A/N: You'll have to excuse me for the long wait. I wasn't really in the mood when it came to updating this story, so I decided to sink some time in working on a different project I have in the works. And I really didn't want to work on this story when I wasn't really feeling it, so I didn't until I felt up to it. But now I am, so hope you enjoy.


"This is everyone?" Helen asked.

"Each of the leaders. The Knights are a gigantic group, so there's no way we got each individual grunt. But it's all of the big brass," Ben said as he pushed Enoch towards the transport ship.

"So no leadership means they're nothing more than a bunch of thugs with alien tech. That should make them..." Gwen cut herself off when she heard the sound of helicopter blades.

"Expecting anyone?" Alan asked.

"Looks like our ever so esteemed government has finally decided that they should step in," Ben said with a frown.

"Should we..." the Plumber trailed, resting a firm hand on Enoch's shoulder.

"Keep doing your job. What they want doesn't matter. If they interfere, take them down," Ben told him firmly, and the Plumber nodded before putting Enoch inside.

The helicopter landed next to the group of teenagers, with Ben being the one to step forward first.

"Colonel Rozum," Ben said, crossing his arms. The Colonel had two soldiers next to him, but he wasn't overly concerned about them. With any luck, things wouldn't escalate higher than they needed to.

"I'm guessing you already know why I'm here," the Colonel said.

"I have an idea, but it doesn't really matter. We have the situation under control. You and your soldiers are free to go back to base while we finish up here," Ben told him.

"We can't do that," Colonel Rozum said.

"And why not?" Ben questioned.

"You know why," Rozum said in a stern tone. "You're arresting humans and taking them off world."

"Something that is fully within my rights as a Plumber to do, in case you haven't realized. The fact that your superiors disagree doesn't change that fact," Ben said.

"You're working against the law," one of the soldiers told Ben just as sternly.

"It is not a law. It was an agreement. An agreement that Plumbers no longer agree to abide by due to a specific situation that went on. I'm sure you're aware of it Colonel. Cost a lot of people their lives, didn't it?" Gwen said.

The soldiers around Rozum looked at the man in a confused fashion, and Rozum gave Gwen a stern gaze that she only smiled thinly at. Some part of her really wanted to find out how many soldiers would even still want to work for the Air Force after they learned what they were guarding. Because she would bet all of the money she had that regular foot soldiers certainly didn't know about what was under Area 51.

"I still have my orders here," Rozum said.

"You're such a good little soldier, aren't you?" Kevin mocked, a disdainful look in his eyes. "You always do what you're told without thinking about it?"

Rozum didn't say anything to that, but Ben was not about to run in circles on this point. His time was more important than that.

"Let me make something quite clear to you, Colonel. And you make sure that your superiors understand this as well, because I am getting sick of this political horseshit," Ben said in an impatient tone. "Any idea that the Plumbers have to accommodate to your needs died the moment we saw what was in Area 51. I am not locking up innocent people. I am not imprisoning people without reason. I am removing a threat for every alien that wants to stay on Earth. But your superiors don't like that there is a law enforcement bigger than them. So they send you after me - hoping for semblance of regaining control."

"Well, ask yourself this Rozum. If you took what we found and you put humans in the place of aliens, and the Plumbers in your place, where do you think we would be standing?" Ben finished.

Rozum didn't really have to think about that. They wouldn't be listening to their superiors - that was a no brainer. And the realization made him sigh.

The priority of these teenagers was never about one specific species or race of people. It was about everyone - alien or otherwise. Rozum knew for fact that if he ever found out the Plumbers were running a prison half as bad as the one they ran for Area 51, he would've been livid beyond belief. And if Ben had been given the reasoning that it had been for security, it wouldn't have deterred him from his anger.

But Ben wouldn't have been standing with the Plumbers. He wouldn't have seen the prison as a just thing at all, and likely, neither would his teammates. They would have fought those orders because in his eyes, it just wasn't right.

"Truthfully, I was more or less sent here to keep an eye on you. There are no plans to directly stop you," Rozum told him.

"That you know of," Ben countered.

"That I know of," Rozum agreed.

"All you're going to see is a bunch of men loading criminals onto ships and taking them to prison. Nothing new," Ben told him.

"Then... I suppose we ought to let you finish," Colonel Rozum said, causing the soldiers next to him to look at the Colonel in surprise. Kevin actually looked just as surprised as they did.

"But sir, we were told..."

"I realize that more than anyone, soldier. But exactly what information are we going to get out of this without directly interfering? This isn't our jurisdiction. At least not now," Rozum told him.

"Director Cooper won't be happy about this," the first soldier said.

"Likely not. But that will be my problem, not yours," Colonel Rozum told him with a grimace as they walked away. He was definitely dreading that particular conversation.

"Did you actually get through the good soldier's head?" Kevin questioned in disbelief.

"I doubt it. I just think he doesn't see a point to hanging around here for the moment," Ben said with a shrug. "Let's just finish up here, then we can look into that shrine thing we found."

"Shrine?" Gwen asked.

"Something that was on a Forever Knight wall. Supposed to appear in a couple of hours," Kevin told her.

"Well, if the Knights are interested in it, it can't be anything good. Maybe we'll catch a few more of them in the process," Gwen said, causing both boys to nod.


"Who are you?" Ben questioned, seeing an old man with a backpack standing still. The old man only looked behind him and raised a single eyebrow at their presence.

"You are Ben Tennyson. I've heard of you," the old man said.

"Many people have. Now I want an answer. What are you looking for?" Ben said with his eyes narrowed.

"You're the one who was talking about these coordinates being on a Forever Knight wall. I can make a pretty good assumption," Aurra said, her hands glowing with black energy.

"You think this guy's a Forever Knight?" Manny asked.

"I think she's right. Remember that... hey!" Gwen exclaimed when she saw the old man continuing ahead as they were talking. Though he was running ahead faster than you would expect of an old man.

"Not getting away from me," Helen said before dashing ahead. Though each of them had been surprised when George wheeled around the instant Helen approached and knocked her in the face hard enough to send her flying down the hill.

"Stronger and faster than he looks. Fine then," Manny said with a growl. "Got a plan?"

"Several," Ben said before creating a portal in front of George that the old man only side stepped instead of running into it.

"Plan B it is," Ben said before teleporting in front of George. The older man raised a fist to hit Ben, but he managed to deflect the blow away from him before hitting the old man in the gut with two punches before kicking him over to Manny.

The Tetramand's lower arms moved to punch him down to the ground, but the old man managed to get a hand on the ground before launching himself over Manny's head. A quick mana disc from Gwen disrupted his forward momentum as Manny punched hard enough to send him sliding down the hill.

"You have no idea of the stakes that you are dealing with," George said, rising to his feet as several Esoterica appeared by the shrine. The hooded figure that also accompanied them appeared, though with a much bigger flash of black energy that caught everyone's attention.

"What are you doing?" Edwards asked, wondering why hadn't bothered to make his arrival less noticeable.

"Making things more interesting," the hooded figure said with a grin before pulling his hood down, revealing a handsome blond man. "Distract them. I've got business inside. Shouldn't take me long."

The man went inside, leaving the numerous amounts of Esoterica that had taken a spot in front of the shrine with electricity crackling in their hands.

"You!" Ben said, pointing directly at Edwards.

"Me. Shame I couldn't get you to come around to our side Ben Tennyson," Edwards said before each of the Esoterica shot a ball of lightning at Ben. The Anodite batted them away like an annoying fly.

"What can I say? I'm good at spotting dubious bullshit," Ben said before firing an orb of mana that Edwards dodged by teleporting away. All of the other Esoterica followed them, and Gwen raised a dome of mana in order to reveal them.

But no one appeared.

"They must've gone inside. Come on," Gwen said, running forward.

Each of them followed, but Ben made sure to knock the old man down and hold him in mana restraints. He wanted to know exactly what role he served for the Knights himself. And if he was what he suspected... he didn't dare finish that thought.

Each member of the Alien Force stepped inside to see a place that probably wouldn't have looked out of place as the interior of an ancient Egyptian temple. Except for the fact that there were images of these weird teleporting guys scrawled all over the walls.

"These guys are a lot older than the squire could ever be. What do you think they are?" Helen asked.

"Not sure yet. But it doesn't matter what they are. Priority one is stopping them from getting whatever it is they came to get," Ben said before creating a large ball of mana in his hand. Then he spread it all around them, instantly revealing dozens of Esoterica that were waiting for them.

Though the moment their presence was revealed, they all leaped down for a simultaneous attack.

"Ultimate Echo Echo!" the evolved Sonorosian exclaimed before throwing several discs around him that created several sonic waves powerful enough to knock them back.

"This is gonna take all day," Manny said, punching one Esoterica back as another danced out of his reach and kicked him in the face.

"Keep them busy. I gotta catch up to that guy that was with them," Ultimate Echo Echo said before transforming back into his Anodite form and attempting to track his mana.

He could feel a large amount of foreign mana that was focused on a pedestal at the end of the room. But... this kind of energy felt... wrong somehow. It felt like thousands of different mana signatures all balled up into one. And he didn't like the feeling it brought him.

Still, he hadn't gotten this far by freezing at every new thing that had come his way, so he sucked it up and teleported to the man's location. Only to be forced to immediately dodge a black blast that disintegrated a large chunk of rock behind him.

"So you're here. Good. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," the man said, removing a sword from a strange golden heart. He frowned after a few moments of holding it tightly in his hands before throwing it into a corner.

"Who are you?" Ben asked, hands glowing bright with mana.

"Call me Lex. But I'm sure your grandmother would recognize me quite easily," the man said with a wide grin before looking at Ben and eyeing him like a hungry lion would a gazelle. "Mmm... You are strong, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't get this far if I wasn't," Ben said before tossing a mana disc at the man. Rather than dodging or blocking, he snatched the blast out of the air and the mana turned black the moment it touched his hand before disappearing.

"Come on. Try harder than that," Lex said, wagging a finger tauntingly. Ben rolled his eyes before creating several energized mana orbs that he tossed at the blond man. Though they all disappeared through portals that Ben created as he rushed forward.

Ben went for a punch that Lex blocked with a hand of his own, causing the Anodite's hand to reel back forcefully as his mana shattered like it was made of glass. He barely had the time to feel surprised before he had to bob and weave under several swings that were imbued with pitch black energy.

After a few dodges, Ben found and opening and nailed Lex in in the gut with an energized mana blast before opening his portals and releasing all of the ones he fired.

Lex's amusement seemed to only grow as he fired many black tendrils from his body, each of them grabbing each of the energized mana orbs like someone stuffed a golf ball through a garden hose. Then the orbs disappeared in the tendrils before Lex let out a very pleased groan.

"That felt fantastic. Shall I show you what you've gifted me?" Lex said with a grin before firing a powerful energy beam that Ben blocked, but his shield quickly started to fail against before he was forced to dodge away.

"Mana isn't working. He's just absorbing it. Who the-" Ben halted his thought process before something clicked. Every bit of the black beam that flew past him looked like something Darkstar fired at him. Even though the blond hair matched, few of his facial features resembled the teenager.

"I've seen someone like you before," Ben said, standing up straight with his hands at his side.

"The child who calls himself Darkstar? I'm very familiar. But he doesn't have a fraction of an idea of what it means to be a true Tekanite," Lex told him, sending several black tendrils his way.

They had no hesitation in following him even as he dived back, so Ben spun in midair and cut them before turning on his heel and clapping the black energy orb that was barreling towards his back.

"That makes you the expert, huh?" he questioned.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Lex said with an infuriatingly gleeful grin before firing a blast at Ben. The Anodite transformed into Ultimate Big Chill before disappearing through the ground. "Not a chance!"

Lex stuck a hand through a black orb of energy, which lead out to him grabbing a hold of Ultimate Big Chill's neck before forcing him out of the ground. Though Ben quickly raised a hand and caused a plume of plasma to shoot up out of the ground. Lex dodged the first, but not the second. Though he was only frozen for about three seconds before he broke out with a nova of black flames.

"Gah!" the man exclaimed before firing back at Ben with a black energy beam that turned in order to follow his dodge, which completely ignored his intangibility when he tried to phase through it.

"Plasma beams. Nasty. If your mana wasn't keeping me warm, that might've been a lot worse," Lex said as that damnable smirk refused to leave his face. Likely due to the fact that overall, he had more of an advantage in the fight. Something that, quite honestly, Ben was used to having himself.

"What does Verdona have to do with you?" Ultimate Big Chill said as he transformed into Ultimate Brainstorm.

"Ask her when you get a chance. But I think you've given me all that I've needed," Lex said before turning around and raising both of his hands before firing a beam at the seal behind him, causing a loud boom that shook the cave.

Before Ben could even fire an electric shock, Lex turned around and forced him to block a black energy blast that was, thankfully, negated when it made contact with Ultimate Brainstorm's tendrils. The only part of Ultimate Brainstorm's body that was organic was his actual brain, and his tendrils weren't connected to that.

Any pride Ben felt was immediately negated when a bright light shined from the seal Lex fired at. Though he didn't have physical eyes, the energy radiating from the seal alone was enough keep him from trying to move forward any further.

"Yes..." A deep, evil sounding voice resonated.

"Finally," Lex said, grinning despite the fact that he had to dig his fingers into the ground in order to avoid being flung back. "Well Lord Dagon, aren't you going to invite me in? I do have your heart, after all."

With a final surge of energy that forced Ben to raise a mana shield, cautious of its power, his vision was practically nonexistent for the next few seconds. Though when he got it back, Lex was gone. And so was the strange golden heart that was with him.

"Logging abilities for future review," the Ultimatrix said as Ben transformed back into his Anodite form. "I don't think I need to stress how unlike Darkstar this human was."

"Yeah. He's definitely something else," Ben said as he created an orb of mana. Thankfully, it didn't look much weaker than normal. "At least he didn't get a chance to take much energy."

"Though he did manage to get all of what he needed in order to destroy whatever that was behind him," the Ultimatrix told him.

"Yeah, that's the bad part right there. And that just tells me that whoever whatever the Knights had come here for, it was related to whoever this Dagon was. Plus the heart he mentioned. Not to mention Verdona's connected someone..." Ben said in a thoughtful tone.

"Gather your thoughts once you've reconnected with the team. But that sword that he discarded may be useful. Whatever it is, it may be relevant later," the Ultimatrix said, causing Ben to nod in agreement.

Ben created a tendril from his head and grabbed the sword before pulling it over to his grasp. And the moment it touched his actual hand, he could feel a large energy emanating from it. Whatever this sword was, it definitely wasn't some useless relic.

"What is this?" Ben questioned.

"Searching database..." the Ultimatrix trailed. "No results found. Something even the Creator doesn't know?"

"Not even the smartest man in the universe knows everything, I guess. Still, no time for that now," Ben said before running back outside. He barely made it halfway through the cave when he found his teammates.

"Tennyson? What's with the sword?" Kevin questioned.

"I'd like an answer to myself, but I just know it's important. What took you so long to get here? Ben asked.

"It wasn't the teleporting guys that gave us trouble. Aurra attacked us," Gwen said, jerking a thumb to aim at the unconscious girl that was on Manny's shoulder.

"She what?!" Ben exclaimed in surprise.

"Not on purpose. Remember that demon thing from another dimension I mentioned while you two were away? Well, it had managed to possess Aurra for a bit before she managed to seal it away. I thought it only lasted until the thing was sent back into its dimension, but it doesn't look like that was right," Kevin explained.

"And I good a good idea who's holding the leash. Question is, how do we stop it from happening again?" Ben asked.

"Last time, Kevin put a metal helmet on her head, and it seemed to work," Alan said. Ben shifted his gaze, and only then did he notice the metal helmet that was on Aurra's head.

"Hopefully it stays that way," Ben said.

"What about that blond guy we saw? What happened with him?" Kevin asked.

"Nothing good. He held me off and escaped," Ben said sourly, and there wasn't a single face that didn't look surprised. Ben was never just held off.

"He's that good?" Gwen questioned.

"Not just good - dangerous. He's got the same powers Darkstar does, but he's way better at it. He was literally able to drain the mana out of my attacks. And he used the power from them to break some kind of gateway marked with a Forever Knight sigil," Ben said.

"He broke the seal," George said as he walked up to them.

"How did you..." Ben trailed. He knew for a fact he didn't get weakened to the point where he couldn't keep mana restraints up.

"There's no time for this. Give me the sword," George said, holding his hand out.

"Not a chance," Ben said with his eyes narrowed.

"There is far more at stake than your dislike of me," George said, who also narrowed his eyes.

"Listen to him, Tennyson," Azmuth said, who suddenly appeared in the cave.

"Azmuth? Oh no," Ben said, putting a hand on his face and shaking his head.

"Does my presence always cause you to assume the worst?" Azmuth asked.

"If you visited for something other than universe ending events, then I could believe it. But that never happens aside from that time you gave me the Ultimatrix," Ben said.

"So what is it? Does it have anything to do with that blond guy we saw?" Kevin asked.

"It has more to do with what he came here to destroy. And George here is part of that," Azmuth said, giving the old man a nod.

"None of us are interested," Helen said in a grim tone.

"You should be," George said with an equally grim expression.

"What is this about Azmuth? This is the last person you should be defending," Gwen said with an accusing point in the old man's direction.

"Regardless of your feelings on the matter, the reality of the situation is that he knows more of what is to come than you do," Azmuth said.

"What are we up against?" Kevin questioned.

"First, my sword if you please," Azmuth said, holding out his hand.

"You made this? The Ultimatrix couldn't even identify it, so I thought it might've been some sort of magic sword," Ben said, turning the blade over in his hand.

"It's not magic, it's science," Azmuth corrected. "And yes. I made it. Now, if you would..."

Ben turned the sword upside down and planted it in the ground next to Azmuth. With a snap of his fingers, all of them were teleported inside of his lab located in Primus. The sword was moved to a levitating platform in the center of the room.

"You can set her here," Azmuth told Manny as he was gesturing towards a small platform. The Tetramand gently laid Aurra down before walking away.

"Why are you here, Azmuth?" George asked.

"I wouldn't need to be here in person if not for your actions," Azmuth said in an annoyed tone.

"My actions?" George questioned. He was both offended and curious in equal measure.

"You have long foreseen Dagon's return and prepared for it in kind. But the preparations you made only succeeded in making things more difficult," Azmuth told him.

"Wait, he knew this guy was going to be released?" Kevin said with an angry point.

"I was concerning myself with preparing for his return. Despite the lot of you doing your best to lay ruin to those efforts," George shot at Ben, who shot him a dark glare.

"Yes. Obviously raiding the homes of aliens and murdering peoples' friends was going to help you prepare for a giant threat. How could I have possibly thought that you were just an old man off his rocker," Ben said in a cold tone.

"You mean..." Manny quickly glared at George, and the older man gave Manny a cool look of dismissal.

"Guess I was right about the new management thing," Kevin said.

Manny immediately lunged at George, something the old man clearly had expected. He quickly grabbed ahold of two of Manny's arms while holding them behind his back painfully.

"Control yourself," George said calmly.

"Control this, you..." Manny immediately moved to grab a blaster with one of his free hands, but it was unneeded it as a pair of pink mana tendrils moved to separate them, though they immediately redirected themselves around George's throat.

"All of you! Calm yourselves!" Azmuth exclaimed.

"I'm going to need a very good reason to do that," Gwen told him, tightening her hold enough to cut off a majority of the Knight's oxygen supply.

"Whatever it is, you're going to have to table it for now," Azmuth said.

"Table... this bastard's the reason Pierce is lying dead in the ground right now!" Manny exclaimed.

"I realize that, but this is about the universe here. And before you go at me about how you've done it before, Dagon is an entirely different matter. He will not underestimate Sir George like he did the last time, and he is far more powerful than the Highbreed and Aggregor combined. So calm yourselves down and listen to me!" Azmuth exclaimed, aggravation and worry in his voice.

Gwen tossed George onto the ground with a small throw, and she pointedly ignored the look he sent her way.

"Now before someone else loses their temper, what are we looking at here?" Ben asked, trying to ignore the fact that his entire team was glaring at George as if daring him to do anything.

"To put it plainly, Dagon is one of the most powerful creatures to ever grace the universe. And his powers potentially exceed that of any fully realized Anodite," Azmuth said, causing Ben and Gwen to look at each other. "I see that caught your attention."

"How is he that strong?" Alan questioned.

"I haven't the slightest idea. Dagon has been around a lot longer than me and dwells in a realm I have never even tread before. But I was around the first time it tried to attack the Earth. That was when Sir George was leading a group of knights in an effort to fight them off. I gave him Ascalon - this sword, as a means to defeat him. And he did," Azmuth explained.

"Him?" Kevin and Manny said with a sneer.

"Despite your opinions of me, I was this world's savior lifetimes ago," George said in a cool tone. "You wouldn't even be alive to hate me if it had not been for my efforts. Azmuth deemed me worthy enough to wield Ascalon, after all. Then I created the Forever Knights - an order dedicated to fighting Dagon and all unnatural life on Earth."

"Yes. I'm sure an alien family residing in a house in which they have legal ownership will show Dagon," Gwen said with vitriol in her voice.

"Girl, before I bided my time in a retirement home, there had been no peaceful aliens on Earth with the sole exception of Azmuth. And the Forever Knights had not been a faction dedicated to coveting alien technology and monetary greed. Their true purpose had been tainted without my leadership," George said in a calm tone.

"Except it was your leadership that turned petty thieves into killers. You sent Forever Knight death squads to every alien in Bellwood while not bothering to question exactly why aliens all over were inhabiting regular homes without there being a fuss. You basically acted while you were in the dark about everything. You think you can leave for who knows how long and still think you know best?" Ben questioned in a cold tone.

"Are you implying that I don't?" George countered with a icy tone of his own.

"The shoe certainly fits, doesn't it?" Ben snapped. "You know what would've been the best solution? Get the Knights in line, then talk to us. We may have been enemies, but I can put differences aside long enough to get things done. I've even forgiven old enemies. But where we are now? After everything you've done? Forgiveness can never be on the table. Even the idea of cooperating is dead in the water."

"Then you're a fool, Ben Tennyson," George told him with a stern glare.

"Better a fool than a killer," Ben growled.

"Tennyson. George." Azmuth cut in with a sharp tone of his voice, and both men looked towards the Galvin before back at each other with distasteful expressions. "I realize there might be tension between you two, but neither of you want to see the universe come to an end. And your cooperation is the best way to prevent that from coming to fruition. So can you, for the sake of the people both of you want to protect, table this animosity until Dagon is dealt with?"

Ben and George both sighed, the former of which had to clench a fist at his side in order to control his temper. No matter how much he hated it, Azmuth was right. And at the end of the day, George throwing Knights at Dagon meant more people could stay stay safe. Which is something he'd be willing to put his anger aside in order to achieve...

That being said...

"The absolute moment he's gone, I'm coming for you," Ben said, looking at George out of the corner of his eye.

Manny quickly looked at Ben as if he was about to say something, but then suddenly stopped before crossing his arms. He needed to control himself at least some of the time.

"I expected as much," George said with a frown. Though there was a look in his eyes that told Ben that his anger was something that was very much mutual.

"So we're working with the people we've been trying to catch?" Aurra suddenly said, causing everyone to look over at her. She was sitting up with a hand on her forehead. "How's that for a course change?"

"You alright?" Gwen asked.

"As long as I keep this thing on my head, I'll be ok," Aurra said, pointing at the metal helmet on her head.

"How much did you hear?" Ben asked.

"Enough to know that we have to work with the guy that we've been trying to chase all this time. I sure as hell want to know why," Aurra said.

"To sum it up, there's a interdimensional demon who can destroy the universe, and we're going to need all of the help we can get," Helen told her.

"Having to put our differences aside in order to deal with the bigger threat? Like Earth media isn't abundant enough with that cliché," Aurra said sarcastically, but she had a worried look in her eyes.

"What's up?" Ben asked, noticing the look.

"I'll let you know later. Is he finished?" Aurra asked.

"As long as you all agree that you have to work together, then yes. Get together as many forces as you can, and keep your infighting to an absolute minimum," Azmuth said, looking between George and Ben.

"Keep what Knights you have left under control, and I'll stop hunting them. You don't tell me what to do with the people I work with, and I'll refrain doing the same with yours. Sound good?" Ben said in a stern tone.

"Sufficiently," Sir George said in an icy tone, making Azmuth sigh.

"I suppose that is the best I will be able to get. Anyway, before you go George..." Azmuth gestured to Ascalon still floating on the platform as well as the communicator on the table.

The Knight hopped onto the platform before grabbing the communicator and Ascalon. The moment he did, a full suit of armor appeared on his body. It also seemed to reverse his aging, bringing what was once an old man back into what Ben could only assume was his prime.

"Call upon every ally you have in order to prepare for what's coming. You all have time to prepare. Don't waste it," Azmuth said before they were all teleported back to Earth.

"We were that close to catching him, and then this had to pop up. Unbelievable," Manny said, kicking a rock through a wall.

"None of us like it any more than you do. But getting back at him can wait until this Dagon guy is dealt with," Alan said.

"There's something else though," Aurra said, looking at Ben. "The guy you fought was a Tekanite, right?"

"How'd you know?" Ben questioned with a raised brow. "You weren't awake for that."

"No, but there's traces of his energy on you still," Aurra pointed out.

Both Gwen and Ben closed their eyes to focus in on Ben's energy. With how much energy Ben was giving off, it was almost overwhelming, but she was right. There were still traces of that horrible mana trace that Ben felt when he followed Lex into the cave.

"I'm amazed you caught that," Ben said in an impressed tone.

"I've seen Tekanites before - I know what to look for. You will too with some practice," Aurra assured him.

"Well, he's definitely way stronger than Darkstar. He turned every single one of my mana attacks into more energy for him. You have to get an opening on him, or he'll just turn your attacks into more energy for him. A direct punch to the gut was the only one of my mana attacks that bothered him," Ben explained.

"It doesn't surprise me. Tekanites are pretty much the one group of people that can stand a chance against Anodites. When they were more common, they considering hunting Anodites the biggest challenge with the biggest reward," Aurra told them.

"So Ben just met a guy whose powerset has a history of hunting Anodites?" Alan questioned.

"That doesn't feel totally deliberate at all," Helen said with a frown.

"It likely was. If this Dagon guy's been planning to come back for a while now, he was definitely willing to assess every possible risk. And this team is the biggest one. With two Anodites on the team and not one nonorganic person on it, a Tekanite is definitely a smart pick for a personal servant," Aurra explained.

"Nonorganic?" Gwen questioned.

"Similar to Anodites, Tekanites can't drain the energy of stuff that was made from technology. It essentially cuts off their primary way of keeping the lead in a fight," Aurra said.

"You know an awful lot about them," Kevin said with a frown, which made Aurra grimace before looking away. "That kind of knowledge ain't common. So it has to come from some kind of firsthand experience."

"Did you know that guy?" Ben asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Despite how gentle his touch was, she immediately shrugged it off like he burned her.

"No, I didn't, and that's the truth," Aurra said firmly.

"Then why are you acting like this? You're acting defensive, and none of us have even accused you of anything," Ben pointed out.

"Ask my mother. She knows more about it than I do," Aurra said before stalking off.

"Aurra!" Gwen called, but the sorceress stepped in a portal and disappeared.

"She's hiding something. Something big," Kevin said with a frown.

"It seemed to bother her something serious. That was more abrasive than the old Aurra," Gwen said.

"You think she's in on it?" Manny asked.

"I don't think so. If she was, then why would she actively give us more info on a enemy we know little about? Wouldn't it be better to just pretend she knew nothing instead of actively coming forward with the information?" Gwen offered.

"To keep some sort of role going?" Helen said, but it sounded dubious even to her own ears.

"Doubtful. Dagon is clearly old enough to play the longest of long games, but there's better ways to do it. And having one of your agents give away information freely isn't the way to do it," Ben said.

"That also begs the question as to where Magister Maya comes in throughout all of this. With how dangerous these Tekanites are, it's unlikely her mother doesn't know something about it," Kevin reminded them.

"It's definitely another avenue we should investigate," Ben said before frowning. "Unfortunately, that's not all that we have to worry about."

"There's more?" Alan said in an aghast tone.

"Yeah. And it opens an entirely different can of worms. That Tekanite who calls himself Lex... he knows Verdona," Ben said.

"What?" Gwen said in a surprised tone.

"He said Verdona would be able to recognize him very easily. One way or another, he knows her. And on the flipside, that means she might know something about him. The more we know about this guy, the better we can prepare for him," Ben said.

"I can go to Verdona and ask her about him. I can check in with Grandpa Max while I'm at it," Gwen said.

"Sounds good. Kevin, I need you to contact Magister Maya about this whole thing with Aurra. Helen, Manny, and Alan - You three are on patrol. Stick together and if you see anything that looks remotely related to Dagon, you let us know," Ben said, and the three of them nodded.

"Hold on - Why am I talking to her? You've talked to her more than I have. Wouldn't it be better if you go?" Kevin asked.

"That may be true, but I'm the one who has to talk to the Highbreed and get them ready for what's to come. Still need to get as many people as we can, remember?" Ben said with a wry smile that disappeared quickly. "The faster we can get them to get a fleet together, the better. I'll also need to head down to Ledgerdomain. Considering the way things are back there, Charmcaster sparing us any forces is a long shot, but I might be able to get some info on Dagon. Not to mention the Plumbers and the government to inform."

"Yeah, that last part makes me glad I wasn't the one who ended up with the Prior Magister's position," Kevin said with a shake of the head.

"Because it means dealing with work that isn't hitting stuff," Ben said with a faint twitch of the lips. Two summers ago, it would've been an actual smile. "Everyone, get moving. You all know what you have to do."

"What about Aurra?" Helen asked.

"We'll deal with her later. On the planet or off, I'll be able to find her. But I don't think she'll go anywhere," Ben said.

"What makes you so sure?" Manny asked.

"I may not know her as well as I know the rest of you, but I think I'm an ok judge of character. And I don't think it's a good idea to judge her for storming off. Not yet - definitely not while we know so little. So if you have any doubts, just remember that she's one of us. And that should count for something," Ben said, causing everyone to nod. Then he disappeared in a flash of green light.