Chapter 3: Arrival

He was gone. Somehow, Albedo had managed to outwit the smartest species in existence, even though as a human he should have had his intelligence downsized. But he had escaped and taken one of their ships, meaning he was likely well out of their reach. The galvan on guard duty that night had been tasked to find and tell Azmuth and another had been dispatched to warn the plumbers and Ben Tennyson. They had to find him quickly or who knew what kind of havoc he'd wreak in his twisted quest for vengeance and power.

Albedo shivered as he turned the dials, trying to find that world again. He'd hidden out in Siberia, in the middle of winter, apparently. No matter what he did, he couldn't get warm. I hate Earth, and I hate December. Only good thing about all this is that everyone on this miserable planet will be preparing for Christmas which will hopefully making hiding out that much easier. I hope.

He sneezed, accidentally jerking the dial a smidge too far and passing the world he meant to stop on. Another sneeze, more forceful this time, caused him to jerk it even further, and he opened his eyes to see a mass of oozing tentacles reaching for him. One wrapped around him, and began pulling him towards a barely visible maw with rows of jagged teeth dripping with venom and saliva. Albedo screamed and twisted the dial again, opening a different portal and cutting off the tentacles that held him.

Embarrassed at his reaction, he shrugged out of the still writhing appendage and kicked it away before looking down at his clothes. "Well that's going to stain. Where's a laundromat when you need one? Oh, right. I'm in the middle of a frozen wasteland in Russia's butt-crack. No one lives here for a reason. Except maybe a few polar bears." He went to fetch a new shirt, still muttering to himself. "Nah, I think I'm crazier than the bears."

He returned to the dials, wearing an identical shirt and still muttering about cold and bears and slimy killer octopuses. A few turns later, the alternate Earth was before him again. From his last visit, he'd discovered that the town, Amity Park was frequently visited by something called ghosts. Upon further research, he'd concluded that these were entities of superstition in his world, though similar to Ectonurites, they were the remnants of the dead that had returned to the world of the living to tie up loose ends, visit loved ones, or, most commonly, cause a ton of mischief and chaos.

The town was protected by a powerful entity known as Inviso-Bill who beat the other ghosts into submission with a slew of powers that made him both feared and respected by the townspeople. This creature seemed to be, by all counts and calculations Albedo was able to do with his limited information, the source of the strange energy surge. If he could get his hands on that power, he'd be unstoppable.

The first thing he had to do was find Inviso-Bill; after that, all he needed to do was see if he could capture his DNA in the omnitrix. It wouldn't be a bad idea to scavenge for whatever primitive parts this plane held that might help patch up the omnitrix so he could be sure it could capture anything without completely malfunctioning afterwards. After all, it had been built from scrap and without a proper actuator and a second rate DNA splicer, it was a wonder the thing worked at all. It would need to be serviced as soon as he could.

As he stepped through the portal, it occurred to him that if this new entity was indeed the most powerful in this plane, then perhaps it would be prudent to test the omnitrix on one the ghosts that inevitably invaded this realm. If he could steal their power, it would make fighting the entity that much easier. Perhaps he could capture one to lure Bill out. But how to do that without garnering its attention before Albedo was ready?

He was deep in thought as he walked, paying little to no heed to the world around him when a voice broke him out of his silent reverie. "Shouldn't you be in school, young man? Do your parents know you're playing hooky?" A police officer frowned down at Albedo, his hands on his hips.

Aw crap, I forgot! I look like I'm 11! "I just moved here, actually." He lied, thinking quickly so the officer couldn't tell. "My parents haven't finished my paperwork to enroll yet. I'm just walking around to get my bearings while they finalize that." Nice one, this cop would have to be stupid to just take my word for it, He thought sarcastically.

The cop frowned, studying Albedo with an intensity that made him sweat. "All right." He finally said. "But it's not a good idea to walk around during school hours without your parents. Go on home for now."

Albedo obliged, walking away with a feeling of utter relief. The last thing he needed was for a bored cop to look into why he wasn't at school. They'd probably assume he was a runaway but in a way, that was even worse as that meant they'd lock him up until they found his parents or guardians. At least, he was pretty sure that was how it worked. Maybe not in a jail cell but it wasn't free, so to him, it was unacceptable.

He kept pretty well out of site until a little while after school had let out for the day. New plan. He thought. I need to get myself back into a teenager's body. At least that way I can more easily avoid future interruptions. I can tell them I graduated early or something. It's more believable in an older body.

"Albedo escaped?!"

The galvan who had been dispatched to tell the earthlings sighed. "As I just told you, yes. I do not like repeating myself. It takes up valuable time and we don't have much. We must find him as soon as possible. We believe he may have returned to Earth, so please be on the lookout for anything even stranger than usual. With that news, I leave you. Good luck."

Ben watched the galvan head back to his ship in shock. "How did he get away without an omnitrix?" He asked. "You left out that part."

The galvan paused. "We found some parts missing from various devices and believe that he may have constructed a new one. We have found no solid evidence to support it, but neither have we found evidence to the contrary. Please proceed with the utmost caution regardless."

Ben looked over at Julie, who was leaning on the hood of his car. "Go on." She sighed, annoyed at their time being interrupted. "But just cause we're not dating anymore doesn't mean you can keep me out of the loop. At least text me to let me know you're OK." She stood up and began to walk to her own car.

"I'll bring you a souvenir!" Ben called teasingly after her.

"It better not be another bobble-head!" She replied, not missing a beat.

"It was one time! You are never going to let me live that down, are you?" He asked.

"Nope!" Julie turned and grinned at him, a smile that still made his chest ache. Friend or girlfriend, he still wanted to give her reason to smile. "I'm assuming you're going to tell your cousin and the plumbers so I'll let your parents know you might not be in tonight." She gave him a wave as she reached her car and drove off leaving him to call Gwen and tell her the bad news.

"What's up, dweeb?" Gwen's pet name for him had annoyed him since he was 10 and they were forced to spend an entire summer together with their Grandpa Max. She knew it too, so she continued to pester him with it. "You wouldn't be calling this late unless you had something important to tell me so spit it out."

"What, I can't call just to say hit at 10:47 pm?" Ben teased.

"No, because you barely call me at all, much less to say hi. Now tell me what you want and make it quick, I have midterms tomorrow."

Ben flinched slightly, then sighed. "It's not that I haven't wanted to call." He said. "It's just that I've been busy too. And as for what I wanted to tell you, I got word from Galvan Prime tonight, Albedo's escaped. And they think he may have made another omnitrix. I was hoping I could get your help in finding him and sending him back to Azmuth."

There was silence on the other end for a moment before Gwen said, "Ben, I know you're a hero and not keen on anything that detracts from that image, but with Albedo, it might be best to just take care of him permanently. As in kill him."

"I know what permanently means, Gwen." Ben said sardonically. "But with this it's best to get Azmuth's say and he seems to want Albedo kept alive. That, and Albedo is crazy strong. All the aliens I have, plus the knowledge of the watch's creator at his disposal makes him extremely tough to beat. It takes all I have each time I meet him cause he just gets stronger."

"Then you have to get stronger too." Gwen told him. Real informative. "Knowing Albedo, he'll still want his precious revenge against you, but he'll want to be at full strength first. Which means he's going to make damn sure that omnitrix works and works well so he has all the aliens and their ultimate forms at their disposal. You need an ace up your sleeve. Assuming you can wait until after I get home for Christmas break, I might be able to solve that for you. Try not to die in the meantime." She added her own touch of sarcasm at the end and Ben stuck his tongue out at her, despite knowing she couldn't see him.

"I'm not going to die in a week, dweeb." Ben shot her insult back at her. "After all, I am the main character."

"Well, whatever you do, Mr. Main Character, just be careful." Her voice softened. "I do care about you, ya know."

"I know. I'm on my way to tell the plumbers, so at least that gives me some insurance. Hopefully Albedo decides not to team up with Vilgax this time."

"You know he's probably going to do that just to spite you now, right?" Gwen chuckled.

"If he could hear me I'd want to know what new alien he had more than if he was going to team up with squid-face. Anyways, good luck on your midterms. I'll call you if I get more information."

"Night, dweeb." Gwen's voice was more affectionate as she said her farewells, though Ben detected a note of worry in it.

Just like Gwen. Can't stand to let me know she cares except for special occasions, like my birthday, or almost imploding the universe due to a self destructing omnitrix. Now to tell the plumbers and Grandpa Max, I suppose. Guess tonight's the night for be careful lectures. They act like I don't think before rushing into things! I'm not Gwen, but I do plan...somewhat.

Albedo examined himself in the mirror, turning this way and that to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Not bad. He thought. Looks like things are going my way for once.

He had found a part much easier than he had thought and tweaked the omnitrix so that his human body looked far older. Seventeen, if he had to take a guess. Now all he had to do was find that entity. Sightings seemed to appear quite often around the school, so Albedo had registered for classes. Starting tomorrow, he would be a senior at Casper High School. Let the hunt begin.