Gwendolen was lost in her own world. She loved video games, even if she pretended otherwise. The girls at school made fun of her for acting too much like a boy. Some even said that she did it just for Kevin's attention. None of that was true, she told herself. They were just jealous that she was having more fun than any of them. She was now playing a high level version of Pacman. She always thought that eating aliens was more fun than eating ghosts. Everybody knew that ghosts weren't real. She ate and ate and ate some more. Only 6000 points more and she would beat Ben's top score.
There was a knock at the door. It was probably them. Grandpa Max and Ben were speaking in rushed tones, and Gwen sensed their anxiety. Ben must have gotten it good, she thought to herself. Serves him right for picking up things that didn't belong to him.
She hit the pause button and went to open the door for them.
"You know, I could save us a few seconds if I just walked through the door and unlocked it from the inside" Ben was saying. "Not now" said Grandpa as Gwen opened the door.
Grandpa Max had his forehead creased in all sorts of wrinkles, but he was smiling. There was a little more tightness around his eyes than there usually was. It was unusual for him, but Gwen remembered that he was an old person after all. All old people ended up like that eventually, she supposed. She felt glad that she wasn't an old person. There was something odd about Ben. He looked a little taller and for some reason more muscular. And his hair was longer. His eyes..... Greener.
"Hi there cuz" said Ben, in a bright cheerful voice. He took two steps forward and hugged her.
"What are you doing?!?!?!?!" she shrieked. Ben let go of her and walked into the Rustbucket. He sat down on the couch and put his legs up on the table lying just in front.
It took Gwen a few seconds to realize that something wasn't quite what it was supposed to be. She looked up at Grandpa. "Why aren't you shouting at him? He's getting his dirty shoes all over the coffee table."
"Relax cuz. Gramps knows I ain't going to do nothing bad." After a few moments of wistful silence he added "Nothing that can't be fixed anyways."
"Cuz?!?!?" said Gwen, more confused than ever. She looked from Ben to Grandpa and then back to Ben. She did this a few more times before she threw her hands up in the air and walked back to her game.
Max shot Ben a look that said (almost screamed) 'dont push it'.
Ben nodded in understanding. His eyes glowed again and he nodded. There was no doubt about it now. He had been lectured on how important it was to keep the whole thing a secret and how there was no way to undo the damage it would cause if people came to know. Grandpa was happy that he didn't go bat shit insane with all the cool stuff he could do, but he also worried that it wouldn't last.
Power corrupts. Power corrupts. Power corrupts.
The phrase kept repeating itself over and over in Grandpa Max's head, but the fact remained that Ben had won the jackpot in the lottery for power. For no reason whatsoever other than sheer luck and the fact that Grandpa had dedicated years of his life in service of a goal greater than any found here on Earth.
As if to accentuate the point, the alien he picked on his very first go was one of the better ones. Grandpa had told him from inside his head that Ben was now what they had called "the Martian Manhunter".
He could do a bunch of things now. He could hear people think. He could look different and actually be different. He walk through walls, doors and even the trees outside. And he could fly. He had flown. With Grandpa Max in his arms, weighing a fraction of what his backpack normally felt like. And that wasn't all he could do...
He really ought to tell Gwen that he didn't care if she beat his high score. Instead he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, waiting for the right moment.
Gwen was devastated. She had just wasted an hour. All for nothing. All because of the slip of her finger. She was just thirty seconds away from wiping that smug look of Ben's face when she hit the wrong arrow. Pacman ended up walking straight into the alien with the yellow aura. The screen showed his name as Mongul. Mongul beat Pacman up with a fist that was adorned by 15 yellow rings.
Gwen was so fixated on the screen that she had ended up counting them.
"What's up, cuzzz..??" said Ben. He stood behind her, but her eyes were still rooted to the screen. Just for fun, Ben turned invisible and then waved his right in front of her face.
Grandpa Max had stepped out of the Rustbucket for a while. He told the kids that he needed to make a call and that it was important. Ben had all the time in the world to be naughty now and he knew it.
He was smiling to himself even though he couldn't see his reflection off Gwen's screen. Suddenly, Gwen stirred.
Uh-oh, thought Ben.
Gwen spun around in her chair and looked up. She saw Ben, fully opaque and smiling. Her eyes were narrow as she looked at him accusingly.
"It was you, Ben" she said.
"Huh?" The smile vanished faster than Ben had appeared.
"You distracted me. You and Grandpa. I was about to beat your score. You guys came and spoilt my momentum."
"Say what?" said Ben, relieved. Grandpa would have killed him otherwise.
He had never understood why Gwen spent so much time thinking about what she did. Why couldn't she just play the game like he did? Of course, he didn't help things when he rubbed her face in it.
"I'm going again. Just you wait mister!!"
Ben nodded. He decided to let her play it out this time.
TO BE CONTINUED...