"Grandpa, save me! Gwen must've taken the wrong medicine today!" Ben shouted.
Grandpa shook his head. "Enough fooling around, you two. Lucian and I just finished shopping, but we're still short on a few ingredients, so we need to head to the next village. Get in the car now and stop wasting everyone's time, got it?"
"Okay." Gwen smiled and let go of Ben.
"Hey, nerd, what the heck is wrong with you today? Apologize right now!" Ben said indignantly.
"Yes, Gwen. What you did just now really was a bit too much," Grandpa said.
"Uh, hehe... sorry, Ben. It was my fault. I shouldn't have treated you like that." Gwen's attitude suddenly changed completely. Putting on a pitiful, ingratiating look, she gazed at Ben and said,
"Ben, to make it up to you, I'm willing to cook you a big, delicious dinner."
"Just for you."
Gwen's voice turned sickeningly sweet, making Ben's scalp crawl.
Had this nerd really taken the wrong medicine?
...
Seafood market.
The group arrived in front of a shop.
Many fresh live octopuses were laid out on display. The owner, a fat man with a broad face, was lounging half-reclined in a chair with a toothpick in his mouth, wearing a look of complete worldly detachment.
"Excuse me, do you have fresh sea urchin?" Gwen stepped forward and asked the owner.
"I only sell octopus here. This isn't some seafood supermarket, little girl." The owner looked at her with disdain.
"Tch." Gwen immediately got annoyed and began chanting a spell under her breath.
Whoosh.
A large number of octopuses suddenly floated into the air as if gravity had vanished, then all lunged at the owner at once.
Those long tentacles, lined with dense rows of suction cups, had astonishing grip. In the blink of an eye, they wrapped him up into a human-shaped octopus bundle.
"Ahhh!" the owner screamed.
Ben and Grandpa hurried over to help pull the crazed octopuses off him.
Lucian turned his head and silently watched Gwen.
"What kind of magic did you just use? Gwen doesn't know that one."
At those words, Gwen's body stiffened, and she hurriedly explained, "Oh, Cuz, that's gravity magic I learned recently. I was going to tell you all, but I got excited and forgot..."
Lucian said nothing and chose to stay silent.
Just then, two passersby nearby saw the owner trapped, exchanged looks, and immediately jumped into the seafood truck. Then they hit the gas and sped off.
"My truck!!" the owner shouted frantically, trying to chase after it, but after just two steps he fell to the ground, pounding his chest and crying out in despair.
"You dare steal my stuff? You've got a death wish." Gwen looked at a scooter nearby and raised her hand, chanting another spell.
The scooter immediately sprang to life and rushed in front of Gwen.
The moment she got on, it shot forward instantly, faster than a train.
"Ben, go help her," Lucian said calmly.
This was too small a matter for him to step in personally, and besides, he was still on guard.
"Got it." Ben pressed the Omnitrix and transformed into Diamondhead.
Then he leaped up onto a tall building and used his crystal powers to move rapidly between floors, sliding and jumping his way after her.
...
Two minutes later, Diamondhead caught up with the truck.
But Gwen had already finished the fight.
At that moment, the two robbers were in a miserable state, crouched in the back of the truck and tightly bound by countless octopuses, screaming one after another.
Diamondhead scratched his head.
...
Prison.
A crowd of inmates was lining up to get food.
Soon, it was Charmcaster's turn.
A lump of snot-like sludge, looking like a pile of filth, splattered out of the machine onto the tray, giving off an indescribable smell.
"Ugh." Charmcaster looked at the lunch lady. "You don't happen to serve organic fruits and vegetables here, do you?"
"Oh, we do. Homemade, too."
The woman stuck a finger into her ear, dug around vigorously, and pulled out a large yellow chunk.
Then she pressed it onto Charmcaster's dinner, mixed it around a few times, and grinned. "If that's not enough, I've got plenty more. More than enough to feed all of you."
"Oh my God, I've really had enough." Charmcaster covered her face.
"What, you dare not eat it? Planning to waste food?" The lunch lady found an outlet for her temper, grabbed a spoon, and swung it at Charmcaster.
Seeing this, Charmcaster quickly pulled out the spellbook and rapidly chanted a spell.
In the next moment, the iron spoon in the woman's hand went limp like a wilted radish.
"Ah!"
The woman's face went pale with fright, and she instinctively backed up, only to step right into a puddle of grease.
Clang.
She crashed heavily to the ground, looking utterly pathetic.
The other inmates instantly burst into laughter.
Especially the boss lady, who now looked at Charmcaster in a whole new light.
....A few minutes later.
Everyone was punished with cleaning the kitchen, including Charmcaster.
"Hey, princess, nice job. As long as I get to see that fat pig embarrass herself, I'd gladly do anything," the boss lady said with a hearty laugh. "If you ever need help with anything, just say the word."
"Right now... I just want to escape." Charmcaster let out a sigh.
The others all shook their heads when they heard that.
"Forget it. The place is heavily guarded. There's no way out," someone said.
Charmcaster shook her head and sighed, then went back to scrubbing the floor.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
A manhole cover appeared in front of her...