It was a while until they reached the secret base, with all its tall buildings and unrelenting stone. "We're here," Kevin murmured, almost ominously, as the car came to a stop.
They stared at the high walls in front of them, the structure arranged like a castle's. Ben struck a grin and spoke, anxious to relieve the built-up tension that had formed since his outburst. "Subtle," he offered, receiving glances. "No one would think to look for knights in here."
"You didn't," Kevin mocked, starting to move again. Ben rolled his eyes, shoving the arm against his headrest off. Kevin punched him softly in the arm in return, and he almost retaliated before remembering that this guy was his arch-nemesis.
The tension came back after that.
"How do we get in?" Their alien friend questioned from behind, and Ben chastised himself for still not knowing the Magister's name. Brushing that and the initial awkwardness aside, he turned in his seat.
"Gwen," he smirked, as the car stopped once more. He brightened up slightly when his cousin reciprocated the smile, worry that she held a grudge against him dissipating. He still couldn't fathom why he had gotten so angry at nothing- a side effect from the omnitrix? Stress?
They all got out, Kevin locking the doors behind them. He seemed to have taken them to the main entrance, a large stone gate surrounded by a deep-running moat. The bridge was cut off, end pausing before the drop.
Gwen beckoned the others to move, raising her palms that were shielded with slim disks of mana. They seemed to thicken slightly as she yelled, thrusting her hands out along with a strong coil of magenta. It pulled against the drawbridge, tugging down the contraption.
She looked behind at all of them before taking the lead, the rest following into the darkness behind doors. He spared a look at his watch as they walked in, the sharp blue glow of the interface offering some light. His concern spiked up a little but he pushed it down, deciding to take some solace in the fact that the machine hadn't started sparking again. He could do that, be optimistic.
Their feet rang out against cold floors, echoing in the empty hallways. Gwen lit up her hands with mana, giving the space and its occupants more light. They all huddled a bit closer, observing the silhouettes of statues.
"There's no one here," Gwen finally said, breaking the silence. "You sure this is the right place?"
"There's a hidden door," Kevin assured them. "Keep looking."
Ben snuck a suspicious look at the Osmosian, which only grew as he went off to a shelf in the corner. It was lined with precious jewelry, which Kevin began placing in the pockets of his worn jeans.
Ben crossed his arms and fixed the other with a glare. "Maybe you should've brought a shopping cart," he mused. Kevin only offered a helpless shrug. He huffed, grabbing the necklace out of prying hands and walking over to a large statue in the center of the room.
He stopped a little ways before it, looking at the steel and trying to spot any concealed buttons or switches. "I don't like the looks of this," he muttered to himself. It depicted shining knights fighting in impressive poses, complete with medieval weapons. Ben backed up from it suddenly, looking to the other parts of the room and finding similar statues.
His back pressed against a suit behind him, causing the whole thing fall to the ground. The noise echoed through the entire area, making him jump a few feet in the air. He clutched the omnitrix, which had flared up at his panic, trying to will the bright light to fade.
"Dude," Kevin spoke up, voice irritated. "What're you doing?" Ben looked guiltily down at the mess.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Guess I'm just a little..." He trailed off at their shocked looks, all eyes trained behind him. The hairs on his neck stood up and his body stiffened, turning his head sharply around to face the large pair of glowing orange eyes.
It was a freaking dragon.
Ben stumbled away after the others, trying to put some distance between him and the growling, sharply toothed mouth. It ruffled its leathery wings as it roared, horned head diving towards them.
The dodged its bites and ran out into the halls, hoping the rooms were too small for it to follow. Ben brought up the rear, checking behind them and holding the omnitrix to his chest.
They were met by a cluster of Forever Knights, armor clanking against the floors. "Stop right there!" One of them yelled, taking the front and making his point with a large blade. "Hands above your head!"
"Make me," Kevin snickered, absorbing the hard stone from the walls. Ben watched in wonder as he lifted up the tiled floors, dropping them back down roughly and knocking the enemy over. The first flank went down with groans, but another pulled up with their new lancers.
Blasts of red hot energy barreled towards them, a wall of mana blocking them off just in time. It began cracking as they watched, Gwen struggling to keep the shield up. The Magister started firing blasts of his own, but they all knew it wouldn't hold for long.
"Got anything, Tennyson?" Kevin asked him, apparently hosting the same thoughts. Ben moved to the omnitrix, pressing all the buttons he could find and smacking the interface. Nothing worked, and he was about to say as much when a roar came from behind.
The dragon burst from the doors, teeth bared. It still struggled to break free fully, sharpened horns bobbing. Ben pounded anxiously on his watch.
"Y'know when I used to call you dumb?" He mumbled, sheepish. "I didn't really mean that." It didn't shift, the blue glow insult to injury. "And, um, when I took you off? That was a mistake. Obviously. So, yeah," he shrugged, trying to avoid Kevin's amused expression. "Maybe you could save us now?"
Gwen shot him a look, strengthening her mana shield simultaneously but not by much. The Magister's blasts became more frequent, stopping a few knights in their pursuit. He began tapping anxiously on his watch's interface, eyes on the dragon that was slowly breaking free.
"Okay, okay," he amended. "It was a huge mistake. Biggest mistake of my life. Even worse than, uh, the ball of yarn in Washington, or when I let Kevin absorb you." The Osmosian in questioned snorted, readying his fists in the dragon's direction. "Remember that? It ended all good though, right? It would kinda be a shame to die now. Right?"
The walls gave in, the beast breaking through into the room with a roar. Ben sighed defeatedly, panic growing. "Please?" He tried once more, shuffling behind Kevin as the dragon started to make it's way towards them. It was slow, but that wouldn't make much of a difference.
Kevin prepared to run after it when the omnitrix gave a whir. The two looked as it was incased in a green glow, feeling tighter on his skin. When the glow faded, it had transformed, tones white with the sleek green design, much smaller and less clunky on his wrist.
The green interface blinked up at him, the strap tighter than it ever had been, and Ben got the unspoken message; you're not taking me off again. He glanced up at Kevin, who wore an equally shocked expression.
"Okay," he told his watch, activating the new interface. A hologram sprung up, unfamiliar but cool all the same. "Surprise me," he grinned, smacking down on the plate.
His world turned green, the sounds of battle fading into a light fuzz. His body became smaller, chest compacting, skin smoothing over and becoming something inhuman. It was gone before it came, and he was already running towards the dragon when the omnitrix offered up his new alien's name.
"Echo-Echo," he spoke, lips unmoving, voice reverberating in his throat. His machine revealed to him the Sonorosian's abilities, his body splitting into other duplicates. They echoed the name, high-pitched voices exclaiming his title as they jumped onto the beast.
It tried to shake him off but he held on, control flitting over to all his forms simultaneously unlike ever before. It was nothing compared to Ditto, where all of his duplicates had their own minds. No- he controlled ever single one of them.
He tightened his grip, climbing on the beast's head or clinging on to the rough scales near its neck. He felt himself go into its mouth and in its ears, proclaiming "got you" over and over into the sensitive eardrums. The whole thing collapsed on its back, shaking the whole building as more adrenaline pumped into him.
Echo-Echo's hearing picked up on the ongoing fight, toning into the clashing of steel and blaring of mana. He distinctly heard a voice call out, but his mind couldn't comprehend it or even try to grasp at something more, as if it was spread too thin. He instead opted split even more and torture his catch, screeching victorious words in its ears. He only stopped at the sound of a broken lancer going off, feeling for his friends' energy waves. When he confirmed nobody had died on his side he continued, laughing merrily.
After a while it seemed to come to its senses, flinging off the mini Sonorosians. They screeched as they were flung to the walls, the remaining trying to find a grip on its scaly tail. "Hey!" He yelled, head aching as he slammed into the floor.
It went to his friends, a deep growl filling the room. The others readied themselves, but Echo-Echo could tell he need to do something fast. The omnitrix offered an idea and he took it, unhinging his jaw and letting the built up sonic waves loose.
It was almost like a scream, becoming louder with more force. He felt around for his duplicates, willing them to copy. They formed a wall around the beast, piercing its ears and covering over its howls. The dragon's neck started to spark, the neck splitting and revealing the technology he had sensed before. It collapsed into a heap, the screeching coming to a sudden halt.
He felt himself go back into one, almost stumbling over as his thoughts came pouring back and he could fully function again. He registered Kevin's footsteps, and raised his head to look up at the Osmosian.
"You could warn somebody when you're about to do that," he chided, voice raised higher than it needed to be. The Forever Knights were splayed all around the room, but Echo-Echo could sense none were dead.
"Seriously," Gwen said, heels coming up behind him. "I've got earbuds in my purse." He felt the omnitrix spark angrily against his chest, and his mind went to calm it down, part of him musing how the machine seemed to be growing steadily more sentient with each passing second.
"Sorry," he chirped, and the spark came again before dying down. It didn't go unnoticed by either one of them, but a voice broke away any concerned questions Gwen could pop.
"That's all," the Magister said, gesturing to the heap of gathered laser-lancers. "If you wouldn't mind," requested, and Echo-Echo offered a small nodded before readying himself. He felt Gwen and Kevin cover their ears as he blasted away the lancers, eyes shining gleefully as they exploded in a batch of white light.
They all watched the ash pile in slight awe before Echo-Echo's senses picked up. He felt the alien's life force waver slightly, and glanced at him, hearing the sounds of water dripping before anyone else.
"Hey, are you," he paused unnecessarily, voice rough around the edges. "Okay? Your suit-" He stopped mid-sentence to transform, reverting back into a human. "Is leaking."
The alien- Magister Labrid, the omnitrix supplied- looked down to his suit, where a crack had formed. The substance spilled from the seam, and when a gloved hand reached out to it, smoke arose from the fingers. "That's no water," he mumbled, falling over. Ben barely caught him, lying the Magister down gently with wide eyes.
"You alright, man?" Kevin asked, Ben's hands falling on the Magister's shoulders. The omnitrix beeped unhappily, light increasing.
"Ben, listen to me," Labrid urged, swiftly interrupted by Kevin.
"I've got a tire-patch kit in the car," he offered, but somehow Ben knew that the alien wouldn't last that long. "Maybe we could-"
He was stopped by a blast of green coming from the omnitrix, incasing Labrid momentarily. He recognized it as a life scan, the results being fed right to Ben's mind. "You're dying," he murmured, not able to comprehend how he knew exactly, and not trying to.
Labrid avoided Ben's gaze, addressing Kevin momentarily. "There's nothing that can do," he said, tone even. Gwen stepped forward, eyes brimming, and he knew she could sense it, could feel the alien's life dissipating in ways he couldn't.
"Let us help you," she said, and Kevin nodded. Ben only kept his gaze at Labrid, waiting.
"You want to help me?" He said, and it wasn't a question. "Then finish the job. You have to find out where the level five tech is coming from." An internal timer started in his head, and Ben winced, knowing that this was his watch counting down the seconds the Magister had to live.
He looked straight into those narrowed, yellow eyes. "I will," he promised.
Ben could almost imagine a smile gracing the alien's lips. "That's just the tip of the iceberg, kid," he murmured, face shrinking into itself. "You're grandfather was on the trail of something big. An alien conspiracy, with Earth caught in the middle." He groaned, shifting his weight, Ben's hands still on the rough material of his suit. "He was working up a cover," he continued. "If you crack this case, maybe you can find Max and save your planet."
Ben's hands shook, shaking his head lightly as the numbers continued counting down. "I can't do it without Grampa," he insisted, green eyes wide. He let his hands fall. "I don't know how," he admitted, looking down.
He only raised his gaze when Labrid stretched out his fingers to touch Ben's shoulder, tone gruff. "You," and he gasped in pain, before stubbornly continuing. "You are Ben Tennyson." He let that sink in. "You can do anything," the Magister swore, and meant every word.
He could only stare as the alien gave a shudder, smoke filling up the helmet. The countdown reached its end and ceased, body going limp. His watch beeped again, glow fading like Magister Labrid's life.
Ben backed up uncertainly, feeling his back against a rough chest and knowing it was Kevin. He felt numb, letting himself lean into the contact, and while the Osmosian didn't embrace the touch he didn't pull away. They stayed like that for a moment, watching as Gwen brushed a few flakes of dust off the deceased alien's helmet, quiet.
He finally sat up, voice coming back in his throat. "I'm going to need help," Ben said, shifting so he could catch both Kevin and Gwen in his eyes.
"You know I'm here for you," Gwen said, and he nodded gratefully before fixing his gaze on the Osmosian.
"Kevin," he started feebly. "There's no money in this, but-" he was cut short by the man in question reaching out to the Plumber's badge strapped to Labrid's waist. He pulled it off, staring at the hourglass symbol.
"I'm in," he told Ben, eventually looking up to meet his face, expression confident, and he couldn't help but offer a smile back.
And like that, they gave a last look to Magister Labrid before standing, going to carry out his dying wish.
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