The Tennysons, Hayden and Hope waited in line at a video game store in San Francisco.
"We've been in this line for two hours and it hasn't moved an inch!" Gwen groaned.
"It's a small price to pay for Sumo Massacreurs 2.1! I'd do anything to get this game! Even be seen in public with you." Says Ben.
"You've already got Sumo Massacreurs 2! Do you really need another 0.1?!" Groans Hayden.
"You can change your fighter's color at any time during the match. Of course I can! And what's more, you shuffled a whole dvd rack to find this stupid movie in a specific edition!" Says Ben.
"Hey, Director's Cuts are always more interesting to watch because they add scenes that embellish the plot! Hayden exclaimed.
"You know, there's a nice air-conditioned bookstore over there. Maybe we could wait inside until the line gets a little shorter." Max suggested.
"Please, these heels aren't made for standing that long. My feet hurt!" Hope begged.
"And lose my place? Not a chance! Go ahead, I'll get my game and meet you back at the RV."
"Do you want us to look for something for you at the bookstore?" Max asked.
"I'm on summer vacation. Why should I read anything?" Ben asked.
"So, do you think Ben went crazy in that line?" Gwen asked as they left the bookshop.
Suddenly, a scream rang out. People ran out of the video game store as Four Arms crashed into the wall. A police car swerved onto the scene, but he retrieved the car and drove the cops away.
"Uh, why is Ben going crazy and shoving the cops?" Gwen asked.
"Maybe he went crazy;" Said Hope.
More police cars arrived as Four Arms began picking up everything he could get his hands on and throwing it at the police.
"He's flipped out! All this for a video game?" Gwen asked.
"I don't believe it..." Said Max.
As Four Arms continued its rampage, an armored vehicle arrived and a short-haired man got out.
"Lieutenant Steel, special alien containment team. We'll take it from here." He said to one of the officers and turned to the other men getting out of the truck. "Concussion bazooka!"
"That doesn't look good." Max said.
"Now would be a good time to turn into a hero, huh?" Says Gwen, glowering at Hayden.
"First of all, I'm not saying that, respect my intelligence and don't confuse me with Ben. Secondly, if I turned, I'd probably get blown up too."
Gwen sighed and ran to Four Arms, who was retrieving a car.
"Ben! What are you doing?!"
Four Arms ignored her and was about to throw the car when Lieutenant Steel nodded and the men fired. The shot hit Four Arms in the chest and threw him into a nearby pizzeria. But that didn't stop him, and he emerged carrying a brick oven.
He threw the oven at the truck, causing it to explode. He roared and fled.
"There must be a logical explanation... mustn't there?" Max asked.
Gwen burst into the camper to see Ben playing with his game.
"Are you crazy?! You turn yourself into an alien just to get a stupid video game?!" She shouted at him.
"What are you talking about?" Ben asked.
"You went completely nuts in front of that store! That's what I'm talking about!" Gwen shouted.
"Relax, I'm sure he has a good explanation. Right, Ben?" Max asked, looking at his grandson expectantly.
"Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about." Said Ben before returning to his game.
"Oh, of course you don't! Just like you never put an empty milk bottle back in the fridge, or leave the toilet seat up in the middle of the night! You never do anything wrong, do you?" Gwen growled.
"...That sounds about right." Said Ben.
"Actually, I agree with Ben on this one." Said Hayden, making Gwen turn around with an outraged look. "His left eye twitches when he lies, and there it didn't happen."
"But no, I don't do that." Ben retorted as his left eye began to twitch.
"You see."
Gwen glared at him. Then she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, on which was playing a news bulletin about the ransacking of Four Arms.
"It's not me!" Ben exclaimed as he stared at the television, shocked.
"Oh no? I'm sure it's just another four-armed alien freaking out in front of a video game store!" Gwen exclaimed.
"It could be a member of Four Arms's own species, remember Tetrax? Hayden pointed out, pointing to Four Arms's left shoulder on the TV. "He doesn't have the omnitrix symbol. So it can't be Ben."
"That's right. And Ben wouldn't be so irresponsible with his alien powers like that." says Max.
"Uh...?" Says Hope, looking at Max.
"All right, maybe he uses it irresponsibly sometimes." Max admitted. "But never to attack civilians.
Ben got up and stormed out of the Rust Bucket.
"Nobody's going to ruin the reputation of my aliens, except me!"
Back at the scene of the carnage, Ben picked up a broken brick.
"Criminals always return to the scene of the crime... ! " Said Gwen accusingly.
"Will you stop for five minutes? I'm trying to solve a mystery." Says Ben.
"Besides, we were there too at the time of the attack, so by your logic, we're all suspects, except Ben. In case you've forgotten the evidence I put forward, Gwen." Hayden retorted.
"What do you expect to find that no one else could?" Max asked.
Ben looked around. Then he met the gaze of Four Arms, who peeked out from the corner of an alley before disappearing.
"There he is!" Ben shouted as he ran after him, fiddling with his watch.
"Come on, XLR8... All right! I'll catch him myself!"
He ran down the street and saw Four Arms atop a tall white building labeled "US Mint".
"Oh no!" Ben exclaimed as he ran inside the building.
"Who said retirement... was relaxing?" Max gasped as the others chased Ben into the building.
They arrived in a room where machines were printing bills and coins.
"Are you sure he came in here?" Max asked.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. They saw Heatblast corner two security guards. He threw flames at the railing above, causing it to fall in a pile of fire around them.
"Okay, I was ready to give him one, but two of Ben's aliens terrorizing San Francisco? That can't be a coincidence." Said Gwen as she ran toward Heatblast without the Omnitrix symbol on her chest.
"Hey, hothead! Stop shooting off fireworks before someone really gets hurt! Now, if you'll just take responsibility for all the crazy things you've been doing lately, I'm sure we can help you."
Suddenly, Ben appears next to Max.
"Gwen!"
"Not now, you idiot! Can't you see I have to take care of-" She said before blinking, then turned with surprise to look at her cousin, then Heatblast. "Ben?! A-So, who are you?"
"Me? I'm hot! Don't you see?" Heatblast sneered.
He tried to shoot Gwen with a jet of fire, but Big Chill suddenly appeared and froze Heatblast's hands.
"Max, Gwen, get everyone out of here."
They and the two security guards exited the room as Heatblast melted the ice around his hands.
"Another monster..." he hissed.
"You're a walking pile of coal. You're in no position to call me a monster." Big Chill-Hayden declared.
Heatblast's eyes narrowed and he hurled a volley of flames at the ice bug, which became invisible.
"Come out, you sissy!" Heatblast shouted, looking around.
"Don't call him that!"
He turned to see Hope.
"Oh, yeah? What else are you going to do?"
"This." Hope said. She raised her arms and chains suddenly sprang up from the ground, wrapping themselves around Heatblast. Her eyes turned pink as she launched a blast of mana directly into Heatblast's chest, sending him flying into a wall.
"Nice." Said Big Chill-Hayden as he appeared beside her.
"Thanks." Hope said with a smile.
Ben approached Heatblast, leaning against the wall.
"Who are you?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet? Maybe this will help..."
Ben stepped back as Heatblast's face began to metamorphose. He transformed into Stinkfly, then into Diamondhead, then into Upgrade, then finally...
"Kevin?!"
"Who?" Hope asked.
"We met in New York. But I was sure he had none of my powers left!" Says Ben.
"That's what you get for thinking, Benji." Sneered Kevin. "Turns out I've absorbed enough energy from your watch, so I can transform into any of the aliens it contains. If I concentrated hard enough. The only problem is that I can only stay human for a short time. You made me this monster..."
"As a third party, I think it's mainly your fault. If you hadn't tried to absorb the watch's power, you'd still be human in the long run." Big Chill-Hayden declared.
"I agree. Hope nodded.
"I don't care! Now it's payback time, partner. It's 50/50! I do the crime, and you do the time." Says Kevin.
"You'll never get away with this!" shouted Ben.
"Wrong! You'll never get away with it! I'm not me, I'm you! Remember?" Kevin laughed.
The windows of the mint suddenly exploded and men with heavy equipment began streaming inside.
"Shit, that's tear gas!" Big Chill exclaimed.
Kevin smiled and transformed into The Stinger.
"Have fun!"
And with that, he crossed the glass ceiling and disappeared into the horizon.
"Don't move!"
The men surrounded them, their rifles raised.
"...Yeah, I'm not going to jail. See you losers." Said Big Chill-Hayden before disappearing.
"Where'd he go?"
Lieutenant Steel stepped forward.
"Find him. Don't let him escape the facility."
The men saluted and dispersed to search for him while Big Chill-Hayden watched from the top railing before disappearing.
"Thank God!" Said Gwen, taking Ben in her arms. "We were so worried! He always wanders off, even if we leave him with a babysitter."
She glanced at Hope and winked.
"Huh? Oh yes, he's rather difficult to manage." Hope said, understanding. "I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. We may have to keep him on a leash from now on."
Ben looked at them both angrily.
Lieutenant Steel looked at them, his eyes landing on Ben's watch.
"Hm. Nice watch. I've never seen anything like it."
"Yeah, it's from... uh..." Said Ben, trying to come up with an excuse.
"I gave it to him!"
Hayden ran towards them.
"I went to Japan once and found this. I thought he'd like it, and ever since I gave it to him, he's never taken it off." He said, patting Ben on the back.
Steel raised an eyebrow.
One of the officers approached him.
"No sign of the alien, sir. It's as if the thing disappeared into thin air!"
"And I suppose you don't know anything about this alien?" Lieutenant Steel asked the Tennysons.
"No! If we did, we would have told you." Said Max and the children nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Of course you would." Said Steel.
As they walked away, Steel said in a low voice to a nearby policeman, "Keep an eye on them. They know more than they're saying."
The Tennysons had regrouped at the RV, where Ben was telling Max and Gwen what had happened to Kevin.
"It was Kevin at the video game store and the mint! They were traps!" Said Ben.
"That would explain a lot. I told you that kid would cause trouble." Max declared.
"But why is the alien SWAT team after him? And since when has there been an alien SWAT team?" Hayden asked.
"I think I've figured out why." Said Gwen, showing them her laptop screen. "Ben's friend has been very busy. And not just here in San Francisco. Look, Sauvage terrorizes Tallahassee, La Mâchoire in Chicago, Ghostfreak in Barstow."
"I'm going to be blamed for all this, when I've done nothing!" Ben declared.
"A kid who can turn into an alien and throw a nationwide tantrum... Sure, add it to the list of crazies we've faced." Hayden sighed.
Suddenly, they heard shouting outside. A black and green streetcar was rolling down the hill with its passengers locked inside.
"Seriously?" Hayden sighed, activating his Omnitrix. "I'll take care of it."
He stepped out and transformed into XLR8. He ran to the cart and jumped on before changing into StoneSaver, then jumped to the front of the streetcar and dug his feet into the ground to force it to stop after a good minute.
"Damn it, why don't I have an alien as physically strong as Four Arms. Come on, even Enormosaurus I'd have accepted." StoneSaver-Hayden thought. "Sorry man, but this streetcar needs a system overhaul." He declared before changing into Upgrade and melting into the streetcar, just like Kevin.
What was happening during the process was a kind of mental battle, with each side trying to get the better of the other. But Hayden's will was much stronger than Kevin's, and he was ejected from the streetcar before the doors opened, allowing the passenger to escape.
"Ugh..." Upgrade-Kevin groaned as he reverted to his basic alien form.
"I'm not Ben, kid. The only reason I'm not going any further is because I think you're just a clueless kid with powers. So cut the crap, before I have to go too far." Upgrade-Hayden said as he resumed his own form on the roof of the streetcar.
En réponse, Kevin se transforma en Stinkfly et s'enfuit.
Hayden then transformed into Big Chill and left the scene before Steel and his men arrived.
Night had fallen on San Francisco, and the group was in the motorhome making its way through the city streets.
"Good job out there." Said Gwen to Hayden.
"I just hope he heeds my warning." Hayden sighed.
A bright light suddenly flashed through the front window. Max braked hard and the motorhome came to a stop.
"Come out with your hands up!" shouted Lieutenant Steel's voice.
They all looked at each other before slowly exiting the motorhome to discover they were surrounded by armed men.
"One move and you're turned into Swiss cheese!" Steel said. "You have two choices: tell me what you did with those aliens, or get measured for your prison uniforms."
Ben instinctively reached for his watch, but Steel grabbed his and Hayden's hands.
"This has something to do with those watches, doesn't it?! Is it some kind of signal to call the aliens?"
"Do you hear yourself? Not only do you move an intervention team to interrogate civilians who, for all you know, are innocent. But on top of that, you threaten them." Hayden retorted, alarming both Tennyson and Hope, "How are you going to explain this to your superiors? "Hello, we're arresting a old man, his grandchildren and two teenagers because we suspect them, without any tangible proof, of being linked to the aliens who are messing up the country. Even if you're an efficient agent, I doubt they'll believe you. And on top of that, they'll probably think you're starting to look unfit for the job."
Steel let go of Ben and grabbed Hayden by the collar, then was about to punch him when one of the officers approached him.
"Sir, we've received reports that a crystal alien is attacking the Golden Gate. It looks like he could bring the whole bridge down if he isn't stopped!"
Steel looked at them for a second before letting go of Hayden and disconnecting the transceiver from his belt.
"This is Falcon 1, come in 20." Then looked at the Tennysons. "We're not done..."
"I think we are, unless you're solid evidence against us, we're done." Hayden retorted.
A helicopter flew overhead and lowered a cable. Steel clipped it to his belt and flew off, giving Hayden one last look.
"These guys don't stand a chance against Kevin! I've got to stop him." Said Ben.
They climbed into the camper van and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. When they arrived, they saw Steel being beaten by Diamondhead at the top of one of the towers.
"Ugh, another thing I'm going to get blamed for..." Ben sighed.
Diamondhead threw Steel against a wall, who had a black eye, numerous cuts and a swollen cheek. He lifted him by the collar and figured he was about to rip him open with a splintered arm.
"Let him go, Kevin."
Kevin turned to see Four Arms.
"This is between you and me."
"Sounds good to me!" Diamondhead-Kevin sneered as he threw Steel out of the tower. As he fell, something shot through the air and caught him. Steel looked up to see Big Chill's face.
"Gotcha, Sarge."
"Lieutenant." Steel corrected.
"Is that really important right now?" Big Chill-Hayden asked.
On the bridge, two officers assembled the concussion bazooka and took aim at the two brawling aliens.
"You can't do that! He's trying to help!" Gwen shouted.
"Target locked, sir. Permission to fire?" Asked one of the officers into his transmitter.
"Shoot on my order only. I repeat, on my order only!" Steel said firmly.
Four Arms-Ben was beating up Kevin, who kept transforming into other aliens to fight until he returned to his normal form when Four Arms knocked him over. Kevin looked up as Four Arms raised a fist and knocked him down.
He closed his eyes but reopened them to see that Four Arms-Ben had missed his head. Without another word, Four Arms stood up and began to walk away.
"Come back here and fight, Tennyson! I'm not done with you yet!" Kevin shouted at him.
"But I'm done with you, you're not worth it. You never were..." Said Four Arms-Ben.
Kevin looked stunned, then his face twisted with anger. He began to change. His skin began to blister and his body expanded. He let out a roar of fury and pain that echoed in the night air.
Four Arms turned to see that in Kevin's place stood an amalgam of all his aliens.
"Uh, what..." Said Kevin as he tried to change back but found he couldn't. "I-I can't go back to the way it was... I'm stuck like this. LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
"He didn't do anything." Said Big Chill-Hayden, pointing out his presence to Kevin. "If I had to guess, it would be a side effect of your power in reaction to Ben's watch..."
Then he became human again, while Steel was surprised to see this.
"Calm down, Kevin. Look where it got you to react in the moment. You've committed a lot of crimes that haven't led to anything, not even to having some money set aside so you can have a few quiet years ahead of you. And now you've become an amalgam of Ben's 10 aliens. Keep it up and you'll end up dead. Is that really what your mother wants to see?"
"Don't talk about her!" Kevin shouted, charging Hayden before grabbing him and tackling him to the ground.
Four Arms-Ben wanted to act, but he knew that if he attacked Kevin could kill Hayden for sure, so he chose not to intervene.
Kevin charged Four Arms, throwing him against the wall. Four Arms caught two of his punches, but Kevin hit him with the other two. He then grabs him and throws him to the side. Four Arms clings to the ledge as Kevin looks at him.
"You'll never beat me. Because you and Ben are the good guys. And the good guys never have the guts to end up with guys like me."
"I'm one of the good guys... that's true... but who's to say I am?" Hayden retorted, glaring at Kevin.
He could see it in the eyes of the man he held at his mercy: the eyes of a monster.
This made him hesitate long enough for Hayden to turn into a StoneSaver and stab Kevin in the hip.
He gasped in pain and stepped aside, allowing StoneSaver-Hayden to unleash a powerful and violent attack that surprised Four Arms-Ben.
Kevin finally fell to his knees, trying to regain his composure.
"The honor is all yours, Steel." Said StoneSaver-Hayden.
"With pleasure." Said Lieutenant Steel, then grabbed his receiver. "Shoot!"
The officers fired the bazooka directly into Kevin's chest, tossing him from the tower into the water below.
StoneSaver-Hayden then looked at Steel.
"This symbol shows that we're here to do good." He said to Steel, showing him the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. "I may be able to transform myself into an alien, but I'm still a human who wants to do good and protect people. But threaten my loved ones, Steel, and then I'd be less sympathetic. So, are you going to arrest us too?"
"Second target locked. Permission to fire?"
"We have our alien. Stand back." Steel ordered.
StoneSaver-Hayden smiled at him.
"You're not as bad as I thought." He said.
"Neither are you." Steel smiled.
This made StoneSaver-Hayden laugh, and he jumped off the bridge, transformed into Big Chill and flew away.
Steel watched him go and picked up his handset.
"Well, what are you waiting for? "Please? Get me down from here!"
"Maybe I should have offered to take him down..."
The Rust Bucket left the now-cleared deck.
"Even Kevin couldn't have survived that explosion and fall... could he?" Gwen asked.
"You're talking to the wrong person. Last time, I thought he was gone for good!" Said Ben.
Max suddenly stopped the motorhome. Lieutenant Steel and the SACT officers were blocking their way.
Ben rolled down the window.
"Is there a problem, Lieutenant?" Max asked.
"Not really." Steel replied before turning his gaze to Hayden. "I just wanted to thank you, kid. Without you, and that four-armed alien, I'd probably be dead. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Consider it payback for my debt to you."
"It's a pleasure, Lieutenant. Although our first interaction was far from the best." Hayden smiled.
Lieutenant Steel nodded before letting them go.
As they pulled away, in the waters below, a few bubbles rose to the surface.