Gwen stared at the spot where Azmuth had vanished, then turned to Benjamin and asked, "Is he always that… individualistic?"
Benjamin shrugged, a wry smile playing on his lips. "He's been like this for over a decade. Unless his girlfriend comes back, he'll probably be like this his whole life."
With that, he walked over to Gwen.
Gwen instinctively took half a step back, her eyes instantly wary as she stared intently at Benjamin and questioned, "What are you doing?"
"Adding some alien heroes for you." Benjamin wiggled the Ultimatrix on his right wrist. "Tell me, what do you want?"
Gwen's eyes instantly lit up like lightbulbs. She grabbed Benjamin's arm, fully leveraging her current identity, and said, "Big Brother! I want NRG, Clockwork, Gravattack, Ditto, Ghostfreak, Way Big, and oh, do you have a Sludgepuppy? Get me one of those too!"
"Stop!" Benjamin stepped back exasperatedly. "If I add all of them, Azmuth will really explode. You can only pick one."
Gwen bit her lower lip, thought for a moment, then said, "A Sludgepuppy, do you have one?"
Sludgepuppies, also known as Mucilator, were originally a warlike race, sworn enemies of the Plumbers.
However, during the war between the two sides, a Plumber fell in love with and married a female Sludgepuppy.
Although most of the bride's relatives were opposed, and some even invaded Earth under the guise of the wedding, there were also peaceful and friendly Sludgepuppies.
Among them, besides the female Sludgepuppy who fell in love with a Plumber (Grandpa's brother's son's wife), there was also a Sludgepuppy named Lucy (Grandpa's brother's son's wife's mother's sister's daughter), who was considered Ben Tennyson and Gwen's cousin.
Besides her usual pranks, Lucy was not only a peace-loving Sludgepuppy but also the first Sludgepuppy Plumber in history.
However, in terms of combat power, Sludgepuppies were a bit of a paper tiger.
They were afraid of Water and Fire, and it was unknown if they were afraid of electricity.
In any case, they definitely wouldn't rank high.
But the Sludgepuppy's ability allowed her to disguise herself as others for a certain period, similar to Mystique in the X-Men, making her excellent at espionage.
And before the Justice League was formed, Gwen's little broken watch's alien heroes did not lack combat power.
If you brought Bane, Four Arms could fight him with two hands tied behind his back.
Speaking of which, there's a... no, some villains in Batman called Clayface. Sludgepuppies feel a bit similar to him.
When Gwen said this, Benjamin was stunned, clearly not expecting Gwen to ask for such an alien hero.
After a brief silence, he pulled out his phone, his fingers rapidly sliding across the screen as he dialed a number.
"Hello? Lucy." Benjamin held the phone to his ear, his tone a bit urgent. "Are you free to come here? Or should we come to you? Where are you? Okay, we'll be right over."
After hanging up, he turned to Grandpa Max: "Grandpa, can you take us to the Tiangong Society headquarters?"
Grandpa Max looked at Benjamin's expression, and the smile on his face grew wider: "Alright, let's go now."
The three got into the old beat-up car, Grandpa Max and Benjamin in the front, Gwen in the back. The scene was as if they were about to embark on an unforgettable summer vacation.
Along the way, Grandpa Max and Gwen chatted about cooking, while Benjamin sat in the back, looking at the people in front, smiling unconsciously.
Soon, the old car drove into the Tiangong Society's garage and slowly stopped.
As soon as the car door opened, a golden-haired girl came to greet them.
She was about nineteen, with long golden hair and a lively face, making it obvious at a glance that she was an active girl.
Seeing Grandpa Max and Benjamin get out of the car, the girl's lips curved into a brilliant smile, and she waved, shouting, "Grandpa Mark! Ben!"
But when her gaze fell on Gwen, her smile suddenly froze.
Gwen's current appearance was vastly different from the image in her memory; her hair color and face were somewhat different, but that sense of familiarity... The girl was stunned for a moment, then suddenly rushed forward like a gust of wind. Before Gwen could react, she was tightly embraced.
Gwen was caught off guard by the sudden hug, her body stiff as she felt the girl's distinctive touch. Just as she was about to push her away, she heard the girl's tearful voice in her ear: "I'm sorry... I won't prank you again... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry..."
The girl's words were intermittent, her shoulders trembled continuously, and tears soaked Gwen's collar.
In fact, as soon as Gwen heard the words "prank," she immediately realized who the person was—the very Lucy mentioned earlier, the first Sludgepuppy Plumber in history.
Not the one who went to the moon.
In Ben 10: Omniverse, it was mentioned that Lucy loved to joke with Gwen.
For example, by disguising herself as Grandpa Max or other Plumbers to create surprises for Gwen.
From the perspective of a former animation viewer, Gwen felt that Lucy just wanted to play with Ben and Gwen, especially with Gwen; she had no ill intentions.
And if in this World, Gwen had passed away a few years ago... The loss of a loved one would make people attribute all mistakes to themselves, forcing a cheerful facade during the day but silently weeping when alone, their mental state on the verge of collapse. This aligns with self-blame theory.
Moreover, she already had one such sister.
A complex emotion welled up in Gwen's heart, and she gently patted Lucy's shoulder.
Lucy stiffened abruptly, as if struck by an electric current.
Then, she slowly straightened up, frantically wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and forced a lively, energetic smile, though her voice still trembled slightly: "I'm sorry, little sister, you look a bit like my... a relative."
At this moment, Benjamin stepped forward, patted Lucy's shoulder, and said with a serious tone, "Lucy, come here for a moment. I have something to tell you."
Lucy paused slightly, looked up at Benjamin, nodded, and followed Benjamin to the side.
In the corner, Benjamin explained the whole story to Lucy.
When they returned, Lucy was beaming with joy, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Gwen, a wide smile on her face, her voice as cheerful as if she had graduated from the Plumbers Academy four grades early as the top student: "I heard, Gwen! You need a Sludgepuppy as an alien hero? Then scan me with your Omnitrix!"
Gwen paused slightly, asking curiously, "Is that possible?"
"Of course it is!" Lucy put her hands on her hips, proudly tilted her chin, and glanced at Benjamin, saying, "You're much more discerning than Ben. He's known me for so long and never thought of scanning himself."
Hearing this, Benjamin felt a bit awkward.
He couldn't exactly say that Sludgepuppies were afraid of Water and high temperatures, and even he, a master of counter-attributes, wouldn't dare to use it, could he?
Besides, he hadn't been a master of counter-attributes for a long time. When he captured Gwen earlier, he fought strictly according to the weakness chart.