn’t take losing someone else like she lost her parents, it was too much for her. And then through her eyelids she saw a flash of green and her arms were suddenly full.
Her eyes sprang open to find she was cradling an unconscious Ben, the look on his face one of restful sleep. Tears still sprang from Charmcaster’s eyes as she kissed Ben, expecting his eyes to flutter open but instead he remained asleep. She shook him to no avail and finally laid him down so his head rested on her lap.
She ran her hand through Ben’s hair as she tried to think, she was still rather disorientated from her resuscitation. A small cough caught her attention and she turned her head to find the spider-man Ben had set in the corner. It had turned around and was studying them with a tilted head.
“May I help mistress?”
Charmcaster blinked in confusion as she wiped drying tears from her eyes.
“What?”
“May I help?”
“Don’t you serve the Shaldoth?”
“Did, mistresses will kill me now for failure. Want to live, want to serve mistress and master that show such kindness.”
Charmcaster let the creature’s words sink in as she studied Ben’s face. What would he do with this sudden turn of events? Almost immediately an idea came to her.
“Do you know where the Shaldoth store the energy they take from everything else on the island?”
The spider-man nodded slowly and Charmcaster kissed Ben for inspiring her before carefully setting him on the ground. She stood up and looked to the spider-man with a fierce grin.
“Then I want you to take me there, I’m getting my magic back!”
***
Notes
***
Review Response and Discussion Thread: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/57397-graynekos-review-response-and-discussion-thread/
- 5
- 6
- 7
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Island Misadventures of Ben and Charmcaster