Prodigy of a Hero

by Erk Rauorfox

After returning the Omnitrix back to Azmuth, Ben Tennyson embraced a quieter life, building friendships with new classmate Julie Yamamoto and spending quality time with Gwen. Yet peace is short-lived as erratic weather, missing persons, and Grandpa Max's disappearance shake Bellwood to its core that forced Ben and Gwen out from retirement. (Harem, Bwen, Gunbreaker Ben, no Omnitrix)

4. Forced Out of Retirement

The beating sun scorched across the playing field, the triumphant cheers from the spectators deafened the grunts and shouts from the footballers. Communication fell short among the disorientating and fast paced match as the countdown of the timer came close to the end, there was scarcely a time to coordinate attacks with teammates or catch their breath, time was of the essence. The score was 1 - 2 with the home team having one score above them, they must land a goal to even the scales to even have a chance to win.

Dribbling past the midfielders, the star player of the away team was swiftly cornered by the opposing defenders who surrounded him in every turn. Eyes darting and forehead sweating, he caught wind of his teammate waving his arms in the distance to grasp his attention.

"Pass it to me! Pass it to me! Come on, I'm open!" The striker maneuvered the ball and nimbly dodged a slide tackle, he skillfully passed the ball to his companion with a ferocious kick. Their chances of evening the scores soared when he caught the ball, with only less than half a minute to stem the opposing tides, the hopes and dreams of the away team rested on their striker. Mustering all the skill and strength he had, the dreams and aspirations of the football team were in the shape of a curve ball kick that aimed directly at the corner of the goal. It seemed victory was near their grasp and clutching the extra time would increase their chance of winning. Perhaps even a penalty shootout that would clinch them a victory!

Until their goalkeeper came in with the clutch save.

Shattered and defeated, the crowd and spectators went absolutely wild as they screamed at the top of their lungs when a pair of gloved hands managed to catch the ball at the very last second. And as the timer counted to zero with the referee whistle ending the match, the home team was declared victorious. The goalie suddenly found himself surrounded by his teammates as they hoisted him up in the air, triumphantly declaring him as the MVP. He chuckled at the joyous atmosphere and raised the soccer ball in the air, drawing more cheers and shouts from his teammates.

The match concluded with a handshake from the opposing team, and as the crowd dispersed with everyone heading home. The goalkeeper drenched in pride and victory held the golden MVP medal around his neck. He smiled fondly and readjusted his bicycle handle when he felt someone walking up to him.

"Great game Ben, awesome save." The sight of his best friend drew a wide chuckle from him. Seeing her face among the sea of crowd gave him much needed confidence and spirit during the match. Can't afford to look bad in front of his crush now can he?

"Thanks Jules, couldn't have done it without your support." She rolled her eyes over the cheap copy of her phrase. She poked his torso and crossed her arms, leaning just slightly to be more assertive and sassy.

"Now you're copying me." Ben is by far her biggest supporter when it comes to her tennis matches. There were scarcely an occasion where he wasn't there for her and she appreciated his efforts of going out of his way for her. Sometimes after their respective sport matches, the two would get ice cream and relax together, other times it's sitting in the park with their backs against the lush grasses. Whatever the occasion, they always find time for each other, and she hoped that would never change.

"I'm off to show this to my grandpa, figured he would be happy that I won a medal." She smiled at how excited he was, family means a lot to Ben especially grandpa Max. Sadly, the usual wooden training sword sheathed on his duffel bag was nowhere to be seen ever since George left Bellwood. His departure still stung Ben and he still looked forward to the day he could see his master again.

"Sure, send my regards to him." The two locked eyes when she went forward and hugged him close. He sighed and rested his arms around her lean muscular waist, rubbing the lower back before he pulled back from the embrace.

"See you tomorrow Julie, your parents are still in Japan right?" She raised her eyebrows, why did her dear Ben sound so flustered and curious hmm? She flashed a wicked smile and prodded his cheeks with her finger.

"Yes they are, if you want… you can visit me tomorrow night." The gears within Ben's mind overclocked, gyrating rapidly with steam and sparks emanating. He stammered out a response and felt his cheeks flushed red at the various activities they can do together in private.

"Sure, I will let you know." The two exchanged smiles before Ben decided he should hit the road before the traffic gets bad. He bid farewell to Julie and the brunette mounted his bike. With his leg swung over his bike seat, Ben peddled forward to exit the school grounds. After 20 minutes of bike riding, he trailed and passed by the cars, office buildings and restaurants until he finally reached Bellwood RV park where dozens of similar trailer vehicles lined up against the individual lot. Ben huffed and parked the bicycle near the shade of the tree. Though the sudden blizzard that took Bellwood by storm had subsided over the weeks, Ben still finds it hard to believe that there was no plausible or scientific explanation given by the authorities. He stretched his limbs and walked up to the Rust Bucket, knocking on the door eagerly to show off his medal to his grandfather.

"Grandpa Max!" Moments passed and Ben furrowed his eyebrows, his grandfather didn't seem to be here. He peered through the windows of the vehicle and saw piles of unwashed dishes stacked on the sink, it seemed like his grandfather left in a hurry. He knelt down to a nearby pebble and turned the stone around, a spare key was tucked away within the mold of the rock for Ben to use. Twist and unlocked, Ben opened the door and was immediately greeted by the smell of unwashed dishes and scent of mold. The veil of darkness engulfed the young Tennyson as his eyes were focused on the bright bathroom light seeping from the door gap below. Unnerved and perplexed by how unkempt the Rust Bucket is, Ben slowly waddled his way through the darkness and opened the bathroom door. The binding fluorescent light made him wince for a moment, when the faint sound of an inaudible gurgle stilled his heartbeat for the briefest of moments.

"Gah!" Nimbly rolling aside, Ben managed to dodge an ambush from a horrific looking alien. It's cyclops eye and sick yellow skin were coated in the shade of light blue from the bathroom light, its black serrated claws and purple tentacles from his mouth seemed to expose at will. It gruggled and charged towards Ben, to which the young Tennyson did a low kick to trip the alien over. Without missing a moment, he grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher and blasted him right in the face.

"Peakaboo!" The intruder screeched and leaped out of the windscreen, shattering a perfectly good window and scurrying away. Ben narrowed his eyes at the sequence of events and tossed the extinguisher aside. Now with a better look of the interior, the Rust Bucket seemed to have been ransacked with files and cabinets littered across the floor.

'Grandpa Max, what happened here?' Questions needed answers and Ben noticed that the operational dashboard of the Rust bucket had yet to be tampered. If aliens are indeed looking for his grandpa, this is the one place they would never check. His fingers pressed against the buttons and flickered up the correct switches when the sound of a compartment opening clicked behind him. He swiftly ran and reached out for the circular device, and out of it was a pre-recorded holographic message from Grandpa Max.

"Hello, Ben. I left this recording where I knew only you would find it. I'm in a bit of a situation but it's nothing I can't handle, certainly nothing for you to worry about. There's renewed alien activity on earth and I'm investigating." Somehow the young Tennyson didn't feel reassured by his grandpa's message, that alien that ambushed him was well aware of Max's investigation and even infiltrated the Rust Bucket. Either Max was in danger or-

"Oh, don't worry about the Omnitrix either, I have it and it's completely safe. They'll never get their hands on them." Ben widened his eyes at the news, did Azmuth give the Omnitrix to Max as he intended? It seemed possible given Max had always been the desired recipient for the Omnitrix, yet Ben couldn't help but to notice that his grandfather didn't have the watch slapped on his wrist in his hologram.

"You have the Omnitrix?" Perplexed and puzzled, Ben was at a loss with this information. His grandfather would never lie to him unless something is off, the vague and ominous message was already foreboding enough with the alien attack. Now he has the Omnitrix?

"Say hello to your cousin Gwen for me. Love you, Max out." The abrupt hologram ended there and Ben was left to his thoughts in the dark room. His eyes turned to the outside shattered windows and decided that it was best he get advice from someone he knew and trust. He took the hologram device and retrieved his duffel bag from outside, shutting the door of Rust Bucket.

Cycling with blazing speed, Ben first headed home to freshen up first knowing there was still time before he met up with his cousin. He slammed the brakes when the bike nearly crashed to the wall of his house and placed it aside, running straight into the house with footfalls stomping the ground.

"Ben don't run in the house!" The stern voice of his mother from his kitchen was met with an apology, and he was still stomping upstairs to his room.

"Sorry mom!" Shower, clothes and fashionable jacket from Gwen, Ben knew Gwen was having her karate classes now. He attempted to leave when his eyes lingered on the longsword hanging on the wall above his PC. Granted he might be paranoid, but the blatant attack from an alien in Bellwood made him worried that another ambush might occur.

'How am I going to carry it though?' Ah the omnipresent issue of carrying a weapon around in public without arousing suspicion. The young Tennyson shook his head, it wasn't wise to carry a sword around like this and the attack on him was done discreetly. It would be unlike aliens to conduct their operations out in the daylight, which brought another layer of concern regarding their secrecy and low profile nature.

"Ben? Are you going out?" The voice of his mother from the door spunned him around. Dressed in her yoga clothes, she held the door with her head poking into his room.

"Yeah, going to see Gwen, haven't seen her in a while. Anyway, look what I got." Showing off the MVP medal he won, Sandra chuckled and entered his room, placing both hands on her son's shoulders.

"I'm proud of you Ben, sorry that your father and I couldn't watch your game." He scoffed at her apology, both of them were busy with work. He couldn't expect his parents to always be there for him at his most triumphant or lowest moments.

"It's fine mom, anyway I'm going out." The blonde haired mother already suspected as much given Ben was dressed for the occasion. Still, her son's frequent outings made her a little concerned if not lonely at times.

"Would you be back for dinner?" Ben glanced aside, depending on how things turned out, he might be back early or not at all.

"Uh, not sure but don't wait up on me." The answer was not received from his mother, her expression turned stern with disapproving hands on her hips. Her son had often spent much of his time playing video games, watching anime and hanging out with Julie and Gwen. There was scarcely a time for them!

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, please have dinner with your parents every once and a while. I know Gwen is practically your twin but please spend quality time with us too." The pouty tone made him frantically waved his hands in the air. Crisis aversion mode activated, he would need to deescalate the tensions by promising her that he would spend more time with his folks if he were to meet Gwen later.

"Tomorrow! I promise! I just need to see Gwen now and uh, catch up with her before she's too busy with her school work." Sandra sighed but conceded to the puppy eyes from her son. She wasn't actually mad anyway, just a little vexed. Certainly as he grew older he would have less time for them, but she wholeheartedly cherished her son before he inevitably goes to college or start his career. By only spending his time with Gwen and Julie, he's playing favorites here!

"Fine." Saved by his quick promise, he pecked his mother on the cheek and bid her goodbye, hopeful to see Gwen as soon as possible for some much needed advice and counsel.

"Love you!" The mother of one shook her head and smiled at his swift footfalls down the stairs.

---

The sight of his cousin slamming her opponent who is much larger and bulkier to the ground made Ben winced. Dressed in her karate gi and the enviable black belt, Gwen absolutely decimated her opponent with a sleight of hand. He let out a whistle and watched her bow to her opponent, with many other challengers murmuring in awe and fluster at her martial prowess. He clapped his hands loudly, drawing the attention of her as her emerald eyes met his own. He smiled at the sparkle that lit in her eyes and mentally prepared for a crushing embrace.

"So how's my favourite cousin?" The sight of a speeding Gwen running towards him at mach speed elicited both fear and warmth, mainly the former.

"Ben!" He let out a chuckle and warmly reciprocated the much needed embrace. It has been two months since they last saw one another at least physically, both of them have been busy with their respective lives such as school, sports and club activities. Though the occasional WhatsApp messages does keep them in contact, it was different seeing each other in flesh and blood.

"Still undefeated I see." The astute redhead raised her eyebrows and smirked, placing her clenched fist against his chest for a little nudge.

"Compliments means you want something." The initial joyous expression on his face quickly turned to a pensive and serious one. How does he approach this situation without startling her? Hey Gwen, aliens are now back and our grandpa went missing?

"I- I got a problem." Sensing his anxiety and the fact he went out of his way to see her, she knew it wasn't a relationship or homework issue.

"I'm all ears, but let me change first yeah?" With her walking to the changing room, he watched the rest of the karate students walking out of the gym, leaving Ben alone in the large gymnasium room that had seen a lot of broken bones and dreams. Moments pass and as daylight turns into nightfall, a slumbering Tennyson can be seen lazing around the gym mattress with eyes glued to the phone, probably watching Youtube videos of some kind.

A blinding light pierced through and nearly blinded Ben when the doors of the gym opened, revealing his cousin dressed in her usual clothes with her pendant adorned around her neck. She sighed and resisted the urge to chastise him for using his phone in darkness.

"So what's the problem?" He sat upright and shove his phone into his pocket. The hologram device that Max took great lengths to hide were brought up to the size of his palm and Gwen immediately knew something serious went down. The hologram device played and the two cousins watched in silence over the message with Gwen's heart pounding at the fact alien activity has returned to earth again. But more alarmingly, it was the revelation that their grandfather has the Omnitrix that startled her the most.

"Grandpa has the Omnitrix? That's surprising. Didn't Azmuth say that the Omnitrix is too dangerous for anyone to wield?" Pensive and contemplative, Ben also wondered why the creator of the Omnitrix decided to backtrack on his initial promise. By all means, if there is one person who is worthy to wield such a powerful device, it was their grandfather.

"If there's one person in the world qualified to wear the Omnitrix it's probably Grandpa. The watch was always meant for him." Xylene's words still rang true in Ben's head and honestly, it had affected him on how he viewed his worthiness of using the Omnitrix at times, especially when he screwed up or made a mistake. Yet a comforting hand from Gwen immediately washed away all doubts as she flashed a warm smile.

"And you." He chuckled and nodded, he shouldn't discount his own heroic efforts and legendary feats too. Between his grandfather's guidance and Gwen keeping his ego in check, he had grown into a fine young man. He only hoped he can exceed their expectations time and time again.

"Yeah but I don't have it, grandpa does. When I was visiting grandpa I was attacked by an alien, they were looking for something and ransacked the Rust Bucket." The matter of fact tone from Ben was met with a frantic response from his cousin. She practically turned his body against her and immediately inspected him for any signs of injuries, much to Ben's surprise.

"You okay?" He blinked at her concern, just because he doesn't have the Omnitrix doesn't mean he can't kick ass. Though he would probably have the same reaction if he found out Gwen was ambushed by an alien too. It wasn't Summer break anymore, nor did they have their grandpa looking after them.

"I'm fine, but that's why I'm worried. 5 years of normal life and now aliens are showing up again. I'm worried about grandpa, I felt the message he left was cryptic." The change of intonations and emphasis on certain words from his grandfather's message was a surefire way to let him know something is off. He doesn't sound relaxed or calm, there was a hint of desperation in his inflections.

"You think he is in trouble." Ben only nodded.

"He has to be, otherwise he wouldn't have left the message in a place only we can find it." His cousin crossed her legs and thought more deeply. If their grandfather truly has the Omnitrix, that means Azmuth has decided to give it to him. Yet for the galvan inventor to do so meant it was a serious and urgent matter that requires an Omnitrix's might. This was the very same device that can sunder universes apart if it self-destruct, this decision to give the Omnitrix to Max must not be taken lightly.

"You're right, Azmuth won't willingly give back the Omnitrix either unless something serious happens." The cousins' conversations were cut short when the gym's doors were suddenly opened, a figure akin to a film noir detective walked up to them with the blinding light of the school halls shading his silhouette.

"The Omnitrix is not with Max, hand it over you thieves." The gruff deep voice was intimidating, but Ben was not amused by his rude timely interruption.

"Who are you?" He gripped Gwen's hand, eyes darting from the figure to the near side door entrance that offered an escape route.

"Give me the Omnitrix!" Another lunatic who wants the watch, just their luck.

"Gwen run!" Their legs carried them towards the door, pushing apart the metal doors to the hallways of their school. Unfortunately with the school already locked tight, the side entrance of the school hall was locked shut, trapping them within. The footfalls from the hallway echoed in the darkness, and the ominous figure dressed in his fedora slowly emerged from the shadows.

"The Omnitrix! Give it to me!" Gwen narrowed her eyes and recited a spell deep within her heart, subtly powering her innate mana up for a potential confrontation. Though she favors a peaceful and diplomatic n any problem, any threats against them calls for immediate violence.

"We don't have it." Ben was appalled, just who is this guy anyway? He appeared out of nowhere demanding for the Omnitrix. The shady detective narrowed his eyes and pointed at them as if he was accusing them of a crime.

"Liars! This is your last chance." Defiant to the last, Ben was ready to throw hands with him even if he is with the police. You don't accuse someone of having an extraterrestrial device capable of transforming the user to otherworldly aliens without having evidence!

"Or what?" The detective placed a hand on his face, alerting Ben that this seemingly shady individual is indeed very shady.

"Or this!" A peel of skin and theater mask came off, the figure's whole body slowly changed with the human appearance replaced by an alien creature with a water tank for his head. The bulky white armor and the muscled limbs made the two cousins step backwards out of shock. Still, were they supposed to be impressed by his transformation?

"Okay that is so creepy." The first alien Gwen has laid eyes on since Summer break and it's an aquatic being that requires a water tank to breathe, great. But alarm bells were raised when fish face hoisted up his ray gun and aimed it directly at them.

"Don't force my hand younglings." She narrowed her eyes, no time for pleasantries to de-escalating the situation when a gun is pointed at your face. Her eyes glowed fuchsia and immediately slammed her hands forwards, summoning an energy fist construct that grabbed the assailant firmly in her grip.

"The sentiment goes both ways!" Trails of energy tentacles erupted from the main hands and disarmed the assassin by wrapping tightly around the armed weapon, forcing the alien to drop the gun onto the ground with Ben kicking the firearm to the side. The swordsman placed one hand on his hand and was impressed by his cousin's mastery over her magic once again.

"Unhand me!" Ben crossed his arms and leaned forward, now it was his turn to do the interrogation.

"We want answers first, who are you?" The attacker narrowed his eyes and spoke with a boasting heart. These kids have no idea what trouble they are getting in.

"I'm a duly deputized agent of the Plumbers, an intergalactic law-enforcement organization-" The cousins exchanged astonished looks and quickly interrupted him.

"We know what they are- our Grandpa Max used to be a plumber." The alien plumber stopped his sentence and assumed a more calm expression. Max is their grandfather?

"Wait, Max as in Max Tennyson? He is your grandfather?" The two nodded slowly, realizing that all of this might be a huge misunderstanding between both parties.

"Yeah, you know him?" The plumber immediately nodded and assumed a more cheery outlook, to work with such an esteemed agent of the galactic peacekeeping force is an honorary privilege.

"He was helping me on a case when he went missing, I assumed you were linked to his disappearance. Then, that makes you Ben and Gwen Tennyson then?" Ben was mildly surprised he knew their names but didn't bother to do a profile check to see what they looked like. All of this could be prevented if he oh I don't know, look at their record files to see their physical appearances?

"Tennyson is a household name eh?" The law enforcer chuckled and nodded.

"A legendary one considering your family's feats. My apologies then, I thought you two were thieves, if you can release me from this, I can help you find your grandfather." Gwen glanced at Ben who nodded promptly, immediately dissipating her energy and releasing the plumber from her hold. He retrieved his weapon and placed it at the holster, rubbing the scratches and smudges off his firearm.

"You said that the Omnitrix is not with our grandpa?" He only nodded and brought up his screen device that displayed a hologram of his notes and findings. The complicated series of Plumber intel and information was akin to a web and immediately, the Tennyson knew their grandfather was in deep trouble.

"When Max first contacted plumber HQ in years, he stated that Bellwood had seen a large spike of alien activity and requested immediate assistance. Worse still, he specifically mentioned that the Omnitrix had gone missing. Such information was kept closed and tight-lipped among the Plumber council, thus I, Magister Labrid was sent for the investigation to prevent moles or leakage of information to other parties. To our knowledge Ben was the last custodian of the watch, so we assumed the worst had happened." Ben raised his eyebrows, did his grandfather not tell the Plumbers that the Omnitrix was given back to Azmuth?

"Why would grandpa lie that he has it then? I gave back the Omnitrix to Azmuth when I was 11." The Magister has suspected that something was amiss, Max is notorious to be a brilliant if not a maverick plumber who is not afraid to break established rules or codes to get the job done. It wouldn't be surprising if he pulled a stunt off to get his desired result.

"Whether the Omnitrix has truly gone missing is beyond us, we have no way of contacting Azmuth as he had seemingly cut off all connections with the outside world." How like Azmuth to do something like this, clearly communication and social interaction is not his strong suit. The whole universe can be under threat and the only response elicited from Azmuth was mere meh.

"Missing Omnitrix or not, I'm more concerned about Grandpa Max. He needs our help." Family before everything else, that has and always will be Ben's philosophy. His cousin placed a hand on his shoulders and nodded in agreement, the pair turned to the plumber agent with the utmost determination in their eyes.

"Agreed, count us in your investigation." More hands lead to lighter work, with the two legendary Tennysons by his side, their chances of finding Max would be much higher.

"Good, then follow me, I may have a lead."

---

Hiding behind boxes of shipping containers and empty cardboards, Ben poked his head out every now and then before slumping back down. He fanned himself with his hand over the heat and boredom before his eyes darted to the plumber who stood unflattering despite the humidity of late night summer.

"So, what are we doing here again?"

"Stakeout, according to a tip from your grandfather, the Forever Knights, a group of criminals who trade in alien technology, is scheduled to meet up here with their supplier for illegal alien tech." The former Omnitrix bearer perked up at the news. Forever Knights are a group of sinister organizations who battle aliens and desire the power of the Omnitrix. The fact they were still active after all these years made him unease, especially when they are in Bellwood territory now.

"Forever knights? They are still a thing?" Labrid's attempt to reply was halted when the headlights of a green muscled car came through the lot. The trio ducked down and peered over the boxes, watching rows of trucks rolling with large trailers behind them.

"There they are." The green car stopped and emerging from the doors was their aged old nemesis. Gwen gasped and held Ben's shoulders, pressing her chin on top of it as they whispered over the sudden appearance of the osmonian.

"No way is that Kevin?" Labrid raised its fishbrows, are they well acquainted with this rogue individual?

"You know of this shady dealer?"

"We fought him when we were kids, he has superpowers. Last time we saw him, he was trapped in the Null Void." Sent to the depths of the Null Void, Ben was certain he had either reformed or gone insane. Now however, he looked practically normal and sane.

"As promised, four dozen factory-new laser lances. Ether-point energy module, antenna-focus emitter, it's good for 35 minutes of continuous fire at .06 terawatts." The Tennysons watched in awe as Kevin held a peculiar weapon in his hands, he aimed the muzzle at a trailer before shooting a concentrated beam of laser that seared the metal part. The continuous pent up beam of energy slowly grew in size before it exploded in a violent fashion, melting the solid steel and puncturing a hole straight through the trailer. Kevin smirked and cocked the weapon, all solutions lead to pure destruction.

"Isn't that good?" The Forever knight quartermaster nodded in agreement, procuring such firearms would be essential to their order's success and longevity. They have bidded their time long enough, aliens have infected their realm and it is up to them to secure humanity's future.

Unfortunately, Labrid was outraged by such a transgression act and slammed his fist onto the crate.

"Those lances are level 5 technology! That insolent fool! Earth is only level 2!" Though the situation was undeniably tense and dire, Gwen wondered what constitutes a planet's technological level, could nuclear ornaments be deemed less of a threat compared to laser lances? Ben on the other hand, was less thrilled by the loud outburst.

"Hey! What happened to stakeout and being quiet?" The dutiful plumber ignored him and stood up, holding up his Plumber badge whose insignia bore a striking resemblance to the Omnitrix. Gwen sighed and placed one arm before Ben, this was such a bad idea.

"Ben stay behind me." Acknowledging his lack of weapons or innate magical abilities, he stood behind his sorceress of a cousin and followed her lead. Granted, maybe he should have brought Winterfang along before agreeing to an alien stakeout mission.

'Yeah, using a medieval sword against laser plasma rifles that can disintegrate me with one touch, that would be a good idea.' Okay, maybe don't bring a sword to a laser gun fight.

Amidst the cousins' slow and stealthy movements, the stalwart plumber hoisted his weapon and shouted out his declaration of arrest, earning a disgruntled look from the cousins who wished to knock the Forever Knights out with stealth and subterfuge.

"Hands above your heads air breathers! By the authority of the Plumbers, you're all busted." All movements of illegal shipping stopped as everyone stared at them. Without any warning, dozens upon dozens of illegal dealers peeled off their synthetic mask and tossed them aside, revealing them to be the very same grotesque aliens that attacked Ben earlier.

"Hey those aliens are the ones who ambushed me at the Rust Bucket!" His exclamation was followed by a less pleased response from his cousin.

"Great! Now I'm going to get paranoid that everyone I meet on the street is secretly an alien." Immediately chaos was loose, the Forever Knights splitted into groups and squadrons with one of the squires loading the shipment onto their truck in an attempt to make a run for it with the laser lances. Labrid cocked his firearm and aimed it at the ground, creating a beam of plasma to conjure a flaming wall to deter the aliens from getting close.

"Get them!" The gurgling speech from them indicated their mastery over English communication but there was little time for thinking or analyzing, Gwen conjured a large mana shield when Forever Knights used their newly acquired laser lancers to blast them apart. She winced from the heat intensity and power of their weapons, the continuous beam of fire slowly cracked her magenta shield until Ben ran towards the sides.

"Hyah!" With a sprint jump kick to their abdomens, he knocked the tin can knights down. Using their ally as his shield, he grabbed one of the knights and used him as a meat shield to prevent the rest of the knights from firing at him, giving Gwen the chance to knock them out by blasting them apart with her magic.

"Nice work Ben." The team tag high five was cut short when the aliens started to sucked in the air and spew out vile spit from the tentacle mouths.

"Watchout!" The spew of sticky yellow substances narrowly missed the pair of cousins, the sorceress threw out bolts of energy towards her assailant, knocking the remnants of the alien force out while knights began a charge towards them with their laser lances. Helpless and weaponless, Ben could only rely on Gwen for support as she shielded both of them from the fight.

"Ben run! We can't hold them." His heart pounded rapidly when Gwen struggled to maintain her barrier from the combined laser attacks from the knights and the aliens clawing away. His eyes shifted to Labrid as he too was trapped in the alien liquid mucus, rendering him immobile and unable to move. The encroachment from their foes forced Gwen and Ben to retract their positions backwards, until they bumped into the trolley cart filled with illegal alien techs. Ben swiftly turned around and saw one large metallic case, with no options left and time rapidly running out, he opened the case in hopes of getting his hands on a laser lance to turn the tides of battle.

"What the- what is this?" The case opened to reveal a sleek, obsidian-black weapon. Its hilt was a sturdy, ergonomic grip that had no crossguard to it. The blade was a long, sharp edge yet it also had the barrel case of a revolver on top of it with a trigger by the hilt, making it cumbersome and difficult to wield. Ben's educated guess was it was some kind of alien bayonet.

"Ah!" The sound of the barrier breaking and Gwen slumping to the floor out of exhaustion instinctively made him reach out to the otherworldly weapon and rushed to his cousin's side, catching her with his one arm before she fell face down to the ground. With her secured, he held the grip of the bayonet and pointed the tip of the blade outwards, narrowing his eyes with seething anger towards the knights and aliens that dared threaten his cousin. Though the weapon was unfamiliar, he took what can get at this point.

"Whatever." The ferocious screech from the aliens and the sound of the knights charging towards him with steel and lasers made him backdash to create distance. He placed Gwen by the side of the container as she slowly gained consciousness and footing before nimbly dodging the incoming laser blasts that narrowly missed his head. He dashed forward and slashed the laser lances apart, breaking the knight's armaments to disarm most of them. Curiously, a bright red spark that threatened to explode from the laser lances' destruction was snuffed out by the very weapon he wields as it glowed with every ounce of energy absorbed. Realizing his advantage, he charged forward and plunged the blade into the alien's torso, the piercing scream let out from the vile creature soon rallied the rest of its kind to spit at him.

"Damn it." He twisted the blade and side stepped to the side before quickly retrieving his weapon back. His fingers instinctively twitched to the trigger of the bayonet, and mechanical whirring could be heard at its cylinder. The following wide sweep strike soon left behind trails of energy strikes, blasting his foes away by the sheer force of the blow.

"Uh what?" Before he could collect his thoughts over what happened, a large chunk of boulder headed his way and he managed to parry the damn rock by splitting it into shards with one uppercut. Amazed by the durability and cutting edge, Ben gripped the handle tighter when he came face to face with Kevin Levin.

"Hey Tennyson! Long time no see!" The warm reunion was added with Kevin throwing more chunks of rocks and galvanized square steel beams at him. The swordsman slided under the slew of projectiles and used his momentum to rush forward by doing a downward strike, causing Kevin to block the attack with his arm coated in steel.

"Where's your watch huh?" The taunt and smugness from the dashing dealer made Ben titled the blade forward to break the bind, thrusting the blade forward with Kevin skillfully weaving to the side.

"I don't need the watch to kick your ass!" Under the light of the moon, the two exchanged blows and riposte, with the osmonian's body fully covered in steel as his limbs traded strikes with ben's blade. Their figures danced in the dark with Ben's long jacket flowing to his strikes and Kevin dodging like a professional boxer. The mutant got the upperhand when an exhausted Ben overestimated his distance and missed a strike, causing him to punch Ben in the gut and smacking him right in the torso with one powerful swing. The powerful blow sent Ben flying to the concrete ground yet he managed to hold onto his weapon despite the ferocious impact. Blood slowly flowed from his lips and Ben scowled at the fact his favorite black shirt was now stained with drops of blood. Great, now how is he going to wash it off?

"Ben!" The sight of her injured cousin bleeding infuriated the sorceress to no end. Her eyes glowed violently and instantly the air around her sizzled with intensity, the hordes of aliens that surrounded Labrid and her slowly backed off when they were immediately burned and blasted with a powerful searing energy. Seething in anger, Gwen formed a sparkling ball of lightning in her hand and invoked a spell she memorized from her grimoire.

"Inundatio fulgur!" A searing bolt of lightning pierced through the air and directly struck Kevin right in the chest. He let out a scream from the electrocution, stunning him in place from the writhing pain that allowed Ben to recover from his footing. The swordsman rushed forward with the edge of the blade grinding against the ground, creating trails of sparks with its friction before he transferred all of his body momentum and energy built up from his feet to his shoulders by slashing upwards, directly knocking Kevin into a nearby container trailer and releasing him out of his steel coated state. With him unconscious and the enemies scattered for a hasty retreat, an exhausted Ben dropped down on one knee with his weight supported by the blade on the ground.

"Whew, that was intense." Barely catching his breath, he felt the weight of his cousin hugging him from the sides. He let out a smile and leaned against her for some much needed support, earning a tousled to his hair and a proud grin.

"You okay?" He gave a thumbs up, his injury looked bad but he was otherwise alright. He slowly stood up and gripped the handle of the blade, watching it gleamed and glowed over the shine of the moonlight.

"Never better, this thing is kinda heavy but also light at the same time, can't really describe it." It felt natural to wield and given his training with Old Man George, the fairly unorthodox weapon was akin to a sword rather than a bayonet. In fact on closer inspection, there was more sword than gun to it. He slung the weapon on his shoulders and turned towards Kevin, he might have hit him a little too hard.

"What do we do with him?" The sound of footsteps revealed Labrid, who is none worse for wear either. The magister took out a pair of energy cuffs and clamped them down on Kevin's wrists to prevent him from absorbing any matter.

"Let's wait for him to wake up, the rest has already scattered."

Moments pass and the charming weapons dealer slowly gained consciousness. His blurry vision gradually became clearer and with it, he saw the three people that ruined his deal, possibly the greatest deal he ever made!

"Rise and shine Kevin." The smug grin on Ben made Kevin scowl, he attempted to move when he realized his limbs were bound together. His powers were rendered useless as he began to struggle.

"Energy cuffs, you can't escape. There's nothing for you to absorb." Just his luck, a plumber who knew exactly how osmonians like him function. Given his past record with the authorities, he doubts his stellar track record would land him in a luxury suite.

"Time we had a talk, tough guy. These weapons run on ether point energy cells, a dangerous technology way too advanced for humans. They shouldn't even be on this planet!" The firm lecture from Labrid drew a defiant response from the crook.

"So? How's that my problem?" The alien enforcer narrowed his eyes and knelt down to Kevin's eye level, gazing eye to eye with him.

"While we were fighting, the Forever Knights got away with a crate full of them. You set up the deal, you're going to tell us where they are." Using his right to remain silent, Kevin refused to cooperate when he felt a warm hand on his shoulders. He looked up and found himself stunned when Gwen gazed at him with a compassionate look.

"Kevin, people could get hurt." Ben watched with great amusement when he noticed Kevin's subtle body language and features. He rested the blade on his shoulder and tapped his fingers against the handle every now and then.

"You're in a lot of trouble, son. I'm giving you a chance to help yourself here." The stern warning was met with a sigh from Kevin. The raven haired teenager nodded and gave a smile to him.

"You don't have to convince me. Those guys ran off before I got paid. I'm happy to help find those deadbeats." A man motivated by money, Labrid had seen his kind many times before. But with his cooperation secured, they at least can start the trail and the chain of events happening in Bellwood.

The gang entered Kevin's car, with Ben picking up the weapon case earlier for ease of carrying, drawing a cranky response from Kevin over scratching the insides of his car. Now firmly on the road, Labrid watched the rows of trees passing by before raising his voice after the minutes of silence.

"I still think I should be the one driving."

"No one drives this car but me, besides you don't even know where they are." He grumbled but conceded his point, it was their best interest to locate the shipments as soon as possible. Though the amount is small, the absolute havoc it can wreck on human society is enormous. Unlike missiles or nuclear warheads, laser lancers are categorized as conventional weapons like military assault rifles, which means looser regulation and control. If nations begin to equip their armies with these advanced weapons, the rest of their neighbors would follow and an arms race would begin.

"Know anything about the aliens we fought? We know about the Forever Knights." The honest question from Ben was met with a shrug from Kevin, his eyes were firmly on the road but he did make occasional glances to the rear view mirror.

"Dude I didn't even know they were aliens at first, the ID masks does a pretty snazzy job." The masks the aliens wear are terrifying, easily disguised as humans with body language following to the letter. Honestly, these masks might be a bigger threat than aliens, imagine if you disguise yourself as a leader of a country and purposely cause chaos.

"The fact they infiltrated and integrated themselves with human society is concerning." Gwn nodded and leaned against the window of the car.

"You tell me, for all we know Bellwood is filled with those aliens disguised as normal people." The lament from Gwen was met with a smile from Ben, they consumed so many robotic movies that had the same exact plot as this. The young swordsman glanced at the weapon resting on the case and tapped his fingers on the spine of blade.

"Hey, what can you tell me about this?" Honestly not even Kevin knows much about it, but he was definitely surprised that Ben had his hands on it when they first fought, the kid got skill.

"That's an incursean gunblade." Immediately Ben's mind jumped to the time where he was hanging out at Julie's place and they were playing video games together. He knew the weapon design seemed familiar!

"A gunblade? Isn't that what Squall uses in Final Fantasy 8?" Gwen turned around to face him and gave him a deadpan expression, almost in disbelief that he would say that.

"What? Julie and I are fans." She rolled her eyes but smiled nevertheless, it's remarkably convenient that he knew how to use it from the start. But Kevin didn't seemed bothered by Ben's comparison, in fact he thought it was spot on.

"Similar design and concept. I dunno much about it, but from what I heard, it's created shortly after the destruction of their homeworld." Seeing the concerned look on Tennysons' face, Labrid decided to add on with the information of the incursean profile appearing on his device.

"The incurseans are a race of toad-like aliens who are intergalactic conquerors. They are expansionists and colonizers, always seeking to conquer other planets and solar systems. From Plumber records, their desire for total dominion over the universe was fueled by necessity and deep-rooted fear after their homeworld was destroyed by a planet-wide war that lasted for years. The war left their people divided with a power vacuum resulting in even more conflict and strife, it wasn't until Emperor Milleous assumed the throne that they found a semblance of unity in the form of subjugating other planets." This admittedly had Ben a little concerned, these frog people just sound like Vilgax. A villain so heinous and relentless that it gave the young Tennyson nightmares.

"When you have a bunch of space warring aliens, expect their technology to be top notch grade." Gwen nodded to Kevin's statement, it seems war never changes.

"That's true, it's during times of war where humans innovate the most too. Radios and cell phones were meant for military communication when it eventually trickled down to civilian use." Kevin smiled at the methodical and knowledgeable beauty next to him.

"Ain't you a clever girl?" She rolled her eyes at his attempt to flirt with her and crossed her arms. Though she will admit he was definitely her type with the rugged boyish charm and tough bad boy exterior that screamed "I can fix him", the image of a bleeding Ben was enough to churn her stomach and she still hasn't forgiven him for that.

"Hey, don't talk to her like that." Kevin nearly twisted the steering wheel when Ben's head poke forward and gave a calm but low tone that insinuated his intent. The brunette has always been protective over his cousin but after the sudden winter storm that led to them sleeping together in the comfort of each other's arms, the desire to protect her had only intensified, even though Gwen is more than capable of handling on her own. I mean have you seen her magic?

"So what's the purpose of a gunblade anyway? It's kinda heavy and cumbersome to use." The childlike tone from Ben was a hard shift from his calm yet cold demeanor earlier, boys will be boys and Ben got himself a new toy to play with. The charming debonair chuckled and glanced at the rear view mirror.

"Well you're a scrawny little kid-" The side eye from Gwen shut him up immediately. He cleared his throat and continued to answer Ben's question.

"Politics for incurseans can get really ugly, it's common for nobles to get assassinated every now and then. So the idea of a weapon that can break weapons was created, but it never went past the mass production stage. There are only a few hundred of these gunblades, most of them are bought by collectors. I managed to get my hands on it from a supplier and was hoping the knights were interested." Labrid placed a hand on his water helmet. The amount of paperwork and documentation to follow up on these so called suppliers is gonna cost him his sanity. The sound of clicking caught his attention and he smiled when Ben was enamored by the gunblade. He reminded him of a rookie plumber playing around with their tools and gadgets for the first time.

"Whoa, look! It functions like a revolver barrel." The trigger was pressed and out comes the barrel cylinder that had ammunition like bullets slotted in. Curiously, it has six chambers just like a revolver would. Ben pulled out one of the shotgun shells liked design and realized it was glowing, illuminating the otherwise dark car with an ominous red.

"That's where the fun part comes in, the weapon is designed to destroy any type of weapon, including volatile weapons like laser lances." Ben slotted the ammunition back in the chamber and was fascinated by something so cool and dumb at the same time. Labrid however had a different reaction.

"So you were aware that laser lancers are too dangerous!" Kevin paused for a second and decided to ignore a galactic law enforcer in favour of answering Ben's queries.

"Anyway, the weapon has a special function of absorbing energy and storing it in those cartridges you see. I never tried it myself but pulling that trigger is supposed to release the cartridge's energy, creating some very interesting results." Ah so they were cartridges and not bullets. That explains why it didn't fire any live rounds when he pressed the trigger, it really does work similar to gunblades in video games. As far as Ben knows, the logic is akin to unleashing special attacks stored within the weapon, rotating them to different shells or cartridges for different effects. Maybe it worked the same for this weapon too?

"No wonder, I must have pulled the trigger when I fought the aliens, there was an explosion when I swung at them." His trigger discipline is something he must keep note of. He patted the weapon and placed it back in the case, this ability to absorb energy and store it may come in useful against those laser lances.

"We're close, get ready." The reflection of Ben fixing his hair and tightening his jacket made Gwen smile over his antics, he can still be a dork even when the situation is tense. The car soon rolled up to a large imposing stone castle, filled with the traditional moat and large drawbridge, the company stepped outside of the car and stared at the formidable fortress.

"This is it." Ben slowly nodded at the size of this castle that was in the middle of nowhere, real subtle.

"Wow, I'm sure nobody thought they would hide here." Kevin scoffed at Ben's sarcasm and stretched his limbs in preparation of a confrontation with the knights.

"Well you didn't." Labrid sighed and pulled his ray gun out, sometimes this job really reminded him of his years as an instructor. He observed the rudimentary design of human architecture and turned to the group.

"So how do we get in?" Their answer came when glowing hands of pink energy gripped the drawbridge, pulling it tipped down to the ground as tentacles of energy released the crank. The multitasking of her power stunned the men of the group as they watched the sorceress hard at work.

"Now we can head in." The cheeky smile of pride from her was just adorable.

"Nice one cuz." The auburn haired teenager chuckled and walked next to Ben as Labrid and Kevin walked in front of them. Ben glanced at her every now and then, resting the gunblade directly on his shoulders.

"So how do you feel?" The sudden question made her turn towards him, it's good they have some in between time like this. Going forward, it seems like every mission they would do would be high stakes and no breaks, at least at the rate things are unfolding.

"Been out of action for so long and now we're back at it." There was nervousness and concern in her voice despite her attempt to be light-hearted. Ben softened a look and realized that things were different now, they didn't have Grandpa Max's tutelage or his help if they screw up, they are on their own now.

"I remembered how terrifying and dangerous it is, stick close to me." The older cousin scoffed at Ben's protective nature, did she need to remind him that she is the only one capable of shielding them on the fly?

"Right... let me do the shielding and defending Ben. You boys stay behind me." She walked forward with her one hand raised in the air, conjuring a pink glow of light that illuminated the entire hallway of the castle.

"Ladies first." Gwen and Kevin shared a courtesy look as the rest of the group stood behind her. The rows of armor statues and artwork were covered in a vibrant pink glow of Gwen's light. For Ben, there was something surreal seeing all of this given his deep respect for medieval swordsmanship and the fantasy of knights of the yore. If the Forever Knights truly adhere to the code of conduct for chivalry, shouldn't they be protecting the weak and innocent?

"You sure this is the right place?" Kevin nodded to Labrid's question absentmindedly, his eyes were glued to the priceless artifacts and ornaments hidden behind the display cases.

"I dunno, how many big castles are there in the middle of nowhere?" The sight of Kevin shoving the jewelry and grabbing anything shining under the darkness drew a sigh from Ben. He perched one hand on his waist and stared at the supposed reformed man who had learned the error of his ways.

"Maybe you should have brought a shopping cart." By all means Kevin would have brought along a duffel bag if the situation allows him, more storage benefits all parties no? Other than the incessant chattering from the two young humans, the absolute silence from the castle drew concerns from the veteran plumber. He cocked his weapon and took out his device to scan for any sign of footprints. As expected, the glowing blue light indicated they did enter through the drawbridge. Perhaps an ambush of-

"Gah!" The ground trembled and a draconic roar echoed across the hallway. Gwen immediately increased the light intensity of her luminescence until the rays of light covered the entire hallway and the many corridors. Her body trembled and her eyes in total disbelief when a piercing yellow pair of eyes stared back at her. The shape of the creature soon rose higher and higher until its large black wings stretched out fully, towering over them with its gigantic physique.

"T-That's a dragon." Multiple footfalls of metal clanking against the floor from the hallways echoed, alerting everyone in the room that reinforcements were coming. Forever Knights armed with swords, laser lancers and shields appeared in formations. The head captain held his sword and thrusted it forward, directing his men to hold their ground and position.

"Fire!" Gwen immediately formed a large barrier in preparation of the onslaught, but it seems Kevin and Ben were ahead of her as they charged head on.

"I will take the dragon, you take on the knights." Ben slotted in his cartridge amidst his sprint, nimbly dodging the incoming lasers by jumping from the nearby pillars and running up the side of walls before leaping over the continuous streams of laser beams exploding behind him.

"Sounds good to me!" Kevin's hands slid across the floor as he ran towards the knights, coating his body in the shade of stone gray with every step he took. He closed in the ranks and leaped high in the sky, drawing up the muzzle of the knight's laser lances before the ray gun from Labrid blasted them down one by one. The raven haired teen grinned and slammed down the ground, sending shockwaves that sent cobblestones tiles on the floor flying with the sheer weight and momentum.

Forever Knights reinforcements soon came to the corridors, each taking their positions to snipe Gwen and Labrid from their flanks. The magician raised a barrier that protected them both, drawing in the knights in as they combined the beams of energy together to break the shield. Gwen gritted her teeth and slammed her hands together, enlarging the shield until it hit all of the encroaching knights onto the ground. Labrid seized the opportunity to close off all corridors by blasting the top of the hallways, breaking down debris and chunks of rocks to obstruct their path and cut off reinforcement lines.

"Nice work, where's your cousin?" Gwen gasped and swiftly ran towards the direction he ran, with Kevin already dealing with the rest of the knights by knocking them out cold. He dusted his hands when he saw the two of them running towards him with a concerned expression.

"Kevin, where's Ben?" The sudden roar from the winged beast caused all of them to run towards the direction of whence it came. The shadows on the wall showed their silhouette of the knight and the dragon dueling it out. Ben cleaved the wings apart, revealing a mechanical construct and wirings that made it inorganic. He dodged the tail swipe from below and readied the cartridge stored within the blade before charging in. With a mighty leap in the air, he did an empower slashed onto its jugular, the energy infused strike left a serrated explosion as it decapitated the head, resulting in a large explosion that sent Ben down to the ground with the impact of his blast.

"Ouch." The brunette groaned and placed a hand on his head, one of these days and he will get a concussion. He snapped out of his stupor and picked up his weapon, finding the mechanical beast's body whirling uncontrollably with wires and cables sparking with electricity over the malfunction. Before he could ready his blade, a large beam of concentrated energy pierce through its heart like a missile, damaging its core energy stabilizer and slumping the entire construct down. His initial joy of Gwen's timely intervention became one of pure unadulterated dread when he sensed the air around him growing colder.

"Don't run off like that next time Ben! God, what were you thinking?" She yanked him by the collar, perhaps a little furious that he ran into danger head on without consulting her. The swordsman had a perfect explanation for this, he was merely buying time.

"Sorry, thought I distract the dragon while you guys deal with the knights." She let out a groan and dusted the soot and dirt off Ben's jacket, taking her anger off the filth gathered on the jacket she bought for him.

"Communication is important here! Tell us next time what your plan is." He turned to Labrid and Kevin who stepped back away from the Tennyson affairs, leaving him alone to deal with his cousin's rightfully so anger. Its been so long since he went hero time that he had forgotten he didn't have the Omnitrix's enhanced capabilities. He is a normal human now, and humans are a bit frailer than Diamondheads and Four Arms.

"I will, I promise!" She grumbled when he patted her head, the public display of affection made her sigh with her arms crossed.

"You're not off the hook, mister. We will discuss this later." Kevin smirked at the cousin's dynamics and slid in next to the gunblade wielder with a deep booming voice.

"Sounds like Benny boy is grounded- ouch!" The elbow jab to the stomach by Ben silenced him immediately. The plumber magister inspected the mechanical corpse of the dragon and narrowed his eyes over how powerful of a slash Ben was. That gunblade was more volatile than he initially thought.

"That blast from your gunblade could have killed you Ben, you have to be more careful from using such a volatile weapon in close range." Even now, Ben could feel the hand shock and vibration of the weapon rattling his forearms. Still, the powerful energy blast didn't hurt him at all since he carried his momentum forward, narrowly missing the proximity blast.

"Yeah, I can start to see why this is a prototype now." He marveled his weapon and turned it around, rubbing off the smudges and scratches already formed on his newly acquired weapon.

"Gather all the laser lances, we must destroy them." The commanding tone from Labrid was met with a discontent sigh from Kevin. He was hoping he could collect all of the weapons and find a new buyer.

"The weapons are quite durable, but the explosion is enormous, it might take the whole castle down if we are not careful." The piles of alien tech stacked on top of another, if direct force were to be applied, the chain reaction from the either-charged batteries would have caused a seismic explosion.

"Any ideas on how to dispose of them?" Ben pressed the trigger of his cylinder and noted that he had exhausted two of the cartridges. He clocked the hammer back in and held the gunblade in a two handed fashion.

"Gwen put a forcefield around us, I will break the lances." The absurd suggestion from Ben made her shake her head in defiance, that was the most stupid idea she ever heard, did he not hear what Labrid just said?

"What? No!" The charismatic gunblade wielder raised his weapon up.

"Don't worry, the gunblade will absorb their energy before it goes off. Trust me on this." Just before Gwen could retort, Kevin stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulders.

"He's right." Livid that she is surrounded by idiots willing to throw their life needlessly away, she crossed her arms and conjured an impenetrable barrier around them, leaving Ben exposed to the blast should he fail his gambit.

"We are so going to have a conversation after this, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson." Kevin blinked and nudged Labrid's arm for a whisper.

"Kirby is his middle name?" The plumber shrugged and slowly stepped backwards. Ben raised the sword above his head and began hacking away at the weapons with Gwen wincing every now and then in fear and anxiety. Her heartbeat skyrocketed with every growing energy glow that threatened to detonate at any given moment, yet Ben always managed to plunge the blade right at the battery core to absorb its energy through the metal. Finally after fulfilling the weapon's core purpose of shattering armaments, the remnants of laser lances were in the shape of metal scraps and shards, leaving a disgruntled Kevin.

"That's all of them." Gwen dissipated her energy shield and rushed towards her cousin drenched in sweat, the constant swinging and concentration must have exhausted him. Kevin knelt down and salvaged bits and pieces of the weapon, before his eyes stared at Ben's gunblade that flickered and pulsated with an unstable core.

"Check your cartridges, they can only hold so much power." The swordsman quickly pressed the trigger and pulled out the chamber, only to find out all of the cartridges had an intense bright red glow that seemed unstable and volatile.

"Yeah you're right, what do I do with these? It looks like it's going to explode at any minute." Panic set in among the group, in theory Ben was tempted to trigger the gunblade attack that might frankly collapse the entire building and kill all of them given how much raw energy was stored within these small bullet shells. However, Gwen immediately thought of a simple solution that she learned in school.

"Ben hand them to me." Cautiously, he placed the unstable shells onto his cousins' hand. He watched in awe as her eyes glowed fuschia and her hands emanated a pulse of energy that slowly siphoned the cartridges's excess charge.

"What are you doing?" Amidst her avatar-like state, she slowly dissipated and released the charges in small amounts to lower their energy levels to a more stable position.

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred or transformed. See?" The law of conversion of energy seemed to apply universally as the red pulsating cartridges slowly stopped shaking violently. Gwen dispelled her intensive mana degeneration and handed the cartridge back to cousin. Ben smiled at her cousin's intuitive thinking and slotted the cartridge back into the chamber.

"Alright you can touch your cousin's cartridges later, right now I want some payback." The poorly worded phrase from Kevin was met with a scowl from Ben while Gwen had a tint of pink flushed on her cheeks. The weapons dealer cracked his fists and approached a dazed Forever Knight regaining consciousness.

"Ugh-"

"Alright tin can, where's my money!" The series of coughs from his teammates made Kevin rephrase his question, right he could get the money later. Labrid assumed the role of interrogator by cuffing the knight to render him immobile.

"Who runs your operations here?"

"I wouldn't tell you alien scourges anything!" Gwen narrowed her eyes, by all means the Forever Knights aren't a huge threat compared to the aliens who can blend into human society and ransacked the Rust Bucket, not to mention they were the ones who were supplying the Forever Knights with these weapons.

"Leave him, we should find out where those aliens went. They are the ones trading illegal alien technology right?" Labrid nodded to Gwen's suggestion but Ben decided to take this more personally. He gazed upon the infinity symbol on the knight's crest and gripped his handle tighter.

"Your organization is a joke."

"What? How dare you ungrateful lot question our noble order! Our glorious task given by our king is to protect humanity from alien scum like him!" Well accustomed to attacks like these, Labrid observed the conversation with a stone cold expression.

"Noble order? You trade with aliens to get their technology! Think of the hypocrisy here!" Taken aback by Ben's words, the knight paused and reluctantly gave his reasoning.

"We didn't know they were aliens, otherwise we wouldn't have even agreed to the deal! All non-humans are the same, wretched and uncouth!" Boiling anger seethed Ben's spine, he clenched his fists and attempted to reason with the knight when Labrid placed a hand on his shoulders.

"Easy Ben, the Forever Knights are known to be a human supremacists order. There's no point arguing or being angry with them." The curt explanation lowered temperatures, even if this was the case, Ben refused to allow anyone to talk ill of his friends like that.

"But-"

"There are more pressing matters." Pragmatic and goal-oriented, the season plumber understood Ben's sentiments perfectly. But he didn't need the young man to be angry on his behalf, he needed him to finish the mission his grandpa started.

"You're right." With a parade rest stance, Ben turned to the rest of the knights who were all kneeling on the ground with their hands tied. He didn't know what came over him but he figured a fair warning was necessary given his capacity for mercy had limits.

"We're letting all of you go, but remember this! An alien gave you mercy today, when you are incapable of giving one to your own kind. Reflect on that and question what it really means to be a knight, for all of you have failed your oath!" The silence from the men in armor was echoed by the banners and plaques that reminded them of their sworn duty and oath, protect and serve. With Ben's point made across, the company exited the castle without much resistance from the knights.

Gwen walked next to her cousin and found a sense of pride swelling within her, he really clings onto the code of chivalry and conduct of a knight. A long lasting legacy and tribute to George.

"That was poetic Ben." His lips curled upwards from the warm praise, he hopes that he got his message across to them so they can redeem themselves, not everything has to be so hardlined or extreme.

"Let's go find those aliens."

---

The car rolled up to a large quarry site. The complete gale of darkness managed to hide their vehicles from the rows of street lamps and watchtowers of the compound. Gwen's glowing eyes continued until she dissipated her aura effect, the readings are strong here.

"This is the place." Labrid looked around, it looked like an ordinary mining site, perfect for hiding alien activity. He breathed bubbles into his water tank, it's been a long grueling day.

"Good, now we only need to sneak past-" Before Ben could finish his sentence, the sound of a man being smacked quickly alerted them. They turned around and were horrified when Kevin knocked the security guard manning the entrance unconscious with steel coated arms.

"Kevin! You hit him too hard." The debonair gave a confident smile and leaned to peel off the ID mask of the supposed human guard.

"Not him, it." The body soon morphed into the aliens they fought earlier, confirming Gwen's reading that this was indeed where the aliens were operating. Impressed by Kevin's deduction skills, Labrid was curious as to what gave it away.

"How did you know he was an alien?" Kevin shrugged and placed the ID mask in his pocket, these things aren't exactly easy to come by.

"A hunch." The exasperated sighs from the plumber soon transitioned into the team boarding the large elevator that transported workers and their stone marbles minecarts. The descent down the earth was fairly uneventful, perhaps they were wrong?

"Doesn't look like anything." As the elevator continued, the company's eye grew wider when a large underground facility was reviewed with what seems to be a large spaceship occupying the space with many other facilities and alien architecture forming around the vicinity. This was an alien colony, filled with transports, vehicles and armed personnel.

"Spoke too soon it seems." The muttering from Labrid was received with a wordless nod from the rest.

"What is this?" The plumber quickly pulled out his device and scanned the surroundings, tracing and searching for the exact alien designs and images on the galactic database. His eyes soon darkened when the search results came through, and it was as he feared.

"It's a Mothership, the schematics and designs…. I should have known." The ominous words demanded an explanation.

"Know what? Don't keep us in the dark here man."

"These aliens we fought are known as DNAliens, according to the updated Plumber archives, they served the Highbreed. A species of xenophobic aliens who believes they are the first intelligent life form in the universe, we Plumbers had encountered their kind many times. In fact, their activity across galaxies had started to increase as of recent years, this cannot be a coincidence." Ben frowned at the news, aliens who believed they reigned supreme over other alien species seemed like the norm for every galactic conflict. But it begs the question, how long have they been secretly operating on earth?

"Grandpa was onto something then." Gwen placed a hand on his shoulders and did a little fist pump.

"Let's hope we unravel it." With renewed confidence, the team finally reached the ground level of the alien headquarters. The otherworldly alien looking ceilings with weird organic constructs and encroaching pillars were really creepy looking, kinda like xenomorphs. But it quickly became apparent the place was crawling with DNAliens, how are they going to sneak in without alerting the entire colony?

"How do we get in?" Ben glanced at the mask at Kevin's pocket and took it out, much to his displeasure.

"Let's put these masks to good use. How do I use it?"

"Photonic displacement. You can set it to make you look like whatever you want." Gwen found that concept utterly horrifying and creepy, imagine someone donning your face and body doing as they please. Who greenlit these ideas in the first place? Ben slowly placed the theater mask on his face and instantly felt himself morphing into them.

"How do I look?" Exactly like a DNAlien, albeit maybe a little taller. You still can tell he's Ben though, his mannerism and body language is very Ben-like.

"About the same, just taller." Labrid placed his own ID mask and morphed into one of them. He grabbed a nearby hovercart and ushered the two of them to get in.

"I have one myself, you two get in." With Ben and Labrid under disguise, the two pushed the cart and up the escalator with other DNAliens workers mining and transporting the raw materials to the refinery. Amidst their journey to the control room, Ben utilized his impressive espionage and subterfuge skills to seamlessly blend in with the locals.

"Hey! How is it going?" His cousin and Kevin cringed physically at how loud and cheery he sounded. Labrid sighed inwardly at Ben's antics, watching the other DNAliens walking past them unamused was just depressing.

"I owe you a call." It was clear to Labrid that unlike the gurgling and hoarse voice of the DNAliens, Ben's still retained his clear vocals and perfect intonations. Which meant any DNAliens with an average intelligence would have figured Ben was disguised as an alien and isn't one of their own. Fortunately a mere side eye from Labrid silenced Ben and they continued their journey until they reached the end of the line.

"Coast is clear." The two humans hopped out of the cart and immediately felt the gust of the cold air breeze. The flash of light from the two taking off their disguises went off with Kevin staring at Ben with a deadpan expression on his face.

"I owe you a call?" Ben defended himself by stating his reasoning.

"What? I was trying to blend in." Labrid chuckled and spoke candidly.

"Espionage is not your forte Ben Tennyson." He pouted at the double team but the bone chilling air entering his body made the team shiver, with the exception of Labrid and his well insulated plumber suit.

"Brr it's c-cold." The sorceress rubbed her arms together to generate warmth when she felt a large comfortable jacket over her shoulders. She pulled the outer wear that lingered on the clothes tighter and smiled at her cousin's thoughtful gesture.

"Thanks Ben." The swordsman retrieved his gunblade from the hovercart and gave a thumbs up. He configured the weapons and ensured the cartridges were locked and loaded for any needed explosive strikes.

"What now?" They looked around and found themselves stuck in a labyrinth of mazes. If their goal was to find Max then it would take forever to run into him given how confusing this place was. Gwen knelt down and began to close her eyes, feeling the lifeforce of this place as her eyes shot open with her hairs floating in the air.

"Let me try something." She traced bits of her father's lifeforce, piercing up the remnants and trailed he left pulsating around the base. She formed a mental link and the puzzle pieces began to rapidly fall in place, her heightened clairvoyance told her the story that their grandpa was indeed here but has now left.

"I'm sorry Ben, Grandpa Max was here maybe a couple of weeks ago, but not here now." Ben rested the blade on his shoulders, at least it confirmed their suspicions that Max was here. He sighed and took back his jacket from Gwen, dorning it on for the extra layer of protection in melee combat.

"So now what do we do?" A fair question from Kevin, now Max's trail had run cold with no new leads. The status quo has changed and their new goal wouldn't be locating their grandpa, it would be disrupting the alien's plans for mass domination.

"We finish the mission, and continue where Grandpa Max has left off." Labrid smiled at the serious and no-nonsense tone from Ben, this is precisely what his grandfather would have wanted. For him to assume such a responsibility despite having no reason to do so speaks volumes of his heroism.

"Well said." With their interests aligned, Gwen managed to piece together where the weapons room is and located it within the large room filled with the beating heart of the ship. It seemed like the main control room, yet no one was on duty, odd. A large alien brain can be seen pulsating in its incubator, presumably acting as a power source or the master control of the ship's core function. Kevin walked forward and configured the panel buttons to unlock the door, he grinned when he saw the motherload of laser lances all lined up beautifully for deployment.

"In here." Labrid narrowed his eyes at the sheer volume of these weapons, is this how the aliens sustain their operations? Selling illegal technology to humans and other species for profit? That might explain the complicated network they developed across galaxies and stirring up conflict, they are starting proxy wars to fuel their military industrial complex and sell their weapons!

"How do we blow it up without arousing suspicion?" Ben's perfectly valid question was met with a perfectly valid response from Kevin who coated himself in a sleek metallic blue.

"Easy, we do it loud and proud." The duelist sighed, did he not realize they were deep in enemy territory and could be potentially swarmed by them?

"Kevin that's not-" The sound of the metallic doors opening revealing the DNAliens chatting with one another before one of them spotted them.

"Intruders! Get them." Blaring alarm bells rang with the whole base instantly alerted of their presence, light in blinding red starting to flare and lit up all corners of the room, indicating a critical breach of error.

"Well going quiet is not a choice now!" The man of steel charged forward like a juggernaut, pinning down the aliens as they tried to reach the armory to no avail. Foot soldiers equipped with firearms soon approached them, blasting each of them with the accuracy of stormtroopers.

"Come on!" Gunfire exchanged from both sides as Ben somersaulted over the barrier Gwen created to dive into the DNAlien formations. He unleashed one of the cartridge energies and slammed the ground, creating a fiery explosion that broke their weapons and ranks that scattered them into smaller groups. With the main threat of gunfire down, Gwen took an offensive approach by conjuring a fire spell, muttering incantations as Ben and Kevin brought her some time to channel her spell.

"Tennyson you're getting pretty good with that thing!" Two aliens' heads were cracked together with Kevin using one of their bodies as a flail, swinging it around to wreak havoc among enemy lines. He eyed Ben as the swordsman parried a clawed attack and chopped his assailant's hand off with a change of blade alignment, swathing through it like scythe to grass.

"Thanks! Got some practice out of you." The steel skinned teenager scoffed at the cheap shot and slammed another alien facedown, perforating through the floor. The brutal strikes from them wiped the front liners clean with Ben dashing one corner to another by cross slashing his way into backlines.

"Oh we're going to have a rematch later." Gwen's eyes soon shot open with flames surrounding her palms, she slammed both palms on the ground and ignited various runic symbols that formed around the aliens' feet.

"Vol Ignis!" Streams of flame pillars erupted from the ground, searing apart the DNAliens that stray too close. The sudden increase in heat intensity scared most of the aliens away as they hastily made for a retreat yet the engulfing flames from Gwen's magic manage to consume most of the fleeing ranks. Seeing their sudden skittish behavior, Labrid blasted the fleeing aliens with his gun and rallied the team forward.

"They are vulnerable to high temperatures, press on!" With the piles of fainted DNAliens forming a mountain heap, Kevin threw the rest of the aliens and dusted his hands. The remnants of their resin spit on the ground was still disgusting though.

"So far so good." Ben gave a grin when he felt a sense of uneasiness stirring up his chest. He narrowed his eyes and felt the ground stomping when a large muscular white alien with black hands and feet appeared with the rest of his subordinates. Its purple face had four red eyes dotted around their face and chest, imposing and formidable, Ben had suspicions that he called the shots here.

"Maggots on my ship!?" Labrid glanced at his device, as he suspected. These are the ruthless and feared highbreeds that seeked to exterminate all life besides their own.

"That's the highbreed." The commanding alien clenched its clawed fists and pointed at them, stretching out its large orange wings like moths. Ben readied his trigger finger, they were severely outnumbered now the whole colony is aware of their presence. Exhausted and outmanned, Ben didn't rule out tactical retreat.

"And you would address me as such you vermin, I will dispose of this ship of its filth!" Instantly, the ferocity and power of the highbreed was demonstrated when its legs propelled him forward, crashing head first into Kevin's and grabbing his body like a dog toy.

"Let him go!" The ray gun blast from Labrid did little to hurt the alien as he seemed to shrug the projectiles off. Ben swooped into action as Gwen was busy handling the rest of the DNAliens armed with heavy alien tech, gatling guns of pure concentrated energy and alien blasters swarmed them at every turn. He readied his blade and hacked the highbreed's tall muscular legs, only for it to bounce off with little cuts for wear.

"Gah! You mongrel!" The sheer kick from its strong feet flung Ben to the nearby steel walls, slumping and injuring his back with his gunblade skidding across the floor. He groaned at the pain from his lower back and stood up again, time to unleash the trigger.

"Urgh, man." The light glow of pink from his cousin's shield was occasionally interrupted by streaks of blood red energy beams aiming for their heads. The highbreed threw Kevin onto the ground, stomping above him repeatedly like a jackhammer to a pavement.

"Gah! Weakened and battered by the relentless assault, Kevin winced at the incoming attack when the highbreed let out a piercing scream of pain. The cartridge's enhanced blade pierced through its rough hide, sinking onto the back of his abdomen as Ben tried his best to drive the glowing blade deeper into the creature's body with fang and claw. He cocked the hammer again to prepare another cartridge charge, pressing the trigger in hopes of getting something explosive.

"Argh!" Volatile beams of energy practically imploded within Highbreed's internal organs, releasing a bright blue force that blasted and bleeded the foul alien from within. Infuriated by the pain and anger, the Highbreed coiled and knelt down to the ground to support his weight while bashing Ben away with his arms. Kevin took the opportunity to recuperate from his wounds and coated himself in a shade of steel, raring to go for another fight.

Labrid, seeing the dire situation, quickly rolled out of Gwen's barrier and shot a beam of energy from his gun that swept across the entire room, knocking out the DNAliens from their weapons momentarily.

"He is way too strong for us to handle, I'll blow up the weapons and let's get out of here!" With no time for protocol or taking safety precautions, Labrid cocked the maximum ether charge for his ray gun and shot a powered up laser blast that ignited the entire armory filled with laser lancers. Fortunately Gwen managed to shield all of them in time when the explosion occurred, sending tremors and collapsing the whole structure in their wake.

"None of you are leaving here alive!" The imposing and formidable highbreed breathed with seething anger as its lackeys began to fall to the collapsing debris from above. Ben gritted his teeth and decided that being entombed in an alien ship was not the way to go.

"Kevin, Labrid, get Gwen and leave now!" Battered and tired, the highbreed could easily catch up to all of them and give them a thorough thrashing. If he wanted to be the vanguard and leader of the team, he must stall the highbreed long enough for them to leave. Naturally, his decision was met with much resistance from Gwen.

"Ben!" He flashed a smile to his cousin, cupping her cheeks briefly before giving her a confident wink.

"I will hold him off, don't worry! I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Again with his stupid heroic theatrics and sacrifice, what the hell is wrong with him?

"But-" Ben eyed Kevin and gave him the look, earning an understanding nod and the mutual bro code established between them. He grabbed Gwen by the legs and set her across his shoulders, with Labister clearing a path by blasting the rest of the DNAliens soldiers with deadly precision. The entire ship was falling apart with fire and debris littered everywhere.

"You heard the man." Seeing his foes escaping, the highbreed threw nearby rock chunks and debris at them, only for Ben to smash them to smithereens with his aerial gunblade assault. Infuriated by the humiliating loss, the highbreed let out a screech and flapped its wings, its muscles began to swell and grow in size. It put both claws outward, unleashing a storm of needles from the tip of its vicious claws. The barrage of projectiles were parried and dodged by Ben, nimbly flowing and dashing around as he used the large space of the control room to his advantage.

The swordsman's quick reflexes allowed him to dodged a surprised charged attack from the highbreed, crashing and destroying the debris and steel haul ship with just his brute strength. Ben cocked the hammer of his blade for a new cartridge charge and decided that fighting against a stronger enemy requires a change of tactics, just like how Old Man George taught him.

'When confronting a foe who possesses superior strength, a swordsman must adapt their tactics to leverage their skills and minimize the opponent's advantage.' Green emerald eyes gleamed through the scene and with a twist of his hilt, Ben extended his tip of the blade into the flames still burning around the puddles of DNAlien resin, feeling the heat gradually burning his fingers and hands with every passing second. The highbreed slowly walked towards Ben, now it was just him and his prey, his superiors in Augstaka would not be pleased with the absolute failure caused by an inferior species.

"You sealed your fate, insect!" Blade and claw exchanged blows, the flurry of swipes managed to puncture a hole through the side of Ben's jacket, earning his ire when he slid between its hulking figure and delivered a slashed strike to the highbreed's knee.

"Annoying, little, excrement!" Seeing his chance to create distance, Ben ignited the cartridge within the barrel and scratched the tip of blade against the floor before him, drawing one straight line that soon erupted to walls of flames. As he suspected, the cartridges absorb whatever energy or element imbued by the blade and use it against their opponents.

"Come on big guy." Standing before the walls of flames, Ben swung the gunblade on his shoulder and taunted the raging highbreed with his other free hand. Hopefully, he had bought enough time and the gang had already escaped and ran far away from the facility.

"You think you can defeat me? A pure-blooded highbreed?" The noble swordsman raised his eyebrows, what's with everyone and racial purity these days huh? Wings stretched and hindlegs forward, the highbreed charged forward in sonic speed to pin Ben down with his legs.

"You've ruined everything by discovering this location. You've set our plans back for months!" Weaved and parried, Ben used another cartridge to deliver a fire-imbued strike with his gunblade, searing his foe's wings and rendering him flightless with the intense pain. Yet retribution was quick when his left arm was clawed by the sharp talons, drawing blood and deep wounds that made him lose his strength and focus. The highbreed showed no mercy by lifting Ben up with its claws, gripping him in a vice grip that made the young Tennyson scream in agony as he tried to slash his arm.

"Inferior scum, I will now need to relocate my ship to a new hiding place! But not before I cleanse the area of its impurities!"

"Cleanse the area?" The highbreed for the first time since the fight started showed changes in facial expression as his voice quivered with delight and sadism over the heinous acts he was aching to do. He calmly walked up to the main control room of the ship, seemingly forgoing the duel he had with Ben in favour of exposition.

"All life within 5 miles would be snuffed out! No witnesses to tell the tale!" Ben watched in horror when the highbreed slammed its claws onto the panels, activating the thrusters of the ship as the malfunctioning construct began to lift off to space. The blaring red light and destructive warning sign on the hologram panel showed the ship had a large death beam protruding below.

"You can't!" The highbreed cackled and threw Ben across the room, slamming him down the wall as the audible sound of bones cracking made him wince in harrowing pain. Weak and numbed by his injuries, Ben struggled to lift his weapon up with his uninjured hand.

"The best part is, I'm going to make you watch it!" Whirring sounds of highly concentrated beam blasted the lands below, disintegrating everything it touches with its death ray. Ben muffled the grunts of pain and checked his barrel with his back against the wall, and it was as dire as he thought.

'Last cartridge left, I need to make this count.' With the rest of the cartridges exhausted, he knew there was no way he could beat the highbreed in a one on one battle in his severely crippled and weakened state. No, his priority was to stop that ship from harming innocence and as his eyes landed on the incubator hosting the hive mind directing the ship's function, he knew what he had to do.

'Forgive me Gwen.' Gathering every ounce of strength within his body, Ben mustered every grit and determination to run forward. He sprinted forward with the blade held high, crackling with intense either point energy coating the high steel as blood spewed from his lips and arm. He let out a warcry and slammed the empowered blade into the main control system, overloading the entire ship by frying the alien brain with high voltages.

"No! You fool!" The highbreed could only cowered in fear and terror when the ship's lights blinked and various warning signals in its native language began to rapidly overlap one another. The violent force soon erupted around the panels, bursting steams, electricities and fires that sank the brain apart, killing the host of the ship and the highbreed's hopes for annihilation.

---

Gwen clasped her hands and bit her lower lip when the entire mothership flew to the starry night sky. Her heart beated rapidly, the fate of her cousin remains unknown and uncertain. How was he going to get back down? What if he was sent to outer space? She was helpless to do anything, unable to cast a single spell that could help him.

Seconds turned into minutes, and the ship was barely visible in the night sky. Her fingers twitched and her heart sank lower and lower at the prospects her cousin was now gone. She clenched her fists to suppress the tears that formed on her eyes, bitterly hating herself for not putting her foot down when he needed her.

And then just as the ship disappeared into view, the visual explosive cloud of fire and the deafening blast made Gwen scream.

"BEN! NO!" Kevin held her back as she flailed around, her grip strength pried him apart and shove him away, her teary green eyes dilated rapidly in disbelief that Ben was-

"There he is!" Akin to a meteor crashing into oblivion, the unconscious body of Ben Tennyson rapidly descended from above as his figure gradually grew larger along with the debris falling with him. Without any moment to waste, Gwen's emotions amplified her overflowing mana as she floated above in the air with a bright pink aura blinding everything within her vicinity. Her eyes gleamed and she levitated higher and higher until she sensed her cousin's lifeforce near her.

She extended both palms out and synchronized her energies with Ben, praying to the universe that this would work the way she wanted.

'Please, please, please-' It was faint, but she could sense his lifeforce still pulsating with life amidst his falling state! Attuning to his mana, she closed her eyes and bound his essence onto her own, allowing her to directly cast her spell onto him.

"I got you, I got you." Kevin and Labrin watched in disbelief and awe when Ben's body gently descended down as if he was floating. The fireworks that is the starships debris behind the starry night backdrop was oddly beautiful despite the grave situation. But with Ben safely in Gwen's arms, she dispelled her magic and laid her cousin's head on her lap. She brushed his hair and gasped at his blood soaked jacket, she pulled up the sleeves and quickly applied a magic seal onto his bleeding wounds as a makeshift bandage. Fortunately, Kevin managed to sprint to his car and returned with a medkit, patching the injured Tennyson with basic first-aid skills.

"Take him home, I can handle the rest." The teenagers turned to Labrid, his pensive and gruff voice indicated fatigue and exhaustion. In fact, they all were after the chain of events that happened tonight. It was a whirlwind chase and each discovery led to a deeper rabbit hole.

"You sure?" The plumber nodded and took out a plumber badge from his utility belt, giving it to Gwen as a means of contacting him. These kids had done more than enough, went above and beyond even. Plumber operations on earth were essentially obsolete after the remnants of the human agents went into retirement, and it didn't seem like earth was under any alien threat either. Now however, things must change and headquarters must be made aware of this.

"Keep me contacted." He bid them farewell and walked to the crash site of the supposed mothership, donning his ID mask to disguise himself as a detective. Kevin sighed and placed one hand on his hips, long tired day and he didn't even get paid, lovely.

"Come on, I will drop you guys off." Kevin huffed and grabbed Ben but not before Gwen sensed the residue energy of his cousin's gunblade nearby. She ran towards the source of the energy and was amazed that the blade was intact, albeit with major mechanical damage that was far too complex and advanced for human repairs. She grabbed the blade and ran towards Kevin's car, ferrying both of Tennyson's home.

"So where to?" Gwen frowned and glanced at Ben's state, there is no way they can bring him home like this, or even for the next few days. His wounds are grave but rushing to the hospital like this as under 16 years olds would mean they need to get consent from their parents or guardians, not to mention the heavy billing cost. She bit her lower lip until she remembered someone near and dear to her. She dialed the number and patiently waited for the person to pick it up.

"Julie? Are you home?" The raven haired teenager blinked, wondering why Gwen called her this late at night and asking her this peculiar question. She seemed uncharacteristically worried and tired.

"Yeah? Gwen what's wrong?"

"Are your parents home?"

"No they went back to Japan, why? What's going on?" Gwen hesitated for a moment but the sight of her injured cousin was enough to push back those worries. They needed a place to stay tonight and Julie was a trusted confidant and friend.

"I will explain later, Ben is hurt and-"

"Say no more, come quick." She grinned at the quick agreement, understanding and awesome as always. The auburn haired sorceress directed Kevin to Julie's place, and after breaking the speed limit in the name of emergency, they finally arrived at Julie's house who's light was turned on. Gwen unbuckled her seatbelt when Kevin spoke with his hands on the steering.

"Listen, I'm a shady guy and done lots of terrible stuff, but if you ever need my help, give me a call." The charming debonair received a kiss to his cheek as thanks, earning a fluster expression as Gwen effortlessly carried Ben's body and his gunblade case to Julie's door. As Kevin sped off into the distance, Gwen took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell with her elbows. The sound of footsteps running in the house and the door unlocking followed, with Julie opening the door to welcome them.

"Gwen- Oh god Ben? What happened?" Julie's hands cupped Ben's cheeks, there were little cuts around his face but otherwise it was minor compared to the absolute battering the rest of his body received. The asian american felt he heart churned at Ben's injured state, what the hell happened to him?

"Explain later." She composed herself and nodded, right! Ben's needs come first before her own questions.

"Put him on my bed." The two ladies entered Julie's room and placed the unconscious Tennyson on the bed. Julie held her left arm in anticipation of an explanation as Gwen brushed Ben's hair aside and wiped away any grime or soot visible on his face. Perhaps aware that Julie was watching her, she stopped her actions and turned to her.

"Gwen, you're injured too." She glanced down and realized her clothes had bits of cuts on them, her skin had some minor cuts and bruises but otherwise she was alright. The tennis player pulled her chair forward to allow Gwen to sit on it, allowing her to rest for once.

"I will go get some disinfectants and bandages." The sweetheart of a girl exited the room and rummaged through the first-aid in her kitchen, taking out the much needed medical supplies for Gwen. She returned and smiled when Gwen was tending to Ben's side, holding onto his hand for dear life.

"Ben will be okay, he is a trooper." Startled by her quick presence, Gwen loosened a smile and let out a pent up sigh. Ben would be okay, his vital levels according to his life force has been stabilized. As Julie applied the disinfectant solutions onto Gwen's wrist, the sorceress decided to be forward and honest with her best friend.

"Julie we- look tonight has been a crazy night, just know that Ben and I, we're not normal people." Her hazel brown eyes darted from the large cased suit sitting in the corner of the room to Gwen's frizzled hair. Not normal people, isn't really telling much considering how weird the cousins were in the first place.

"Go on." She gasped when Gwen grabbed her hand, interlocking them tightly to usher her to sit down. Then her hands glowed with mana, widening Julie's eyes with her display of magic. The long and lengthy explanation soon followed, the events from Summer break, their past exploits as heroes and the events that led up to what happened tonight were laid open for Julie. For the young teenager, she had a hard time comprehending most of the information but she did understand all of it.

"That's a lot to take in, so you two were like superheroes?" That was one way to call them, Watch Boy and Lucky Girl were just monikers that seemed catchy and cheesy.

"We used to be, now we are just trying to find our grandfather. Guess you can say, we were forced out of retirement." Julie was absolutely fascinated, to think Ben was hiding this from her the entire time. She felt both betrayed and offended, yet she ultimately did understand his secrecy. I mean would she really believe him without any proof?

"Cool, then Ben no longer can turn into the aliens?"

"No, he gave back the watch to its creator." That was surprising, at least to what Julie thinks of Ben. Call it a hunch but it never seemed like Ben would give up something that means so much to him, it's the reason why he took the sword fighting classes with George so seriously, it meant something to Ben. It's not just swinging a sword or being cool, it represented an ideology and a way of life that defined him.

"Doesn't seem like Ben to do that… no wonder he touches his wrist every now and then." Gwen noticed that too, whenever he felt nervous or self-doubting himself, he would instinctively touch the wrist where the Omnitrix attached itself too. The watch provided a sense of security and confidence to him.

"It was fine during Summer break since we have our grandpa guiding us, but if we were to continue without him, I think we would have gone down very different paths. Ben agreed and decided that he didn't want to endanger our parents who didn't know about our alien exploits either." That made sense to Julie, Ben had always been mindful of his responsibilities. Even when they were friends, he always kept his promises of being there for her or fulfilling his weekly session with George. It was small and minor to some, but it's the character and discipline that made him so great. It made logical sense for Ben to evaluate the usefulness of the Omnitrix, he has his responsibility as a peacekeeper but he also has his responsibilities as a son too.

"Despite being laid back and casual, Ben always took responsibility seriously." The two laid eyes on his sleeping form, a soft smile plastered their expressions.

"He does, even if he doesn't show it. The decision was a long and hard one though, first time ever seeing him racking his brain around something." The two shared a giggle when Ben's finger began to move, he let out a series of low groans and stirred around the bed.

"Ngh." The absolute joy lit up on their eyes as Julie and Gwen sat on the edge of the bed.

"Ben!" Feeling warm, safe and undeniably comfortable, the gallant swordsman of the west opened his eyes and found himself dazed. His vision became much clearer and the familiar face of Julie and Gwen came into view.

"Julie? Gwen? What happened- Wait, the Highbreed and the attack! It was heading towards a hospital and-" The sudden jerked up from sitting upright made him wince in pain from the fast movements. Julie patted his back and slowly rested it against her fluffy pillows, just the mere touch of his swollen back told her enough that Ben was thoroughly beaten up and sustained heavy injuries.

"You stopped it in time, everyone is safe. Recognize this place?" Gwen's words brought much comfort and relief to Ben, he slowly looked around before making the horrific realization that he was in Julie's bed and Miss Yamamoto was sitting next to him. God, what the hell do they say to her and why did Gwen bring them here!?

"Julie! Uh, I can explain! Gwen and I were- we were… Gwen help me out here." She chuckled at the desperate look on her cousins' face while Julie just rolled her eyes at how bad Ben is at lying. The auburn beauty shuffled closer and spoke softly, in hopes of not startling her cousin with the revelation.

"I already told her Ben." Hit with a force of a thousand bombs, Ben's reaction was what Gwen expected. He held the blanket to his chest and leaned forward to her.

"Like just what happened tonight or everything?" His eyes darted towards Julie and back to Gwen exasperatedly, please tell him that Gwen didn't told Julie-

"Everything." He placed his hands on his face and let out a muffled scream, as if being thrashed and beaten up by a literal space nazis weren't enough, now the girl he liked thinks he is a freak! A hand on his shoulders broke his antics, with Julie's warm brown eyes washing away his anxiety and regret.

"Ben it's okay, I think it's really cool." The much needed words changed his mood drastically, he felt her intertwining his fingers and clasping them tightly.

"Really?" She leaned forward and wrapped her other arm around his shoulders. Why on earth did he think she would have a negative reaction to this? Ben in her eyes was already amazing, now he is still a dork- but cooler dork!

"Of course, you're a hero! Why would anyone not like a hero?" An uncontrollable goofy smile was let out from Ben and Gwen's heart squealed internally watching her cousin sway his body left and right over Julie's compliment as if he was containing his excitement. These two are the source of her diabetes with how cute their interactions are. But with the elephant in the room mentioned and acknowledged, Ben was more concerned that their grandpa's whereabouts remains elusive to them.

"Grandpa is still out there." A tousle to his hair from his cousin eliminated his pensive and serious expression. Not in front of Julie!

"We can worry about that later, now rest." Julie agreed wholeheartedly, Ben shouldn't be thinking about future problems, that is for future him to figure out. Now he should get some much needed rest and recuperate his injured body.

"You two can take the bed, I will take the couch." Ben shook his head to Julie's suggestion and pointed out that she had a spare bed for him to rest on.

"No way, I know you have a futon. I will take it-" The room immediately went cold with Julie staring at Ben with a stern expression fitting for a worried mother.

"Ben Tennyson you are gravely injured and you almost died, sleep in this bed!" With no support from his cousin, Ben nodded meekly and placed his chin above the warm blanket wrapped around him.

"Yes ma'am." Satisfied with his cooperation, Julie decided that maybe she should take the futon instead of sleeping outside the living room. The air conditioning was one thing, but it was the desire to be by Ben's side that motivated her more.

"I will go shower first if it's okay?" Gwen was in dire need of a warm bath and a call to their parents to inform them that she was staying over at Julie's house with Ben. It's already 11 PM, no doubt her phone was filled with missed calls and messages.

"Sure, my wardrobe is on the right, feel free to take any clothes." Well aware of Julie's clothes and fashion sense since they frequently exchanged clothes, Gwen took a few pairs of tank tops and shorts before entering the bathroom. The silence that followed made Ben stare at Julie, seemingly at a loss at what he should say after such a heavy revelation.

"Sorry for barging in like this." She patted his head and held his uninjured arm, snuggling it between her chest for some much needed comfort and touch.

"It's fine." He leaned against her head, savoring the warmth and comfort she just naturally exudes. He stared idly into the wall, wondering what the future would be like now he is back to becoming a hero.

"It's dangerous isn't it?" Soft and reluctant, Ben could tell she was worried and rightfully so. Every mission he embarked on could have resulted in his death yet he was always confident that the Omnitrix would have his back, now he doesn't have that luxury anymore. He didn't have enhanced durability, capabilities or elemental powers, nor did he have every answer to any situation and adapt accordingly. That has always been the Omnitrix's greatest strength, its versatility.

"Yeah." His eyes opened widely when Julie kissed his cheeks tenderly, before squeezing their clasped hands again.

"Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help." Her intentions, however pure and sweet, still made Ben frown. This was precisely the reason why he didn't want Julie to know, he didn't want her to be involved with his heroic affairs.

"Julie no, I don't want to drag you into this." Noble, but weak reasoning on Ben's part. Julie was not going to let him face the shadows and dangers alone. Be it physical, mental or emotional support, she would be by his side just like how has always been by her's.

"Ben, I'm not letting you do this alone, just say the word and I will be there." The firm and resolute tone left no room for argument or compromise. Ben accepted her decision and leaned his forehead against her's, thanking the stars and universe above that she was willing to do this for him.

"Thanks Julie." The soft heartfelt whisper was reciprocated with a passionate kiss to him. He held body close to him and cupped her cheeks, pulling in for a deeper kiss to express his love and affection for her. Flushed cheeks and saliva strings, the two parted lips and stared at one another affectionately when an audible gasp broke their mood.

"I-I was just wondering which towel I should take- I'm leaving now bye!" A sheepish Gwen exited the room and slammed the door shut to give the two some much needed privacy, leaving Ben and Julie blushing furiously in their bed. The two stared at one another and giggled at being caught red handed, with the male teenager scratching his cheek in embarrassment.