I don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 48 – The Hunt
…
The explosions behind her wrought flames from the ground which threatened to singe her already bright orange-auburn pixie-cut hair, feeling the warmth against her cheek prompting her to get out of the crater she'd made with her body on impact with the ground. Lifting her head up from the dirt revealed a dizzy and unbalanced world as she struggled to get back to her feet, regaining her focus on the battlefield where the entire town-square had been ravaged by the fight.
A black and white blur of a speedster dashed passed her with a gust of wind that blew her teal cloak out in front of her, "B-Ben?" she whispered to herself, unsure if it were him or not. Whoever it was hadn't stopped to address her, almost as if she'd been here the entire time spite not recalling how she even started this day let alone made it to this fight. Instead, the likely Kinceleran speedster circled around someone who she hadn't recognized floating up above, obstructing her already unclear view with a cyclone torrent of wind forming a thick tornado around him. Another watch wearing hero identified this time by his bright-red hourglass symbol embedded into his chest stepped forward, already transformed into a Pyronite, and igniting the funnel of rapidly moving air with intense flames.
The burning whirlwind surrounded the supposed enemy for a moment as Gwendolyn took a look around at the destruction, it was only then that she noticed multiple trashed Plumber tanks amongst the rubble, which she only just now was recognizing as the wreckage from the ringed hourglass that was atop Tennyson Tower. Lying amongst the chunks of asphalt with no sign of the actual building in sight, likely under her feet as ash no doubt. "No, this can't be happening, Jennifer!?" she shouted into the smokey distance just as the battle was concluding.
A shockwave erupted in an omnidirectional fashion from within the blaze, dispersing it and consequently blowing back who she assumed were Ben and Albedo, one having a bright crimson hourglass symbol on his flaming chest. The villain landed on the ground, looking almost reluctant to be doing any of this, "This day extracts a heavy toll, you should ask yourselves, why didn't you simply give me what I wanted?" He was big, almost fifteen-feet tall, and appearing to have a familiar mutation to that of their late comrade Kevin Levin, almost as though he were made of multiple different species only, not as many as ten. Possibly just five. His torso was composed of an armored green substance like a turtles shell, his arms came from a species with the strength to create earthquakes with only their punches. His legs were adorned with a crimson crustaceous material like the armor of a crab, and his head was generating volts of neon-blue electricity across his neck and forehead.
What Gwen could tell was now XLR8, got to his knees before struggling to his wheeled-feet slowly, "You won't get it. Not from either of us. You'll have to tear my arm off my corpse to get it!" he shouted out with his visor still down, though he didn't have the energy yet to run.
"Oh, I intend to," he ensured, "Trust that, but I would have preferred to not shed unnecessary blood. I didn't want to kill your friend or the others," he gestured to his body as though the mutated-features were brand-new to them all and lives were taken to achieve that form, "but, they were in my way."
Gwendolyn was confused, tripping over a shard of concrete and landing on her hands and knees over the remains of a broken window where she could see her reflection. She wasn't wearing her normal haircut, her hair was long and done up in a pony-tail, implying some time had passed, "W-What?" she continued to glance around at the wreckage noticing a flickering neon-sign from front of their building lying among the concrete. It was flashing the news for the day on an endless loop including the temperature, some stock points, as well as the time and date; though she didn't have time to absorb it as the sky cracked open with a sonic boom clapping through the atmosphere, she looked back up to see a woman made entirely of pink flowing energy rocketing through the smoke-filled sky. She was enraged and her furious glare was radiating with violent energy that erupted into a powerful magenta aura lighting up the sky around her with purple lightning.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" She exclaimed in a bloodcurdling rageful shout, cupping her hands out in front of her as she attempted to grip her opponent with her aura by firing a beam to encompass him. She wanted to crush him back into a single-celled organism but, instead of forming into a cage around him, her energy slowly dissipated and fell apart. Her expression changed into shock and disbelief with her jaw widely agape, she was stunned as he was just glad his research had paid off after all.
"Did you know that Galapageos' species can't be effected by mana?" He noted calmly, prompting her to float back still in shock, "In fact…" he used his right-palm to fire off a cascaded electrical current that struck her in the air, causing her to fall twenty-feet to the ground in a smoking heap.
XLR8 exploded in a flash of emerald light, consuming his body as he emerged as a fully matured Vaxasaurian charging forth with his fist propped back and ready to fire a straight-jab, "AGGREGOR!" the aforementioned villain braced himself as he too reeled with his fist suddenly forming into a metallic-sphere that appeared similar to a wrecking-ball, colliding blows with the hero generating a shockwave that threatened the area. Gwendolyn didn't feel herself move, though she watched as she herself put up a domed shield, feeling very surreal. Her energy shield cracked as the shockwave shredded the surrounding buildings and concrete rubble, flattening what remained of the city in an outward omnidirectional blast; when the smoke settled and she looked for them again, what she found sent chills down her spine.
This Aggregor had his fist planted firmly on Humungosaur's face in the center of a small crater, pulling back as the hero's Omnitrix flashed crimson and exploded leaving Ben Tennyson back in his human form, "I will shred your Universe down to its last quark and from the infinite nothing I will build a new one," he quickly summoned something from thin air with a flash of red light a steel spear appeared in his hands, something that looked as though it was wielded by a much smaller warrior.
Ben backed away on his shoulders, dragging his injured lower body through the dirt as he looked up at the amalgam, holding the blade to his chest, "But, first I'm going to end your puny, stubborn world… and perhaps pay tribute to the Galvan on my way to claim the ultimate prize," Gwen's eyes widened as tears involuntarily streamed across her cheek when Aggregor drove his spear through Ben's heart as the two made vicious, personal eye-contact.
Blood spilled from his lips and trailed down his chin through his goatee, Ben spat at the titan standing over him twisting the spear while still impaling him, "No matter what… you do…" he sputtered, "You'll never… be… a god," the hero fell back as he exhaled his last breath and collapsed into the dirt emerald eyes staring off into the sky with no life behind them.
No… this couldn't be happening. It has to be some sort of sick nightmare but, it was so vivid, something so incredibly real that she wasn't just mistaking it for reality. Gwendolyn could feel the gravel under the palms of her hands as she smelled the ash in the air, hearing the shockwaves burst through her eardrums, this wasn't like any dream she'd ever experienced. "NOO!"
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 6:01AM
"NOO!" Gwen shot up in her bed with a cold sweat trailing down her neck and back, glancing over at the empty spot in the bed beside her, confirming Ben hadn't yet returned from his trip in space yet. She was nearly hyperventilating but, when she looked upon the empty suite around her, there was no danger and only had her traumatizing experience to fall back on to fuel her fear. What was that? A premonition? A warning of things to come? Or perhaps she drank too much caffeine with her last Percocet which created this frightening fantasy? She reached out from under the covers as she leaned against the headboard, placing her hand against her forehead to ensure she wasn't fevering. Her attention was quickly brought over to the orange medicine bottle she got from Julie after Ghostfreak took her body for a joyride around the known Universe.
She shook her head, forgetting about the dream for now and slipping her feet off the bed and onto the ground where she stood up, grabbing the bottle and uncapping it, popping one of the orbs into her mouth before washing it down with a gulp of water from the glass sitting on the nightstand.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 8:01AM
"Jen!" though she could hear the call from outside her door, she refused to acknowledge it by clenching her eyes shut even tighter and yanking the blanket over her head with a long, exasperated groan. Gwendolyn waited for a response but, placed her hands on her hips and raised her brow refusing to concede, "C'mon monkey, there's breakfast already waiting, I even brought it up to the mission room." Jennifer moaned and simply lifted her head, shoving her pillow over her face to muffle the sounds of her Mother. As soon as she was about to march into the spare rooms, which was temporarily acting as the young girls sleeping quarters, a mischievous idea popped into her head.
Gwendolyn turned around with her eyes closed and a cocky grin on her face, shrugging as she spoke, "Alrighty then, I guess we'll just postpone your first day of Omnitrix training for a few days when your Father gets ba-" her hair was blown forth as the ten-year-old darted out the door and into the hallway in front of her Mother in a blur of speed.
"I'm ready, I'm here, I didn't miss it!" When Gwen opened her eyes, Jennifer was standing front and center wearing nothing but a white tank-top and blue cotton pajama shorts, slightly huffing from the sudden sprint she made out of the room just as one of the thin straps to her top slid down her bare shoulder.
Gwen almost fell into a fit of giggles, reaching out to fix her one disheveled tank-top strap with a coy grin, staring down at the eager young girl, "Ah, ah, ah… go get ready for the day, you little monkey," she jabbed her thumb back at the Plumber's quarters she exited with one hand and ruffled her daughter's already obvious bed head with the other, sending her back into the room.
Jennifer gave an exasperated sigh and slowly turned back around, dragging her feet hearing her Mother announce one last reminder, "And don't forget to brush your teeth!" as the door finally shut behind her. After Inspector 13 trashed the Tennyson family loft in the suburbs, the two packed some basic essentials and took themselves to the tower, which was undoubtedly safer with Ben not due to return for almost another twenty-four hours. Gwendolyn set herself up to sleep in the same penthouse apartment where her daughter was conceived, it was more than large enough for both women, however; Jennifer insisted she have her own room just as she did back home.
In the last almost three days, Jennifer had made herself as comfortable as she possibly could inside what was essentially an empty military quarters, not that she mind. Approaching the full-sized mattress against the wall, she knelt down, and pulled out a duffle bag from underneath the bedframe. She packed all of the stuff she used on a daily basis to take with her while the only home she ever really knew was being repaired, these items included but wasn't limited to a holo-pad for games and movies, several changes of clothes, a charger for her devices, twenty-bucks left over from Albedo's wallet, a comb, and a retractable tape measure.
Jennifer pulled out a change of clothes folded for the day by her Mother as well as the tape measure, making her way to the bathroom in the corner of the space, standing in front of the mirror, and staring back at herself. She turned her head a bit to either side one at a time, taking a few moments each to analyze any possible imperfections but, she counted her blessing that she hadn't quite begun the process of hitting puberty yet. She backed up a step or two, bringing up the hem of her tank over her head followed by pulling down the cotton shorts until they fell to her ankles. Backing up against the wall of the restroom, she placed the tape measure she had been utilizing to keep track of her accelerated growth under her big toe, pulling up above her head the tape measure, and showing that she'd grown nearly two whole inches in the last two weeks. "Alright," she whispered excitedly to herself excitedly, trying her best not to giggle as she marked the new number.
She quickly jumped in the shower, dressed herself in a new outfit for her training that being a dark purple skirt and a short sleeved black shirt, before finally rushing out of her room to make it downstairs to the training room on floor seventeen. Jennifer stood amongst the few adults working in the tower awkwardly waiting for the elevator to bring her down to the floor in question.
When the door to floor seventeen split open, Jennifer tried to make her way through the crowd of men and women commuting throughout the tower, "Excuse me," she muttered, trying to get the attention of two talking men she was trying to squeeze through. Once she finally managed to step out of the elevator car, the first thing she saw was her Mother waiting for her only, she was dressed in a long-sleeved light-blue shirt tucked into brown cargo pants. "C'mon, monkey, your Father and I actually used to use this room when were about your age," Gwendolyn announced continuing barefoot down the bright white walls and floors around them, walking down a long hall with just one door at the end which seemed to be concealing the majority of the floor, "It used to be deeper into the Rushmore Base but, your Father wanted it for himself so, what did he do?" she asked aloud rhetorically, glancing over at Jen who was still curious to see how the short story ended, "He bought a brand-new, state-of-the-art, training room for the base while moving the old one into his personal building."
"Hey, Mom?" Jennifer asked, getting her Mother's attention.
"Yeah, monkey?"
Jen nervously rubbed the side of her arm as she started to let her thoughts dwell where the shouldn't, "How come I don't get to see Dad as much as I used to? I mean, even before his trip?" she asked nonchalantly.
Gwen was hoping this day would never come, where she would have to explain to their daughter why her Father was too busy to spend time with her, though it wasn't his fault as he was truly trying to make an effort, "You get to see him, he's just been busy working a lot lately so, he's not around as often as I am…" she tried her best to reason. It was a good reason but, as her own Father and Uncle proved, having the life of a hero can take a heavy toll on any family dynamic. Gwendolyn couldn't count the number of times Frank had ranted or complained about not having his own Dad, Grandpa Max, around for years. The difference here being that Maxwell chose to keep his entire life as a Plumber a secret, lying to his loved ones on a daily basis… Jennifer, however, knew about her Father's hero business. How could she not, after all?
The young, poised girl held her hands behind her back patiently as they continued down the hall towards the only door in sight, once they reached it, a simple four-digit passcode from Gwendolyn opened it up revealing a large plain white room which spanned several stories of space before them. "Let's change the subject and see what this new Omnitrix can really do, huh?" trying her best to shift her young daughter's focus back toward what had her so excited earlier in the morning. Watching Jen stroll passed her and out into the empty spaced room, Gwen formed a jolt of blue-electricity which surrounded her fingers and summoned the orange pill bottle into the palm of her hand. Trying her best not to let her daughter see, she popped open the cap, shook out three little blue orbs, and resealed the bottle vanishing into thin air. "I'm just going to set up the environment," she announced to the young girl fifty-feet away. Underneath the control console for the hard-light holographic training room sat a mini-fridge filled with water, sports-drinks, energy drinks, and some flavored lemonade. She pulled a bottle of water out and downed the pills as quickly as she could, wiping her lip, and refocusing on the control panel.
"Let's do… basic training, level one," Gwendolyn tapped away at the keys across the control board, summoning an inner-city hard-light holographic environment into what was the giant empty room.
Jennifer was happily surprised by the buildings being rendered around her and the asphalt road being layered beneath her feet, "This is so awesome…" she muttered without taking her eyes off the growing structures including cars to line the street. As soon as the surrounding area seemed to be properly rendered, it wasn't long before the simulation began, spawning four different men dressed in all black wearing balaclavas and wielding handguns.
Gwendolyn leaned against the railing to the entrance, also watching her every move through the many screens through-out the control room as well as a clear protective glass leading to the room itself, "How do you handle this?" she asked through one of the microphones, looking for her daughter's reaction.
Jennifer took a deep breath and swallowed a nervous mound of spit that had been collecting in her throat resulting in an extra-obvious gulp, she frantically looked around at them as they surrounded her from every angle, "Okay, I got this, I got this," whispering to herself words of encouragement, Jennifer quickly swiped her touchscreen faceplate summoning the ring of heroes when her Mother spoke up.
"Unless you have a team to watch your back, you can't sit around waiting to pick which form might work best, you have to be so good with every form that no matter which one you get, you can still save lives," Gwendolyn advised from the intercom, having much experience with her better-half not getting the transformation he asked for.
Jennifer felt a drop of sweat forming over her brow, "R-Right!" now trying not to be biased, she selected one of the forms she hadn't gotten a chance to try just yet before slapping down the exposed core. In a flash of amethyst light her body was seamlessly reconstruction on the subcellular level, constructing a new body for her consciousness to inhabit out of the alien DNA stored within the Omnitrix.
Using an alien she hadn't before, four dark-green vines flew from the light and through the air before the hard-light holograms could react, each one wrapping around the hand-guns aimed at her. "I call this one Floriana," a distinctly adult female voice announced itself as a clearly female version of Ben's Wildvine appeared before her, disarming the assailants. Gwen dispersed those holograms and stepped into the room herself, cracking the right-side of her neck just as Jennifer's watch timed out for the first time, having only a few more transformations left before an, at least, twenty-minute time-out.
Gwen folded her arms, "Care to try against a moving target?"
"Fine, I'll show you what I got!" she quickly swiped across the faceplate of her watch, not even looking at the violet ringed selection and slapping the core once the faceplate slide out. From the bright flash of light came a volley of razor-sharp diamond shards prompting Gwendolyn to duck and weave as they narrowly passed over her head; the smile on her face told Jennifer that her Mother wasn't taking this seriously yet. The mage held her right hand out firing a concussive beam of yellow energy from the palm of her hand, seconds after turning to the right avoiding a shard that came narrowly close to slicing her cheek. Slamming into a defensive crystal forearm using her forearms as shields for the second or two as the blast passed her, the beam refracted into the ceiling disrupting one of the virtual tiles. Essentially creating a white tile in the artificial blue sky.
While Jennifer was staring up, "Captionem eius concreto!" Gwendolyn whispered as she knelt down and grazed the ground at her feet lightly, Crystallin's entire six-foot body sank into the pseudo-concrete beneath her trapping her without traction at almost shoulder length in the ground. "The sky isn't real but, the floor certainly is," approaching to look down on her daughter with a smile.
Closing her eyes, Crystalline focused her power not on physical strength but, on her crystalkinisis ability. With a grunt and a push she was able to force massive needle-like shards out from across her entire body, creating space between herself and the concrete she was bound by. Now quickly freeing herself with an upward flex, she leapt out of the pit made by her body, landing with a fist planted into the ground in front of it, her purple glowing eyes and smiling glare aimed at Gwen.
"You're learning quickly," the mage took a less aggressive stance, complimenting the little training she'd done since Charmcaster had kidnapped her, clearly transferring those skills into her alien forms just like her Father had. Speaking of whom, she couldn't shake the ice-cold chill that ran down her back, the way the hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end when she recalled it… the 'dream' she woke screaming to this morning, or rather the nightmare. Watching Ben be impaled right in front of her by whoever that beast or creature was, and their conversation was fading from her memory the longer she tried to forget about it. Though it was so real, it felt like she was physically in the fight, she could remember the taste of blood in her mouth and the small cuts from the shards of glass she had been forced to crawl around while getting up to face this new villain.
"Mom?"
Jennifer snapped Gwendolyn out of a two minute, silent, thousand-yard stare; now transformed back into her human form and staring with a raised brow, "You okay?" she hadn't heard her daughter's Omnitrix timeout, or even registered the flash of light right in front of her. She knew she was still a bit high from the Opioids she was taking but, lucid dreaming? That was never a side effect she experienced.
"I'm fine, monkey," Gwen shook the thought and glanced a foot down into her daughter's eyes, she was getting far too tall far too fast, one of the crushing emotional detriments of having a child, "Why don't we go out and get ice cream, huh?"
Jennifer pretended to be mature, crossing her arms, and scoffing in response, "I'm not five years old, ya know!"
"Actually, yes you ar-"
Jennifer stomped her foot on the floor with a tantrum-like moan, learning to control her strength as to prevent her foot from cracking the floor, "That's not what I meant!" she whined.
"We can get whatever you want? Two scoops, any toppings…?" Gwen sung as she got closer, poking at Jennifer's right blushing cheek. The ten-year-old scoffed into a giggle, lightly slapping away her mother's hand, "Okay, okay!"
She surrendered "We can go down the street, c'mon," Gwendolyn led her daughter out of the training room and through the control center for the hard-light training center. Jen pressed the touchscreen implanted on the metallic doorframe, the door sliding open for her as they made their way to the highspeed elevator at the end of the hall.
…
Omnitrix City; New Xenon Square; March 26th, 2024; 11:25AM
Gwendolyn and Jennifer made their way down the sidewalk lined with neon-blue lights, leading through the park where large areas of grass and pavilions surrounded a bronze, twenty-five-foot statue of Ben Ten Thousand stood posing with his hands on his hips. After making their way into the slightly crowded district that lined a gentrified shopping strip completely with clothing stores, hair salons, bakeries, and of course an ice-cream shop. Jennifer got rocky-road with sprinkles and gummy-bears, beginning to regret loading her with sugar, Gwendolyn only gave a happy exhale to know that she could avoid the conversation about Ben's life for at least this afternoon. He was supposed to return this evening but, it could at least wait until morning.
Being the adult, she decided to only get one scoop of strawberry on a waffle-cone, "Enjoy!" the worker announced after Gwen paid and made her way to the exit with her daughter close by her side, staring at the ice-cream for a moment as she was in deep thought.
Jennifer then stared up at the statue of her Father as they passed it, licking away at the creamy-chocolate, "You think Dad will be mad at me for taking the Omnitrix before he was ready to give it to me?" she questioned rightfully.
Gwen closed her eyes, yet another question she wasn't expecting to have to answer; also being slightly stunned, showing Jen's maturity growing at a rate accelerated compared to even a ten-year-old, "I think after he finds out how good you've been with it, and how you saved the day…" Gwendolyn took a long lick of her ice-cream before finishing her sentance, "He'll be more than ecsta-ti-c…." she stuttered, her attention being pulled toward a man staring down at them from a the top of an apartment building six-stories up. He was beyond physically fit, and wore nothing but a burgundy cloak, grey pants, and cargo-boots. Though she couldn't see any of it, she could feel intense waves of malice but, only for those brief seconds.
"Mom?"
Gwendolyn had spaced out staring at the man for only a few seconds but, when she turned to her daughter back around again, looking back up at the stalker, he was gone. Vanished in almost an instant, between her looking back and forth from her daughter right beside her, she couldn't completely make out his face but, it was somehow familiar to her. Like she'd seen him somewhere before.
Instead, she decided to ignore it, pulling her daughter's attention back to the flavor of ice cream they were enjoying; her eyes still darting back towards the rooftop ledge on their way back to the tower. Her paranoia was getting the best of her spite knowing she was taking medication that could be skewing her perception causing hallucinations.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 3:45PM
After walking their way back to the tower, Jennifer was starting to crash from her sugar-rush, Gwendolyn on the other hand still felt as though she was being watched or followed, likely both. She could feel someone just out of range of her sight, following from a distance, waiting for something. Perhaps this was a villain with a conscious?
"Jenny, I'm going to meet with a friend from high-school and talk all about biology and science," intending to bore her to death just so she would be more willing for her next request, "Why don't you go upstairs and buy a movie on the holoscreen, any one you want, kay?"
Jennifer's eyes sparkled with their natural emerald shimmer, "Really! Yay!" she dashed off at nearly a quarter the speed of sound, only to pause to wait for the elevator; Gwendolyn smiled shaking her head before her thoughts returned to why they split up in the first place.
Gwen could still feel his presence so, she tested his patience… or her patience, the mage had no idea what to expect only someone very angry and malicious following via rooftop leaps that were impossible for any normal person. She walked five blocks straight and away from the tower, taking about thirty-minutes, he never left her tail. So, she turned left onto another street and walked that sidewalk for about eight-blocks… not even a waver in his resolve to continue. It had been almost two hours of walking when she decided to end the charade and turn her way into an empty alleyway which she knew had a dead-end only a few hundred feet ahead.
Stopping at the end of the alley where a brick wall stopped her, in fact, both buildings on either side were only six-or-seven feet apart and made entirely of the same brick. Finally, she felt his presence jump downwards, landing at the end of the alley she'd turned down.
"And I'm guessing you're the new bad-guy of the week?"
It was definitely a man, long pitch-black hair with small horns pultruding from his forehead, and the crimson cloak being the only thing to cover his eight-pack, clearly trained physique. He wielded a spear about as tall as himself made of an unknown material, serrated at the tip to pierce bone. "I think century would be more appropriate."
"Well, pal, I don't think you know who you're messi-"
He began advancing down the long alley slowly, turning his spear so that it carved through the brick beside him and created intimidating sparks, "Gwendolyn Elizabeth Tennyson, age twenty-eight Terran years, former Sorceress Supreme, and still on break from University because you have a child to take care of…" his strut was so slow he hadn't gotten very close during his speech, "And married to Ben Ten Thousand."
"I guess you do know who you're messing with, but that doesn't mean I'm going down easy," Gwendolyn opened a small portal without even gesturing as she slipped her hand through and manifested her kevlar sleeve equipped with her Charms of Bezel, pulling it back out before igniting her fists in blue flaming mana.
Still carving sparks out of the wall to his right with his spear, he gave a light chuckle, "Heh, you're not my quarry, but I know how to draw him out…" he rushed her with speed she'd only ever seen in Kinceleran's, using her hands to just barely get between them and his spear which he slammed her against the wall with. Horizontally holding it against her neck and pushing with extraordinary strength, more than her Charms could resist, "Where is he?"
Gwendolyn licked the blood about to trickle from the corner of her lip, "Go- to- heelll," she sputtered out with the crimson liquid present over her teeth. He backed away and only a foot before smacking her across the face with the blunt end of his spear, "You'll have to kill me first," she choked out.
"Oh, I intend to."
Gwendolyn gasped as her memories returned to her vision from the night prior, What Gwen could tell was now XLR8, got to his knees before struggling to his wheeled-feet slowly, "You won't get it. Not from either of us. You'll have to tear my arm off my corpse to get it!" he shouted out with his visor still down, though he didn't have the energy yet to run. "Oh, I intend to," he ensured.
She was snapped out of it when he picked her up by her neck and pushed her against the wall, "If you won't tell me where he is, I'll find him myself but, not without taking a parting gift from his beloved," his grip tightened on her neck as she felt her energy sapping away from her, glancing down she noticed white electricity surging from her into his arm, and across his body. Her muscles felt limp as the hand she was using to pull his wrist away slowly slumped over. "It seems your talismans are protected, regardless, you've provided plenty of energy…" his grip loosened on her neck.
He dropped her as she toppled to her knees, falling onto her hands breathing heavily, before collapsing over in a dirty puddle; the sun was beginning to set as the sky turned orange, she watched the attacker vanish into thin air with such tremendous speed.
Gwendolyn used all of her remaining strength to grab her phone, managing to swipe on the emergency alert app just before passing out, unconscious.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 7:01PM
Gwendolyn's eyes snapped open, looking around as she was lying on a cot in the medical-bay within the main deck; quickly standing up, she found all of her stamina and strength had returned to her. Exiting the room, she found Rook, Julie, and Lucy surrounding the holodeck with Cooper behind his highly-advanced desk. She still wondered how he managed to maintain such a well-toned physique, not necessarily buff but, compared to the amount of time he spent in his chair, nobody would expect him to be as lean as he was.
Gwen approached Julie first and foremost as they all watched her cross the room, "What happened to me?"
"We were gonna ask you the same question," Lucy chimed in sitting in a spinning chair that was extended up high enough to dangle her legs off of.
Gwen refocused on the Doctor in the room, "I meant, physically…" she recalled the entire incident, "It felt like all my power was taken from me."
Julie glanced at the more advanced tablet, clearly needing it to read what exactly caused this loss of strength, "When Helene brought you in, you were dehydrated, you had muscle atrophy, and you were unconscious for forty-five minutes even with your Death and Luck charms," she glanced up from the tablet and lowered it down to her side, "Are you going to tell us who attacked you?"
Gwen slowly sauntered over to the holodeck, placing her hands firmly on the railing around it, "It was a man in a red cloak, he had this- spear, and he was fast… faster than Helene," Cooper narrowed his eyes, watching as Lucy and Rook glued their attention to her explanation, "He was looking for Ben but, I didn't tell him… he talked about it like it was a game, or a hunt… I thought he was going to break my neck but, suddenly all my strength was gone and then I blacked out."
"Was he an alien? Or one of Billy's mutants?" Cooper suggested.
Gwendolyn shook her head, "I don't think so…"
Just as she was about to enter pensive thought, recalling why he felt familiar and what relevance her nightmare had to the events of the present day, the elevator doors split open as Helene and Albedo entered the room with the rest of the heroes.
"XLR8 and I searched the entire city, every block, every alley… there was no sign of him in a fifty-mile radius," the female Kinceleran explained slipping up her visor and revealing sweat, likely from trying to keep up with Albedo.
"How did you even know who to look for?"
Cooper's pupils lit up with teal energy, summoning a CCTV holographic video of just outside the alley way they had fought in, it was only a glimpse before he walked in and out of sight but, it was enough for a general description.
"If he is who I think he is, we could be in serious trouble…" Gwen announced taking her hands off the railing to the holodeck and turning around, "I've seen Kevin Levin use the same abilities in the same way before… I think we might be dealing with an Osmosion."
Rook rubbed his chin as he recalled his studies from the academy, "A species with the ability to absorb energy from any source, how do we intend to stop him?"
"How do we even find him?" Helene remarked the obvious.
Julie gave a mischievous smile, "If you guys need to flush him out, I think I have an idea…" glancing over to Albedo which prompted the others to turn their attention to the near copy of Ben standing with them.
"What? Absolutely not, my transformations will undoubtedly give me away, and I'm certainly not as physically capable as an pure-breed adult Osmosion," He reasoned and refused simultaneously, he didn't necessarily want to be bait especially if he knew it wouldn't work.
Cooper shared his girlfriend's mischievous idea, "I have a fix for that."
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 9:30PM
Just outside of the Tower, Albedo stood with his hands on his hips; his Omnitrix was holographically altered to resemble Ben's, after that a simple hair and outfit change and Ben Tennyson stood ready for a battle. "I know you have been looking for me!" he tried his best to talk like the hero would but, it was difficult with his vocabulary. "And I know you're watching."
"Finally," a voice almost startled Albedo from behind but, he more than kept his composure, turning around to face the same man that Gwendolyn had fought earlier, "My final quarry before I can achieve the ultimate prize."
Albedo folded his arms over his black t-shirt with its white stripe down the middle, "And what would that be?" he questioned trying to get the villain to monologue his evil plan, much like he once did himself.
"I'm afraid you won't be alive to see it," he twirled his spear between his fingers and slashed at the air sending a shockwave outward, pushing Albedo back on his booted heels. A flash of emerald light exploded revealing Negative Diamondhead disguised with a bright green hourglass and eyes, and adjustment that did not, however, fix the Negative energy that slightly weakens his forms.
Diamondhead rushed forwards, forming both arms into four-foot blades; the attackers spear only stopped spinning at high-speeds when it struck the crystal and they stalemated for a moment, "I do not even know your name?!" still having trouble with contractions from time to time much like Rook.
His eyes glared deeply into the Petrosapien's with a menacing killing intent he'd never felt before, "I'm usually known as Khyber the greatest hunter in the known Universe but, for this particular hunt… you can refer to me as Aggregor," hearing that name through the communications sent shivers down Gwen's spine, recalling hearing Ben shout it in absolute rage but, not seeing the dream as vividly anymore.
Diamondhead swung left at his head but, missed as he expertly weaved to the side, only to avoid a thrusting motion by turning around to face his opponents back. With such superior speed, he caught Albedo off guard with a palm-thrust that propelled him forwards, tumbling through the street. "There were at least six different ways I could have killed you just now, I'd like you to know that," Aggregor sauntered forwards confidently, "So, when I do kill you, you'll know I gave you every chance to back down."
Another emerald flash of light exploded revealing a Negative Heatblast, the volcanic craters on his shoulders exploded with two-foot high flames, without hesitation Albedo unleashed a massive wave of fire so precise that it was a shock how the counter followed. Using his spear, Aggregor swung down on the ground as the blaze approached, splitting the fire down the middle, cracking apart a trench, and sending a shockwave into Negative Heatblast. The Pyronite dented an SUV with his head as he toppled over it and landed behind the vehicle, huffing flames from his mouth as he just needed a moment.
The Osmosion repositioned his spear and flung it through the air much like a javelin piercing through the van and out the other end, passing less than a few inches from his charcoal face before hitting the concrete building in front of them. "You're not nearly the fighter I expected you to be, Ben Tennyson!"
Albedo suddenly got angry as his eyes were completely encompassed in crimson red, an explosion of emerald light thankfully followed even with the former Galvan's rage. A second flash of light followed as Ultimate EchoEcho used the discs implanted in his palms to fire a powerful, two-hundred-decibel blast of sound which sent the SUV flying into Aggregor as well as the waves of sound keeping him back. Without taking his focus off of the blast emitting from his palms, six discs emerged like drones floating off his metallic, navy-blue robotic body. Each of them surrounded Aggregor's body and unleashed intense and unbearable sonic attacks that would literally melt a normal persons brain. He had enough of this, somehow telekinetically recalling his spear to his hands, he spun it in his hands at super-sonic speeds, "I will not deal with this nonsense, any longer!" the speed plus the blades already absorbed power sent an omnidirectional shockwave out around him, destroying all of Ultimate EchoEcho's discs whilst sending him flying back into a wall, cracking apart the concrete as he fell to his knees.
'Albedo, transform into Clockwork! Or Celestial! Do something!' Gwendolyn shouted through the communication link in their ears.
"I cannot," he whispered.
"Why the hell not!?"
An emerald explosion erupted as another followed suit, Ultimate Cannonbolt tore through the street; his new silver-spiked armor allowed to trample anything in his way; "Have you not learned?" he swung down and shattered the ground at their feet once again leaving no flat surfaces in the street. Although, one piece of asphalt was slanted much like a ramp which Cannonbolt used to fling through the air, transforming into Negative Rath, and attempting to tackle Aggregor. It seemed he was experienced with this species as well, quickly adjusting to catch both muscular fists in his palms, "I've fought many Appoplexians in my life," Rath snarled in his face flashing his fangs though it didn't intimidate in the slightest. "None have survived."
He struck the sidewalk with his spear but, gently as to only keeping it standing upright while he fought without it, he dropped his cloak and turned his neck to the left, cracking it. Negative Rath swung his single-bladed fist at the enemy who, effortlessly caught his wrist, turning and gripping his arm upwards. "Agh!" Albedo announced in pain.
"You've no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment," he kicked the back of Rath's left leg sending him to his knees, he silently snapped the bone in his forearm causing enough pain for him to fall unconscious, "Now it's time."
He flipped Rath over and grabbed hold of the Ultimatrix on his chest, absorbing the DNA of only a few certain species to keep his sanity; there was a flash of white light emitting from the battle as the rest of the team watched.
"You have to go down there," Cooper suggested to Gwendolyn who quickly used a nonverbal spell to summon her suit and phase through the glass of the window; the lining of Coop's armor hummed bright neon blue indicating she was at full power, only without the Alpha Rune.
"I'm on it," she faced her fear and dropped five-hundred feet without aid until her telekinesis stopped her inches from the ground, "Eradiko!" she mixed her mana-reserves, which Sunny was just beginning to teach her to utilize, with her Elctrokinesis and Pyrokinesis Charms. Firing a powerful beam of all three energies directly at Aggregor but, he'd already began his mutation. The blinding energy surrounding him protected him from her spells somehow, shockwaves were exuding like waves each one stronger than the last. Windows from the surrounding building began to shatter raining glass down around them, luckily it was later and Cooper shut down both streets by hacking the city traffic-grid.
Ultimate Aggregor's appearance is more refined and balanced, as opposed to Kevin's random and mixed placement of alien body parts. His mixed body parts were comprised of the hands and lower body of an Orishan, the front torso of a Geochelone Aerio, the unarmored back and arms of Talpaedan, the faceplate of a Prypiatosian-B his neck, and seal on his chest, and a head resembling that of an Amperi. He had his forehead horns which became glowing neon-blue and larger over his head, his eyes became blood-red, and his height increased to roughly fifteen-feet.
"You aren't Ben Tennyson," was the first thing that Ultimate Aggregor had to say as blue lightning cackled over his clawed fingertips, "You're transformations were corrupted, and weak… not that it effects my powers in the slightest… in short, you lost."
Aggregor quickly aimed upward with insane speed, blasting Gwendolyn out of the sky with a blast of crimson-orange nuclear energy, as she hit the ground, tumbling in a smoking heap. Albedo quickly hovered upwards firing his optic-energy at the aggressor who blocked it effortlessly with one hand. He too floated off the ground, dodging a right-hook at mach-three before being punted into the ground by the amalgam villain from Gwendolyn's nightmares.
As she got to one knee, she looked up to the villain that was in her mind the night before, not even addressing her as her lips fell slightly ajar, "Should we call in the rest of the team?" Cooper asked through the communication line.
"I don't think it'll make any difference; we have to retreat!"
Aggregor smiled victoriously, "Yes, run… for the rest of your pitiful lives; now I can claim the ultimate prize," he rocketed upwards into the atmosphere before vanishing in the literal blink of an eye, likely accelerating to several percent the speed of light, at least, into deep space.
Albedo had long since been transformed back into his human form, now back to his ordinary corrupted hair and color scheme, slowly sitting up and dusting the rubble from his hair, "That did not go as planned."
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 10:56PM
Their plan not only failed but, the enemy appeared to get what he was after only, there also appeared to be something else he was after beyond just the powers he absorbed from Albedo. He implied their was a prize greater than the power he already took.
Sunny wouldn't leave Albedo's side as he recuperated from the battle he lost against this new villain, "He didn't even need to absorb his abilities to beat him, if he had I don't know if he'd be alive right now…" Gwen chimed in.
"Why can't I just hyper-jump into space and find him, I could eradicate him with a single blast," Sunny noted though she didn't understand the full fundamentals of an Osmosion's power.
Gwen put a hand on her cousin's shoulder, looking her in the eye, "If he absorbs even a fraction of a pure Anodite's power, none of us will be able to stop him… and if you're made of pure energy which means he could kill you by absorbing you."
Sunny turned back toward Albedo, brushing her fingers through his silver hair, "I just had not being able to get revenge on this bastard for hurting my…" she paused for a moment before catching herself, "friend… friends."
Albedo's eyes suddenly snapped open, sitting up having fully recovered due to the advanced medicine and his healing factor, "I know what he's after," he said immediately, sitting up and standing without effort, "I felt him searching through my Ultimatrix, he only settled for the species he chose… he was looking for something Ben and I agreed shouldn't be in my Ultimatrix."
Gwendolyn took a step closer, looking into his crimson eyes, "Alien X," after their late son was murdered by Eon, Ben had told her the entire story of what had happened including Ben Ten Million and where he lived.
"I've never heard that one before," Cooper announced from his desk, "It's never been catalogued-"
Albedo interjected, "That is because Celestialsapien's, Alien X as you put it, is the most powerful entity in the Multiverse; reality warping with its thoughts, melee strikes that could shatter entire timelines," after explaining the magnitude of the power Aggregor was after the only question left was what to do next, "Now, he must search for four distinct items… these items will allow him access to the Forge where he intends to collect ultimate prize."
"Well!" a familiar voice announced itself from behind them, all of them so distracted by the fight outside and the subsequent plot they were unraveling, they didn't even notice the elevator open, "It's a good thing I'm back, right on schedule," Ben stood in a tattered suit which even the nanotech was too damaged to repair itself, his beard had grown a bit but, not by too much but, he still managed to slick his hair back.
He looked around at all of their faces, saddened and somber aside from Gwen who was smiling with tears in her eyes, "What I miss? It's only been seven days!"
…
Took some liberties, kinda combined Khyber the Hunter and Aggregor just bc their my favorite villains from their respective shows.
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