A/N: Kept you waiting, huh?
Welcome to Ben 10: Ultimate Anodites! So, uh... remember how I said this would be coming within the next few months? Well, this story was development hell. I had to think about what I wanted to do, consider whether or not making certain additions was even worth it, and it was just a mess to work out. Some of the later chapters took longer than the first half of the story. But it's here! For better or worse. My summary making skills have certainly gotten worse/
I'm sorry this took so long to get out. Between trying to fix the grammar stuff from Another Anodite and structuring this story in general, it took a while for me to feel comfortable enough to start writing. I had a good amount of writer's block in some places - especially towards the third season considering there were several ideas I could play around with, and I wasn't sure how to go about it. Plus my overall laziness and lack of motivation sometimes didn't help matters either.
Regardless, I'm excited for this. I think many of you will like the extra stuff I've added, and they were fun to think up in addition. Plus I get to play with one of my favorite pairings on top of all of that. There's so much stuff I wanted to do for this that I had to remind myself that I have to make it all cohesive. I haven't finished writing the final couple of chapters out yet, but I think you've all waited long enough for this. Plus pretty much everything has already been planned out already, so there's no reason not to upload what I have so far. I'll upload each chapter bit by bit until I hit the wall.
In addition to some editing I did for Another Anodite, I also wound up rewriting the entirety of the Vengeance of Vilgax chapter as well since I accidentally deleted it. Also, Max knows Gwen and Ben are a couple right after he killed Vilgax because she kissed him to comfort him. Other than that, not a whole bunch changed. Though feel free to read the story again to judge that for yourself.
Also Albedo is indeed alive in this timeline. Azmuth took him back prisoner, and this time in a more solitary confinement sort of cell and more intense security. I have no idea how he even escaped from the cell we last saw he was in during the "Good Copy, Bad Copy" episode of Alien Force, but the plot demanded it, I guess. Whether I did anything with him was all up to where I took the story, so I left it a bit open ended. But I figured I would at least mention it because I know some people were curious about that.
And one last thing before we start. I want to thank everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited Another Anodite. The story certainly picked up a lot more traction than I was expecting, and the amount of positive feedback I got was staggering. It's the 5th most favorited story in the genre and my second most popular fic, which is nuts to me considering this is my second story for it, and the first one was only a oneshot.
All of that popularity and support is part of the reason I wanted to take my time with this story. I sincerely hope you'll like this about as much as Another Anodite, if not more.
"Ahh!" Ben yelled before landing on the ground hard enough to leave a small crater. Shaking his head, he only had a split second of reprieve before raising a shield with one hand just in time to block the blasts flying towards him.
Ben considered his shields fairly durable, but his grandma had a habit of making them seem like they were made out of paper, given how each of her hits never failed to leave at least a crack behind.
With a quick teleport, Ben appeared behind Verdona and dodged under the beam she shot at him before hitting her in the jaw with an uppercut and following it up with a mana blast that knocked her back a few feet. One of Ben's few advantages in their practice fights was that he was physically quicker than her, and he was able to utilize that.
"You're still falling back on your physical strength when your powers don't initially get you anywhere," Verdona said before firing beams from her hand at the speed of an automatic machine gun. Each of them felt like they had the force of a rocket to Ben.
"Cause that's how I normally win fights," Ben told her before raising a mix of a shield that also doubled as an energized mana barrier. Then he launched the barrier at Verdona, which forced its way through her mana beams. Briefly, he lost sight of Verdona due to the light that flashed when the attacks made contact.
"Trapped," Verdona said in his ear before his limbs were restrained. And before he could even blink, he was launched face first into the dirt. Again.
"That's why you focus more on your powers Benjamin. You would have known that was coming if you had!" Verdona called.
"Yeah, yeah! You're still fighting against years of combat intuition!" Ben called back as he brushed dirt off of his head.
"That doesn't look fun," Gwen said idly she looked down at her boyfriend.
"It's not. These practice fights always end with me getting my ass handed to me," Ben said as he pulled himself up.
"Well, thankfully I'm exempt from this kind of training. Me not being able to control when I pull my Anodite body out doesn't even make me a contender against Verdona even when she's going easy," Gwen said.
"And we'll continue to work on that. When you're in your real body, you have a lot more base power at your disposal. If you could learn to harness that whenever you want and not just when you get angry, you will be capable of far more," Verdona said as she floated down to the ground.
"And then I get to subtly judge when you get a mouth full of dirt too," Ben said, dusting himself off.
"I'm not judging," Gwen said with a straight face. But there was a glint in her eyes that suggested otherwise.
"Uh-huh," Ben said in a dubious tone.
"Ok, hero. How about we go for a spin in your new car? You like it more than flying," Gwen suggested with a smile.
"And I can't for the life of me understand why..." Verdona trailed while shaking her head.
"It's a human thing," Ben said before being engulfed in a flash of green light.
When the light cleared, he now looked exactly like he did when he had a human body. For the sake of his own ego, he decided to not change much about the way his body was when he still had it. The only differences between this one and his original human body was a few inches of height and a little more muscle - things he could've reasonably worked towards.
"This is way better than an ID Mask. Feels like I'm wrapped in a coat of mana," Ben said with a smile on his face, looking up at the sky while his eyes were closed. Then he looked to Gwen. "Let's get going."
"Just don't do anything I would at your age," Verdona said with a raised brow as she repaired the damage to the backyard.
"We're responsible," Gwen said, crossing her arms after she took down the privacy spell she cast around the house.
"You're responsible when it comes to saving the world. I can't be sure if that spreads to when you two have no supervision," Verdona said with a wide grin.
"Bye grandma," Ben said in an annoyed tone as he walked in the house with Gwen in tow.
"You finally done out there?" Sandra asked, looking away from the sink.
"Yeah. She's been insisting on this training ever since I finished learning how to make a human body. And that was like, six months ago," Ben said in a moody tone.
"He's just upset that he keeps losing," Gwen said with a grin.
"You'd get upset if you lost over a dozen bouts with someone when they aren't even trying their hardest," Ben said, putting a hand on his forehead.
"Grandma's almost a hundred years old. A lot of that was spent harnessing her Anodite powers. You've been practicing for what? Just under two years?" Gwen questioned.
"I've been getting better," Ben said defensively.
"And that's exactly what you'll continue to do. It'll be a long time before you'll be on Verdona's level," Gwen said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I know that. It's just..."
"Male pride," Gwen finished for him with a knowing smile. Ben huffed, but didn't refute her statement.
"You're just like your father. Always have to be the strongest one in the room," Sandra said with a fond smile.
"I resent that. I've long accepted that isn't possible when my son's in it," Carl said, speaking up from his position on the couch. Then he glanced at Ben with a smile. "Going somewhere champ?"
"Just for a drive into town with Gwen," Ben said as Ship rolled up to him in the form of a scooter. Then he transformed back into his default form, hopping up and down excitedly.
"Ship!" the Mechamorph exclaimed.
"Ok, boy. You can come too," Ben said, crouching down to rub the alien on the top of his head. "Just make sure to stay out of sight."
"Ship!" Ship exclaimed happily.
"He's got you wrapped around his little paw," Gwen said, smirking at Ben with a hand on her hip.
"Ship, did you hear something? Or am I just going crazy?" Ben said, picking up Ship and carrying him to the door.
"Ship?" the Mechamorph asked questioningly.
"I thought so," Ben said, making Gwen roll her eyes as he stuck his tongue back at her.
"He's such a brat sometimes," she said, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face.
"I do like it when I see that in him. Especially after what Max told us happened last year," Sandra said, staring at her son sadly.
"I feel the same way. But I'm more glad that he was at least able to put it behind him. He'll never forget, but at least it's not really bothering him anymore," Gwen said.
"Gwen!" Ben exclaimed before peeking his head out of the front door. "You coming, or am I just cruising with Ship?"
"I'm coming!" Gwen assured him before giving her aunt and uncle a reassuring smile before walking out of the door.
The moment Gwen turned after closing the door behind her, Ben immediately put his lips on hers, gently pushing her against the door. Gwen kissed back for a few seconds before realizing that they were in the middle of their neighborhood. Where anyone could see them.
"Ben!" Gwen hissed, quickly pushing him away. "Someone could see us!"
"Relax. There isn't anyone around for miles. Besides, ever since this training craze Verdona's been on, I've hardly had you to myself," Ben said, his free hand moving towards her cheek. But Gwen grabbed his wrist to stop him, making him groan in a disappointed fashion. "Fine. I'll wait."
"It's not like I left you with much of a choice," Gwen pointed out before getting in the passenger's seat. She grinned widely the moment her cousin shut the door.
"So, where do you want to..." Ben didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before Gwen leaned over to the driver's seat and grabbed him by his shirt before kissing him full on the lips. In an instant, all of Ben's coherent thought had been thrown out of the window.
After a few moments, Gwen was the one to break the kiss, and she only smirked when she noticed the dazed look on her cousin's face.
"Hey, I've been waiting for this too," she said before letting her hair down out of her ponytail. "I'm just better at hiding it."
"I see that," Ben said, shaking his head to get his concentration back. "Now, where do you..."
Ben stopped himself from finishing the sentence when he noticed a bunch of news vans pulling up and stopping in front of his house. And they were blocking the driveway.
"What's this all about?" Ben questioned, his eyes darting to each news van.
"Don't know. Maybe they're reporting on some new hot topic around here?" Gwen said in a thoughtful tone.
"I guess. But this neighborhood is about as average as it gets aside from us. And on top of that, did they have to park in this driveway?" Ben said before lowering his window down and sticking his head out of it. "Hey! Can you all move out of the way? I need space to drive off, you know!"
Though if that statement was meant to drive them away, it had the complete opposite effect. Each and every reporter got out of their news vans, which now counted to a total of twenty. With at least two people in each of them. And they were all swarming his car.
"Ben! Ben! Ben!" was exclaimed every second as reporters surrounded his car, forcing him to raise a hand to block the blinding camera shots while Ship lied on the floor of the car to avoid being noticed. "We just have a couple of questions!"
"Why are you asking me? Don't you have a hot topic to chase?" Ben asked . Then he frowned once it registered that they called him by name.
"Oh, but you are today's hot topic. You're hotter than hot!" one of the female reporters exclaimed excitedly.
"Have you been able to transform into aliens since birth?"
"How long have you been saving people?"
"Do you really use your powers for good, or is that just what you want people to believe?"
Question after question was bombarded at Ben, and he wasn't going to bother warranting them with a response. But one important thing was clear: somehow his secret got out. And that wasn't good.
"Oh, this is going to be a pain to deal with..." Ben mentally swore before glaring at each of the reporters. "I'm not answering any of these questions. Get away from my car."
"But... the public needs to know the truth!" one reporter exclaimed.
"I help people. That's the only thing you need to know," Ben said before looking over at Gwen, who looked just as unhappy as he did.
"Whoever opened their mouths is in for it," she thought with a glare that could incinerate metal.
Their privacy, Ben's especially, would be practically zero if this many reporters trying to interview him was any indication. Not being publicly known had its advantages when you had a relationship you wanted to keep secret. When the two of them went on a date, most people they ran into wouldn't know that they were related. And now that perk was gone.
"Hey! What's all this?!" Carl exclaimed, catching the reporters' attention.
The reporters immediately came to the conclusion that since Ben wasn't going to be very forthcoming, his dad would surely have the answers they wanted. But once they started to swarm the man in question, Ben's temper snapped.
"Enough!" he yelled before transforming into Big Chill and flying out through his window. Suddenly, a big wall of ice appeared in front of the reporters, and each of them were forced to walk back in order to avoid touching a wall that was colder than any iceberg on Earth.
"I'm only going to say this once. Get. Away. From. My. House," Big Chill said slowly, causing each reporter to look at him with an expression of fear before high tailing it away.
The Necrofriggian sighed before dropping the ice wall and hitting the dial on his chest to turn back into his human body.
"Sorry about that," Ben said when he noticed his dad was shivering slightly. "Just wanted to scare them away."
"It's alright. It's better than them still being here," Carl said before looking at his son worriedly. "But, you just..."
"Doesn't matter. They know. That's why they were here," Gwen said sourly as she picked Ship up out of the backseat.
"What?! How do they know?" Carl asked incredulously.
"The three of you may want to see this," Sandra called from inside the house.
All three Tennysons walked back inside to join Sandra, who was sitting on the couch with the news on. And on it, was a picture of Ben in his human form while he was in the middle of a forward flip. The Ultimatrix was visible in the shot of the camera because he wasn't wearing his jacket. It was at least a decent picture.
"You're on every news channel. All people can talk about is you," Sandra said, shifting the channel to a different news station.
This one had shown a picture of Ben in each of his different alien forms. Swampfire. Brainstorm. Lodestar. And when he was in his Anodite body, which ironically, was the only image of him that wasn't a disguise.
"Strange creatures. With unbelievable powers. Aliens are real," the voice said. "But that isn't the amazing part. This is: All of the creatures you've just seen are actually alter egos of one man. His name is Ben Tennyson."
Then the picture of Ben shrunk and the reporting anchor had gone back to taking up most of the screen.
"That was the proof video published by one anonymous civilian, who discovered that one simple teenager was a primary source of many alien appearances across the globe. The question many are posing is whether or not the intentions of this Ben Tennyson are just to help people," the anchor said.
"Done," Sandra said, shifting the channel to a different one.
"...only now do we understand that all of these seemingly unconnected attacks were the work of Ben Tennyson, in his various alien disguises for who knows what sinister purpose." Ben put his hand on his mother's wrist to stop her from changing the channel. He kept his gaze entirely on the television.
"Ben..." Sandra trailed, but her son only shook his head.
"No. I want to know exactly what he's saying about me," Ben said evenly, his fingers intertwined as he leaned forward. The previous reporter was speaking more from a local opinion point of view, but this guy definitely didn't like him for some reason.
"Unbelievably, some people defend the actions of Tennyson. Claiming he's some kind of superhero. Obviously ridiculous, but that's not for me to say," Harangue said, making Ben roll his eyes. He was saying plenty before. "No. I leave that to you, the viewer and tonight's poll. 'Ben Tennyson: Threat Or Menace?' Call in with your vote."
It was there Sandra cut the TV off, and there was an actual vein throbbing in her head. Carl looked unhappy, and Gwen looked annoyed. Ben was surprisingly silent as he leaned back on the couch, slowly breathing in and out to calm himself down. Ship nuzzled close to Ben in order to provide a little comfort to his disgruntled owner. The Anodite sighed before rubbing the top of the Mechamorph's head, his Ultimatrix beeping not long after.
"Seen the news Tennyson?" Kevin asked once Ben answered it.
"Yeah. And I'm not happy about it. Who blabbed my secret?" he asked, one hand resting behind his head.
"Don't know, but it won't take me long to find out. The video was published on a sole website, and then was spread throughout the internet. But all I have to do is trace it to the source. Shouldn't take me long to find out," Kevin said.
"Call me when you do," Ben said before disconnecting the call. Then he groaned while putting his hands over his face. "Why? Why is there always a new problem when one is taken care of?"
"It does seem to be a running trend," Carl said plainly.
"Now that your secret is out, do you plan on stopping?" Sandra asked.
"No way. In fact, it'll be easier in some aspects. Like not having to immediately duck out of sight so I can turn back without being seen or just take action as soon as something happens without someone seeing me and screaming, 'Ahh! That guy's an alien!'" Ben mock exclaimed before shrugging.
"Well, there's both good and bad things about this. That guy said there are people out there who believe you're doing the right thing. So you're not without a few people in your corner," Gwen said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Then she smirked. "Plus you can put Omnitrix symbols on the rims of your car like you wanted to without it being a red flag.
"That is a benefit," Ben said with a smile before sighing. "And the bad?"
"Any privacy we as Tennysons even thought of having? Yeah. It's gone now," Gwen said in a sour tone. "Us being real life superheroes like in stories is something people are definitely are going to idolize in the way they do celebrities. And that means people are going to try to find out everything they can about us - especially you."
"Right," Ben said, wrinkling his nose in distaste.
A knock on the door interrupted their musing, which caused Ben's irritation to immediately rise. He moved to get up, but Gwen put a hand on his leg to keep him seated.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of them," she said, fixing a scowl onto her face before storming over to the door and wrenching it open. "I thought we told you to..."
Gwen cut herself off when the person behind the door wasn't anyone who worked for the news. It was Julie, and she gave the agitated Tennyson a hesitant wave.
"Sorry. I can come back another time if now's not good," the tennis player said.
"No, no. It's alright. It's just some annoying reporters that showed up earlier. Our tempers are a little high," Gwen said before stepping aside to let Julie in.
"Julie," Ben said, standing to his feet when he saw the girl walk in.
"Hi Ben. Sorry for barging in like this Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson," Julie apologized.
"Oh, no. It's fine. We prefer you much more to those reporters," Sandra waved away.
"I really don't have to ask what brings you by. I can make an educated guess," Ben said sourly.
"Yeah, I saw it earlier. I mean, I guessed that you might be doing something like this after those aliens showed up at our house, but I never expected..."
"...to be able to transform into aliens? Yeah. It's not exactly something that seems remotely plausible," Ben said with a nervous smile. Carl nudged his wife, and both parents left the room without a word.
"Can I ask you a couple of things?" Julie asked, and Ben nodded. "How long have you been doing this?"
"A while. For a few months when I was ten, and I retired before starting again near the beginning of freshman year. I've been doing it for almost two years straight now," Ben told her.
"I can't imagine it was easy," Julie said as they sat down.
"Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't. But either way, it was worth it," Ben said before noticing the way Julie was twiddling her thumbs. "Something else on your mind?"
"It's stupid," Julie waved away.
"I won't judge," Ben assured her.
"This secret of yours..." Julie started. "...was that the reason you didn't go out with me?"
Ben was barely able to stop himself from glancing over in Gwen's direction, whose expression remained blank even though she wanted to know the answer as well. From what Gwen could tell, he had liked Julie before. Even considered dating her at some point. But she had wondered if the alien fighting was the only reason he never went for it.
"Mostly, yeah. The whole reason I tried not to date was to avoid pulling anyone I knew into any danger. It was easier that way," Ben admitted.
"Jeez, you really are a superhero then," Julie said with a smile, causing Ben to give her a hesitant grin. "But I did notice you said 'mostly.' That means there's another reason. Which means in a way, you were honest with me when you told me you weren't interested."
"I don't like lying to people I know. So I try to avoid it when I can. Sometimes that involves omitting a few things," Ben said before giving Julie a hesitant look. "So... we good?"
"Of course we are," Julie said before turning to Gwen. "And I've said this like a thousand times, but I can't thank you enough for what you did for me and my family."
"Don't worry about it. I'm not any worse for wear. And you shouldn't expect what happened to be a common occurrence," Gwen assured her.
"That's a relief," Julie said before giving both cousins a small smile, her thumb pointed at the door. "I should get going. I just hope you don't forget about us normal folks with all that fame you get."
"You're kidding, right? If anything, I'm going to stick to Gwen like glue at school for the protection," he said, making both girls in the room laugh.
It took a ton of convincing from Gwen, but she eventually got Ben to enroll in her "fancy pants school," as he called it. She practically drilled him full of knowledge to make sure he would be ready, and that was probably a big reason he found the entrance exam so easy. Despite his reluctance, her presence alone made going there much more bearable. And Emily. She was one of the few cool people there.
"What? Does the big bad Ben Tennyson need a girl to protect him from the reporters?" Gwen said with a grin.
"Yes. Women are scary," Ben said before gesturing to his cousin. "Exhibit A."
That got him a punch on the arm, but Ben only smirked as Julie laughed. Hopefully this whole fame thing wouldn't be as much of a problem as he thought.
But he wasn't very optimistic of that.
"This guy's in for a major beating," Ben said, cracking his knuckles.
The moment Kevin found out the location of the guy who leaked his identity, Ben practically jumped at the opportunity to set them straight. Gwen would've stayed at the house if she wasn't half expecting Kevin or Ben to bring the building down if things got out of hand.
"Glad you've got your head in the game Tennyson," Kevin said.
"You're glad that we're Ben's walking into a situation none of us know anything about with the intention to hurt someone?" Gwen said with a raised brow.
"You're telling me this guy wouldn't know what would happen?" Kevin asked.
"You're expecting people to know what they're doing before they do it?" Gwen questioned.
"Alright, that's a fair point," Kevin admitted. "But I'm still not buying it."
"Looks like a regular old house," Ben said, looking at the door up and down.
"Yeah, but maybe that's exactly what the guy wants you to think," Kevin said in a suspicious tone.
"Oh, for goodness sakes," Gwen said before moving to the door and knocking on it.
"What are you doing?!" Kevin exclaimed in a low tone, moving her away from the door while absorbing the metal on it.
"Kevin, you're being dramatic. I don't think some evil mastermind or malicious alien is behind this," Gwen said with an annoyed look in his direction.
"Yeah? How do you know?" Kevin asked with a raised brow.
Before Gwen could even answer, the locks on the door started clicking and a woman peeked at them from behind the door latch. It was clear she had heard them talking from outside.
Immediately, her eyes darted straight to the number 10 on Ben's jacket. The woman wasted no time in opening the door all the way once she did.
"Oh. You must be friends of James," the woman said in a soft tone. But that didn't last long, because the next sound to come out of her mouth was a very loud, "Jimmy!"
"I'm coming, mom!" a kid exclaimed down the hall, making Ben shake his head in disbelief.
"Oh, good grief. Don't tell me..." he said as he looked up to see a small kid wearing a hoodie that looked like the exact same one Ben wore.
"Yup. That's our evil mastermind," Gwen said in an amused tone. Kevin had an open mouthed expression on his face that she could barely stop herself from laughing at. Ben just looked dumbfounded.
"Ben Tennyson!" Jimmy exclaimed excitedly before moving to shake Ben's hand. "I'm Jimmy Jones! It's great to meet you!"
"I'm sure it is. Listen, mind if we talk inside?" Ben asked before looking to Jimmy's mother. "If that's ok with you, ma'am."
"Of course. Feel free to come on in," the woman said warmly before standing aside to allow them inside. Both Gwen and Ben raised an eyebrow at Kevin, who only shrugged before being the first one to let himself inside.
The three of them followed Jimmy to his room, where Ben could see images of the Omnitrix symbol and several of his aliens pinned to the wall. Including his Anodite body. It looked like researching Ben's activities was just what he did as a hobby. No wonder he found his identity. He wasn't very subtle with his aliens most of the time.
"Why did you do this to Ben?!" Kevin exclaimed, glaring at Jimmy.
"I-I don't understand. Do what?" the kid asked.
"Expose his identity like this!" Kevin exclaimed.
"Don't be overdramatic Kevin. It's not really that serious," Ben said, rolling his eyes as he continued looking around.
"Not serious, huh? Well, how's this for an idea Tennyson. With this, it's going to be way easier to find out everything there is to know about your family. That doesn't matter as much for regular people besides them being annoying, but as for your irregulars..." Kevin trailed. Gwen's eyes widened while Ben had gone stock still. "Everyone you know is at risk. I hope to hell I'm wrong, but it's still a risk."
"Son of a..." Ben trailed before putting a hand on his forehead. "Of course that was a possibility. Won't be hard to find the relatives of Ben Tennyson when a ton of people are going to be talking about it..."
"My point exactly. You put their families in danger," Kevin said, raising Jimmy up by the shirt and glaring at him.
"Enough Kevin! He's just a little kid! Why would he think about stuff like that?!" Gwen said, glaring at the older teen.
"Yeah. I guess so. But there's also a thing that parents teach their kids. It's called asking permission," Kevin said before dropping the kid with an unhappy look on his face. Gwen opened her mouth, but had no real argument for that statement.
Jimmy fearfully shifted his gaze from Kevin and over to his idol, who was rubbing his temples while pacing back and forth like he was trying to fight off a major headache. Suddenly it hit Jimmy he just made things worse for his hero rather than better. That thought caused the kid to tear up.
"Dude. Tell me you aren't gonna cry," Kevin said with a raised brow.
"Kevin. Stop," Gwen said seriously, and the Osmosian stepped back with his hands raised in surrender. She definitely got why Kevin was upset, but he was taking it a few steps too far.
"He's right. I screwed up," Jimmy said while sniffling.
"Maybe," Ben said gently, taking a seat next to him and handing him a tissue. "But I know it wasn't on purpose."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tennyson," Jimmy said before blowing his nose.
"It's Ben. My dad's Mr. Tennyson," Ben said with a small smile, and Jimmy smiled back in a nervous way. "But I do want to know why you posted that video. Was it just for the recognition?"
"No. Not at all. I run a website," Jimmy said before getting up and moving over to his computer. "I collect pictures of aliens people have taken all over the world. When I noticed that a lot of them came from Bellwood, I started sorting the pictures. Lots of them were wearing the same symbol."
"I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head in disbelief," Ben said with a small smile on his face.
"Why?" Kevin asked.
"The fact that a little kid managed to piece together what other people couldn't is kinda funny in a twisted sort of way," Ben said.
"I've found all kinds of stories about how you helped people all over there world!" Jimmy said excitedly before his enthusiasm dimmed. "I just thought everybody should know how cool you are."
"We know you were trying to help, but by revealing Ben's secret, you've made things a little tougher in some aspects," Gwen said gently.
"I know. I just thought you'd like the fame. All the attention and money," Jimmy said.
"Well for me, fame is more annoying than anything. And the money is nice, but not worth the risk. Next time, when you have access to some information like this, think about the consequences it has on other people, ok?" Ben told him, making Jimmy nod. Then his eyes lit up.
"I think I might have something that might interest you then," the kid said before turning over to his computer.
"Oh?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There was an alien sighting in Orlando. I thought it was you at first, but I didn't see your symbol on it anywhere. And now that I think about it, I don't think you would go around breaking into government areas. Would you?" Jimmy asked, giving Ben a second look.
"Not unless I had a reason to. And I haven't," Ben said with a frown. "Any idea what this guy looks like?"
"I've got some video footage," Jimmy said.
With a few clacks of the keyboard, a video image of an alien in red armor appeared on screen. Weapons the military fired at him did nothing before they were sent flying back from some water the alien shot from his hands. Then it blasted out the cameras the same way.
"Yeah, that's definitely not me. Never even seen that alien before," Ben said before raising his watch up to his face. "Ultimatrix: Cycle aliens with the ability to shoot water with armored skin."
"Scanning..." the Ultimatrix said. "DNA sample missing."
"Missing? Don't you have access to over a million forms when you have Master Control?" Kevin mentioned.
"Guess Azmuth must've missed some," Gwen said.
"Makes sense. He did miss Blitzwolfer, Snare-oh, and Frankenstrike. I was the one who scanned those transformations in the first place," Ben mentioned before shaking his head. "Not the point. We need to head to Colorado. I'm gonna need to teleport us down to Colorado. Probably best to take your car or mine so we can get around in a less conspicuous fashion."
"Why go through all that when we can just take the Rust Bucket?" Kevin said, a smug look on his face as he crossed his arms.
"You wanna drive all the way to Colorado?" Gwen asked with a raised brow.
"Not in that Rust Bucket. The new one," Kevin said with a smirk.
"New one?" Ben asked in an interested tone.
"Specs?" Ben asked, looking around the inside of the ship.
"Super sonic in atmosphere. Sub-space hyperdrive for effective FTL. With bonus gizmos I've acquired here and there," Kevin said proudly, raising an airy hand. Ben whistled.
"Sorry to say Ship, but you've been outdone," he said, running a hand along the dashboard.
"Extranet access!" Gwen exclaimed as she was looking through the computers. "We can use our Plumber's Badges to access any database on Earth. Even secure ones."
"Useful, but boring," Ben said before looking to Kevin eagerly. "Make it go."
"Boys," Gwen thought with a roll of the eyes before speaking out loud. "The security cameras are in a top secret NASA facility. Sending you the coordinates Kevin."
"Got em. We'll be there in two minutes," Kevin said with a smirk before getting the Rust Bucket in the air.
"According to this, NASA's building a starship," Gwen said, typing on the computer.
"Really?" Ben questioned, opening an eye from his relaxed position.
"It's about time. Earth tech is so primitive, I'm embarrassed to tell my friends I'm from here," Kevin said, adjusting some dials up top.
"Wait. You have friends other than us?" Ben asked, looking at Kevin with a smirk on his face.
"So says the celebrity who doesn't hang around anyone but me, Gwen, and Julie," the Osmosian retorted as his radar started beeping. "We've got trouble. We're flying into restricted airspace."
"This thing have a radio?" Ben asked, quickly getting to his feet.
"Course it does. Why?" Kevin asked, pointing to it.
"Unknown aircraft - identify yourself, or you will be shot down," one of the jets said over the radio.
"This is Kevin Levin, requesting access to NASA on behalf of situation 1591A. Command code 41L3N," Kevin said in an official tone of voice.
"Command code accepted. You are clear to land," the jet pilot told him.
"Well, your grandpa called it," Kevin said.
"Well, he's been a Plumber longer than any of us put together, so I would think so," Ben said.
Max had each teenager study Plumber emergency codes once he found out they had been recruited in the field. Said it would come in handy for handling official matters across the galaxy because it would make their lives easier by having the government on their side as opposed to trying to stop them. And this was the first time he was able to have his point proven.
"It definitely came in handy here. It helps make sure everyone's shooting at the right target when the time calls for it," Kevin said.
As they were getting off the ship, a man in a military uniform was walking forward to meet them. Ben didn't really know government symbols and rankings that well, but the fancy hat was a dead giveaway that this guy was in charge.
"Kevin Levin?" the officer asked.
"Here," Kevin said raising his hand.
"Colonel Rozum," the officer said, holding out his hand to shake it. Then he offered it to Ben and Gwen. "Ben and Gwen Tennyson, I'm assuming."
"It seems like everyone does at this point," Ben said with a frown.
"I know your grandfather would have hated if his identity was leaked like yours," Colonel Rozum said.
"You know Grandpa Max?" Gwen asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"We go back a long way. But now's not the time for that. You mentioned a 1591A?" Rozum asked.
"That's right," Kevin said with a nod.
"It's a good thing you showed up when you did. We've got a big problem on our hands," Rozum said with a grim expression.
"We know about the alien that's been attacking your base, but we don't know why," Gwen said.
"Follow me," Rozum said, leading them throughout the base.
Stopping in a briefing room, all three teens took a seat near a glass window. Looking out of it, they could see the starship Gwen had mentioned. And it made previous Earth made spaceships look like nothing but more than an arts and crafts project.
"It's called the Orion," Rozum started when he saw what they were looking at. "It's capable of traveling at 15% of the speed of light."
Kevin whistled impressively. For Earth, that was beyond good. "How?"
"Nuclear Pulse Drive. Once clear of the Earth, a series of atomic bombs explode, propelling it from space," Rozum said as the screen next to him gave off a digital demonstration.
"Without damaging the ship?" Ben asked with both eyebrows raised.
"It's got a thick hull made from some experimental titanium some of the boys in lab coats managed to piece together. Plus some shielding that we managed to piece together. Even some of those alien weapons would have a hard time scratching it," Rozum said.
"Considering it can take a bunch of atomic bombs going off? I don't doubt it," Kevin said, his cheek resting on his right hand. Earth was definitely stepping their game up. They were still leagues behind a lot of planets, but this was still a substantial amount of progress for them.
"We've been building her for over fifty years. But now, only months from completion, a series of robberies has practically shut us down," Rozum said.
"The alien's stealing parts from a starship? Why?" Gwen asked.
"Can't say for certain. All I know is that nothing we've tried has been able to stop that creature. He hasn't been looking to kill anyone thankfully, but who knows how long that will last. I'm hoping the three of you will have more luck that we will," Rozum told them.
"We will. All we have to do is wait for him to make a move," Ben said with a nod.
"I hate stakeouts," Ben said, floating in the air while meditating next to Gwen.
"You're not the only one," Kevin said, leaning against the rail while looking out at nothing.
"If you care about the wait time, then you obviously aren't meditating hard enough," Gwen said, her eyes still closed.
"It's not about the wait time. It's all about..." A loud explosion drowned out what Ben was going to say and had him and Gwen abandoning their meditation in favor of looking down at the source.
"There he is," Gwen said with a point.
Grabbing Kevin's wrist, Ben flew down to get close to the alien with Gwen right next to him. Then with a grunt of effort, he threw Kevin at the alien.
"Hey Metal Mouth!" he exclaimed, getting the alien to turn around. Just in time to get a foot in his face, sending him flying as the Osmosian landed on his feet.
Gwen made sure to grab the device he was holding by surrounding it with a mana bubble while Ben followed up Kevin's attack by launching him into a wall with a mana beam.
"Nice one," Kevin complimented as he absorbed the ground underneath him. Gwen was still catching up when both males started to approach their mystery alien.
"Thanks," Ben said before glaring at Bivalvan. "Surrender. Now."
The alien responded by launching a stream of water at them that forced him to raise a barrier to block the water from hitting them.
"So much for talking," Kevin said before punching the ground in front of him, launching Bivalvan in the air from the shockwave.
He rose to meet the airborne alien and hit the alien back down to the ground after turning his hand into a spiked mace. The Osmosian also made sure to land on Bivalvan's face feet first before flipping off of him. Even then, the alien was still getting up like he hadn't even felt the blows.
"Uncatalogued DNA detected," the Ultimatrix said, catching Ben's attention.
"So I really don't have this guy in here," he said, turning the dial back and forth.
"Worry about that later," Gwen said quickly when Bivalvan recovered enough to knock Kevin off of him.
Raising a hand with an energized orb of mana in it, Gwen immediately raised a glass shield to block the stream of water headed her way. Then she flew around her shield before turning the shield into an energized sphere, forcing Bivalvan to roll to the side in order to avoid it.
Before he could even raise his hands, Ben quickly tackled him to the ground and pinned him to the floor with the four tendrils coming from his head.
"Get off of me!" Bivalvan exclaimed. He turned his hand so it would be facing Ben, but the Anodite covered his hands with small mana bubbles to block the water flow.
"In a second," Ben said before raising the Ultimatrix. Now that he had no way of retaliating, the Ultimatrix could scan Bivalvan with no interruptions.
"Unknown DNA sample acquired. Scan complete," the Ultimatrix said, reverting back to its green color.
"An alien that isn't in the Codon Stream database is hard to come by," Ben said, looking at the Ultimatrix before turning back to Bivalvan, who he now had trapped in several mana bindings. "And now you have little choice but to speak with me now. Who are you? Why are you stealing from NASA?"
"I am called Bivalvan. And I was here looking for parts in order to repair my ship," the Orishan said.
"We are Plumbers, you know. You could've just told us," Kevin said.
"The last Plumber that tried to help us was killed because of us trying to seek help the first time. This just seemed better," Bivalvan said.
"Explains why he wasn't looking to kill anyone," Kevin said with a nod.
"You said 'we.' That means there are more of you?" Gwen questioned.
"The reason I am on this planet is because me, along with four others, crash landed here when we escaped the prison of a monster named Aggregor," Bivalvan said.
"Never heard of him," Ben said before looking to Kevin.
"Me neither," he said, shaking his head.
"What can you tell us about him?" Gwen asked.
"The reason he captured all of us was because he created a device that would allow him to absorb all five of our powers. Since Osmosians can only absorb ten percent of a living creature's abilities, according to him," Bivalvan said, making Kevin's eyes widen.
"This guy was an Osmosian?" he asked.
"A powerful one too. My family are formidable warriors, but this monster..." Bivalvan trailed as he looked to the side. "He overpowered the three of us before capturing me as his prisoner."
"And you aren't exactly a pushover. Where are the other aliens you escaped with?" Ben asked.
"I don't know. They could be anywhere," Bivalvan said before Ben released him from the grip of his tendrils.
"I'll call a Plumber's escort for you. If this Aggregor thinks he's going to get away with this, he's got another thing coming," Ben said with his arms crossed.
"Be warned. He will be unlike anything you've ever faced," Bivalvan said.
"People said the same thing about Vilgax once. Look where that got him," Ben said before raising the Ultimatrix up to his mouth. "Any Plumbers not on active duty please respond. This is Ben Tennyson."
"Like I said Aunt Sandra..." Gwen thought as she watched him walk away. "He'll never forget."
A/N: And there's the first chapter! As for the rest of them, I'll try and upload chapters on a weekly basis. I feel like it's a good length to let the story sit for a bit before I give you all more. Hope you enjoyed!
