Hi everyone. Here is the update of the story. Remeber, be easy with me, i'm just middle english speaker, my native language is Spanish. I hope you enjoy this part. Sorry for the long time to wait :D
Albedo had been flying for about an hour as an Aerophibian. While in the air, he could already see the town; the lights and the towering buildings. Despite it being late at night, people were still moving around.
As an Aerophibian, he lowered his flight speed and touched the symbol on his device, which showed the registered location. It didn't take long for him to land and change into his human form. He found himself in a somewhat secluded place. In front of him stood a rustic building. He had seen such buildings; it looked like a place that housed knowledge or sought it out by humans.
The building was clearly sealed; it was a matter of entering quietly and looking for clues. He walked slowly, observing, and once he was close enough, he transformed into a Necrophibian. He became intangible and entered. Sure enough, once inside, he found what appeared to be exhibits, quite simple from his perspective, but what else could he expect? He was in human territory. "Is this a museum?" he wondered. Anyway, it didn't matter.
He detransformed and walked among them. Some of them looked hundreds of years old. He smiled in his thoughts. A hundred years... too long for humans, while for his species it was something so insignificant. A century-old Galvanian was barely entering puberty. What memories: Under the protection of his caretakers, strict training, and little, if any, leisure time. A strict upbringing, controlled and constantly monitored. Perhaps humans should submit to something similar, and only then would they evolve a little further, making their miserable minds more capable of serving other, less inferior species.
He placed his hands in his pockets and walked calmly among the exhibits. There were relics, paintings, and artifacts. He slowly read the descriptions of some of them in front of him. He stopped at one that looked like some kind of model of a transport... Was this something worth presenting? Ridiculous… He walked and walked until he saw something in the distance that seriously caught his attention. He went straight, captivated, toward a particular exhibit, one in a corner. "Could it be…?" He said, placing a hand on the glass that isolated him, instantly triggering an alarm.
"I never thought humans had security systems," he thought as he slowly backed away until he bumped into something behind him.
"You shouldn't be here, boy," Albedo turned to look at the person who had spoken to him… It was a knight, precisely one of those he saw on the news.
A human male wearing armor that looked quite advanced for Earth people. The knight drew his sword and threatened him with it.
"Stay away from the Undedosk," the knight said.
Hmmm, he knew there was something familiar about that relic. Undedosks were a type of technology from the planet Arachna. They weren't the most sophisticated in the universe, but he certainly didn't expect to find something like that in a museum on Earth.
"I'm warning you, kid, I'll count to three for your answer and..." He was interrupted when he was pinned to a wall by an Albedo transformed into a Vaxasaurian.
"NO, listen to me. Where is the Earthling known as Ben 10?" Albedo asked authoritatively.
The knight sneered. "You're crazy..." He quickly slashed at the knight's arm with his sword. He was surprised to see that he only inflicted a superficial wound; Albedo didn't even flinch at the slight pain he felt. Young Galvan picked him up and threw him away, to the other side of the room. The knight hit himself very hard, but thanks to his armor, he didn't suffer any worse damage. His helmet fell to the ground and he slowly stood up. When he regained consciousness, he saw the Vaxasaurus lunge at him, breaking through what remained of the wall.
"Tell me, where is he?" Albedo asked.
The knight was confused by everything. Wasn't this the juvenile phenomenon? He struggled to get away, but he wouldn't answer any of the questions.
Albedo was about to end his life when other knights arrived on the scene.
"HELP, HELP!" the poor man screamed.
Albedo gritted his teeth, let go, and began to fight the others aggressively. In a flash, Albedo realized and confirmed that this wasn't Earth technology; these men had something special.
From Vaxasaurian, he changed into Sonorosian form. He quickly multiplied and made a sonic bomb. Just as they had arrived, they had fallen in a matter of seconds.
Albedo detransformed and walked toward one who was still conscious and slowly crawling away. She placed a foot on him, pressing down on him. "Filthy humans, tell me." "Where's Ben Tennyson?"
The knight, with what little strength he had, began to laugh.
Albedo pressed down harder and clenched his fists. His patience was at an end, but... he had to calm his anger. If he killed him, he wouldn't get the information he was seeking. He didn't speak to him and just sighed. He took something small out of his pocket and threw it at the knight. He was startled. "What is this?!" He was about to pull it back, but almost instantly, the object sprouted small extensions like insect limbs and embedded itself in his skin.
Albedo left the place, amidst the knight's vociferous curses, which he didn't pay attention to; that was just a kicking and screaming. He would leave, but not before taking the relic he had seen earlier.
Albedo walked through the silent streets. It wasn't dawn yet, but it had been a long night for him. So many things happened in such a short time.
There wasn't much traffic; one or two could be seen, and they seemed to be driven by young humans, probably immature teenagers. They moved recklessly, and two even nearly collided.
"These humans are crazy! Haven't they seen their wretched bodies?" Albedo thought as he remembered how vulnerable and fragile he was now.
The night was cold. He was still wearing the clothes Mrs. Marta had given him. It was comfortable, but it didn't quite fit the local area. If he wanted to find Ben, he'd have to blend in with the locals. The nighttime hours didn't make that a priority, though. Now he had to find a place to settle down.
Walking, he came across an alley that seemed uninhabited. Curious, he took a few steps forward. It was quiet and peaceful. "I can adapt this area"- he thought.
It was a somewhat dirty place; there were food scraps, broken glass bottles, and garbage bags everywhere. The important thing for Albedo was that there was no unpleasant human presence. There were buildings rising around it; it seemed like a communal dumping ground.
To his right was a fire escape; he could settle under it for the time being. He moved a trash can out of the way, making room. There, he sat on the ground and took the stolen museum device out of his pocket. He looked at it carefully; he could get something out of this, something useful. He was thinking about this when a few drops of water began to fall, pulling him out of his thoughts.
The Galvans loved humidity; like amphibians, this was a way to cool off and relax. Their blood pressure was regulated by this method, and their minds cleared. Albedo sighed and stepped further into the center of the alley where he could get better wet. He looked up, welcoming the rain with his arms raised and open. The water crashing and spilling over his face felt good... but something started to feel different? His hair was all wet, along with his clothes. He started to feel quite cold, even worse than the one he'd felt on the ship. It wasn't pleasant anymore; it was uncomfortable. He needed shelter from the rain; for a moment he forgot about it, but he was no longer a Galvan.
He looked around and saw nothing. He looked up at the buildings; all the windows were closed. What now? Suddenly, a window opened, and a glass bottle was thrown, almost hitting him on the head. Without thinking much, he took advantage of the open window and, as a Necrofriggian, flew in.
The place was dark, except for a few lights coming from simple structures made of what appeared to be wax. Wasn't there something as simple as electricity? There were people there, some with little or no clothing, or dirty and torn clothing, their physical condition below what was healthy.
The people were astonished by what they were seeing. What the hell was that? One even thought that whatever he was consuming had poisoned him.
Albedo opened his wings and began to blow out a bit of cold breath, causing these people to flee as quickly as possible. Perfect, now he had a place to stay.
The place was dirty, with lots of things on the floor: bottles, cigarettes, strange smells, and so on. He knew that the people he had found there were homeless, humans without resources, malnourished, and probably without family. On his planet, it was impossible to see a Galvan in those conditions; they always sought the best quality of life, even for those "abandoned." There was always work to be done, and the simplest thing was to find a production site for a being as intelligent and capable as a Galvan. This made him a little sad, but what else could he expect from a miserable species like humans?
About an hour had passed, and the rain continued to fall outside. It wasn't customary for the Galvans to remove excess moisture after getting wet; they usually let it absorb into their skin along with oxygen. Out of habit, he hadn't removed his clothes or dried himself; he was quite cold and didn't know how to proceed.
In a short time, he managed to establish electrical power, and with some old, damaged appliances that were in place, he managed to improvise creations for his needs. From a Galvan's point of view, they were very "simple" creations.
He tried to calm himself; he couldn't forget the fact that he was very cold, but now he had to concentrate. Now, with his improvisations, he had a screen. He sighed and sat down, turning it on. It worked perfectly; for him, it was something extremely simple, but it really worked for his needs.
Calmly, he began to process the robotic device he implanted in the knight he left conscious. It was a tracker. He only hoped the knight was still alive, or at least had been able to stand and move around.
Luckily for him, the knight was in a different location than where he'd left him. The spot was marked outside the town, possibly in another of his castles. He knew these men would guide him to his goal.
Albedo was startled by a strong shiver running through his entire body. He opened his eyes, and there was a bright light dazzling him. He raised a hand and placed it in front of him to cover himself. He was on the ground, right next to one of his tracking devices. He hadn't realized it, but he'd fallen asleep again from exhaustion. Not only that, but judging by the light coming in, it was already daytime. How long had he been asleep?
It took him a few seconds to realize everything; he was still regaining consciousness when... THE SIGNAL. He quickly focused on the screen, and luckily for him, the trail was still there. He couldn't waste any more time, or he risked failing.
He transformed into an Aerophibian and was about to fly in the marked direction, but... everything started spinning around him. Suddenly, he tripped and narrowly fell to the ground. "What's wrong with me?" He detransformed and began to think: Despite having gone a good few hours without food or water, this didn't justify his feelings. He remembered the wound; without thinking, he exposed it, and it had already healed; it didn't look infected. However, the amount of blood he'd lost during the process crossed his mind.
This could be a response to his feeling when... "COF COF" he began to cough violently. Oh no! Now he saw it clearly. He was a human... a human who wasn't immune. He was exposed to everything. He fell to the ground, began to crawl backward, and was panicking. IT CAN'T BE! He must have contracted something; he just hoped it wasn't fatal. He didn't know what to do, or who to turn to. The local medical centers, if they could even be called that, were pathetically simple. Humans lacked much to learn; in fact, he was surprised this species had proliferated so much. He began to sob a little, wrapping his arms around his legs as he felt his skin. It was warm, even more so than it should be for a human. Fear and frustration flooded through him, and now he began to cry.
He was weak; he'd cried a lot. It was time to refocus on his objective; he had to return to his form as soon as possible. Slowly, he got off the ground; it was time to move on. He transformed back into an Aerophibian and flew.
It took him approximately 10 minutes to reach the site. Sure enough, he was right; the destination turned out to be another of these knights' castles.
He started walking and was about to go inside, but then he thought... he had to be discreet; he was too weak for a confrontation. Even with his arrogance and ego, he knew his limits. He directed his gaze to his chest, where the symbol of his creation was, touched it, and in an instant, he transformed from an Aerofibian into a Polimorph. This species was versatile enough to infiltrate without attracting attention.
He passed through some pipes and entered the castle without attracting the attention of the castle's first line of defense, the guards. Once inside, with his copy of the Omnitrix, he pinpointed the knight's exact location. He pressed himself against the ceiling and began to move silently. Little by little, he was getting closer and closer to the center. He came to a staircase; going down it would be right in front of the locator. He returned to his human form and went down silently.
He was there. Fortunately for him, he was in what appeared to be some sort of infirmary. On one side was a human not wearing armor, but a white garment. He wasn't sure, but it reminded him of the universal type of clothing worn by doctors, a little less sophisticated than those on his planet, but still enough to recognize him.
There were several stretchers, and on one of them was the knight he had embedded with the locator. He was being treated; he had undoubtedly hit him hard.
At this point, he couldn't be too aggressive, or he wouldn't get what he wanted. He slowly approached, not drawing attention to himself, but not hiding either. It was then that the wounded knight saw him and began to scream.
"IT'S HIM, THAT DAMN BEN TENNYSON!" said the knight, rising from the stretcher to the point of almost falling off it.
The doctor was alerted and looked in the direction his patient was pointing, but before he could do anything, Albedo was there, in front of him. His hand was on the dial of her Omnitrix.
"Be very careful what you do or who you call," and then he directed her cold gaze at the knight on the stretcher who was still screaming. "As for you, shut up, or I'll finish what I started."
Albedo didn't add anything else; he lay down on his back on one of the stretchers, right next to the poor, wounded knight. Despite not alerting anyone, his breathing and condition were quite agitated.
The doctor approached Albedo, a little fearful, swallowed hard, and steeled himself.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
Albedo didn't He flustered, maintaining his serious and arrogant posture. "I want you to diagnose and treat me," he said.
Without thinking, the doctor approached him and began a quick physical examination. The first thing he noticed was the pallor of Albedo's skin and her temperature just by touch. With one hand, he called a floating device that was placed on his head and began a scan, then moved to his feet. In front of them was a screen, and there appeared Albedo's body. Her temperature was 40 degrees Celsius, her red blood cell percentage was severely low, and her immune cells were elevated. He had a patient with significant anemia who was also suffering from an infectious process.
Albedo had his eyes closed, but he was still focused on everything. He didn't pay attention to the results; he just lay there quietly, truly feeling ill. He was a little dizzy when he felt a sharp pain in his arm that made him open his eyes and look. The doctor was inserting some kind of IV into his arm filled with blood.
"What are you doing, human?" Albedo asked somewhat angrily.
"I must give you a transfusion before continuing with the other tests. If you're not treated, you could die of hypovolemic shock."
"LET HIM DIE, LET HIM DIE!" the knight on the stretcher yelled.
Albedo didn't even look at him; He tried to ignore him, but his physical expression showed that his patience was running out. The doctor sensed it immediately; without saying a word, he went and got a sedative. He didn't think twice about administering it to his agitated patient.
Now there was silence again, which finally calmed Albedo. She sighed and calmed down a little, concentrating on what was happening at the moment. "What's the matter? They're injecting disgusting human blood into my body," Albedo thought.
The doctor noticed Albedo's feeling and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I sense your displeasure. Don't worry. It's artificial blood. It doesn't have antigens that react with it or generate antibodies, despite its color. It only contains what's necessary to recover patients in your condition," he said in a calm voice.
Albedo didn't comment; he sighed again, closed his eyes, and tried to relax. Whether he liked the way he was being treated or not, it was to safeguard his life, and that was what he needed.
About an hour had passed, and he was feeling a little better. During all this time, the doctor was monitoring him and administering medication through another IV. Albedo had apparently contracted a viral infection that had become complicated with a bacterial infection. Luckily for him, the medical clinic had good, fast-acting antibiotics; it would still take days to fully recover.
Albedo was falling asleep again, but he couldn't do it, not in this place. He knew they would kill him as soon as they could. He was always attentive to what the doctor was administering, lest he end up defenseless and vulnerable like his companion beside him.
"Very clever, the tracker," the doctor commented, breaking the silence and turning his back on Albedo.
Albedo pretended to be ignorant, but he knew very well what he was referring to. He had found the small device embedded under the knight's skin. Young Galvan didn't respond to her.
"I know you're not the boy everyone is looking for. Who are you really, and why have you become that child? It's clear there's more to you than that arrogant and proud shell you present. Fear, perhaps? Or…" He was interrupted. "How long until I can get up from here?" Albedo asked, somewhat annoyed.
The doctor smiled a little nervously. "It's not that easy. You've only been here for an hour," he commented. Albedo frowned. He already knew his diagnosis, and it was something that would have been resolved on her planet, but that's the detail… he was still on human ground.
Now that all the blood he needed had been injected, the doctor proceeded to remove the IV. Albedo felt much better; his fever was gone, he felt livelier and stronger, and his color had returned. He felt more like... himself.
After the IV was removed, he sat down on the stretcher and began to remove the other IVs himself, where the solutions and medications were being injected.
"What are you doing?" the doctor said uncertainly.
Albedo didn't look at him; she continued removing everything. "That's enough. I have a quest to complete," -he said, expressing no emotion.
"You're not ready yet. We must continue treating the infection!" -the doctor commented, somewhat alarmed.
Albedo, once again, didn't respond immediately; he just looked at him and quickly transformed into a Methanosian. The doctor became frightened and was about to run away, when Albedo grew some branches that wrapped around him.
The doctor, panicking, tried to get away, but was unsuccessful. Albedo made a motion with his hands that caused the vine to grow and move toward him, bringing the doctor face to face.
"Give me the medication I need," Albedo said in a cold voice. The doctor continued to resist. "No... you... don't understand, you still need treatment, you're still in poor health."
Albedo said nothing; he continued with his same attitude, only giving the doctor an angry look. The doctor understood; he wouldn't convince him... "Okay, take those syringes on the table. You must inject them every morning for three days straight. I'm not responsible for what happens to you." Albedo, without letting go, extended a branch and took the syringes to store them, then looked at him.
"I'll let you live just because you helped me." The doctor calmed down, thinking that Albedo would just let him go, but instead, he threw some kind of seed at him that gave off a bluish gas, causing the doctor to fall unconscious.
Albedo detransformed. Once back as a human, before leaving, he approached the doctor, remembering what he'd told his about his emotions. He swallowed, clenched his fists, and sighed. It wasn't time to think about that; he had a quest to pursue.
He continued searching inside the knights' castle, and there he found something that caught his attention: some clothing. It was a green jacket with a number 10 on the left side, a black t-shirt, and jeans. It caught his attention. The clothes that Mrs. Marta had provided to him had been comfortable at the time, but the dampness and sweat from his body had caused a bad smell. He made sure no one was watching and proceeded to change.
He had already changed. He didn't comment on it, and he wouldn't admit it either, but he liked the style. He wondered how that kind of clothing was hidden well in that castle; with these knights, it didn't seem like something they would wear. Well, never mind.
He continued walking until he came across a group of knights. He hid behind a wall; luckily, they hadn't seen him. They were joking and chatting among themselves. They didn't seem to be on duty.
"Hey, did you hear the gossip? Norbert's wife kicked him out of the house just because he didn't remember the anniversary," said one of the knights.
Everyone laughed.
"Norbert arrived that day asking if he could stay the night here. Sir Lancelot didn't answer him; he just led him out of the castle.
Again, everyone laughed.
"He must have slept under a bridge in his armor."
…
Albedo took advantage of their distraction and transformed into a Sonorosian, scattering them into the air with a powerful sound wave. She walked among them. "Enough with the chatter. Where is the human named Ben Tennyson?"
The knights began to slowly rise from the ground. They looked at each other in confusion, but it wasn't time to chat; they had a problem at hand. They all drew weapons from their belts and pointed them at him.
He had already been through this at the previous castle, but he shouldn't destroy this one, not without getting what he wanted. "So no one will say anything, huh?" "Well, I guess you guys are of no use to me" Albedo said.
He used another sonic wave powerful enough to shatter the armor of some of the knights and send them flying. They all fell unconscious.
Albedo detransformed in disappointment. It had been a quick thing to do, but there were still no answers.
He proceeded to continue calmly, as they were no threat to him. When he passed an untouched table, something made his stomach rumble. It was food! It was still warm, so it was fresh. He approached. He didn't like the smell, but he was hungry. He took a bite, chewed hesitantly when... WOW. It was quite fatty, a mix of flavors, the meat had a strong taste, it was simply delicious. Something gave him a feeling, the hint of spice reminded him of Mrs. Marta's cooking, and that was the touch that finally "made him fall in love." He picked up the box it came in and read what was on it: "Burger Shack." Interesting name. He left while kept eating.
In his search, he came across computers, just what he needed. No one seemed to be watching, even better.
He ran toward them and began compiling the information they had. Wow, these guys had a lot of alien data. What kind of humans were these? He thought. He kept digging to see if she could find anything, and it didn't take long for her to stumble upon information on Ben Tennyson. The knights had compilations about him, they'd investigated him. He started reading what they had and there she saw an image, He couldn't believe it. In surprise, He took a couple of steps back and looked at himself from head to toe. He couldn't believe it; the clothes he was wearing were the same as the young human's. Now it made sense to her that he was in the castle. He continued digging when...
"Stop right there," a voice was heard. Albedo looked in its direction; it was more knights.
"You've made many mistakes, Benjamin, but coming to one of our castles will be the last," said a different knight. This one didn't wear a helmet. Perhaps he was some kind of authority figure there, but that didn't matter.
Albedo was already growing tired of these guys. He frowned and sighed. Here we go again...
The view showed the castle completely destroyed and in flames. Albedo emerged without any problems; he had made a lot of progress, but he still didn't know the exact location of the human teenager.
Now, he had gathered information on the location of the various castles of these knights. If necessary, he would visit them one by one to obtain what he wanted.