Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Return
 
At the Digby Dairy factory in Dairyville, the security guard from before was asleep at his post and was snoring deeply with a groan before the alarm suddenly sounded, causing him to shoot up awake.
He went for his flashlight and turned it on before shining it through the darkness of the factory. He winced through before sighing.
"Probably just some kids looking for some free samples," he surmised.
That was when he heard the swipe of some claws and the alarm suddenly stopped abruptly. A growling was heard behind him followed by the shuffling of claws.
The camera then shifted to the alien werewolf from New Mexico sniffing out a scent before he kicked the door to the basement and went down the stairs to the cemented crater. It then sniffed at the ground and growled instantly before it swiped on the ground with its powerful claws, destroying the cement before digging out what it was looking for: a tall block of cement.
It then growled and split its maw open, letting loose its sonic howl, destroying the cement block and revealing the mummy, which still had the corrodium in its chest.
The mummy moaned and looked its friend in the eye as they only stared at each other before the flashlight shined on them.
"Okay, snack times over," the security guard said before realizing what he was looking at. "What the?"
The two monster aliens growled before purple lightning flashed down on them and they suddenly teleported away in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, underneath Cinnibar Castle, Scarlett was boxing onto a punching bag with her bare fists. She was wearing a scarlet red training bra and red shorts as she punched and kicked the bag with all of her might as she thought of her apprentice and cousin, the young princess Sofia of Enchancia and she punched at the bag as flashbacks flashed through her mind towards the final battle with the evil Victor Blum... her uncle and Sofia's birth father. The moment when she and Sofia landed the final blow together and all of the pain that horrible man fought through as she glared outwards and gave a final strong punch to the bag, picturing Victor's face in front of it and blowing it open with her last punch, spilling sand everywhere.
"You've been savage recently, Scarlett," said a familiar voice and Scarlett looked back to see Drake Flame standing there with a smile on his face. "Moreso than usual."
"Flame," Scarlett said as she dragged a new punching bag towards the hook. "Forgive me, but shouldn't you be having a meeting with that pretentious Time Patrol of yours?"
"Oh, they're busy," Drake said. "Our mutual teammate Bella, or Violet as she goes by now, informed me that you and your friends were granted immunities from the Time Patrol laws after your little Protector friends-"
"Leaders," Scarlett interrupted.
"Leaders," Drake said, glaring, "had their meeting with Supreme Kai of Time."
"The Protectors are one of the leading forces of magic in the multiverse," Scarlett said. "The multiverse needs us as much as they need you. So forgive me if I think that ensuring the protection of one of the components needed for the resurrection of the Master Anodite is a crime to you."
"You know that neither of us can defeat each other in a fight, Scarlett," he said as the two immortal warriors looked each other in the eye. "We're at a stalemate."
"Exactly," Scarlett said. "I'm still questioning whether or not I made the right choice I allowed you to give Gwen Tennyson those powers."
"It was the right choice and you know it," he said as he cupped her chin and she breathed heavily before clutching her fists. "I think you need a vacation for a bit. You look tired."
Scarlett looked at her knuckles, which were now bleeding due to her intense workout on the punching bag and other stuff that was scattered around her base underneath the castle.
"Fine," she said, breathing heavily. "But I fear that there's something coming in Ben and Jen's dimension. Something that concerns us all."
"I'll take care of it," he said with a sly smile to her. "Sofia's right. You need a break. You've been at your work non-stop since you re-assembled the Scarlet Army."
He then opened a portal and stepped through it, leaving the warrior queen panting heavily as she stared back at him with hatred for him clear in her eyes.
The Rust Bucket drove by the area as Jen sighed as she sat by her laptop, doing a bit of Skype chatting with the Louds.
"Hey," she said, brushing her hair back.
"What's up, Jen?" Lynn asked with a smile.
"You know, just passing through the country, never a dull moment," Jen smiled as she strummed her guitar.
"W'eve had a ton of people asking us about the Omni-Twins since you left," Lori said as she checked her nails. "Don't worry, we never told them anything about who you guys really are."
"You're the best hero friends that we've ever had," Jen smiled to the Louds.
"You too," Lincoln said. "Other than Surge and Armor and Cybergirl, you're the only other superheroes we've met."
"I honestly wish we could say the same for you," Jen said with a chuckle.
"And be on the lookout on State Highway 81-A for a prison buss that was reportedly taken over by the inmates," the radio announcer said.
As if on cue, all of the occupants heard a jolt and glared outwards at the prison bus that sped down the highway with no regard for collateral damage to the passing cars.
"Uh, gotta go," Jen said. "Duty calls."
"We, like, totally understand," Leni said as Jen closed her laptop and the kids activated their watches, changing into their super suits.
"Those cons picked the wrong bridge at the wrong time," Omni-Green said as he activated his Omnitrix.
"Ben," Max said. "This time, I think we need to make a plan before you and Jen charge off."
"Grandpa's right," Lucky Girl said.
"Okay, here's the plan," Omni-Pink said with a smile as she activated the Omnitrix. "...Attack!"
She and Ben then hit their Omnitrixes, transforming into Stinkbomb and Stinkfly respectively.
"Oh man!" Stinkfly said. "I wanted Four Arms. But I guess I can work with this."
"Let's go," Stinkbomb said as she opened the hatch.
Matter Girl sighed as Stinkfly flew out and she and Stinkbomb climbed through the roof, followed by Huntress as she stood on the roof and Stinkbomb and Matter Girl hopped along the moving car roofs towards the hijacked bus.
"Next stop, freedom!" the driver shouted.
"Nobody gets out of jail free when these twins are on patrol!" Stinkfly shouted as the driver gasped and started to tear up from the fumes.
"And I thought the prison food smelled gross!" the driver shouted as Stinkbomb glared and landed on the roof of the bus with her friend by her side.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Born ready," she said.
"What is that thing?" the driver asked.
"History!" a prisoner said as he swung a hooked chain towards Stinkfly, which he avoided.
The driver shouted out and rammed the bus into the approaching RV, jolting Max, Lucky Girl and Huntress, who shouted out and aimed her bow at the tires.
"Now you see me, now you don't!" Stinkfly shouted as he slimed the bus' windshield.
The driver countered this by activating the wipers as the Rust Bucket came directly behind them.
Some of the prisoners came onto the roof, where they were met by Stinkbomb and Matter Girl, who absorbed the material from the roof and glared.
"Bring it on!" she shouted as she and her friend fought against the inmates with a shout and close combat moves while Stinkfly provided aerial assistance.
The Rust Bucket moved beside the bus as Lucky Girl helped Huntress on the roof, firing spell blasts as Huntress fired her arrows at the prisoners, which they avoided as Lucky Girl glared at Stinkfly.
"Extending gyro blades," Max said as he pressed a button and some laser beams appeared in the frame of the RV and the prisoner with the chain threw the chain and tied it around Stinkfly's tail and pulled him downwards.
"You don't have to do this alone!" Lucky Girl shouted to the others.
"We're not!" Stinkbomb shouted as she let loose her toxic fumes outwards, causing the prisoners to gasp outwards and Matter Girl grabbed the chain and tied it around the prisoners again with a shout of effort as she freed Stinkfly.
"Thanks," he said as he flew outwards and slimed the bottom of the street, causing the bus to careen out of control just as the gyro blades fired. This caused the bus to crash into the Rust Bucket, causing the laser to slice down and miss the area entirely.
Stinkbomb and Matter Girl gasped outwards as they crashed downwards and Lucky Girl quickly activated her telekinesis and levitated the two girls up into the Rust Bucket with a gasp.
Stinkfly tried to counter the bus through the open door, but was quickly overpowered and he was handcuffed to one of the bars.
"They sure have some butt-ugly bugs down here," a prisoner said.
"Who you calling butt-ugly, butt-ugly!?"
The laser from the Rust Bucket continued firing until it sliced down the bridge, separating it. It then came to a complete stop by the edge.
The bus then drove outwards, directly off of the bus with a shout as Max gasped and pushed a button, firing the hook and cable down to the bus and catching it, sending Stinkfly flying back and the prisoners all fell out the windshield or off the roof and into the water.
"Swim for it!" the driver shouted as Lucky Girl, Matter Girl, Huntress, Stinkbomb and Max got onto the ground by them, watching the prisoners swim away.
"I don't think so," Lucky Girl said as she pulled out her spellbook. "Aquata Risa Spackwata!"
That was when the water spouts formed around the prisoners and shot them up into the air, screaming all the while.
"I meant to do that," she said with a smile as Huntress hugged her with a laugh.
Max then smiled to the kids as he gestured them down the path and they smiled and changed out of their super suits.
Back in the Rust Bucket, once it stopped at a rest area, Ben smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"Hey, Becky? Could you pass me the pretzels?"
"Gee, Ben. I didn't know your legs were broken. Get them yourself. There's no excuse to be lazy."
"Excuse me, but since I just took out an entire busload of escaped prisoners-"
"Up, up, up! We took out a busload of escaped prisoners," Allison corrected.
"Oh, please," Ben said as his sister's eye started twitching. "No offense, but you guys were just on cleanup. Everyone knows the Omni Twins lead, Matter Girl, Lucky Girl and Huntress follow. Now what about those-"
Gwen glared and used her telekinesis to throw the bag of pretzels into his face.
"Thanks."
"Sorry to interrupt, guys, but I'm trying to listen!" Max said as he listened to the weather channel, which was filming in Cape Canaveral.
"Today's launch of the Novan spacecraft has been delayed by a freak electrical storm! I've covered bad weather from the four corners of the globe, but I've never seen anything like this purple lightning!"
"But we have," Jen remembered.
"In the desert with that werewolf," Becky realized.
"And on the farm with the mummy," Allison said.
"This is Steve Cummings reporting live from the Kennedy Space Center!"
"Hold on," Max said as he started up the ignition. "Next stop, Cape Canaveral."
As the Rust Bucket departed, they didn't notice a certain familiar figure lurking from one of the nearby tables.
At said space center, a rather bulky scientist, Dr. Viktor, was giving a presentation for the upcoming launch of the Novan spacecraft.
"And my redesign of the propellant tanks will increase velocity on the twin solid rocket boosters, allowing for increased high altitude efficiency. The changes are already being implemented."
As the overhead projector turned off in the auditorium, the scientists judged the presentation.
"Very impressive Dr. Viktor," the flight director, Dr. Shueman said. "But since you are new here, you should know that once a launch is scrapped, protocol dictates a thorough review before-"
"Who are you to question my work?"
"Well, I am the flight director of this mission for one thing," Dr. Shueman said.
"...Yes, of course," Dr. Viktor said before taking his leave.
"Not exactly Mr. Personality, but he is brilliant," another scientist stood up by Dr. Shueman. "I can see why you hired him."
"I thought you hired him."
The Rust Bucket pulled up to the Kennedy Space Center nearby as they formulated the plan.
"Okay, here's the plan," Ben said. "Me and Jen go in as Diamondhead, no wait, Four Arms, and get to the bottom of this purple lightning business."
"We're not sitting this out, Ben," Allison said. "You can't stop us."
"Actually," Max said. "I think I know someone who can get us inside with a little less commotion."
"Really?" Jen asked. "Who?"
"No one special. Just an old friend."
The group looked around at the pictures and cases on display with awe when Dr. Shueman showed up to attack them.
"Max Tennyson!" he said. "What's it been, 40 years?"
"Give or take," Max said as he shook his hand.
"Whatever happened to you? One day you were here, the next day you were gone. Had to give your little walk to Armstrong."
"Wait a minute. Armstrong?!" Ben asked.
"As in Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong?!" Jen asked. "Grandpa, you were supposed to be the first man on the moon?"
"Sure was," Dr. Shueman said. "Does this guy look familiar?"
They looked at the picture of a young Maxwell Tennyson garbed in a spacesuit and by a shuttle ready for launch.
"Best astronaut in the program."
"A... different duty called."
"So, what can I help you with, Max?"
"Just playing tourist today," Max lied. "I wanted to show the youngsters around the old stomping grounds."
Ben and Jen looked around in awe at the pictures around them when they accidentally bumped into Dr. Viktor.
"Sorry, sir," Ben said.
Dr. Viktor looked downwards towards the twins' wrists and they saw the Omnitrixes strapped to them and his eyes widened.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, turning to Dr. Shueman. "You bring unauthorized visitors into a classified area? Get rid of them."
As he walked away, the twins scoffed and rolled their eyes.
"What's his problem?" Jen asked. "All we did was bump into him."
"It's kind of a crazy day, Max, with the delay and all. Perhaps we should reschedule your tour," Dr. Shueman said. "You remember the way out, right?"
As Dr. Shueman left, Max turned to the kids and nodded as they activated their watches, changing into their super suits and walked off further into the center.
"So I never did wind up going into space with N.A.S.A.," Max finished his story.
"Bummer," Omni-Pink said, crossing her arms.
"Grandpa, don't you regret not end up being the first man on the moon?" Omni-Green asked.
"Not really. I just decided to take my leaps for mankind in other ways. Armstrong needed the attention more than I did."
He then shushed the others as they saw a few employees walking away and ushered them towards a door. He took out a hacking tool and used it to bypass the door's passcode, opening it.
"Plumber's standard issue," he explained as Matter Girl rolled her eyes.
"Is there anything that the Plumbers don't have?" she asked.
Max sat down at the recording desk and accessed the camera feed. "N.A.S.A. records everything. Now let's see about that purple lightning."
Meanwhile, the flight director walked up to Dr. Vitkor, who was working on something by the shuttle.
"Dr. Viktor, there you are. I need to speak with you about your credentials."
"Not now."
"Dr. Viktor, I am your superior."
Angered, Dr. Viktor turned to him with a glare.
"You have no idea how wrong you are."
Suddenly, a bunch of bandages wrapped around the flight director, hoisting him up into the air as the mummy revealed himself and tossed the flight director away.
A growling sound was heard as the werewolf appeared and snarled outwards.
"Take care of those kids. I don't want anything to interfere with our plans."
The werewolf nodded and jumped off of the scaffolding towards the team.
"Ugh," Ben said. "Who would've thought TV could've been so boring?"
"I know, right?" Jen said as she felt her eyes start to grow heavy.
"These much be pre-launch images," Max said. "We must be getting close to something."
Ben shook his sister awake and walked away.
"We're going for a walk, guys," he said as he and his sister plopped their helmets back on. "We'll try to investigate. If that purple lightning is here, then some monsters could be too."
They then sneaked off and found the launch simulator.
"Whoa," Omni-Pink said.
"Mega merry-go-round."
A growling sound was heard behind them and they gasped when they saw who approached them.
"The werewolf!" Omni-Green said as they saw the werewolf growl and pounced towards them.
"I don't think so!" Omni-Pink shouted as she thrust her hands out, blasting the werewolf back with an energy blast before Omni-Green closed the door.
They then heard a massive crankling as the claws went right through the metal door and started to pry it open.
"You've got to be kidding me," Jen said.
They then activated their Omnitrixes and slammed the cores down, transforming into...
"Blitzwolfer?" Jen asked as she wagged her tail.
"Snare-Oh?" he asked as he looked himself over. Snare-oh's eyes, and the gaps between his bandages, glowed green. He had a black and gold pharaoh's head-dress. Snare-oh also had black bracers and greaves and wore the Omnitrix symbol on his left shoulder. "Oh great."
The werewolf burst through the door and growled and pounced towards Snare-Oh, causing him to hit the simulator's arm before Blitzwolfer howled outwards and tackled him towards the door.
As the fight was going on, Max was still investigating the launch footage.
"Here's the footage from when the purple lightning hit," he said to her.
As he investigated, he saw the lightning flash downwards as Huntress noticed something peculiar about the footage.
"Wait, Grandpa, go back. What's that on the launch pad?"
Max zoomed in to said area, where they immediatey recognized the figure as...
"Dr. Viktor?" Lucky Girl asked.
"Awful big coincidence, don't you think guys?"
"I'm not sure it's a coincidence," Matter Girl said. "The twins have to know about this. We have to find them."
"Ditto," Huntress said.
They then left the room as the fight continued with the twins and the werewolf.
Snare-Oh sent his tendrils outwards and wrapped around the werewolf as Blitzwolfer came in and punched the werewolf towards the wall. It recovered as Snare-Oh sent his bandage appendages out and he sliced them off.
Snare-Oh groaned as Blitzwolfer ran in and kicked the werewolf into his grasp as he wrapped his bandages around his waist and tossed him through the window of the simulator. Unfortunately, in the process, the werewolf's claws raked the control button.
Blitzwolfer gasped before she and Snare-Oh leaped up as the simulator's centrifuge to gyrate around them and the three horror aliens dodged and ducked under the centrifuge as it rotated all the while punching and kicking each other.
The werewolf then howled outwards and leaped directly onto the centrifuge and rode it around as the twins gasped and ducked as he tried to swipe at them.
"Ben, now!" Blitzwolfer shouted.
"Right!" Snare-Oh shouted as he wrapped his bandages around the centrifuge and then reeled himself in for a swift kick to the werewolf's torso, which he dodged and delivered a kick back. Snare-Oh then wrapped himself back around the centrifuge backwards and kicked him in the back, knocking him swiftly into Blitzwolfer, who howled outwards before slashing at him and then he unleashed a sonic howl at the wall and blew a hole in it and escaped through the smoke.
"Where'd he go?" Snare-Oh asked.
The twins saw a large figure coming through the dust and glared. Snare-Oh shot his arm out and he found himself grabbed by his grandfather.
"I don't think so," he said.
Matter Girl, Lucky Girl and Huntress then looked to see the Omnitrix symbols on the twins' figures.
"Ben, Jen?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Blitzwolfer said as the Omnitrixes timed out.
"Sorry, kiddos," Max said. "I thought you were that werewolf and mummy. Because, you know, you were a werewolf and a mummy."
"Speaking of which, the werewolf from the Navajo reservation attacked us," Ben said, taking of his helmet along with his sister.
"He's got to be running around somewhere," Matter Girl agreed.
"We've got to find him," Jen said.
"And if that werewolf is here, then odds are so is the mummy."
"I don't like this one bit," Max said. "First Dr. Viktor is around when purple lightning grounds the shuttle, then the werewolf shows up. What's next?"
"That," Lucky Girl said, pointing upwards to where the purple lightning was flashing out and Jen glared.
"No way," Huntress said.
"We've got to go check that out," Ben said as he and Jen ran off. "Let's go."
"Oh, sure," Matter Girl said as she and the others came by. "Let's play another game of 'Follow the Wonder Twins.'"
Later, the group waked their way through a holding of discarded shuttles and space travel parts.
"The purple lightning came from around here," Max theorized.
"What is this place, Grandpa?" Gwen asked.
"They call it The Graveyard. Rockets, thrusters, engines, capsules, you name it, it's here somewhere. From every mission, too. Mercury, Gemini, Apollo. N.A.S.A.'s like your Aunt Vera. Neither one likes to throw anything out."
"No wonder her house was so full of antiques," Jen whispered to her brother, who nodded.
Matter Girl then noticed a rusted plaque nearby them and immediately took notice.
"Max," she said. "This is dated 1968 and it says 'To the brave men who so proudly reached the heavens' and there's initials of all of the astronauts. M.T. wouldn't happen to be "Maxwell Tennyson," would it?"
"You can't live in the past, Allison," he said.
They then heard a familiar growling and looked behind them to see the werewolf, who had landed nearby.
"Yeah," Jen said, plopping her helmet onto her head as her visor started to glow. "And something tells me that he doesn't want us living in the present either."
The werewolf unleashed a sonic howl and blasted everybody back, sending a rather annoying ringing into their ears and the twins barreling into the sand. It then tried leaping towards the group but Max was ready and he tossed a mechanical muzzle outwards that wrapped itself around the werewolf's muzzle, trapping his jaws and sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Plumbers' standard issue," he explained.
Suddenly, bandages suddenly wrapped their way around Lucky Girls' waist, sending her reeling towards the mummy, who revealed himself as Jen gasped.
"What did I tell you guys?" Huntress glared as she unsheathed her bow and arrow. "The werewolf and the mummy."
The mummy stretched his bandages outwards and around the twins' waists, reeling them in.
Ben quickly adjusted his Omnitrix as did his sister as they transformed into... Cannonbolt and Battlefly.
"Oh man!" Cannonbolt shouted. "What do you have against Four Arms?"
"Get away from me!" Battlefly shouted out as she quickly blew the bandages away with an air blast before she flew upwards and Cannonbolt rolled himself into a ball and spun around, sending the mummy flying into the werewolf as it recovered, letting go of Lucky Girl in the process.
The mummy recovered and then glared, opening its chest, revealing the corrodium.
"Guys, get back!" Max warned. "It's going to release the corrodium!"
Cannonbolt then glared as Lucky Girl, Huntress and Matter Girl got back and Cannonbolt rolled them into his shell and he leaped outwards, colliding with the mummy. He then rolled them to safety as they felt dizzy from the spinning.
The werewolf clawed the muzzle off of its face and growled, pouncing towards Max.
"Hold on, Grandpa!" Battlefly shouted as she fired a cyclone outwards and blew the werewolf away as Huntress shouted out and fired one of her arrows at it, getting it in the shoulder. "That's what you get for blasting our Grandpa!"
That was when she felt a sudden shocking sensation and she fainted to the ground at Max's feet and the same happened to Cannonbolt as they were blasted by purple lightning.
"Ben, Jen! No!" Matter Girl shouted.
"Look," Lucky Girl said and everyone looked to see Dr. Viktor standing on a platform.
"I was told of the Omnitrixes," he said. "But the two of you are not the only ones with the power to transform!"
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Huntress said as the twins recovered.
Dr. Viktor clenched and convulsed as two large generators shot out of his shoulder blades. His muscle mass expanded largely, ripping through his clothing, revealing beige fingerless gloves and heavy boots on his feet. His skin lightened to a very light green and his eyes turned purple, one being larger than the other. He also had several bolts sticking out of his body, which gave off an aura of purple lightning. He basically looked like an alien version of Frankenstein's monster.
"We could be in trouble," Cannonbolt said.
"Big time," Battlefly agreed.
Dr. Viktor then hopped down to join his comrades as the heroes gulped.
"There's got to be a good rampaging monster spell in here somewhere!" Lucky Girl said to herself as she flipped through her spellbook.
"I want them eliminated before the launch!" Dr. Viktor shouted. "Get rid of them!"
"Not so fast!" Huntress shouted as an arrow flew towards Dr. Viktor, which he caught and crushed with his bare hand.
"This spell is going to blow all of you freaks away!" Lucky Girl shouted as she turned through her spellbook. "Twista Combatitis!"
As Lucky Girl tried to fire her spell, nothing happened.
"Oh boy," Matter Girl said as she face-palmed.
"I'll show you some magic!" Dr. Viktor shouted, raising his fist. "I'm going to make you disappear!"
"No!" Battlefly shouted as they braced for impact.
As the purple lightning shot out of Dr. Viktor's fingers, a sudden blue aura appeared in the shape of a king cobra, which shielded them from the lightning.
"Whoa!" Cannonbolt said.
"That was cool!" Huntress said.
"I know... I just wish I knew how I did it."
The aura dissipated and shot into the tower behind them, which then broke and gave way, right when our heroes were in the shadow of it.
"I hate my life," Matter Girl sighed as the tower crashed on top of them.
As the dust from the crash cleared, the werewolf went on top of the wreckage to investigate, only for Dr. Viktor to stop him.
"No!" he said. "They're taken care of. we need to prepare for the launch."
The werewolf sighed and ran away from the wreckage.
Cannonbolt suddenly burst out of the destroyed pile of rubble, as did his sister as they pulled their allies out and the Omnitrixes timed out.
"Well," Omni-Pink said, adjusting her spine from the crash. "There's another thing to add to my list of things I never want to do again."
"Guys," Max said. "I have a bad feeling that those aliens are bringing that corrodium to that spacecraft."
"We have to stop them," Jen said. "Who knows what they're planning to do with it?"
"Let's go XLR8, Jen," Ben said. "We can stop the launch, get the corrodium and then come back here."
"Guys, current events," Lucky Girl said, crossing her arms. "The Omnitrixes just timed out. You can't go hero right now. The launch will probably start before you can go hero again."
"You two can't do everything by yourselves. The only way for us to stop them is to work as a team," Max said. "Gwen, Becky, Allison and I will deal with the launch. When the Omnitrixes recharge, you two have a little chat with Dr. Viktor and company."
"*sigh* Okay," Jen said. "If you guys run into trouble, just call us."
"We will," Matter Girl promised as they walked away.
"It's just the two of us, sis," Ben said as they looked towards the way the monsters went.
"Are you ready?" Jen asked as her brother nodded and they stealthily walked towards the unaware Dr. Viktor and company.
However, in their need to be stealthy, they actually lost sight of the monster aliens.
"Oh man," Ben said. "What do we-"
Jen shushed him harshly as she put her hand up to her ear to listen intently with her eyes shut. She then heard a clanging sound coming from inside the shuttle and she crossed her hand over her throat to shut Ben up as they snuck inside.
Little did they know, a certain Alpha Osmosian was watching them as they entered with glared eyes.
Omni-Green and Omni-Pink then looked to each other nervously as they saw the evil alien scientist working on some kind of machine with the werewolf by his side.
"Are you clear on your instruction?" Dr. Viktor asked. "The downlink must be aligned when projection begins."
The werewolf snarled in agreement when the platform they were standing on rose upwards to an upper platform.
The Omni Twins nodded and Jen created an energy platform beneath their feet and rose upwards with a glare.
They stopped just below the hole in the ceiling above them and they saw Dr. Viktor plug four plugs into his back holes. The generators on his back started arcing purple lightning and he pulled his arms apart and lightning generated between his hands and a portal suddenly opened and appeared to lead to New Mexico.
"No way," Jen said with a gulp.
The werewolf felt himself get sucked into the portal and he flew into the area and looked around him with a growl.
"Whoa," Ben said, looking to his sister. "Talk about an express flight."
"I don't get it," Jen whispered. "Only Scarlett and Drake had that kind of power. Only the top-level magic users can create portals of that magnitude."
"It's not magic, it's technology. They must have found a way to make something that can generate portals. What if they find a way to the other dimensions?"
"I don't think they have that in mind. They only seem to be interested in conquering this one."
As the portal closed behind him, the werewolf ran away towards the generator that he himself built in the caves.
The rest of the group walked towards the security cameras once again as Lucky Girl and Huntress stood watch for any of their current enemies.
"Where is everyone?" Matter Girl asked. "The place is totally deserted."
"Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth," Huntress said to her. "No hunt is ever this easy."
"Becky's right," Max said. "Gwen, see if you can access the mainframe."
"On it," Lucky Girl said as she walked to a seat and she and Max typed several keys into the computer and each was denied. "Darn it! It's no use! All of the security overrides have been locked out!"
"Who knew that Dr. Monster was a computer geek?" Matter Girl shrugged.
"He did what I would've done," Huntress admitted. "If I was planning something this big, I would make super sure that nothing would interfere with me. Not even the last thing I'd expect."
"Then we're going to have to shut the launch down from inside the spacecraft directly," Max said, crossing his arms. "Maybe you three should stay here. You know, just in case."
"Grandpa, I know you're worried, but there's no way we're sitting this one out. Not this one," Lucky Girl said.
"Besides," Matter Girl smirked. "I believe I heard a certain someone saying that we had to work as a team?"
"Point taken," Max said. "If the corrodium is on board the ship, we're going to need these."
He then stuck out the badge for the hazmat suits out and they each took them, deactivating their super suits and activating the hazmat suits.
"Now we should be ready for anything," Max said.
"Never say that, Grandpa," Huntress said. "Ever."
The camera shifted into a closet to show two security guards knocked out and wrapped in bandages.
Ben and Jen looked to each other in worry as they nodded to each other and then the giant Frankenstein's monster alien behind them.
"Going hero," Ben whispered as they adjusted their Omnitrixes.
"Here goes nothing," Jen said as they slammed the cores down.
The Omnitrix sunk into his wrist as his muscles and blood vessels swelled and he clutched his eyes shut as they turned fully green and a black crest formed over each of them. His skin turned black and blue and scaly as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his chest. His body morphed into a more velociraptor-like shape and his fingers morphed into four black scissor-like claws. His feet morphed into a more reptilian shape with black wheel-like orbs and he grew a black and blue striped tail which he whipped to the camera as a black and blue visor shifted down over his face as he posed for the camera.
Chlorophyll-filled veins traveled up Jen's arm as the watch sank into her arm and she clutched her eyes closed before they opened, revealing a fully green color as her skin turned a lighter green then her eyes. Her clothes transformed into a plant-themed dress with white daisy-like ruffles with red in between the flaps and her shoes turned into grass-like flats. Her hair transformed into a budded flower on top of her head and pink flower cuffs appeared on her wrists and the watch appeared on the clasp of her dress skirt as she spread out her hands and a flurry of vines spread out as she ended the transformation.
"Sweet!" XLR8 said. "I got what I asked for for once."
"Me too," Blossom Rose said.
"That muscle head won't know what hit him!"
"Ben, no!" Blossom Rose said.
XLR8 ignored her and zoomed off in a quick path towards Dr. Viktor and attacked him... only to collide with his fist and sent tumbling back into a pile of discarded engine parts.
"Whoa," he said. "This guy has good reflexes."
"You two will never stop me!" Dr. Viktor shouted as XLR8 and Blossom Rose dodged all of his lightning blasts. "Not even with your array of weakling aliens!"
"We'll see who's the weakling when we're done with you, Vik!" Blossom Rose shouted as she wrapped her vines around his fist and backflipped over him, causing him to punch himself in the face.
"I'll rip you apart!" he shouted as he grabbed XLR8 and tried to pull him apart, but he kicked him in the face several times with his lightning legs. He then roared outwards as he plugged the machine back into his back.
"Oh man," XLR8 muttered.
"Your little games have delayed me long enough! It's over!"
He then used the generator to open a portal to the Arctic.
"No!" Blossom Rose shouted as the suction from the portal started sucking her and her brother in.
"Enjoy your trip."
XLR8 ran as fast as he could with a shout of effort and Blossom Rose wrapped her vines around the center pole again and shouted out as it was taking all of her strength to not let go.
"Do something, bro!" she shouted.
XLR8 saw a discarded engine flying towards him and he shouted out and grabbed the engine and tossed it into the portal.
"Please let this work! Please, please, please!"
Success! The portal closed and they hit the floor with a groan.
"That was a load off," Blossom Rose said.
"Better hurry," XLR8 said as he took Blossom Rose's hand and they rushed off.
As they rushed towards Dr. Viktor, Drake Flame leaped on top of the canopy of the hideout and gasped downwards as the twins pursued Dr. Viktor.
"What's he going to do with that?" XLR8 asked as they looked up at the giant generator before them in the center of the room and a rather familiar looking piece of a building in the center of it.
"You two are persistent, I'll give you that," Dr. Viktor said. "But your presence changes nothing! All is ready. Observe."
He then pressed a button.
"No! The others!" Blossom Rose shouted as they felt the tremor of the rocket's thrusters igniting and shooting off.
"What's happening?" Allison asked as she and the others climbed inside the rocket's interior.
"Main thrusters ignition," Max explained.
"It's too late!" Becky said. "The rocket's launching... and we're inside!"
"Looks like we're going for a ride."
"But where's the countdown?!" Gwen shouted. "Shouldn't there be a T-Minus countdown? You know. 10, 9, 8!?"
"Gwen, you three just became astronauts," Max said as he activated the suit's magnetic cling.
The rocket shot up into space with our heroes inside of it.
Dr. Viktor then grabbed the power supply for the machine in front of him and discharged his lightning into it.
"We don't know what your plan is, but it's not going to work, Frankenfreak!"
"Oh, but it's not my plan," Dr. Viktor stated. "It's the master's. It always was."
He then shouted out as purple lightning sparked and arced all around the generator as it activated and looked outwards at the chunk of brick there.
"Master?" XLR8 asked. "Who's the-"
"Wait," Blossom Rose said as she gasped. "Ben, we've been here before!"
"Yes. It is where you two believe you destroyed my master. You were wrong."
Then, grey ooze floated up out of the bricks and started reacting to the purple lightning and the twins gasped. The ooze floated upwards and formed into each other and formed into the last alien the twins ever wanted to see again. Okay, maybe the second last...
"I live!"
"Ghostfreak?!" they both shouted out in horror.
"Master, all is prepared for your return," Dr. Viktor said with a bow.
"This is impossible," Blossom Rose said as she started breathing heavily. "This can't be happening!"
"How can this be!?" XLR8 asked. "We saw him fry with our own eyes!"
Blossom Rose got onto her knees and started hyperventilating uncontrollably. "I'm hyperventilating. *pant* *pant* Does anybody have a paper bag?!"
It was about that point that the Omnitrixes timed out, leaving the Omni Twins back in their Omni suits.
Drake looked on in surprise from his perch at the top, unseen by anyone.
The thrusters separated from the rocket, sending it hurtling upwards to the nearby space station.
"Don't worry," Max told the girls. "The worst is over. Come on."
He then jumped upwards to the exit of the cargo bay, which was a wheel with the others following him. No longer inhibited by gravity, they were able to soar upwards with no problem.
As Max turned the wheel, on the other side, the mummy lie waiting for them with a glare.
"Oh, I do believe that I have a score to settle with the two of you... Ben and Jen Tennyson!" Ghostfreak smirked as he floated downwards to the twins as they stared in horror before they instantly got their game faces back on, ready to fight.
To be continued...
Next time on Ben and Jen 10:
Be Afraid of the Dark
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone