A little bit of a breather chapter this week, due to weather. By far the shortest chapter. Hope you guys are staying warm!


Ruby was practically vibrating in her seat. "We're taking a private plane to go to some billionaire's undersea hotel, this is the best day ever."

"Do you think we'll find mermaids?" Ben asked curiously as the plane began to descend. "I mean, if aliens exist, why not?"

"Ooooh, that'd be so cool," Ruby said, eyes sparkling. "But I wouldn't want them to be like the Little Mermaid, I want scary, eat-your-face-off mermaids, those are cooler."

"Weirdo," Ben said fondly.

"Like you're one to talk."

Meeting up with Donovan Gransmith was a treat, but his grandson? Not so much. All Ruby and Ben had to do was greet him and all he did was give a dismissive, "Whatever."

Ruby and Ben shared a look before glaring at him.

Getting inside the hotel was like descending from an amusement park ride, complete with seeing oceanic animals swimming around the tube. "Best. Day. Ever," Ruby whispered, and Ben had to agree.

"You sure this was the safest place to build a resort like this?" Max asked, concerned.

"You talking underwater fault lines?" Donovan asked.

"I'm talking about being smack dab in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle."

Ben and Ruby tore their gazes from the ocean and shared a look.

"Growing up you always were the worrywart, Max," Donovan said cheerfully. "Never the risk taker." As the resort loomed near, he swept out his arm. "I give the world's first and only underwater resort." As the light reached them, he added, "You won't believe what's down here."

And indeed they didn't. While the underwater hotel was freakishly cool, it didn't detract from the fact that aliens kept swarming it. Where did they even come from anyway?!

(At least Edwin turned out to be an alright dude. Granted he was kind of a brat, but with a grandfather who liked to throw money at the problem instead of dealing with it properly, Ben couldn't blame him for always being so sour. Plus he got them out of that alien swarm earlier, so, you know, he was alright in Ben's book.)

"I knew you shouldn't have taken it!" Edwin snarled at his grandfather. "I knew it!"

"Edwin, quiet!" Donovan snapped. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"How would you know?!" he said, frustrated. "All you ever hear from me is what you wanna hear!"

And then the octopus-like robots suddenly swarmed out of the Undersea Manta Ray, and at that point everyone just started running. Once they were safe in the elevator, Max demanded, "Donovan, what is going on?!"

"Okay," the millionaire sighed. "The underwater volcano thing didn't work. The resort was doomed. I was going to become a punchline to a bad joke. Then I found this… other energy source, on this weird craft way down below. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before."

"And now those aliens want it back," Ruby stated grimly.

"Yeah," Ben agreed, "the same ones with the underwater parking lot full of boats and planes."

After escaping from a rushing tidal wave of water and evil aliens, Max said, "Twenty-eight years on the job and I never found out who was behind the Bermuda Triangle. And now they're coming for us."

Getting inside the water-crafts that would lead them to the surface, everyone thought they were safe… except robotic tentacles slammed down on the metal, crunching it and separating the group. Max and Donovan screamed as they were led upwards by the track, and the kids were forced to watch as they sped back down to the resort.

"We're gonna be flattened!" Edwin screamed.

"No we're not!" Ruby declared, holding onto him. "Now close your eyes and brace for impact!"

A flash of green light and Ben was Water Hazard, and he grabbed Ruby and Edwin and practically slid across the water, the jets underneath his feet forcing him to fly upwards.

"Who is-?" Edwin gasped.

"Just another friendly alien, here to help," Ruby told him quickly (and not very convincingly).

"Hold on, this is gonna be bumpy," Ben said as he saw the octopi aliens after them. The tentacles jutted out of the water like serrated blades, and it took all of Ben's concentration to dodge them all.

"Look out!" Ruby screamed, and Ben felt cold rushing water over him. He let go of the kids, the three of the tumbling into the water. But then Ben plucked them out of the sea, his eyes glowing, and he could feel pulsating warmth coming out of his hands.

"Edwin," Ben said as they were once again airborne, "where's the energy orb? We need to get to it before the aliens do."

"It's all the way on the other side of the resort, Ben," Edwin told him, brow furrowed. "We'll never make it like this."

Ben hoisted both children on his back and declared, "Watch me." And then he flew threw the resort, streams of water flying from his hands like a highly pressurized fire hoses. They hit any wayward aliens that tried to attack them with ease, severing robotic tentacles and leaving remnants of metal in the water.

More and more robotic limbs flew out of the water and at the superpowered mollusk. Ben blasted the limbs with relative ease. When they tried to sneak up behind him, Ben just focused his water at the back pores of his body, and down they went. "I call that move 'Back Blast'!"

"...lame," Ruby commented.

By the time they made it to the jet skis, Ben said, "All right, now we're talking," just as the Omnitrix began to time out. He quickly set down Ruby and Edwin in two of the vehicles, but not before he was captured by numerous aliens.

"Ben!" he heard Ruby cry out as Water Hazard turned into a normal human. Ben was able to squeeze out of the trap (the aliens had oddly slow reflexes, seriously?) and he hoisted himself up on Ruby's jet ski.

The three of them sped off just as another alien was about to attack, but like a total badass Edwin used a wooden oar as a lance and slammed into the creature, killing it instantly. "Thanks," Ben said, genuinely impressed.

"No, thank you! That was awesome!" Edwin crowed. And then his eyes widened. "Hey, look out!"

Aliens were approaching them, and without weapons it was all they could do to avoid them in the water. One of them ended up attaching themselves to Ruby's jet ski, so Ruby smirked and drove up a ramp, the two of them screaming as they flew in the air. They landed on a downward ramp, the alien crashing and letting go behind them. And then they slid back into the water and joined Edwin on their quest.

The location of the orb was half-submerged in water, the metal tubes connecting the pod the only thing truly visible. The three of them slowed near the orb, and Edwin quickly unlocked the hatch. The inside glowed a stunning purple, alien and powerful.

"If that orb can power this whole resort, just imagine what those aliens did with it," Ruby breathed, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Stealing all those ships and planes would be a good guess," Ben spat.

"Maybe, if we reverse the connections, it would turn its outward power inward," Edwin realized, eyes wide.

"And make the whole resort implode," Ruby said, grinning.

"With those aliens in it!" Ben cheered.

"Good thinking, Edwin!" Ruby beamed at him.

"Thanks!" Edwin said with a smile. "But we still need to get out of here."

Ben smirked at that. "I think I have an idea."

It didn't take long for Edwin to tinker with the orb's settings, which was a good thing because oh god the aliens were back. Luckily they were able to ride away before the aliens caught sight of them, and by the time they arrived the three children were already halfway across the resort.

"How much time do you think we have?" Ruby asked as she maneuvered her jet ski around a corner.

"Not much," Edwin said grimly. And then they slid to a stop right in front of the old submarine, the one that was supposed to be hanging up by the ceiling but was now floating in water.

"Get in!" Ben ordered.

"That thing's your escape plan?" Edwin exclaimed incredulously. "It's only for show!"

Ben held up the wrist with the watch and smirked. "Just trust me." And then he turned his Upgrade and absorbed the submarine, the golden flesh turning black, green, and white.

"He has to tell me how he does this," Ben heard Edwin mutter inside the machine, and he could hear Ruby's responding giggle. And then Ben swam them out of there, just as the resort imploded in on itself, glass breaking and smoke appearing beneath the waves.

By the time they reached the surface, the skies had cleared, the docks were empty, and Max and Donovan were waiting for them right outside. The submarine lifted itself in the air, bobbing slightly in its golden glory. Ben, Ruby, and Edwin opened the hatch and walked out onto the surface, Edwin even waving down at the stupefied adults.

Once down on the docks, Donovan had to ask, "How did you get that sub to work? It hasn't run in eighty years!"

"It's like I said, Donovan," Max said easily, "grandkids have an amazing way of rising to the occasion."

"The good news is that all the aliens are toast," Ruby said happily.

"The bad news… is that so's the resort, Grandpa," Edwin said, eyes downcast.

Donovan went down to his knees to look his grandson in the eyes. "Hey, who cares? You're all okay, and that's all that matters." With a quirk of his brow, he added, "You'll have to fill me in on all the details, Edwin."

"Most of them," Edwin said, giving Ben and Ruby a subtle wink. "And the name's Eddie, Grandpa."

Donovan nodded, and the two finally shared a heartfelt hug.

"I think our work here is done," Max told his kids, smiling down at them.

(At least until Donovan declared his next resort was going on the moon. It took a little while longer to convince him otherwise.)


At the time I write this, the 4th anniversary of Monty Oum's death has occured. I hope you all keep him in your thoughts. "Keep Moving Forward."