"Who the heck is this freak?" Devlin snapped, his hands curling up into rigid fists at his sides.
"Darkstar," Kevin bit out, pressing his hand against the wall behind him and absorbing the metal, "Energy-absorbing vampire who follows us everywhere and wants to kill us and steal Gwen's energy."
"Quite right, Levin," Michael stated and started pacing back and forth, as if the fact that two osmosians, two anodites, and a teen with an Ultimaterix stood at the ready to launch an attack on him was no big thing. "And you forgot to mention the part where I saved your life at Lovely Gwen's request." The way he said it made the words sound like a title. Gwen shuddered as she was suddenly hit with a memory of Kevin in his ultimate form calling her that. She shook her head to clear it and focus on the present.
"Let me guess," said Jenny, rolling her azure eyes and bringing the older red head out of her thoughts, "Mom's old boyfriend."
"Let me guess," the criminal shot back, stopping his pacing and focusing solely on the little 10-year-old girl, "Gwendolyn's daughter…" His eyes flitted to hers and then back to the osmosian. "…but not Levin's. How painful that must be for you. Seeing the girl you love with another man, forced to hide under a mask, disguised as your own son, who, once again, isn't hers, while celebrating their anniversary. Knowing your track record, Levin, I'm surprised you haven't caused a scene." He began his pacing again. "Then again, you are a wanted criminal here. I imagine there'd be quite a reward put on your head. Evidently, even Gwen doesn't come before your freedom, does she?"
Just as the 17-year-old opened his mouth to retort, his girlfriend held out a hand to stop him from doing anything he might (not) regret.
"Enough chit chat, Darkstar," Ben snapped, knowing how the villain loved to make his prey, or in this case, Kevin, squirm, "What are you doing here?"
"A very good question, Benji," the man scowled, "You see, lovely Gwen and I made a deal-"
"You did what?" Kevin immediately rounded up on his beloved anodite, cutting off the villain's impending monologue. What hadn't Gwen told him?
"Can we talk about this later?" the 16-year-old snapped at him, not taking her eyes off the man in front of them, "Maybe when we're not about to be attacked by one of our old enemies?"
"We get attacked by someone every day, Gwen," her boyfriend pointed out, his stance defensive, "No time like the present."
"If you two would kindly let me finish explaining, I would gladly tell you exactly what she did, you imbecile," the black-clad man growled, and a very sulky-looking Kevin turned back to him, "The deal was one year's worth of energy for your life, Levin, and-"
"Hang on a sec," Devlin interrupted, "You tried to kill Kevin Levin? Dude, you'd have better luck splitting up Jenny's mom and dad. Speaking of, no offense, Jenny, but your mom has the worst taste in boyfriends." Jenny rolled her eyes.
"Hey!" both Kevin and Gwen shouted at the same time.
"No offense intended," Devlin repeated, looking at the pair apologetically, hands raised in surrender.
"Like father, like son, huh, Kev?" the bearer of the Ultimaterix smirked at his best friend. The young boy's pointless side-conversation reminded him so much of the 17-year-old that it was almost easy to forget their current situation.
"Would you let me finish talking?" the energy-absorbing vampire yelled out, all but stomping his foot on the ground like an ignorant, spoiled little brat.
"No, we're just gonna kick your butt," Devlin told him. There was the sound of fabric tearing as Devlin changed into the mutated form his father had first gained when first absorbing the Omnitrix. His skin rippled and bones grew. To anyone else this may have cased excruciating pain and effort, but not Devlin Levin. He'd been trained at an early age to fight pain, and it, as usual, took little to no effort for the little trick to work.
With Wildmutt's enhanced senses, the boy could feel the fear coming from the man behind the mask and smirked. He lifted up a hand and sent a fireball flying straight at the creep, who neatly dodged it. They could all feel the smirk behind the mask if not see it. Whatever trace of fear there might have been was clearly gone now. Devlin let out a sound half-way between a growl and a snarl and charged at the enemy like an enraged animal. Michael lifted a hand and dark tendrils, exactly like the ones that had sucked the energy right out of Gwendolyn, stretched from his finger tips, turning into a black beam that was quickly hurtling towards the young Levin boy. A pink shield shot up, stopping the beam at the last moment.
"I told you not to do that!" the oldest osmosian snapped at his parallel son. Who knew what would happen to the boy if he kept changing. No, scratch that. Kevin knew exactly what would happen: he wouldn't be able to change back.
"You're the one that put Gwendolyn in the hospital!" the boy yelled, completely ignoring the man he'd come to regard as a father figure over the past two days, in a voice that sounded so much like Kevin's had when he was 11 that the 17-year-old visibly cringed. Devlin stifled a sigh of frustration. He didn't have time to explain that, since he was born with the ability to change into this particular monster, he probably wouldn't lose his humanity.
"I merely took the energy from her," Michael explained patiently, "Lovely Gwen gave her back that energy, but at a dire cost. She should be the one in hospital!"
"What are you talking about, Michael?" said anodite snapped, her eyes narrowed from the effort it was taking to keep the shield up, "What are you even doing here?"
"You can lower the shield, lovely Gwen," he told her, "It would be no prize to take you in such a weak state."
"Not to mention, make it easier for you to get her," Kevin growled, hand turning into a mace.
"Suit yourself, Levin," the villain said with a brief shrug, "Guess I'll just have to content myself with getting rid of you."
"Not a chance, Michael," the older anodite snapped, but lowered her shield. Once they were done talking, a fight would ensue, and she'd need all her strength.
"How sad it is, what's happened to you in this universe, isn't it? Be a shame if it happened in ours… again," Darkstar mused, eyes focusing momentarily on the osmosian. The 17-year-old looked ready to murder him. "Now, as for what I'm doing here, well. The deal Gwendolyn and I made was your life, you fool, for a year's worth of her wonderful energy. However, it was never said that she'd go dimension hopping from one place to another."
"What?" Ben asked, confusion clear on his face, "Dude, what does us being in parallel universe have to do with Gwen's energy?"
"If an energy being gives someone a year's worth of energy, a gateway is opened between the two beings," Jenny explained calmly and steadily, "If those two beings aren't in the same dimension, the gateway is closed off, which makes it impossible for the one receiving the energy to get it."
"Smart, like your mother," Darkstar said approvingly. Jenny's eyes tightened. "Also, your dimension is doing something to mess with her energy."
"Different worlds, different immune systems," the younger red head explained once again. When everyone stared at her like she had two heads, she elaborated. "There's something in the air that's messing up Mom's powers."
"Exactly, young anodite," Darkstar stated, starting up his pacing again, "And- Before I continue, would you three please take off those ridiculous disguises? You two look as ugly as ever, and I've always liked you better with green eyes, Gwendolyn."
The trio froze for a moment and exchanged looks. Should they take the masks off? What if, for some reason, the adults happened to walk in at that moment? Then again, they'd have to find out sooner or later…
Ben gave a small nod.
"The party's already over, guys," he said and removed his mask. A blinding flash appeared, and, once it was gone, revealed a 16-year-old Ben Tennyson. Gwen and Kevin exchanged quick looks before taking off their own masks.
"Much better," the criminal stated, his eyes running over the older anodite's dress as if though seeing it for the first time. "Nice dress, by the way."
"Thanks," the girl rolled her eyes before quickly glancing at her boyfriend. She knew the look in his eyes. If he didn't get to hit something soon, there was gonna be trouble. Big trouble.
Darkstar, however, merely smiled at the pair before continuing. "When I felt the gateway close, I followed you here, intent on finding lovely Gwen and taking her powers once and for all. Then, I find that her powers have been damaged, but, just my luck, there's not only a stronger, older, more powerful version of her here, but also, she has a daughter. A full… fledged… anodite… daughter."
His words made the older anodite's eyes widen in anger. This man was a monster. He'd taken the life essence of innocents, tried to take hers, tried to kill Ben, Kevin… And now, he was after her daughter. Gwen was so mad she was sure steam must be coming out of her ears. Was this guy trying to piss her off? If so, he should've known better than to mess with an anodite. Unfortunately, he was also very good at it.
"Over my dead body," the red head declared through gritted teeth, and, with every fiber of her being, sent an energy blast aimed directly at the imbecile (because that's all he was, really). It hit him square in the chest, knocking him backwards, straight into the wall, right off his feet. The metal mask went flying and skidded to a halt in the corner of the massive room. The two kids' eyes flew to his face and they gasped. He looked more like a zombie come to life than an evil villain. A horrible smile was smeared across his wrinkled face and he started chuckling to himself, as if though this whole situation were very amusing.
"I see why he wears the mask," Devlin stated. Even he looked a little frightened now.
"Oh, lovely Gwen," the monster said, slowly getting up to his feet, hands extended, "You'll pay for that dearly."
Beams of black energy stretched from the man's fingertips once more, and both anodites threw up pink manna shields to protect them all.
"Kevin!" Ben cried, hand poised over the Ultimaterix, "Get Kenny and get him outta here. Gwen, Jenny, cover him."
"And what do you propose we do?" Devlin snapped sarcastically, his impatience waning.
"Take down the bad guy, of course," the 16-year-old said, as if though that wasn't completely obvious. His hand hit the dial of the watch, and a flash of bright green light appeared, quickly evaporating to reveal a huge dinosaur-like alien: Humungosaur.
"That's the best idea you've had ever since you got here, Tennyson," Kevin growled as he slowly started to make his way towards the unconscious boy.
"Oh, please," Darkstar smirked, his blue eyes trained on the osmosian, "You really think I'd be that stupid?" He directed another one of his beams at the 17-year-old. Two shields promptly appeared in front of him.
"Leave him alone, Michael!" Gwen shouted, dropping her shield and starting to run towards her old enemy/ex-boyfriend, her hands glowing with manna. Just as Michael opened his mouth to retort, before even the red head had a chance to hit him, he was knocked backwards by Devlin's super-strength. By that time Kevin had already reached Kenny and was picking up the boy gently. Kenny let out a soft moan.
"Come on, kid," the teen coaxed, "You'll be okay."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the monster snapped, aiming a blast at the teen's retreating figure. Kevin ducked to avoid the beam, shielding Kenny with his stone body.
"Leave my kid alone!" Humungousaur roared. He swung out with his arm, getting Michael in the stomach and propelling him through the air to the far side of the room. Darkstar managed to regain his balance, and, rather than crash into the wall, flew almost gracefully, avoiding it. He gave an animal-like snarl before sending energy blasts flying every which way.
"I know a spell…" Jenny cried, trying to protect Devlin as well as she could while still giving him room to shoot pieces of taytonite, fireballs, and Stinkfly goo at the enemy, "to send him to the Null Void!"
"Then what are you waiting for?" Humungousaur snapped. By this time, Kevin had escaped the room with his best friend's parallel son. He ran out into the hallway and almost crashed right into Max Tennyson.
"What's going on?" the old man demanded. He peered around the omsosian just as a piece of metal, sent by Devlin, flew out of the living room. He was pulled back just in time by the 17-year-old.
"Watch out!" Kevin cried. Kenny moaned in his arms. "It's a long story," the teen answered the old man's previous question. Max's wrinkled face settled into a frown. He finally gave a firm nod and held out his arms for his great grandson.
"Go help your friends, I'll take Kenny downstairs to the infirmary," he ordered. Kevin did as he was told without hesitation and rushed back into the living room.
"The spell needs a lot of power," Jenny was saying, "I need help."
"I'll lend you my energy," the 16-year-old version of the girl's mother stated, holding out her hand while still trying to keep all the shields up.
"Then you better put down those shields," the younger red head told her, "Because this is gonna take everything we've got."
After a moment's hesitation on Gwen's behalf, all the shields dropped. Ben and Devlin had reached a stalemate with Darkstar; each one was backed up into his own corner. A sadistic smile spread across the villain's face at the window of opportunity. He gathered black energy to his hands just as Jenny bowed her head and started reciting the spell she'd learned obly a few days ago while looking through her mother's books.
Kevin stood a little ways into the room, but he was frozen in place. He watched in mild horror at the two anodites. To anyone else, it would have looked like the spell had no effect on Gwen at all. He knew better. Jenny and Michael's words replayed over and over in his head:
"She should be the one in the hospital!"
"There' something in the air that's messing up her powers."
It was little things, like her legs almost giving out but straightening again in the space of a millisecond, the slight hunch in her shoulders, the crease that always appeared between her eyes when she was making a huge effort that told the raven-haired teen just how big a toll the spell was taking on his girlfriend.
It was working. He could tell by the red light that suddenly illuminated the room, which seemed to be coming from Darkstar's direction, as well as the prolonged, masculine "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" that reverberated throughout the room. But, for the osmosian, it was like these things were trivial, part of an unimportant and not necessarily necessary background. His obsidian eyes were trained on his Gwen. Her hand clenched into a fist at her side as she struggled to stay focused, to stay conscious.
Suddenly, the light faded, and she collapsed, nearly dragging her daughter along with her.
Kevin felt himself running forward, the protective layer of stone disappearing. His arms were outstretched as he collapsed to his knees, catching the red head just as she fell, nconscious, to the ground.
"Gwen?" he cried, despair seeping into the teen's voice as he desperately tried to get her to wake up, "Gwen!"
"Dude!" Ben cried, suddenly appearing as himself at his friend's side. "Calm down! It's Gwen, she'll be fine. Maybe we should just let her rest for a while." It was like he was talking to thin air.
Jenny stood not two feet away, hands on her knees, trying to get her breath back. The spell had been hard for her, too. A large hand touched the girl on the shoulder. Devlin.
"Hey," he said in his human voice, back to his human self, "You okay?"
"Yeah," she breathed, finally able to straighten up again, "But I don't think Mom is?"
"You're right," a new, older, feminine voice confirmed. The kids, and the bearer of the Ultimaterix all turned to the doorway to see both the older Ben and Gwen standing there, arms crossed on their chests. Ben 10,000 looked like he was getting a huge headache. His hand was pressed to his forehead, eyes scrunched closed.
"Kids, you know I hate not being in the loop," he said with a sigh, opening his eyes and facing the small gathering of heroes in his now destroyed living room. His normally calm, warm green eyes were hard as steel. "So you can imagine how much I hate asking the same question twice in two days: what the heck is going on here?"
A/N: Yes, yes, I know this chapter isn't one of my best, and it certainly isn't as long as I would've liked it to be… or you, either, I imagine, but you guys deserve something for the long wait, so here's my peace offering! Don't worry, I can't wait to write the next chapter, so it definitely won't take as long for me to continue this as it did this time :)