A/N: Okay, this is long chapter; in Word, it was about 10 pages! There's gonna be quite a bit of action.

Oh, and two WARNING: possibly frightening "image" a little past halfway. Also, possible spoiler for the episode "Good Copy, Bad Copy."

Chapter 3: Partial Rescue

Beast Boy was waking up from being knocked out. At first, all he knew was that he had a headache, and the rest of him didn't feel much better. As his senses gradually came back, he realized three things.

First, he was in a very quiet room, the only lights being the ones shining on and around him.

Second, he was lying down.

And third, he couldn't move.

"H…hello?" he asked into the darkness.

There was a groan to his left. A very familiar groan. He looked in that direction, after finding out he could move his head.

"Cyborg?"

"Oh, my head," Cyborg complained, still looking up. "Wha' happened?"

"Cyborg!"

Said Titan looked to his own right.

"B? That you?"

"So you both have come to your senses?"

"Star!" both boys shouted, looking left at her, or in Beast Boy's case, trying.

"You okay?" asked Cyborg.

"I…I…" she said, faltering.

A moment later, she simply burst into tears.

"Star! What's wrong?" BB wanted to know.

"Oh, Robin! Robin!"

"Robin? I'm sure 'e's comin'! Unless…" Cyborg thought out loud.

"H-he will not…be able to…to come…" Star said between sobs. "The Knights have…have gotten rid of him!"

"What?" asked Cyborg.

"No way!" exclaimed Beast Boy.

"Mmph?" said a third voice, quietly, before saying, "Mmph!" a little louder.

BB looked to his right.

"Raven?"

"Mm-hm," she said.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmm mmm! Mmmph mmph mm?"

She glared at him because he hadn't seen the obvious: a cloth covering her mouth.

"Oh."

"Ah, great," grumbled Cyborg. "She's gagged."

"Hmm hmm hm hm?" she replied.

This could roughly be translated to, "How could you tell?"

"I dunno, Raven," BB said, trying to lighten the mood. "That's kind of a good look for you."

She glared at him again and gave a little growl to show her disapproval.

"I certainly agree."

They all shouted or, in Raven's case, at least tried to shout in surprise.

"Who is there? Who said that?" Starfire asked, bending her neck to look.

The others did the latter as well.

"I did," said a silver-haired boy, looking about 15 years old.

A few Knights accompanied the speaker, who was walking into the light towards the four.

"Tilt them up," he commanded. "Do not let them strain their necks."

One Knight bowed and walked away. A moment later, the tables to which each Titan was raised to a more comfortable angle.

"Uh, thanks," said Cyborg. "But who are you?"

"I am Albedo of the Galvan."

At this, Star was a little confused.

"You look more like a human than a Galvan. I should know because I once met one on my home planet. Are the Galvan not supposed to be short and—"

"Do not remind me!" he snarled. "I made a copy of a device that remains with a human, but his DNA became mine. Later, this form was damaged, and now I am stuck in this human teenage body that has so many—"

"Okay, okay, we get the picture!"

Beast Boy was starting to get annoyed.

"Wait a sec. What's so special 'bout the Gallon?" Cyborg asked.

"Galvan! Not Gallon!" Albedo replied.

"Whateva."

"Anyway, despite our minuscule size, we possess superior intellect to that of humans. We are useful to other species as we can fit into complex machinery and repair them from the inside. Though I may not have small size anymore, but I still have my intellect. Using plans that we were able to steal, we have made THIS!"

Some other Knights brought forward a humanoid robot. Upon seeing it, Star gasped.

"Did you make a deal with…with…him?!"

"Vilgax?"

"Yes! Did you—?"

"No, we did not despite the similarities between his drones and this, my magnum opus."

"Uh, English, please," Beast Boy requested, less than politely.

"This is my masterpiece, a fully functional Galvan Imitator! Besides, I do not know if he still exists. Anyway, in a brief moment, we shall add each of your powers to it, and the Knights quest shall finally be fulfilled!"

At this point, all of the Titans started to struggle to get free, but their attempts were futile. Albedo turned to the Knights to give a command.

"Start with the green one," he told one.

"Yes, sir."

But the Knight hadn't even taken a step when there were three explosions in the direction the Titans were facing! The multitude of Knights above whom these occurred blasted at the debris, raised their shields, or just got out of the way. The others and Albedo turned around. The four held still.

"Yo, Forever Knights!" boomed a voice from the hole. "I think you wanna let those four Titans go!"

"And I can give you fourteen good reasons why!"

At the sound of the second voice, Star felt a sudden surge of hope, but then she lost it.

Do not get your hopes up, Starfire, she told herself. It is not possible for that to be—

A figure jumped down through the hole and landed in front of the Knights.

"One."

Upon seeing who it was, she immediately felt three things: unbridled joy, righteous fury, and boundless confidence.

"Robin!" she shouted with a big grin on her face.

He showed her a thumbs-up and smiled at her as a second guy, covered in concrete, landed right next to him.

"Two."

A girl with hair that looked like hers ran down on pink platforms that disappeared after she stepped off them. Pink orbs formed around her hands.

"Three," she said as he reached the floor.

Finally, a large, blue moth swooped down to the floor as to join the others.

"Four," it said in a chilling voice.

Green light suddenly engulfed it, and in its place was a boy who looked uncannily like Albedo—that is, except for clothes, hair, and eyes.

"…through fourteen!"

"WHAT?" exclaimed three of the trapped at the same time.

"Ben Tennyson!" growled Albedo. "We meet again. Knights! After him! Capture him!"

"Another time, Albedo."

Ben activated the device on his wrist and slammed down the dial. There was another green flash.

"SWAMPFIRE!"

Several Knights shot Ben, but he instantly healed.

"No, you idiots! That's—" Albedo tried to warn the Knights.

"GO!" shouted Robin.

The fight was quite brief, but they were unable to catch Albedo or destroy the Imitator, with which Albedo and a few Knights retreated.

"Worry about them later! Free the others first!" Robin shouted.

They each ran to one Titan to help. Robin went to Star.

"Thank you, Robin! I thought that the Knights who had—"

"No, they didn't. I actually almost got them."

She thought it was funny and giggled.

"Now, hold still for a sec; I'll take those things off your hands."

While he was pulling, Ben was with Raven.

"Don't worry. This won't hurt," he told her as he broke the cloth covering her mouth.

She got a whiff of his hands and made a face of disgust.

"Ugh!" she said, turning her head away. "Oh, why did my rescuer have to smell like a living compost heap?"

"Oh! Well, uh…"

He grinned sheepishly and chuckled nervously.

"…sorry about that."

She sighed.

"Never mind. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Her bonds were covered with dark energy and were broken.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?"

Meanwhile, Kevin released Beast Boy.

"Thanks, dude! But how do you—"

"Absorb stuff?"

"Yeah! How?

"I just touch any substance, and I can absorb it. But I need a lot from my whole body."

Finally, Gwen was freeing Cyborg.

"Whoa!" he said as she used pink sheets of energy like blades. "You an alien or somethin'?"

"Part alien," she replied. "My Grandma Verdona was one."

All the previously captive Titans were now up on their feet.

"All riiiight! Time to get outta here!"

"Wait!" replied Ben, still in Swampfire form, to Beast Boy. "We still gotta smash that Imitator they have. Unless you want them to come after you again."

"But first we gotta find it."

"Thank you, Kev—"

Ben was interrupted by a laser coming from a darkened corridor, which hit him in the neck. Starfire screamed as his head fell to the floor. The rest of him followed.

"Forever Knights!" shouted Kevin, grabbing onto Cyborg. "Mind if I borrow this?"

"Finally," boomed a voice in the direction from which the blast had come, "we are rid of accursed Ben 10!"

"I wouldn't count on it," said Gwen, looking at Ben on the ground.

A vine had come out of his neck and attached itself the head, dragging it back onto the body. When it connected, Ben stood up as though nothing had happened!

"Okay," he said, feeling his neck. "That…was weird. Really weird."

"Forever Knights, attack!"

Gwen raised a pink shield to block all the laserfire, but everyone could tell she was struggling to keep it up.

"How do we find it?" Robin asked in a whisper to all but Gwen. "That thing doesn't have a tracking device!"

"I have an idea," said Raven. "Lean in."

They did so and listened intently to the whispers.

"If yer doin' it, I'm comin' too," Beast Boy told her.

"You sure?"

He gave a nod.

"Don't get any ideas from this, okay?"

"Uh, a little help, please?"

Gwen's shield has some very large cracks on it.

"I think I gotta change for the occasion."

Ben twisted the circle on his chest; there was a green flash. Gwen lowered her shield.

All the lasers zapped Ben. However, he didn't look like he was in pain. In fact, he had just absorbed them!

"That…" he said, back still turned to the Knights, "…was a mistake!"

He turned around to face them. He had turned into Chromastone!

"You just powered me up!"

"Hold your ground!" shouted the one in charge.

"That's also a mistake!"

Ben extended his arms and shot his own multi-colored laser blasts at them, and they fell back for a moment. This was Robin's opportunity.

"All right, everyone!" he ordered. "GO!"

The Titans and Plumbers sprung into action as the Knights were given their signal.

"Let'see how tough y'dudes are!" boomed Cyborg, firing his blaster.

Unfortunately, although it hit the Knight at which he was aiming, it also got a couple of the crystals on Ben's back, which shattered.

"OW!"

Ben turned to face him.

"That a sonic blaster?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Please don't use it; I'm a living crystal here!"

"Aw, man," Cy said playfully. "Guess I'll just hafta do it the good ol' way!"

His blaster reverted to his arm, and he used his fists to good effect.

"Mind if I join?" Kevin asked him, punching out one Knight. "We got the same stuff."

"Sure thing, dude! Wait, same stuff?"

"Forever Knights!" shouted their commander. "You must recapture those Titans! You must—!"

Suddenly, Star stopped fighting one Knight and flew over in front of him. She had recognized his voice.

"You lied to me about Robin," she reminded him. "I do not like liars much, and I am stronger than I look."

Seeing her eyes glowing green, the commander took a couple step backward before turning around and running as fast as he could, screaming in terror! Star chased him, fists glowing.

"Get back here, you klorbag varglenilk!" she screamed at him as flew in his direction.

"Finally!" Cyborg shouted in relief. "No more Knights t'fight!"

There were quite a few unconscious ones decorating the ground.

"You're tellin' me!" said Ben, who was back in human form. "M'back still hurts a little."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that."

"No biggie."

Starfire flew in from where her Knight had run.

"So has the plan gone into action?" she asked.

"Y'think? How many of us are there?" Kevin asked.

"There are six including myself," she said after a moment. "That does mean that the plan has—"

"Yeah, we know."

"As long as they have their T-Phones," Robin said, holding his out, "we can track them, and, I believe, the Imitator. They're still moving."

"But while we are waiting, why do we not introduce ourselves to the others?"

"Good idea," Gwen told her. "You Starfire?"

Said Titan looked happily shocked.

"Why, yes, I am! How did you—"

Robin blushed.

"Oh, uh…I, uh, saw her hair and thought she was you."

"It is understood; we do have similar hair," she replied with a giggle. "Now I believe you've already met Robin. And this is Cyborg."

"Cyborg?" asked Kevin. "That's it?"

"Yep," Cyborg replied.

"Well, anyway, I'm Gwen," she replied. "These are my cousin Ben and our friend Kevin."

She pointed said guys out when she said their names.

"Nice to meet you," said Ben.

"Ooh!" Star said, pointing at Ben's wrist. "What is that, Ben? May I see it?"

"This, the Omnitrix? Sure!"

He held out his arm. But to his surprise, Starfire didn't just look at it; she started to caress it curiously.

"I have never seen anything like this before. Is this, the Omnitrix, what makes you able to—?"

"New DNA sample acquired."

Star shrieked and jumped back, one fist glowing. All of them were shocked to one degree or another.

"What the heck was that?!" asked Cyborg.

"It spoke!"

"'New form acquired'?" wondered Ben. "Could that mean…?"

He paused and looked at the Omnitrix.

"Okay, Raven and Beast Boy have stopped moving," said Robin, who was still looking at his T-Phone. "Now we can find them and hopefully the Imitator! I just hope the Knights haven't started copying yet! We're gonna need light 'cause they're thata way!"

Star held up her glowing fists as a lantern as Robin pointed out the direction. Gwen did the same. Green and pink light filled the room.

"Let's go!" shouted Ben.

The six heroes eagerly ran into the waiting hallway.

A/N: You think you know what happened? Well, let's just say Knights now have three more reasons! Oh, yes, I believe that even if his head damaged or cut off, as shown here, Swampfire still can repair himself.

Feel free to review and maybe give me ideas. Also, guesses are acceptable. Two more chapters to go!