What DNA can tell us, part I


Max


Charmcaster had been the first to leave. She clearly had a strong aversion to agents of S.E.C.T. and the feeling was mutual. The only reason Max had let her walk was because Verdona had convinced him that Charmcaster was - slowly - redeeming and distancing herself from Hex's influence.

Max, Verdona, Ben, and Gwen sat in the living room of Verdona's house for a talk.

"Why didn't you tell me anything, Gwen?" Max was disappointed, but not angry, and he didn't even know if he was disappointed with Gwen or with himself.

Max could understand why his sons Frank and Carl didn't share much about their lives with him. Max's relationship with them had never been that good. He let the job as an agent of S.E.C.T. take too much of his time and he had been an absentee father. This was possibly the greatest regret of his life.

But with his grandchildren, he tried to correct that mistake. He had always been a present grandfather - ironically, he ended up having to go back to his old job for Ben. And despite all the effort he made to be a good grandfather, his grandchildren still didn't trust him. That he couldn't understand. And it hurt a lot.

Gwen opened her mouth to reply, but Verdona answered first. "It was my fault, my dear," she said in a sweet voice, caressing his arm. "I asked Gwen to register herself with a fake name and not tell anyone anything."

"Grandpa," Ben interrupted the conversation, a little uncomfortable with the 'affection' Verdona was displaying to Max. "Did you and Gwen's Grandma date back in the day?"

Max and Verdona blushed. Ben and Gwen stared at them, waiting for an answer.

Max and Verdona had met at the wedding of Max's son Frank to Verdona's daughter Natalie. They felt something for each other, a very strong attraction, and ended up having two or three coffee dates after that as well. But before things went too far, Max decided not to see her again. He was a widower now, but back then he was married, and he loved his wife very much.

"No, we've always been just good friends," Verdona said.

"Back to the issue at hand," Max said awkwardly, "Why couldn't I know about Gwen being Lucky Girl?"

"It's not you who couldn't know about it, my dear, but S.E.C.T. as a whole. I've committed certain wrongdoings in the past, and I didn't want them to associate Gwen with me," Verdona replied, very calm.

"You're not a wanted criminal. I'd know if you were." Max arched his eyebrow.

"Let's just say that the idea I gave Gwen of creating a fake identity is an old trick I used many times myself in the past to do things that weren't always legal." Verdona smirked.

"But the current Director is a mutant. He wouldn't do a literal witch hunt with the families of his agents. A thorough investigation on the life of an agent's grandmother is something that would never happen."

"Can you blame me for not wanting to take the risk?" Verdona took a sip of tea.

"I can see that there's something you're not telling me, Verdona." Max folded his arms.

Verdona closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Gwenny, Benjamin, please give us the room for a moment. I need to discuss this privately with Mr. Tennyson. "

"No, no way!" Gwen protested. "No secrets."

"Gwendolyn, this is something private about my life that does not concern either of you. Please leave," Verdona said sternly.

Unwillingly, the teenagers left the room.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"I was afraid they would find out about her grandfather. Her other grandfather, I mean, not you." Verdona said nervously.

"Who is her other grandfather?" Max asked.

"Hex."

"Oh, my ..." Max's eyes widened.

"I had no idea if any agent who knows Hex well enough would be suspicious. If someone from S.E.C.T were to connect the dots, they would make an association between Lucky Girl and Hex, not between Gwen Tennyson and Hex. My granddaughter would not have had her personal life affected by it. I was trying to protect her," Verdona said. "Although I wasn't lying when I said that I have committed a few small wrongdoings in the past under fake identities." The witch confessed sheepishly.

Max would hate to see people comparing his sweet and kind granddaughter to a terrorist monster. He also would hate to see Gwen doubting herself over some stupid genes. The only grandfather Gwen ever had in her life was Max, and if it was up to him, it would remain that way forever.

"I don't want my granddaughter to carry this weight on her shoulders either. I give you my word that no one will know this from me, not even Gwen herself," Max said.

"Well, well, Maxie my dear, although you don't like people to keep secrets from you, you're very quick to agree to keep secrets from others." Verdona smirked. "Don't worry, I'm not criticizing you. To be honest, I'm exactly the same. The reason I actually told you everything is because I want to count on your help to make sure none of your buddies from S.E.C.T. find out about this."


A few minutes later, Max was brought up to speed on the problems involving Albedo and Sunny.

"Is there any way that we can find them?" Ben asked. "Sunny was able to track me down using the energy signature from my watch, now that Albedo has a similar device to the Omnitrix, we can do the same to find him, right?"

"That's a great idea," Verdona said, after thinking about it for a little while. "The energy signature from your Omnitrix and his Ultimatrix should be quite similar. I can use your Omnitrix as a reference to look for him."

"But you're not going to fight them again, kids," Max intervened. "Let's find out where they are, yes, and then I'll find a way to pass this information on to S.E.C.T without involving Gwen's grandmother. Albedo and Sunny are too dangerous for you."

"Albedo has a copy of my Omnitrix, Grandpa! Stopping him is my responsibility!" Ben protested.

"You almost died a few hours ago trying to fight them, Ben," Max said firmly.

"Exactly, I have to make them pay for what they did to me, and-"

Gwen grabbed Ben's arm. "Grandpa is right, Doofus. You almost died once. Let someone else handle it now."

Gwen began to brush her fingers on Ben's arm, affectionately caressing him. A few seconds later, the two of them looked at Max wide-eyed, as if they had forgotten that he was there before. Ben quickly drew his arm from Gwen's hands.

"S-stop wiping your d-dirty hands on my arm, Dweeb," Ben complained nervously.

"A-at least you're useful as a n-napkin, Doofus," Gwen said, also nervous.

Their faces were red with embarrassment.

Max chuckled. "Kids, you don't have to pretend to hate each other in front of me. I like when you two get along."

For some reason unknown to Max, Verdona laughed.


Ben


Verdona's house, the next day.

Ben knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later, he was greeted by his cousin.

"Ben, what are you doing here? You should be resting, cuz," Gwen said.

"The magic that you, your grandma and CC used on me was great. I'm as good as new," Ben answered, then entered the house.

Gwen leaned in to greet him with a kiss on the cheek, but he accidentally turned his face so her lips met his in a quick peck.

"Ben," Gwen said with a frown, "You know we shouldn't do this. Not until we are adults and can live on our own without interference from our parents. Yesterday, I was too 'affectionate' with you in front of Grandpa and almost screwed up everything. You know we can't take risks."

"But Grandpa is not here now." Ben grinned. "We can trade a few kisses." He made a pout.

"No, Ben, I'll stress this again, we're not dating, we're just good cousins. When we're eighteen, we can have this conversation again."

Charmcaster appeared in the living room. "Hi, Ben." She winked at him.

"On second thought, a few kisses won't hurt anyone." Gwen gave him a combo of pecks on the lips. Of course Ben enjoyed it.

"EWWW," Charmcaster said, "GROSS! Stop doing this in front of me you two."

Gwen, with a wicked grin on her face, looked at the silver-haired witch. Charmcaster was upset. She was... jealous?

"Wait," Ben said suspiciously, "Are you using me to make CC jealous?"

"No! Maybe ... Yes." Gwen admitted sheepishly. "Sorry. It was wrong to use you that way."

"No, no, no," Ben said, "I don't care. You can use me any way you want. Of course I can't be unfair, so, since we're not dating, if CC also wants to use me to make you jealous, I'll have to accept and- OUCH!" Gwen stomped on Ben's feet.

"Kids, please, behave. " Verdona descended the stairs.

"I need to talk to you, Verdona," Ben said. "Grandpa Max told me that right now S.E.C.T is doing a mission to capture Albedo and Sunny. I want to be there too."

"Benjamin, I don't know if that's a good idea," Verdona said worried.

"Please," Ben said. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of Albedo. I need to stop him."

"If you go, I'll go with you," Gwen said.

"I ... I can't." Charmcaster apologized. "They will arrest me if I show up. Sorry."

"Even if I didn't have my own problems with S.E.C.T., I wouldn't be able to help in the fight." Verdona said. "Albedo and Sunny are on the other side of the country, if I create a portal for you to get there, I'll be too weak to help more. You're going to be on your own. "

"Don't worry. I'll be ready for Albedo this time," Ben said.


Albedo


Sunny's mansion. A few hours earlier.

That cloudy and rainy morning, Albedo woke up hoping things had magically returned to normal. But, of course, his idea of using magic to get the Ultimatrix had caused the problem in the first place, and everything was still the same.

It was agonizing to be stuck in that filthy form. He was a human now. Yes, an ultimate human, strong, agile and intelligent, but still a human. And, worse than that, contaminated with Watch Boy's DNA. He looked at himself in the mirror, and that human looked back at him.

Albedo went to the kitchen and saw a plate of chili fries. That smell... He couldn't resist and tasted one. And then he couldn't stop until he emptied the plate. "Crap, what's happening to me?"

Sunny appeared soon after. "Oh ... the chili fries were mine ... But it's okay, I can make more," she said, shrugging.

The moment she turned her back on him to open the fridge, Albedo's eyes immediately found her buttocks. Since he had become human he was feeling a stupid attraction to the sorceress. Sunny turned around and caught him staring at her red-handed. Albedo looked away, blushing.

"You're a naughty one, aren't you?" Sunny smirked, "You were staring at my-"

"Don't o-overestimate y-yourself, s-sorceress." Albedo tried to keep his air of superiority, but he was stuttering. He hated this new body. "Y-You may be considered attractive by the standards of humans and sorcerers, but I'm still a Galvan."

"Really?" Sunny hugged him from behind, "What if I want to discuss with you ... battle strategies in private?" She whispered in his ear seductively. "I'll be in my bedroom waiting for you."

Sunny left the kitchen, and for a few seconds Albedo didn't move, wondering what to do. It was extremely disgusting for him to consider the possibility of mating with an Anodite. But at the same time, he was increasingly distracted by Sunny's presence and could no longer concentrate on how to fix the problem with the Ultimatrix. Maybe it would be best to solve this situation first.

Albedo went to Sunny's bedroom and found the ogre Antonio guarding the door.

"Antonio won't leave you alone with Antonio's girlfriend," He said angrily.

"Antonio, let him in," Sunny said, from inside the room. "And go put together a puzzle while Albedo and I talk in private."

Antonio obeyed immediately. Sunny's control over Antonio was really impressive.

"The puzzle will keep him busy for loooong hours." Sunny smiled mischievously as Albedo entered the room. "If you're wondering, I could tell him the truth, he would still obey me. But I don't want to be mean. Now, come here, babe." Sunny gestured for him to join her in bed.

"This DNA is so screwed up..." Albedo said before laying down on the bed beside her.

"It's the excuse all men give." And then she kissed him.

Albedo felt something else in that kiss - a powerful mystical energy entering his body. She was trying to bewitch him. After the kiss Sunny smiled - a grim smile. "Are you ready to obey all the wishes of your master, my servant?"

"Of course," Albedo said. He grabbed her neck and began to apply pressure to strangle her. "If you wish to die, I'm ready to comply."

"S-stop ..." Sunny whispered, losing air.

"Do you really think I wouldn't have taken precautions against your spells, witch?" Albedo whispered angrily. He positioned himself on top of her, his hands still applying pressure on her neck, "Do you think I'm stupid like your pet ogre?"

"P-please ..." Sunny said, and her face was already beginning to pale.

He finally released her.

"Who is the master and who is the servant now?" Albedo asked.

"You are the master. I am your servant," Sunny said, gasping for air.

"Let me tell you a little secret," Albedo said, now he was the one who had a sinister grin on his face, "The bracelet I gave you to evolve has also inserted nanites inside your body. If anything happens to me, or if I get mad at you enough, you die. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." Sunny replied obediently.

Albedo got up from the bed when Sunny grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait. I'm sorry," Sunny said. "Is there any way that I can make it up to you, my master?" She asked in a flirting tone.

Albedo knew that this was just another way for Sunny to try to manipulate him, even without using magic. But he still went back to bed.

"This DNA is so screwed up!" Albedo thought as he kissed Sunny, burning with desire for the beautiful sorceress.


"Wow, you really are ultimate," Sunny said, caressing Albedo's chest. They were curled up on the bed.

Albedo had no idea what he had just done, but he knew he liked it very much.

"Crap ... I can feel that there are people approaching this house," she said. With her evolved abilities, she could detect the proximity of other beings, even those without magical auras.

Sunny took off her skin and transformed into her energy form. Albedo started dialing his Ultimatrix.

He turned into a silicon-based alien made of crystal. His body was purple, with several dark lines and spots. His hands and face were magenta, and he had six magenta shards on his back, two on his chest, and one on the top of his head resembling a horn. His face consisted of a mouth and one large red eye at the center.

This alien was the ultimate form of a Petrosapien, which Albedo had named Chromastone. Naming the aliens was kind of ridiculous, but for some reason Albedo was doing it anyway.

Sunny called Antonio, and the trio went to the living room to wait for the intruders.

The door was knocked down by a tall and strong young man with long black hair. Alongside him there were a Yeti, a Tetramand, a Werewolf, a Vampire, and some kind of humanoid porcupine.

"Under the authority of S.E.C.T., you are under arrest." The long-haired young man said.

Sunny chuckled. "Please, Albedo, let me introduce you to some of my old friends from the Dark Squad, S.E.C.T.'s black ops team of convicted criminals who do the dirty work on extremely dangerous missions," she said, and began identifying each member of the Squad.

"Lazo, the Yeti ..."

"Gorvan, the Tetramand ..."

"Travis, the Werewolf ..."

"Desmond, the Vampire ..."

"Argit, the porcupine..."

"And last, but not least, Kevin, the energy-sponge mutant."

"They have no choice but to fight us, so we're going to have to kill them all," Sunny said, with an evil grin.

"It won't be hard to do," Chromastone replied, also with a sinister grin of his own.

Lazo was actually a Gimlinopithecus - a Yeti-like species with electric powers. He rushed toward Chromastone and grabbed him in a bear hug, and electrocuted him with a strong charge.

"Thank you very much for that, ignoramus beast." Chromastone smiled. "You didn't know that your leader is not the only one around here who can absorb energy, right? I can do that too and the best part is how I redirect it." He was able to put his hands on the Yeti's head, and released a very powerful ultra-violet burst.

A few seconds later, Lazo - with his head melted - fell to the floor lifeless.

"Monstra Instinctus!" Sunny shouted and pointed her hands at the Vampire and the Werewolf. The two of them were surrounded by purple light and began to stare at each other with pure hatred in their eyes.

"Vampires and Werewolves, natural enemies." Sunny smiled. "Just make their natural instincts arise and they will kill each other and leave the rest of us alone."

Desmond and Travis ignored everything around them and began to fight against each other.

Meanwhile, Antonio faced the Tetramand Gorvan. Unlike Four Arms, who was strong and very tall, Gorvan was shorter and out of shape, so Antonio had a clear advantage against this Tetramand. The ogre managed to grab one of his opponent's arms and break it. Then he violently kicked Gorvan's knee, which surely would at least give him a limp for a while.

Chromastone and Sunny felt thorny quills being thrown at them. But Chromastone's crystal skin and Sunny's energy body were not affected by it. They turned their eyes to the culprit, the porcupine Argit.

Argit let out a nervous chuckle, "Take it easy on me, Sunny. You know I'd run away from here if I could. But if I do, my bosses will blow off my head. Literally."

"Nothing personal, Argit, but you have to go too," Sunny said.

Sunny and Chromastone pointed their hands in the direction of Argit, ready to fire a double blast at the porcupine, when suddenly Sunny let out a piercing scream of pain.

"I have to confess, Sunny," Kevin said, his eyes glowing as he absorbed the mystical energy of the Anodite. "I really like this new form of yours! Lots of energy for me to feed on!"

Chromastone punched Kevin away from his partner.

"Look around, you idiot," Chromastone said. "Your team lost." The only one who could still offer Kevin any help at that point would be Argit, but it was obvious that the porcupine was too cowardly to try to interfere with the fight.

Kevin let out an insane laugh, his eyes and hands glowed with the same purple glow as Sunny, "I DON'T NEED THEM! I AM KEVIN FREAKING ELEVEN, AND I CAN DESTROY AN ENTIRE ARMY SINGLE-HANDED!"

Antonio had already defeated Gorvan, and Sunny, though somewhat weakened, was ready for the fight as well. Kevin would have to face three opponents. Despite his arrogance, Chromastone was sure the young man would die.

Suddenly, a hot pink portal appeared in the middle of the room, and from inside it came Watch Boy - as Diamondhead - and Lucky Girl.

"It's time for round two, Albedo!" Diamondhead shouted.


Author's Notes

Thanks to Aurora Nightstar for beta-reading, and thanks to all of you who are favoriting, following and reviewing! Please, give the story a review :)