Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Last Laugh
On a boardwalk, two criminals walked down a ladder to a rowboat so that they could make their escape. One had on a white tank top, black pants and a red beanie while the other had on a black long sleeved shirt, blue jeans and a black beanie on.
"Knocking over that yacht was a piece of cake!," the white shirt criminal said as he and his partner laughed hysterically. But as he looked over the side of the boat, he saw a pair of green eyes in the water suddenly flash open and stared straight at him.
Suddenly, a clawed white hand with green webbing shot under the water and pulled him overboard.
His partner then looked over the edge seeing only the red beanie floating on the water before Ripjaws suddenly shot his head out of the water and advanced towards him. He panicked at the fish alien as he ran up the ladder and tried to make a break for it.
Ripjaws sighed and shook his head as he dived under the water and swam under the boardwalk. He then saw his sister as Mermaid swim beside him with her hands behind her arms as she swam backwards with a smile to her brother.
"Okay, bro, you had your chance with the other guy," she said with a smirk. "This one's mine."
"Be my guest," Ripjaws bowed as Mermaid got her game face and swam towards the pier, her two anglers sticking out of the water as she did so.
The black-shirted criminal ran for his life as he backed up by a hot dog cart before he looked back, scared beyond belief as he saw a burst of water appear over the edge and saw Mermaid jump up from out of the water as she landed in front of him and crossed her arms in disappointment.
The criminal then glared as he pushed over the hot dog cart, sending weenies falling everywhere. Unfortunately, it also started leaking the fuel that was used to start the fire to cook the hot dogs. Then, the plug that was plugged in an outlet came undone and sent a spark outwards, igniting the fuel and sending a ring fire all around Mermaid as she gasped in shock as she started feeling at her gills as she started breathing heavily as she got down onto her knees and gasped from the smoke.
"Got to love an old-fashioned fish fry!" the criminal shouted.
"I can't breathe!" Mermaid wheezed out. "I need water! Water!" She then crouched down and punched a hole into the pier and dived down into the ocean below and breathed in a sigh of relief.
Then, Ripjaws joined her as she smiled. "So, how's your chance going?"
"Oh shut up," she said. "Let's just get this guy, alright?"
The criminal smiled as he walked away with his loot before the twins jumped out from below the boardwalk and Ripjaws grabbed him by the arms as Mermaid came by and sucker-punched him right into the Knock Down booth, sending the cups spilling all over the place as he groaned in pain.
A few minutes later, the cops came in and took the two criminals away as the twins stood by with the chief as he smiled to them in gratitude.
"I don't care what anybody says. You circus freaks are alright by me."
"Circus freaks?" Mermaid asked. "We're not circus freaks."
"We're superheroes!" Ripjaws announced proudly as they both backflipped down into the ocean as the chief looked down overhead and sighed.
"Looked like a freak to me," he said.
"Circus freaks? Really?" Ripjaws asked as he sighed.
"I know, right?" Mermaid asked. "I don't think aliens technically qualify as circus freaks anyway."
Later, in the Rust Bucket, Jen was watching Source Code on her laptop with a smile in contentment as Ben played on his game.
Gwen looked out the window and noticed a billboard they passed by.
"'Zombozo's Traveling Circus of Laughs? Cool!" Gwen said with a smile.
The twins then shot up and looked at each other nervously at the mention of the circus.
"I haven't been to a circus since I was a boy. Sounds like fun," Max said.
"I love the circus!" Gwen said.
"That's because you belong in one," Ben said.
"I'm good," Jen said as she sighed. "We can go to the circus anytime it comes back home in Bellwood."
"Ben?" Max asked.
"No thanks. Circuses are kid stuff."
"Hello! What are we?" Gwen said.
Jen then shut her laptops and yawned. "Besides, it's getting pretty late anyway."
"It's 11:00 in the morning," Max said with a smirk.
"Fine by me," Jen said, frustratingly.
"Okay, alright. If you want to go see some stupid circus, fine."
The Rust Bucket parked by and the Tennysons walked towards the circus with carnival music playing in the background as Max took in the surroundings.
"Ooh, looks like the entire town's showed up for the show," Max said.
Ben and Jen walked next to each other as they noticed the posters of clowns plastered on all of the walls of the tents as they gulped nervously, feeling the piercing eyes of the clowns staring right into their souls.
"It's probably sold out," Jen said with a smile. "We're probably just wasting our time."
Then, a spotlight shone down on the ringmaster who announced the clowns with an air of excietement.
"Step right up and see the fingerless freak of nature whose strength knows no bounds: Thumbskull!"
A hulking figure of a clown walked out from the darkness. He was a large muscular clown whose head looked like a giant thumb, right down to the toenail figure on the crest. He was carrying a rather large crowbar. He then grunted as he bent the bar over his neck with seemingly no effort, causing the crowed to 'ooh' and 'aah' in wonder. He then tossed the bent bar up into the air where it was caught by another clown.
She had pale skin, a slender body, black circles on her cheeks, a black, tight-fitting jumpsuit, and five orange tentacles for hair. She also wears flat shoes. She used her hair to handle the bent bar with a smirk.
"And presenting Frightwig!" the ringmaster announced. "When this beauty lets down her hair, no telling what could happen!"
Frightwig then used her hair to bend the bar even further into circles before she placed it on an anvil.
"And last but not least, the freak whose unique skill is as vile as his attitude: Acid Breath!"
The third and final clown walked out from the darkest... and he was easily the most freaky of them all. He had pale skin. He has red eyes with different-sized pupils, and little bits of straight black hair poking out of the top of his head. His outfit was black with bright yellow stripes on his arms and he had a little bit of a hunch back. He also wore a gas mask over his face that he soon removed to reveal green gums with most of his teeth missing.
Jen felt like she was about to puke as Acid Breath breathed outwards, letting out absolutely putrid breath that melted the beam and the anvil along with it as she and her brother walked away, leaving the rest of the crowd impressed.
"Gross!" Gwen said.
The twins then walked to a clearing and saw a sign that said 'Keep out.'
"I don't know about this, bro," Jen said.
"Just a peek. I'm not going in there," Ben said as the pair looked through the slight gap in the curtains as they held their breath when they saw a rather large looking clown in front of the mirror.
"Howdy folks! Are you ready to laugh?!" he practiced as Ben started to twitch. "Perfect. You're gonna knock 'em... dead." He then licked his teeth with his rather long and freaky-looking tongue as the twins backed up, scared before Jen backed up into Gwen.
"Hey!" Gwen shouted as the twins shouted back in fright.
"Don't do that," Jen said, panting and holding her hand over her heart.
"What's your malfunction?"
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"Ever since we decided to go to the circus you've been acting weirder than normal. What are you two scared of?" Gwen asked.
"We're not scared of anything!" Jen said as her eyes briefly glowed pink with anger as she then decided to calm herself down as Max walked up.
"Come on guys, the show's about to start."
Gwen smiled as she gestured to the twins.
"After you."
Ben and Jen frowned as they walked forward into the main tent.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Children of all ages!" the ringmaster announced as the crowd all gathered in the main tent to watch the show. "The Circus of Laughter is proud to present the Sultan of Smiles, the Crown Prince of Chuckles, the Rib Tickler himself, the star of our circus: Zombozo the Clown!"
A tiny pink clown car drove into the tent's area and screeched to a halt as Zombozo stepped out of it and presented itself to the crowd. He had red hair and pale skin. His jumpsuit was striped purple and grey, matching his bow tie. He wore big black shoes, fingerless gloves, and a top hat.
The crowd in front of him laughed hard while the twins just looked freaked out by Zombozo.
The car drove away on its own, honking its horn before it turned back towards Zombozo who smirked at it before giving it a "bring it on" gesture with his hand. He then reached into his sleeve and pulled out a red bullfighters cape before the car zoomed in and hit the car before it burst into confetti with a poof, causing the crowd to laugh at the trick.
"If you love clowns, then this is the place to be! You're gonna die laughing!" Zombozo announced as the shadows behind him faded and revealed some sort of generator that glowed with blue lights that glowed harder as the crowd laughed. "That's a Zombozo guarantee."
The twins stood up kind of feared.
"I think I have to use the restroom," Jen said, her eye twitching.
"And I'm gonna go get some popcorn," Ben said before he turned to his sister. "Let's get out of here."
"Run!" Ben said as they both ran out of the tent as if their lives depended on it.
"What's wrong with the twins?" Max asked.
"You're asking me?" Gwen asked. "I stopped trying to figure them out a long time ago."
"I was never very good at math," Zombozo said. "But I believe I have your undivided attention! Now how about some volunteers!"
The crowd continued laughing hard as the camera seemed to focus on Gwen and zoomed into her eye to reveal the freakish clown in front of her.
"Aah, super alive... for now."
The twins ran out of the circus and gasped for breath as they looked to each other with a nervous look.
"There's nothing funny about clowns!" Ben shouted as Jen nodded in agreement.
"And I thought Heath Ledger's Joker was scary," Jen stated.
They then heard a crashing sound like glass shattering. They then looked to each other and ducked behind a car to investigate.
Much to their surprise, they saw Thumbskull, Frightwig and Acid Breath looking to each other in front of a jewelry store window, which they obviously shattered.
"Whoa! The freaks are felons!" Ben shouted in a whisper.
"They're not just incredibly creepy, they're downright evil!" Jen stated.
The freaks walked toward the stores and set out to stealing as the twins could only watch.
Thumbskull walked into the store whose window he shattered and gathered all of the jewels in his hands.
Acid Breath walked to a car and used his breath to melt the roof off the top and then he pulled the radio out of its socket.
Frightwig then walked in front of the bank's ATM and stabbed her powerful hair tendrils into the wall and pulled the ATM out of it, sending cash flying everywhere as she laughed maniacally. "It's pay day!"
The twins looked to each other and activated their Omnitrixes.
"Time to play fetch," Ben said, dialing his Omnitrix.
"Really? I was thinking we play a game of cat and mouse," Jen joked as they both slammed the cores down.
Thumbskull walked, carrying two televisions in his arms, but they gasped when Wildmutt and Wildcat landed on top of the car and snarled at him, Wildmutt slobbering as he growled at the freak.
"Good doggie! Nice boy!" Thumbskull said, backing up.
Wildmutt then snarled and pounced the strongest freak of the bunch and his feline sister ran towards the other two.
Wildcat pounced onto Acid Breath and scratched at his face before bouncing off of him.
Frightwig tried to retaliate by wrapping her hair around her, but to no avail as Wildcat was just too strong and forced him away.
Wildmutt then bounced on top of the getaway car and tore the roof open, letting the cash and valuables loose as he topped it over.
"Hey, that's our stuff!" Thumbskull shouted.
"No pets are going to steal our loot," Acid Breath said. "Get them!" He then breathed out towards them before they leaped out of the way and his breath melted what was left of the getaway car.
The pair landed between the freaks and Wildcat swept Frightwig off of her feet with a glare before she looked back at the two animal-like aliens before her, snarling wildly.
"Don't just stand there like a sore thumb," Acid Breath told Thumbskull. "Get the boss!"
Thumbskull nodded and ran off as his partner ran to engage the twins.
Back at the circus, Zombozo was looking absolutely drunk at the laughter that he was feeding off from the crowd with an absolutely maniacal laugh.
"Laughter really is the best medicine!" he shouted. "For me!"
Thumbskull then walked in as the crowd continued laughing.
"Uh, boss," Thumbskull said. "Excuse me."
Zombozo got an angry look at the fact that his show had been interrupted.
"How many times have I told you not to bother me while I'm eating!?"
"We, uh, ran into a bit of trouble."
Zombozo glared at that statement.
Wildmutt and Wildcat had the other two circus freaks pinned down as they snarled at them, Wildmutt drooling on Thumbskull as they glared.
Suddenly, a hat appeared out of nowhere and Zombozo appeared in a flash of confetti with Thumbskull behind him.
"I hear you two are full of tricks," Zombozo said. "Let's see if you know how to play dead."
He then kicked Wildmutt in the face hard and threw Wildcat away towards him as they both crashed into the radio tower. They then whimpered as they backed behind the tower supports.
"These aren't mad dogs. They're scaredy cats!" Zombozo boasted.
His minions then looked confused at that notion since one of them was a dog and the other was a cat.
"Bring the curtain down on these side shows!"
Acid Breath breathed out and melted one leg of the tower while Frightwig wrapped her hair tendrils around another leg and started to pull the tower down and Thumbskull used his brute strength to break the third leg.
"It's over, fido," Acid Breath said.
The tower started to cave in on them as they looked up in shock and the tower fell right on them.
Thumbskull picked up a piece of rubble and nodded. "Doggone. I don't think they could've done that."
"Come on!" Zombozo said. "We've got bigger laughs to get!"
He then vanished in a puff of smoke and confetti before his minions ran off back to the circus.
The Omnitrixes started the countdown before a flash of red and purple light flashed out from the rubble and a field of pink energy burst out, pushing the rubble away as Jen stood there with her hands glowing pink before the glow faded and they looked to see the circus freaks running away.
"Phew," Jen sighed as she felt her head. "I think we need to find our family."
"Agreed," Ben said.
The circus had ended about an hour earlier and everybody had left. Strangely, the circus and all of its stands had suddenly vanished. There were discarded popcorn boxes, soda cups, and cotton candy sticks all over the floor. Candy wrappers flew through the breeze. Everyone was walking slowly and laughing weakly, including Max who was sitting on one of the bleachers.
The twins ran over to their seemingly oblivious grandfather.
"Grandpa!" Jen said as she shook him as he continued to chuckle.
"Granpda, are you in there?" Ben asked as Max looked to them.
"Oh, Ben, Jen," Max said. "Where'd you two go?"
"Where'd we go? Where'd the circus go?" Jen asked.
"Oh, I'm not so sure?" Max said as he looked to his side. "I remember Gwen and I were laughing. *chuckle* It was so funny." He then briefly dozed off.
"Grandpa," Ben said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I just *chuckle* feel kind of glum. That's all." He then started chuckling again.
"Then why are you smiling?" Jen asked as she approached him. "That's it. Time to do things my way."
"How do you plan to do that?"
"I've been practicing with my powers non-stop since the Rojo incident, Ben. One of them is telepathy," Jen said as she put her hands on her grandfather's shoulders and looked into his eyes as her's started glowing pink and his followed suit as she read his mind and what had happened. "All I'm getting is a black void filled with laughter. There's barely any energy in there at all." She then broke the connection and looked back as she put a hand to her head.
"Wait," Ben realized. "Where's Gwen?!"
Zombozo and the circus freaks were driving a getaway truck away from the area and he smiled as he looked to Thumbskull who was driving the truck with him in the front seat.
"Did you grab me a snack for the road?" he asked.
Thumbskull smiled as he pulled the curtain away in the back and saw that they grabbed a few still-laughing hostages... and Gwen was among them!
Zombozo smiled as he put his eyes back on the road ahead.
Little did he know, the Rust Bucket was hot on his trail as Ben, Jen and Max followed him.
"Zombozo must have zonked out the entire town during the show while his freaks robbed everyone blind," Ben said.
"I don't think it's that simple," Jen said. "Max was at the show the entire time and he doesn't appear to have any kind of energy left. At least none that I was able to pick up."
"But why kidnap Gwen?" Ben asked.
"I... I don't know," Max said, sounding exhausted as he drove the RV ahead. "But don't worry, you two. We'll catch that clown."
"Yeah," Jen chuckled nervously as she rubbed her hands together.
"Who would be afraid of a silly old clown?" Ben asked, equally as nervous.
"Ben, Jen, what's bothering you?" Max asked as the twins looked up nervously as Jen nodded.
"Ben, it's time," Jen said with a sigh. "He's family. He'll understand."
"Okay," Ben said as Jen grasped his hand. "Promise not to laugh?"
"Promise," Max said.
"*sigh* We're afraid of clowns," Jen admitted. "It was ever since our parents took us to the circus when we were 4 years old. It was so scary for us back then.
"They just freak us out. *sigh* We're such losers," Ben said.
"You're not losers. Everybody's got their own crazy fears," Max said. "When I was a boy, I was afraid of heights. But I decided enough was enough and I climbed to the top of the water tower. Sometimes, you just got to... scare... the fear... out of you."
His vision suddenly blurred and he lost consciousness at the wheel.
"Grandpa!" the twins shouted as Ben unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed the steering wheel as the Rust Bucket started going off the road and he turned to his sister.
"Jen, you've got to use your telekinesis on the Rust Bucket,"
"What?!" Jen shouted. "But I've only had these powers for about a week. I've never done anything that big before!"
"Jen, do it now!" Ben shouted as he adjusted the wheel. "I'm too young to drive! Whoa!"
The Rust Bucket was sent flying off the road at a barrier they crashed through and was sent flying into the unmarked road behind it.
Jen gasped as she clutched her eyes closed and raised her hands up as they started glowing pink and a pink energy field surrounded the Rust Bucket and briefly stabilized it as Ben tried steering it to avoid the trees with Jen trying to help him as they saw a clearing with no road.
"We're going to crash!" Jen shouted. "I don't know if I can hold it much longer!"
"I need an anchor fast," Ben said as he looked to the switches and flipped one, unrolling the awning as Jen's nose started to bleed from using so much energy as Ben looked at the awning. "Come on, come on."
Unfortunately, the Rust Bucket was going so fast that it broke the awning right off when it hit a tree.
"This is not good," Jen said.
"Hold on!" Ben said as he gave a sharp turn and slammed on the brakes as Jen suddenly lost her footing and lost her focus as the field of energy disappeared and the Rust Bucket finally came to a stop as Jen was sent sliding into the front as she smiled to her brother.
"Promise me that you'll never give me a ride anywhere when you get your license," Jen said.
"I promise," Ben said as he looked to his grandpa. "Grandpa, are you okay?"
"So... sad," Max said weakly. "So very very sad."
"Grandpa, what happened inside the big top?" Jen asked. "After we left?"
Max flashed back as he remembered what happened.
*Flashback*
The crowd was laughing hardly inside the Big Top as they watched the show. Suddenly, blue ghost like creatures started floating out of their bodies and they went flying into the generator from earlier that Zombozo was hooked up to.
"I love the sound of laughter," Zombozo said. "It feeds my soul."
*End flashback*
"Ben, Jen," Max said. "I think Zombozo robs people of more than just their possessions. I think he steals people's happiness. Until there's nothing left."
Ben gasped as he came to a realization. "And he's got Gwen!"
"We've got to stop him! I can't afford to lose another cousin!" Jen said.
The Rust Bucket had arrived at the abandoned fairgrounds and the twins sneaked behind the large crates as Jen gestured to her brother that she was keeping watch.
She looked and saw Thumbskull, Frightwig and Acid Breath carrying some crates as she nodded.
"I think that those crates carry the stuff they robbed," Jen said.
"Let's go," Ben said as they turned around and were face-to-face with a giant poster of Zombozo, which caused them to gasp and back into the crates, which fell over, catching the attention of the Circus Freaks.
Frightwig giggled as they looked to see the twins brace themselves for battle.
"Looks like we got some guys who want to see the show without buying a ticket," she said as she pulled off Acid Breath's mask and he let loose a cloud of toxic breath.
The twins ducked as they tried dialing their Omnitrixes which was still recharging.
"You never make this easy, do ya?" Ben asked as Jen smiled and cracked her joints.
"Let's do this," she said as her eyes flashed pink.
Thumbskull came charging up to the crate and smashed it before Frightwig danced and used her powerful hair to whip the crate several times more and Acid Breath used his powerful breath on it, completely destroyed.
But when the smoke cleared from Acid Breath's attack, they saw no debris or any remnants of the twins whatsoever.
They then saw a sudden flash of green light and the crates behind them revealed Upgrade had merged with a baseball launcher and used his spider-like legs to walk towards them as they braced themselves for an attack.
Thumbskull then felt a blast of energy coming from behind him as he saw Jen laying down on her hoverboard toying with him as she winked to him.
"We're not afraid of you anymore," Jen said.
"I don't know what you are, but I'm gonna tear you apart!"
"You wanna play hardball? Game on!" Upgrade shouted as Thumbskull charged him. He then fired several baseballs from the cockpit that battered Thumbskull right in the face and knocked him unconscious.
Frightwig glared as she deflected the baseballs Upgrade shot at her.
"That all you got?!" she shouted as she saw a flash of pink light behind her and saw Four Arms hit her and she glared.
"We're just warming up, lady," she said as she cracked her knuckles.
Frightwig glared as they exchanged blows as she whipped Four Arms in the face with her hair as she glared and rubbed the spot where she whipped before she tried again and Four Arms grabbed her hair with her upper arms and yanked her in delivering a strong headbutt to her which left her dazed before she threw her up into the air and put her upper arms together and delivered a strong double right hook to her, sending her crashing into a ton of crates, defeating her.
Acid Breath glared as he spat his acid saliva at them and Four Arms and Upgrade ran for it as he melted the crates they were using as cover.
"Didn't your mom ever tell you that it's not okay to spit?" Upgrade asked.
"Who do you think taught me in the first place?" Acid Breath asked as he inhaled again.
"Now!" Four Arms shouted as Upgrade shot a baseball into his mouth, breaking some teeth before they fired an onslaught of baseballs and energy balls at him, knocking him unconscious.
"Strike three!" Upgrade shouted as he de-merged with the baseball launcher and the twins walked up to the tent as they gulped.
"We can do this," Four Arms said. "It's just a guy with a red rubber nose and big shoes. Nothing Four Arms and Upgrade can't handle."
Then, the Omnitrixes timed out, much to the twins dismay as Jen glared at her Omnitrix.
"Whose side are you on anyway?!"
The two looked around, always vigilant for Zombozo and Ben walked and saw a mirror and was shocked as he stepped back and came to the realization.
"Oh great. Now you're afraid of your own reflection."
"Let's go," Jen said as they walked into the house of mirrors.
"You know he's leading us into a trap, right?" Ben asked.
"Counting on it," Jen said as they wandered inside.
The evil clown detected their presence approaching and smiled his wicked and ugly smile to himself as she glared.
"Hiya, kiddos! Something tells me you'd be a barrel full of laughs!"
The twins glared as they just kept walking before Jen walked into a mirror before she recovered and rubbed her nose. She then noticed her and her brother's reflections turned back towards her with a clown face before it morphed into a replica of Zombozo and Jen glared.
"Hey there, Serious Twins! How about a smile!?"
They backed up against each other at the ready as the mirrors morphed into darkened versions of Zombozo and they all reached towards them as they ran across the hall, not letting him get to them.
"What's your stories, morning glories?! Were those your pets who gave my freaks such frowns?"
They ignored him as a jack-in-the-box style Zombozo head popped up in front of them.
"What about that blob outside or that four-armed freak?"
They turned around and tried to run the other way, but another head popped up.
"Do they work for you or-" a third head popped up from the floor they were standing on, sending the poor twins flying. "Are you some kind of freaks?"
"We're not freaks!" Ben shouted.
Then, a fiery image of the insane clown's head smiled at them as they glared at him and suddenly landed on two trapeze swings, flying through a giant Zombozo head before the ropes on the swings broke and they went falling down into the darkness before landing on a spider's web. They struggled to break free and Jen started breathing heavily to herself as she closed her eyes.
"It's not real. It's not real. It's all in my mind," Jen said.
A spider with Zombozo's head started descending the web towards them as they struggled. "Come on, kids! You've got to loosen up. Laugh a little." He then brushed their faces with his front legs as they sneered. "It's what keeps me going."
"We're not afraid of you anymore," Ben shouted.
"We'll see about that," Zombozo said as he sliced them off the web, sending them falling into the dark void again.
"Okay, this has gone on long enough," Jen said as she focused and her eyes glowed pink as she summoned a pink force field around her and her brother as the gravity sent them down into a circus ring as Jen popped the forcefield as her and her brother took a fighting stance as their foe approached them with a grin as they glared.
Ben noticed several spheres on his arms contained the souls and happiness of the patrons of the circus. The twins then gasped as they realized that the only soul in his head was Gwen's, looking really shriveled and wrinkled in a void full of fire while still laughing uncontrollably.
"You're not afraid of old Zombozo, are you?"
"We already said we weren't afraid anymore, Pennywise!" Jen shouted.
"What do you want?" Ben asked.
Zombozo smiled and snapped his fingers. As if on cue, a spotlight came on and showed the generator from earlier fully charged. The plug from it suddenly levitated and plugged itself into Zombozo's back right on the nose of the clown symbol on his jacket. He then started floating in the air and started laughing maniacally. "Only what every clown with floppy shoes wants: to make people laugh! Then drain their positive energy like a sponge at a pool party! Is that so wrong?"
"Pretty much!" Jen glared.
"Is that the machine you used to suck the happiness out of your audience?" Ben asked.
"I call it the Cyclown! Clever, eh? Soon, I'll be taking my act to the big cities. Millions of people laughing for me. Feeding me. Making me stronger!"
Jen spat at him. "You not gonna get away with this. Your kind never does!"
"We want our cousin back!" Ben shouted.
"Cousin?" Zombozo asked. "*gasp* Didn't you hear? She ran away with the circus!"
Zombozo gestured to his right as a spotlight shone down on Gwen, laying unconscious and looking absolutely wrecked as she chuckled weakly.
The twins glared as a bright pink aura surrounded Jen as she started levitating in the air, letting the energy flow freely through her veins and Ben activated the Omnitrix.
"You're funny, we'll give you that," Ben said.
"But we're gonna get the last laugh!" Jen shouted as Ben slammed down the Omnitrix core.
Ben's skeleton vanished and he started levitating in the air as his entire body reformed into a ghost like image as his fingers turned into claws and his legs turned into a ghostly tail and he gained one singular purple eye that traveled along the stitch-like markings in his skin where the Omnitrix symbol rested on his chest.
Zombozo stood as the two superpowered twins stood in front of him, clearly pissed off. "Nice try, kids. But I sell the tricks. I don't buy them."
"I just figured out there's something we're even more afraid of than you," Ghostfreak said as he socked him in the face and Jen gave him an energy-charged roundhouse kick, wrapping him up in the Cyclown's cord as he glared at the superpowered twins.
"Losing our family to some goofball emotional vampire!" Jen shouted as Ghostfreak vanished. "In other words..." she then gave him an energy-charged punch to the clown nose, sending him to the ground.
"...you're going down, clown!" Ghostfreak finished.
Zombozo looked nervously around as he couldn't find the twins anywhere and they clearly wanted his head.
Jen levitated by him as she detected his energy with a smile. "You may do the honors, brother."
"Thank you, sister," Ghostfreak said as he whacked the evil clown in the face with a wooden board, sending him sprawling into the Cyclown, causing it to overload and implode, sending all the happiness back to where it belonged. The blue souls went out of the building and searched for their rightful owners, finding them and restoring their happiness all over the city. Nay, all over the country.
Gwen's soul returned to her as Jen powered down and went by her to make sure she was alright, petting her head as Ghostfreak glared at Zombozo.
"I'm warning you to back off!" Zombozo said, though he clearly knew he lost.
"You want to see something really scary?" Ghostfreak said as he gestured to Jen who closed her eyes and grit her teeth nervously as he opened his skin and showed his true form to Zombozo, revealing several black and white striped tentacles growing out of his stomach.
Zombozo screamed in terror as he disconnected from the destroyed machine and backed away nervously as the twins smirked at him as Jen smiled.
"Oh come on now," Ghostfreak said. "Don't tell me you're afraid of old Ghostfreak?"
"Please! No more!" Zombozo begged as Jen then walked in front of him and smirked wickedly to herself as she leaned in close to his face.
She then took a breath before leaning in close to his face with a very subtle "...Boo."
Zombozo screamed before exploding outwards in a puff of confetti as the twins winced a little.
"Okay, that kind of freaked even me out," Ghostfreak said as the Omnitrix timed out and the twins walked over to their cousin with a smile.
"Wha?" Gwen asked as she saw her cousins. "Oh, guys. Hey, where's that popcorn?"
The Rust Bucket left the fairgrounds as the police arrived and took the Circus Freaks into custody as the twins looked to their grandfather.
"You feeling okay, grandpa?" Jen asked as Max smiled to them.
"Happy as a lark," Max said. "Pretty clever, you two scaring away your fear like that."
"Boo!" Gwen popped up, wearing a clown mask, trying to scare them.
"Oh, hey Gwen," Jen smiled, not even flinching from that.
"Trying on a new makeup? That's a good look for you," Ben said.
"Aw, you two are no fun anymore!" Gwen complained as she threw the mask down and the twins smiled to each other.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone