A battle with Ultimate Kevin

Ms. Levin's house...garage

Woof! Woof!

"Zed, stop barking! I'm trying to fix my car and I can't concentrate with you making noise!"

Woof! Woof!

"Someone there boy?"

Zed whined and laid her head on Kevin's chest.

"All right, all right. I'm coming." Kevin called. He rolled out from under his car and walked over to the door. He saw Ben's silhouette.

"Oh, it's you."

"Hey Kevin. Can I come in?"

"Just leave me alone, will you?"

"So I'm 'that kid who apparently doesn't have a name now' ?" Here Ben laughed. " Come on, I just want to talk."

"Fine, but you're only getting five minutes." Kevin opened the door and let Ben in. Ben noticed the car that Kevin had be fixing.

"So, I see you've been working on your car, even though you refuse to go on missions with us anymore. Seems kind of contradictory to me."

"Get to the point, Tennyson."

"Glad to see I have a name now. Anyways, we need you back on the team, Kevin."

"If you've come all the way here to convince me to go back, forget about it. I'm done with you two."

"It's just not the same without you. Gwen and I both miss your presence. Think about all the good times we've had together. The joy. The laughter. The camaraderie we've built. I've saved your life just as many times as you've saved mine. Gwen too. What about the enemies we've defeated? The Highbreed? Vilgax? Daigon? I probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't given me that helmet to counteract Daigon's brain waves. The Highbreed would've taken over Earth had you not been on our side to sabotage their plans. Vilgax would have beaten me had it not been for you and Gwen tracking down the aliens after they escaped. You've been a hero, Kevin. And that's coming from Ben Tennyson, the hero of the universe."

"Look at that. You've just wasted your five minutes on a friendship speech. Too bad it didn't work."

"Curse you AP Lang! I thought you were supposed to teach me the art of rhetoric!"

"Too late, Tennyson. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

"Come on! Can't you give a man a second chance? I've given you at least two, remember?"

"Some mistakes aren't worth forgiving."

"How ironic," Ben snorted in amusement. "So you mean I shouldn't have given you those chances? You certainly didn't deserve them. Terrorizing the innocent, killing law enforcement, trying to kill me, trying to kill Gwen, torturing Aggregor even though he was already defeated. I only gave you those chances out of the goodness of my heart. The least you could do would be to forgive me."

"Sorry, I'm all out of forgiveness. Now get out of my house!"

"Not without you. I've redeemed you twice and I'll do it again!"

"Looks like this time you're out of luck, then. This is your last warning. Get out now or get clobbered."

"Calm down, Kevin. You're letting your rage control you. It's not really you who's talking."

"Oh yeah? What if I like being angry?"

"You'll get high blood pressure and die at a young age, that's what!"

"That's a risk I'm going to take! Anything to get rid of you for good!" Kevin screamed.

"Dude, you need to cool off! Some nice cold water ought to help!" Ben hit the Omnitrix, going for Water Hazard. Instead he got Big Chill.

"Even better!" Big Chill said in his eerie voice.

"Dieu et mon driot!" Kevin yelled as he charged towards Ben with his hand shaped like a hammer. Ben simply went intangible when he saw the hammer being swung at him.

"Really Kevin? Surely you know by now I can go intangible?"

"Die!" Kevin roared as he swung again at Ben who dodged with ease.

"You don't get it do you? Here, let me show you!" Big Chill froze the floor as Kevin ran towards him again, causing Kevin to slip and fall.

"I'm not done with you, not just yet!" Kevin seethed as he got back up.

"You better stay down. I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh yeah? Who says you can hurt me?"

"Let's see. I've dodged both of your attacks and caused you to fall. I'd say I'm winning right now!"

"I don't know the meaning of give up."

"That's the spirit, Kevin! Keep fighting. Maybe one day you'll find a way to beat me!"

"I already have," Kevin yelled as he began to glow with golden energy.

"What's this? You're evolving?"

"In a way, but I'm not yours to control."

When the glowing stopped, a mutant stood where Kevin once was.

"I'm back, baby!" Ultimate Kevin announced.

"Kevin?! What happened to you?" Big Chill addressed the misshapen chaotic amalgam formerly known as his friend.

"I've been reborn!"

"But how? I thought we drained you of all of my aliens' DNA!"

"Most, but not all. The 1% that was left remained inside of me, dormant, waiting for its rebirth. And now that it has, I'm going to take my revenge on you, once and for all! Gwen may have helped you realize the good that was still inside of me, and prevented me from killing you, but you'll get no such sympathy from me. You're an evil, twisted freak!"

"I'm sorry you see me that way, Kevin, but I can't allow you to hurt any more people."

"You're going to try and stop me again?"

"I shall do only what I must. It's your choice as to how much I do. We can talk it out peacefully, or fight it out, but in the end, I shall find a way to get you back to the Kevin I know!" Ben vowed.

"Such a noble yet pointless speech," Kevin sneered.

"You get one last chance, Kevin. Don't make me do something I will regret."

"I choose option three."

"There is no option-"

"The option where you die!" Kevin exploded.

"Oh, that option is one I don't want to see." Big Chill tried to go intangible again, but Kevin shocked him with Brainstorm's electrodes.

"Arrgh! You're hurting me, Kevin!"

"Good! I want to see you suffer!"

Ultimate Kevin fired Chromastone's laser at Ben and caused him to fly into the roof.

"Kevin, that's enough! Cut it out before someone gets hurt!"

"The only person getting hurt today is you!" Kevin replied as he flew at Ben with Diamondhead's arm raised to smash him a bit more into the ceiling.

"You leave me no choice, Kevin. I tried being nice to you. It didn't work. Now it's-"

"You know why you always get hit?" Kevin asked as he smashed Big Chill's face into the ceiling.

"It's-because-you-never-know-when-to-stop-talking!"

He punctuated every pause with another blow to the face.

Man, that's sure gonna leave a mark! Ben thought. He hit the Omnitrix, transformed into Swampfire, then managed to knock Kevin away with a fire blast to the face.

"That didn't hurt a bit, Tennyson! Are you losing your touch?"

"Time for an upgrade!" Ben responded as he hit the Omnitrix again to transform into-

"Ultimate Swampfire!" he announced.

"Honey, I'm home! Where are you? I brought the meatloaf and beef stew, your favorites!" Ms. Levin called.

"We're in the garage!" Ben called.

"Ben, is that you? Where's Kevin?"

"Yeah, it's me. You might not want to come down here! Kevin's indisposed."

"What? Why not? You can stay for dinner, Ben. We've got plenty to go around."

"No, no, it's fine. Whatever you do, don't come down here!"

"Have you two been building something illegal? I'm coming down to take a look!" She began to walk downstairs.

"Kevin! You have to stop trying to kill me! If your mom sees us…"

"Let her see. You're finished anyways!"

"Hi Ben! What are you two- OH MY GOD! Kevin! What happened to you?"

"Stay back, Ms. Levin! He's dangerous!"

"Son, what happened to you?!"

"I'm not your son! I was born out of rage!" Kevin screamed.

"I can see that!" Ms. Levin screamed in fear.

"Kevin, at least have the decency to avoid confrontation while I move your mom to a safe place."

"And give up a chance to kill you? NEVER!" Kevin yelled as he picked up a standard oil barrel weighing around 300 pounds and threw it at Ben.

"Ben, don't shoot flames at it!" Ms. Levin warned, just as Ben shot flame at the barrel to prevent Ms. Levin and himself from being crushed. Ben then realized his mistake.

"Kevin, take your mom and get out of here!"

Kevin grabbed his mom and flew out just as the entire house exploded. Ben transformed into XLR8, grabbed Zed, and sped out just in time as well.

"Now do you realize what you've done?" he asked.

"We've got more important matters, Ben."

"What is it?"

"It's my mom. She's hurt pretty bad."

Ben looked at Ms. Levin and felt like his heart was about to burst. She'd been burned over 50% of her body and lodged in her chest was a foot long piece of plywood.

"No kidding. That's a level five emergency right there. I'll get her to the hospital as soon as I can!"

"You'll do that for me? After what I did to you?"

"Sure, that's what friends are for, right?" Ben carefully picked up Ms. Levin.

"Ben, time to go!" Paradox said, poking his head out the portal.

"What I'm doing right is more serious than any trial!"

"Sorry, but you have to go now. They need you at the trial."

"Kevin, take your mom and get her to the hospital." He handed Kevin his mom.

"How am I supposed to get there?" asked Kevin, who was now back to normal as his anger had subsided.

"Take your blast-proof car, but you're really wasting your time, Kevin," Paradox said.

"Good luck!" Ben called as he vanished.

"Don't die on me now, mom! Hang in there!" Kevin screamed as he dumped his mom into the car and sped off towards the nearest hospital, Bellwood General. Once he got on the highway, Kevin began to break the speed limit.

Wee-ooh-WEE-ooh-WEE-ooooooo

Kevin glanced at the rear-view mirror to find five police cars chasing after him.

"I don't have time for this!" He growled.

"Suspect, pull off the road and step out of the vehicle. You are endangering the welfare of the public by going 112 miles per hour!" the lead patrol officer shouted over a loud hailer. Kevin refused to stop and kept driving.

"Shoot out his tires!"

The secondary officer unloaded his service weapon into Kevin's car tires.

Bang! Bang! Ping! Ping! The bullets struck the tires and ricocheted off.

"Sir, it's no use! They're puncture-proof!"

"All units, we've got a possibly armored vehicle traveling at a very high velocity going southbound on interstate 59. Advised to set up a roadblock at the merge with the highway."

"10-4. We'll get his guy."

At the merge, Kevin was forced to stop due to the twenty police cars waiting for him.

"Sir, I can explain why I had to go that fast."

"License please." Kevin handed over his license.

"Kevin E. Levin, you are under arrest for reckless endangerment by way of reckless driving, gross violation of the speed limit, and attempting to evade the police."

"Not now. This is an emergency!"

"You have the right to remain silent-"

" I waive my rights! Look at my mom here!" Kevin dragged the officer over to his car. The cop looked inside.

"My lord! We'll deal with all of this later! Do you require a police escort to get to the hospital?"

"Yes. And mind radioing ahead for the hospital to meet us there?"

"Of course."

Kevin got back on the road now under police escort for the final leg of his journey.

Bellwood General Hospital

The hospital staff was already waiting with a gurney when they arrived and quickly loaded Ms. Levin onto it.

"Vitals aren't looking good. We've got 83/51, weak pulse, multiple burns, deep puncture wound with the object still lodged in..." a nurse reported. They rushed her to the operating room. Kevin wanted to follow them, but was prevented from doing so.

"Son, we're doing everything we can to save your mom I'm Doctor Brown by the way," a doctor consoled Kevin.

"I need to be in there with her! She needs me!"

"No, you'd just be a distraction. Come, sit down. Can I get you anything to drink? To Eat?"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Kevin said miserably as he sat down on the bench and buried his face in his hands.

Operating room

After a grueling hour, Ms. Levin seemed to be making a recovery. Most of her burnt skin had been grafted.

"Vitals are looking good," the nurse reported, checking the ECG machine. "Almost normal blood pressure, strong pulse. I think she's gonna make it!"

"She's not out of the woods just yet. There's still that piece of plywood lodged in her chest," the surgeon said.

"Better get that out before we let her son in."

"When they removed it, she began a turn for the worst.

Beep! Beep! Beeep! Beep! Beeeep! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

"We've got a flatline! Someone get the paddles!"

"No! Paddles are no good. Give her some vasopressin and start chest compressions!" the doctor ordered.

After twenty minutes of resuscitation, her heart came back online, but it was extremely weak.

"Oh boy. I can barely see the spike on the ECG every time her heart beats."

"Get her son in here. I think we're losing her."

"Kevin, would you like to come in and say your last goodbyes?"

"What?! You said she was fine an hour ago!"

"Everything changed when we removed the plywood from her chest."

Kevin went into the operating room.

"I'm truly sorry, son. We gave it our best, but her chest wound was simply too extensive," Dr. Brown said.

"Why are you talking about my mom like she's already dead? She's not dead!"

"I know, but it's only a matter of time now. She may only have a few minutes left. We'll leave you to say your goodbyes." All the medical staff promptly left the room.

"Mom? Can you hear me? It's me, Kevin!"

"Kevin? Is that you?"

"Yes, mom. I'm here for you."

"You're not a monster anymore?"

"No, I learned how to control it."

"Goodbye, son. Mommy will always love you."

"Don't go, not yet!"

"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love."

"What?"

"You'll always be my hero, Kevin. Now go out there and save the world!" She sighed, forced a smile, and breathed her last.

"Mom? Mom? Mom! Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Kevin screamed, shaking his now lifeless mother, begging her to come back.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! The ECG flatlined for the last time, signaling the end of her heartbeat. The staff came back in.

"I'm so sorry, Kevin. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Yeah, you can die now!" Kevin screamed, mutating back into Ultimate Kevin.

"Oh shit! We're so screwed!" all the staff screamed in fear.

"How right you are!"

Ten seconds later, the entire building was only a charred wreckage of twisted concrete and steel. Only Ultimate Kevin survived.

"Don't think you're spared, Ben! If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened! I'll get my revenge on you, you hear? I shall get revenge on everyone who did me wrong!" He screamed into the night.