High above Earth the Chimeran Hammer continued its vigil, as a pair of drones were launched Vigax watched coldly from his healing chamber.
"Launch successful sir. With the upgrades to their scanners and weapons they should easily locate, and retrieve, the Chaquetrix" a Bioid informed him.
"They may find it easily enough, but retrieving it may prove a greater challenge" Vilgax wheezed "The wielder of the Chaquetrix is clearly a tactical genius to have evaded me for so long"
At that exact moment on Earth, in a gas station store, Ben was pulling a box of cookies out of the middle of a pyramid stack. Now unbalanced, the stack toppled over onto an unamused Gwen.
"Smooth move doofus" she snarked, shoving the boxes off of her as Ben cheekily grinned back.
Exiting the store the pair found Max preparing to clean the rear window of the R.V, taking note of the "Wash me :(" written in the dirt. Raising an amused eyebrow at Ben, Max got to work.
"Feeling artsy Ben?" he joked as Ben chuckled.
The peaceful mood was shattered as a nearby truck was struck by a lance of light, the rear doors blown open in a shower of flaming metal. As our heroes watched in shock, a trio of armed thugs in biker gear advanced on the vehicle.
While two of the thugs continued to advance, pulling out large duffle bags from the truck, the leader turned their visored gaze towards them.
"What you looking at gramps?" Max had just enough time to pull Ben and Gwen to safety as they fired, wincing as he twisted his ankle on the way down.
As the shot blew a chunk out of one of the canopy pillars, Ben brought up the watch "They want a fight? Fine by me" with a pair of purple flashes, Armizon and Crystal Knight appeared.
Taking in the scene, Armizon knelt down "Hey short king, no spa treatment today?" she joked as Crystal Knight pouted. "Yeah keep rubbing that in my face why don't you"
"Sorry, I would have let all of you have a go but the staff got all weird about it…or passed out" Ben replied.
"Prudes, but I guess it takes a real man to handle us" Armizon said "Good thing we got you with us" she added as Crystal Knight winked.
"A real man?" Ben blinked before smirking "Nice to see someone notices my awesomeness"
"Enough ego stroking! Did you forget about the maniacs shooting at us with lasers?" Gwen snapped, face flushed from both anger and embarrassment.
"Hmm? Oh right" Armizon acknowledged. Rising up to her full height, she gave her fellow 'hero' a grin "Feels like overkill with us both huh?"
"True" Crystal Knight hummed "But that just means we can wrap this up quickly and have more time with our 'partner'~" Ben grinning back excitedly to hang out with his 'friends'.
Ignoring Max and Gwen's unimpressed looks the two sprinted from cover, Armizon in the lead, drawing the attention of the thieves. Their 'unique' appearance proved very distracting to their leader especially.
"What the-Rojo, what do we do?" one of the thugs asked, noting how still their leader was.
"Hot damn, check out the guns on them" she whispered, earning a confused "What?" from her partners.
"Uh-I said you got guns, use them!" she snapped, raising her rifle once more "Shame, but I'm not letting them ruin my heist"
Seeing the attacks incoming Crystal Knight glowered at the gang, shifting her arms into shields she gracefully slid in front of her partner taking the hits head on.
The criminals smirked at the direct hit but their confidence was shaken when instead of stopping the crystalline figure, the shots were reflected back at them. Throwing themselves to the side Rojo cursed as a few shots blasted apart their stolen bags, burnt dollar bills being sent into the air.
As she attempted to adjust her aim Armizon leapt over Crystal Knight before slamming back down into the ground with all four fists, the resulting shockwave knocked the gang off their feet and sent them flying back. As they hit the ground, Armizon turned back to give a pair of thumbs up to Ben and co before the pair made their way over to the downed gang.
"I knew this would be easy but I thought we'd be able to show off more you know?" Armizon said quietly, Crystal Knight nodding in agreement.
"It's a shame but like I said, now we get to spend time directly with our 'partner'~" she replied, the two sharing excited grins.
"Wonder what they're talking about?" Ben asked, watching the grinning 'heroes' make their way to the recovering criminals.
"Something I'll have to keep an eye on probably" Max sighed, Gwen looking on in sympathy.
Easily catching up to the criminals before they could crawl away the 'heroes' removed their helmets, revealing them all to be punk themed women, and lifted them up by the collars of their jackets.
As the three would-be thieves futilely struggled to break free, Rojo spotted a pair of shapes rapidly approaching from the sky.
"What the heck are those?"
Crystal Knight rolled her eyes "Oh come on! Do you really think we'll fall fo-AGH DAMMIT!" The 'hero' was sent sprawling forward as a bolt of plasma struck her in the lower back.
As all parties turned their attention to the skies, they quickly spotted the two drones as they prepared to make another pass. Dropping Rojo, Armizon threw herself in front of the failed crooks shielding them from the worst of the fire, wincing as the shots peppered her arms and chest.
While her fellow 'hero' tanked the incoming fire, Crystal Knight got back on her feet and began to fire back with volleys of crystal shards. The drones proved a greater challenge than the ones Wild-Gal faced, dodging her shots while hammering her with return fire.
With Crystal Knight's intervention allowing Armizon to shift to offense, Rojo took advantage of their distraction to attempt to gather as much of the surviving money as possible.
"Where did these (kinda hot) freaks come from? They're ruining MY heist!" she snarled, throwing away a handful of burnt notes.
"You can have it then!" her so called partners yelled, fleeing for their lives.
"Are you serious?! Fine!" she began reaching for her rifle "I'll finish this myself!"
Back with the 'heroes' Armizon slammed her hands together in a 'thunderclap', the shockwave destabilising the drones and leaving them open for Crystal Knight to strike. The shards struck true, sending the robotic menaces sprawling down towards Rojo.
As Rojo stood up to fire the drones slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to pull the trigger on reflex. Her shot went wide and struck the canopy over where the Tennysons were taking cover, the trio wisely decided to move out from under it and approach the 'heroes'.
"That was awesome!" Ben said, rushing forward to congratulate them. He slowed as he approached, noticing the marks from the drones lasers on their clothes and skin "You two ok right?"
The two 'heroes' felt a flutter in their chests, his genuine concern for them always made them smile. Even Max and Gwen had to admit they were proud of Ben for his care for their well being.
That good will quickly evaporated when the alien beauties turned to each other, with a quick glance in Ben's direction, before giving each other sly smirks.
"Hmm, I don't know. We did take a lot of hits" Armizon said, leaning down whole pressing her chest up. Crystal Knight mirrored her movements "Maybe you could help us 'check' if any were serious~"
While Max and Gwen froze at the brazen request (and the eyeful they were getting), Ben took them entirely seriously.
"Sure, I can help" he said, happy to do something for them for a change.
"Just be gentle~" Crystal Knight giggled.
"No!" Gwen shouted, before blushing as everyone turned to her "I mean, how much help could we be? We don't know anything about alien biology afterall" she nervously
"Oh don't worry" Crystal Knight replied tenderly placing her hand on Armizon's chest, the muscular beauty letting one of her hands fall to the small of Crystal Knight's back "We'll give you a 'thorough' lesson~"
The display and implications proved too much…for Max.
With his imagination running wild he fell back in a dead faint (an almost comical) nosebleed trailing blood.
Seeing Max fall back, hitting his head off the Rust Bucket, Ben and Gwen rushed to his side with the 'heroes' not far behind.
Gwen fumbled with her cell phone "H-hospital! We need an ambulance…" she was surprised when Ben rushed into the Rust Bucket before returning with Tetrax's hoverboard.
"That's not fast enough! Armizon, get grandpa" the 'hero' snapping to attention at his call "We passed the hospital on the way in, Gwen can tell you where to go"
As Armizon carried off the unconscious Max and stunned Gwen, Ben activated the hoverboard and turned to Crystal Knight "Hop on"
Climbing aboard (and pressing against him a little more than necessary), the 'hero' couldn't help but stare at him "I know this isn't the time, but seeing mast…Ben take charge like this…he really is amazing" she thought, blushing as they followed their companions.
As our heroes made their way to the hospital Rojo regained consciousness. Groaning, she attempted to push the mangled drones off her when they began to twitch. The drones were attempting to initiate an emergency repair protocol, reaching out for nearby parts…unfortunately for her, Rojo was in between the drones at that moment.
"Gah!" she screamed as wires from the drones wrapped around her, injecting the self repair nanites. Her skin turned red as it shifted and warped, razor sharp spikes growing from her arms.
As a pair of police cruisers arrived at the scene they got a front row seat to her horrifying transformation…
A short time later at the hospital, Ben and Gwen stood by Max's bedside while a doctor explained his condition.
"He's sustained a severe concussion, a minor laceration, a sprained ankle and an unusually severe nosebleed. I expect he'll be out for a few more hours"
"He'll be okay right?" Ben asked, unusually subdued much to Gwen's concern.
The doctor smiled encouragingly "Your grandfather is in remarkable shape for his age. He should be fine with some rest"
Nodding, Ben turned back to watch over Max as the doctor cleared his throat "There is just one more thing. The…women who brought your grandfather in, we have them listed as his…'partners'. Is this correct?"
"No they're mine" Ben corrected absentmindedly. The doctor's jaw drops in shock as Gwen facepalms.
"Yours….but that's-"
"AHAH, don't mind him!" Gwen cuts in with an obviously forced laugh "He copes with bad jokes, you know how it is"
The doctor's gaze flicked between the two kids before awkwardly excusing himself. Once he was gone Gwen slumped forward "Yeah that's going to be a problem. Ugh can today get any worse?"
-Meanwhile-
At a jewellery store across the city, the modified Rojo blasted open the display cases. Now a horrifying fusion of alien tech with red skin, clawed hands and shoulder mounted laser, she had easily escaped the officers who had attempted to arrest her.
Reaching into the display case she greedily snatched up a fistfull of rings, her smug grin quickly faded however as her razor sharp claws crushed the jewelry into dust.
"NO!" angry throwing the ruined rings aside "They're worthless now!" During her rant she noticed one unfortunate employee who hadn't managed to run in time.
Reaching towards her Rojo suddenly let out a pained scream, holding her head as a sinister voice seemed to speak directly into her mind.
"Once again 'my' technology has been defiled by one of you primitives" it said, dripping with disdain.
"S-screw you!" Rojo spat out, falling to her knees as the pressure in her head increased "Who…are you? How are you in…my head?"
"Be mindful of how you address your superiors human" it replied, spitting the word human as if it were a curse "You now possess power far beyond your meager imagination, yet you squander it's potential! But if you carry out my will, I will teach you how to master it"
Rojo gasped as her vision was replaced with a projection of a squid faced creature, its cold, hateful gaze made her shiver "What…what do you want from me?"
"You will retrieve a piece of valuable technology that was stolen from me. Do NOT underestimate your target, they are surely the most cunning and ruthless being on your miserable planet"
Back at the hospital, Ben scrolled through the Chaquetrix idly. Noticing this Gwen sat beside him.
"You keep playing with that, and grandpa might wake up just to tell you to knock it off" she joked, her weak grin falling as Ben failed to react "He'll be fine Ben"
"I just…maybe if I got Ultra-T and Cerebra to modify the machines it could…I don't know, make him better" he admitted quietly.
"Ben…" reaching out for her cousin, a sudden crash from outside made them jump.
Sharing a worried look, Ben snatched up the hoverboard as they threw open the door and entered the hallway. Stepping out they spotted Rojo rising back to her feet down the hallway, a broken window behind her.
Her gaze snapped towards them, mechanical eyes narrowing on Ben as her shoulder weapons unfolded.
"Give me the Chaquetrix!" she yelled, weapons glowing red as they prepared to fire.
"Seriously, again?!" Ben/Gwen thought, throwing themselves to the ground as Rojo blasted the wall beside them.
As they got shakily to their feet, Ben stared thoughtfully at the hole leading outside as Rojo began to advance.
"That was your only warning, hand it over kid" she growled "You've got nowhere to run"
"Wanna bet?" activating the hoverboard, Ben grabbed Gwen as he dove outside. Gwen screamed in surprise as they flew down towards the ground.
Caught off guard at the insane move, Rojo wasted precious seconds before following, dropping out of the window with a 'superhero' landing. Returning to her feet she cast a glance around the area, finding nothing but a row of ambulances and some staff cars.
Behind the ambulances, Ben crouched on the hoverboard with Gwen still clinging to his arm. Turning slightly to face her, he flinched at her glare.
"Why was your go-to plan jumping out the window?" she whispered angrily.
"It worked didn't it?" he whispered back, peeking around the side of the ambulance to keep an eye on their pursuer.
"Unbelievable" she muttered "Nevermind. Shouldn't you hurry up and summon some (ugh) 'heroes' already?"
As Ben went to activate the watch, the hum of Rojo's weapons charging caught their attention.
Rojo paced along the row of ambulances "Come on out brats, we can do this the easy way" noticing the cliff overlooking the hospital she smirked sadistically "Or the hard way!"
Firing at the cliff top she took flight as a wave of rocks began tumbling down, the drone's thrusters forming out of her back as she moved to safer ground. Seeing the approaching threat Ben slammed the dial down.
"Come on Armizon!" the flashed faded to reveal Heart's Fire, panicking Ben slammed the dial a second time…and summoned Ripjaws.
"Uh, you two have got this right?" Gwen asked nervously, watching as the boulders continued to fall.
"Totally." Heart's Fire said confidently before leaning in towards Ripjaws and whispering "Be ready to run"
Charging up a fireball, Heart's Fire unleashed it at the tide of rocks….and doing little more than setting them alight.
Ripjaws' legs tensed "You have a plan B?"
"Not really" she admitted with an inappropriate amount of confidence.
"If you can't melt the rocks…Heart's Fire, aim for the ambulances!" Ben yelled, a plan forming in his mind.
As Ripjaws vaulted over the ambulance and Ben steered the hoverboard higher, Heart's Fire unleashed another wave of flames at the vehicles.
As they melted into a makeshift wall the 'hero' launched herself clear as the rocks reached the bottom, slamming into the metal wall they were diverted away down the ravine road.
As the four regrouped, Heart's Fire planted her hands on her hips triumphantly "See, totally had it covered"
"What about them?" Gwen asked, pointing down the hill at a group of construction workers on the other side of a river bridge, unaware of the approaching flaming boulders.
"We'll try to get them clear, you two try to stop the rocks" Ben said, flying off to warn the workmen.
As Heart's Fire slid down the ravine attempting to get ahead of the disaster, Ripjaws noticed Rojo fly overhead towards Ben.
Snarling, she sprinted forward before launching herself into the air. Managing to tackle the gang leader out of the air, the two grappled as they plummeted towards the river below.
With Rojo occupied, Heart's Fire was free to focus on stopping the boulders. Seeing that they had almost reached the bridge she aimed a blast of fire at her own feet "Well when in doubt…"
Shooting up like a living missile until she was over the bridge. Aiming down she charged another shot "...blow stuff up!"
In the river Rojo cried out as Ripjaws made another pass, claws raking across her metallic skin. Firing wildly, her lasers boiled the water in their path but couldn't catch the aquatic 'hero' in her element. As one blast tried up a cloud of mud from the riverbed Rojo's robotic eyes switched to thermal tracking, unfortunately all this achieved was letting her see Ripjaws' gaping maw lunge towards her…
As the 'heroes' acted Ben and Gwen hovered over the startled work crew "You need to move back now!" Gwen yelled, the workers following her frantic pointing towards the flaming landslide.
As the crew scrambled to clear the way, an intense light above them caught their attention. Looking up they quickly had to cover their eyes as the light shot down, carving the bridge in two with a focused beam of fire. Weakened, the bridge collapsed as the first boulders reached it, sending them tumbling harmlessly into the river.
Gaping at the sudden destruction the crew was shocked out of their stupor as Heart's Fire landed in a classic superhero landing, triumphantly rising to her feet as the worker's gaze very quickly went from her flames to her figure.
"She did it" he cheered, casting a relieved look at the gawking workers "Wow they're looking at her pretty intensely. Heh, I get it. It did look super cool"
"I don't think you do" Gwen snarked, Heart's Fire ignoring their stares as she grinned happily up at Ben.
"Wait" Ben said, looking around in confusion "Where's Ripjaws?"
As if in response the river erupted as two figures flew out, landing on the street beside them. Even Heart's Fire was caught off guard at the sight, Rojo flailing as Ripjaws held her in her..well jaws.
With a sudden jerk of her head Ripjaws tossed the cyborg biker away, Rojo punching through the tanker of an oil truck down the road.
As Ripjaws made a show of brushing a few stray droplets off her chest while subtly glancing in Ben's direction. The sound of wrenching metal drew everyone's attention away from the two alien beauties as Rojo attempted to free herself from the tanker. Spotting a trail of oil leading away from the truck, Heart's Fire smirked before creating a small spark.
As Rojo took one step out of the tanker she spotted Heart's Fire holding up a flaming hand, noticing the 'hero's' smirk as she dropped it onto a trail of oil in front of her. Following its path Rojo's eyes flashed in panic and anger.
"Oh you bi-" her curse was drowned out as the tanker detonated, sending her flying away, her smoking figure vanishing over the city skyline.
"You guys were amazing!" Ben called out, guiding the hoverboard down before dismounting.
As the 'heroes' smirked at the praise they were caught off guard as Ben hugged them both, Gwen stared in disbelief (and the worker's in jealousy/concern)
"I'm glad you're ok" he said, images of Max unconscious in a hospital bed flashing in his head. This quickly passed as he realised what he had done, letting go and attempting to act cool "I mean…I knew you'd be fine"
"Geeze I was acting like the dweeb there for a moment" he thought embarrassedly "But I'm pretty sure I played it off"
As Ben attempted to act as if nothing had happened, the 'heroes' were on cloud nine. Heart's Fire's flames burning bright as she practically vibrated on the spot, while Ripjaws blushed and held a hand against her stomach where Ben's head had been.
As Gwen watched the three idiots, she hung her head despairingly as the foreman approached her.
"You guys saved our lives! Well you also blew up the bridge…and our truck…but you did save us, so thank you" he said gratefully.
As the 'heroes' managed to coax another hug from their 'partner' the foreman awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Uh, so is he uh…your kid?"
He flinched as the 'heroes' glared at him "Are you making fun of his height?/"Kid? You must need your eyes checked"" Ripjaws/Heart's Fire growled, the poor confused foreman looking helplessly between them.
"Wait, are they serious?" Gwen thought in disbelief. She couldn't dwell on it as her cell phone's ringtone made her jump in surprise and fall from the board.
Ignoring Ben's laughter, Gwen answered the call "Hello?...He is?! We'll be right there" Hanging up she grinned up at a curious Ben "It's grandpa. He's awake!"
-Meanwhile-
Rojo clawed her way out of the crater she'd made in the street when she'd landed, the crowds who'd gathered quickly running from her furious gaze. Huffing angrily she blasted a nearby car as she thought about her humiliating defeat at the hands of those hot monster babes.
Seriously where were all these women coming from, and where could she find some that weren't trying to kick her ass?
Her train of thought was interrupted as a spike of pain shot through her head, a familiar and terrifying voice echoing in her mind.
"The Chaquetrix, where is it?" it demanded, Rojo flinching at the barely contained rage in its tone.
"I failed alright? Besides, nice of you to warn me it could summon two freaky superhero babes!" she snapped back, surprised when the voice didn't immediately retaliate against her aggression.
"Two?" the voice mused quietly, Rojo actually found that more unsettling than the anger "It would seem my enemy has begun to unlock the Chaquetrix's true power"
"Yeah? Well good for him! I'm done with this" Rojo attempted to walk away only to collapse in agony as the voice replied.
"I don't remember offering you a choice"
"Gah!...How am…I…meant to get…your stupid watch without..getting jumped again?" she asked, refusing to yield so easily despite her fear.
"I will supply you with additional…upgrades" Rojo gulped at the implications "And next time the fight shall be on YOUR terms. The fools want to play hero? Use that against them"
-Later that day-
Ben sat sadly on a park bench thinking about his grandpa and cousin, he'd left them both sleeping soundly in the room Max had been moved to after the attack. While he'd been happy to see his grandpa awake, he couldn't shake off the feeling it was his fault he'd ended up here.
"I never thought grandpa would faint from a fight, unless he did get hit by some of the rubble in the fight" he attempted to reason, the true cause never entering his mind "Either way it's too dangerous to stay with them"
After leaving a note on Max's bed he'd made his way out of the hospital and activated the hoverboard, flying off into the city alone eventually ending up at the park.
"Man, being a hero is hard" Ben thought "I wonder if this how Spider-Man feels, I think he'd get it"
His pity party was interrupted as a radio nearby caught his attention.
"Reports are coming in of gunfire and explosions coming from the Albuquerque police academy. Eyewitnesses claim the station came under attack by a heavily armed individual who, they claim, 'was some kind of terminator/biker chick'. We have yet to…confirm those claims"
Realising who the report was about, Ben leapt up from the bench he was on and activated the hoverboard "Man this thing is really handy, why have I never used it before now?"
After a short flight over the city Ben spotted a large plume of smoke in the distance, pushing the board as fast as he dared he made his way over. Touching down in an alley a short distance away, Ben peered out into the street at the figure standing amongst the wreckage of several police cruisers.
Rojo looked even more intimidating than before with a second set of purely mechanical arms sprouted from her back, tipped with a pair of ominously glowing weapons. Her red skin was now covered with the same armour the drones were equipped with, leaving only her mechanical eyes visible.
Realising this would be a much tougher fight,Ben carefully activated the dial and scrolled to Armizon. Before he could press down on the dial Rojo's head snapped in his direction, panicking and causing him to accidentally twist the dial as he pushed down.
Two flashes later and XLR8 and Wild-Gal stood protectively between him and the cybernetic terror.
"Not into furries, but the lizard girl's got style" Rojo joked, shoulder cannons and mechanical arms glowing red as she took aim.
"Give up, we've beaten you twice already" Ben yelled back "Adding more junk to yourself won't help"
Rojo smirked viciously "You sure about that?" she taunted as she dashed forward, the 'heroes' moving to meet her head on.
-A short time later-
Gwen scowled as she hid in the back of the ambulance, Ben's note held tight in her hands "That idiot! Where does he get off trying to act all noble?"
After realising what Ben had done Gwen had heard the same report on the T.V in Max's room. Knowing Ben would head there, Gwen knew she needed to follow somehow and so after lowering Max's bed so he couldn't sit up (sorry grandpa) she had snuck into an ambulance heading to the scene.
"Even if we did trust Ben to be alone with those..'heroes', we'd never leave him to do this by himself" Gwen thought, as the ambulance came to a stop.
After a short conversation, Gwen heard two panicked screams before something slammed into the side of the van. Cautiously peeking her head out the rear doors she spotted XLR8 getting shakily to her feet.
"Okay…lucky shot" she hissed, costume smoking slightly from a direct laser blast. Clearing her head she soon noticed the young redhead "Gwen? What are you.."
"XLR8 look out!" Ben screamed as Rojo fired again.
Acting quickly, the speedster grabbed her and dashed away as the shot blasted apart the ambulance behind them. Dropping her off beside a surprised Ben, the 'hero' then rushed back into the fight as Wild-Gal struggled against Rojo's hold on her neck.
"Gwen?! How..why are you here?" Ben asked, torn between relief and frustration.
Holding up the note Gwen glared back "I know you're a doofus but did you really think we'd be okay letting you go it alone?"
"It's safer for you!" Ben shot back "Besides I'm not alone, I've got them" he said, lifting the watch.
"Not helping your case" Gwen snarked, before sighing and looking at him sadly "Ben you might be a total weirdo but you're MY weirdo cousin, and I'm not going to leave you to put all this on your shoulders"
Ben blinked in surprise as embarrassment, joy and shame filled him "Gwen.."
Their family moment was ruined when the watch began to chime and flash. Looking up in horror they watched as the two 'heroes' vanished in flashes of red, leaving them alone with the enhanced villain.
As Rojo aimed her weapons at them a loud crack was heard before Rojo vanished in a flash of fire and smoke. As the young duo watched in shock a light tank rumbled down the street towards the academy, flanked by a dozen SWAT officers.
As the smoke cleared, revealing an unharmed Rojo, the officers opened fire as the tank thundered forward.
"Time to go" Ben said, activating the hoverboard once more and pulling Gwen aboard before flying deeper into the academy grounds.
As the sounds of battle began to die down behind them, Gwen directed him towards a nearby building "We won't out run her, but maybe we can hide long enough for your watch to recharge"
Dismounting and hurrying inside the pair found themselves in a gym, as they moved to take cover behind a row of exercise bikes Gwen's cell began to ring.
Answering quickly to cut off the noise, Gwen quietly answered and after a brief conversation handed the phone to Ben. "It's for you, it's grandpa" she whispered.
"Uh hey grandpa, can I call you back?" Ben asked nervously, keeping his eyes on the door "We're hiding from an indestructible biker lady that just moped the floor with XLR8 and Wild-Gal"
"Ben, if you can't take something down from the outside, then you need to take it down from the inside" Max said, causing Ben to smile as a plan came to him.
"That's it! Thanks grandpa" hanging up Ben heard the watch chime to signal its recharge.
"The timing on that thing has no consistency" Gwen noted, as Ben made his selection.
Outside, Rojo had torn the tank to pieces and sent the officers running for their lives. Grinning sadistically she suddenly felt a pull as her augmentations detected the Chaquetrix's activation.
Taking flight she quickly reached the building the signal had come from, blasting a hole through the roof before dropping down into the gym. Seeing the two brats hiding behind the crystal woman from earlier she couldn't help but chuckle.
"You again? This must be my lucky day, time for some payback!"
"Ben hurry and call another hero!" Crystal Knight yelled, shifting her arms into shields and moving to cover them.
"I can't!" Ben replied, frantically smacking the dial "It's stuck or something!"
"Hah! What's wrong kid, performance issues?" Rojo snarked, preparing to fire.
"Unfortunately for you, partner Ben always performs to satisfaction" a synthetic voice replied from above.
Realising too late it was a trap, Rojo tried to shift her aim only to stagger back as a black, white and purple mass of living metal dropped down on her. As Ultra-T set to work deactivating and removing the alien tech within her, she froze as a strange signal forcibly connected to her systems.
Gwen jumped in shock as Ben and Crystal Knight also staggered, the watch and her icon flashing erratically as they suffered feedback from whatever was happening to Ultra-T.
The trio each had the image of a squid faced being appear in their minds, eyes blazing hatefully as it delivered a stark warning.
"Listen well thief, be afraid. There is nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide that I cannot find you! The Chaquetrix will be mine, and you will suffer the consequences for defying me" And as suddenly as it came, the vision ended leaving the trio deeply unsettled.
-The next day-
Max smiled and took a deep breath as he exited the hospital, sharing a grin with his grandkids as they made their way to the Rust Bucket.
Sure he need to use a crutch for a few days, and was advised to avoid stressful situations, but he was free and they could continue on their travels. Looking back he noticed Ben had a concerned look on his face, frowning he stopped to wait for him.
"What's wrong Ben?"
Ben looked away uncomfortably "It's just…when Ultra-T fused with that biker lady we had a..I don't know, vision? There was this big squid headed thing, and it told me it was coming for the watch"
Ben turned back to his grandpa expecting to see his reassuring smile, only to find him visibly shaken. "Grandpa?"
Shaking his head, Max offered a weak smile "Oh uh..it's nothing, guess I'm still a bit woozy. Come on, we'll grab a quick bite before we set off"
Concerned but accepting his response, Ben and Gwen entered the R.V oblivious to Max's worried expression "It couldn't be…right?" he thought, casting a worried look up at the sky "So much for avoiding stress"
"Oh hey grandpa, I almost forgot" Ben said as Max hobbled his way in "What does it mean when someone says you have 'performance' issues?"
Max barely managed to grab hold of the door as he slipped mid step, Ben and Gwen frantically grabbing ahold of him to keep him steady.
So much for avoiding stress indeed.
-Non Canon Omake-
As the receptionist took in the scene before him, he was sure of one thing. He wasn;t paid enough to deal with it.
A young boy and girl were pleading with him to call a doctor to help their grandfather. Said man was currently being held by a muscular, four armed amazon of a woman with another woman seemingly made of diamond nearby.
"So this is your grandfather?" he asked, marking down the new arrival.
"That's right" the four armed woman confirmed, much to the young girl's annoyance.
"Um, no he's 'our' grandpa (she gestured to the young boy) not yours"
"Not yet he's not" the diamond woman replied, staring meaningfully at the confused boy.
As the girl broke into an embarassed, stammering mess the receptionist let his head fall to the desk.
"Why do I always get the crazies on my shift?"
