I don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 45: Ghost of a Chance
Two Months Later
Omnitrix City Suburbs; March 21st, 2024; 7:52AM
After dealing with Charmcaster in the dimension of Ledger Domain, the heroes returned to their normal lives though, Albedo was still a tad heartbroken to see her almost certainly die right before his eyes. Especially after falling from grace so tragically. They didn't speak about it, not even to the rest of the team, leaving the others to forget it was ever an issue to begin with. The trauma left behind only lingered with the adults as it seemed Jennifer quickly fell back into her everyday routine while the weeks following left her mother in a slightly more somber state of mind, thinking on how she could have helped Hope if she had acted sooner.
The days and weeks passed with nothing eventful to speak of, there were no major crimes to stop, and even the super-humans sent by Billy had thinned out as of late. Not a single incident with his experiments since Celestial paid him a visit. Perhaps it was Ben's warning that finally got through to him, though the hero of heroes had a funny feeling that it was only a brief intermission before a more sinister plot revealed itself. Spite his suspicion, he would just have to wait and see.
After finally sleeping in the same bed, and actually waking up together, for the first time in weeks; Ben and Gwen laid together in their king-sized mattress simply enjoying the time they had to cuddle while still being able to hear the early morning cartoons coming from down the hall. His arm draped over her shoulder, her head laid across his upper-torso where he could place his cheek against the top of her head, loving the scent of her fragrance that he could never get enough of. She ran her fingers over his scars, long and welted from years of battle, sometimes she forget that no matter how powerful he was, he was still only human.
Jennifer was always the first one awake, making herself comfortable with a glass of juice in front of the television before the two could even wake up properly. Hearing the slight chuckles from their daughter watching her cartoons, they couldn't help but relish in the peace and tranquility of the moment.
"Ya know, I still sometimes find it hard to believe that we're actually parents now," Ben murmured with his eyes still closed, grazing his hands up and down Gwendolyn's bare arm being that she had slept in nothing but a sports-bra and matching cotton white panties, he always gave her goosebumps with his fingertips drawing lightly over her forearm and shoulder.
She laid her head of orange pixie-cut locks on his bare chest, having slept in nothing but sweatpants, his torso was exposed allowing her to return the favor by slowly tracing circles over his pecks knowing full well her bangs already tickled him. "Sometimes it is a bit surreal but, I get what you mean; if you had told me when I was ten that I'd be married with kids to a doofus like you by twenty-eight, I might've screamed bloody murder," she giggled a bit at the idea but, Ben snarked back as he stood up to get started for the day.
"Yea, like being with a mega-dweeb would be any less mortifying for ten-year-old me," he spat with a devious smile that she loved before doing a long stretch with his arms flexed up towards the ceiling, finishing with a yawn and dropping them to his side. "So…" he started slowly as he looked to the ground around their bed for his shirt, also to hide the nervousness building behind his solid demeanor.
Gwendolyn shuffled onto her side, still lying amongst the blankets and comforter, "Uh-oh, why does that sound like you've got bad news?" she guessed, propping her head up on the mattress with one hand, staring at him with a worried expression. Was the bonkers-amazing sex last night just a prelude for the inevitable let down he was going to share; it didn't help that she could sense the slight anxiety coming off him with her empathic abilities.
Ben sighed loudly, sitting on the side of the bed, and staring out the second story window, "It's not that bad, I just… I was invited yesterday to this thing- you remember the Galactic Enforcers we met way back when?" he glanced back at her as she raised her brow with a suspicious stare.
"I remember, what about them?" she was still incredibly skeptical, narrowing her eyes as the conversation continued.
Ben scratched the back of his neck nervously, something she knew he did when he was anxious, "Well, they heard about my fight with Vilgax and they think I'm the one who finished him off and since I did almost do that… I mean I know I didn't technically deliver the final blow, and that I almost lost and-"
"If you say 'and' one more time, I'm gonna chuck a pillow at you. Spit it out, doofus," she sat up in the bed, pulling the covers off of her, to take the conversation a bit more seriously, her skepticism turning quickly into concern. She shuffled until her legs swung over the side of the bed, sitting next to him as he kept his stare out the window.
He tore his gaze away and looked over at her, "It's not a big deal, they're just expanding their team and I was kinda invited to be a part of it." At first this surprised her but, he continued quickly enough to address the concerns he knew she'd have, "It's not like I'd be leaving the team or anything, but if someone's planet is being invaded or there's some big threat to the Universe… I'm one of the heroes they might call on."
Gwendolyn kicked her feet playfully over the side of the bed, turning her head to stare down at her toes, "Would you be leaving the planet, like, often?" she said almost with a cute whimper, glancing up at him with somber expression, yet keeping her composure noticeably.
"No, I don't think so; I just have to fly off to another planet for about a week to make it official… shake some hands, catch up with Ultimo and Tiny, maybe meet some new members. Then I fly right back, it seems like a good idea so next time our planet is in danger, we can always count on back up outside of Team Ten Thousand."
"Are you sure you aren't gonna have an affair with Tiny as Fourarms?" she began laughing hysterically, recalling how the Tetramand was head over heals with his own Tetramand form.
"Don't be ridiculous, no matter what form I take, you'll always be the only girl for me."
Gwendolyn blushed bright red, stood up, and stretched her back, "Hmm, alright I don't have a problem with it… so long as you don't try and become Ultra Ben this time," her joke wasn't really funny but, it still made him grin ear-to-ear knowing that she wasn't upset with him for having to take a trip into space of all places. He rushed in a burst of speed, grabbing and hugging her tightly before leaping backward into the bed, once again submerged in an ocean of pillows, sheets, and blankets as her fit of giggles sounded through the room.
"Stop it already!" she shouted through the loving laughter, even as he relentlessly kissed her cheek over and over, "You are such a dweeb!" her face turned bright red as she was buried in the affection amongst the sheets.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 21st, 2024; 10:15AM
Ben decided it was best that he call a meeting between all members of Team Ten Thousand to gather at the tower for an important announcement. In attendance thus far aside from Ben himself was Gwendolyn, dressed in a tight navy-blue black trimmed short-sleeved top that hugged her muscular figure while still accentuating her developed curves. Her black short-skirt was tied to her waist by a silver belt with a feline-face belt buckle, matched with black boots trimmed with silver lining wrapped up her smooth calves, showing off her creamy legs in the process. Gwen held Jennifer's hand being that she couldn't find a sitter on such short notice, as the heroes daughter stood next to her observing everyone. "Hey, Mom, what's everyone doing here?" Jen referred to Helene, Manny, Pierce, Alan, Julie, Cooper, Rook, Lucy, and Albedo gathered around the center of the holodeck, having not seen the majority of them gathered together in some time.
"Your father has an announcement, shh," Gwen smiled down at her, almost surprised at how tall she was getting, before winking and turning her attention toward her husband.
Ben was dressed in his regular civilian attire, in fact, Gwendolyn couldn't help but compare him to his future counterpart with his brown mop-head of hair slicked back the way she remembered the future they visited. His beard trimmed over his chiseled jawline, the way the black t-shirt he wore stretched over his biceps when he lifted his arms, she couldn't help but make the comparison. She stood by his side while Jennifer made her way off to the corner at a desk with her headphones in, watching videos on her new phone, after a golem stepped on her last one. She didn't seem too interested in the announcement to begin with, then again, neither Ben nor Gwendolyn herself could remember a time where they weren't just as clueless at her age. Her father was always working so it would come as no surprise that he needed to take time away from home to handle some alien threat or otherwise.
Ben cleared his throat as he looked amongst the rest of his team, waiting on his announcement patiently, "Well, I've asked you here so I can address you all at once… I have to leave the planet for a while," as soon as he got it off his chest he felt a relief lifted from his shoulders that he'd been holding all night since he received the call but, immediately it returned when worried murmurs erupted from the small crowd. "It's only for a week, a group of heroes named the Galactic Enforcers want me to join their ranks and I've worked out a deal where things pretty much stay exactly the same, after I get back."
Manny raised one of his arms while keeping the others folded over his chest stand-offishly, though he didn't wait to be called on, "If things are gonna stay the same, why go at all?" it was a reasonable question to ask at this point.
He gave a chuckle but, answered as honestly as he could, "It's a little complicated but, the long and short of it is, if we ever get in trouble this deal will let us call on the Galactic Enforcers for help. I've met them before and trust me, they've got some pretty tough members."
Helene slid her visor up to lay her eyes on the hero before speaking up, rolling to stand beside Manny, "And who exactly is supposed to be in charge while you're gone?"
Ben held his hands out, gesturing for everyone to keep cool heads, "I've given that some thought and with Gwendolyn still taking time away… I've decided to elect Albedo to lead while I'm away," he turned with a smile to the inverted doppelganger whose eyes went wide for a moment upon his name's announcement.
"Me?" Albedo straightened his black and red skin-tight t-shirt, approaching the center of the room after being waved over by his pseudo-brother. "I- I don't-" he stuttered at first but, Ben patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"Dude, you saved my daughter's life, plus you have the intelligence of a super-genius… you may be a bit rough around the edges but, that's why we have our friends. To give us a sort of guiding compass to making the right calls," he swung an arm over his twin's shoulder, pulling him in to face the rest of the team who couldn't help but flash smiles their way.
Pierce chuckled, "Well, if he trusts you I know I do, guys?" he referred back to his close friends in which he grew up with, like brothers and sister to him.
Alan nodded his head gleefully as Helene rolled between Pierce and Manny, agreeing, "And if Pierce trusts you, so do I."
Ben and Albedo stood up straight as the former leaned back to aim a pointer finger at the skinny blonde technopath leaning against his desk, "If you guys have any questions that Albedo can't answer, Cooper is second in command, and as a senior member and also certified super-genius, I trust him equally as much as I do Albedo or Gwendolyn."
Rook gave a thumbs up, smiling as he did so, though he was still curious on the nature of the trip, "The only question I have that remains is when you intend to depart? Should we have a shuttle prepped for you?"
Ben chuckled and threw his hand over his neck, scratching the back of his head nervously, "Heh, actually I'm supposed to be leaving now-ish…" he turned and glanced at Jennifer who was still too busy on her phone to notice the conversation that was being held, "I already said my goodbyes to Gwendolyn and Jen so, I just needed to settle my affairs here first, and about the ship, I did some calculations on Celestial's top speed and my destination… should only take me twelve or thirteen hours to reach the next star-system over where the event is being held." It was true that the Cosmia made even Kenneth's futuristic armored Kinceleran form appear to be moving at a snail's pace, though even at two-thousand times the speed of light, it would take nearly a day to complete the journey each way.
"Well, then I wish you good luck on your travels, sir!" Rook stood at attention and saluted the hero who once again held a hand-out towards him, chuckling.
"I've told you a million times, dude, you don't have to salute me, like… ever," Ben waited as Rook looked down at his open palm, smiling before reaching out to calmly grip his hand for a firm shake.
As he pulled away his hand back, Jennifer came running with her phone stuffed back into her pockets leaping to wrap her arms around Ben's lower torso. Spite her nearly growing out of the 'being picked up and swung around by dad' phase the hero couldn't help himself, spinning around in place with his hands under arms lifted off the ground. Jen continued to giggle even as she was set back down on her own two feet, "Do you think you could bring back a souvenir from another planet? That would be so awesome, Dad, pleaaase!" she pleaded with her fingers crossed together, almost praying for a gift.
"I'll see what I can find, Jenny but, you have to promise to look after your Mom for me while I'm gone, kay?" He winked down at her.
She gave a widened grin in return, happily nodding in agreement, "I promise; ya know, when I get older I wanna be just like you and Mom; I wanna be a hero too!" her eyes were glistening green just like his own only a few shades darker with a more juniper scheme rather than emerald like her parents.
"I'm sure one day you'll make your mark on the world," he patted down her head, running his fingers through her hair, "And trust me, nobody's going to forget it." He looked up at Gwendolyn who was standing only a few steps away, prepared to see him off as the rest of the team slowly dispersed leaving only Lucy, Albedo and Cooper to watch the family say their goodbyes.
Gwen crossed the distance between them in the room to embrace her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck at a good angle for a short but passionate lip lock, which she even moaned lightly through prompting an unpleasant groan from Jennifer. "Eww! You guys can be so gross!" she covered up her eyes and jogged away to the other side of the room where she left her headphones. Desperate for a distraction.
Lucy and Rook chuckled simultaneously at the young girls innocence.
"That'll never not be adorable," Cooper mentioned watching her fiddle with her glass-phone and wireless headphones, "Anyways, before you go, I gotta warn you that it'll be total radio-silence at the very least until you reach a communication hub on the planet you're headed to."
"Yea, I know… I hate to say it but, I just feel like the reward outweighs the risk here. I mean, if you saw Ultimo in battle, you'd know why having him as an alley is so important," Ben folded his arm before giving it just a bit more thought about his experience with the group years prior, "Just, don't offer him anything with chocolate in it."
Lucy snorted with a giggle, "I remember him, the alien super-hero brought to his knees by a chocolate-bar!"
Ben chuckled only slightly, trailing off before addressing her boyfriend firmly, "Rook, keep Lucy out of trouble please."
"Hey!" Lucy shouted with a balled-up fist shaking in the air, "I resent that, ya know!" Rook wrapped an arm around hers, pulling her back from the couple still embraced as everyone too backed away in time, leaving Gwendolyn to step away slowly her eyes locked on his. Her fingers intertwined with his as their arms stretched out with every step back she took, she wanted to take him in for every single second that she could while he was still here in front of her. Their fingers finally came apart, leaving her to wave with an adoring smile as the entirety of his eyes flashed bright emerald, exploding around his body in a mass of energy that left a seven-foot-tall angel with long wings tucked behind his back.
It still left them dumbfounded at times, to see this god-like man before their eyes, glowing with a white-aura of divine energy which surged around him at any given moment. "Try not to let the world end while I'm gone, kay guys?" Celestial gave a grin akin to Ben's own trademarked smile, giving them some comfort that he felt the situation was in good hands. One instant he was waving goodbye and, as he dematerialized into a beam of light-particles, the next instant he was gone.
Cooper's eyes flickered with a blue light, alerting him to a crisis that needed addressing, he quickly circled his desk and landed his scrawny rear in his customized computer chair, "Albedo it looks like there's some particularly bad timing; a guy with a super-advanced-" he paused reading the screen before him where the Plumber reports were being posted live, "Cannon arm? They don't know how to describe it but, it's putting most advanced Plumber tech to shame."
Albedo sighed, glancing down at his mechanical prosthetic with the Ultimatrix core embedded into the dorsal side of his hand; he pressed down on the silver ring before twisting which summoned a crimson hologram of a Kinceleran, "I'm on it, send me the coordinates," Jennifer watched from afar, analyzing the way he worked his Ultimatrix as he slapped the holographic image and exploded in a flash of crimson light. Negative XLR8 dashing from the room at mach-ten leaving a black and red blur behind in his wake.
"C'mon, Jenny, it's time to go," Gwendolyn announced noticing that Jennifer was in awe at her father and 'Uncle' Albedo's transforming. Knowing full well what was being held in wait for her in a safe at the loft, she gave it a smile still feeling like she shouldn't be exposed to such a life so early. "Jennifer?" her Mother cooed, getting her attention.
"Yea, I'm coming!" Jennifer hopped off the chair and ran after her, following Gwendolyn out of the room.
…
Seattle; Washington; March 21st, 2024; 12:36PM.
Albedo darted through the rainy sky, his momentum plowing a hole instantly through the clouds as he rocketed towards the ground, landing with a stomp at mach two digging his heels into the concrete in front of the Columbia Center building. Gasps were announced as his impact caught the bystander's attention, turning towards him to watch his crimson-glowing eyes scan the assailant wreaking havoc on the smoking police vehicles.
Cops did their best to create a perimeter, blocking off either side of the street with white police cruisers which they used as cover whilst aiming their glocks at the criminal. The man was clad in dark-blue armor across his body aside from the long, silver metallic rifle cannon which made up his left-arm. Using his left arm to reload the cannon with bright-red canisters he pulled from his munitions belt around his waist.
The snow-white haired hero narrowed his eyes, taking a moment to analyze his silent opponent, taking his time on deciding which form to take first; he found perhaps a Galvanic Mechamorph would suit the situation best. Summoning a crimson-hued hologram from the front of his prosthetic hand, slapping the dial with finesse as he was engulfed in bright-red light.
Negative Diamondhead stepped forwards, cracking his crystalline-knuckles as he approached the nameless villain, "Have you nothing to say before I take you in?" he bellowed in his deeper Petrosapien voice.
The villain didn't respond, turning quickly to take aim with his long-ranged cannon which hummed with a build up of energy; narrowing his bright-red eyes, Diamondhead swung his arms out launching jagged crystals at the cyborg in an attempt to redirect his line of fire. The projectiles shattered against an invisible field of energy surrounding him, not even flinching as they broke apart inches from his face.
Negative Diamondhead lowered his arms slowly, slightly astonished, "This may take longer than I initially predicted…"
…
Omnitrix City Suburbs; March 21st, 2024; 1:52PM
Gwendolyn was busy in the laundry room, a nicely sized closet with a washer-drier unit along with other cleaning supplies stacked away in the cabinets embedded into the wall. She hummed gently as the faded sounds of Jennifer's tablet echoed in her ears, all seemed quiet as she transferred the contents from the washer into the drier, and the dirty basket of used clothes into the washer.
As she stepped out of the laundry-room, Gwen heard to chime of the doorbell go off from the front of the house; Jennifer seemed too distracted with whatever game she was playing on her device so, the mage went to answer it on her own.
She looked through the peephole and noticed the man was simply a package-delivery boy and thusly didn't seem to present any danger. She quickly undid the three highly advanced locked to her front door before opening it up wide, the man was still, almost frozen in place holding a package in his quivering hands.
"Uh, are you okay?" Gwendolyn asked getting all types of different emotions off the worker, as though there were conflicting personalities within his psyche. She didn't step forward as she'd learned better not to step face first into a trap, instead he dropped the cardboard box in his hands to the ground.
Slowly he glanced up with his eyes completely engulfed in pitch-black energy only sporting thin neon-violet pupils; the dark energy spread like cracks in his face out from his eyes over his face, "Hello again, Gwendolyn Tennyson," the raspy voice overshadowing his hosts.
Gwen took a step back out of both confusion and fear, without her charms, her magic was limited and she wasn't sure she could defeat a villain of Zs'kayer's caliber without them. Still she engulfed her hands in bright-blue metaphysical flames.
"Ben isn't here, not even on the planet, you have nothing here, Ghostfreak!"
The random possessed mailman approached, taking steps into her home ominously, forcing her to back away in an attempt to avoid harming the innocent possessed man, "Of course not, which is precisely why I planned to take my revenge now!"
"What I don't get is how you're alive! We watched you be completely eradicated by the Sun out in orbit!" Gwen continued to back away slowly, trying to get as close to the currently clueless Jennifer as possible in an attempt to teleport them both away. "You couldn't possibly have survived."
The mailman sauntered through their house, grabbing hold of a picture frame with Ben, Gwen, and Jennifer at a park during the Fourth of July; "You destroyed the sliver of myself that was sampled by the Omnitrix, I am the original, I am the one and only, Zs'kayer!" after his rant he wasn't finished just yet, "I've found that this form is far from suitable but, I've since spotted a far more useful host," the mailman narrowed his infected eyes at Gwendolyn, giving her a sickening feeling to her stomach.
Her eyes illuminated bright blue at the same moment the Ectonurite vacated the mailman, whom collapsed face first into the carpet; she tried to fend him off with a force-shield but, he phased right through it as though it wasn't even there. Funneling into Gwendolyn's eyes, nose, and mouth like a ghostly smoke; she began convulsing almost instantly, "G-G-Get out!"
The whites of her eyes vanished turning pitch-black, her pupils turning a dark magenta color, and cracks of darkened energy spreading out from her eyes. "I don't believe you have a choice anymore," Ghostfreak's voice was clear through Gwen's vocal cords, she was gone consumed by the Ectonurite's psyche possessing her. "That retched Ben Tennyson will know true pain when he returns to find a world controlled by me!"
After about five minutes staring out the open front door, not at all paying attention to the man collapsed at her feet, Jennifer approached from behind putting her tablet down. "Mom? You okay?" she took a few steps forwards, finally noticing how her Mother was staring down at the collapsed man, internally attempting to fight off the ghostly-alien's control, however., quickly failing. The whites of Gwen's eyes inverted to a pitch-black hue with her pupils flooded with neon-magenta, the sickening black energy spread from her eyes across the skin over her cheeks.
"Mom?"
Gwendolyn turned around with an ominous and quite creepy smile, her voice now raspy and unkept, "That's right… I'm your mother…" her devious smile prompted her to carefully step back and away from the front door.
Jennifer wasn't just an innocent child, the look in her Mother's eyes frightened her enough to pull out her cellphone and dart for her room; the first number she could think to dial, Uncle Albedo.
…
Seattle; Washington; March 21st, 2024; 2:00PM
Negative Fourarms held his advisory up by his neck, the cannon on his arm thoroughly dismantled and torn apart, he crushed the ripped off barrel in one hand while answering his communication link with another, pressing a finger into his ear. "Hello? This is a secure line, who is this?" his deep growl of a voice bellowed into the link.
"Uncle A?" a tween female voice whimpered into his ear.
Fourarms narrowed his eyes and tossed the defeated villain across the street and tumbling towards an oncoming Plumber transport vehicle, "What's wrong? Where's your mother?" he asked immediately, discarding the cannon barrel slapping the dial on his chest, transforming back into his human form.
"She's acting really weird, her eyes are all freaky, and her voice isn't the same… can you, like, come make sure she's okay?" Jennifer may have been aging faster than the average human adolescent but, she was still only ten-years-old.
"I'm on my way, don't try to talk to her until I get there; it should only be a few minutes," Albedo reached for the dial on his metallic prosthetic-hand, twisting it and summoning a neon-red hologram. He slapped it down as he was engulfed in the flash if crimson light, emerging as Negative Fasttrack, he dashed through the street at Mach 3. Once he reached a safe distance from any buildings or civilians, he narrowed his bright-red feline eyes, he made a promise that he would keep Ben's family safe and he intended to keep it. Maxing out Negative Fasttrack's limits, he cracked open the sound barrier multiple times reaching close to Mach 20 as he approached Omnitrix City.
…
Omnitrix City Suburbs; March 21st, 2024; 2:09PM
Negative Fasttrack stopped on a dime in front of the building where the Tennyson's had their loft, quickly slapping the dial on his chest, he transformed back into his human self. Albedo dashed into the house, looking around and calling out, "Jennifer? Gwendolyn?! Anyone?"
"Uncle A?" Jennifer poked her head out of the closet where they kept the cleaning supplies and vacuum cleaner; after seeing his eyes, she rushed into his waist, hugging him tightly.
Albedo glanced around the room, "Where's your Mother?" suddenly his question was answered when he heard a crash coming from the bedroom down the hall, "Stay here…" he muttered pulling her from his embrace.
"Gwendolyn?" as he walked down the hall, he felt an ominous presence that accompanied a chill down his spine, "You've frightened Jennifer, if you need help please tell me," he turned to peak into the room where she was on the floor, digging through the drawers of her dresser. "Can you hear me?"
As Albedo slowly approached from behind, he wasn't expecting her to turn on a dime faster than even his reflexes could manage, using a pulse of blue-mana to strike him in the stomach as he was propelled through the wall juxtaposed to the door. He pushed the door-frame off of himself as he stood, uninjured but now able to look into her eyes, knowing for sure that she was under some sort of spell or possession.
"Gwendolyn?!"
The spirit controlling her body allowed a creepy smile to curve across her face, one that was too wide to be normal, "Gwendolyn's on sabbatical, honey…" she answered in a raspy voice that sounded of hers intertwined with another.
"Those eyes, the voice, you must be an Ectonurite… what quarrel do you have with Gwen Tennyson?" Albedo's hyper accelerated mind was able to deduce the perpetrator but, not any motive for attacking a hero who hadn't been active for half a decade.
Gwendolyn kept her arms up, the turquoise flames still billowing off her knuckles, "I didn't intend to take this female as my host, however; when I learned Ben Tennyson had left Earth unprotected," she closed her eyes as her giggling quickly became psychotic laughter, "What better revenge than using the love of his life to wreak havoc on his world while too absent to protect it?!"
Albedo tightened his fist by his side, thinking deeply on a plan of action, he couldn't fight her and risk injuring her but, he also couldn't allow her to hurt innocent lives. He lifted his metallic hand and twisted the dial allowing the ring to project a hologram of a crystalline-creature. In between the door to the hall which led to the rest of the house and the possessed mage stood Negative Diamondhead, to show just how serious he was, he slapped the dial on his chest allowing an evolutionary wave of genetic energy to encompass his entire body.
Gwendolyn stepped back as she looked up at the now nine-foot-tall Petrosapien, three jagged blades pultruding from either forearm, a mask of sorts made entirely of crystal covered his mouth ominously with only his eyes visible, and his fingers had become razor sharp claws. The biggest difference was his entire bodies blueish-teal crystal had turned to a shade of crimson much like his eyes and the hourglass symbol on his chest, now sporting spokes pultruding from its ring.
"You wouldn't hurt your precious sister-in-law, would you?" The unknown Ectonurite must have already gained access to Gwen's memories, until he figured out exactly who this alien was, he needed to tread lightly.
Ultimate Diamondhead tapped his Omnitrix symbol, linking his communication line to Cooper, "Cooper, I have a bit of a situation that may need your assistance… it is rather difficult to explain," he turned his head only slightly to continue speaking, "No, it's best you come here or I may-" He turned at the sound of an explosion, blowing a hole in the wall next to her, he bellowed out a long deep sigh, "lose her," he stared at the rubble scattered across the lawn outside.
Gwendolyn sprinted for a few moments towards the side-walk, looking around for a moment, Ultimate Diamondhead ran after her, launching shards of crimson-crystal at her feet to stop her advance. They grew into "I need more power clearly, if I'm going to exact revenge on this backwater world and return home, this host should still suffice for now."
Ultimate Diamondhead rushed in to wrap her in an embrace, however; she lifted her hands and summoned a screen of glittering smoke which somehow allowed her to vanish at the last second. Shifting first back into Diamondhead, Albedo returned back to his human form with a second flash of crimson light, "Urgh, she escaped."
Cooper used his transmat teleporter to materialize on the scene with a hum and a flash of light just in time to miss everything, watching the twin stare at the mystical smoke as it dissipated, "Alright, tell me everything," he insisted with a lollipop casually in between his lips.
…
After detailing the former Galvan on the history of Zs'kayer and how he terrorized a young ten-year-old Ben and Gwen during their first summer trip, Cooper agreed to step out of his Overwatch position to help track her down, being that he was the only one who knew her as well as Ben might. He allowed his lollipop to melt on his tongue as he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets, his purple long-sleeved t-shirt was embedded with a chest piece in the center of his torso.
"With Ben off world, what would Ghostfreak want most after already gaining a suitable host?" Albedo questioned, stroking his silver goatee in pensive thought.
Cooper took the treat from between his lips and waved it around, "Gwendolyn has been out of practice for years, she's not exactly capable of taking over the world anymore… at least not without her talismans," and that's when the epiphany hit them like a freight train.
"The Tower!" they both shouted simultaneously. The blonde technopath summoned a holographic keyboard from a gauntlet that wasn't even visible on his forearm. Typing away targeted them both as they were dematerialized into particles that whisked them away at the speed of light.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 21st, 2024; 2:30PM
Albedo and Cooper rematerialized within the towers most secure facility, behind fortified security systems including motion detectors, laser arrays, and a level fourteen Plumber issued plasma cage. On a pedestal before them were six stone carved Charms embedded into it behind a polycarbonate glass case along with the Staff of Ages, and the Alpha Rune; normally, the only way to retrieve them would be to use highly advanced sorcery to summon them through space. With Zs'kayer not totally in tune with Gwendolyn's abilities and her lack of training these last few years, he would need to retrieve them manually.
Cooper did a quick scan of the room, accessing the security system with his mind before nodding toward Albedo, "Nobodies been in or out in the last few minutes, wherever Zs'kayer teleported away to, it wasn't here…"
Albedo's eyes widened, looking back at the technopath who seemed confused, "You don't suppose that perhaps this Ectonurite knows of a way to empower a mystically inclined host besides these charms?"
"Hey, I'm an Earth-bound-boy, you're the hyper-intelligent alien from another Galaxy; how could Ghostfreak amp himself up without this stuff," he gestured behind him to the still secured Charms and artifacts.
Albedo gasped, it was the first time he'd heard such an expression from the Galvan, rarely being caught off guard with an intelligence such as his, "There's one source of darkness so powerful that only an Ectonurite and its host could possibly survive. It resides on Anur Vladius a few star systems away, it blankets the planet in such intense waves of darkness almost no life can survive."
Cooper gave it some thought, doing a few calculations in his head, "What I'm hearing is that whatever is so dangerous is in the atmosphere… right?"
"Yes, I suppose so, however it's not a natural gas of any sort; it eats through most any material including flesh," Albedo warned, folding his arms across his chest.
Cooper double tapped the glowing chest-piece embedded in the center of his torso feeling a cool metallic substance spreading across his body; purple nano-bots melded together on a microscopic level forming golden-trimmed armor which spread down over his legs and head. "This is my newest armor, completely nanotech, and it's made from of the densest materials in the Milky Way," Cooper boasted as a transparent force shield covered his face sealing it off but allowing his head to still be visible. "If we do this quickly, we should be able to pull it off."
Albedo raised his hand, twisting the dial on his Ultimatrix, "Unlike Azmuth, I paid more attention to the DNA insertion process, I would never allow a sentient species to be trapped in my Codon Stream," the hologram of Ghostfreak appeared before the snow-haired Galvan slapped it down exploding in a flash of crimson light.
A ghostly white phantom appeared in his place, without legs it floated a foot off the ground staring intently at Cooper through its singular purple eye, "Alright," he hissed through the Ectonurite's natural voice, "Can your teleportation array make it all the way to the Anur System?"
Cooper chuckled, pulling up a hologram from his gauntlet, "It looks like Zs'kayer doesn't really know or care about the fact that I can still track Gwendolyn's emergency beacon app…" as he began triangulating her coordinates, Albedo spoke up.
"Even out in deep-space?"
Cooper scoffed, "Of course, I may not be able to talk to him, but it looks like Ben is still on his way to Ekoplekton and man is he moving fast…" tapping away for only a few more seconds, the ghostly alien floated behind him to look at the screen with his own eye, "And… Yep! Gwendolyn is exactly where we thought she'd be."
"We must hurry," Negative Ghostfreak exclaimed with a raspy hiss, "The longer she remains possessed the more permanent the hold will become," Cooper nodded understanding the stakes and fiddling with the keyboard projected from his gauntlet.
"Anur Vladius, here we come."
…
Review, Favorite, Follow, And Review again because it fuels me.
A/N: the myth behind the Anur Vladius planet, which became sort-of canon after Derrick J Wyatt didn't realize it was a fanmade concept and gave a bunch of details on it. MOA has since agreed on its existence, claiming the planet is an aberration in the Universe, like a glitch, where a Celestialsapien trying to approach would be like "An immovable object meeting an unstoppable force." In this case, I've altered the fundamentals of why its uninhabitable, and I think I like the way it turned out. Thank you.