บท 10: Goodbye and Good Riddance Vilgax

[SECRETS]

"We're live on the scene of a high speed police pursuit of an armored car stolen earlier today from a federal reserve in Denver." A news reporter said as it was shown in the news footage of an armored car passing by the Rust Bucket. "It is believed the thieves also have a hostage."

A large green crystal suddenly grew from the ground and caused the armored car to hit a speed bump, which slashed the tire and caused the car to swerve out of control before stopping. As the police squads surrounded, the cops got out and aimed their guns.

"Freeze!" The captain shouted.

The door opened and the crook stepped out with a machine gun in his hand, grabbing his hostage from the train and holding the hostage's neck under his arm with a glare.

"Hold your fire!" The captain told his team as they lowered their guns.

The crook's partner came out with a strange looking gun. He fired it, sending out a bolt of electricity at a car, blowing it up and sending the cops scattering.

Suddenly, before the criminals could continue causing mayhem, a large figure made entirely of bright crystal appeared behind the one with the special weapon from the smoke and cracked its knuckles.

"Wait, what's this?" The reporter asked as the alien creature effortlessly slashed the weapon in half with his blade arm.

The crook ran off before he was lifted up in the air as a huge crystal cage formed from the ground beneath him, incapacitating him.

"It looks like we have another alien sighting!" The news reporter announced.

The driver held his hostage in his arms while pointing the gun at the Petrosapien (Diamondhead) alien before he saw the crystal creature shape its entire fist into another razor sharp blade, its threat clearly evident. Not wanting to test his luck, the crook released the hostage, prompting the alien statue to smile.

"Smart move." It said, with its deep voice. "Now, if you would be so kind as to turn yourself in..."

The driver nodded before walking to the cops with his hands in the air.

"We don't know where these creatures come from, but they seem to be here to help." The reporter from the news announced on the broadcast, though his words weren't being heard by only those living in the country.

Little did they know, the news report was being broadcast on the Chimerian Hammer in Earth's orbit, being shown to Vilgax.

"The Omnitrix, wasted on pointless heroics!" Vilgax said, annoyed.

"Shall I dispatch more drones to retrieve it?" the Bioid asked.

"No." The Warlord immediately replied.

The healing chamber suddenly opened, releasing tons of steam everywhere as Vilgax emerged from the chamber, now completely healed of his injuries from when the Omnitrix was sent to Earth. He then stepped on a medical drone, destroying it completely.

"I will see to this task myself." He finally announced.

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MC'S POV

Okay, so now that the highway heist has finally happened and I made sure the news got a good look at my alien form alongside my Omnitrix's emblem, I'm sure I had Vilgax's attention.

Come to think about it, knowing his history with Tetrax, turning into a Petrosapien (Diamondhead) must've been quite the blow to his pride.

"Come on Ben, you could've waited for us." Gwen told me, slightly annoyed that by the time she got dressed with the hero costume she had prepared for herself I had already solved the incident.

"Yeah, Tennyson, not cool dude." Kate backed her up while still wearing her pajamas.

"Sorry girls, but lately I've been leaving almost everything for you three. I guess I was just a bit eager to put to the test what Grandpa has been teaching me." I casually argued, and from their reaction I was glad to see that I had come off as reasonable.

"I know I'm the one who always says this, but he's right. Ben barely lifted a finger last time we stopped those thieves in that museum." Lucy quickly took my side, although I could see she was a bit disappointed for not reacting as quickly as I did.

"As for your performance, as effective as you were, I think you could've been more subtle." Max finally stepped into our discussion. "Though I must say I'm glad the cameras didn't make you lose focus."

"Never Grandpa." I nodded in acknowledgment. "And thanks for the feedback, I'm sure I will improve on what I can until the next emergency."

"Good to hear it, champ." Max smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "I can't say how glad I am to see that you're taking this seriously." He then must've lost himself in some old memories, because after an awkward silence he cleared his throat and said. "Er…I think this should be enough, now I believe it's time for you four to go back to sleep."

As the girls began groaning their way back to bed, I took the opportunity to have the Omnitrix make itself heard by making some beeping noises.

"Is everything okay with the watch?" Max asked, genuinely interested in what just happened.

"Beats me." I said while trying my best to appear concerned about it. "I've unlocked the master control that allows me to change in between my transformations, but lately it's been acting weird, as if trying to warn me of something."

"Hmm." My grandpa contemplated something for a moment before telling me. "I guess we can look into it tomorrow morning, until then I recommend that you take a nap."

"Sure thing, grandpa." I nodded before preparing to sleep, or at least fake sleeping since I've been making up for my lack of rest with constant meditation sessions.

As for the signal my watch emits even while not in active mode, I've managed to completely disable it for quite a while now, safe for the moments when I want others like Grandpa Max and Vilgax to know. Helps to throw off any suspicion that I might be leaving during the times I'm absent and even works as quite the bait for anyone searching for the Omnitrix.

Finally, after a couple of hours had passed and the sun was still a bit far from rising on the horizon, I suddenly shot up from the passenger's seat with a noise, prompting everyone to walk up to me worriedly.

"What's happened, Ben?" Max asked while the other girls had concerned expressions.

"Eh, believe it or not, I just had a nightmare." I replied with an awkward smile, seeing how Kate immediately sympathized with me.

Once I got the girls back to their beds, I turned to Max and said. "Uh, Grandpa. I think someone must be trying to hack the watch."

"What do you mean, son?" He asked me in his usual affectionate tone while trying his best to not fall asleep. "Are you sure you didn't just dream about it just like you said before?"

"I-I don't think that's the case. Usually I only have lucid dreams, but lately all of them had a weird alien I have never seen before. Big and ugly with a green squid face." I tried to sell my act by being slightly vague.

"It was just a bad dream, son." Max reassured me, though from his voice I could hear he was slowly getting concerned about it. "We can talk about it in the morning during breakfast."

"Okay. I just got startled by how he looked right at me and said 'I"m coming for you now.'" I told him with a chuckle. "Silly me."

Max suddenly got a shocked look in his eye as he gasped. "Change of plan. We're hitting the road right now."

"Grandpa, it's three in the morning." Gwen groaned while Lucy dozed off for a brief moment.

"Best way to beat the traffic." Max stated as he fired the ignition and the Rust Bucket started up and headed on course to its destination.

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In South Dakota, the Rust Bucket drove by a herd of buffalo as the kids looked at the window, being surprised at how quickly they were moving.

"Hey." Lucy said. "What's with the lead foot?"

"I want to make Mt. Rushmore by nightfall." Max explained, a bit unconvincingly.

"I'm so bored." Kate said before turning to Gwen.

"Why don't you play some video games?" The sorceress's novice replied while busy writing something on her laptop with her own spell book over the table.

"Ben is busy at the moment." The Half-Osmosian said while groaning as she lay her head over the table, before lighting up again and asking hopefully. "Hey, let me surf the net a bit. Or perhaps check that book of yours, Ben told me you have some sick drawings."

"You know, I would, but I think this would be a good lesson for you to entertain yourself." Gwen said with a wink. "Didn't you learn a new trick?"

"Yeah, since I'm good with electricity and inorganic stuff Ben helped me find the best—" Kate stopped herself with a smirk, as she knew it was time for her to continue training her powers.

Picking from her pocket, Kate grasped a pouch with some inactive metal chips Ben had given her and immediately left to the bathroom.

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Back at the Chimerian Hammer, its sensors had finally picked up a spike of Omni Energy on Earth, which did not go unnoticed by Vilgax.

"The Omnitrix has been activated. The signal is weak, but it appears its user hasn't been able to completely hide it." He assessed, eager to get his hands on his prize, before ordering his lackeys. "Pinpoint its location."

The Bioids used a GPS signal within the ship that worked on pinpointing the exact location of the Omnitrix, the green signal flashing brightly on the Warlord's screen.

"I have you now." Vilgax stated coldly at the narrowing coordinates.

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Back to the RV, Gwen just finished typing something into her laptop before the entire system shut down to her surprise.

"Hey, what gives?" She asked. "Don't tell me…"

The black screen morphed to display a red signal that resembled a singular eye, indicating that Kate had absorbed the powers of Ben's Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade) transformation.

"Sorry, your computer was in dire need of an Upgrade." Kate taunted as she stuck her amorphous head out of the laptop and pecked Gwen on the side of her face below the eye with a kiss.

"Kate, get out of my computer!" Gwen shouted while rubbing her cheek and as Lucy began chuckling from her seat. "This is my private property!"

"What? I'm doing you a favor." Kate argued. "You are welcome."

"Okay, this is pretty funny." Lucy joined them.

As Gwen was about to shake Kate out of her laptop, the computer was morphed into a robotic creature with spider legs as Kate scanned its files and dodged Gwen's advances towards it.

"What's this? A diary?" Kate asked dramatically.

"Cut it out, sponge girl." Gwen warned while flipping through the pages of her spellbook.

But Kate paid her no attention, instead continued having her fun. "Dear Diary, my cousin Ben is so h-"

"-HELPFUL! Knock it off Kate!" Gwen shouted, speaking over what Kate was about to say while cursing herself for not making a summary of everything she had been learning from her cousin.

"Kate, Gwen, now is not the time for using your powers, do you understand?" Max asked, already used with all of that stuff.

"I-I was just fooling around." Kate stated as she demerged off the computer, earning a flick on her forehead from Ben and an angry red face from Gwen, meanwhile Lucy was simply laughing and snorting out loud.

"We can't afford to attract attention right now." Max stated while not taking his eyes from the road.

"But Grandpa, what kind of attention can we attract here?" Ben asked. "I mean, it's not like they are breaking anything."

"Anything other than Gwen's pride. Ha!" Lucy said still recovering from Kate's recent prank.

"Never mind," Max said once Kate's appearance returned back to normal, which left the girls looking at each other while Ben just shrugged.

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On the Chimerian Hammer, as Ben mentally turned the Omnitrix's trace off, his location went out on the alien screen.

"We have lost the device's signal for good this time." The Bioid immediately reported. "Perhaps the wielder of the Omnitrix has finally noticed our tracking."

"No matter." Vilgax dismissed it. "I've already narrowed down its location." He then proceeded to look at pictures of the aliens' forms with the Omnitrix's badge as they saved people and stopped criminals all across America. "I know just how to draw this earthling out." He said before he smashed a picture of a Petrosapien saving a kitten in anger.

Soon after, the Chimerian Hammer entered Earth's atmosphere, close to the Rust Bucket's location, casting a massive shadow down on the ground and sending a nearby group of buffalo scattering in fear.

The ship opened the hatch on its underside and dropped down several drones and a giant mechanical spiked sphere device, which hit the ground on a search for the Omnitrix.

They then approached Rapid City, South Dakota, to cause chaos in order to draw the user of the Omnitrix out, destroying the 'Welcome to Rapid City' sign as they passed by it.

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Back to the Rust Bucket, the RV continued on its path to Mount Rushmore when the kids looked up from their devices and looked out the window and saw smoke rising from the rooftops of the buildings of Rapid City.

"What's going on over there?" Lucy asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I'm sure the local authorities have the situation well at hand." Max reassured, focused on his task at hand.

In the city, the civilians ran for their lives as the drones fired several laser beams, destroying several cars and causing immense chaos while the spiked ball rolled over some buildings, completely demolishing them.

At one point, they approached a local gas station and fired their lasers, sending the customers running off in a panic as the gasoline canisters instantly ignited, causing a major explosion, which resulted in a mushroom cloud which did not go unnoticed by Ben and the others.

"Looks like it's hero time!" Kate said as she turned to Ben.

"Guys, I don't think that's the best idea." Max warned.

"Sorry, Grandpa." Ben replied while standing up. "I know that people are in trouble and I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"Time to go kick some ass!" Gwen shouted, earning a weird out look from everyone else.

"Since I can get there faster, I will go alone this time." Ben announced. "I let you three fight alone last time. Now it's my turn."

"Ben, trust me, I can't yet tell you why, but I have a reason for not wanting to let you go." Max grabbed me by the wrist as he tried to convince me.

"I know you have your motives, grandpa." Ben told him while releasing himself from Max's hold. "But if you don't trust me with your secrets, how can you ask me to trust you back?"

The Rust Bucket then pulled over and Ben bursted toward the city to stop the drones at ludicrous speed, leaving the girls and Max stunned.

"He's got a point, you know." Gwen told Max as the old man thought about what he had been keeping from them.

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MC'S POV

The civilians ran for their lives as the drones continued their assault before they were struck with deadly precise quills from my Vulpimancer (Wildmutt) form, as I jumped all over the city before landing in my Tetramand (Four Arms) form grabbing four of them with each of my arms and smashed them against each other, reducing them to scrap metal.

"Hey, why don't you pick on someone with real fire power?" I said, changing to my Pyronite (Heatblast) form flickering between yellow and blue flames. "If not, I will chill you guys myself." I began chuckling as I looked around to see tons of the drones surrounding me on all sides. "Oh man, good thing you are all here to stall me. Sadly for you I no no longer need your spare parts."

I then mixed my pyrokinesis with my magic and conjured up a snake-like dragon of flames before making it go to town with the myriad of drones, not missing a single one of them and keeping the collateral damage to a minimum.

Once all of the drones were destroyed, I was suddenly shot with an electrical net which would've snared and pinned him to a nearby wall if not for my body flickering as a cloud of smoke and embers, casually phasing past what appeared to be a surprise attack.

Simply shrugging and standing there, awaiting the giant spiked ball rolling towards my direction to come to a complete halt right before me, not flinching at all.

The giant spiked alien hamster ball suddenly opened up, revealing some kind of pod bay, which opened the doors and revealed a very familiar squid-like alien.

'Someone certainly enjoys making an entrance.' I thought to myself while giving him the decency of doing his drama and theatricality.

"At last we met. The being that has caused me so much trouble!"

"A pity I can't say the same about you, squidward. Your drones have been quite the shooting practice." I scoffed back, already forgetting my previous decision to give him some dignity. "But shouldn't you introduce yourself?"

The space warlord stared down at me for a brief moment before replying in his raspy voice. "I am Vilgax and I have come for the Omnitrix!"

"At least you are straightforward." I smiled before presenting myself. "I'm the protector of this planet, as for the watch, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you with your mission, this is my property now."

"Underestimating me is a grave mistake." Vilgax glared as the steroid pumps in his arms activated and his arms inflated with major amounts of muscle before rushing towards me. "The last you'll ever make."

Instead of rushing back at him without a plan, I decided to play smart.

'First, I've got to slow you down!' I thought while unleashing a massive heatray, which melted the blacktop in front of him into blazing hot tar, immediately flooding the streets and consequently slowing Vilgax down before he collapsed.

Seeing the one being feared throughout the galaxy slowly outmuscle his way out of the trap, my flames flickered into the color blue and I fired this time my icy beams at Vilgax, instantly causing the temperature to drop significantly and the street to fill up with steam due to the combination of the hot tar with ice.

When I was done, the image of the intergalactic warlord frozen in the spot was restrained by the solidified pavement and thick layer of ice signaled the end of our first battle.

'Come on, don't tell me you are already done, I didn't even have the chance to cast a single spell.' I smugly thought before changing to my human form and summoned the Archamada tome, as the pages flipped themselves before stopping on the spell I had in mind and chanted. "Statuea." My eyes and hands shone green as I placed an immobilization charm over the iceberg prison. "Just to be sure."

But to my actual surprise, even after the extra measure, the ice began to shake ever so slightly before I noticed a small crack appearing.

"Geez, what happened to you dude?" I asked with a chuckle while leaning against it. "Look at you! An unstoppable force of nature that doesn't think twice before facing the wielder of the Omnitrix! It's a real shame of how you will turn out in the future. From the main antagonist of the show to misunderstood champion of his own people."

The Rust Bucket suddenly screeched to a halt and Gwen opened the door hard.

"Ben, Grandpa said to get in. Now!" She said, ushering me to come in.

Noticing that it would take some time before he freed himself completely from my trap, I replied with a nod and joined her inside. "Okay then."

As I got in the Rust Bucket and sat down at the passenger's seat, both Lucy and Kate questioned me about the big alien I had just turned into a popsicle. The Rust Bucket sped down the road as Vilgax finally broke half of his torso free and glared from afar at the retreating vehicle.

"Believe me when I say you do not want to pick a fight with Vilgax." Max sternly said.

"Yeah, well-" I trailed off pretending to be surprised by what my grandfather had just let slip. "...How did you know his name is Vilgax? He told me before you guys arrived."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What aren't you telling us?" Kate almost demanded.

"It's-It's nothing." Max said a bit hesitant.

"You're lying." I finally declared. "You knew that the forms the Omnitrix turned me into were aliens and not monsters. And ever since this morning, you've been acting like you know something. I'm not an idiot, tell me the truth or at least put some effort into your lies."

Suddenly, a sudden explosion from behind pushed the Rust Bucket forward and the girls were pushed against the walls of the vehicle, noticeably dazed from the sudden move.

Kate opened the curtains and saw two of Vilgax's drones closing in on us. "Two robot goons, closing in fast!"

"Hold on!" Max said as he drove the car forward, pressing on a button that activated the RV's thrusters which aided us in barely avoiding the lasers that rained down on us and destroyed the parts of the street that collided against the exterior of the Rust Bucket.

"Aaah! So this was the button I pressed before by accident!" Lucy shouted from the back of the vehicle, still struggling to keep her ground.

"We can't keep this up forever, Grandpa!" I said as we all looked out at the drones trying to take us down.

"Things are gonna get a whole lot worse if we don't get to Mt. Rushmore." Max declared.

"Why?! What's at Mt. Rushmore?" Gwen asked as she finally reached the front and a laser hit again the street next to us.

"Gwen, this is not the time to explain!" Max insisted. "You're going to have to trust me on this."

"Well, I'll trust you that Mt. Rushmore will keep us all safe." I remarked as I transformed into my Lepidopterran (Stinkfly) form, flapping my powerful wings. "But I'm not gonna let other people get hurt because of me! This Vilgax guy has already figured out that I wouldn't stand him terrorizing the innocent people of this city."

"Ben, I understand your frustration, I really do. And I'm really sorry that I can't convince you to stay, nor can I prevent you from protecting those unable to fend for themselves. But know that regardless of how bad things might turn out with Vilgax, your Grandfather will come to help you." Max told me before I nodded in silence and left.

As I flew out the door with the vehicle still going at high speed and I heard all the other girls shouting for me to be careful, I engaged the drones pursuing us from the air, easily dodging away from their laser blasts before finally facing the drones head on.

I spat out a large amount of slime from my mouth onto one of the drones before quickly turning into my Pyronite (Heatblast) form and tossing a fireball at it, igniting the slime and immediately sending the drone hurtling towards its destruction.

I then went back to my Lepidopterran (Stinkfly) form, stabbing my stinger tail into the second one, damaging its laser before morphing back to my Pyronite (Heatblast) transformation and destroying it with my magic infused heat ray.

As I hovered high in the air for a moment, a figure leapt towards me. However, before it could tackle me, I quickly changed to my Ectonurite form and phased past my attacker.

"Lucky you, I'm not only buying time but also having so much fun." I said more to myself with my voice being a mixture of gasp and a whisper. "Otherwise I would've possessed you already."

Despite the head start, Vilgax landed in a crater, right in front of the Rust Bucket, which made a U-Turn and made another route to Mt. Rushmore.

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Back on the RV's and its occupants…

"Where are you going? We need to support Ben!" Gwen shouted.

"Yeah!" Both Lucy and Kate protested.

"Ben is much more capable than us four, for us to be more than a liability for him we need first to get some special help." Max replied while dropping a reality bomb over the girls who were just recently gaining confidence over their abilities.

"Let me guess? At Mt. Rushmore?" Lucy said a bit confrontational, but Max didn't answer as he continued to focus on driving.

"Grandpa? You're really freaking me out." Gwen remarked worriedly.

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BACK TO MC'S POV

As I continued to evade Vilgax's attacks as he chased me across the rooftops of Rapid City's buildings, I managed to slip in a few strokes of my own.

"I see you've gained great control over the Omnitrix." Vilgax assessed after acknowledging the actual damage I was causing him. "But that won't be enough to stop me from getting what I want."

The Chimerian Hammer then came into view as it hovered over the city, easily shadowing over most of it.

"Perhaps you can keep offering this useless resistance, but I know your weakness." The massive alien ship then began making a spine chilling sound as I could immediately understand the space conqueror's threat. "You will have to choose, it's either you or them."

"Alright. I believe you." I suddenly said, not running away anymore and changing back to my human form. "It has been fun while it lasted."

"A child? The Omnitrix is in the hands of a mere child!?" Vilgax asked incredulously.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked unfazed by the imposing alien. "I don't suppose that means you're going to let me go, does it?"

"Hardly." Vilgax replied, narrowing his eyes and moving to reach me with his claws.

"Okay then, I yield, I yield." I declared as Vilgax grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, raising my arms in clear signs of surrendering. "Just stop terrorizing my people."

"How noble." Vilgax mocked as he typed in a locking code on the Omnitrix. "But useless, this planet has already outlived its utility."

The spiked sphere vehicle came rolling back up to our location and opened up as I sighed before Vilgax tossed me in the sphere and entered it himself before it closed up and rolled away, destroying another building in the process.

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The Rust Bucket just pulled up to Mount Rushmore, driving up the side of the mountain face on a completely thin road.

"Wow, are you sure where you are going?" Kate questioned looking through the window.

"I don't think tourists are allowed on this road." Lucy said and Gwen nodded.

"We're not tourists." Max told them, finally speaking after being silent up until that moment. "We're tenants."

They drove up to a 'Road Closed' sign and stopped, Max pressed a button on the undercarriage and an elevator opened up beneath them, lowering them into the bowels of Mount Rushmore.

They stopped when they were inside a mysterious chamber made up of some kind of metal, the four walked through the halls before Max stopped at some cabinets. He pressed a button on some of them, revealing some kind of alien tech. He repeated this process a few more times before the girls finally lost their patience.

"That's it!" Gwen shouted. "We are not taking another step until you tell me what's going on! What is this place and how do you know about that alien guy who's after Ben?"

Max put on some equipment, which included goggles. "Well, it's kind of complicated. I promise I'll explain everything later, but for now let's just say..." He then pulled out a massive cannon, which looked like it could do some major damage to a small mountain. "...I wasn't exactly a normal plumber before I retired."

Unknown to them, two women with blue and yellow hair and high advanced tech suits had just followed them down there.

Immediately connecting with the underground base systems without being noticed by the group or triggering any security alarm.

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BACK TO MC'S POV

As I was being held prisoner on Vilgax's ship, I was placed in an electric prison chamber that looked like it came straight out of The Incredibles, containing both my right arm and legs with a energy shackle and with my left wrist being held in a large metal chamber to contain the Omnitrix as Vilgax scanned its data.

"A child." He scoffed, probably still incapable of believing how well I stood my ground against him. "I should have expected as much with the Omnitrix being used as a play toy!"

"Hey, I've saved a lot of people by becoming a hero!" I played my part as a distraction while Alpha reversed the situation and began hacking the ship's main system. "Though I shouldn't expect sympathy for others from you."

"Sympathy? Hmph. You don't get it at all, do you?" Vilgax asked, approaching me. "You hold the key to a power struggle so ancient, so vast, that it is beyond your feeble comprehension."

"I'm listening, squidface." I retorted back, not afraid in the slightest that he would attack me while I was this vulnerable. "It's not like I have anything better to do right now."

However, my provocation finally seemed to be causing an effect on Vilgax, for that exact moment he grabbed me by the throat. "Feature an entire army, each in command of an Omnitrix and all at my command! I will be invincible! I will rule the universe! And the only thing standing between me and my destiny is you."

As a selection of spears and other bladed weapons rose up from the ground around us he finally released my throat, mistaking my silence for actual success of his fear tactic. However, the reason why I stopped speaking was that my focus was set somewhere else.

While Vilgax had his back turned, I had to hold myself from chuckling after a piece of my visor informed me of my Black Ops squad progress.

"Prepare for takeoff." Vilgax ordered his mechanical servants. "Once we're in orbit, I will finally have the pleasure of destroying this miserable planet once and for all."

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Little did Vilgax know that as the ship was about to gain altitude, over the Chimerian Hammer an invisible yet smaller spaceship was currently hovering over it. From underneath the smaller ship, an opening appeared and two figures dropped out of it, making their way inside the larger vehicle through a portal that opened up just as quickly as it vanished.

As the two mysterious figures finally landed inside the warlord's property without being noticed by anyone or anything, it was revealed that they were both Ben's Hellequin and the leader of his Forever Rangers. They nodded to one another as their cloaking devices were activated.

"Let's go! Master is counting on us to accomplish the mission he gave us! But we need to do it stealthily." Scarlet Ranger, who once went by the name of Rojo, said.

"Understood." Hellequin, who once went by the name of Frightwig, agreed as she followed her down the alien ship's corridor.

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Back with Grandpa and the girls…

"This weapon is keyed into Vilgax's bio signature." Max explained as they left the secret chamber. "It'll take him down for good this time."

"This time?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kate, there's a small red button under that cabinet. Press it." Max ordered while ignoring Gwen's previous question.

Kate complied, immediately opening up the cabinet and pressing the said button. When she did so, a blue map with a red blinking dot was projected in front of them.

"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed. "I never knew we had a home theater projector on the Rust Bucket.

"It's a GPS assisted tracking system, Lucy. It's locked on the watch's signal." Max explained before heading to the bathroom, where he would equip his protective vest. "One of you, navigate."

Later on, over the mountain, the Rust Bucket zoomed up just in time to see the Chimerian Hammer finally taking off.

"There's the spaceship!" Gwen pointed out.

"Wow, not gonna lie, that's so cool!" Kate added.

"We have to get aboard, otherwise we will miss it." Max declared in a serious manner.

"Get aboard? How?" Lucy questioned, genuinely curious if the RV could actually fly.

Max smiled as the radio shifted into the dashboard and a control panel appeared in its place, he pressed a button and the Rust Bucket suddenly shifted its appearance. The sides of the bumper shifted outwards and the grill glowed green as it started picking up speed before shooting off of the mountain top, with the girls screaming in actual horror as they closed in on the spaceship.

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On the opposite side of the ship, Scarlet Ranger used her laser swords to cut a hole in the most secure area of the ship and Hellequin used her hair to widen the hole even more.

With a quick check for their surroundings, they continued sneaking through the halls as Scarlet glared.

"I can sense the Ship's mainframe this way." She explained as they followed her signal, slashing and burning any drone they came across on the way, leaving absolutely no one untouched or functioning.

Eventually they reached their destination and immediately began downloading everything they could.

[SECURITY PROTOCOLS OVERRULED]

They heard Alpha's familiar voice announcing they were free to proceed and Scarlet finally integrated herself with the ship's mainframe. Through her advanced suit and technopathy abilities, she glimpsed past many blueprints and schematics for Vilgax's personal projects and stolen treasures. Special weapons like swords, Spaceships and even a Raygun powerful enough to destroy a planet.

And even some information regarding the location of some artifacts Vilgax had either hid somewhere safe or just postponed acquisition after he got his hands on the Omnitrix. Most notable amongst them were the Ruby Ray of Rouleau, Shield of Seagle and Chronosapien Time Bomb.

But to her delight, the thing her master had specifically mentioned to be their top priority was also found, alongside two strange pieces of technology labeled Vox Peniculus and Bioids.

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BACK TO MC'S POV

Once Vilgax finally activated his special energy sword and approached his 'helpless' victim fully intended to finally get rid of me.

In return, I simply grinned before musing. 'I've lost count of how many times I've seen The Incredibles by this point. How did Violet do it again?'

In an instant I gathered my magical energy and summoned a forcefield around me, my energy shackles started rotating one direction to another, building up momentum to break free of the electric bonds faster than Vilgax could react.

"What? Don't tell me you thought this was a trap." I laughed at his startled expression. "This is a face off, buddy."

"Warning, hull breach. Power surge!" The Bioid reported amidst my escape.

As I finally landed on my feet safe and free, the Conquering Warlord finally decided to slash at me with his weapon, the Rust Bucket bursted through the wall before quickly rolling over some Bioids and slamming straight into Vilgax, who was caught completely by surprise.

"It seems this is no longer a private party." I joked, activating my uniform, though keeping my Charms and Spellbook stored away.

Max stepped out of the Rust Bucket and charged up the cannon, glaring at Vilgax and shouted. "Claws off my grandson, Vilgax!"

"Tennyson!" Vilgax glared back, visibly unharmed by the previous clash.

Just then Max fired the cannon, sending Vilgax barreling through several walls and doors, before dropping it and rushing to my direction.

"So you do know each other." I pointed out with my arms crossed.

"It's a long story." Max said while scratching his nape. "Impressive suit."

Ben sighed at Max's quick change of subject. "Thanks, it's a new feature I've unlocked. Yours is not half bad either."

The girls stepped out and saw tons of drones swarming the group and shouted. "Look out!"

"Battle formation!" I announced as they all nodded and reacted accordingly, letting out their own individual battle cries as we hacked and slashed through the drones as they showed up around us in swarms.

Gwen swept her hands out and fired magic energy waves at the drones, destroying them.

Lucy threw an enlarged punch at the drones while allowing their lasers to go through her without doing any harm.

Kate tried to throw her own powerful punch after absorbing the metal floor, but one drone managed to sneak on her from behind, but before it managed to land an effective hit on her, it got destroyed by Max.

"Thanks." Kate told him before picking up the destroyed drone and throwing it at another one behind Max.

"You're welcome, kiddo." Max said nostalgically from his time with his favorite Plumber partner.

Suddenly, I shifted into his tiny Galvan (Grey Matter) transformation and crawled inside a drone before it discharged electricity before tons of icicles shot out of it and a blue Pyronite (Heatblast) emerged from it. Before immediately turning and changing to my Piscciss Vollan (Ripjaws) form and munching the head of another drone, not done switching forms, I clawed my way through two more before transforming into my Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade) and rapidly merged with a bigger drone that reminded me of the mechadroid that would've turned Rojo into a cyborg. While another drone had Gwen in its scope range and was about to blast, I surprised it with my bladed flying machine and shredded it to pieces.

"Thanks for the assist, Ben!" Gwen said with a smile.

"Don't mention it!" I replied while winking my green circular single eye.

I then proceeded to fly around and destroy most of the drones that came close to me before I demerged with that one and Gwen blasted it with two lightning bolts from her hands that caused it to blow up.

Kate punched down her fair share of drones before ripping out the wires with her fingers as she stood side by side with Lucy, who throwed blobs of mud at more drones while trying to use more her flexibility, destroying everything threatening them.

None of us, safe for me and Max, had realized that in the ensuing chaos from the battle the Chimerian Hammer was falling out of the sky due to the autopilot mechanism being tempered with.

"We've got to get this ship under control!" Max exclaimed before running off.

"You can fly a spaceship?" I asked, faking surprise.

"At this point, nothing surprises me." Gwen said, earning some nods from both Lucy and Kate.

Max typed in the commands at the control mechanism, without realizing that Vilgax had recovered and stood next to him. Vilgax suddenly grabbed Max's collar and tossed him towards the gaping hole in the ship's frame, pressing his foot down on him while Max struggled to push it back up.

Vilgax smirked underneath his mask while holding Max down, his tentacles blowing in the wind. "Your weapon won't help, Tennyson. As you can see, I'm much stronger than in our last encounter."

"NO! Grandpa!" I shouted while rushing at them and tackled Vilgax out of the hole in the ship, prompting both of us to hurtle down towards the ground.

I used my complete transformation as a Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade) to materialize a jetpack on my back and saved myself, materializing the same cannon Grandpa Max had recently used against Vilgax before blasting the Warlord downwards and watched as he plummeted down below into the ground.

After that I landed safely on the George Washington head of Mt. Rushmore, I turned back to my human form before seating on the stone floor. "I just love this watch."

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Back to the Chimerian Hammer, Max and the girls were still trying without success to get the ship under control as it careened out of the sky.

"We've got to get out of here!" Max said as they looked towards the Rust Bucket while Lucy sighed and face-palmed.

"We're doomed." Gwen replied.

"I wouldn't say that." Max smirked alongside Kate, earning the opposite expression from the other two girls

Not long after Max warned the girls who braced themselves. "You may want to hold on to something. This may get a little bumpy."

They crashed through several walls and destroyed several Bioids before finally crashing over the top as the girls screamed in terror.

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MC'S POV

While I was enjoying the blazing summer sun of Keystone, South Dakota, I finally sighted a smoking trail arching towards my direction and smiled. "Cool, you just won't quit! I was afraid I might've overdid it a little back there."

Once the absolute unit that Vilgax landed next to me he asked angrily. "How have you bypassed my locking command?"

Before he could squash me like a bug, I vanished with a ripple. Vilgax looked to his side to see me smiling in my Kineceleran (XRL8) form.

"Finding the Unlocking Code is child's play for the true master of the Omnitrix." I mocked back in reference to him calling me a child before morphing into my Petrosapien (Diamondhead) form and stabbing the ground, prompting a ton of crystals to shoot out of the space between us and crash into Vilgax as he struggled a little to shatter them with his brute strength.

"Listen to every word… be afraid. You cannot run, you cannot hide from me. I will find you, and when I do I will retrieve my Omnitrix and destroy you." Vilgax threatened me before he saw a dust cloud running all around the mountain as I smirked from underneath my visor.

"I'm not planning on hiding! Peekaboo!" I shouted, but before I collided against Vilgax's leg, I turned back to my Petrosapien (Diamondhead) form and curled into a ball of solid crystal.

Although the impact wasn't as powerful as I would've wanted despite enhancing my invulnerability with magic, I still managed to push Vilgax a few meters back, carving our path on the ground and finally getting some cracks in his armor. As a large cloud of dust followed my impact, another blast of green light could be seen.

I suddenly emerged as a Tetramand (Four Arms) and gave several punches to Vilgax's body, actually hurting him thanks to my magically enhanced strength.

"Argh! You're a capable warrior, boy." Vilgax said, before handing out a huge punch aimed at my gut, which was barely blocked by all my four arms combined. "For what it's worth, I thank you for the challenge."

Not interested in wasting my breath on some pointless verbal duel, dishing out instead a deafening sonic clap, which managed to push back Vilgax again and actually managed to stun him for a moment.

Vilgax reeling from his injuries rushed to activate the steroid pumps in his arms, which in turn inflated his arms with major amounts of muscle and he slammed them both down into the carved head we were fight on, causing the Theodore Roosevelt head to crumble while I kept dodging each of Vilgax powerful swipes in my Kineceleran (Xrl8) form.

"You can't escape me!" Vilgax shouted as I dodged and headbutted him, carving a crater onto another carved head.

Suddenly, from my position, a Vulpimancer (Wildmutt) came out of the dust roaring, I then proceeded to fire tons of mana enhanced quills at Vilgax, which he just brushed off with only superficial cuts, but that was all I wanted.

Vilgax attempted to grab my head, but I quickly morphed into my Ectonurite (Ghostfreak) form and phased past the attack, just to immediately morph into a Tetramand (Four Arms) and began pummeling Vilgax repeatedly with a bunch of my energy punches.

'I really love this watch!' I thought as I punched my enemy's chest with all my might, instantly generating an earthquake and pushing Vilgax down the mountain with a landslide.

After landing, Vilgax was forced to retreat, probably because he also had released the pressure from his steroids. Suddenly looking up, as his ship flew overhead and then finally crashed down into the woods as the Rust Bucket drove along its perimeter, Vilgax narrowed his eyes.

Knowing what Vilgax was planning, I decided instead to check out on my agents, phasing out of the wall in my Ectonurite (Ghostfreak) form, I eventually met both Scarlet and Hellequin.

The two turned their cloaking devices off and bowed respectfully once they saw me. "Master."

"Report." I order, being careful with my time and surroundings.

"Mission accomplished." My Scarlet Ranger replied proudly.

"And your message has been successfully sent to the intergalactic authorities." Hellequin added. "Everyone will know that the wielder of the Omnitrix has defeated the infamous warlord whose name is feared by all."

"Well done." I said as Alpha informed me that my ship was waiting for them outside the Chimerian Hammer opposite to the Rust Bucket. "You two, go gather with Azure and Amber, make sure they've got everything from the Plumber base."

"Yes, master!" The duo replied in unison as I left Vilgax's ship before turning back to my human form and ran over to Max and the girls had landed.

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Back with Max, who was still recovering as he groaned from his sore joints and turned to check on the girls. "Are you all okay?"

They groaned in response but appeared all fine.

"At times like this, going back to school doesn't seem like such a bad idea." Gwen managed to say.

They heard a rumbling as Kate and Lucy got out of the Rust Bucket to investigate before they saw Vilgax walk out of the dust cloud and Gwen gulped in fear.

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MC'S POV

I finally reached the Rust Bucket, only to see it absolutely trashed. Immediately going to the other side and finding both Kate and Lucy unconscious on the side of the Rust Bucket, I then faked a gasp once I saw Vilgax holding an unconscious Gwen and Max hostage.

"Let them go!" I shouted, following the script.

"Just like before, it's your choice. You or them." Vilgax replied threateningly. "This time I might even spare your pathetic excuse of a planet."

"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" I asked. "I know better than to trust you with something like that."

"Do you have a choice?" Vilgax inquired, tightening his grip over my cousin and grandfather.

Sighing in seemingly defeat, I dropped to my knees.

"Noble as always." Vilgax mocked me as he released both Gwen and Max and approached him. "You fought bravely, but it's weakness like these that makes you truly weak where it matters."

While being carried back to the Chimerian Hammer, I smirked at how stupid he was.

Once Max finally recovered his consciousness, he noticed Vilgax taking me back to his ship and shouted. "Vilgax, no! Don't go back in there!"

With a single leap, the evil warlord reached his ship and had it immediately take flight.

Making his way inside, Vilgax mused. "Foolish earthling, why wouldn't I…" But was stopped by a familiar alarm. "The auto-destruct sequence has been initiated!" He shouted, but before he could attempt to stop the countdown, a sudden chill went past him.

Vilgax gasped as he felt his own life force being sucked out of him.

"Consider this a favor, Vilgax the conqueror. You see.." I told him in my Ectonurite (Ghostfreak) form. "You either die here as a great villain, or you live long enough to see yourself become a lame one down the line."

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The Chimerian Hammer, which had quickly gained sufficient altitude, suddenly exploded as several debris fell out of the sky.

Max and the girls all braced themselves, but found themselves unharmed as Ben suddenly reached them and generated a forcefield around as the debris landed around them.

He chuckled as they stood on a lone pillar in a crater.

"You have to teach me that spell." Gwen said to her cousin as he smiled with both Kate and Lucy surrounding him with hugs and cheers.

"Sure, if you are diligent with your studies." Ben told her as they looked up. "But for now…Grandpa... we need to have a talk."

"A long one." Max agreed, finally ready to reveal his secrets.

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(02/08/2021)

(11/12/2023)

*Hey there! Thanks for reading my work! I hope this chapter is of your liking. I tried to conclude the season while addressing some of the plot points I've prolonged for the future. Ben's showdown with Vilgax didn't change much compared to the original source, but I hope you understand my motives.

Especially sorry if you expected both fusions and evolutions to make an appearance this early on. 😅

Any ideas for powers, adventure arcs and girls are more than welcomed. I might not use anything, but you will have my gratitude for trying.

If this chapter is a mess of grammatical errors, please wait, I'll promptly try to fix it. But for that I need your feedback.

Thanks as always for your time, hope you have a fantastic day and please stay safe.

Bye.