"Oh man…."

Yeah, that was the best way Ben could sum up the scenario. What started out as a seemingly random and unrelated series of robberies turned out to be part of the same plot. One orchestrated by a collective of the Tennyson's entire rogues gallery.

Grandpa Max's partner turned Forever Knight, Phil. The Psycho Biker Chicks: Rojo, Azul, and Amarillo along with Skaath and Symbiotes. Daughter of Vilgax and Yautja hunter, Cetanu. Master Magician and Lucky Girl's archenemy, Hex. Evil mad scientist and extreme evolutionist, Dr. Animo. A ninja in knight armor that the Tennyson's have never seen before. And last, but certainly not least, the tyrannical duo and personifications of evil, Vilgax and Fina.

Just the ten of them together in one place was bad news. But thanks to Fina and Dr. Animo, they somehow made it worse. Because now, all of them were Omnitrix-powered hybrids, each with the powers and appearances of one of Ben's aliens!

This wasn't just bad – it was catastrophic!

"¿Eh, amigos tuyos?" Rex asked worriedly.

"What do you think?" Trixie retorted.

"What's up with Fina?" Ben questioned, pointing out the new suit of armor on Trixie's clone. "Did she go rummaging around the Forever Knight's closet or something?"

"Since we took out Enoch," Gwen pointed out, "Fina must have decided to take over."

"Since Fina partnered up with Vilgax," said Max, "I imagine we inadvertently saved Enoch from a very hostile, very painful take over."

"This is a nice discussion and all," Trixie chimed in, "but we seem to be forgetting the fact that Fina circumvented the Codon Stream and can now TURN PEOPLE INTO ALIEN HYBRIDS!"

Franken-Azul dropped down from the ledge, slamming her knuckles together with an evil smile, generating sparks with each impact. As she stomped in their direction, Max scanned the dashboard urgently until he found a small green button under the radio and pressed it. Armored shutters fell down over the window, urging Franken-Azul to rush forward and shoulder tackle the Rust Bucket. The beat-up RV skidded across the ground, spinning in a full circle, but Franken-Azul's charge did little more than make a dent in the Rust Bucket's armored plating.

Diamond-Cetanu extended her arm and threw a shower of crystal shards against the Rust Bucket, most of which bounced off the surface with only a few sticking into the plating. A set of panels flipped over the front of the Rust Bucket, which collectively generated a ball of energy and fired a laser beam that launched Cetanu backwards, slamming her into the wall.

Ghost-Hex floated down from the cliff, swinging out his Staff of Ages and creating four blood-red magic sigils around him. The four sigils each fired a red beam of energy, merging together to form a more powerful beam that struck the RV's front. Once again, the Rust Bucket was pushed backwards by the force, but showed no damage beyond a large surface burn.

Rath-Phil jumped off the cliff in an animalistic rage, flying down on top of the Rust Bucket with his fists clenched over his head. However, when he brought them down on the Rust Bucket's roof, he let out a noise that sounded like a cat getting his tail trampled. His hair stood on end as ten thousand volts of electricity coursed through him and launched Rath-Phil back with smoke wafting from his tail.

"Hold it, you idiots!" Fina shouted, jumping of Vilgax's shoulder and walking to the edge of the cliff. "Do not go into the vehicle!"

"Nobody tells me what to do!" Rojo-Wolfer shouted.

The Loboan hybrid grabbed the hinges of the Rust Bucket's door and ripped it off with her bare claws(?) The children were all cowering in front of the door, but Max was strangely absent. Not that Rojo-Wolfer noticed; she was more interested in taking out Ben.

"Knock-knock!" said Rojo-Wolfer, throwing the door away. "It's payback time!"

Rojo-Wolfer unhinged her jaw into four sections and let loose a red sonic howl…which passed harmlessly through the children and broke off the refrigerator door behind them. The children glitched and disappeared, leaving a strange metal ball with a glowing red button in their place. Franken-Azul and Snare-illo appeared on either side of their leader and looked around the Rust Bucket, realizing that it was devoid of any Tennysons.

"Hey, what gives?" Snare-illo questioned.

"They're holograms!" said Franken-Azul. "We've been punked!"

The mutated Psycho Biker Chicks stared down at the glowing ball as the buzzing sped took a moment before Rojo realized what it was.

"Motherfu – "

BOOM!

Fina ran a hand down her face with an eggavated sigh as the Psycho Biker Chicks were launched by the resulting explosion.

"This is why I said not to go in there," Fina groaned. "Does no one listen?"

Heat-Vilgax certainly wasn't. He was staring off somewhere to the left with narrowed burning eyes.


The real Tennysons and Rex were sprinting through the forest of the memorial park, weaving through the tress headed towards Mount Rushmore under the cover of darkness.

"It won't be long before they realize what happened," said Max, panting heavily as he struggled to match pace with the children. "We need to get to the Plumber base before they find out – "

Not even a moment after the words left his lips, something heavy crashed down in front of the Tennysons, forming a crater in the dirt. Max pushed the children behind him and threw his arms out protectively. Heat-Vilgax let out a menacing chortle as he ominously climbed out of the crater, towering over his enemies, his body glowing from the hot magma that coursed through him.

"Going somewhere, Tennysons?" said Heat-Vilgax intimidatingly.

"Great, it just had to be him," Ben complained.

"I'm surprised at you, Ben," said Heat-Vilgax mockingly. "Running away without so much as a fight? I never took you for a coward."

"Ben, no, he's just trying to goad you," Gwen warned fearfully.

"Yeah, well, it worked," said Ben, leering at his archenemy.

Ben activated the Omnitrix and slapped the faceplate down without looking at what he had chosen. When the gree light faded, he was a little relieved that he had gotten Frankenstrike.

"You guys go on ahead," Frankenstrike told his family. "I'll hold him off as long as I can."

"Be careful, Benjamin," Trixie pleaded before she ran off deeper into the woods with Max, Gwen, and Rex. Heat-Vilgax did not try to stop them; he was giving his complete and undivided attention to Frankenstrike.

"You understand that you are outmatched, don't you, Tennyson?" Heat-Vilgax hissed. "I have an army of allies, all of whom despise you almost as much as I do. And all of them want – you – dead."

"Glad to see you're making friends," Frankenstrike taunted. "Only one problem: who gets the Omnitrix when this is all over, huh? Betcha none of them are the sharing type."

To Frankenstrike's surprise, Heat-Vilgax laughed.

"Trying to play that old trick again, are you?" Heat-Vilgax chuckled tauntingly. "That won't work this time. As you can she, my collaboration with Fina and Animo are a more than adequate substitute for the Omnitrix." He outstretched his arms, gesturing to his new hybrid form. "And besides…I would rather lose the Omnitrix than tolerate your existence a moment more!"

"Gee, tell me how you really feel," said Frankenstrike sarcastically.

Heat-Vilgax narrowed his eyes and rushed forward with an angry snarl. Frankenstrike met him halfway and threw a right hook at the same time as Heat-Vilgax, their fists colliding in midair –


Max, Gwen, Trixie, and Rex managed to some distance between them and Heat-Vilgax and decided to stop and catch their breath. While Gwen looked back in the direction they came from, worried about her cousin, Trixie padded over to Rex. The Spanish-speaking boy was leaning against a clutching a stitch in his side.

"Hey, Rex, are you okay?" asked Trixie, concerned.

"No, no," Rex answered, shaking his head. "Estoy totalmente enloqueciendo aquí."

"You're not the only one," said Trixie, frowning.

While leaving the children to catch their second wind, Max investigated the area. He was walking between the trees when he heard a sharp intake of breath in the shadows. His Plumber instincts kicked in and Max pivoted back towards the kids, tackling them aside. He managed to save them at the last second before a chilly mist passed through where they had just been standing, turning everything it touched into solid ice.

"There's too many of them," said Max worriedly as they rose to their knees. "Even if we can get to the entrance, by the time I find and open the hatch, they'll be all over us like stink on a skunk."

"What do we do?" asked Gwen.

"¡Sígueme!" Rex yelled, suddenly running off.

"Wait, Rex!" cried Trixie, chasing after him.

Max, Gwen, and Trixie followed Rex through the trees until they arrived at a wall at the base of Mount Rushmore. There were no other ways to run, and Max could hear the rustling of bushes getting closer. While Trixie contemplated their next move, Rex walked up to the rock wall and pressed his hand against the surface. Gwen exhaled a shocked gasp when Rex's eyes glowed bright white and circuit-like lines appeared on his arm, spreading across the wall. The Tennysons took a step back as a mechanical rumbling echoed through the air. The hidden hatch suddenly appeared on the wall and opened with a soft hiss.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" questioned Gwen.

"Solo lo pregunté amablemente," said Rex in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Seriously?" said Trixie, raising a brow.

"What did he say?" asked Gwen curiously.

"Apparently he can talk to machines," Trixie informed.

"That would've been nice to know earlier!" Gwen complained.

Rex and the Tennysons ran into the hatch as Arctic-Animo emerged from the forest, exhaling a miniature cloud of cold air with each breath. He inhaled deeply and then exhaled a wave of chilling mist in the Tennyson's direction. Max quickly shoved the children inside and slammed the hatch just before the freeze wave hit. Arctic-Animo growled in irritation that not only had the Tennysons escaped, but he had inadvertently froze the only way inside.

Time to start digging, he thought with a grimace….


The children screamed in a panic as the ground disappeared beneath their feet and slid down a long and uncomfortable metal tube. When they finally came to the end, Rex landed face first on the ground, Gwen plopped on her butt, and Trixie tackled Gwen from behind, knocking them into Rex and forming a dogpile. Max was the only one to land on his feet. The retired Plumber ran to the control panel on the far side of the room while the children were untangling themselves.

"Grandpa, we can't just leave Ben out there alone," Gwen pointed out, pulling her leg from Trixie's armpit.

"We're more help to him in here," said Max. He pressed a button and pulled up an old computer screen that (conveniently) showed the fight going on between Frankenstrike and Heat-Vilgax. And it was not going well if Heat-Vilgax slamming Frankenstrike's face into the tree was any indicator –


Frankenstrike shook his head clear of the daze and swung his electrified fist around. Heat-Vilgax leaned out of the way, then retaliated with a magma right hook to Frankenstrike's face. Frankenstrike was thrown through the dirt, making trench in the ground. The Translyian hero groaned painfully as he unsteadily forced himself to stand; a black eye was beginning to form.

Frankenstrike turned around and raised his fists as Vilgax marched ominously towards him. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Rath-Phil, Ghost-Hex, and the Psycho Biker Chicks appeared out of the forest one after the other and surrounded him.

"C…C'mon," Frankenstrike challenged weakly. "I'll whip you all with one hand tied behind my back."

"Your bravado is fooling no one, Ben," said Fina, stepping out of the shadows. "This is where you make your final stand."

"Oh yeah?" said Frankenstrike, marching purposely towards her. "Then I guess I'll have to take you down with me."

But he never made it three steps before a whirlwind of scarlet filled his vision, followed by a series of cuts that suddenly appeared on his body. Frankenstrike dropped to one knees with a pained grimace. When he looked up, the Forever Ninja zipped onto the scene, standing between Frankenstrike and his Forever Queen. Guess Ben finally figured out which alien he got….

"You want to know the funny thing, Ben?" said Fina maliciously. "I don't even care about you, or the Omnitrix. I just want to watch Trixie suffer in agony, knowing she failed to save you…. Kill him."

The Forever Ninja stowed his blades away and clenched his fist, fabricating an energy staff. He zoomed forward before Frankenstrike had the chance to defend and struck the Transylian in the chest, sending him flying through the air. Frankenstrike hit the wall at the base of the monument, collapse to his hands and knees with ragged breath. And just when the situation couldn't get any worse, the Omnitrix decided now was the best time to clock out and revert Ben to human form.

"Aw man!" Ben complained.

Ben stood up and backed away slowly as the Negative 10 surrounded him –


"He's about to be turned into paste!" Gwen cried as they observed the Negative 10 closing in on her cousin.

"Not if I can help it!" said Max as he reached over to far side of the panel and pulled a lever –


Ben pressed his back against the wall with nowhere left to run. Normally this would be the part where he tried to act braver than he really was, but that was difficult when his ten worst enemies were ganging up on his with his own alien powers. Heat-Vilgax looked especially delighted as he extended his hand and formed a fireball in his palm –

And yet, by another unrealistic coincidence, a hatch opened in the wall above Ben and a laser turret popped out. The laser fired a single beam in the space between Ben and the villains, but the shockwave it generated sent the majority of the Negative 10 flying back Only Heat-Vilgax stood his ground, covering his face with his arm, while Fina hid behind her partner's leg, gritting her teeth in irritation. When the dust settled and Heat-Vilgax lowered his arm, Ben was unsurprisingly gone.

"Tennyson…," he growled furiously.


Back in the bunker, Max jumped out of his seat and pried a cylindrical canister from casing on the wall.

"Gwen, a little help!" he shouted while running to the hatch.

The hatch opened as Ben came screaming down the chute, landing ungracefully on his back. While Trixie pulled Ben up by his arm, Max tossed the canister into the chute.

"It needs a push!" Max told his granddaughter.

"Gallius Disruptis!" Gwen chanted, waving her hand with an aura of pink mana weaving between her fingers.

The spell created a miniature whirlwind that carried the canister up the chute –


The Negative 10 stood collectively around the entrance of the hatch. Heat-Vilgax cast a sideways glare at his daughter, which was his way of silently commanding her to open the door. Diamond-Cetanu extended her silicon arms into a pair of crystalized swords. She sliced her blades through the reinforced door like they were made of wet paper, cutting it into a diamond pattern, and then kicked it inward. Diamond-Cetanu retracted her arms and began to step inside –

"Wait!" Rath-Phil warned, stopping Diamond-Cetanu at the threshold. "Knowing Max, it could be a trap."

"He has a good point," said Fina. "Sent the pet first."

Diamond-Cetanu looked to her father for approval. Heat-Vilgax nodded curtly. Diamond-Cetanu stepped back from the door and made a whistling sound. Her pet Xenomorph, who had been missing the entire fight, emerged from the forest, scuttling past the Negative 10 and crawling into the chute. It didn't get far before the canister Max tossed smacked the Xenomorph in the face, then exploded in a second later. The Negative 10 took a step back as they heard the Xenomorph's dying screech followed by his yellow blood splattering on the ground in front of the hatch. The sharp hissing of the blood burning into the dirt told them it was acid.

"FIFI!" Diamond-Cetanu wailed in agony.

"You named your pet monster 'Fifi?'" asked Rojo-Wolfer incredulously.

"I was a suckling back then!" Diamond-Cetanu snapped irritably.

Fina's brow furrowed in annoyance. She turned her head towards the security camera on the wall that stuck out like a sore thumb.

"You can try whatever trick you like, Trixie," said Fina darkly. "But I promise you: the next sunrise will be the last you ever see."

Her amethyst eyes glimmers before she shot the camera with her laser vision.


Trixie frowned uncomfortably as she stared at the fuzzy screen. She knew her twin wasn't making idle threats. Not with the team that she put together, and not when each of them have a piece of the Omnitrix mixed into the DNA. The very fact that they managed to create an artificial means of replicating the Omnitrix without Azmuth's intelligence or technology was a testament to how dangerous they really are. It wasn't difficult to imagine that Fina would soon do the same with the rest of the Forever Knights, now that she was their queen.

"Phew, I'm glad that's over," said Ben, sounding relived.

"This is far from over," said Trixie gravely.

"Trixie's right," said Gwen, frowning. "Vilgax and Fina will stop at nothing to see you both destroyed."

"And the rest of them aren't exactly our biggest fans either," Max noted. "What's the ETA on that backup, Trixie?"

"They know where we are and coming as fast as they can," said Trixie, checking the messages on her smartphone. "But you have to consider that they're coming from different parts of the country. By my calculations, even if they're moving at top speed, they won't get here until morning."

"Okay then," said Ben optimistically. "All we gotta do is hide in here until the good guys show up."

"We might not have that long," said Max gravely. "Don't forget, Phil was a Plumber. And he knows Mount Rushmore like the back of his hand. They'll find a way in – it's only a matter of time."


To shore up defenses for the upcoming invasion, Max led the children deeper into the old Plumber base where they kept equipment and weapons they had acquired over the years.

Rex gravitated towards a set of three centurion robots, all of them branded with a three connected circles. According to Max, a Coluan invader named Vril Dox used these three as part of a larger invasion force before the Plumbers confiscated them. Rex pressed his hand on the armored plating on one of the robots and the same glowing circuit lines from before appeared on his arm and spread onto the machine.

"Can you get them running?" Trixie asked, coming up behind Rex. "They are from another planet, after all."

"Las máquinas todavía hablan, aunque sean de otro planeta," said Rex. "El lenguaje de las máquinas no son tanto palabras como sentimientos. Le comunico mis intenciones y responde, ya sean buenas o malas."

"If you don't mind me asking," said Trixie, "where did you get your powers? Is it part of some mutation, or maybe you have some alien in your family?"

"Honestamente... no recuerdo nada antes de que Six me encontrara hace unas semanas," answered Rex, frowning thoughtfully. "Intento recordar, pero todo está en blanco. Pero el Dr. Holiday cree que podría ser un tipo especial de E.V.O. por mis poderes."

"EVO?" Trixie parroted, confused.

"Así llama Providence a las personas que han sido mutadas por nanitos," said Rex.

"The Nanite Event – of course!" said Trixie in realization. "That makes sense! And…your ability to talk to machines. Is that the reason Providence wants you? Because you can talk to nanites?"

"Sí," Rex nodded.

The circuit lines disappeared as Rex took a step back. The robot unfolded itself, standing at its full imposing height with its long limbs extended and its sharp claws clenching and unclenching. Rex bent down to pick up a discard soda can that had no reason being there and tossed it in the air. The Coluan drone fire a laser from its central node, which incinerated the can into dust.

"…So, they're nice, right?" asked Trixie worriedly.

"Más o menos," Rex shrugged.

"Nice job, Rex."

The children turn their attention away from the deadly space robots to Grandpa Max. The kids reel back in surprise as Max, wearing a strange contraption, lifted a disk-like machine three times his size like he was lifting a sack of potatoes.

"Whoa, grandpa, you've been working out," said Ben, impressed.

"Oh, it's not me, Ben," said Max amusingly as he haul the machine across the room, dumping it on the growing pile of junk being used to barricade the main entrance. "It's this exo-suit; alien tech which amplifies your own natural abilities. Rex got it running again. Now we just need a little help from Heatblast to finish it up."

Ben transformed into the Pyronite and began melting the pile of junk with his flames, which generated a heat of ten thousand degrees. Gwen thought it would've been better to have Trixie melt the pile instead of Ben so as not to waste the Omnitrix's charge and be left defenseless when the Negative 10 finally got through. But Trixie's heat was only half the strength of Heatblast's and the alien tech used to form the barricade was made of a strong alloy, so it would've taken longer to reach the melting point.

Heatblast was able to melt the metal into a single layer of molten metal, sealing up the main entrance just before the Omnitrix timed out.

"I'd like to see that Negative 10 get through that," said Ben confidently.

"I wouldn't," Gwen commented.

"We've done all we can," said Max gravely. "Now all that's left is to wait."


Rex was helping Max arm a few explosive devices around the tunnels as an added precaution. As the retired placed the last of the explosives, Rex could hear the Tennyson cousins arguing from the control room. He walked back to find Gwen sitting in the chair and Ben staring her down with both their fists held out. For a moment, Rex thought they were about to get into a fist fight…until they shook their fists and extended their fingers to form a pair of scissors.

Rex could hardly believe it – they were playing rock, paper, scissors in the middle of a crisis.

"Quit copying me!" Ben complained as they both chose paper.

"You're the one copying me!" Gwen argued as they both chose rock next.

Rex walked over to Trixie, who was leaning against the console, and asked, "Eh, ¿qué pasa?"

"They're playing to decide who gets the last pudding cup when we get back to the Rust Bucket," Trixie explained nonchalantly.

"¿No les preocupan los malos?" questioned Rex.

"They are," Trixie admitted. "But it's better they distract themselves over something trivial that spend the whole time worrying."

Ben and Gwen went for another round – both of them chose rock again – when one of the buttons on the console chimed and started flashing red.

"What is it?" Gwen asked her grandfather, who walked over to investigate.

"Motion sensor," Max responded with a furrowed brow. "They're on their way here."

"Correction." The heroes gasped and craned their heads back towards the ceiling. Ghost-Hex floated seamlessly through solid stone with his new Ectonurite powers, hovering over the Tennysons. "We're already here."

Ghost-Hex waved the Staff of Ages, generating a whip of red energy that lashed across the room. Max shoved Rex out of the way to protect him, but was struck around the midsection and throw into the wall. Ben was furious. He activated the Omnitrix and slapped the faceplate down in quick succession, not looking at the Omnitrix and deciding to trust the watch to pick an alien for him.

He was incredibly lucky that he got Subwolfer using this method.

Subwolfer separated his jaw and let out a supersonic wail towards Ghost-Hex. The mutated sorcerer grinned smugly, going intangible, and allowing the sonic howl to pass through him harmlessly. The supersonic scream blasted a hole in the ceiling, which seemed to be what Ghost-Hex was hoping for based on the way he was smiling wickedly. The evil sorcerer turned his weapon towards the hole in the rock, muttering an incantation, and the Staff of Ages shot a wide beam of red mana into the roof.

"He's making a tunnel for the others!" Trixie realized. "We've got to stop him!"

"But I can't touch him when he goes ghost!" Subwolfer complained.

"I've got this!" said Gwen confidently. She waved her hands around with an aura of pink mana surrounding them. "Hoc solidum exspiravit!"

That spell was familiar to Subwolfer – it was the same one she used when she defeated Z'Skayr. And that meant….

As Ghost-Hex blasted his way through the stone, he exhaled a startled gasp as his transparent form suddenly became tangible. He looked down and glared furiously at his archenemy, knowing only she was capable of doing this. But he had no time to dwell on the fact because Subwolfer blasted him with another supersonic howl that threw Ghost-Hex into the ceiling, then fell and landed flat on his face.

"¡Lo hiciste!" Rex cheered.

"But we're too late," said Max, standing up and holding his side with a grimace.

Heat-Vilgax fell through the newly formed tunnel, shaking the very foundation of the Plumber base when he landed. Fina sat on his shoulder with her usual cocky smile. One by one, the rest of the Negative 10 descended into the base and formed up against the heroes.

"Rex, the security drones!" Max shouted urgently.

"¡Ya en eso!" said Rex. He pointed at the Negative 10 and the alien centurion drones marched towards the villains.

They didn't do a good job, unfortunately. Fina's eyes glimmer and she held out her hand, generating a storm of electricity from her fingertips. The lightning stunned the robots, who them shuddered violently before exploding into a thousand pieces.

"…Well, that just made everything pointless," Trixie commented.

"Oh, and about those little traps you had waiting for us…," Fina chuckled knowingly as she glanced sideways at her faithful Forever Ninja. The armor speedster stepped into view, holding all of the explosives that Max had set up and dumped them on the floor. All of them had been disabled and snapped in half. "Sorry, but we're not big fans of surprises."

"How did they know about those?" Gwen gasped.

"Twenty years and you're still using the same old tired tricks, Max," said Rath-Phil with a mocking chortle.

"Accessing Levoisian Sequence!" Trixie shouted.

Trixie mutated her body into its half-Gutrot form and quickly bent forward, expelling a cloud of thick black smoke from her mouth. The Negative 10 coughed harshly and tried fanning the smoke out of their face. Except for the Forever Ninja, who stealthily disappeared into the smog.

Subwolfer used the smokescreen to his advantage, using his ultra-sensative sense of smell to track down the villains through the haze. The closest enemy was Franken-Azul, who he slapped across the chest and catapulted into the wall. Diamond-Cetanu fired showers of crystals blindly into the smoke, not knowing where she was aiming for, when Subwolfer tackled her to the ground from behind. The Loboan hero sniffed the air for his next target when he turned around and received a magma punch to the face. Subwolfer was launched high, slamming against the ceiling, and came crashing back down. Subwolfer grimaced as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, shaking the daze from his head, then looked up as Heat-Vilgax approached him menacingly.

Somewhere else in the smokescreen, Gwen ran up to a coughing Snare-illo and tried to land a flying kick on her. But the mutated blondee saw her coming and unraveled her chest cavity, letting Gwen fly through harmless. Gwen was taken aback and flailed into Rojo-Wolfer's waiting arms. The redheaded werewolf squeezed Gwen as if trying to snap the girl in two. Gwen gritted her teeth in pain, but was able to must enough strength to chant a smell that created a shockwave around herself, knocking Rojo-Wolfer and Snare-illo away.

Ghost-Hex was starting to pick himself up, rubbing his head with a groan, when Max suddenly appeared through the smog and kicked him across the face. He looked around through the dense smog for his grandchildren when he heard a pair of thunderous footfalls come from the side. He turned around just in time to see Rath-Phil just before he ex-partner lifted him in the air by his shirt, dangling Max off the ground. Phil pulled back his fist to punch Max's head off when a blob of goo slapped him in the eyes, blinding Rath-Phil. The ex-Plumber roared, dropped Max, and staggered away trying to claw the goo from his face. Trixie rushed over to help Max to his feet when the retired Plumber saw something in the smoke and tackled Trixie out of the way, moments before Arctic-Animo could freeze them.

The chaos ensued for several minutes until –

"ENOUGH!"

A loud clapping noise soon followed with a burst of wind, blowing the smokescreen away and revealing everyone's place. The Tennysons and Negative 10 looked between one enough in a moment of confusion before turning their attention to the end of the room. Fina dropped her clapped hands with a look of annoyance…then glanced sideways at the Forever Ninja, who was standing behind Rex with his swords crossed at the boy's neck.

"Rex!" cried Trixie.

"Let him go, you creep!" Subwolfer demanded.

"Surrender, or it's off with his head," said Fina with tone that left no room for argument. "Don't think that I won't."

The Forever Ninja pressed the edges of his swords in the skin of Rex's neck, threatening to draw blood.

"Uh...un poco de ayuda aquí...," Rex whimpered.

Max glared at Fina…then bowed his head with a defeated sigh.

"You heard her, everyone," said Max reluctantly.

Gwen and Trixie hesitated, but both of them powered down obediently and allowed themselves to be ensnared in Snare-illo's bandages. Rath-Phil finally managed to rip the goo off his face and snarled at Max. The ex-partners exchanged glares until Rath-Phil punched Max in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. And Subwolfer – he snarled and clenched his claws defiantely as Heat-Vilgax reached for him, but didn't stop the mutated warlord from tapping the Omnitrix icon on his chest. Subwolfer reverted back to Ben in a flash of red light. The boy glared at Heat-Vilgax, who stared back at him amusingly.

"That's better," said Fina tauntingly as she walked over to Trixie. She stared her progenitor for a moment before kicking the green-haired girl in the stomach. "Since it's such a beautiful morning, what do you say we finish this outside?"


Fina roughly shoved Trixie to the ground, dumping her in front of the Rex and the Tennysons.

The hero party had been bound in Snare-illo's bandages and forcefully dragged outside under the shadow of Mount Rushmore. Trixie dragged herself up into a kneeling position and glared at Fina. Her dark-skinned doppelgänger was incredible smug flanked by her small army of supervillains.

"It's actually impressive, you know," Fina remarked. "In just one short summer, you've managed to make enemies of the worst thieves, criminals, and murders on Earth – and beyond."

"What can I say?" said Ben sarcastically. "I'm an overachiever."

"Says the dweeb who's barely passing with all 'C-' on his report card," Gwen retorted.

"I'm trying to make witty batter here," Ben complained.

"You're not going to win, Fina," Trixie declared firmly. "You know why?"

"Oh, please, enlighten me?" said Fina mockingly.

"Because you're a loser," said Trixie. That instantly wiped the smug grin off the clone's face. "You've always been a loser, even since you were created. No matter how many times you come after us, you always lose. And this time won't be any different. You may have allies, but you're not a team. One way or another, you'll fall apart and we'll beat you. Just like we always have."

"…Well…that was rude," said Fina evenly, like she was trying to keep her cool. But Trixie could see through her; the dark-skinned doppelganger was clenching her fist, fighting back the urge to punch Trixie in the face.

"Enough of this useless prattling!" Heat-Vilgax yelled impatiently. "You promised me Tennyson's scorched remains!"

"Yes, I did," said Fina, stepping aside. "And I'm always a girl of my word. You may now finish them off, Mr. Vilgax."

The magma-powered warlord looked like a kid on Christmas as he stepped forward. The rest of the villains looked equally excitedly; some of them even giggled with glee. Heat-Vilgax waved hand menacingly and formed a fireball in his palmed aimed at the heroes Rex and the Tennysons huddled together, visibly sweating.

"Okay, Trixie, what's the plan?" asked Max.

"Uh…I don't have one," Trixie stuttered.

"What?" Gwen yelped. "Then what was all that big talk about?"

"I was just acting tough!" said Trixie. "I was hoping you guys had something up your sleeve."

"Nosotros estamos tan muertos," Rex groaned.

"I have been waiting a long time for this moment," Heat-Vilgax relished. "Goodbye…Ben."

The Tennysons braced themselves for a painful, fiery death….

When a loud revving noise cut through the air, distracting Heat-Vilgax and causing him to unconsciously extinguish his flame.

The heroes and villains looked around for the source of the noise. It sounded like it was coming from the forest behind them. Everyone turned their attention to the trees when a motorcycle suddenly flew up from the brush with a roar. The helmeted rider jumped off the motorcycle, letting it fly into Heat-Vilgax, who was taken by surprise. Fina quickly rolled out of the way as her partner was thrown back; the other villains ran for cover except for Snare-illo, who was flattened under Heat-Vilgax's weight. Good thing she was already so thin and could slip out unscathed.

The rider landed dramatically in front of the Tennysons and threw off their helmet, revealing a familiar face underneath a pair of cool sunglasses.

"Agent Six!" Rex cheered.

Agent Six unsheathed his katana and spun around, slicing the bandages off Rex and the Tennysons with the level of precision you only see in anime.

"Thanks for the save, old friend," said Max gratefully, rubbing his sore wrists.

"How does a simple escort mission turn into this?" Agent Six questioned, gesturing to the villains in a monotone.

"Just another day in the office," said Max jokingly.

The roar of an engine once again breaks through the trees as the villains try to regroup, this one louder than Six's motorcycle.

A military jeep smashes through the trees and nearly paves over the Negative 10, who scattered out of the way. The jeep turns and skids to a halt in front of the heroic group. The door of the vehicle is branded with the S.E.C.T. logo. When the driver side door opened, it was no surprised to see the scarred face of an old ally. But when the passenger side opened up, Trixie exhaled a delighted gasp to see the grinning face of her best friend.

"Kevin! Lt. Steel! You made it!" said Trixie happily.

"Made a little detour to pick up this little troublemaker," said Lt. Steel, gesturing his head to Kevin, and pulled out a laser rifle from the back seat. "Now let's get this shindig started. Just tell me who to shoot."

Kevin slid across the jeep's hood, which Lt. Steel did not appreciate, absorbing the elements of the vehicle's armored plating and transforming his body composition before he touched back down.

"Aw yeah, time to kick some bad guy butt!" Kevin cheered, punching his fists together.

Ghost-Hex was becoming visibly agitated. As more allies were coming to the Tennyson's aid, their chances of success were getting lower. The spectral sorcerer urgently waved the Staff of Ages at Gwen and shot her with a beam of red mana. Gwen noticed the beam out of the corner of her eye and gasped, throwing her arms up to defend herself. But the beam never landed its target because it was blocked by a magical shield. Only the shield didn't belong to Gwen; the sigil in the center was in the shape of a heart.

Ghost-Hex recognized the sigil with worry and looked up, gritting his teeth as his traitorous niece floated down between him and Gwen.

"Long time no see, uncle," said Charmcaster, glaring at her former abuser.

"Charmcaster!" gasped Gwen happily.

"Hey, princess," Charmcaster teased her best friend, glancing over her shoulder. "We have so much to catch up on." Then she looked in Trixie's direction. "Hey, cutie, you're looking good. You know, all things considered."

Trixie's face turned beat-red and felt like the surface of the sun.

"This is getting ridiculous," Fina complained as she pulled Heat-Vilgax's arm, helping him stand. "How many more of friends do they have?"

A thunderous boom exploded in the sky above them. Heroes and villains alike turned their heads up as a giant spaceship suddenly warped into the air over Mount Rushmore. More than that, both the Tennysons and Vilgax recognized the ship and knew of its pilot. Heat-Vilgax glared at his partner.

"You just had to ask?" he sneered.

A hatch opened on the bottom of the ship and two figures jumped out. One of them was ten feet tall and caused a localized tremor when she landed while the other one flew down gently with her jetpack, the sun gleaming on her sleek purple armor.

"EightEight! Myaxx!" Ben whooped. "I can't believe you made it!"

The little green one said that I could get a shot at Vilgax if I came," said EightEight, sliding the armored plates on her wrists to reveal the hidden lasers. "And I aim to collect."

"And you know I'd travel halfway across the galaxy to protect Meridia," Myaxx declared. "Quite literally, in fact."

"Aw yeah, this is so awesome!" Ben cheered, looking around at the collection of heroes that have gathered together on this momentous day. The wielder of the Omnitrix pointed at the Negative 10 with a smug smile and said, "You're in trouble now! If you think this is impressive, just wait until the rest get here!"

"No one else is coming," Trixie said bluntly.

"…Huh?" Ben deflated, staring at Trixie dimly.

"This is it," said Trixie, gesturing to the group. "This is all that's coming?"

"What? No way!" Ben complained. "What about all the awesome friends we made over the summer? Dexter? The Saturdays? Puffy AmiYumi?"

"Yeah, about that," said Trixie awkwardly. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling through her texts. "The Saturdays are still on the run for the whole 'Kur' thing. Lance and Ilana can't help because they have a huge math test. The Powerpuff Girls are grounded for breaking curfew again. Mandy just said 'No' and Grim and Billy just do whatever she says. Dexter's busy rebuilding his entire company from the ground up. Juniper Lee is at space camp – "

"Aw, good for her," said Gwen brightly.

"Johnny is lost somewhere in the microverse after eating a radioactive burrito," Trixie continued. "Our imaginary friends at Foster's are dealing with a plumbing problem – "

"When did we visit Foster's?" Ben questioned; Max and Gwen shrugged cluelessly.

"Puffy AmiYumi are having their big tour in the Andromeda galaxy," Trixie counted off. "Rachel is going undercover as a cow at the chocolate milk factory – "

"There's a sentence I thought I'd never hear," Max remarked. "Johnny Bravo got his hand stuck in the toilet – I don't even remember texting him, to be honest. Jack can't help because it's a school night for Naomi. Eddy wanted to charge me a buck for his assistance, which is a complete rip-off. Coop is currently in a mega slushie-bean enchilada food coma. And courage said 'AAAAHHH!'"

"So that's it?" Ben complained. "We've been building up this awesome team-up the whole summer and we don't even get a payoff? What a rip!"

"We can handle this," said Lt. Steel. "After all, it's eleven to ten – "

Fina blasted Lt. Steel with her laser vision, blasting the lieutenant into a tree, where he promptly collapsed facedown. The heroes stared at him for one awkward moment, then Ben picked up his laser rifle.

"Okay, ten against ten," Ben corrected. "Still good odds."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Rojo-Wolfer the Forever Queen.

"That's obvious, you idiots!" Fina snapped. "Get them!"

"Same strategy as that time in Madrid?" Max suggested to Six.

"Divide and conquer?" said Agent Six.

"That's the one," Max nodded.

"All right, everybody!" Ben shouted. "It's hero time!"

The Heroic Ten and the Negative Ten charged in at once, shouting fierce battle cries, and met in the middle for the ultimate clash of good versus evil!

Ben screamed as he fired Lt. Steel's laser rifle at Vilgax, struggling to run and shoot because the recoil nearly knocked him on his butt. Heat-Vilgax defended his face with one arm, then slammed the other down on top of Ben. The wielder of the Omnitrix dived and slid between Heat-Vilgax's legs, and fired a hailstorm of laser bolts at his archenemy's backside. Heat-Vilgax turned around with his hand outstretched, generating a burst of flames from his palm. Ben rolled out of the way and went into a kneeling position, taking aim for Heat-Vilgax's face. But the mutated warlord quickly snatched the laser rifle out of the boy's hand and melted it between his fingers.

"Aw man!" Ben complained.

"This is where you die, Tennyson!" Heat-Vilgax declared furiously, opening his palm for another fireball.

The, Ben heard a sharp ding from his wrist. The Omnitrix finished recharging!

"Oh yeah," Ben challenged as he rolled out of the way of Heat-Vilgax's fireball, activating the Omnitrix at the same time. "Let's see what Way Big has to say about that!"

But when he slapped down on the face plate, he didn't receive the fifty-foot giant he was hoping for. Instead, he somehow unlocked a brand new alien. The new alien was muscular creature with twenty large green eyes dotted around his arms, but, ironically, had no eyes on his head, which instead had a pair of bat-like ears. The new alien – let's call him Eye Guy – looked down at himself in amazement.

"Whoa, new alien!" said Eye Guy, flexing his arms, on which the twenty eyeballs blinked at different intervals. "Wonder this guy can do."

"An Opticoid?" Heat-Vilgax scoffed. "You think you can defeat me with such a worthless species, Tennyson? I will take great pleasure plucking each eye one by one."

"You think you're so tough, but…," Eye Guy began, his twenty eyes glaring at Heat-Vilgax…which then suddenly blasted the warlord with twenty green lasers, knocking Heat-Vilgax flat. The Opticoid hero blinked, momentarily dumbfounded. "Whoa, laser eyes! That's so – "

Eye Guy yelped as he was suddenly tackled by Heat-Vilgax –

Gwen, Kevin, and Myaxx banded together against the Psycho Biker Chicks. Myaxx ran ahead of the children, bulldozing her way through Rojo-Wolfer while Snare-illo bended her body out of the way. By when she came up to Franken-Azul, the mutated biker struck her across the face with an electrified fist. Myaxx stumbled, but didn't fall, rubbing her chin tenderly for a moment. Trixie's former caretaker swiftly retaliated with a right hook to Franken-Azul's face. The blue biker also stumbled, but didn't fall over. Franken-Azul roared and threw another punch, which Myaxx responded in kind, beginning a back and forth of flying fists.

Gwen and Kevin dodged Snare-illo's stretching limbs – the former jumping and the latter sliding under – then rolled in opposite directions to dodge Rojo-Wolfer's sonic howls. The red biker focused his attention on Kevin as she unhinged her jaw and bellowed out a Sonic Scream.

Kevin grounded his feet to keep himself from flying off while raising his arms protectively over his face. The alloy that made up Lt. Steel's jeep must have been extremely durable because Kevin wasn't being blasted to pieces. The reformed villain gritted his teeth as he put one foot in front of the other, forcing him way through the sonic screams closer to Rojo-Wolfer. Shocked that this kid was actually pushing through, Rojo-Wolfer screamed louder, amplifying the sonic howl and tearing a hole through the trees behind him. Kevin was briefly pushed back, but he stood his ground. He pushed and persevered until he was standing directly in front of Rojo-Wolfer.

Kevin converted his right hand into a large metal ball and shoved it down Rojo-Wolfer's throat, plugging up her noise hole. Rojo-Wolfer's eyes bulged in surprise.

"Lady, you've got a big mouth," Kevin quipped.

He morphed his other hand into a hammer and bashed Rojo-Wolfer in the side of the head, sending her flying. The red biker chick crashed into her girlfriend, knocking Rojo-Wolfer and Frank-Azul down in a tangle of limbs. Myaxx blinked in surprise.

At the same time, Gwen, who had been dodging Snare-illo's elongated limbs the whole time, threw out her mana-coated hand and chanted, "Ligate eos!"

A pink aura covered Snare-illo, freezing the bewildered yellow biker chick in midair, when she was suddenly tossed through the air at her team. Rojo-Wolfer and Franken-Azul were picking themselves up, rubbing their sore heads, when Snare-illo suddenly wraps around them. Her long stretchy body loops around her partners several times, binding them back to back, and then ties herself up in a neat little bow.

"What the heck, Amarillo!" Rojo-Wolfer shouted.

"Let us go!" Franken-Azul demanded.

"I can't! My body's moving by itself!" Snare-illo cried.

"Aw, well that's too bad," said Myaxx in faux sympathy, cracking her knuckles with a wicked smile. "It's much more fun when they fight back…."

Myaxx plowed the Psycho Biker Chicks into the ground with a single punch, knocking them all out.

Gwen let out a relieved breath she didn't know she was holding, muttering, "Glad that's over."

"That was wicked sweet, Red," Kevin complimented Gwen, reverting back to his flesh and blood form. "Guess you're not just a pretty face after all."

Gwen knew she should've been insulted by the backhanded compliment. But instead, she unconsciously giggled, her face flushed, as she tucked her hair back meekly.

Max took a step back, leaning out of the way of Rath-Phil's wild punch, then retaliated sharply with a right hook to her ex-partner's jaw. The Appoplexian hybrid shook off the blow and jumped his former partner, claws extended, with an animalistic roar. Max allowed himself to fall on his back, pressing his feet into Rath-Phil's chest, and flipped the disgraced Plumber overhead, sending him flying into a tree. Rath-Phil picked himself off, shaking the daze out of his vision, and shot a loathsome glare at his old friend.

"This could've been avoided, you know?" Rath-Phil remarked. "If you have just accepted my offer from the beginning!"

"Sorry, pal, I guess I'm just old fashioned like that," Max retorted.

"When it comes to strength, you've always had the edge, Max," said Rath-Phil, raising his muscular arms with a beastly snarl. "But I'm the one with the power!"

Rath-Phil lunged at his ex-partner with outstretched claws. However, Max carefully pivot's around, jumping onto Rath-Phil's back and tackles him to the ground. Max manages to wrap his arm around his ex-partner's throat, putting the struggling tiger-man in a headlock.

"It's not about the muscle, Phil," Max spat. "It's how you use it."

To prove his point, Max tightened the chokehold, cutting off Rath-Phil's circulation. Rath-Phil flailed violently and it took everything in Max's power not to get bucked off. But after a few moments, Rath-Phil started to calm down as his consciousness started fading. Another few moments, as the fallen Plumber went limp, completely blacking out. Max let go when his old partner stopped struggling, letting out an exhausted, if somewhat somber, sigh as he stepped off and stared down at his former partner.

"Sorry, old friend," muttered Max. "I wish it hadn't turned out this way…."

Charmcaster weaved through the air, dodging the stray beams of mana her uncle shot. The young sorceress glided behind the tree line, using the forest as cover, then shot back with her own mana beam. Ghost-Hex made himself transparent, allowing the beam to fly through him.

"You're weak, Charmcaster," Ghost-Hex chastised her. "Your magic is nothing compared to a true master magician."

"Says the guy who needed an alien power-up to beat a ten-year-old girl," Charmcaster taunted.

Ghost-Hex growled. He waved the Staff of Ages at the same time Charmcaster threw her hands out, both chanting the same incantation:
"Mercucius Verditis!"

Both fired lightning bolts of pure mana – Hex's yellow and Charmcaster's pink – and the two collided violently in the middle. Stray shots of magic flew across the battlefield, forcing the Heroic 10 and the Negative 10 to dodge in between fights. At first, it seemed like Ghost-Hex and Charmcaster were on equal level. But after the minutes passed, Ghot-Hex's spell was gradually starting to overtake Charmcaster in the struggle, pushing the younger sorceress back. Charmcaster gritted her teeth as the push of her uncle's magic brought her down to one knee.

"You are a pathetic wretch," Ghost-Hex scoffed. "Just like my idiot brother. The fool died a pointless death, leaving me to look after his spawn. Like father, like daughter.

"Don't…you…dare…," Charmcaster seethed, gnashing down her teeth in anger that they threaten to chip. She got back to her feet as her powers suddenly became amplified by her rage. "Talk…about...my…DAD!"

Charmcaster screamed in a blind fury and her spell exploded and completely swallowed Ghost-Hex's magic. The master magician had no time to make himself intangible before he was consumed in his nieces magic, letting out an anguished scream.

Charmcaster dropped her spell and rested against her knee, catching her breath. Her uncle collapsed to the ground, smoke wafting from his body, unconscious but alive.

Eighteight tried shooting down Diamond-Cetanu with her wrist-mounted lasers, but the bolts just reflected off her silicon body. The mutated Yautja rushed headlong, swinging her crystal swords at the rivaling hunter, who rolled underneath Diamond-Cetanu's outstretched arms and tossed a micro bomb on the villain's back. The explosion did little more than char Diamond-Cetanu's skin. As the daughter of Vilgax swung around, arcing her bladed arms overhead, EightEight whipped out her collapsible staff to block them. The weapon must have been made of a sturdy alloy because it didn't break, locking the two hunters in a stalemate.

"You know, you remind me of my old partner," EightEight remarked. "Only he was a lot more handsome."

Spare me your jokes, traitor," Diamond-Cetanu spat. "I will not waste my breath with a third-rate honorless mercenary."

EightEight scoffed under her breath.

The two were locked in an even struggle until EightEight suddenly dropped her staff, making Diamond-Cetanu stumble forward. As the villain tripped over herself, EigthEight reached into her belt and pulled out a pair of disks, which she then slapped on the sides of Diamond-Cetanu's head. Once in place, the disks generated sonic vibrations that literally shook Diamond0Cetanu to her core, forming a spider web of cracks in her silicon skin. The daughter of Vilgax screamed and dropped to her knees, slapping the disks off her head in a flailing panic. The mutated Yautja gasped hoarsely, trying to calm her pounding heartbeat, when EightEight grabbed her rival by the throat and lifted her off the ground.

"Now who's third-rated," EightEight mocked before punching Diamond-Cetanu's lights out.

Agent Six was perhaps the most impressive out of all of them. Despite seemingly having no power, the man was matching the Forever Ninja's Fasttrack-enhanced swordsmanship blow for blow. The Forever Ninja clashed blades with Agent Six, locking them in a stalemate, then attempted to kick the impassive soldier. Agent Six not only leaned his body out of the way, but he grabbed the Forever Ninja's ankle with his underarm, spinning the armored villain around and tossing him across the ground. The Forever Ninja swiftly backflipped to his feet; Agent Six got the impression that he was glaring underneath his helmet.

"Wanna know why the call me Six?" Agent Six made his own attempt at a quip.

The Forever Ninja did not bite; Agent Six wasn't even sure he was capable of talking in the first place.

The armored villain shot across the field at lightning speed, intersecting his swords like a pair of scissors to clip Agent Six's head off. Agent Six almost casually dropped to one knee, dodging the attack, then swiped his swords at the Forever Ninja's midsection as he passed.

A moment of dramatic pause passed as the two warriors stood back-to-back like in a dramatic anime showdown…right before the Forever Ninja's upper body fell forward face down on the ground while his legs fell backwards.

"Guess you'll never know," Agent Six commented, pushing up his sunglasses casually.

Fina let out a pained cry as she was launched backwards, rolling across the ground, and stop on her front. The self-proclaimed Forever Queen rose to her hands and knees, glaring at her progenitor. Trixie stood over her doppelganger in her half-Nosedeenian form, her fists clenched with sparks hopping between the nodes on her arms. The Forever Queen seethed as she looked around at her allies, coming to the realization that – with the exception of Heat-Vilgax and Arctic-Animo – all of them have been defeated.

"It's over, Fina," Trixie declared. "Your Negative 10 has been beaten."

"Oh, it's not over just yet," Fina swore. "Did you forget that we still have still have out secret weapon. Animo!"

"Yes, my queen!" Arctic-Animo called, who had been hiding on the sidelines the whole time.

"Use the device to transform Vilgax into a To'kustar and end this farce!" Fina commanded.

"No!" Trixie cried in fear.

"With pleasure," said Arctic-Animo with a manic glee as he reached for the knob on his transmogrifier –

"¡No si tengo algo que decir al respecto!"

Rex suddenly appeared from the brush behind Arctic-Animo, seemingly having snuck up behind the mad scientist in all the chaos. The boy hopped on the madman's bad, wrapping his arms around Arctic-Animo's neck as the scientist tried to shake him off.

"Hey, got off me, you vile rodant!" Arctic-Animo shouted. He tried to grab Rex, but his particular mutation made his arms too short to reach. Rex then reached for the horns of Arctic-Animo's helmet. The glowing circuit lines traveled down his arms and spread throughout the transmogrifier. "What're you doing? No! Stop! I COMMAND IT!"

Arctic-Animo's transmogrifier suit short-circuited, electrocuting the mad scientist. At the same time, the horns shot beams of red lightning through the air, drawn to the headbands worn by the Negative 10. As they were struck by the energy bolts, their mutations were reverted, transforming them back to their natural bodies. That included Vilgax, who stopped to look down at himself, realizing his fire-wielding powers were gone.

Rex jumped off of Animo's catch and watched as the mad scientist comically dropped to his knees, his eye spinning in a daze and babbling incoherently, before collapsing on the ground.

"Way to go, Rex!" Eye Guy cheered.

"TENNYSON!"

With his power lost, Vilgax decided to go for broke and charges at his archenemy. But Eye Guy melded all his eyes together into a single eyeball on his chest and unleashed a giant green laser. Vilgax took the beam and managed to fight back for a few seconds, but the overwhelming power quickly blasted the conqueror off his feet and carried him across the field, crashing Vilgax into the base of Mount Rushmore. Eye Guy maintained the laser beam for a full minute before he finally relented. He waited apprehensively for the smoke to clear.

He saw Vilgax half buried in the rubble. And he wasn't getting back up.

"Here's looking at you, ugly," Eye Guy quipped humorously.

"You're the last one left, Fina," said Trixie told her dark-skinned doppelganger. "Give up – now."

"No…," Fina muttered softly…then exploded into a literal burning rage as her hair caught on fire. "NO! I REFUSE TO GIVE UP TO A LOSER LIKE YOU!"

Fina jumped to her feet and raised her hand, forming a giant fireball in her palm, and threw it at her green-haired twin. But Trixie held her composure. The original lunged forward, ducking underneath Fina's outstretched arm as the fireball narrowly glided overhead. As the fireball exploded in the background, Trixie threw back her right arm and wordlessly transformed the limb into an Appoplexian fist. And it wasn't just the fact that Trixie had transformed without her usual call – the Appoplexian arm was a fully transformed limb, which looked incredibly awkward compared to her tiny body.

Trixie's powers had evolved again.

"You're finish, Fina!" Trixie shouted.

Trixie pivoted, putting the entire weight of her body behind her swing. The green-haired girl drove her fist into Fina's face, smashing her crowd, and carried the Forever Queen into the ground. The force of the slam caused the ground the quake and cave, forming a large crater around them. (United State of Trixie Style!)

When Trixie pulled back, breathing harshly from exertion, and powered down and gazed at her opponent. Fina was halfway into the ground, knocked out cold, and it was unlikely she was going to wake up any time soon.

They had done it! They had beaten the Negative 10!

The heroes roared in celebration!

"That was amazing!" Gwen cheered, running up to Trixie and hugging her from the side. "Way to go, Trixie!"

"Yeah, you were awesome!" said Ben, having transformed back in a burst of red light.

"We were awesome," Trixie corrected.

"Thanks for your help, everyone," Max told the collective group appreciatively. "We couldn't have done it without your help."

"Anytime, old man," said Charmcaster nonchalantly.

"Anything to protect Meridia," said Myaxx protectively.

"It was pretty fun," said EightEight. "Would totally do it again."

"So what we do about these losers?" asked Kevin, gesturing to the defeated members of the Negative 10.

"I'm thinking an all-expense paid trip to the Null Void oughta cool them off for a while," said Max humorously.

At that moment, Lt. Steel finally woke up. The lieutenant raised himself up by his arms, running a hand down his face, and mumbled in bewilderment.

"Wha – What happened? What'd I miss…?"


It took a lot longer than they had anticipated, but they finally reached the Providence base in California. When the Rust Bucket rolled up to the base, they found an armed escort of six men in black and white tactical gear waiting for them along with a young woman in a lab coat. Rex and Agent Six disembarked from the RV along with the Tennysons.

"Well, here we are," said Max. "I told you I'd get him here safely."

"Was that before or after you got him involved in a free-for-all with a collection of your worst enemies?" Agent Six quipped.

"Eh, occupational hazard," said Max, shrugging amusingly.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Rex," said Ben, shaking hands with his new friend.

"Even if we couldn't understand you," said Gwen, also shaking his hand. "Sorry it got so crazy. This kind of stuff…happens more often than I'd like to admit."

"That's okay," said Rex, suddenly speaking perfect English. "It was crazy awesome. Especially that last fight bwteen the good guys and bad guys."

"Wha – hold up!" Ben yelped, taken aback. "You can speak English?"

"Fluently," Rex admitted nonchalantly.

"Then why've you been speaking Spanish this whole time?" Gwen questioned absurdly.

"I thought'd be funny to see the looks on your faces when you found out," Rex laughed. "And I was totally right! You should see yourselves right now!"

"Did you know about this?" Ben asked Trixie, glaring.

"Of course," Trixie chuckled. "He admitted it outright the when we first met. You just didn't understand him."

"I hate you so much…," Ben glowered.

Trixie, Max, and Rex laughed at Ben and Gwen's expense – Agent Six remained devoid of emotion as usual.


"I had, for a moment, thought that nothing would ever change. I thought things would last forever."

"I was foolishly wrong."


Tears fell down Trixie's face, face frozen in horror at what she had done.

The devastation around her was unparalleled as she stared at the broken remains of the device she had used to commit the horrible deed. She knew it had to be done – that there was no other choice – but she still could accept the reality of her own action –

"Gwen!"

Trixie looked to her right. Ben was kneeling on the ground, holding Gwen in his arms, looking like he was fighting back his own tears. Both of them were in a rough state, but Gwen was even worse as both her legs were bleeding profusely and covered in bruises from hip to toe.

"B-Ben…," Gwen muttered weakly.

"Hold on, Gwen, I've got you!" said Ben fearfully.

"Ben, I…I can't feel my legs…."

The statement made Ben's breath hitch in his throat.

Trxixie dropped the remains of the device and approached her friends cautiously.

"Ben…Gwen…I…."

"Stay back!" Ben screamed at her. Trixie froze. The anger in his voice, though understandable, gave Trixie pause. "This is all your fault! You did this! Gwen, Grandpa – it's all your fault!"

"Ben, I…I didn't mean for this to happen…."

"I never should have found your and that stupid watch!" Ben cried, unable to stop his the angry tears running down his face. "I hate you! Take that stupid Omnitrix and go away! I never want to see you again!"

Trixie lurched back like she had been struck across the face. Her tears now doubled as her heart felt like it had been shattered to pieces….


"That summer…I learned that nothing lasts forever…."


Whelp, this is it. After so many years, we've finally reached the end!

Thank you all for joining both me and Red on this journey! I know it's been a long haul, but I hope the ending was worth it. Now before we end the chapter, there are a few things I want to say:

1. This will officially be the last story on Red Reef's page. Red no longer has the time or motivation to continue her own stories, and I don't want to keep using her page. Therefore, all future installments of the Trixieverse will be posted on my page "Pink Reef." If you haven't already, be sure to head over and sign up for alerts for future updates.

2. That being said, I'm going to be taking a break for a while to focus on my own stories. For those of you who don't know, I've been working on my own stories over at AO3, which is why it's been taking longer to update this story. It's not that I don't want to continue the Trixieverse. It's just that I want to write my own things instead of only continuing Red's work. If you could, I hope you'll support me over on AO3.

3. Last time I tried to upload a serious story on this site, I was spammed by "artists" in both reviews and PMs, which makes me hesitate to upload the next installment on the Trixieverse again. It's why I prefer AO3 where you can control which reviews get posted. If a similar thing happens when I post the next installment, I might be inclined to cut ties with this site all together. So just a fair warning.

Anyway, thank you all so much for following and I hope to see you all again someday!