Princess Attea was aiming her weapon at the floor through her goggles as it drilled deep into the concrete floor with its laser. The ulti-tool that she bought from Dr. Psychobos the last time they had dealings with each other jammed and misfired constantly but "That's what you get for buying weapons copied from plumber tech by a second rate evil genius." she thought. A few more minutes and she would be through the reinforced floor down into the reactor room.
"This is so typical" she thought as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "Being sent on a covert mission while the invasion is at full swing". The room below her, deep in the plumber base, held the power source for all inward and outward communication for the plumbers on Earth.
"The old fool fears me and doesn't want me to be anywhere near the front line. Both because he knows I can turn on him again and because he doesn't want me to be getting any victories on my name for the troops to see." she thought as small debris flew by her face. "As soon as I destroy the reactor core and all communications for the defenders are down I'm going right into battle! If he thinks he can keep me distracted for so long he's got another thing coming!"
"Here I thought I'd find a mole working for the Incurseans but all I see is another frog."
She could recognize the voice that came from behind her anywhere. And as she turned around, weapon in hand, she saw the person she knew was standing there.
"Tennyson!"
"The one and only." Ben said, as full of himself as the princess remembered. "I have to admit, Attea, I was impressed by how you got all the way down here undetected, but those giant holes through the walls of the last few levels… so sloppy." he said as he gestured nonchalantly at the route she had taken to get here faster.
"Even for an Incursean covert-op agent wannabe." The ever present smirk on his face was as infuriating as ever. What she would give to wipe it from his face.
"And I suppose you're here to stop me..."
"Again." he finished her sentence arms crossed on his chest, ever so cocky.
"You're getting in my way for the last time, Tennyson!" she shouted as she swung her weapon at him. She pulled the trigger as soon as the gun pointed in his general direction, wanting nothing more than to make him shut his mouth. The blast however hit the wall with a bright spark a foot to the right of him.
"Woah! Easy with the fireworks. What is it with you people and using cheap knock-offs to try and beat me anyway?" he said as he reached for the omnitrix on his left wrist. "Now let me show you how a real pro goes through walls!" he said while he dialed in an alien.
"Not again!" princess Attea thought. "You're not going to get off that easily this time!" And with that thought she tried to fire the ulti-tool's grappling hook at his right arm when the weapon jammed gain. "This is so typical!" she thought as she was angrily pressing the trigger again and again until the gun finally decided to fire.
"It's hero time!" Ben shouted as he slammed his palm onto the omnitrix, instantly transforming into an Arburian Pelarota, the grappling hook bouncing off of his arm plates with a clank.
"Cannonbolt? I was thinking more Big Chill but this one ought to wrap things up just fine." he remarked, not even noticing the hook.
Attea was furious. Tennyson's fortune was with him every time. Even in his human form he managed to get off without a scratch time and again. Every single time he managed to dial in an alien to get him out of any situation.
As she thought that, teeth clutched in anger, the Arburian was already spinning in place.
"Let's roll out the heavy artillery!" Ben said as he jumped into the air and flew towards Attea. Still phased from his latest stroke of luck, she realized her position and scrambled to jump out of the way of the whirling mass of Ben's alien form. And as she stood up on one arm where she landed and turned towards the spot she was a moment ago, she heard the crash of the massive body and the crack of concrete.
"You idiot! The floor!" she yelled right as the slabs beneath her began to move.
"Oh boy." was Ben's reaction as he began to feel the floor below him crumble.
And with a last moment of silence it broke apart into big chunks of concrete and fell down into the reactor room with the both of them. As they fell from the floor above they both heard the familiar sound of the omnitrix starting to time out.
"Don't do this to me now!" Ben said as he was unsuccessfully trying to somehow turn mid flight. His heavy body hit the debris at the bottom floor first as Attea fell down with the rest of the concrete, into the brightly lit room below. The princess hit the floor with a thud just as Ben's transformation finally ended with a bright flash. And just as Ben Tennyson was lifting himself from the wreckage with a groan, the ulti-tool fell right next to Attea's head. With the sound of metal hitting concrete and circuitry going haywire, the weapon fired off a stray metal clamp. The crysteel brace flew straight at Ben's left arm and caught it at the forearm before he could react.
"What the…" ben uttered as both of them looked at his hand firmly pinned against the concrete slab he stood before. Then they looked at the ulti-tool lying next to the Incursean princess and finally at each other's surprised faces.
As the last little pieces of the former upper floor fell to the ground they both acted. Ben reached franticly towards the omnitrix with his right hand and were this any other day he might have reached it in time.
"Not today!" Attea shouted before she stretched her elongated tongue and hit his arm away. With nothing but the thought of victory on her mind she grabbed the gun that laid beside her and fired three more shots with the precision only a moment like this could force. All of them hit their targets and all of Ben's extremities were locked in place, fastened to the slab behind him.
"Ha!" The green-skinned princess stood triumphantly as she watched the shocked human. "I finally did it! Not much of a hero now, are you Tennyson?"
As the situation he was in sank in, standing firmly pinned to the block of concrete, Ben's face changed from surprise to slight boredom.
"Actually you'd be surprised how many times I've been in this kind of situation. Oh, don't tell me – you're going to try to cut my arm off so that you can have the omnitrix all to yourself and blah, blah, blah…" Ben was back to his snarky self, watching the princess with the ever bold look on his face.
"The omnitrix?" she asked. "Don't you get it? I've won! You won't be able to stop me this time! I have my mission that I can finally complete. And I have… you."
And as she said that, it sank in. She had him. After all this time, after every failed invasion, after every humiliation she suffered at his hand and after every scolding she had to endure from her father… she had him.
"Don't get full of yourself. I get into these kinds of situations all the time." Ben interrupted her thoughts. "You just had a stroke of good luck with that sh-…"
Ben didn't finish his sentence as Attea had sprung from where she was and now stood before him, her face right in front of his, with the back of her spike-tipped glove pressed against his cheek.
"Your luck, Ben Tennyson, just ran out." she stressed as she locked her red eyes with his green ones. Her expression had changed. It was no longer one of surprise or irritation. It was sheer, unbridled joy.
"Whoa, Attea, take it easy. I'm sure we can work something out." Ben said sensing the change in her.
"Oh, we will, Ben. You and I are going to make things just right." she said smiling as she ran the razor sharp fingers of her glove down Ben's face and onto his neck while he turned his head as not to get cut.
The situation had changed. This wasn't another villain here to lay out their master plan in front of the hero, thinking they had won. It was something personal and Ben wasn't too sure what it was all about.
"Don't you have a generator to sabotage? Its right here and you could finally ensure the victory for your father's empire or something." Ben suggested, trying to figure out what the Incursean commander wanted.
But she already had her victory. And her prize lay helpless before her, arms stretched on both sides and feet firmly clamped to the piece of concrete. The one thing she hated and wanted to have most was at the palm of her hand. And at her mercy.
"Don't worry about my daddy's battles, Ben." she said, backing away to take a better took at her trophy. "He'll be plenty busy with your friends…". And as she said that, she hooked the end of his shirt with her fingertips. "Making sure no one comes here to interrupts us…" and with that she tore his black and green t-shirt straight through the middle, revealing his chest, hot from the reactor room's temperature.