A blinding flash engulfed the Golden Gate Bridge the instant Cannonbolt and Kevin were about to collide. It wasn't the explosion of combat, but an abrupt, violent teleportation that distorted space and time around them. When the light faded, Cannonbolt and Gwen, still protected in his arms, were in a completely different place.
The deafening sound of applause hit them like a wave. Thousands of alien voices roared in unison, and blinding lights exploded from the stands, blinding them for a second. Cannonbolt blinked, uncurling, and Gwen broke free from his arms, staggering. Both looked around, their eyes wide.
They were in the center of a gigantic arena, under an artificial sky lit by vibrant neon. The audience, a sea of alien species of all shapes and sizes, applauded frantically, their faces twisted in expressions of excitement and curiosity. A metallic, sweet smell of ozone hung in the air.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and entities from across the galaxy! Welcome to the ARENA OF DESTRUCTION! Let's begin the first challenge of the day!"
"Where… where are we?! What is this place?!" Ben, in his Cannonbolt form, roared, his deep voice mixed with confusion.
"An… an arena? Ben, we were teleported! What the hell happened to Kevin?!" Gwen gasped, her eyes scanning the stands, taking in the surreal scene.
Before they could process the situation, a robotic hum filled the air. Three giant metallic figures emerged from an opening in the arena floor. They were combat robots, with robust armor, glowing red eyes, and arms that transformed into sharp blades. They advanced, their metallic steps echoing in the arena.
"Great! Looks like we have a welcoming party. Leave it to me!" A determined smile appeared on Cannonbolt's armored face. "If this is how they want to play, let's go!"
He curled into a ball, his yellow, armored body spinning at high speed. He launched himself at the robot, which barely had time to raise its blade before being hit. The impact was crushing. The robot crashed against the arena wall, making it shake, and ricocheted back at Cannonbolt.
"Ugh, woah, this one's tough!" Cannonbolt grunted, but he didn't give up. He curled up again and ricocheted hard off the arena wall, gaining even more speed, and then hit the robot a second time, smashing it to the ground. The robot's metal groaned, and a few sparks flew.
He prepared to launch himself at the robot for the final blow. But, just as he was about to hit it, the Omnitrix symbol on his chest began to flash red, emitting a shrill beep. The red light enveloped his body, forcing him to revert to human form. Ben fell to his knees meters away from the robot, which paused for an instant, as if assessing the unexpected change.
"Oh, no! Not again!" Ben's voice was a desperate whisper.
"Ben, look out!" Gwen shouted, running toward her cousin. "Dodge!"
Kevin, in his amalgam form, faced his own robot in the adjacent arena.
"You want a piece of me?!" Kevin snarled, blocking the robot's blade with one of his arms covered in sharp Diamondhead crystals. "I eat bots like you for breakfast!"
He propelled himself forward and delivered a brutal kick to the robot's metallic body before jumping on top of it. His upper arms, coated in sharp crystal like Diamondhead's, transformed into serrated blades. With a cross-slash, he tore through the robot's armored faceplate and ripped out its singular eye amidst sparks and grotesque crackles.
He kicked the robot back, making it collide with the arena wall, leaving deep marks in the metal. Even so, the robot remained standing, advancing, now blind in one eye, with loose wires and synthetic oil gushing from the wound.
Kevin tossed the optic aside, a sadistic smile spreading across his face. "You want some more?!"
Without wasting time, Kevin extended his pale Ghostfreak tentacles, now reinforced by Upgrade's biomechanical plates, trying to hack and take control of the robot. The nanomachines infiltrated quickly, and, for a brief moment, he managed to absorb one of the bladed arms into each tentacle, laughing as the cybernetic arms hung uselessly like grotesque trophies.
"Heh, who needs arms when you have these?!"
But as soon as he tried to activate the stolen arms, they began to vibrate uncontrollably. The parts trembled, sparking and bursting in Kevin's hands. The smile on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a furious snarl.
"What?! This crap DOESN'T WORK?! GRAAAH!"
The robot, reacting to the invasion attempt, opened side compartments, revealing two smaller, thinner arms, but equipped with serrated vibrating blades. With swift movements, they advanced, cutting Kevin and tearing through parts of the crystal and biomechanical metals on his body. The impact sent him flying backward, where he landed rolling across the arena floor, letting out a scream of pain mixed with anger.
Ben quickly composed himself before turning to Gwen. "Gwen, stay away! I'll draw its aggro! You be the DPS!"
"What?! Ben, what is 'Aggro' and 'DPS'?! Stop with these video game terms! This isn't a game!" Gwen exclaimed, running with her book open in her hands, the aura of magic forming around her. "I need a second! Distract it!"
"Relax, Gwen! That's half the fun!" Ben replied, with a confident smile, despite the imminent danger.
The robot struck. Ben dodged just barely, rolling on the ground, feeling the wind from the blade graze his face. He scrambled toward the wreckage of the other robots—an opportunity.
"Come on, come on..." His mind raced. He grabbed a sharp piece of metal, a remnant of a blade from one of the crushed robots.
The robot attacked with a serrated arm. Ben threw himself to the side by centimeters, feeling the cutting wind pass right by his face. With a shout, he spun the improvised blade and plunged it directly into the robot's mechanical shoulder.
The metal hissed, sparks exploded, and the robot's right arm began to fail, spewing smoke. But the robot responded immediately, spinning another arm equipped with a saw that passed centimeters from Ben's head, cutting off locks of his hair.
"GWEN, NOW WOULD BE GREAT!" Ben rolled on the ground, retreating, almost tripping over his own feet as he desperately sought cover. He looked at Gwen, who was almost finished with the spell, her eyes shining with a blue light.
Gwen raised her hands, the grimoire floating beside her, the runes flashing.
"FULMEN ELEMENTALIS!" Gwen shouted, her voice vibrating through the arena.
A torrent of magical energy, mixing electricity and wind, shot from Gwen's hands. The bolt hit the robot squarely. The metal armor couldn't withstand the concentrated attack. The robot hissed and trembled violently before exploding in a shower of sparks and debris, its pieces falling heavily onto the arena floor. The alien audience, for a brief moment, fell silent.
Gwen ran to Ben, still on the ground, to help him, feeling relieved to see him okay.
"That... that was... awesome." An exhausted but victorious smile appeared on Ben's face.
Kevin dragged himself back to the center of the arena, alien blood dripping from superficial cuts, his eyes glowing an unearthly red, flames flickering inside his flaming skull.
"You cut me..." he snarled, claws snapping, tentacles writhing like hungry snakes. "That was a mistake."
The robot advanced again, grinding, its serrated arms spinning at high speed. Kevin raised a crystallized arm, blocking the saw, which for a moment seemed to bite into the crystal, but not enough to break through. In the same instant, with his other hand, Kevin pulled one of the broken blades from his own body, ripped out when he was thrown.
"DIE!" Kevin roared, spinning and plunging the improvised blade directly into the center of the robot's chest. The blow was brutal, penetrating layers of armor, exposing wires, circuits, and a pulsing energy core.
The robot staggered back, sparks and smoke pouring from the cracks.
Kevin didn't stop. His Stinkfly wings opened, propelling him forward, where he grabbed the robot with his multiple arms and tentacles. With sheer physical force, he smashed the robot's metallic head against the ground, leaving deep marks on the arena floor.
"Think it's over? IT'S NOT OVER!"
Suddenly, flames began to build up inside Kevin's chest. His flaming skull glowed even brighter, the fissures in his body pulsing red and orange.
He took a deep breath—and EXPLODED a blast of incandescent fire, spitting flames directly onto the robot.
The metal began to burn, melting, the internal structures exploding one by one. Entire plates of armor bent and buckled, the joints burst, and the cables caught fire.
The robot tried to take a step back, but Kevin pressed on, intensifying the jet of fire, until the machine's entire body collapsed into a heap of molten, smoking, black metal.
As the last internal explosion shook the wreckage, Kevin ceased the fire, breathing heavily, shoulders heaving, hands trembling—not from exhaustion, but from pure, contained fury.
He kicked a charred piece of what was once the robot, spitting on the ground. "THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS TO ANYONE WHO MESSES WITH ME!" he snarled, looking around, staring down the audience.
Silence took over the arena for a few seconds. And then, a collective roar of applause, whistles, and screams exploded from the stands. Aliens banged on the railings, jumped, and howled—part terrified, part ecstatic at the brutal display of power.
"You see that?!" he roared, the flames on his body slowly starting to die down. "I'M UNBEATABLE!"
Suddenly, the walls separating the arenas of Ben, Gwen, and Kevin lowered with a metallic groan that reverberated through the arena structure. Ben and Gwen turned immediately, facing Kevin on the other side. His eyes burned red, full of anger, impatience, and an almost feral energy. His heavy footsteps echoed, each stomp against the floor a promise of impending trouble.
"Uh... oh..." Ben muttered, feeling a shiver down his spine as Kevin advanced like a runaway tank.
Kevin slammed his fist hard on the ground right in front of Ben, making the floor vibrate. The impact threw Ben onto his back, sliding him a few feet across the metallic sand.
"Why the hell did you send me to this weird place?!" Kevin snarled, teeth clenched, eyes flashing.
"Me?! Are you crazy?! How could I have done that when I was busy fighting you?!" Ben retorted, getting up quickly, throwing his hands up, completely indignant.
"Kevin, stop it!" shouted Gwen, placing herself beside Ben, her hands raised in a warning gesture. "Nobody brought anyone here! We were teleported! Just like you!"
Kevin snarled, looking from Ben to Gwen, breathing heavily, until his shoulders dropped slightly. "Fine... fair..." he admitted, though grudgingly. "But if it wasn't you... then who was it?!"
The answer came in the form of a new, blinding flash that exploded around the three of them. The intense white light swallowed everything for an instant, distorting the environment, tearing space and time as if reality were made of paper.
When the light dissipated, they were no longer in the arena. They had been thrown into a cramped metallic room, with smooth walls and a ceiling lit by pale spotlights. Ben rolled on the floor, dodging at the last instant an impulsive punch from Kevin, who didn't immediately realize the scenery had changed.
"Okay... definitely don't like this..." Ben mumbled, scrambling to his feet, looking around.
Gwen, who had landed on her feet, quickly looked around, her analytical eyes taking in every detail of the new room. "Where are we now? And what the hell was that?"
Doors hissed open on the sides, releasing steam. Three guard robots emerged, with tall, robust bodies, arms that transformed into energized blades and axes, and red eyes that glowed with threatening intensity.
"Initiating containment protocol," one of the robots stated, its voice metallic, cold, and emotionless.
Without warning, the three robots advanced. The blades retracted and revealed cylindrical devices, which were pressed directly against Ben's, Kevin's, and Gwen's chests, releasing an electric crackle as small metallic discs adhered to their skin.
"Hey, get your hands off me, tin can!" shouted Kevin, shoving the robot back with a blow.
The guard moved back quickly, pressed a button on the gauntlet attached to its arm, and immediately, a brutal electric shock coursed through Ben's, Kevin's, and Gwen's bodies. The three screamed, writhing, before collapsing to the floor, panting and with their muscles trembling, paralyzed by the pain.
"What... the hell..." Ben gasped, blinking several times to clear his vision.
Gwen, feeling the intense pain spread through her body, tried to get up, but her muscles wouldn't respond. "What... what did they do?!" she gasped, fighting against the paralysis.
"Gwen! Are you okay?!" Ben exclaimed, his voice full of concern. He bent over her, trying to move her out of the way of Kevin, who was starting to get up, blinking, still in pain.
"What... the hell..." Ben gasped, blinking several times to clear his vision.
As Ben tried to push himself up, he looked at a high window in the wall and, as soon as his eyes adjusted, his stomach dropped. Earth was outside, visible... and shrinking. The enormous cruiser they were on had already passed the Moon and was rapidly moving away from the planet.
"Okay... sorry I asked..." Ben muttered, putting a hand to his forehead. "We need to find a way off this ship and get back home. Like, now."
A dry voice, heavy with despair and resignation, sounded from the back of the room. "This is your home now. Escape is impossible."
Ben, Gwen (still on the floor, fighting the pain), and Kevin turned immediately. Until then, they hadn't noticed the room's other occupants. The place was full of alien prisoners, at least eight, each from a different species. One was clinging to the ceiling, looking like a mix of an insect and a mollusk, while another had translucent skin that pulsed as if living circuits were inside.
"We were all ripped from our worlds and thrown in here," explained one of the aliens, his voice deep and echoing. "Forced to fight for our lives, while the entire galaxy watches for fun."
Kevin clenched his fists and immediately shoved Ben against a metal platform. His forearm pressed against Ben's chest, pinning him. "This is your fault, shorty!"
"What?!" Ben gasped, pushing his hands against Kevin's arm. "How can this be my fault?!"
"I don't know... it just is..." Kevin grunted, frustrated.
"Man... I can't even argue with that logic of yours..." Ben replied, rolling his eyes, exhausted.
"Why are you so small?" Kevin retorted, clenching his teeth.
Gwen, still leaning on Ben, saw the scene and struggled to speak. "Kevin, you're not helping! And Ben, stop provoking him!" Her voice, though weak, carried frustration.
A metallic grinding sound echoed from the ceiling as an industrial lamp slowly descended, lighting up with a cold light. Several trays slid out from the walls, and a purple, gelatinous goo was poured into each one. Several aliens hurried to eat, some using claws or tentacles to bring the goo to their mouths.
The whole floor trembled. Heavy, almost seismic footsteps approached. Instantly, all the aliens in the room knelt, bowing their heads, as if following some mandatory ritual.
"Who... or what... is that..." Ben muttered, slowly getting up, pulling Gwen with him, his eyes wide.
"Technorg..." answered one of the prisoners, his voice thick with fear. "The reigning champion. The one no one defeats."
When the door opened, a colossal figure filled the frame. A gigantic Detrovite, almost twice the size of Four Arms, entered the room. In place of his left arm was a mechanical mace, and his right arm was pure muscle, with armor plates and hydraulic pistons that hissed with every movement. His eyes were small, deep-set, and glowed with a threatening amber tone.
Kevin looked, then at Ben, and smiled. "This guy looks fun."
Ben squinted and shook his head. "Man, your definition of fun is way off." He motioned to get up, but Gwen, though weak, grabbed his arm, stopping him and making him kneel back down.
"Stay down, Ben," she said, recovering from her stupor.
Technorg walked slowly through the room, stopping in front of each prisoner, looking down on them, as if inspecting merchandise. Each alien bowed their head even lower as he passed, a mixture of respect, fear, and resignation.
When he reached one of the trays, he simply grabbed all the purple gelatinous goo on it, brought it to his mouth, and devoured it without even chewing. Then, he crushed the empty tray with his bare hand.
Kevin, with that smile of pure mockery, discreetly extended his tail with speed, pulled one of the fullest trays, and simply threw the contents directly into Technorg's face. The purple goo dripped slowly down the champion's face, dripping onto the floor, while everyone present froze, horrified.
"Wooooow... disrespect!" said Kevin, taking a step back, with a wide smile. "Are you gonna let him do that to you?" he added, pointing directly at Ben.
Technorg, in silence, turned slowly, staring at Ben with an expression that mixed pure anger and absolute contempt. Without a word, he extended his giant hand, grabbed Ben by the collar, and lifted him as if he weighed nothing, bringing his face close to his own.
"Look... I swear... I don't want to fight..." Ben started, trying to argue, but was interrupted when a valve on Technorg's chest released a blast of hot steam directly in his face. "Ah, man... seriously?"
Without warning, Technorg threw Ben with all his strength against the wall, sending him flying over a row of trays, knocking everything over with a crash.
Kevin laughed loudly. "Hahahahaha! That... was... awesome!"
Ben pulled himself up, wiping his face and pressing the Omnitrix. He looked at Gwen, who started to get up to help him. "Okay... that's enough! If you want a fight... then pick on someone your own size."
He spun the dial, the green core glowing brightly, and slammed the button. A green light enveloped him. Instead of Four Arms, the silhouette on the dial contorted, and when the light faded, there he was... Upchuck, the greenish alien with a fat and strange appearance.
"Oops!" Ben muttered, with Upchuck's gummy voice, looking at himself. "I'm... Upchuck! Cool, right?"
Before Upchuck could react, a new flash of light engulfed him, teleporting him out of the room, and Gwen along with him.
Both he and Gwen arrived in a new room, smaller and tighter than the arena. The walls were smooth, made of polished metal. A control panel glowed in the center. Suddenly, two guard robots, tall and robust, with arms that transformed into blades, emerged from side doors. They advanced, emotionless.
A spotlight lit up in an adjacent room, revealing an imposing figure behind a thin transparent wall. It was a tall, slender humanoid being, draped in a long robe that hid its legless robotic body and its long arms with incredibly long fingers/claws. A small cloth covered its voice box, giving its speech a peculiar tone. It was Slix Vigma.
"I am Slix Vigma. This is the Megacruiser. Everything on this ship belongs to me, including you." His voice was cold and controlling, reverberating through the room.
Upchuck staggered, trying to adjust to the new reality. "Haha, I don't belong to anyone, 'Slick'. Sorry, but you're mistaken!" His gummy voice resonated with a tone of defiance.
A wave of brutal pain shot through both of them, making them scream and collapse to the floor, muscles trembling and paralyzed.
On the walls of the room, several large screens lit up. They showed images of Ben, Gwen, and Kevin in the arena, their fights being replayed for an invisible audience. Slix Vigma's voice continued, ignoring their groans.
"I speak, you listen. These eyes see everything on this ship, and these hands control everything on this ship. And I have decided that your... union... will make you a fun team in the arena!"
The guards then connected Ben's and Gwen's legs with an energy shackle that pulsed with blue light. The metal adjusted, locking them together.
"Oh, no! Is this serious?" Upchuck's voice, though distorted, carried a mix of frustration and worry.
Gwen, fighting the pain and paralysis, looked at Ben, a forced smile on her trembling lips. "Looks like we're in this together, right, you goo-head?" Her voice came out weak, but with a familiar touch of defiance.
"Looks like it, genius!" Upchuck replied, trying to move, but the shackle held them together.
Both were shocked, the energy chains pinning them to the floor. Slix Vigma smiled, his eyes shining with malevolence. "Your fates are now linked.... If one of you expires, the shackles will ensure the other does too. Now, your next adversary awaits!"
Upchuck and Gwen looked at each other with determination, as a new flash engulfed them, teleporting them to what seemed to be the next round of the game.
The Rust Bucket was parked at one end of the Golden Gate, surrounded by barriers and Plumber vehicles. Lights flashed, drones hovered over the area, and several agents swept the bridge with analysis equipment. Inside the old trailer, Max stared at a series of monitors while Steel typed rapidly on a holographic panel.
"The readings are stable... but nothing out of the ordinary since they vanished," Steel commented, crossing his arms. "No sign of residual energy pointing to any known teleportation technology."
Max squinted, adjusting one of the panels. "Yeah... and that's exactly what worries me."
The sound of a call came through the frequency, and soon Phill's face appeared on the monitor. He was at the Plumber base, surrounded by screens, with a headset on and a pile of digital reports scattered in the background.
"I managed to get an image of the bridge right after the... disappearance," Phill said, typing quickly. "But it's like they just... evaporated."
Steel leaned in, looking directly at the camera. "You didn't put trackers on the kids?"
Max took a deep breath and pointed to one of the screens on the panel. "Of course I did. And not just conventional trackers... Not even the one that directly monitors the Omnitrix's energy is responding."
"That... shouldn't be possible," Steel replied, his metallic claws tapping on the console, clearly annoyed. "Who could have technology for that? Not the Highbreed, Incurseans... not even Vilgax."
Max was silent for a few seconds, frowning, thoughtful. Phill, on the other side of the transmission, crossed his arms, looking at something off-screen.
"Actually..." Phill began, slowly. "I think I might have an idea..." His fingers started flying across the keyboard, switching screens, cross-referencing data and coordinates. "Gimme a sec..."
Suddenly, one of the screens in the Rust Bucket lit up, picking up a strange signal. The sound of an alien broadcast invaded the system. A vignette full of vibrant lights and alien holograms began to form on the screen—and then, a live broadcast appeared. In the center of the image... Ben, in the form of Cannonbolt, was rolling and crashing against a gigantic robot while an alien audience roared and cheered as if in a futuristic coliseum.
"But... what... the hell is this..." Steel took a step back, looking shocked at the broadcast. "Are they... in some kind of... show?!"
Max's eyes widened. "This... this can't be real."
"It's real, all right," Phill replied, serious, zooming in on the image while manipulating data on the panel. "This... is a broadcast from the Megacruiser."
The name landed heavily in the Rust Bucket's cabin. Max blinked, his digital irises flickering. "What... no... you've got to be kidding me."
"I wish I were." Phill took a deep breath, looking directly at the camera. "For years, Omni-Enforce has been monitoring this ship. A colossal cruiser, operated by criminals. It goes from planet to planet kidnapping inhabitants. Forces them to fight in arenas, participate in sadistic games, all broadcast to black markets for betting throughout the galaxy. Hundreds of different species have been victims... But we've never been able to track this bastard for more than a few minutes. It disappears without a trace."
Max squinted, processing every word. Then, slowly, he stood up, walked to a small side drawer. From inside, he pulled out an old, dented metal box, engraved with alien symbols. Opening it, he revealed a small amulet, made of black stone with golden threads running down the sides, pulsing with a faint light.
"This... will give us a direction," Max said, holding the amulet firmly in his hand.
Steel turned to him. "What... exactly is that?"
Max smiled slightly, with that nostalgic look. "Back in the day, in the field, we used to get separated a lot. My wife, Verdona, had made some amulets for us to track each other. They don't give the exact location... but they point to the general direction of the energy signal of the person you want to track, or rather, the cloak." He smiled slightly, a hint of nostalgia mixed with his determination. "She was a magic user, you see? And very, very smart."
He held the amulet towards the broadcast. The stone glowed briefly, then spun slightly, pointing upwards, in a specific direction in space.
"It's working," Max said, clutching the pendant, before turning, determined, and sitting at the wheel of the Rust Bucket. "Time to take flight."
Steel snapped his metallic fingers. "Perfect. I'll call for Plumber reinforcements. We're going to need everyone for this."
Max pressed a button, and the Rust Bucket's structure began to transform. Panels opened, turbines emerged from the sides, the wheels retracted, giving way to gravitational thrusters. Green and blue lights turned on, and the entire vehicle began to vibrate.
Phill appeared on the screen again, now exchanging information with a central command. "I'm sending you the escape routes the Megacruiser usually uses. It's not going to be easy... but if anyone can do this... it's you."
Max gripped the controls. "Hold on tight. We're bringing them back."
The Rust Bucket rose from the ground, trembling, before shooting off at high speed into the sky, leaving the Golden Gate Bridge behind, determined to cross the galaxy—and bring his grandkids back home.
The flash of the teleport was still fading when a gigantic shadow cast over them. A seismic tremor ran through the arena floor.
"There's only room for one champion here! ME! RARGH!" Technorg's colossal voice echoed, making the very metal of the arena vibrate.
The imposing figure of the Detrovite advanced, his mechanical mace hissing with power. Upchuck and Gwen felt the gravity of the threat.
"He's huge!" Upchuck squeaked, his gummy eyes wide.
"We need a plan!" Gwen shouted, her voice tense, as she tried to balance alongside Ben.
Technorg charged. Upchuck and Gwen moved, but the shackle between them was merciless. Technorg grabbed the link that bound them, spinning them in the air like a lasso, and threw them against the arena wall. The impact would have been brutal, but, at the last instant, Gwen's cloak, which she wore over her shoulders, stirred on its own.
A rune embroidered on the fabric shone with an intense blue light, and the cloak moved, enveloping them both in a protective shield. The impact was cushioned by a wave of energy that expanded, dissipating the force of Technorg's throw. Upchuck and Gwen fell to the ground, staggering, but visibly less hurt than they should have been. The audience roared in applause.
Upchuck got up, frustrated. "Damn it! We barely got here and we're already taking a beating!"
Gwen gasped, trying to get up, the pain from the electric shock still coursing through her body. "Ben, this guy is a monster! What do we do?!" She looked at the cloak, which now rested back on her shoulders, confused about what had just happened.
Technorg charged. Gwen tried to run, but the chain pulled them both. The monster swung his mace and almost hit them, forcing Gwen to grab Upchuck like a football and roll to the side, escaping by centimeters.
"Take it easy, I have organs!" complained Upchuck in her lap.
Gwen grumbled. "Better squished in my lap than splattered across the arena."
She let him go, drew a seal in the air with her fingers, and shouted: "Velocitas Aura!"
A blue aura enveloped them both. Their movements became lighter, faster. When Technorg brought the mace down, Gwen had already jumped to the side—pulling Upchuck by the chain.
"Crazy plan coming up!" shouted Ben. "Give me a boost!"
Gwen held Upchuck by the sides and spun, channeling magic into her arms. "Alacritas Propelere!"
A flash shone from her hands. She launched Upchuck like a green, sticky missile directly at Technorg's mechanical arm.
"Now it's my turn!" Upchuck squeaked, and to Technorg's horror, he opened his giant, gummy mouth. Ben jumped, using the extra speed from Gwen, and chomped down on Technorg's mechanical mace!
The Detrovite roared in surprise and fury, trying to pull the mace back, but Upchuck held on with surprising strength, his gummy teeth and sticky tongue clamping onto the metal. With a powerful pull and a sound of twisting metal, Upchuck managed to rip the mace, along with the metallic arm, right off Technorg!
With a yanking sound, Technorg's arm was torn off.
"I can't believe you ripped his arm off!" Gwen exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Ben 1—Alien weightlifter—0!" Upchuck laughed as he chewed on the mace now inside his mouth. He turned to Technorg, who was stunned and furious at the loss of his arm.
"Time for dessert!" Upchuck opened his mouth again and, with the sound of a projectile, spat Technorg's mace back out, but now with incredible force and speed, like a missile.
The mace hit Technorg square in the chest, throwing him back with a deafening thud, making him slide several meters across the arena. He fell to his knees. The arena roared in applause.
"Nothing like using the house special!" Upchuck mocked.
"Yeah! Way to go, Ben!" Gwen shouted, a victorious smile on her face.
Technorg roared, struggling to get up, visibly shaken.
"We can't waste time!" Gwen shouted, taking advantage of Technorg being distant. She ran to Upchuck and pressed the Omnitrix symbol on Upchuck's wrist, turning Ben back to human form. He didn't waste time, spun the dial, the green core glowing brightly, and slammed the button. A green light enveloped him.
An intense green light enveloped Ben. The silhouette on the dial contorted, and when the light faded, there he was... DIAMONDHEAD.
"Whoa! Diamondhead!" Ben exclaimed, his voice now crystalline, feeling the solidity and power of his new body. A confident smile appeared on his crystal face.
Gwen, seeing the transformation, smiled. She knew what to do, she jumped onto Diamondhead's back. She raised her hands and began to recite a spell, her grimoire floating beside her. A golden aura enveloped her hands.
"FORTIS FORTITUDO!" Gwen shouted, channeling her mana.
A blast of golden magical energy shot from Gwen's hands, hitting Diamondhead directly. The crystals on his body glowed with an even greater intensity, and he felt a wave of pure strength course through every molecule of his being. His armor seemed impenetrable, and his crystal muscles became even denser.
"Now we're talking!" Diamondhead roared, advancing on Technorg, who was finally getting up. He delivered a punch with his crystalline arm, which collided with Technorg's shoulder, making the Detrovite stagger.
Technorg roared in fury and tried a crushing blow with his remaining fist, but Diamondhead dodged with surprising agility and counter-attacked with a barrage of punches, each one making Technorg retreat. With a quick movement, Diamondhead slammed his hands into the ground, and pillars of sharp crystals erupted, trapping Technorg's feet.
"You're not going anywhere, big guy!" Diamondhead mocked.
Gwen, seeing the opportunity, cast another spell. "CRYSTALLOS CONTENEUM!" A wave of shimmering energy shot from her hands, strengthening Diamondhead. Ben's formations expanded, covering Technorg in a thick layer of crystal. The Detrovite was completely immobilized, trapped to the ground in a tomb of shimmering crystal.
"That... that was awesome!" Ben exclaimed, admiring his work, exhaustion mixed with euphoria.
Technorg roared, struggling, but the crystal held him firm.
The roar of the alien crowd deafened the arena. Diamondhead, with Gwen on his back, watched Technorg, immobilized in a tomb of shimmering crystal. The Detrovite, despite being trapped, roared and struggled, his fury reverberating through the crystal. The audience roared for more, thirsty for blood.
Suddenly, Slix Vigma's cold, metallic voice echoed through the arena's speakers: "What a spectacle of strength! The giant Technorg has been subdued! And now... the champion will be crowned!" The alien's holographic image floated in the air, his eyes shining with contained malice. "Complete the job, little champions. Finish what you started. Give the audience what it craves!"
Ben, still as Diamondhead, felt a shiver. He looked at his crystal fist, then at Technorg, and finally at Gwen on his back. The idea of smashing the opponent, even if it was a violent creature, caused a knot in his stomach.
"No way!", Diamondhead snarled, his crystalline voice cutting through the air, surprising everyone. "We don't kill anyone, 'Slick'!"
Gwen, who was recovering and on his back, looked at Slix Vigma, the grimoire in her hands. Her eyes narrowed. "He's immobilized. That's enough! We're not going to be like you!"
A murmur of disappointment spread through the crowd, but Slix Vigma didn't lose his cool. "Interesting... A display of... compassion. A rarity in this arena. But the will of the audience is the law. And they want a champion!" His voice, however, contained an almost imperceptible tone of irritation.
The arena lights flashed, and Slix Vigma raised one of his long arms. "For the glorious spectacle and the undeniable victory over Technorg... I declare you: THE NEW CHAMPIONS OF THE MEGALOID ARENA!"
The audience exploded in a new wave of applause, even more intense than before, although the reason for the celebration was somewhat confusing. Ben, as Diamondhead, and Gwen, stunned, were bathed in beams of light that danced around them.
"Champions? But we didn't even want to be champions of anything!", Diamondhead grumbled, perplexed.
Gwen, despite everything, managed an exhausted smile. "Well, Ben... at least we're the champions who don't kill their opponents."
In the same instant, Slix Vigma's image on the hologram changed. He projected a new image in the air, an even more sinister smile spreading across his face. It was Kevin. He was roaring, and the image showed him incinerating one of his opponents with a fiery explosion.
"And for your next and final battle, champions!", Slix Vigma announced, his voice vibrating with a sick enthusiasm, as the image of Kevin burning his opponent hovered in the air. "Prepare for the REMATCH! He craves revenge! He seeks destruction! He is... KEVIN 11!"
Diamondhead and Gwen looked at each other, their eyes wide. A new light enveloped them, teleporting them again.
Ben and Gwen were back in the prisoner area. Around them, dozens of aliens of all species were gathered, sitting on metal benches or leaning against the walls. Many of them looked at Ben and Gwen with a mixture of respect, curiosity, and even a hint of hope, as if the victory against Technorg had given them a spark of something new. The respect was palpable—even Technorg, with his one muscular arm still covered in marks, bowed before them, a slow, solemn gesture that made all the other prisoners bow their heads in reverence.
"You bested the best. And spared my life," Technorg said solemnly, his deep, resonant voice echoing down the hall. "I cannot... live... without repaying. Now, you are my masters. My life... is yours." He held out a tray of purple, gooey food as an offering.
Ben and Gwen looked at each other, surprised by the Detrovite's attitude. Ben, still recovering from exhaustion, stepped forward, hesitantly. "Masters? No, Technorg, we don't... we're not your masters. We just didn't want to hurt you anymore. It's not right. You have your own life, your own honor."
Technorg raised his head, his amber eyes fixed on Ben. "My honor... was restored... by you. A life... debt. I cannot... live... without repaying it." He pointed to the tray. "Food... from the arena. Accept... my gratitude."
Gwen approached, her voice soft. "We appreciate the offer, Technorg, really. But we don't want you to be our servant. We just want to get out of here, and we want all of you to get out too. This arena... is an abomination."
Technorg tilted his head, processing the words. "Get out...? Impossible. No one... escapes... the Megacruiser. Many... have tried. All... have failed." He looked around at the other prisoners, who nodded in silent agreement.
"Maybe you just didn't have the right people leading, right?", Ben joked, but there was an underlying seriousness in his tone. He looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist, which was still in recharge mode.
Suddenly Kevin rose from the back of the room, walking towards them. His steps were heavy, and the flickering light from the ceiling revealed his grotesque, mutant form. It was Kevin.
The prisoners moved away from him, afraid. But to Ben, it was just Kevin.
"Well, well, Ben and Gwen," Kevin snarled, his voice distorted, mixing roars of a Pyronite and the metallic echo of Upgrade. He stopped a few feet away, his eyes fixed on them. "I can't believe you became 'champions'. What a joke."
He looked at Kevin with a mixture of anger and... pity. "Kevin, enjoying the atmosphere? Being a monster on the inside, not just the outside? And when are you going back to normal? Is this transformation permanent?"
Kevin laughed, a harsh, humorless sound. "Permanent? I don't know. But I'm stronger than ever! And all of this... is because of you. It's your fault, Ben. You gave me this! My body is falling apart, but I'm invincible! And you... you're going to pay for it!" He stomped his feet on the ground, causing a small crater.
The other prisoners cringed, afraid of Kevin's display of power. Ben looked at him, feeling the weight of guilt, but also anger that Kevin was getting lost in his own pain.
Gwen placed herself between the two. "You two! Stop it! Kevin, don't you see what's happening? They're using you! They're turning you into a monster for their own entertainment!"
"I am strong! I am invincible!" Kevin shouted. "I don't need anyone! I don't need you! I'm the only one who decides my fate!"
Ben laughed, a humorless laugh. "Invincible? You've become a clown, Kevin. A circus animal performing for the crowds. You're pathetic!"
Kevin let out a bestial roar, his flames erupting. He lunged at Ben, but Technorg was faster. With a deep roar, the Detrovite interposed himself between Kevin and the kids. His muscular arm, though injured, rose to block the attack, and the force of the impact made the metal wall behind him tremble. Kevin took a step back, surprised by the unexpected resistance.
"No...," Technorg grunted, his voice heavy, as he held his ground, protecting Ben and Gwen. "You... Will not... Hurt them... While... I... Am... Here!!"
Kevin snarled, annoyed by the intervention. "Get out of the way, scrap heap! This is between me and Tennyson!"
"Enough!", Gwen shouted, her voice firm, even with her exhaustion. She looked at Kevin, her expression softening a bit. "Look, Kevin, I know you're angry. I know you feel lost. But you're not alone. We can help you. We can find a way to reverse this. But you have to stop fighting yourself. You have to stop letting this pain control you."
Kevin looked at her, the fury in his eyes lessening for an instant, replaced by a twinge of uncertainty.
Ben, taking advantage of the moment, stepped forward. He looked at the other prisoners, who were watching the scene intently. An idea began to form in his mind. He turned to Kevin, a confident smile on his face.
"Kevin, you don't have to fight alone. You don't have to be their toy. We can fight together. Not for them, not for this arena... but for us. For our freedom." Ben pointed to the Antitrix, which still pulsed with chaotic energy on his chest. "That watch... it's a weapon. But it can also be a key. A key to freedom. And to justice."
He then looked at the other prisoners, raising his voice so everyone could hear. "Are you tired of being treated like animals? Of being forced to fight for fun? Then... IT'S TIME TO FIGHT FOR REAL! IT'S TIME TO START A REVOLT!"
A murmur of excitement began to spread among the prisoners. Some looked at each other, others clenched their fists, a flame of hope igniting in their eyes. The tension in the room was palpable, and the revolt seemed imminent.
The Rust Bucket cut through the starry void of space, a familiar silhouette against the distant glow of nebulae. At its side, two other Plumber ships, sleeker and more aerodynamic, held formation, their thrusters emitting a blue glow.
Inside the Rust Bucket's main cabin, Max was at the wheel, his eyes fixed on the navigation panel, where Verdona's amulet pulsed with a soft light, guiding them relentlessly. They had tuned into the Megacruiser's broadcast hours ago, watching the combats and the brutal dynamics of the arena, closely following Ben and Gwen's movements, including the fight against Technorg.
The image flickered slightly, but the scene was clear. It showed the prisoner sector, where Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and several aliens were gathered.
On the cabin's main screen, the sound of Gwen's determined voice echoed: "Look, Kevin, I know you're angry. I know you feel lost. But you're not alone. We can help you. We can find a way to reverse this. But you have to stop fighting yourself. You have to stop letting this pain control you."
Kevin, in his mutant and grotesque form, looked at her with a hint of uncertainty, which made Max sigh in relief for an instant. But then, Ben stepped forward. Max watched, his heart tight, as his grandson raised his voice to the other prisoners.
"Are you tired of being treated like animals? Of being forced to fight for fun? Then..." Ben raised his fist, his eyes full of determination. "IT'S TIME TO FIGHT FOR REAL! IT'S TIME TO START A REVOLT!"
For an instant, Max was silent. His eyes followed his grandson with a mixture of pride and worry. A slight smile formed on his face. "That's it, Ben, Gwen... I'm proud of you..." he said, almost to himself, a clear tone of pride.
Steel glanced over, his metallic voice resonating. "Starting a revolt inside one of the largest prisoner complexes in the galaxy... classic Tennyson."
Just below the broadcast window, a colored bar flashed, displaying a tab with large letters in a galactic language: "Betting open! How many prisoners will die in the next escape attempt? Place your bet now!".
Steel squinted, his metallic voice turning heavier, almost dark. "That... is... sick."
Max gritted his teeth, gripping the console so hard his fingers trembled. "These... bastards..."
The betting bars flashed, updating in real-time. "Two dead - 3.5x. Three or more - 1.7x. All captured alive - 10x (high reward)".
Avatars of alien spectators vibrated in the corner of the screen, laughing, waving, mocking, as the numbers of wagered credits climbed like an avalanche.
Max's expression hardened instantly. "Damn... this... is a horror show." His fists gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Steel pressed some commands on the panel, tracking the data. "Of all the criminal operations I've ever seen... this redefines the concept of disgusting."
Max squinted, gritting his teeth. "And to think there are billions... billions watching this... laughing... betting..." He shook his head, holding back a lump in his throat. "This isn't just illegal. This is personal."
He leaned back, pressing his lips together. His gaze was heavy, his mind racing, dominated by urgency. A mixture of pride and fear burned in his chest. His grandchildren were being used as pawns in a cruel spectacle, and that was something he would not allow.
On the screen, Ben continued. His words spread through the arena, inflaming the other prisoners.
"You're not alone! If we stick together, we can take this place down! We can end this, right here, right now!"
Max squinted, his voice dropping, almost a desperate whisper. "Ben... Gwen... hold on. Just a little longer..."
He then leaned in, getting closer to the screen as if he could be heard from the other side of the galaxy.
"Take care... kids. We're on our way... Hold on tight."
Steel glanced over, his red eyes lighting up stronger. "Time to step on it, Max. And to end this game... once and for all."
Slix Vigma's control chamber was a sanctuary of holographic lights and pulsating sounds, a paradise for the sadistic master of the Megacruiser. He floated in the center, his long, claw-like fingers gliding over the control panels, while the main screen displayed a panoramic view of the prisoner area. The show was about to begin, and Vigma felt the tingle of anticipation.
"Ah, the new champions," Slix Vigma muttered, his cold, peculiar voice seeming to scratch the air. His robotic, lidless eyes glowed as he zoomed in on the image of Ben, who was in the middle of the room, somehow already on his feet. "So naive. They believe victory in the arena gives them freedom. How pathetic."
He watched as Ben transformed into Grey Matter, a quick green flash. The small alien, with his slippery gray skin and large, vibrant green eyes, ran agilely between the feet of the other prisoners, his movements almost imperceptible. Slix Vigma laughed. "The little mouse is hiding. How pathetic."
Ben, as Grey Matter, used his stealth and diminutive size to sneak up to a guard robot patrolling the perimeter. With an agile and precise leap, he jumped onto the robot, sliding into a small opening in its metallic chassis. Inside, he connected to the robot's internal systems with his super intelligence.
Slix Vigma, in his control room, noticed a slight flicker in one of the robots. A glitch, perhaps? He shrugged. "It matters little. One less robot will make no difference."
But then, a sequence of rapid beeps echoed through the prisoner area. One by one, the energy brooches that held the aliens, pulsing with blue light, began to flash and then open with a metallic 'click'. The prisoners, surprised, felt the containment release. The sound of the locks echoed, and the metal cell doors began to slide open, freeing the aliens lying within.
"What?!" Slix Vigma hissed, as the blaring alarm began to echo throughout the Megacruiser, mixing with the screams and roars of the prisoners. They advanced en masse against the guard robots, which emerged from the walls, their blades and energized axes cutting through the air. The battle was chaotic, a frenzy of violence that Slix Vigma appreciated, but something was terribly wrong.
"Hah! Yes, yes! Unleash the beast!" Slix Vigma exclaimed, his eyes fixed on the betting tab that pulsed green and red. The numbers shot up, the odds changing rapidly as the revolt began to take shape.
"How many will die, my dear bettors? The chances are in my favor. To the new 'champions' and their... pathetic morality." He looked at the monitor showing Ben and Gwen, with a distorted smile. "You will be the biggest stars of my show, Tennyson and child. Be grateful for your naivety. It is what I feed on."
Suddenly, the image on the main screen changed. In the corner of the screen, a magnified image revealed that many of the "prisoners" were beginning to... melt. No, it wasn't melting. Their bodies were dissolving into viscous goo, reorganizing into amorphous, translucent, pulsing shapes.
"No... No... This makes no sense..." he hissed, pressing commands with his claws. "Limax? No... They weren't even on the prisoner list!", his logical mind trying to process the anomaly. The Limax, who were previously pretending to be prisoners, attacked the robots with ferocity. Slix Vigma's confusion was evident.
"You didn't understand, Slix," the voice of one of the Limax, coming directly from the broadcast, echoed in the speakers of Vigma's control room. But there was something... familiar about it. It was Ben's voice, slightly distorted by the gelatinous form. "Thought they were prisoners? How silly. Those were just... 'actors'."
While Ben's Limax clones caused the initial chaos, the real prisoners—Gwen, Kevin, Technorg, and the others—realizing the distraction and the opportunity, threw themselves into battle with renewed fury. The main Limax Ben, with the Omnitrix visible on his gelatinous chest, was among them, coordinating the attacks and ensuring the escape plan moved forward.
Slix Vigma widened his robotic eyes. He looked at Ben's image, then at his system panels. One of the secondary tabs of the security screen, which monitored the ventilation system, began to flash rapidly, showing a small blur moving at impressive speed.
"What...?! The ventilation...!" Slix Vigma snarled, understanding the trick. "You deceived me, you insolent brat!"
Before Slix Vigma could react, one of the Limax that had infiltrated through the ventilation, a green and sticky mass, burst through the control room glass with a deafening shatter. The creature launched itself at Slix Vigma, enveloping him in its gelatinous form and, with surprising strength, threw him out of the room, through the newly created opening, and into the center of the arena, where the battle still raged.
The Limax that threw him out, its gelatinous form sliding over the panels. It began to scan the controls, its multiple eyes focused.
"The controls for the emergency escape pod must be somewhere...", SwineJelly muttered, his voice distorted, as he fiddled with the console. "That 'Slix' guy said he controls everything on this ship from here..."
He spent a moment scratching his head over what was missing, when the voice and image of Slix Vigma appeared on the room's monitors, now in a clear, mocking broadcast.
"Actually, that's not very accurate," Slix Vigma said, a cruel smile on his holographic face. "What was said was, 'these hands control everything on this ship', including this."
In the same instant, jets of water burst from the ceiling, activating the fire sprinklers, hitting the Limax throughout the ship, causing them to dissolve into puddles of inert goo. "And, unlike you, they have no problem finishing off their opponents."
The main Limax Ben let out a bubbling groan, his body rapidly disintegrating. Gwen, who was beside him, widened her eyes.
Flashback
Hours earlier, right after Ben's victory over Technorg and their arrival in the prisoner area.
Ben had transformed into Grey Matter. He ran to a dark corner, his large green eyes examining every detail of the cell, every panel, every cable. Gwen crouched beside him, watching him work.
"Something's wrong, Gwen," Grey Matter whispered, his small voice loaded with urgency. He pointed to a small, almost imperceptible sensor on the ceiling. "We're being monitored. Every move, every word. Slix Vigma is watching us. He wants a show."
Gwen frowned. "So he knows about our revolt plan?"
"Probably," Grey Matter replied, his tiny fingers already manipulating a communication panel he had found. "But we can use that to our advantage. If he wants a show, let's give him the show of a lifetime."
Gwen smiled, understanding. "And I know how to give him a 'commercial break'." She raised her hands, and a soft blue energy began to glow. "I'll create an image loop on his monitors. He'll see what we think he wants to see. For a few minutes, we'll be invisible."
As Gwen concentrated on her spell, creating a perfect illusion of the prisoner area with them "chatting" normally about the escape, she pressed the Omnitrix again. A green flash enveloped him, and after returning to normal, in an instant he transformed into SwineJelly.
SwineJelly dragged himself to the trays and began to absorb the leftover alien food scraps rapidly. The energy returned in hot waves, as he used his biological ability to grow and divide.
One Limax... two... four... eight.
Each one molded itself into the forms of the most visible prisoners, copying appearance and mass, creating an army of false inmates.
"Here's the idea," SwineJelly explained to everyone covered by Gwen's illusion, as his copies spread quickly. "I'll use my copies to replace some of the prisoners. And while I distract Slix, I'll go through the vents to the control panel, stay safe and get ready, Kevin, take off the containment brooches."
"If I could, don't you think I would have shot them off?" Kevin replied, irritated. "I can barely assimilate anything with these tentacles without destroying everything, let alone these delicate brooches without ripping a piece of my chest off."
"The problem isn't Upgrade's power," SwineJelly retorted. "When I was Greymatter, I thought about your condition, the Upgrade nanomachines that merge with technology are fused with the Ghostfreak tentacles that destroy technology and possess people, separate those powers and you'll manage."
End of Flashback
Present
SwineJelly let out a bubbling groan, his body rapidly disintegrating under the jet of water.
"Ben!" Gwen shouted, panic in her voice. She knew about the Limax's weakness to water. Without hesitating, she lunged forward, reaching her hand out to the Omnitrix in the middle of the mass of goo. With a quick, desperate movement, she pressed the symbol on SwineJelly's chest.
An intense green flash erupted, filling the room. When the light faded, the Limax had disappeared, and Ben was back in his human form, drenched and panting, coughing up the water he had swallowed. He fell to his knees, weak, but safe from dissolution.
"Argh... That was awful..." Ben coughed, spitting out some water, trying to catch his breath.
Gwen held him by the shoulders. "Calm down... you made it. You're back."
Ben lifted his head, coughing, but with a tired smile. "Okay... point for Slix... that part... I hadn't foreseen."
Gwen took a deep breath, looking around, seeing the remains of the Limax disappearing into shriveled puddles.
"Alright. We still have a plan B." She helped him up. "But now... we have to run."
The arena was in complete chaos. Prisoners of all species united, armed with pieces of metal, improvised tools, and the sheer will to survive. Guard robots descended from the upper compartments like metallic swarms, firing containment beams and cutting with energized blades.
In the center of it all, Slix Vigma floated above the battlefields, his thrusters emitting blueish bursts as he fired electric fields and commands to the robots. His cybernetic eyes flashed frantically, alternating between frustration and pure despair as he watched his "attraction" fall apart.
"You think you can escape?! That you can ruin MY show?!" Slix shouted, his voice reverberating through the arena's speakers. "I've turned entire worlds into arenas! I am the show!"
Technorg was on the front line, smashing robots with his giant mace, clearing a path for the prisoners to advance. His guttural roars echoed, and each blow took down two, three, sometimes four enemies.
Ben and Gwen slid down one of the side platforms, arriving back at the arena, breathing heavily. As they looked up, they were met with a surreal scene.
Kevin roared in the middle of the arena, smashing one of the robots against the ground as his four grotesque hands spun, clearing a path. His Stinkfly wings beat powerfully, propelling him in quick leaps, while his XLR8 tail whipped from side to side, knocking the approaching guards off balance.
He stopped for a second, staring at Slix Vigma, who floated above them, trying to stay out of reach.
"Enough of this game!" Kevin snarled, looking at his own arms. "Okay... time to stop being an idiot about this."
With a metallic click and a grunt of pain, Kevin concentrated. The pale Ghostfreak tentacles began to retract, oscillating in the air. The Upgrade nanomachines enveloping them pulsed, as if fighting against the distorted biology itself.
Kevin clenched his lower left fist, channeling the energy. The nanomachines that previously covered the tentacles slowly detached, racing across his mutant skin like a living swarm until they concentrated on his upper right arm—the one previously covered in Diamondhead crystal.
The crystal began to shatter, cracking and melting into a liquid, shining metallic paste, which reorganized itself, forming exposed circuits, pulsing cables, and glowing technological plates, now completely biomechanical. It was Upgrade's power, finally separated from the damage it suffered being fused with the Ghostfreak tentacles.
"It worked..." Kevin snarled, testing the arm. Micro-thrusters activated at the base of his elbow, small green lights flashing around the joint. "Hehe... now we're talking."
He flexed his wings, beat them hard, and launched himself upwards, his tail serving as a rudder as he spun in the air. The Stinkfly wings fired up, accelerating him straight at Slix.
Slix tried to maneuver, activating countermeasures, but Kevin extended the enhanced Upgrade arm, firing energy cables and beams of nanomachines directly at the alien's thrusters. Circuits were instantly invaded, the anti-gravity field failed, and Slix began to lose altitude, spinning uncontrollably.
"AAAAARGH, GET OFF ME! YOU DEFECTIVE MUTANT!" Slix shrieked, activating all short-range weapons—lasers, shocks, and automatic turrets, but Kevin dodged, spinning, protecting himself with his crystal and clawed arms.
With a brutal spin, Kevin grabbed Slix by the dorsal hull. The crystal blades of his upper left arm dug into the chassis, while his lower right arm, armed with bestial claws, held him with crushing force.
"AHAHAHA! GOTCHA, YOU FLOATING TRASH!" Kevin cackled, pulling Slix violently against his body.
The Upgrade nanomachines began to spread, covering Slix's hull, penetrating directly into the alien's energy core and data center. Slix's carapace began to dissolve, absorbed. His eyes went dark, his voice turned into a distorted digital scream, then silence.
Kevin's body glowed neon red and blue, his eyes flashing with lines of code. Holographic lights began to appear around him, projecting commands, data, and three-dimensional maps of the ship.
From within his own deformed flesh, panels, mechanical arms, and antennas emerged, now part of Kevin's body. He hadn't just absorbed Slix Vigma... he now WAS the Megacruiser.
The ship's systems flashed red, until Kevin's voice, now distorted and amplified by the speakers, echoed throughout the arena:
"Congratulations, prisoners! The docks are clear. Your tickets to freedom have been issued... BY ME."
The escape pod doors opened in sequence, with alarms blaring and lights flashing, indicating the complete release of the prisoners.
In the center of the arena, Ben and Gwen ran up, stopping as they saw Kevin floating, now surrounded by drones, metallic arms coming out of his back, holographic eyes glowing around his head, and an aura of purple and red energy vibrating.
"He did it!" Ben exclaimed, a mix of relief and surprise. "He opened the escape routes... Kevin, you're a genius!"
Gwen, beside Ben, smiled. "I couldn't have done it better, Kevin! You... you really saved us!"
Kevin spun around, looking at them, and descended slowly to the ground. He blinked, and the last images of the audience illusion dissolved, revealing the space outside.
"You know... for a few seconds... I almost thought about letting you go," Kevin spoke, his voice reverberating with electronic and guttural echoes. "But then I remembered... all the times you screwed me over. Every... single. Damn. One."
Suddenly, all the doors slammed shut with metallic booms. Energy barriers rose at the exits.
Gwen instinctively pulled Ben back. "Kevin, no!"
Kevin raised a hand. His upper right arm, with glowing nanocircuits, transformed into an ice cannon, while the Ghostfreak tentacles elongated, vibrating with dark energy.
"It's not a question of yes or no, Gwen. It's... a matter of revenge."
He slammed his hand on the holographic console floating beside him. The floor trembled, and the arena doors were locked.
"Welcome... TO MY ARENA NOW."
Ben immediately spun the Omnitrix dial, choosing an alien. Gwen raised her hands, the grimoire spinning around her with runes lighting up in blue.
At that exact moment, a wall exploded into debris. Technorg emerged, roaring:
"Nobody... TOUCHES THEM!"
He placed himself between Ben and Gwen, facing Kevin with all his fury.
Kevin let out an insane smile, the fire in his skull intensifying.
"Perfect... THE MORE... THE MERRIER."
Ben took a deep breath, looking at Kevin, who radiated a chaotic and vengeful energy. He knew the plan had changed. Kevin was no longer an ally. With the battle intensifying around him, Ben needed a new strategy. He looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist and dialed up Upgrade.
An intense green flash lit up the arena. Ben's body transformed into a black liquid mass with green circuit patterns that glowed as if alive. But, the instant Upgrade formed, the Omnitrix on his chest began to pulse with a sinister purple. An uncontrollable energy erupted, and Upgrade's body contorted, no longer in its usual fluid form, but merging with the ghostly figure of Ghostfreak.
Ghostfreak's white cracks spread across Upgrade's black surface, while his single purple eye glowed with disturbing intensity. The form was a macabre fusion of technology and specter, the skin that looked like cracking stone and skeletal matter merging with the biomechanics. Ben felt a strange power, a connection to technology and the intangible, but also an icy chill. It was an unusual and unsettling fusion.
"What...Upgrade?! Ghostfreak?! Ghostgrade?!" Gwen exclaimed, eyes wide, recognizing the new, strange form.
The Upgrade and Ghostfreak fusion turned toward Technorg. Ben's hybrid body slid quickly toward the Detrovite, who was still in a guard position, snarling at Kevin.
"Technorg... your debt... will be paid," Ben's voice, now a cacophony of metallic echoes and ghostly whispers, reverberated. With a fluid movement, Ghostgrade enveloped Technorg's massive body, the nanomachines and spectral essence infiltrating the cracks in his armor and the wounds on his skin.
A purple light pulsed in Technorg's body. The wounds, previously open and bleeding, began to close. The twisted metal of his mechanical mace realigned and solidified, glowing with a new power. But then, to Technorg's amazement, his severed arm began to regenerate. Metallic wires, synthetic muscles, and pieces of Detrovite skin pulsed and extended from the stump, reforming the lost limb in a matter of seconds.
Technorg looked at his newly formed arm, flexing his fingers, and let out a powerful roar, not of pain, but of pure wonder and renewal. "My arm... It's... new!" He raised the mace, feeling the potency that had returned to it. "Incredible! I am... restored!"
"That's right, we're going to... finish him, Big Guy," Ben's voice echoed in his mind.
Kevin, who had been watching the scene, saw Technorg's healing and enhancement, the reconstitution of his arm, and now, Ben's grotesque and powerful fusion with him. His insane smile wavered. "What...?! You worm! What did you do?!"
"RAAAARGH!!!" Technorg planted his feet on the ground, preparing the mace, which was now coated in biomechanical cables and blades made of spectral matter.
Kevin shot forward. "YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO STOP ME?!" His mutant body vibrated. Arms multiplied. Bioplasmic wings beat, sending out shockwaves. Flaming claws crossed the air.
Technorg advanced. The mace cut through space with a sharp hiss, colliding with Kevin's arm. The impact reverberated like thunder. Shards of crystal, plasma, and ectoplasm flew.
Kevin grunted, retaliating. His four arms advanced together—two with Diamondhead blades, two with Upgrade biomechanical hammers. The weapons collided with the mace and Technorg's arm, in a sequence of shocks that made the ground crack.
Ghostfreak tentacles sprouted from Technorg's back, whipping the air. One of them grabbed Kevin's ankle, another latched onto his arm. Kevin tried to pull, but Technorg activated thrusters built into his legs and shot forward, punching Kevin straight in the chest.
The monster retreated, spitting sparks and smoke.
"Gwen, NOW!" Ben shouted, his voice vibrating from within the Detrovite.
Gwen raised her arms. Circles of blue runes began to spin around her, casting beams of energy into the sky. "SILETH! MORDRAX! EKTA'VINDRA!"
Chains of pure mana materialized, wrapping around Kevin's arms and legs. He tried to cut them, but the chains regenerated, tightening, blocking movements, locking his wings.
"YOU... CAN'T... STOP ME!!!" Kevin roared, his eyes glitching, spitting red, green, and purple light.
Technorg spun the mace, which opened at the tip, revealing a plasma saw and energized spikes. He spun, hitting Kevin's side. The blade tore through flesh, crystal, and metal, throwing Kevin against an arena wall, smashing drones in the process.
Kevin exploded from the wall, four mouths opening on his torso, firing barrages of plasma, acid, and fire. Technorg's chest was hit, but spectral plates formed instantly, blocking part of the damage.
Tentacles burst from Kevin's left shoulder, trying to envelop Technorg. Gwen pulled, casting three more chains, locking the tentacles in mid-air.
"Ben, go!" She shouted.
Technorg's holographic eyes glowed. "With pleasure."
Thrusters on his back fired. Technorg charged, smashing Kevin against the ground. The mace spun, transforming into a plasma ram. BANG. BANG. BANG. Each blow buried Kevin deeper into the metal structure, which began to give way.
But Kevin grunted, and the glitching increased. His arms began to merge. Tentacles, blades, mouths, motors—all distorting. The Omnitrix forms on him were melting into one another, creating a chaotic, unstable mass that was growing increasingly powerful.
Kevin advanced. The sound of tearing metal, cracking bones, and overloading engines filled the air. The four Stinkfly wings beat with such force they generated sonic booms, sending pieces of the floor flying. The XLR8 tail whipped at high speed, breaking pillars around.
He shot forward like a biological missile, smashing Technorg/Ghostgrade against a metal wall. The wall bent, cracked, exploding into steel shrapnel.
"RRAAAAAAGH!!!" Kevin roared, sinking his crystal arms into Technorg's chest, who blocked with his forearm, claws grinding against diamond.
Ghostfreak tentacles shot from the monster's back, grabbing Technorg's shoulders and legs. The Upgrade nanomachines solidified on the tentacles' tips, forming vibrating blades, which began to saw at the enhanced Detrovite's joints.
Technorg spun his mace, which unfolded, revealing energized spikes, and smashed one of Kevin's wings. CRACK! The wing broke, but immediately began to regenerate, stitching flesh, crystal, and metal back together in real-time.
Kevin spun his tail, whipping it at Technorg, knocking him off balance. Then, he jumped, wings vibrating, and descended with all four arms raised, two crystal blades and two flaming claws, smashing both against Technorg's shoulders.
The ground cracked under the impact. Flames, crystals, nanomachines, and ectoplasm exploded in all directions.
Technorg staggered, but Ben activated the thrusters at the base of his legs. Green and purple jets fired, stabilizing him. The spectral tentacles whipped, passing through the air, wrapping around Kevin's neck and wings.
Kevin pulled. The tentacles stretched... until they snapped! One of the crystal arms spun like a circular blade, cutting two tentacles at once. The pieces dissolved into ethereal smoke and technological sparks.
"YOU DON'T GET IT!!! I AM ALL THE FORMS!!!" The glitch in Kevin's voice distorted everything, echoing like a thousand overlapping voices.
He sank his flaming claws into Technorg's chest. The spectral fire passed through the reinforced plates, melting part of the armor. The internal light of his chest flickered, alerts sounding.
Technorg responded with a straight punch to the chin—BANG!—launching Kevin into the air. Before the monster touched the ground, the mace transformed, projecting a retractable cable that shot out like a harpoon, hitting Kevin in the abdomen and pulling him back—SLAM!—straight into the Detrovite's raised knee.
The impact shattered part of Kevin's carapace. But he just roared, and the deformed flesh regenerated almost instantly, mixing muscle, metal, crystal, and ectoplasm, creating spikes and blades that weren't there before.
Kevin spun in the air. The XLR8 tail extended like a sharp blade, slashing Technorg's flank, while the Ghostfreak tentacles phased through the ground, emerging from below and trapping the giant's legs.
"MAXIMUS VINDRA!!!" Gwen shouted, launching a wave of blueish energy that exploded on Kevin's torso, throwing him back. She opened her arms, and three magic seals appeared, firing blasts of pure force that smashed Kevin against the opposite wall.
Kevin hit, cracked the metal of the wall, but... smiled.
The flaming skull glowed, and he simply MELTED the wall behind him with plasma jets, emerging on the other side, bypassing, fast as XLR8, appearing at Technorg's side.
"TAKE THIS!!!"—Two arms with Diamondhead blades phased through Technorg's left shoulder, while two arms with flaming claws tore at the other side.
Technorg screamed, but held on. The lights of his holographic eyes turned red.
"BEN!!! ACTIVATE EVERYTHING!!!"—Gwen shouted, raising mana chains that exploded at speed, trapping Kevin's tail, wings, and lower arms again.
Ben clenched his wrists. "LET'S SEE WHO'S CRAZIER HERE!!!"—The circuit lines turned purple, vibrating with spectral energy. The Ghostgrade tentacles multiplied, now solid, made of nanomachines and ectoplasm, shooting out in all directions.
Three wrapped around Kevin's neck. Four grabbed his arms. Two sank into his wings, pulling with such force they began to tear.
Kevin roared. The Omnitrix forms on him began to fuse even more—flesh, crystal, plasma, ectoplasm, metal, and nanotechnology melting into one another. His eyes flickered: green, purple, red, glitch... glitch... glitch...
"I WON'T... STOP!!!" The mouths spat more plasma. The claws crossed in the air. The explosion was so intense it launched Technorg, Ben, and Gwen tens of meters, breaking columns, destroying structures.
Kevin opened his wings, panting. The flaming skull vibrated, cracking, shooting sparks and steam.
A mechanical roar tore the air. From above, the Rust Bucket, now transformed into an armored ship, broke through the smoke clouds, its thrusters firing blue flames. Armored panels opened on the underside, revealing rotating cannons.
"LOOKS LIKE THE RIDE'S HERE!!!" Max roared over the communicator.
The Rust Bucket descended in a brutal dive, SMASHING KEVIN with its entire fuselage. The impact formed a crater, the monster was dragged tens of meters, breaking everything in its path, until it was pressed against a block of twisted steel.
Kevin roared, tentacles and wings trying to get free, but the Rust Bucket pressed down with all its engine power.
Max pulled a lever. "Attack mode!" The vehicle's sides opened, revealing automatic turrets, plasma launchers, and energy machine guns. The firing began—BZZZZT! RATATAT! FWOOOSH!—exploding against Kevin, who writhed, screaming in rage.
The side hatch hissed open. Steel leaped out, his energy sword already activated. The blueish blade vibrated, leaving a trail of light as he descended in flight, ZAAAASH!, cutting two of Kevin's tentacles in mid-air.
"Time for corrective maintenance, you walking glitch!" Steel fired his thrusters, crossing the battlefield in a zig-zag, dodging tentacles, while delivering cuts and plasma shots.
Gwen got up, raised her hands, magic seals spun in the air, blue circles floating in a spiral. "TURBO!!" A blast of mystical wind exploded, pushing Kevin, pinning his wings against his own body. The magic chains reappeared, locking his legs and deformed torso.
Ghostgrade advanced, the thrusters in his legs vibrating, and hit Kevin with a devastating punch, throwing him against a wall that simply crumbled.
Kevin screamed, his eyes flashing red, green, purple. The flesh, crystals, tentacles, and metals began to merge even more chaotically, deformed, unstable. Eyes began to sprout from random places, mouths appeared on his torso and arms, spitting fire, plasma, goo, and electric bolts all at once.
"NO... I... WON'T...!!!" Kevin slammed the ground with all four arms, cracking everything. His wings multiplied. His tail unfolded into five, all vibrating like living blades. Tentacles launched in all directions.
Max activated a red switch on the panel. "Time to open the back door." The Rust Bucket trembled. A rear compartment opened, and a cylindrical structure emerged—the Null Void Projector.
"HERE IT COMES!!!" Max hit the button.
A red portal opened, roaring like a black hole, spinning with gravitational distortions, pulling in debris, wreckage, and sparks. The air vibrated, the light distorted.
Kevin dug his claws and tentacles into the ground, trying to resist. "NOOOOOOO!!!"
Gwen, with her hands glowing blue, launched another wave of magic wind. "TURBO!!!" The mystical gale bent Kevin's deformed wings back, forcing him closer to the vortex.
Steel activated the pulse laser on his chest. "Stay down, freak!"—FOOOOOOM!—A blue beam shot out, hitting Kevin in the chest, exploding tentacles and biomechanical flesh.
"LET'S GO!!!" Ben shouted, from inside Technorg.
Technorg advanced, ignoring the tentacles hitting him. With a spin, he delivered a punch that threw Kevin closer to the portal.
"More..." The purple lines on Technorg's body began to glow, charging spectral and nanotechnological energy.
"TAKE THIS!!!"—From Technorg's hands, a purple super-beam, dense, vibrant, exploded straight into Kevin's chest, who was dragged away, spinning, writhing, being pulled ever deeper into the vortex.
Kevin's body began to come apart. Tentacles, wings, and arms were ripped off. The biological and technological parts could no longer hold together.
But then...
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. The Omnitrix on Technorg's chest flashed red. The energy died.
"No... no, no, no!" Ben's body separated from Technorg, falling to the ground, panting, defenseless.
At that exact instant, one last tentacle from Kevin shot out, whipping and wrapping around Ben's chest. It began to pull him, dragging him straight into the portal.
"BEN!!!"—Gwen screamed, running.
But before the tentacle pulled him completely, Steel crossed the sky like a lightning bolt. "NOT TODAY!!!"—ZAAAASH!—The energy sword cut the tentacle in half. The piece holding Ben dissolved into goo, ectoplasm, and nanomachines.
Steel caught Ben in his metallic arm, activated his thrusters, and flew away from the portal.
Kevin, with what was left of his body, screamed, writhing, spitting plasma and shadow as he was sucked in.
"CLOSE IT, MAX!!!"—Steel shouted.
Max slammed the button.
The portal collapsed in a gravitational explosion, sucking in the last pieces of Kevin, until it closed with a BOOOOOM!
Silence fell.
The dust settled.
The Rust Bucket landed, grinding.
Steel descended, with Ben still panting in his arms. Gwen ran to them, helping.
Ben looked at the empty sky where the portal had been and muttered, "Please... stay closed..."
Max cut the Rust Bucket's engines, taking a deep breath. "I think... we did it."
Lights flashed, drones floated, scanning corridors, and dozens of Plumber agents walked the entire length of the ship, some analyzing consoles, others searching secret compartments or checking on prisoners. Broken panels shot sparks, but the environment already seemed more organized, controlled, exuding a renewed efficiency under the Plumbers' command.
"You're not going to believe this..."—Phill emerged from behind a floating terminal, holding a holographic clipboard, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and fascination. "I ran a trace on this thing's systems... and it's insane. This ship has Level 16 technology!"
A Plumber looked at him, confused. "Level 16? You're kidding."
"I wish." Phill sighed, adjusting his glasses. "It has full stealth capability, interdimensional communications that bypassed any Plumber tracking, quantum tracking, and... look at this, temporal warp detectors! Plus a firewall system that seems to have been made to deceive reality itself, operating on frequencies that not even the Galactic Enforcers can track."
Max approached, crossing his arms, his expression grave. "And who would build something like this?"
Phill shook his head. "Someone very sick... The ship's entire financial structure was linked to a series of operations... laundered money, illegal species extractions, information trafficking, and sadistic intergalactic betting... and everything being sent to a ghost account. It's impossible to track where the money came from or the final destination of the profits. This thing was made so no one would ever find out who was behind it, a goldmine of suffering that evaporated into the void."
Max narrowed his eyes, processing the gravity of the threat they had neutralized. "Hmm... so we have a bigger problem than we thought."
He then turned to the other Plumbers in the central corridor, his voice firm and resonant. "Attention, agents! From now on, the Megacruiser will be our temporary base of operations! At least until we resolve this whole situation and re-establish a more solid base. We have technology here that's worth more than an entire fleet. So, let's get to work!"
The agents cheered, letting out shouts of "Yeah!", clapping, and high-fiving. The relief was palpable, the energy of victory renewing the team's spirit.
Max smiled sideways, adjusted his cap, and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to make a report to the Magistracy. Phill, take command. Steel, prepare the route to take the prisoners back to their homes."
As Max walked away, Ben and Gwen approached, walking side by side. In the vast hangar of the Megacruiser, the Plumber escort ship was already almost ready to depart, its lights pulsing with energy. The ramp lowered gently, and up it walked the prisoners, now with looks of relief and gratitude, being escorted back to their home systems.
At the front of them, Technorg, now with his nanotechnology mace resting firmly on his shoulder, watched the escort ship. His posture was imposing, but his amber eyes radiated a calm and determination that weren't there before.
"So... this is it. You're leaving." Ben crossed his arms, a genuine smile on his face. "You know... you did great back there, man. For real. You saved us."
Technorg let out a deep grunt, almost a purr, and then shook his head slowly, his eyes fixed on the two. "You too. What I saw today... inspired me. For the first time, I realized that my strength... can be used for something other than brawling in arenas. Your morals, your compassion... showed me a different path." He smiled, revealing metallic teeth. "When this is over... I'm going to apply to the Plumber academy. I will be worthy of fighting alongside you."
Gwen smiled, crossing her arms. "I think you'll do great. And... who knows, maybe even become a partner for good. We'll take down some villains together."
Technorg extended his huge hand, his mace flickering slightly. Gwen shook it, laughing, the girl's small hand disappearing into the immense claw of metal and flesh. "It was an honor, little magic user."
Ben then pressed the Omnitrix button. "Hey... before you go... would you mind if I... well, scanned your DNA?"
Technorg flashed that wide smile, full of steel teeth, and extended his arm, with a solemn nod. "It would be an honor, little Magister."
The Omnitrix glowed green, emitting that characteristic "BEEP-BEEP!" A beam of emerald green light swept over Technorg's entire body, absorbing his genetic data. The Detrovite icon spun and locked onto the watch's interface, adding another powerful form to Ben's arsenal.
"Alright... one more for the catalog. Can't wait to test out all this strength!" Ben exclaimed, a glint of enthusiasm in his eyes.
Technorg nodded, his amber eyes shining with new hope. "Good luck, Earthlings. May our paths cross again... as allies."
Technorg nodded with a grim smile. He gave Ben and Gwen a nod before turning and marching onto the Plumber transport ship, where other prisoners were being escorted back to their worlds. Steel, who was overseeing the operation, waved at Technorg, a proud smile on his face.
Gwen looked at Ben, who was still admiring the Omnitrix. "So, what's his name going to be? Brute? Or maybe something that rhymes with 'Robot Smasher'?"
Ben rolled his eyes. "Nah. I still need to think of a cool name. But, hey, now that Kevin's been shipped off to the NullVoid and Earth is safe... You know what I want?"
Gwen smiled, guessing. "Sumo Slammers 2.1? Seriously? After all this... your biggest concern is... a video game?"
Ben grinned. "Video game? Gwen, it's Sumo Slammers! This is culture, it's art... it's a civic duty!"
She laughed, shaking her head. "Civic duty, right... Just don't break the TV if you lose to the mini-boss again, like last time."
"Hey! That was... that was lag! Totally lag!"
"Sure, Ben. Sure..." She laughed, shoving him lightly.
The two ran off down the corridor, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the Megacruiser, followed by laughter.
In the depths of a dark and austere chamber, far from any starlight, the silhouette of a figure rested, hidden in the densest shadows. In its field of vision, a set of holographic monitors flickered, projecting real-time images of the Plumbers' reports. The cold glow of the screens revealed scenes from inside the Megacruiser: agents searching, data being compiled, and the satisfied smile of Max Tennyson.
The figure observed the ship's complexity, every detail of its Level 16 technology, its stealth capabilities, the interdimensional communications that deceived even the most advanced radars. There was a slight twitch in one of its claws, an almost imperceptible movement that exuded frustration.
"A pity," a peculiarly modulated and deep voice reverberated, filling the space. The tone was that of one accustomed to being in control, to having everything under their dominion. "So much effort... such an... elegant machine. Created for maximum profit, to channel prosperity through chaos, and they use it as a mere... outpost, and I use that term loosely."
The scene on the screen changed, displaying the image of the Omnitrix in focus. The figure tilted its head slightly, as if analyzing every circuit, every molecule of the device.
"However," the voice continued, an almost cynical tone, "this 'information'... ah, it more than compensates. The true capability of your greatest creation, Azmuth. Pathetic. So much complexity, so much potential... and yet, so predictable."
Its claw, sharp and precise, moved slowly in the shadows, hovering over the projections of the Omnitrix.
"But don't worry, Azmuth," the voice concluded, with a chilling tone of superiority. "I... will do better."
The chamber plunged back into darkness, with only the distant glow of the monitors lighting the environment. The sound of a faint click echoed, like gears adjusting, and then, silence.