Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Midnight Madness
The group were now visiting the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota as they all gazed around at the sights from the brochure that the mega mall had to offer.
"500 stores? 72 restaurants? 48 movie screens? An indoor roller coaster?!" Gwen exclaimed in awe at the brochure.
"No way!" Becky exclaimed as she and her sister cheered in glee as they held hands as Allison scoffed in annoyance at their squeals.
"We could spend the whole summer here!" Ben said as Max carried out their new goods that they had picked up at the mall.
"This mall has everything!" Jen said as Allison nodded with a smile.
Suddenly, some thieves ran through the shadows of the area as they gasped as the mall cops came out with thier guns ready.
"Halt in the name of mall security!" they shouted as they chased after the thieves.
"Yeah, including their own police force," Max said.
"If they're anything like the cops I see in the movies, we're screwed," Allison said.
"It looks like the rent-a-cops could use a little help," Ben said as he cracked his knuckles and activated his Omnitrix.
"A hero's work is never done, is it?" Jen asked as she activated her Omnitrix and the twins both slammed the cores down with a shout.
"Good luck," Allison said with a nod. "You'll need it."
The thieves ran in the shadows as the cops chased after them.
Little did they know, a certain alien dog and cat chased after them as well as they leaped up into the parking garage with the twins in close pursuit as the cops stopped.
"The Omni Twins?" one of them asked. "Here?"
The twins touched down in the parking garage where Wildcat murred in confusion when she saw that the thieves were actually two senior citizens who actually made no attempt to disguise their identities.
Wildmutt tackled the pair, sending the stolen jewels flying out of their hands as they landed in a heap and Wildcat snarled at them as she leaped over to her brother's side.
The thieves then suddenly recovered with fancy ninja flips and glared at the pair as the twins could only look confused.
They then immediately flipped off the walls and kicked the twins in the face as they shouted out in pain from the impact.
The twins recovered and immediately started fighting back as they growled and snarled as they fought with swipes of their claws and bites as the thieves dodged and the woman grabbed Wildcat by the tail and tossed her into a pillar in a pained daze as she saw stars in her eyes as they floated over her.
Wildmutt engaged the man as he flipped him over onto his back, but Wildmutt kicked him upwards as he recovered and started fighting back from that as his sister recovered and got back into the fight.
However, the twins clearly weren't fairing well at all as sister was tossed into brother as they groaned outwards and saw the thieves glare and breath outwards.
Suddenly, the mall carts arrived with the mall cops coming out and aiming their weapons at the twins as they glanced outwards.
"They're gone? What?" the leader asked as Wildmutt picked up a scent and ushered his sister to follow him out of the garage, which she did as the cops followed them in an investigation.
The twins immediately saw the Rust Bucket come up and Max picked them up as they gazed outwards as the carts sped down in an attempt to catch up with the thieves who were long gone.
"The thieves must be trying to escape in that RV!" the leader suggested. "Cut them off!"
The Rust Bucket pulled out of the garage with the cops in close pursuit as they peeled away down the road before Max gasped as he was cut off by the mall cops as he quickly swerved and smashed into a street light, totalling the RV's engine as the jolt caused some of the inhabitants crashing to the ground with a groan.
The cops burst into the room and had their guns ready as they saw the kids at the table as Allison and Becky picked themselves up off the floor.
"Looking for someone, officer?" Ben asked as he, his sister, their cousins and their friend all smiled innocently with a chuckle.
"Nice going outside, heroes," Gwen said as she, Ben, Jen, Becky and Allison walked through the mall.
"Not only did you let the robbers get away, but because they thought your furry butts were inside, they played Demolition Derby with the Rust Bucket," Becky said.
"Look, I'm sorry, Gwen," Ben said with a sigh. "You know that it was never my intention for anyone to get hurt."
"Besides," Jen said. "The mall's going to pay for all the repairs. And it did buy us a few more days here while Grandpa waits for the parts. If anything, you should be thanking us."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Allison said with a smile as she saw Ben walk off to use the bathroom as the girls started talking to each other.
"Is it just me, or has Ben been acting differently in the past week?" Gwen asked.
"Of course he is," Becky sighed. "How would you react if you found out that you could grow up to be as horrific as Venger was?"
"I've never seen anyone take something that hard in my life," Allison said as she bowed her head.
"How do you think I feel being his own flesh and blood?" Jen asked. "The Omnitrix means the world to him. And for him to see how his future could end up? I mean, it really broke him."
"He said that he wants to do everything he can to protect us," Becky said.
"For once, I think he actually meant what he said. I don't think he wants to make fun of you anymore, Gwen," Allison said. "I expect you to do the same."
"Deal," she said.
Ben then came out of the bathroom as he smiled at the group. "What did I miss?"
"Oh, you know," Jen chuckled. "Girl talk."
Gwen gasped as she saw a poster by her and she read it.
"The Amazing Sublimino: Master of Hypnosis. Last Day. Let's check it out!" she said.
"Gee, and to think we almost missed him," Ben smiled as he and the others followed Gwen.
"Well, at least he hasn't completely changed," Becky said.
They walked to the stage and took their seats as they heard a voice from over the loudspeaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Presenting The Amazing Sublimino: Master of Hypnosis!"
A puff of smoke burst from the stage and a man walked out, coughing from the smoke as he sighed.
He was a dwarf-sized man with a receding hairline and sunglasses on his eyes and a scar running down his right eye. He wore a suit and red tie with a red caped-blazer over it and white pants and black shoes. He almost tripped over his long jacket before he went to the microphone on the stage.
"Behold: Sublimino!" he said. "I am about to take you on a journey through the mysterious realm known as the mind! First, I shall require some volunteers."
"Give me a break," Allison sighed. "Only someone with half a brain could be hypnotized."
"I'm not doing it," Becky said.
"Dibs not," Gwen said.
"Fine, I guess I'm here," Ben said with a sigh. "Alright. I'll do it."
"Are you sure that we didn't leave the real Ben in the future?" Becky whispered to Jen who only nodded.
Ben walked onto the stage along with an old man and woman who also volunteered.
"Now, clear your mind," Sublimino ordered. "Focus only on this pocketwatch as it swings back and forth."
He then swung his pocketwatch back and forth as the volunteers eyes followed it.
"Your eyelids are growing heavy. You are falling into a deep sleep."
Ben shrugged and turned to the other volunteers who didn't know what was going on.
Sublimino then pocketed his watchand took out another one and pressed a button on it that released a sonic yellow pulse that caused the volunteer's pupils to shrink to a pinpoint.
They then fell asleep, leaving the audience stunned at that.
"Ben Tennyson is asleep," Allison whispered to her friends as they nodded.
"Major blackmail time," Gwen said as she lifted up her camera as Becky sighed.
"So much for not making fun of him."
"Now, you are under my power," Sublimino said. "When you open your eyes, you will all become newborn babies."
The volunteers opened their eyes and all started crying hysterically as the audience laughed. Even Ben's cousins and friends couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the sight before them.'
"Now, you are all chickens in a barnyard!"
The volunteers immediately ceased crying and immediately started clucking and flapping their arms like wings, causing the audience to laugh harder. Even Jen chuckled at that with a smile.
"I'm not going to lie," Jen said. "This is kind of funny."
That was when Max walked over with a smile and gazed at the hilarious sight before them.
"Why is Ben acting like a chicken?" she asked.
"It's my early Christmas present," Gwen said.
"You are a ballerina," Sublimino said to the old man who immediately pirouetted away. "You are a ferocious grizzly bear," he ordered to the woman who immediately started growling and walking away.
"This is so funny!" Becky exclaimed as she held her sides.
"And you, my lad, are an alien," Sublimino said to Ben as he distantly activated his Omnitrix, catching the girls' attention instantly.
"Okay, funny part's over," Allison said as Jen immediately ran up.
"Ben, no!" she shouted as she ran up and tackled him behind the curtain as the green light flashed out.
"You are ruining the performance!" Sublimino said from behind the chandelier.
"Sorry," Jen chuckled. "My brother had to... run to the little alien's room!"
Sublimino sighed and parted the curtain as Jen picked up Grey Matter in her hands.
"Uh," Grey Matter said to her. "Take me to your leader. Your will is my command."
"Well, it's not embarassing to him if he's not aware of it, is he?" Jen asked as she smirked.
Max was working under the hood of the Rust Bucket as the girls and Ben were watching the video that Gwen had recorded of the performance as Ben groaned outwards.
"Oh, this is so embarrassing!" he said pulling his hair as Jen sighed.
"I'm sorry, Ben. I tried to tell her to not embarrass you, but she still wanted to get back at you for all you did during this vacation," Jen said. "Although, to be fair, I'm a little bit to blame for this as well."
"Fine, that's fair," Ben sighed.
"Wait, here's my favorite part," Gwen chuckled as it showed Grey Matter catering to the girls' whims as he smiled.
"More grapes, master?" he asked as he fed Allison grapes as she listened to her music with a smile.
"Oh man!" Ben said as the camera showed him combing Becky's hair and then rubbed Gwen's feet as she groaned.
"Take it easy, Ben!" Gwen shouted. "You're going to chafe my feet."
That was when the Omnitrix timed out and Ben snapped out of the trance he was in as he stirred.
"What? What just happened?" he asked.
"Too bad you snapped out of it when your Omintrix timed out," Gwen said. "Jen was going to have you give her a hot oil conditioning treatment next."
"Oh yeah?" Ben asked as he snatched the camera away and gave it to his sister. "Well that's what erase buttons are for."
"Hey!" Gwen shouted. "Give that back."
"Sorry, he's right," Jen said. "We had our fun. It's over now."
She then erased the film on it, earning a groan from her cousina as she tossed the camera back to her as she sighed.
"He's had enough embarrassment for one day, sis," Becky said as she sighed. "I'm going to bed."
"Night," Allison said as she walked over to get out her sleeping bag and Jen sighed as well as Max walked in.
"They're right," Max said. "It's been a long day and we could all use some shut eye."
"Don't worry, bro," Jen said as she and Ben walked up to their bed. "They won't bother you again for the rest of this vacation. We know how much that future trip affected you mentally."
"Thanks for understanding, sis," Ben said as they each crawled into their bed and fell asleep.
The next morning at noon, the group continued walking through the mall as they saw Ben groan outwards in restlessness as the girls all talked to each other.
"So, your future self and some of the people we've faced called you an, let's see, how did it go... Osmosian?" Gwen asked.
"Yes," Allison said. "That is accurate."
"So you're an alien?" Becky asked curiously.
"Not exactly," Allison explained. "'Osmosian' is just another word for 'mutant.' It's a human with a unique genetic component that gives them special powers that normal humans don't. Each Osmosian's ability is different. For example, me and Kevin's ability is absorbtion."
"That is awesome!" Jen said, jabbing her friend's arm as she smield as Ben sighed outwards as the group all looked to him.
"Hey, you okay, Ben?" Max asked. "You don't seem as peppy as usual."
"I'm just a little tired, that's all," Ben groaned as they walked forwards in front of the sea dragon pendulum ride, which was closed off for construction.
"Whoa," Gwen said. "What happened here?"
"Somebody stole the motor from the sea dragon ride," the mall cop explained. "Probably a prank by some punk kids."
His partner then walked over and showed a piece of evience.
"What do you think of this?" He was holding a discarded green crystal that looked like it belonged to Diamondhead, catching our heroes' attention.
"What the?" Becky asked as they all looked to the twins as the cops walked away.
"What, I didn't do it, I swear!" Ben said as Jen crossed her arms.
"Me either! I was asleep the whole night. We're not the only aliens in the galaxy, you know," Jen said.
Max could only look on suspiciously as he was deep in thought.
The group was asleep in the Rust Bucket as the clock struck midnight. Suddenly, a sonic pulse was shot all across the mall area as Ben suddenly sat up in him and his sister's bed, completely unaware of his surroundings. He was in a trance-like state.
He then jumped out of his bunk as Gwen and Jen woke up from their bunks as they saw their brother/cousin leave.
"Ben?" Gwen asked. "What are you doing up at this time of night?"
Ben ignored them and wakled towards the door like a zombie. He then activated the Omnitrix.
"Hello, Earth to Ben!" Jen said as Becky groaned and held her head. "She asked you a question."
Becky saw the flash of green light as she saw Upgrade standing there as she threw the blanket off of her as Jen climbed down and joined Gwen.
"Wait!" Becky exclaimed. "You can't go out like that!"
Upgrade oozed out of the door as Jen shook Allison awake from her sleeping bag on the couch as Max woke up from the wheel too and walked over as they gasped as they saw Upgrade ooze away from them and travel through the electrical wires of the street lights and the sign of the mall.
"Jen, it's your move."
"It's hero time!" Jen said as she slammed down her Omnitrix and started her transformation.
Jen's watch started surging with pink energy then covered her whole body with a pink energy surge, and she float in the air as she spun around then curled up as her body got wrapped by multiple lava-like silks until she was conceal within the lava-theme pupa then changed to orange crystal form. The pupa start cracking then a long insectoid arm with three claws, spikes on the arm and coated with orange exoskeleton smashed of the pupa then her four long insectoid legs legs and finally her head, which matured to a young woman with orange eyes and red sclera with light-orange skin and wore crown-like horns on her head, has C-cup breastbones, a very large abdomen with light-like orb at the bottom tip and a pair of large skin-like wings. She then flapped her wings and ignited her abdomen as her transformation finished.
Allison then absorvbed the metal from the Rust Bucket as she hopped onto Firefly's back as Becky readied her weapons and climbed up to the roof of the Rust Bucket as Gwen and Max nodded.
Upgrade walked along the wall as Max and Gwen drove up along to him as Becky looked out.
"He must be sleepwalking," Max said as Firefly and Allison flew above him.
That was when a spotlight shown on Upgrade as he looked.
"Halt in the name of mall security! Omni Green, stand down!" the security cop said as he aimed his weapons on him.
"Crap!" Allison said as Firefly flew in as Upgrade climbed on top of the mall's highest tower as two more helicopters flew in and aimed their spotlights on them.
Upgrade then punched one of the copters in the front, which did nothing as they continued to follow him.
"Hello! Ben!" Becky shouted as she climbed down and joined her sister and grandfather at the bottom. "You're sleepwalking!"
"It's no use, Becky," Max said. "He can't hear you. He probably has no idea what he's doing."
"So what else is new?" Gwen asked as the cop cars came driving up as they could only look on.
"I'd better get up there," Max said, running up to the tower.
The helicopters fired their machine guns at Upgrade, which shot right through his liquid metal body and he oozed downwards onto the tower before reforming and running towards the helicopter.
The pilot gasped as he tackled the copter and merged with it, catching the attention of everyone as they gasped outwards.
"Oh crap," Allison said.
Upgrade fired the helicopter's guns and glared outwards, blasting the other copters as well as the squad cars below and then glared.
"Jen, get the pilots!" Allison shouted as Firefly flew down and ripped open the doors of one of hte smoking copters as it fell and rescued the pilot as Allison took him and hopped onto the ground before Firefly flew over and used her claws on the other copter and she rescued the pilot as she flew down and set him on the ground.
"Thanks, Omni Pink," the pilot said.
"You are very welcome," she said. "Forgive my brother. He's not feeling like himself."
"Look!" one of the cops said as Upgrade demerged with the remaining helicopter before he leaped out and oozed with the clock, using its hands as helicopter blades and ripped it right out of the tower and it flew away from the scene as the others could only look on.
"Time sure flies when you go alien," Gwen said as Upgrade flew away.
Upgrade approached a construction site near the mall as the a door opened and he demerged with the clock.
A figure stepped out of the gargae to reveal himself as Sublimino.
"Who are you?" he asked. "What happened to the guy who looked like a walking chandelier? Oh who cares as long as you do as I say. Now get out of here before the cops see you!"
Upgrade turned away and merged with a nearby bulldozer before driving away from the scene.
The next morning, Ben groaned as he woke up and stretched.
"Oh man," he said. "What a weird dream."
He then gasped as he looked around and saw that he was sleeping on a bulldozer that was parked next to the Rust Bucket.
"Ah! Are you kidding me?!"
He then found himself surrounded by a pink aura as he looked down and saw the girls standing close by as Jen used her telekinesis to set him down on the ground next to them safely.
"So, bro," she said. "Steal any good clocks lately?"
Inside the Rust Bucket, the kids were watching a news report on the television on what happened the previous night.
"Despite last night's strange attack from Omni-Green and other robberies that happened throughout the mall, the representative had this to say:"
"This was an isolated incident," the representative said. "The mall is open for business. Shopper safety is our Number One priority."
"So," Ben said. "Why would I go alien in the middle of the night and steal a bunch of stuff like a roller coaster motor and a big clock?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Ben," Allison said.
"Well sleepwalkers are in a hyper-dream state," Max explained. "Nothing makes sense in a dream."
"Yeah," Gwen said. "But most sleepwalkers don't have a watch that lets them turn into alien heroes at their control."
"This doesn't make sense in reality either," Jen said. "Ben and I have shared the same house every day since we were born. He's never been a sleepwalker."
"Oh," Becky said. "And how would you know that, Jen?"
Jen then felt all eyes peering at her as she immediately felt the pressure and immediately lost control of herself.
"Alright, I'm guilty! I stay up to get a midnight snack every night!"
"I knew there was less in the cookie jar!" Becky scolded.
"Girls, focus," Max said. "Gwen's got a point. We need to keep you awake and away from people until we can find a way to stop your midnight strolls."
Ben dozed off briefly before he felt a splash of cold water hit him in the face as he immediately shot awake.
"Hey, what was that for?" he shouted as he saw Becky with an empty glass in her hand.
"Sorry, cuz. It's for your own good," he said.
"*sigh* Alright," he said. "You can prank me as much as you want. Do what you need to do."
The hours went on and the girls did everything they could to keep Ben awake every time he dozed off. From Gwen plugging his nose so he would shoot up, to Becky dumping some ice cubes down his back to Allison pulling the sheets off of his bed so he would fall on the floor.
"You guys are enjoying this, aren't you?" he yawned before Jen blew an airhorn in his face.
"Okay, maybe a little."
That night, the rest of the girls had finally dozed off from exhaustion in various sections of the Rust Bucket and Gwen walked over to Max, who fell asleep at the wheel.
"Grandpa, wake up," she yawned. "It's your shift..."
She finally dozed off and fell asleep by the front seat with a snore as Ben finally dozed off too, leaving everyone asleep.
Meanwhile, Sublimino stood where the tower used to be with a smirk.
"Awaken my slaves," he said, reaching into his coat pocket. "Awaken and serve your master Sublimino."
He then pressed the button on his pocket watch, releasing the sonic pulse out once again, awakening all of his sleeping slaves into a trance-like state, including Ben who activated his Omnitrix and slammed it down.
"Ugh," Max said. "Allison, turn up the A.C. I'm cooking over here."
That was when Jen felt the heat too and awoken along with everyone else as Heatblast walked out of the Rust Bucket and shot off using his jet propulsion.
"We'd better follow him," Becky said.
At the mall's hardware store, Heatblast was melting a hole in the wall and fused a cable to a forklift. When he finally broke through the wall, the elderly thieves from earlier drove through on the forklift, taking the cable with them as the others came into the area, Jen having transformed into Water Lily.
"Ben, listen to us!" Allison shouted.
But Heatblast didn't listen as he tossed a fireball at them, which they all avoided.
"You're under some kind of hypnotic spell!" Gwen shouted.
"He can't hear you, sis," Becky said as she readied her spear. "Maybe a bump on the head will wake him up."
No sooner than she said that, the Special Weapons And Tactics team burst through the roof and glared at Heatblast.
"Or that," Allison said.
The S.W.A.T. team aimed their weapons as Water Lily joined them and fired her water jets at Ben as he tossed a wave of fire at her and the team, which the water quickly extinguished.
"You guys get out of here!" An officer told the others as they nodded and ran away.
The S.W.A.T. team immediately tossed in some smoke grenades, blocking Heatblast's vision of them as Water Lily stepped up.
"Leave it to me, guys," she said. "What's the best thing to deal with fire? Water."
She fired her water jets again, blowing Heatblast away, but not before he tossed out a few more fireballs, which hit the ground and started spreading.
They then looked behind them to see arow of propane tanks.
"Oh boy," Water Lily said.
"Run!" the S.W.A.T. Leader said. "Everybody out! Move! Move! Move!"
The S.W.A.T. team and Water Lily immediately turned and ran out of the store as fast as their legs could carry them before it went up in a fiery explosion.
"This was an isolated incident," the mall manager said the next morning at the scene of the crime. "The mall is open for business. Shopper safety is our Number One priority."
In the Rust Bucket, which was parked nearby, they watched the recording of Sublimino's performance on Gwen's camera, the solution finally hitting them.
"So," Max said. "Sublimino plants post-hypnotic suggestions in his volunteers, turning them into his army of thieves."
"But the sound of the Omnitrix timing out snaps Ben out of the trance," Allison realized
They then looked to see Ben dozing off again. Becky blew the airhorn in his face, waking him up.
"But why have me steal all that stuff?" Ben asked, stretching and groaning.
"I don't know," Max said. "But Sublimino sure does. We need to find him and fast."
"This was an isolated incident," the manager said with his chair turned to Max. "The mall is open for business. Shopper safety is our Number One priority."
"Yes, yes, you said that already," Max said. "But I'm saying your shoppers are in danger."
"This was an isolated incident. The mall is open for business. Shopper safety is our Number One priority."
"Okay, this is getting us nowhere," Max said before he turned and walked away.
That was when Sublimino walked out, wearing a helmet with a video camera attached.
"Well done," he said to the manager, who was under his control. "All the preparations are complete! It's showtime!"
Ben was at a water fountain with the fountain running as Max came by as Jen walked over with Allison and sighed.
"Hey, bro," she said. "Bro?"
"Wake up," Allison said, shaking the wet Ben awake as he groaned outwards.
"Mom, I'm too tired to go to school."
"That's it," Allison groaned before she gave him a slap across the face, snapping him out of it.
"Thank you," he said.
That was when Gwen and Becky walked over with a shopping bag.
"I have the perfect solution to your sleepwalking problem," Gwen said as Becky pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
"If you can't touch the Omnitrix, you can't go alien," Becky said.
"Where'd you get those?" Jen asked.
"Survivalists 'R' Us," Becky said. "They have a very extensive selection."
Gwen then walked over and cuffed Ben's hands behind his back.
"Are you girls sure this is the best solution," Max asked.
"What could go wrong?" Gwen asked.
That was when a hole opened in the ceiling and the clock appeared danglingf rom the cable from earlier adn was clearly running on the roller coaster motor.
"Greetings mall rats," Sublimino said over a livestream video that was showing on all the surrounding TVs. "I am Sublimino: Master of Hypnosis."
Jen then noticed that all of the mall patrons were gathered in this area as she gasped.
"I knew there was a reason I bought this," she said, reaching into her pocket and producing her blindfold before putting it on over her eyes.
"Good thinking, Jen," Becky whispered. "You can't be hypnotised if you can't see the clock."
"You are all about to take a journey through that mysterious realm known as the mind."
The clock began to swing back and forth as all of the patrons looked at it.
"No need to volunteer. Now all of you will obey me forever! Your eyelids are getting heavy. You are falling into a deep sleep."
"Huh?" Ben asked. "A giant hypno-watch? No way that will ever work."
Sublimino then pressed the button on his pocketwatch and sent the sonic pulse out, sending everyone who was enveloped in it into a deep sleep.
"Or maybe it will. Run!" Allison shouted as she grabbed the blindfolded Jen as she and the others started running away from the yellow wave.
"Don't watch the clock," Jen said as she and Ben ducked behind a corner before the wave finally went away. She then took off the blindfold and looked out. "Phew, I'm not hypnotized. My idea worked!"
"What, why is it so quiet?" Ben asked before he and his sister ran over and saw that Gwen, Becky, Max and Allison had fallen asleep just before they turned the corner.
"This is not good," Jen said.
They ran over to the shopping bag and rumaged around for the key to the handcuffs in a hurry.
"Come on, where's the key?!" Ben groaned.
"All arise and obey my every command!" Sublimino said on the video. "Every minute of every day!"
That was when the others woke up along with the rest of the mall and they stood up at attention to Sublimino.
"Now bring me all the riches of this place!"
The mall patrons then departed and walked away towards the different stores as Gwen knelt and took the shopping bag away and the key along with it.
"Oh no!" Jen shouted.
And thus, chaos ensued. The patrons broke into the cash regiesters and stole all the money as well as smashing the windows of a giveaway car and driving it away.
Becky smashed an ATM machine open with a hammer and started loading the cash into a bag along with her sister as Allison wheeled away a jar of cash at a prize wheel.
"Yes! Yes!" Sublimino said from the control room. "First the mall, then all of America! There will be no stopping me!"
As the twins walked around through the mall, helplessly looking on as the patrons stole all of the money and merchandise from the stores around them before Jen gasped and saw a booth where they fashion keys for all kinds of locks.
"Ben, look!" she said as she took her brother by the hand and led him to the booth.
Inside, they found a motor running with a blade that they use to fashion the keys.
"Carefully, now," Ben said before he broke the chains of the handcuffs with a smile before he and his sister engaged their Omnitrixes. "You ready for this?"
"I'm not sure having to fight my own family," Jen said. "But I guess I have no choice."
"Alright, Sublimino," Ben said. "You may control every last person in the mall-"
The twins then slammed down the Omnitrixes as they transformed into Wildvine and Blossom Rose respectively.
"But what about plants?" Blossom Rose asked as they ran out of the booth and saw the patrons around them.
"Let's do this, sis," Wildvine said as they shot their arms out and stretched out their vines as they launched from balcony to balcony as they glared outwards at a video image of Sublimino on one of the screens.
"You there, plant people! Stop! Obey me!"
"Not happening," Blossom Rose said as she and her brother stretched away as Sublimino glared and spoke to his slaves.
"Don't just stand there! Stop them!"
As soon as they reached the next floor, Blossom Rose was immediately struck by the giveaway car and was being driven all around the mall before she gasped outwards and she was being tossed around on the car like a rag doll.
"The emergency brake!" she realized before she stretched her vine fingers outwards and engaged the brake, stopping the car just short of hitting the toy store. She was immediately thrown from the roof and face-planted into the glass window before slumping down unconscious.
Meanwhile, Wildvine was still looking for Sublimino when he saw Max and Gwen coming up in another car with Gwen driving as he quickly stretched his way onto the sign of a store and saw them drive past.
"Hey, how come Gwen gets to drive?" he asked.
That was when the car drove off of the balcony's barrier, causing him to gasp.
"Grandpa! Gwen!" he shouted.
Wildvine then leaped down and wrapped his vine-legs around the broken poles of the barrier before stretching his torso down as far as he could before he finally caught the car's rear bumper before he stretched out and grabbed the opposite barrier on the other side, the car stretching his body out like a hammock.
"Hang on!"
Wildvine groaned and shouted as the car stretched his body down before it finally reached the bottom floor. He then ceased his grip on the barriers and slumped down to the ground as Gwen and Max stepped out.
Meanwhile, Blossom Rose rubbed her head and groaned as she stood up before she suddenly turned around and dodged an arrow that was shot at her as she gasped when she saw Becky aiming her bow at her and Allison absorb the linoleum from the floors with a glare as hse formed her hands into hammers.
"I don't want to fight you guys," Blossom Rose said as she then dodged and ducked down the arrows fired at her. "...But I will if I must!"
She then dodged the arrows that were fired at her as she twirled around and fired vines out of her fingers as Allison fired at her and wrapped around her fist, which she then redirected and brought it around to hit Becky, knocking the wind out of her as her arrows and spear went flying and landed on the floor around her as she slumped against the wall.
"Sorry, Becky!" she quickly said as she turned to her best friend and quickly dodged her swipes from her hammer hands and shouted out as she brought her in and gave her a kick before she charged up her rosebud attack and fired her solar beam from her flower once it bloomed and it blasted Allison to the opposite side.
Fortunately, it didn't kill her because of her armor protection, but it immediately dissolved around her once she fell unconscious against hte wall.
"Sorry about that too, Allison!" she called before she saw Wildvine rising on the elevator before she shot her vines around the cables as well as she started rising as well before they both climbed up to the roof.
"So, what's new with you?" Wildvine asked.
"I just had to fight off our cousin and my best friend," Blossom Rose said.
"And I just had to save our other cousin and grandfather from crashing in a fiery car crash... man, we're having a weird day."
"Moreso than usual," Blossom Rose said before they both fired their vines to the top floor and crashed into the security room where they were face-to-face with Sublimino.
"Show's over, Sublimino!" Wildvine said. "Surrender!"
"Trim those weeds, my slaves!" Sublimino shouted as some of the previously hypnotised slaves came out with running chainsaws as Blossom Rose got a nervous look on her face.
"Don't worry, sis," Wildvine said. "I have an idea."
He whispered in her ear before she smiled.
"I like that plan."
Wildvine then shot up to the ceiling and grabbed onto it before releasing his seed pods from his back, unleashing a cloud of smoke, which enveloped the room before Blossom Rose ran in and put her hands together and unleashed her sleeping pollen from her pores, which the seniors then inhaled before falling asleep in the room.
Panicked, Sublimino ran away, but not before Wildvine caught him and wrapped his vine fingers around his legs before dangling him over the giant hypno clock with a glare as his sister showed up with a glare.
But that was when the ten minutes had expired and the Omnitrixes timed out, causing Ben to lose his grip as he and Sublimino were sent tumbling downwards onto the clock's hands.
"You!" Sublimino glared. "I will put you into a trance from which you will never recover!"
He reached into his coat pocket and brought out his pocketwatch, but that was before it was blasted out of his hands by Jen's energy blasts as she ran up on her energy platforms and smirked.
"I don't think so," she said as she used her telekinesis on the pocketwatch and sent it into her hand.
That was when she saved Ben using her telekinesis when the second hand started ticking again and she glared outwards as he was set onto her platform.
"You may do the honors, bro," she said, handing the pocketwatch to him.
He then pressed the button on the watch, releasing the sonic pulse again, enveloping everyone in the mall.
"Everyone, wake up! You're all free!" he demanded.
That did the trick as everyone was sent out of their trance as Sublimino protested on the clock.
"No! No, no! It isn't fair!"
"Who's the baby now!?" Ben shouted as Sublimino reached for him, but lost his balance and was sent tumbling downwards.
Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view), there was a bounce house underneath the clock that he immediately bounced off of and was sent into the floor, alive and well. He tried to get up but was stopped by Max as he put his foot on the hypnotist.
"I don't think so," he said as Becky and Allison came in clutching their heads.
"Ugh, what happened?" Becky asked. "I feel like I was just hit by a sledgehammer or something."
"And I feel like I was fried by a heat beam," Allison said. "Oh no, we fell under Sublimino's control, didn't we?"
"I'm afraid so," Gwen grimaced as Max looked up.
"Where's Ben?" Max asked as Jen walked by while carrying Ben in her arms as he slept peacefully in her grasp.
"Don't worry Granpda. He's taking a much-needed sleep."
"So, you're not going to prank me anymore?" Gwen asked as Ben sighed.
"Nope. My pranking days are over," Ben said. "That trip to the future made me realize how much I need you guys to help me. You guys deserve my love and respect, and if that means I have to sacrifice my pranking, so be it."
"That's real hero talk," Becky said as Allison smiled from the side bar.
"Now you're sounding more like your sister," Jen said with a smile as she gave Ben a playful noogie and they hugged.
"Aw," Gwen said as she hugged Ben. "And we're sorry for the pranks back at the mall, but we had to try to keep you awake."
"It's fine," Ben said as he showed the pocketwatch. "As long as it got us something new for the collection."
The kids all laughed again as the Rust Bucket continued on to its next destination.
Next time on Ben and Jen 10:
A Change of Face
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone