"Wait, if we go back, we'll definitely run into one of those shapeshifters!" Ben's voice dropped to an urgent whisper, his eyes wide with worry. "We're dead if they catch us!"
"Do we have any other choice?" Asher shot back, his tone brooking no argument. "At least it's a place they've already searched. That makes it the safest spot we've got right now. Come on!"
He didn't wait for further debate. Bending low, Asher immediately began moving toward Aunt Vera's yard with practiced stealth.
"Ben, Asher's right!" Gwen added, falling into step behind him. The urgency of their situation had eliminated any room for their usual bickering. Survival trumped everything else.
Ben hesitated for only a second or two before following suit. Standing around arguing at a time like this would be like those idiots in horror movies who always got killed first. He'd seen enough horror films to know better than to become that character.
When Asher reached the back fence of Aunt Vera's yard, he scaled it in two quick movements, landing with a soft thud on the other side.
His heart hammered in his chest.
Please, let there be no one here.
One second passed. Then two. Then ten. After Asher landed, not a single sound emerged from Aunt Vera's house. The silence was absolute.
He turned back to look at Ben and Gwen, still on the other side of the fence. "Climb over, both of you. But keep it quiet. I'm going inside first to check."
Without waiting for confirmation, Asher crouched low and moved toward the back door. His hand found the handle and twisted it gently, opening just a narrow gap.
He pressed his face against the cold metal, peering through the crack into the interior.
The house was a mess. Furniture overturned, belongings scattered, clear signs of the shapeshifters' earlier search. The front door hung wide open, making the place look dangerously exposed.
But in Asher's eyes, this was exactly what made it the safest location available.
"Nobody here," he breathed out in relief.
Asher pushed the back door fully open and slipped into the living room. Moments later, Ben and Gwen climbed over the fence and followed him inside, carefully closing the back door behind them.
"There really isn't anyone here," Ben observed, looking around with cautious relief.
"These shapeshifters operate like robots," Gwen added thoughtfully. "Once they've searched a location, they move on. They won't waste time checking the same place twice."
She and Ben exchanged glances, both impressed by Asher's quick thinking under pressure. Coming up with this counter-intuitive strategy in such a tense situation showed remarkable adaptability, something those shapeshifters couldn't possibly anticipate.
While they were catching their breath, Asher's transformation had long since recharged.
"I should close the front door," Ben suggested in a whisper. "It looks suspicious just hanging open like that."
"No," Asher immediately countered. "We need to leave it open. That's exactly why they won't come back, it looks like an already-searched, empty house. If you close it, passing shapeshifters might get suspicious. Let's go upstairs instead, where we won't be visible to anyone outside."
Once again, Asher took the lead. The logic was sound, and Ben and Gwen followed closely behind as they carefully ascended the stairs to the second floor. They made it to the small bedroom without incident.
Biu~
The moment Asher closed the bedroom door, the Omnitrix on his wrist finished recharging, flashing brilliant green particles of light.
"Yes! The Omnitrix is ready!" Ben exclaimed, his fists pumping with renewed confidence. "Now Asher can transform into some seriously awesome alien and beat the hell out of those guys! Should we go Four Arms? Or maybe Diamondhead?"
"We can't just charge in like before," Asher said, shaking his head. "We need to change our approach, use strategy this time."
He studied the Omnitrix's interface thoughtfully, then began cycling through the available transformations. After several rotations, the screen displayed the silhouette of an alien hero that neither Ben nor Gwen had ever seen before.
"What kind of alien is that?" Ben asked, squinting at the unfamiliar outline.
"Maybe it's some kind of water-based alien?" Gwen speculated. "One that can spray high-pressure water and blast all those shapeshifters away?"
Both cousins leaned forward, their imaginations running wild about what this mysterious transformation might be capable of.
"You'll see," Asher said with an enigmatic smile.
He pressed his palm down on the Omnitrix's faceplate.
Biu~~
A burst of emerald light enveloped him completely.
And then Asher vanished from sight.
"Huh?! Where'd Asher go?" Ben stared at the empty space in confusion. "What happened to the alien transformation?"
"Don't be stupid," Gwen said confidently. "Asher obviously turned into an invisibility alien. That's the only explanation."
"I'm right here! Look down!"
A tiny, high-pitched voice called out from somewhere near the floor. It was so faint it was almost like a mosquito's buzz, if the room hadn't been dead silent, they might not have heard it at all.
"Wait, what?"
"Down there!"
Ben and Gwen both looked toward the floor simultaneously.
Standing on the cold hardwood was an impossibly tiny alien. He had a frog-like head with large, intelligent eyes, and wore a white outfit with black markings. The creature was barely as tall as one of Ben's fingers.
The voice had definitely come from him.
It looked like...
He had absolutely zero combat capability.
"No way. No freaking way." Ben dropped to the floor, lying flat on his stomach to get a better look at the miniature transformation. His pupils dilated as he stared at what was essentially a living action figure. "How is this supposed to fight aliens? He looks completely useless!"
"I'm the smartest alien in the Omnitrix," the tiny alien explained, raising his voice so they could hear properly. "I don't win through strength. I win through intellect."
"Then let's call you Grey Matter," Ben decided after a moment's thought, the name rolling off his tongue with surprising naturalness.
"Grey Matter works," the small alien agreed with a nod. "Now, I need to use this superior brain to figure out how to formulate a plan that'll get us out of this mess."
Grey Matter sat down cross-legged on the floor, closing his large eyes. His extraordinarily advanced Galvan mind began processing the situation at incredible speed, analyzing every variable, every possibility, every potential strategy.
Just how intelligent was Grey Matter? His species, the Galvans, possessed cognitive capabilities that completely surpassed the greatest human geniuses in history. Where human scientists might take years to solve a complex problem, Grey Matter could potentially crack it in minutes.
His brain was already working through scenarios, calculating probabilities, and devising a plan that would give them the best chance of rescuing Grandpa Max and escaping this nightmare alive.