In recent times, Chinatown was going over a lot of new renovations, because who needed history and culture when you could have fancy parking lots and twenty-four-hour convenience stores? One such building set for demolition was the old Edward Mooney House at the corner of Pell Street – a historical landmark that had thrived in the heart of Chinatown since the late 1700s.
So, what was the first thing people thought to do with this irreplaceable and timeless landmark? Why, take a wrecking ball to it, of course.
Without even the slightest hesitation, the construction workers smashed their way through the top levels of the building, destroying centuries worth of antiques in one fell swoop.
"Getting paid to smash stuff," said the wrecking ball operator with a smile on his face. "You gotta love this job."
He took another swing at the building, taking out an entire section of the top floor and ripping away most of the roof. They pulled back the wrecking ball and started winding up for another swing when someone appeared in the new hole, leering down at the construction workers from above.
The foreman looked up from his clipboard just in time to see the person standing among the wreckage just as his employee started to turn the crane. He waved down the wrecking ball operator, spouting a bunch of indecipherable gibberish that the worker seemed to understand, and the operator quickly shut the machine off. He scratched his head under his hard hat with his pencil as the stranger stepped closer into the light.
A gothic-styled woman with short, maroon hair with multiple piercings, garbed in what could only be described as battle armor with a skull theme. It was Rojo and her symbiote, Skaath!
"If you're gonna knock, try doing it without the rig, jackass!" Rojo shouted. "Now get out of here! We're trying to make a nice home for ourselves!"
"Yeah, well, I hate to break it to you, lady," said the wrecking ball operator smugly with his arms crossed, "but this building is set to be demolished by order of Councilwoman Liang!"
"Yeah, so move it or lose it!" The foreman demanded firmly. "This place is coming down, like it or not!"
"So much for preserving history," Rojo scoffed. "You know, the crappy government system is the reason we became career criminals in the first place – that and because it's fun! So, you better go tell this…councilwoman whoever that we don't feel like moving. This is our new hang out, and if you wanna wreck it, you're gonna pay the consequences!"
"Yeah, you and what army?" challenged the wrecking ball operator.
A toothy grin stretched across Rojo's lips, looking over her shoulder and gesturing to someone behind her. Two more women stepped into the light, standing on either side of their leader, both of them wearing symbiote armor themselves.
The woman on Rojo's right was a tall and muscular African-American woman at least a couple feet taller than her leader with bright-blue hair that had been tied into intricate dreadlocks and the woman on the left was a Caucasian woman only a few inches shorter than Rojo with golden-blonde that cascaded down to the base of her spine. Both of their symbiotes were molded to be exact matches to Skaath, only the African-American woman's was a vibrant blue and the blonde's was golden-yellow.
"Azul, Amarillo, these boys are being very rude," said Rojo playfully.
"Oh, that's not good," said Amarillo with a mock flirtatious tone. "Someone oughta teach them some manners."
"Let me," Azul offered.
The blue-haired woman raised her right arm above her head and the symbiote molded into a spiked mace, which Azul then threw down on top of the crane, her arm stretching to compensate the distance.
The Foreman was already gone by the time he saw Azul shapeshift and the wrecking ball operator jumped out of his vehicle moments before Azul brought her organic weapon through the roof onto the controls, creating a small explosion that sent the operator flying. But he didn't reach the ground as Amarillo stretched her own clawed hand and expanded its size, clutching the construction worker's whole body in her palm. The blonde lifted the operator into the air and held him in front of Rojo, who was smiling in a most wicked fashion.
"H-Hey, let me go!" the operator sputtered in a panic.
"Well, since you asked nicely," said Rojo. She nodded to Amarillo, who loosened her grip and dropped him. They listened to the operator scream for a few seconds because he stopped altogether. "Well, that was fun. I think we're starting to get the hang of this whole alien suit business."
"You've definitely improved since we first bonded," Skaath hissed in Rojo's ear; Azul and Amarillo turned their gazes to the symbiote armor, able to hear his insidious voice as well. "But this power is meaningless unless you actually use it for something useful other than petty theft and squashing worthless humans. If you really want ultimate power, we must prove ourselves to father."
"And how're we supposed to do that?" asked Azul gruffly.
"Luckily, fortune seems to favor us today," said Skaath delightfully. "We have sensed a familiar energy running rampant through the city as we speak. It is the omnitrix, which means that the boy and his shapeshifting ally is on their way. Now is the chance to earn your keep."
"I've been waiting for the chance to pay that brat back," said Rojo, punching her fist in her hand with a confident smile. "And this time, I'm gonna tear his arm off before I crush his skull beneath my boot."
On the opposite side of town, another lowlife criminal was making his getaway in a rather tacky-looking hotrod at full speed, bouncing several feet off the ground as he rode up the hill. Issues with his personal safety aside, the smalltime crook looked back and saw that he was being chased by the most battered RV he had ever laid eyes on. He laughed haughtily, as if already tasting victory.
"Ooh, they'll never catch me," he said.
As it stood, the Rust Bucket seemed hardly capable of catching up to the car thief even with Max slamming the accelerator to the floor; the vehicle was just too big and too heavy to match pace. Trixie would have considered using Nosedeenian DNA to short out the car's engines, or just transform into an Aerophibian and snatch the criminal straight out of the car, but she couldn't. Since Ben had tampered with the Omnitrix combined with the Forever Knights incident, Trixie's powers have been faulty as of late, finding herself only able to transform into a full Galvan so far. And with the Omnitrix still in self-repair mode, it was unlikely that Trixie would be helping out any time soon.
So she was confined the sitting in the passenger's seat, watching in frustration as the criminal pulled further away. Trixie's frowned miserably when she heard the beep of a horn and poked her head out the window.
"Look, there they are!" shouted Trixie.
"You sure?" asked Max, never taking his eyes off the road.
Before Trixie could form a response, a motorcycle sparking with green electricity zoomed down the road with Gwen, dressed as Lucky Girl, holding on to the handlebars for her life. Ben must have been using the Nosedeenian to power to cycle, Trixie thought.
Buzzshock and Lucky Girl were starting to catch up to the criminal as he weaved his way through traffic, which may as well have been stopped completely by how slow they were going – one car was literally just parked in the middle of the road for no reason! Unfortunately, that meant Max and Trixie were forced to break off pursuit because of the Rust Bucket's size, but the Tennyson Cousins swerved around the unmoving traffic and drove on the sidewalk.
"Please move out of the way!" Lucky Girl shouted to the pedestrians ahead. "Watch out! Superheroes coming through! Whoa!" She yelped after they passed over a crack in the pavement that nearly threw her off. "Hey, watch where you're going, doofus!"
"If you wanna drive, be my guest!" Buzzshock snapped, his voice crackling from the cycle's motor.
Lucky Girl rolled her eyes with an exasperated groan and forcibly turned the wheel, driving them back onto the road and resuming the chase.
The petty crook must have noticed them following because he increased his speed, swerving dangerously around a car-carrying trailer. Buzzshock started to go around when Lucky Girl tapped the hood and pointed at the trailer. It took a moment for him to understand before Buzzshock beeped in confirmation and sped up behind the trailer.
As they approached the transporter, Buzzshock raised the front wheel of the motorcycle – Lucky Girl bracing herself against her seat – and came to rest on the trailer's ramp. It was a little shaky at first, but the duo managed to climb the transport and shot into the air; Lucky Girl repressed the urge to scream. When they had landed, the Tennyson Cousins had closed the gap between them and the car thief and were now zooming behind him by a minimum of ten feet.
The smalltime crook saw the stunt they pulled in the rearview mirror and slammed the accelerator all the way to the floor, now going faster than a hundred miles per hour.
He zoomed through an intersection at the last second before the light turned red and signaled the traffic to proceed from the other lanes. An RV pulled out in front of them that looked remarkably like the Rust Bucket, only cleaner. Lucky Girl screamed as they pelted straight for the vehicle. Buzzshock turned the motorcycle sideways at the last second so they are almost parallel with the road, sliding underneath the RV, and then straightened back up. Buzzshock cackled proudly, but Lucky Girl slammed her fist on the bike's hood in rage.
"Don't ever do that again!" Lucky Girl commanded.
"Okay, geez, don't be such a baby," Buzzshock screeched. "Just use your magic and take the guy out already."
Lucky Girl didn't like the idea of her dweeb cousin giving orders, but the quicker they stopped the bad guy, the sooner she could get off this crazy ride. She focused all her energy into the lucky charm, which glowed on command.
Just up ahead, a seemingly ordinary cat was lurking around the top windows of a random apartment building, pawing at the glass trying to get to a parrot only feet away. Meanwhile, on ground level, a military enthusiast was carrying his collection of caltrops to his car to be moved into storage since his mother wouldn't let him keep them in the house; why he even had a caltrops collection was another question entirely.
Just as he was about to load them into the trunk, the cat was frightened off the ledge when the parrot screeched at it, sending the feline dropping several stories until it landed on the man's face. The collector screamed and threw the box away as he tried to pry the cat from his face, spilling hundreds of little spikes all over the road directly in the path of the car thief.
The criminal looked back at Lucky Girl and Buzzshock through his rearview mirror, not paying attention to the caltrops in the street until he ran over them. All four wheels popped instantly – Buzzshock steered the motorcycle around the spikes – and sent the car spinning out of control until it hit the sidewalk, ramming sideways into a streetlight that bended at an awkward angle. Lucky Girl and Buzzshock stopped beside the totaled car and saw the thief bent over the steering wheel. He groaned weakly, which meant he wasn't dead, much to Lucky Girl's relief.
"Did I ever mention how much I love that charm?" said Buzzshock.
"You and me both," said Lucky Girl proudly. Suddenly, they heard police sirens blaring down the street. "Uh-oh, time to amscray!"
Buzzshock zipped around the corner just as the squad cars started rolling in. They were halfway down the street when he suddenly brought the motorcycle to a sudden stop, nearly causing Lucky Girl to smack her head against the handlebars. Curious why her cousin suddenly stopped, Lucky Girl looked around…and her eyes fell upon the unexplainably abandoned ice cream truck on the side of the road, which had no lock on the door, meaning anyone could just get inside and grab everything.
"Ben, no, you better not do what I think you're planning to do," said Lucky Girl firmly.
"Aw, come on, we just nabbed the bad guy," Buzzshock complained. We deserve to treat ourselves."
"Ben, we can't just go taking – whoa!" Lucky Girl yelped as Buzzshock abandoned the bike, causing her to fall over.
The green Nosedeenian zipped over to the truck and dematerialized himself into pure electricity, allowing him to slip through the cracks in the truck and reform inside the freezer. Buzzshock let out a dramatic gasp as he found himself surrounded by what might as well be a mountain of boxes filled with nothing but sweet, delicious ice cream.
"Now we're talking!" Buzzshock cackled.
Max and Trixie rolled up to the scene just as the paramedics lifted the car thief into the back of the ambulance, looking worse for wear. That's what happens when you go over a hundred miles in a narrow city street, Trixie thought.
When they didn't see either of his grandkids, Max turned the corner, knowing they would have to stop somewhere nearby waiting for a pickup. They found Gwen sitting on the curb halfway down the street next to the ice cream truck; she had changed out of her Lucky Girl costume and into her regular clothes, which she had stored in her backpack.
Max parked on the side of the road and got out as Gwen looked up, frowning in annoyance. Trixie noticed that they were one person short.
"Where's Benjamin?" she asked.
"Take a wild guess," Gwen grumbled, gesturing her thumb to the truck.
Trixie face-palmed with an exasperated groan as Max walked over and raised the truck door. As they expected, the young boy was sitting inside of the cold, subzero freezer surrounded by several boxes of empty ice cream wrappers and wooden sticks. Ben was curled up in a ball in the back, his skin unhealthily pale, his teeth chattering relentlessly, his nose running profusely. And yet he was still in the middle of eating yet another ice cream bar.
"You okay?" Max asked in concern. His reply was a loud sneeze right in Trixie's face; the green-haired girl resisted the urge to slap him and wiped herself with her dress. "I'll uh…take that as a no."
"This is the guy I ended up stuck with," said Trixie irritably. "I wonder if it's too late to take Kevin up on his offer."
The Tennysons loaded Ben into the RV and drove down the road until they were out of range of the crime scene; it was better not to get involved with anymore crime fighting when their best fighter was ill.
Trixie, arming herself with a pair of latex gloves and surgical mask, tucked Ben into his bunk and stuck a thermometer in his mouth for several minutes (Trixie suggested a more accurate reading could be done somewhere else, but Ben fought tooth and nail against it). When the thermometer beeped, Trixie removed it, but kept the device at arm's length.
"Well, there you have it: thirty-eight point three Celsius," said Trixie, speaking in a monotone that was typical reserved for analytical purposes these days. "I think it's safe to say that Benjamin has nasopharyngitis."
"Now what is that in English," said Gwen sarcastically.
"It's just a simple summer cold," said Trixie, tossing the thermometer in the trash can to be incinerated later. "Just about what you would expect when you sit in a freezer set at subzero temperatures eating cold foods in thin summer clothes. Honestly, Benjamin, at what point did that seem like a good idea?"
Ben started making noises that sounded like the beginning of a sneeze, but he managed to suppress it at the last moment. He grabbed a bundle of cloth and used it to wipe his runny nose…which turned out to be the hem of Trixie's dress, leaving a huge, green spot on the fabric. Trixie looked at the spot, then back at Ben with an incredulous look that said 'Really, Tennyson? Really?'
Meanwhile, Gwen was rummaging through the box of medical supplies that they constantly kept stocked up. When you're fighting aliens and mutants back-to-back every day, it's always a good idea to be prepared for an emergency.
"Cold suppressant, tablets, decongestant, cough suppressant, hospital mask," Gwen mumbled out loud, taking out each item in turn.
"Ugh, I don't need all that junk," said Ben in a congested voice.
"They're not for you, dweeb," Gwen retorted. "They're for me. Once a bug like that gets out, there's no stopping it."
"Urg, why don't you just lock me away in some closet somewhere until I better," said Ben sarcastically.
"Is that an option?" Trixie asked Max hopefully. "Because it's completely viable. All he needs is some snack bars and a couple of bottles of water, and he can survive for a few days at minimum."
"Now, now, there will be no locking people in closests," said Max, much to Gwen and Trixie's mutual disappointment. "All Ben needs is a dose of my famous San Ju Yen Pien cold remedy. Let's go. Chinatown's just down the block."
The heart of Chinatown was alive in jubilation as the district celebrated the local festival. No one had any idea what the festival was about because today didn't fall under any Chinese holidays, but they didn't need an excuse to run around inside a paper dragon or dress up in funny costumes.
As the parade passed the street, the Tennysons and Trixie walk out of a local drug store carrying a jar of something that the children couldn't pronounce or get close to without burning their noses.
"You know, it's so hard to find fresh potaigadon root anymore," Max complained. "It's all freeze-dried these nowadays.
Ben coughed roughly and said, "Can I get a milkshake or something? My throat is killing me."
"I'm pretty sure frozen treats are what started this mess in the first place," said Trixie, shaking her head.
"Don't worry, the stinkweed honey in the San Ju Yen Pien coats your entire esophageal area," said Max confidently.
Ben looked highly doubtful as his grandpa passed the jar of unknown slimy substance. He twisted the lid off and was immediately assaulted with an odor that smelled like a blended combination of dirty gym socks, rotten eggs, festering mushrooms, and something you were likely to step on at a dog park. Ben fought back the urge to bile as he slapped the lid back into place, keeping the jar at arm's length.
"And that's a good thing?" moaned Ben.
"So…where exactly did you learn how to make this stuff, grandpa?" Gwen asked curiously.
"I picked it up from a monk in Guangdong, China," said Max plainly. Gwen crossed her arms with a blank stare. "They have plumbing in China, too, you know."
Gwen didn't look like she was ready to accept that answer just yet. Ever since the summer started, Grandpa Max had shown to know a lot of unusual things that no normal person would pick up, and his explanations for all of them were starting to get weaker every time Gwen asked. There was something else going on – grandpa is hiding a secret, Gwen thought.
Fortunately for the older man, their attention was redirected towards a small staging area that hadn't been there a few minutes ago as an official-looking Asian woman stepped up to the podium, the feedback from the microphones calling everyone to look her way.
"Ladies and gentleman, I want to thank all of you for your support of my downtown redevelopment program," she said. "It's truly a dream come true."
"Oh, you're dreaming, all right!"
It happened quick and without warning. A figure clad in red leapt from the rooftops, flying thirty feet in the air, and landed on the councilwoman's podium, smashing it into a pile of tinder and nearly splitting the staging area in half. The councilwoman fell back in alarm while the crowd fled in terror. A shadow fell over the official and Rojo smiled nastily, her right hand molded into a sword.
"And it's about to be a nightmare," said Rojo maliciously.
The symbiote-clad criminal pivoted with her sword-arm extended, stretching outward to slash the walls of the nearby stores. Chunks of cement rained down on top of the fleeing crowd, glass windows and wooden signs smashed inwards, and the metal streetlamps were sliced in half. Max threw his body over the children as Rojo's blade sliced the store above their heads. A few cement chunks hit his back, nothing too damaging.
The Tennysons and Trixie looked back on stage as Rojo approached Councilwoman Liang.
"Rojo? How'd she get out of prison?" Gwen gasped.
"I keep telling you prisons are just revolving doors for criminals," said Trixie.
Up on stage, Rojo kicked the remains of the podium away, walked up to Councilwoman Liang, and lifted her into the air by her collar.
"W-who are you? What do you want?" Councilwoman Liang sputtered fretfully.
"Don't get you panties in a twist, Councilwoman Liang," Rojo said in a mocking tone, a cruel smile on her lips. "You're just bait for someone else…. Although, I bet we could make a hella ton of cash if we ransom you off."
With that wicked thought, Rojo stretched the organic material around her arm to wrap around the councilwoman's body, constricting her from her ankles to her neck in a thick red-and-black cocoon. Rojo ripped her hand free and dropped the councilwoman on the ground, causing her to hit the floor with the back of her head and knock her unconscious. Rojo chuckled to herself, but Skaath shuddered against the former biker's skin, showing his displeasure.
"We don't have time for your ridiculous get-rich-quick schemes!" Skaath hissed impatiently. "We're supposed to be hunting the Omnitrix!"
"Simmer down, slimy," Rojo retorted coolly. "We can't find the kid unless he turns on the Omnitrix, and the best way to do that is by causing some mayhem. Trust me, that kid loves playing hero. If he's around, he won't be able to resist the chance for a rematch."
As Rojo had anticipated, Ben couldn't fight back his greater impulses and stepped out in the middle of the street when the crowd had dispersed, giving him a clear line of sight at Rojo. Though his nose was still running and his throat burned like fire, Ben raised the Omnitrix's selection dial; Rojo noticeably straightened up, sensing the Omnitrix's activation. The sickly hero turned the dial until he found the silhouette of the fairy-winged alien he needed.
"This looks like a job for…for…," Ben mumbled, weakly raising his hand.
But as he winded up into a big sneeze, unconsciously slapping the Omnitrix dial harder than usual. When the flash of green light faded, Ben realized that he wasn't Pesky Dust, but –
"Arctiguana?" he bemoaned; his voice was as stuffed up as his human form. "Aw man…. The one time I wanted the wimpy-looking alien…."
Rojo turned on her heel when the green flash went off and spotted the Polar Manzardill in the middle of the road. She also noticed Max and Trixie on the sidewalk; Gwen had disappeared around the corner to change into her Lucky Girl costume.
The symbiote-fused criminal leapt off the stage and pounded the pavement a few feet away from Arcticguana, who stepped back hesitantly as loomed over him intimidatingly. While Rojo had never actually fought this alien before, there was definitely something weird about it – Arctiguana's normally blue skin was pale-white and there was a lot of mucus dripping down his gills, forming a slimy puddle on the ground.
"Ew, you okay?" asked Rojo disgustedly.
"That's – " Arctiguana sniffed, "that's what people are gonna…gonna be asking you in a minute…."
"Man, your comebacks have gotten weak since last time," Rojo taunted, putting up her fists. "We've been wanting to pay you back for throwing us in the slammer. We're gonna pound you into paste."
"Oh yeah," said Arctiguana throatily. "You and what army?"
Rojo smirked and stretched her arms to either sign. Waiting for their cue, Azul and Amarillo hopped down from the rooftops and slammed into ground the next to their leader, cracking the street beneath them. Arctiguana let out a throaty gasp as he looked between the tall and burly Azul, the proud and lethal Rojo, and the athletic and flirty Amarillo, noticing immediately that all three of them were dressed in symbiote armor with colors being the only difference between them.
"There are more of them?" Max gasped from his and Trixie's hiding spot behind a fruit stand.
"Doh, I completely forgot!" Trixie chastised herself, facepalming herself. "Klyntar are able to reproduce asexually! It can create more of itself!"
Azul molded her hand into a spiked mace and swung her extended arm at Arctiguana. The Polar Manzardill hopped over the stretched limb and he grabbed Azul by her wrist and pulled sideways, swinging her around in a full rotation before throwing her into a cart selling chicken dumplings.
Amarillo glared at Arctiguana as she extended the claws on her hands to a foot in length and rushed the freezing lizard. Arctiguana dropped on his stomach and started sliding down the road, the mucus in his gills being a good source of slickness, and headbutted Amarillo's legs. The blonde criminal flipped forward and landed faced own in a puddle of Articguana's mucus; Arctiguana laughed at Amarillo's disgusted cries.
He stood up a few feet from Rojo, who had crossed her sword-hands defensively over her chest, eyeing the alien with wariness.
"Hey, Rojo, why don't you…chill out," Arctiguana muttered stuffily.
Arctiguana took a deep breath and exhaled…but nothing came out, not even a little wisp of chilly air.
The Polar Manzardill stood awkwardly still, his mouth wide open, and Rojo raised a curious brow.
He inhaled again, but suddenly started choking on his own breath and held his chest in a coughing fit. Arctiguana felt a harsh, burning sensation in his throat, completely opposite of its natural chill. Though still confused by the kid's lackluster performance, Rojo kicked Arctiguana under the chin, sending him flying into a stall, lying in a nest of freshly shredded leafy vegetables –
"MY LETTACE!" The stall owner cried.
On the opposite side of the street, Max and Trixie leaned anxiously around their hiding spot.
"What's wrong with Ben?" Max asked in concern. "Why didn't he ice Rojo?"
"The effects of Benjamin's cold must have been transferred over to his aliens," said Trixie knowledgably. "I always theorized the biological condition of the user could be influential in the transformation sequence, but it had never been proven until now. Benjamin's throat is so irritated that it had nullified his arctic breath. He's powerless in this state."
Arctiguana moaned weakly, rubbing his throbbing forehead; his cold combined with Rojo's one-hit K.O. made his brain feel like a thousand tiny men were using it for a drum. As he started to sit up, a set of shadows fell over him and the Polar Manzardill found himself surrounded by the Symbiote Gang, all of them armed with their personalized organic weapons.
"I thought you said this guy was supposed to be strong," said Amarillo disappointedly.
"He doesn't look that tough to me," said Azul gruffly.
"I don't know what his deal is, but I'm not gonna complain," said Rojo satisfactory with her sword-arms raised. "Let's hurry up and cut the Omnitrix out of him so that we can collect our big fat bonus."
The Symbiote Gang approached Arctiguana menacingly when someone called out, "Hold it right there!" and the multi-colored trio spun around. Arctiguana let out a relived sighed when he saw Lucky Girl standing on a crate across from them with her fists on her hips, staring down Rojo and her symbiote-fused posse.
"Step away from the big gross lizard and nobody gets hurt!" Lucky Girl threatened them.
"Who's the brat in the unitard?" asked Amarillo, frowning.
"Dunno, never seen her before," said Rojo, shrugging her shoulders. She turned to Azul and said, "Get rid of her, babe."
Azul crossed her arms expectantly. Rojo groaned.
"Could you get rid of her, please, babe?" she corrected. Azul grunted and walked away. She stared down at Artctiguana and shrugged, "Woman, am I right?"
"Uh…I'm not sure how to respond to that?" said Arctiguana.
Azul rounded on Lucky Girl and charged the redhead with her spiked mace above her head. Lucky Girl stared down the blue-suited criminal as she focused her power into her glowing lucky charm.
On the right side of the street, one of the signs Rojo slashed was barely hanging on by a thread when it suddenly snapped, sending it swinging sideways. Just as Azul was within striking range, the sign slammed into her side and sent her flying headfirst into a trash can filled to the brim, her legs flailing helplessly in the air. The sign then cut the wire on a line of paper lanterns, dropping one into a crate of fireworks below. The flame from the lantern ignited one of the rockets, sending it whizzing across the air with an ear-piercing shriek until it hit Amarillo in the chest, carrying her down the road. At the same time, the sign had been at the height of its arc when the other rope snapped and fell on top of Rojo, who had watched Amarillo get carted off. The sign slammed the back of Rojo's head with the edge and knocked her flat onto the ground, stunning her.
The woman in red groaned weakly as she held her throbbing skull while Lucky Girl jumped off the crate, ran over to Arctiguana, and pulled him up by his arm.
"C'mon, they're not gonna stay down for long," said Lucky girl urgently.
Not giving him a chance to argue, Lucky Girl pulled Arctiguana down the road.
Gwen and Ben had regrouped with Max and Trixie at the Rust Bucket. The young boy moaned miserably as he laid back in his bunk with his grandfather at his bedside, holding a jar of foul-smelling liquid while the girls were hanging around Gwen's laptop, partially investigating Rojo's gang, and partially because they didn't want to get Ben's sickness.
"Ouch," Ben whined. "Aw man, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse."
"Here, this'll help," said Max, offering the noxious jar. Ben gave it a suspicious look and took a whiff, immediately making disgusted noises at the scent. Max chuckled and said, "Don't worry, it smells worse than it tastes…. Or is that the other way around? It's not just you I'm worried about. Seems like your bug has spread to all your aliens as well. No telling how it'll affect them."
"It's the first time I ever heard of a Polar Manzardill being defeated by a cold," Trixie commented. "It's ironic when you think about it."
Ben frowned at the jar. He didn't want to ingest something knowing that Grandpa Max used a bunch of weird ingredients to make it, but if there was any chance of fighting this cold quickly, he had to suck it up. Ben pinched his nose and downed the unknown concoction in three massive gulps. The urge to bile was very strong, but he resisted it – he had a lot of practice with Max's cooking.
"That…was so grim," Ben groaned darkly.
"Heh, don't worry," Max laughed lightly. "After ten or so doses, you'll start to get used to it."
"Ugh, I don't know what's worse," said Ben dreadfully. "The cold or the cure."
"That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," said Trixie.
"This coming from a girl who ate a bucket of worms," said Gwen, shaking her head, then looking back at her laptop. "Anyway, I think I found something on Rojo's gang. According a news article in Louisiana, Rojo – real name Leslie Russel – was sent to Belle Reve after we beat her last time. It's a prison for the most dangerous criminals, especially those with powers. Except Rojo managed to break out with two other people: her girlfriend, Shauna Nilam, and her cellmate, Heather Blaine. They've been hiding until recently."
"And during that time, Rojo's Klyntar spawned two more," said Trixie.
"Any idea where they might be now?" asked Max.
"Someone took a picture of them after the fight and posted it on Chirper with the hashtag sick biker chicks," Gwen answered. "It looks like they're hiding out the old Edward Mooney House at the corner of Pell Street. And they have Councilwoman Liang with them."
"Probably looking to get a ransom in addition to Ben's Omnitrix," said Max, scowling.
While they were talking, no one noticed Ben slipping Grandpa Max's medicine in a drew next to the bed.
"What grandpa doesn't know won't hurt me," Ben muttered softly.
Back at the hide out, Councilwoman Liang was pinned to the wall in her red-and-black symbiote cocoon, remarkably ignored by the alien-powered criminals. Azul was leaning again the wall with her arms crossed and Amarillo was flipping through a magazine, both pointedly ignoring the fact that Rojo had punched her fist through yet another support beam, making the roof above their heads shake. That was the third support beam since they started hiding here. At this rate, Rojo would do the construction worker's job for them.
"They just got lucky, that's all! Lucky!" Rojo roared. "Won't happen next time!"
"Please," Councilwoman Liang whimpered. "Don't hurt me…."
"Oh, shut up already," Rojo snapped. She tossed a piece of symbiote to cover the councilwoman's mouth.
"Why did you insist on bringing that woman with us?" hissed Skaath. "You're not still looking to make a profit off here, are you?"
"That was the plan at first," Rojo grumbled, "but now she's just useful for bait. Like I keep telling you, that kid will want to play the hero and rescue her. They're good at tracking themselves – they'll find us eventually."
"And what will you do then?" questioned Skaath. "Four times you have fought against the boy and his little friends - three of them with US at your side – and you still failed to capture him! What will be different? What will you do to finally rid that annoying little insect once and for all?"
Rojo stayed silent for a moment, pacing back and forth with her clawed finger on her chin, thinking. She stopped near the window and looked out into the distance, suddenly wearing a very serious look.
"Hey, slimy, just how tough is the Omnitrix exactly?" asked Rojo slowly.
"According to father, it was built to be almost indestructible for potential…roughness," said Skaath. "Why?"
Rojo didn't answer; an evil grin stretched across her lips.
Half an hour later, the Rust Bucket parked on the side of the street next to the Edward Mooney House. Trixie leaned forward in the passenger's seat, gazing up at the building with its recent damage from the wrecking ball; the machine was still on the premises, but smashed to pieces, no doubt caused by Rojo's gang.
"I can't believe they want to tear down a historical landmark to build a…what was it, again?" Trixie asked Max.
"A video store, which makes no sense since people can just mail order them these days," said Max, shaking his head. "Just another example of our government at work."
"Let's not stick around too long," said Gwen, replacing her Lucky Girl mask over her eyes. "We should grab the councilwoman and run. Let's not take any chances of running into Rojo and her pals."
"Don't worry, I can…I can…," Ben started, ending with a loud sneeze that sprayed all over Trixie's face.
"That is starting to become annoying," said Trixie blankly.
The four of them left the Rust Bucket and stepped inside the Edward Mooney House, which was a lot worse for wear than they had expected.
Being a historical monument, you would think that there would be someone keeping maintenance of the place, but it looked like people couldn't care less and allowed it to fall into urban decay. A lot of the old paint was peeling off the walls, the foundation groaned around them, and there were holes everywhere in the floor and walls. There were bits of old furniture lying in the rooms, though it was hard to tell if it was because of the building's lack of care, or because Rojo's gang decided to have some fun.
They walked down the first-floor hallway and made their way to the room at the end of the corridor, but Ben noticeably stayed behind….
Max and the girls walked into a living room that was surprisingly better maintained than the rest of the house. The furniture was second-hand with some holes in the fabric and some exposed springs, a nice rug to covered the rotting floorboards, a coffee table with a half-eaten pizza and a couple magazines, and a large, but slightly cracked television on the wall. But what drew the Tennyson's attention were the bags full of stolen goods tossed around the roo,. Most of them were stuffed full of money, no doubt stolen from several banks during the gang's cross-country trip, and others were filled with clothes, electronics, jewelry, and, interestingly enough, a bunch of motorcycle parts.
Max inspected the bike parts, frowning.
"They've definitely been hiding out here," Max confirmed. "But the question is, are they still around?"
"The Klyntar that bonded to Rojo wants the Omnitrix for its 'father' – whoever that may be," said Trixie knowingly. "They wouldn't leave town when its close by. They have to be here…somewhere…."
Lucky Girl stepped over the bags of money, looking around the room, and she said, "Hey, where's Ben?"
Max and Trixie searched as well and realized that Ben was indeed missing. They shared a worried glance and walked back into the hallway, hoping that Ben had just gotten lost, when a tall shadow loomed over the threshold. It stood several feet taller than Max and had glowing yellow eyes with sharp horns growing out of its head. Max pulled Trixie behind him and Lucky Girl jumped to the front, her lucky charm glowing threateningly.
"You better back off, pal, if you know what's good for you!" said Lucky Girl. But the shadowy figure stepped into the light…and revealed himself to be Diamondhead, who had used his fingers to simulate horns. Lucky Girl groaned and said, "Really, Ben? You think this is funny?"
"Well, I thought so," said Diamondhead nasally.
There was a noticeable paleness to the Petrosapian's normally bright-jade texture and more than a few brittle cracks along its silicon body. Perhaps another side effect of Ben's sickness, Trixie thought, though she hoped that the change in appearance was the only thing different about him. Before she could give it any more thought, they heard a sharp cry echoing through the ceiling followed by something that sounded like a faint smack.
"That came from right above us," said Max.
"I'm on it," said Diamondhead.
Diamondhead rushed into the living room, clipping his shoulder crystals on the threshold. But instead of breaking the door, Diamondhead's crystals were chipped off like shards of ice. Trixie was the only one to notice before the Petrosapian stood in the middle of the group and created a crystal platform underneath their feet, commanding it to rise.
Diamondhead threw his body protectively over the others as they smashed their way through the ceiling and held on tight as they were thrown forward into the second floor, landing roughly on his back while the Tennysons were on top of him. A chorus of snaps rang out as Max, Trixie, and Lucky Girl jumped off the Petrosapian, who was now covered from head-to-toe in cracks.
"What's wrong with Ben?" Lucky Girl asked in concern.
"The cold must have affected his silicon base," said Trixie knowledgably. "It's turned him brittle, making even the slightest impact damaging."
"Great," Diamondhead groaned. "Now I get the alien made out of rock candy…."
"Please, help me…."
Max searched the room, spotted Councilwoman Liang cocooned to the wall, and rushed over to help while Trixie and Lucky Girl worked on getting Diamondhead back to his feet. The elderly man looked over the black-and-red shell and cautiously touched the mysterious goop. It was solid, but very thin and flexible like spider silk. Max grasped a handful of the cocoon and ripped the front away with surprising strength for a man his age.
The Councilwoman fell forward into Max's arms with a delirious moan, taking a few seconds to collect herself. She shook her head to shake off the dizziness, then looked between Max, Trixie, and Lucky Girl…until her eyes fell on Diamondhead. She let out a frightened gasp and backed away, but Max grabbed her shoulder gently.
"Easy, easy, we're the good guys," Max spoke to her softly. "We're here to rescue you."
"I…I see," said Councilwoman Liang hesitantly. "Well…thank you, then."
"Hey, it's no problem," said Diamondhead, doing a heroic pose. "That's just what us superheroes do."
He might have looked impressive if he didn't start having a coughing fit and spewed out dozens of tiny diamonds. Councilwoman Liang gave Max a questionable look, to which the elderly man shrugged.
"We should flee the place before Rojo and her accomplices return," Trixie suggested.
"Too late for that!"
The Tennysons turned around as Azul and Amarillo appeared from the shadows, but Rojo was noticeably missing.
Amarillo expanded her fist to five times its normal size, yelling, "You're trespassing!" and stretched it across the room, slamming Diamondhead in the jaw; a large chuck of crystal broke from his chin and smashed on the floor at Trixie's feet. Azul formed her spiked mace and swung it across the room, ripping a line through the brick and mortar. Max pulled the councilwoman down while Trixie and Lucky Girl threw themselves at the floor.
"Oh man, this is getting way too easy," said Amarillo, laughing playfully.
"Don't know why Rojo was so worried about these chumps," said Azul, retracting her arm.
"And where is your boss, anyway?" asked Max suspiciously.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" said Amarillo, extending her claws once more.
"Grandpa, look out!" Lucky girl cried.
The blonde symbiote-wearer stretched her fingers toward Max, but the elderly man bounced to his feet and jumped out of the way with Councilwoman Liang, making Amarillo stab the floor instead. Unfortunately, the structural weakness of the building caused several chunks of the floor to break away and fall to the floor below, including the portion Lucky Girl rested on.
The masked heroin started to fall when the ground gave away, but Trixie dived over and grabbed Lucky Girl's wrist at the last second. It was very lucky that she did, because if she had fallen, Lucky Girl would have landed on a box of very pointy tool.
"Thanks for the save," Lucky Girl sighed gratefully as Trixie pulled her up.
"You can thank me later," said Trixie, leering across the room at Azul and Amarillo, who were chasing Max and the councilwoman. "Right now, we need to take them out. Grr…if only my powers weren't cut off…."
"Hey, jerkfaces!" Diamondhead yelled as he got up to his hands and knees, drawing the criminal duo's attention. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
Azul and Amarillo exchanged inquisitive glances…and then smiled wickedly.
With their respective weapons formed, Azul and Amarillo rushed at Diamondhead, who stepped back in surprise from the sudden charge. Amarillo reached the Petrosapian first and slashed at his face with her nails, but Diamondhead raised his forearms together to block it. Deep gashes formed in the silicon where Amarillo sliced him and Diamondhead cried out in pain. Azul ran around her partner and slammed her mace into Daimondhead's chest, creating a huge dent in his body and sent him flying across the room into a support beam, smashing his way through it.
The Petrosapian groaned weakly as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, his entire body aching. He looked forward and watched Azul and Amarillo march toward him with their weapons raised intimidatingly. But then he noticed the ceiling, which suddenly had a massive crack that wasn't there before. He followed the crack all the way to the support beam he had broken, and a lightbulb went off in his head. The Petrosapian rose unsteadily to his feet, dragged his feet to the corner of the room, leaned his back against another support beam, and gave them a 'Bring it on' gesture.
"Is that the best you got?" Diamondhead taunted. "I fought grannies tougher than you. Literally."
Amarillo didn't seem bother by the insult, but Azul growled furiously and thrust her mace at the Petrosapian's head. Diamondhead ducked underneath as the mace smashed through the support beam, causing the ceiling to rattle violently. He then dashed over to the next beam as Amarillo swiped her claws at him. Diamondhead rolled out of the way as her nails sliced the beam to ribbons; the ceiling shuddered dangerously. Diamondhead moved to the beam in the middle of the room and goaded the pair again by gesturing them to come at him. Now thoroughly annoyed, Azul and Amarillo stretched their organic weapons together, only for the Petrosapian to duck out of the way and let their hands destroy the beam.
The Symbiote gang retracted their limbs for another attack when the room started to tremble violently and looked up, only realizing the dozens of cracks that were cutting across the ceiling. A large chunk of stone broke away and fell on top of Amarillo, pinning the blonde to the floor. Azul grabbed the rock and tried to lift it off her partner when another stone fell on top, knocking her down as well.
Trixie and Lucky Girl ran over to Max and Councilwoman Liang as they were both making their way to the door.
"The whole place is coming down!" Lucky Girl cried.
"I think that was Benjamin's big idea!" yelled Trixie, throwing her arms over her head.
"Quickly, we have to get out of – " Councilwoman Liang started.
But by a string of bad luck ("What is that charm even good for?" Trixie snapped at Lucky Girl), the roof collapsed on top of the door, cutting off their escape route. Max, Trixie, Lucky Girl, and the councilwoman backed away as a huge slab of rock fell on top of them –
Outside the old monument, people watched in shock and awe as the house completely collapsed in a most spectacular fashion, leaving only a small mountain of brick and wood, some even spilling into the street and forcing cars to drove on the sidewalk.
There was a haunting silence in the air as the dust slowly settled. Then, a large slab of rock was lifted off the ground, held firmly overhead by Diamondhead, and tossed aside. The Petrosapian collapsed on his back and reverted back to Ben in a flash of red light while Max, Trixie, Lucky Girl, and Councilwoman Liang cautiously rose to their feet, all of them a little dusty but otherwise okay.
"How did Diamondhead manage to hold up the building for us?" Lucky Girl asked Trixie. "I thought you said his crystals were brittle."
"They are," Trixie acknowledged. "But that doesn't mean he's lost any of his natural Petrosapian strength."
"This," Councilwoman Liang sighed tiredly, "has been a really weird day, even by Chinatown standards."
"Welcome to our world," said Lucky Girl.
"Say, where'd that big guy made out of rocks run off to?" asked Councilwoman Liang. "I wanted to thank him?"
"We'll let him know," said Trixie.
"Can you find your way back home?" Max asked the councilwoman.
Councilwoman Liang nodded appreciatively and walked away, possibly considering a change in career – politics was just too stressful.
"So, where do you think creepy biker girl number one ran off to?"
As if to answer his question, a pile of rubble started to shift a few feet away and the Tennyson party saw Azul and Amarillo dragging themselves out of the wreckage. Amarillo collapsed facedown with a painful moan, but Azul gave it her best effort to stand, only to trip and fall flat next to her partner. The symbiote made them strong, but even they couldn't withstand having a building dropped on their heads. Azul heard footsteps and glared up at Ben, Trixie, Max, and Lucky Girl standing over her and Amarillo.
"Yeah, enjoy it while you can," Azul growled. "You may have won this fight, but you've already lost the war. Just you wait, you're all gonna be sorry when Rojo's done destroying this stupid city."
"What do you mean?" asked Trixie. "What is your leader planning?"
"Since there's no way you can stop her, I might as well tell you before it's too late," said Azul, grinning victoriously. "Rojo's on her way to the nuclear power plant as we speak. She's gonna detonate the place and take out the whole city with you brats in it!"
"What? Why? Why does it always have to be a nuclear power plant? Why?" Lucky Girl complained. "I mean, that is like, the biggest cliché of all time!"
"She would really go that far just to retrieve the Omnitrix?" asked Trixie, surprised. "Got to give her credit, she is an ambitious one."
"We were packing our stuff when you brats showed up," said Azul.
"And now you're gonna get caught in the blast with us," said Lucky Girl.
"It doesn't matter," said Azul sadistically. "As long as I go out knowing you're all coming with me."
"We don't have time for this," said Max seriously. "We need to get to that power plant and fast."
The Rust Bucket skid around the bend of the mountainside road when Max refused to let his foot off the accelerator, knocking the children back and forth as they climbed higher. The nuclear power plant had been situated at the top of a small cliff overlooking Chinatown and they had to take the long way to reach it since there was no road that went directly there. Gwen and Trixie were holding on to the table while Ben buckled himself into the passenger's seat. The Omnitrix-wielder was shivering badly, rubbing his arms for warmth while his teeth chattered.
"Turn on the heat, grandpa," Ben begged. "It's freezing in here."
"It's already on, Ben," said Max, "but you're shaking like an earthquake. Gwen, get him another dose of my San Ju Yen Pien."
"Wha – no!" Ben yelped urgently. "I mean, I…just finished it off. Uh, yeah, all gone. I'm sure it's gonna start working any minute now."
"Shouldn't we be taking this time to come up with a plan?" asked Gwen insistently. "Her flunkies were easy enough to deal with, but Rojo nearly flattened us last time we fought her. Didn't you once say that the Symbiote has a bunch of weaknesses, Trixie."
"High frequency soundwaves and intense heat," Trixie answered. "But the last time I used Pyronite DNA against her, it had no effect. The Klyntar's bond with Rojo seems permanent, which means its usual weaknesses may no longer apply."
"Well, that's just great," Ben complained, shivering. "Is there anything we can do?"
"You defeated her with a Nemuina last time, so that's always an option," said Trixie. "But in case the Omnitrix refuses to give the proper alien because of your mishandling of the core – again – there is the option to freeze her. All matter slows down when exposed to sub-zero temperatures, even a Klyntar."
"But Arctiguana couldn't use his freeze breath last time," Gwen pointed out.
"Then you better hope the Omnitrix is very forgiving," said Trixie, making Ben frown.
They arrived at the nuclear plant and, unsurprisingly, the whole place was completely abandoned – no staff, no security, nothing. Trixie can't help thinking how unrealistic that every secure building they've visited during this road trip has had no guards doing their jobs.
Ben, Trixie, Max, and Lucky Girl just walked in through the front gates unhindered and walked downthe empty hallway without meeting a single person when the lights suddenly went out, casting them in temporary darkness. They came back on a moment later along with flashing red lights and a shrill alarm.
"What's happening?" asked Ben worriedly. "Is that bad?"
"No, I'm sure anytime an alarm goes off inside a nuclear plant, it's good news," Lucky Girl retorted sarcastically.
"Core temperature rising," an automated voice said over the loudspeakers. "Approaching critical mass."
"Rojo must be fooling around with the reactor's controls," said Max seriously. "Let's go."
They had no trouble finding the control room – it was the room filled with smoke. Unfortunately, when they arrived, the place had already been completely trashed. Entire panels had been ripped off the walls and there were long gashes across the computers that look like they had been cut open with a very sharp knife. Rojo must have already been here.
"All the controls are smashed," said Max after a quick glance around the room. "We'll have to shut it down manually."
"How do we do that?" asked Ben.
"Just outside the reactor core," Max explained to them, "there's an emergency override system."
"Let me guess: you learned about nuclear reactors from a monk in China," said Lucky Girl with a hint of accusation in her tone.
Max looked at his granddaughter out of the corner of his eye conspiratorially, but then suddenly dived forward and dragged her to the floor. The reason why was because of the red-and-black sword that stabbed the air where Gwen had been standing, cutting up the desk behind them, and retracted through the door. The Tennysons looked over as Rojo appeared at the threshold, reverting her sword back to a claw with a cruel sneer.
"Come to get front row seats for the fireworks?" Rojo taunted.
"If this place goes nuclear," Ben said stuffily, wiping his nose while gesturing to Rojo, "you're going to end up blowing up along with the rest of us."
"We'll see about that," said Rojo confidently.
The redheaded criminal hunched forward and grunted in concentration. Tendrils of Skaath's ooze grew from her skin and looped around her body, increasing the thickness of her muscles until she was three times larger than normal. Her elaborate skeleton armor smoothed into a single, crimson-red body suit while keeping the skull logo on her chest in black. The Symbiote crawled over her face – Rojo smiled insanely at the Tennyson's before it swallowed her whole – and formed a head with inch long teeth, a lashing tongue, and black patches to represent her eyes. Rojo let out a booming roar that rattled the room, making Ben and the other stumble back in fright.
"When the reactor goes critical," said Rojo, her voice deep and monstrous, "we'll be snug as bugs in a rug."
"Is it possible for them to survive a nuclear blast at point-blank?" Lucky Girl asked Trixie.
"It shouldn't be," said Trixie with a hint of uncertainty. "But then again, fire doesn't seem to affect them the way that it would other Klyntar. Perhaps their bond has strengthened the Klyntar to a point where it can withstand heat and radiation. I don't know; this is the first time I've ever seen a Klyntar with a perfect host."
"So Rojo's goopy alien suit is gonna protect her from the meltdown?" said Ben, frowning with worry.
The monster-sized Rojo took a step forward into the room, her giant feet leaving a huge imprint in the floor. While Max pulled Trixie and Lucky girl back, Ben stepped up to meet her and activated the Omnitrix. As he cycled through the aliens, he started to think to himself.
He needed to take down Rojo, but he didn't know how his cold was going to affect his aliens. Arctiguana had a burning throat and Diamondhead was too fragile. It was like the sickness was making his aliens the opposite of what they were supposed to be…. Suddenly, he dialed back a couple aliens and then slapped it down on a certain silhouette.
Lucky Girl and the others were temporarily blinded by the light and looked up when the shine dimmed. Much to her confusion, the luck-based hero stared up the broad back of Heatblast…only there was something different….
"Wait," Lucky Girl said slowly, "something's…weird about you…."
In truth, Heatblast didn't look as weak or impaired as the other aliens Ben had used – the only difference was that his flames were blue instead of the usual orange.
The oddly-colored Pyronite turned to his cousin and said, "I have an idea. It's a longshot, but I think it might work. I'll take care of Rojo, you guys shut down the reactor."
"You're gonna take care of me, huh?" Rojo laughed, her lengthy tongue twisting disgustedly. "Don't make me laugh – "
Without warning, Heatblast jumped and tackled the monster against the control panels, giving Max, Trixie and Lucky Girl a chance to run.
Rojo backhanded Heatblast and turned to follow the others when Heatblast ran over, grabbed her by the arm, and flipped her over his shoulder. The Symbiote smashed into the window, making a spiderweb of cracks on the surface, and slids down to the floor. Rojo picked herself up when Heatblast ran up and punched her repeatedly across the face, pinning her to the wall. But after a dozen or so hits, Rojo had enough and grabbed Heatblast by the face, lifting him off the ground as she rose to her feet. Surprisingly, even though his head was covered in flames, he felt cool to the touch.
"Meltdown in five minutes."
"Hope you brought your sunscreen," Rojo said tauntingly, "because it's about to get real hot around here."
"Grandpa and the others will stop the reactor before that happens," Heatblast declared firmly.
"Hmm, you make a good point," Rojo hissed. "Better finish you off quickly so I can rip them to shreds."
She tossed Heatblast into the control panels, dropping him to his hands and knees. The Symbiote approached her opponent, casting her large shadow over the blue-flamed Pyronite, and clenched her fists overhead; it seemed her ability to craft weapons didn't work in this form. Heatblast sniffed and wiped his nonexistent nose while looking up.
"Oh man, I really hope this works…," he moaned.
He held out his hands and willed them to spew fire like they normally would, but instead of heat rise to his palms, he felt a bone-shivering chill running up his arm in a similar way it felt to using Arctiguana's freeze breath. To his relief and satisfaction, a narrow beam of icy-blue energy exploded from his palms and blasted Rojo in the chest, covering the Symbiote in a thick layer of ice. The criminal duo screeched as they stumbled back in shock, clawing at the ice in a blind panic. Heatblast pumped his fist excitedly.
"Oh man, I can't believe that worked!" Heatblast cheered. "If my cold gives Arctiguana a burning throat and makes Diamondhead brittle, then that means it turns Heatblast's flames into ice. Man, I was totally guessing on that one. I completely lucked out – "
"YOU MISERABLE LITTLE GNAT!" Rojo snarled, grabbing Heatblast by the shoulders and pulling him away.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
While those two were duking it out in the control room, Max, Trixie and Lucky Girl managed to find their way into the reactor core. The huge column of red-hot cylinders was glowing dangerously as the heat rose to an unbearable rate inside the chamber, making them sweat profusely.
"Ugh, it feels like a million saunas in here," Lucky Girl groaned, pulling at her costume that was clinging uncomfortably to her body. "How're we supposed to shut this thing down?"
"There should be a manual switch somewhere around here," said Max, walking around the perimeter of the core without getting too close to the burning metal. "It should be right about…. Oh no…."
Trixie and Lucky Girl walked around to join him and found the panel hidden in a narrow alcove between the cylinders. Unfortunately, the panel was sparking because of the deep gash that ripped diagonally through the machine.
"Rojo must have destroyed the controls beforehand," said Max.
"So now what do we do?" asked Trixie, worriedly.
"Core temperature critical. Meltdown in one minute."
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Back in the control room, Monster-Rojo threw Heatblast across the room, but the blue-flamed Pyronite tucked and rolled into a crouch, then shot the Symbiote with another ice blast. A cast of solid ice covered Rojo's right arm that she used to block the beam. The Symbiotes arm ripped apart from the main body and smashed on the ground, exposing Rojo's real arm underneath, but Skaath coiled his slimy tendrils together and regrow the limb in its place.
"Okay, that's gotta be cheating," Heatblast complained.
Having just about enough of Ben's antics, Rojo charged at Heatblast and tackled him through the window, sending them both flying through the cracked glass and into the core chamber. Max, Trixie, and Lucky Girl looked up when they heard the glass break and watched Rojo hit the floor while Ben blasted his ice beam at the floor, creating a giant icicle from which he safely slid down and joined the rest of his family.
"Somebody call for a hero?" said Heatblast dramatically.
"I don't get it," said Lucky Girl, shrugging. "Since when is Heatblast an automatic ice cube maker?"
"I was taking a chance since my cold had opposite effects on my other aliens that it would do the same for this alien," said Heatblast honestly.
"Of course," Trixie gasped in realization. "Pyronites are nothing but pure heat and molten rock – they don't get colds biologically speaking. But in this case, your illness must have introduced a genetic mutation that altered the Pyronite's physiology, giving it cryogenic powers instead."
"I guess for some aliens, getting a cold isn't just an expression," Heatblast said jokingly.
"We can discussion alien biology later," Max said urgently, shoving himself in the middle of the group. "Ben, Rojo smashed the controls and there's no way to override the core. We'll need to find another way to cool down the reactor."
"NOOOOO!" Rojo screeched.
The gigantic Symbiote bounded back to its feet and charged the Tennysons like a raging rhino on the rampage. But this time, Ben was ready for her.
He held his hands together and compressed his newfound cold powers into a swirling ball of frost, thrusting it at the furious Symbiote. The cold ball hit Rojo in the chest, molding an instant glacier that spread from the point of impact and expanded in every direction until Rojo was completely sealed inside a giant block of icee, her arms suspended over her head and her tongue frozen mid-lash. The Tennysons waited to see if Rojo would try breaking out, but it looked like the Symbiote had been completely stopped in its tracks –
"Core meltdown in ten…nine…eight…."
"Why does there always have to be a countdown timer?" Trixie groaned.
"Stand clear!" Heatblast ordered. "I've got an idea!"
Max, Trixie, and Lucky Girl rushed back to the door as Heatblast faced the nuclear core, taking in the sheer size of the towering stacks of radioactive cylinders. As the countdown reached its last seconds, Heatblast shot the core with a double blast of freeze ray. Thick clouds of steam rose from the points of contact as heat and ice fought for superiority, but that only compelled Ben to increase the pressure. Slowly but surely, the room's temperate started to decrease as ice started creeping up the core until –
"Core temperature falling. Returning to below critical limits."
Heatblast let his arms drop to his sides and fell back on his butt, exhausted but relieved.
"All right!" Lucky Girl cheered.
"Way to go, Ben!" Max praised.
"Cutting it a little close, weren't you?" Trixie teased.
"Thanks," Heatblast said tiredly. "Now…can we please get some hot chocolate or something?"
Half an hour later, they saw the Rojo ice sculpture being carted into the back of a police transport with Azul and Amarillo, both of them handcuffed and noticeably wearing collars that nullified their Symbiote powers. According to the leading officer, they were being transported to a secret prison facility off the coast, but they didn't say where. Trixie didn't think it mattered either way – villains always seemed to break out for one reason or another.
They were on the road again, but Ben was now happily lying on the couch with a new, healthy disposition. It seemed that using Heatblast had somehow dispersed the cold in Ben's body. They couldn't explain the science behind it, but Ben wasn't about to complain.
"The bad guy's on ice, the reactor's chilling, and my cold is finally gone," said Ben cheerfully.
"Don't you just love it when everything works out?" said Max.
Any response was cut off by a sharp sneeze in the back of the RV. Ben tilted his head and stared at Trixie, who was looking equally pale and miserable as Ben had been all day, shivering under a mountain of blankets while Gwen graciously nursed her to health (while wearing a ton of protective gear, of course). Trixie sniffed, wiped her runny nose with her arm, and glared.
"Yeah, easy for you to say," she said stuffily. "You know this is all your fault, Benjamin."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Trix, I didn't mean to," Ben said as he stood up and walked to the back of the Rust Bucket, not at all looking apologetic. He kneeled next to the bed, opened the draw, and whipped out the jar of Max's cold remedy he had hidden earlier. "Here, take this. It'll make you all better."
Trixie took the jar, frowning deeply, and glared up at Ben with all the fury she could muster.
"I loathe you so much…
I thought about this chapter for a while before making up my mind not to include Clancy. He only appears for a total of three episodes in the entire franchise and he never made much of an impact IMO. I decided to replace him with Rojo and her gang to establish Rojo and Skaath as recurring villains and to emphasize how dangerous the Children of Vilgax are alone before they decide to team up.
Next chapter: Secrets, Part 1 – Vilgax