Author's Note: I've never been on the inside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so I apologize if there are any inaccuracies concerning the details of the museum.
"The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones…" Lance looked around at the exhibits around him.
"Rock and roll fan?" inquired Max.
"A little bit," admitted Lance. "But I'm not too familiar with the songs, I just know the band names."
Lance and Max were currently viewing a section dedicated to past bands that had been active during the sixties and seventies. Ben and Gwen were observing a collection of exhibits that were not too far away.
"So, when was the last time you visited this place?" Max was attempting to make conversation.
"Well, I never actually visited this place," explained Lance. "I just saw the outside of it. I was still running from Vilgax's drones, so I didn't exactly have a lot of free time."
"I know what you mean." Max let out a grim chuckle as he recalled the days before his retirement.
"Some of these guys are just weird…" Ben was looking at a photo of Elton John in which the musician was wearing an unusually large set of decorative sunglasses and a funky top hat.
"How did he even walk around in those?" Gwen found herself staring at the pair of abnormally large platform shoes that Elton John was wearing in the photo.
Ben turned his head when something caught the corner of his eye. "Hello. What do we have here?"
Gwen turned around to see that Ben was looking at another room. It contained a collection of band costumes. Max and Lance heard Ben's exclamation and began walking towards the next room.
"They sure had some wacky outfits back then," commented Max.
"I'll say," laughed Lance. "Did you see that picture of Elton John?"
Max actually chortled. Lance in turn shook his head at the memory, grinning to himself.
Then, just like that, Lance stopped in his tracks. His gleeful expression had become stone cold. He thought he had seen something. Lance turned his head so sharply that he felt that he had nearly snapped his neck.
"Icon, what is it?" Max had noticed Lance's complete stop.
"It's—uh, nothing," Lance quickly tried thinking of an excuse. "I just need to use the restroom, I'll catch up with you guys."
Max shrugged and went to catch up with his grandchildren.
Lance had to keep himself from running in the opposite direction. The truth was he had seen something. It was something familiar. He had seen a glint of blonde hair. Lance almost slid into the main room. He had to suppress a gasp when he saw thin figure exit the front door. Lance rushed at the door and nearly threw the door open. He saw a teenage girl walking away from the building. "Terra, wait!"
The girl stopped walking, but she didn't turn around. Lance took the opportunity to close the distance between them. His heart was fiercely beating from his anticipation. She wasn't showing any signs of wanting to flee or fight. Lance hadn't been expecting this but it was a pleasant surprise.
A wind blew and Terra's body suddenly flickered. Lance stopped inches before her. He peered at Terra. Lance extended his hand and made to tap Terra on the shoulder. His fingers passed through her body like water.
XXX
"I can't believe people actually wore those." Gwen was staring at a set of manikins that were all dressed in decorated bell-bottom pants.
"It was a different time, Gwen," chuckled Max. "People were doing all kinds of things back then."
Ben turned his head in the direction of another podium. "Check that one out!"
Max and Gwen looked to see a particularly bizarre display. It was an unusually detailed male manikin that was adorned in gold and black armor that could have easily come from a sci-fi movie.
"That is weird," commented Gwen. "Who's that supposed to be?" She approached the display and peered closer, "There isn't even a label on this one."
"Maybe he's a new exhibit," suggested Ben.
"He sure doesn't look new." Gwen was noting the figure's armor. Whatever had happened, it looked like whoever had worn it last had fallen off a cliff, gone through a trash compactor, and then set himself on fire. Gwen actually cocked her head at the manikin. "What is it? A trend for rock stars of the future or something?"
"You're half right!" A sinister smile suddenly spread across the face of the armored figure. Ben and Gwen gasped. This was no manikin!
The armored man shoved Gwen out of the way and immediately grabbed Ben by the left wrist.
"Hey! Let go—" Ben struggled to get out of the man's grasp. The man turned pressed his free hand to a bright lens-like device on his chest. The device fired a bright beam of light that then formed a portal.
"BEN!" Max ran forward and made to retrieve his grandson but he was too late. The man had already pulled Ben through the blinding portal.
XXX
"Wh-what is this?" Lance passed his hand through Terra's for the umpteenth time.
Just what was it? A trap? A decoy? Some cruel prank?
Well, whatever this was, one thing was definite. This was a hologram.
Lance felt his hand touch a hard metal object when he passed his hand through the center of the hologram. He cautiously wrapped his fingers around the object to feel it. Terra's image vanished to reveal a spherical object that was floating in midair. Lance frowned and examined it. The object was an advanced looking piece of equipment that was composed of a lustrous metal. From the looks of it, the device was what emitted the hologram. Also, Lance felt as if he had seen technology like this before.
A bright flash of light suddenly blared against Lance's back as an odd noise filled the air. The teen's back stiffened as the light and noise began to fade.
"And now here we—" declared a triumphant voice. "…Are."
The voice had just lost its confidence.
Lance's body tensed even more. He knew that voice!
"Let go of me!"
A switch went off in Lance's mind upon hearing Ben's distressed voice. His body entered fight-and-flight mode as he swiftly turned around. Lance felt his face twist in anger upon seeing a gold and black armored figure forcefully restraining Ben.
"Blast!" The armored man was fiddling with the lens-like device on his chest with his free hand. "We were only sent through space!"
"Warp!"
The time traveler looked up from his machinery upon hearing his name and saw Lance.
"Ack! You!" Warp quickly engaged a firearm from his wrist gauntlet. What rotten luck! In trying to lure the Titan away from the Tennysons, Warp had only set himself up for an encounter.
Lance glowered. "What are you doing here?"
"It's quite simple, I'm here to get what I came for!" Warp pulled on Ben's left wrist, showing the Omnitrix.
Lance's right hand immediately made for the prototype Omnitrix on his left wrist.
"Don't even think about it!" Warp redirected his weapon straight at Ben's head.
Lance's glare intensified as he tried racking his brain for an idea. As much as he wanted to use his Omnitrix, Lance couldn't risk Warp blasting a hole in Ben's head. He needed to find a way to get Ben away.
Lance's wish was granted when he saw the doors to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame open to reveal Max and Gwen. When Warp had taken Ben, the two had decided to head back to the Rustbucket in hopes of tracking Ben with the equipment that was stored aboard. The had stopped in their tracks however when they saw Warp with a firearm pointed to Ben's head and Lance squaring off against the kidnapper.
Max and Gwen both made eye contact with Lance from a distance.
Lance then decided to do the first thing he could think of: create a diversion.
"So what happened to you?" Lance was noting the fact that Warp's armor was unusually tarnished.
"This?" Warp looked down at his armor in anger and humiliation. "Let's just say that I had a little run in with some local riff-raff."
"The riff-raff?"
"To be more precise, it was a monstrous beast—WHAT?" Warp was cut off when blue energy surrounded the weapon attached to his gauntlet and broke it off. Warp looked over his shoulder to see Gwen with an extended palm that was brimming with the same blue energy.
Lance seized the moment and engaged the alien device on his left wrist. Warp saw a green flash of light from the side of his vision and felt a strong wind lash his face. The time-traveling thief looked down to see that Ben had vanished into thin air.
"Hey! Looking for me?"
Warp looked thirty feet out in front of him to see a Kineceleran with a ten-year-old boy tucked under its arm. Ben placed both of his hands at the side of his head and stuck his tongue out at Warp.
"Insolent little—" Warp produced two cannons from compartments in his shoulder pads. Lance easily dodged the shot and zipped to the back of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he deposited Ben. He immediately zoomed off and brought Max and Gwen to Ben's spot in two quick trips.
"Here you go." Lance set himself to run off again, "I'll go take care of Warp." With that, he ran off.
Ben smirked to himself as he fiddled with the Omnitrix on his left wrist. "We're going to care of him!"
XXX
"Hold still!" Warp was firing away at his target that was now moving at a blinding speed.
"Become a better shot!" mocked Lance as he continued to avoid every laser that was sent in his direction.
Warp gritted his teeth in aggravation and did something unexpected. He stopped firing. Warp withdrew his twin cannons and extended an armored hand, which fire a blue energy at the ground.
Lance was about to take another step forward when he suddenly slipped and fell onto something hard and cold. He lifted his head to discover that the cement that he had been running on had become encased in ice.
Warp smirked. "Your current form relies on manipulating friction for its speed. Without a proper surface your as mobile as a—"
"Hey, buddy! Heads up!"
Warp turned his head just in time to see a three hundred pound Tetramand tackle into him and send him sprawling.
"Ben?" Lance managed to push himself up onto his knees, "What are you doing here?" He had placed Ben at the back of the museum for a reason: so that he wouldn't get involved.
"I'm helping you out!" Ben looked at Lance in a puzzled manner, "What does it look like I'm doing?"
Warp suddenly sat up and deployed a projectile from one of his gauntlets. Ben reeled back when felt a painful current go through his body as he was ensnared in an odd glowing net.
"HA!" A triumphant expression spread across Warp's face, he had neutralized both of his opponents! "Did you honestly think that you could defeat me? I am Warp! I am from the future! There is nothing that you can do to—GWACK!"
Warp felt a strong arm wrap around his throat. Max had crept up from behind him and had locked the thief in a chokehold.
"Let go you—" Warp saw Max produce a small rectangular object with his free hand, "Wait! What are you doing?"
Max plunged the object into Warp's side, sending a powerful current through every mechanical component of the thief's armor. Various gadgets and devices were popping in and out of their compartments as the armor began malfunctioning. The bright lens-like device was actually dimming.
"No, no!" Warp was panicking. How was this happening? How could this old man be beating him?
"Had enough?" Max deactivated the device when he felt that Warp's weaponry had been neutralized.
The lens-like device on Warp's chest suddenly brightened again. "Not yet!"
Max was quickly repelled when a red force field materialized from Warp's armor.
"HEY!" Ben angrily tossed off the net that Gwen had been helping him to remove. Nobody messed with his grandpa! Ben proceeded to charge at Warp with the force of a freight train.
Warp almost bolted at the sight of Ben's expression. However, the crook managed to pull himself together at the last moment and reactivated his force field. Ben slammed into the force field with such force that for a few moments Warp was sure that he would be sent flying backwards.
Ben gritted his teeth as he attempted to break through the barrier of energy.
"Haven't you gotten it through your thick skull yet?" Warp sneered. "There is absolutely no way that you can defeat me—" His boast was cut short when his suit began emitting sparks. Max's attack had done a little more damage than Warp had originally thought.
The force field faltered. Ben, who had not been letting up his assault, broke through. Warp was sent tumbling towards the field of ice. He pushed himself up in a sitting position to see that Lance was still trying to get back on his feet while keeping himself from slipping.
"A see you're still struggling!" Warp decided to displace his frustration. "Look at you. Just what are you going to do now?"
Lance glared and did something that caught Warp off guard. He shifted a spherical foot forward and began skating towards Warp at a decent speed.
Warp's eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh shoot…"
The time traveler was sent sliding across the ice as he was smacked aside by a twirling tail. Lance skated after him and delivered a second smack that sent Warp straight off the ice. Lance followed and upon reaching the edge of the ice, he leapt into the air.
Warp had just enough time to push himself back up before Lance came down at him feet first, slamming him back into the ground. He bounced off of Warp and ran a short distance away. Warp pushed himself back up yet again right when Lance came back around and slammed into him at top speed. Warp was sent flying through the air and crashed through several of the decorated guitars that were being displayed at the museum front.
Gritting his teeth, Warp forced himself back up onto his feet. He looked down at his armor to see that sparks were emitting from parts of his armor. This battle was getting too risky for him. If he kept this up, he could lose everything he had worked for. Deciding to cut his losses, Warp pressed the lens-like device on his chest and a beam of light formed a shining portal.
"Don't think you've won!" Warp cast everyone a fierce scowl, "This is far, far from over! You hear me? Far from over!"
With that, Warp jumped through the portal, which then closed.
Lance zipped over to the Tennysons. The Omnitrix timed out on him the moment he arrived. "Everyone okay?"
"Am I okay?" Ben gave Lance and odd look before he was also timed out in a flash of red light. When the light faded, Ben was revealed to be waving his arms in excitement and wearing an incredibly wide grin, "I feel awesome!"
Ben's heart was racing from excitement. He had fought with Icon in a real battle!
"Are you all right, grandpa?" Gwen had gone over to Max who was picking himself up.
"I'm all right," assured Max as he stretched his throbbing back.
Gwen looked at the ground and saw the device that Max had used on Warp. It resembled some sort of space-age taser. "What's that?"
"An ionic disruptor." Max leaned down to pick it up, "I was holding on to it just in case if those robot commandos showed up again," He looked around, "Now would probably be a good time to get out of here."
Not wanting to attract too much attention from the fight that had just occurred, Lance, Ben, and Gwen allowed Max to take the lead back to the Rustbucket.
"So, who was that guy?" asked Ben as he trotted by Lance's side, looking up at him in an inquisitive manner. Sure, the ten-year-old now knew that the man's name was Warp, but the man himself was another manner.
"Warp? Well, believe it or not he's a time traveler from the future. He goes back in time to steal things that he can sell. I met him before in Jump City." Lance found himself looking at the spot where Warp had left.
"Do you think he was after the Omnitrix?" Ben lifted his left wrist for emphasis.
"Most likely."
"Then why didn't Warp go back to the future when he got Ben?" asked Gwen.
"He said something about only being able to travel through space," mused Ben.
"His suit looked pretty damaged," noted Max. "Whatever happened to it may have prevented him from time traveling."
"Which means he'll still be around," said Lance to himself. This complicated matters. First, there had been the masked androids whose creator that had taken an interest in the Tennysons. That was troublesome enough. Now, there was Warp to worry about.
As he climbed into the Rustbucket after Ben and Gwen, Lance began to consider an action that could change everything. Lance took a seat at the indoor table and began to mull it over as Max revved up the Rustbucket and hit the road again. After what seemed like an hour, Lance decided to speak up. "I've been thinking about something."
Ben was the first to respond. "About what?"
"It's about Warp," said Lance. "He's tried getting an Omnitrix before. If he went through the trouble of tracking you down—"
"He'll probably show up again," concluded Max.
"That and we still have the robots to worry about," Lance took a moment to prepare himself, "And if either one of them show up again, you might need some help."
Ben expectantly leaned towards Lance. "What are you saying?"
"What I'm saying is—," Lance tried thinking of a way to break it to them, "Would it be a good idea if I stayed with you guys for a little longer?"
Lance could have sworn that he nearly went deaf from Ben's triumphant cry.
XXX
"This is going to be so cool!" Ben nearly squealed like an excited fan girl. Icon was going to be staying with him! It was official! Until Warp and those robots were no longer considered a danger to Ben or his family, the Titan was going to be sticking around to give a helping hand.
It was evening and Max was parking the Rustbucket into an RV lot.
"I mean think about it! If anyone else tries messing with us, they'll have to go through me and Icon! They won't know what hit them!"
Lance suppressed a chuckle. Ben had been like this ever since the stay had been made official hours earlier. How the ten-year-old had managed to keep this up was beyond him.
When Max parked the Rustbucket, Ben immediately bolted out the door to release whatever energy he had stored in him. Gwen followed suit.
"He's staying! He's staying!" Ben was still bursting with enthusiasm as he ran around the open space.
"We know, Ben," said an aggravated Gwen. "We heard it the first hundred times."
Ben stopped and folded his arms in contempt. "Aw, come on, don't tell me you're not excited too!"
"I never said that I wasn't!" retorted Gwen. She turned around and made to walk back towards the Rustbucket. "I'm just not going around like a big—" Gwen felt herself bump into someone.
"Oh, excuse me, Gwen."
Gwen looked up and nearly jumped a foot back upon seeing Lance's face.
"S-sorry, Icon!" Gwen suddenly went around Lance and ran past him. The Titan looked after her in a puzzled manner.
"This is going to be so cool!"
Lance turned his head to see Ben standing before him.
"Think of all the stuff we'll be able to do together!" Ben seemed on the verge of hopping up and down. "Man, no one at my school would believe this!"
Lance cocked his head. "Really?"
"Come on, you're Icon!" exclaimed Ben. "Who'd believe that you'd be hanging out with me?"
"Well…" Lance tried to think of something, but the ten-year-old had a point.
Ben suddenly shifted into a fighting position and began throwing punches into the air. "Do you think you'll be able to show me some of your moves sometime?"
Lance looked down at Ben in amusement as an odd feeling began welling up in him. It was a warm and pleasant emotion that was filling him from head to toe. Lance realized that he was feeling happy. A few days earlier he would never have guessed that he would be feeling that emotion again so soon. And it was all because of one ten-year-old boy's joyful enthusiasm. It had shown Lance that there was still a little light in the world.
Another thought occurred to Lance. As long as he was staying with the Tennysons, maybe he could be the Icon for just a little longer…
