Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Dr Animo and the Mutant Ray
The Rust Bucket parked at the Everglades in Florida as Max, Gwen and Allison walked out and admired the area. ...Well, at least Max did.
"Looks like we beat the crowd," Max said, stretching and yawning.
"Yeah... Are you sure this is the right place, Grandpa?" Gwen asked.
"Positive," Max said. "Tomorrow, this place will be crawling with Gator Fest fans."
"I always hated Shark Week," Allison said. "I doubt I'll like Gator Fest."
Gwen groaned as she stepped into the mud of the swamp with a glare as Allison sighed.
"I know. I'm worried too."
Meanwhile, Ben smirked in mischief as he put up a screwdriver as Jen sat next to him and groaned as she strummed her guitar.
"What are you doing, bro?" Jen asked.
"Who knows how many other alien heroes are inside these things? I just have to figure out how it works," Ben said.
"You shouldn't mess around with these, bro. It's a disaster waiting to happen."
"Just chill out, sis. I know what I'm doing."
"That'd be a first," Gwen said walking over as she, Max and Allison walked over and Allison groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Okay, I'll be in the Rust Bucket," she said. "When the fiasco's over, come get me."
"Your sister is right, Ben," Max said. "I want you to promise me that you'll go easy on the Omnitrix. If you mess with it too much, who knows might happen to you? And to your sister?"
"Okay, Grandpa," Ben said.
"Now don't stay up too late, you guys. Tomorrow's a big day. Good night," he said as he and Gwen followed Allison back into the R.V.
Ben then immediately went back to work with the screwdriver and a determined look on her face as Jen then immediately lightly banged her head on her guitar.
Suddenly, the faceplate of Ben's Omnitrix popped off and landed on the ground nearby as the twins looked on.
"Oh no," Jen said.
Suddenly, their Omnitrixes started surging off green and pink energy as Jen slapped Ben upside the head as the energy engulfed them.
"I'm going to kill you, Ben!"
"Oh man," Ben said once the energy faded from them. "I am going to get so busted if anybody sees this!"
Jen then looked and saw her Omnitrix was malfunctioning as well, giving off small sparks of pink energy before it faded from view as she sighed.
Ben then walked over to the faceplate with a sigh.
"Ben, Jen?" Max asked as he walked out with Gwen and Allison in tow.
"What was that?" Gwen asked.
"Nothing good, I'm sure," Allison said, rolling her eyes.
Ben and Jen immediately played innocent as Ben held his faceplate behind his back.
"What was what?" Ben asked.
"What was that noise?" Max asked.
"Uh... lightning," Jen said.
"There's not a cloud in the sky," Gwen said.
"Uh, lightning got rid of them?"
"They're up to something, Max," Allison said.
"You two are so paranoid!" Ben said. "They're just trying to get me into trouble."
"Okay, that's enough," Max said. "Let's go, the four of you. Bedtime."
As they walked away, the twins looked at the discarded faceplate with a sigh.
"The Omnitrixes are linked, Ben," Jen said. "Any kind of malfunctions you cause to yours will affect mine too."
"I'm sorry," Ben said. "I'll find a way to fix it."
"You'd better," Jen said. "Because if you don't, it's your funeral."
They then walked back towards the RV, not noticing the plants growing from the still growing energy where the faceplate landed.
The next morning, Ben checked to see if the others were still asleep before silently walking out of the Rust Bucket and closed the door before he took his chewed bubble gum out of his mouth and his faceplate out of his pocket. He pulled the gum into a string and fit it around the rim of the faceplate and stuck it back onto his Omnitrix with a smile.
"There, good as new," Ben said.
"What's good as new?" Gwen asked as she and Allison walked by, startling Ben.
"Wish I could say your face but it's the same as always, Gwen," Ben said.
"Is it just me or has the Florida heat fried your brain, Ben?" Gwen asked, walking off as Allison put her hands on her hips as Jen walked out with a yawn as she saw this.
"Okay, Ben. What's going on?" Allison asked.
"Nothing," Ben said as Allison glared.
"I'm not stupid, Ben. You're clearly hiding something," she said before she turned to Jen. "Luckily, I have a best friend who never hides anything from me."
"He popped the faceplate off his Omnitirx with that screwdriver last night," Jen said.
"Ben, you didn't!" Allison said.
"I'm sorry!" Ben shouted in panic. "Please don't tell Gwen or Max! Please!"
"Fine," Allison sighed. "I won't tell. Besides, it's going to blow up in your face anyway."
"I'm afraid of how it's going to affect mine," Jen said as she showed her Omnitrix, which was still not responding to any of her commands.
"I am too," Ben said as they followed Gwen around the RV when their jaws immediately dropped at the sight before them.
Gator Fest was totally underway with stands everywhere and cars and trailers parked throughout the swamp lands as well. There was gator juice stands, a toy stand, a fishing area for the kids with small gator stands in them, alligator po' boy stands, gator pelt handbags, you name it.
"Told you," Max said, walking away. "Let the gator fest begin."
They then smiled and walked towards the festival, not noticing a familiar frog creature with red eyes and two tusks lurking in the swamp behind them.
As they walked, the camera motioned to two fishermen fishing in the swamp as one of them dug in the mud for bait.
"Hey, Larry," he said. "Check out these weird worms I found."
He held up the worms in his hand that had Stinkfly's heads on them as they squirmed around in his grasp.
"Freaky," Larry said.
They then joined a crowd that held a bunch of eggs in them.
"You know, I think you kids are going to enjoy this," Max said. "This is a rare event."
"You mean like Ben changing his underwear?" Jen asked as Ben glared.
"Hey!" Ben shouted.
"Shut up! I live with you! It's gross!" Jen shouted back.
They then saw cracks form in the eggs as the baby gators hatched from them and chirped.
"Aw!" the crowd admired as before cheering once the gators crawled into the swamp.
"Aw, they are pretty cute," Gwen admitted.
"Alligators," Allison said. "They have them here down South. They don't have them in New York, so I've never seen them."
"They don't have them in California either," Jen said.
That was when the baby gators suddenly crawled back up to the shore and away from the swamp.
"Uh, what are they running from?" Ben asked. "They're alligators."
"That's very odd," Max said. "What do you think'd make them do that?"
"I'll give you one guess," Gwen said, suddenly panicked. "And it goes 'ribbit!'"
The mutant frog from Washington D.C. suddenly leaped out of the swamp, sending the rest of the spectators running off in a panic while our heroes could only stare in awe, including Allison.
"No way," Jen said. "I recognize that croaker!"
"I do too!" Ben said. "That's Dr. Animo's frog!"
"Who?" Allison asked.
"He's this deranged scientist who experiments with animals. Turns them into these strange beasts," Jen said. "Trust me, he's completely insane. Not someone you would ever want to meet."
The frog shot its tongue out at them and the twins gasped as they rolled out of the way as they gasped.
"This is so not my idea of leap frog," Ben said as Jen shook her Omnitrix off. "This looks like a job for the Omni Twins!"
Unfortunately, the faceplate slipped back off Ben's Omnitrix as the gum lost its adhesiveness.
Jen felt a presence behind them as they looked and saw a familiar face behind them.
Animo looked virtually the same as he did in D.C., only his Transmodulator now had two gorilla-like gauntlets.
"Dr. Animo!" Jen gasped. "How did-"
"I find you two?" he asked. "It wasn't difficult to track your alien exploits when you insist on helping people all the time, Omni Twins!"
"I was going to ask how you escaped," Jen said. "But that works too."
"You two thought you were such big shots after you stopped my mutated creations! But they were merely the beginning! I will not be denied my place in history! Not this time! Destroy them!"
The mutant frog immediately shot its tongue at them, prompting them to jump out of the way as Jen fiddled with her Omnitrix.
"Please work, please work!" she begged as she twisted the dial and pressed the button on the side as her body was instantly coated in her Omni Suit. "Hey, it worked!"
Ben then nodded and activated his Omni Suit. "The Omnitrix still works!"
"You're going back where you belong, Animo!" Max shouted, walking by.
"Never!" He then stuck out one of his gauntlets and shot out a red energy blast from it, prompting Max to dive out of the way.
"Okay, Animo! Party's over!" Ben shouted as he and Jen looked nervously at their Omnitrixes as they sparked out energy before nervously slamming down the cores, transforming.
"Ben, Jen? You're..." Max asked as Allison and Gwen looked on in awe.
"...Stink Arms and... Battle Head?"
The twins looked at each other in awe as they had transformed into a combination of Stinkfly and Four Arms and Battlefly and Diamondhead respectively.
Stink Arms mostly resembled Four Arms with a few of Sinkfly's characteristics. Four Arms' eyes were replaced by Stinkfly's eye stalks. He also had Stinkfly's tail and wings. He wore a shirt based on Stinkfly's suit and Four Arms's pants. Stink Arms wears the Omnitrix symbol on his face much like Stinkfly.
Battle Head mostly looks like Diamonhead, but with a couple of Battlefly's characteristics. Her body was coated in crystal, but had the humanoid butterfly shape and Battlefly's Battlefly's pink compound eyes, wings and antennae sticking out of her forehead. Her shirt is based on the top part of Battlefly'sleotard and her pants resembles the bottom half of Diamondhead's jumpsuit. Lastly she wears Battlefly's belt, where the Omnitrix's symbol is located.
"Four Arms and Stinkfly's bodies?" Stink Arms asked in Stinkfly's voice.
"Battlefly and Diamondhead? That's a match made in hell!" Battle Head shouted in Battlefly's voice.
Stink Arms leaped over the frog with a glare as Battle Head desperately flapped her wings, struggling to get off the ground due to the mass shift as she crashed face-first as she dodged the frog.
The pair then spied the discarded faceplate and sister glared at brother with venom-filled eyes.
"Must be another new alien!" Stink Arms suggested. "Now I can fly and kick butt at the same time! Cool!"
"Wishful thinking, brother," she said. "My wings are too delicate to carry this mass!"
The frog then leaped onto the Tetramand hybrid and leaped up as he struggled to lift him up as he groaned.
"Either you've gained weight since last time or I'm not as strong as I used to be!"
His grip finally gave way under the frog's weight before he leaped away.
"Let's see you try that with me!" Battle Head shouted as she twirled her arms before she fired a cyclone blast that slightly blew the frog backwards before she nodded before she hovered off the ground with some difficulty as she shot her hands out and sent a few crystal shards at the frog as they shattered off the amphibian's thick skin.
Stink Arms tried hovering as well, but like his sister, he couldn't fly very far off the ground due to his body mass.
The frog then tackled him into the swamp, splashing water around and catching the attention of the gators as they struggled.
"Okay," Battle Head said a she put her hands to her head and tried to manipulate the plants only for absolutely nothing to happen. "Oh no!"
She then hovered into the swamp as she morphed her hands into blades and tackled the frog, stabbing at it with a shout as it chased her brother.
They then passed by the discarded faceplate as a stray crab crawled by it as it leaked out energy.
The frog bucked Battle Head off of him as she landed on the ground in a heap, hurt as she sighed.
"These two aliens don't work together!" she shouted. "I can't manipulate plant life and I'm so much weaker than Diamondhead usually is!"
Stink Arms then grabbed a gator sign off of the burger shack and swatted the frog away with it, sending it crashing by Animo's feet, inadvertently sending him crashing by the faceplate as he witnessed the crab grow Stinkfly's eye stalks and wings with a curious glance.
"Well, well," he said as he picked up the faceplate. "What do we have here?" He then spotted the twins nearby as he smirked and got onto his frog with a glare. "Let's go!"
The frog hopped away as she glared with its master in tow, disappearing into the swamp.
"That's right! You'd better run!" Ben shouted.
"So, Ben, why did you turn into some freaky alien combo platter?" Gwen asked.
Ben looked at the Omnitrix and saw that it was sparking out energy again and the faceplate was missing.
"What did you do to the watch?!"
"It's no biggie," Ben reassured. "It goes right back on. Now, where'd it go?"
They then started looking around the mud and dirt.
"It was right here. I saw it just before Dr. Animo and Froggie hopped out of... oh no."
That night, said madman was at an abandoned observatory as he walked on a huge stationary telescope that he had converted into a massive ray.
"Fascinating," he said as he placed the faceplate into a chamber within the ray as it closed up. "DNA-based yet with a power source unlike any I've ever imagined!"
Animo looked up and saw a large brown bat hanging from the ceiling.
"Eptesicus fuscus," he analyzed. "What a perfect guinea pig! You shall be the first in a new world order courtesy of Ben Tennyson and Dr. Aloysius James Animo!"
He placed his gauntlets into the machine, firing it up as he aimed the ray at the bat as the machine rose into the air. The energy from the Omnitrix's faceplate charged up and fired a green beam from the ray, which blasted the bat, causing energy to pulse through its system.
"YES! Give my new creation life!" he bellowed out as the green energy shone out through the horizon.
The next night, the team drove through the Everglades on a speedboat as they looked out for Animo or his frog.
"We've been at this for hours," Gwen complained.
"We have to keep looking," Max said. "If Dr. Doolittle can figure out how to tap into the Omnitrix's alien DNA, who knows what could happen?"
The girls then shot a look at Ben as they continued to look out.
"I saw that," Ben said.
"Saw what?" Allison asked.
"Go ahead and say it, you three. You know you wanna."
"Say what?" Gwen asked.
"You know, the whole big "I told you so" speech about messing around with the Omnitrix and that you three were right all along and if I'd listened to you, we wouldn't be in the trouble we're in right now!"
"We didn't say a word," Jen smirked before winking to her best friend and cousin slyly.
"Yeah, but you're thinking it! Admit it! There's no way I'm waiting so just say it now and get it overwith!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Benjamin," Gwen smirked.
"Grandpa! The girls won't say 'I told you so!'"
Suddenly, a roar sounded out through the swamp.
"I don't like the sound of that," Max said.
Suddenly, the shape of a giant bat flew out in the distance before its shape was revealed. Animo had mutated the bat with Heatblast's DNA. It was now giant and had Heatblast's rocky molten skin and molten webbing with its head ablaze with fire. He then flew in towards our heroes as they stood up for battle. He then fired a heat ray down towards them, grazing the water with a glare.
"Whoa!" Ben shouted. "It's Heatblast gone batty!"
"More like Heatbat!" Jen said.
Max continued to drive the boat as Jen fired her energy bolts at her and glared out as they dodged away.
"Gee, you think Animo's figured out how to use the power of that piece of the Omnitrix?" Allison asked.
"Okay, that was definitely an 'I told you so!'" Ben protested.
The boat continued to avoid the heat rays as Jen returned fire before she and her brother went to the Omnitrixes.
"We'll take care of Heatbat," Ben said, dialing in the Omnitrix.
"Guys, I don't think going hero is a good idea. You don't know what you'll turn into," Max said as he looked up at Heatbat. "Everybody duck!"
They all dodged the blasts as the twins went back to their Omnitrixes.
"If we don't try, we're going to get barbecued, Cajun style!" Jen shouted out as she crossed her fingers. "Please give me something that has Water Lily!"
They slammed the cores down and transformed before the lights faded.
Ben's form was a Diamondhead/Grey Matter hybrid that was slightly bigger than Grey Matter. He had Diamondhead's crystalline skin, as well as the spikes on his back and head. He had Grey Matter's eyes and mouth. He wore a uniform that was white with black cuffs on the left and black with white cuffs on the right, and wore the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.
Jen's form was a Frostblight/Needle Mouse hybrid that was a little taller than Frostblight. She also has Needle Mouse's brown fur, hair, quills and spikes but the spikes are now a pale blue. Needle Blight had Frostblight eyes and mouth. Also she wears a bodysuit similar to Needle Mouse's but with Frostblight's ballerina skirt on the waist part of the bodysuit and the Omnitrix symbol is below her chest just like Needle Mouse's.
"Oh man," Ben, or Diamond Matter said in a rougher pitch of Grey Matter's voice. "Diamondhead and Grey Matter? I'm a razor-sharp hood ornament!"
"Frostblight and Needle Mouse?" Jen, or Frost Mouse, asked in Needle Mouse's voice as she fluttered her wings. "I guess it could be worse."
That was when Heatbat swooped in and grabbed Diamond Matter with his massive clawed feet and carried him away from the boat.
"Ben!" Frost Mouse shouted as she fluttered her wings again and flew after the fire bat, only not as fast as usual due to the added mass from the quills.
Heatbat let loose some energy before he dropped Diamond Matter into the swamp-infested waters of the swamp before he surfaced.
"Ben, behind you!" Allison shouted.
Suddenly, from behind Ben, a gator popped up behind him and chomped down on him as Frost Mouse gasped.
"Oh no you don't, punk!" she shouted as she shot out her arms and fired several ice-coated quills down that hit the gator in the back, causing him to spit out her brother before he landed in her arms.
"Thanks sis," he sighed. "Could this get any worse?"
That was when they saw Heatbat swoop in suddenly.
"Me and my big mouth."
Heatbat tackled the twins, sending Frost Mouse off her balance. Fortunately, they landed safely back in the boat.
"You two okay?" Gwen asked the pair as they recovered.
"I think so," Frost Mouse said.
They then looked ahead and saw Heatbat closing in again.
"Hold on!" Max shouted as he engaged the clutch and the boat made a sharp turn, splashing Heatbat with water, extinguishing its flames.
Heatbat, in pain, flew away back to its master.
"Glad that's over," Allison sighed.
"It's probably headed back to Animo," Diamond Matter said. "Follow that mutant bat!"
"Guys!" Max shouted. "Road block up ahead!"
In the boat's path were a bunch of fallen tree branches and roots that would certainly destroy the boat.
"We'll clear the path!" Diamond Matter said as he morphed his arms and Allison absorbed the metal from her stray bullet.
Diamond Matter and Frost Mouse sliced up the tree branches with quills and diamonds while Allison sliced them apart when she morphed her hands into blades.
"I wish Diamond Matter was more of a health guy!" he shouted before the Omnitrixes timed out.
"Oh man," Jen sighed when she saw a large tree directly ahead.
"Grandpa, hard left!" Ben shouted.
Max made the sharp turn, sending them all sprawling down on the boat's floor before recovering once they saw the clear path.
"Where'd Heatbat go?" Allison asked before Gwen spied the mutant bat in the distance.
"Over there!" she said as she spied the abandoned observatory in the distance. Max pulled the boat up to the observatory as the others looked on.
"Looks like an old observatory," Max said.
"What's an observatory doing in the middle of a swamp?" Jen asked.
"Without the lights from the city, the stars are brighter and can be seen more clearly," Gwen explained.
"Oh, thank you, Ms. Know-it-All," Ben said. "I bet you three are just dying to tell me how I screwed up."
"Not at all," Allison said. "This is the most fun I've had in years."
As Max brought the boat into the wreckage of the observatory, they looked up and gazed at the giant telescope ray in awe.
"Animo has been busy," Max said.
Soon, the mutant frog burst out of the water and crashed into the boat, sending our heroes sprawling onto the wooden deck above them with a groan.
"You really should've knocked," Animo said from above as he sat on the chamber of his ray. "It is impolite to sneak up on someone like this."
"You've got something that belongs to me, Animo!" Ben shouted. "And I want it back!"
"Ah, yes. Interesting piece of technology. Its potential power is virtually unlimited! I will put its alien DNA to good use."
"What do you mean 'good use?'" Allison asked.
"With this telescope, I'll be able to bounce my transmodulator's signal off of a satellite and blanket the planet with its power, creating a new, more interesting world order!"
"Okay, science project's over, Dr. Quack!" Jen shouted. "The Omni Twins are here to stop you!"
"Oh, but it's just beginning, Jen Tennyson," Animo said."In fact, you should be privileged to be the first human test subject!"
He laughed maniacally as he put his gauntlets in the machine and fired it up. The faceplate activated the ray's power and Animo fired it right in Jen's path.
"Jen!" Max shouted as he pushed his granddaughter out of they way as the ray struck him.
Max fell to the floor as the kids looked on in disgust as they saw he was mutated into a Stinkfly-like maggot creature with Stinkfly's eyestalks and a slug-like body that secreted slime.
"Oh man," Allison said, trying to hold back the bile that was building in her throat. "That is so wrong."
"If I had just listened to you guys about messing with the watch, this never would've happened," Ben said.
"Forget about that, Ben," Gwen said. "Right now, we need a plan."
"A successful plan indeed," Animo said from above. "But as a scientist I must be sure."
Ben and Jen nodded and started dialing in the Omnitrix.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Allison said. "You two are going alien again?"
"If we don't try, that's going to be all of us," Jen said, gesturing to her grandfather.
The twins then saw the mutant ray being aimed at them and they gasped as they dodged and Jen put up a forcefield to block the ray, before they ended up at the feet of the mutant frog, who growled at them. They then turned around and found themselves cornered by Heatbat, who screeched at them.
"Hero time?" Ben asked.
"Go for it," Jen said as the each slammed down their Omnitrixes, turning into two new hybrid aliens.
Ben was a combination of Heatblast and Ripjaws. He had Ripjaws' torso, head and tail flap, but has Heatblast's arms and legs. And Ripjaws' dorsal fin was replaced by flames.
Jen was a combination of Firefly and Blossom Rose. She had the torso, waist and upper arms of Blossom Rose, but also had Firefly's lower arms, legs, wings and large abdomen and the crown-like horn on her head is replaced with Blossom Rose's budded flower. Finally, she wore Blossom Rose's plant-like dress and the Omnitrix's symbol is on her forehead.
"Heatblast and Ripjaws?" Ben, or Heat Jaws, said in Heatblast's voice. "Not the best combo."
"Blossom Rose and Firefly?" Jen, or Fire Rose, asked in Blossom Rose's voice as she looked at the glowing orb on her abdomen. "Not as great a combo as you guys would think."
"Well well," Animo said. "A walking fish fry and an insectoid plant?"
"Turn our grandpa back to normal or so help me-" Heat Jaws said as he ignited his hands in flames before they immediately extinguished themselves.
"Oh man," Fire Rose said.
"Ah, looks like you're the ones who are going to need help."
He fired up the ray again and blasted the twins with it, engulfing them in green light.
"No!" Gwen and Allison shouted.
The ray's light then dispersed and Animo removed his glasses to reveal the twins... looking completely unchanged from the ray.
"Hey, nothing happened," Fire Rose said.
"Hmm, it seems your already altered states have made you immune to the ray's effects," Animo examined. "Pity. Instead of giving you new lives, I'll have to settle for taking away your old ones! Finish them, my pets!"
The frog swatted them backwards with its tongue and into the claws of Heatbat, causing them to fly away as Fire ROse glared.
"Okay, Fire Rose," she said as she sighed and bared her lower arms' claws before she reached up and swiped at the claws of Heatbat.
Heatbat screeched in pain, letting go of her as she immediately started flapping her insectoid wings and started flying in the air. He then let go of Heat Jaws, sending him crashing into the wall and he groaned in pain.
"Okay, I'll fight fire with fire," he said as he sent his heat rays out of his hands, which immediately caused him to start sweating from the effort as he stopped, having done no damage to Heatbat.
"Guess that's one power useless," Firefly said.
Heatbat turned around and fired a ray at her, which sent her crashing down to the ground below and at the feet of the mutant frog.
"Okay, you've got plant powers and fire powers," she said as she looked to the water and shot her hand out. The plants and seaweed in the swampy waters as well as the moss growing from the observatory's walls immediately shot out and binded the frog down as she smiled and started flying back up as she fired her heat ray from her abdomen at it, briefly knocking it out.
She then briefly walked towards the water and tried to sip some up in her hand before it immediately burned her touch.
"Okay, let's not use water to increase Blossom Rose's powers," she said as she shook her hand off.
Heatbat swooped down and tried to smash Heat Jaws under her feet as he glared and looked by and saw a loose plank of wood in the ground. He then picked it up and whacked the mutant bat with it, sending it crashing down into the water.
Suddenly, the mutant frog recovered and shot its tongue out at Heat Jaws, ensnaring him and sending him crashing all throughout the wrecked observatory and into his sister in a heap.
"Okay, I don't like this ride," Heat Jaws said before the mutant frog broke out of his plant bindings.
He then sent his tongue out which grabbed Fire Rose this time sent her on the same trip as her brother before she ignited her hands in flames and touched the tongue, burning the frog's tongue and causing it to release his grip on her and sending her crashing down into the floor, where she groaned out in pain.
Heat Jaws wasn't faring much better as he was starting to go dry, his gills flexing in and out as he gasped for breath. "Need... water..."
Meanwhile, Allison and Gwen ran away Animo aimed his ray at them as Allison glared as she looked back at the madman.
"Welcome to my world," he said as he fired the ray at them as they immediately ducked under the blasts and Allison absorbed the material from her emerald as the blast bounced off her armored form and hti the wall by her.
"Huh," she said with a smirk.
"Blast!" Animo glared. "The ray is useless on inorganic matter!"
He then glanced over at Heatbat as it crawled out of the water, its flames extinguished.
"Get the girls!" Animo ordered.
Heatbat then nodded and flew upwards, growling all the while as he flew upwards towards Gwen and Allison as they gasped upwards and ducked under Heatbat as it swooped over them before they glared and dodged under a fallen piece of wood that Heatbat simply burst through with a screech.
"This is seriously driving me bats!" Allison shouted as she absorbed the material from her crystal and slammed Heatbat in the head.
Heatbat screeched as he broke out of the wood and continued to chase the girls.
As the chase was happening, Animo examined as the twins lay helplessly on the ground as he examined the satellite going into position overhead as he smirked.
"The satellite is moving into position. Who says one man can't change the world?!"
As Heatbat continued the chase, they saw a loose piece of wood on the ground and nodded.
"Any ideas?" Allison asked.
"Yeah, jump," Gwen said.
"Are you crazy?"
"Do you want to deal with Batsy?!"
They loked to see Heatbat closing in on them.
"Well, when you put it that way..."
They then leaped off of the plank and shouted out and jumped onto the telescoping ray before they saw a panel with a caution sign on it. Gwen then removed the panel and they both hid inside the telescope.
Heatbat screeched as it stuck its head inside the panel as the girls crawled through.
"You haven't won yet, Animo," Gwen said.
"If I can to the power source, I think I can drain the energy from the ray."
"But you said you don't absorb energy," Gwen said.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Allison said as she clenched her hands open and closed.
Heat Jaws desperately crawled towards the water... to no avail as the mutant frog hopped up and kicked him back into the wall as Fire Rose groaned as she stood up and punched her fist on the ground.
"That's it! No more Ms. Nice Alien!" she shouted as she flew forwards and slammed both sets of her fists against the frog, sending it back somewhat as she growled and punched without quitting. "Stay! Away! From! My! Brother!"
Heat Jaws recovered as he and his sister double teamed him with their heat rays that blasted him away and sending him unconscious into the wall.
Heatbat then recovered and saw the twins as it then swooped downwards and grabbed Heat Jaws and flew him around the observatory, causing him to crash into the wall as Fire Rose then flew upwards to try to save him.
"Can't... breath..." Heat Jaws said. "Maybe this fire with fire thing wasn't such a good idea."
He then chomped down on Heatbat's leg, causing it to let go as Fire Rose caught him before she tossed him into the mutant frog, causing both Heat Jaws and the frog to go crashing down into the water below. He finally heated up his arms and fianlly defeated the forg, sending it unconscious into the water.
He then heard a screeching from above as Heatbat flew in as Heat Jaws glared. He then activated his heat powers, causing the water below to start to boil before splashing upwards and soaking Heatbat as Fire Rose flew behind it and tackled it, sending it crashing into the wooden floor below it as Heat Jaws struggled to lift the frog's unconscious body off of him as he recovered.
Fire Rose flew by with a glare as she looked up at the ray.
Gwen and Allison climbed through the inner workings of the ray, trying to find the faceplate.
"Come on! Where are you?" Allison asked.
Suddenly, the ray was shifted into the right position to line up with the satellite, sending the girls tumbling backwards before Allison grabbed onto a loose cord and grabbed Gwen's hand.
They then saw the green light approaching as the ray activated.
"Not good!" Gwen shouted.
"Hold on!' Allison said as she grunted out in effort as electric energy began to dance around her fingers with a shout outwards in slight pain.
"The moment is here!" Animo exclaimed. "The next evolution will be televised!"
That was when two heat rays collided with the ray as the twins glared out as Fire Rose flew upwards and Heat Jaws glared.
"Change our Grandpa back or we'll boil your butt!" Heat Jaws shouted.
"And ruin my best work? Forget it! But I will give him some company: like the entire planet!"
He then put his gauntlets back into the machine, only for it to die out.
"My mutant ray!" Animo exclaimed. "What happened?"
That was when Gwen and Allison hopped out of the ray as Allison sliced a hole in it with her blade arm.
Gwen smirked as she showed the faceplate. "I just borrowed this back. Is that a problem?"
"And I just absorbed the energy from your ray," Allison said as she then looked to Max.
"Give me that back! Only my genius can utilize that power to its full potential!"
Animo started crawling on the telescope after the ray before he was blasted off by a solar beam as he cashed down to the ground with a pained groan.
The camera shifted to Fire Rose as her flower bud closed up as she glared and dusted herself off.
"Are you guys okay?" Allison asked.
"We are," Heat Jaws said as he walked up to the still mutated Max as his sister flew down to meet him. "But I don't know we can say the same about Grandpa."
"What are we going to do?" Gwen asked as Allison looked at her hand to see the energy still dancing around her fingertips.
"I don't know," Heat Jaws said. "You three were right about everything. I just wish I could take it all back. Reverse everything I've done."
Allison gasped. "Ben, that is the smartest thing you have ever said to me."
She then jumped back downwards towards Max with a smile as she stuck her hands out to him.
"Stand back."
"Are you mental?" Fire Rose asked. "You don't know what the ray's energy will do to him."
"It couldn't be any worse than what he is now," Gwen said as the others stood back.
"Proceed," Heat Jaws said.
"3..." Allison counted as she put her hands onto Max. "2... 1!"
She then shouted as she discharged the ray's energy onto Max with a glare and a slight bleed from her nose as she shouted out in pain as in a flash of green light, Max was transformed back to human form as Allison collapsed onto her back with a sigh of relief as she stared up to the stars in the sky.
"Grandpa, you're back!" Fire Rose said as she hugged Max with all four of her arms.
"What... where did I go?" Max asked.
"What did you do?" Heat Jaws asked Allison as she stood up with a sigh.
"I just reversed the charge of the energy and hoped it would do the trick," Allison said. "I just wish we could do the same for you two."
"Hey," Heat jaws said as the Omnitrixes began to time down. "Maybe we can. Quick, toss me the faceplate."
Gwen did so as Heat Jaws caught it and placed it back up to the symbol as the watches timed out, only now the faceplate was reattached permanently.
"It worked! Good as new!" Ben said, showing the Omnitrix as Jen cycled through her aliens normally with a sigh.
"Sweet relief," she said.
"Why do I have this strange craving for rotten eggs and sugar water?" Max asked as Allison looked at the others.
"So what's different?" she asked.
"Oh, Ben," Gwen said as she crawled down as Jen and Allison joined her in front of Ben and on either side. "We almost forgot."
The girls then leaned in with a smirk at Ben. "WE TOLD YOU SO!"
"Yep, saw that coming," Ben shrugged.
After delivering Animo to the authorities, they continued on their way as the Rust Bucket drove down the road.
"I feel like I'm watching a rerun," Gwen said as she watched Animo being detained by the police once again.
"You have not seen the last of me!" he said over the television.
"Yeah, I wish," Allison said as she turned the TV off.
"Do you think he's learned his lesson?" Max asked. "Don't mess around with the Tennysons."
"I'm not sure," Jen said as she spied Allison's hand straying towards her watch before she grabbed it in midair. "I don't think so. I'm not an idiot, Allison. That ray was powered by Omnitrix energy."
"You're right," Allison gasped. "I absorbed the watch's energy. Energy is like a drug to me and Kevin. I knew I shouldn't have done it."
"You'll be okay," Jen said. "It should subside in about a week off of it. But you are not going to lay a finger on either my or my brother's Omnitrixes as long as I'm still standing."
"Good idea," she admitted, rubbing her sleeve.
"At least Ben learned something," Gwen said. "Right Ben?"
They gasped when they saw Ben at the screwdriver again.
"I was thinking maybe I could rig this thing so I could become even more weird alien combinations whenever I want," he said. "Like Diamondmutt or XLRBolt."
"Ben!" the rest of the Rust Bucket's occupants chided.
"Just kidding," he said with a chuckle.
Next time on Ben and Jen 10
Back with a Vengeance
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone