Ben 10 Ultimate Hero EP 34: Return of the Arbitrators
I don't own anything but my OCs. The Arbitrators belong to Greninja-Guy97 on Deviantart and are in no way my creations.
Intro:
A green glowing, steel pod was flying through space, hurtling towards earth as it crashed, making a huge green flash.
The camera zooms out from the glowing symbol on the Ultimatrix as Ben looks up close at it.
He then activates it while smirking at the camera, raising his hand high and slapping it down on the core.
The background turns green as Ben morphs into Four Arms, who pumps his upper fists while cracking his lower ones with a smirk.
A white number appears on the left side, starting at 1.
"Ben 10!"
2: Heatblast ignites 2 fireballs in his hands.
"Ben 10!"
3: XLR8 zooms into the right.
4: Diamondhead swaps his right arm across as it turns into a blade.
"Ben 10!"
5: Cannonbolt uncurls and poses.
"Ben 10!"
"Ben 10!"
6: Upgrade stretches out of his puddle form.
7: Grey Matter hops off the 7 and lands into a crouch, giving a thumbs up and a smile.
"Ben 10!"
8: Water Hazard slides in on his water blasts and raises his fists.
"Ben 10!"
9: Wildvine extends his legs and stretches out his right fingers while holding seeds in his left one, chucking them offscreen.
10: Big Chill briefly phases through the number and floats before zooming near the camera.
"Ben 10!"
Big Chill's head turns back into Ben's as it rotates.
The camera zooms out to reveal Max and Gwen by his side.
Ben gave a low-five to his grandfather as Gwen crossed her arms and shook her head playfully with a smile.
The 2 then ran off-screen, making Ben run towards the camera with a determined look.
He then froze as his aliens appeared in heroic poses on each of the kid's sides, 5 on each side just as the title appears on a black background with green rays appearing from the title.
As the Rust Bucket drove down a highway, Ben's voice can be heard from the back. "Anubis and his shadow assassins are no match for... The Arbitrators!" The boy narrates as he reads one of his favorite comic books: The Arbitrators! "I'll make fast work of these freaks, or my name isn't Colbalt Blitz!" Ben then starts making different tones of his voice, to try and match the voices of the superheroes talking in his comic. "You are fools to challenge the might of Athena Nike!" "Fear the bite of.. The Black Basilisk!"
Ben went to the next page as he was so engrossed in it. "These guys will think twice about messing with Retina Ranger and Micro Man!" "It's just so weird to be back on the team after so long!" Ben tries to mimic a woman's voice. "I hope I can do this. The Arbiter always cares about me and knows I can take care of myself, but I feel like he doesn't want me to fight my own battles anymore. And I know he and Osiris are like brothers-in-arms. But I can't help but feel like they're competing over me. I do like Osiris, but as a good friend. I do love The Arbiter, but I wish he wouldn't be so reckless sometimes." Ben blinks as he looks at the superheroine The White Mage's thoughts. "Whoa! Sounds like White Mage has got some issues."
He then went to the final pages of the comic, which showed the heroes standing over the defeated villain as the boy voiced The Arbiter. "It's over, Anubis! Your shadow legions have been defeated and you'll tell us where Providence is hiding!" "Hmhmhm... So it seems that I have been beaten, Arbiter, and I admit, out of all your team, you and Osiris are the most powerful members. But you forgot one thing when facing the master of shadows..." "And what's that, Anubis?!" Ben voiced Osiris as he turned the page to the last one.
"Always keep an eye on your very own shadows!" "Aribiter, Osiris! LOOK OUT!" Ben voiced White Mage as the picture shows the villain using his powers to make the aforementioned 2 heroes' shadows sprout spikes to stab them both from behind, but at the last second, White Mage jumps in to protect the 2, but gets skewered instead! As Anubis can be seen laughing in the background, White Mage is shown falling towards the floor as Arbiter and Osiris cry out in shock while the rest of the team is stunned. "WHITE MAGE! NOOOOOO!"
"BEN!" The boy flinched and looked up from his comic to see a frowning Gwen. "Can you be any louder? I'm trying to work on my computer and you're distracting me!" "Well, excuse me for getting into character when it comes to narrating, thank you very much." Ben had an indifferent look as the girl sighed as she went back to the table and back on her computer. "Keep it down, okay?" Ben scoffs as he mumbles to himself. "Picky, picky, picky..."
But just as Ben went back to his book, he saw something that made him freeze up for a moment. "What the... To be continued?! Oh, man! This can't end on a cliffhanger! I need to know if White Mage survived!" He quickly drops his comic and rushes over to the table and quickly shoves Gwen off. "Hey! What's the big idea?!" "Sorry, Gwen! This is an emergency! I need to find the next issue of the Arbitrators, so I can find out if the White Mage survived or if the others managed to save her life in time!"
"But did you have to shove me off my very own computer, just for some stupid comic book?!" Gwen frowns with her hands on her hips as Ben then glares at Gwen. "Stupid comic book?! Gwen, these are the Arbitrators, the world's greatest team of superheroes! These guys are a huge inspiration for me! Without them, I never would have been inspired to be a hero, myself! Now, if you excuse me, I need to make some phone calls." Ben frowns as he dials his cell while typing on the laptop. Gwen just growls, stomps up to the front, and sits in the passenger seat with crossed arms and a pout.
"So, heard you 2 made quite a ruckus, back there. Care to explain what's that all about?" Max asked as he drove. "My doofus cousin kicked me off my laptop, just to look for some dumb comic about some team of superheroes. Why does he think those weirdos are so great?" "Now, Gwen... You know some kids like Ben have idols to inspire them when they grow up. It helps motivate them to do great things with their lives and teaches them valuable life lessons as well." "Yeah... I guess. But did he have to shove me off?!"
Ben is then heard speaking on his phone from the back. "You heard me! That's 'The Arbitrators' issue number 157! Part 4 of the 'Day of the Shadow Assassin' saga! What do you mean by "this must be a joke?!" I'm serious! Yeah! Well, see if I'll buy from your store, again!" Ben hangs up his phone and shuts the computer as he frowns with crossed arms. "Something bothering you, Ben? You were yelling quite a bit." Max asked, wondering what was bothering his grandson.
"I looked up all the best comic book forms and websites and even called any local comic shops in the current area, Grandpa! And none of them even heard of 'The Arbitrators' number 157! Now I'll never know how it ends..." Ben slumps with a pout. "I'm sorry, Ben. But, we'll figure out that problem later. Because right now... We're here, family! The big apple!" Max grins as he gestures to the Tennysons' next stop: New York City!
Gwen is in awe as the RV drives the fabled Brooklyn Bridge while Ben is somewhat impressed by the city as they look around. "Okay... This is kind of cool." "Cool?! Ben, this is New York! The city that never sleeps! Think of all the excitement we'll have here!" Gwen glees out as the Tennysons prepare for a day in New York.
And so, the family went on a photo-taking spree of their tour of New York! They were amazed by the tall buildings, exploring Grand Central Station, running through Central Park, and looking inside the Smithsonian. However, Ben acted goofy in some of the museum photos, like making funny faces at the mummies, pretending to be holding up a T-Rex's skull by its fang, and acting like he's super strong. Even impersonating some cavemen displays as well. The Tennysons then checked out the view from the Empire State Building as they were amazed at seeing everything. They then head over to the Statue of Liberty and look up at the statue in awe, except Ben is pretending to pick her nose for chuckles.
The Tennyson family sat on a bench at Central Park as they took a chance to relax. "Wow... New York is amazing! Thanks for making this stop, Grandpa!" Gwen smiles as Max chuckles. "No problem, Gwen. I wanted us to do something where we all have fun together. And we sure did! Right, kids?" "Yeah!" Gwen smiles as Ben just has his hands on his chin with a look of depression as he mumbles. "Yeah..." The kid sighs as the elder and girl notice.
"What's wrong, Ben? Don't you love New York?" "It's not that, Gwen... Sure, the city is cool, but I'm just upset that I'll never know how my comic will end! I looked everywhere on the internet and called all sorts of comic shops and they all don't have issue 157! How am I going to sleep at night, not knowing how the story will end?" Gwen puts some thought into it and realizes Ben makes a point. She can be depressed too if her favorite volume of 'The Un-Alivers' gets cut off without a proper ending and no way to find out what happens next. "Guess you make a good point, Ben..." Gwen adds as she looks up in response.
Max hates seeing his usually energetic grandson so depressed as he thinks of ways to cheer him up, only to remember something as he gets an idea! "Maybe there is a way to find out, Ben. I just remembered that I have an old buddy of mine, here in the city! And he happens to own his very own comic shop. He knows quite a bit about hard-to-find comics. If that book exists, then he'll have it or know where it is!" "Grandpa, are you being serious!? You think he'll have it?!" Ben asked as he got excited and felt his spirits being lifted.
"Of course! You know I do anything for you kids." The elder smiles as Ben runs off and yells. "All right! Come on! let's go, already!" "Okay, cuz! Just hold your horses!" Gwen calls out as she runs after the boy while Max chuckles and follows at a walking pace.
Ben is giddy and practically bouncing behind Gwen's seat as Max drives the RV through traffic and turns a street. The RV then parks as Ben quickly flies out of his seat and runs out of the Rust Bucket. Gwen follows as does Max as the elder gestures them to a comic shop that looks average on the outside. "Here we are: 'Lonestar Comics'! This is where my friend works, nowadays."
The family then went inside the store to find it was bigger on the inside than the outside. "Wow... Bigger on the inside than the outside." Gwen comments while they look around and see other customers, browsing the shop as well. Max tells them. "Okay, I want you 2 to be on your best behavior. I don't want us to get kicked out of here, especially since I want us to make a good impression on my friend, understand?" "I understand, Grandpa. And I'll make sure a certain cousin of mine, doesn't do something stupid, like that time when we got kicked out of that movie theater, last week." Gwen frowns with crossed arms at Ben as the boy notices his grandfather giving him a judging look as well.
Ben just groans as he glances to the side as he also rolls his eyes. "Turned into Big Chill to sneak into a horror movie, one time! And you 2 just won't let it go..." The boy notices the stares as he speaks to them. "Okay! Okay... I'll be on my best behavior, promise. Besides, that time wasn't my fault, entirely! I had no idea Big Chil looked like that monster in the movie!" Ben shurgs in response as Gwen comments. "Well, maybe next time you try to phase into a theater, how about not from the screen itself!?"
Max then decides to ring the front counter's bell for service as he hears a voice from the back. "Coming!" A man, in his late 40s, came out of the back, wearing a light blue, button-shirt with a white shirt underneath and a brown belt with dark blue jeans and brown shoes. He also has a gold ring on his left hand's ring finger and a gold watch on his left wrist as well. He looks fit for his age, and has dirty blonde hair with a matching trimmed beard and mustache, that has some grey streaks. He lastly wears a pair of glasses as well.
Just as the man reached the counter and was about to ask, he stopped as he blinked at Max, surprised as he asked the elder. "Max? Is that you?" "Joseph!" The 2 laughed as they hugged each other, separating as the man patted Max on the shoulder. "I don't believe it! Haven't seen you in over 15 years and look at ya! Putting on a little weight, aren't we?" "Well, that's one of the things about retirement." Max shurgs off the crack as they both chuckle.
The kids both shurgs at each other and went up as Max noticed them. "Oh, Joseph. I'd like you to meet my grandkids: Ben and Gwen. We're on a cross-country road trip for the summer. Kids, meet my old buddy: Joseph Lonestar." "Hi there." Gwen smiles as Ben acts all chill. "What's up?" "Hey there, kids." Joseph greets as he gestures to his store. "Feel free to browse my shop. I have quite a collection if you're interested." "Would I?!" Ben exclaims as he goes to check out the comics as Gwen shakes her head. "Sorry, Mr. Lonestar, but I'm not a comic book girl." "Understandable. But I have a manga section over there if you like to browse it." "Really?!" Gwen perks up as she goes over and looks to see the impressive collection of Japanese manga.
She gasps in delight at one as she opens it. "Wow! You even got the whole Sailor Moon series and the Sailor V prequel spin-off too! Cool!" Joseph chuckles in response. "Yeah... Those 2 are quite the sellers amongst girls and manga fans. And it looks like your grandson is quite an Arbitrators fan, Max." The store owner notices the boy is in awe at the big section of his favorite superhero team, including figures, posters, and solo comics about the members. "Hey, pop!" Both grown-ups look in the direction of the voice to see someone coming out of the back, carrying a couple of boxes.
The person is an 18-year-old, almost 19, teenage male who goes up to his dad's neckline. He is fit, has the same eye color as his dad, has blonde hair that is a lighter shade, and has his bangs swept up. He is wearing a light blue jeans jacket, dark blue jeans, blue and white sneakers, and a red t-shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on it. "Where do you want these new releases?" "Place them over by the 3rd shelf on the right. We'll stock up, soon." Joseph said as the teen nodded and went to do that.
Max blinks as he recognizes the teen. "I don't believe it! Is that little Jason Lonestar?" "Yep! Although, he isn't little anymore, from the looks of things." Joseph smirked as Max spoke to his friend. "You know the last time I saw him, he was just crawling, now look at him." "Hey, Jason? I want you to come here. I want you to meet someone." The teen came over as Max shook hands with him. "Son, this is Max Tennyson, an old friend of mine. He and his grandkids stopped by to visit and check out the store." "It's a pleasure to meet you son. And please, call me Max."
"It's nice to meet you too, Max..." Jason responded as he finished shaking Max's hand the elder then showed Jason his grandkids. "And those are my grandkids: Gwen and Ben. As you can see, they are pretty big fans of the books here." "I can tell... Hey, it looks like your grandson is really into Arbitrators and Sumo Slammers." Jason comments as the teen goes over to introduce himself to the kids as the adults continue chatting to each other. All in all, they are getting along with each other while Ben likes that Jason is also into the Arbitrators and also has an interest in Sumo Slammers as well.
Just then, the entry bell rang they glanced over and spotted a 17-year-old teen girl entering while reading a weird book. She has long black hair, pulled into a ponytail with a purple band and flat bangs and side bangs that go down to her neck. She has glasses that are stylish and purple-framed. Her skin is a bit pale and she is wearing a a white shirt with a black tie, underneath a purple jacket and a matching purple skirt, making it look like a school uniform. She also has blackish-purple leggings and is wearing grayish-heeled boots with large purple bands below her knees and white bottoms and toes, making it look like she's wearing slip-on heels.
"Oh, Taylor! Glad you made it, back sweetie! How was your trip to the library?" But the girl, Taylor, just glanced at Joseph with a emotionless look. "It was fine, father..." "Uhh... Right... Anyway, I want you to meet Max Tennyson. he's an old friend. Max, I'm sure you remember my daughter, Taylor Lonestar." "Pleasure to meet you, Taylor." Max smiles, but Taylor just frowns as she turns away. "I have better things to do than to chat with some fat, old geezer." "Hey!" Max exclaims at being insulted as Ben did not like that.
"Hey! That's my grandpa, you're insulting! You better take that back, 4-eyes! Or else!" Ben snarls as he pounds his fist into his palm. But the teen girl just scoffs as she looks down at Ben. "Please... If you want to be more threatening, at least grow a few more feet." Taylor leaves the comic shop via the doorway Joseph comes out as Ben and Gwen frown at the rude teen girl. "And hopefully one of them is losing the attitude. Because no one insults my cousin, but me!" "Yeah!" Ben agrees with Gwen, to realize what she said and glances at her. "Hey..."
"Don't take it personally, you 2. That's just how my sister is... Of course, she used to be a lot sweeter back when we were kids, around your age. Time can surely change a person..." Jason told the kids as both Tennyson kids glanced at each other. "If that's going to be my personality when I get older, then I am not looking forward to my teen years." "Well, you're going to have to be prepared, Ben. Just like the "ugly zit face" thing and awkward body changes, most teenagers go through a "rude for no reason" personality change, sometime during their teen years. It's one of nature's ways of saying 'growing up stinks!'" Gwen explains to Ben, due to her knowledge and research on puberty after her older brother, Ken turned 13.
"I'm sorry about Taylor, Max... I had no idea she was going to..." "It's okay, Joseph. I'm just surprised that the sweet little, innocent girl that I saw barely walking, became so rude, now. Then again, a lot can happen in 15 years..." The elder ponders as he rubs his chin. Ben then remembers why he came to this shop and decides to ask Joseph about where can he find the comic he was after, only to be shocked by the man's answer.
"Sorry, son." Joseph shook his head in disappointment. "I wish I could help you, but I can't. I'm afraid 'The Arbitrators' number 157 doesn't exist. They never made part 4 of that saga." "What?!" Ben blinks in shock at what he heard! The kid couldn't believe it! His favorite comic, forever ending on a cliffhanger!? "It can't be! I have to find out what happened to White Mage!" Ben exclaims to the owner as he is desperate.
But Joseph blinked as he closed his eyes with a sad expression. "She... Didn't make it." "What? How do you know that?" Ben asked with a confused expression. "I remember it like it was yesterday: She sacrificed her life to save The Arbiter and Osiris from Anubis' sneak attack. But before her life was taken, she used what was left of her magic to cast a powerful spell on Anubis, to banish him to a place called the "Nether Realm", so he would never harm anyone again. But it took all of her strength to do it. After that, The Arbitrators disbanded, shortly after that." The man explains in a solemn tone.
Ben binks at what he's been told and walks towards his cousin. "Whoa... Gwen, did you hear that?" "I did. No wonder they didn't print the next issue. Who would want to read that kind of ending?" The girl nods as both kids notice a family portrait on the counter that seems out of place for a comic store. Max noticed it as he got a sad look at his old friend. "Joseph, I'm very sorry about Susan... If I had known I would have-" "Don't beat yourself up, Max. It happened years ago." "Still... Feels like I should have done something or know about it, back then..." Max mumbles to himself as Joseph pats a hand on his shoulder in understanding.
"Hey, Jason?" Gwen asked as the teen looked back as the girl pointed at the picture. "Is that your family in that picture?" Jason went over and nods. "Yeah... That's us, almost 8 years ago, before we moved to New York. Heh... Happy times." Ben then noticed the woman as he pointed out. "Is that your mom?" "Yeah... Susan Lonestar... She was a great mother." The boy raised an eyebrow at Jason. "'Was'? What do you mean was?" Gwen figures it out as she gestures for Ben to lean in and whispers an explanation in his ear.
Ben's eyes widen as he realizes. "Ohh... Sorry, dude." Ben cringes at the awkwardness of what he said before, but the blonde teen just waves it off with a smile. "It's okay. It happened several years ago and it was a simple car accident. That kind of stuff happens. Dad and I do miss her, but we've learned to accept it and move on." He then frowns as he looks at a smiling younger Taylor. "Although to be honest, I'm not sure Taylor has done the same. After all, she and Mom were both close."
Joseph sighs as he looks at his family picture as he speaks to Max. "I don't what to do about Taylor, Max... Ever since Susan passed away, she's been different. She always sticks her face in her books, she spends as little time as possible with me and Jason, she's so anti-social, and anytime I try talking to her, she just acts like a stranger to me!" The man breaths as he rubs his temples in stress. "I just... Wish she can open up."
Max had a solemn expression as he patted his friend on his shoulder. "She's just upset, that's all... Please don't give up on her, Joseph. She'll talk to you when the time is right." "Thanks, Max." Joseph smiles warmly at his friend.
But just then, the front bell rang and all eyes glanced to see a bunch of people entering. Only they didn't seem like the friendly type as they were all dressed punkish and like street thugs, had angry scowls, and carried all sorts of blunt weapons. "Umm... Can I help you all with something?" Joseph asked but kept his guard up as he got a bad feeling from them.
But the people did not say anything as they then started swinging their weapons, attacking everything in the shop, and messing things up. The customers ran out screaming in a panic while the Lonestars and Tennysons stood in shock. "Something tells me these guys aren't here for the new releases!" Ben exclaims as they dodge a baseball bat. Max quickly gets the kids out of the way as Jason quickly shields the 2. "Get back, kids! You 2 could get hurt!" The teen said as he wrestled with one thug for his crowbar while Max struggled with another with an iron pipe.
Ben!" Gwen quickly whispers to her cousin. "Now's a good time..." "To go hero? Way ahead of you, Gwen!" The boy quickly snuck away and hid behind some destroyed comic stands as he dialed the Ultimatrix, making his choice as he slapped down on the glove. FLASH
Vines grew out of the device as they engulfed the 10-year-old, encasing him in a green shell. The shell grew legs as black pods grew out of his back. He pulls the flaps open to reveal his transformed head as he poses.
As Jason, Joseph, and Max struggle with the thugs, some vines tangle the bad guys and yank them away, throwing them out of the store as Wildvine makes his appearance. "Step away from the comics, punks!" Wildvine ran outside and kept fighting the thugs as the Lonestars blinked in surprise at the plant alien. "Hey! Isn't that one of those aliens from the news, Dad? What's he doing here?" "Umm... Guess he's in the neighborhood and decided to help?" Gwen shurgs, hoping the 2 will buy it.
But just as Wildvine unleashed vines from the ground to entangle a few thugs, he was not aware of two sneaking up behind him with knives. "Look out, Ben!" Joseph cries out as suddenly, he takes off his glasses and fires 2 yellow and white beams out of his eyes that nail the 2 thugs, sending them flying as Gwen and Wildvine are shocked at what happened. But they were more surprised when Jason leaped out of the broken window and unleashed blue lighting from his arms that zapped a couple more as well!
"Oh... My... God..." Gwen blinks as Wildvine is surprised. "Dudes! You just fired lighting and blasted lasers out of your eyes! Wait! Joseph! You... Know who I am?" The alien realizes that Max's friend knows who he is. Max chuckles while rubbing the back of his head. "I... Might have bragged a little about our adventures to a couple of friends." The elder sheepishly grins at his grandkid's stares.
"Well... Since we're exposing secrets now..." Joseph zips away in a burst of super-speed and glows like the sun, reappearing next to Wildvine as the alien is in awe of the red, blue, white, and grey costume/armor and red and white cape on his back. Completing is a blue and white domino mask on his eyes. "NO WAY! YOU'RE THE ARBITER, DUDE! YOU'RE REAL?!" Wildvine fanboys out as his single eye sparkles while Gwen's jaw practically hits the floor with her eyes bulging at seeing Ben's coming book hero is more real than real!
"As real as this white eagle on my chest, kid." Arbiter chuckles as he points at the said icon on the middle of his chest plate as the 2 glances at the thugs, ready for round 2. "And those are real thugs! Get ready, Ben! Here they come! Jason, guard Max, and Gwen! Don't let a single thug, get near them!" "You got it, Dad!" Jason exclaims as he charges up his electric powers in response.
Together, Wildvine and the Arbiter kept battling the thugs, knocking them down, left and right, only for them to get back up! As Jason unleashed a few lightning blasts and punches, he couldn't help but notice something. "Is it just me, or are these thugs not very talkative?" He ducks under a swing and uppercuts the thug away. Max ponders that as well, as he and Gwen keep watching as Wildvine lands by them and then leaps away, throwing seed bombs that send thugs flying while the elder comments. "Jason's right. These street punks should have at least been insulting or yelling out words, by now. Something's fishy..."
Gwen ponders as The Arbiter flies and clotheslines a group down. "You're right, Grandpa... Not to mention, the way these guys just seem to get back up, no matter how many times they're hit and how hard they get knocked around as well, is just as creepy. It's like they can't feel any pain." Just then, one thug lands near the 2. But as Gwen and Max got a closer look, they saw the thug, groan as he shook his head and blinked as he looked around. "Wha... Where am I? What happened?"
Only for the man to clutch his head as he felt pain, just as his eyes glowed purple and then died down to reveal a blank look as he stood up and charged at the heroes. "Grandpa... Did you see that?'" Gwen asked as Max noticed the other thugs had blank looks in their eyes as well. "Yeah... Looks like there's more to this, than we thought."
It looked like Wildvine and Arbiter were winning. But as the older superhero turned his back, a few thugs behind pulled out some strange glowing stones. Wildvine noticed and gasped as he recognized them. "ARIBITER! LOOK OUT!" But just as the man turns back, the thugs press the rocks to his chest and they start doing something to the superhero: Hurting him! "AAAHHHHHHHHH!" "JOSEPH!" "DAD!" Max and Jason cried out as they kept pressing the stones on the man.
They eventually stopped as the Arbiter fell to the ground, knocked out, just for a van to pull up as the thugs grabbed and carried him inside it. "They're taking him, away!" Gwen points as Wildvine cries as he chases after the van. "On it!" But the thugs climbed in and the van took off, unleashing smoke to blind the others as Wildvine leaps up high and tries to stretch his arm out to grab it, only to time out in mid-air!" "Ahhhhh!" Luckily, Jason caught him in time.
Once this smoke cleared, all the thugs were gone as well as the van and the Arbiter. "Dad..." Jason breathes as Ben looks upset at seeing his superhero idol, getting captured. "No..." "Ben!" Gwen exclaims as she runs up to him. "Are you okay?" "Yeah... I'm fine. But those guys took the Arbiter!" Jason then realized something as he spoke to Ben. "Wait... So, you were all those alien heroes in the news? I did not expect that, at all!" "Well, we didn't expect you to have lightning powers and your dad is The Arbiter!" Ben exclaims as Jason thinks about it. "Good point."
"Jason!" Max cries out as he runs out of the store and all eyes are on him as he pants. "I checked in the store and I can't find your sister, anywhere! I think those punks stole her as well!" "WHAT?!" Jason exclaims as both kids are surprised as well! "Wait..." Ben realizes as he whispers to Gwen. "Why would I care about that teen? She was a jerk!" But Gwen elbows Ben in the arm as the boy rubs it in pain. "Because, even though she was mean, she's still Jason's sister. And being a hero means helping people who were kidnapped, even if they were jerks." The girl explains as Ben thinks about as Gwen makes a point. He would do anything to save his family.
"I can't believe it! First, my dad and now my baby sister got kidnapped!? What am I going to do?!" Jason panics as he paces around, growing extremely worried as Max places his hands on his shoulders. "Jason... It's okay. I promise we'll get them back. But you need to calm down." The teen realizes the elder is right as he takes deep breaths and calms himself. "Okay... But are you sure you guys want to help? I'm not sure about it." "Trust me, Jason: We've been through a lot this summer! Believe us!" Ben smirks as he shows the Ultimatrix as it beeps, making the teen notice the hourglass symbol, and putting 2 and 2 to figure out the device on Ben's hand allows him to transform into those alien heroes. "Well... I guess it can't hurt to have some extra help." The teen nods with a smile. Only for all eyes to go to Gwen as she spoke out.
"I did notice something off about those guys. Grandpa and I saw one of the thugs seem to snap out of a trance, only for his eyes to glow purple and go blank. I think those guys were hypnotized!" Gwen deduces. "Now, that you mention it, Gwen... I thought those guys were too quiet for a bunch of vandals. Normally, when I go alien against some thugs, they would call me 'freak' or something like that." Ben adds.
"Hmm... The thugs know who Joseph is and where he was... Glowing purple eyes and seemingly shaking off any pain during the fight... And knowing moonstones are one of his secret weaknesses... Someone is behind these kidnappings! And this person seems to not only brainwash every criminal and thug in the city but also seems to know Joseph well enough to know how to counter his powers!" Max deduces after scratching his chin. Jason snapped his fingers in realization as he spoke to the family. "There's only one person I know that can brainwash people into doing his bidding and knows plenty about my Dad. And that's the Master of the Six Sense himself: Osiris!"
"Wait a minute!" Ben blinks in surprise as he asks Jason. "I thought Osiris is one of the Arbitrators and best friends with your dad?! Why would he do this?" Jason sighs as he explains. "As you all figured out, The Arbiter is my and Taylor's dad. But our mom was also The White Mage. Osiris and our mom were good friends, back then. Heck, even Osiris had a bit of a crush on Mom, but he knew how much Mom loved Dad, so he respected their relationship. But when she died, fighting Anubis, Osiris and my Dad had a huge argument in the aftermath and well, that ended their friendship. After that, the rest of the Arbitrators split up to focus on their own lives and crime-fighting careers. That's what Dad told me, that day when Mom died."
"Whoa... Deep." Ben breathes as Gwen nods. Max spoke to the teen. "Jason. If Osiris did send those thugs to capture your family, then he might be doing the same with the rest of his former team. We need to find a secure place for them and us to regroup." "Good point, Max. I know just the place. But we need to contact them, 1st." Max nodded as he took something out and gave it to Jason. "Here. Grabbed this on my way out. Figured you should use it since your father isn't here at the moment." Jason nods as he holds out a small, black and yellow, hi-tech disc gizmo with the Arbitrator's symbol on the black screen. He taps a button and it beeps as it sends out a signal.
Ben gasps in awe as he recognizes it from the comics. "The Arbitrators communicator and emergency signal?!" "Yep... My dad carried this thing on him, almost all the time. Never thought I would use it. Come on! I'll give you the directions of where we can hide out." Jason said as the Tennysons nodded and the 4 got into the Rust Bucket and took off.
The Rust Bucket parks outside a big, two-story house in a suburban area, outside the city. The house is painted red and has 4 numbers above the 2 white garage doors, '6771'. "Whoa... Sweet pad, you got there, Jason!" "Thanks! It's the Lonestar family residence. We can hide out here while planning to rescue my dad and sister." The teen responds to Gwen as the group of 4 exits the RV. "I still can't believe Osiris would turn evil!" Max responds to his grandson. "You can't ignore the facts, Ben."
But as they approach the house, they notice the front door is slightly opened, making them worried. "Uhh... Jason? Did you leave your door open, by any chance?" Jason shook her head at Gwen's question, making them realize someone had broken into the house! Ben kept his hand hovering over the Ultimatrix, ready to transform at any time as Jason charged up his fists. Max slowly opens the door as they take cautious steps in.
But as they looked around for anything out of the blue, someone approached them from the front. They all glance to see another teenage male, around the same age as Jason. He has black hair that is in a blown-back, spikey style. He is wearing a green t-shirt under a black and green jacket with a collar, white fingerless gloves, grey jeans, and red and white running shoes.
"Okay? Who the heck is this guy, because if he's trying to look cool, I say he's pushing it too hard." Gwen comments with her hands on her hips as the mystery teen just smirks. "Too hard to look cool? Little girl..." Suddenly, he took off in amazing, XLR8-like speed as green lighting danced off his being, running a circle around Gwen as the girl screamed while being lifted, only for the teen to stop as he grabbed Gwen, while the pre-teen girl blinked as she tries to processes what happened. "You're talking to the Super-Sonic Man, himself!"
"Nice to see ya, Freddie..." Jason said with a smirk and crossed arms as Ben and Max were surprised at his super speed. "Hey, Jason! So... What's with the 2 kids and the old geezer, huh?" Freddie asked as he briefly lowered his shades to study the Tennysons. But just then, a head on an enlonged neck appears next to him! "Relax, Freddie! These 3 don't look like trouble! Hi, there! I'm Gabby and it's super-duper, wonderful to meet you!" Gabby grins out with a huge smile as she greets the family
The girl grins as she retracts her neck to her body. She is revealed to be a teen girl who is 16, almost 17 years old, and has a developing body that reminds Ben and Gwen of high school girls in Japanese Anime. She has long blonde hair tied into 2 pigtails with pink bands and her bangs frame her face. She is wearing pink and white wristbands, a pink sleeveless vest with a collar, and a white sleeveless t-shirt with a big pink heart on it underneath. She has pink jean shorts held with a black belt and thigh-length white socks with pink rings at the ends. She also has pink leg warmers and pink and white sneakers.
"Hey, Gabby... I'm surprised you're not snacking already." Jason ponders with a raised eyebrow as the girl in question places her hands on her hips and frowns. "Well, I got a little peckish, so I tried to get something, but Tyrone beat me to it!" "Hey, now! You know the old saying, Gabby: 'You snooze, you lose!' Sup, Jas!" Another voice calls out from the kitchen as all eyes turn to see someone emerge while snacking on some chips.
The person is a 19, almost 20-year-old African American who is huge! He is almost as big as Diamondhead and as buff as him! His black hair is in a crewcut that makes his head look kind of like a jar at a certain angle. He is wearing black with a red stripe across his chest long-sleeve shirt that fits him, dark blue jeans, red and white sneakers different than Freddie's, and lastly a red padded vest over his shirt.
"Hey, Tyrone... Dude! Are you eating my chips?" Jason asked as the big guy shurgs. "Hey, man! I didn't get a chance to eat lunch!" Throne finishes up the last of the chips, places the bowl down on a table, and leans on a chair, only for it to break as the big guy stumbles a bit. "Oops!" "Nice move, Jarhead! All that amazing super strength and can't handle leaning on a chair!" Freddie smirks. "Yeah... Yeah! Laugh it up, motormouth!" Tyrone shot back as he recovered and dusted himself off.
Gwen and Max were not sure what to make of Jason's friends as the 2 glanced at each other. "Whoa!" Ben grins as his family notices the boy is in awe with a big smile. "Super strength?! Supersonic speed?! Lightning powers and an elastic body!? Finally! Some other superheroes I can hang out with! It's like we're meeting the next generation of the Arbitrators! This is so awesome!" "Uhh... Jason? Who are these guys?" Tyrone asked as Jason sighed. "Guys... Sit down. It's a bit of a long story."
After introductions were done and out of the way, the group 7 sat around the living room as they tried to formulate a plan to rescue the Arbitrators and Jason's family. "So, all those alien heroes on the news are actually a 10-year-old kid who found this alien gadget called the 'Ultimatrix', who became a cross-county hero?" Freddie asked as Jason spoke out. "That sums it up, but yes." "Well... There's something you don't see or hear every day..." Tyrone comments as Gwen shurgs as she speaks to the 3 older boys. "Believe me... We've seen some weird stuff on our summer road trip. But on the plus side, Gabby and my cus are getting along."
The pre-teen girl points at Ben and Gabby, watching Sumo Slammers on Ben's phone as they bounded over some things, such as eating junk food, being comic book lovers, playing video games, and wanting to be heroes. Ben has to admit that Gabby is like a fun older sister to him and Gabby enjoys Ben's company.
"All right! Now that everyone's here, more or less." Max states as all eyes are on him. "According to Gabby, Freddie, and Tyrone, most of the Arbitrators have been captured, with the expectation of the Black Basilisk." "No surprise there, Grandpa! The dude is a master ninja! Stealth is his thing." Ben states as Gwen speaks. "Still, we don't know what Osiris' plan is, or why he kidnapped Taylor, if all he wants is revenge on his old team." "Good question... Feels like we're in a mystery novel or show on TV." Freddie states as they try to find a way to find the missing Arbitrators or determine where Jason's sister is.
Ben then ponders something plaguing his mind as he asks Jason. "Hey, Jason? I was wondering: Why did your mom quit the team for almost 10 years?" "When Mom had me and Taylor, she deicded to settle down from crime-fighting to raise us both. So, she told the team she had to quit to focus on her family. But I don't know why whould she rejoin after 10 years." But before Jason could continue, they heard a noise from the roof as they glanced up and heard some creaking from above.
They all got up and listened to the sound as they couldn't help but wonder what was happening. "Must be some big squirrels." Ben quips as Max whispers. "Someone is up on the roof." "I'll check..." Gwen whispers as she tip-toes to a window and peeks out the curtains, only for her to get worried to see the same thugs from before, leaping from the roof and approaching from the front. "Guys! We've got company! Very familiar company!" She calls out as Freddie speaks out. "Crude! They found us! How did they find us?!" "Talk later, Freddie! Right now, we need to pound these creeps!" Jason exclaims as he charges up his fists. His friends nod as Freddie gets ready to run, Tyrone cracks his knuckles while Gabby inflates her fists.
"Now we're talking!" Ben grins as he dials the Ultimatrix to Four Arms. "Time to rumble! Going hero!" Ben grins and slaps down on the device. FLASH Only to his dismay, he got Water Hazard, instead! "Oh, man! I mean... Yeah! Water Hazard is so what I was going for!" "Really?" Gwen questions as she knows Ben wanted Four Arms, but realizes the Ultimatrix gave him the wrong alien, again.
The group of 5 charges out of the house and into battle with the thugs, splitting up and taking it to them! Freddie shows off his amazing speed by running circles around the thugs, landing fast punches and using hit-and-run moves, much like XLR8! Tyrone tanks the attacks like a boss, due to his indestructible skin, and throws punches left and right, sending thugs flying. He even grabbed 2, smashed them together, and threw them away. Jason unleashed his electric abilities as blasts and punches as Gabby used her enlarged fists to knock thugs away while stretching her body all over to avoid attacks. She giggled and laughed at the bad guys, even making funny faces.
Water hazard fires water blasts all around and punches and kicks thugs near him. He even throws some water stars that nail some of their weapons and pins them to a fence by their shirts and jackets. "Now who's seeing stars?!" Water Hazard taunts. A couple got past them and tried to grab Gwen and Max, but the pre-teen girl took one down with some impressive martial arts moves as she smirked with her hands on her hips. "Ben's not the only one who's got skills." "That makes 2 of us!" Max said as he knocked out the second thug with a gut punch and an uppercut.
They all then saw the thugs, running away after quite a beating, making the group of 7 watch as they felt good at their victory. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP FLASH "Yeah! You better run!" After timing out, Ben cries out as he points at the thugs. "Nice one, kid..." Freddie smirks as they both bump fists as they all congratulate each other. "Uh, guys?!" Gwen called out as all eyes were on her. "I hate to break up the victory hi-fives, but now we have no idea how to find Jason's family or the others! Those thugs were our only lead, and now they're gone!"
"Maybe not..." They glanced at a smirking Max as he held up a remote device that showed a blinking dot. "During the scuffle, I planted a tracking device on one of the street punks. Wherever he and the others go, we'll follow." "All right, Grandpa!" Ben grins at the trick his grandfather pulled. "Nice one, old man..." Freddie smirks as Gabby bounces up and down in glee. "Now, let's go save our mentors! Onward!" "Hold up, Gabby!" Tyrone stops the girl as she stretches out a bit from almost bouncing away and then snaps back, tangled as she works to righten herself. "We can't just go into battle as our civilian selves. We need to suit up, first."
"Tyrone's right!" Jason states as he gets everyone's attention. "One of the basic rules of crime fighting, guys: Always have a secret identity. If we're going to save our mentors and my family, we need to do it, like real heroes!" "Does that mean..." Gabby claps her hand in excitement as Freddie smirks while his glasses shine. "Oh, yeah! Time to suit up, fellas!" "I like where this is going!" Ben grins as he gets a good feeling from the discussion.
The Tennysons were outside of the house, waiting for their new friends to come out. They then heard the door open as they glanced, only for Ben to be in awe as Max and Gwen were surprised. "Whoa..." The pre-teen girl mumbled as her cousin's eyes were sparkling like crazy and his jaw hung open.
Gabby, Tyrone, and Freddie were now suited up in superhero outfits/armor! Gabby's suit is pink with black sides, and shoulders and has black gauntlets and boots with 2 large white bands on each one. Her boots have pink bottoms and have small pink with white outline shoulder pads. Her arms are pink and have a collar as well as a pink with white outline heart symbol on her chest. She also has a white with black circle buckle belt on her waist with the heart stamped on the buckle. She lastly has pink visor goggles.
Freddie's suit is a black undersuit with green pieces of armor on his chest, torso, knees, outside thighs, shoulders, and triceps, and green armor briefs with a darker waistline with a white circle that acts like a belt on his waist. His gauntlets and calve armor have a darker outline and yellow fins, one on each. He also has handguards. His boots have yellow bottoms and toes. His undersuit covers his neck and has a green mask that exposes his hair on top and covers all but his mouth area and nose. He lastly has yellow fins on his ears and yellow see-through goggles. He lastly has a white with yellow outline circle on his chest with a dark green 'M' on it with wings on it.
Tyrone's suit is similar to Freddie's, only it has more armor on his chest and torso, with white sides on the stomach area with 2 blue stripes on each side. His armor is red with blue outlines, except for his biceps, knee pads, chest plate, and thigh pads. His mask is like Freddie's, only his eyes are covered by shades that are connected to white circles on the ears. His calf armor has white on the back and his boots have white toes and blue tongue. His gauntlets are more armored with a white patch on the forearm plates and his hand guards have bolts for the knuckles. His belt has a blue with white outline shield buckle. He also has a large white star stamped on his tight pads and shoulder pads. He lastly has a red 'G' in the shape of a blue shield with a white inside and white wings on the sides, stamped on his chest.
"Everyone, meet our alter egos: Mercury! Gummy Gabby! And the Guardsman!" Tyrone introduces the 3, while they pose. "That is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Ben exclaims in awe as Freddie smirks and glances back at the house. "Hey, Thunder Boy! Get out here, will ya? You don't want to keep the audience waiting!" Jason's voice is heard from the house as he spooks back. "Actually... Since this is a very important mission, it's time I stopped being a sidekick and took command of myself. So, the 'Thunder Boy' gig is old news. Call me..."
Jason steps out as everyone is in awe at his costume! Just like Mercury and Guardsman, his suit is a black full-body undersuit with blue armor over it. He has white pointed parts on the front of his calf armor and his gauntlets. His boots are blue with white toes and bottoms. He has yellow outlines on his calves, shoulder pads, and gauntlets. He has a yellow and white belt with a shield symbol for the buckle with the same colors. He has a white with yellow outline shield on his chest with a blue lightning bolt symbol. He lastly wears a white cape and a blue with white eyes domino mask. "Sentinel!" Jason smirks with his fists on his hips. "Let's go!"
The Guardsman rode in the Rust Bucket with the Tennysons while Gummy Gabby stretched, swung, and bounced across the buildings as Sentinel flew through the air. Mercury used his super speed as well to run ahead. The team kept tracking the signal, via Gwen's laptop. The kids and the African-American super soldier watch the screen as the blinking dot leads them. Max then stops the RV as the other 3 look at the laptop to see the dot has stopped and they go up to the front of the RV as the others join up outside. "It looks like the signal leads here: A big warehouse at the docks..." Max states as they see they have arrived at the city docks and are looking at a big warehouse, surrounded by some crates. Sentinel points ahead at the warehouse, signaling them to be quiet as they approach it.
The group of 7 slowly sneaks up to the entrance as Sentinel shorts out the password pad as The Guardsman rips the door out. "Let's be quiet, everyone. Those thugs could be around here, somewhere." Gwen whispers as Ben waves it off. "Relax, Gwen! We'll be in and out before those meatheads come back." The group of 7 enters as they walk down a long hallway while keeping the guards up. But unbeknownst to them, a security camera observes them while a figure watches from a monitor in the security room.
Gummy shuffles along a wall and then stops, stretching her neck out to peek around a corner, looking around to see no guards. "All clear..." She whispers to the others. They all then enter a huge room with a strange machine at the center with pods on it. Gwen looks around, only to notice a strange shrine on one side of the room with a strange symbol drawn on the floor and pictures and photos of Susan Lonestar around it. "Wonder what's that for?" The pre-teen girl ponders. Mercury zooms up to the pods and whips away the glass, revealing the sleeping members of the Arbitrators, including the Black Basilisk! "Whoa! Looks like Osiris managed to catch his last team member after all!" The speedster states.
"Dad!" Sentinel exclaims at seeing his father in his state as he clenches his fists in anger. "Osiris is going to pay for this!" "Hold up! Let's not jump to conclusions." Ben spoke out. "I've read enough comics where things are never what they seem." "He makes a good point." Gummy Gabby agreed with Ben as Sentinel glanced at the 2 and then cracked his knuckles, smashing the glass to break it open.
The Arbiter slowly wakes up as he groans. "Wha... What happened?" "I got you, Dad!" "Easy there, Joseph..." Max spoke as he and Sentinel helped The Arbiter out of his pod. The man smiled at his old friend and son. Only for some shaking to happen as the others were surprised when a wall blasted apart! They back away from the dust cloud as someone floats out of the smoke and hovers above the group. "Oh, boy!" The Guardsman spoke as Ben was in awe at who it was. "Whoa... Osiris, himself!"
The person is a tanned man who is almost as muscular as The Arbiter and has tanned skin and black hair that is brushed back and long. He is wearing a black full-body undersuit with gold, Egypt theme armor on his legs, arms, shoulders, and waist with a white Egypt skirt and a cape. He lastly has a pharaoh's chin beard and the most distinguishing feature is that he has a 3rd eye on his forehead. Dispute showing some age with a few wrinkles and some grey in his hair, Osiris looks very intimidating, especially as his 3rd eye glows purple as he levitates some boxes around him with his arms crossed. "Whoa... This would be so cool if things didn't look so bad now." Ben spoke as his both starstruck and terrified at confronting Osiris at the same time.
"Surrender, Aribiter! You and your son and his friends may have succeded in kidnapping the others! But you won't get Osiris without a fight!" The psychic declares as he hurls the boxes at the others. Some of them dodge while a few like Guardsman, Aribter, and Sentinel smash through them with super strength. "You dare accuse my son and me of your twisted scheme?! This is your work, Osiris!" The Arbiter hollers out, only to see his son and his friends blasted away by his former friend's mind beams, to be telekinetically grabbed by Osiris as the former Arbitrator snarls. "If you won't admit your treachery, then maybe your captives will!"
He then moves around and frees the other as they slowly wake up. "Wha... What happened?" Athena Nike asked as Black Basilisk rubbed his head. "What a strange dream... Wait! Osiris!" The ninja snarls as Retina Ranger points at him."You traitor!" "What?! No! He's the true traitor! He's trying to frame me!" Osiris defends himself as he points at Aribiter as the world's greatest pro hero shouts back. "Impossible! Only you can sick all those brainwashed criminals on us! They were responding to your telepath commands!" Arbiter used his solar powers to break free from the psychic grip.
"You think I'm capable of controlling that many minds at the same time?!" Osiris bellows out in accusation as the original Arbitrators regroup as they confront their former teammate. "I haven't done that kind of power in years! Anytime I try to take control of more than 4 minds at a time, I get a super migraine..." Osiris explains as he rubs his temples to demonstrate his limits. He then places a finger on his chin in wonder. "And isn't it a little convenient that most of the others were captured, due to having their weaknesses exported and used against them? As if someone knows about them and informs the kidnappers about them and their whereabouts, too? And you were the last person to be kidnapped, yet the thugs never went after you 1st because you were the most powerful?"
The original Arbitrators realized that Osiris did make a good point as they looked at each other in response. "Yeah... What is up with that?" Micro Man asked as the Aribiter was surprised. "Guys... You don't believe it was me, honestly!?" Sentinel and his friends watch in worriment as the super teen speaks to his friends. "This is bad, guys! At the rate they're arguing with each other, the Arbitrators are going to tear themselves apart!" "I hear you! We got to stop them, and pronto!" The Guardsman states as Mercury points out. "Yeah! But who's telling the truth?! Your dad said Osiris is behind this, yet Osiris claims that your dad is behind this mess and is not controlling the thugs!" "Oh, man!" Gummy Gabby groans as she pulls her pigtails and shakes her head. "This is too confusing! My brain is hurting, already!"
"I should have known you would try and blame another for your misfortune! Just like you blamed me for White Mage's death, all those years ago! You've always been arrogant!" Osiris frowns with crossed arms as he floats towards Arbiter and he backs away as he speaks back. "Don't tell me you still have a crush on my wife, after all these years?! You're the real reason she quit the team for almost a decade in the 1st place! I'm starting to wish I never recruited you, at all!" "How dare you! How many times do I have to tell you!? I did not have a crush on Susan! We both had a great friendship based on our respect for the mystic arts! And it's time for you to pay!" Osiris aims his palm as it glows and Arbiter's eyes glow as well, ready to fight!
"Oh, no!" Gwen exclaims as the 2 heroes are ready for a fight to the finish! Just then, Ben frowns as he dashes towards them, and Max notices. "Ben! Wait!" The boy dials his Ultimatrix and slaps down, turning into Diamondhead. The alien hero grins at his choice as he quickly leaps between the 2 and makes 2 crystal walls to block them both, making them stop as the alien hero cries out. "Guys! Stop! This isn't right! You're both friends, brothers-in-arms, remember?! You 2 are teammates! Who saved you from the giant rampaging volcano monster?" Diamondhead asked Osiris and turned towards Arbiter. "And who saved your mind from getting brainwashed by that creepy cult? You 2 should be fighting evil together, not each other! Let's work together like the Arbitrators would do back in the day, and find out who's truly behind this!"
The others were surprised and impressed at Diamondhead's speech. "Whoa..." Gwen blinked in surprise as Sentinal spoke to Max. "Got to admit, Mr. Tennyson; your grandson's got a way with words." "That's Ben. He always finds a way to surprise us, one way or another." Max smiles in response. But just then, the others all saw the thugs surrounding them, showing signs of being brainwashed and wielding weapons as they all got ready for a massive brawl. "Ah-ha! Osiris' victim's eyes only glow like that when his eye is glowing as well!" Arbiter declares as Diamondhead glances and sees Osiris looking worried at the thugs and notices something is off about this.
"Then, let's take this Cyclops, down!" Mercury cries out as he and his friends charge at Osiris, only for the psychic to notice and use his powers to push them back. Sentinel and his friends recovered as Guardsman points at Osiris. "Okay, mister six sense! Call off your mind-controlled attack dogs, now!"
"I'm not controlling them! Think: If I was controlling them, my 3rd eye would be glowing! But it's not!" Osiris points out as Diamondhead looks and sees that he is right! "Wait! Osiris is telling the truth! His 3rd eye is not glowing at all! Which means someone is controlling them!" "But... Who else is controlling the thugs?" Gummy Gabby shurgs as they have no idea who is truly responsible.
"That! Would be me!" All eyes turn toward a new voice as a few mind-controlled thugs clear out as the person who said it steps forward, only to be the last person anyone expected. "Taylor?!" Sentinel exclaims in shock as the said girl smirks at them. "Whoa! I did not see that coming!" Gummy Gabby exclaims as Guardsman and Mercury nod as well. "Taylor!" The Arbiter exclaims as he goes over and hugs his daughter with a sigh of relief. "Oh, my sweet little starlight! I'm so glad you're okay..." "I'm fine, Daddy." But just then, she gains a sinister sly smirk and whispers in her father's ear. "But you won't be for long."
Confused by the girl's statement, the Arbiter was suddenly sent flying back with a scream as he crashed into some boxes. "SIS!?" Sentinel cries out in surprise as the gang looks at Taylor, who smirks while her left hand is smoking as if she blasted something out of it. She then snaps her fingers with her right hand and the brainwashed thugs surround the heroes. Gwen then figures it out. "Wait a minute! It's you! You're behind the kidnappings!" Taylor chuckles as she claps her hands in a sarcastic tone. "Bravo... And you just figured it out?" Diamondhead groans out. "The plot twist! Nobody ever expected that coming in the comics."
"I don't get it! Why are you doing this?!" The Guardsman asked in disbelief as the girl walked to the side. She then stood on a small stack of boxes with her arms crossed. "Simple: Revenge, of course! For my mother! And to bring her back as well!" "What?! Impossible!" Nike cries out. "You can't bring someone dead back to life! Can you?" Micro Man adds out in confusion as Retina Ranger shurgs in response. Taylor smirks as she states. "Yes, you can! There's a special magic ritual that can revive a deceased sorcerer or sorceress. All you have to do is offer up the life force of someone, just as equal as the person you wish to revive."
"But... How?!" Sentinel exclaims in shock. "Mom told me that you weren't born with any powers!? How do you have her magic?!" Taylor explains with crossed arms. "Simple, big brother: She gave it to me! When I was born, I had some problems as well. Mom didn't want to me perish, so, she poured her magic into me to save my life. Luckily, she didn't waste it all, but kept a little left, since I was strong enough to fill in that part. But Mom almost lost all her powers that day. That's the real reason she quit the team for almost 10 years, so her powers can slowly recharge. She made me swear to keep my magic a secret until the time is right to tell you while she also trains and teaches me."
Taylor then snarls with a glare at her father and his team. "But you all pulled her back in, and she's gone, because of you, father! All of you! And now, I'll have vengeance on the people who took Susan Lonestar away from me!" She then used her hypnosis spell to make the thugs ambush the rest of the original Arbitrators and keep them pinned down as they applied knock-out gas on them. Osiris is surprised as he glances back at Taylor. "I don't understand! How can you be able to control all the thugs in New York City?!"
"Why, it's quite simple: I had a little help! Recognize this, old man?" Taylor answers as she pulls out a glowing purple crystal from her pocket on a string as Osiris gasps. "A mystical enhancement crystal!" "That's right! Mom's crystal! The one you gave her as a token of friendship. I tapped into its power to boost my magic to be strong enough to brainwash half of the thugs in the whole city, to capture all of the Arbitrators, and to frame you for the kidnappings! Nothing would have been more satisfying than watching the Arbitrators tear each other apart. But now, guess I have to do it, myself!"
The Arbiter broke free and tried to stop her daughter, but Taylor smirked as she held out her hand and a purple energy magic ring appeared with a star symbol in the middle. The Arbiter suddenly stops as he feels a magical force keeping a firm grip on him as he struggles while Taylor watches a sadistic smirk, lifting and placing him on the ritual as the magic locks Arbiter in! "You know, daddy... Hypnosis spells isn't all I can do." The teen grins with a smirk as she starts the ritual, siphoning off the Aribiter's life force as the man grunts and groans in pain.
"Get them!" Taylor orders as the thugs engage the gang as she goes back to her ritual. Gwen called out as she and Max whacked away thugs with some crowbars. "Everyone! Focus your attacks on Taylor! We have to stop her before her ritual is completed!" Osiris used his telekinesis to throw thugs around, slamming boxes on them, and firing purple energy blasts, but they just kept coming as he exclaimed. "There are too many of them! We can't even get close to her!"
"But if we can't get close to her, how will we save Dad and the others?!" Sentinel exclaims as he unleashes a thunder beam at a group of charging thugs to shock them silly. Just then, Diamondhead gets an idea as he bashes away minions with hammer hands and then slams his hands down to create huge crystals to block off the other thugs. "Wait! Don't concentrate your attack on her! We've got to split her focus into as many directions as possible!" "Kid! Are you sure about that?!" The Guardsman exclaims as he grabs one to bash the others away like a club. "Trust me! I know what I'm saying!" The alien hero hollers.
Nonetheless, the heroes follow Diamondhead's plan as they split up. Gwen and Max kept bashing thugs as they ran around. Osiris unleashed his mind beams, levitated several boxes, and threw them into more thugs, even throwing other street punks into each other. Guardsman kept pummeling thugs, left and right. Even slamming his fists down to make a shockwave that blew them away. "Boo-yeah!" He grins as he runs and tackles more thugs.
Sentinel unleashed massive lighting bursts as he flew up and then slammed down in the middle of the group, blowing them away with his cape blows while smirking. He then starts punching and kicking at close range. Mercury runs circles around the thugs, spinning them dizzy while blitzing through them in the blink of an eye. He even disarmed their weapons before they even noticed. "Looking for something?" He calls out as he waves the weapons with a taunting smirk. He grabs a chain and super speeds around his thoughts, tying them up as he stops with a grin and his fists on his hips.
Gabby Gummy unleashed long, elastic punches and kicks in a whipping fashion as she bounced away. She then grabs hold of 2 pillars and stretches far back as a group of thugs charged at her. But the elastic teen leaps up and slingshots toward the criminals, kicking them hard as she lands. "Don't mess with me, just because I have a cutesy look! Tee-hee!" She giggles as she stretches away. Diamondhead kept unleashing his crystals and knocking thugs left and right with his hammers and fists. He then slams his hands down to create a giant ring of spiked crystals that blows the thugs around him away as he leaps up and then slams down into a group, sending them flying.
"No!" Taylor cries out in dismay as she tries to regain control of her brainwashed thugs, but notices the ritual is weakening as the Aribiter feels his life force slowly returning she tries to reignite the spell, but finds herself losing power as she sweats in worry. "Too many things at once! I can't control it all at the same time! No!" She cries out as she tries to regain control, but it is no use! She then noticed the crystal was slowly losing power as she felt her boost wearing off, due to using up too much of the crystal's magic.
And before the teen magic girl knew it, a magical backlash blast not only freed the Arbiter and the rest of his teammates but also caused a huge pile of crates to come crashing down as Taylor glanced up in fear. "NOOOOOOOO!" CRASH The impact made a huge dust cloud as all the thugs were un-hypnotized and knocked out, making the group of heroes ease up as they noticed they had won. Osiris helped Aribiter up as the 2 brothers-in-arms shook hands with a smile, glad at having their friendship restored after so many years. "Sorry for accusing you before, Osiris. Thank you, for saving me." "I accept your apology, Arbiter. I realized in the end, that we both let our guard down too early with Anubis and it cost us greatly. And, I'm willing to forgive you, 'brother'." "Glad to see you 2 have finally made up after all these years." Max smiled as he approached the 2 pro superheroes, who both nodded at the elder.
They then heard some groaning and glanced to see Taylor, pinned under some boxes she was a bit distorted and dirty, her hair out of her ponytail, and her glasses had fallen off and cracked. Osiris spoke as he used his powers. "Here... Let me help." He lifted the crates off the girl as Max touched Joseph's shoulder. "Joseph... I think it's time you have a heart-to-heart with your daughter." The man looks at his broken daughter, sighs as he realizes Max is right, and nods at his old friend, approaching the girl as Taylor notices.
"Taylor... Look at me." Joseph took off his mask as he showed his concerned eyes. "No one forced your mother back into the Arbitrators... She chose to return, even though most of us were against it. She wanted to because she wanted to help people, so much. She did it to protect you and Jason, the most. Sweetie, I know how hard it is, to lose Susan. But before she died, she told me that she was proud of her children, especially you. And hoped that you would never hold a grudge against her or the others. You might have lost your mother, Taylor, but you still have a family." He gestures to a sympathetic Sentinel as he takes off his mask and nods at his family.
Taylor looks down for a while and then lifts her head, showing they are filled with tears as she feels herself emotionally broken. "Daddy!" She hugged her father as Joseph hugged back, patting her on the head. "Daddy! I'm so sorry! I was just so angry and upset... And I missed Mom, so much!" "It's okay, sweetie... I forgive you." The others just watch with satisfying and relieved looks at seeing a family, healing themselves together. On the other hand, Gabby is more emotional and bawls as she blows into a rag. "I get emotional with these types of endings..." She sniffs as Gwen glances at her weirdly. "Noted..."
Later, the Arbitrators, Jason's group, and the Tennysons were outside of the warehouse as all the un-brainwashed criminals were taken away. They watched while Taylor sat on some boxes, deciding it was not a good time to talk to them, considering she tried to destroy them. "Max, I can't thank you or your grandkids enough for not only helping my team and patching up my friendship with Osiris but also for saving my daughter as well." Arbiter smiles as she shakes hands with Max. "Well, it was nothing. It would be best if you thanked my grandson. If he weren't so stubborn in finding that missing comic of his, that led to this adventure, we would have never helped you out, Joseph." "Hmm... Stubborn... Reminds us of someone we knew that's stubborn, back in the day." Osiris smirks as the rest of the Arbitrators know they are talking about Max.
Speaking of Ben, he was chatting with Jason and the others. "Ben, Thanks for helping us, save my dad and sister. Taylor will have to make up for what she did, but I'm glad she's finally moving on from Mom's death." "No problem! It's what us fellow heroes would do!" "Acting like a doofus and breaking stuff?" Gwen smirks as Ben frowns as the teens all laugh at the 2 cousins. "Very funny, Gwen..." The Guardsman then rubs Ben's head with affection. "Either way, nice job little dude! You saved the day!" "Yeah! Pretty cool... For a little fella!" Mercury smirks as Gabby gives Ben and Gwen a big hug. "Group hug for new friends!" The blonde has a big grin as both kids smile at her bouncy, sugary personality.
"I got to admit, Max. Your grandson with that alien device of his was impressive, back there. Reminds us of you, back in the day." Nike states as the adults watch the kids and teens interact with each other. "Yep... Ben always does remind me of myself when I was his age. Anyway, it was nice catching up with you all, but it's time for me and my grandkids to get back on the road. It was a pleasure to see you all again." Max smiles as he shakes hands with his old friends. He and the Tennyson cousins get ready to leave as they say their goodbyes.
Osiris spoke about Ben as the Tennysons got ready to leave. "You know, if this young boy hadn't helped us settle our differences for good, things would have turned out, not so well. We can't thank you enough for you and your family, Ben Tennyson." "Yeah! Thanks to this kid, The Arbitrators are back and better than ever!" Cobalt grins as he pats the kid on the shoulder and the boy smiles. "I have to admit, that was a very clever strategy. How did you come up with such a plan?" Micro Man asked Ben as the kid smirked. "Don't you guys remember? That's the same strategy Osiris pulled to defeat Doctor Coeus when he took control of most of the Arbitrators in issue 57!" "Huh... Looks like Ben's comic book geekiness came in handy for once. Go figure!" Gwen shurgs with a smirk as she enters the Rust Bucket.
"Hey, Ben!" Ben glanced back at Sentinal as he spoke to the kid. Taylor went up and held her father as he wrapped an arm around her. "Don't forget you got our number in your phone, now! Anytime you want to chat or talk about hero stuff, give me and my pals a call!" "Thanks, Jason! I mean... Sentinal!" "Oh! Before you go... Here!" The Arbiter then tossed something to Ben. The boy caught and was shocked to see an I.D. card with the Aribitrators' symbol and his picture on it.
"No way! An official Arbitrator member I.D. card?! For me?!" "Yep! Max told us about your adventures with the Ultimatrix, so far. And we decide for you and your family, helping my son and all of us, to make you an honorary member of my son's group." The Arbiter explains as Gummy Gabby grins as she throws her arms apart. "Welcome to the club, Ben!" "Awesome!" Ben grins at his new gift as he pockets it and waves bye to the team of superheroes. "See ya!" He shuts the door and Gwen tells Max as Ben buckles up. "Hit it, grandpa!" The RV fires up and drives off as the Arbitrators watch the camper drive off into the sunset.
The sunset scene turns out to be the last panel of a comic as Ben, Max, and Gwen are reading it as the family smiles at the ending. "Now that is a satisfying ending!" Ben states as Gwen and Max nod in agreement, making the boy shut the book to show the cover of 'The Arbitrators'. Only this comic issue is number 157, the one Ben has been looking for and showcases the new Arbitrators. The cover shows Sentinel, Gummy Gabby, The Guardsman, and Mercury. But with them is Taylor in a super-suit with a cape and Diamondhead as well, posing.