Author's note: Hey everyone, Fire Slash here and welcome back to the story. First off, I want to thank all of you who've shown support for this story so far. I'm glad you like it :-). Anyways, this chapter you'll begin to see how this story will differ drastically from the others. Like I said before, the idea of Lincoln getting the Omnitrix isn't exactly the most original idea so I want to put a spin to it. Anyways, this chapter will be a little shorter than the others, mainly since it's a world building one. It essentially establishes all the conflicts that'll drive the story's first arc. But enough babbling from me, review and enjoy :-).
0000
"Sir Vilgax," a droid said as he entered Vilgax's chambers. As expected, the alien tyrant was still in his tube, not even being close to fully healed. "Repairs on the ship are going smoothly. At this rate, all systems will be fully functional in less than a month."
"Less than a month? Pah!" Vilgax spat in anger. "That's far too long. The human already wearing the Omnitrix has proven himself to be competent enough to take out one of my droids by himself. Add in an extra month and he might manage to master the Omnitrix! I cannot let that happen."
"Understood sir. If you do not mind me sharing, I might have a way of retrieving the Omnitrix before you are fully healed."
"What is it?" Vilgax asked, interested. Normally he would never bother listening to his droids when it came to matters such as this, but he was desperate for the Omnitrix and currently had no other way to get it.
Seeing as Vilgax gave him permission to speak, the droid beckoned two other droids to him, both of them wheeling in a projector. With one of the other robots turning it on, the droid began to speak.
"We found this hovering around Earth," the droid said as he pointed to a spacecraft which was parked near Earth. "Like us, they have their cloaking devices activated, so they are undetectable by humans, similar to us. However, they have yet to notice us, making me believe their technology is under us."
"So you want us to hire a low life to retrieve the Omnitrix?" Vilgax asked his droid. "That could work…"
"Indeed. However, I must inform you that the lifeforms we have detected in the ship are no ordinary lifeforms. On that ship are several Atasains, powerful creatures who call themselves the 'Highbreed.' Currently, their species is on the verge of extinction and we have more firepower than them, so if need be, we can threaten them to get the Omnitrix. If you prefer a diplomatic approach, then we can offer them help in conquering Earth, which is what they seem to be doing."
"Hm… you know, that's not a bad idea. I'll certainly think about contacting the Highbreed. Perhaps they'll prove to be valuable pawns…"
0000
"Darnit!" Lincoln shouted in frustration as he missed his target again. The boy was currently training in an abandoned warehouse, trying to hit an empty soda can with Swampfire's fireballs. Having tossed two fireballs already, the boy was quite upset that he couldn't seem to hit such an easy target. As he charged up another fireball, the boy suddenly stopped, before turning to his right, believing there to be people watching him.
"There's a common phrase thrown around in the Loud House," Lincoln as Swampfire said, acting as if there was an audience of people watching him. "Practice makes perfect, which is why I'm here. What is this place? Well, it's Lincoln Loud's training hall!"
Spreading his arms wide open, Lincoln proceeded to show off the warehouse, which as expected, was filled with only junk. "My dad says this place used to be a toy store, but now that it's abandoned, it's the perfect place for me to train my aliens. I'm glad to say that I've gotten better at using most of them...for the most part."
Shooting another fireball from his hand, Lincoln finally managed to hit his target. "Yes! Third try! I've managed to make progress with most of my aliens, but I've run into some obstacles with others. I still can't fly well with Big Chill, nor can I contain certain urges one of my aliens makes me have, but I'm happy with my progress."
Setting up another soda can, Lincoln began creating another fireball as he continued to talk to his 'audience.' "In order to train, I have to sneak out of the house when my sisters aren't looking. Easier said than done when you also have overprotective parents who require you to tell them when you're heading out, but I've managed to do so for five days now. Let's hope luck continues to be on my side."
Finished creating his fireball, Lincoln shot it at his new target, managing to nail it dead on. "Oh yeah, who's the man?!''
Lincoln then proceeded to do his victory dance, only to stop when he heard his watch begin to time out. A few seconds later, he was engulfed by a red light, returning him back to normal. Checking his phone, he noticed it was currently ten o'clock am, meaning he's been training for four hours now. "Well, looks like that's enough training for today. I better head back home before my disappearance gives my sisters a heart attack."
0000
Back at the Loud house, Lori was currently in her room, trying to get some relaxation time in before it was time for her to be an older sister. Sadly, it seems she won't get time to relax for Leni had just barged into their shared room.
"Lori! I'm, like, seriously having a heart attack right now!" the second oldest Loud sibling shouted, clutching her heart. Though Lori knew she was exaggerating, the look of fear on her face did make her worry.
"What happened Leni?"
"Linky's missing! I can't find him anywhere!"
"Did you check his room?" Lori asked her sister, knowing that Leni wasn't exactly the brightest person around. "He's been hanging around there more than usual recently."
"I did, but he wasn't there!"
Ok, now Lori was officially worried. "Did Lincoln seriously step out again without telling us? Ugh! I thought I told him that he needed to notify one of us when he was stepping out."
"Yo dudettes, what's going on?" Luna asked, managing to hear them from her room.
"Lincoln's disappeared again," Lori informed her, causing the musician to frown.
"Really?" Luna groaned. "Wasn't Lynn supposed to tell us if Lincoln leaves his room?"
"That's hard for Lynn to do when she's asleep," Lucy said, her sudden appearance scaring the three girls. "I don't understand why her gave her that job knowing knowing full well how much of a heavy sleeper she is…"
"Well, looks like we don't know where he is, again," Lori sighed. "Maybe we can check the security cameras Lisa and Luan put in all of our rooms?"
"No can do," Luna replied. "I remember Luan telling me that Lincoln has been destroying whatever cameras she puts in his room, and rather quickly as well. I'm kinda jealous at how fast he's able to find them. I still haven't found the camera in my room."
"Guys, what if Lincoln's, like, a ninja now?" Leni asked her sisters. "Maybe that's how he's been able to avoid being seen by us."
"I don't think that's possible Leni," Lori deadpanned. "But maybe he's a cat burglar now?"
"No," Lucy flatly said, immediately shooting down Lori's theory. "This is Lincoln we're talking about. He has made dumb mistakes in the past, but there is no way he would become a criminal."
"She's right," Luna agreed. "He's not the type of person who'd steal."
"He's out early, comes back home for about six hours where he locks himself in his room for two of those hours, and then heads out late. If he's not committing crimes, then what is he possibly doing when he's out?" Lori asked her sisters. Like them, she wanted to believe Lincoln wasn't doing anything bad, but she couldn't deny that it was a possible explanation as to why he's been acting suspicious lately.
"Ugh, for now, I'm just going to text him to tell him to get his butt home," Lori exclaimed. "The others should be waking up soon, and since mom, dad, and Lincoln are gone, it's up to me to feed you guys."
Hungry themselves, Leni, Lucy, and Luna decided to drop the topic for now as they followed their older sister to the kitchen.
'Hopefully Lincoln's safe,' Luna thought to herself. 'Especially since people have recently gone missing...'
0000
*Buzz*
"Huh? Who's texting me at a time like this?" Lincoln asked himself as he began walking home from the warehouse. Looking at it, he noticed it was Lori, meaning that his sisters were aware of his disappearance. "Oh no…"
'Lincoln, where on Earth are you!' The text read. 'This is the ninth time you've suddenly vanished this week.'
'I told mom and dad I was stepping out,' Lincoln texted back. 'I'm guessing they didn't tell you?'
It seemed Lori was trying to figure out what she was going to say next, for it took her a whopping two minutes to text him back. 'Fine, whatever. Just get back home. Don't forget I'm responsible for your safety.'
'Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm actually heading home right now, so you don't need to worry. See you soon.' With that, Lincoln turned off his phone and continued his walk. Unfortunately, it seems he'll be home later than expected for from the corner of his eyes, he saw two groups of people enter an alleyway. Being the thirteen year old he is, his brain immediately equated that with trouble.
Following them to the alleyway and hiding behind a wall, Lincoln began to eavesdrop.
"Well gentlemen, it's good to finally meet face to face," the leader of one of the groups said. Taking a good look at the first group, Lincoln noticed they seemed to be wearing medieval looking armor under their suits, which the boy found kind of odd. Meanwhile, the second group of men weren't wearing anything strange. They seemed to be normal people excluding the fact their faces lacked emotion. "Now, I assume you have the money?"
Snapping his fingers, the leader of the other group nodded as one of his lackeys brought him a briefcase. Opening it, the leader showed off an unbelievable amount of money, money Lincoln didn't think was possible to carry in a briefcase.
Satisfied with what was inside the case, the leader of the armored group smiled. "Good. Now, for your purchase."
Looking at one of his lackeys, the leader of the armored group nodded, signaling the man to give him one of the briefcases they were holding. Opening it, the leader pulled out a gun, one which Lincoln has never seen before.
"This my friend is what we call a laser lance," the armored group's leader told them. "It's a powerful level five technology which can be used to disintegrate anything which gets in your way. Normally, I wouldn't do a demonstration in an area as populated as this one, but it seems we have a peeping tom among us."
Hearing this caused Lincoln to gulp. Even though they couldn't see him, they knew he was around. It didn't help that the armored man was pointing his gun at where Lincoln was.
Making sure no one was around to see him, Lincoln began dialing his watch as the gun began charging up a shot. Eventually, Lincoln stopped when he saw the shape of a crystalline humanoid. Slamming the watch, a bright green light surrounded Lincoln as the armored man finished charging his laser, blasting it at where Lincoln was. Even though the armored man knew the intruder was behind the wall, he also knew that it wouldn't be enough to save whoever was behind it.
"See how powerful this weapon is?" The armored man asked the other group. "So, do we have a deal?"
"Ow," a voice casually said before the other group could answer. Looking at where the armored man fired his gun, everyone present was surprised to see an eight foot humanoid whose body was composed of green crystals casually standing there. On his back were two large crystal shards, and he was currently wearing an orange and white jumpsuit. Finally, the creature had the Omnitrix's symbol next to his right shoulder. "You oughta be careful where you aim your toys. Someone could get seriously injured."
"Who dares oppose the Forever Knights!" The leader of the armored men shouted angrily.
'Forever Knights?' Lincoln thought to himself. 'I've never heard of them before, but if they're taking part of an illegal arms deal, then they might be worth looking into. Well, at least I think that's what's going on here.'
"Well? Are you going to give us an answer?" The man asked Lincoln impatiently, causing him to snap back to reality.
"Right, the name's Diamondhead," Lincoln told them. "And I'm here to stop whatever it is that you're doing."
"You're here to stop us?" The leader of the Forever Knights mockingly asked him before laughing. "You fool, the Forever Knights can never be stopped!"
After hearing their boss say this, the rest of the Forever Knights present began pointing their guns at the alien, all while the other group simply watched the exchange. Noticing this, the leader of the Forever Knights began to address them.
"Friends, I'm sorry to trouble you, but could you assist us with this pest? I promise to make it worth your time."
Having no reason not to agree, the leader of the other group nodded before clutching his face. Pulling at his face, the leader removed a mask, which in turn revealed he wasn't human at all, the mask having made him look like one. Instead, he was some sort of yellow alien with claws on his hands and feet. His head only contained a green eye, a vertical mouth, and what seemed to be an exposed brain. Unlike it's body, the alien's head was colored purple. Finally, resting in the middle of its stomach were various tentacles. It was safe to say Lincoln was both disgusted and freaked out by what he was seeing.
"What on Earth are you guys?" The boy asked them. Sadly, he wouldn't be getting an answer for the Forever Knights began shooting at him. However, much to their surprise, the laser lances seemed to have no effect on Lincoln, for all the shots they fired bounced off his body harmlessly. Not all was lost though, for the alien used this time to deliver a powerful suckerpunch, causing Lincoln to fy out of the alleyway. Landing on the street, Lincoln immediately got up, noticing that the men occupying the Forever Knights had also removed their masks, revealing they were the same kind of alien as their leader.
"Looks like I bit off more than usual this time," Lincoln muttered to himself. Looking at his opponents, he noticed there were five members of the Forever Knights and four aliens. Analyzing the situation, Lincoln decided to focus on the aliens first, for the Forever Knights had no way of damaging him. Glancing at them, he saw the leader shriek at one of his henchmen, causing it to run away. Not wanting it to get away, Lincoln pointed his arm at the creature and fired several crystals at it, only for it to spit some sort of goo at the crystals, effectively stopping them from hitting their target.
"Darnit, he got away," Lincoln growled as the alien disappeared behind the alleyway. Normally he would chase after it, but he had eight other enemies to deal with.
Speaking of the other enemies, the Forever Knights continued to fire at Lincoln, their shots still proving to be ineffective while the aliens rushed towards him. Not wanting to get slugged in the face a second time today, Lincoln slammed his fist in the ground, causing several crystals to rapidly grow in a straight line towards the aliens, knocking them back. Standing up, the aliens began to spit goop at Lincoln, only for it to be just as ineffective as the laser lances.
"Ew," Lincoln said in disgust. "I can't believe you would do that."
Disturbed by what he was seeing, Lincoln desperately wanted to knock out the aliens already. Running towards them, Lincoln had his left hand form into a mini hammer before he slammed it into one of the aliens. Due to Diamondhead being naturally stronger than the aliens, the blow was enough to daze it. Before it could recover, Lincoln swung at it with a powerful right hook, sending it into a wall and knocking it unconscious. However, before he could celebrate, the other two aliens began teaming up on him, one of them hitting him in the stomach while the other nailed his face. Having been pushed back, Lincoln created a crystalline dome before the aliens were able to attack him again. As the aliens attempted to break through the dome, Lincoln struck it with his fist, causing it to shatter, the force of the object breaking being enough to send the two aliens flying. Not giving them any time to recover, Lincoln slammed his fist into the ground again, sending another barrage of crystals towards them. Thankfully, this was enough to finish them.
"I've got to admit, this is the toughest battle I've had since I fought that large robot five days ago," Lincoln said to himself before looking at the Forever Knights who were still shooting at him. "But it's time to wrap this up."
Walking towards one of the Forever Knights, Lincoln simply swatted him away, the blow being more than enough to knock him out. He did this to the rest of them, surprised they were still trying to hurt him.
"Though I'm impressed you guys didn't run, what you did was stupid," Lincoln said as he counted the amount of unconscious bodies lying on the floor. Unfortunately, it seemed one of the Forever Knights managed to escape during the battle, for Lincoln only counted four Forever Knights. "Looks like one of them got away."
Hearing the cops in the distance, Lincoln immediately dove into the alleyway as his watch began blinking. Eventually, a red light surrounded him, returning Lincoln to his normal self. Walking out of the alleyway, Lincoln looked once again at the Forever Knights. "The Forever Knights huh? Seems like I have some research to do when I get home."
0000
If you lived in a nursery home, it was expected that you were retired. However, this isn't the case for Albert, father of Rita Loud and grandfather to their kids. Most people knew Albert as a war veteran who served in the navy during the Vietnam War. However, that was a lie created by Albert. In truth, he was a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Plumbers. It was their job to deal with extraterrestrial threats, but seeing as it was only recently aliens had landed on Earth, the Plumbers existence wasn't known by humans. That didn't mean Albert never got to see some action though, for he has fought against various alien terrorists, some even in different galaxies. In fact, he was considered one of the best members of the Plumbers despite his status as a lowly human for he managed to drive back Vilgax at one point.
Now an elderly man himself, he still works for the Plumbers, often helping train new recruits while also being on standby in case a mission requires more units than available. He also helps out the Plumbers on Earth keep track of any alien activity going on, which leads to his current predicament…
For five days now, one of the machines he uses to track alien activity has been acting up, somehow managing to detect the presence of multiple alien species. However, upon looking at it, he noticed the readings seem to be exactly alike, which was quite odd for the machine normally displays different types of readings depending on the alien species detected. Upon further examination, he noticed the readings displayed nearly identical readings, indicating the presence of the same exact DNA pattern. Granted, interspecies relationships between two aliens were common, but the DNA readings he had picked up from the aliens were too similar to one another for it to be an offspring. It seems the aliens were actually the same entity, one who has the ability to take different forms.
Naturally, Albert was worried. Having the ability to transform into several different aliens was too much power for a single organism to handle, for they could easily destroy the world.
Having done more research, Albert eventually came across the various news reports about the recent alien heroes who've been popping up lately and immediately noticed they all had the same hourglass symbol on them. This was more than enough for Albert to eventually come to conclusion that somehow, someone found or created a device which can turn them into different aliens.
With that issue solved, Albert began looking for where the signals were coming from, only to discover something which stunned him. He knew the person who turned into the aliens lived in Royal Woods even before he began his search, but never had he expected them to be one of his own family members. When tracking the signals, Albert found out that the transformations occurred most in the Loud House, which means either Rita, Lynn, or one of his grandkids possessed such a device. Though he knew everyone who lived at the Loud house were good people, he knew none of them had experience with aliens before, other than his daughter. Yes, other than his fellow Plumbers, Rita was the only person who knew of his occupation.
"Looks like I have no choice," Albert said as he picked up his phone and began calling his daughter. "Hey Rita, we need to talk. It's important."
0000
Throughout most of his walk home, Lincoln's thoughts were held captive by what he saw earlier. Who were the Forever Knights? What were those aliens with them? Did they have any relation with the droids Lincoln destroyed earlier? These were questions Lincoln wanted answered, yet he knew that it would take him awhile to answer all three.
*Buzz*
"Again?" Lincoln asked himself upon feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. Turning it on, he saw that Lynn had texted him.
'Disappeared again I see. Where'd you run off to this time?'
'I went to the comic book shop again,' Lincoln texted back. A few seconds later, Lynn responded.
'You're such a dork, you know that?' Lincoln rolled his eyes at this. Lynn always loved teasing him about his love for comics and videogames. It never bothered him surprisingly, for he knew it was just her way of showing that she cared about him. 'But you should probably head home now. Leni's acting like she'll have a heart attack soon if you don't.'
'Yeah, I'm on my way. Mind letting them know?'
'Yeah, I gotcha. But you owe me.'
'For what? Saving me from having to text Lori?'
'Yep :-). I'll be holding you to that so you better not forget.'
Letting lose a loud sigh, Lincoln continued walking home, only to realize that his sisters will probably bombard him with questions once he returns. As such, Lincoln began thinking of ways on how to avoid them. The first option he thought of was to turn into Big Chill and fly through his window while both invisible and intangible. Sadly, he still sucks at flying, so that plan wasn't the best. Thankfully his second proved to be better; he would go as XLR8 and stealthily disable the security cameras before quickly running to his room. After all, XLR8 moved faster than thought.
After checking if anyone was around, Lincoln dived into a bush when he saw the coast was clear. Turning the dial on his watch, he pressed it, causing the green light to flash again. When it cleared, Lincoln's human body was replaced with that of a black and blue velociraptor looking humanoid with wheels on his feet. This new body also lacked fingers, for it instead had three black claws on his hands which when pressed together formed a small spear. Finally, the body's head took the appearance of a helmet.
"Let's do this," Lincoln said before a visor covered his eyes. Once it did so, Lincoln shot forwards at unbelievable speeds, managing to make it to his house in less than a second. Upon arriving home, Lincoln continued to put his plan into action, using XLR8's speed to find and disable all the cameras Lisa and Luan had set up around the house. With that done, Lincoln then zipped towards his room, passing Lola and Lana on the way.
"Did you feel that?" Lola asked her twin as a large gust of wind hit them once Lincoln ran past them.
"Meh, it was probably an open window," Lana said, shrugging her shoulders.
Arriving to his room, Lincoln proceeded to lock his door and cover the vents in his room, making it so that his younger siblings wouldn't enter his room using them. Eventually, the watch timed out, returning Lincoln back to his true form.
"Whew, I managed to pull it off," Lincoln said, proud of himself. "Now, let's see if I can find anything about the Forever Knights."
After texting Lori to let her know he was home, Lincoln pulled on his laptop and began searching for the information he needed. Unfortunately, after four hours of searching, Lincoln wasn't able to find anything. This especially hit him hard seeing as he refused some of his sisters invitations to hang out with them. It didn't help that he was going to have to head out in a bit to play hero during the night like he always did.
"I've spent four hours searching for the Forever Knights, and it ended up being the biggest waste of my time…" Lincoln muttered to himself. Turning off his laptop, Lincoln began to think of ways pass by time before evening hit, only for his mother's voice to interrupt his train of thought.
"Kids, can you come down for a second?" Rita shouted. "I have something I want to announce."
0000
Today seemed to just be another ordinary day for Rita Loud. That is, until her father called her to let her know someone in her family might be possessing a very powerful alien weapon. As a mother, this scared her. She knew her family had no experience with aliens or their technology, and she wanted to keep it that way. Most aliens were far more advanced than even her daughter Lisa afterall, not to mention how aggressive they can be if something valuable goes missing.
In addition, upon meeting Lynn, she wanted to put her days as a junior Plumber behind her. Granted they were some of the best days of her life, but she had a family to take care of now. Sadly, it seemed one of her children would be brought into her family's secret, a secret she didn't think any of them were prepared to know.
"So mom, what's up?" Lana asked as all of her children arrived to the living room. Seeing as everyone was there, Rita began to answer her question.
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Pop-pop will be staying over tomorrow," Rita informed them. "So you all better be on your best behavior, understand?"
Seeing all her kids nod in understanding, she began to dismiss them. "Alright, that's all I had to say. You can go now."
As Lincoln and his siblings began to scatter, Rita released an audible sigh. Things were certainly going to be different from now on…
0000
Author's note 2: I understand that most, if not all the other LOud House Ben 10 crossovers have Albert in the Plumbers, so I can't say I'm being original there. However, I can say with confidence that no story has Rita as one. Anyways, here's my explanation as to why I picked the newly introduced aliens.
Diamondhead- Diamondhead is a perfect example of a jack of all trades, yet master of none. He's strong, not not as strong as aliens such as Fourarms or Humungousaur. He's able to take attacks well, but not as well as Swapfire, Big Chill, or Cannonbolt. Lastly, he has the ability to shoot projectiles, but they're not exactly the strongest method of attacking. However, with all these abilities, Diamondhead makes a perfect choice for Lincoln when he's facing the unexpected, which is why I picked him as one of Lincoln's aliens.
