A/N: Merry Christmas! Here's your present! The final chapter of Another Anodite! It's been a blast writing, but all good things must come to an end.
I would've had this chapter out sooner, but not only did I have to work, but I wound up coming down with a really bad cold. On Christmas, no less.
And of course, based on "The Final Battle" finale.
"Nothing here but weapons," Gwen said while looking through a crate. The Helpers had finally been sent to Plumber's Academy, so their break was through. And there was news of Forever Knight activity not long after they left the planet. Go figure.
"Damn. Nothing from the Knights either. Wouldn't or couldn't tell me anything important," Kevin said while cracking his knuckles. "From the looks of things, it just looks like they were just finding a place to store more of their weapons."
"Nothing that suggests that all of these rapid chain of attacks from different sources are connected. What, is every criminal just so bored that they have to keep doing stuff even if they know they'll get caught?" Ben questioned before his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Either that, or keep us busy."
"I've already thought about the second one. I asked your grandparents to look out for anything serious while we were taking care of the problem. So far, nothing," Kevin said, making Ben sigh.
"That's exactly what I was afraid you would say," he said.
"So there's no pattern here? Every criminal in the Milky Way galaxy is just saying screw us?" Gwen asked.
"It's looking that way," Kevin said, throwing out a punch in order to knock a stirring Forever Knight back into unconsciousness.
"I don't like this. It all has to be part of something we're not seeing," Gwen said, looking around the warehouse with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Well, when you figure it out, pick another day to tell me. I'm going home and... behind you Tennyson!" Kevin suddenly exclaimed.
Immediately reacting after Kevin's warning, Ben raised a glass shield that only shimmered from the impact of the laser that was fired at his back.
"Ben Tennyson," Kraab said, opening and closing his pincers threateningly.
"From the assholes I'm familiar with to one I haven't seen in years. What are you doing here, Kraab?" Ben asked with his eyes narrowed.
"There's been talk all over the galaxy that Ben Tennyson has secretly been an Anodite. I just had to see it for myself. That, and someone out there is willing to pay a nice sum of money for your head. More if I can bring you in alive. Maybe they'll use you as a battery or..." Kraab was cut off by a bolt of mana striking him in the face, knocking him down to the floor.
"Crawl away back to your ship, Kraab. Believe me. We're not in the mood," Gwen said, holding up a glowing hand as Kevin absorbed the metal next to him.
"That's the thing. I don't really care," Kraab said before leaping in the air.
Before the bounty hunter could even descend, Ben sent four tendrils at Kraab from his head while Gwen shot two from her hand. While the two of them kept Kraab pinned on the ground, Kevin jumped in the air and jumped on the cyborg's head hard enough to dent part of it. It would've been his face had the bounty hunter not tilted his head to the side. He almost made sure to trade in the steel from the Forever Knight's armor for the metal Kraab was made out of.
"Watch the pincers!" Gwen warned as Kraab fired a cloud of gas into Kevin's face.
"Turbo!" Ben yelled, firing a volley of wind to dispel the noxious fumes.
"Than... Gah!" the Osmosian exclaimed when he was grabbed by Kraab's claw hand.
"Kevin!" Gwen exclaimed as she and Ben were pulling hard to keep the bounty hunter on the ground. But he still wouldn't relinquish his grip.
"I know! Watch the pincers," Kevin said, struggling to get out of the hold he was in.
The struggle didn't last long before Kraab blasted Kevin out of his grip with a laser that knocked him through a wall before Kraab's pincers gripped one of Ben's tendrils and channeled electricity through it.
"Gah!" Ben exclaimed before retracting his tendrils. "Gwen!"
"On it," his cousin said with a nod.
Gwen dropped one tendril from Kraab before nailing him in the face with a mana disc that forcibly knocked the bounty hunter's head back. Ben immediately followed up her mana disc with a blast that sent Kraab flying through several of the Forever Knight's crates with a hole in his armor where the blasts impacted.
"Meddlesome children! Guess there's no taking you alive," Kraab said, picking himself up off the ground.
"Uh-huh. Keep him still," Ben said, giving Gwen a side glance. He immediately teleported above Kraab when she nodded.
Gwen put her fingers on the ground, causing over half a dozen mana tendrils to spring up and hold Kraab's arms and each of his legs. Ben, who teleported above Kraab, landed on his back while looking down in the open part of his circuitry.
"Get off of me!" Kraab said, doing his best to struggle through the bindings holding him to no avail.
"Soon as I'm done. Now last time these wires were the ones that..." Ben trailed, pulling out four different wires with his index finger. Kraab's head immediately spun in place before his head tipped forward two centimeters - a sign that he was deactivated. "God, you're either dumb or really arrogant to think I wouldn't do the same trick twice."
"Probably a little bit of both," Gwen said, dropping the tendrils from Kraab's body.
"Nice job," Kevin said, rubbing his head as he rejoined his friends.
"Now what did we learn?" Gwen asked with a cheerful smile.
"Watch the pincers," Kevin said with an annoyed look. Gwen only smiled wider at the look. "Not my fault. They've got a good grip."
"Ok, that's a bounty hunter bagged and a bunch of Forever Knights dealt with. I think we've at least bought a few hours," Ben said, giving the warehouse a onceover. Then he looked to Gwen with a smile on his face. "So..."
"Tempting, but I can't. I promised Julie I'd help her with her homework," she said with an apologetic smile.
"Oh, come on. Can't you reschedule?" Ben asked with a groan.
"I can't just bail on her. As good as she is in physics, she's not as good in history," Gwen said before giving Ben a kiss on the cheek. "Later tonight, ok?"
"Fine. Just try and make it fast," Ben said.
"I'll do my best," Gwen said before teleporting away.
Ben looked around to Kevin, who was raising an eyebrow at the Anodite.
"What?" Ben asked, feeling a bit self conscious.
"It's kind of weird being one of the few people who know of this thing you two have," Kevin said.
"Well, it's going to stay that way until we're both fine with it being public news. And that might take a while. Right now though, I like the way things are now," Ben said with a shrug.
"You're dating a hot red head. Of course you're going to like it," Kevin said with a smirk. Ben glared at him, but failed in hiding his embarrassment completely.
"Shut up," he said, refusing to make eye contact as he walked towards the warehouse exit. Kevin only laughed at him. "You're just as bad as Verdona."
"Hmm. I need to step my game up if it's only just as bad," Kevin said before laughing and raising his hands in surrender when Ben gave him what he called "The Tennyson Death Stare."
"Oh come on. I'm only messing with you," he said, nudging Ben jokingly.
"I know that. Doesn't mean I want to hear it," he muttered as they stepped outside.
"Alright Tennyson. If you're right, then we should have some free time for the next few hours. What do you want to do?" Kevin asked.
"Don't know. Gwen isn't available, and I didn't plan for anything since I wasn't expecting to have any down time," he said before snapping his fingers. "Wait! Sumo Slammers Hero Generation is on. I could watch that."
"Seriously?" Kevin questioned, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "That's what you pick to pass the time?"
"I got nothing else. Besides, I love the series," Ben said with a shrug.
"You're a dork," Kevin said while shaking his head.
"I know. But only sometimes," Ben said with a grin. "You can come with me if you want. I'm pretty sure we've got popcorn."
"You know what? I'm good. Besides, when Gwen shows, I don't want to get in the way of your ah... alone time," Kevin said with a smirk.
"Why the hell did you of all people have to figure it out? Honestly, I would almost prefer if Julie knew, and that would've been really awkward," Ben said with a shudder.
"Cause I'm more perceptive than you give me credit for. Besides, Julie wouldn't have given you the ass kicking you needed to talk to Gwen. So you get to listen to me make jokes at your expense for payment," Kevin explained casually.
"Lucky me. Just keep your badge close. With how things have been going lately, we'll be back out here in no time flat," Ben said before moving to fly away. But he made sure to give Kevin a second glance. "And thanks again."
"If you say that one more time, I'm going to hit you again," Kevin said, rolling his eyes. "I told you it wasn't a big deal."
"Maybe for you," Ben said before flying away.
Kevin then made his way to his car while cracking his neck. Being thrown through walls sometimes left him a little sore, but it wasn't anything a little rest wouldn't fix. But he was still wondering what to do with his free time.
"I could stop by my mom's. There's a good chance she's in the middle of dinner," Kevin thought before grinning at the prospect. Then he hopped in his car and started driving away.
"Plate full of spaghetti sounds good. Maybe..." Kevin's food fantasies were interrupted the moment he saw Ben in the middle of the road.
"Wait... that's not..." Kevin trailed before he slammed on the brakes. With a surge of energy that sounded more warped than the Omnitrix's, he heard Albedo transform into Diamondhead. His car managed to stop inches away from him.
"Kevin Levin. Just the man I've been looking for," Evil Diamondhead said before firing a volley of diamonds.
Opening his door and diving out the side, Kevin quickly avoided the shards that pierced through his window sliced through his seats.
He then put a hand on his car door and absorbed the metal on it. He glad now more than ever that he upped the armor on his car. Tritanium was one of the more durable and powerful metals out there, and having that on the go was definitely needed. And on the off chance it got destroyed, Ship could put it back together in minutes.
Enlarging his right hand and molding it into the shape of a shield, Kevin charged forward while holding it up in front of his face to block the crystals Albedo was sending his way. When close, the Galvin went for a punch that Kevin deflected easily before punching him to the floor. He followed up by shifting his left hand into a hammer and launching him into a building like he was playing golf.
"Albedo, right?" Kevin questioned, looking down at the fake Ben before cracking his knuckles. "What are you doing here, chump?"
Albedo didn't answer. Just gripped the ground underneath him to create two diamond pillars next to Kevin. And before the Osmosian could move, his legs were restrained.
Quickly reacting by making his hands hammers and smashing the diamond restraints, Kevin was able to move out of the way before the pillars slammed into his head.
The Osmosian then punched the ground in front of him hard enough to cause a shockwave. Albedo jumped over the attack while quickly slamming his hand on the Ultimatrix symbol. Diamondhead was now Lodestar, but Kevin had smacked him down to the ground the moment he transformed.
"Oh, no. Not dealing with that," Kevin thought before diving to the side once he hit the ground. He immediately absorbed the ground underneath him.
By the time Albedo raised his hands to mess with the metal that was on Kevin's body, he was already covered in gravel and was charging towards the Galvin. But he ended up getting knocked to the ground by his own car smashing into him.
"It's always the car..." Kevin trailed, trying to get to his feet.
Another flash of light let Kevin Albedo transform again, and this time each of Kevin's limbs were restrained while he was on the ground before another diamond pillar was raised above his head and dropped on him. The Osmosian only retained consciousness for a moment before blacking out.
"Levin's gotten better," Evil Diamondhead thought with a frown as he picked him up. He didn't expect to have to put that much effort in to take him down. And he still had the female Tennyson to contend with.
"Capital of Egypt is Cairo, the first pyramid was built in 2630 BC, and they buried pharaohs in sarcophagi?" Julie listed off.
"You got it," Gwen said with a smile.
"Out of all things we could've had us learn about, they picked for us to learn stuff about Egypt. What do we need know about things that aren't even relevant today? It's not like it's a 'not knowing mistakes, doomed to repeat them' sort of things," Julie said, closing the textbook.
"You'd have to ask the people in charge of the schooling system," Gwen said before staring at the clock. Over three hours had passed. "Damn."
"Something wrong?" Julie asked.
"No. I'm just surprised by how fast time went by. I promised Ben I'd stop by his place," Gwen said, passing Julie the notes she had written for her. "Good luck on the exam Julie."
"I'll ace it, thanks to your help. But now that you mention it, I've only seen Ben a couple times at school these past few weeks, and he always looks distracted. Has he been ok?" Julie asked.
"He's fine. Just been very busy lately," Gwen told her before giving her a reassuring smile. "If you want to see him, I could always tell him to stop by."
"Nah. I'll just talk to him after school. To be honest, I've been kind of avoiding him lately after..." Julie trailed before smiling at Gwen. "Thanks for your help. I wouldn't have passed this test without you."
Gwen couldn't say another word before the wall next to them suddenly exploded. Gwen was able to raise a shield to block the wall shrapnel heading towards her and Julie.
"Hello Gwendolyn. I've been looking for you," Evil Swampfire said, walking out from the hole in the wall.
"Julie, run," Gwen said in a serious tone, causing the tennis player's eyes to widen in shock.
"You aren't planning on fighting that thing, are you?" she questioned, her tone full of disbelief.
"Get your folks and get out," Gwen said with more instistance, diving to the side when Albedo threw seeds near her location. The vines creeped near her feet, but she destroyed them by flipping away from them before they touched and sliced them with two quick mana discs.
Albedo tossed a ball of fire soon after her flip, and Julie's eyes widened when Gwen caught the fireball by rapidly spinning in a circle with pink wind surrounding her.
"Turbo!" Gwen exclaimed, forcing Albedo to slide back when the fireball was reflected back at him. Then she turned to Julie, and she glared at Julie with a look serious enough to scare the girl. "Go!"
Finally convinced that Gwen was far better at handling the situation than she thought, Julie finally started to run up the stairs to warn her family. But she ended up running into them before she even made it halfway up. Each of them had a panicked look on their faces, which wasn't surprising since it probably sounded like a bomb went off downstairs.
"What's going on?!" Julie's mom asked.
"An alien broke the wall downstairs. We should take the fire escape," Julie quickly said.
"What about Gwen? Is she still here?" her brother Bruce asked.
"She's fine," Julie lied. "She already left."
"Then let's go," Julie's dad said, gesturing for his wife and kids to move ahead of him. But he took a moment to glance back when he could still hear commotion going on downstairs. "What is that alien doing down there?"
"I see you got another knock-off Omnitrix working again," Gwen said as she fired a mana beam that removed Albedo's arm. "Lorem!"
Albedo was sent flying out of the hole he blasted open by a burst of energy, and Gwen moved outside to follow him. The Galvin had already regenerated his arm as he was getting to his feet.
"It's not a knockoff. It's the Ultimatrix. And it's a definite improvement over the original," Evil Swampfire said with a smirk.
"Even if I believed that, you're certainly not a better fighter than the guy who uses the Omnitrix," Gwen said before putting her fingers on the ground, causing over a dozen mana tendrils to pop up out of the ground behind Albedo.
The Galvin left a trail of fire as he swung his hands in a circle, dispelling the mana tendrils that popped up out of the ground. But Gwen was already in his face by the time he wheeled around and she knocked him to the ground with a roundhouse while energized mana was surrounding her foot. It completely obliterated his head.
Trapping Albedo in a sphere connected by a strand of mana, Gwen grunted loudly before swinging Albedo through several trees and slamming him in the middle of the Yamamoto's garden. His head had just barely regenerated before a large orb of energized mana blasted him through the fence and into another person's backyard.
"Perhaps I didn't think about the fact that they would all improve over time," Evil Swampfire thought, getting to his feet as he regenerated a large hole in his stomach.
"I suggest you talk before I turn you into another weed to be plucked from this garden," Gwen said seriously, keeping his limbs pinned with mana restraints. Then she burned the rest of the plants away with a fire spell. "What do you want with me Albedo?"
"Just know that I have plans for you," Evil Swampfire said with a smirk before a small, shriveled vine sprung from the ground to hit the dial on his chest. Now Albedo was Humungousaur, and he was able to free himself from the tendrils holding him down with a quick tug.
"Do you want to know why the Ultimatrix is superior?" Evil Humungousaur asked before turning the dial on his chest. "Not only can I transform into all the aliens Tennyson can, but I can also evolve those creatures to their ultimate forms."
Gwen hit him with a ball of energized mana, but not in time to stop Albedo from hitting the dial. Suddenly, tan skin became green and dark blue. The tail grew had a spiked ball on the end of it, and a shell grew on his back with spikes protruding from the side. When the mana ball actually did hit him, it did little more than make Albedo slide back a few feet.
"Meet Ultimate Humungousaur!" Evil Ultimate Humungousaur exclaimed.
"Ok, that's a problem," Gwen thought as she clenched her fists tighter.
"You're wasting time," an unwelcome voice said, making the Anodite wheel around.
Her eyes widened when she saw Vilgax wasn't alone. In his grip, was every single one of the Yamamotos. His sword was held at their throats, and each of them were looking at Gwen with expressions that were equal parts terrified and surprised.
"Gwen? What do these aliens want with you?" Bruce asked.
"Be silent boy," Vilgax said gruffly before looking back at Gwen. "Give yourself up Tennyson. Or this family will pay the price for your defiance."
With a bitter look as she closed her eyes, Gwen stepped back while holding her hands up. Vilgax grinned savagely before tossing a headband to Albedo. Gwen however, was not idle.
"Vilgax and Albedo are working together. Julie and her family are in danger. Warn Ben and Grandpa," Gwen told Verdona through the mana field.
"I'm..."
"Don't come. You'll just get them killed. I'll be fine. They want me alive, so it's clear Ben's their real target," Gwen said as Albedo approached her. She gave him an unimpressed look before speaking aloud. "You need Vilgax to fight your battles for you now, Albedo? Doesn't surprise me. You're nothing more than Ben's shadow now. Weaker than him in every way that matters."
"Ignore her," Vilgax said when he saw Albedo was going to respond.
The Galvin looked as if he had to swallow something sour before putting the headband on Gwen. But he made sure to knock the Anodite over the head hard enough for her to bleed as she crumpled to the ground unconscious.
"I could've handled her," Evil Ultimate Humungousaur said, hoisting Gwen over his shoulder with one hand.
"Perhaps, but it would've taken time that I do not wish to waste. Tennyson's cousin has grown more powerful, and it shows in her skill and power. Plus she knows nearly every transformation you have thanks to her time with him. Which leads to her thinking of counter play every time you transform," Vilgax told him.
"I get it. Let's just leave this pitiful human abode," Evil Ultimate Humungousaur said as Vilgax threw the Yamamotos down to the ground. Albedo then passed Gwen to Vilgax before transforming into Jetray and flying away.
"She gave herself up to save us," Bruce said in a subdued tone.
"How was she able to fight something as big as that thing?" Julie's father asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"I don't know, but whatever this means, Ben's part of it too. He called Gwen 'Tennyson's cousin.' Gwen only has one cousin that I've met," Julie said, frowning in thought.
Is this what Gwen meant about Ben being busy? He fought aliens? Because it certainly looked like he ticked off two dangerous ones.
"What can we even do? There's no way we can do anything to help him against fully armed aliens, and I doubt the police would be able to do anything," Julie's mom said.
"We can warn him that they're coming after him," Julie offered.
"I'll go. There's no sense in putting you all at risk if those aliens go to his house," Julie's father said before looking to his daughter. "Or can you call him?"
"Yeah, I can," Julie said, patting her jacket pockets. But they were empty. "My phone's back in the house."
"Then get going," Bruce said, gesturing his sister to go back in the house.
"WHAT?!" Ben yelled, his fists clenched tightly.
"Vilgax and Albedo, Gwen told me," Verdona said furiously.
"I swear, when I get my hands on them, they are going to pay," Ben said, his voice ice cold.
"Calm down the both of you. We have to go about this rationally if we're going to save Gwen. First off, you need to call Kevin so he can help," Max said, looking to Ben.
The young Anodite sighed before nodding and accessed the communication channel for Kevin's badge. But all he got was the sound of rapid beeping, signaling Kevin wasn't answering. Or couldn't answer.
"Nothing. That's definitely not good," Ben said.
"They probably got Kevin. Why cut off one partner when you can get both?" Max rationalized grimly. "How long as it been since you last saw him?"
"Hours. Dammit," Ben cursed as his phone started to ring. He would've normally ignored it, but if Gwen was just over at Julie's house, she could've possibly been in the middle of the mess Albedo surely made trying to kidnap her. So he accepted it.
"Ben?" Julie asked once he answered.
"What do you know?" Ben asked, and his tone jarred the tennis player. He sounded serious, but it had an undercut of something deadly. Like he was going to hurt someone.
"Two aliens showed up at our house, and they held me and my family hostage to make Gwen give up. I think she was actually beating the first guy," Julie told him.
"That sounds like her. Are you all alright?" Ben asked.
"Fine. Just a bit shaken up. Listen, these aliens sound like they're after you," Julie told him.
"They are. Listen, you'll be fine. Neither Vilgax or Albedo will deem you as threats worth eliminating, so you shouldn't have to expect a revisit," Ben said before his tone hardened again. "I need to go."
"Be careful Ben. I don't know what's going on, but just stay safe," Julie said in a concerned tone.
"Can't say that's possible in this occupation," Ben said before turning the call off. Then smashed a hole in his window with a furious punch. "He came after Gwen when she was helping Julie study. Used her family as collateral to force her to give up."
"Save your anger for when you actually get to them. Right now, we need to figure out where they're keeping them," Max said before Ben's watch started to beep. Immediately, a map appeared with a red dot pinging a location.
"No more guessing," Ben said, his eyes narrowed as he eyed the map. "Looks like the old mine out in the desert."
"We'll face them together," Verdona said.
"Bad idea. It's better if Ben shows up alone," Max said, causing Verdona to look at him incredulously.
"Are you insane?" the elder Anodite asked.
"If he catches wind of you, Gwen and Kevin both will pay the price," Ben said, his tone grim as the map disappeared.
"So they won't know we're there," Verdona insisted. "We'll make sure they won't catch us until we want them too."
"I'll go ahead and meet them then. Just get ready," Ben said before teleporting away.
"I'm worried for him," Max said in a concerned tone.
"He'll be fine Max," Verdona assured him, but the woman was barely able to hide her own worry. But she knew the best thing she to do was keep a level head, so that's exactly what she was going to do. For her grandkids. And Kevin.
Appearing outside in a flash of green light, Ben looked up at the mine before staring down the tunnel with narrowed eyes.
"Come out here Albedo. Now," he said darkly.
"If you insist," Albedo said sarcastically as he walked out. Then immediately dialed the Omnitrix to Swampfire, and Ben's eyebrows raised when he saw the symbol grow four different metal extensions when he slammed it a second time.
"Introducing the Ultimatrix," Evil Ultimate Swampfire said with a wide grin. "Definite improvement over your Omnitrix."
"Unlike you, I don't need to compensate for a better device," Ben said, his hands tightening at his side. Then his tone dropped in temperature. "Tell me where my friends are, or I will hurt you."
"Just try it," Evil Ultimate Swampfire said before firing a gigantic blue blast that decimated the ground dozens and dozens of meters past Ben.
Albedo's grin disappeared when he saw that Ben protected himself from the blast by simply holding up one hand, a sphere shaped shield taking the blast easily. Then, with a wordless transformation, Ben turned into XLR8 and dashed right up to Albedo before quickly transforming into Fourarms and punching him in the air with a jumping uppercut.
Quickly turning back into his Anodite body, Ben's tendrils reached up to grab Albedo by his leg and pull him down to the ground hard. Then flew high up in the air and slammed on him hard after transforming into Cannonbolt. Albedo narrowly avoided the impact by rolling to the side.
"I'll deal with you before I go after Vilgax. I know he doesn't care about your miserable carcass, so I think I'm allowed this," Cannonbolt said venomously before reverting back to his Anodite form.
Ben held out a hand and surrounded Albedo's body with an aura of mana that was pressing down on his body painfully. The aura had Albedo unable to move as if an entire building was pressing down on him. The Galvin tried to ignore the pain that was pressing in on every nerve in his body, but it was impossible. He couldn't even move to hit the dial on his chest.
Ben then used his tendrils to swing Albedo in a rodeo like way before throwing him down to the ground under the bridge, a powerful beam following after him to make his descent that much quicker.
Jumping in the air and transforming into Jetray, he pushed the alien's speed as fast as it would go before transforming into Cannonbolt again. In an instant, he was back in his Anodite form and held Albedo's arms, legs, and throat with a tendril for each. The Galvin was struggling to even attempt to move, let alone to actually succeed.
"Pathetic bastard," Ben said in a cold tone before hitting the symbol on Albedo's chest. The touch immediately transformed the Galvin back to his human form while the tendrils were still choking him.
"How... did you.."
"Because you're not as wise or as smart as Azmuth. And I know he would've thought to ward his watch against the one other person who knows how to control it," Ben said before staring at the Ultimatrix. "Command function override - Code 10."
"Override accepted. Voice command activated," the Ultimatrix said.
"Stop. If you value your friends' lives, you won't continue," Vilgax warned, walking forward with an army of robots behind him.
"Where are they?" Ben asked angrily. Several of the robots moved to the side to reveal them tied up, both with two different headbands on their heads. "What are those things?"
"Neural inhibitors. One of the few things that can suppress our powers," Kevin supplied.
"Now. First things first..." Vilgax trailed before moving to Gwen and holding his sword at her throat.
Gwen looked at him with an expression of distaste before turning to Ben, whose face showed both concern and hatred. He looked moments away from losing all of his self control.
"If you wish for them to survive, then remove the Omnitrix and bring it to me," Vilgax said, a savage grin flitting across his face.
"Don't do it Ben," Gwen told him.
"Don't let him push you around," Kevin added, causing Ben to look down at the ground.
"I can't let you both die," he said softly before sighing and looking to the Omnitrix. "Omnitrix, decouple."
"Decoupling commencing," the Omnitrix said.
An intense pain flared on Ben's wrist, forcing him to grip the lower half of his arm tightly in order to mitigate the pain. It was like removing a limb with how painful the sensation was. Probably had something to do with the fact that the Omnitrix was bonded to him even more now.
"Detachment successful. Omnitrix going into stasis mode," the Omnitrix said before the symbol's light went out.
"Bring it to me," Vilgax said, holding his hand out.
Ben laid the Omnitrix out in his open hand, eyeing Vilgax with all the hatred he could muster in one expression. The loathing brimming beneath his skin was like a disease; it just kept spreading and refused to die.
But regardless, he walked up to him and placed the Omnitrix in his waiting hand.
"At last," Vilgax said before laughing with the device clenched in his fist.
"Yeah, that's all well and good. Now let my friends go," Ben said with his eyes narrowed. Vilgax looked at Ben before thrusting his sword forward, the blade going straight through him. On top of that, it completely ignored the shield Ben had brought up to block it.
And the sword did more than just put a hole through him. It was also glowing with a yellow aura that was draining his mana. Second by second, the green light in Ben's eyes started to rapidly die.
"Ben!" Gwen and Kevin yelled at the same time when he fell to his knees.
Within seconds, Ben looked like he was nothing more than a husk; weakly staring at Gwen and Kevin as he tried the best he could to get to his feet. But Vilgax easily knocked him flat on his back with a hard punch to the face.
"Get away from him!" Gwen screamed furiously, but her statement fell on deaf ears.
"It's over Tennyson. I win. You die today. But you'll only get to live long enough to see me kill your friends and conquer your world," Vilgax said, holding Ben up by the throat.
"I don't think so!" Verdona exclaimed, teleporting in the air above them with Max flying on a jetpack next to her.
Albedo had managed to muster the strength to transform into Ultimate Humungousaur and fired a barrage of missiles that forced Verdona to abandon her attack on Vilgax in order to protect herself and Max from the blast.
Vilgax turned to face Verdona and Max, dropping Ben and jumping in the air to slam on Verdona's shield with his sword. But before he could even reach her halfway, he was blasted out of the air by a pink blast that sent him flying through the air and through a pile of rocks.
"Where did..." Vilgax looked up from his fallen position, and saw that Gwen was floating in the air.
The pink gem that was part of the inhibitor she was wearing had shattered while she had shifted into her Anodite form instead of her human one. And she was looking Vilgax with an anger that even she never thought she could was capable of.
She was also nearly the same size of a fully grown Humungousaur.
"Max. We need to be quick," Verdona said, her voice abrupt and sharp.
"I've got the kids. You handle Albedo," Max said before firing several blasts in the midst of the bio-oids, the resulting flames burning the restraints that were holding Kevin in place.
Immediately, the Osmosian threw his head down on the ground hard enough to crack his skull if the inhibitor wasn't on it. So it only resulted in a broken headband and a bleeding forehead.
Verdona meanwhile, was not one to have an ounce of restraint for anyone that hurt her family. It was a line she never allowed anyone to cross. So fury was practically leaking from her like a broken water pipe.
Verdona blocked the gigantic stream of fire Albedo sent towards her with a shield before immediately teleporting behind him. Thrusting two fingers forward, she hit him with a narrow blast of mana that cut through his wooden skin and came out his shoulder. Then the she bound his arms, legs, and throat with her tendrils before hitting him in the chest with a beam that would've blasted a hole through several skyscrapers.
It did leave a large hole in the Galvin's chest, and his hands were slowly reaching towards the wound. With a wheeze, Albedo fell to his knees before falling forward on his face, unconscious and back in the human body he despised so much.
"If I didn't have two grandchildren to worry about, you wouldn't see the light of day ever again," Verdona thought furiously before turning away from him.
"Maybe Ben was right. Maybe you don't deserve to live," Gwen said, her voice a furious echo.
"If he wanted to kill me, he should have done it when he had the chance," Vilgax said before attaching the Omnitrix to his wrist, two straps emerging from the watch to fit his wrist. "None of that matters now. The Omnitrix is mine. And with it, your planet."
Vilgax immediately dialed the Omnitrix and slammed the cylinder, but instead of the bio-oids transforming into Swampfire like he wanted, they remained in their default forms.
"Impossible! The Omnitrix is mine!" Vilgax exclaimed, twisting the dial furiously.
"Just because you have it on doesn't mean it's yours," Gwen said, the dozen tendrils on her head wiggling angrily before launching themselves at Vilgax.
The squid faced alien immediately started swinging his sword to keep the tendrils away from him, but each one was the size of a small bed and hit like a Humungousaur punch. It wasn't long before he was overpowered.
Struggling for breath one of Gwen's tendrils wrapped itself around his neck, Vilgax fired lasers from his eyes that weaved around Gwen's tendrils for a direct hit to the face. But Kevin jumped in front of the blast, using one of the bio-oids to take the blow for him. Then he socked Vilgax in the face with all the strength he could muster. It was strong enough to knock Vilgax out of the tendril that was binding him in place and crack his jaw.
And Kevin would be lying wholeheartedly if it didn't feel extremely satisfying.
"That's for Ben, you son of a bitch," he growled.
"Move Kevin," Gwen commanded, her voice sounding a lot like Ben's did when he was angry. Cold and unyielding.
"You don't have to do this," Kevin assured her, holding his hands up in front of her.
Before she could speak, Gwen raised a shield in order to block Vilgax's attempt to stab Kevin in the back. The Anodite responded by raising a hand and firing a mana beam that his shield couldn't do anything to protect him from. He was sent flying through the air by over a mile.
"No. But I think I want to," Gwen said darkly before flying towards the spot Vilgax landed.
"Something's wrong. There's..." Kevin shook his head before wheeling around, looking for where Ben was.
He found him was lying on his back, Max crouching over his body to try and help him while Verdona was clearing out the rest of the bio-oids who were trying to cause problems. They didn't even last ten seconds from the Anodite's fury.
"How's he doing?" Kevin asked, not liking how close to dead Ben looked.
"Not good. Vilgax's sword drained him of quite a bit of his mana while severely injuring him. He doesn't have the energy to heal a small cut, let alone a hole like this," Max said, worry seeping into his tone.
"Can I..."
"Only thing that can help him is another Anodite," Max said, shaking his head sadly.
"And that's exactly what I plan to do. But we also need to help Gwendolyn," Verdona said, floating over to them and putting her hands on Ben's body.
"Why does she need help? She's dealing with Vilgax so you can help Ben!" Kevin exclaimed, gesturing to his friend who was still dying on the ground.
"You don't understand. I know the lengths she will go to in order to make sure Ben doesn't die. Only a full Anodite's power can help Ben now. And it would also make dealing with Vilgax a much simpler affair. She knows that. But if she gives into that power, she will lose herself. Forever," Verdona said sadly, making Kevin curse loudly. He hated when things were out of his control. Both of his friends were in danger, and there wasn't much he could do about it.
"I do need you to do something for me Kevin," Verdona said, causing Kevin to jerk himself out of his thoughts. He just got proven wrong in the best possible way.
"Anything," he said quickly.
"You need to talk to Gwen. Talk her out of her out of using her full power on Vilgax. At the very least, distract her long enough for me to finish healing him. Once she sees Ben alive and well, she should give up trying after a little convincing," Verdona said.
"I'll need to catch up fast. And my car's nowhere near. Vilgax got launched far," Kevin told her.
"I'll teleport you to her," Verdona said.
"I'll go too. I might be of some help in buying some time," Max said, and Verdona nodded before looking out towards the distance. Then with a snap of the fingers, she teleported the both of them away.
"Grandma..." Ben said weakly, holding out a hand. A brief sensation of pain filled her as she gripped his hand with her own.
This is what her father probably looked like before he died. Helpless and unable to do anything. But even though she wasn't there for him, she was here for Ben. And she was more than powerful enough to help him.
"Don't worry kiddo. I'll have you..." Verdona was cut off by a flash of green light entering her vision.
The source of light was the Omnitrix approaching her on what looked like spider legs made out of mana. And it was crawling towards Ben.
Verdona ignored the watch and focused on Ben at least until it made its way onto her grandson's wrist. Without no urging required, it immediately transformed the dying Ben 10 into an upright Alien X.
"Back again are you? What..." Bellicus' words immediately died on his lips when he saw the state Ben was in. A hole through his chest and his green eyes and head dimming slowly.
"What happened? You look... unwell," Serena said worriedly.
"I'm dying. I have next to no energy. I can't even heal myself with how bad it is," Ben said weakly. Quickly, he ran over through his mind what to say. Even with the idea that they would never see the light of day if he died, something told him it wouldn't affect them very much.
"And now you want us to heal you? You could just stay here," Bellicus told him.
"I want to be able to make it back so that I can be with the people I love and care about," Ben said, decisively in order to appeal to Serena. "And I also want to get my hands on the bastard who did this to me so I can make sure he never does it to me or anyone else again."
Looking to each other, both of the personalities raised an eyebrow at each other as if they were wondering if they were actually going to agree on something for a change. They expected their third voice to be one of reason, not one who appealed to each of their defining qualities equally. Love and rage. Compassion and aggression. But it clicked now perhaps what this Anodite was - a mediator.
"Seconded," both personalities agreed.
And immediately, Ben's wounds and drained energy were just... reversed. As if it never happened. This may have been the most inconsistent of all his aliens, but there was no denying it was the most powerful. Being able to do anything just by three people agreeing... if there were more of these things out there, then that was a scary thought if one of them turned evil.
"Thank you," Ben said gratefully.
"You had a point the last time you were here. Power without using it... doesn't do much of anything," Bellicus admitted, making Ben's eyes widen. Though the voice of aggression quickly narrowed his eyes. "Good thing for you too. It looks like you'd be dead if we didn't come to that conclusion."
"Yeah, about that..." Ben trailed awkwardly.
"Save it. Just get your vengeance boy. Don't try and get yourself killed so we have to save you again," Bellicus said with all the grace of a thrown hammer.
"And be with the people you love. Do not let them mourn your passing," Serena said.
"Uh yeah. Thanks. I'll be back when I can," Ben said, waving at them. And in an instant, he was back in his Anodite body, his gaze pointed up towards the sky.
"Anyone get the number of that damn electrician?" Ben said in a dazed tone, rubbing the top of his head as he swayed on the spot.
"Ben?" Verdona questioned, clearly surprised by his healthy state. "You're healed."
"Yeah. Though it felt far too close for comfort," Ben said before quickly looking around. "Where's Gwen and Kevin?"
"You need to get to Gwendolyn. Now," Verdona said seriously.
Hearing that tone, Ben didn't even hesitate in teleporting where he felt her signature. And he was definitely not expecting the sight that was waiting for him.
Ben looked around and saw Vilgax kneeling on the ground with many holes in his armor. Some of them were bleeding; others looked like the result of something really hot impacting it. But that wasn't the main thing that surprised him. It was Gwen.
During all of his time as an Anodite, he had never grown to the size Gwen was right now. But it was even more jarring to see the expression of pure rage on her face. Out of him and Kevin, Gwen was easily the most rational and level headed of them. Then again, maybe that was exactly why her anger was so overwhelming. And she looked ready to...
"Oh, no," Ben thought, not even hesitating in rushing over.
"Last chance, you two. Move, or I'll make you move," Gwen said, her voice shaking with a rage Ben had yet to hear in her voice. Max had looked over and saw that Ben was rushing towards them.
"Ben! You're ok!" he called out, making sure he was loud enough to Gwen to hear him. And she did.
"Gwen..." Ben trailed, her eyes going wide when she saw him upright and healthy.
"Ben?" Gwen asked, shrinking down to her original size.
"Yeah. I'm alright," Ben said, giving her a gentle smile. "Were you about to..."
"You were about to die. And Vilgax was the cause of it. I... I could've healed you and gotten rid of him at the same time. You wouldn't have to do it. All I had to do..."
"Gave up who you were?" Ben asked, smiling sadly before grabbing her hand. "You think I would've been any better if you had done that? If any of us would've been better?"
"But it would've been worth it," Gwen said.
"Not for us. Especially since Verdona could've done it. There was no need," Ben mentioned.
Gwen looked at her own hands, watching as they slowly turned human again. She was about to...
Gwen had never been completely blinded by her own rage before. It was a scary feeling, knowing what you were capable of if you were angry enough. And apparently, she was capable of killing someone in that state. And enough to stop her from thinking straight. Because she knew Verdona would've been able to help Ben no problem. She knew that.
Shaking her head of the thoughts, she turned her head back towards Vilgax, who was being watched over by Verdona and Max. Anger immediately flared up in her, but it was nowhere near as bad as before. And at that exact moment, Gwen understood why Ben felt the way he did about Vilgax. Exactly why the man made him so furious when he laid his eyes on him.
"I think I get it now. How you're able to even think about killing," she said, causing Kevin and Ben to snap their gazes to her. "I didn't want to, but now I do."
"When you think about how much better it would be for the world..." Ben trailed.
"And the fact that if you don't, that guy's going to come back and hit not only you, but your family to get to you," Kevin also confirmed with a nod.
"I'm not ready to make a choice like that. I would if it came down to it, but I'm not sure if I could handle it," Gwen said, shaking her head.
"But I can," Ben said in a hard tone. His expression softened before gently putting a hand on one of Gwen's cheeks. "Turn away if you want. It might be better if you do."
Then every inch of his face hardened like he turned into Diamondhead underneath his skin.
"Is she alright?" Verdona asked when Ben neared.
"She's fine," he said before turning his gaze to Vilgax. And his fists tightened when Vilgax started to chuckle.
"Funny, isn't it? Your cousin nearly kills me, and you stop her. This idea of killing me seems to be going in the reverse direction," the squid faced alien said.
"Your life was not worth Gwen's well being. Not by a long shot," Ben said coldly.
"Or you can use that excuse to hide the real reason why you won't kill me. Your hero complex won't allow it," Vilgax said with a wide grin as he ignored the glares from Max and Verdona. "Well, I guess that isn't completely true. You certainly committed to it when you thought you were aiming for me on Primus."
"What do you mean 'thought I was aiming for you?' I was aiming for you," Ben growled.
"That may be, but your diamond killed Psyphon instead. Impaled him through the back of the eye. I'm sure if you tried hard enough, you could picture it," Vilgax said with a taunting laugh. Ben clenched his fists in anger as the laugh rang in his ears.
"That's enough out of you!" Max said angrily, but Ben grabbed his arm. And the shadowed look on his grandson's face immediately worried him. "Ben..."
"No grandpa. This has to end tonight. He has to be ended tonight," Ben told him.
"Then let me do it. Or let one of the other Plumbers take care of it. You don't have to," Max insisted. He sounded worried; almost desperate.
"No. I don't," Ben said before transforming into Diamondhead. Then his right hand sharpened into a precise point before approaching Vilgax.
Without a word, Ben shoved the sharpened limb into Vilgax's neck. The squid alien choked quietly as blood spurted out from the stab point, splattering Ben in the face and on his chest. That only got Ben to drive the point deeper into Vilgax's neck, his sudden coldness turning into a look of anger. Even when watching him die, Ben couldn't detach himself from all the things Vilgax had done to drive him to this point.
Every word. Every action. Each and every person who died and suffered because of him... It fueled him; urged him not to back down.
"We're alike, you and I. Soon enough in the future, the more you kill, the more you'll like it. You'll learn to like crushing all who stand in your way," Vilgax said, still able to speak despite the fact that he was choking on his blood. "Just... like... me."
Ben said nothing. Only jerked the blade to the side, causing Vilgax's head to come off with an uneven gash that caused the alien's head to fall in his lap. Soon his squid alien's filled with diamonds that popped out of his body like weeds. Blood was pooling all around his feet, but all Ben could do was stare into Vilgax's blank, emotionless eyes and his ruined mess of a corpse. Soon his anger shifted into cold fury as he turned back into his Anodite form.
"I'm nothing like you. I proved it back when I saved your people, and I'll prove it time and time again," Ben thought, looking away as he pushed the decapitated head away from him. He couldn't stomach looking at his remains anymore.
"Ben..." Max trailed, putting a hand on his grandson's shoulder.
"I'm nothing like him. And I never will be. Even despite all the crap he put me through, I didn't like killing him," Ben spat, his hands clenched into fists. The blood on his hands and chest felt uncomfortably sticky. "No matter how much he deserved it."
"No decent person ever likes killing. Sometimes we do it because we have to. Because there's no other way. But never because we enjoy it. That's what separates good people from the bad people," Max said as Verdona made the blood on Ben disappear with a wave of the hand.
Ben nodded before turning around to face Gwen and Kevin, both of whom were staring directly at him. It was obvious neither of them turned away once, and some part of him felt disgusted with himself. That he murdered Vilgax in a very messy way while he wasn't even fighting. And didn't regret it in the slightest.
But before he could even think of a response, Gwen closed the distance and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Ben was shocked for a moment before hugging back as tightly as she was; as if they both thought the other was going to disappear if they let go.
"I..." Gwen immediately silenced whatever he was about say with a kiss. Something that surprised the living daylights out of Max.
"Shh. You don't have to talk about it. And you don't have justify it. I understand," Gwen told him gently. Ben smiled before pulling Gwen even closer to him.
This was the reason he had decided on killing Vilgax a long time ago. For his family. For his friends. People he would die for. And it wasn't easy on his conscience, but it had definitely been worth it.
"Did they..."
"They've been together for almost a week. I did tell you she was a lovely lady," Verdona said with a small smile.
Max looked at both of his grandchildren, and saw the way the both of them were holding each other. It was hard to tell who was comforting who, but the way they seemed to meld into each other spoke volumes. He knew that someone who loved you comforted you like no one else could. And right now, that was exactly what Ben needed.
"You ok Tennyson?" Kevin asked, staring at the Anodite. Ben was looking at his smoothie cup while swirling it like was mixing a martini drink.
"Just thinking," Ben said, still swirling the cup.
"About what?" Gwen asked in a concerned tone.
"Just... even though Vilgax is gone, I can't get him out of my head. His last words. His stupid face. Everything he's done. It's all irritating me," Ben said before taking a drink out of his cup. It was just a normal strawberry smoothie. He didn't feel the urge to taste anything out of the ordinary today.
"Yeah. That's normal. Was the same way for me after that Fourarms guy. Even though I just remembered how much of a prick he was," Kevin said with a shrug.
"How long before I stop doing that?" Ben asked.
"It takes a little while. I had to wait until I finally came to terms with the fact that I had no reason to spend another thought on the guy. And that's what you have to do. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, that thug had nothing on Vilgax, so it might be a bit easier for you," Kevin explained.
"It didn't have to be you, Ben. You know that," Gwen said gently, putting a hand on his arm.
"I know that. But... I feel like if I didn't do it, it would've felt like I was shirking an important responsibility. If I can't trust myself to put down one of the most evil bastards to ever grace the universe, then how can I trust myself to do it when the next one comes around? Because you know Vilgax won't be the last," Ben told them.
"You don't have to do it then either. Let someone else do it. I don't ever want you to get have to get used to killing," Gwen said, putting a hand on his arm.
"You and me both," Ben said, looking back down at his cup.
"Ugh. Now this is starting to get depressing," Kevin said distastefully as he threw his cup away.
"Sorry," Ben apologized.
"Don't apologize, Tennyson. It's just the way things are, considering what happened," Kevin said before looking between Ben and Gwen. "Listen, is there any place you two want to go? Home maybe?"
"Yeah. We can stop by my mom's. Ben?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah. That sounds nice," Ben agreed.
"Alright. Home it is," Kevin said as they walked to his car.
Once they were out of sight of any onlookers, Gwen was able to take a distracted Ben's hand. She gave him a soft smile when he looked up from the ground he was staring at, and that elicited a smile from him.
"You'll be fine. After all, nothing keeps Bellwood's resident hero down for long," Gwen said with an encouraging smile.
"Not while I have you two with me. Besides, with Vilgax gone, maybe we can finally catch a break," Ben said.
"When you say break, you make it sound like the fight'll be completely over, and won't be. It'll just be easier with Vilgax gone," Kevin said as he opened his car door.
"Too true, Kevin Levin," Azmuth said, who was standing on the driver's seat.
Quickly, Kevin grabbed Azmuth and sat down while Ben took the front seat and Gwen took the back.
"What are you doing showing up here in broad daylight? If anyone had seen you..."
"Don't worry. I stayed in the seat the entire time. And I assure you, if I was spotted, they likely would've thought I was some sort of rodent. Distracted humans often don't see aliens even when they're right in front of them," Azmuth said when Kevin handed him to Ben.
"Well, what's so important that you had to come all the way here?" Ben asked, removing his ID Mask once they were moving down the road.
"This," Azmuth said before pulling out an Omnitrix cylinder.
"Looks like another Omnitrix," Ben noted.
"No. This is the power coupling for the Ultimatrix," Azmuth said.
"Isn't that the watch Albedo was using?" Gwen asked.
"Yes. It was incomplete when he stole it, and across these past few weeks, I've managed to finish it; giving it all of the capabilities of the Omnitrix while adding a second feature. Things were a lot more complicated after Albedo stole it," Azmuth said, shaking his head in frustration.
"What'd he do?" Kevin asked.
"He built the evolutionary function into it, which is just asking for trouble," Azmuth said.
"Why? Those Ultimate aliens seemed useful," Gwen said, making the Galvin shake his head.
"You don't understand. Building a feature like that into the Ultimatrix was risky. There's a high chance it would've lead to consequences that no one would've been able to avoid. Not Albedo, and not even you," Azmuth said before closing his eyes. "Which is why such a feature should be built on a separate plane from the Ultimatrix before the DNA is scanned into the Codon Stream."
"So Albedo built the feature into the watch itself?" Ben asked, looking at with his head tilted.
"Yes. He had little choice, given how he had absolutely no access to the Codon Stream. And it resulted in shoddy workmanship that I had to fix," Azmuth said distastefully. "But the details and simulations have been complete. Only a few dozen of the aliens have finished their evolutionary cycles, but that should more than suffice for now."
"So... you're here to give him an upgrade?" Kevin asked.
"Yes. But I even I have no idea how the Omnitrix will respond to a change of a core. Especially considering the circumstances," Azmuth said, stroking his beard.
"No time like the present to see," Ben said with a shrug.
There was a long silence with Ben waiting for Azmuth to remove the cylinder. When he raised an eyebrow at the Galvin, Azmuth couldn't help but sigh from how unperceptive the wielder of his Omnitrix could be sometimes.
"I couldn't remove it from your wrist. What makes you think I'm allowed to remove the cylinder?" the Galvin said, making Ben scratch the back of his head sheepishly. Azmuth looked entirely unamused - likely because he was locked out from controlling his own Omnitrix.
"Sorry. I forgot. Well, I don't know how to take it off," Ben admitted.
"Twist the cylinder 45 degrees, then twist in the opposite direction. Do those steps three times, and then pull," Azmuth instructed as Ben followed each step exactly and the cylinder came off with an easy pull.
Azmuth then jumped onto Ben's wrist and inserted the Ultimatrix cylinder in the watch. Ben made sure to twist and turn it several times, a small wave of energy traveling between the Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix. And if Ben was right in his assumption, the mana that was stored within the Omnitrix was now in the Ultimatrix.
"How in the world can it just transfer its bond from one watch to another?" Ben thought, feeling baffled. The chances of him ever figuring out how this bond worked were pretty low.
"Core transfer successful. Bond removed from Omnitrix and transferred to Ultimatrix. Default programming assigned," the Ultimatrix said.
"Default programming?" Ben asked.
"The Ultimatrix will act in the same manner as it did when you put the recalibrated Omnitrix on your wrist. Your completely over its capabilities also remain since the bond you had with the Omnitrix seems to have transferred to the Ultimatrix," Azmuth clarified. "I'm sure you know what to do from here. Now I have to return to business."
"Thanks Azmuth," Ben said.
"Just make sure you use the time you have to recuperate. Even if it was Vilgax, taking a life is never easy," Azmuth said before teleporting away.
"That's a rather roundabout way to say he was concerned about you," Gwen said.
"You expect anything else from him at this point?" Kevin questioned rhetorically.
"Not really," Gwen said.
"Azmuth's weird like that. But since the Ultimatrix got reset..." Ben trailed before raising the watch near his mouth. "Access Master Control."
Immediately, the car was filled with a blinding green light that left everyone unable to see.
"Tennyson!" Kevin exclaimed, raising a hand against the light.
"Sorry! Slipped my mind," Ben apologized.
When Kevn could finally see, he had to hit the brakes quickly in order to avoid ramming into the back of another car. The loud squeal of tires and closeness of Kevin's car got him an angry honk from the guy in front of him.
"I couldn't see! The sun was in my eyes!" Kevin yelled, peeking his head out of the window and shaking a fist.
When the driver in front of them began to argue back, Ben couldn't help but chuckle as he ducked down and put his ID Mask back on in case anyone peeked in the car.
"Nice one Tennyson," Kevin said once he put his head back in.
"It slipped my mind, alright?" Ben said defensively.
"Give him a break Kevin. It was an accident," Gwen said.
"Yeah. An accident that could've caused us to crash," Kevin pointed out.
"More specifically, your car," Ben said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.
"True. But can you blame me? My baby's a lot more fragile than yours," Kevin said with a smirk, and he immediately got two glares in his direction. Both of which were completely mitigated by how furiously Gwen was blushing, and how hard Ben was trying not to look embarrassed.
"You're gonna be like this until we can ignore you, aren't you?" Ben questioned.
"Oh, absolutely. It's way too much fun not to," Kevin said with a grin. "But look on the bright side. Things oughta get a lot easier now."
"Yeah. Hopefully," Ben said, looking out of the window.
A/N: And that's the end! Another Anodite is done! Ok, I've changed a couple of things in this one, so let me try and cover them one at a time.
Number one, the Ultimatrix in this one actually had the chance to get finished by Azmuth in this installment. This means the evolutionary function Albedo built into it? It's connected to the Codon Stream. So Ben can transform into his ultimate forms using Master Control, or even just through the dial. Enough said.
Also, I wasn't sure if the evolutionary function was planned for the Ultimatrix as far as Azmuth's design for it went, but I can't see any other reason why he would call it the Ultimatrix. So I stuck with it.
Another smaller detail is the evolutionary function not being built into the Ultimatrix itself. Now, that plot point in itself is how Ben ended up being stuck in the Ultimatrix and having to fight against his Ultimate Aliens. Now that it exists separately from the Ultimatrix, they aren't trapped in the watch and Azmuth has them somewhere else. So unless I think of a second idea, the Ultimate Sacrifice episode probably isn't getting a chapter in the sequel.
I also had the bond Ben had with the Omnitrix transfer to the Ultimatrix just cause. I have no reasonable explanation for it, so I'm just gonna say I did it cause I wanted to.
Next, Vilgax is dead. And I'm talking dead dead. Unless we got some necromancer stuff going on that I might wanna do, he dead af. And the whole ripping him apart with crystals thing? It was a thing in Little Moments, which is one my favorite Ben 10 fanfictions on the site. Couldn't help myself from doing something similar.
Next up is the fact that Gwen nearly lost her humanity after Vilgax nearly killed Ben. It's certainly no small thing. It would've happened in "The Ultimate Sacrifice" episode had Ben not talked her out of doing it, and it would've happened here in the season finale if it weren't for him as well. It's proven that she'd take that risk if it meant saving Ben, so it happening here certainly isn't unreasonable.
I wanted Vilgax to be more willing to cement his victory in this one as well as making Ben regret his loss as much as possible before he died, which lead me to giving his sword energy draining properties to deal with him, and a dying Ben would have to watch as he killed Gwen and Kevin while being unable to do anything.
Did I mention I have a habit of raising the stakes as high as possible? Well, I do.
I might do some more stuff with Bellicus and Serena in Ultimate Alien. I've certainly opened a door for myself involving them, but I have no plans at the moment. I'm only a few chapters into the Ultimate Alien installment, so all there isn't too much there.
Ok, this Author's Note has gone on WAY too long. Bout time we call it quits. See you in the sequel, which I'm calling, "Ben 10: Ultimate Anodites." Is it creative? No. Do I care? Definitely not. Does it work? Yes.
See you all next time!