Looking back, I really should have told Max and Gwen about the omnitrix sooner. It happened in the show, and they were willing to support in any way they could towards keeping people safe. Yet at the time, I still couldn't believe what happened.
Yeah, waking up in a ten year old's body was one thing, but to suddenly have a life of superpowers battling aliens and monsters was something completely different. Immersing myself into trying to have as much of a normal life as possible, praying I would wake back up in what I had perceived as reality for over twenty years.
Now, I was starting to accept that this was real. I was in Ben's body, with his omnitrix, dealing with his battles.
That included a guy who had arguably the most disgusting superpowers I could imagine.
"Humans!" The homeless man spat out in disgust, all manner of bugs and crawling critters swarming around him in the broken down home. "All of them, pests that need to be exterminated!"
Taking a flaming step towards him, I felt the heat swell in my arms as I added another reason to not like Stinkfly. Bugs were gross, and this guy was even worse. "Even ants and bees can fight over territory. If you want a home for you and your 'friends' then just-"
"It's the humans who occupy our territory, an infestation across the planet!" He yelled out as if he wasn't human himself. Either he had gone mad and fell back to his powers for identity or he really wasn't human. Either way, he was a threat.
The cockroaches, spiders, ants and all coated his body in a thick layer of living armor that continued to flow over him, making even my fiery form shiver.
"Sorry." With a spark of heat growing into a condensed ball of fire, I held it up threateningly towards him as a display of strength. "But your lease is up."
"…what?"
"A lease." I reiterated a little louder in case he didn't hear me. "You know, when you rent a place you sign a lease for a given amount of time. Did you not sign one?"
It was impossible to see his face through the exoskeletal shield scrambling over his body, but judging from his silence he had no idea what I was talking about.
Geez the one time I try to banter and it's to the guy with bugs for brains.
"Fine whatever." I rolled my eyes. "Last chance or else you'll be evicted with-"
Something attempted to crawl up my foot, making me jump at the sizzling critter that burnt up upon touching me. Glancing down it was a startling swarm of termites eating away at the ground right under me with wood creaking louder than I was comfortable with.
"Oh sh-" Falling down to the next level, I pushed out from my hands to propel myself back up to the mad man's level, seeing him already fleeing the room. Heh, fleeing.
I bounded out into the hallway where I could see him going straight to the far window. He had a layer of bugs still on him, so he would probably be mostly ok after what I was about to do.
Clasping my hands together, I threw them out with all the building heat in my grasp and blasted a torrent of flames towards him. I heard the bugs pop, sizzle and snap even before the attack hit. The wall of heat threw the man to the ground as the insects became nothing more than a pile of charred remains for him to land on.
His jacket was scorched, inhumanly colored skin brightened to near white along the point of impact. Just as I questioned if I had gone overboard his arms pushed out from under him as he hissed through the pain.
Alive good, consciousness, not so much. Walking over as he was recovering I swiftly smacked him with an overhead strike for his body to shoot back down harshly. He wasn't getting up this time.
With a single thought my body changed, the flames dying to be replaced by the blue reptilian speedster XLR8. I zipped over, grabbing his body before dashing outside where police had set up a perimeter around the demolition site. Tossing him into the backseat of one of the cars, writing a quick note about keeping him sedated until they could properly confine his abilities, I sped back towards where the Rust Bucket awaited.
I changed back to human, not my human self but instead the childlike appearance of one Benjamin Tennyson.
Wiping my shoes, patting myself down, I was glad to see no bugs stuck to me as I entered the RV.
"Ben!" Gwen all but leapt out of her seat upon my return. Some lingering trauma still haunted her whenever I was out of her sight, and it was harder for her whenever she knew something dangerous was happening. Yet each time I came back ok, everyone safe, it helped her recover a little more. "How did it go?"
"Gross." I summarized before looking over to Max. "How did it go with the mayor?"
"Well she was still shaken up, but safe now." He answered as he held up one of three of Gray Matter's creations. Three simple big zappers attached to some poles. Once supercharged for maximum efficiency, they were weapons perfect for the job. They would also be good for camping to keep us from getting bit while we slept. "Didn't even question why we had the right tools for the job."
Max set them down before we went over to the driver and passenger seat of the vehicle. With a crank of the keys the Rust Bucket sputtered to life and began trekking its way towards our original destination for the day. New York city, the one and only that many dreamed to visit because supposedly anything and anyone important went there.
I think it would be cool to see, but I can't say I could think of anything besides going up the empire state building to look over the several skyscrapers brushing their rooftops against the clouds. There was broadway off the top of my head, but I really didn't have much interest in that. I'll admit most of my knowledge of New York city was from playing Spider-Man and swinging through each of the streets.
Maybe grand central station? That would be cool, and if we could get into some of the abandoned train tunnels that would be awesome. Doubt Max and Gwen would agree to that. As the traffic leading towards the top tourist destination could be seen up ahead. Since we were slowing down I decided to vocalize my questions.
"So do we have anything planned to do or see while we're in New York?" I posed, mostly to Max since he was the one to plan this road trip in the beginning.
"This time we'll be staying in a nice four star hotel." The older man who rarely lost his cheer mentioned. "Now we can only stay there for a night but it's got enough to help us unwind."
"I could really use a spa." Gwen rolled her shoulders while still on her laptop. "Or better yet a massage."
"I think the hotel mentioned something like that." Max recalled much to Gwen's delight.
A massage and a spa trip huh? I actually had never been to one myself but even in a child's ever energetic body I was worn down from, well a lot. When I worked security for a hotel I would patrol through there, but never had the chance to enjoy the luxury. "That sounds nice."
Max took a risk to glance over at me, and I wasn't sure what it was for. "Now besides seeing some of the big sights like the statue of liberty, central park, or times square-"
"Oh!" Gwen perked up at the mention of times square. "Could we do some shopping there?"
Shopping in the heart of a tourist city? My non-existent funds cried at the thought of overpriced clothes and knick knacks. I lived in Vegas, I worked for some wealthy people, I knew how ridiculous some of the price tags could be for something you could find at walmart for less than half the price.
"Sure thing Gwen." Yet Max was happy to please his grandchildren. "What about you Ben? Anything you want to do? Any comic shops or arcades?"
Huh, comics did sound appealing in some sense but I didn't like having to buy so many comics just to get through the equivalent of an episode of a show. Plus, not a lot of places to store them in the Rust Bucket and even less money to buy enough to satisfy me. Libraries also were limited, only carrying an issue at a time for an entire series anytime I looked.
Yeah, comics were out. I'll wait until the internet is a little more advanced so I can read a few series I've been meaning to.
"Are we already going to visit the empire state building?" I asked, Max giving a short yes in return. "Then I think I'll be satisfied with that."
"Really Ben?" Gwen leaned out from her laptop. "We're going to New York city, anything anyone could want is there!"
Not everything.
But, I was curious now. What did I like, what did I want? All this time I was so distracted over what had happened to me that I really haven't let myself really relax and just give into my personal pleasures.
Fiddling with the gift Gwen gave me, I realized that perhaps there was someplace we could go to.
"What about a cd store?" I proposed. "You said it before Gwen that we could burn some cd's and put some music on a memory card. Why don't we do that?"
It might have been enough, the two of them satisfied by my simple request as Max chimed in.
"I've been meaning to add some more options to my music." Max patted the barely functioning stereo system. "We can go first thing in the morning after a nice night at the hotel. But anything else? It's not often people get to visit New York."
Well, if they're giving me the option to pick places I would prefer to go, I guess I could give in a little more, open up a few of my interests. But still, I had no idea what New York actually had.
"Hey Gwen?" I turned around in the passenger seat to get a proper look back towards her. The staff was stored away but the charms themselves were laying on the table with a notepad filled with scrambled information from various sources. Gwen had been starting on her research already, but I had no idea how close she was to unlocking their abilities. "Is it alright if I borrow your laptop at some point to look up some things to do in New York?"
Hesitation flashed over her, understandably because that laptop was new, her personal one, and likely filled with private-"Ok, come over here first."
Huh? That easily?
Complying with her request I made sure Max wasn't about to make any sudden turns before unbuckling and walking back to where she sat most of the day. Gwen was fiddling with a couple of her settings before pointing to the trackpad. "Here, put your pointer finger on this."
Once I did, I saw my fingerprint registering onto the computer. Gwen didn't have to tell me to lift my finger up and down, the instructions already on screen as it got multiple impressions of it.
"There." Gwen said as she rotated the laptop towards me. "You should be able to use it now. Just ask whenever you want."
"Really?" She was trusting me that much? I know I can't really think of anything I've done to get on her bad side but she had been at odds with Ben their whole lives as far as I was aware. "You trust me that much?"
"I wouldn't have before." Gwen admitted, stretching her arms before going back to the many notes she collected before. "But you've changed Ben. I'm not sure if it was the watch or something else, but you've done a lot for us, for me. From washing dishes without being asked to literally saving my life. It's the least I can do to let you look for something you want to do this trip."
"Wow, thanks Gwen." I sat down, seeing multiple tabs along magical items. "If there's anything I can do for you just let me know."
"Yeah, just don't go back to being the old Ben."
And just when I was starting to get comfortable I was given that harsh reminder. This isn't how things were supposed to be, and I had done nothing to fix this. "What if, the old Ben was more Ben than me?"
Gwen rose a brow towards my comment, unsure what to make of my words. "What is that even supposed to mean?"
"I think Ben just needs some good rest." Max said as we could make out the collage of towering buildings. "After we check in, why don't we see about that spa?"
While Gwen had given me free reign of the laptop for a moment, I turned back to the screen and froze at what I saw. Without realizing it, my hands had typed out a sentence in the search bar.
'You don't belong here'
Deleting it before I could question how those words found themselves there, I bit down on my tongue and just tried to capture that feeling I had barely touched upon this morning.
This had been the first time I had used the internet in this life. Things were older than in my time, to be expected of 2006. Yet besides the old styled interface it was actually faster than I had anticipated, not just that but there was more data readily available. Technology was disguised to look like it did in 2006, but it was more capable than it seemed.
Was this because aliens had frequent contact with earth? Some scraps of technology managing to push humanity's own a little farther than it would have gotten on its own? Not that I could really confirm, I was just another consumer who was just a little more tech savvy than the average person. Not to mention I wasn't that old in 2006, all I was doing back then on the internet was looking up pictures of pokemon, nerf guns, and cheaply made lightsaber youtube videos.
I only had suspicions, nothing to confirm.
"Wow." Gwen uttered in awe as we entered the rather luxurious hotel. For a New York hotel it was rather spacious in the lobby. If anything in New York proved it had money it was square footage. I could not imagine how much this was costing Max for a single night, then again if it was a single night perhaps he got it from a coupon or a single night deal.
As I took in the decor and the trims that repurposed the old building, I looked for any scuffs or scratches that would tell how well this hotel is actually being maintained. One thing I quickly learned in the luxury industry is they use the pretty lights and fancy furniture to distract from the neglect towards the infrastructure.
Then I caught the image of a comically fat asian wrestler posted next to a banner with a large room roped off. Sumo slammers, a security guard standing by to make sure no one disturbed the lonely console.
Wait….dang it I should have known there was something that would go down in New York. Almost every day there was something. Just let me enjoy a summer without work or school.
One thing that I wouldn't be repeating is getting kicked out that's for sure. I want a chance to relax before I throw myself at whatever trouble is about to go down. Ugh, I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight was I?
Max checked us in, I got to enjoy a proper sauna, and we were able to get settled into our room. It was a little more cramped, understandable given New York, but still it was more than anything I could have ever afforded on top of a cross country road trip. Max would have the bed to himself while Gwen would take the pullout couch, and I a rollaway bed that was delivered to the room by housekeeping just before we arrived.
Moving open the blinds, I shouldn't have been as surprised to see the view was limited to the street below and the building across from us. Only the richest could afford rooms with an overhead view of the city that never sleeps.
"Thank you so much Grandpa." Gwen treated herself to the snack platter that room service delivered, savoring every bite. "I think this has been my favorite place so far."
"Glad you're having a good time Gwen." He smiled warmly before turning over to me from the dining table. "What about you Ben? Has New York been living up to your expectations?"
"It's massive." I admitted, because in all my life I had never been to a city this developed. Not even Vegas was so packed with looming structures. "I never knew I needed to put a trip to New York on my bucket list. We've only just checked into the hotel and I'm blown away."
"Don't stay up too late thinking about it." Max warned in his experience. "Tomorrow is when we'll really see the city."
He got up, wiping his mouth with a napkin before heading towards the private bedroom. "Would you two put the food away when you're done?" Once we nodded in agreement he closed the door. He also left a rather large amount of leftovers.
"Wow." My fake shocked tone jokingly addressed. "They didn't even give us a side of squid ink to dip our food in. How do they expect us to eat this with the pallet we've worked hard to refine this summer?"
Gwen snorted before busting out laughing. Come on it wasn't that funny. Still, it made me smile to see no signs of the fear that had been solidifying itself into her mentality. Resisting the urge to laugh at her laughter, I just helped myself to another set of crackers to dip in the cheese.
Once Gwen regained her sanity, she joined in the snacking. "I think that's the first time you told a real joke all summer."
"I'm not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing you appreciated that joke." I added on, getting another chuckle in response. Once we had warmed up to one another, Gwen began to reexamine me again in a more serious light.
"What?" I asked, wondering if she spotted something on my face.
"This isn't some elaborate plan to get on my good side so you can ask for something crazy in return right?" She said it in a light manner but her eyes would not stop searching for a sign of deceit.
"Crazier than an alien watch?" I held up my wrist, reminded of the responsibility I currently held. My answer managed to satisfy her, Gwen finishing her plate before placing it over near the sink. "Speaking of crazy, how is learning magic?"
"It's, something." She admitted before her happy gaze became a little more downcast. "I don't know if this is something we should be dabbling in. I mean, you said that watch was stuck to you so mine as well use it right? But this, we both read what happened and saw what was left at the museum. Magic existed, no, it does exist and people are afraid. I'm afraid of what it could do, and on top of being terrified about the idea that reported alien abductions around the world are real now I have to worry there aren't some witches or wizards that would kill for those items. That guy you met was going to, the aliens were going to, there's just…..a lot to be afraid of and I don't think I'm able to face that. Not like you can. You might say you're afraid but you don't freeze, you run straight in and somehow immediately know what you have to do even when you aren't thinking about the powers of the watch to back you up."
After a long winded confession, Gwen sat down on the cushion of the couch, staring out towards the night lit up by a thousand artificial lights that drowned out the stars. "You're amazing Ben, and for as much as I thought I was smarter than you, mastered multiple martial arts to be a better fighter than you, none of my skills actually helped when my life was in danger."
"Gwen, you're ten years old." I uttered in immediate response because how high of a standard did Gwen set for herself?
"You are too!" Gwen shouted as she spun towards me before controlling her sudden outburst.
I really wasn't. But I couldn't outright say that. Walking around and taking a seat next to her, I decided to be a little more honest. "I did change Gwen, like you suspected multiple times before, but it wasn't immediate."
Gwen quieted herself, her mind as she listened intently. It made it harder to try and force the words out of my throat. "I have made a lot of mistakes, more than I can even remember but the lessons stuck every time until they were ingrained in me. There's a lot of different things that I learned over my life but the most consistent one was I am in charge of my actions, I choose what I do, and I'm responsible for them. I can, for example, choose to let someone else take care of their usual chores. I can decide that I'll take care of me and my business, and that sounds fair. Yet, when I did that and trouble happened I got blamed, I got punished, but the lesson didn't stick until people started getting hurt."
Confused as she was, Gwen began to reflect on my words. Before I could let her possibly come to the wrong conclusion I continued.
"I help where I can, because if I don't and things go wrong it was because I decided not to do anything about it. I am responsible for my actions and inactions. Even if what happens afterwards is unfair, or unpredictable, no one is immune to the consequences or fully in control of them. Does that make sense?"
With nothing else I could think to say, I let her mind swim in place as she digested what I had to say.
"I, see what you're saying." She finally answered after a few tense moments of silence. "You help, you do what you can immediately because someone else might not and then it's on you?"
"That sums it up, sort of." I was starting to feel tired, and I couldn't think of a better way to express it. "I don't know if you could tell but I haven't exactly practiced this."
"I could tell." Gwen teased, gaining a short huff from myself.
"Would you have preferred I just said 'with great power comes great responsibility'?"
"So you do still like comics." Gwen retorted with amusement. "When I realized you didn't pack a single one I thought you outgrew them."
"Life has felt a lot like a comic book lately. Adventures and dangers with aliens and magic every other day." That steam room earlier had made me forget that tonight something was supposed to happen, one particularly aggressive kid turning into a recurring villain. I tried to remember how exactly Ben met him, and I could think back to an arcade but details after that were blurry. I needed to think back on this, remember what occurred so I knew if staying away would be better in the long run for not only myself, but Kevin.
Letting Gwen sit there to stare out towards New York I made my way back to the kitchen table, cleaning up our mess while tuning my handheld radio. I wasn't looking for music, I was trying to find out if I could pick up police chatter. You know what, this was important enough to utilize a little more help.
I needed an upgrade.
Gwen flinched as the light of my transformation went off, swinging around to see my technical blob of a body with green circuits running through my sleek black skin. This was the first time I had transformed and not pressed for time, and I had questioned how far Upgrade's capabilities could go.
"Ben?" Gwen asked, weary about why I had suddenly changed. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah." I froze as I heard myself speak with a voice so familiar with a slightly distorted filter. It wasn't just how it was a human voice talking through a speaker, it was my voice. I never spoke as upgrade before, this was only my second time using him.
I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry, because I still don't know what it means. Was it me becoming the aliens and not Ben? Or was it how I thought I should be speaking impacting however Upgrade's body processed its vocal commands.
Shaking my head, I put it all aside because I had no way of getting answers. I wasn't sure if Gwen was suspicious of it, probably not. All my alien forms had different voices, why would Upgrade be any different?
"I'm just seeing how this guy's powers work." As narcissistic as it sounded, I was so happy to hear the sound of my voice. Holding up the radio that was still in my hand, I let my finger bleed through it and overcome every piece.
It was, hard to describe what I was doing. I simply felt every circuit like it was my own body and I could manipulate it with my own cells to be, whatever I could think of and more.
Holy crap Upgrade is my favorite alien hands down.
Once I plugged my mind into it, I could process hundreds of different radio waves.
It wasn't long before I heard about some blackouts in the train tunnels. They didn't sound panicked about it, but I was. The memory of the show hit me hard, just like the trains that were going to collide.
That little psychopath was actually going through with it.
"Something is happening." I fine tuned the radio, leaving a few extra features I made in it and set it down on the table. "If you need me reach out on that, don't change the settings."
"Wait, Ben!" Gwen reached out as I walked over to the far wall, finding a way to crack open the window before squeezing through the one inch gap. Using my rather fluid body I was able to adhere to the exterior wall with cars rushing under me almost a hundred feet down. Woah that was really far down. "Don't leave-"
"If I don't people will die." I turned my single optic towards her. "That's the choice I have to make now, save them or don't."
Not wasting anymore time, making sure I had the location locked in my head, I positioned myself with my feet flush against the wall and ran.
From flopping fluid feet, the omnitrix flashed and changed me into XLR8. Then I ran, faster than anyone could see as I darted straight to the closest rail line. I followed it, running along the tracks until it went under the tunnels. I zipped and ran checking where everything connected. I read so many signs, looked over several worn maps posted along the old stone walls.
It was hard to keep track of how much time actually passed, and just as I was praying I wasn't too late I came across a rather dark tunnel. Halting before I could accidentally trip over something, I turned into something that didn't need the dark to see.
I couldn't have seen the flash of the omnitrix when my eyes vanished, and I could feel my thoughts more tempted by primal influences. Though now that I was Wildmutt, I could confirm who I was looking for. His rapid heartbeat was the loudest thing running across my ears, almost drowning out the bustling city I could sense above us.
He was already in hiding when I arrived, Kevin probably already switched the rails. Easily maneuvering through the dark, I reached up to the lever in the center of the tunnel and gave it a short push. Once there was a click, a hum entered the air as my fur stood on edge.
"Hey!" Kevin spotted me, using the electricity dancing from his fingers to let himself see. "What's your problem you oversized mutt?! This was supposed to be my big score!"
I couldn't exactly talk to him like this, but was it the best idea to change?
I suddenly perked up, something approaching and fast from the tunnel I came from. It sounded mechanical, but I couldn't feel any vibrations traveling through the rails. Not to mention the distraction that was Kevin approaching with vibrantly bussing hands.
I sent out a bark towards him, getting him to back off and stay away.
I could hear something else coming the other way, not a train either. The closest thing I could compare the sound to was that airshow when the jets….CRAP!
I leapt out of the way before the missiles could land, flying over Kevin before I could be caught up in the explosion.
The force blew us both back, Kevin's small body thrown easily towards the stairs. I caught him with a paw before letting him down to try and let his mind catch up to the present. A psycho no doubt, but still a kid. I had some hope for him but I would need Gray Matter to better understand what twisted viewpoint his mind developed and if he could be swayed.
Another problem for another time, right now I had bounty hunters after me.
Vibrations from below warned me, the third one was coming up from below. The two others were still en route, giving me the chance to anticipate their actions. Bracing for the arrival of the metal crab, I stood near where his exit point would be and waited for him to rise to the surface. As soon as the brick floor exploded out, I slammed my massive paws right on his head.
"GAH!" I dealt a harsh blow right away, halting his ascent as Six Six flew into immediate view with all manner of blasters at the ready.
In a flash I changed into the invulnerable body of Diamondhead, letting them bounce off me as I sent out a barrage of shards his way. He stumbled under the pelting, flying for cover in one of the other nearby tunnels and shooting out towards me.
I almost decided to cage him in the tunnel with several pounds of green crystals, but quickly recalled that the trains were still on their way. Not to mention I couldn't see anything.
"Kevin!" I yelled out to the boy who was watching in stunned silence. "Can you get the lights back on?"
"What?!" The boy finally awoke from his shock. "Why would I help you?! Wait, how do you know my-"
"How about lighting up the tunnel for yourself so you can see what's going on?" I tried to appeal to his self centered goals.
"I don't need your help." Kevin elected to ignore me in favor of just running towards the nearest escape. "Forget this I'm outta her-"
A wall enclosed on the exit, made of green crystalline pillars. That wasn't my doing.
More lasers bounced off of my back, forcing me to readdress the threat just in time for a massive claw to grab around my head and throw me to the ground pinning me.
"Back off!" Kraab ordered holding up another blaster in his free arm. "The omnitrix is mi-"
Several shards exploded from my face, shredding his primary weapon and giving me enough room. Switching to Heatblast, so I could have a little more light and have a means to attack that wouldn't immediately risk the integrity of the train system. Now that I could see I blasted out in tight rays of flames to assault the ones after me.
Tetrax ran right through it, throwing a punch right at my jaw that I barely recovered from. That did not feel like he was pulling punches. Come on, aren't you supposed to be on my side?
The distraction of even asking why he was attacking me gave him room to deliver three more harsh blows, dizzying my mind with a splitting headache. I needed someone tougher and stronger.
Switching from Heatblast, I traded sight and ranged attacks for better defense, reflex, and a more simple minded approach to combat. As Four Arms, I reached out to grapple Tetrax with all four limbs but the man was quick, experienced, and I had the sneaking suspicion his helmet allowed him to actually see.
Two sharp blows exploded behind my knees, precise and dangerous pushed me down.
"Kevin! The lights!" I yelled out in desperation because right now I needed some kind of edge. I no longer was able to simply overpower my enemy with brute power or surprise. These were trained professionals, ones that have dealt with more species than I could turn into and I had to watch my attacks to not hurt a bystander and not compromise the integrity of our surroundings.
I gave them the perfect opportunity to ambush me.
Finally a bolt of energy that flew over my shoulder, hitting someone right behind me alerted me to Tetrax's location. Just trying to end the fight faster, I reached behind with two of my arms, grabbing him and throwing him towards Six Six who just came out from cover.
My vision was still compromised, so I switched over to Wildmutt again so that at least I knew where they were. Only Kraab was approaching me now, so I lunged with teeth bared to bite down on his arm.
Then a gas assaulted my senses, blinding and choking me. Wildmutt was out, XLR8 would be great for reaction speed if he could see, my options were burning out and I needed a way to step back and come up with a plan.
Turning into the untouchable Ghostfreak, I was relieved to find I could see well in the dark, well enough to find Kevin doing his best to stay hidden in the corner of the shadows. Keeping invisible, I flew over to him, grabbed the boy under his arms, and hoped that I could fly through walls with him in my grasp.
He yelped out, and so did I once a foam spray exploded over me. My head smacked against the ceiling, adding onto the others several headaches swarming my skull.
"You're not going anywhere." Kraab seethed, sparks still emanating through his hardly functioning claw. Soon Six Six was getting up behind him, aiming several blasters at me with Tetrax holding up a gun of his own.
I couldn't make out what Six Six said, but he did not sound happy.
Just as I thought about how screwed I was, a soft warm light began to grow down one of the tunnels. The trains were coming, and there was lots of debris all over the tracks. As if I wasn't already panicked a new reason called me to immediate response despite the several other things that wanted to pummel me without caring if I died or not.
Tossing Kevin off to the side, I charged the three of them as itchy trigger fingers let out several shots. They would have hit me, if I didn't turn into Gray Matter at the same time to run under their steps. With a brain that could think better than any other, I prioritized. They didn't care for Kevin and he wasn't helping so ignore him. The approaching trains gave off enough light to work with, one less thing to worry about. Lastly, I needed to clear some of the crystals that were laying around on top of repairing some of the damage. Lastly, I needed to get a hold of some back up.
Let's hope Upgrade is durable enough.
Turning back into my newly favorite alien, I stretched out to cover the floor and pushing debris to the side before merging with the tracks and doing some quick repairs. Taking over the main control box in the center, I finally regained control of the fight and decided to get my immediate revenge.
Two guns spat out from my sides with a rather large cannon emerging from the top of my head, unleashing a torrent of blaster bolts over all three of them.
Six Six and Kraab flinched back, their armor pelted relentlessly scorching it in several places. While I wasn't trying to go out of my way to hurt Tetrax, I was still dissatisfied to find that he could still brush off my attacks.
Not a moment to waste, I mentally used my techno abilities to get a hold of my personal radio that was still with Gwen and Max.
'Mayday mayday!' I called out through my mind, hearing a fumbling on the other side with. 'I am pinned down by three alien bounty hunters in the subway with a bystander trapped in dangerous proximity, sending coordinates now.'
'That's Ben!' Gwen's voice practically yelled. 'Grandpa he's actually in trouble!'
'Ben!' Max commanded with controlled panic. 'Try to run if you can, we're already on our way but please-'
I made one too many mistakes tonight, and I just made arguably the worst one when I failed to keep a keen eye on my enemies. Once I registered the small disc land on part of my body, it was too late. Pain flooded my systems, ejecting me from the rail system, and exhaustion took hold.
Ok, we're splitting this final Season 1 adventure into a two parter. I have appreciated many points brought up and all sorts of recommendations for future adventures but I think I need to clarify something again.
No content from Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, Omniverse, or reboot will be used. That includes aliens, abilities, plot points, lore, and just about anything not seen in the OG show. That includes creator comments, I'm not going to use anything from those.
1234andynguyen: I appreciate reviews instead of copy/pasted wiki articles.
Murderleo: While Max does seem more capable in later shows, I'm basing my information solely off of OG Ben 10. Same goes for Kevin and Charmcaster, even if there's not a lot to go on without context given in Alien Force/Ultimate Alien.
Kai, egh, never liked her character.
I think I can let SI-Ben keep master control for a little longer, even if it's only to help him catch up on much needed practice as seen in this latest chapter.
The Ben 10,000 episode is one I do plan on doing, just not sure how to do it yet. As for Rojo, haven't fully decided yet but I wouldn't plan on her making another appearance.
Fire turtle: I can at least say I have a whole different plot planned for Ghostfreak.
Ushindi: I haven't fully decided on Ghostfreak but it will probably be a mix of both.
As for SI-Ben meeting Azmuth, yes if I get that far with this.
GhostFang GF: I know people bring it up a lot, but that's a dangerous rabbit hole of exploitation. Also, since it's Ultimate Alien ruling I am not going to use it.
I don't have any current plans to integrate the live action movie.
OROESPANA2023: I'm concerned with how many of your requests revolve around bondage.
jaimehuizar2005: Yeah, it's a terrifying thought that Ben is aware of what's happening and has no way to even speak up.