It's rare for this story to start a chapter in medias res, but this case warrants it. Let's just say that some dude named Steam Smythe wanted something special in some time capsule in Silicon Valley, and now the Tennyson's were fighting him on a steampunk blimp.
"Come on, Smythe. The time capsule's probably nothing," Ben's raspy Heatblast voice quipped. He shot a jet of fire out of his hands, destroying a few of the villain's clockwork robots.
"Yeah, I know you're scared of the future and everything," Ruby added as she decapitated a few more with her scythe, "but still! This is kind of extreme, even for you."
"You don't get it, do you?" Smythe sneered as he and his robots crowded over the capsule. "I'm sure Tesla would've had a failsafe for any form of his electronics. If I could weaponize this, I could reverse this modern age back to a more fitting time!"
"You realize how fuckin' dangerous that is, right?" Ben stated flatly, melting the face of one of the robots.
Ruby nodded. "I mean, planes, trucks, cars...anyone operating those are gonna die. Not to mention the death toll in the hospitals. All of that would be on your hands."
Smythe paused for a second, then shrugged. "A small price to pay." His robots pried open the rusty time capsule. Smoke billowed out ominously from the device. Smythe reached in to grab-
"A menu?" Smythe waved around an old menu from a place called Delmonico. "What use does it serve?" He threw the thing on the ground. Ben and Ruby shot each other a look before sighing heavily.
"You don't understand the purpose of a time capsule, do you?" Ben said rhetorically, creating a platform to fly on. "Come on, Ruby. Let's get back to the Rustbucket."
"Yeah... this was a tremendous waste of time." She shot a hole in the blimp, and the two flew off like a fiery comet.
"CURSE YOU, BEN TENNYSON! AND CONFOUND YOU, RUBY ROSE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THIS COSTSSSSS?" Smythe yelled at the top of his lungs, his blimp already sinking.
"Villains have a budget?" Ben wondered out landed near the Rustbucket, which was parked in an empty field. Ben reverted back to human.
"Well, that was a waste of a Tuesday," Ruby sighed, reverting her scythe to a more compact form.
"Could've been worse," Ben said, opening the Rustbucket door. Max was relaxed in his driver's seat, reading something.
"How'd it go?" Max asked, setting down his book.
"Well," Ruby said, "we're not all living in some weird steampunk themed world right now, so I guess it was a success."
"When you said this was a normal day, you weren't kidding," Gwen said, disbelief coloring her tone. "How do you guys deal with this stuff?"
Ruby grinned. "Easily, like we're not even trying."
"I mean, we're definitely trying, but we make it look effortless," Ben added with a smirk.
[Corpus Christi Campsite, sometime during the evening]
Gwen hummed as she gathered firewood for the evening. Finally some peace, quiet, and normalcy. Very much needed, especially after that wolf thing. As she bent down to grab a branch, Gwen noticed something strange on the ground. A trail of blood.
Woah, was an animal wounded or something? She thought, bracing herself. Maybe I can cure it with one of my spells…
Gwen followed the blood trail to a large clump of bushes. She had begun to peek into the foliage when she spotted movement at the edge of her vision. Gwen turned around. Nothing... She took a deep breath. I probably just startled a squirrel or something. She turned around to check inside the bush one last time, and screamed in surprise. A strange red and black Heatblast stood behind her.
"Ben?" Gwen sighed with relief, and the blue aura that had sprung around her hands flickered away. "Why the hell would you sneak up on me like that?" She frowned. "And why does Heatblast look so weird?"
The Heatblast scowled. "Ben? You know that brat?"
Okay, Gwen thought warily. Not Ben. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion and the blue aura flickered to life around her hands once more. "Maybe. What's it to you?"
The Heatblast growled, and his entire body flared up with a fresh burst of flames. "I don't have time for this, dammit! I need to see him, now!"
Gwen stumbled away from the sudden and intense wave of heat. Her grimoire flew out of her pocket and flipped open to a page.
"Exstinstruxere pyram!" Foam shot out of Gwen's hand, wrapping around the Heatblast and knocking him out. There was a flash of red light, and when it subsided, a human kid lay in the place of the Heatblast. Gwen ran over and examined him quickly. The boy had long, shaggy black hair that needed a good washing. His face looked worn and tired, and his hands were covered in cuts and calluses. His gray and black clothes were torn and dirty.
"Who is this guy?"
[Campsite]
Max clinically examined the unconscious body of Kevin Levin, the campfire abandoned. Upon closer inspection, the boy had some bandages around his arms, some scratches and some bruises everywhere else.
"Do you guys know him?" Gwen asked, eyeing the unconscious boy.
"Yeah. This is Kevin," Ruby explained quietly. "He's a runaway Osmosian we've been trying to find for a while."
"Osmosians need some form of mental help in order to control his powers," Ben went on, voice unusually soft. "We've been trying to convince him to get some help ever since we fought in San Fran. What's he doing over here?"
"I'm more confused about how he can transform. I thought only Ben could turn into aliens. He was this weird looking Heatblast person," Gwen explained.
"Ties in with his powers. Energy absorption and all that," Ben explained. "He managed to absorb the Omnitrix back in New York, and he's been a darker, edgier hero than me."
Max came in to put a bag of frozen vegetables on a large bruise. "Whatever trouble he's gotten himself into, it seems pretty severe. "
"What should we do?" Ben asked worriedly.
"Wait till he wakes up and hear his side of the story. "
Kevin groaned as he slowly came to.
"Looks like we don't have to wait," Ben said, narrowing his eyes.
Kevin got up and looked around. He held a hand to his head and blinked rapidly. "Where...where am I?" Kevin then noticed the group staring at him. "...Tennyson."
"Levin."
"...I need help."
"Mentally or physically?"
"Both. I'm in a bit of trouble."
Ben sat down next to him. "Talk."
"First off; yeah, I admit it." Kevin sighed in defeat. "I've got some serious problems. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go around the country and stop a bunch of crimes because I'm some scared little kid with a Batman complex."
"You got that right," Ruby said tartly.
"Second, this ties into my whole 'crusade' from earlier. It wasn't a smart move to draw so much media attention to myself. Especially in San Fran."
"Why's that? Camera shy?" Ben joked halfheartedly.
"I'm being hunted," Kevin said flatly.
"By what, the cops?" Gwen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Much more serious. Alien bounty hunters. "
"...oh, damn," Ruby said, eyes wide.
"Figured I'd come across you guys sooner than later. Just followed the media trail of alien sightings, and bam, here I am," Kevin explained.
"Wait, why do they want you and not me?" Ben asked, confused. "I'm the one with the Omnitrix."
"Honestly, you should be happy it's not you." Kevin grimaced. "There's something I need to show you." He removed a bandage off his right arm to reveal an angry red and black Omnitrix growing under his skin. Vibrant red veins jutted out of his skin to connect to the watch, glowing even in the sunlight. Everyone gasped and backed away; Ben shot out of his chair and let out an expletive that would have his mother reaching for a bar of soap. "This started growing right after San Fran. Guess I took in too much juice from the Omnitrix."
Ben felt sick just looking at it. Could that happen to him?
"The guys that have been after me are saying there's a chance they could turn me into possible conduit for an underground operation of bootleg Omnitrixes. My forms are more appealing to...a certain demographic. So yeah, these crazy alien bounty hunters are after me. I need protection, and honestly, getting treated for my mental issues sounds really great right now."
"Do you happen to know who put the hit on you?" Max asked stoically.
"I think it was my old boss, to be honest," Kevin guessed. "His name was Vilgax or something."
Max looked unnerved. "I...I'm gonna go contact Anna about this," he said, before going back into the RV.
Ben walked over to Kevin and stared at the watch, horrified and curious. Gwen started flipping through her grimoire. "Do you mind if I…" Ben asked, gesturing to his wrist.
Kevin scoffed and held out his arm. "Fine. Just because you know what you're doing."
Ben pressed the button on the side, and the faceplate slowly popped up. Ben scrolled through the aliens, noticing something odd.
"Hey, how do you have my new alien forms?" Ben asked, furrowing his brow.
"Dunno," Kevin shrugged. "Maybe it's because our watches have the same data or something."
Ben continued to scroll through, noting some alien forms he didn't have. "And I'm assuming these are some gifts from your boss?"
"More like I stole them from him."
"If I may ask…" Ruby cut in. "What were these bounty hunters like?"
"There were five of them in the beginning," Kevin told her. "Managed to kill two hillbilly bounty hunters a few days ago."
Ben and Ruby looked confused. "How'd you do that?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Honestly, it was a dumb move on their part. Idiots blew themselves up. Threw the pin instead of the grenade." Kevin chuckled in spite of himself.
Ruby cringed. "Wow. Rookie mistake."
"The three that are still chasing me are a lot more dangerous though," Kevin went on, all traces of humor gone. "My boss originally hired them to hunt you down, but after he saw the AntiTrix-"
"Wait," Ben interrupted him. "You call your watch the AntiTrix? That's stupid."
Kevin immediately got mad. "Oh, shut up! What kind of a name is Echo Echo anyways?"
"It's a cooler name than Sting, that's for sure!" Ben argued.
Gwen slammed her grimoire shut and glared at them all. "Do I have to turn one of you into a goddamn chicken to get some clear answers? Shut up!"
Everything suddenly went quiet.
And then Kevin smiled. "I like her."
Ruby sighed. "You were saying?"
"There were three guys; Kraab, SixSix and their leader," he explained. "The first two are more neutral, but the one in charger? I've only heard about him. Never seen him in person. The guy's a complete mystery."
"He doesn't seem that tough." Ruby frowned. "As a hunter myself, all hunters worship fear as a tool in combat. Fear is like a disease that that eats away at logic. Once you start to fear, you won't be able to even think straight. My dad says fear can stand for two things; forget everything and run, or face everything and rise. The guy has a fear and weakness himself. Everyone does."
"She's not wrong," Gwen agreed, smirking. "Ben hates peacocks." All eyes were suddenly on Ben. Kevin chuckled under his breath.
"Fuck you, Gwen."
Max walked out of the RV, looking relieved. "Alright. We're gonna have to transport you to a secure location for the next few days."
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "And where would that be?"
"Believe it or not, the Four Corners is actually a Plumber hideout," Max explained cheerfully. "Anna's taking care of some problems down there at the moment, so we'll meet her there."
"What, are all Plumber bases in famous landmarks?" Ben said half-jokingly.
"...is Lady Liberty an actual weapon?" Ruby asked sincerely.
"Yes, and I can't legally confirm that," Max answered sheepishly. "If we wanna lay low, we're gonna have to avoid some major highways. It's gonna be 1,000 mile drive across two states at least. We'll get moving in the morning. For now…"
Gwen's hands suddenly turned a brilliant red, as small wisps of magic shot out from her book and attached themselves onto Kevin's wounds. His cuts and bruises healed instantly, leaving only smooth pale skin behind. Kevin stared in disbelief.
"Hey, don't keep your mouth open," Gwen scolded him. "Put some food in there, at least."
Ben handed Kevin a hot dog. "Consider yourself lucky you came for a normal dinner."
Kevin chuckled to himself. "I'm just lucky I could get a meal tonight."
"That's depressing," Ruby said flatly. "How about we change the subject? Anyone notice the horrible lack of cowboy hats in Texas?"
Kevin and Max were walking up to the register of an old thrift shop, some clothes in Max's arms.
"You really don't have to do this, Mr. Tennyson," Kevin said sincerely. "I'm fine with the clothes I got on my back right now."
Max laughed. "You've been on the run for nearly a month and a half. Have you even stopped to wash those clothes?
"...I would if I knew how to work a washing machine…" Kevin muttered under his breath.
"That's what I thought."
Max pulled out his wallet and was about to pay, when the doors of the thrift store exploded, causing dust and debris to go everywhere.
Something not of this world walked in, armed to the teeth in high tech purple armor. His feet were hooved. He had purple pads covering his central joints, a belt, and four central lines on his helmet to provide outlines for his face to see through. Kevin gasped and ducked underneath the counter.
"That's one of the guys that's been hunting me! How'd he find me here?" he said, panicking.
"I'm guessing this." Max picked off a dime-sized tracking device from Kevin's shirt. "Yet another reason to do your laundry."
Kevin rolled his eyes before activating the AntiTrix. He scrolled to Black Ice's icon and slapped down the watch. Diamonds started coating his arms and body, before he encased his head in crystals, forming Black Ice's head. "You pull the RV up. I'll stall this guy!"
Max nodded before running off. Kevin started firing crystals at SixSix, who formed a shield with his right arm and blocked them carelessly. His left arm created a concussive blaster that fired at Kevin, shattering his left arm. Kevin groaned, before he grew it back with relative ease.
Kevin rushed at SixSix, taking a few good swings at him. SixSix easily dodged them, before firing another concussive blast at Kevin's chest that sent him flying into a bunch of old laptops and gaming consoles. Kevin groaned, the gaping wound in his chest regenerating.
"Gotta shut off that armor. But how?" Kevin wondered. Kevin's eyes narrowed in on some tech, and he got an idea. "I think it's time I swapped out brawn for brains." Kevin slapped the AntiTrix symbol and shed his crystals, revealing a more lanky demon type alien, Dark Matter.
"Alright, let's get to work!"
Kevin mentally did some quick calculations and started grabbing tech, creating a massive pile. With a few flicks of his wrists he speedily built some strange tech. He brushed off his hands just as SixSix flew over and started firing more concussive blasts. Kevin rolled out of the way, hiding behind a shelf. SixSix stalked at him, ready to blast Kevin to kingdom come...only to find nothing there.
Because the thing about Dark Matter? He had a camouflage ability that no one knew about.
SixSix quickly turned on his heat detectors and found Kevin creeping near the exit. He jumped over there in a single bound and grabbed Kevin by the throat.
Kevin sneered. "Huh. You're smarter than you look, I'll give you that." He pulled out a small button and pressed it. "Too bad I overthink stuff." Suddenly, SixSix's armor began to act erratically, randomly growing weapons and then losing them within seconds. He released his grip on Kevin and fell over, writhing in pain.
"Techadon Armor Disruptor." Kevin bowed. "Courtesy of yours truly." The RV pulled up, and Kevin rushed into it. Everyone in the car shot him a strange look.
"What, you never see an 8 ft tall Galvan before?"
"...cursed," Ben whimpered.
The RV burned rubber as it barrelled down the road. Kevin started rummaging through the cabinets. "I was able to disarm one of them, but it won't be long until the others follow suit. Where's some tech I can use?"
"Well, we have a coffee machine, a few walkie talkies...uh, broken radio…" Max casually pressed a button behind the wheel, flipping around one of the tables in the back to reveal some standard alien blasters. "Oh, and those."
Gwen shook her head. "I would say I'm shocked, but honestly? I'm not."
Kevin eyed the Crescent Rose, and slowly reached for it, only for his hand to be swatted away by Ruby.
"Don't even think about it," Ruby snarled, a murderous glint in her eyes.
Kevin huffed, before turning to the materials before him. "From this point on, everything I make will be suited for a Galvanic Mechamorph. Ben, I want you to then integrate these weapons into your body, and then into the Rustbucket."
Ben stood there, confused. "What?"
"He means to use Upgrade to trick the Rustbucket out." Ruby translated.
"Ohhh, that makes sense." Ben activated the watch and slapped down on the face plate. Glowing green circuits erupted from the Omnitrix before they moved up his arm and surrounded his face. Green lights flashed out of his mouth and eyes before he was fully transformed into Upgrade.
Kevin started building tech and tossing it at Ben's body, who simply absorbed them. As Kevin finished, he gave Ben a thumbs up. Ben latched onto the ceiling of the RV and spread his body all around the vehicle, integrating the weaponry Kevin made into the Rustbucket.
"Everyone buckle up. This is gonna be one hell of a ride!" Suddenly, the back of the RV was hit by some random laser blasts. Ben turned to see SixSix flying after the Rustbucket, slicing through the air as he gained on them..
Max grimaced as he eyed the hunter from the side view mirrors. "We got company."
"Already taken care of," Kevin crowed triumphantly. Suddenly, a cannon-like weapon sprouted from the RV's roof and fired off a few laser blasts that hit SixSix, once again shorting out his suit, making him fall to the ground and kiss the concrete. "Incursian Targeting EMP. Had to take some liberties with what I had on hand."
Ruby beamed. "Alright! Then let's just speed on down to the Four Corners!"
Ben was about to add some rocket boosters to the back of the Rustbucket, but electricity suddenly spread out throughout his gelatinous body. Ben screamed in agony just as someone landed on the roof of the RV. Upgrade retracted his entire body to ease the pain, but removing the tech from the Rustbucket as he did so.
"Ben!" Ruby shouted worriedly.
Ben weakly opened his pupil and saw a completely different bounty hunter. This one had goldish brown-colored armor, a sideways mouth, four scythe-like legs and a large, powerful pincer for a left hand. He stared at Ben before kicking him with his legs.
"Was honestly saving that in case the brat wanted to use his Mechamorph form on me. I suppose you'll do," he sneered. "So, you're the famous Omnitrix wielder, huh? Name's Kraab. Heard you were a pipsqueak like my prey. I guess they were right. Throw asteroids at a satellite, and they'll fall to a nearby planet and burn up upon entry with the atmosphere. "
"That's...a very...strange...saying…" Ben weakly quipped.
"Well, what do you know, meat puppet?!" Kraab started to tear the roof off the Rustbucket. Gwen screamed in horror. Ruby picked up her Crescent Rose, and Kevin slapped his forehead.
"Forgot about the crab guy," he cursed at himself.
"You got any flying aliens that can maneuver around easily?" Ruby said.
Kevin grinned as he slapped the symbol on his chest. Red light washed over him, and in his place stood a hulking, bug-like creature, with two arms that would make a body builder seethe with jealousy, and four strong pincer-like legs. His body was green and his unitard even greener, contrasting with his four, giant, leaf-like purple wings. Antennae jutted out of his head and pincer like fangs stood out from his mouth, and he had two tube-like eyes that wiggled around, trying to see everything.
"Unlocked this guy a few days ago. Didn't use it around the Hunters because I was worried they'd counter it. I call it Green Day."
Ruby and Gwen pinched their noses, their faces green.
"You smell worse than Grandpa Max's cooking," Gwen said, gagging.
"Hey!" Max cried out, offended. Kevin picked up Ruby with his legs and flew out the side door.
"Let's do a pincer attack," Ruby told him. "You drop me on the roof and fly to the back. And then you can do...whatever this guy can do."
"Gotcha."
Ruby fired a few shots at Kraab, who blocked them with his big pincer. Ruby jumped onto the roof and started slashing at Kraab, making a few notable dents in his armor. She was about to slice him right open when Kraab caught her scythe in his claw, just as it was about to slice his head open.
"Primitive tech. Surprised a girl would wield it with an average prowess."
Ruby gasped. "AVERAGE?"
She used her semblance to overpower Kraab, and forced the blade into his helmet. Kraab winced in pain as he stumbles back. Suddenly, green goop covered his backside. Green Day flew above him, green slime frothing from his mouth.
"Eww."
"How cute. I'll clip your wings right o-" Kraab was suddenly engulfed in slime, the substance spreading all over him. Kevin kicked him off the RV and onto the road.
"Green Day's ability: slime spread," Kevin explained. "If the goop comes in contact with air, it'll spread across the body like crazy, till…" He gestured to the road, where Kraab was stuck in a goopy cocoon, unable to move.
"Cool, but gross."
Ben slowly regained form, his body becoming more humanoid. "Thanks for the save."
Kevin shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
Max turned his head back to the street in front of him, only to see a cloaked figure standing further down the road. Max honked his horn. The man paid him no mind, and just continued standing there.
Menacingly.
"What's this idiot's deal?" Kevin scoffed.
Suddenly, a sharp sound pierced the air. If acid was given a sound, this would absolutely be it. The noise attacked everyone's ears, as it seeped into their minds and attacked the left side of their brains. Everyone's left side went completely numb; eyes, ears, everything...Max couldn't stop himself from crashing the RV, careening off the road and into a glen.
Max shook his head as he lifted it off the airbag. "You kids alright?" He yelled out. No answer. Max was starting to get scared. "Kids?" Max looked to his right; Gwen was unconscious, but looked relatively unharmed, and she was still breathing thankfully. Max felt a small sense of relief.
Suddenly, something forced its arm through the broken windshield and grabbed a hold of Max's collar. He was yanked out of the driver's seat and was forced to face Khyber. His face was turquoise with a large lower jaw. He had horrible scars on his face, ones that signified that he had his fair share of battles. His jaw was fused with his teeth. He had dark red sunken eyes with gills under his cheeks.
"So," Khyber spoke, his voice a dangerous baritone and with an evident Australian accent. "You're Magister Tennyson." He tightened his grip.
"And you're Khyber," Max snarled, his fingers itching for a weapon.
The man who attacked them was a Zaroffian named Khyber, better known as the Huntsman to the Plumbers. He had successfully taken out entire squads before with his cunning plans and sharp senses. Zaroffians were cold blooded killers by nature, but by far, Khyber was the absolute worst. His presence alone sullied the name of good Huntsmen like Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long.
"Ah, good. You recognize me," Khyber said smugly. "That will save time. How pathetic."
"For what," Max rasped. "Trying to protect a kid?"
Khyber frowned. "From keeping my target away from me." Suddenly, an optic blast hit Khyber from the back, but he barely even flinched. He turned to see Ben as Upgrade, standing his ground.
"Let go of my grandfather," Ben warned, his voice low and threatening. And surprisingly, Khyber went along with it. He dropped Grandpa Max and turned his attention to Ben.
"A Galvanic Mechamorph," he said smoothly. "First brought to life as a complete accident. Galvan B was originally an uninhabited moon, orbiting Galvan Prime. Galvan scientists were originally working on a project to make Galvan B habitable, but it went farther than intended when a sentient new species came to life."
Ben stared at him with a confused look. "Um, ok? What's with the history lesson?"
"Interestingly, Mechamorphs have a weakness to extreme magnetism." Khyber smirked as he whipped out a strange weapon. It looked like a high tech tuning fork. He slammed the thing down on his arm, and a wave of magnetism shot at Ben, horribly disorienting his form. The circuits that kept him together started to unravel, and he could see bits of himself fall to the ground, utterly useless. Ben screamed in pain as Khyber slowly walked over.
"What a pathetic runt," Khyber said patronizingly. "At least Levin had some interest to me."
"You rang?"
Tentacles wrapped around Khyber and slammed him into the ground, before mercilessly shocking him. Sting seeped out from underneath the RV.
"So, we finally meet. Gotta hand it to you. You're always a few steps ahead of me. How's it feel to be on the other end?" Kevin bragged.
"I don't know what you mean by that," Khyber retorted glibly. Kevin jumped back, eyes wide. Khyber was getting up as if nothing happened. "Insulated cloak," Khyber said with a grin, waving it a bit. "Made from the finest materials. So, what were you saying?"
Khyber again froze. Something was coming at him, but he didn't bother to even look at where the person was coming from. He inhaled, exhaled, and that horrible sound returned. Ruby sped past her target and crashed into a tree, as everyone else cringed in pain.
"Pathetic," Khyber rasped. "All of you. Do your really think you can take down the greatest huntsman in the universe?"
"No," Ruby slurred, her left side still disabled. "But I can sure as hell distract him."
She clicked something in her hand. Khyber looked over and saw a standard earth pen- they used something called "oil" in them, he thought- and suddenly, his vision went white.
"Flashbang!" he yelled as he covered his eyes.
Motion to the left side suddenly returned, and everyone decided to make a run for it; no plan, but everyone knew they had one job: Survive.
Khyber growled as he rubbed his eyes.
"Did the 'great' Huntsman really just get outsmarted by a little girl?" Khyber glanced over at Kraab, who had pried the goop off of his metallic skin.
"And did you allow yourself to really let our targets get away?" Khyber shot back.
"Hey, you're the leader. You didn't say 'after them' or anything like tha-" Kraab couldn't finish his snarky remark, because Khyber's hand was wrapped tightly around his neck.
"I know many ways to skin the hardest of dermal armor," he said, voice low. "Don't be an example." He released Kraab and threw him to the ground. "Find the boy. And relay that to SixSix."
"...Roger that, captain. And what are you gonna do?"
Khyber pulled out his blade and rushed into the forest. "Teach the girl a lesson."
Kevin sped through the forest as Rush, dodging missiles and all other kinds of fun tech SixSix had on him. Kevin made a sharp turn, before running up a tree...and burst from the top of the tree as Bashmouth.
He pounced on SixSix, his sharp teeth digging into the jetpack and tearing it to shreds. Kevin jumped off before SixSix crashed to the ground. Kevin landed in one of the nearby trees.
"That should take care of that…"
SixSix shook his head and stood up, firing more missiles at Kevin. His arms grew scaled metal armor over his limbs, blocking them and reducing damage. Kevin jumped down and delivered a quick rabbit kick to the back of SixSix's head, shattering his helmet.
Kevin landed before SixSix spun around, revealing his ugly, hideous face. Kevin visibly gagged at the sight. SixSix abandoned his missile reliant battle strategy and lunged at Kevin, pulling out a knife and trying to dig it into his victim's chest.
Kevin kicked him off before shifting to another form. Tentacles began forming around Kevin's forearm. More tentacles attached to his skull while even more tentacles grew down his face, including his lower chin. SixSix hisses at Kevin's new form.
"What's wrong? Are you seriously afraid of King Crimson?" he taunted.
Kevin shot a concussive blast of energy from his eyes, sending SixSix flying through a few trees. Kevin leapt after him, his tentacles slowly detaching and moving into the ground. SixSix ran at the defenseless Kevin, but it was a trap; his tentacles burst from out of the ground in a large pillar, and wrapped tightly around SixSix.
"Let's get this over with." Kevin slammed SixSix into the ground three times before raising him extremely high into the air, and then sending him into the ground one last time, hard enough for the rest of the armor to break.
"So, you done?" Kevin asked, flashing his fanged smile. SixSix didn't respond, instead warping away to God knows where. Kevin took a deep breath and decided to regroup with the others. Hopefully their battles ended just as quickly as his.
XLR8 rushed through the forest; there was no way that Kraab could reach up to 300 MPH, especially in bulky armor like that. He was too self-centered to realize he was going to get his ass kicked by-
Ben suddenly skid face first across a...sheet of ice? What? Ben spun across the ice, immediately losing control. His wheel feet, while cool, were his ultimate downfall; they slid across the ice without any sort of traction. Ben slammed into a tree and groaned. Something mechanical walked in front of him.
"Stupid kid," Kraab sneered, "I've got this armor filled with everything to catch a stupid shapeshifter like you. Anything you can do, I can counter it with ease."
"Is that so?" Ben scoffed.
Kraab responded by blasting him with his claw, freezing XLR8 solid. Kraab grinned under his mask as he raised up the claw. "I hope that stupid watch doesn't shatter," He joked, before green light blinded him. He covered his eyes, and was suddenly decked in the face by something...hot! Kraab looked back over to see Heatblast, standing menacingly.
"Fun thing about those counters," Ben said smugly. "I can counter those easily!"
Ben amassed a large amount of flames around his body, and launched it as a column of fire at Kraab. Kraab yelled as he was suddenly blown back, and the Earth beneath him was scorched into ash. Kraab readjusted himself and modified his weapon to better combat Ben. Ben ran at him and got a few more good punches in, before Kraab gripped down on his arm like a vice.
"Heatkiller," he said in a low voice.
A foam-like substance suddenly ran its way up Ben's arm, devouring all the flames on it. His arm went numb, and Ben immediately knew he was in trouble...until his form shifted again, into Water Hazard. Ben blasted the foam off of him before he fired out a very powerful stream that could shred through flesh in the same manner as a fire hose against tree bark. Kraab planted his legs firmly into the ground as he resisted being pushed back. His armor became dented instead.
"Short Circuit!" Kraab's claw suddenly shot out sparks of electricity that ran up the stream and into Ben's hands...his crystalline hands, that were suddenly shooting diamonds instead of water. The electricity ran through him like it was nothing. The crystals dug into Kraab's armor as he yelled in pain.
"HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?" Kraab yelled, shifting his claw to another mode.
"Couldn't tell you." Ben smiled, folding his arms. "Let's just say the Omnitrix is always on the defense." Kraab screamed as he fired a sonic blast from his claw, but Ben had already changed form; Ghostfreak easily phased through it.
"So, how you gonna counter-" Kraab threw some strange anti-spectral ooze on Ghostfreak, but Eatle ate it with ease. "-an entire arsenal of aliens, exactly?" Ben fired a blast of energy right back at Kraab, pulling him out of the ground and into a tree. Kraab raised his claw to fire again...only to see nothing there. His arm was gone.
"Lookin fur somethink?" Ben teased; in his maw, he held Kraab's only method of attacking...and chomped into it like it was nothing. "No? I thought so." Ben gave a shit eating grin as he reverted back to human.
"You...you little brat!" Kraab yelled, stepping away, "You'll pay for this!"
Ruby ran through the forest, dodging and weaving underneath trees. Khyber was hot on her heels, wielding a glowing red blade. Ruby jumped up and began to leap from tree to tree. Khyber listened carefully, waiting for her to strike. He even turned off his blade in order to make himself look defenseless. It was an act, and it worked; Ruby jumped out from a tree, and Khyber used his whistle to make Ruby's left side go numb, miss her target, and for her to land on the ground with an inglorious thud.
Ruby groaned as Khyber swung down his sword. She rolled out of the way and got back up on her feet as the ataxia faded away. He chuckled.
"I think Earth's definition of hunter is by far one of the best I've seen in awhile," Khyber said casually.
"Really. Now why's that?"
"A true hunter does not kill out of rage, or cruelty- he is above such things. He does it to maintain the balance in nature. For sustenance. For safety. To thin the herd. All of these, necessary. To see such a young girl perfectly maintaining these codes, it feels...satisfying."
Ruby sped around Khyber, occasionally firing shots to graze his shoulder. Khyber dodged them effortlessly, and caught up to Ruby as she was cooling down from semblance overuse.
Khyber swung his sword at her again, and she guarded herself with the staff part of her scythe. The two try to overpower one and other, but surprisingly, both are holding their ground, especially Ruby, seeing as she was a ten year old child.
Ruby fought dirty; she spat in Khyber's eye, distracting him and giving her an opportunity to blast herself into the sky with the Crescent Rose. She slammed her blade into Khyber's right shoulder, breaking some armor at full force, before he grabbed her leg and threw her across the field and into a tree.
Ruby shook off the pain and jumped into the air. Ruby shifted her scythe to gun mode and fired some bullets at Khyber, each one propelling her backwards. Khyber dodged most of them, but two get lodged in his right shoulder. He winced in pain, and his sword practically flew out of his hand.
"Clever," Khyber coldly remarked. "You went right for my dominant arm."
Ruby kicked the sword across the field.
"Yeah. Once you started applying more pressure with that arm, I decided to take advantage of it."
"Smart move. But not smart enough. A shotgun fired at long range is liable to cause unpleasant superficial injuries, but less likely to be fatal."
"To be honest, I wasn't trying to go for fatal. Most shoulder wounds aren't that bad if you don't cut an artery." Ruby then aimed for the neck. Khyber closed his eyes, his other hand ready to grab his blaster and shoot Ruby in the head-
BANG. The bullet pierced not his neck...but instead, his stomach. Khyber doubled over in pain, not expecting such a low move.
"You bitch," he gasped, before falling to the ground.
Ruby spun her weapon around and attached it onto her back. "It's kinda sad that a ten year old managed to put you in your place. And unrealistic."
"That's a real shame...just going out of your way to protect some helpless child. This turned into a huge mess, didn't it?" Khyber huffed. "And from here on out, it'll get worse. For all of you."
And then he disappeared into thin air.
Everyone was quiet in the totaled RV. Mainly due to how much damage they'd taken, or just from sheer exhaustion.
"Hey, Mr. Tennyson...can I borrow your phone for a second?" Kevin asked quietly.
Max nodded. "I suppose so. Don't take too long with it." Max passed him his flip phone, and Kevin dialed a number. He paced around a bit, waiting for the other side to pick up.
"Hello?" Kevin asked. Ben assumed the other line had answered. "Yeah, it's me. I'm just...calling to say I'm safe."
"Who's he talking with?" Gwen whispered, but Ben and Ruby shrugged.
"Yeah, I know. Shouldn't have run off like that...are you still with him?" Kevin paused, as the other side gave an answer he didn't want to hear. "...that's fine. Just don't expect me back for a while."
Kevin closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, as the other line went on for a little bit. "...yeah. Yeah. Love you." He closed the phone and sat right back down.
"...who was that?" Ben asked despite himself.
"My mom." Kevin said stoically.
"...oh."
"...let's just focus on getting you over to Anna, then," Ruby said, briefly removing an ice pack from her knee. "I think it's high time you got some rest."
Kevin couldn't agree more.