"How much longer must I wait until we arrive at our destination?"
"You should ask that seven more times, Albedo, maybe it'll help us get there faster." – an irritated Ben, sitting at the wheel, responded. He had to forcibly stop himself from saying "we get there when we get there!". Too much of a cliché phrase.
"In that case, we'll have to make a stop on the way." – Albedo decided from the back seat.
"Why? Need to get something to stab us in our backs with?" – Ben sarcastically remarked.
"If you must know, my body demands it uses its excretory functions." – Albedo told him, not exactly keen on sharing this information. "And I assume this primitive Earth vehicle some human ape tied a propulsion system to and called it a day doesn't have a lavatory function."
"No, it does not." – Steven admitted.
"It's a car. You're supposed to do your business on the side of the road if you really gotta." – Ben told him.
"I sincerely hope you attempt that and get sucked out of the airlock." – Albedo deadpanned. "Seriously, This coming from the face and mouth of Steven Quartz Universe, especially as a child, was funny at first, but Albedo's grating personality turned it annoying really quickly. "Seriously, even a Planchaküle would have constructed something more suitable for space travel."
"Why didn't you just do your business at the Burger Shack?" – Ben asked him.
"Have you seen how revolting the facilities are there? They make your earth gas station bathrooms look like a sterile chamber." – Albedo shook his head, remembering the horrors.
"You're the only one that worked there, so wasn't it your job to clean them?"
"Didn't mean I was eager to do it." – Albedo muttered.
"Okay, okay. We'll land on the closest habitable atmosphere, try not to wet yourself in the meantime. Or we'll make you wear diapers." – Ben said with a smile on his face. Steven looked at him weird, hoping he wasn't serious.
For some time, all three of them sat quietly. Ben checked the navigations system (a touch-screen in the location of a music player for a normal Earth car) for any place they could make a stop at, but there wasn't any space station or pitstop or any facility of the sort in the vicinity, not until they got to the cosmic gateway portal that would take them to the other side of the galaxy.
Suddenly, Ben and Steven heard the creaking of a paper bag from the bag seat, and the unmistakable spicy smell enveloped the car.
"You got chili fries back there? Hey, I want some!" – Ben said, going completely by smell.
"Not for you, Tennyson. These… "fry bits" are my provisions for the journey to keep the craving away. This revolting, inedible mass of pulp you creatures call "food". It makes me sick."
"Come on, Albedo, it's more fun to share." – Steven politely suggested. "I bet it'll taste better that way, too." – he added. But, all he got in return was a disgusted glare from Albedo, reminiscent of a particular look Aquamarine gave him on their way to Homeworld a couple years ago.
"And have less left for myself, diminishing how much I enjoy them? I knew humans were dense, but I did not realize you had no understanding of the inverse proportional law."
"Admit it, Albedo, do you even want to have it? Because from how much you call it "disgusting slop" you don't sound like you enjoy it very much." – Steven said, judging his character.
"Is this backwards Earth logic supposed to convince me to "share"? And you are the same entity that simply talked the Diamond Authority into stopping their expansion?"
"Okay, Albedo, I want to ask you." – Ben interrupted. "Have you ever, in your entire life, helped someone else without expecting something in return?"
"No." – Albedo immediately answered.
"You didn't even have to think about it?"
"What use would it be to me if I wasted time and energy doing something if there's nothing of value or use to me?" – Albedo asked, not even pretending to care.
"Even if it doesn't put you at any kind of disadvantage, you still wouldn't do it?" – Steven interjected.
"Nope."
"Okay, what about this. You're at a mall, shopping for groceries." – Ben started.
"Unlikely scenario, but proceed with your hypothetical."
"Once you're done, do you leave the shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot or do you put it where all the other shopping carts are? This act gives you no immediate disadvantage and only takes about 20 seconds to carry out, but you are the one that misplaced it in the first place, so returning it would put your action at a net zero instead of a negative. If you don't, someone else will have to return it for you. Would you do it?"
"Obviously, not. There are employees whose job it is to tend to trivial acts like that."
"There's no helping this guy." – Ben shook his head and told Steven. "He's like the anti-YOU. I guess his current form is fitting, at least."
And from the back seat, more rustling of the paper bag could be heard, followed by Albedo chewing the chili bits as loudly as humanly possible.
"You never told me, what planet is this Xenon?" – Steven asked Ben, trying to ignore Albedo as much as possible.
"Oh, yeah. So, Back when I was a kid, I accidentally activated the Omnitrix's self-destruct mode, so I had to find Azmuth to fix it. Problem was, he was hidden away on some planet and nobody knew where. So, Albedo can use his old lab to try and fix whatever's wrong with…"
"Pfffft…. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" – Albedo suddenly broke out laughing. It wasn't the kind of positive and optimistic laugh you normally heard from twelve-year old Steven. Anything Albedo said always ended up having an arrogant and somewhat sinister tone to it, no matter the body he was in.
"What's so funny back there?" – Ben turned back, annoyed at the constant nuisance Albedo was being.
"The only reason Azmuth returned from his eremitism was because you activated the self-destruct mode?" – Albedo said, still laughing, and wiped a tear from his cheek. "How is the universe still standing when it's in the hands of an immature child?"
"The car has a rear view mirror. Take a good look at yourself if you're gonna call someone else an immature child." – Ben commented.
"I am merely trapped in this disgusting, underdeveloped body. My mind, however, isn't affected in the slightest." – Albedo said with pride. "Except for the occasional urge to start singing at inappropriate times."
"Okay, "genius". What happened to the epiphany you had about how being evil was useless and all that stuff when you absorbed Azmuth's brain?" – Ben taunted him. "Long story." – he told Steven, just as he was about to open his mouth and ask about it.
"Everything is a long story with you." – Steven said with slight disdain.
Though, Ben's tease, one in which he didn't even put that much consideration into… got to Albedo.
"We are all dust, bound by one enormous universal force…" "…My lust for power, my jealousy of Azmuth - it isn't just evil. Ultimately, it's pointless…" "…To tear down and destroy is of no consequence or quality. To create is divine…"
The words Albedo had said that day haunted him since then. The realization he made when he took the smartest brain in five galaxies, and combined it with the hyperevolved brain of his own Ultimate form... In that one instance that was both enlightening and humbling, abhorrent and divine, it was like he had deciphered the meaning of life. And every moment since then, he spent chasing this high of enlightenment, because even though he remembered this speech of epiphany he had made, he could no longer comprehend the meaning behind his own words. Once Azmuth's brainpower was taken away from him, he no longer understood the answer to life's meaning. It was perpetually kept just out of his arm's reach no matter how much he extended for it, just out of his line of sight no matter how hard he looked. And the fact that he came to understand it once, only for it to be taken away from him was what made question so personal. What kind of thought process could he have had where he had decided that taking revenge on Azmuth and Ben Tennyson was not worth doing?
Ben, meanwhile, was still waiting for an answer to his question. But considering the fact that he managed to get Albedo lost in his own thoughts, and therefore, shut him up, he decided not to pursue the conversation further.
"Hey, the computer says that there's an area with a suitable atmosphere in this star system." – Ben pointed out. "Guess this is our pit stop." – he said as he pulled the ship out of hyperdrive for the first time since they left Hokestar's Emporium.
The stars and nebulas all around them that had been flying past at a speed too quick to even notice now all fell into place around them as they halted their ship. Well, it was still going several hundred miles per hour, but in the vacuum of space, that wasn't even felt.
"Hey, I don't see any planets orbiting this star. Did you stop at the right one?" – Steven pointed out. Indeed, the only thing that seemed to be anywhere near the star was an asteroid belt they were flying parallel to.
"Of course, I am! Do I ever ask you if you took the right exit back on Earth?"
"You do. Constantly." – Steven deadpanned.
"You idiots. Your navigation computer didn't specify the habitable environment was on a planet. It's-"
But before Albedo got the chance to finish his back-handed assessment, the ship was hit with something and it veered off-course.
"What the heck?" – Steven asked. They saw more shots coming at them, and most missed while one or two hit.
"There!" – Ben pointed out. There seemed to be structures on the asteroids they were flying near – buildings, even what looked like farms, and most importantly for them – anti-air turrets.
Steven reflexively strained and tried to project a bubble from his gem, but he had forgotten that that power now resided inside the Omnitrix.
"Ben! Summon the bubble!" – Steven yelled as Ben was steering the ship left and right.
"Around the whole car?" – Ben asked, thinking how large that would be.
"If I could do one around the entire pit stop station, you can do it around the Star Sipper!" – Steven yelled. He tucked his shirt up and activated his gem, prompting an alien selection hologram to show up.
"Okay, I think I got it!" – Ben said as a green bubble enveloped them. Though, they were still being shot at from the asteroids.
"Whatever you do, don't roll the windows down until you pop that bubble!" – Albedo warned him. "The engine's exhaust is generating carbon monoxide, which accumulates in the sealed bubble of yours since it can't ventilate. And I think even you two would know why we wouldn't want to breathe that in!" – he dropped another insult-complement. "Universe, turn into something already!"
"Who should I pick?" – Steven asked as his belly button was cycling through aliens one by one.
"Anyone that can fly in space! Jet Ray! Big Chill! Astrodactyl! I don't know, Ghostfreak!" – Ben was spitballing.
"I don't know what any of them look like!" – Steven frantically yelled while cycling through the holograms.
"Keep your eyes on our course, Tennyson!" – Albedo warned Ben. While he was discussing aliens, Ben nearly flew the Star Skipper into one of the asteroids dead ahead, which was hard to see since Ben's gem bubble tinted everything green.
"Crap!" – Ben yelled as he steered away from it. That moment broke his concentration on the bubble, though, and it popped, making them susceptible to turret fire once more. He struggled to put the bubble back up.
That turn also knocked Steven to the side of the ship, making him press his hand against his belly and activating his gem like an Omnitrix would by slamming down on it. In the split-second it took to transform, Steven felt his body change once again – it was like his ribcage was expanding and melding with his skin, forming somewhat of an exoskeleton instead. That was the only glimpse of the metamorphosis Steven caught, as the next thing he knew, he was a large, moth-like creature.
"Big Chill!" – he yelled out. He recognized this one – Ben had used him in front of him before.
"Go on, phase through the car and tell them to stop shooting!" – Ben pointed out.
"Right, right." – Steven complied. Ben, meanwhile, had to maneuver around both the asteroid field and the gunfire, which was seemingly coming from every direction.
"Do they have turrets on every single one of these?!" – he yelled in frustration.
Though, suddenly, the turret fire stopped. Soon after that, Big Chill phased back into the car and unexpectedly materialized, giving Albedo somewhat of a spook.
"I explained the situation to them. We can land." – he told them as he got back into his seat and detransformed back into Steven.
"At this point, we're better off getting as far away from our system as we can." – Albedo commented.
"Would you rather hold your pee for 2 more hours until we get to the gateway portal?" – Ben pointed out.
"Fair point."
Ben descended the Star Skipper on the closest asteroid. It seemed to have a base, and a large one, at that. Now that they weren't under fire, they could see it properly. It was a military-looking base, with a transparent dome placed over it, a ton of missile and laser turrets outside and fighter jets hangered inside. The dome had a small entryway, and when the Star Skipper approached it, it opened for them.
"Okay, can someone explain to us what the HECK was that?" – Ben started yelling as soon as he opened the car door. Only after that did he look at the base's inhabitants.
They weren't really humanoid – rather, they walked on four legs that were spaced completely evenly from each other along the circumference of their perfectly spherical bodies. Their eyes, meanwhile, four of them, were on the top of their body, evenly spaced just like the legs. Pretty strange.
"We apologize for the misunderstanding, Ben Tennyson." – one of them spoke. Their mouth was at the bottom of their body and strangely large, making for an even more uncanny sight. "When an unidentified ship entered our airspace, we assumed it was an Ygroy spy. Fortunately, your necrofriggian friend cleared the misunderstanding, and we immediately called for a ceasefire. We could have never expected someone like you to show up to the Helios Belt." – the alien spoke, in reference to the asteroid belt orbiting that star.
"They wouldn't stop until I told them you were on board." – Steven whispered in his ear.
"These Ygroy, they're like, your enemy?" – Ben asked them.
"Yes. Us Gashal have been at war with them for longer than we have records of. Your ship flew in from the 45 degree longitude of the asteroid belt, which marks the border between our and their sections of the belt, so you must understand…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." – Ben impatiently waved it off. "I just want to ask you something. I've seen civilizations that were aspiring to build themselves up and prepare for war, or in the process of attacking another planet, or secretly plotting to start one… what could POSSIBLY be driving you and these Ygroy to relentlessly fire missiles at each other? What would you have to lose if you were to simply stop?" – he ranted on at these random aliens.
"You must understand, Ben Tennyson, we are-"
"You are merely defending yourselves, sure. Haven't heard that one a million times over. So you mean to tell me that if we fly over to the other side and ask them for their reasoning, they won't give me the same old story?"
The alien paused, looking at Ben nervously. Others whispered among each other. Seven gave Ben a nervous look, while Albedo impatiently rolled his eyes.
"I'm afraid they will." – the Gashal alien spoke. "The conflict started so long that neither side truly remembers why or how or by whom it started, but it's gone too far for it to ever stop."
"Well, why not?!" – Ben yelled loudly.
"The other side will merely stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in times of peace, as will we. After a certain point, the amount of their firepower will be enough to wipe our entire civilization off the Helios Belt. And any minor spark could prompt them to unleash all of it on us. Even if we stockpile missiles ourselves…"
"…which you indubitably will…" – Ben interjected.
"…that wouldn't be enough to stop an incident from arising. So, these minor confrontations are necessary to save both of our races from getting wiped out." – the Gashal finished.
"Ughhhhh…" – Ben groaned in annoyance as he facepalmed.
"I don't suppose getting your leaders to sign a treaty would prevent that, right?" – Steven chipped in, but didn't really have high hopes.
"No, no. I've tried that already." – Ben answered it for them. "They never listen. A little girl once sent me a transmission, asking me to stop a war on her home planet. A nonsensical and unending war from both sides, about which race did their historical figure belong to. And no matter how I tried, all they wanted was war, war, war. I even tried kidnapping their leaders in a cave to force them to sign a treaty, and they still didn't listen!" – he ranted on.
"You did WHAT?!" – Steven yelled in shock. Albedo just laughed.
"I'll admit, that was not my finest hour. But you know how it is out there, Steven. The cerebrocrustaceans. The fulmini. They won't stop without the fear of someone else forcing them to with violence!"
"You idiot." – Albedo commented with the usual amount of snark. "If you want them to stop firing missiles at each other all you have to do is cut off their missile supply."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea." – Ben realized. "Where do you and these Ygroy get your weapons? Do you manufacture them by yourselves?"
The alien officer seemed reluctant to answer.
"Well?" – Ben asked impatiently, somewhat intimidating them to fess up.
"We buy most of our weaponry from the Lursit Manufacturing!" – the alien yelled. "As far as we're aware, so are the Ygroy. They're the suppliers for weapons all over the galaxy!"
"Alright. Steven, Albedo, get in the car. We're giving this corporation a little visit."
"Wait, Tennyson, you're serious about this?" – Albedo said, shocked. "I was merely kidding!"
"Are you sure about this?" – Steven looked at Ben, surprised at his determination.
"Never been more sure."
"At least let me use the lavatory on here before we leave!" – Albedo yelled.
The Star Skipper II was cruising through space once again, stars zooming past them at light speed.
"I, for the record, am against this pointless detour." – Albedo grumpily commented. "The longer it takes us to do… whatever half-cocked Tennyson has in mind that's just bound to go wrong, the longer am I stuck in this… hideous form."
"Oh, shut up, Albedo. There's more important problems in the universe." – Steven yelled, annoyed. Then he looked over at Ben, who still seemed determined. Steven agreed with him, of course, that war needed to stop, but he didn't expect Ben to get so serious about it. From the conversations he had with Ben at the beginning of the trip. Ben once mentioned a baby-eating tyrant named Jerrod in passing-by. Ben said that he broke all his teeth and threatened to knit a sweater out of his entrails or something like that, with Rath speaking, but the way Ben talked about it in hindsight it was like he didn't even care all that much. That seemed to have changed.
"We're at the planet Lursit." – Ben said as he pulled out of hyperdrive. "Something seems familiar about that planet." – he added. "I think I've been on this one before. I don't remember any manufacturing companies, though."
The planet seemed like it was covered in deserts, completely yellow with no bodies of water visible from space. Didn't exactly seem all that habitable.
"I bet we're about to get shot at again. Tennyson, prepare your force field." – Albedo commanded from the backseat. Ben didn't really listen, but kept that in consideration.
As the Star Skipper entered the atmosphere and the terrain was more distinguishable, Ben noticed two civilizations. One of the two cities was painted completely blue. The other was in red. And between those cities was a colossal statue, though, under construction.
"Oh..." – Ben said, astounded. "I have been here before. It's that stupid planet with the stupid war that I mentioned earlier."
"The one where you attempted political blackmail?" – Albedo sneeringly asked him.
"Yeah, that was Lursit, huh." – Ben said.
"They don't seem to be at war this time." – Steven pointed out. No explosions came towards their ship, and not even the Red and Blue cities seemed to be in conflict.
"Do we land at the capitol and see how it is down there?" – Steven asked.
"I'd rather not. If I see those leaders again, I might drag them by the mustaches. Plus, the only thing that actually got the fighting sides to stop was their combined hatred of me when I accidentally wrecked the big statue."
Albedo laughed again.
"I guess we head straight for that Lursit Manufacturing, then." – they said as the Star Skipper flew over the twin cities that were once at war.
Beyond the desert, the factory soon revealed itself. The facility was massive in size, the total area of it that was marked off by its fences seemed to be even larger than the Red and Blue cities combined. There was one major building in the center, while other, smaller sub-factories were rowed up and down. Trucks were busily zooming in-between the buildings and delivering cargo to the hangars, from which now space-faring vehicles carried the manufactured weaponry to all over the cosmos.
"So you think we should just knock the front door?" – Ben jovially asked Steven, breaking from his serious streak. Though, that was probably his way to let steam off.
"This is private property. You are not authorized to enter." – a bullhorn from the gate voiced, directed at them.
"We're here to see whoever's in charge." – Ben announced over the intercom.
"Turn back now." – the bullhorn ignored him. Though, Ben ignored the warning as well, and headed straight for the biggest building, which was probably the main one.
An anti-air missile was shot at them, but this time, Ben was ready. He activated the bubble before it hit, and got ready for more. If this was truly the largest weapon manufacturer in the galaxy, they would have plenty more to spare.
And more they came. Though, Ben tanked them all. Though, this time, he really took a strain, and for a second, he couldn't focus on controlling the ship. Each hit took a toll on his body, and especially on his concentration, which was already split between steering the ship and projecting the bubble. Though, soon enough, they touched the ground, right next to the main building. But, as soon as they got out of the car, a dozen lursitvels had surrounded the car, with guns all pointing right at them. They were short and round, with military gear on that covered them head to toe. The combat gear was painted purple, so it was impossible to tell their race by looking, as not even an inch of skin was visible. Even their faces were obstructed by gas masks that obstructed, even though it didn't seem necessary at the moment. Well, Gutrot was probably ruled out.
"Alright, guys, what's the problem here?" – Ben said as he got out. "I'm Ben Tennyson. I've even been to your planet before."
"We're aware." – one of the lursitvel guards answered, his voice somewhat obscured by his gas mask.
"Now you must be happy you look like me and not Ben, right?" – Steven whispered down to Albedo.
"What's the point? I'm still going to get executed by a firing squad just for association with you." – Albedo whispered back. "I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THESE TWO! THEY KIDNAPPED ME, AN EARTH CHILD!" – he yelled to the lursitvels in the most innocent Steven voice he could, but they didn't seem to care.
"Open fire!" – one of them commanded, and indeed, they did.
Ben put the bubble up again, already having gotten used to it, which gave Steven enough time to use his gem to transform into an alien. Considering the fact that he couldn't clearly tell the aliens by their holograms (not to mention he didn't know some of them at all, as Ben had like 70) he took a leaf out of Ben's book and transformed at random.
"Ooh! Who's this one?" – an electrifying voice echoed in the bubble.
"Hey, you got my favorite one!" – Ben pointed out. "You're feedback!"
"The conductoid is, in fact, my least favorite one." – Albedo pointed out, even though no one asked.
"Just point your tendrils forward and absorb all the energy with them!" – Ben advised. That was a pretty straightforward toolkit to work with, but that was what Ben always liked about Feedback. He was simple, but still awesome.
"Okay, word of advice, anyone that tries something will have their own energy redirected back at them." – Steven warned the factory guards as Ben put down the shield. "Any takers?"
The lursitvels looked at each other, then fired a laser gun at him anyway. Steven followed Ben's advice and absorbed it. That did, in fact, give him a power boost. He felt great. And now he could unleash it back on them…
Though, he held back on the destructive power. All in all, they were trespassing, and these people were just doing their job. No need to hurt them too badly.
On the other side, other guards were firing lasers at Ben, but this time, Ben conjured up the Omnitrix shield instead of the bubble. It covered less area, but was more durable, easy to direct and even reflected the shots accurately back at the attackers.
"Look out, you imbeciles!" – the two of them heard Albedo yell as a truck pulled up. This one wasn't a cargo truck, but a military vehicle armed with a missile launcher. That wasn't really something Feedback could deflect.
"I've got that one!" – Ben told him and him and Steven, while back to back, turned around, and swapped Feedback's tendrils for Ben's shield, which absorbed the full impact of the rocket.
"Anything else you wanna throw at us?" – he cockily asked, then let the shield dissipate and conjured smaller versions of the gem bubble around his hands. "Always wanted to use this move." – he told Steven as he ran up to the lursitvels and hit them with the bubble knuckles. One good punch was good enough to send them flying and knock them out of commission.
"Enough of this." – a new voice spoke. A female one, and not obscured by the voice of a gas mask. The three of them looked, and a young lursitvel woman stepped out of the factory building. She was taller than any of the guards, and visibly of the blue race, unlike the ambiguous guards. She had a stern, permanent frown etched into her face, one bordering between disdain and disgust. And she was also clearly the person who managed things around the factory. Accompanying the woman was some sort of large alien creature the size of a rhino, with four bulging eyes.
"So, Ben Tennyson, you finally returned to our homely little war-torn planet." – the woman spoke with disdain in her voice. "How nice of you to visit, after ruining everything."
"I don't know who you are, lady, but I didn't "ruin" anything. All I tried was to fix a stupid war that your people didn't seem to want to stop."
"But all you did was make things worse, then give up and leave, letting the rest of us suffer." – she told him.
"Hey, all I wanted was to accomplish a little girl's dream of a world without war. I was immature back then, and didn't realize that it would be basically impossible." – Ben defended himself.
"And yet, turns out, it was possible. Look around you. Did your ship get attacked by anti-air missiles when you descended on the planet? Were the Red and Blue cities laid half to waste as you flew over them? A Lursit without war was, indeed, possible. That little girl just had to make it happen by herself." – she angrily ranted at Ben.
"Wait a second…" – Ben interrupted. "What did you say your name was again?"
"So, you finally recognized me, Ben Tennyson."
"It… it can't be." – Ben said, astounded. "You… you're that little girl! You're Probity!"