Chapter Three: Carry On

It took some time getting to the Forever Knights base. It gave me time to cycle through the aliens on my watch to confirm my suspicion that I was back to a selection of just 10 aliens. It also, for better or worse, gave us plenty of time to talk. For some reason, Labrid seemed to take a particular interest in Kevin.

"Tell me, with your talents why do you choose to be a criminal?"

"Because I like it." Kevin replied.

"Is that so." Labrid replied, obviously unconvinced.

"What?"

"Nothing."

It was clear Labrid thought about saying something else but chose not to. There was an awkward silence for a good minute or two before Gwen decided to speak up.

"So Kevin, what have you been up to?" Gwen asked desperately hoping to break the tension.

"Oh, you know criminal mischief. Various cons and schemes and so forth." He quipped.

"How'd you escape the Null Void?" I asked bluntly.

"Long story and I don't particularly feel like talkin' about it. Especially not with you."

And that was it for the rest of the ride just a long awkward silence and the occasional death glare between me and Kevin.

"Alright, this is the place." Kevin said as we approached a large ominous castle a little bit aways.

"Oh yeah, a big looming castle. Totally discreet." I said with maximum sarcasm.

"Sometimes the best way to hide is in plain sight." Gwen noted.

"Point taken."

They'll most likely have put most of the lances in a secure room." Kevin suggested. "And they have a killer security system so going in through the front probably isn't the best idea even with the Omnitrix."

"Then what do you recommend?" Labrid asked.

"I suggest a more stealthy approach. I cased the perimeter after my first meeting with them and found an unguarded entry point near the back."

I didn't bother asking why he was 'casing the perimeter'.

We made our way to the entry point; a sewer pipe that leads into the castle.

"Is this really the only way in?" I asked.

"Yeah." Gwen agreed. "I'm with Ben. There's got to be a better way. Maybe we take our chances with the front entrance."

"If you want to face several armed guards and a massive dragon then fine by me, but I don't think it'll kill you to get a little dirty."

Gwen and I looked at each other and we both shrugged our shoulders.

"Alright, after you." I replied.

Kevin absorbed the metal from the sewer grate and pulled it off allowing us to enter.

"At least it doesn't smell as bad as Swampfire." Gwen jokingly noted.

After walking for a bit we came across a ladder.

"This should lead directly into the castle." Kevin assured us.

We followed him up and came into a dimly lit corridor with two branching paths.

"Oh great." I groaned. "Um, eenie meanie miney…"

"Perhaps we should split up." Labrid suggested.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked. "How would we know where to meet up?"

"With these."

Labrid took out three devices that resembled tiny Plumbers' badges one to each of us. "Place them in your ear."

We did as he suggested.

"Are these wireless communication devices?" Gwen asked.

"Precisely. All you need to do is think of the person you're trying to contact. "They even work without having to speak."

Gwen and I looked surprised when we heard Labrid's voice in our heads without him speaking.

"I suggest Kevin and I take one path and you and Gwen take the other."

"Sounds good." I replied.

"Remember if you come across the weapons room or anything goes awry. Contact us right away." Labrid suggested.

"Right." Gwen and I replied.

"So how's school life been going?" Gwen asked as we walked down the candlelit hall.

"Pretty good. I'm passing most of my classes."

"Most?"

"You know me. Math's never been my strong suit." I sheepishly replied.

"Ben, you'll never get into a good college if you don't have consistent grades."

"Well, it's not like I'm completely failing it. I think a D+ isn't too shabby. I figured I'd just hedge my bets on a sports scholarship."

"Come on Ben you can do better than that. I have an idea. How about I tutor you."

"Tutor me?"

"Yeah!" She happily exclaimed. "I'll come over to your house or you come over to mine and we hit the books hard."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Her passion for studying was truly something else.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." I replied, half-heartedly trying to hide my smile.

"I'm serious, Ben. You need to start taking your future more seriously."

"Alright." I relented. "I'll come over to your place some time next week, okay."

"It's a date." She happily replied with that heartwarming smile of hers.

'A date!?' I thought as my heart began to beat slightly faster. I know she probably didn't mean it like that but my hopeful mind so desperately wanted her too. After walking for a bit and turning down a few more corridors, we came across a set of stairs that led into a room lit only by the moonlight shining through the windows. It was hard to make out a lot but I could that there were some display cases filled with, best-case scenario statues of aliens they've beaten and worst-case scenario, their actual bodies.

"I wonder if there's a light switch in here." I said as I began to look around.

"Be careful, Ben."

"Relax, it's not like we're going to trigger any…" The distinct sound of a switch being clicked echoed through my ears as I looked down to see the floor tile I just stepped on had sunk slightly. "...Traps." I gulped.

We certainly got light as all the lights in the room turned on. We also happened to get over a dozen forever Knights coming to attack us. They were armed with what looked like older model laser lances. Not the ones we were after but probably worth noting.

Gwen didn't say a word but simply gave me a look I knew to convey something along the lines of 'Way to go, knucklehead.'

"Come on that could have happened to anybody." I said defensively.

She gave me a slight smile and chuckled while shaking her head slightly. "I think it's hero time."

"You got that right." I popped up the display on the Omnitrix and cycled through until before stopping a specific one. "Alright, let's see what you can do little guy." I slammed my hand down on the display and transformed into a large black and cyan moth man complete with large moth wings which were currently wrapped around the body like a cloak. Figured I'd try to streamline the descriptions a bit. "Oh great...It's doing this again. Oh well, let's see what you can do." I noticed little puffs of cold air as I spoke so I took in a deep breath and blew out a large cloud of eyes that froze the ground in front of me. "Oh, I already know what I'm calling this one. Chilly McFreeze...No wait that sounds stupid..."

"Ben, less focus on naming the thing and more focus on fighting." Gwen said urgently as the Forever Knights began to take shots at us. Gwen deflected any shots directed at her and tried to block for me as well, but one shot hit me dead on. Thankfully another one of the cold guy's powers kicked in as the shot simply phased through he rather he phased through the shot.

"Whoa sweet. Wait wait wait, I got it! Phantom Chill! Nailed it!"

"Congratulations, you figured it out. Now can we focus on the guys shoot at us!?"

"Right, sorry. Alright, so we go halfsies?"

"Sounds good to me."

I took in an even deeper breath and shot my ice breath at my half of the Knights. Unfortunately, their armor proved a bit more resilient than I hoped. Their movements were hampered a bit their stiffened armor but they weren't completely frozen allowing them to fire and slowly move forward. Likewise, their armor gave Gwen some problems as well. She fired several quick energy blasts at them but they simply bounced off.

"This is bad!" Gwen shouted.

"Any suggestions!?"

'Actually, yeah. I think I have an idea.' Gwen replied using the telepathic communication function.

"Let's hope this works!" I shouted after hearing her idea.

Gwen formed a large sphere of energy and shot it in the air while I proceeded to freeze it with my ice breath. Gwen then made a fist with her right hand causing the sphere to shatter and rain down several shards of ice onto the Forever Knights incapacitating all of them.

"Just like old times."

"Yeah." Gwen smiled. "You know. I think I kind of missed this too."

"All that's missing is…"

"We'll find him, Ben." Gwen assured me as she gently placed her hand on my cheek just as I turned back into plain old me. It may have just been a simple innocent gesture to her but it sent a wave of what I can only describe as euphoria through my body.

"You're right." I smiled.

"We should probably contact Kevin and Labrid."

"Can you guys hear me?

"Yeah!" Kevin responded but I could hear some slight panic in his voice or technically his thoughts.

"We encountered some Forever Knights." Gwen continued. "We took care of them but they seemed to be using Laser Lances but they don't quite look like the ones we saw at the train yard."

"On your left!" I heard Kevin respond but it obviously wasn't directed at me and Gwen. "Sorry, but we're a little busy right now. We encountered some Forever Knights too!"

"Are you guys, alright?" Gwen asked worriedly.

"It's nothing we can't handle." Labrid assured us. "Don't worry about those lances. Older models like those are only level three technology. Still illegal but nothing worth prioritizing right now.'

"Can you tell us where you are?" I asked. "Maybe we can come and help you?"

"No." Labrid replied. "You may get lost. Just sit back and we'll contact you when we're done with these lightweights."

"If you say so." I replied before taking a seat on the floor and gesturing to Gwen to take a seat too.

Gwen just shrugged her shoulders and sat next to me as we engaged in some more small talk.

"That form you were using was Silat right?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah. I started taking it about eight months ago."

"If you wanted to join martial arts you could have joined my karate class. It might have been fun to learn together."

"Eh, Karate just seemed so boring." I lied not wanting to tell her the real reason that being wanting to put distance between us. It could have just been my imagination but just after I told her that, her expression seemed to change and for just a split second I could have sworn she had a look of surprise and confusion but it had to have been in my head because her reply seemed pretty standard.

"Boring!?" She replied, obviously offended but taking it lightly. "I'll have you know karate can be one of the toughest forms of martial arts there is."

"Sorry, cuz." I sincerely replied.

"So who's your instructor?"

"Guru Liwanag. I think you'd like her she's pretty stern but fair."

"She must be if she has to put up with you." Gwen teased.

We continued our conversation with some idle chatter that eventually led to us reminiscing about the greatest Summer ever five years ago.

"And you could have easily avoided getting sick but no you just had to get yourself trapped in the back of an ice cream truck." she said while cracking up

"Who knew cold could give you a cold." I replied laughing along with her "I sure was a dumb kid."

"Yeah, but you've made a slight improvement over the years."

"Oh, you're too kind."

"But if I'm being serious you really have grown quite a bit. Not just physically. The younger you would have had to have his arm twisted behind his back to even to consider working with Kevin let alone suggest it. I'm proud of you."

"If only she knew how I felt...Would she still be proud of me then, or...'

She smiled once again at me, snapping me out of my torn thoughts, and I smiled back. We sat in comfortable silence. It was a nice moment. Unfortunately, the moment was all but brief as Labrid's voice suddenly chimed in. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." I replied.

"We've cleared out the hostiles."

"And good news we found a map." Kevin added.

"Sweet!" I replied.

"We know where the room we're looking for is located." Labrid continued. "It's located in the courtyard...near the front entrance of the castle.'

"So we could have just went through the front gate and ignored all this?" I replied, making sure to try and convey my annoyance to Kevin.

"Hey, who knew?"

"We're getting ready to head there now. I'll give you directions and we'll rendezvous there."

"But what about the dragon?" Gwen asked.

"Well, I was thinkin' maybe since they were expecting me when I met with them that day they had the dragon there for extra security. So they might keep it in another part of the castle when they're not expecting company."

"Well, let's hope so." I replied.

Following Labrid's directions, we reached the large and honestly impressive medieval-style courtyard managing to arrive just before Kevin and Labrid.

"I really owe you one." Labrid said to Kevin as they approached us.

"You owe me two."

"I definitely had that guy."

"Riiiight."

I'm not sure what happened between those two but there seemed to be a newfound sense of mutual respect between them.

"Sounds like you two had fun." Gwen observed.

"We ran into some trouble, but as Labrid said, it was nothing we couldn't handle."

"Looks like there's no dragon." I observed.

"Told ya so."

"The weapons room should be right here." Labrid said as we followed him to large metal double doors. "Kevin."

"Got it." Kevin replied before absorbing the metal of the doors and pried the doors open.

"You know we probably could have seen if it was even locked first." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's no fun." Kevin replied.

I honestly couldn't argue with that.

The room stretched far back the lights of the room only illuminating the front half. But luckily enough the laser lances were right there in the front.

"You know, I'm a little disappointed." Kevin pouted. "I expected this to be a little harder."

I smirked while Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh.

"What I say?"

See I'm not the only one who can jinx things because right on cue the glow from the eyes of something big in the dark area stared us down.

"I think…" I think began to say before being interrupted by a roar large and loud enough to push us back a solid inch.

"...There be Dragons." Gwen continued.

We quickly retreated back into the courtyard as the dragon began to lurch forward.

"Okay, for the love of God. Please, no one say anything else like 'At least things can't get any worse." Gwen pleaded.

"Well, technically you just…" I replied before several more Forever Knights rushed into the courtyard.

"That shouldn't count!" she shouted.

Yeah, so in addition to a dragon the size of a three-story house, we now had to deal with let's just say a troublesome number of Forever Knights. The dragon held us at bay allowing the Forever Knights to retrieve some the new laser lances.

"Alright, little guy. Let's try you again." I said as I cycled back to the alien I was going to choose earlier. "Hopefully, you can do something big!" I slammed my hand down on the Omnitrix and transformed into a toddler-sized Alien. So this one let's see how to best describe it. Think a little human speaker. It had a roundish head with upside-down headphones covering the ears. It was mostly white with few black decals and green LED's embedded in the elbows. There was also a weird square thing on its back that sort of resembled an mp4 player. I think that'll do. I didn't bother coming up with a name right away this time. The threat seemed a bit too big for that. So we just leaped into action and by we I mean me, myself and I. Using the natural instinct of the new form, I discovered the new alien could duplicate itself several times over. Kevin and Labrid focused on the Forever Knights while Gwen and I attempted to take down the dragon. First I made several more clones and attempted to cover the dragon. "I got this. I got this. I got this." All of me chanted. "I don't got this!" We shouted as all of us were flung off with ease. I could feel there was more this thing could do. It felt as if there was a lump in our throats that we needed to clear so I opened one of my mouths and instead of clearing the throat I let out a high pitched scream powerful enough to create visible soundwaves. We immediately attempted to use the sonic scream on the dragon but its wild tail and roaring voice kept knocking us away. Gwen attempted to hold it down with her energy lasso but it broke out of it with little effort.

"Somethings off about this thing." Gwen observed.

"What's off is this thing is practically indestructible...Maybe if I provide a distraction you can take it out with a large energy blast."

"No. I tried firing a couple of potshots at while you rushing it. That hides too thick. Even if I charged my energy up to full I'm not sure it would be enough. So it's my turn to provide the distraction!"

Before I could argue Gwen ran ahead firing a few shots at the dragon's face to get its undivided attention.

As much as I wanted to run after her, I knew what I had to do. With a dozen clones, we shouted together in unison as the dragon just as it's one its claws neared Gwen and just in the nick of time, a bit too close for my own comfort. Our combined sonic scream hit the dragon causing it to seize in its tracks. We thought about letting up not wanting to kill the thing kept going when we noticed sparks starting to come from its body. 'Oh, it's a robot.' With that knowledge, we increased the volume of the scream even more until eventually the dragon collapsed to pieces. Before the last piece had even hit the ground I had ran over to Gwen's side to see if she was okay. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Gwen assured me.

Due to the chaos of our fight I wasn't too sure what had happened with the battle between Kevin, Labrid and the Forever Knights. There seemed to be a few less of them than there was before, and I think I happened to overhear Labrid at some point in the fight say "Now I owe you one." I did, however, hear Kevin right then say to the Forever Knights. "See what he just did to that dragon? Whataya think he's gonna be able to do to you? I suggest you drop your weapons and leave with all your limbs still attached."

I knew Kevin had to be bluffing. He and I both knew the time on my transformation was just about up but, fortunately, the bluff worked as one of the Forever Knights dropped his laser lance and shouted "Run away!" the rest followed suit shortly after and fled out a small hidden side entrance.

"Quick gather all of them up and put them in a pile in the center of the room." Labrid commanded.

And then following Labrid's next instructions I fired a sonic scream at the pile from a safe distance causing them to harmlessly implode. "Oh wait, I've got a name. Echoply!" I shouted just as I transformed back into regular form.

"That was some quick thinking there, Kevin." Gwen acknowledged.

"I have my moments. So who feels like celebrating? Drinks are on me."

"There's no time for celebrating." Labrid replied sternly. "There's still plenty of work to be done…"

"You alright, Labrid?" I asked as I noticed his skin had started to lose a little color. "You're looking a little pale." It was then that I noticed some liquid leaking from a cut on his suit. "I think your suits leaking water."

"That's not water…" Labrid replied before collapsing to the floor.

"Labrid, you alright man?" Kevin asked. It was so odd. I'd never known the Kevin of the past to show this much concern for anyone. Not even his own personal safety at times. "I got a tire patch kit in my car. I could fix that easily."

"It's no use…I'm already as good as dead." Labrid replied as the color in his face had already begun to fade rapidly.

"No…" Kevin said under his breath but I could still manage to make it out.

"Ben, listen...I haven't quite told you everything…" Labrid continued as he clutched his Plumbers badge in his left hand. "This is more than just an increase in alien activity...Your Grandpa was on the cusp of a major alien conspiracy when he went off the grid...You need to be careful who you trust...And Kevin...He'd be proud of how you were today…"

"Thank you…" Kevin replied.

I wasn't sure what Labrid meant by that at the time but for that moment it was knowledge shared between the two of them.

Kevin tried to keep his face calm and collected as Labrid said his final words but I could see the pain in his eyes. It...actually made sympathize with him.

"You can take up my mission…" Labrid said as he let go of the grip on his badge. "If you can find the source of the weapons you may be able to get to the bottom of this...But it's your choice...I know you'll be able to solve this...together..."

Labrid slowly closed his eyes and within a matter of moments his body had withered away leaving nothing but his suit and badge behind. In my first go-around with the Omnitrix, I had some experiences with death but it was always on the other side and typically it was the villain's own arrogance that did them in. But I'd always managed to save the day. Always managed to protect my allies and while I'd only known Labrid for such a short amount of time he had become someone I knew could have my back...and just like that he was gone...For the first time, I failed to save someone...I wanted to break down right there and maybe I would have if Gwen hadn't placed her hand on my shoulder. Just that touch...Her touch...was enough to snap me back and strengthen my resolve. I knew Labrid was right. Whatever threat was looming needed to be stopped and I knew I couldn't do it alone. I had to do something I never in a million years thought I would do.

"He's right." I said firmly. "This isn't just about finding Grandpa anymore. There's something major happening, and I...no...we may be the only ones capable of stopping it. Kevin, I know you and I have had our issues and in the past and I'm not going to pretend that I still don't have my reservations about but I'm asking you right now for your…"

As I was getting ready to say that last word Kevin bent down and picked up Labrid's badge and said only two words "I'm in."

And just like that, a new alliance was formed ready to take on Labrid's mission and anything that came our way. But even we couldn't know the true level of danger that loomed in our future.

A/N

I hope you liked everything I did with this chapter. I hadn't planned on changing any of the aliens' names, but I liked the way Phantom Chill sounded so I figured why not and then I decided to change up Echo Echo's name while I was at it. So Big Chill and Echo Echo are now Phantom Chill and Echoply (a combination of echo and multiply) Not sure if I'll change all the rest of the names or not depends on if I come up with something I really like or not. Don't forget to follow and give your thoughts with a review. Thanks for reading. Cya.