NOTE: Change of plans! This won't be a double upload and the next part will be uploaded either tomorrow or Friday. Sorry, but things happened, so I had no choice. School is starting up soon, so I'm also preparing for that while also trying to finish this up before I'm stuck with classes.
I didn't even realize we've hit 50 chapters for this story. This is officially the 2nd longest fanfiction I've ever written. I don't think we'll hit 100 chapters though.
Enjoy and Review!
Chapter 49: The Return
Back at the Digby Dairy factory, the security guard was once again sleeping on the job. That was until the security alarm started blaring loudly, snapping him awake. He grabbed his flashlight and rushed inside the factory. "Probably some kids looking for free samples." He assumed until something collided with the alarm, shutting it off. The guard held onto his flashlight tighter as the sounds of glass breaking entered his ears. He turned around to see that one of the ceiling lights had been destroyed.
Unknown to him the werewolf from the Navajo village was sniffing around the floor. It eventually found its trail and tore off the door leading to the basement. Once the werewolf got to the basement, it sniffed around some more before finding its target. The alien wolf dug through the concrete and found what it was looking for, grabbing the block of concrete, and breaking it apart with a sonic howl. The concrete broke apart, freeing the mummy from its prison. The two silently communicated with one another until a bright light flashed at them.
"Alright, kids, play time's over-woah!?" The guard gasped at the two monsters. He would've said more if the two hadn't vanished in a bright flash of purple light, leaving nothing but a smoke trail.
OP: Ancient Romantic by P-Maru Sama
Ancient Romantic!
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
A rotating shot of the Omnitrix comes into view before latching onto Ben's wrist. He's seen standing with Yukiko, Gwen, and Max in front of the Rustbucket.
For a split second the landscape around them glitches out as purple lighting cracks the sky above.
The miracle of humankind that I met at once was a loss if neither Edison nor Watson knew (Loss!)
Ben stands on top of a broken spaceship, staring out at the clear blue sky above him.
Below him was Yukiko, who stood in the shadows of the ship. Her eyes transfixed on her tarot card.
Mr. N was surprised at such a situation since the earth was created (Unexpected!)
Gwen walked past the two, her eyes focused on her spell book. She shut the book instantly, her eyes glowing with blue mana.
Max stood in the back and in his hands was a broken picture frame.
The ancient civilization and the school playground that I ran yesterday are all connected.
The scenery changed to Inaba. Yukiko is seen running through the town with the rest of the Investigation Team.
SHATTER!
Yukiko was now running around with the Tennysons. Ben, happily leading the charge with the Omnitrix ready.
SHATTER!
Yukiko was smiling brightly, her arms draped around Ben's chest as he proudly stood in front of her. His face is full of confidence and aspirations.
SHATTER!
Older versions of Ben, Yukiko, Gwen, Max, and Yu appeared. The Tennysons were standing around the married couple as Yukiko held a small blue bundle of blankets in her hands. She smiled warmly at her newborn baby.
The invitation to unravel the true nature of this romance is an initiation from ancient times.
Ben sat inside of a blue limousine. In front of him were both Igor and Maragret, the attendant holding a large blue book in her hands.
Sitting next to Ben was Yu, whose tarot card expanded into a blinding flash of light.
All members! Go in! Aye-aye!
Ben charged into battle first, slapping down the dial and transforming into Four Arms. Gwen came in next, hands glowing bright with mana. Yukiko summoned Sumeo-Okami, unleashing waves of fire. Max joined his grandkids, his own personal blaster ready to battle.
Let's dance in such an era! Dancing all right!
Yu appeared next with his sword drawn. Izanagi jumped out from behind him, his blade sparking with white electricity.
Naoto Shirogane dropped down in front of him with her gun pointed at the screen. Her Persona: Yamato-Takeru appeared next to her in a flash of light.
Rise Kujikawa descended downwards gracefully, with her eyes closed shut. Her Persona: Kanzeon had appeared behind Rise. Placing a red-colored headset over her user's eyes.
Rehabilitation! Introspection! I'll do it one after another! The past and the future are all mixed together!
Yukiko, Ben, and Naoto stood back-to-back as the shadows danced around them, purple lightning striking their spot with malicious intent.
Max, Kenny, and Gwen were hovering in space, trying not to crash the spaceship they were in.
Collapse! Situation! Hurry up!
A familiar looking creature appeared dressed in shadows, its purple eye glistening with malicious fury.
The feelings of hundreds of millions of years are romantic over!
Three new aliens appeared on the screen. A Frankenstien's monster, a werewolf, and a mummy all stood in front of a large satellite. Above them the sun transformed into a massive purple eyeball.
March! Send! Do in! Do in Love! There is one love in any era!
The Rustbucket was speeding towards the satellite with its boosters activated. The Tennysons inside were determined to stop whatever was about to happen.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, you can see!
Chie, Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, Nanako, Rise, and Naoto held each letter as they flashed across the screen.
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, you caught!
For the last remaining letters were each held by Ben's aliens as they flashed across the screen.
Ancient Romantic!
Yukiko fell through the air, unable to stop herself. Ben reached for her as fast as he could, his hand only inches from her's.
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
"And be on the lookout on highway 818 for a prison bus reportedly taken over by the inmates."
"Hey, isn't that a prison bus-AAHHH!" Kenny screamed as the prison bus crashed into the back of the Rustbucket. The stolen bus pushed past the RV, scraping the side of it as it sped past. His family and Naoto were forced to brace themselves from the impact.
Ben smirked, activating the Omnitrix. "Those cons picked the wrong bridge at the wrong time."
"Ben, this time we need to figure out a plan before you go charging off." Max said to him.
Yukiko grabbed Ben's wrist, stopping him from transforming. "Listen for once, Ben. Think about all the other times you've charged off and how they all ended."
Ben wretched his wrist away from her, huffing loudly. "Fine!"
"Thank you." Yukiko sighed. The heiress turned to her friend, who was at the front seat. "Naoto-kun, do you have a plan?"
"Yes, I do, and we should-"
FLASH!
"Oh man! I-I mean, yes! Stinkfly's gonna bring down the pain from above!" The sudden transformation into Stinkfly had caught them all off guard. The stink bug opened the door to the Rustbucket. "I have a better plan; it's called you guys sit back and enjoy the stink show!" He took off before anyone could stop him.
"Benjamin!" Yukiko yelled at him.
"How often does he do this?" Naoto asked.
"Enough to increase my blood pressure. Hold on, kids!" Max yelled as he masterfully drove through the messy traffic.
Stinkfly descended on the bus, sticking his head into the driver's window. "No get out of jail free rides when this fly is in control!" His putrid smell made all of the prisoners' faces turn green.
"Ew! And I thought the prison food smelled gross!" The driver exclaimed. Stinkfly grabbed the wheel, trying to pull the bus over, but before he could an older inmate came up to the front with a chain in hand. "What is that thing!?" The driver asked.
"History!" The chain was whipped at the bug, forcing him to fly away from the bus. The prison bus hit the Rustbucket again, forcing Max to get behind the bus to avoid colliding with any other car on the highway.
Stinkfly flew in front of the bus. "Now you see me, now you don't!" He shot a load of goop at the windshield, momentarily blocking their view of the road and allowing the Rustbucket to catch back up. A few prisoners exited the bus and climbed on top of it to fight off Stinkfly, who bashed right into one of them.
Max pushed a button on the dashboard. "Extending gyro-blades!" The upper sides of the Rustbucket opened to reveal several laser circles. Yukiko and Gwen opened up the window to get a better look at the action. The two saw Stinkfly get grabbed by the chain and being pulled down towards the prisoners.
"Agi!" Yukiko shot a fireball at the chain, melting it and freeing her cousin. "Will you slow down and listen!?"
"You don't have to do it by yourself, y'know!" Gwen yelled.
"Hey, if you got the moves, us 'em!" Stinkfly replied before shooting a wave of goop at the criminals, trapping them to the roof of the bus. He then shot another batch of goop at the front wheels, unfortunately that was the exact moment that Max activated the lasers which missed their intended target, since the goop had abruptly stopped the bus' momentum. The Tennysons and Naoto held onto whatever they could as the Rustbucket and the bus were spiraling out of control, the lasers sliced apart the bridge as well.
Stinkfly flew into the bus, confident that he was victorious, only for the inmates to catch him off guard and cuff him to the inside cage. "Huh!?"
"They sure got some butt ugly bugs down here." One guy said.
Stinkfly got right into his face. "Who are you calling 'butt ugly', butt ugly!?"
Max finally managed to get the Rustbucket under control and turned off the gyro-blades. The damage to the bridge had been dealt, however, and part of it had fallen off, leaving a hole to the ocean. To which the bus was moving too fast to prevent itself from falling into the ocean.
"Yukiko-senpai!"
"Right! Persona!" Both teens activated their Personas and caught the bus before it could fall into the ocean, unfortunately the prisoners weren't as lucky and crashed through the windshield. They only saw one option left and tried to swim away.
Gwen didn't waste a moment, extending her hand out towards them. "I don't think so! Aquata Risa Spackwata!" She commanded the ocean, summoning geysers to keep the prisoners propelled in the air as the Persona users brought the bus back onto the bridge. "I've been practicing that one."
"So… uh… how long are they supposed to get down?" Kenny asked.
Gwen winced. "Okay, didn't really think about that." She began searching through the spell book for a different spell. As she did that, Yukiko and Naoto made their way into the bus and found Stinkfly cuffed to the bus, the Omnitrix blinked red and timed out.
"Mind getting me out?" Ben asked.
"Oh, now you need help?" Yukiko placed a hand on her hip.
Ben rolled his eyes at her.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, Benjamin!"
"What are you my mom!?"
Naoto sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. All the young detective wanted was to get to NASA already, but it seemed this family had a knack for attracting trouble. How often on a daily basis were they dealing with random criminal hijinks? This prison bus was the fourth one already that they had stopped.
The teens and kids relaxed in the Rustbucket, since Max had stopped the Rustbucket at a rest area before they continued their journey towards NASA. Ben had his legs propped up on the table even though Yukiko had warned him more than once to not do so. "Hey, Gwen, get me some pretzels." It was more of an order than a question.
"Gee, Ben, I didn't know your legs were broken." Gwen said sarcastically.
"They are!?" Yukiko gasped. "He was walking fine a few minutes ago!" Gwen took a few deep breaths to stop herself from snapping at Yukiko.
"Ben, how about you get up and grab the pretzels yourself. They're right there." Kenny looked up from the comic book.
"Excuse me! Since, I just took down a bus full of escaped prisoners I think I-"
"No."
"Eh?" Ben turned to Naoto, who was giving him an unimpressed stare.
"We took down a bus full of escaped prisoners." Naoto corrected, she motioned towards everyone else.
"I didn't do much though…" Kenny sighed.
"Still better than Benjamin." Naoto said.
"And how so?" Ben challenged.
"Instead of listening to the rest of us and coming up with a safer plan, you instead rushed off towards the criminals like a fool. Further endangering the lives of the civilians driving by, those prisoners, and us included. Max-san, was planning to take out the wheels on the bus, thus stopping the criminals in their tracks completely; However, you ended up getting in the way, leading to a destroyed highway, almost escaped convicts, and got yourself trapped in the bus. You were nothing more than a detriment." Naoto finished.
Complete silence followed her breakdown as all of the Tennysons stared at her with wide eyes, especially Ben, who very quickly shifted to anger. "Oh yeah!? Well-"
"Hey! Shush!" Max cut him off. The kids turned to Max, who was watching a news broadcast. "Guys, this might be important." They all looked at the broadcast along with Max. It was a news reporter standing in the middle of a thunderstorm, behind him was a rocket shuttle.
"Today's launch of the Novan Spacecraft has been delayed by a freak electrical storm! I've covered bad weather from every four corners of the globe, and I've never seen anything like this purple lightning! This is Steve Cunnings, reporting live from the Kennedy Space Center!"
"Purple lightning!?" Yukiko gasped.
"Then that confirms it. Whatever is going on with this purple lightning has to do with NASA as well. Meaning that our target is there and waiting." Naoto said. "I'll get in touch with Grandfather and tell him the news."
Max started the engine. "Next stop, Cape Canaveral."
Yukiko thought of something. "I wonder how Yu-kun and Rise-chan are doing right now."
"I'm sure they're fine." Gwen said.
"Are we there yet?" Rise asked.
"For the 10th time, Rise, no we're not." Yu responded. They had been trekking through the desert for a while now, and it just occurred to Rise that the heat of the desert is much worse than the summer heat of Inaba. The three of them still hadn't reached the cave that the werewolf had last been seen at. "Just stick through it a little longer. Here." Yu handed Rise a water bottle, something she happily accepted.
"Ugh, this stupid wolf better be worth it." Rise grumbled. She looked over to see Kenji talking on the phone. "What is Kenji-san doing?"
"I think it was a call from Naoto. Hopefully, nothing bad has happened to them." Yu responded.
"Don't worry, Senpai, they'll be fine and I'm sure Ben will make sure nothing bad happens to them." Rise reassured him.
Yu nodded his head, agreeing with her. "Yeah, you're right, Rise. Besides, Ben promised me that he'd protect Yukiko and I know that he won't break it." The Fool looked over to see Kenji was walking back over to them after finishing his call. "What did Naoto say?"
"It seems like our theory was correct about NASA. A bunch of purple lightning was reported to be seen near it and it was the worst storm of purple lightning to date so far. The Tennysons and Naoto are heading that way now." Kenji explained.
Both teens grimaced at the news. "Then we better hurry to that cave." Yu said.
Rise sighed, getting up from the rock she was sitting on. "This heat is not good for my hair."
The Rustbucket pulled into the NASA parking lot. Ben was talking up a storm, excited to bust some heads. "I go in as Diamondhead-no wait-Four Arms and get to the bottom of this purple lightning stuff!"
"Rash and foolish." Naoto shook her head.
Ben turned to her with a glare. "What would you know!?"
"Benjamin…!" Yukiko warned him.
"Cool it, kids." Max interrupted them. "I know someone who can get us in with a little less commotion."
"Really? Who?" Kenny asked.
"Just an old friend." Max smiled, enjoying the looks of their faces.
The Tennysons and Naoto walked through the halls of the building. The detective tried not to let herself get distracted by all of the displays inside the building, but she couldn't help but be a bit giddy over the fact that she was actually walking through the halls of NASA. It was almost like a dream come true.
"Max Tennyson! What's it been? 40 years?" Dr. Shueman shook the ex-plumber's hand.
"Hehe… give or take." Max replied.
"Whatever happened to you? One day you were here, the next day you were gone. I had to give your little walk to Armstrong." Shueman chuckled.
"Armstrong…" Ben muttered.
"You mean Apollo 11's Niel Armstrong?" Naoto's realization also clicked with the rest of the kids.
"Grandpa, you were gonna be the first man on the moon!?" Ben exclaimed.
Yukiko was gob smacked; she was already baffled by her family history being so… interstellar but hearing that her grandpa was originally going to be the first man on the moon was extraordinary! "Grandpa is so cool!" Yukiko exclaimed.
Shueman chuckled at their reactions. "Sure was." He pointed at a picture of a young Max Tennyson that was framed on the wall. "Does this man look familiar? Best astronaut in the program."
Max looked a little uneasy at the photo. "A different duty called."
"What can I help you with, Max?" Shueman asked.
"Just playing tourist, I want to show the youngsters around the old stomping ground." Max responded. Ben walked ahead of the group, admiring the photos of his grandfather that lined the hallway walls. That was until he bumped into a large figure. "O-oh. Sorry."
The big scientist stared down at Ben, his eyes taking a quick glance at the Omnitrix. His eyes widened for a brief second, but it was more than enough for Naoto to notice the shift in his body language. "You shouldn't be here." His attention turned to Shueman. "You bring unauthorized visitors into a classified area!? Get rid of them!" He ordered Shueman as he walked away.
"What's his problem?" Ben asked.
"It's kinda a crazy day, Max, with the delay and all." Shueman said. "Maybe, we should reschedule your tour, do you remember the way out, right?" Shueman turned his back to the Tennysons and walked away. He didn't notice the group vanish until it was too late.
"So, I never did wind up going into space with NASA." Max finished his tale. The group was now deeper into the NASA base.
"Bummer, don't you ever regret not being the first man on the moon?" Ben asked. If it was him, he'd definitely have taken the spot to earn the glory.
"I just took my leaps for mankind in other ways." Max responded
"The Plumbers." Naoto pointed out.
"You guessed it." He smirked. Max then pushed the group back into the shadows to avoid getting seen by some guards. Once the men were gone, they walked up to the door of the control room, but it had an identification lock that Max had no issues hacking with his trusty pocket tools. "Plumbers standard issue." He held it up to show off.
"One of those would be handy." Naoto said.
"You plan to break into places?" Kenny asked, worried.
"To uncover secrets, yes." She had no shame in admitting it. Hell, they were currently breaking into a highly guarded government facility; any other break in would be miniscule compared to this.
Max sat down at one of the computers, activating the security system. "NASA records everything, let's see about that purple lightning."
Dr. Shueman entered the entry tunnel to the shuttle, noticing Dr. Viktor was messing with the system. He had started to feel weird about the scientist and his recent behavior was proving his suspicions. "Dr. Viktor, there you are. I need to speak to you about your credentials."
"Not now!" Dr. Viktor replied.
"Dr. Viktor! I am your superior!" Shueman exclaimed, not tolerating the disrespect.
Viktor turned from the controls, glaring down at Shueman. "You have no idea how wrong you are." Suddenly several bandages wrapped around Shueman's body, trapping him. The mummy lifted him in the air as the werewolf made himself known as well.
"Take care of the boy! If the meddlesome girls try to get involved, kill them as well! I don't want anything interfering with our plans!" Viktor commanded the werewolf. It understood the order and jumped down to find the Tennysons.
Ben yawned loudly, Max's search was taking longer than he thought. "Who would've thought TV could be so boring?"
"We could play a game, Ben?" Yukiko suggested.
"Like, what?" He asked.
"We could play Eye Spy?"
"Nah, you suck at that game." Ben refused.
"No, I don't!" Yukiko pouted.
"Last time we played, you kept using our clothes as your picks and it would take you too long to guess. So, no." Ben explained, much to Yukiko's disappointment. The heiress turned in her chair, a cloud of despair hovering over her head.
While the two of them did that, Max and the others were watching the screen for any abnormality. "These must be pre-launch images." He said, then something caught his eye. "Wait, we're onto something now."
"Wait, what was that?" Gwen pointed at a small dot on the screen.
"Pretty sure that's a bird." Kenny answered.
"No, it's not." Gwen argued.
"It's a bird." Naoto sighed.
"Totally a bird." Kenny agreed.
"You guys are just blind!" Gwen exclaimed, quietly.
"That's a bird, Gwen." Max said, enhancing the image to show that it was indeed a bird. Gwen grumbled with a bit of red grumbling her cheeks while Kenny chuckled at her for being wrong.
Ben shook his head, finding the lack of action dull. He got up from his seat and left the control room. "You guys have your way of finding things and I have mine." He wasn't as subtle as he thought, because Yukiko followed after him to ensure he didn't get caught.
The hero finds himself standing outside of a test simulation room, impressed by how big the machinery is. "Woah! A mega merry-go-round!"
"Ben."
"WUAH!" Ben jumped, startled by the call of his name. He turned around to see Yukiko standing with her hands on her hips. "Yukiko, what the heck!?"
"Can you stop sneaking off, please? I get that you're bored, but we're in a government facility without permission. We'll get arrested." She said, exasperated.
"Yeah, but all this sneaking around is boring. What I wouldn't crave for a little bit of action!"
THUD!
The two flinched at the loud thud behind them and turned around to see the werewolf growling at them. "The werewolf!" Yukiko yelled.
"Good, I was looking for a stress reliever!" Ben grinned. The werewolf pounced at them with the intent to kill, luckily Yukiko activated the door switch in time, getting the werewolf's head stuck between the door. The two backed away further into the simulation room to gain some distance.
"That door won't hold it for long." Yukiko said.
"Looks like Heatblast is gonna burn that mangy fur coat of his!" Ben selected Heatblast's icon and slapped the dial.
FLASH!
Instead of Heatblast, Ben had transformed into the mummy alien he had acquired before. His eyes and the gaps between his bandages glowed green instead of purple. He wore a black and gold pharaoh's headdress, black bracers and greaves, and the Omnitrix symbol on his left shoulder. "Snare-oh!? Ah, great!" Kenny had suggested the name after hearing Ben refer to it as 'Ben-Mummy' at one point.
"Still, I'm not going to hesitate to burn that wolf to ashes." Yukiko whipped out her fan.
"At least try not to set me on fire…" Snare-oh told her.
"Just dodge."
"So, you don't care if you hit me!"
"WRAH!" The werewolf howled as it finally broke down the door. It snarled at the two before charging at them with its claws. Yukiko rolled out of the way as Snare-oh moved his nimble body out of the way.
"Agilao!" Yukiko fired off a medium blast. The werewolf ducked out of the way, leaving Snare-oh to force his body to open up to avoid getting set on fire. "Aw, you dodged."
"So, you were aiming for me!"
"WOOO!" The werewolf brought down its claws at the heiress, but she used her Persona's sword to block the strike. Sumeo-Okami pushed back against the werewolf's strength, giving its user breathing room. Snare-oh used this chance to wrap the werewolf up, and slam it into the wall repeatedly. The beast grew tired of being treated like a dirty rug, and broke itself free from Snare-oh's grasp. It turned to the heroes and opened its mouth wide, unleashing a sonic blast at the two.
"Oh, crud!"
BOOM!
Back in the control room, Max finally found what they were looking for. "Here's the footage from when the purple lightning hit." Max played the footage. Gwen leaned in closer, noticing something standing by the shuttle.
"Wait, what's that?" She asked.
"Probably another bird." Kenny shrugged.
"No, you doofus! Grandpa, zoom in!" She pointed at the screen. "Over there on the launch pad." Max listened and zoomed in, allowing the group to see Dr. Viktor standing by the shuttle with a controller in his hands.
"Dr. Viktor? What would he be doing next to a shuttle, especially in that type of weather?" Naoto hummed, she was already suspicious of him. This didn't do the large man any favors at all.
"You think it's just a coincidence?" Kenny asked.
"If so, then it's a pretty big one. What do you guys think? Yukiko? Ben?" Max asked, turning around and finding his other two grandkids missing. "When did they…?"
Naoto sighed, as much as her senpai gets on Ben about randomly disappearing, she had no problem doing it along with him.
POW!
"WOAH!" Snare-oh went flying into the wall. The Egyptian alien was still trying to figure out everything this alien could do and his only reference was the mummy he fought before.
"Maragion!" The werewolf punched each fireball that came at it, not caring if its hands were being burnt in the process. Yukiko grimaced as her attack didn't seem to do much. "Maybe, I should've put more power into that?" While she was busy thinking of that, the werewolf made its move and closed the distance between them. It grabbed Yukiko by the collar of her dress, lifting the heiress up. The creature prepared to use its other claws to tear her face off, but before it could reach, Snare-oh came flying in and punched the werewolf right in its snout. Forcing the beast from Yukiko, unfortunately the right top half of her dress was tightly in its grasp so…
RIP!
Yukiko quickly covered up her chest, half of her black bra was visible to the world. "Why me!?" The heiress' face was hotter than her flames with a bright crimson color. Snare-oh turned around to face her, confused by her outburst.
"Are you alright?"
"NO!" She screeched, highly embarrassed.
"Then just stay out of the way!" Snare-oh yelled before getting pounced on by the werewolf. Yukiko quickly moved to the side before using one hand to crush her tarot card. "Agidyne!" She blasted the wolf, since it was distracted by Snare-oh. Giving the Egyptian alien a chance to wrap it back up and bash the wolf into the glass. Which may have been the incorrect move, since the beast activated the testing system.
"Oh, crud! Yukiko, get out now!" Snare-oh shouted. He knew that he would survive whatever happened inside, but his cousin wouldn't be as lucky. The heiress wasted no time and hurried towards the exit that was thankfully left open by the werewolf. With her outside, Snare-oh was free to brawl with the wolf while avoiding getting hit by the spinning system.
When the werewolf jumped onto the machine, Snare-oh formulated a plan. He waited for the wolf to come back around before jumping into the air, and tethering himself to the machine. The two would continue swiping at each other until the wolf released another sonic blast, destroying the machine and the testing area.
Yukiko came back into the room, since it was safer for her now. "Where did it go!?"
"I don't know, but I ain't about to let it get away!" The two ran towards the hole, their view was blocked by smoke. The two thought that it had gotten away until a large figure was seen through the smoke. "Gotcha!" Snare-oh exclaimed, shooting a bandage at it. His confidence was shot when he was pulled through the smoke instead of the opposite.
"Ben!" Yukiko chased after him.
"Wait, Ben?" Yukiko heard her grandfather's voice. She got through the smoke and saw her family and Naoto standing over Snare-oh.
"Oh, right. You still had that mummy transformation." Max released the bandage. "Sorry about that, sport. I confused you for that mummy, since you're a mummy."
FLASH!
"And Yuki-oh…" Kenny blushed when he realized her state of dress. Everyone else did too, which just made the heiress more embarrassed. The older cousin quickly took off his jacket and gave it to her. "Here!"
"Thank you." She put the jacket on and covered herself up.
"What happened to you guys?" Gwen asked.
"We ran into that werewolf! He's gotta be running around here somewhere!" Ben answered.
"Wait, but if the werewolf isn't with its Satellite equipment, then how does it plan to use it?" Kenny wondered.
"Not only that, but Dr. Viktor was seen when purple lightning prevented the shuttle launch." Naoto added.
"I don't like any of this, it seems we're not any closer to figuring this mystery out." Max sighed. They only had more questions rather than actual answers to the problem.
"What's going to happen next?" Yukiko wondered.
"That!" Gwen pointed at the purple lightning that had cracked the skies above the space station.
"I better check this out!" Ben rushed off ahead of everyone else.
"Did he just forget we're all here?" Kenny asked, annoyed.
"In Ben's world, we're all just little puppets that follow his every command. Freaking loser." Gwen hissed at Ben's retreating back.
Naoto and Yukiko followed from the back. "Is there a reason he's acting so…"
"Egotistical, annoying, and bratty?" Yukiko finished.
"Yes, that."
"I have an idea." Yukiko replied.
"And that reason being…?"
"He usually tries to handle everything on his own when he thinks that it's getting too dangerous for the rest of us." Yukiko explained.
"That sounds a lot like Senpai." Naoto sighed.
"Yes, except the difference is that Ben's a 10-year-old boy that doesn't understand the best way to handle these feelings of his." Yukiko said. "Thus, he regresses to his old behavior of being egotistical to push us back while he jumps head first into danger."
"I see." Naoto understood. She didn't regret what she said to Ben back in the Rustbucket, regardless of his own personal reasons, his actions could still get everyone killed if he's not careful. This really isn't what they needed right now.
The group had left the station and were now walking through a graveyard of old ship parts to search for the source of the purple lightning. "The purple lightning came from right around here." Max said.
"What is this place, Grandpa?" Gwen asked.
"They call it the Graveyard. Rockets, thrusters, engines, and capsules from every mission, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo. NASA's like your aunt Vera, neither one likes to throw anything out." Max jokes.
"My mother's kinda the same. She still keeps all the old toys that I used to play with as a baby. I don't really get why." Yukiko said.
"I'm sure you'll understand it someday." Max told her.
Gwen and Naoto examined the old parts, looking for any clues that might help. The younger girl used a rock to scrape off some rust to read the text. "Grandpa, this is dated 1968 and it says: To the brave men who so valiantly reached the heavens." She finished reading. "And there are initials of all the astronauts. M.T. wouldn't happen to be Maxwell Tennyson, would it?"
Max sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We can't stay in the past, Gwen." Those words felt like a lie as they left his mouth. As much as he tried to move on from his past, it always found a way to come back to bite him and usually not in a good way.
THUD!
The Tennysons and Naoto turned around to see the werewolf perched on top of an old shuttle part. It roared at them, ready to sink its teeth into their flesh. "Something tells me he doesn't want us living in the present either!"
"WOOO!" The wolf blasted them all with a sonic blast, sending them flying across the graveyard.
Yukiko groaned in pain, then saw that Ben had gotten stuck under the dirt, his kicking legs were the only visible part of him. She got up quickly and started pulling on his legs to get him out before he suffocated.
The werewolf continued its attack on them, not bothering to wait for the group to fully recover. Naoto pulled out her gun, blasting her tarot card. "Here's the silver bullet. Mahamaon!" Yamato-Takeru pointed his sword at the wolf, releasing a small point of light from the tip of the blade. The werewolf's senses kicked in instantly, warning the beast that if it didn't move, then that tiny bullet-like light would kill it. The werewolf used a sonic blast to propel itself out of the attack's way, but all of that was just a diversion for Max to toss a trap device at its snout, preventing it from screaming.
"Plumbers' standard issue." Max quipped again.
A bandage wrapped itself around Gwen's torso, dragging her through the dirt. Surprising the Tennysons that the mummy had escaped the concrete prison they had trapped it in. "The mummy and the werewolf!?"
"So, they truly were working together." Naoto frowned, loading another shot.
"Let go of me you undead freak! Emocha Objectia!" She fired the bolt of magic at the mummy, forcing it to release her. The mummy slithered around the ship parts to avoid Gwen's torrent of magic bolts.
Yukiko gave one last heave before finally pulling Ben out of the dirt. "Gotcha!" She held up her little cousin by his legs, who was pouting at her. "Your hair is all covered in dirt." She frowned.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the least of our worries, now put me down!" Ben cried. His cousin listened and dropped him back into the hole. "Not like that!" She picked him back up.
"Just make up your mind!"
"Okay, then." He activated the Omnitrix. "I'll make up all four!"
FLASH!
Yukiko quickly jumped away to avoid getting hurt by Ben's transformation. When the light died down, she saw that instead of Four Arms, he had turned into Cannonbolt. "Oh man, what does this thing have against Four Arms!?"
The mummy made a grab for Kenny, since the teen was the only one without any powers at all. Unfortunately for it, the teenager ducked out of the way as Cannonbolt came flying by and bashed the mummy. The Egyptian alien screamed at them before unwrapping its chest to reveal the Corrodium.
"Everyone get back! It's going to release the Corrodium!" Max yelled. Cannonbolt grabbed both Kenny and Gwen to get them further away, since they were the closest to the mummy.
Behind the group, the werewolf tore off the trap and was about to unleash another sonic screech at Max. "Agidyne!" Yukiko's fireball made contact with the wolf, exploding, and blasting the werewolf away from her grandfather. "Keep your voice down, fur ball!" Yukiko yelled.
SHOCK!
"KYAAA!" Yukiko screamed as she was electrocuted from behind by purple electricity. The heiress fell to the dirt, her body hurting badly from the shocks.
"YUKIKO!" Everyone screamed her name. Looking up at the one responsible, they found Dr. Viktor standing above them all.
"I was told of the Omnitrix, but you boy, are not the only one with the power to transform!" Dr. Viktor revealed as his body underwent a monstrous transformation. He now resembled Frankenstein's Monster, except a little more cybernetic, his robotic parts were dark brown. His right eye was small, purple, and had no pupil while his left eye was bigger, had a scar, a pupil, and was round. The lower parts of his arms were a little lighter than the rest of his body and his only clothing were his brown pants and shoes.
"Frankenstein's monster?" Naoto noticed the similarities.
Cannonbolt rolled past her to attack Dr. Viktor. "I don't care how ugly you get, you're gonna pay for that!"
"Ben, wait!" Max yelled.
It was too late as Viktor conducted a ball of electricity between his hands and shot it at the approaching Cannonbolt. The attack exploded like a bomb, shocking the Arburian Pelarota without mercy and sending him crashing into the scattered ship parts.
Viktor jumped down to approach the heroes, both mummy and werewolf joined his side. "I want them eliminated before the launch!" Viktor ordered.
Kenny quickly grabbed Yukiko's body, bringing her over to the others as Naoto and Cannonbolt prepared to fight them off. Though, before the fight could break out Gwen jumped in between everyone. "Alright, time to blow you guys away! Twista Combititus!" Whatever effect Gwen thought was going to happen didn't occur at all. In fact, nothing happened at all.
"Uh? Was something supposed to happen?" Cannonbolt asked.
"It's a new spell, okay!"
Viktor looked unimpressed. "I'll show you some magic that'll make you disappear!" His fist crackled with static and was blasted right at the heroes.
Naoto clicked her gun. "Megi-"
SHING!
At that moment a large blue serpent appeared, blocking the electrical attack. Gwen was amazed by the effect of her spell. "So cool! I really need to figure out how this spell works." She laughed nervously. The snake redirected the electrical attack at the pole behind the group, causing it to collapse over everyone.
"Enough!" Viktor commanded the wolf as it tried to search for the heroes. "We need to prepare for the launch!" He exclaimed. The three marched off out of the graveyard to continue their plans.
RUMBLE!
"GAH!" Cannonbolt shouted as he pushed all of the metal off of everyone. He had used his body to shield the group from the heavy metal.
FLASH!
"Everyone, okay?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, but… Yukiko." Kenny brought their attention to the unconscious heiress. Ben was the most upset about Yukiko's condition, silently blaming himself for her getting hurt. That was when the heiress coughed softly, waking back up. The first thing she saw was the look on Ben's face and she smiled softly.
"I'll… be okay, Ben. I just need a moment… then I'll heal myself." She tried to reassure him, placing a hand softly on his cheek.
Ben quickly blushed, pushing himself away from Yukiko. "I-I wasn't worried or anything! I knew you'd be just fine!" His words contradict his actions and didn't stop Yukiko from smiling at him.
Max was relieved to see that Yukiko was just fine. "They're going to be taking the Corrodium to the spaceship."
"Okay, then I'll go XLR8, stop the launch, get the Corrodium, and come back here to deal with bolt neck and his pals." Ben came up with the worst plan they've ever heard.
"The watch just timed out, genius. Who knows when it'll let you go hero again." Gwen reminded him.
"You can't do everything alone, Ben. We have to work as a team." Max said. Ben stared at the ground, conflicted but understanding what his grandfather was saying. But Yukiko had gotten hurt again when he should've been able to see Viktor coming. He needed to stop these guys before anyone else got hurt.
"We need to split up. One team handles the launch, and the other goes to stop the rogue aliens." Naoto suggested.
"Agreed. Gwen, Kenny, and I will go stop the launch. Ben, you and the girls go have a chat with Dr. Viktor and company. Understood?" Max laid out the plan.
"Yes, Grandpa." Ben muttered. He turned to his cousins. "If you guys run into trouble, don't hesitate to call me."
"Please! As if I'll need your help." Gwen walked away.
"We'll be fine, little bro. Just make sure to kick some butt for us, okay?" Kenny ruffled his hair before following his sister.
Max handed two badges to Naoto. "I brought these with me just in case, but these suits should protect you and Yukiko from the Corrodium. Ben's transformations already keep him safe from it."
"Thank you and stay safe." Naoto said.
"Just keep them safe." He pointed at Ben, who was sitting close to Yukiko as she healed herself.
"Understood." She responded and watched as Max left to catch up with his other half of grandkids. The detective turned her attention to her friend and the brat. "We should get moving, so we don't lose our targets.
"Right." Yukiko stood up, brushing off her skirt and jacket.
"Whatever." Ben huffed.
The three of them hurried after the monster trio, making sure to keep quiet to avoid getting detected. Eventually they saw the three enter an old ship, and quickly followed inside, the interior was a lot bigger than they had anticipated. Naoto motioned for them to quietly walk the steps, and the cousins followed her lead.
Below, Viktor was building a strange machine and addressed the werewolf. "Do you understand your instructions? The link must be aligned when projection begins." He explained, motioning for the wolf to follow him. The two took an elevator to a higher level and the trio quickly grabbed onto the cables underneath to follow the aliens.
Once the upper level was reached, Viktor hooked four cables to his back and activated the portal machine. The Tennysons and Naoto were given a clear view of the Navajo desert as the wolf's destination.
"So, that's how they planned to get back to the stolen equipment. They're capable of using a portal machine. Hopefully, Grandfather and the others have already found it." Naoto thought.
Rise led the way through the cave system, using her Persona to track the whereabouts of the werewolf, but nothing was picking up on her senses. "This doesn't make any sense; I can't seem to find it anywhere."
"Perhaps it really is at NASA, in that case it makes finding that machine even more difficult." Kenji muttered.
"Rise, see if you can locate the trail. Even if the werewolf isn't here, we should be able to locate the tiniest bits of its presence that were left." Yu said.
"I'll try, Senpai, but-wait!" She gasped, grabbing their attention. "I sense a presence! A powerful one just appeared and it's heading towards the west!"
"That must be the werewolf or something else. I'm not sure how it was getting by us before, but we'll cut it off now! Let's go, you two!" Kenji said.
"Right!"
Max and his grandkids snuck back into the control room. "Where is everyone?" Gwen wondered.
"Yeah, you'd think a government building like NASA would be a lot more guarded than this." Kenny said.
"Let's not lick a gift horse in the mouth." Max sat down at one of the computers. "See if you can access the mainframe, Gwen." Max pointed at the screen next to him. For the next several minutes, they scoured through the system, but everything had been locked.
"All the overrides had been locked out. Who knew Dr. Monster was a computer geek." Gwen grimaced.
"We're gonna have to shut it down from inside the spacecraft." Max said.
"So, we're actually going inside of the spaceship? Guess, I can cross that off my bucket list." Kenny grinned.
"This isn't for kicks, Ken. Perhaps you two should just sit this one out just in case." Max suggested. The looks he received from them told them how they felt about that idea.
"I think I'm starting to see where Ben gets it from." Kenny said.
"Yes, Ben's martyr attitude had to have come from somewhere." Gwen glared at Max.
"Okay, kids. Point taken." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out three badges. "If the Corrodium is on board, we'll need these." The three of them suited up, feeling the liquid-like apparel slithering tightly around their bodies.
"Welp, my magic's useless." Gwen sighed.
"Don't worry, we'll be just fine." Max said. The Tennysons left the control room, missing the employees who were tied up in bandages.
The Tennysons and Naoto watched as Viktor continued to work on whatever that machine in front of them was. Yukiko looked down at Ben and gave him the signal to transform, which he was all too glad to follow.
FLASH!
"Yes! Finally, what I asked for!" XLR8 exclaimed.
"Probably, because you weren't choosing the brute force option." Naoto muttered.
"Yeah, well, now that muscle head will never know what hit him!" XLR8 brought down his visor.
"Are you sure, he's the muscle head?" Yukiko said, bluntly.
"Can you two not verbally attack me for one minute!?"
"No."
XLR8 groaned before speeding around the building to get a good momentum going. He charged straight for Viktor, but that was when Naoto noticed that something seemed off. "Ben, wait!"
POW!
XLR8 was backhanded by Viktor and sent flying through the air. "Woah… good reflexes." He rubbed the spot where he got hit.
"You children will not stop me. Even with your pitiful array of abilities!" Viktor blasted the girls with his purple electricity. The two dodged out of the way and broke their tarot cards.
"Agidyne!"
"Megidola!"
Viktor generated a big ball of purple static, tossing it at the combined attack of the girls, and causing an explosion that rocked the building. He stomped through the smoke to crush them with his hands, only for XLR8 catch him with a speedy kick to his jaw. The Frankenstein alien grabbed the hero by his tail, then grabbed his arm. "I'll rip you in half!"
"Agidyne!" A fireball crashed into his back, forcing him to release XLR8. The Transylvanian monster roared at the heiress, shooting bolts at her that the heiress responded with a Maragion.
Naoto aimed her shot at Viktor's head. "Tempest Slash!" Yamato-Takeru brought down his sword on Viktor, who sensed the oncoming danger and blocked the strike with his arm.
"AARRGGHH!" He screamed, commanding the cables to connect with his back, powering him up even further. "Your games have delayed me long enough!" Viktor activated the machine, creating a portal to the arctic. "I'll send you brats to a freezing hell." Viktor said before disconnecting with the machine.
Yukiko and Naoto held onto the railings to prevent themselves from getting sucked into the portal. XLR8 kept running, but was hit by a trash can, and was flying towards the portal.
"BEN!"
Thinking quickly, the hero tossed the trash can into the portal, substituting himself. "I hope this works!" And luckily it did, since the portal sensed that something had crossed over, thus closing itself.
"Whew, good." Yukiko was relieved that the portal was gone.
"I wouldn't call this situation 'good'." Naoto frowned. Suddenly, XLR8 zipped over to them, lifting the girls under his arms.
"Then we better hurry!" He zoomed after Viktor, where they found the creep standing on top of a lift. "Uh? What's he gonna do with that?"
"Your resilience is astounding, but your presence changes nothing! All is ready." Viktor pressed a button on his controller. "Observe."
The Tennysons were climbing up the ladder inside the spaceship and felt the shuttle shake as the alarms went off inside. "What's happening!?" Gwen asked.
"Main thrusters initiating. Looks like we're going to space!" Max answered.
"Isn't there supposed to be a countdown!? My heart isn't ready for space!" Kenny cried.
"Ready or not, kids, you two just became astronauts." Max said as the ship took off into space.
"The spaceship is taking off!" Naoto informed them.
"Grandpa, Kenny, and Gwen are supposed to be on that ship!" Yukiko cried, worrying coursing through her.
Viktor grabbed the poles next to him, turning on the main machine. Purple light and lightning were coursing through his body and powered the contraption.
"I don't know what you're planning, but it's over, Frankenfreak!" XLR8 declared.
Viktor smiled down at the three, unsettling them as he did so. "Oh, but it's not my plan. It's the Master's! IT ALWAYS WAS!" When the energy was zapped upwards, the heroes followed its direction and were shocked by what they saw.
"The clocktower! So, it was you!" Naoto shouted. Her grandfather was right in his assumption that the clock tower was related to the mystery. But what confused her more was why a Bancroft's clocktower was needed in the first place.
"The Master? But who would…" Yukiko trailed off. The more she stared at the tower, the more an unsettling feeling tingles through her body.
"Wait, but why would you need that clock tower? It's just a…" XLR8 trailed off, the same feeling hitting Yukiko had nailed him too.
"Yes… you're starting to see it! It is where you believed you had destroyed him! YOU WERE WRONG!" Viktor shouted. Gray goop started to seep through the cracks of the clock tower, clumping together inside of the purple energy.
Naoto's eyes widened as she realized what or who was forming right in front of them. The story about the Tennysons' adventure in Bancroft replayed through her mind.
"Trust me when I say that a lot of our foes have a habit of coming back for revenge."
The goop was disgustingly changing between shapes as the energy was trying to piece it back together correctly. The building slowly broke to pieces as the force of the power was becoming too much, a nightmarish laugh resounded through the building, and it was all too familiar to Yukiko and Ben.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! I LIVE!" Ghostfreak declared, happily. His grotesque body almost made Naoto want to throw up, if anything that thing was more terrifying to look at than a Shadow.
"GHOSTFREAK!?" Yukiko and XLR8 cried, horrified.
The Ectonurite stared down at them with hate that rivaled Vilgax. "No! I am not that repugnant nickname! My true name is…!"
"ZS'SKAYR!" The building shook as if his voice carried more power than anything else. But the heroes couldn't help the dread that had entered them after hearing his true name.
Viktor couldn't be any happier to see his Master. "Master! All has been prepared for your return!"
"B-but how can this be! Eye-Guy roasted you like a Thanksgiving turkey!" XLR8 cried out.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
FLASH!
The girls and Ben were horrified by the watch's terrible sense of timing. With him now back as a human, he was defenseless against Zs'Skayr and Viktor.
Unaware of Zs'Skayr's return, Max held onto his grandkids as the ship broke past the atmosphere. "Don't worry, the worst is over. C'mon." Max floated upwards with his kids behind him. Max prepared to open the lock to enter the main ship, unaware that the mummy was waiting for them on the other side.
Zs'Skayr stared down at his most hated of foes. "You and I have a score to settle, Ben Tennyson!"
Ben, Yukiko, and Naoto stared horrified at the nightmarish alien that loomed over them.
To Be continued
NOTE: What's going to happen next!? Find out next time!
1. Yes, from this point forward we'll be using Ghostfreak's actual name, I've been waiting for this moment and felt this was the right time for him to do so. I hope I was able to capture the feeling of dread with his return too, and that you guys look forward to it.
2. I wanted to give Ben's attitude in this two-parter a reason beside: "He's an egotistical brat". Yukiko's aware of why Ben's doing it, but there's not much she can do about it. They've already talked to Ben before about all of this, but that doesn't stop him from falling back into from time to time. All she can do is wait for him to be more open with it, because stubborn Ben is hard to deal with. Ben's scared and when Yukiko got electrocuted, he retreated again back to that mindset, and the reason why he's so scared is obvious if you remember a certain trip to the future.
3. If you think Naoto was too harsh on Ben, it's because she's used to people who take things seriously. She didn't necessarily have a good grasp on Ben's personality after one adventure with him back at the Navajo Village. But she's been with the Tennysons for a few days now, so she has a much better grasp than before. Ben is insanely reckless and that's something that would've gotten the team killed back during the case, if you don't listen to the entire team then you're just a detriment.
4. While Gwen is a lot better at magic by this point compared to her canon counterpart (Since she started magic early), she still makes mistakes and hasn't practiced with a lot of them yet. Some she's gotten down, but they aren't powerful enough or she sticks to the same ones to be safe.
Next Chapter - Be Afraid of the Dark
