A flying cab soars through the skies of Bellwood's Uppertown, joining countless other aerial vehicles in traffic. It was a busy, sunny day in the shining city of tomorrow.
In the distance of the highly advanced metropolitan district, 'Bar Oppah's sign could be seen flickering, advertising its presence, sticking out like a sore thumb; despite being one of the shorter mega-skyscrapers hidden in between its taller neighbors.
Bellwood Uppertown - Bar Oppah - Overseer's Office
Sat in the comfort of his luxurious chair, looking to the window of his office, Argit could be seen lost in thought, a rare sight for most. A thinking Argit only meant serious business. The unlikely crime lord spun around his chair, and faced Ben Tennyson, who was seated to the left side of his desk.
Argit opened his mouth to talk, but then stopped, closing it and tapping his desk, thinking, then resuming his speech attempt.
Argit: "Ok, ok, Tetramand's, Incurseans, that's what's trending. As the famous Ma Vreedle always said: wherever there's war, there's money. You're a goodie two shoes and this job's a little rough around that edge of yours, but hear me out..." He pressed a button on the keyboard in his desk, causing a holographic illustration to appear. "This is Aldust-9, a moon circling a gas giant on one of the systems the Incurseans recently took from the Tetramand's. All we gotta talk about is the stash they're holding onto." He illustrates a graph of the moon.
Ben studies the illustration.
Argit: "Ships, Weapons... Big weapons. Stuff that could conquer entire planets, we're talking big value on the market, but that's not why I'm reeling you in." He paused, turning his gaze to a corner.
Rojo walked towards the desk with a physical folder, placing it on the desk, scattering its contents.
Rojo: "The Incurseans have something powerful in their arsenal, we're talking stronger than nuclear. Word got out because of an energetic reading off of Aldust-9. Something's sparking up more energy than the systems own star... take a guess where it's located." She threw another image, this one illustrated the Incursean base. "The motherlode... Flat in the middle of the Incursean Armory."
Argit picked up one of the images from the folder. "Look at this, do you want the Incurseans to have whatever that is up their sleeve?" He showed Ben an image that illustrated the energy readings.
Ben looked at Argit with a doubtful look.
Ben: "And you want me to think it'll be better off in your hands?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Rojo: "Not with us. We're going to sell it to the Union."
Argit: "Let's be honest, the Plumbers will totally dismantle whatever this thing is, making sure no one uses it. Money earned, lives saved, weapon wasted."
Ben is left to his thoughts. "I wouldn't even trust the Plumbers with something like that anymore."
Argit threw the image back at the desk, rolling his eyes. "Hey, hey, pick the lesser of all 'evils' here, hero. See it clearly: big money, big game, and big saves. How many people will the Incurseans hurt with something like that?" The Orcupon argued.
In truth, Argit truly needed Ben for this job, there was only one other person that could pull it off, but definitely not alone.
Ben looked at Argit, starting to agree with him as he changed his posture. He looked to his right, extending his hand to tap whoever was sitting in a chair beside him.
Ben: "What do you think?" He waits for an answer. The chair slightly moves to the left to face him.
The small, light-blue figure of a duck-like alien in beige colored gunslinger's attire sat on the chair beside him.
It was Rad 'Profit-Danger-Trouble' Dudesman. Smuggler, Mercenary, and total Gun-nut. He subtly tilted his head, readjusting his pitch black shades.
"You got me signed in at 'big money'..."
Title Card
Incursean Space - Lovely Duck Interior
Dudesman was calibrating the ship's nav-computer to lock onto Aldust-9. Ben was adjusting the interface on the gauntlet of the Omnitrix. Overall the trip was quiet, both of the paired legends were already acquainted with each other.
Their relationship has been one of respect towards their respective professions, despite the bumpy road they had to endure to even reach said level of 'respect'. Dudesman's greed and carelessness was distasteful to Ben, and Ben's previous phase of immaturity and naiveness was equally distasteful to Dudesman, but as all goes to the saying, time provides a path to change, and that path has brought them together once again.
The ship's artificial intelligence, Pyxi, pops up in it's holographic projection, spouting out what sounded like gibberish to most.
Dudesman: "I know." The sapient duck responded to his artificial assistant, calibrating a set of commands on the ships control panel.
Ben: "What did it say?"
Dudesman simply pointed ahead, prompting Ben to squint his vision, trying to pinpoint what it was that his avian companion was directing his feathers to.
Ben widens his eyes at the sight. An inconceivable amount of Incursean Warships. Far too many of them.
An entire conglomerate of fleets, orbiting around Aldust-9 as it's lunar blockade.
The Lovely Duck went into a stealth mode, activating it's cloaking capabilities as it approached the gravitational pull of the red and greyish moon.
The ship eventually started passing through hundreds of these massive flagships, along with its smaller frigates accompanying it.
Ben looked around, stoically yet worriedly. "I thought this place was just some basic military armory... Wasn't expecting the entire Incursean armada to be here..." He turns his sight to study the radar, seeing the widespread amount of ships in total.
Dudesman: "It's but a fraction." He pushes the thrusters forward.
Ben has dealt with the Incurseans plenty of times before, but this was new, this was a sight to be wary of. He wasn't a stranger to seeing a fleet, recalling that one time the Incurseans invaded Earth. Even the Tetramands themselves had their own shared display.
The Blue Marble never really did manage to catch a break from it's uninvited visitors, even before the great transition.
Continuing its stealthily passage through the crowded orbit, The Lovely Duck remained undetected. An eerie venture through the dead-silent vacuum of space, up until they managed to push through, and go into the thin atmospheric reentry.
SCENE
Aldust-9 - Dead Volcanic Plains - Daytime
Turbulence shook the ship, removing their cloaking capabilities. The duck-shaped spacecraft descends from the humid collection of clouds, and flies across the ashy lands of Aldust-9, a volcanic moon, in its more inactive season. The land was all but a mix of black, gray, and bright strands of red with brightly pale skies. A perfectly desolate world, where only the toughest of mindless creatures could thrive off the heating soil.
The Lovely Duck lands on top of an ash ridden hilltop, hidden away in a valley surrounded by tall, sharpened formations of volcanic residue.
A group of insect-like creatures run away from the disturbance, hiding in nearby crevices.
Lovely Duck - Interior - Cockpit
Pyxi spouted out another share of gibberish that only Dudesman could understand, before he finished buckling up the ships landing procedures.
"Noted." The Smuggler replied to the pink holographic square. "We're rolling on your ride." He bumped Ben's shoulder. "Incursean base is only a few blocks away. We go in, jam their communications, shoot some frogs, and snatch 'big boom'. Get paid." He got off his seat and started walking away.
Ben: "Uh, alright." He got up from his seat. "What's the approach for the occasion, loud or quiet?" He stretched himself.
Dudesman stopped in his tracks, turning his head to side eye Tennyson. A clear bodily message that indicated the pointlessness of his question.
Dudesman: "I'm never quiet." He subtly smiles.
SCENE
Incursean Base Gate - Dead Volcanic Plains
The Incurseans had set up a base of operations on the flat landscape, the only standing settlement on this rock. It was a large dome shaped military base, with different sections, separated inside a protective encasing. The Incurseans are amphibious life forms, they're likely to need a terrarium of sorts to be able to survive these contrasting environments.
Troops marched about in guard duty both throughout the swampy terraformed interior, and the exterior. A hovering transport vehicle was let in through a set of ray-shielded gates, and once it concluded it's passage, the gates were up again. Security was adequately tight.
One guard up on a tower motioned the guards below to stay alert, pointing to the horizon. Croaking sounds were emitted from the troops on the ground when they turned to face the horizon.
Some kind of rover, a land vehicle, unidentifiable to them, was going towards the base at great speeds.
It was The Rust-Bucket.
They watched as it continued it's speedy approach, unholstering their weapons.
Nearing its arrival, the earthly modified vehicle slowed down, stopping just before the gates.
Confused croaks were emitted. The passenger windshield is lowered, it gets stuck a bit, raised a bit, then lowered in it's entirety.
Ben, transformed as NRG, greets the Incursean soldiers. He covered the symbol of the Omnitrix with a sheet of cloth.
Ben: "What's up, what's up, what's up! Sorry for appearing outta nowhere! We are... lost! Could use some directions." He talked through a deep accent resembling a slavic accent.
The Incurseans looked at each other. One of them walked up to the passenger door.
Incursean: "This is a restricted area, now under Incursean occupancy. You are trespassing. Identify yourselves, and explain your circumstances." He hold his weapon close.
Ben: "Da! So sorry! You see, me and my son have been camping out here for about a month now! Celebrating my retirement!" He laughed.
The Incursean only stared.
"We really had no idea this place had been restricted. We mean no harm, and our respect goes to Princess Attea!" Ben added.
The Incursean guard raised his gaze to look inside the vehicle. He saw Rad Dudesman meddling with a Holo-computer, on the driver's seat.
Dudesman stopped working on the computer, looked at the Incursean, and then resumed his task.
Incursean: "That, is your son?" He emphasized 'that' in a derogatory tone.
Ben: "Hey..." He responded in a serious tone, leaning in towards the Incursean. "He's adopted."
Dudesman was calibrating a jammer from the holo-computer. The antenna at the top of the Rust-Bucket locked in on the base's signal, granting him access to the mainframe.
They needed a little more time, luckily the distractions Ben was providing were ridiculous enough to provide just that.
Ben: "Sixty seven years, sixty seven years I spent manufacturing water bottles in the moons of Anur Transyl, could you imagine? It was time I enjoyed nature."
The Incursean was so confused.
"What is a bottle?" A question uttered after a croak.
Ben freezes up, lowers his hand, and lifts a finger. "What- what do you mean 'What is a bottle', it's like the fourth time I've heard this question."
Another Incursean Troop barges in, aggressively. "Hey! Shut up, showcase your identification or we will be forced to escort you off-world." He lifted his weapon to intimidate Ben.
Ben: "Alright, alright, jeez. One second, could you at least help me with directions while I look for my ID?" He opened the dashboard drawer, faking a search.
Dudesman was watching as a progress bar was about to finish loading up on the jammer.
Incursean: "Right, hurry up, and show some ID; where are you planning on going anyways?"
Ben: "Wyoming."
The Incurseans looked at each other, confused.
The progress bar on Dudesman's computer finishes. The duck-like alien slams a button. The satellite sends out the frequency jam, disrupting the Incursean base's communications with the Armada.
The high pitch sound caused by the jammer deafens nearby troops through the built-in intercoms inside their helmets. Bending and holding their heads through the pain.
The two guards near the Rust-Bucket were momentarily stunned.
NRG punches one of them, a single hit granting swift unconsciousness. He then grabs the other guard, pulling him to the door, slamming his face against it, knocking him out.
The Infiltration begins.
The duo get out of the Rust-Bucket, and initiate their full on assault against the Incursean defenses. Most troops weren't quick to react.
Rad Dudesman took them by the element of surprise, bringing out a blaster rifle and joining in on the firefight.
Plunged with incoming blaster fire, as it ricocheted off his armored exterior, NRG launched beams of intense radiation through his faceplate, destroying all of the gate's defenses.
The base's alarm finally goes off, prompting the duo to move swiftly with their plans.
Dudesman utilizes the full technological might of his weaponry to efficiently dominate the remaining Incursean troops, clearing the path for Ben to somehow break through the base's gates.
-- HUMUNGOUSAUR --
Ben grows up to his maximum Vaxasaurian capacity, and charges towards the base's ray-shielded barrier.
Dudesman sprints after him, and manages to hold onto Humungousaur's tail, dragging himself up to climb on him as he charges.
Inside the swampy domed base, Incursean troops were already on the move, settling themselves for the breach. It was still unclear what was happening, but the moment Humungousaur blasted through the main gate and began his rampage throughout the terraformed facility, it was a no brainer who their attacker was.
Humungousaur let out a fearsome roar as he laid waste to the Incursean defenses, while Dudesman held onto his elbow, using his laser rifle to shoot down the opposition below, as well as bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'duck and cover'.
The Incurseans mobilized three of their heavy artillery vehicles, tanks of sorts, but were unlucky in their attempts, as Humungousaur grabbed the cannon-end of one of the tanks, lifting it and using it to slam down and destroy the other tanks, as the Incurseans abandoned them and ran away just before they could be granted a brutal demise.
It's safe to say that Ben Tennyson had long but outgrown his naive outlook towards what it meant to be a 'hero', his perception of reality was no longer black and white, but a rainbow, more than often tainted in blood red, especially when it came to battle.
Blaster fire rained in their direction. Dudesman retreated down to Humungousaur's lower back, still shooting at any adversaries present behind Ben's reach. It was Tennyson that was ultimately tanking all the hits, as he got angry enough to finally throw the Incursean hover-tank at the Armory's exterior wall, creating a breach in the building.
He blocked the rest of the incoming shots with his hand, allowing Dudesman to fall back and take cover behind a tank's debris, still never missing the opportunity to take out various toads.
-- CHROMASTONE --
Ben altered his strategy, turning into the crystalsapien, absorbing all the energy from the wave of blaster fire.
Incurseans could be heard letting out battle cries, persistently swarming Ben with heavy artillery, turrets, hover-tanks, and any form of energy based weaponry.
Dudesman watched from cover how Ben absorbed every, single, shot, to the point he was all but a silhouette of pure, stored energy.
Before the Incurseans could even think to reload their weapons, Ben lifted himself up into the air, and expelled every, single, shot, right back at them, in the form of sharply isolated beams of raw crystalized energy. It was a rainbow shower of precise deadly proportions that brought about immense levels of destruction towards the Incursean forces, leaving whoever remained to flee for their lives.
Ben levitated down, panting from exhaustion.
Dudesman sprinted out of cover, running towards the hole Ben had made as Humungousaur, on the Armory.
"Good job." He exclaimed, tapping him as he ran past him.
-- AMPFIBIAN --
Ben levitated towards Dudesman, as both entered the armory.
SCENE
Incursean Base - Armory - Interior
Ben and Dudesman resumed their firefight with the Incurseans, now through close-quarters. The hallways throughout the facility were vast and tight, granting little leverage for Dudesman to advance, but plenty of room for Ben to get creative and square off against the Incursean troops.
Although Captain Dudesman was inherently stuck amidst the chaos, pinned down in his cover, and unable to pop his head for a shot at the toads, Ben was never late to unintentionally show off his mundane approach to most conflicts.
With their path sealed up by waves of the frog-like creatures, Ben, as Ampfibian became intangible, and lowered his tentacles on the metallic flooring, emitting waves of less than lethal electrical impulses that immediately paralyzed the Incurseans into a knockout. Managing to showcase a balance of appropriate use of lethality.
The mastery Tennyson has acquired with most of his transformation has granted him an easy resolution to most conflicts he once considered to be great obstacles. Effort, struggle, and hardship were never present half the time. Most instances of combat had all but become illustrations of strategy, rather than theatrics. Efficiency over entertainment.
Dudesman came out of hiding, viewing the hallway brimmed with unconscious Incurseans. He looks at Ben as he stopped levitating.
Dudesman: "I was having fun."
Ben: "From my end it looked like you were in danger." He questioned.
Dudesman: "Danger is my middle name."
Ben: "Yeah, yeah, I know, but so is 'Profit', so let's get that bag and get out of here before that Armada steals your other middle name. I got things to do, so stop quacking and let's Duck Duck Go, bud." He walked away.
Dudesman lowered his weapon, staring quizzically as his human companion walked away.
In his own tracks, Ben realized that Rad hadn't moved yet.
"What's up?" He asked, wondering what had stagnated the gun-loving duck.
Dudesman: "You have changed." He said, in his usual, serious, monotone voice, without expression.
There was an odd moment of silence in their distance. Only the hum from the hallways conditioning could be heard.
Ben: "Yeah?" He didn't know how to respond to his statement.
Dudesman walked towards him, moving along beside him, fist-bumping the jellyfish-like body of Ampfibian.
"About time." He expressed, with subtle proudness, hidden in his voice, smiling underneath his shades, and walking past him down the hallway.
Ben remained there, confused, looking at him as he paced away. Tennyson couldn't help but to be overjoyed, concluding that this might have been the first time ever that this tough-as-nails smuggler ever complimented him. Whether he was changing for the better, or worse, was yet another question.
SCENE
Incursean Base - Armory - Weapons Depot
Countless Incursean troops guarded the entrance to the weapons depot, they were the remaining line of defense, guarding their empire's secret weapon.
They could only hear the conflict that emanated from the other end of the depot's doors. Echoing shots, shouts and other struggles pursued, only to come to an abrupt halt.
The Incurseans lowered their weapons, confused.
The door slid open, letting in steam from the other side. Two pairs of perfectly circular glowing green eyes pop in, as the undescribable figure of a terrifying alien life form emerged from the darkness.
-- TOEPICK --
With its ogre-like appearance, Ben, transformed as the nightmarish creature, creepily walked towards the Incurseans, revealing his incomprehensibly fear inducing face.
The Incurseans couldn't even react, not a shot was fired, they were shocked, traumatized, paralyzed. The imagery and process of said imagery, scarred them in such a way, that their amphibious brains could only do one thing, which was to immediately shut down into a state of coma.
Ben transformed back to normal. Walking into the weapons depot.
Rad Dudesman followed, but hesitated for a second, spectating Ben's level of efficiency.
Was the smuggler merely inspecting the event, or was this a sign of concern? Could it be fear, at the witness of Ben's power? Fear would be unlikely, given his fortitude, pride, and demeanor, but it could have certainly been some level of wary.
The duo continued to walk down the dim blue depot, spectating all of the weapons the Incurseans had stored.
Ben: "Look at all of this man, I know these guys are at war, but this is a first for me." He kicked a crate, managing to break it open. Countless laser rifles fell over to the floor. "Guns."
Rad Dudesman walked over to pick up one of the rifles, holstering it to his sided utility belt. "Lots of guns." The duck replied, smirking.
As they carried on towards the end of the depot, they stumbled upon a central area. A large container, surrounded by energy capacitors that were containing whatever could be held inside. The oval container was bright pink, with strands of purple. Whatever was being contained was something of immense power.
Dudesman brought out an energy signature reader, as Ben walked towards the container, tapping on it.
Dudesman's shades are subtly raised, a reaction to the readings. "Jackpot." He pointed to the container.
Ben: "This is the bomb?" He pointed at it with his thumb.
Dudesman: "Very big bomb. This energy reading is something I have never seen before." He went to show it to Ben.
Ben: "If you're surprised, which you never are... I believe you." He looked around, seeing no mainframe that could potentially control or operate this 'container'. Nothing was making much sense to him at this moment. He was confused, to say the least. "Don't you think this is a little suspicious? I mean, this thing isn't guarded enough for what it's cut out to be, Like- look at this place man. Everything was... way too easy." He stated, slowly pacing about in circles.
Dudesman crossed his arms watching him drag on with his suspicion. "We make things easy." He stated, through his arrogance, although in truth, such a powerful duo wasn't to be truffled with. "The Incurseans are at war. They must be understaffed across the galaxy. Not enough toads to guard the loads." He walked towards the container, attempting to find a way to open it. "Let's figure out this oversized battery before more show up."
Ben: "Yeah that Armada has to be suspicious by now." He walked around the entire encasing of the container, shrugging through his gestured frustration. "How the heck are we supposed to take this... 'thing' with us, what am I even looking at?"
Dudesman: "I think I know." He closed his energy reader. "transform into a being that can absorb energy. Overclock those four capacitors, that could pop this open."
Ben: "I got just the right guy for that."
-- BUZZSHOCK --
He instinctively let out his Nosedeenian laugh. Giggling as he flies upward through his electrical manipulation, merging with the capacitors.
Intense sparks were expelled from the contraption. Dudesman stepped back a little, bringing out his energy reader to scan any signs of progress. "It's working." He said to himself.
The container beamed, and beamed, flickering, as more and more sparks continued to be expelled.
Eventually, the capacitors gave out, blowing up in their malfunction. The resulting explosion kicked out Buzzshock from the capacitors.
Ben was sent straight to the ground, landing next to Dudesman, turning back into human form.
Dudesman was right in his assumption. With the capacitors overclocked, and the contraption's energetic process being interrupted. The encasing slowly popped open, lifting its glass like containment, letting out mass amounts of fog like gas come out of it.
Ben slowly got up, recovering himself. He dusted off his space-age attire, and readjusted his leather jacket.
Dudesman nudged him, as he pointed to the now opened container, noting a pinkish glow, intensifying behind the cloud of steam.
They both cautiously walked up to the center of the container, waving off the remaining steam. The suspense was overwhelming. Would it even be safe to approach an object of such emanated levels of energy? Both of them were too lost in their own grandeur to worry about any dangerous implications.
Although, upon the upcoming revelation, none of these worries would apply.
The aforementioned pinkish glow was reflected off of Dudesman's shades, and even Ben's green eyes. Their gaze widened in synchronization, and their jaws subtly dropped at the cooing revelation.
Childlike noises were expressed, and the sounds of magical, crystalized wind chimes could be appreciated, despite having no logical or apparent origin of emission.
"Is that..." Ben was the first to speak.
"A baby?"
Before them, in a black, levitating pram, was something no one in a million years would have expected.
A child, but not just any child.
An Anodite Child.
"Bahfbah" the innocent infant expressed, smiling and extending his arm towards Ben.
Dudesman scanned the baby with his energy reader, he slowly lowered it again after confirming the signature, taking off his shades for what appeared to be the first time ever, in front of Ben.
"Atom Bomb Baby..." He stated.
The readings were mind numbingly baffling. How could any being possess such incomprehensible energy signatures? Let alone, a baby.
But of course, this was no ordinary being.
Ben picked it up, with the inexperienced care of someone who's never held a baby before.
"What... The hell..." He said, as the baby cooed back at him.
A plethora of questions and concerns were piling up in regards to the unexpected discovery, but the interaction was interrupted by what appeared to be a set of tremors that shook the facility.
Ben was quick to put the child back inside the pram.
Dudesman, although unphased, looked around, confused.
-- WILDVINE --
Tennyson wrapped up the pram, and Dudesman, swiftly and hurriedly bringing them along with him, as he quickly exited the weapons depot, concealing his companions.
SCENE
Incursean Base - Exterior - Dead Volcanic Plains
The duo, along with the baby, had managed to go outside the domed base. It seemed that all of the Incurseans had either retreated up to the Armada, or gone into hiding somewhere. The base was a ghost town.
Ben let go of both the pram, and Rad, as the duck-like smuggler adjusted his shades.
Ben and Rad both looked up to unexpectedly witness one of the Incursean warships plummeting down in the horizon, crashing against the volcanic lunar soil. The shockwave soon hit them.
-- BLOXX --
Tennyson transformed into the organosillicon-based life form and shifted himself as a dome, in order to enclose himself, the child, and his companion.
Two more ships fell into the distance, destroying themselves upon impact.
Many questions would rise on the hero's mind: Firstly, what the heck was going on?
SCENE
Aldust-9 - Orbit - Incursean Blockade
The Incursean Armada was under attack. Countless warships shot at a singular speck of light, a shooting star that went straight through one of the ships, destroying it in one simple ram, immediately shooting itself onto the next frigate.
Before any more losses could be endured, the Armada retreated from Aldust-9, going into light-speed.
The mysterious ball of light stood still, then redirected itself, flying down to the lunar surface.
SCENE
Incursean Base - Exterior - Dead Volcanic Plains
The intensity of the numerous shockwaves, brought up by the crash landing of countless warships were diminishing.
Ben transformed back to normal, allowing Dudesman to view the wretched landscape.
To say that the duo were perplexed would be an understatement. Not a word was uttered, as there was nothing to say, but rather inspect. A few seconds went by, and Tennyson decided spectating wasn't ideal.
Ben: "Ok, we're stuck on our feet here, do we skidadle out of here or figure out what's going on?" He coughed out due to the widespread ash.
They both began to walk past the Rust-Bucket.
Dudesman brought out his foldable scanner, looking through it to visualize the activity up in the atmosphere, only to realize that the entire Incursean blockade was gone.
"The Incurseans are gone." The captain stated.
Ben: "What?" He was taken aback. What could possibly drive off such a massive armada?
Dudesman: "The Incurseans, they are gone. I'm not reading any activity up on the atmosphere."
Ben: "Tetramands?"
Dudesman: "Always likely."
A loud noise shrieked through the skies above.
Something was entering the atmosphere.
Dudesman pointed to the skies. "Looks like something stole my middle name." He remarked.
Ben looked to the horizon.
The previously highlighted ball of energy descended from the skies, coming to a full stop, only slightly above the ground, hundreds and hundreds of feet away from the duo.
Dudesman brought out a set of foldable binoculars to see what this thing could be.
The ball of energy dissipates, revealing the metallic shape of a hardened, bulky automaton. It falls to the ground in an abrupt manner, kneeling on its own weight, only to lift itself up. Mechanical noises are emitted as its joints mobilize themselves, readjusting itself for grounded combat. The machine lets out mass amounts of steam, as well as producing an excessively loud horn that echoes through the distance, reaching its targets.
Ben stood back, the mere sound was deafening. He looks to his partner, who seems unbothered, still viewing it through his set of binoculars.
Ben: "Trouble?"
Dudesman: "Big trouble. Techadon Slayer. One and only."
Ben: "Never heard of it."
Dudesman: "Exactly."
Ben: "I'm guessing it's here for the kid."
Dudesman: "Let's assume."
Ben: "How tough are we talking here?"
Dudesman: "Very."
Ben nods.
The Techadon Slayer scans and magnifies the trio through its heads up display. It identifies its target, reading its energy signature. Then it moves its scan towards Ben, identifying the gauntlet of the Omnitrix, evoking a readjustment to its information and approach.
"Target locked. Opposition: Two. Omni-matrix marked. Objective: Termination." It stated, through a rough voice box.
The Slayer began to heavily and slowly run towards the trio. Each stomp would lift shards of volcanic sand and crust off the ground, splashing onto its legs, with no effect.
Ben: "Dudesman, take the kid back to the ship. I'll give that chum-bucket a run for its money."
Dudesman simply nodded, taking the Anodite baby with him on its pram.
Tensions rose as the Rust-Bucket made its runaway. Ben stood at the sights of the Slayer, as it still progressively made its way towards them, leaving its footsteps marked on the ground.
Ben stood in a stand off pose, akin to that of old Western movies.
His commlink rang. It was Rad.
"Tennyson."
Ben tapped his commlink's receiver.
"Don't get cocky." Dudesman advised.
Ben smirked.
-- XLR8 --
In a flash, Ben eliminated the distance between him and the automaton, bringing the small shape of his body into an instant magnification upon proximity.
XLR8 was quick to deal in countless physical attacks through all directions, stagnating the robot. However, it was necessary to note that Ben's attacks proved ineffective, and the only thing of notable effect would be the odd reverberating waves of kinetic energy that would bounce throughout the automaton's body, with every hit Ben had dealt.
Was this thing absorbing it's damage somehow? Ben had already fought a mech suit with similar properties, but this thing would prove to be a whole different story.
This Techadon Robot was bigger than the norm, probably 16 feet tall, and worse of all, by contact alone, he could tell it was mostly taydenite armor, mixed in with whatever other synthetic shielding. It was certainly going to be a difficult task.
This robot was fast enough to react to Ben's speed, it was already adapting, moving faster and faster each time it would try to snatch up Ben, even nearly hitting him headfirst.
The hero managed to dodge the blow, but he wasn't quick enough to notice the robot's second arm, being grabbed and plunged onto the ground by the Slayer, slamming him a second time as it tightened his grip on the Kineceleran.
Ben groaned, but was quick to transform just before the robot could land another hit while he was grounded.
-- ARMADRILLO --
He tanks the hit, grabs a hold of its arm and tries to lift it, dragging it with him off balance as he gets up. Armadrillo plunges his drill-like fist on the Techadonian mech's chest, but the vibrations are somehow reflected, shoving him away, and off balance, instead of the bot.
Ben fell and nearly landed on a molten stream, widening his gaze, trying to get up, but the Slayer grabbed him by the head, and went in to shove his face on the lava.
-- SNAKEPIT --
Ben slithered away, sliding around the mech's body, entrapping it in a stronghold.
He was transformed into an organism that appeared to visually be a mix between a snake and a millipede.
The Slayer hit itself trying to swat him off, managing to throw him away, but Ben immediately recovered through swift agility, wasting no time to continue his attacks. Snakepit used his thorny tail as a whip that could generate flame based detonations due to a chemical release upon each whipping attempt.
Whip, dash, and flames, the robot could only retain.
The Slayer struggled and stuttered, only for a second, after being impacted so many times. Finally some progress, one small dent in its chest.
Ben didn't adhere to the warning, he got cocky and went for another whip attack, but the robot immediately grabbed his tail.
"Uh ohsss." He said, hissing like a snake.
The robot activated its thrusters, launching itself at an angle, dragging Ben's serpent body across the lunar soil.
-- RATH --
Ben roared in anger, bending himself to grab ahold of the Slayer's leg, releasing himself from his grasp.
He climbed on top of it, smashing the ever bolts out of it as it consequentially lost it's flight coordination within each hit.
"Let me tell you something, Techadon Slayer! You ain't slaying no one today, or ever! Rath is slaying you!" Rath continued to hit the outer shelling of the mech, creating substantial dents on it as they 'rodeo' through the air.
Unluckily for Rath's progress, they crashed and went through the wall of the Incursean base.
The robot continued to thrust itself through countless walls of the Incursean facility. The barracks, then the labs, then the armory, then the hangar, up until hitting the base's generator, promptly blowing up an entire fraction of the base. Even with that, they still managed to thrust all the way through to the other side of the base, exiting it.
Rad Dudesman had made some distance from the fight, looking through the rearview mirror, witnessing the smoke cloud. He then looked to the side to see the infant, cooing.
-- LODESTAR --
With his magnetic abilities, Ben drags the Slayer and himself down to the ground, crash landing.
The Slayer never seemed to lose sight of the Rust-Bucket, immediately attempting to get up and fly again, but Ben is equally quick on his feet by using his magnetic pull to attempt splitting the automaton in half, holding it in place.
But even Lodestar's abilities were null to affect the robot, as it immediately did a 180 degree turn, to shoot intense laser beams at Lodestar, spraying him away like a mild inconvenience.
Ben was almost burnt to a crisp by the blast, kneeling on the ground as the robot marched after its target.
Ben: "You've got to be kidding." He sighed.
-- UPGRADE --
Tennyson charged towards the machine, attempting to merge with it before it could react. For a split second, he had managed, but suddenly the Slayer kicked him out through some sort of shock-based countermeasure, throwing him away once again, as it continued it's pursuit.
-- GRAVATTACK --
One would think that a can of bolts wouldn't be able to resist the full-on intensification of a gravitational field around it, but you couldn't be more wrong. Ben used his abilities to plummet the Slayer into a crumbling ditch.
Gravattack crushed the land, inwards, by gravitationally crushing down the surface where the Slayer stood, pinning him down, like an insect.
He thought that would be enough, but he was shocked, seeing the robot, unharmed, and slowly but surely getting up.
"Come on!"
He crushed him again, creating an even deeper crater on the lunar surface, to the point he had reached lava.
The magma covered the robot, but it was but a mere scratch. It spasmed in its calibration, but it kept on going, step by step.
"No way..." Is all Ben could think of.
Not even this transformation was fit for the gravity of the situation.
What did it take to turn this thing into scrap metal? Maybe that was it. Crush it like a can, a more practical approach.
-- WAYBIG --
Dudesman looked back again as they drove away, seeing the gigantic figure of a To'Kustar.
Just when the Slayer had finally climbed out of the crater, Ben attempted to step on the unsuspecting war-bot, slamming his enormous foot where the automaton ran, burying it under the dirt.
The hero smirked victoriously, but perhaps too soon. He widens his eyes in sudden pain, shouting out at the strange biting sensation that gripped his foot.
Underneath his foot, The Techadon Slayer had latched its spiky arms into the To'Kustar's skin.
In an unfathomable showcase of strength, the robot somehow lifted Waybig's foot with such dense intensity, that it pushed Ben unbalanced, sending him falling backwards. A display as ridiculous as an ant tumbling a human.
Dudesman took note of the giant shadow that was cast over the Rust-Bucket, looking back to see Waybig falling towards them.
The Smuggler activated the vehicle's thrusters, speeding its way out of harms way just before the giant alien life forms' body could crush them.
Ben laid on the ground, looking straight up at the sky, groaning. "How..." He asked himself.
How indeed. That robot did not obey the laws of physics.
As he gazed above, he saw the robot fly past his line of sight, like a mosquito you just can't quite kill. He squinted his eyes in anger.
Ben got up slightly, bringing his arms together to launch an energy beam at the robot, zapping it momentarily.
-- BIG CHILL --
"If I can't break you, I'll hold you." Ben flew straight towards it, and before it could get back up, he phased through its body, freezing it into a stone cold brick. He stopped next to it, walking around it, tapping the ice.
There was a clear pattern of underestimation, thinking that this could ever hold The Slayer, he lifted off, leaving to catch up with Rad Dudesman.
SCENE
Dudesman arrived at The Lovely Duck's landing area, parking the Rust Bucket right under the ships hangar platform.
He ran outside with the levitating pram following him, locking the stationary wires onto the Rust-Bucket so that the ship could reel it inside.
Right on queue, Ben arrived, walking past the back of the Rust-Bucket, folding his wings into a cloak.
Dudesman: "The Slayer?" He jogged down to him.
Ben: "Turned it into a popsicle, that should hold him off for a bit."
Just before they could run back inside The Lovely Duck, two incredibly powerful laser beams sliced through the entire ship, causing it to blow up into smithereens.
The explosion threw all of them back outside, along with the Rust-Bucket, tossed into a set of bumpy rock formations, falling upside down.
Upon their recovery, Ben prioritized the child's safety, checking up on it in its slightly damaged pram. Dudesman however, stood up from the rubble, seeing his ship completely destroyed before him, along with Pyxi. He clenched his fist.
The Anodite child started crying on his brim. Ben was saddened upon seeing the poor child in such a state of crisis, gently putting his hand on it's forehead.
Reacting at the sound of loud metallic stomps, the duo turned to see the Techadon Slayer marching its way past the Rust-Bucket, letting out steam, and shrugging off chunks of permafrost.
It let out a mechanical hum.
"Target locked." It said out loud, focusing on the child.
Dudesman brought out his weapons, and Ben got in a combatant stance.
Ben: "Hope you're ready for some co-op action."
Dudesman: "I was hatched ready."
Ben: "Let's see what makes this thing crack."
-- TEMPEST --
Ben turned into a large bull-like centaur alien, letting out a roar as Dudesman climbed on him, charging towards the automaton.
The Slayer braced itself for the fight, too heavy and somewhat damaged to hold back Tempest's charge.
Ben used his large deer-like super horns to smash through the automaton, as it held onto them, creating a drag through the ground. Meanwhile, Dudesman fired his gatling laser rifle at the mech.
Dudesman hopped off Ben's horseback body, and continued his attack towards the robot, on the ground.
The Slayer let out a hum, powering up and managing to stop the drag, holding Tempest In-place, lifting him, and throwing him away, as well as immediately launching a laser beam that sent Ben flying straight through a rock formation.
Being the only current target, Dudesman had to dodge various laser beams before he'd turn into a thanksgiving meal course.
Ben came back to the fight transformed as Diamondhead, and the conflict ensued.
Both sides were equally matched, but only one could ever get tired.
Rad would be able to leverage countless shots at the automaton, although they didn't seem as effective as the hits Ben could deal in on the Slayer.
An entire roster of alien transformations were sequentially used. Four Arms, dealing in intense bashes and strength based attacks, Shocksquatch with his electrical powers, Arctiguana with its immobilizing permafrost abilities. Whatever he used, it would only prove to merely stagnate the Slayer.
Techadon had made its magnum opus. An unstoppable force.
Blitzwolfer, Heatblast, Frankenstrike. Nothing.
The Slayer attempted to shoot the child, but Frankenstrike managed to pull it's arms away, redirecting the beam. As well as Dudesman helping out by distracting it, which is all he could really do. hit and run were his options in this situation.
Fasttrack, Jetray, Swampfire. Still Nothing.
It was when he finally used Feedback that he managed to make a dent on the Slayer.
With Feedback's energy absorption abilities, he prompted The Slayer to shoot a laser beam at him, reverting it right back to it, which sent him through countless walls of rocks, away from the vicinity.
The Anodite child saw the entire fight, saddened in the comfort of his pram.
Ben and Rad followed suit to where the robot had landed. When they arrived, Ben tried to get it to attack him with his laser beam again, but this was no ordinary robot. It had acknowledged Ben's strategy the moment he utilized it, changing it's approach to melee combat. This level of adaptability is what gave Ben a run for his money.
It was moments like these that Ben would miss the unique functionality of the Ultimatrix. Going ultimate against such rare yet powerful opponents would always turn the tide of events into an ease of a challenge. Master Control was convenient, but there truly only was so many forms up his sleeve for every scenario.
But wait, what a fool he was, there was only one guy left up his arsenal that was worthy of ultimate status. Had he forgotten or had he held back on using him, only because he'd rather leave a dent on the robot, and not on the entire moon?
"Dudesman, get away!" He shouted.
Confused, Dudesman complied, hiding away.
-- ATOMIX --
Ben transforms into one of his most powerful transformations, a green and white robotic alien overflowing with intense radiation. A living, breathing nuclear reactor.
The Slayer stopped fighting, analysing, as Atomix clenched his fists.
With his full atomic might, Ben blasted off towards The Slayer, landing hundreds of consecutive hits, disallowing it to fight back due to the intensity. They flew miles away from where they had stood, dragging through the land, smashing through mountains. The robot seemed to be getting damaged, finally.
They landed on the previous crater, stepping into the lava, fighting profusely.
The Slayer could now only rely on mimicry against Ben in an almost equally balanced struggle.
Atomix ripped apart a portion of the automaton's propulsion mechanisms, along with a few armor platings.
Ben gripped the Slayer's head, but it managed to hit his gut, followed by an uppercut that loosened Ben's grip, freeing itself.
But Tennyson was determined, once again he grabbed its head, then blasted off up into the skies above.
He flew up, and up, and up, until it seemed ludicrous to continue, releasing The Slayer into a fall.
As he looked down to see its heavy descent, Atomix waved around his hands, groaning as he powered up his core, ramping up his nuclear energy.
Most clouds around him began to disintegrate due to the high amounts of radiation, but those that remained were naturally enhanced into a storm.
The weather changed, and it began to rain, as thunder sparked up around him.
"Nuclear Winner!" He yelled out, releasing an indescribable amount of nuclear energy, in the form of a blast, straight down at the Slayer.
From a significant distance, Dudesman watched, nearly blinded by the nuclear blast.
The horizon was blindsided by the resulted attack.
As the beam dissipated, rain arrived where Rad and the child where situated, darkening the skies.
Atomix had flown down to investigate the remains of the Slayer. A giant crater had been formed after the blast, and at the center laid the heavily damaged Techadon Slayer. Ben kicked it, but there was no reaction.
A few seconds went by, no signs of movement. To Ben, this had to signify the end of the fight. The soulless mechanical monster had been put out of commission.
He blasted off into the skies, leaving the mech to its own burial.
SCENE
With his feathers now beginning to drench up, making him look like a used sponge, Dudesman sat down beside the floating pram, closing its glass encasing so that the child wouldn't get soaked.
The duck sighed, removing his shades.
For once, he was tired, lowering his head.
There was a moment of peace and quiet, the rain was both soothing and tiresome, putting out the fire that had persisted on the now destroyed ship.
A green flash of propulsion deafened and illuminated Dudesman, as he tilted his head up to see Atomix landing near him.
Ben: "That was one tough nut to quack wasn't it?" He said.
Dudesman let out a deep exhale, but unexpectedly smiled.
SCENE
After a few much needed minutes of rest, the trio headed to the flipped Rust-Bucket, clearly tired, no, exhausted.
Atomix grabbed the Rust-Bucket, gently flipping it back properly.
As it landed, Atomix immediately looked at the passenger window, looking into the glass's reflection, dropping his tired expression to one of fear and disbelief.
The Techadon Slayer stood still far behind them. Crooked and faulty, with half of its bulky protective frame missing.
"No..." Tennyson said in total shock.
Ben turned around, momentarily spooked.
Dudesman went to look as well, but he was brutally shot by the Slayer, letting out an unsettling painful 'quack' as he was blasted away.
Killed in cold blood.
Ben let out a long and powerful 'No' In dreadful denial. His friend was now dead.
A single feather floated down amidst the humid air, as Dudesman's avian body hit the floor. His shades now broken into a hundred glass shards, as they clashed with the lunar surface.
The child cried.
The Slayer wasted no time, and grabbed Atomix.
It now imitated his every move-set against him.
Ben didn't have time to react, he was now pinned down to the ground. He fought back, but it was ineffective. It was as if anything he tried to do, the Slayer had something to cancel it out. Everything they threw at it made it stronger, smarter, faster, even if damaged, it still had enough computational power to finish it's current objective:
'Destroy Ben Tennyson'
The Slayer slammed, slammed, and slammed its bulky fists against Atomix's face, putting a disturbingly gruesome dent on it.
Then it went for his leg, bending it into a disgusting cracking position, as Ben yelled out in pain.
The Slayer had bent and broken Atomix's leg, dragging him away, perhaps to deal a final blow.
In a last ditch effort, Atomix raised his hand to blast The Slayer, but the robot turned it's body and seamlessly bent his arm, breaking it as well.
Tennyson was drenched in agonizing pain.
Ben turned back to normal in order to release himself from its grasp. With his leg still broken, all he could do was desperately crawl away in pain, crying out.
The Slayer hurriedly walked back to him at a horrific pace, with his metallic stomping deafening Ben.
It grabbed his broken leg, causing him intense pain.
The Anodite baby watched in horror, intensely crying as rain landed on his pram's visor.
Ben was beginning to lose consciousness, slightly closing his eyes, then opening them back again.
He was dying.
The Slayer slammed him at the top of a rock formation, as he let out his lasts remaining breaths.
Ben looked up to see the automaton rigidly aim down its laser cannon right above him. The red light was blinding, and the heat was uncomfortably palpable, burning his face as it closed in.
Was this really it? All this time, all this struggle, all he had accomplished? To be beaten by a robot. He had beaten gods, monsters, and beings of superior nature, but here he lied, slain by some unnamed techno overlord's science project.
Suppose, that would be the irony of his life.
No more last minute saves, no more cheating death, no more Alien X. If this was what fate had in store for him, then so be it.
After all, It would at least be a hero's death. He was content with what could be placed in his tombstone.
Ben closed his eyes.
SCENE
Was he dead?
Was it finally over?
He could see the pale blinding beam through his eyelids, he could sense the heat, but not the pain. What was this?
Ben painstakingly opened his eyes again, seeing something he could not explain in his current state.
The Slayer was floating, put in some kind of levitational hold, squirming in the air, as his laser beam was pointed away from Ben.
The Robot began to slowly be crushed, imploding amidst this pinkish aura of energy that surrounded it.
An excruciatingly loud sound was being slowly emitted through the crushing of his indestructible shell, although now, as it seemed, it wasn't as indestructible as it was thought to be.
What was happening?
Ben turned his head, tilting through the pain.
He saw the Anodite child, sitting up on his pram, with his hand extended forward, using his cosmic mana abilities to save him.
The Slayer was imploding in on itself.
Unexpectedly, roots started sprouting out from it's insides. Each root would consume the robots parts, until there was nothing left, and through a shrieking metallic scrape, there was a sudden, harmless, pale explosion that was launched outward, then reverting inwards, blinding Ben.
When his sight recovered, where the killing machine once stood, now lay a massive, beautiful tree, with its white petals falling on him.
The storm dissipated, and with it, the darkness, as the sun fell on them once again.
The Anodite Child panted, falling unconscious on his pram.
Ben watched the child from where he laid, struggling to breath. His pupils were engulfed in sharpened agony. He couldn't move, he couldn't think.
He extended his hand towards the child, losing his sense of the world around him, and losing a sense of himself, closing his eyes again, leaving whatever came next up to the hands of fate.
The valley fell quiet, only the calming sounds of leafs and petals being sent out by the wind could be admired, with no one left to hear them, no one left to witness, and no one left to help.
Amongst the fossils of chaos, left undisturbed, was a single feather, sat upon the darkened sands of Aldust-9.
End Card