Before we start the chapter, I would like to tell everyone that a friend of mine and Red's created some images of OS Trixie and Fina (Fina's is her updated look in this chapter.) If you want to see them for yourselves, go over to Deviantart and search for The-Great-Twixie.
"I had, for a moment, thought that nothing would ever change. I thought things would last forever"
"I was foolishly wrong."
It was just another normal night in the city. If normal consisted of a pair of armed robberies stealing ten million dollars in diamonds in an equally stolen helicopter counted as "normal." The thief holding the stolen goods opened the bag, admiring their haul.
"The perfect crime!" he boasted. "We got the loot and made a clean getaway!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that!"
The criminals gasped and looked out the side window. The pair blinked and rubbed their eyes to ensure they weren't seeing things. No, there was definitely a giant red stingray monster gliding alongside them. Jetray waved at the criminals mockingly.
"The name's Jetray!" he introduced himself. "And this joyride's officially over! Land this thing – or else!"
Of course, the bad guys never want to do things the easy way. The pilot's partner retrieved an assault rifle stowed away under his chair and started taking shots at the aerophibian. Jetray deftly swerved out of the shooter's bullet line, closing his wings and diving forward to accelerate. As the aerial hero weaved his way through the city skyline, the criminals, for some reason, decided to pursue him instead of running away. The thief took many wild shots at Jetray, shooting the walls and windows of the surrounding buildings. Unlike Jetray, however, they weren't as skilled at flying and would occasionally cut their propellers against the building walls.
"Wanna play rough, do ya?" Jetray challenged. "Well, two can play at that game."
Jetray swerved around, facing the helicopter, and fired his neuroshock beams. First at the gunman's hands, making the thief's hands go numb and dropping his weapon, then at the helicopter's propeller. Without the use of the propeller, the helicopter began to free fall.
"We're out of control!" the pilot screamed in a panic. "We're gonna crash!"
By sheer dumb luck, the helicopter managed to weave between the buildings and crashed into the nearby river. The thieves had already jumped out of the helicopter beforehand and parachuted to safety. They didn't get far as Jetray swooped in like a speeding bullet, unbuckling the thieves in midair and carrying them away. The aerophibian flew down the street and eventually dropped them, and the stolen jewels, off in the middle of the street as the police began to arrive.
Jetray then flew off to the rooftop of a nearby building just in time for the Omnitrix to time out and revert him to human form in a flash of red light. Ben approached the ledge and looked down, smirking proudly as he watched the police surround the jewel thieves and slap the cuffs on them.
"This is almost getting too easy," said Ben confidently. "Isn't there a villain left that can give me a challenge?"
While Ben was patting himself on the back and stroking his ego, he was blindly unaware that he was being observed from a distance. There, standing in the moonlight two rooftops away from him, was a ninja-like warrior clad in deep red armor. The ninja's visor lit up briefly as he examined Ben Tennyson from afar.
The final conflict had begun.
The next morning, the Rust Bucket found itself parked on the outskirts of a town near the US-Mexican border. Max held a serious expression as he put some distance from the Rust Bucket, confronting a shady man and a young child around Ben and Gwen's age.
The man wore a tactical uniform – military from the looks of it – with a pair of katanas strapped to his back and a pair of dark sunglasses. He maintained an unchanging, neutral expression when facing Max. The young boy beside him looked like he had Hispanic heritage, with a bright red jacket one size too big for him. The young boy observed Max and his guardian curiously as the two met and shook hands.
"Good to see you, Max," said 'Shades.'
"Good to see you, Six," Max replied with a more casual and friendly tone. "Didn't think I'd see you again so soon. Not after our little kerfuffle in Iowa – "
"We agreed never to talk about Iowa again," said Six sharply, adjusting his sunglasses. "Anyone, the reason I reached out to you is because I need a favor." He patted the boy on the back, pushing him forward slightly. "Providence found this boy a few days back. His name is Rex."
"Hola, encantado de conocerte," said Rex.
"The higher-ups want him moved to a safe facility in California," Six continued. "You're already on your way home to Bellwood, with it being the end of summer, if I recall. I hope you wouldn't mind dropping him off on the way."
"Sure, that's not a problem," said Max. "But why would a big organization like Providence want with a kid like him?"
"I'm afraid that's classified," said Six. "Look, Max, I would appreciate it if you didn't meddle in Providence business. The same way I won't meddle in your plumber business."
"I understand," said Max, his smile wavering slightly.
Six turned and kneeled to Rex's level, still speaking in her emotionless tone, "All right, Rex. You go with Max. He'll look out for you. I promise I'll come see you soon."
"Está bien... vuelve pronto, por favor, said Rex uncertainly.
Six ruffled Rex's hair – the first sign of genuine affection from him – before standing up and walking back to the military jeep he arrived in. Max and Rex watched as Six drove off and disappeared in the distance…. Then awkward silence. Max waited a few moments in uncomfortable pause, then coughed to catch Rex's attention.
"Well then, let's get you situated, Rex," said Max, guiding the boy back to the Rust Bucket. "It might not look like much, but the old girl's got heart."
"Gracias por llevarme, señor Tennyson," said Rex appreciatively. "Como Six no puede llevarme debido a su misión y esas cosas, me preocupaba tener que caminar hasta Providence."
"Well, I'm glad Six called," said Max, chuckling humorously. "Nice to see an old friend again."
"¿Cómo se conocieron tú y Six?" Rex asked curiously.
"That's…a long story," said Max with a hint of mystery and amusement as they reached the Rust Bucket's front door. "Either way, I'm glad you're joining us, Rex. I know you're gonna like the kids. They're a lot of fun."
He opened the door, and both of them entered the RV.
"Hi, guys!" Max called. "This is Rex. An old friend of mine asked us to drop him off on the way home, so – "
"Give that back, doofus!"
"You first, dweeb!"
Max blinked and stared at the absurd scene he was witnessing. Ben and Gwen were running around, jumping on the couch and table while playing a mutual game of keep-away. Strangely enough, Ben had his hands on Gwen's spellbook, and Gwen was keeping the Omnitrix out of his reach. All the while, Trixie was tapping away at her laptop, pretending not to notice the chaos.
"Gimme my book back, loser!" Gwen yelled.
"As soon as you hand over the watch!" Ben retorted.
"Uh, Trixie, explain," Max requested of the human-slimebiot.
"I took off the Omnitrix so I could put in my latest update," Trixie explained plainly, her eyes never leaving her screen. She skillfully tilted her head sideways when a roll of toilet paper randomly flew her way. "Gwen wanted a turn with the Omnitrix, wanting a 're-do' with the Rojo incident. When Ben denied her, she took the Omnitrix anyway, and Ben stole her spellbook in retaliation. That about sums it up."
"Three months on the road together, and I thought we were making progress," Max sighed exasperatedly. When his grandchildren wouldn't stop yelling, he stepped forward and lifted them by the back of their shirts. "All right, that's enough, you two."
"But he/she started it!" Ben and Gwen complained simultaneously.
"Well, I'm ending it," said Max firmly, setting them down on their feet. "Now, give them back."
Ben and Gwen grumbled under their breath as they reluctantly handed over each other's possessions; Gwen stowed the spellbook in her back pocket and Ben slapped the Omnitrix on his wrist.
"There, much better," said Max proudly. He stepped aside and gestured to Rex. "Like I was saying, this is Rex. An old friend of mine asked me to drop him off somewhere on the way back to Bellwood. It should just be a quick stop."
"An old friend as in…," Gwen trailed off, but the implication was there.
"No, it has nothing to do with my Plumber past," Max reassured her. "I provided consultation to Providence when it was just starting up a few years back. That's where I met Agent Six. And now we're dropping off Rex at one of their facilities in California."
"Man, that sounds awesome," said Ben, walking up and offering a fist bump to Rex, who returned the gesture with a smile. "Way better than going back to boring old school. I'm Ben – Ben Tennyson. So, Rex, how'd you end up in Providence."
"Desperté tras un ataque de EVO, pero no recordaba quién era ni de dónde venía, salvo mi nombre," Rex explained in rapid Spanish. "El Agente Seis me encontró entre los escombros y me ha estado ayudando."
"Uh, do you come with subtitles?" said Ben, scratching his head.
"You are such a loser," said Gwen, shoving Ben aside and shaking Rex's hand. She tried speaking Spanish, but it came out horribly awkward. "Ho-la…mi nom-bre…es Gwen."
"Hola, Gwen, soy Rex," said Rex enthusiastically. "Muchas gracias por llevarme contigo. Sé que no entiendes lo que digo, pero hablo inglés. Simplemente no lo entiendo porque me parece raro lo confundido que te ves."
"Uh…," Gwen stammered, not having taken a single word in.
"Who's the loser now?" Ben taunted.
"This should be interesting, Trixie commented amusingly, having perfectly understood what Rex said.
"Fort Knox is proud to be the home of the US Federal Gold Reserve," the tour guide explained as she showed the latest group Fort Knox's heavily enforced vault, guarded by several armed soldiers. "Where over one hundred billion dollars in gold bullion is stored. Of course, for obvious security reasons, the actual vault is off-limits to the public.
"Now if you'll follow me, we'll continue the tour."
The tour guide redirects the group down a hallway off to the right, heading to another part of the fort…. Except for the three tall figures in trench coats and fedoras who stayed behind. The leader of the trench coat-wearing gang waited until the tour left the room before they walked up to the vault. Naturally, the guards waved their rifles threateningly at the trio.
"Hold it!" he shouted. "This is a restricted area! You'll be escorted back to the public section of the base!"
"Nah," said the leader, who raised her hat to reveal none other than Rojo, "I think I'll stay right here."
The trio then whipped out their coats and hats, revealing themselves to be the symbiote-armored gang of Rojo, Amarillo, and Azul. The guards could tell that they were no ordinary criminals and spread out to surround the criminals.
"Ladies, let's show them a good time," said Rojo with a cocky grin.
Rojo morphs her right hand into a spiked mace, stretching the limb across the air and sending three guards flying across the room. The other guards started shooting at once, but Azul stepped in front of her girlfriend with a pair of great shields and deflected the bullets. Amarillo shifted her arms into sharpened blades, jumped off of Azul's back, and leapt down on top of the guards. Her blades sliced through their rifles like a hot knife through butter. Amarillo follows up with a spinning kick, slamming the guards against the steel support beams to knock them out.
"Man, we shoulda done this from the start," said Rojo jokingly, then looked back at their fourth member. "Coast is clear, old man."
"Don't call me old, you whippersnapper," Phil grumbled, walking past Rojo to the vault.
While this was going on, the Rust Bucket was on the road again. While Max drove past the border from Texas into Arizona, the kids were sitting at the table. Rex sat beside Trixie, who was occupying herself trying to solve a problem with blueprints for her "Biomnitrix" project, while Ben and Gwen sat across. Rex was speaking very fast and excitedly with animated hand gestures, but the Tennyson cousins had no idea what he was saying.
" – Y me gusta mucho trabajar con computadoras y esas cosas," said Rex elatedly. "La Dra. Holiday cree que tengo un don, pero estoy bastante segura de que le gusto. ¿Cómo no iba a gustarle si tienes un semental como yo?"
"Simmer down there, Romeo," Trixie chastised him. "How about working on your memory before hitting on women who are probably twice your age?"
"How can you understand what he's saying?" Ben asked her.
"Because I'm smart," Trixie answered plainly.
"Can't argue with that logic," said Gwen, shrugging.
"Entonces... tengo la sensación de que eres el cerebro de la operación," said Rex, pointing to Trixie, then gestured to the Tennyson cousins, "Gwen es la tensa y Ben es el tonto."
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Trixie agreed.
"Whoa, whoa, I heard our names just now!" Gwen yelled sharply. "What'd he say about us?"
"Oh, nothing much," said Trixie with a tone of nonchalance.
"Hey, no fair keeping secrets!" Ben complained, slamming his fist on the table to illustrate his annoyance.
"Ben, get up here!" Max suddenly shouted, making Ben flinch.
"Ooh, someone's in trouble," Gwen taunted in a sing-song voice, poking her cousin's chest –
"You too, Gwen," Max added, making her jump with a startled gasp. "Everyone, just get up here. There's something you need to see."
Curious as to why their grandfather would want them all together, including Trixie, the Tennysons slid out of the booth and moved to the front of the RV. Rex slid out shortly after them and followed closely behind, not sure if Max included him in the group.
"Take a look at this," said Max gravely, pointing to the screen on the RV's console. "I just picked this up from one of the security cams at Fort Knox."
Ben, Gwen, and Trixie stared at the screen seriously. In the video, they could see a giant vault had been forced open, where a couple of (hopefully) unconscious guards on the ground. Ben started to wonder which villain was responsible when he got his answer. Azul stepped out of the vault, and Amarillo came out moments later. Rojo was the last to leave the vault when she conveniently noticed the exact camera the Tennysons were watching. She morphed her hand into a spiked mace and took out the camera, turning the screen static.
"Rojo," said Ben with a furrowed brow. "And…those other guys."
"Amarillo and Azul," Gwen injected.
"How'd they break out of jail this time?" Ben wondered aloud.
"Apparently, they didn't," said Trixie, holding up her phone. "I just texted Lt. Steel and he said Rojo's gang was released before they could be processed. Someone very high up the ladder pulled some strings to let them go."
"Who would go out of their way to help a bunch of biker chicks?" asked Gwen.
"¿Y qué pasa con las chicas de Mad Max en el vídeo?" Rex chimed in, reminding everyone that he was there.
"Hey, Rex, hey!" Ben sputtered nervously, scratching his head as he rattled around his brain for an excuse. "The video, it uh - it's just a video of uh – music! I mean, a music video! Staring that new group uh…."
"Psycho Biker Chicks!" Gwen offered.
"Hey, that's a pretty good name, actually," Ben complimented.
"Thank you."
"...¿Esa historia tan tonta es lo mejor que se te puede ocurrir?" said Rex after a moment of awkward pause. "Vivo en Providence, ¿recuerdas? Max le contó al Agente Seis todo sobre ustedes, Trixie, el Omnitrix, el libro de hechizos y todo."
"Translation?" Gwen requested.
"He knows everything," Trixie summarized. "Apparently, Maxwell has loose lips."
Ben and Gwen looked at their grandfather with a mixture of exasperation and disbelief. Max smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
"Entonces... ¿qué está pasando realmente?" asked Rex.
Max did a quick U-turn in Arizona and made surprisingly good time to Kentucky in under four hours. Max parked the Rust Bucket in front of the entrance of Fort Knox, which was lacking security for some reason.
"Maybe Rex should stay here," Max suggested.
"¡Ni hablar! ¡Quiero participar!" Rex complained.
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll keep an eye on him," Ben volunteered, throwing a friendly arm over Rex's shoulder. "He probably wants to see the Omnitrix in action anyway."
"More like you're looking for a chance to show off," Gwen retorted.
"I will neither confirm nor deny," said Ben with an amused smirk.
Rex and the Tennysons headed inside the fort, which was once again lacking any sign of security. But as they got closer to the vault, they soon realized that was because all the guards were knocked out. All of the armored security guards were scattered across the room, some leaning against the giant wooden crates or lying flat on the ground. Some were hanging over the edges of the boxes and others were dangling from the rafters.
Only one body was different, Max noticed as they approached the thick vault door. A single guard was lying in front of the door, sprawled out on the small set of stairs, which was coated in a dried red substance. Blood. Max kneeled and inspected the body with a grave look.
"Stabbed through the back," said Max grimly. Looks like he was trying to crawl away when one of them ran him through, likely with their symbiote."
"That's dark, even for Rojo's gang," Trixie remarked. "Skaath must have affected them more than usual."
"Or maybe they decided to stop holding back," Gwen suggested darkly.
"What were they doing here in the first place?" questioned Trixie, who approached the vault door and inspected it. "And how did they even get in? It doesn't look like it was forced open, and the door is password protected."
"They must have had inside help," said Max suspiciously.
"Hey, guys, check this out," Ben called from inside the vault.
Trixie, Gwen, Max, and Rex stepped inside the vault and saw something that made Max scratch his head. Billions and billions of dollars in solid gold bars were stacked nearly on practically every side of the room. Even a single one of these bars would set a person for life. But the weirdest part of the whole thing was –
"All the gold's still here," said Gwen, tilting her head. "They didn't even take a single bar."
"Okay, the Psycho Biker Chicks – " Ben started.
"Is that what we're calling them now?" Gwen interrupted.
"Yeah, it's a cool name," said Ben. "Anyway, the Psycho Biker Chicks break into the toughest bank in the world, wipe out the guards, but forget to steal any of the gold?"
"Quizás buscaban algo más," Rex chimed in, drawing everyone's attention as he pointed out the only pile of gold that had been disrupted. The security door had been ripped off its hinges and all the gold had been discarded like trash, but there was a huge hole in the back wall. It looked like it had been recently excavated, likely by the Psycho Biker Chicks and their symbiote powers.
"Well, that's new," Max remarked.
He led the children through the hole, which opened up into what appeared to be a giant storage space. The shelves were filled to the brim with all manner of items, most of which the Tennysons couldn't recognize. The large amount of dust and cobwebs was a good indicator that this facility hadn't been used in years.
"Whoa, what is this place?" asked Ben, looking around in awe.
"A blast from the past," said Max, taking a second look around and slowly recognizing everything. "It's an old Plumbers base."
"Like the one at Mount Rushmore?" questioned Gwen curiously.
"Not exactly," said Max, his brow furrowed seriously, wandering between the rows of shelves. "At the height of the Plumbers, some of these satellite compounds were established around the country in hidden locations like this one. Once we brought down Vilgax the first time, these annexes weren't needed anymore. So we eventually shut 'em all down."
"But what did the Psycho Biker Chicks want here, then?" asked Trixie.
"And how did they even find this place?" Ben added.
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Max. "And that's what really bothers me."
While the Tennysons were trying to solve the mystery of the Psycho Biker Chick's robbery, the symbiote-wearing hooligans themselves were far away, hiding in an old building in an abandoned train yard. They were joined by Phil, the former Plumber carrying the device they had stolen from the base: a metal sphere the size of a basketball, adorned with twelve glowing pink nodes.
"I'm telling ya, the midget's brainpan is empty," Rojo complained. We gave up all that gold for this stupid piece of junk?"
Without warning, a metal cord whipped out from above and snatched the device out of Phil's hands. The former Plumber and the Psycho Biker Chicks looked up as the ninja in red armor retracted the cord into his wrist, holding the metal sphere in his hand. The armored ninja dropped down to the ground – his heavy footfalls leaving imprints in the concrete – and stared down the Psycho Biker Chicks.
Phil, meanwhile, scurried into the background.
Rojo and her gang formed their organic weapons, looking for a fight, but the armored ninja dismissed them. Instead, they turned around and kneeled with their head bowed, presenting the device like a servant would their master. Thunderous footsteps soon followed as the mighty Vilgax stepped out of the shadows, his burning red eyes glaring at Rojo and her crew. The symbiotes shuddered and retracted their weapons against their host's orders. But Vilgax wasn't the only concern.
Sitting on the alien warlord's shoulder was Fina – only she had significantly upgraded her wardrobe since breaking free from Enoch. Gone was her meager squire uniform, and she now wore a full set of polished black armor emblazoned with the mark of the Forever Knights on her chest. The pommel of a laser sword was present at her hip, a flowing red cape wrapped over her shoulders, and a ruby-encrusted circlet around her head.
She hummed thoughtfully as Vilgax picked up the device and raised it for both of them to inspect.
"Is there a problem?" Fina questioned playfully.
"Yeah!" Rojo yelled, ignoring Skaath's panicked whispers in her ear. "Bad enough you stick up with that smelly old fart – "
"I don't smell!" Phil complained.
"But then we pull off the heist of the century," Rojo continued, her frustrations rising, "and don't even have a gold tooth to show for it!"
"I find your lack of faith disturbing, Mr. Rojo," said Fina, snickering at her obvious quote. "Or may I call you Joey?"
"From now on, you can call me 'boss!'" Rojo shouted. She managed to overwrite Skaath will with her own and forced the symbiote to generate her signature spiked maces. "Because I'm taking over this operation!"
"Oh, are you now?" Vilgax spoke up. "Do you feel that way as well, Skaath?"
"No, Father, never!" Skaath screeched in fear, molding a head on Rojo's shoulder to speak.
"Shut up!" Rojo snapped, smacking Skaath's head back down.
"It's enough that Mr. Gax and I are co-hosting this little party," said Fina. "We don't have any room for more at the big villain's table."
Fina then snapped her fingers, and the Forever Ninja jumped into the air in a blur of red.
Amarillo extended her arms into a pair of whips and lashed them at the Forever Ninja as it flew through the air, but the armored warrior effortlessly flipped through the gaps and landed in front of the yellow biker. He kicked Amarillo's gut before she could react, sending her flying through several wooden crates. Azul charged at the Forever Ninja, her hands converted into a pair of mallets. The Forever Ninja easily moved forward, bypassing Azul's attack range, and proceeded to flip the blue biker over its shoulder, slamming them into a metal support beam.
With her best friend and girlfriend out, Rojo was left to face the Forever Ninja alone. The red biker charged forward with a furious howl…and the Forever Ninja knocked her flat on her back with a swift punch to the face.
"Well, that was fun," said Fina amusingly. "But now that it's settled, let's get back to the business at hand." She turned to her partner. "And word from your daughter?"
"They've located the base – right where the feeble human said it would be," said Vilgax, gesturing to Phil.
"Excellent," said Fina delightfully. "Just one more piece, then the real show can begin."
The Tennysons were out on the road again…and nobody was in the driver's seat, which made Rex slightly concerned.
"Eh, Max, ¿quién conduce?" Rex asked worriedly since no one seemed bothered by this. Ben was looking something up on his phone, Gwen was flipping through her spellbook, and Trixie was soldering a circuit board.
"Autopilot," Max answered nonchalantly as he opened the fridge. "Trixie rigged it up a few weeks back. Real work saver."
"It's the least innovative thing I've done to this whole thing," Trixie remarked. "I'm pretty sure there's not a single scrap of the original Rust Bucket by now."
Max scoffed in amusement and flipped a hidden switch on the inside of the fridge. A large screen rolled down from the ceiling beside the appliance. It flickered on and displayed a map of the country with white blips in several states, which, upon examination, were locations that the Tennysons had visited throughout the summer.
"These dots represent all the closed Plumbers facilities," Max explained as the kids gathered around him.
"Hey, why is the one in Seattle, Washington flashing?" asked Gwen, pointing it out.
"It's an alarm," said Max gravely. "That can't be a coincidence."
"Let's go kick some Biker Chick butt!" Ben declared enthusiastically.
"Unfortunately, even in turbo mode, it's doubtful we can get there in time to stop them," said Max, frowning.
"Yeah, about that," said Trixie, spinning around in her chair and removing her protective goggles. "I've been working on the turbo boost system recently. It should be fast enough to get us there, but it's not exactly finished – "
"That's a chance we'll have to take," said Max, running to the front of the Rust Bucket. Everyone took their seats – Max and Trixie up front while Ben, Gwen, and Rex clung to the table. "Okay, let's put the spurs to her and see if she's got some extra giddy-up."
Max pressed the button to the right of the steering wheel, activating the Rust Bucket transformation into turbo mode. Everything started normally until the thrusters ignited, then the Rust Bucket was propelled forward at over three hundred miles per hour. Max and Trixie were pressed against their seats as the g-forces slammed down on them, while Ben, Gwen, and Rex were holding onto the table just so they wouldn't be thrown to the back.
"¡Esto es una locura!" Rex screamed. "¿Cómo hizo algo así?"
"I don't know what you said, but I think it's a compliment!" Ben yelled.
Thanks to Trixie's modifications, they managed to fly across the country in record time, making it to Washington just as night was starting to fall. Despite moving fast enough to break the sound barrier, Max was able to swerve the Rust Bucket through traffic with a surprising amount of coordination. Probably attributes to his adventures as a Plumber.
"We're coming up on downtown Seattle," said Max. "We should throw out the anchor and start throwing this puppy down."
"Uh, yeah, about that," said Trixie awkwardly. "Remember how I said I wasn't exactly finished…?"
"Please tell me you didn't forget the super-duper breaks to go with the super-duper turbo!" Gwen groaned.
"I didn't forget," said Trixie. "I just didn't get around to installing them."
"¿Por qué colocarías los frenos al final?" Rex screamed.
"I don't need your sass right now!"
"Don't worry," said Ben confidently as he activated the Omnitrix. "I've got you covered!"
Ben slammed down the faceplate and exploded in a burst of green light, causing Rex, who was unaccustomed to the phenomenon, to shield his eyes. When he lowered his hand, Ben was missing, but he started hearing something or someone stepping on the Rust Bucket roof. He let out a startled cry when he saw several crystal spikes piercing through the ceiling.
Diamondhead moved slowly across the Rust Bucket roof, creating spikes under his feet to secure himself so that he wouldn't be blown off. A slight misstep nearly caused the Petrosapien to fall over, but he quickly recovered himself.
"Whoa, major windage!" he yelled.
Once he reached the front of the RV, Diamondhead pelted dozens of crystal shards in the road, which sprouted like weeds and expanded into a giant crystal roadblock. Unfortunately, the Rust Bucket was tougher than it looked; it plowed through the crystal wall without slowing down by a mile.
"So much for speed bump!" Diamondhead grunted.
"Ben!" his grandfather called from inside. "I'd hate to bother you, but we could really use a break here!"
"I'm working on it!" shouted Diamondhead.
The Petrosapien clapped his hands together and formed a giant cluster of crystals from them. He separated the cluster from his hands and added a long length of crystal to act like a rope, creating a makeshift anchor. Diamondhead spun the crystal anchor around and stabbed it into the street, gripping onto the rope while securing his feet to the Rust Bucket's roof. The anchor thankfully didn't break, but it was dragged along behind the Rust Bucket, cutting a large trench in the middle of the road.
The anchor was dragged along several miles through the city, but the effect was starting to take hold as the Rust Bucket gradually started to slow down. They finally came to a stop just feet away from crashing into a building; the passengers inside let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
"…Trixie…," Max said slowly.
"I'll start working on the breaks soon," Trixie promised him.
Rex and the Tennysons exited the Rust Bucket and looked back at the devastation Ben's impromptu rescue created. The hero himself jumped down from the ceiling, looking quite proud of himself.
"What'd I tell you? No problem," said Diamondhead.
"Tell that to the city road crew," said Gwen, gesturing to the lengthy gash in the street.
All of a sudden, they heard screaming. Rex and the Tennysons swerved around as scores of people were running out of the building that the Rust Bucket just happened to park in front of. What caused them to flee generated unified surprised gasps when a familiar alien beast with an exaggerated long skull, a bladed tail, and a skeletal body. The beast hissed when it caught sight (well, you get what I mean) of the Tennysons.
"¿Qué es eso?" Rex screamed.
"The xenomorph!" yelled Trixie.
"But that means – "Gwen realized.
"Cetanu!" said Diamondhead gravely. "She's working with the Biker Chicks?"
The xenomorph lunged at the Tennysons, tackling Diamondhead and slamming him into a parked van. The xenomorph raised its claw to slash the petrosapien, but Diamondhead caught it by the wrist and pulled it aside, flipping over to slam the alien hunting hound to the ground. Diamondhead had it pinned until the xenomorph wrapped its tail around his neck from behind and threw Diamondhead across the street, breaking through a fire hydrant and causing the water to gush out.
"We gotta help Ben!" shouted Gwen.
"I think we have our own problems," said Max, pointing back at the building entrance.
Cetanu the Yautja hunter emerged, flashing her double wrist blades dangerously.
"Long time no see, Tennysons," Cetanu hissed. "Don't think I've forgotten how you humiliated me at the bench weeks ago."
"Wait, when did that happen?" asked Max, confused. He hadn't been present during that little adventure.
"Never mind that," said Gwen quickly. She didn't want to explain how they lost the Omnitrix; Ben would never let her live it down. "Look out!"
Cetanu reached for her belt and pulled out a bladed disk. As she tossed the disk, Gwen chanted, "Contego!" A square barrier of mana formed in front of Gwen's hands, deflecting the disk, but also shattering her magic shield in the process. Trixie quickly jumped forward ("Accessing Pyronite sdequence!") and blasted the Yautja warrior with a column of flames. Cetanu crossed her arms and took the brunt of the blaze head-on. When Trixie finally stopped the flow of heat, she was shocked that Cetanu was still standing, smoke wafting off her body as she silently glared at them.
"This…might be a problem," said Trixie.
"You think!" Gwen snapped.
Cetanu lunged forward with Tennysons. Max grabbed Rex and rolled off to the side while Gwen and Trixie leapt in the other direction. Trixie rolled to her feet and started hurling fireballs at the Yautja warrior, all of which Cetanu effortlessly sliced with her wrist blades. Gwen shuffled to her feet as Cetanu approached them, quickly flipping through her spellbook for something to help.
"C'mon, c'mon…," Gwen grumbled under her breath. "Where is – aha! Here it is!" She stepped forward, forming a transparent globe of magic around her hand. "Gallius disruptus!"
Cetanu braced herself as a powerful gale of wind suddenly blew from nowhere, nearly pulling the Yautja warrior off her feet. The minor hurricane wasn't enough to knock Cetanu away, but it kept the Yautja warrior rooted in her spot.
That was until Diamondhead stepped up beside his cousin, lifting the squirming xenomorph over his head.
"Hey, ugly, I think this belongs to you!" he shouted.
"Diamondhead threw the xenomorph into Gwen's tornado, where it spiraled through the air, flailing its arms and tail with a high-pitched shriek, before crashing into its master. Cetanu was knocked off her feet and was carried by the hurricane through the air, crash-landing into an empty bus that just happened to be sitting in the middle of the road, the metal surface crumpling on impact. Cetanu dropped to her knees while her pet thrashed about like a fish out of water, screeching nonstop.
Cetanu stared down the Tennysons, seemingly glaring at them. The alien predator made a sharp whistling noise, and the xenomorph stopped wailing, flipping back onto its feet. Cetanu climbed on the xenomorph's back, and together they jumped over the bus, disappearing somewhere in the city.
"Bueno, eso fue realmente una locura, said Rex, gesturing in the direction Cetanu went. "¿Ustedes hacen esto todo el tiempo?"
"Not on this level," Trixie answered, reverting back to human form. "Typically we only have one bad guy a day."
"I find it a little suspicious as well," said Max, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "The Psycho Biker Chicks – okay, that is a good name – and Cetanu. If we take into consideration that Rojo's symbiote, Skaath, that means two of Vilgax's children attacked on the same day."
"You don't think he's back, do you?" asked Gwen worriedly.
"If he is, that means Fina's with him," said Trixie gravely. "She was with him when we last saw Vilgax on Xenon."
"If it is Vilgax, I have no idea what he could be planning," said Max, frowning. "Or how he could discover the hidden Plumber base in Fort Knox."
"Well, we're not gonna figure it out standing around here," said Diamondhead.
"Ben's right," said Max. "Let's hurry on over to the Space Needle."
The team of five ran down the street to the Seattle Space Needle, jamming themselves inside the elevator. It was a tight fit considering Diamondhead was larger than all of them, not to mention avoiding the sharp spikes. Max reached for the elevator buttons and pressed them in a sequence like he was punching in a code. Which apparently he was because the screen above the buttons read "ACCESS GRANTED!"
"The Plumbers annex is near the top," Max said as the elevator began to move. "The Psycho Biker Chicks are probably still up there."
"Okay, can we all agree that's the best name we've ever come up with?" Trixie commented; everyone nodded and muttered in agreement.
Diamondhead tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator shot past the fifth floor. However, the elevator shuddered violently as they passed the fiftieth floor.
"What was that?" asked Gwen worriedly.
"It's coming from on top of the elevator," said Diamondhead, tilting his head up.
The Tennysons looked up at the ceiling curiously when a pair of familiar double blades pierced through the metal, stopping just inches from puncturing Diamondhead's eyes. The Petrosapien stepped back as the blade retracted and the roof was torn wide open. In retrospect, they shouldn't have been surprised to see Cetanu come back so soon.
"Didn't we already send you running with your tail between your legs?" Diamondhead taunted.
"I don't have a tail," said Cetanu seriously. "And it was a strategic retreat."
"Please, you totally ran away," Diamondhead scoffed.
"I don't have time to deal with you idiots," said Cetanu, flashing her blades as she grabbed onto the elevator cable. "You may want to hold onto something."
With a quick sweep of her blades, the steel cables were severed easily like tearing through a piece of string. While Cetanu was slingshot upwards, the heroes started freefalling in the elevator. Gwen, Trixie, and Rex started floating off the floor due to being lighter than Max and Diamondhead, forcing them to cling to the rail on the back wall. The Petrosapien hero, however, stepped in the middle of the elevator with his arms outstretched.
"Time for an emergency stop!" he yelled.
Diamondhead turned his hands into sharp points and extended them to the walls, piercing through them into the elevator shaft. The Petrosapien hero gritted his teeth (does he even have teeth?) as his limbs scraped the elevator shaft walls, his whole body shuddering and threatening to crack. But Diamondhead reinforced his arms and, gradually, the elevator began to slow down until it came to a stop.
Rex and the Tennysons relaxed with mutual sighs of relief.
"No volvamos a hacer eso nunca más," said Rex.
"Agreed," Trixie nodded.
With the elevator out of commission, the heroes had to improvise. Diamondhead used his crystal generation to form a platform in the elevator shaft and manipulated it to carry them to the top.
They jumped off at their stop and took cover behind a stack of boxes. The first thing the heroes noticed was the giant gaping hole in the wall – that didn't look like something Cetanu or her pet was capable of. Speaking of whom, they spotted the Yautja warrior off to the side, tearing open storage units with her blades and digging through the artifacts inside. When she didn't find whatever she was looking for, she carelessly tossed it aside, which would have hit her partner had he not deftly thrown up a magic barrier.
Gwen gasped when she realized who Cetanu's partner was.
"That's Hex!" she said in a quiet voice.
"Is there anybody who doesn't want to kill us involved in this thing?" said Trixie.
"Grr, we need to work faster," Cetanu grunted, coming up empty in another unit. "It's highly unlikely that would have killed them. We need to find the item Father demanded before they arrive."
"I wouldn't mind," said Hex. "I would very much like to repay Lucky Girl for all that she has done to me. You of all…people should understand that."
"We follow Father's orders, or there will be consequences," Cetanu hissed.
"Is that a threat?" said Hex, scowling.
"Want to find out?" said Cetanu, flashing her blades.
The hunter and the sorcerer glared at one another. For a moment, the Tennyson's hoped that they would come to blows and take each other out; it would make things significantly easier. Unfortunately, the pair of them just huffed and dropped it, going back to their search.
"They're distracted," Diamondhead whispered to his allies. "We'll divide up and surprise them from both sides."
"Hello, Ben!"
The heroes spun around quickly. Standing atop the rafters, beside the giant mutant bat that they somehow missed, was one of the first and most annoying villains they ever faced.
"Dr. Animo!" yelled Max.
"That's actually the least surprising reveal we've had all day," Trixie commented.
The not-so-good doctor snapped his fingers, and the bat opened its jaw in three places, exhaling a sonic screech. The audio attack slammed into Diamondhead with enough force not only to knock him off his feet, but created dozens of cracks in his silicon body. The Petrosapien was launched across the room and shot out through the hole in the wall, landing face down and sliding to the edge of the building. Diamondhead shuddered as he forced himself into a kneeling position; Rex and the Tennysons immediately flocked around him in concern.
"Ben, are you okay?" asked Max worriedly.
Diamondhead had no time to respond as Dr. Animo came crashing through the wall on the back of his mutant bat, smiling with malevolent glee. And to make matters worse, Hex and Cetanu appeared on the other side, surrounding the heroes.
"So…does this mean you and Animo are back together again?" Trixie asked Cetanu.
"After a few sessions of couples counseling," Dr. Animo answered.
"Which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Cetanu added.
"…I was just saying that as a joke," said Trixie, cringing in disgust. "Now I'm disturbed in a way I've never felt before."
Cetanu extended her collapsible spear and threw it at the Tennysons. Trixie shouted, "Accessing Loboan sequence!" turning her normally straight hair wild with a thin layer of fur growing on her body and a tail appearing under her dress. She opened her mouth and released a sonic howl not too dissimilar to Animo's bat, causing Cetanu's spear to fly backwards over the Yautja's shoulder.
"Merchus Verdactus!" Gwen chanted, waving her hands and shooting a beam of mana at Hex. The master sorcerer scoffed and simply waved the spell away.
"Come now, that can't be the best you can do," said Hex. "It has come to my attention that this is the first confrontation we've had where you have not had the Charm of Bezel or the Te Xuan Ze to help you. I know Charmcaster gave you her spellbook, but it appears you have barely scratched the surface. Either you lack the intelligence necessary to conjure the complex spells, or you're simply too afraid to use them. I'm disappointed in you…Gwen."
Gwen growled and charged at her archenemy. Max joined her while Trixie went after Cetanu and Diamondhead rushed Dr. Animo.
Leaving Rex all by himself.
"Bueno, entonces... solo esperaré aquí, allí," said Rex awkwardly.
Diamondhead tried shooting a shower of shards at the giant mutant bat, but they just bounced off the monster's chest while it swatted Diamondhead away. The Petrosapien warrior rolled on his back and slapped down his hand to create a crystal wall when the bat tried another sonic attack. At the same time, Gwen cast a reflective force field around herself as Hex floated overhead, raining down magic beams with the Staff of Ages. Gwen was pushed back by the force of Hex's spells, even though the barrier was holding. And Trixie, running on all fours, ducked underneath Cetanu's blades and head-butted the Yautja, momentarily knocking the wind out of her. She opened her mouth for another sonic howl, but Cetanu slapped her hand over Trixie's mouth, lifted her off the ground, and slammed her back down.
Cetanu flexed her blades and prepared for the finishing stab, but Max came up from behind and locked her in a full Nelson.
"Paws off my adopted granddaughter, Cetanu!" Max shouted.
Cetanu snarled under her mask, then made a sharp whistling noise. Max heard a beastly hiss above and realized that Cetanu's xenomorph was clinging to the wall overhead. The alien jumped down and tackled Max, forcing him off its master. Cetanu shook her head then prepared her blade for another fight…when her mask suddenly beeped.
The UI on her bio-helmet locked in on something sitting just on the edge of the hole in the wall, all the artifacts dumped everywhere due to Animo's beast. That's when her mask spotted it – their target: a red circuit board with an ominous design. Cetanu rushed forward swiftly to collect it.
"I found it!" Cetanu announced to her allies, holding the circuit board high.
Max threw the Xenomorph aside and quickly bounced back on his feet, looking at Cetanu's prize with a surprised expression.
"The Malware Circuit?" said Max questionably. "What do you want with something like that?"
"That's none of your concern," Cetanu spat. "Animo!"
Dr. Animo heeded his beloved's call and ordered his bat monster to slap Diamondhead into the wall, then ran over to join her. Trixie rolled out of the way to avoid getting crushed, and Gwen was pushed back by Hex, who strangely broke off the fight to follow the scientist. Dr. Animo offered his hand to help Cetanu on the bat mutant's back while the xenomorph scurried up behind them.
"I wish I had time to teach you a lesson you so richly deserve, Ben," said Dr. Animo as Diamondhead recovered. "But we have a date to rule the world!"
"Well, you're going to have to cancel," said Diamondhead, holding out his arms for another shard shower. "Because I'm about to – "
As per usual, the Omnitrix chose the worst possible moment to power down as it transformed the Petrosapien back to Ben in a burst of red light.
"Aw, man!" Ben complained. "How can a watch have such bad timing?"
Trixie, Max, and Gwen rushed to stop the villains, but Hex waved his Staff of Ages and blasted a beam of magic at their feet, knocking them on their backs. With the way clear, the bat mutant flapped its wings, taking off into the night while Hex flew behind them. The Tennysons were forced to watch in frustration as the villains made off with their stolen prize.
"Well, this stinks," Ben complained.
Rex and the Tennysons were back inside the Rust Bucket after humiliating defeat at the Space Needle. The children gathered around the table as Max brought up another hidden screen above the window with a keyboard hidden inside the table. Just when Ben thought he knew all of the Rust Bucket's weird quirks….
Max typed into the table-keyboard furiously and brought up two images on the screen. One was the Malware Circuit the villains stole from the Space Needle, and the other was a metal sphere with glowing pink nodes.
"Based on the Malware Circuit Cetanu and the others stole," said Max, "I believe that this is what the Psycho Biker Chicks took from the vault in Fort Knox."
"What are they, grandpa?" asked Gwen worriedly.
"The Malware Circuit is a powerful and dangerous piece of Galvanic Mechamorph technology that can boost the strength of any machine by one hundred times," Max explained. "The other is a Conductoid Core. It can distribute an almost unlimited amount of energy to any designated point."
"So we've got a power booster and an energy distributor," Trixie summarized. "What does that mean, exactly?"
"I don't know, but – "
Suddenly, the screen flashed "INCOMING MESSAGE!"
"What's that?" asked Gwen.
"Someone's contacting us using the old Plumber frequency," said Max suspiciously.
Max accepted the call, and his brow furrowed as an unwelcome face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, partner," Phil greeted condescendingly.
"Phil!" Ben shouted, slamming his fist on the table.
"That explains how Cetanu and the biker chicks found the vaults," Max realized, glaring at his old partner. "They had inside help."
"Oh, Max, you always were too smart for me," Phil chortled mockingly. "Anyway, you're probably wondering what we're planning to do with the Malware Circuit and the Conductoid Core. Well, if you want to find out, come to the old base in Mount Rushmore. And I know you will. Because you can't resist being the hero, can you, Max?"
And just like that, Phil cut the connection.
"Sabes que es un derecho ¿verdad?" said Rex.
"Obviously," said Max. "But Phil's right: even if it is a trap, we can't just leave them alone with that dangerous tech."
"Phil, the Psycho Biker Chicks, Cetanu, Hex, Animo – " Gwen counted.
"And Fina and Vilgax are probably in on it as well," Trixie added.
"It's a classic bad guy team-up of all our worst enemies," said Ben worriedly. "Vilgax and Fina alone almost destroyed us. I hate to say it, but I don't think we stand a chance on our own."
"You're right, Benjamin," said Trixie seriously as she reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and started going through her contacts. "Which is why now might be a good time to call in a few friends…."
They used the mega booster to get from Washington to South Dakota in under a few hours (and employed the same anchor strategy as before). Max parked the RV at the base of the mountain, and everyone cautiously disembarked the Rust Bucket, keeping an eye out for any of the enemies they've been facing all day. After a couple of minutes where the only sound came from the crickets, Ben scratched his head in confusion.
"You think we beat them here?" he asked.
Almost like they were waiting for a cue, someone shot a volley of lasers at the Tennyson's (and Rex's) feet. Max wrapped the four children in a bear hug and threw himself sideways, using his body as a shield. When the shooting stopped, the heroes disentangled themselves and looked up to where the laser fire came from. There, silhouetted in the light of the full moon, was the collection of their most dangerous foes:
Phil, Rojo, Azul, Amarillo, Cetanu, Hex, Dr. Animo, the Forever Ninja – and of course, the most evil duo in the universe, Vilgax and Fina.
"Hello, Tennyson," Vilgax greeted with a hint of malicious glee. "I wish I could promise you a swift demise, but I believe our new friends have other ideas."
"I knew you had to be involved in this somehow," said Trixie, leering at Fina specifically.
"Of course I was," said Fina, smiling wickedly. "I'm the only one who gets the privilege to destroy you."
"What are you planning to do with the Conductoid Core and the Malware Circuit?" Max interrogated them.
"I'm so glad you asked," Fina cackled. "It'd be such a shame to destroy you without showing how we plan to conquer this world."
The dark-skinned doppelganger stepped aside and gestured to Animo behind her. The mad scientist was wearing a modified version of his mutation harness and helmet with a gutted version of the Conductoid Core infused with the equipment. At the same time, all the members of the evil alliance began putting matching circlets on her heads like the one Fina was wearing.
"Matching jewelry," Ben snorted. "So lame."
"I assure you, it's more than just a fashion accessory," said Fina confidently. "Doctor, start the machine."
"With pleasure," said Dr. Animo with a wicked grin.
The mad scientist pulled out the stolen Malware Circuit and inserted it into his modified harness. The wires and circuitry sparked to life as an ominous red glow flowed from the dismantled Conductoid Core to the horns on Animo's helmet. The deranged doctor turned a dial on his harness with an insane cackle and blasted the red energy at Fina from behind. The doppelganger stumbled from the initial impact but righted herself as her entire body was swathed in a red aura. Fina cackled insanely as the gem on her circlet suddenly shot a beam into the air, which split and curved to connect with the matching circlets worn by the other villains.
The villains groaned and curled inward like they were in pain. But the sensation quickly subsided, and, to the heroes' shock, they began to mutate before their eyes.
Phil grew eight feet tall, and his muscles expanded beyond bodybuilder proportions as stripes appeared on his body and his canines turned razor sharp.
Rojo fell to on all fours as her legs bent backwards, claws appeared on her hands and feet, a fuzzy tail appeared in her backside, and she grew wolf-like ears and a snout.
Amarillo's transformation took an unexpected turn as her limbs became paper-thin and unraveled themselves before twisting back together, and her helmet warped into an Egyptian-style mask.
Azul visibly bulked up as well as a pair of towers exploded from her back, generating a wave of electricity that flowed through her entire body.
Cetanu's entire body was gradually replaced with solid green silicon, her bio-mask shattering due to new physiology, crystal spikes jutting out of her back, and her wrist blades were replaced with crystalline spikes.
Hex floated off the ground as black cracks traveled across his pale body, his yellow eyes turning glowing purple, and black-and-white striped tentacles bursting out of his stomach.
Dr. Animo himself stooped over as his yellow skin turned a chilling blue, gills formed around his neck, and a puff of white mist escaped his lips with every breath he took.
The Forever Ninja appeared mostly the same except for the tufts of blue and black fur poking out through the creases in their armor.
And Vilgax's skin and muscles were replaced with hot magma, lava pouring through his veins, flames rising from the pins in his arms, and the ground beneath his molten feet was charred black.
Rex and the Tennysons were stunned; this was way worse than what they were expecting.
"Ben 10," Fina called out dramatically, waving to her Omnitrix-ified allies, "meet the Negative 10!"
"Oh man…," Ben murmured, terrified.
TO BE CONCLUDED