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Kids Next Door mission
Operation: R.E.V.I.V.E.D
Returning
Evil
Villains
Instigate
Vengeful
Earth
Domination
Writing operative:
Pink Reef
Storyboard operative:
Red Reef
Her scuffed up boots kicked up dirt as she raced across the grassland, sweat pouring down her face from the intense heat of the sun, her blonde hair irritably getting into her eyes. It was a good idea to throw off her sweater – it would've baked her alive. She was starting to feel a stitch in her side, but she couldn't stop now. She saw her destination up ahead: a chain-link fence, no doubt electrified, the sign warning whoever approached that it was private property of a certain government agency.
She was almost to the fence when a large shadow flew overhead, blocking the sunlight. She looked up and, absurdly enough, there was a school bus with a jet engine strapped to its back with duct tape hovering overhead. The blonde girl grounded her boots to a halt as the doors opened and several individuals hopped out, blocking her path.
All of them were children within the preteen age, wearing body armor made of rubber tires, hockey pads, and bicycle helmets. They aimed their weapons at her, which looked like guns cobbled together from wooden planks, soda bottles, and a flashlight. The blonde runner raised her fists to defend herself, but lowered them slightly when the leader of the squadron – a redheaded girl with a collider helmet with a big "86" written – stepped out in front.
"All right, that's enough running, Numbuh 362," said Numbuh 86 in a thick Irish accent. "I never expected you of all people to run away. But you're going back, whether you like it or not."
"I'm not going, Fanny," said the girl called Number 362. "I've still got a job to do."
The Irish girl lost her hardened gaze and looked sadly at the blonde girl, saying, "Rachel, we always knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I don't like it any better than you, but the rules are the rules."
"This isn't about that," said Rachel sternly. "There's something going on inside there. I've been monitoring this place for weeks and I know whatever they're planning is going to happen soon. I can't afford to stand by and let it happen."
"Rachel, whatever it is, the Kids Next Door can handle it," said Numbuh 86.
"Not this time," said Rachel. "This time, it's too big for the Kids Next Door. I have to stop it, whatever it takes."
"You're not going to surrender, are you?" asked Numbuh 86 remorsefully.
"No," said Rachel firmly.
"Then you leave me no choice," said Numbuh 86 sadly, then she glared at her former friend. "You're going down…teenager. Operative, take aim!"
The children pointed their cobbled together weapons at the blonde runner. Rachel's eyes scanned the area until she looked down at a decently sized rock near her foot. The soldiers were about to pull the trigger when Rachel kicked the roc at the hand of one of the operatives. The kid yelped as the rock hit his knuckle hard (he started crying like a baby) and unconsciously threw his gun in the air. With the skills of an elite, Rachel leapt into the air and grabbed the weapon. She fired on all the operative before they had the chance to shoot, knocking them all unconscious with the exception of Numbuh 86.
Rachel threw aside the weapon and sprinted at her old friend. The Irish shrieked like a little girl (because she is) and crouched down with her hands over her head like it would protect her. Rather than attacking the redhead, Rachel jumped ad used the poor girl as a springboard to clear the electrified fence. Rachel landed on the other side safely and looked back at her former comrades as they left rolling on the ground in pain.
"Sorry, Fanny," Rachel apologized sincerely. "One last mission…."
She sprinted through the field toward her destination: The Kennedy Space Center
" – and be on the lookout on state highway A1A for a prison bus reportedly taken over by the inmates," the reporter announced over the Rust Bucket's radio.
Not even two seconds had passed after the announcement before the aforementioned prison bus scraped its way between the Rust Bucket and the highway wall, causing the children at the table to jump and thrash around.
"Is it me, or are we just a magnet for trouble?" asked Gwen exasperatedly.
"It's not just you," Trixie confirmed.
"Those cons picked the wrong bridge at the wrong time," said Ben excitedly, activating the Omnitrix.
"Ben," said Max sternly, "this time we need to figure out our plan before you go charging off."
"Grandpa's right," said Gwen.
"Okay, here's the plan," said Ben, turning the dial between aliens until he stopped on Rath. "You guys sit back and enjoy the hero show."
"Ben, we can help," Max insisted.
"I know you can," said Ben earnestly, "but this is just a little prison brake. Nothing Rath can't handle."
He slapped down on the dial and exploded in a burst of green light. But instead of an Appoplexian, he got –
"Jetray? Aw, come on!" Jetray complained.
"Ready to work on that plan now?" asked Gwen tauntingly.
"Ugh, fine," Jetray grumbled. "Whaddya got?"
"We'll go into this quick and easy," said Max seriously. "Ben, take out their tires and I'll slow them down with the Rust Buckle's grapnel line. Once the bus is stopped, they'll no doubt try to make a run for it. It'll be up to you girls to round them up."
"I'll get my costume!" said Gwen enthusiastically, running to the back of the RV.
"I've already got mine," said Trixie with a confident smirk. "Accessing Citrakayah and Nemuina sequences!"
Her body turned mostly sleek and black with the exception of her blue up-do and her bulbous green eyes with a pair of fairy wings growing out of her back.
"All right, let's get this party started!" cheered Jetray as he ran out the door and zoomed ahead of the Rust Bucket.
Through forces beyond any rational explanation, a group of ten men in prison-orange uniforms had managed to secure the bus without any guards stopping them, or even any police cars chasing them. Honestly, it seemed like the cops were just being lazy and gave them a free pass. But none of them were complaining.
"Next stop: freedom!" shouted the driver victoriously. He felt something slammed against the door, turned his head, and let out a high-pitched scream as Jetray stuck his head through the open window.
"Sorry, pal, no get out of jail free card for you!" declared Jetray.
"Ahh! What is that thing?" screamed the driver.
"Dead," said another prisoner, magically producing a chain despite there being no logical reason for him to have one.
He swung the chain and threw it at Jetray, but the Aerophibian kicked off the bus and glided towards the front. Jetray hovered ahead of the prison transport briefly taking a dive, slipping through the narrow underside of the bus. As he glided under, he shot each of the four tires with his ocular lasers to pop them. Jetray emerged on the other side as the bu's bare rims screeched against the pavement, creating a shower of sparks. Despite the driver's best attempt, he couldn't get the bus under control and threatened to run into oncoming traffic.
Meanwhile, Lucky Girl came up to the front after putting her mask on and saw the swaying bus.
"Grandpa!" cried Lucky Girl.
"I got it!" sad Max as he jabbed a button on the console.
The Rust Bucket's grill flew open and shot out a grapnel hook shot out. The hook punctured the back of the buss like it was made of paper, scaring some of the escaped passengers. Max immediately slammed on the brakes; he and the girls braced themselves as the RV lurched. Inside the prison bus, all the prisoners were thrown forward as the bus came to a sudden stop. The bus driver and at least two prisoners slammed their heads against the console, instantly knocking them out.
The bus and the Rust Bucket dragged for almost a mile, leaving skid marks in the road, before both vehicles finally stopped. Max let out a relieved sigh, but it was too early to relax.
Trixie and Lucky Girl jumped out of the Rust Bucket as the prisoners kicked the bus's back door open. Three men armed with chains and pipes (because why not; makes about as much sense as everything else today!)
"What is this, the circus?" one of the inmates scoffed after spotting the girls. "Get outta our way, freaks."
"Oh, I know you did not just call us that!" shouted Lucky Girl heatedly.
The prisoner with the chain twirled his weapon and shot it at the pair…only for Trixie to casually pluck it out of the air. Fast Dust Trixie (as Ben had taken to calling this combined form) ran literal circles around the prisoners, using their own chains to bind them together back-to-back. After wrapping the tenth loop, Trixie kicked their ankles and sent the prisoners tumbling to the ground. Then, while they fruitlessly tried to squirm out of the chains, Trixie fluttered her wings and dropped a cloud of dust on their heads. Within seconds, they were snoring like chainsaws.
"As Benjamin would say," said Trixie, grinning smugly to Lucky Girl, "if you've got the moves, use them."
The remaining prisoners quietly slipped out of the back after seeing what happened to their companions. Unfortunately, Lucky Girl happened to turn in their direction as they snuck away, yelling and pointing them out. One of the prisoners shouted ("Cheese it!") and started running.
"I don't think so!" said Lucky Girl, waving her hand out. "Aquata Risa Captis!"
Spouts of water suddenly rose up from either side of the bridge, curving in the air and diving for the fleeing prisoners. The geysers struck the inmates and sealed them inside floating bubbles of water. And despite the inmate's best efforts of pounding their fists against the surface, the bubbles didn't break.
Jetray landed next to Trixie and Lucky Girl as Max stepped out of the Rust Bucket, glowing with pride at his grandchildren.
"Nice spell," Jetray complimented, offering his fist to Lucky Girl.
"See what happens when you work as a team," said Lucky Girl tauntingly, but bumped his fist nevertheless.
"Best team ever," said Trixie, joining her fist into the mix.
"Yeah, we are!" cheered Jetray.
Sometime later after waiting for the police to (finally!) show up, Max parked the Rust Bucket in a little rest area on the other side of the bridge. He and Trixie were up front watching a news report while Ben and Gwen were sitting at the table; the former reclining after a hard day of hero-ing and the latter using Trixie's laptop to look up something (since the green-haired girl had yet to replace the one she lost in Canada.)
"Hey, Gwen, get me some pretzels," said Ben.
"Gee, Ben, I didn't know your legs were broken," said Gwen in mock sympathy. "Get 'em yourself, you lazy dweeb."
"Hey, I just took down a load of escaped prisoners – "
"Uh, excuse me?" said Gwen, insulted. "We took down a bus of escaped prisoners."
"Well, yeah…but I'm the one who blew out the tires and almost got flattened under a bus," Ben argued.
"And Trixie and I took down the escapees," Gwen retorted.
Trixie let out a tired sigh as the cousins, predictably, started arguing back and forth about who did more work.
"So much for 'best team ever'," she muttered in annoyance.
"Hey, shush!" Max hushed his grandchildren, eyes laser focused on the broadcast. "Guys, I'm trying to listen."
Curious about what's got their grandpa's attention, Ben and Gwen turned their attention to the overhead TV. A news reporter was standing in front of the launch site of a space shuttle. But what really got their attention was the dark clouds and purple lightning storm raging in the background.
"Today's launch of the Novin Spacecraft has been delayed by a freak electrical storm!" the reporter shouted over the wind. "I've covered bad weather from the four corners of the globe, and I've never seen anything like this purple lightning."
"But we have," said Ben seriously.
"In the desert with that werewolf," Trixie reminded them.
"And on the farm with that mummy," Gwen added.
"This is Steve Cummings, reporting live from the Kennedy Space Center!"
"Next stop: Cape Canaveral," said Max as he turned the ignition and pulled out of the rest area.
While the Tennysons were on their way to investigate the phenomenon, the people responsible for overseeing the launch were in the midst of a presentation in the Center's auditorium. The one giving the presentation was tall and hunched man in a lab coat with one eye that seemed strangely bigger than the other.
" – and my redesign of the propellant tanks will increase velocity on the twin-solid rocket boosters," said the scientist, "allowing for increased altitude efficiency. The changes are already being implemented."
"Very impressive, Dr. Viktor," said one of the members of the audience, "but since you're new here, you should know that once a launch is scrubbed, protocol dictates a thorough review before – "
"Who are you to question my work?" said Dr. Viktor, approaching the man threateningly.
"Well, I am the flight director of this mission," the flight director pushed back.
"…yes…of course…," said Dr. Viktor slowly, carefully, before stomping out of the auditorium.
"Not exactly Mr. Personality," said a balding man, "but he is brilliant. I can see why you hired him."
"I thought you hired him," said the flight director, looking slightly confused.
What none of them realized was that they had unexpected (and unwanted) spectator. Rachel carefully perched herself in the rafters above, having been observing the entire presentation with a critical eye.
"So, Dr. Viktor, huh?" she hummed to herself.
"Okay, I go in as Diamondhead," said Ben as the Rust Bucket pulled up to the Kennedy Space Center. "No, wait, Rath! And get to the bottom of this purple lightning stuff!"
"Hold on, Ben," Max warned his grandson. "I may know someone inside who can get us in with a little less commotion."
"Really?" asked Trixie curiously. "Who?"
"Just an old friend," Max answered cryptically with a playful smile on his face.
The retired Plumber parked the Rust Bucket out front and the Tennyson family stepped out of the RV. Trixie and the Tennyson cousins exchanged curious glances as Max nonchalantly approached the doors. To their surprise, none of the guards stationed at the entrance tried to stop them as they walked inside, which was a surprise. (Then again, the authorities have been less than competent since the summer started.) Max led them deeper into the Center, past the various photos and display cases, when someone called out from the end of the hall.
"Max Tennyson!" It was the flight director. "What's it been? Forty years?"
"Heh, give or take," Max chuckled, shaking hands with his old acquaintance.
"Whatever happened to you?" asked the flight director. "One day you were here; the next day you were gone. Had to give the lunar walk to Armstrong."
"Armstrong?" Ben repeated in surprise. "Like, Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong? Grandpa, you were supposed to be the first man on the moon?"
"Sure was," the flight director confirmed, gesturing to one of the pictures on the wall. It was an undeniably younger Max Tennyson in a NASA spacesuit, grinning proudly with his helmet under his arm. "Does this guy look familiar? Best astronaut in the program."
"A um…different duty called," said Max uncomfortably.
"So, what can I help you with, Max?" the flight director asked his old friend eagerly.
"Just playing tourist," said Max. "Wanted to show the youngsters around the old stomping ground."
While Max and the flight director chatted up like old times, Ben had wandered away, looking at everything with a sense of awe. Unfortunately, he ended running into someone – someone surprisingly solid. He took a step back and realized that he had bumped into a grumpy-looking Dr. Viktor.
"Oh, uh, sorry," Ben apologized.
Dr. Viktor initially ignored him, until his mismatched eyes fell on the Omnitrix. There was a hint of recognition in his gaze as his eyebrows flew up, but quickly shifted his expression into an angry glare.
"You shouldn't be here," Dr. Viktor said to Ben, then turned to the flight director. "You bring unauthorized visitors into a classified area? Get rid of them…."
And with that threatening remark, he stomped away in a surprisingly brisk pace.
"What's his problem?" asked Ben irritably.
"It's kind of a crazy day, Max, with the delay and all," the flight director told his old friend. "Maybe we should reschedule your tour. You remember the way out, right?"
And he walked away, quite irresponsibly leaving them alone in the middle of the hall without even calling security to escort them out. So it's not just the police who are incompetent. The Tennysons, of course, took the given opportunity to do the exact opposite and walked deeper into the Center.
" – so, I never did wind up going into space with NASA," Max explained to his grandchildren.
"Bummer," said Ben. "Don't you ever regret not being the first man on the moon?"
"I just took my 'leaps for mankind' in other ways," said Max proudly. They heard a loud clang ahead and Max threw out his arm to stop them. "Hold on!"
Max pulled the children in the shadow of a small alcove, peeking cautiously down the hall. He spotted two employees thankfully walking the other way, likely just coming off their shift. They waited until the two men disappeared around the corner before quietly making their way forward. Max lead them to a fortified steel door with the typical "DO NOT ENTER" sign. There was no lock or handle; just a side console with a with a handprint scanner. Hardly a challenge for a retired Plumber.
Max pulled out what looked like a Swiss army knife, but when he flipped one of the many attachments, it revealed itself as a two-pronged computer jack. Max inserted the device into the scanner, waiting only two seconds before the security door flew open.
"Plumber's standard issue," Max boasted, pocketing the device.
They were inside the mission control room, which oversaw the entire operation at NASA. Thankfully, for some inexplicable reason beyond this author's ability (or desire) to understand, the entire place was deserted. Trixie took a seat at the nearest desk and started using the technical know-how to gain access.
"And operation as large and secretive as NASA should record everything," said Trixie, bringing an imagine of the launch site to the screen. "Let's see what we can find about that purple lightning."
On the opposite side of the Space Center, Dr. Viktor grabbed the handle of the door, about to enter her private office, when the flight director appeared around the corner and called out to him.
"Dr. Viktor, there you are," said the flight director. "I need to speak to you about your credentials."
"Not now," said Dr. Viktor rudely, turning the knob.
"Dr. Viktor, I am your superior," said the flight director firmly.
"You have no idea how wrong – " Dr. Viktor said angrily at the director until he opened the door.
Both men were startled when they saw that Dr. Viktor's office had been ransacked. His filing cabinet had been torn open, scattering papers everywhere, several of his blueprints had been torn off the wall, and his poor houseplant, Pepe, had been knocked over. And the person responsible was a young blonde girl digging through his computer.
Rachel had been trying to the past twenty minutes to decrypt Dr. Viktor's files using the best 2x4 hacking technology available. But the security around his personal database was more advanced than anything she had ever seen. Rachel would even suspect the technology wasn't even from Earth.
"C'mon," grumbled Rachel, slamming her fist on the laptop like it would help somehow. "C'mon, give me something, you stupid – "
Rachel finally looked up from the computer when she realized that there were two adults staring at her, slack jawed.
"…This looks pretty bad, doesn't it?" she said.
She gave them no chance to respond before Rachel jumped out of the chair and dived at the window, bracing her arms over her head as she smashed through the glass. Dr. Viktor and the flight director raced to the broken window and looked down. Rachel pulled out a homemade grapnel gun from her pocket and used it to hook to the roof of the building. She swung around with the momentum until she was able to land safely on the roof below. Rachel shot one last look at the adults peering through the window before sprinting to the rooftop door and disappearing inside the building.
"Dr. Viktor, what is going on?" the flight inspector sputtered, flabbergasted, ignorant to Dr. Viktor's increased irritation. "Who was that child? Why was she in your office? Have you – "
"Oh, shut him up already!" snapped Dr. Viktor.
The flight director briefly wondered who he was talking to until a bundle of living bandages suddenly ensnared him from behind, smothering him in a thick cocoon. The flight director's screamed were muffled by the wrappings, flailing desperately inside the cocoon. But after a few moments of panicked wailing, the director slowly went quiet and his movements ceased.
The alien mummy and werewolf combo slinked into the room, silently looking for direction from the doctor.
"Hide the body somewhere no one can find it," Dr. Viktor told the mummy. "We can't have anything delaying the launch." As the mummy lurched away with the director's body, her turned to the werewolf. "Take care of the girl. We can't risk having her expose our plans, especially with the boy present."
The werewolf snarled in confirmation and shot out the window, landing on its feet with a heavy thud. The alien lycanthrope sniffed the air and began its chase –
"Who would've thought TV would be so boring?" Ben yawned obnoxiously loudly.
"Quiet, you," said Trixie irritably, her fingers flying across the controls. "Okay…one second…aha! Yes! I found the pre-flight images. This should give us an idea of what we're looking for…."
But, of course, Ben's attention span was little more than a squirrel on a sugar high. So while his family's attention was on the monitors, the Omnitrix wielder slipped out unnoticed.
"You guys have your way of finding out things," said Ben, shutting the door behind him, "and I have mine."
Ben wandered down the hall, took a left, then a right, and then another right, having no real plan except to wander aimlessly until he stumbled across something. It was the farthest thing was sensible…and yet it somehow paid off. He spotted someone running across the hall up ahead; a blonde girl around his age that definitely didn't belong her.
"Hello, mysterious intruder," Ben muttered to himself.
Ben followed the girl inside the room, which appeared to be the centrifuge chamber NASA used to test an astronaut's tolerance to hyper-g environments…. What? Just because he wasn't a science nerd didn't mean Ben wasn't interested astronauts or the space program, especially after getting the Omnitrix. Anyway, he took a quick look around the room, but he didn't see the blonde girl anywhere.
"Hello?" Ben called out. "I know you're in here! Why don't you come out and – "
THUMP!
Ben felt the ground quiver as something heavy landed behind him. He turned around and was met with a familiar, but most unwelcome, surprise.
"The werewolf!" yelped Ben. "What the heck are you doing here?"
Predictably, the alien lycanthrope wasn't in a chatty mood. It lunged for the boy, but Ben saw the automatic locking mechanism next to the door and slammed it with his fist. The door closed on the werewolf's shoulders, which it did not appreciate in the least as it snapped its teeth and clawed at the edges. While the werewolf tried scratching its way inside, Ben jumped into the centrifuge machine…and found himself seated neat to blonde girl he spotted earlier.
"What're you doing here?" both shouted at the same time, pointing at each other.
"You know you're trespassing on private property, right?" Ben told her.
"And what are you doing?" Rachel retorted.
"I'm here with my grandpa!" Ben countered.
"Well, good for you!" snapped Rachel. Both children flinched when they heard the werewolf's long nail screech across the metal walls. "Right now I think we have bigger problems than who's breaking what rules. That giant…dog thing – "
"Alien werewolf," Ben corrected.
"…Honestly, not the weirdest thing I've heard," Rachel admitted. "Anyway, that thing is blocking the only exit, and I don't have any of my 2x4 weaponry! We're trapped!"
"Maybe not…," said Ben, looking at the Omnitrix in deep thought. He faced the girl and asked, "Can you keep a secret."
"Trust me, kid, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's keeping secrets," said Rachel confidently.
"Okay," said Ben hesitantly as he activated the watch. "Try not to freak out…."
Rachel was about to ask why he thought she would freak out when he slapped down the dial and exploded in a flash of green light that briefly blinded her. She blinked away the stars in her eyes, looked back at Ben, then slapped hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming out loud. It was a reasonable reaction after she realized a ten-year-old boy had suddenly transformed into an eight-foot mummy.
"Snare-Oh?" the alien mummy grumbled. "But I wanted Heatblast. Man, this watch totally hates me."
"I – you – but – how – " Rachel sputtered, her brain on the verge overloading.
"I told you not to freak out!" said Snare-Oh.
The pair jumped when they heard the door slam. Snare-Oh stepped out of the machine, finding himself confronted with the snarling maw of the werewolf right before it lunged at him –
"Here's the footage from where the purple lightning hit," said Trixie as she started the video feed. On the screen, the saw the space shuttle at a slanted angle with the purple lightning striking in the background. But there was also something else there – something that Gwen noticed right away.
"Wait, what's that?" asked Gwen, pointing to the corner of the screen. "Zoom in, over there on the launch pad."
Trixie adjusted the screen, focusing the camera on a distinctly recognizable face fiddling with some strange device on the edge of the launch pad.
"Dr. Viktor?" said Trixie, raising a curious brow.
"Awful big coincidence, don't you think, Ben?" said Max. When no response came, everyone turned around to discover his seat was empty. "Ben?"
The werewolf landed a blow to Snare-Oh's head, causing him to flip around in the air and land on his front with a surprisingly soft thump. He groaned and looked up at Rachel, who poked her head anxiously out of the centrifuge machine, then to the werewolf as it stomped toward them. Snare-Oh threw out his bandages, but the werewolf dodged and tackled the heroic mummy to the ground. The alien lycanthrope leaned in close to Snare-Oh's close, beginning to peel back its muzzle for its sonic attack, when Snare-Oh coiled his muzzle shut with his free hand.
The werewolf groaned irritably and backed away, trying to shake off the wrappings like a dogs with a cone on its head. Snare-Oh pulled the werewolf sideways, spinning it around in a full circle before smashing the lycanthrope through the observation window. But when he pulled it back, the werewolf unknowingly clawed the control panel, causing one of the buttons to light up.
Klaxon horns wailed when Rachel suddenly realized that she was starting to move. Or, more specifically, the centrifuge. Snare-Oh and the werewolf also became aware, the former ducking under the rotating machine while the latter leapt overhead.
The werewolf came down with a swipe of its claw, but Snare-Oh stepped out of the way and pulled the beast's leg out from under him before jumping over the centrifuge's second rotation. The werewolf jumped up and lunged at Snare-Oh left and right, only for to miss by mere inches. Snare-Oh expanded his hand and attempted to cocoon it, but the werewolf jumped out of his reach and landed on top of the centrifuge machine as it came around for another rotation. This put the werewolf in a prime position over his intended target: Rachel.
The blonde teen, who was already looking green in the face, screamed in terror as the werewolf snarled in her face. In a kneejerk reaction, Rachel raised her foot and repeatedly kicked the werewolf in the snort, surprisingly disorienting the monster. The werewolf wobbled in place as the centrifuge came around to Snare-Oh, who leapt overhead and stretched his wrappings at the beast's midsection. Snare-Oh snapped forward like a rubber band, kicking the werewolf in the face and throwing him across the connecting rod.
The werewolf shook it head free of its daze and peeled back his maw to prepare its sonic howl. Snare-Oh pivoted, pulling Rachel out of the seat, and then leapt away as the werewolf screamed. The sonic blast obliterated the centrifuge and blasted a gaping hole in the wall. Snare-Oh used his body to shield Rachel from the debris. They pulled apart when the dust finally settled and realized they were the only people left in the chamber.
"You okay?" Snare-Oh asked Rachel.
"I'm fine," said Rachel, panting. "Not the worst jam I've been in…. Where'd tall, dark, and hairy run off to?"
Snare-Oh marched over to the hole in the wall and started to look around when he was suddenly tackled hard in the chest by what felt like a speeding bus. Rachel let out another startled yelp (she's having a bad day, okay?!) when she realized her new er…acquaintance was being pinned down by someone who looked like a cross between a manta ray and a human chandelier.
"I don't know how you got out of the ground," said Trixie, pointing a sharpened crystal to Snare-Oh's face, "but I'm putting you straight back."
"Wait-wait-wait, Trixie, it's me!" cried Snare-Oh, flailing his hand.
"Ben?" Max and Gwen arrive seconds later. "Is that you?"
"Who else?" Snare-Oh groaned.
"Ooh, sorry about that, Benjamin," Trixie apologized, climbing off Snare-Oh's chest and de-transforming. "I thought you were the mummy because…well, you look like the mummy."
At that moment, the Omnitrix timer ran out and returned Ben to human form in a flash of red light.
"The werewolf from the Indian reservation attacked us," Ben explained immediately. "He's gotta still be running around here somewhere."
"I'm sorry, 'us?'" Max repeated curiously. Ben craned his head around towards Rachel and everyone turned to look in her direction. The blonde girl just stared back, wide-eyed at everything she had just witnessed, barely managing a half-aware wave. "Oh boy, you didn't go alien in front of her, did you, Ben?"
"I had to," said Ben. "The werewolf was after her."
"Why was the werewolf after you?" Gwen asked Rachel. "Who are you?"
That seemed to snap Rachel out of her stupor as she immediately went into a crisp military salute, and said, "Numbuh 362, Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, ma'am! …or at least, that's who I was before." She added lamely. "I'm technically not an operative anymore, so I guess you can just call me Rachel."
"The Kids Next Door?" Gwen repeated with a raised brow. "Those dweebs who pretend they're superheroes fighting 'adult tyranny' or whatever?"
"Hey! Fighting adult tyranny is very serious business!" snapped Rachel.
"Okay, slow down, Rachel," said Max calmly, touching her shoulder gently. "Why don't you tell us what you're doing here in the first place?"
"Okay…," said Rachel, taking a deep breath. "Three months ago, one of my closest friends was…taken. Nobody would say where, but I've been gathering evidence to suggest that it might be extraterrestrial in origin. And after what I just saw, there's no denying that aliens are real."
"Way to blow your cover, doofus," Gwen chided her cousin.
"For the past several weeks, I've been trying to find anything that might suggest where he was taking," Rachel continued. "During my investigation, I've noticed several strange frequencies coming from deep space."
"What kind of frequencies?" asked Trixie.
"They were too alien for me to decipher," Rachel admitted, "but I traced them to three different locations on earth: an Indian reservation in Arizona, a farm in South Carolina, and, most recently, here in Cape Canaveral."
"Those are the places where we met those alien horror rejects," Ben realized.
"I don't like it," hummed Max. "Dr. Viktor being around when purple lightning grounds the shuttle, then werewolf showing up. What's next?"
"How bout that?" said Gwen, pointing to the window above where they see streaks of purple lightning shooting across the suddenly grey sky.
"We better check this out," Ben suggested. "Rachel, you should – "
"If you're telling me to stay behind you got another thing coming, bub," said Rachel forcefully, pushing past Ben and running out the door.
"I like her," Trixie commented.
Rachel and the Tennysons traveled half a mile north of the Kennedy Space Center to a large, fenced in area that (surprise, surprise) had absolutely no security detail watching the place. the zone must have been several miles long and was cluttered with all kinds of discarded rocket parts. Depleted rocket boosters, scrapped thrusters, broken satellite – some weren't even recognizable parts and looked like the result of a disastrous explosion. Trixie thought it was a waste to throw out so many still functioning part, already imagining what she could do with this kind of technology in her hands.
"The purple lightning came from right around here," Max informed the kids.
"What is this place, grandpa?" asked Gwen curiously.
"Well, they call it the 'graveyard'," Max answered. "Rockets, thrusters, engines, capsules, you name it. From every mission. Mercury, Gemini, Apollo. NASA'S like your Aunt Muriel: neither one likes to throw anything out."
"Reminds me of my little brother's closet," said Rachel humorously. "Only thing missing is the giant fuzz monster."
They heard a sharp clang from above and titled their heads back to see the werewolf perched on a tower of discarded rockets above them, snarling with a drooling maw.
"You were saying?" said Gwen.
"My brother's closest is still worse," Rachel remarked.
Ben reaches for the Omnitrix, only to realize that it was still in the middle of its cool down. The werewolf poached the chance and blasted the five humans with a sonic howl, sending them flying through the air and sliding across the dirt. Max was the first to recover, shaking his head as the werewolf hopped down from its perch and made its way towards them. the retired Plumber reached into his back pocket and whipped out a spider-like device, which he threw at the werewolf's snout, clamping its muzzle shut before it could unleash another howl. While the werewolf rolled around the ground trying to remove the device, Gwen shot her grandfather a strange look.
"Plumber, standard issue," Max answered her unasked question.
But when she wasn't looking, a single bandage wrapped around Gwen's waist and pulled her away from the group. Gwen was dragged across the ground until she managed to grab onto the bar of a half-buried engine. Knowing what she was bound to see, Gwen looked back and spotted the alien mummy standing atop a rocket booster some distance away.
"How did that thing get loose?" wailed Gwen. "Didn't we bury it in concrete?"
Rachel lifted herself off the ground when she noticed Gwen was in trouble. She looked around for something to use and spotted a sharpened piece of metal sticking out of the ground. She quickly picked up the piece, then ran up and sliced the mummy's bandage, dropping Gwen on the ground. The mummy, however, was less than please and snapped its wrappings at the former Supreme Leader instead.
With her impressive dexterity and agility, Rachel managed to slide and flip around the wrappings several times before one managed to catch her by the ankle. The mummy dragged Rachel toward it and the former blonde teen raised her broken metal piece to slice it off. But the mummy caught her by the wrist, forcing her to drop the impromptu tool, and started dragging her across the ground sideways.
The mummy pulled Rachel off the ground and held her aloft in front of its face when a green explosion went off behind it. The mummy turned around towards the source moments before a crystalized fist punched it across the face, sending the alien horror show launching to the ground. The resulting punch caused the mummy to let go of Rachel, who suddenly found herself nestled securely in Diamondhead's arm.
Rachel blinked owlishly, then noticed the Omnitrix icon on his chest and said, "How many aliens do you have?"
"If I'm lucky, ten thousand," said Diamondhead optimistically.
But potential alien numbers would have to wait as the mummy hopped on top of collapsed satellite across from them, opening its chest cavity, which was emitting a lethal purple glow.
"Ben, Rachel, get back!" Max warned. "It's gonna release the Corrodium!"
"The what?" yelled Rachel.
"Stay behind me!" shouted Daimondhead, turning his back to the mummy. With his freehand, he punched the ground, which summoned a diagonal piece of silicon that hit the mummy and sent it hurtled through the air again.
Max let out a relieved sigh until he heard the werewolf break free from its muzzle and lunged at him from behind. He was saved in the nick of time when a funnel of flames and ice slammed into the werewolf's side and threw it into a pile of discard scrap. Max followed the direction the attack came from to find Trixie in a fused form between Heatblast and Arctiguana.
"Good save, Trixie," Max complimented her.
"No troubles, Maxwell," said Trixie proudly. "All in a day - AHH!"
Max jumped in (metaphorical) shock as a bolt of purple lightning flew out of nowhere and struck Trixie in the chest, shoving her to the ground and reverting her to human form. Diamondhead only just saw what happened and barely had enough time to raise a crystal wall before another lightning bolt shot at him and Rachel. He lowered the wall when the bolt had faded and glared up at the top of an old storage unit where Dr. Viktor loomed overhead.
"I was told of the Omnitrix," said Dr. Viktor, "but you are not the only one with the power to transform."
In a rather grotesque display, Dr. Viktor mutated into a horrific, Frankenstein-esque abomination with two tower-shaped conductor coil-like generators sprouting from his back, his skin a patchwork of different shades of green, and the size different between his eyes was made even more prominent. Purple lightning rolled off his body with an ominious clap of thunder in the background.
The dramatic reveal was otherwise ruined by Rachel's gaging.
"Ugh, ugh, oh my…ugh, that is just…," she groaned, wincing in disgust. "I've seen a lot of gross things in my years as a Kids Next Door operative, but that was by far the worst."
Gwen, who had been hiding behind a toppled rocket engine, pulled out her spellbook, muttering to herself, "There's gotta be a good rampaging alien monster spell in here somewhere."
Diamondhead, Rachel, and Max convene around Trixie as the latter helps the poor girl to her feet as Dr. Viktor, the werewolf, and the mummy landed across from them.
"I want them eliminated before the launch!" Dr. Viktor commended his horrific companions.
"Sorry, pal, but we've got other plans!" Gwen declared confidently, sliding in between with her spellbook ready. "This spell's gonna blow all of you freaks out of here. Twista Combititus!"
….
….
….
Rachel coughed awkwardly; a tumbleweed fluttered across the ground. Dr. Viktor looked to his left, then to his right, and even to the sky.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Gwen covered her face with her spellbook to hide her reddening face.
"Uh…nice try?" said Trixie uncertainly.
"I'll show you some magic," said Dr. Viktor, raising an electrified fist. "I'm going to make you disappear!"
Max pulled the kids back as Diamondhead punched the ground, starting the makings of a silicon barrier, but he wasn't fast enough before Dr. Viktor unloaded a surge of purple lightning on them. But just as the blow was about to hit, something strange…er happened. Pieces of scrap metal suddenly floated off the ground, forming a metallic cobra that protected the heroes like a shield.
"I knew my spell worked!" Gwen cheered.
"Who are you people?" screamed Rachel.
"A little late to be asking that, don't you think?" Trixie commented.
But their serpentine guardian could not hold out for long before it was shot backwards into a rusted tower, bending the metal in half. And…it just happened to be their luck that tower would collapse directly on top of Rachel and the Tennysons!
CRASH!
Dr. Viktor and his horror show buddies covered their faces as they were hit with a cloud of dust caused on impact. When they lowered their arms, they could not find any sign of their enemy – at least not alive, anyway. The werewolf scrambled forward, sniffing the ground for their bodies, but Dr. Viktor did not have the patience for a full search.
"Enough!" Dr. Viktor commanded. "We need to prepare for the launch!"
The werewolf gave an impatient snort, only to be cowed by Dr. Viktor's electrified glare, instantly turning to a whimpering pup. Dr. Viktor and his crew marched away…just moments before a pillar of silicon shredded through the debris and Diamondhead emerged with a groan. He raised his hands and four "pods" of crystal rose from the ground, breaking apart and freeing Rachel and his family, who were mostly unharmed. And not a moment too soon, because the Omnitrix decided at that moment to time out in a flash of red light.
"I got a really bad feeling they're taking the Corrodium out to that spacecraft," Max theorized.
"Why would they want to send it into space?" asked Ben.
"It can't be anything good," said Gwen apprehensively.
"Can't you just…turn into another one of those aliens and steal that coral – whatever stuff?" Rachel asked Ben.
"It doesn't work like that," Trixie explained. "Once the Omnitrix times out, it needs to recharge. How long that will take is anyone's guess."
"Which means we're going to have to work together on this one if we want to stop them," said Max. "You, me, and Gwen will deal with the launch. Ben and Trixie are our heaviest hitters, so once the Omnitrix recharges; they can have a little chat with Dr. Viktor and company."
"I think I should handle the launch," Trixie suggested. "My technical expertise might come in handy."
"And have my own reasons for taking down Viktor and his creep show troupe," said Rachel.
"All right, Trixie comes with us and Rachel goes with Ben," Max revised. "But if things get dicey, you come straight back."
Ben and Rachel nodded in agreement and the five scattered to handle their respective duties –
Dr. Viktor led his monster pack to the other end of the graveyard, unaware that they were being followed by two little humans. For Rachel, it felt like she was back on the field, before she became Supreme Leader. She had been the best spy in the Kids Next Door, able to infiltrate even the most fortified strongholds. Following a bunch of horror show rejects undetected was hardly a challenge.
Ben, on the other hand –
He gave it his best effort, Rachel gave him that. He tried to mimic her patterns, rolling and sliding between debris, and slipping into the shadows when it looked like one of the monsters was about to turn around. However, he was heavy-footed and awkwardly uncoordinated. He had almost given their position away when he stubbed his foot against an engine part half buried in the ground if Rachel hadn't covered his mouth.
They finally followed Dr. Viktor and his goons to a rusted space pod buried in the ground. The Frankenstein monster turned the corroded wheel on the vaulted door and pried it open, all of them stepping inside before sealing themselves inside. Rachel held up five fingers, signaling for Ben to wait five seconds before they attempted to open the pod themselves. It took both of them to turn the wheel, but when they finally pried it open, they were surprised to see that it led to a tunnel deeper underground. Suppose it made sense how all of them fit inside, Rachel thought.
Rachel and Ben quietly tiptoed down the crooked metal stairway to hidden under ground chamber. It looked like some kind of unorganized workshop or laboratory. There was a giant machine on the platform in the middle of the room, but neither of them could make heads or tails on what it was. Dr. Viktor and the werewolf were present, but the mummy seemed to have wondered off somewhere.
"Are you clear on your instructions?" Dr. Viktor questioned the werewolf. "The downlink must be aligned when the projection begins."
The werewolf only verbalizes a soft growl as the pair climb onto the platform, which Dr. Viktor raises with a push of a button. Rachel gestures to follow them. The duo climb massive tangle of wires, cords, and cables to the top, peaking over the edge of the platform.
They saw several cables suddenly come to life and attach themselves to the nodes on Dr. Viktor's back, his coil towers generating a large amount of purple electricity. He gathered the lighting in his hands, which he then threw out and projected a giant bubble in the air. Upon further inspection, Ben recognized a familiar mesa inside the bubble.
"Hey, that's where we saw the werewolf in Arizona," Ben whispered until Rachel shushed him.
The werewolf, who had been crouch in front of the bubble, was suddenly flung forward like it had been thrown by a slingshot. In the next instant, it was inside the bubble, dashing across the Arizona landscape and disappearing into the underground cave systems.
"So that's how they do it!" Ben hissed. Rachel shushed him again.
Max, Gwen, and Trixie quietly entered the control room, which was once again inexplicably empty.
"Do people even work here?" Gwen was asking the real questions. "Seriously, how is there nobody in the entire building?"
"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," said Max as Trixie slid into a chair and started tapping away at the computer. "See if you can access the mainframe."
"Already tried," said Trixie seriously. "All the overrides have been locked out and all the fail-safes have been deactivated. I have to give Dr. Viktor credit where it's due. The man is thorough."
"Looks like we're gonna have to shut it down from inside the spacecraft," said Max, then turning to Gwen. "Maybe you should stay here? You know, just in case."
"Not happening, grandpa," Gwen rejected. "I'm part of this team, too. Best team ever, remember?"
"Figured you'd say that, but I had to make sure," said Max, pulling out two disks. "If the Corrodium is onboard, we'll need these."
Gwen and Max pressed the disks to their chests, activating the yellow and black hazmat suits they wore during the events in South Carolina.
"Trixie's enhanced transformations should keep her safe from the Corrodium's radiation," said Max. "We should be ready for anything."
The three of them started heading for the ship, somehow completely obvious to the pile of bodies wrapped in bandages hidden just behind the computers.
Rachel and Ben had been watching Dr. Viktor fiddle with the massive machine when a sharp beep drew their attention to Ben's wrist.
"Yes!" Ben quietly cheered. He activated the watch, cycling through the options until he stopped on Fasttrack. "Okay, Omnitrix, work with me just this once…."
Rachel shielded her eyes before he slammed down on the faceplate and exploded in burst of green light. When the glow passed, the former Supreme Leader craned her head in away at the at the giant black and blue cat-like alien standing over her.
"Finally! Got what I asked for!" Fasttrack cheered. "That musclehead will never know what hit him."
"Ben, wait, we should come up with a plan – "Rachel started to say, then let out an exasperated sigh as he sped off. "It's like I never left the Kids Next Door…."
Fasttrack made a direct line to Dr. Viktor's exposed backside, pulling his fist back for a critical opening blow…only to get punched across the face when Dr. Viktor suddenly turned around. Fasttrack was catapulted across the room, landing in a pile of pipes and engine parts with a pained groan.
"Ow…good reflexes…," Fasttrack grimaced.
"You will not stop me, boy," declared Dr. Viktor. "Even with you pitiful array of weakling aliens."
"Then how 'bout a human girl?"
Dr. Viktor looked up, momentarily surprised as Rachel flew down from above and kicked him across the face. Unfortunately, the blow barely grazed him. Dr. Viktor grabbed her by the scruff of her hoodie and flung her towards the wall. Fasttrack saw her, picked himself up, and ran to intercept before she got hurt.
"We gonna stop meeting like this," said Fasttrack joking.
"Oh, cram it," said Rachel grumpily.
Dr. Viktor gather purple lightning in his hands and threw it at the pair. Fasttrack raced around the room, narrowly ducking and bending around the bolts while holding Rachel out of the line of fine. But somehow, Dr. Viktor managed to get a hold of Fasttrack's leg, forcing him to drop Rachel. The Frankenstein alien grabs Fasttrack's opposite arm and hold him aloft, threatening to tear him in half.
"I'll rip you - !"
His threat it cut short when Rachel flips overhead and stomps on Dr. Viktor's face, smashing his bulbous eye with her boot heel. Dr. Viktor howls in pain, unintentionally releasing Fasttrack while making a grab for Rachel, only for her to flip out of his reach.
"Enough!" screamed Dr. Viktor furiously. "These games have delayed me long enough! Your resilience is an annoyance, but your presence changes nothing. You're already too late." To emphasize his point, he reached down and pulled up one of the cables to his machine, which was attached to a switch. "Observe."
He flipped the switch –
Warning sirens wailed across the platform as Max, Gwen, and Trixie were already climbing the ladder inside the rocket. Gwen almost lost her footing when the shuttle began to rumble.
"What's happening?" cried Gwen.
"Main thrusters' ignition," said Max seriously. "Looks like we're going for a ride."
"A ride?" Gwen panicked. "Where was the countdown? There's supposed to be a t-minus whatever countdown! You know, ten, nine, eight – "
"Well, brace yourself, Gwendolyn," said Trixie. "You've just become an astronaut."
"Do we even know where this bucket of bolts is headed?" screamed Gwen.
"I saw destination that Dr. Viktor laid out, but it didn't make sense," said Trixie.
"What do you mean?" asked Max curiously.
"Said something about…a treehouse on the moon?" said Trixie questionably.
There was no time to question the logic behind that statement before the rocket took off. Gwen lost her grip on the ladder, but Max was able to catch her and secured her against his chest. Looked like they were space bound now.
And, unaware to them, they had a mummified friend coming along for the trip.
"Wasn't your family on that ship?" Rachel asked Fasttrack as they watched the rocket soar into the heavens through the monitor on the wall.
"I don't know what your plan is, Franken-freak," Fasttrack said loathingly to Dr. Viktor. "But it's over."
"Oh, it's not my plan," said Dr. Viktor proudly. At the same time, two metal rods rose from the ground and her grabbed on to each with both hands, course his purple lightning through them. "It's the master's plan. It always was."
"Master?" Fasttrack repeated cluelessly.
The purple lightning coursed up the machine, climbing higher and higher towards the ceiling. It was then that Rachel and Fasttrack realized the Viktor's lab was bigger than they had originally thought. Suspended above the machine, past the whirring mechanisms and coiled towers, was a piece of a tower that looked like it had been removed and replaced brick by brick to fit inside.
And Fasttrack had a terrible inkling he had seen it somewhere before….
"Uh…what's that?" asked Rachel apprehensively.
"Wait a minute…," said Fasttrack in realization. "I know this place…."
"Yes…," hissed Dr. Viktor. "It is where you believe you destroyed my master. You were wrong!"
As purple lightning struck the tower walls, black ooze began to seep through the cracks, floating and meshing together into a single gray blob. And with more lightning, that blob began to solidify, taking on a horrifyingly familiar image. The diseased claws, the nightmarish tentacles, the ghoulish upside-down skull.
Rachel exhaled a pertrified gasp, but it was nothing compared to the terror pounding in Fasttracks heart as he stared into the haunting gaze of –
"I LIVE!" Zs'Skayr howled.
"Ghostfreak!" yelled Fasttrack.
"Master, all is prepared for your return," said Dr. Viktor, kneeling reverently.
"How can this be?" said Fasttrack. "I saw him fry with my own eyes!"
"Saw who fry?" Rachel asked frantically. "Who is this guy? What's going on?"
And to make matters worse, the Omnitrix chose now to time out and revert him back to vulnerable Ben Tennyson.
"This has nothing to do with you, girl," hissed Zs'Skayr, then pointed one of his claws at Ben. "But you…you and I have a score to settle, Ben Tennyson…."
TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED
I know a lot of people were expecting Sector V for this chapter, but too many people would've made things messy, plus I feel Rachel is better suited because of her character and skill. This chapter also takes place three months after the KND series finale, which was also said to be around the time when Rachel was said to have stepped down as Supreme Leader, so I think it fits well.
Next chapter - Operation: D.A.R.K.N.E.S.S.