章 10: Abducting
With Gwen on Ben's back, the two rushed to save the others.
"What exactly is going on here?" XLR8 asked, his voice filled with urgency as they blitzed through the streets. The aliens disguised as the townspeople were alarmed by the sight of two objects moving super fast. Though they couldn't stop them, they knew those objects meant harm.
"They're headed for the ship!" one of the aliens shouted, riling up the others as they chased after Ben and Fred.
"The townspeople are likely going to be abducted. And I heard from my dad that humans, along with other sapient life forms, are seen as delicacies by a lot of alien species," Fred replied as they entered the underground through a trap door.
[A/N: reference here is tetrax from that one Ben 10 movie where the Omnitrix was about to explode if I remember correctly.]
"Wait, so they're gonna eat them?" Gwen exclaimed, horrified, even before Ben could ask what he was talking about.
"That's why I said we should hurry. This way," Fred responded, his voice tense as they sped to the place where the ship was. It didn't take long for them to reach the ship, and there they found the townspeople in some egg-like pods.
"Oh no!" Gwen and Ben exclaimed in unison as they saw the horrifying sight.
"Ben, quick! Before you time out, get the ones inside the ship out. Gwen, you will free them by ripping those pod things apart," Fred instructed, giving them roles to do.
"Wait, can I even...?" Gwen hesitated, doubting her strength against the pods.
"Don't worry. Judging by the pods' appearance, it won't be hard for you to do so," Fred explained. With the trio now mission-focused, they got moving and did as Fred said. Meanwhile, Fred turned into Overflow and fought the aliens, knowing water was their weakness.
"Hmmm. I had the weirdest experience just now," Max said as he regained consciousness after Gwen freed him from the pod.
"Grandpa!" Gwen cried in relief, rushing to his side.
Max quickly understood the situation after analyzing his surroundings. "Wait, Gwen! Don't free any others. It will be safer if we put them in their condos first before waking them up," Max instructed, stopping Gwen from freeing any more people.
The rest went smoothly, with Ben getting the others out in time and Fred easily taking care of the aliens.
"Now, all that's left is..." Ben said, looking at the ship after they finished everything.
"Umm, I have a request," Fred said as he stood next to Gwen and Max, who were resting from moving the pods to a safer distance. They watched as the ship was about to leave.
"I think I know where this is going," Ben said, slightly rolling his eyes.
"Just hear me out, okay? It's not like you haven't taken a souvenir before," Fred defended himself, clearly bent on getting the spaceship.
"Where would you even fit that?" Gwen asked, skeptical.
"Just look at this," Fred said, turning into Upgrade and mechamorphing the ship. A bright violet light shone, and the ship shrank until it could fit in his palm. "It wasn't necessary, but now it can fit basically anywhere," Fred said, looking at Max with puppy eyes.
"I guess it's fine if you can do it like this," Max replied, also shocked. He later gave a light sigh, knowing that he'd have to deal with Ben, Fred, and possibly Gwen in the future with situations like this. "It works, right?" Fred smiled.
"Now, we're left with taking the residents to their homes and waking them up again," Max said as he got up. Ben, always excited to use his watch, turned the dial and slammed it, transforming into Wildmutt.
"How will you move all these people like that, Dingus?" Gwen said, seeing Ben in his new form. Ben made some noises, showing his dissatisfaction.
"Habits, habits, habits," Fred muttered as he turned into a Galvan, hopping on Wildmutt's arm and reaching for his Omnitrix. He did something to it, then slammed it, changing Ben into XLR8 again. "Don't slam it without verifying the transformation you want to turn into," Fred said as he hopped off Ben's chest, turning into XLR8 himself.
"How'd you do that? It's the second time now," Ben asked, surprised by how Fred was able to change Ben's form even without having an Omnitrix himself.
"You'll figure it out eventually," Fred shrugged the question off with a smile. "Okay, off to work," Fred said, changing the subject.
"Come on, one hint wouldn't kill ya," Ben said.
"First one gets to pick the game," Fred said, averting Ben's questions.
"Wait, really?" Ben said, now firmly motivated.
"He really knows how to handle Ben," Gwen remarked, seeing the two now racing over who would send the most people home.
The day ended with them sending the townspeople back to their homes and sealing off the cave. Just like that, the day ended, and the gang readied to leave the next morning. After saying their goodbyes to Vera, they headed towards their next destination.
"So, where are we headed now, Grandpa?" Ben asked as the Rust Bucket set off.
"Since a lot of unexpected things occurred this summer, I figured we should prepare a little for any more scenarios," Max said as he drove off. Ben didn't fully understand what he meant but let it go and lounged back, sitting opposite Fred with a controller in hand.
"Can I help with building the course?" Fred asked, knowing that this was going to be Ben's first training session with the Omnitrix.
"Of course. I was hoping to ask if you had any contraptions that would help with things," Max replied as Fred let out a light smile.
"What's that all about?" Gwen remarked, seeing Fred understanding what Max was talking about.
"We're just talking about making a training course for Ben to get better use of his aliens," Fred replied.
"And why is it only me?" Ben asked as he played games.
"Don't get cocky just because you won the race," Ben said, pouting.
"Of course, I'll be using it too. But as you've seen by now, my powers make it easier for me to use the alien powers," Fred replied, also engrossed in his game. The Rust Bucket drove off to the desert, where they wouldn't be disturbed while training Ben and Fred.
The drive took a few hours, but they finally arrived. After getting out and stretching for a bit, Fred's outfit changed from his casual clothes into a violet and black-colored jumpsuit. He moved with haste, setting up a high-tech course with many obstacles tailored to test out each of Ben's aliens, except for Ripjaws. Ben was already efficient with Ripjaws, and making a giant pool seemed redundant.
Whether it was Grey Matter, Wildmutt, Four Arms, Heatblast, or any of the other aliens in Ben's playlist, the course Fred made was designed to test each and every one of them. Building everything took around an hour, and getting Max acquainted with the course took an extra two hours. But after that, it was ready.
Early releases on Patreon.
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