How did things escalate so quickly, Trixie wondered.
One minute, they were driving along a peaceful stretch of road through a wind farm in Wyoming. Next thing they knew, the Rust Bucket was slammed by what felt like a speeding train, knocking the RV on its side. Max and Gwen had thankfully been wearing their seatbelts before the hit, so they were only disoriented. Ben, unfortunately, had been thrown out of his seat at the table, banging his head against the wall and knocked him unconscious. That only left Trixie, who managed to avoid injury during the crash. After checking everyone over, Trixie had exited the Rust Bucket to see what had attacked them and was met with an unwelcomed surprise.
And now, five minutes later, Trixie (in half-Petrosapien form) was reeling back after taking a punch to the jaw. She rubbed the sore spot, shaking off the blow, and glared at her opponent.
"You are one sorry sight, rock head," they said menacingly.
"It's Diamondhead," said Trixie. "And you're not exactly one to talk, Kevin."
Kevin Levin towered over Trixie with a vengeful snarl. His mutation had not worn off since their last encounter in San Francisco, not that Trixie had expected it to. He was still a misshapen amalgamation of the aliens that had been present during that time (thank goodness Ben had not unlocked Gutrot at that time or she'd be in real trouble.)
"It's payback time!" sneered Kevin. "For turning me into a freak!"
"I tried to help you," Trixie argued. "I'm still trying to help you. But you're too stubborn to listen."
"Shut up!" Kevin snapped.
"Thank you for proving my point," said Trixie blandly.
"Diss me all you want," said Kevin confidently. "I'm still 10 times better than you! I got all your powers, plus my own! I'm Kevin 11!"
Kevin raised his Petrosapien arm and launched a shower of shards at his former friend. Trixie did not attempt to dodge, nor seemed concerned with the attack. Almost nonchalantly, she raised her left arm to defend herself and allowed the shards to shatter against her silicon limb like glass. That wiped the smirk off Kevin's face.
"Kevin 11? Really?" said Trixie in an almost mocking tone. "All you did was combine your middle initial with your last name. That's just lazy."
Kevin took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of cold mist, which rolled over Trixie before she could move away. It wasn't powerful enough to Freeze Trixie in her track, but it created a thin layer of uncomfortable frost that caused her whole body to shiver.
"I guess this is what Benjamin would call the 'cold shoulder,'" said Trixie.
In Trixie's distraction, Kevin flapped his oversized Pesky Dust wings and charged at Trixie, plucking her off the ground and into the sky. With a sadistic grin, he threw Trixie into one of windmills, smashing the fan blades off the tower. Kevin cackled victoriously until he realized that Trixie was standing on the ground – unharmed – and holding the fan blade that had broken off. Trixie tossed the fan like a frisbee and nailed Kevin squarely in the chest, knocking him out of the sky.
As Kevin pulled himself up, Trixie made her approached. The two locked gazes with narrowed eyes before charging together, ready to bring their heaviest blows –
But the moment they were about to collide, a red beam suddenly shoots down from the sky, freezing them in place before they vanished into thin air. As the red beam fades away, Ben, who had just regained consciousness, limped out of the Rust Bucket holding his throbbing head. He took a quick survey of the area and saw nothing except a broken windmill and a puff of smoke.
"Trixie…?" said Ben dumbfoundedly.
Somewhere unknown, in a pitch-black room, the red beam materializes Trixie alone, still frozen mid-punch. The beam dissipates, letting Trixie follow through with her swing, only to realize that her punch didn't connect. Kevin wasn't there. Wherever "there" was.
Seconds later, a spotlight shines down on Trixie, momentarily blinding her.
"Ugh, what happened?" Trixie mumbled, disoriented. "Where am I?"
"Presenting our newest challenger from Planet Earth!"
Trixie is started by the booming voice that seemingly came from everywhere, nearly throwing shards in random directions. The next things she knew, the lights flicker on and Trixie finds herself in some kind of cell or pen with high metal walls on every side.
"Challenger?" Trixie repeated, confused.
She tilted her head back and saw rows of seats overhead with hundreds – if not thousands – of aliens cheering like they were observing some type of sporting event.
Trixie's attention was redirected behind her as a mass of metal rolled up, stopping just short of running into her. The object started to rise and unfold itself, unveiling a massive robot three times Trixie's size. The robot stomped closer to Trixie, the ground shuddering with every foot fall, while Trixie backed away slowly.
"Easy now…," said Trixie, holding her hands up in surrender. "Let's not do anything hasty…."
The machine was unnervingly mute as it whipped out a pair of large knives from its elbow joints. The robot slashed down at Trixie, which she narrowly avoided, and cut a pair of deep gashes in the concrete. The machine stepped forward and lunged with both blades. This time, Trixie grabbed the oversized kitchen utensils, holding them in place when the robot tried to pull back. When it became apparent that it wouldn't get its arms back, the robot popped out two smaller knives from its shoulder.
"Oh, come on, that has to be cheating," Trixie complained.
The machine took a swipe at Trixie, who was forced to back up and release her grip on the knives. With all four blades available, it slammed all weapons down on the humanoid Omnitrix, who flipped back to avoid the strike. Trixie turned on her heel and fled to the opposite end of the pen, which the machine followed and attempted to stab her in the back. Trixie rolled out of the way, letting the robot run headlong into the wall, but that did very little to slow it down.
Trixie waved her arm and threw a cluster of crystal shards, which the machine deflected with the broadside of its blades. As the robot raised one of its arms to attack, Trixie charged in, extending her left arm to a sharpened point, and took a swipe at it's exposed joint. Her silicon sword cut clean through the robot's left arm, throwing it on the floor at the robot's feet. The machine retaliated by swinging backwards. Trixie managed to bring up her arms to defend herself, but the force of the impact knocked the hybrid girl on her back, and the blade cut deep into her silicon limbs.
"All right then," said Trixie seriously, standing up and reforming her arms. "As Benjamin would say, time to open this tin can."
Trixie dodged its next swing, sliding in close to the robot's leg before literally cutting it at the knees. The robot collapsed and proceeded to shut down. The crowd went wild and jumped up with cheers and screams.
Meanwhile, somewhere in a silent red room, a shadowy figure with many glowing-red eyes observed Trixie's match through a variety of monitors.
"This one has spirit," they said. "A true crowd-pleaser."
"You want a piece of me?!" screamed Kevin.
He wasn't sure how or why, but Kevin found himself in his own fighting pen, faced with his own knife-wielding machine. More than surprised, Kevin was angry. He was pulled away from his fight with Trixie to fight these chumps? They weren't worth his time!
"I eat wimps like you for breakfast!" he roared, effortlessly batting away another swing.
The mutated boy leapt onto the robot's shoulder and stabbed his horns in the base of the robot's spherical head, tearing it from the rest of its body. Kevin jumped off and kicked the machine across the pen, slamming it into the opposite wall. Even with the loss of its head, the machine was still on its feet and still moving forward. Kevin discarded the machine's broken head and snarled.
"You want some more?!" he howled.
Kevin waited until the machine took a swing at him before using Fasttrack's speed to zip behind it, chuckling as the robot stumbled blindly. He then grabs the robot's left arm and rips the limb from its socket. In a cruel twist, Kevin used the robot's own blade to slice the machine in half at the waist, sending its upper half flying across the pen. He grabbed the machine's les and threw them at its missing half as the arms weakly tried to crawl away. And to finish it off, Kevin tossed the robot's blade like a javelin, skewering both halves before they exploded.
As Kevin brushed off the bits of machine that landed on him, he suddenly noticed the crowd as they cheered him on. The mutated boy grinned and raised his arms victoriously.
"Sadistic. Cruel. Merciless. True gladiator material. I'll make a handsome profit from these two"
Exhausted from battling Kevin and the killer robot, Trixie had no choice but revert back to her human form. It could not have been more poorly timed. The barrier around the fighting pens came down, opening the path to Kevin, who stood among the wreckage of his latest victory. The mutated boy also took notice of his (former) friend and made a slow, menacing march towards her.
"Just perfect?" Trixie muttered sarcastically.
"What is up with sending me to this freaky place?" asked Kevin, jabbing an accusing silicon finger at Trixie's chest.
"I had nothing to do with this," said Trixie, slapping his hand away.
"If you didn't, who did?" said Kevin.
As if responding to the question, the same red beam as before shined beneath them and teleported them away –
They rematerialized in a smaller chamber before they knew what happened. It looked something like a holding cell in Trixie's opinion with an unnecessarily large pair of steel double doors in front of them, flanked by two hovering robot guards armed with high-tech battle axes.
"That was less than pleasant," Trixie commented.
The robotic guards advanced and stood between Trixie and Kevin, facing them individually. They twirl their axes threateningly, forcing the Earthlings to step back. Neither Trixie nor Kevin reacted fast enough to dodge the guards striking their chests with the blunt ends of their weapons. When they pulled back, both humans seemed to have been implanted with a strange triangular device.
"Hey, hands off!" Kevin growled.
The mutated boy lunged at this attacker, but before he could reach them, the robot guard pressed a hidden button on its arm. The next thing they knew, Trixie and Kevin were blasted with a huge electrical shock powerful enough to force them to the ground. It must work on a specialized frequency, Trixie thought, otherwise it wouldn't have damaged Kevin due to his Nosedeenian DNA.
With their jobs done, the guards retreated from the room, leaving Trixie and Kevin to pick themselves up.
"Where are we?" asked Trixie with a grimace. But as she looked up in the overhead window, he could see the Earth growing smaller as they passed the orbiting moon. "I regret asking. We have to find a way off this ship and back home."
"This is your home now. Escape is impossible."
Trixie and Kevin swiveled around, only just realizing that they weren't alone. There was almost a dozen different species of aliens huddled together on the floor, looking somber and downcast. Trixie's critical eye immediately honed in on the implanted device on various parts of their bodies.
"We have all been taken from our native worlds," one alien explained, "and forced to fight for our lives for the entertainment of the galaxy."
With an angry howl, Kevin snatched Trixie off the ground and slammed her into the wall.
"This is all your fault!" Kevin accused furiously.
"How can this be my fault?" Trixie retorted.
"I don't know...it just is!" Kevin responded lamely.
The guards seemed to think enough was enough as they gave both Kevin and Trixie another round of shocks, even though Trixie was innocent. As the Earthling collected themselves, a lightbulb descends from the ceiling for some reason and flashes on. Their fellow prisoners stood up as if on command.
"Meal time," another alien explained.
Benches slide out from the walls and small tables with trays unfold. Tiles from the ceiling slide out and slimy purple growths start hanging down, dripping ooze on to the trays. The prisoners calmly walk past the Earthlings and sit down in front of a tray. Trixie and Kevin give each other curious glances before following their example. While the aliens ate the purple goop heartily, Trixie scoops a small sample with her finger and gives it a taste test. She immediately spits it out on the floor.
"I've eaten worms," said Trixie, wiping her mouth, "and this is somehow the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted."
"You should eat before Big E demands his offering," said the alien sitting between her and Kevin.
"Who's Big E?" asked Kevin.
Suddenly, the ground shakes as someone outside the chamber makes their approach. His footfalls sounded like crashing thunder. All the aliens jump out of their seats and bow in fear.
"The reigning champion!" the alien explained in a hushed tone. "You would be wise to show respect."
The reigning champion entered the room. Immediately, it struck Trixie odd that he was entirely human – possibly from Earth as well – if you ignored the fact that he was a head taller than Kevin and had rippling muscles bigger than an Appoplexian. But what really made Trixie's jaw drop in disbelief was the familiar bald head wearing old-time round glasses and a faded cap.
"Eustace Bagge?!" Trixie yelped.
"You know that guy?" asked Kevin curiously.
"He's a cranky old farmer I met in a retirement village," Trixie explained. "How did he end up here. I thought Courage would have – oh, okay, now I get it."
"That dude's a geezer?" said Kevin, equally dumbstruck. "Old man is swol."
"He wasn't like that last time," said Trixie.
Eustace – or Big E, as he was apparently called – marched up to the first kneeling alien in line and stole his tray. He proceeded to scarf down the purple slop without taking a moment to taste it. He crushed the tray with his bare hand and moved on to the next one. One by one he emptied all the trays without any sins of stopping until he reached Trixie (who was still sitting, trying to absorb the fact that a cranky old man was the reigning champion) and Kevin (who was still sitting because he didn't bow to anyone.)
"Gimme your grub, stupid girl," Eustace demanded, holding his fist up to Trixie's face.
"Take it; it's yours," Trixie offered her tray without complaint. "Don't know how you can stomach that stuff anyway."
Eustace paused for a moment, looking Trixie over, and asked, "Say, do I know you from somewhere?"
"Uh…no?" Trixie hesitated. Last thing she would do is admit that she might have aided in his kidnapping.
Eustace stared at her for a moment, but then shrugged it off and gulped down Trixie's portion. He swallowed down the next alien's tray and then went for Kevin. The mutated boy disrespectfully had his back turned to the reigning champion, even though he made no effort to eat the purple sludge himself.
"Gimme your grub, stupid freak," Eustace ordered.
"And what if I don't wanna, huh?" Kevin challenged stubborn, earning a groan from Trixie. He stood up to his full height…somehow still coming up shorter that Eustace. "What're gonna do about it, pops?"
Trixie visibly flinched as Eustace punched Kevin squarely in the face before the boy had a chance to react. Kevin was thrown across the room and slammed against the back wall, sliding down to the floor with his vision blurred. Eustace marched toward the downed boy when Trixie cut him off, throwing her arms out defensively.
"Leave him alone," Trixie demanded.
"Beat it, stupid girl," said Eustace as he effortlessly slapped her aside and kept walking.
"All right, if that's how you want to be…," Trixie mumbled, leering at the buff old timer's back. "Activate Pyronite sequence!"
Eustace stood over Kevin as the younger boy started to regain his senses. He pulled back his fist, ready to pound Kevin into paste, when a huge fireball blasted him from the side, throwing Eustace into the wall on the opposite side. Everyone – including Kevin – went slackjawed as a (literally) fired-up Trixie stood in Kevin's defense, crafting another fireball in her hand.
"As Benjamin would say," said Trixie, "if you can't take the heat…."
"This human is full of surprises. Bring them to me."
Both Kevin and Trixie were caught in the red teleportation beams on the onlooker's screen –
And ended up in the same room flanked by two robot guards. The guards hit Trixie and Kevin in the back of the knee with their weapons, knocking them flat on the floor. The guard press their weapons in the back of the humans' necks to keep them pinned when the wall in front of them flashed red. It appeared to be a viewing screen, because they could faintly make out the shadowy figure of someone standing on the other side.
"I am Slix Vigma," he said in soft, yet menacing tone. "This is the Megacruiser. Everything on this ship belongs to me, including you."
"I don't belong to nobody, 'Slick', you sorr- " Kevin was cut off by another electric shock.
"I speak, you listen," said Slix Vigma evenly. "These eyes see everything on this ship, and these hands control everything on this ship. And I have decided that your...relationship...will make you an entertaining team in the arena."
"Team?" Trixie parroted.
It was only then that the (former) friends realized that the guards had attached a pair of cuffs to their ankles while they weren't paying attention. Their cuffs were linked together by a beam of energy. And even after Kevin stood up and tried to slice it with his Petrosapien arm, the beam wouldn't break.
"No!" Kevin howled. "I'm not going around tied around to this loser!"
"It's not exactly my idea of a good time either!" said Trixie, rising to feet as well.
Any further argument was ended when the guards gave them another round of shocks, forcing them to their knees.
"Your fates are now linked...," said Slix Vigma ominously. "If one of you should happen to expire, the shackles will ensure the other does as well. Now, your next opponent awaits."
Trixie and Kevin exchanged looks before they were teleported away –
And end up back in the arena to the roar of the crowd (did they even leave their seats, Trixie wondered.) And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Eustace "Big E" Bagge was already waiting for them, armed with a high-tech pitchfork.
"There's only room for one champion here, stupid freaks," said Eustace.
"Hah, you think I'm scared of a little toothpick," Kevin insulted as he and Trixie rose to their feet.
Eustace pressed a button on his weapon, which caused it to grow six-feet-long…expand into twelve sharp points…and caught on fire.
"…Scared now?" asked Trixie.
"A little," Kevin admitted.
Eustace charges at the Earthlings, at which point Trixie and Kevin tried running in opposite directions. But they forgot about the cuffs binding their ankles and stopped them in their tracks, giving Eustace a chance to tackle them with his pitchfork. Big E slammed them against the ground and flipped forward onto his feet, punching his fist in the air to get the crowd going.
"Nice move, moron," Kevin snapped at Trixie.
"Give it a rest, Kevin," said Trixie exasperatedly. "This is both our problem."
In the midst of their arguing, Eustace grabbed them by their energy link and lifted the Earthlings off the ground, swinging them around like a lasso with ease. When he let go, the pair went flying across the arena and slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the stone barrier. The two of them slumped to the ground, groaning in pain, but it was Kevin who noticed that blow had reverted Trixie to her human state.
"Great, now I'm stuck with this stupid piece of dead weight," Kevin complained.
"And who's fault is that?" Trixie argued, sitting up. "If it wasn't for you constantly starting trouble, I wouldn't have wasted all my reserve energy having to deal with your issues."
"You're saying this is my fault?!"
"Yes!" Trixie practically screamed.
A large shadow falls over them and they craned their heads back to see Eustace coming down from above with his pitchfork ready to sewer them. Kevin threw himself to the side, pulling Trixie behind him; Eustace's pitchfork barely clips her hair as it stabs deep into the floor. The mutated boy landed on his front and Trixie bounced off his head before flopping on her back. Kevin gnashes her teeth at Trixie, but has no time to argue before Eustace starts charging at them again.
Kevin doesn't even think before he snatched Trixie off the ground and carried her under his Petrosapien arm like a football. They run around the length of the arena with Eustace chasing close behind, swinging his high-tech pitch fork dangerous close to Kevin's shell. Kevin extends his Pyronite arm behind him and discharges as jolt of electricity, but Eustace puffs out his rippling, muscular chest and tanks the shot without even a scratch to show for it.
"What has this geezer been eating?!" Kevin yelled outrageously.
"We've got to put some distance between us and him," Trixie instructed.
"You're not the boss of me, pukebag!" snapped Kevin.
"Look, you Halloween reject!" Trixie retorted. "if we're gonna stay alive, we have to work together!"
"Why would I wanna work with you?" said Kevin. "You're useless! I'll take care of this old timer myself."
Kevin stops running and spins around to face Eustace, dropping Trixie unceremoniously on the ground. He fluttered his wings to release a cloud of Nemuina dust and fired off a shower of crystal shards from his Petrosapien hand at the same time. Eustace twirls his pitchfork, casually deflecting both attacks with minimal effort. Kevin began to sweat and fired Aerophibian lasers from his eyes, but Eustace once again tanked the shot and marched menacingly closer to them.
"You were saying?" said Trixie.
Kevin was starting to panic now. He raised his Pyronite arm and blasted a geyser of searing flames, but Eustace twirled his weapon to deflect the blast again. However, Trixie noticed that the embers had accidentally landed in a small pile of discard Nemuina dust, causing it to combust.
"That's it!" shouted Trixie when an idea struck her. She rounded to Kevin and said, "Kevin, combine Nemuina dust with Pyronite fireballs."
"Combine what with what?" said Kevin. Oh, that's right, Trixie thought. He didn't know the name of the species.
"Mix Pesky Dust's powder with Heatblast's flames," Trixie simplified.
"What for?" questioned Kevin.
"Can you just trust me for once?" said Trixie.
The mutated boy only hesitated for a moment before he fluttered his wings to release a cloud of powder and threw a single fireball immediately after. Eustace was still twirling his pitchfork when both attacks landed at the same time, creating an explosion that knocked Eustace off his feet and threw him a good distance on his back.
"Awesome!" cheered Kevin.
"If you use your powers in combinations, they make up for not being full power!" said Trixie excitedly. Without even asking, she climbed on Kevin's back and laid herself over his shoulder. "Okay, for example: Fasttrack's speed, plus Rath's strength, plus Diamondhead's invulnerability equals…?"
"One mean punch!" said Kevin, grinning.
Eustace gets up, annoyed, and runs up to Kevin as the mutated oy chares in to meet him halfway. The two of them briefly clash, running past each other, and stop at opposite ends of the arena. Thanks to his invulnerability, Kevin came out unscathed. The same could not be said for Eustace's pitchfork, which had snapped in half. Kevin wasted no time running up to Eustace at super speed and decked the buff farmer with his Petrosapien fist. Eustace landed on his back, not quite knocked out, but unlikely to fight back.
The crowd went wild and Kevin practically beamed with arrogance.
"Presenting our new champion!"
"Oh yeah! That's right! Who's bad?!" shouted Kevin, flexing for the audience.
"How does your head even fit in here?" said Trixie blandly.
The attention was redirected to a hologram that suddenly appeared in the middle of the arena. It was Slix Vigma, only now they could see him in his entirety. His round metal head and multiple electronic eyes made it obvious that he was a machine, even if he tried to cover his with his long robe and a small cloth over his voice box.
"Now, finish him off," Slix Vigma ordered, gesturing to the former champion.
"Gladly," said Kevin.
"Kevin, no!" yelled Trixie.
He ignores her warnings and walks over to Eustace, looming over the fallen farmer with his fist pulled back for the finishing blow. Acting fast, Trixie jumped off his back and pulled on the energy beam of their united shackles. Though it wasn't enough to move him, it annoyed the mutated boy enough to turn his back on Eustace and swing around to Trixie.
"What's your problem, shrimp?!" snapped Kevin.
"You can't kill him! He's a human being!" said Trixie.
"So what?" retorted Kevin. "He had no problem trying to kill us! This is just payback!"
"That doesn't make it right!" shouted Trixie, holding her head in frustration. "This is just like back in New York. You take things to far, Kevin. I've tried so hard to be patient and understanding, but you don't care about anyone but yourself." She turned her back to Kevin, holding herself, staring at the ground sadly. "Maybe everyone was right…maybe I am a fool for thinking you can change…."
Even though she didn't see it, Kevin looked genuinely hurt for the first time. Perhaps he thought – on some level – that Trixie wouldn't throw in the towel, that she would keep trying to save him until the end of time itself. Hearing her openly admit that he might not be worth the pain caused something to stir in Kevin's chest; an uncomfortable, twisting sensation that made Kevin want to vomit.
He tried reaching out for her with his peotrsapien arm, but hesitated and stopped short.
"Hey…Trix…I…." Kevin stammered.
Trixie turned around slowly to face him, but then saw something in the gap between his arms.
Eustace was back on his feet and was red in the face with anger. He picked up the pointed end of his broken pitchfork and stabbed at Kevin's unguarded backside. Trixie didn't even think; her body reacted on its own. She didn't even hesitate to shove the mutated boy out of the way, screaming, "Kevin, look out!"
Kevin stumbled back, irritated that Trixie had shoved him out of nowhere…until he watched Eustace run, Trixie through with his pitchfork – three of the tines piercing her chest and coming out her back. Eustace powered on through and slammed her into the floor; Trixie gasped and coughed up a small splatter of green blood.
"TRIX!" screamed Kevin, his voice laced with fear and rage.
The mutated boy roared with the fury of a thousand angry bear, causing the entire arena to quiver. And before Eustace had a chance to react, Kevin nailed him with his strongest uppercut, sending the farmer flying into the stand. The defeated former champion was beamed away in the teleporting red light, but that was the least of Kevin's concerns. He kneeled next to Trixie, roughly ripping out the pitchfork, and held her in his arms, trembling in a panic.
"Trix! Trix, come on, dude, snap out of it!" cried Kevin, but Trixie remained listless, barely holding on to consciousness. "C'mon, man, this isn't funny! You – you got some alien that can fix this, right? Just – just tell what to do! Anything! Come on!"
And then…something strange happened – well, strange for them, at least.
A strange green slime seemed to secrete from Trixie's skin, sliding across the body and filling up the holes. After a few seconds, the slime was absorbed back into Trixie's skin and the wounds had completely disappeared. The next second, Trixie suddenly shot up, taking huge gasping breaths. She ran her hands over where the wounds had been, appearing just as flabbergasted as Kevin was.
"Whoa…how'd you do that?" asked Kevin.
"I…have no idea," Trixie admitted. She stood on her feet, checking herself over to make sure everything was in working order. Then she turned around to Kevin and grinned smugly.
"What?" said Kevin irritably.
"You do care about me after all," said Trixie haughtily.
"What? No, I don't!" Kevin denied quickly.
"You were practically in tears when you thought I was dying," Trixie pointed out.
"Was not!" Kevin insisted. "I just…didn't wanna die because of these stupid cuffs! That's all!"
"Uh-huh, sure," said Trixie, smirking.
"Shut up!" Kevin yelled.
Their argument was once again cut short when a much larger hologram of Slix Vigma appeared hovered over the arena.
"This has been a most…interesting turn of events," said Slix Vigma, waving his arms theatrically. "Prepare for galactic hyperjump! I need to...recruit some new blood...worthy of our champions."
Sometime later, Trixie and Kevin were escorted back to the holding room by the robot guards. Once they entered the room, every alien jumped out of their seat and bowed reverently to them just as they did for Eustace. Speaking of whom, the buff farmer seemed strangely absent. Kevin's finishing blow must have warranted a trip to the medical facility. If they had one on this ship, that is.
Kevin, of course, had no problem taking everyone's "tribute," even if the food was nauseating.
"Nice to finally get a little respect around here," said Kevin.
Kevin took a seat at the farthest table in the room away from everyone else, and because she was bound to him, Trixie had no choice but to sit beside him. The human Omnitrix grimaced in disgust as Kevin casually slurped down the revolting purple slop. And Gwendolyn thought she was disgusting. Kevin glanced at her out of the corner of his mismatched eyes…and surprised Trixie by giving her one of his trays.
"Don't make a big deal about it," Kevin grunted forcefully. "You'll need your strength if you're going to fight, because I'm not going to carry you the whole time."
"Yeah…I think I'm good," said Trixie, pushing the tray away.
"…Why'd you do it?" asked Kevin after a few seconds of silence. "Why'd you take the hit for me? Did you just shove me out of the way because you were afraid you'd die if I kicked the bucket? Because that magic slime or whatever would save you?"
"I didn't even know I could do that," said Trixie. "I was just as surprised as you were."
"Then why save my butt?" asked Kevin.
"I know this may come as a surprise to you, Kevin," said Trixie exasperatedly, "but friends – real friends – put their lives on the line to protect the people they care about. That's what the Tennysons taught me, at least."
"I don't get it," said Kevin. "Why would you still try to help me even after I tried to kill you, like, a billion times?"
"Maybe it's my fault for believe that there's still some good in your worth saving," said Trixie heatedly. "Even if you try to prove me wrong." The mutated boy went mute and slurped down more purple slop. "…I've been working nonstop, you know?"
"Huh?" mumbled Kevin.
"Trying to find a way to turn you back to normal," Trixie explained. "I've been talking with a researcher named Dr. Holiday. She believes there may be a way to reverse your…condition, with the right equipment, of course. She's recently been hired on by an organization called Providence, who should be able to provide the means to turn you back."
Kevin seemed taken aback by the possibility that there might be a way to go back to being human again. It was noticeable by the way he paused for a long minute, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
"…Yeah…well…even if I were to take you up on that, there's still a couple of problems," said Kevin slowly, subtly casting a glance at the robot guards at the end of the chamber. "We can't do anything as long we're wearing these stupid shock devices. Not to mention these cuffs" – he tugged at the device on their ankles – "that 'Slick' slapped on us. And even if we managed to escape, this ship's on the way to another galaxy. Even I know the odds are against us."
"Then the first thing we need to do is get to the guard's controls," said Trixie, also glancing at the robots. "But if we're going to do it, we need to work together."
"Just like old times?" Kevin grinned excitedly.
"Just like old times," Trixie replied mischievously.
It takes roughly twenty minutes before they formulated a plan.
Trixie sat hunched in the corner next to the guards by the door, just out of the range of their vision. She peeked to ensure the guards didn't notice her and them signaled Kevin with a subtle thumbs-up. Upon catching the signal, Kevin jumps to his feet with a beastly roar.
"Ugh! I can't take it anymore! I gotta get off this ship, now!"
The mutated boy started throwing around fireballs and crystal shards, sending the rest of the alien prisoners in a panic. A few of the crystals smashed into the wall between the guards, which was incentive enough to force the guards to activate the shock node. Kevin gritted his teeth and dropped to one knee as electricity coursed through his system…until it suddenly stopped. Kevin looked down at the node on his chest and grinned in satisfaction as the device fizzled and clattered on the ground.
And it wasn't just Kevin either – all the devices fizzled and fell off every prisoner.
"The shock collars; they're disabled," one of the prisoners said in disbelief.
A guard hovers over the alien ominously…and Trixie appeared from underneath the plating of its armor in the one form she could fully transform into: a Galvan.
"All it takes is a short circuit, and a little Galvan brain power," said Trixie, sparking a couple of the guard's wires.
"Ah, get over yourself, short stuff," Kevin scoffed. "A monkey could've done what you did."
"Then why didn't you?" said Trixie smugly.
The other guard was furiously pressing its own button in a futile effort to disable the prisoners, leaving it open for Kevin to punch its head off.
"All right, losers, this is a jailbreak!" Kevin shouted at the other prisoners. "Unless you wanna stay, get your butts in gear!"
They didn't need to be told twice The prisoners surged out of the chamber, running into and smashing through another pair of guards that came to investigate the noise. Kevin stood aside and let the last of the prisoners run wild while he waited for Trixie, who was using the reprogrammed guard as a mode of transportation.
"C'mon, we need to get to Slix Vigma's room," said Trixie. "The controls to the ship must be there."
"You're not the boss me," said Kevin stubborn.
"Just move your ugly mug," said Trixie, using the guard to shove Kevin along.
While the prisoners created a distraction by making a ruckus around the ship, Trixie and Kevin traveled to the tall tower overlooking the arena, suspecting that would be where Slix Vigma would oversee his entire operation. But when Kevin opened the (oddly Japanese styled) sliding doors, all he found was a darkened empty room. Trixie rolled up beside him standing on her guard's shoulder and looked around inquisitively.
"What now, genius?" asked Kevin impatiently.
"The controls to the emergency escape pod should be somewhere...," Trixie hummed, jumping off her guard and letting it collapse on the floor. "Slix Vigma said he controls everything on this ship from here..."
But as they wandered around the room, the found nothing but empty space. Trixie actually scratched her head, puzzled. Then, Slix Vigma's voice echoed in the chamber and his image appeared on multiple holographic screens.
"Actually, that's not quite accurate," he explained. "What is said was, 'these hands control everything on this ship.' Including them." At his command, half a dozen robotic guards rolled into the room, surrounding the Earthlings with their axes pointed at them. "And, unlike you, they have no problem finishing off their opponents."
"Brilliant plan, Einstein," Kevin muttered to Trixie.
"I didn't see you coming up with any bright ideas," Trixie retorted.
"I told you, these eyes see everything, and so will everybody else," said Slix Vigma cryptically.
The walls around the room suddenly turn transparent, revealing themselves to be windows overlooking the arena. Down below, they saw the audience (seriously, did they ever go home?) cheering for Slix Vigma, who floated over the arena on a hovering platform.
"But your demise will not be the opening act; theirs will," said Slix Vigma, gesturing below.
Down the in the actual arena, the other prisoners had apparently been captured (that didn't take long) and escorted to the center of the fighting pens. The floor lowered into a ring around them, revealing a pit filled with hungry alien beasts all jumping and snapping their fangs maws at their potential meals.
Trixie leered at the arena, then to Slix Vigma.
"If we're doing down – " she started.
"We're going down fighting!" Kevin finished.
One of the guards shoots a laser from the tip of their axe, but Trixie jumped on Kevin's shoulder and the mutated boy sidesteps the shot before throwing a punch through the guard's chest, causing it to explode. Another tried to take a swing from behind, but Trixie called it out and Kevin spun around, grabbing the axe's pole before the blow landed. He threw the guard at another and smashed them to pieces. Another guard came at them from the side, but Kevin was able to pry it weapon away after a struggle and used it to cleave the machine in half.
Three more guards remained and all of them kept their distance, firing laser from afar. Kevin grabbed Trixie and threw her at the nearest guard, where she proceeded to climb under its armored plate before it could reach for her. Thanks to a little quick rewiring, Trixie was able to reprogram the guard to turn on its comrades and shoot the remaining guards in the face. Once the room was cleared, Trixie short-circuited her own guard.
Trixie climbed out and reverted back to human form.
"Nice teamwork," Trixie complimented Kevin.
"If you try to hug me, you're gonna get slugged," Kevin threatened.
"You know you love me," said Trixie teasingly.
"Do not!" Kevin denied rather forcefully.
Celebrations were cut short, however, as more guards poured into the room. Neither Trixie nor Kevin liked their odds against an entire flood of guards, so they turned tail and ran (with Trixie climbed on Kevin's shoulder.) They came out to the tower balcony and peered down into the arena. The prisoners were steadily being pushed into the pit while the crowd cheered; it made Trixie sick to her stomach how they could throw away others' lives so easily.
"I've had enough of this," said Trixie sternly. "Let's drop on in on our pal 'Slick.'"
"You read my mind," said Kevin, grinning wickedly.
As the guards approached them, the pair jumped off the balcony and fell towards Slix Vigma's platform. Slix Vigma only noticed their approached when Kevin's shadow was cast over him and looked up. He only managed to catch a glimpse of the duo before Kevin smashed his fist into Slix Vigma's head, flinging him down to the arena floor. Kevin landed on his feet and Trixie climbed off his back.
"What do you think of that?" said Kevin cockily.
"Go easy, Kevin," Trixie warned. "We still need him to release the escape pods."
"What? He's fine," said Kevin, gesturing to Slix Vigma, who stood up. "See?"
"This is not part of the show," said Slix Vigma, before he began twitching and stuttering, arcs of electricity shooting from his body. "I co-command you-to...stop them...stop them...stop..."
The master of the ship collapsed on the floor and the guards followed his example, all sparking and twitching. Trixie turned slowly toward Kevin, giving him a blank stare; Kevin flinched awkwardly.
"Okay…maybe I roughed him up a little," Kevin admitted sheepishly. They approached Slix Vigma and Trixie kneeled next to his sparking body. "What do we do now, genius?"
"Even if he wasn't damaged, I doubt he'd help us willingly," Trixie hummed, rolling the body over. "The bbest option would be to take him over. Wish we had a Galvanic Mechamorph…. Kevin, use your Nose – I mean, you Buzzshock powers to try and rewrite his programming."
"What'd I say about giving me orders?" Kevin leered, but nonetheless took hold of Slix Vigma by the head.
"Start with something small," Trixie advised. "Like getting these cuffs off."
The mutated boy discharged a surge of electricity into Slix Vigma, causing the robot to seize up. Much to Trixie's relief, it did the trick; the energy cuffs snapped off and clattered uselessly on the floor.
"Nice work, Kevin," Trixie praised him. "Now see if you can try to redirect this ship back to Earth."
For once, Kevin didn't argue. He discharged another surge of electricity and a blaring alarm echoed throughout the ship.
"Initiating Intergalactic Hyperjump Launch."
"Hey, I didn't say you could do that, you bucket of bolts!" yelled Kevin.
"The ship must already be locked in; you can't override it," said Trixie. "We need to get to the escape pods before we blast off to the next galaxy. Kevin – "
"I know, I know, geez!" said Kevin, annoyed, as he released another jolt of Slix Vigma's twitching body.
The red teleportation beam appears underneath not only Kevin and Trixie, but the rest of the prisoners as well. (If you asked Kevin, he would only say he did it because Trixie would annoy him until he conceded.)
They materialize in a round room with almost two dozen steel doors lining the walls. Kevin didn't wait for Trixie's instruction, holding up Slix Vigma's body and discharging another strong jolt. The locks of the armored doors rotate and click; the doors flew open and inside each one was a control console with enough room for seven people (depending on size.)
That last jolt seemed to have pushed Slix Vigma well past his limit; three of the robot's eyes exploded and his right arm fell off.
"Well, he's trashed," Kevvin commented, nonchalantly throwing the robot away like a piece of trash.
"Everyone, take the escape pods back to your home planets!" Trixie ordered.
They hardly needed to be told; all the prisoners were already climbing into the escape pods before Trixie had even finished her sentence; some even doubled up. The doors closed behind them and several pods jettisoned from the underside of the ship, heading off into different directions. The only ones that remained were Trixie and Kevin.
The human Omnitrix had already jumped into one of the pods, her hands flying across the console, while Kevin hovered by the door.
"I've charted a course back to Earth," said Trixie. "All that's left to do is launch and we're back home."
"Too bad," said Kevin jokingly, crouching to fit through the door. "I was just starting to have – "
A fist slammed into the side of Kevin's head, throwing him across the room and hitting the wall with the back of his skull. Trixie shouted Kevin's name as she watched him slump down the wall, running to help him. She was stopped when a strong hand grabbed her by the collar and slammed her into the wall, momentarily disorienting her. She blinked to clear the stars from her vision and was surprised to find that her attacker was –
"Eustace?" she said, dumbfounded.
"I remember you now," Eustace growled. "You're that stupid girl with that stupid dog. You and your stupid friend ruined me. Ruined me!"
"Eustace, this ship is about to jump to the next galaxy," said Trixie urgently, kicking her legs uselessly. "We've got a pod ready to take us back to Earth. You can come with us – "
"Why would I wanna go back to that stupid planet?" Eustace interjected. "I was a king here, until you and that stupid freak got in the way. Now I think it's time for a little pay back. And don't think about trying to turn into another one of those stupid aliens," he added, raisin Trixie higher up the wall. "I've been watching you freaks the whole time. I know all your powers."
"Not….all of them…," Trixie choked. "Accessing…Lavoisian sequence…."
Eustace had to do a doubletake as he watched Trixie morph in front of his eyes. The little girl's hair turned a mixture of murky-purple and black shades, her arms also turned purple with a pair of nozzles on each, her stomach turned transparent, showing chemicals being mixed, and her mouth was covered by a gas mask.
Eustace quickly snapped himself out of it and pulled back his fist, but Trixie exhaled a cloud of red gas in his face, forcing him to drop her. The buff farmer screamed and flailed about, tears streaming down his face as his eyes blistered painfully behind his glasses.
"MY EYE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" Eustace cried.
"Just introduced you to a little oleoresin capsicum," said Trixie proudly. "Also known as pepper spray."
Eustace ripped off his glasses, showing his unblinking, bloodshot eyes. The muscular farmer charged at her with an enraged scream and Trixie brought her fists up ready for a fight…when Kevin suddenly appeared at superspeed and sucker punched Eustace in the side of the head. Eustace stumbles sideways, but managed to remain on his feet, turning his blistering glare on Kevin instead.
"That's for blindsiding me, creep!" Kevin shouted.
"Kevin, we don't have time for this!" yelled Trixie, tugging at the larger boy's arm and pointing at the hologram displaying the hyperjump countdown. "We only have ten seconds before we're on the other side of the universe!"
Kevin seemed to pause to consider this for a moment…. Then, without warning, he picked up Trixie and threw her in the pod that she had prepped. The half-Lavoisian sat up and stared at (renewed?) friend, who was lingering by the door.
"Kevin, what're you doing?" cried Trixie.
"Get out of here, twirp, you'll just get in my way," said Kevin gruffly.
"What about you?" asked Trixie desperately.
"Don't worry about it," said Kevin, grinning smugly. "I'll catch up with you later, Trix."
Trixie had no opportunity to argue because Kevin used his Nosedeenian powers to activate the pod and close the door between them. The half-Lavoisian tumbled around the cabin as the escape pod was jettisoned out of the Megacruiser.
With Trixie safely on her way back to Earth, Kevin rounded on Eustace, punching his Pyronite fist into her Petrosapien hand.
"All right, Old McDonald, round two," Kevin challenged him.
Kevin and Eustace charged at one another with their fists swinging…but the result of the fight would be unknown as the Megacruiser shot deep into the other reaches of space….
Back on Earth, Trixie's escape pod unrealistically and most conveniently landed in the same wind farm from when this whole adventure began. The living Omnitrix tumbled out of the pod as the ramp lowered and the door opened, falling face first into the grass. Trixie pushed herself up to her elbows when she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.
"Trixie!" shouted Ben. "Grandpa, Gwen, I found her!"
Ben came running up to her, gently taking her by the arm to help Trixie to her feet. Max and Gwen arrive seconds later, all looking concerned.
"Are you all right?" Max asked her worriedly. "We were looking all over for you. Where've you been?"
"It's…a long story," Trixie answered lamely. "You guys all right?"
"We'll live," said Gwen. "What happened to Kevin?"
"I don't know," said Trixie, tilting her head back and looking to the sky with determination. "But I will find him. One day."
Next chapter: Dr. Animo and the Mutant Ray