Ben went back to the plumber base the next day unsure what to make everything. Albedo in a different Omniverse. Different Omniverse trees. He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. Rex's world is an alternate Universe. He went through Max's plumbing down into the base.
Max, Rook, Azmuth, and Paradox were already waiting for him. With them were his cousin Gwen and his best friend Kevin.
"Gwen? Kevin? What are you guys doing here?" He asked.
"What do you think, doofus?" Gwen said with a small smile, "We came to say good-bye."
"She came to say good-bye. I'm coming with you." Kevin said, stepping forward.
"Really?" Ben asked.
"Really. Gwen's still in college, Rook and your grandpa have to keep watch over the Galaxy and Earth. As far as backup goes. I'm your only option." He said.
"Not so bad as far as options go." Ben said as he and Kevin fist bumped.
"There are a few things you should take with you before you leave." Azmuth said. "We've readied some pocket cubes for you." He gestured to a table with two blue cubes on it.
"Pocket cubes? What are pocket cubes?" Ben looked at the glowing cubes closely.
"They connect to pocket dimensions, they're like miniature storage units. You can fit anything inside them." Kevin explained as Ben picked one up. "My idea."
"The fluxuator and pocket cubes? Why is so much alien tech cube shaped?" Ben asked. "What's in them?"
"Only what's necessary." Kevin said with a smirk.
"Kevin, you put your and Ben's cars in them." Gwen scoffed.
"Yeah. And some food supplies." Kevin defended himself.
"I think having a form of transportation is a swell idea, Miss Tennyson." Paradox stated complimenting Kevin's forethought.
"Anything else in here Kevin?" Ben asked.
"I packed the Rustbucket 3." Kevin answered, "Just in case."
"Works for me." Ben shrugged looking over to Azmuth. "Found a way that we can follow Albedo?" He asked.
"Yes, although it is very risky." Azmuth responded.
Max gave Ben a hand held Null Void projector. Ben looked at Azmuth a little confused.
"We did not have enough time to procure the materials required to build another fluxuator, so we instead tweaked one of your null void projectors to instead open portals where the fabric of reality is spread the most thin." He explained, "It will allow you to follow Albedo whenever he jumps to another universe. Be warned you two, there are many risks to this device. Should you lose it, or linger somewhere long enough for the tear in reality to reconstitute itself, or fail to catch Albedo and collect the Fluxuator from him, neither of you will be able to return home."
Ben looked at Kevin and then to Gwen. "Kevin," He said now, very seriously.
"Save it Tennyson I'm going with you." Kevin dismissed.
"Kevin… this could be a one way trip…" Ben went on.
"It won't be." Kevin said, determined, "You've stuck your neck out for me when things looked bad, now I'm returning the favor."
They turned ready to make the trip. "Wait!" Gwen said, running up to Kevin and pulling him into a loving kiss.
Ben felt a little awkward watching this but he let it slide figuring this could be their last chance.
After what felt like an eternity Gwen broke off the kiss and then ran and hugged Ben tightly. "You had better both come back safe." She said,
Ben smiled and closed his eyes as he returned the hug. When she pulled away he walked up to Rook and held out his fist.
Rook smiled and bumped it, "As Miss Tennyson said, please make certain to return to us safely."
"Will do partner." Ben replied.
He walked up to Grandpa max and hugged the old man tightly. Out of everyone here he was probably going to miss his grandpa the most. "Now you stay safe out there Ben, and don't forget what makes you a hero." He said.
"I won't grandpa. I promise." Ben replied with a nod.
He looked at Azmuth and Paradox. "Keep your wits about you Ben and you'll be just fine." Paradox said. "Now off you go."
Ben nodded and he and Kevin headed toward the vault where Albedo had escaped.
Ben looked at Kevin. "You ready?" He asked.
Kevin nodded and took the altered Null Void projector. He pulled the trigger and the projector shot a green beam that culminated in a swirling portal that floated just off the ground where Albedo used the fluxuator.
Kevin placed his hand on the metal door frame and absorbed the material which surrounded him like an armor. "Not sure what's on the other side. Best to be prepared." He said.
Ben nodded, "Good point." He said tapping the Omnitrix and selecting an alien.
The faceplate slid back and the Omnitrix core popped up. Ben promptly slammed it down and started to transform.
Blue fur covered his body, an extra set of arms grew from his sides and he gained several more eyes. His spine morphed to be more monkey-like and he grew a furry blue tail.
Spidermonkey jumped through the portal followed closely by Kevin. The two felt as though they were falling through a very strange tube. Large lights that Spidermonkey could only assume to be other universes rushed past them as they followed Albedo through to wherever he was going.
The other end of the portal spat them out in a street corner in Manhattan. "Alright so where do you think we ended up?" Kevin asked, looking around.
"Not sure, we could be anywhere in the Multiverse according to Paradox." Spidermonkey chirped.
"We should take a look around to see what- WAHH!" He suddenly had to jump back to avoid getting crushed by something very large.
A large, eyeless, teal monster with three stumpy legs and very sharp teeth was stomping around seemingly with no destination. It smashed a building with it's single oversized arm.
" OO- OOH Guess you were right armoring up Kev." Spidermonkey said oohing and chittering as he spoke.
"Guess so." Kevin grunted as he ran toward the monster, his hand transforming into a blade.
He tried to slash at the monster's legs with little success. "This thing's got a thick hide!"
"Keep trying Kevin. I'll try to keep it from moving anywhere else it could hurt people." Spidermonky ordered.
He jumped onto a wall and started to crawl up it. He shot webbing from his tail directly across to the other building in an attempt to trip the giant behemoth. The monster didn't seem to notice the webbing was even there and walked right into it.
Losing its balance it began to fall forward with a roar. Spidermonkey had to jump back to avoid being crushed but he and Kevin were still thrown back by the shockwave of such a large creature falling. It slowly got up and faced the two of them with an enraged roar. Kevin ran up to the monster this time with enlarged fists attempting to subdue it with blunt force attacks.
This proved to be more effective as the monster cried out when his weighty fists made contact with its durable teal hide. It reached out and grabbed him, raising him into the air and throwing him through the air leaving him to land somewhere in Manhattan far from it and Spidermonkey.
"Uh-Oh." Spidermonkey chittered watching Kevin soar across the sky with all the grace of a fish out of water.
He looked back at the monster. "I don't need Kevin to take on you." He stated, trying to convince himself.
It was just then that the Omnitrix started to beep. "What? Oh man." Spidermonkey said as the alien technology timed out and returned him to his human form.
The monster seemed to be looking at him though without eyes he really wasn't sure if it was really seeing him. It lowered its head down as if it planned to eat him but was suddenly forced to the side by a blow to the head by an unknown assailant. Ben jumped out of the way watching as someone landed in front of him. A man wearing a green suit and sunglasses grabbed his arm and helped him up. He had a stoic look on his face and his dark brown hair had a streak of gray in the sideburns.
"Welcome back Mr. Tennyson." He said.
Ben reoriented himself and got a good look at the man. "Wait. Six?" He asked.
"If Kevin and I are in this world then that's…" Ben looked at the monster.
"An EVO. It shouldn't take too long to handle. Stay here." Six said, jumping back into the fray.
Ben looked at the Omnitrix which beeped signaling a recharge.
Ben smiled. "Not likely," He said, tapping it.
Kevin got up rubbing his head. "I swear when I get to that thing. I'm going to tear it to shreds." He said to no one.
He looked around seeing people and cars going one direction being led on by soldiers wearing black and white armor, it could have been mistaken for older generation plumber outfits. A soldier grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.
"No time for lollygagging kid, Manhattan's in evacuation head toward one of the bridges." He ordered.
"Yeah… no." Kevin said. "I'm gonna go toward the monster instead." He started running back but the soldier stopped him.
"This isn't a joke kid." He said.
"I'm not joking." Kevin replied, wrenching away from the man's grasp.
"Stay right where you are." The soldier said, raising his weapon.
Kevin's mouth couldn't help but stretch into an amused grin. It sort of reminded him of how many times he found himself in this same situation with the Forever Knights.
"Riiiight." He said placing his hand on the soldier's weapon and absorbing it up to his arm.
He clenched his fist crushing the gun in it. "You're an EVO?" The soldier asked
"If that's what you call people with powers around here… yep." Kevin said, getting ready to walk away.
"Stay right there EVO!" The soldier said, pulling out a pistol and pointing it at him.
Kevin looked around and saw that all the other soldiers in the vicinity had their weapons all trained on him.
"I sense I've made a mistake." He commented to himself.
The huge Teal Evo was having little trouble from Six as his attacks didn't really affect its skin. Much more effective was the huge mechanical fist that hit it in the stomach causing it to stumble back.
"This thing's causing you trouble Six?" Rex asked, flying by with mechanical thrusters on his back. He didn't seem to have noticed Ben yet.
"I told you to wait until I called you for backup." Six said calmly.
"Guess I didn't feel like waiting for your permission." Rex replied creating a mechanical whip to attack the EVO.
Ben didn't feel much like waiting for the other two to defeat the monster as he tapped the Omnitrix. "Come on Humungousaur." He said slamming down on the Omnitrix.
In a flash of emerald light he transformed. His eyes glowed brightly as his skin hardened into a red rock and split apart giving way to pathways of magma underneath them. His hair ignited and turned to ever burning fire.
Heatblast looked at himself. "Not Humongosaur. But I can make it work." He blasted fire from his hands and feet flying up to the monster's head and shooting fire into it causing it to roar with pain.
"Huh? Tennyson?" Rex asked, flying next to him.
"Hey Rex." Heatblast said, looking at him. "Love to catch up but we should take down the bad guy first."
Rex smirked. "You got it," He said, flying at the monster and smacking it in the head as Heatblast shot a stream of fire at its legs knocking it off balance.
It fell forward onto the ground and Rex flew down placing his hand on the EVO. A bright blue pattern came from his hand reaching across the monster. It transformed back into an elderly man. Providence agents promptly brought the man a blanket.
Heatblast landed on the ground turning back into Ben. Rex landed beside him. "So what brings you here Tennyson?" Rex asked, taking off his glasses.
Ben now had a better look at Rex. He had changed some since they last met. He was a bit taller and more built. He wore the same general clothing but his gloves were now fingerless and he had some facial hair growing on his skin.
"I'd be happy to tell you. But first I need to find where Kevin got thrown off to." He said.
"Kevin who?" Rex asked, looking at Ben who walked toward where he had seen Kevin launched.
"Kevin Levin. He's my partner." Ben answered as he kept walking.
When they got there they saw Kevin fighting against the pink monkey Bobo
"Stay still you stupid monkey." Kevin yelled frustrated.
"Hey! Who you calling stupid you dunce?" Bobo asked, firing at Kevin with dual laser pistols.
"Bobo!" Ben called.
Bobo looked at him. "Watch kid?" He asked, stopping his attack, "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Bobo can you get off my best friend please?" Ben asked.
"You know him?" Kevin and Bobo both asked looking at Ben and then at each other.
"Kevin, Bobo. Bobo, Kevin. I've been to this universe before." Ben said as he helped Kevin to his feet.
"Oh yeah. This is the one that you complained didn't have Mr. Smoothie." Kevin said.
"Hey the lack of a Mr. Smoothie is an absolute travesty." Ben replied.
"Speaking of different worlds, what are you doing here?" Rex asked.
"We're after someone." Ben said. "Albedo. He looks like me, but younger with white hair and wearing red."
"Haven't seen him, but maybe he's got something to do with the new wave of EVOs we've been dealing with recently." Rex said.
"New EVOs, what do you mean?" Ben asked.
"I cured all EVOs last year like the incredible hero of awesomeness that I am." Rex said, folding his arms proudly.
"Recently there's been a resurgence of EVO activity." Six said walking up to Ben. "Worse than before. One out of Every four EVO's has been incurable. We've been running out of space to contain them."
"That does sound bad. If anyone would find a way to bring back EVOs and think that he could control them it would be Albedo." Ben said.
"We can talk about this more back at providence." Six said. "You and your friend here might be able to provide some much needed backup."
"Well… We are on a clock but… If there is a chance that Albedo is behind this…" Kevin said.
"Then we gotta help." Ben said.
"More hero types. Joy." Bobo said.
Once in providence they were taken to see White Knight who had returned to his steril office in the wake of a new nanite outbreak. He didn't even acknowledge Ben or Kevin at first, he instead debriefed Rex and Six on what happened in Manhattan. It wasn't until Six actually mentioned Ben in his report that White Knight finally looked at him.
"And what brings you here this time? Another accident?" He asked.
"Nope. We're chasing one of my bad guys." Ben said. "And if our guess is right he may have something to do with this new outbreak, but to know for sure we need to see one of the EVOs that you couldn't cure."
White Knight considered Ben for a moment. "Alright, take him to Doctor Holiday and let him see a specimen." White Knight ordered.
Six nodded and glanced at Ben and Kevin. "Follow me." He said walking out of the room.
Ben and Kevin followed Six through several providence hallways before entering a large observation room where Holiday was examining an EVO
"Welcome back Ben. I heard that you had returned. Who's your friend?" She asked.
"Kevin Ms. Holiday." Ben said, "A close friend of mine and good in a fight."
Ben approached the EVO and looked it over. "So this is one of the new EVOs. Looks like it's sedated." He said.
"It's not." Holiday said. "It's just lethargic, as if it doesn't want to move. Guards say it just appeared out of thin air and then collapsed."
Ben looked at Kevin and then the EVO. "Out of thin air huh? Any ideas Kevin?"
Kevin walked forward taking out a metal gadget with a screen. He held it over the EVO and it beeped. "Looks like it's suffering from Universal Displacement, it's common for life forms that aren't used to traveling between universes." He said.
"Wait wait wait. You're saying this thing is from a different universe?" Rex asked.
"Well that would explain the sudden resurgence of EVOs and possibly why your nanites aren't as effective at curing them. The nanites might be built slightly differently in this other reality." Holiday said.
"Which means Albedo probably is involved. He might be somewhere in your batch of universes." Ben said. "Either trying to find a way to control these EVOs or maybe just letting them run free as a distraction."
"Okay so if he's in a different Universe how do we get him?" Rex asked. "If we can stop this at the source then we should."
"Well the best I can say is we go searching for him. In this Universe and whatever ones may come from this prime Universe." He said.
"Is there anywhere that there would have been a large amount of nanite activity, somewhere where lots of EVOs could be made quickly." Ben asked.
"Abysus, no one's been there since Rex cured all EVOs, it's been a dead zone. Nothing grows there anymore." Six said.
"Van Kleiss' place." Rex said darkly. "We never did figure out what happened to him a year ago."
"Is it possible that he and Albedo could be working together to bring back EVOs?" Holiday asked.
"I dunno. Albedo doesn't generally like to work with others, but he has on occasion. If he saw something in it for him it's definitely possible." Ben answered.
"Then we should search Abysus first." Six said.
Ben looked at Kevin. "Is there a way to inoculate someone against nanites?" He asked Holiday.
"What for?" Kevin asked.
"Well, I'm pretty sure the Omnitrix won't let the nanites mutate me, but you don't have the same protection that I do." Ben answered. "I don't want you turning into a giant absorption monster in the middle of an attack."
"I'll go talk to Knight about authorizing a mission to Abysus." Six said. "It's still a recognized country, we'll need authorization from the United Nations to search it."
Ben looked at Rex and Kevin. "I guess… we've got some time to kill." He said.
Deep in the depths of his own castle, Van Kleiss looks over the new EVOs he had created. Made with a mixture of old and new nanites. "With this army I can bring peace to my kind permanently. No more living in fear of people and their prejudice."
"Don't forget your deal to me." Albedo said, stepping forward. "I help you take this world and you get me the supplies I need to repair my machine."
"Yes I know. I have no intention of backing out on our deal. Strange as it may seem, I would rather not have to compete with you, so sending you on your way after this is actually in my interest." Van Kleiss said.
"I wonder though, have you heard? About the heroics of Rex and his new friend?" He asked showing Albedo a video of the news.
Albedo saw Heatblast fighting an EVO with Rex and narrowed his eyes. "That ignoramus Tennyson must have followed me. How… Inconvenient." He said darkly.
"I'm sure between the two of us we can take care of this child." Van Kleiss said with a confident, mirthful smile.
"I would not underestimate Tennyson, he may be far below the two of us in terms of intellect. But he is crafty and is almost as proficient as me with the use of his Omnitrix"
"Really? Well then we'll just have to test how proficient he is." He said walking over to a tube that held another experiment. A mix of Alien from Albedo's Ultimatrix and Nanits. A man who was a monsterous EVO hybrid of man and Loboan.
"And at the same time test our new creations." He said.