After Trixie knocked Kai's lights out back in Arizona, the Tennysons hightailed it out of the state and into New Mexico and didn't stop running until they ran out of gas. Max seemed to think that Wes would hunt them down with his Navajo tracking abilities and none of the children thought to question him. For all they knew, he was right.
Max had barely managed to make it to a gas station before the Rust Bucket's tank ran empty. He and Gwen went inside to pay for fuel and snacks while Ben and Trixie stayed inside the RV. Trixie stared out the window as heavy rain fell from the dark clouds above, streaks of purple lightning flashing through the sky. The human Omnitrix held up her smartphone record the strange lightning and send it via text.
"It's the same kind as the one I saw in Arizona a few days ago," Trixie said to her smartphone. "Just before the alien werewolf appeared."
"This actually isn't the first time someone's reported this strange phenomenon," a girl's voice answered through the phone.
"There have been similar sightings all across America, mostly on Youtube videos," a second, but similar voice continued."There doesn't seem to be any discernable pattern, but examination of targeted locations reveal trace evidence of tachyon particles."
As it turned out, Trixie was on a video call with two members of her online genius forum: The Test Twins. Both were teenage geniuses with bright red hair and identical faces behind square glasses, but they made an effort to ensure that no one confused them; Mary had curly hair done up in a ponytail with a crescent moon theme while Susan had straight hair with a star theme. And based on the background, they seemed to be taking the call from their personal laboratory. Not nearly as impressive as Dexter's but it was more than Trixie had available.
"Tachyons?" Trixie repeat6ed curiously. "You mean faster-than-light special particles? You mean that lightning is a teleportation system?"
"That's what the evidence is suggesting, yes?" said Mary Test, bringing up a chart on the upper left corner of the screen. "While we can't exactly determine its point of origin, the energy wavelengths seem to be coming from somewhere beyond our solar system."
"That would explain how an alien I've never even known about could suddenly appear on Earth without anyone taking notice," Trixie hummed thoughtfully. "But the question is whether it was teleported intentionally or by accident."
"Didn't you say it stole a whole bunch of satellite equipment?" asked Susan Test.
"Yeah, but we never found out what it was – "
"Gah! Darn it! Are you kidding me!" Trixie jumped in her seat, startled by the boy sitting across the table from her.
To her immense irritation, Ben had commandeered Trixie's personal laptop so that he could play some only multiplayer Sum Slammer game. That's why the green-haired girl was forced to take her meeting on the phone instead of her computer. The only reason she didn't protest was because the level of annoyance Ben was capable was when he didn't get what he wanted. But the last ten minutes were just as irritating as Ben repeatedly threw a tantrum and yelled at the scream.
"This guy is such a cheater!" Ben complained. "There's no way he should've gotten that power-up before me! This BestTest192 guy is totally hacking!"
"Benjamin, please, I'm in the middle of a meeting!" Trixie snapped in annoyance, then went back to the Test Twins. "I apologize for him. Sometimes I wonder how his brain functions."
"Don't worry about it," said Mary understandably.
"We know all about annoying relatives," said Susan.
"YEAH! WOO-HOO! EAT MY SUMO DUST!" a third voice screamed jubilantly in the background.
"Johnny, keep it down – "
"We're in the middle of a meeting!" Susan snapped at her younger brother before returning to Trixie on their lab's giant computer monitor.
To the Test Twin's immense irritation, their younger flame-headed brother had commandeered one of their goant television screens used for experimental research to play his dumb online video game with his best friend Dukey, who just so happened to be a genetically altered dog capable of speech and walking on two legs. The only reason they hadn't punted the two of them out of the lab was because Johnny had redeemed one of their coupons from the hundreds of experiments they performed on him. And, unfortunately, they were legally binding, so they either let him stay or settle things in court…again.
"Booyah! High score for BestTest192!" Johnny cheered. "In your face, Ben10K!"
Dumb name, by the way," said Dukey, who then pointed at the screen. "Quick! Grab the power box!" Johnny moved his character to grab the onscreen item box before Ben10K could reach it…only for his character to get blown away by a giant monster that suddenly appeared. "Ooh, sneak attack by Kenko the Shapeshifter. You really should've have grabbed the power box."
"Dukey!" Johnny shouted furiously. "Now I only have one life left!"
"Hah! What a noob," Ben laughed, swinging his controller around unnecessarily. "Time to show this dweeb what a real Sumo Slammer samurai looks like."
Unfortunately, all his swinging around caused the cord to get wrapped around Trixie's wrist while it was resting on the table. So when he pulled his controller again, it caused Trixie to lurch forward. The green-haired girl shouted ("Benjamin!") and pulled her arm back, causing the controller to be disconnected from the laptop. Ben gasped in horror as his character walked off the edge of the map, losing one of his lives.
"Trixie, what the heck?!" cried Ben. "Now I only have two lives left!"
"Benjamin, our work is way more important than some dumb video game," Trixie scolded him. She turned around in her seat facing the window, ignorant to the boy raising the dial to the Omnitrix "Now quiet down. We were just getting into prospect of cross-dimensional fission."
She flinched as a familiar green light exploded next to her and spun around to see Buzzshock sitting across the table.
"Benjamin, are you –," Trixie groaned, slamming herself in the face exasperatedly. "You're not really going to use the Omnitrix to get back at someone in a video game are you? Do you have no sense of shame?"
"Not even a little!" Buzzshock cackled before transforming into a bolt of electricity and diving into the computer.
As living energy, Ben traveled through the computer's wireless signal to the Rust Bucket's satellite dish, bouncing off the satellite receiver in space, and ended up in the laboratory of the Test Twins in Porkbelly, Washington.
Johnny had taken advantage of Ben's absence to gather more tokens and items to widen the gap between their scores when weird creature suddenly popped up on his screen. It looked like a living battery. The creature blew a raspberry at his face and floated to the corner of the screen where Johnny's high score was set. It cackled and gave the score a tiny zap, instantly resetting it back to zero.
"My high score!" Johnny screamed. He jumped out of his beanbag chair and started shaking the TV screen as if it would accomplish anything, all while Buzzshock laughed at his face. "Give me back my high score, you cheater!"
"Johnny, this is the last time!" Susan yelled as she and Mary spun around toward him, both with furiously irritated looks in their eyes. "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna – "
By strange circumstance, the purple lightning storm outside the Rust Bucket managed to hit the RV's satellite dish perfectly. The energy from the lightning strike traveled to Trixie's laptop, momentarily blinding the green-haired girl as the screen flashed with a purple light. The lightning then followed Buzzshock's energy trail back to Porkbelly, causing the TV screen to emit another blinding flash of light. Dukey and the Test Twins covered their eyes with their arm, but Johnny as still holding on to the screen, his rage about his high score being erased overwriting his sense of self-preservation.
When the light faded, there was a black scorch on the white tiled floor where Johnny once stood.
"NO-O-O-O-O-O!" Dukey cried dramatically, falling to his knees with loud, blubbery sobs. "He was so young! Why couldn't it have been me?! No, wait, I have tickets to the ball game on Tuesday. Why couldn't it have been Susan?!"
"Hey!" snapped Susan.
"Susan, Mary, are you there?" Trixie called desperately.
"Sorry, Trixie, we're gonna have to cut this meeting short," said Mary in panicked tone. "Our little brother's gone missing. Oh, if mom and dad find out –"
"He's not missing," said Trixie. "I know where he is."
"Really?" Dukey ran over to the monitor, wagging his tail happily. "Where? Where?"
"He's inside the video game," Trixie announced with a deep, worried frown as she moved the laptop in front of her, spotting two new people in the game – one of them resembled a battery creature. "Along with Benjamin."
Buzzshock's jaw was nearly to the floor – or dirt road, as the case may be. He was standing in the middle of an abandoned village that resembled the aesthetic of ancient Japan. The thing was, Ben knew this village. It was the first level of his all-time favorite video game: Sumo Slammers Smackdown. He was inside the game!
He walked a few steps forward, taking in the dark and dreary world he found himself in, when someone suddenly loaded into the game next to him, startling him off his feet. Johnny had found his way into the game like Ben, only he was equipped with ninja-styled suit with various armored plating and a headband that emphasized his flaming hair. Buzzshock recognized the armor, even if the person wearing it was different.
"BestTest192?" asked Buzzshock uncertainly.
"Ben10K," said Johnny, coming to realize that this little monster was the same person he had just pwn'd moments ago. "Where are we? What the heck happened?"
"You're inside the Sumo Slammers online game," a familiar voice shouted from the heavens.
"Trixie?" said Buzzshock, quirking a curious brow.
"We're here, too," Mary's voice joined the chat.
"Hi, Johnny!" Dukey yelled enthusiastically.
"Trixie, do you know what happened?" asked Susan. "Why is our brother and your friend inside an online video game?"
"Remember when we were discussing the cross-dimensional aspects of the purple lightning?" said Trixie. "Well, this confirms it. When the lightning struck the RV's antenna, it caused an electrical surge that fused with the Nosedeenian's energy frequency, causing Benjamin and your brother to be uploaded into the game."
"This – is – awesome!" Buzzshock cheered.
"Meh," said Johnny, shrugging unimpressed.
"'Meh?'" said Buzzshock, aghast. "What do you mean 'meh?'"
"When you've been in one videogame world, you've been in them all," said Johnny nonchalantly.
"Okay, we're not going to unpack that baggage," said Trixie. "Give us a moment to put our heads together and we'll come up with a solution."
Johnny opened his mouth to say something, likely a comment aimed towards his sisters, when a great shadow flew overhead. The shadow belonged to a giant tri-armed spaceship, which looked grossly out of place with the game's Edo Period environment.
"Uh…you might wanna work fast!" Johnny yelped, pointing at the sky.
The sip extended its claw-like appendages and extended three cannons from underneath. The space craft fired three shots at the village below, shooting giant balls of metal that smashed through the wooden buildings surrounding Ben and Johnny. Only they weren't ordinary metal balls, but spherical robots with painted faces on their fronts.
"Robo-Sumos?" said Buzzshock, snickering. "That is so level one."
One of the "Robo-Sumos" stepped forward ahead of the pack, armed with a helmet and banners, most likely the mob boss. The spherical robot stomped across the village square and tackled Buzzshock…or at least it would have, if the Nosedeenian hadn't turned into pure electricity and speared through the machine's chest, leaving a burning hole behind. The mob leader collapsed in a smoking heap and Buzzshock lunged forward into the mecha army, stabbing through the Robo-Sumos before they could even react. Buzzshock reformed on one of the defeated mob enemies, letting out a high-pitched cackle, and shot off to slay the next group.
At the same time, Johnny spotted a Robo-Sumo charging from the side and effortlessly flipped over, letting the mecha warrior smash into a wooden wall. Another came at him from the front, but the flame-haired boy jumped forward and knocked the machine on its back with a kick flip, and skillfully landed on his feet. Three more Robo-Sumo charged at him from three separate directions, only for to Johnny knocked out two of them with a high split kick and pounded his knuckles into the third, bending the metal as easily as clay without hurting his hand.
Johnny crushed another Robo-Sumo with a flying kick just as Buzzshock skewered another and reformed in front of his flame-haired rival.
"This isn't a challenge, it's a slaughter fest," Buzzshock laughed.
"Yeah, real tough when you're some alien battery monster thing with superpowers," Johnny complained.
"Jealous?" Buzzshock chortled. A single Robo-Sumo cahregd at them from the side, but Buzzshock casually disposed of it with a bolt of electricity from his hand. "Hah! You've been Sumo Slammed, suckers! Ben's the best, forget the rest!"
"If you guys are done playing around, we really need to get you home," said Susan.
"Any ideas on how to do that, Trixie?" asked Mary.
"Since it was the Nosedeenian's power that pulled them into the game in the first place,"Trixie hummed thoughtfully, "It stands to reason that the Nosedeenian could do the same thing in reverse. Benjamin, see if you can get out of there before you – "
Unfortunately, the Omnitrix thought this would be the perfect moment to time-out and reverted Ben back to human form in a flash of red light. Much like Johnny, Ben had undergone a physical change to match his new environment. That being his hair getting longer, wrapped into a high ponytail, and dressed in metal-punk samurai armor. Another noticeable change was that the Omnitrix had been converted in a piece of his armor, attached to the base of his gauntlet.
" – change back," Trixie continued exasperatedly.
"That's what you really look like?" asked Johnny as he stood next to Ben, noticing that he was slightly taller than the Omnitrix wielder. "Not so tough now, are ya, shorty?"
"Buzz off, you flame-headed weirdo," Ben grumbled.
"You turn into a battery monster and you think I'm the weirdo?" said Johnny, glaring.
"You are pretty weird," Dukey admitted.
"Quiet, dog!" Johnny snapped, pointing aimlessly at the sky.
"Well, that was a bust," Mary groaned. "Now what're we supposed to do?"
"Relax, nerd," said Ben; Mary gasped, insulted. "We just hang out until the watch lets me go Buzzshock again. No problem." But when he tried turning the dial, the Omnitrix showed none of its icons, or even that it was active or charging. In fact, as far as they knew, it has just a decorative piece now. "Okay, maybe a little problem…."
"Benjamin, where are all the alien?" asked Trixie apprehensively.
"I don't know!" answered Ben, desperately turning the dial over and over. "They're not in the watch!"
"Well, that's just perfect!" yelled Susan. "Our little brother is trapped in a video game world – again – and you don't even have that stupid watch to keep them safe!"
"Don't blow a brain gasket," said Johnny nonchalantly. "I've played this game like a million times. I totally got this – "
Apparently, he didn't have this, especially when a giant metal ball flattened him like a pancake, scattering a bunch of coins on the ground.
"Johnny!" Dukey and the twins screamed in synch.
It was fortunate that they were in a video game world and the rules of life and death were different than in reality. The scattered coins floated into the air and faded away, moments before Johnny reformed next to Ben, very much alive. The flame-headed boy groaned and shook the daze from his eyes.
"Ugh…I definitely don't wanna do that again," Johnny grimaced.
That's when Ben noticed one of the yellow lights on Johnny's shoulder pad turned pitch-black. The wielder of the Omnitrix looked down at his chest plate, realizing that only one of the three orbs was glowing. Panic started to set in once he understood what these lights signified.
"We're each down to our last life," Ben told Johnny. "Something tells me next time we get blasted apart, it'll be for keeps."
"Curse you, video game rules!" Johnny shouted, shaking his fist to the sky again.
As if the situation couldn't get any bleaker, the metal sphere that had crushed Johnny whirred to life and transformed into a giant version of the Robo-Sumos, armed with extra plating and longer limbs. The giant Robo-Sumo climbed out of the hole it made, stomped towards the boys, and swung its fist. Ben and Johnny threw themselves out of the way at the last second, letting the giant metal monster smash another crater in the ground, and made a break for it. They ran towards one of the buildings when another robot soldier smashed through the front door, cutting off their escape. Two more Robo-Sumos suddenly appeared and surrounded the pair.
One mecha sumo moved forward to grab Johnny, but the flame-headed boy performed a spinning roundhouse that crushed the robo-sumo's faceplate. Ben dodged the swing claw from the sumo in front of them and slammed its elbow on top, bending the metal and pushing the soldier to collapse on the ground. The third Robo-Sumo, unfortunately, tackled Ben from behind and knocked him flat on the ground. While Ben picked himself up, Johnny swooped in and kicked the Robo-Sumo into the building before it could attack his teammate.
"Oh man, there are too many," Ben grimaced, rubbing his sore back as he stood up. "we need to find an item trunk or – "
Ben's eyes wandered the village while Johnny kicked another Robo-Sumo to the ground. His gaze just so happened to wander up a tall tower where a chest was floating in circles on the roof. Ben super jumped to the nearby roof and climbed up the side of the tower. Johnny spotted him and, realizing what he was after, followed his partner/rival. Upon reaching the top, Ben tapped the chest and the box dissolved into two floating golden coins, both marked with a different emblem.
"Dibs on the samurai sumo sword!" said Ben.
"Hey, no fair, why do you get the sword?" Johnny complained.
"You snooze, you lose," Ben taunted, grabbing the coin marked with the sword, which manifested in his hand a moment later.
Ben hopped off the tower and landed in the middle of a swarm of Robo-Sumos, slicing through two in the front with skilled precision, then three that charged from the left, and another pair that tried attacking from behind. Johnny pouted – he really wanted the cool sword – and instead grabbed the mystery coin, which was notorious for picking random items based on a small percentage of chance. Past experience with the coin always led to Johnny getting something lame like a basic knife or crafting materials. So he was pleasantly surprised when instead he found himself gripping the inner ring of a giant throwing star.
"Aw yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" Johnny cheered.
Ben sliced through two more Robo-Sumos when the boss sumo stomped in his path. The hulking machine raised its fists…before a flying star sliced through its wrists, severing its hands. Ben stared open-mouthed as the star flew back to Johnny's hand as the flame-headed kid jumped down from the tower, landing between him and the boss sumo. With another throw, Johnny effortlessly chopped the boss mecha in half (a pop-up notification stated that BestTest192 had just earned 100,000 points for boss bonus.)
"Hey, no fair!" Ben complained as he sliced another pair of Robo-Sumos behind him without looking. "How come you get the Star of Kazuwashi?"
"You snooze, you lose," Johnny mocked, casually chopping another Robo-Sumo from the side.
"Okay, I found a walkthrough for the game on an online forum – " Trixie began before being rudely cut off by Johnny.
"Whoa, you're using a walkthrough?" said Johnny with a hint of disgust.
"That is so lame," said Ben, shaking his head disapprovingly.
"I would think getting you out alive is more important than some stupid gamer pride!" Susan snapped, making the boys flinch.
"Go ahead, Trixie," said Mary calmly.
"According to the walkthrough," Trixie continued, "there should be a dojo nearby that'll take you to the next level."
Ben and Johnny looked around until Ben spotted an abandoned sumo ring in the middle of a broken building ("Over there!" he shouted, pointing it out to Johnny.) The duo raced to the ring as more than a dozen Robo-Sumos began to swarm them from all sides. Once both were inside the boundary, the ring ascended into the sky and several Robo-Sumos fell into the hole left behind. The climbed above the alien ship and parted the clouds until they reached a mechanized Japanese castle floating in the sky, surrounded by a ring of floating platforms
"Okay, we made it to the next level," said Johnny, shrugging his shoulders cluelessly. "What do we do now?"
It was almost perfectly times how another squadron of Robo-Sumos appeared at that exact moment. Unlike the ones from the previous level, these enemies were capable of flying and had grills in their chests that exhaled flames. One flying mecha threw a fireball at the boys. Ben and Johnny flipped out of the way as the fireball exploded where they once stood.
"Keep moving and stay alive! Duh!" Ben answered.
Another volley of fireballs forced the duo to leap to the next platform below. Johnny landed securely on his feet, but Ben slipped on the edge and nearly fell. Luckily, Johnny was able to grab his wrist and pull Ben back to solid ground at the last second. One of the flying mechs dived at them with its grill roaring with flames, only for Ben to slice the machine in half once close enough.
Ben and Johnny kept running across the platforms, weaving around flying fireballs that flew a little too close to their heads. They hopped from platform to platform, Johnny occasionally throwing his star backwards to chop up one or two robots at a time, but was clear their weapons weren't doing anything to reduce the enemy's numbers.
"This isn't working!" Johnny whined. "We gotta knock them out of the air somehow!"
"We need another trunk," said Ben, leaping over a fireball thrown at his feet. "Over there!"
Ben pointed off to the left where another item chest hovered over a floating platform below. Johnny paused to throw his star at another flying robo-sumo and pushed Ben in the back, telling him to go for the trunk. Ben didn't need to be told twice. The wielder of the Omnitrix jumped down to the lower platform and sliced the item chest open with his sword. Instead of finding a golden coin like the last one, however, he instead discovered a familiar green icon.
"Hey, that looks like Subwolfer!" Ben shouted in surprise.
"That makes sense," said Mary. "If the Omnitrix was converted to match the rules of the game's reality, then the aliens inside it would be considered power-ups."
"Which means if you want to get out of there, you need to find the Buzzshock icon," Susan concluded.
"For now, just hurry up and grab that alien!" shouted Trixie.
Ben hopped and snags the Loboan icon out of the air, which was absorbed into the Omnitrix with a flash of green light. He turned the Omnitrix's dial and was relieved to find that Subwolfer's silhouette was present now. Ben pressed the activation switch and immediately slammed the faceplate down. When the green light faded, Subwolfer stood tall with an enthusiastic howl, though he was now dressed like a traditional samurai with a high ponytail.
"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Subwolfer cheered. "This wolf is about to have a – "
Just then, someone dropped down and slammed into the ground next to the alien werewolf. Someone large. Subwolfer let out an undignified fanboy squeal as he stared up at the hulking armored sumo wrestler peering down at him through squinted eyes.
"Ishiyama!" cried Subwolfer.
"How do you know my name, strange creature?" asked Ishiyama suspiciously.
"I'm your biggest fan!" Subwolfer continued, his tail wagging frantically. "I know all your stats! You weigh five hundred and twenty-seven pounds, you have a seven strength rating, nine intelligence, eight agility – "
"Enough!" said Ishiyama impatiently. "Are you, or are you not, a shapeshifter?"
"Sure, I – I guess you could say that," Subwolfer answered.
"Then…you can only be my archenemy, Kenko!" said Ishiyama, his squinted eyes furrowing into a rigid scowl. "Sumo Slam!"
Ishiyama stomped his foot on the platform beneath them, creating a thunderous shockwave on impact that knocked Subwolfer on his tail. The Loboan hero yelped and whimpered as the platform collapsed underneath him, sending Subwolfer on an estimated ten-thousand-foot drop. Fortunately, Subwolfer was able to keep his wits in a panic and flipped around in the air so that he was facing downwards. His snout split open and exhaled his supersonic howl, boosting Subwolfer back into the air like a rocket taking off. The alien werewolf landed safely on another platform…but he had no chance for respite before Ishiyama came barreling down from above. The Sumo Slammer landed on the opposite side of the platform, catapult Subwolfer through the air
"No, wait, I don't want to fight you!" shouted Subwolfer desperately as he floated through the debris field.
"You cannot trick me, Kenko," said Ishiyama determinedly. "I will not rest until you are defeated, as is my sworn task."
Unfortunately, Subwolfer collided with a flying Robo-Sumo in midair, knocking it off balance and unintentionally causing the machine to shoot a fireball down on Ishiyama. The Sumo Slammer dodged the explosion and jumped to a higher platform, but he looked none too pleased with Subwolfer, who landed on another platform across from him.
"Ishiyama, listen to me, I'm not Kenko!" Subwolfer cried desperately. "I'm Ben. I'm a good guy!"
"Forgive me if I don't believe you," said Ishiyama stubbornly.
Ishiyama jumped over to Subwolfer's platform and smashed his fist into the floor, creating a wave of shockwaves racing towards Subwolfer. The alien werewolf panicked and exhaled his supersonic howl on instinct, blowing away Ishiyama's attack and the sumo wrestler along with it.
"It's true," Subwolfer was now full on whimpering. "I own every Sumo Slammers comic book, doubles of every trading card – I even eat your cruddy cereal that tastes like foot!"
"I shall not be confused by your double talk!" said Ishiyama.
The Sumo Slammer leapt into the air towards a platform floating overhead and smashed through the base, turning it into a pile of rubble that landed on top of Subwolfer. It just so happened that Johnny caught the battle from another platform off in the distance.
"Was that a giant werewolf?" asked Johnny.
"An alien werewolf," said Trixie blandly.
"Co-o-o-ol!" said Johnny enthusiastically.
"Johnny, behind you!" screamed Dukey.
The flame-headed boy turned and made a panicked noise as a small army of flying Robo-Sumo soared overhead, shooting fireballs his way. Johnny jumped back and forth on his feet, narrowing dodging the flames at the last second, and dived off the platform with a shrill scream.
Subwolfer crawled out from under the wreckage with a pained groan, holding a claw to his pounding head. A shadow fell over his face and was dismayed to see his favorite hero standing over him with an angry glare. Ishiyama raised his fists together, reading to finish off the alien werewolf…but instead found himself catching a strange boy with hair that looked like it was on fire.
"Nice catch," said Johnny with a thumbs-up. "Hey, you're Ishiyama. Big fan."
"And who are you, strange warrior with a head of fire?" asked Ishiyama, quirking a curious eyebrow at the boy, who he was still holding in the air for some reason.
"Name's Johnny – Johnny Test," said Johnny proudly, before pointing to the sky in a panic. "And we got company!"
More than a dozen flying Robo-Sumos were gliding their way with their grills aflame, preparing to send another volley of fireballs. Ishiyama dropped Johnny unceremoniously on the ground ("Ow! Not cool!" Johnny complained) and prepared himself for combat. But Subwolfer suddenly jumped in front of his hero, splitting his mouth open ("That is both disgusting and awesome!" Johnny commentated) and bellowed another supersonic howl. The sonic scream encompassed all of the flying Robo-Sumos at once and ripped them apart one after another, creating a fireworks display of explosions.
Subwolfer let out an exhausted sigh of relief as he pulled his snout together, moments before the Omnitrix's buzzer rang out. Subwolfer vanished in a flash of red light and Ben stood in his place. Ben checked the Omnitrix emblem on his armor. Subwolfer's silhouette was still there, but it was the only one.
"Perhaps I was wrong about you, young warrior," Ishiyama hummed approvingly to Ben. "Your skills are impressive, if a little rough around the edges."
"Really? Thanks!" said Ben happily. "Coming from you, that's a huge honor."
"Yeah, this was cool and all," said Johnny, sliding in between Ben and Ishiyama. "But I'd really like to get home now. I've got a plate of hot nachos waiting back hope, and I don't want Dukey to eat them all – "
"Too late!" said Dukey, sounding like his mouth was full of nacho cheese.
"So how about you turn into that battery monster and zap us outta here?" Johnny asked Ben.
"I can't," said Ben, grimacing. "Only the Subwolfer icon was in that item trunk. Buzzshock could be hidden anywhere. On any of the other levels."
"Actually, I may know where it is," said Trixie. "After Susan and Mary figured out that the aliens have been turned into power-ups, I decided to hack into the game's server and do a little digging."
"You hacked the game?" said Johnny approvingly. "Wicked awesome."
"Who is that flame-headed boy talking to?" Ishiyama asked Ben.
"I don't think the characters in the game can hear us," Mary hummed thoughtfully.
"Probably better that way," said Susan. "I can only imagine the kind of existential crisis it would cause if he realized he was a video game character. Not pretty."
"Okay, it looks like the Nosedeenian icon is on level thirteen in the arena," Trixie informed them.
"Level thirteen," Ben repeated with a hint of apprehension in his voice. "We'll never make it all that way. Unless…." He turned to Ishiyama. " You know any cheat codes that can get us to level thirteen quicker?"
"A sumo never cheats!" said Ishiyama disapprovingly. "…however, I do know a shortcut. But the journey will be treacherous."
"Not like we have any choice," said Johnny, shrugging his shoulders.
The trio of Ben, Johnny, and Ishiyama made it inside the floating castle where they travelled along a narrow corridor deeper into the fortress with game's protagonist leading the party.
"From what land do you hail, children?" Ishiyama asked, most likely trying to fill the awkward silence.
"I hail, good sir, from the great land of Porkbelly," said Johnny dramatically.
"Your town is called Porkbelly?" Ben snorted.
"Oh, and where are you from, huh?" asked Johnny challengingly.
"Bellwood," Ben answered with a smug grin.
Johnny narrowed his eyes and hissed, "You win this round, Ben10K…."
But as they were walking along the corridor, Johnny suddenly tripped and fell flat on his face. The flame-headed boy looked back and realized that he had unknowingly stepped on a pressure sensitive tile. The trap triggered a pair of steel doors that started to close off the passageway ahead of them. Acting quickly, Ishiyama made himself bigger (thanks to video game logic) and put himself between the doors, forcing them open with his bare hands. While the Sumer Slammer struggled to hold the doors open, Ben and Johnny ran under his arms to safety. As soon as the boys were clear, Ishiyama bounced forward, letting the doors slam behind him, and reverted back to normal size.
"Be careful, young ones," Ishiyama warned. "There are many dangers lurking around every corner, and not all is as it appears. You must be mindful of your surroundings."
"Yeah, my bad," Johnny apologized sheepishly. "Sorry, dude."
"Hey, an item trunk!" said Ben, having not listened to a single word Ishiyama said as he was distracted by the floating box near the ceiling. The wielder of the Omnitrix leapt over Johnny's head and punched the item box open. A single gold coin fell out of the box and landed into Johnny's open hand, transforming into a full archery set with a quiver full of arrows and a bow.
"Dude, thanks for the sweet sumo bow!" said Johnny excitedly.
Ben grumbled irritably; that should have been his sumo bow. But his disappointment was quickly remedied when a section flew open and Ben inspected the secret space to find several golden tokens with the Omnitrix emblem on them. It didn't even occur to Ben that the last icon was green and had Subwolfer's silhouette, which was drastically different from the tokens in front of him.
"Keep your dumb bow," said Ben enthusiastically. "I just hit the Omnitrix jackpot!"
"Careful!" Ishiyama warned as Ben ran for the nearest token. "One may be a trap – "
Ben's hand touched one of the floating icons, only to slip through as the coin dissolved into a red laser that shot across the room, disintegrating Ishiyama in a flash. Johnny's reaction was understandable, screaming like a little girl and jumping into a nearby pot (which he somehow managed to fit inside despite only before as tall as his knees.) Ben sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth; he screwed up bad!
Thankfully, video game mechanics were still a thing and Ishiyama rematerialized looking no worse for wear, though he waseven more annoyed with Ben than he was before.
"…It was his fault!" Ben shouted immediately, point at Johnny, who poked his head cartoonishly out of the pot.
"Dude, not cool!" Johnny complained.
"It matters not," said Ishiyama. "My life is nothing in the quest to stop Kenko."
As the Sumo Slammer walked away, Johnny stepped out of the pot and exchanged curious looks with Ben -
Ben, Johnny, and Ishiyama made it to the heart of the castle where only a large statue with glowing red eyes occupied the space. Like everything else in the game world, the statue had a metal-punk sumo theme, but resembled a Japanese demon.
"The chamber of the kappa will grant access to the level of your choosing," Ishiyama explained. "But only if you solve their riddle."
"The key names your weapon, but only by sight," the kappa statue spoke in a hollowed voice "When spoke as a vow, a gesture polite."
"Aw man, a riddle?" Johnny complained. "I hate riddles! They hurt my thinking space."
"You mean your brain?" asked Ben, dumbfounded.
"No thanks, I'm save room for nachos," said Johnny, making Ben even more confused.
Just then, a familiar chiming noise rang throughout the statue hall. In the corner of the room at the base of one of the support pillars was a green Omnitrix icon possessing the silhouette of Diamondhead.
"I may not know the riddle, but I know what that means," said Ben happily. "Bet old Diamondhead will impress Ishiyama."
But when he approached the Omnitrix icon, the pillar behind it suddenly transformed in a pale-blue light, becoming a blue-scaled serpentine dragon with horns and a beard (which also had horns for some reason.) The dragon took Johnny and Ishiyama by surprise and coiled its body around them, holding them in place. It tried to go for Ben as well, but the wielder of the Omnitrix was able to leap over its tail at the last minute. He rolled closer to the Omnitrix icon, glaring at the dragon.
"Let 'em go, Kenko!" Ben demanded.
"Tell me about this 'Buzzshock' icon, boy," Kenko retaliated. "Or your friends will pay with their lives."
"We're not really 'friends' per-se," said Johnny. "We just ended up together because he's a sore loser who dragged us in here because I was totally owning him."
"Not the time, dude," Ben grumbled.
"Do not say anything, young warrior!" said Ishiyama.
"He's right, Ben," said Mary.
"If you let Kenko get the Buzzshock icon, he could cause irreparable damage to the real world," Susan continued.
"Like I'm gonna let that happen," said Ben determinedly.
"Relinquish the 'Buzzshock' icon to me, boy, so that I will conquer this domain with an iron fist!" Kenko snarled.
"No way!" Ben rejected. "But I'm gonna show you some real Sumo Slamming!"
For reasons unknown Kenko somehow allowed Ben to run over and collect the Omnitrix icon, automatically transforming in a flash of green light. Much like Subwolfer, Diamondhead had transformed to match the new reality, given a full set of samurai armor with the crystals on his head morphed into a helmet and his shoulder spikes now a pair of crystal katana.
"Daimondhead style!" shouted Diamondhead.
Diamondhead withdrew the crystal swords from his belt and leapt into the air, coming down on top of Kenko. The malevolent shapeshifter quickly slithered out of the way while Ishiyama grabbed Johnny and dived out of the way before Diamondhead slammed down, smashing the floor beneath him. Diamondhead rose to full height, pointing his crystal katana threateningly at Kenko, who slithered further away from the silicon hero.
"I will leave you to my henchmen," said Kenko, "while I find the 'Buzzshock' icon."
As Kenko slipped away into the shadows, several masked doll-like creatures started to emerge from every surface in the room: the floor, the walls, the ceiling, even the random pottery. They formed a circle around the heroes, making low groaning noises.
"Warrior Johnny, your sumo bow!" yelled Ishiyama.
"Huh?" said Johnny dimly before he remembered the weapon in his hand. "Oh yeah!"
The flame-headed boy pulled several arrows from his quiver and pulled back the drawstring as Kenko's henchmen leapt toward him. When Johnny released the string, the arrows flew so perfectly through the minions that one would think he had aimbot. Ishiyama super-sized himself and Sumo Slammed two henchmen out of the air and then crushed a third under his toes. Meanwhile, Daimondhead had the displeasure of a facing down a larger, more muscular version of the basic mobs, crossing his swords to block a punch aimed at his head. The Petrosapien hero slid back several feet, then dodged to the left to avoid another punch, and slashed at the monster's exposed stomach. Unfortunately, one hit didn't seem to do it as the boss monster brushed the blow off and went back at Diamondhead for another round.
"This is taking forever," Susan groaned as she watched her little brother shoot down about group of basic minions. "At this rate, Kenko's going to get the icon before they do. And then it's game over – literally!"
"Trixie, isn't their anything you can do to help?" Mary asked their friend through the video chat.
"I'm doing everything I can by reading through these walkthrough and player forums," said Trixie, who now had dark circles under her eyes. "The things I've seen in these forums…. Perhaps the best thing you two can do to help Jonathan and Benjamin is by aiding them inside the game."
"You mean…play the game?" said Mary strangely.
"We don't know how to play video games!" said Susan erratically.
"But I do!" Dukey chimed in cheerfully. The talking dog plopped himself into Johnny's (strangely still warm) beanbag chair, putting the headset over his ears, and grabbed the controller. "Twelve hundred hours of playing mind numbing video games is finally paying off."
Daimondhead shoulder tackled another swarm of Kenko's henchmen and sliced his crystal katana through four coming up from behind. Ishiyama flipped into the air and came down in the middle of another swarm like a meteor, his feet literally covered in flames. The Sumo Slammer stomped on eight enemies and once and broke through the floor, dropping seven more villains into the void below. Ishiyama hopped back up to safety, crossing his arms and looking down at his work…until a stray arrow flew out and stabbed him in the butt. The Sumo Slammer jumped up with a painful yelp, accidentally falling through the hole he made.
Johnny and Diamondhead, having cleared the room of enemies, gathered around the hole, sucking in their breath as Ishiyama blipped out of existence. After another moment, the Sumo Slammer reappeared behind them, now full-on scowling at the boys as the second of his three life lights on his elbow pad blinked down.
"Heh, my bad," Johnny chuckled sheepishly.
"Nice going, noob," Diamondhead scolded him. "Now he only has one life left."
"Hey, you're the doofus that got him killed first!" Johnny retorted.
"Enough!" shouted Ishiyama impatiently. "There is no time for petty squabbling. Kenko is after the icon and we must still answer the kappa's riddle if we are to continue our quest."
"Okay, I think I have the answer for that," said Trixie, which of course went unheard by Ishiyama. "According to the walkthrough, the answer should be to bow in front of the statue. I guess the first part is supposed to be referring to Jonoathan's bow, but that wouldn't make much sense if he didn't have the bow in the first place."
"Seriously, you're still using a walkthrough?" Johnny groaned, rolling his eyes.
"YES, SERIOUSLY!" The Test Twins screamed, making Diamondhead and Johnny cover their ears; Ishiyama looked at his young companions strangely.
While Johnny was getting a scolding from his sisters, Diamondhead stepped up to the kappa statue and bowed as Trixie instructed him to. The statue bowed its head in return, letting water pour out of the hole in its crown. The water soaked Diamondhead down to his silicon base, much to the Petrosapien's annoyance, before the water's effects kicked in and turned him into a fat silicon giant, his armor stretched to its limits.
As expected, Johnny fell on the ground, holding his gut with laughter.
"Oh – oh man, that is hilarious!" Johnny guffawed. "Looks like someone's been hitting the sumo feedbag!"
"Trixie, what the heck?!" Diamondhead complained to the ceiling.
"Who is…'Trixie'?" asked Ishiyama, tilting his head in confusion.
"It's part of the game mechanic," said Trixie. "Now stomp on the ground and break open the statue."
It took some difficult with his new weight, but Diamondhead managed to hop up and slam down on the base of the statue. The stone split down the middle, revealing a secret sumo ring just like the one that had brought them from the last level.
"Sweet! A dojo!" Diamondhead cheered.
He, Johnny, and Ishiyama hopped into the ring and were immediately engulfed in a golden light as the platform rose into the air, exiting through a hole in the ceiling that wasn't there a moment ago. The platform carried them high and higher until the ascended into the void of space. During the ascension, the effects of the water wore off, reverting Diamondhead back to his natural body shape.
"Ah, much better," said Daimondhead, reflexing his arms in relief.
"I don't know, I thought that was a good look for you," Johnny snickered, earning a silent glare from the Petrosapien.
The platform eventually reached a floating building in the middle of empty space and slotted into a hole at the bottom perfectly. Diamondhead, Johnny, and Ishiyama found themselves standing in the center of an arena with hundreds of stands and golden lion statues around them and (for reasons beyond this writer's understanding) a floating roof with flags hanging underneath.
"The arena of sumo warriors," said Ishiyama proudly.
"And the site of your final defeat, Ishiyama!"
One of the golden statues came to life and climbed down the stairs with menacing yellow eyes. It was Kenko the shapeshifter. He beat them to the arena, but it did not seem that he had found the Buzzshock icon yet.
"Bring it on, Kenko!" Diamondhead challenged, whipping out his crystal swords.
But as he leapt into battle, the Omnitrix chose the worst possible time to lose power and transform Diamondhead back into Ben, causing him to fly face first into Kenko. The wielder of the Omnitrix tumbled down several flights of stairs and landed on his stomach with a pained grimace.
"You know…," Ben glared at the Omnitrix, "for a watch, you have a lousy sense of timing."
Ben looked back at Kenko as the shapeshifter lifted his metal paw and jumped back to the arena before it came crashing down. Ben drew his sword ready to fight, but Johnny and Ishiyama quickly stepped in front.
"Dude, leave Kenko to us!" said Johnny, pulling back the drawstring of his bow. "Just find that icon thingy and get us outta here!"
"Yeah, all right…," said Ben begrudgingly. Despite wanting to prove himself to Ishiyama, he knew it was the smarter plan. "Just don't die before I come back."
"No promises," said Johnny.
While Ben ran off to find the icon, Johnny shot several arrows one after the other while Ishiyama bound forward at his archenemy. Unfortunately, the arrows bounced off Kenko's metallic body and the shapeshifter slapped Ishiyama out of the air with a swipe of his paw, throwing the Sumo Slammer into the stands. Kenko landed in front of Johnny, who tried running away with a panicked scream, only to be slapped aside and tossed into the seats like Ishiyama. Kenko transformed into his natural form – a blue-skinned with a topknot in a twelve-foot suit of cybernetic armor – and scanned the area for his third adversary.
Ben ran to the outer edges of the arena where over a hundred trunks were lined up in two rows around the entire stadium. Having no idea where to start looking, Ben just started swinging his sword and breaking each chest. Unfortunately, practically every one he opened turned out empty.
"No, no, no, no, no – come on, work with me here!" Ben complained as he continued down the line.
Meanwhile, Johnny sat back up, rubbing the sore spot on his head, while Ishiyama climbed out of the rumble looking no worse for wear. But a quick look around the area soon revealed that one person was missing from the scene.
"Where'd Kenko go?" asked Johnny.
His answer came from above in an ear-splitting shriek. Kenko had transformed into a giant buzzard and snatched up Ishiyama in his claws, throwing the Sumo Slammer into one of the golden lion statues. Johnny fired several volleys of arrows at Kenko, but the shapeshifter dodged every bolt and stretched his claws at the flame-headed boy. Johnny ducked underneath at the last second, but one of Kenko's talons clipped his bow, snapping the weapon in two.
Johnny dived back to the arena where he summoned his giant throwing star and hurled it towards Kenko. He managed to clip the buzzard's wings, but when it circled around for a second strike, the star was incinerated by Dragon Kenko's blue flames. Kenko slithered toward the now-defenseless flame-headed boy when he was tackled from the side by Ishiyama, smashing into the arena wall. But Kenko countered with a whip of his tail, slapping Ishiyama back to the arena.
Johnny ran over to help the Super Slammer to his feet, but both heroes were quickly bound by Kenko's dragon tail for a second time in less than an hour.
"I would've expected more from the great Ishiyama," Kenko taunted.
"The battle is not over," said Ishiyama with conviction, "so long as one of us still stands."
Meanwhile, Ben was still searching through the rows of item trunks.
"No, no – wait, yes!" Ben cheered victoriously when his eyes landed on a trunk emblazoned with Buzzshodck's silhouette.
Ben raised his sword to smash the trunk…until Kenko pulled a dirty sneak attack behind Ben's back and slapped him aside. Ben recovered quickly and flipped back onto his feet as Kenko returned to his humanoid form.
"The power is mine, boy!" Kenko proclaimed as he smashed the trunk with his foot, releasing the green Buzzshock icon.
Kenko took his sweet time collecting the icon like all super villains seemed to do before they screw up, giving Ben more than enough time to through his sword into Kenko's topknot, pinning the shapeshifter to the wall. Kenko sneered and pulled the sword out, but he was too late to collect the icon as Ben pounced on it and the silhouette appeared on the Omnitrix.
"Ha! In your face – uh oh," Ben sputtered when he realized Kenko was standing over him, about to stab Ben with his own sword. But at the last second, Ishiyama flew in with a flying double kick, smashing the shapeshifter into the wall. Ben coughed and waved the dust out of his face, sighing in relief as Ishiyama appeared through the hole he created with a proud smile –
Which lasted for two seconds because Ishiyama made the dumb mistake of turning his back to the villain, giving Kenko the chance to stab him with Ben's sword and erase his last life, essentially deleting him from the game.
"Ishiyama!" cried Ben.
"Backstabbing is not cool, dude!" Johnny yelled at Kenko.
"Your Sumo Slammer hero isn't here to protect you anymore," said Kenko maliciously.
"I can take care of myself, and you!" Ben glared at the shapeshifter as he slapped down the Omnitrix, transforming into Buzzshock in a flash of green light. Given the difference in their height, Kenko was none too impressed by the Nosedeenian.
"This is the 'Buzzshock' I've heard some much about?" Kenko scoffed. "What can a puny – "
The evil shapeshifter got a face full of regret when Buzzshock head-butted Kenko before he could blink. The shaoeshifter was launched to the opposite side of the level, rubbing his tender jaw, then transformed into a dragon once more. He breathed his searing blue flames at the Nosedeenian, but Buzzshock effortlessly dodged by dissolving into living electricity and zapping Kenko in the eye. Kenko tried to beat Buzzshock in a game of speed with his buzzard form, but living energy outstripped birds any day. Kenko landed back in the arena where Buzzshock brought down a bolt a lightning from the sky, demolishing half the ring in the process.
When the dust settled, Buzzshock zipped into the arena, only to find Kenko had disappeared.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Buzzshock hissed.
"Quit fooling around, Benjamin!" yelled Trixie. "Get yourself and Jonathan out before you time out again!"
"Yeah, I'm with the loud girl on this one," said Johnny, pointing at the sky.
"LOUD?!" Trixie screamed, making Johnny cover his ears.
"All right, all right," said Buzzshock reluctantly, zipping over to Johnny's side. "Let's get just get out of here. I think I'm done with video games for a while."
"You wouldn't leave without saying good-bye, would you?"
Johnny and Buzzshocked turned to their left, mutually surprised to see their Sumo Slammer standing near the rubble of the arena, somehow returned to life.
"Ishiyama?" said Buzzshock, confused.
"But I thought you were…," said Johnny with uncertainty.
"It will take more than Kenko to finish off my last life," said Ishiyama with a humorous chuckle as he approached the boys. "I just wanted to say I was wrong about you, children. You are both magnificent warriors." He said with pride, clapping their shoulders. "I only wish I would visit your world and fight alongside such noble heroes."
"Whoa, really?" asked Buzzshock, his inner fanboy leaking out. "Well, maybe I could – "
"Not so fast, Ishi!"
The heroic trio spun around as a fourth player joined their entourage. Buzzshock titled his head, blinking dimwittedly as he stared at the talking dog standing on two legs wearing a sumo's mawashi with shoulder plates and his ears tied up into a faux topknot.
"…Is that a talking dog in a loincloth?" asked Ishiyama, looking just as confused as Ben.
"That's not just any dog!" Johnny cheered. "That's my best pal Dukey! Pretty cool, huh?" he added to Buzzshock, elbowing the Nosedeenian.
"Meh," said Buzzshock, shrugging unimpressed.
"'Meh?'" said Johnny, aghast. "What do you mean 'meh?'"
"When you've seen one talking animal, you've been in them all," said Buzshock nonchalantly.
"Sorry, but your travel plans just got cancelled!" said Dukey confidently before he double kicked Ishiyama down the stands and against the arena.
"Dukey, what're you doing!" screamed Johnny. "He's a good guy!"
Oh no he isn't!" said Dukey.
The talking dog leapt to the floating roof hovering over the arena, where he removed a set of shingles to reveal a hidden compartment. Inside was an item trunk. Dukey smashed the crate with his fists, earning him a token that gave him a small wicker cup of salt. He dumped the salt off the side where it landed on Ishiyama's head, who suddenly transformed into a snarling Kenko.
"Dude, that was Kenko?!" yelped Johnny.
"You were trying to fool me into taking back to our world," Buzzshock sneered.
"Get out of there before he succeeds!" shouted Mary.
"Hurry, you don't have much time left!" said Susan.
"No!" said Buzzshock with an angry scowl. "I'm ending this game right here, right now!"
Buzzshock deformed into living lightning once more and shot towards Kenko while the shapeshifter was still recovering. The Nosedeenian dived inside Kenko's armor, merging with its inner wires and mechanisms, before viciously tearing them apart. Kenko screamed as his limbs flew out of control, contorting and sparking as pieces of his suit began to shed away. First came his frontal plating, then his arms, then his legs, and finally the entire chassis collapsed in a pile of broken wires and scrap metal.
Buzzshock reformed in the arena as Johnny ran up to inspect the damage. Then they both started laughing their guts off when the realized that Kenko was actually a bald blue man a head shorter than they were. Furious at having his true appearance exposed, Kenko ran and Johnny and started punching him in the stomach…which amounted to virtually nothing since Kenko's fists were soft as pillow feathers. The boys exchanged smirks before Johnny bonked the former shapeshifter on the head with his fist, effortlessly knocking out the villain.
"Okay, that was awesome," Johnny complimented Buzzshock. "Did you see the look on Kenko's face. I wish Ishiyama were around to see this."
"That can be arranged," said Buzzshock with a wide grin.
The Nosedeenian pressed a single finger to the ground and discharged a surge of electricity that momentarily made the game world glitch. When the world was restored to normal, a "1UP" message appeared in the air and Ishiyama returned to life, just as surprised as Johnny was to find that he was back.
"Young warriors, you have done well in defeating Kenko," said Ishiyama.
"Yeah, that's right, I'm awesome," said Buzzshock arrogantly. "Guess that means I'm the ultimate Sumo Slammers warrior."
"What? No way!" Johnny complained. "I'm the ultimate Sumo Slammers warrior!"
"I defeated Kenko!" Buzzshock retorted.
"You used a lousy cheat code to win!" Johnny snapped back. "I played with skills alone!"
"You are both wrong!" said Ishiyama loudly, cutting off the boys' bickering. "That titles belongs to…Warrior Dukey."
"Dukey?!" Johnny and Buzzshock yelled in shock, spinning around to the smug dog.
"Only a true Sumo Slammer would know to use the cleansing power of sumo salt to reveal Kenko's deception," said Ishiyama.
"Aw, it was easy," said Dukey. "I just followed the walkthrough."
"A walkthrough?!" yelled Buzzshock.
"You are dead to me, Dukey!" said Johnny angrily.
Unfortunately, time was quickly running out as the Omntrix emblem started beeping and glowing red.
"That doesn't sound good," Johnny remarked.
"The Omnitrix is about to time out!" yelled Trixie. "Get out now!"
Buzzshock didn't need to be told twice. He jumped and latched onto Johnny's head, charging them up with his electrical energy, and both of them vanished in a bolt of lightning –
Trixie jumped out of the way as her laptop sparked and Buzzshock appeared in the middle of the Rust Bucket, just moments before the Omntrix expired and transformed Ben back to human form.
"Could you cut it a little closer next time?" Trixie complained.
"Hopefully there won't be a next time," said Ben while he checked the Omnitrix. Yep, all his unlocked aliens were present and accounted for.
"Benjamin's back home," Trixie informed the Test Twins through their video chat. "Did Jonathan make it back all right."
"He's fine," said Susan. She grabbed the camera and swiveled it around the lab to show Johnny lying on top of Dukey, both practically swallowed by the impossibly comfortable beanbag chair.
"Though we're banning his from gaming in the lab from now on," said Mary.
"I think I'll do the same with Benjamin," Trixie said aloud so that Ben could hear.
"Hey, you won't hear me complaining," said Ben.
Just then, the Rust Bucket's door flew open and Max and Gwen finally returned after disappearing for the entire episode. It took a moment for Ben and Trixie to realize that the storm had stopped some time during the incident and the clouds began to part, letting the sunshine through.
"Man, I thought that storm would never end," said Max. "We were stuck in that gas station forever."
"You still playing that Sumo Slammer's game, dweeb?" asked Gwen challengingly. "Wanna play me? Or are you afraid I'll kick your butt?"
"No, thanks," Ben rejected the offer, surprising Max and Gwen as he walked out the door. "I think I could use a little real world about now."
"I think I'll take the rest of the day off," said Trixie, closing her laptop and shutting off her phone, then walking to the back of the RV. "Maybe read a nice quiet book. I've been meaning to catch up on Rick Riordan's work."
"…Do you get the feeling we missed something?" Max asked his granddaughter, scratching his head.
Gwen shrugged her shoulders cluelessly.
I wasn't really feeling this one. Maybe better luck next time.
Now I can't decide which chapter I should do next, so I want to get everyone's opinion:
Should I follow the production order and go with the Super Hero Alien Buddies expy (which will be another crossover), or move to Under Wraps and then do SHAB after?