Episode 5: A Middle Aged Rumble
Chapter 3: Battle for Thy Fair Lady
(Conveniently hidden trailer)
After that minor skirmish at the palace, Driscoll thought that he could begin excavating the sight for Excalibur. But when the police authorities came to see the mess, he figured that that it would be best to come back tomorrow when it was safer.
"Sire, the equipments you've requested have arrived" one of the minions noted him, "We can begin our excavation early in the morning"
"Excellent…" the Forever King replied, "Have a team ready just in case if we should encounter any… problems. Once we unearth Excalibur from the ground we depart immediately"
"But what about the Omnitrix sire?" another minion asked, "It could still pose a threat to our operations here"
"That matter is not of our concern" Driscoll gladly took his seat and continued to watch the monitors overseeing the Tennyson's RV. "Besides… I believe he will have his hands full when he decides to attack us"
(The next day) (11:30 AM)
A new morning had dawned over the fairground today and it was definitely a lovely day to remember… a clear blue sky, a warm beating sun and the fresh clean air splashing against your face with that cool and gentle breeze. But unfortunately for Ben and Gwen, the smell of that fresh air was mildly interrupted when grandpa Max began cooking his not so famous stew recipe. When the smell reached to Ben and Gwen's noses, they instantly woke up from their beds and dragged themselves out of the RV to breathe in the pollution that littered the outside world. But heck, it was a lot better than that thing Max was cooking.
"AHH!! Oh man! Talk about your wake up call!!" Ben gasped large amount of oxygen through his nose and mouth as if he just came out of the surface or something.
"And I thought your socks stink ugh…" Gwen coughed out the stench from her nose.
But then Max poked his head through the window and called out to them, "Hey there kids. Good timing! I just finished cooking my famous squirrel stew!" the horrible expression immediately appeared on the kid's faces when he gestured to his cooking. They had just woken up from a bad night and didn't want to ruin their morning just because Max made them eat some horrible stew.
"Uh… no thanks!" Ben replied searching his head for an excuse. "Uhh… I'm uh… saving my stomach for the all you can eat buffet!" yeah nice save there Ben! "I'll probably be full by then"
"And uh… me too!" Gwen added almost too fast, "I'm also joining to all you can eat buffet later this evening. Maybe… later?"
Luckily for both of them, Max seemed to have bought their story, "Ok… I'll save you two a plate later for snack then. Wouldn't want you two starving out there" and with that the two kids quickly walked away before the old man brings up another one of his so called food. Just remembering what they had last summer was enough to make their stomach churn.
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"Ugh… man was that close" Ben remarked as they made it to the fairground. They weren't in their costumes anymore so it was fine to walk around freely like they used to. "I hate to think what I would barf out when I eat that stuff"
"The last time he cooked, I had stomach aches for a week" Gwen added, holding her own stomach as well. "Why don't we grab something to eat before grandpa gets us into his restaurant again? At least then we'll have a good excuse not to have lunch" she gestured to the medieval café which posed to be some kind of bar or something. The place served good food and luckily the place was also open early in the morning to serve breakfast meals like bacon and eggs.
The place was definitely decorated to the max too. There were wooden tables and rugs on the sides, waiters dressed in mid-life style clothing and a bartender who was actually the manager and the chef. "Hey there kids, what can I get ya?" he offered.
"Two regular American breakfast with extra bacon and egg!" Ben shouted back holding his smile up. "And make it good!" the chef simply laughed back at his spirited reply and went right into the kitchen. Once they made it in, they quickly got themselves a seat to rest and relax. It was amazing that they had just only woken up a few minutes ago and now they were here to eat.
"Ah… the old American breakfast meal…" Gwen moaned out pleasurely at the ceiling, "I can't remember the last time I had a regular meal. Summer seemed almost like a dream"
"I hear that…" Ben replied as he played with the tissue on the table, "Remember that time when he wanted to feed us those failed genetic experimental slimes?" (You can see these things in the game Ben 10: Protector of Earth!)
"Oh… don't remind me. I had to go to the rest room six times after that day"
But then the talk about bathrooms suddenly got the Ben's stomach rumbling. "Oh… speaking of rest rooms…" he then turned towards one of the waiters, "Hey pops, you got a rest room around here?" the guy simply pointed towards an outhouse that was just a few meters away from the restaurant. "I'll be back in a jip. Don't eat without me" and with that he headed off towards the outhouse.
But when the moment he shut the door of the outhouse, the Omnitrix suddenly activated on its own startling the boy off his feet. "Whoa… what the? Oh man… not again!" Ben knew well what this meant. He was going to get a vision and it also meant that he was going to get another dose of some painful injection. "Well, I might as well get this over with" as the boy sat on the toilet seat, he quickly braced himself for the pain and allowed the button to press on its own.
Once again he felt the needles piercing through his veins and injecting an even larger quantity of unknown fluids into his bloodstream. The process was extremely painful and annoying but he had to admit that these visions really did help during times of need. If it weren't for these visions he couldn't even imagine what could've happened. The moment the process was finished his eyes began to glow blue showing him something that was yet to come.
He saw the Forever King and his ninja champion along with a small band of knights at the back of the palace. In front of them was some sort of a digging machine. It had a large drill on its nose and a cockpit for the crew. A wild guess would say that this was the machine that was going to unearth the Excalibur. But that wasn't all, the boy saw. As the vision changed its scene, he could see an army of Forever Knights coming from the woods. They were probably just grunts and amateurs that he could beat with a blow or two, but with their sheer numbers, they might just be able to turn the tables at him. This was a danger that Ben could not prevent alone.
Once the vision ended, the Omnitrix returned to its original color and silenced down as if it was already done with its work. But just when Ben was about to head out, a loud knock came through the door.
"Ben! Come out, hurry!" it was Gwen who was calling on the other side. The boy quickly pulled back his pants and got out seeing a serious expression on the girl's face. "Grandpa's calling, we have to go… now!"
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It only took those two about three minutes to rush back to the RV after Max called them through Gwen's cell phone. Although Ben had to grumble a little since he wasn't able to get his breakfast meal from the restaurant, but what the heck.
Once the two of them were in, they quickly spotted their grandpa on the computer console tinkering with the knobs. "Grandpa!" Gwen called out to his attention. The old man quickly put down his earphones and smiled at them, "It looks like Driscoll is on the move" he briefed them, "And it looks like he brought one of the Plumbers old Molar to tunnel at the back of the castle. Strap yourselves in, this is going to be a bumpy ride!" the kids gladly strapped themselves onto the dining table seats and braced for impact. When Max tells them to hold on, they really had to hold on because the guy can be a reckless driver when the world in danger.
When Max fastened his seatbelt on, he quickly put the peddle to the meddle and drove off towards the castle. Luckily most of the visitors there were still sleeping during this time of day so they didn't have to worry about the locals waking up about a super high-tech RV crossing through the fair.
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After avoiding all the trees and bushes and cutting through several shortcuts around the trailer park, the Rust Bucket immediately arrived at the back of the palace where the Forever Knights were just about to begin their excavating operations. "Hmm… right on time as always Maxwell" Driscoll hissed through his helmet. "I see you haven't lost sight of some of the talents I drilled into your head when you were still a rookie. I'm glad…"
"Give it up Driscoll" Max demanded as he exited the vehicle with his two grandkids. Usually he wouldn't bring these two in a fight, but this situation was an emergency. "Whatever it is you're planning, you're not getting away with it"
"Ah… but you don't know what I'm planning, do you?" he mocked at them with a slight giggle, "Let me ask you a question… do you even know what the Excalibur is Max?"
"Ooo is this, a guessing game?" Ben joked back as he thought for a second, "Is it a… sword? No? How about a… spear? Axe? Laser cannon?"
"Hmm… not even close" the Forever King shot back, "But while you ponder along the answers, I have someone here that would like to reacquaint with you" in an instant, the ninja knight appeared out of nowhere and drew out a bunch of his shining shurikens (ninja star) at them. But Gwen had caught his whiff minutes ago and cast a spell to propel those objects back. "Ferdan Calian!" immediately the ninja stars halted and flew back right towards its owner. But the ninja knight was not without skills so without even looking he dodged the counter attack, letting some of his fellow knights take the hit instead of him.
"Maybe you should try something other than throwing stars next time" the red head remarked, "Ninjas are so last century"
"If that guy is all you brought for a good time then this is gonna be easy" Ben quickly tinkered with his Omnitrix and with a press of a button, he became Fourarms, the Tetramand alien. "Alright… I think it's time I whipped you back to shape. How about a square?"
But the leader of the Forever Knights only smirked back at them. "As much as like to deal with you myself Tennyson… I have other business that requires my attention. But do not worry… I have a few playmates here that should keep you entertained for awhile" with a wave of his hands, a large rumbling sound suddenly began emanating from the nearby woods making the Tennysons turn their heads towards that location.
When Driscoll said that he was bringing his army with him, he wasn't lying. Hiding behind the woods were probably hundred of knights armed with weapons similar to the ones Ben fought in the castle and it didn't look like they came all the way here just for a tea party.
As the two sides starred at each other face to face, Max knew that there was no hope of victory here. The enemy had the field advantage and superior numbers as well, which makes the battle tip a little bit over against their favor. Going back to the RV would probably be bad and facing the enemy head on would be suicidal as they didn't even have the power to fight them. So seeing that his options were limited, the old man quickly took out one of his smoke bombs and tossed it to the ground. "Ben, Gwen! Duck and cover!" as the smoke envelops around the blast sight, the Tennysons quickly made a strategic withdrawal away from the area to find a more suitable area to battle.
"After them!" the Forever King ordered his army, "Find them and destroy them at all cost!" the knights gladly complied and charged right at where the Tennysons were retreating.
But since our heroes were in a smaller group they were able to travel faster than the army of hundreds. After getting a good distance away from them, Max decided to split up to even the odds a little bit.. "Ben, Gwen, you take that route and find somewhere safe. I'll go after Driscoll and find out what he's planning"
"But grandpa!" Ben, never got to finish that sentence when one of the knights appeared out of the corner swinging his sword at him. "Oh great… come on Gwen!" immediately the two of them began running away from the massive army giving chase.
The Forever Knights didn't care who or what got in the way. As long as they were able to defeat the wearer of the Omnitrix, they would be satisfied.
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Maxwell on the other hand was having it easy. When he ran the other way, none of the knights followed him, which gave him the opportunity to sneak back onto Driscoll's digging machine. It wasn't going to be a smooth ride, but it hell beats walking down a tunnel any day.
"Are the preparations complete?" the Forever King ran through a checkup.
"Yes milord" one of the crew replied, "We're ready to dig in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" and with that the Molar's drill began spinning around in a speed of forty knots which makes it possible to dig through even the toughest of diamonds.
Max knew that there was no way that he would be able to stop Driscoll as long as he was in there, so instead busting in like an old military soldier, the old man just hung on the back of the Molar to get a better view of the excavation.
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Back in the fairground, Ben (Fourarms) and Gwen had been doing nothing but running away from the Forever Knights as they tore through the booths like a mad army bent on destruction and chaos. The kids were able to fend off a few of them, but with the numbers coming in by the hundreds, they had little chance in facing them head on.
They decided then to take their chances within the fairground itself to hide within the many tents in the area. It would bring danger to the tourists, but if it kept them alive than they would do it.
After a few minutes of running and being chased by the Forever Knights, Gwen suddenly saw the giant scene area which was to be the spot light of the fair. The reenactment of the battle of King Arthur against the forces of the evil, Morgan Le Fay. If Ben should have his fight there then there would be a small chance that the people watching would think that this was nothing more but the part of a show.
"Ben, this way!" she quickly dashed towards the tent of the actors who were bound to play as Arthur's knights. When the two of them got in, the actors quickly screamed in panic and ran away from the alien hero in fear.
"So much for the knights of the round table" Ben remarked. But as things gone a little quiet, Gwen decided to take a peek through the hole on the tent to see if any of those knights were dumb enough to follow them. "Looks like we'll be safe in here" she sighed out loud before taking a seat on one of the empty crates. Running around the track field was one thing, but running for your life was a whole different story.
"So what do we do now?" Ben asked holding his four hands together. "We can't just sit around and wait for them to leave now, can we?"
"We need a plan" she explained, "We need to get back to grandpa and beat the Forever King before he gets to that weapon below the palace. Let me think for a second" as the two of them remained quiet for a moment, Gwen suddenly felt a large scaly hand touching her shoulder, which made her jerk her head around so fast that it was a miracle that it didn't break off. But what she saw next, made her scream in fright. "AHHH!!"
"Whoa there lady!" Gaterboy was taken back by her scream and jolted back, "We didn't mean to scare ya!"
"Gaterboy! Porcupine!" Ben yelled out.
"Fourarms!" the two brothers yelled back before putting other to a friendly hug, "We got a call from Ben, saying that you were in some kind of trouble so we rushed on here as fast as we could"
"Thanks guys" the boy really appreciated the aid for he was going to need a lot of help taking out the Forever Knights, "So what've you been doing lately?"
"Oh the usual. Plowing, digging, seeding… you know… farm stuff" Gaterboy replied grinning from ear to ear.
"You know these guys?" Gwen questioned looking a little concerned about the mutants that were in front of her.
"Oh yeah, I met these guys during my summer vacation" Ben replied, "Don't worry, they're my friends"
"What kind of people did you meet?"
But just when they were about to move out of the area, the commentator of the battle reenactment yelled out through his microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he began, "Welcome to the reenactment of the famous story of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. The preparations are currently underway so please take your seats and we will begin the show in a few minutes"
As Gwen looked outside, she noticed that the stands were filling up quite fast. If this keeps up, the show would be having a full house and no show to go on. But as she shifted her head towards the other side of the open battlefield, she noted that the Forever Knights were literally tearing the place apart just to find them. "Looks like they're really tearing place apart"
"You mean those creeps wearing masks are the guys chasing ya?" Porcupine inquired to which Ben (Fourarms) nodded back. "You want us to smack them for ya?"
"Yeah, but we'd better arm ourselves first" Ben quickly grab a large armor that was supposedly an antique and wore it on his torso. He then picked out a couple of blades and halberds and armed his four arms to the max. Once they were ready, the boy quickly turn his head to his cousin, "Gwen, you go and help grandpa and find out what's going on. We'll keep these guys busy and cover your back" the girl simply nodded back knowing full well that the boy was going to be fine. If he had his friends with him, than she was definitely going to have a wonderful time with the Forever Knights.
(Excalibur's burial sight)
After a couple of minutes digging through the solid matters of the earth, the Forever King and the Molar crew soon arrived at the underground chambers of the castle. Little did they know that Max had been on their trail from the very beginning. The old man had lost track of time when he held onto the digging machine. In fact, they had gone so deep underground that he actually thought that was going to the core of the earth itself.
Once the Molar digging machine had ceased its functions, Max quickly dropped out and hid behind several piles of stone that had conveniently dropped on the ground. As he took a little peek around the corner, he saw Driscoll and his champion, the ninja knight walking out of the digging machine and looking at a strange white object that was a little farther away from his sights.
"Ahhh… there it is" the Forever king grinned, "The sword of the sky… the ultimate source of knowledge……… Excalibur!" unfortunately for Max, he couldn't tell what the Excalibur was from his point of view. The place was just too dark and his poor eye vision couldn't even begin to decipher where the object was. But from what he can hear, it looks like Driscoll found what he was looking for.
"Get the Molar ready to unearth it!" Driscoll ordered, "I want the Excalibur undamaged!"
The crew of the Molar tank quickly got to work reactivated the digging machine once again. Whatever object that Driscoll wanted must've either been really huge or stuck in a stone like the real Excalibur in the stories.
(Fairground main attraction of the day)
Once the audience seats had been filled with every last possible customer, the commentator quickly took to the stand to open up the main attraction of the day. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fair's main attraction of the day! Today we will be reenacting the battle between, King Arthur and his knights against Morgan Le Fay! (cheers!) And so without further ado, please welcome the knights of…… the… round table?" as he turned his attention towards the tent, he noticed that only three figures walked out the place armed to the teeth. Ben in his Fourarm form, Gaterboy and Porcupine. This made the commentator very confused. "Uh… and the… army of Morgan Le…… huh?"
When the commentator looked to the other tent, he was expecting to see a couple dozen soldiers, but when he turned his head there, he noticed that there were about a hundred soldiers who did not look like they were actors.
"Looks like they got us outnumbered" Porcupine noted as he readied sword and shield, "How many do you think there are?"
"Can't tell… I never really paid any attention during math class anyway" Ben replied.
"Hmm… three of us and a hundred of them" Gaterboy guessed, "Doesn't look like an even fight. Hey maybe we should tie two of Fourarm's arms. That should even the odds"
"Nah… I like my arms just the way they are" Ben motioned, "Alright… let's get these clowns!" and with that, the three heroes charged in knowing full well that the odds were very much against them.
"Knights!!" the commander of the army raised to his soldiers, "Destroy the Omnitrix! (roar!!)" and with that, the cohort of knight grunts poured at Ben and his compadres like ant on a piece of rotten meat. When the two sides clashed the battle was on and no one in the audience seats knew that the battle that they were watching was real.
Ben literally tore through their formation like a bull on a rampage. His four arms truly gave him an edge on the battlefield making his opponents stumble back and his larger body made it almost impossible to overwhelm him.
Porcupine was also having a good time fighting against his opponents. With his enhanced mobility he was able to slide through the crowd like a… like a… a… well… a porcupine.
Gaterboy on the other hand was a natural gladiator. With his terrifying face and monstrous abilities no normal man could take him down alone. He gradually swiped one knight after another and bashed his shield like a club or something against their lines.
"Hmm… it looks like the budget for fighting actors must've gone up" said one of the spectators as he looked at the battlefield. When he saw Gaterboy bashing a man to a pulp he became mildly impressed, "And it looks like they got a lot of stuntmen too"
With the fight being on the field, no one could actually tell that this was real or not. Heck, even the commentator had no comment on what was going on.
(Back at the excavation site)
While Ben and his friends busied themselves with the big fries, Max was busy sneaking around like a rat chasing a moving cheese. As the Forever King, ordered his knights to excavate the Excalibur, the old man decided to get a better view by getting to higher ground. The place was too dark for anyone to see clearly and on things that gave out light was the Molar and the knight's shining weapons. But just when Max was about to head up, a loud scream suddenly emanated from the tunnel entrance which he heard almost instantly. A few seconds later, Gwen dropped in on her behind and landed safely on the rough rocks below.
Luckily for the both of them, the sound of the drilling silenced all other noise making it impossible for the knights to hear her.
"Gwen, over here" Max whispered to her. Once Gwen caught sight of him and the knights digging on the other side she quickly rushed over trying not to get spotted. "Where's Ben?"
"He's out playing with his new friends" she replied catching her breath, "You wouldn't believe what kind of friends he made this summer"
"Well, we've got bigger problems" Max stated, "Follow me… we need to get a better view of the area" and with that they began climbing on a slightly steep hilly area which was perfect for a stake out. Not only was it easily defended when the knights spot them, but they could also see everything the knights can see from the excavation sight.
But when they got on top of the hill, their eyes immediately widen with horror like saucer plates, as they looked below. When they first heard Driscoll saying Excalibur, they all thought of it to be some kind of a small object that would bring certain doom to a country or something… but what they saw below… was actually… a space ship.
"That's… the Excalibur?" Gwen muttered, "The Excalibur is a… ship?"
"Looks that way" Max agreed, "But it doesn't look like any I've seen before. (pause) Come on… we got to find out what they're planning to do with that thing" but just when they got up from their hiding position, the Forever Knight ninja appeared right behind them, starling the two Tennysons off their skin. Max aimed his weapon but the ninja simply cut that little laser pistol in half making it impossible to for repairs ever again.
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After a few minutes, they were immediately tied up and sent right down next to the Forever King and his goons. "So nice of you to join us, Tennyson" he hissed again as he turned his massive armor at them, "Although I have to admit I was expecting the Omnitrix boy to be with you"
"What are you planning Driscoll?" Max demanded even though he was tied up, "The Excalibur was not in any of the Plumber's Archives. How do you know of this?"
"Of course it was never in any achieves you silly old man" the leader of the knights replied annoyingly, "I discovered this ship myself when I was in the Plumbers. A few weeks before I was exiled from the organization I was given a mission to hunt down a group of alien smugglers that were transporting goods from one planet to another. But when I got in… I discovered that the ship was also a research vessel that belonged to the Galvan. (pause) I knew that the Plumbers would send it back the moment they got their hands on it… so I did a little digging on my own. It was then I discovered that there was a vessel that had crashed landed here even before our organization was even born! I had to get my hands on it… so I decided to keep this information… to myself"
"But what could a billion year old spaceship be worth around here?" Gwen asked out of curiosity's sake. If she was going to die, at least she'll get to know why.
"Information…" Driscoll replied, "Look at this vessel, it existed long before the earth even began and look… not even time itself has disintegrated its shield technology. For its energy power to last for so long and with that powerful magnetic disruption… who knows what secrets hide within its memory banks!? I will be unearthing lost technologies not even the Plumbers could even hope to compare!"
And it wasn't long then till one of the knights came to his side, "Sire… the vessel has been unearthed. We're ready to pull it up"
"Excellent… begin the procedures as planned"
A few seconds later… the Molar crane began to activate, pulling the ship up from its earthly grave. The splendor and elegance of the ship was not something you would normally see in movies. There was barely a scratch on the ship itself but the dust it collected after billions of years spending in this hole seemed to have accumulated a little too much. The ship was small… probably even smaller than Resolution (Tetrax's ship) but who knows what kind of secrets hide under its skin.
The silver plated armor that it wore would've shown such bright elegance if it were washed properly and the engines that were easily identified on the rear of the ship would've made even the rocket scientists cry like babies.
"That… is one big ship…" Gwen muttered in awe as the ancient machine finally rose back from the ground. For the first time in who knows how long, the Excalibur was awakened from its slumber.
As the entrance of the ship revealed itself to Driscoll and his minions, the leader of the knights stood forward to see what exactly makes this ship ticks. "At last… my prize… now let us see what is inside of you" but just when he about to enter through the ship, a tiny little console appeared showing several symbols on it. "Hmm… a mechanized control lock. Impressive. The harder it is to break a lock the more worth the prize inside is worth. (to his men) Get me my control panel!"
"Yes milord!"
(Back at the fairground)
Ben and his companions were not having a good time. After defeating the first few dozen soldiers that came on by the gang's stamina seemed to have depleted suddenly. They only expected to fight a couple of hundreds, but it seemed like the number seemed to have grown to a thousand or something.
"Ugh! There's too many of them!" Porcupine yelled as he pushed another one of the knights down, "We're do you thin they're all coming from!?"
Gaterboy was too busy blocking six knights from killing him to answer. But after a little adrenaline push, he quickly sighed out loud of exhaustion, "How do you expect us to fight with these things?!" he gestured to his already half broken sword, "I'm a wrestler, not a soldier!"
But that last phrase only gave Ben an idea. He right, they weren't soldiers… they were professional wrestlers! "Then I think it's time we fight like wrestlers!" he dropped down his weapons and cracked all four of his knuckles, "Alright peons! Allow me to introduce to you… the double duce!" and when the soldier in front of him saw his fists, the poor guy was smashed to the ground before he even had the chance to scream.
When the two brothers saw this they immediately let out a smirk altogether and drop their weapons to the ground. "Oh yeah… say hello to my little friend!" Gaterboy immediately began pounding one knight after another. His fists were twice as hard as the sword he was using and with this, he could actually enjoy kicking butts!
When the audience saw this, they immediately began to take interest in the fight. It didn't matter what happened to the reenactment of the story about King Arthur. The fight was now going good and even some of the older teens seemed to be enjoying the fight.
"Oh yeah… this beats knights in shining armor any day!" said one of the spectators.
"Hey did anyone see the hotdog guy? I'm getting hungry!"
"Hey, Al, you'd better get here man, this show is way better than last year! I guarantee it!"
But then suddenly, Porcupine got surrounded and was about to get pinned to the ground. But he knew how to get out of a sticky situation like this. With a little focus on his hair, the guys that tried to tumble him got stabbed the painful way. "Yeah! Never mess with the Porcupine!" the guy cheered out as the crowd gave him an applause.
During the next five minutes of the show the only thing that could be heard from that battlefield was the groaning pain of the Forever Knights trying their best to hold off Ben and his inhuman companions. The crowd seemed to love the show and hell it even looked like the medieval battling arena had been changed into a wrestling ring.
"Give him the chair! The chair!" came an old lady's voice who was telling Gaterboy to use the chair that was conveniently placed nearby. The guy gladly complied and smashed the wooden chair to pieces on the knight's back. "YEAHHH!!"
"Hey Gater!" Porcupine called out, "Let's give them the spike ball!" the green wrestler gladly carried Porcupine up and with one good toss, he immediately turned into a rolling ball and struck a good number of knights like a bowling ball against the pins.
"Oh yeah! Strike and that's a wrap!" immediately the crowd let out a large cheer of joy like they were back inside the wrestling arena all over again.
As Ben finished off the last remaining food soldiers, he dragged the commander of the army to the crowd to judge him Caesar style (thumbs up thumbs down) And in the end the crowd all gave him a thumbs down. "Well… the people have spoken!" and with that he literally began sweeping ground with the guys face and with one good toss, he was gone farther than anyone could possibly know.
But it seemed like the battle hasn't ended just yet. Just when the three compadres were bathing themselves in the glory of cheers, Forever Knights riding on robotic horsebacks appeared from the opposite tent. This caused the crowd to go 'booing' at them. "Man… don't these guys eye give up?" Porcupine grumbled through exhaustion.
Ben knew that his opponents had the advantage since they had mobility against them, but when his eyes came across a chopper motor bike, he immediately got an idea. "Hey, you two hold them off!" he ordered, "I got an idea!"
"No prob!" the two brothers said in unison.
(Back at the Excavation sight)
As the Forever King continued to decode the lock that had appeared in front of him, Max was getting a little anxious to get out of those thick ropes. He tried wiggling his way out but the knights would probably spot him by then. So instead of fighting them, he decided to pry some more information out of Driscoll in hopes to buy more time for Ben to get here. He usually likes to make a dramatic entrance anyway.
"So what do you plan on using the technology in that ship Driscoll?" he asked in a mocking way, "Sell it to the highest bidder? Create some new device to grow hair?"
"Hardly Maxwell" the Forever King replied, not even distracted by his taunts, "I have no need of money but the hair formula could come in handy. However… I must say that this operation is for my own personal benefit. Perhaps you do not know, but this vessel possesses knowledge even this entire universe does not know. It is said that the Excalibur drifted through each and every planet, storing knowledge from each living life from like a moving library. Every little detail till the beginning of time itself resides in here and I intend to find it! Once I have uncovered the truth of everything… this vessel would make me… into a god!"
But then suddenly one of the knights came to report, "Sire… the cohort we sent to face the Omnitrix is encountering some problems" he began, "It appears he is… winning"
"Alright Ben!" Gwen mumbled softly to herself.
"It appears your grandson has inherit your persistence Maxwell… you should be proud" but just as Driscoll was able to get the lock undone, he knew then that the hostages were of no more use to him. "Ah… it is finally done" he grinned, "Deal with them… they are of no more use to me" the knight ninja bowed and drew out his swords to execute the prisoners. But just when Driscoll was about to enter the ship, his eyes suddenly widened with horror as the screen on his computer popped up with a familiar symbol that would've him make his own pants. "W… what is… it can't be?" Max and Gwen looked confused to Driscoll's. Just when the ninja was about to slay them, the Forever King waved out his hands, "STOP!!" he yelled out which frightened some of the knights around him. Max was really wondering why he stopped their execution. Something to stop Driscoll… the man who had sacrificed everything for power so suddenly was like stopping a rhino from stampeding.
"Phew… talk about a close call" Gwen muttered.
Even though Max was glad that Driscoll didn't finish them off and go invite them to go see St. Peter, he still wondered what could've force him to do that. The guy would stop at nothing to get what he desired, heck he would even sell his own bicycle if he could to get whatever he wanted. But now something… or someone… had halted his progress.
"No… this cannot be… it does not make any sense!" the Forever King muttered as he ran a computer check on his console. He did it again and again, but still it showed the same symbol that he did not want to see. "How could this be? If that is…… no… it cannot… it is… it is not possible!" he then noticed a mark on the side of the Excalibur which was blurred by some dusts. With a swift motion of his hand he revealed the mark of the ship… but the mark only fueled his confusion even more. When Max looked at what caused Driscoll to panic so much his heart nearly skipped a beat as well. The symbol on the console and the mark on the ship were the same.
He could recognize that pattern anywhere. Even the gods would know what that symbol was. That putrid four sided symbol and its unnatural pattern made it easy to identify to anyone who knows what it was.
It was the mark of the Omnitrix…
(Back at the fairground)
Gaterboy and Porcupine were not having a good time. Why you ask? Well apparently the Forever Knights Cavalry were picking on them and they were hopelessly outnumbered ten to one. They were able to take down one or two but the knights with lances just kept poking them over and over like Red Face Indians surrounding a ground of cowboys in the Wild West.
"This is getting bad" Gaterboy muttered, "And where the heck is Fourarms?" his question was quickly answered when a loud motor sound emanated from the back of the horses.
As the crowd and the knights looked at the new comer, they noticed that it was none other than Fourarms riding a chopper bike with a smirk on his lips. Two of his arms were holding the motor bike and his two other arms were holding a lance and a shied. "Allow me to introduce to you the knights of the twenty first century!" Ben cheered to himself as he drove off. Even though he didn't exactly know how to drive, he was a quick learner once he knew how to change the gear.
The knights on horseback counter charge at him but as expected, those robotic horses could never match the fifty horse power of the chopper bike. The moment they were in range, Ben's lanced cut through their armor like butter and the robotic animals they rode on were turned to iron dust. "Booyah! This takes jousting to a whole new level!" and as he waved his lance around the spectators of the show began to shower him with praises. He bet that none of them actually saw that one coming.
"Hey Gaterboy! The crowd love us bro!" immediately the two mutant brothers raised their arms up to receive their praise.
With the crowd roaring in cheers and delight of such a splendid show, the commentator quickly grab his mic to announce the show. "Uh… well umm… so ladies and gentlemen, that's it for our show! Please come again and thank you!"
Just as Ben was about to go on and sign a few autographs, the Omnitrix symbol on his left shoulder began to beep red, meaning that it was time to get out before his identity was exposed. "Hey Gaterboy, Porcupine, you guys can handle cleanup duty, right? I'll see ya around!"
"Uh wait… Fourarms!" but before Porcupine could say anything else, the champ was long gone.
Luckily for Ben though, he was able to land at the same lake he dropped in yesterday when he fought against the Forever Knights Lieutenants. By the time he returned to his human form, no one even saw a peek of him. "Oh man… and I thought I was wet enough yesterday!"
(Excavation sight)
"How… how is that possible?" Max questioned fully confused on the same topic as Driscoll. "I was hoping you would have the answers Maxwell" the Forever King replied his voice filled with calm yet at the same time confusion.
But unfortunately for Gwen, she didn't get any of the things that were happening. Sure she recognizes the Omnitrix's symbol but what were the other two ex-Plumbers so confused about. "Umm… you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on what's happening… would you? What's the deal with that symbol?"
"I'm not sure either" Max answered back in a whispered tone, "I'm just playing along to buy us some time"
But as they turn back to the Forever King, they noticed that he was indeed in a state of great confusion. "That is not possible… if it existed then… then how could it…… NO! No matter" he snapped himself out of his own confusion, "I have studied much of Galvanic technologies to understand their ways. If this is anything of what I think it is… then you two may still prove useful to me" he then turned to his knights who still remained loyal, "Prepare an ambush. The boy is bound to be here soon… and we wouldn't want to leave our guests un-entertained now, would we?"
"Oh please" Gwen remarked sarcastically, "Like Ben will for that cheap trick. He may be dumb as a mule but he's not stupid………… I can't believe I just said that"
"Oh he will fall for this trap" Driscoll hissed back at her, "Because if he doesn't… then I'd hate to imagine what will become of you two" he gestured towards his champion who seemed very eager to slice off their heads for his trophies.
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A few minutes later after the trap was set, Ben soon arrived to the excavation sight via tunnel that the Forever King had so generously provided. He was back in his human form so he knew he didn't stand a chance against the Forever Knights… so he had to rely on stealth rather than his force. "Yeow… talk about your rough roller coaster ride" he rubbed his aching back which was scratched slightly painful. As the boy scanned his surroundings, he noted that the place was oddly quiet for an excavation. During digs, there would often be a lot of noise and a lot of equipments too, but this place was just like a Texan ghost town or something.
But just as the boy slowly made his way towards the Excalibur, he suddenly noticed Gwen and grandpa Max, tied up and gagged on top of the Molar drilling machine. Not only that, but there was also a timer strapped right next to them as well. There weren't any bombs or explosive nearby, but Ben didn't care. A timer always mean that something bad was going to happen if he didn't get them out of that area. "Gwen! Grandpa!"
But before Ben could reach the machine, one of the Forever King's knights appeared charging a spear right at him. The boy knew he couldn't possibly avoid it, but that didn't mean he was going down without a fight. With one swift move, he blocked the spear away and laid a flying horse kick right on the knight's chin, which sent him several meters away. To say the least, Ben didn't think that it would hurt that much. "Whoa… I must not know my own strength!" but then three of the remaining knights appeared out of the shadow. "All right…… who's hungry? Because I got a couple of knuckle sandwiches right here!"
Unfazed by the boy's threats, the knights immediately charged at him with their weapons in hand. But Ben felt some what weird. He felt lighter, more maneuverable and stronger than he even knows. The moment the first guy sliced at him, he leaped around six feet high up into the air and did a double somersault towards an empty area. "I don't know what's going on… but I like it!" he yelled out loud as he got into a defensive stance.
One by one the knights fall before his unnatural might… and even though he was just a ten year old brat, he was able to hand onto steep areas and fight like a karate expert. The boy probably didn't know how to spell karate and still be able to do it.
"Now here's a move I copied from sumo slammer! Ishiyama punch!!" and with one ka pow sound, the last of the knights were sent to dream ville like they've been shot with a tranquilizer dart. "That'll teach you to mess with Ben Tennyson!" but his gloating was cut short when he remembered that his family was still in danger. The timer still had about two minutes left so that gave him plenty of time to get up there and save them.
By the time he got to them, he quickly removed the towels they had been gagged with. "Ben, it's a trap!" Max yelled out.
"I think I got that part noted down" Ben replied holding a smirk.
"No doofus!" Gwen added, "This entire scam was a trap! The timer thing is just a timer. It isn't connected to anything"
"But it has served its purpose" came Driscoll's voice from the shadows. As he walked out to the light with his champion ninja, you could already imagine his grin widening by the second. "I must say I am quite impressed Benjamin. To defeat my army in such short notice is a task not even I… thought you could achieve"
"Oh yeah? Well I did pal" Ben replied holding his fists up, "I guess what comes next is that I take you down and you cry back to your mama"
"Actually Tennyson, I would appreciate it, if you would just simply stand there for another minute"
And then suddenly, the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist began to activate on its own again. But that wasn't all. The ship that bore the symbol of the Omnitrix also seemed to have activated for some reason. "Ok… just for the record… I did not do that"
"Hch nacreee foltesh nah!" came a computerized voice from the Excalibur.
"Just as I thought" Driscoll chuckled, "The Omnitrix and the Excalibur are indeed connected at some point after all. A most interesting subject to work on" he then gestured to his champion, "Bring me the Omnitrix!" the ninja bowed and quickly began attacking Ben using a variety of his weapons. "Oh you think you're the only one with weapons?" Ben mocked, "Well I have one right here!" he pressed the button on the Omnitrix, but sadly it was still in red mode. "Oh man… where's a plasma laser gun when you need one?"
But in an instant after he wished for that miracle to happen, a hatch on top of the Excalibur suddenly opened up, revealing a small laser cannon the size of a computer console. At first everyone in the room was confused, but when it fired against the Forever Knight ninja, Ben had to roughly guess that this thing was his ally.
"Hmm… I guess it should've been expected" Driscoll concluded, not one bit fazed by the fact that his champion just got blown away with a single blast. "So whoever wields the Omnitrix controls Excalibur…… interesting" the ninja was about to charge again but Driscoll only stopped it, "No… we are withdrawing. I've seen enough for today" and with that, they immediately withdrew from the area leaving Ben behind to deal with the rest.
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Epilogue……
Right after Ben saved Gwen and Max from the tunnel, the police force immediately arrived not long afterwards to arrest all the Forever Knights that had been knocked out by Gaterboy and Porcupine. The arrest counted in hundreds and there were probably still more coming their way. But the tourists didn't mind all the racket. They had a great time and that was probably the best thing for them anyway. The fight was a hundred times better than the reenactment of the story and heck… even some elders were planning to come back again next year to see it all happen again.
By the time Ben and Gwen got to where Gaterboy and Porcupine were, they were already being scouted by some big time companies. "Hey guys" Ben greeted to which they greeted back, "Sorry about bringing you into this mess"
"Are you kidding?!" Porcupine yelled out, "This is the best day ever! We haven't had a fight like that since we wrestled those goons back in the old sawmill last summer"
"Even now, those scouts over there are offering us a lot of money to sponsor their company" Gaterboy added, "Who knows, we might actually be on your cereal box tomorrow morning"
"Well I'm happy for you guys" Ben replied holding up a smile, "You guys deserved it"
"Well we'd best be heading home" Porcupine sighted out in relief, "Mama's making our favorite stew tonight. Hey, wanna join us for supper?"
"No thanks… I got a lot of things to catch up on. Maybe later" and with that the two brothers moved on to their farm, but then Porcupine turned back to give one last request, "Oh and if you see Fourarms, tell him that we'll pay his 10 grand after we make our first hit. Give us a call if you need anything!" by the time they vanished from sight, Maxwell appeared right along with Maria and Oswald Hudson.
"Those are some pretty strange friends you got there Ben" Oswald motioned.
"Nah" came his instant reply, "They're just… misunderstood"
"So what are you gonna do with Excalibur?" Max asked.
"We'll pull it out of the earth once the coast is clear and bring it to our headquarters in Bellwood. I'll have Bob and Richmond get right on studying it" the leader of the Plumbers quickly took a look at the castle which was still quite far away, "If what you said is true… then that ship is probably even older than the earth itself"
"Are you kids hungry?" Maria asked Ben and Gwen, "I made some left over by the trailer park. If you guys are smart, you'd probably take this chance before Max gets you to eat one of his recipes again" the two Tennysons quickly agreed and ran away from the area immediately. They didn't want to stay behind for Max to feed them some genetically altered slugs again.
"So do you think what Driscoll said was true?" Oswald continued after knowing that the kids were away. "The Omnitrix is linked with that ship?"
"I don't know……" Max answered honestly, "But he didn't come all the way here for nothing. He got what he wanted… but the question is…… what is it exactly that he got?"
(Forever Knights HQ) (Driscoll's quarters)
The Forever King entered his room slowly like a man possessed. Even though he had lost against the Tennysons again today, but that didn't mean it was over. No… he didn't leave the battlefield empty handed…… in fact… he had everything he really needed…
'Information'
End of Episode…