Chapter 20: One of His Biggest Mistakes
AN: Well, it's been forever, but I wasn't happy with myself for leaving this like I did-or any of my stories that I leave, really. But I won't say it wasn't a struggle. I had improved a lot, and so writing this felt difficult, and awkward in places, but I figured I would because I dislike when stories are left unfinished. That being said, I'm not sure still, when this will be finished. This isn't the final chapter, but it's finally working it's way back from the plot to what will hopefully be the ending. I can't say yet because I haven't written that far.
Anyways, thank you if you've stuck around, or if you're just finding this! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have (despite the headaches, awkward bits and bad writing). Thank you for everything. ^^
Enjoy-
After having fallen asleep again, one would think he'd wake to the sunshine coming in from that window above his cell, but instead Ben finds himself awake, the sounds of yelling, shouting and gunfire filling his ears. When did this place become a war zone?
He quickly gets to his feet, grabbing the bars of his cell and looking out in hopes of seeing the chaos, but from his view everything looks calm. That is, until Lux starts running over, "They're almost here," he says quickly, unlocking Albedo's cage before unlocking Ben's, then going over to Jimmy's.
Ben looks down to his wrist, feeling alive and ready to punch something, but...it was gone?
"Um, quick question," Ben starts, staring at Lux who finally turns back to him, "How am I supposed to do anything without my Ultimatrix?"
Lux blinks, shock and confusion clear on his face, "They took that?"
Ben shrugs then, "I don't know! Maybe they grabbed it when I was asleep?"
Suddenly Albedo spoke up, "Well, we don't exactly have time to discuss how they did it, so can we please just hurry up? We can use blasters, I'm sure they have a very large quantity of those."
Ben rolls his eyes, but he quickly nods. He doesn't have a choice. "Alright," Lux says, running ahead of them, but they all follow him easily. Ben wonders for a moment if they should be quiet, their shoes loud against the floor, but soon they run into enemies anyways, easily punching the soldiers down, knocking them out. Fighting without his Ultimatrix felt uncomfortable, though.
Ben glances down at the enemies and watches as Albedo grabs both of the enemy's blasters, handing one to Ben. Ben reaches out and takes the weapon, then they continue to follow Lux's lead, who soon leads them to Vilgax...and Markus.
"Alright," Ben shouts, "Which one of you took my Ulitmatrix?"
Vilgax laughs lowly, turning to look at the group. "It's not like it matters, you won't be getting it back."
"Are you so sure?" Another voice asks then, and Ben glances over to see the blue, furry Plumber standing there, with a girl he recognizes as Carol standing at his side, both of them holding their weapons forward.
"Oh, I suppose we're meant to be scared by this?" Markus asks, smiling crookedly.
Ben shrugs loosely, "Yeah, I'd be, if I were surrounded like this."
"We may be surrounded, but you're not going to make it out alive." Vilgax suddenly says then. And maybe it's the way he says this, but it sends chill down Ben's spine, because he can tell he means it.
Still, he tries not to let it show, smirking instead. "You keep telling yourself that."
"Oh, I will. Now, Sir Leroy, why don't you entertain our guests?" Vilgax backs away, before turning away completely, heading through another room past the control center room they were in.
Ben stares after him, before glancing back at the sound of footsteps to see more Forever Knights rushing in, their blasters ready. He hesitates then, even though something inside him says to go after Vilgax.
"Is this backup? There weren't this many before." Jimmy notes with a panicked sound to his voice, but Lux nods as he turns to face them, "Nothing we can't handle, though, right? You go, Ben!"
"Yes, go stop Vilgax, we've got this!" Jimmy says as he nods too.
Albedo glances at him too then, "Ben, I can come with you—"
"Stay with them," Ben tells him quickly, "I'll be fine."
"Fine. Don't be reckless." Albedo says then, staring at him a moment longer before turning away, and Ben wants to say something then, but he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't want to say goodbye, so instead, he turns and rushes in the direction he saw Vilgax go.
His footsteps were loud against the floor, his pulse was starting to pick up, but he was ready for anything, just as he always was.
He soon comes to a stop when he spots Vilgax, opening what look like an escape pod...or, no, more like a small ship. "Going so soon?" Ben calls out to him, and Vilgax looks at him with a humored expression.
"I have no intentions of dying here." Vilgax says then.
"Scared of me, huh?" Ben asks, only halfway stalling as he was trying to figure out how to stop the ship from taking off. Maybe if he shot at it...but he wasn't sure which part he could shoot at, without risking it exploding. Not that...that would be a big concern, but still.
"Oh, Ben, you wish it were that." Vilgax smiles menacingly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asks now, glaring a bit.
Vilgax laughs a little, before finally saying slowly, and quietly, "This—this 'Castle in the Sky' or whatever it's ridiculous name was, is about to explode."
"It's-" Ben trails off though, feeling frozen for a moment. Of course, of course that's what Vilgax did. Ben raises his blaster then, firing at Vilgax's smaller getaway ship angrily, but Vilgax is clearly managing to get the ship started up anyways. Ben runs forward then, closing the small space between them, and he starts to try to hit his blaster into the control panel, but Vilgax is grabbing him, trying to stop him.
They wrestle for a bit before Vilgax easily tosses Ben a few feet away, before getting up from the seat in the ship and walking closer. "Looks like I'll just take care of you first, then."
He brings his foot down on Ben then, crushing down into Ben's ankle, and Ben sits up to try to hit him, or to push him away, but Vilgax kicks him in the chin, knocking him back down with a harsh thud that makes Ben groan in pain.
The Forever Knights were surrounding them, all around them and the only cover to take from blaster fire was a desk, and maybe the chair, which Lux and Jimmy were backed into pretty well. Thankfully the blond Plumber and the other who he knew as Rook had armor, and the blond one even had a shield equipped.
Lux, wearing Forever Knights clothing and armor, also had a shield, but as much as they were being attacked the shield didn't do much to help. Albedo was the only thing that really stood between those two and the Forever Knights trying to kill them, and that wasn't something he really enjoyed thinking about.
Still, he doesn't back down, shooting at them, and hitting the ones that were trying to get too close with his fists, or the back of the blaster. Thankfully Rook and the blond move to their side a bit more to help defend Lux and the kid that probably shouldn't have been here to begin with.
But even then, some of the Knights push against them, so many of them that it's all Albedo could see for a moment, just the Knights shooting at him, or some of them trying to attack him with their swords. He'd taken Lux's shield for himself at this point, since Lux was hiding behind him anyways, but still, it made it difficult to attack when he was being constantly attacked.
He manages to get a sword too, at some point, and he attacks the close ones with that, hitting and slashing, but he has to move his shield a bit to get clearer views here and there, and he found that while this method works well for actually defeating, injuring, or knocking back enemies, it also endangers him and opens him up to more attacks. But maybe the blood running down the side of his leg is just the price he'll pay for that. It was, after all, progress. What's a few battle scars to that, if they can get out of this alive?
Another punch to his face has Ben stumbling back, after only just now managing to get to his feet. He gasps, the right side of his face aching, but he still moves to reach for his blaster again, only to be kicked in the shin, before being side-swept to the floor in a swift movement. He lands on his back hard, and would've gasped had the air not been knocked out of him.
"Are you done fighting, yet?" Vilgax asks tauntingly, stepping around him for a moment before kicking him in the side easily, making Ben flinch in pain.
But Ben doesn't know what else to do. He's in a losing battle, he knows. And he has nothing to fight with, nothing he can really do. A blaster against Vilgax?
Sure, sure. That was freaking fantastic. And super useful, he should add. It was like...bringing knife to gunfight. But this was bringing a blaster to a Vilgax fight. Useless.
"Are you done, yet?" Vilgax asks again, kicking him harder, his tone harsh and mocking. "Is this what has come of the great Ben 10?"
Ben groans, kicking his leg out to hit Vilgax's, but Vilgax doesn't like this, and it's clear, even more so when he suddenly steps down on Ben's ankle with enough force that Ben almost cries out in pain, only barely managing not to. Instead he bites his lip hard enough to taste blood.
As soon as Vilgax lets up on that, Ben forces himself back up, and Vilgax moves forward a bit at the same time, maybe to punch him again, but Ben shoves his elbow roughly into him enough to shock Vilgax with the sudden attack, before going all in and punching and hitting him with all he has, even though it's clear to him; this battle is futile.
They were managing to just knock them back enough to avoid any real injuries, but Albedo could tell they were going to need to do something if they intended to get any sort of upper hand. "Did you not have backup of your own?" He asks angrily, glancing towards towards the two Plumbers there. Seriously, he knew the the saying was 'if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself' but he can't very well do everything.
The blond looks back at him with a glare, "Asks the guy who kidnapped Ben in the first place."
"Yes, I happen to the be the same person, thank you, I hadn't realized," he snaps back, rolling his eyes, "That doesn't excuse either you of being awful at your jobs."
"We're not-" She angrily snaps back, but has to fight off another Forever Knight for a moment, "Not awful at our jobs! Maybe we wouldn't have had to be here at all if it weren't for you, though!"
"Again, not my problem. Just because I kidnap Tennyson doesn't mean you can use that as an excuse for why you didn't think to call backup, or at least bring more people with you!"
"Someone ask for backup?" Another person asks, and the Knights fall back slightly a the front line, as the ones in the back, on the furthest side of the room get knocked down, knocked out or taken down.
Albedo glances past the crowd of them at the front line to spot Kevin, Max, and girl who he knew had been dating Ben. Julie, was it?
"Finally," Albedo mumbles, not so quietly, as he fends off another Knight. He gets a sour look from the blond girl at that, but he pays it no mind.
Ben coughs roughly, spitting out blood before straightening back up, facing Vilgax again. "C'mon, was that really you're best punch?" He asks, daring him to hit again.
"You're stalling. Because you know, as soon as I knock you down, and you don't get right back up, I'll be gone. The first chance I get."
"Yeah? Gonna leave with my Ultimatrix?" Ben asks then, wiping blood off on his shirt for a moment.
"As if I'd ever tell you where that is." Vilgax laughs at him then, "But again, you're stalling. And I'm done talking."
The room is noticeably quieter with only so many Knights left standing, and it's clearer too, making it so he can actually see across the way, where Kevin, Max and Julie are. It's then that he sees that they're trying to take prisoners, tying some of them up. It's smart. Take them, question them, find out everything they know...after all, they might have more places like this. Even Albedo doesn't know for sure how many places they have scattered across the galaxy.
But now that's it's safe for him to leave Lux and Jimmy to handle their own fights-or Rook and the blond could help them-he steps away, heading towards where he saw Ben go. He doesn't get far, though, when he hears a familiar voice. "Albedo!"
He turns to the voice right away, spotting Cooper who had come from a side door leading into this room. Albedo stares at him, shocked to even see him here. "Cooper?"
"Cooper?" Kevin snaps, glancing at him too, now.
"Cooper?" The blond repeats, looking up as she knocks another Knight back.
Cooper stands still for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, but finally he moves forward. "Albedo, I didn't want to get in your way or anything-I wouldn't have come if it weren't important."
"Of course," Albedo nods, trying to keep his tone friendly-something he only used on Cooper. "What is it?"
"I was just trying to help, I figured if I could hack into the systems, find something to help us learn more about the Forever Knights and maybe other ships or bases they have set up, you know? But, what I found out-it's urgent, and I couldn't just call, because they must have taken your earpiece, or disabled it?"
"Yes, go on." Albedo urges him, but he manages to keep his annoyance out of his tone. If it was so very urgent, you'd think he'd cut on the rambling.
"I found out that this ship is going to explode. Very soon." Cooper says in a rush then.
"How soon?" Albedo asks quickly. He needs to tell Ben...
Cooper shrugs quickly, "Like maybe ten minutes? I was in a rush to get here, and I'm so sorry I couldn't be quicker, but everyone needs to get off this ship."
Albedo nods quickly, but Jimmy suddenly speaks up, "Would it be possible to disarm it?"
"Not likely, and even if anyone could, they would only have ten minutes. On top of that, we wouldn't know what type of bomb it is, or where it is, for that matter." Albedo pauses, thinking, but he shakes his head, "It wouldn't be worth the risk."
"Albedo, there are people on this ship!" Jimmy says, sounding both shocked and annoyed.
"Exactly," Albedo snaps, "Which is why we should be rushing to get them off the ship, not-"
"No. I mean...these people." Jimmy motions in front of them, to the Knights, many of which had stopped fighting, and were staring in silence, or mumbling among themselves.
"They don't..." But he trails off, sighing. Right...these 'good' people and their crazy ideas. He groans quietly, "Fine, fine. I'll help deal with the bomb, Jimmy. Everyone else should focus on getting people out."
One of the Knights spoke up now, "There are escape pods."
Max nods, stepping forward suddenly, now that everything had settled down, and the fighting was clearly over, seeing as they had a common goal. "Alright, listen up. We're gonna get as many people as we can out of here, so just follow our lead and do as say, okay? Julie, Kevin, go to the escape pods and get as many people as you can in those."
"I'll show you where they are." The Knight offers quickly, and Kevin nods, before the two of them follow him out of the room.
"Well? Go on everyone. If there aren't enough pods we'll work something out, so don't freak out. We'll get you all." Max says, and some of them nod, heading off one by one.
"Cooper, would you mind helping Jimmy and I with the bombs? If we are able to disarm it in time, we won't need to worry about getting everyone out."
Coopers nods to Albedo then, glancing to Max, though.
"Go ahead," Max nods, "I'll stay here and help anyone who's too injured to take an escape pod."
"We will stay and help you, Sir." Rook says then, and the blond nods eagerly, and Lux speaks up as well, "Me too."
"Alright...let's see about that bomb then." Cooper says, and Albedo nods.
It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, Ben isn't sure anymore, but one thing he is sure of, is that not having the Ultrimatrix makes his life a lot harder. That, and he made a mental note to never agree to face off with Vilgax by himself, without the Ultrimatix, ever again.
"Go fight him" they said, "Go Ben" as if he could. And yes, he could, but weaponless? With Vilgax having such an advantage against him? No.
Still, he guessed he was alive still, at least. Points for trying, then, he thinks as he gets thrown further away. He groans, trying to move, to get up, but he's exhausted, and something in the back of his mind wants to rest. He pulls himself up though, just as Vilgax has turned away. "Not done." He tells him quickly.
Vilax turns back to Ben again now. "You won't rest til you're dead, will you?"
Ben only smiles, though it turns into a wince quickly. Standing is painful. "I'm afraid that that seems to be the case."
"Well, your funeral, then."
Ben nods, "Exactly."
It does not take long at all for them to realize the bomb is going to take more time than they might have, but still, Albedo plays along and tries to find a safe way to disarm it-though he was almost sure there wasn't a way.
It's when they're trying to figure out how to go about disarming it when it flares red, causing all of them to jump slightly. At this point it's clear they had less time than they thought, and they quickly leave the bomb as it is. There was no way they could risk that, when it could clearly go off any moment now.
Albedo would try to come up with a different plan, to get it off the ship at least, but he saw it himself and knew for sure that moving the bomb wasn't possible.
Instead they go back into the control room where only a small amount of Knights remained, along with Max, Rook and the blond Plumber. "No luck?" Rook asks as they return.
"No luck, and I believe we're out of time." Albedo tells them.
Thankfully no one panics, instead nodding understandingly, as Albedo had hoped they would.
"Well, we got most of the Knights on escape pods, and a few that were badly injured in our Plumber ship." Max says then, and Rooks nods before adding to that, "We also managed to find another, smaller ship in the hanger."
"And the dead ones?" Albedo asks, though only merely curious. He would have likely left the bodies, but clearly they had another way of doing things.
"The handful of dead bodies will be taken back on the extra ship we found. I'll be handling it myself." Max informed him, and Albedo nods.
"Well, I advise everyone to start departing then."
As if on cue, the room shakes slightly, and everyone glances around at once. "Is it...it's not yet?" The blond asks in a rush.
"No, that seems to have been a smaller explosion. I assume Vilgax had several set up, then." Albedo glances back to Max, Rook and the blond now.
"Alright," Max says, "Everyone go! Rook, Carol, take the two boys with you, and Cooper, too."
Jimmy and Lux step forward, but Cooper hesitates. "Wait. You guys go on. I have the ship I came in. And besides...I'm not ready to go yet. I want to help however I can."
"Alright then. You guys hurry, though." Max says, and Rook nods before him and Carol quickly leave, Lux and Jimmy behind them.
"Well, I'm not—" Max starts, but stops, pulling out his phone when it goes off, and he excuses himself, walking further away. Albedo glances to Cooper then, "You should go, Cooper."
"I want to help you. I want to be of use." Cooper tells him then, his tone desperate, and Albedo doesn't know what to do with this, but before he can make any decisions Max comes back over. "That was Kevin. He's got Julie with him still and they ran into Gwen. Sounds like she managed to get Charmcaster out, so they're going to head onto their ship now. That's almost everyone. Where's Ben, anyways?"
"Ah, I'll get him." Albedo tells him quickly, and Max stares at him uncertainly, but then he nods, "You two leave with Cooper, alright?"
Albedo nods back to him, before glancing to Cooper, "If I can't make it back in time, leave without us."
"No." Cooper shakes his head, but Max speaks up. "You'll make it back."
Albedo didn't say anything, but he wasn't as sure of that.
The sudden shaking of the room-and the whole ship-doesn't stop Vilgax in the slightest. He continues to kick Ben before lifting him back up and throwing him against the wall this time, and Ben falls to the ground, his body hurting all over. It's tempting to just not get back up, but he glances up, watching Vilgax stare at him, and he pushes against the wall as he stands.
"Really? You really want to die this badly?"
Ben doesn't say anything this time, taking a moment to steady himself in silence, and then he moves forward again. He already expects the punch to his face, but Vilgax grabs his shirt roughly and shoves him down before pressing a foot against Ben's throat, once again ignoring the ship as it shakes again.
Struggling, Ben tries to pry his leg away from him, but he can't quite manage, because he was so tired out, or so defeated, he's not sure.
Albedo fought with idea that he could let Ben die instead for a bit as he went down the hall, but something told him that wasn't a good idea. They likely wouldn't allow him on the ship anyways, if he did. Well, he could say he tried, and that he couldn't find Ben, but, no. He doesn't know why, but he doesn't feel like leaving Ben here.
He supposed it's possible that he'd grown somewhat attached to Tennyson, even if it might be temporary. Still, he tries not to think about this too much, as he rushes to find him.
It's not minutes later when he spots what looks to be a smaller ship, with Vilgax standing near it, and Albedo spots Ben quickly, on the floor and struggling against Vilgax. Albedo finds himself glad that he brought a sword, and rushes forward to swing it at Vilgax.
Vilgax moves away, a gash in his arm from the sword, and suddenly he's laughing lowly.
"You find something funny?" Albedo snaps, staring at him, on his guard and ready for any attack. But the attack comes from behind, and it knocks him down, his back burning with pain. Ben glances at him then, a look of determination still in his green eyes as he spots the sword that now layed before Albedo, where he'd dropped it.
Albedo pushes it forward slightly with his hand on the hilt, eyeing Ben still, before glancing behind him. "Of course. I'd nearly forgotten about you. Not very memorable."
Sir Markus looks at him with rage, lifting his sword to take another swing at him. "Not very memorable? Perhaps if I leave you with scars that'll take forever to heal, you won't be so forgetful."
"Really? Why waste your energy on Albedo? I mean," Ben laughs, but it's tired and without humor, "Vilgax is the one who's gonna blow up the ship and not tell you."
Albedo watches Vilgax and the Forever Knight exchange looks, before the Forever Knight steps forward, his sword still held at an angle to swing at someone. Albedo didn't waste much time watching that though, turning to look at Ben now, and Ben nods, grabbing the sword and standing weakly, before swinging at Vilgax, who barely manages to move away in time, only to take a strike from the Forever Knight.
While they start teaming up on Vilgax, Albedo moves to the ship instead, though. If Vilgax had the Ultimatrix, wouldn't he be using it? So he doesn't have it on him, then where else could it be?
On the ship here, maybe, but then why didn't he have it on him? Unless he doesn't have it at all. If the Forever Knight had it...no, he was sure Vilgax had it, if he intended to destroy the ship, with the Forever Knight and everyone else on it, then surely he knew where it was, and that it was safe.
Then, maybe he already sent it somewhere else. Or, maybe there was a reason he wasn't using it. Because he hadn't expected it fight. Albedo's train of thought comes to a halt when he finally find it, inside a box on the small ship.
So, that was it, maybe he really hadn't expected a fight. But how could he not? Albedo scoffs, but it dawns on him that if Vilgax were trying to keep this all from the Forever Knight, then maybe he hadn't been wearing it yet so that the Forever Knight didn't know he was going to take it for himself. Well, whatever the reason, it worked to their favor.
He puts the Ultimatrix on and quickly gets back out of the smaller ship, and another sudden explosion causes him to almost fall, but he steadies himself, and chooses quickly, the methanosian. It might not have been the best transformation for the situation, but he didn't have time to be picky or strategize.
Albedo reaches out and his vines quickly grab the sword from the Forever Knight, pulling it back to himself, and he walks forward with the sword in hand, watching as the Forever Knight backs up quickly now.
"Wait, I-I-"
Albedo stabs the sword straight through him, the sound strangely loud in the otherwise quiet room, and then he pulls it back out, watching the body drop, as Ben suddenly groans, saying something that Albedo can't quite make out. Albedo turns quickly to see Vilgax in the smaller ship, but as Albedo runs forward the ship shakes with another explosion, followed quickly by another one, to his shock.
He tries, but can only watch as the ship slowly departs, unable to grab it with the vines in time. He swears under his breath, dropping the sword now. "Ben?" He asks quickly, reaching down and lifting him up when he doesn't respond.
"Albedo!"
Turning at the sound of his name, he spots Cooper standing the entrance of the hall, "Cooper?" He asks in confusion.
"The ship!" He shouts, and there's another explosion, one that almost knocks Albedo off his feet.
"I've noticed, now let's hurry!" Albedo says quickly, and Cooper looks like he's about to say something, but he doesn't, and they rush to where Cooper's ship is instead, avoiding the parts of the ship that's falling apart on itself. They get to his ship soon, but it somehow doesn't feel like soon enough.
Another explosion goes off then, this time knocking Albedo down, and the Ultimatrix decides then to time out, as he stands back on his feet, but he doesn't pick Ben back up again yet. "Cooper, something wrong?" He asks. Not that it was his intention to be mean or anything, but he decides now of all times to hesitate and stall?
"This ship," Cooper pauses, "I was in a rush, and it was stupid of me, I didn't think about it—"
"Cooper, get to the point!"
"I came in a one-person ship." Cooper explains then, looking like he expected Albedo to be angry, like a small kid, Albedo supposed.
And, he was sort of angry, but now isn't the time for that, either. "We'll make it work." Albedo says then.
"Maybe. Maybe two people can, but not three." Cooper's shaking his head now.
"We're not leaving Ben?" Albedo asks, but it was almost more of a statement.
"No." Cooper told him quickly.
"Then?"
"I'm staying here."
Albedo stares at him, before quickly shaking his head, "You'll die."
"So?! Like you said, we're not leaving Ben. I'm not letting you die. So it has to be me."
"No, that's not-" Albedo pauses, trying to think straight, but it was one of those rare moments where he found he couldn't. "No. We'll make it work."
"We can't," Cooper shakes his head, smiling little. "But thank you. For caring."
Albedo isn't sure what to say then, a heavy feeling in his chest, though he isn't sure what it is. "You can thank me when we're all off this ship."
"No. Albedo, there isn't another way." Cooper tells him, his voice desperate and yet, demanding. Another explosion, and Cooper gives him a look that tells him to just go.
And Albedo should, he knows it. He knows this is the only way. And why should he care? He didn't care for Cooper, or like him, even. He was a annoying, rambling nerdy fanboy with a lot of complicated problems and sides to him, if anything Albedo should be happy, shouldn't he? Then why isn't he? Why does it feel like his chest is in pain?
"Albedo, please. Go." Cooper shakes his arm slightly, bringing him back.
"Cooper—"
"Just get out of here safely, that's all I want."
Albedo stares at him, then, not knowing what to say. "I don't—" He trails off, and the shaking reminds him that they're running out of time.
"Just go. You did a lot for me, okay? I know you don't understand, and you might never really, but everything you did for me meant a lot. And it wasn't really about the hacking or anything, it's just... It's hard to explain, but just know that it meant alot. And I'm just glad, I get a chance to do something for you."
Nodding quickly, Albedo struggles for something to say now, but he was feeling a lot, and the words in his head were everywhere and nowhere. But before he can come up with anything Cooper suddenly hugs him, and before Albedo can overthink it, he hugs him back. Although hugs weren't something he was used to, or fond of, he felt it explained what words couldn't, at least. And he owed Cooper that much, he owed him something he couldn't convey with words.
They pull apart after a moment, and Cooper quickly goes to lift Ben, so Albedo helps, and they get him in the small ship first. Albedo looks at Cooper for one last time, feeling an almost unbearable pain—one sharper than the injuries on his back, before he gets in the small ship too.
It takes a few seconds to get set up in the ship so that both him and Ben fit—with Ben sitting behind Albedo, before he's leaving the Castle in the Sky, and one of his biggest regrets behind.
He wipes the tears from his face and swallows hard, but doesn't look back at the last explosions.