(Later after sneaking back to the mansion, Kevin absorbed the metal from the doorknob before morphing his finger into a key to pick the lock.)
Ben: "This is why you changed your mind about Gwen and Jen going off with Mike? So we could sneak into his house and spy on him?"
(Ben asked.)
Kevin: "Yeah, pretty much."
Allison: "Well, stop!"
(Allison shouted.)
Allison: "He's too nice to be spying on!"
Kevin: "Are you even listening to what you're saying, sis? This is so unlike you in particular!"
(Kevin shouted.)
Kevin: "I'm telling you guys, he's not right in the head. If you guys aren't going to check the guy out, I am."
Becky: "This isn't right, Kevin."
(Becky insisted as she went for her belt.)
Becky: "I mean, this is something that the old Kevin would do."
(Allison absorbed the metal from the stair railing as well and morphed her arm into a blade as Becky glared.)
Allison: "Step away from the door, Kevin! I'm warning you!"
Kevin: "You girls really want to fight me over some new guy? Is that how you want to build a team?"
(Allison shouted out and ran ahead, tackling Kevin to the ground and punching him in the face with her large metal hands, causing him to groan out in pain as the door opened.)
Allison: "Oh, sorry!"
(she said as he got up.)
Allison: "I don't know what came over me."
Kevin "And they say I didn't learn anything in the Null Void. But I learned to know when someone's shifty."
(He then suddenly got the urge to dodge an arrow that flew at him as he used his metal armor to block all of the arrows that Becky fired at him with a shout as she glared.)
Ben: "What is with the girls today?"
(Ben asked himself.)
Ben: "They would never do this. Maybe whatever affected those zombie girls is going around."
???: "Is Mike home?"
(a voice asked and they looked behind them to see Trina walk ahead with a concerned look on her face.)
Trina: "He hasn't called me back since you and those new girls showed up."
Kevin: "Uh, you're Trina, right?"
(Kevin asked as he and Allison moved out of the bushes, leaves and twigs tangled in their hair.)
Kevin: "Yeah, Morningstar ain't here right now. We're just picking up some stuff for him."
Trina: "Then you know where he is."
(Trina said.)
Trina: "Can he take me?"
Becky: "Paws off, lady! He's ours!"
(Becky shouted before covering her mouth with a gasp.)
Becky: "What is going on with us?"
Ben: "He's... busy."
(Ben said.)
Trina: "I need to see him. Why won't he see me?!"
(Kevin's eyes then looked to Trina's arm to see the same star-in-circle mark on her arm.)
Kevin: "Where did you get those marks on your arm?"
(Trina shrugged as the team huddled.)
Kevin: "Girls. Show me your arms."
(Not noticing before, Allison and Becky showed their arms out and gasped when they saw the same marks on their left arms as Kevin groaned.)
Kevin: "I saw those same marks on that zombie girl who tried to tenderize me."
Trina: "I just want to see Mike!"
Kevin: "Yeah, we're getting that."
(Kevin said before turning to the others.)
Kevin: "Call me crazy, but is it possible that Morningstar is the one making all the girls this way, including you, Jen and Gwen?"
Becky: "You're crazy."
(Becky said, feeling woozy.)
(Trina stepped up as Kevin turned to her.)
Kevin: "Excuse us."
(Kevin said as he took the others back.)
Kevin: "Look, it didn't really hit me until just now, but Gwen's been wearing her sleeves lower than usual. She was totally hiding something."
Ben: "Are you saying that Jen and Gwen have those marks too?"
(Ben asked, looking to Trina.)
Ben: "I didn't see them for sure, but it makes sense."
Allison: "Then why doesn't Jen have them? She doesn't wear sleeves."
(Allison asked.)
Becky: "Maybe an illusion spell? She is a prodigy at magic."
Ben: "You know, come to think of it, Trina was all weak and wobbly when we first saw her on the highway."
(Ben admitted.)
(Kevin nodded.)
Ben: "Jen, Gwen and you two were the same way at the power plant. You may have caught whatever bug is doing this. It clearly only affects girls."
Kevin: "Yeah."
(Kevin said.)
Kevin: "And the bug's name is Mike Morningstar. And we have to stop him."
(Mike was in a a building by the lake alone with Gwen and Jen as they sighed and Jen brushed her hand on her Omnitrix and sighed as Mike walked over to them.)
Mike: "I"m really glad I met you girls."
(he said as he took Jen's hands and she sighed.)
Jen: "Me too."
(Gwen raised her eyebrow, fuming as she glared at her cousin.)
Mike: "I knew there was something special about you from the moment I first met you."
Gwen: "I felt it too."
(Gwen said, brushing her hair.)
Mike: "And now... all those other girls mean nothing to me."
(Mike showed his hand, which had the mark on it and grabbed Jen, lightning surrounding them both as Jen felt herself start to grow weaker and weaker as she groaned out and slumped to the floor, barely conscious.)
Gwen: "No!"
(Gwen shouted before she received the exact same treatment as her cousin.)
Mike: "Your energy is unlike anything I've ever felt before. Especially Jen's. When it flows into me, I feel... invincible."
(The energy fueling Mike was almost intoxicating as he felt himself just glow, his skin and hair glowing with a bright golden sheen as he smirked down to his batteries.)
Mike: "From the moment I saw you two, I knew you would be the only girls I would ever need."
(On Other side...)
Ben: "Are you really sure about this?"
(Ben asked as he sat in the front seat with the girls in the backseat.)
(Allison chose not to take her bike because at the moment, she felt too weak to drive.)
(She was barely conscious as it was as she felt her energy draining away.)
Ben: "The fact of the matter is you've been against Morningstar from the moment we met him."
Kevin: "It's true."
(Kevin admitted.)
Kevin: "I admit, at first I was jealous of him for being an arrogant, bratty rich kid."
Becky: "Who my sister likes more than she likes you."
(Becky chuckled weakly.)
Kevin: "Yeah, some of that was true, but that's not the point. The point is now, Jen and Gwen are in trouble! You and your sister are too stuck on following your grandfather's instructions to see it."
Ben: "If Mike is the one turning those girls into zombies, then why aren't Trina or Becky or Allison zombies?"
Kevin: "I don't know!"
(Kevin said.)
Kevin: "Maybe it's like a vampire thing. It takes some time before they go full zombie."
Ben: "Are you listening to yourself, dude?!"
(Ben shouted.)
Ben: "Mike's been helping us ever since we got here. If he's bad, why did he fight those zombie girls with us?"
Kevin: "Ah, but he didn't, remember? He told us not to hurt them, then he 'accidentally' blasted into the pipes and let 'em get away."
Allison: "Okay."
(Allison groaned out weakly.)
Allison: "Let's say that you're right. Where are we going to find them? We don't know where they went for dinner."
Kevin: "Easy."
(Kevin said, holding up his Plumber's badge and activating the map.)
Kevin: "We find him."
(The group followed the map to make their way to the building by the lake and stood outside as they saw Becky and Allison start to grow paler from their energy draining and the star markings started to grow in numerous amounts on their arms as Allison groaned in pain.)
Allison: "Kevin, look at me."
(Allison said.)
Allison: "You got to knock us out, bro."
Kevin: "What?"
Becky: "We can't risk fighting you like those other girls. We know all your ins and outs and we won't be able to control ourselves."
(Becky said.)
Becky: "Knock us out before we turn."
Ben: "Okay."
(Ben said.)
Ben: "Can you show me how to do that Hephaestan Neuro Grip thing you do?"
Becky: "It's simple."
(she groaned out as she guided his hand.)
Becky: "Just squeeze the joint between the neck and shoulder. That's where the brain activity travels down, which causes the body's tendons and muscles to seize, knocking the target out."
Ben: "Okay, I'll try."
(He squeezed her joint, causing her to gasp out in shock.)
(Her eyes rolled back inside her head and she fell to the ground, fast asleep.)
(He then repeated the process to Allison, causing her to groan out as she fell asleep.)
Kevin: "They'll be alright."
(Kevin reassured his friend as he picked up the girls and laid them back in the car before he gave his older sister a light hug.)
(The boys looked up to the building before Kevin pointed to the road beside them.)
Kevin: "The highway we found Trina on is that way. She didn't just wander out there by coincidence, Ben. She was trying to get away from Morningstar."
Ben: "Let's just stop with the crazy theories and find the girls, okay?"
(The boys walked down the stairs and gasped once they saw Jen and Gwen looking like zombies, all shriveled up and pale-skinned as Mike drained their energy, his skin glowing a bright gold and his eyes glowing white.)
Kevin: "Um, Ben? Crazy theory: confirmed."
Ben: "Gwen! Jen!"
(Ben shouted.)
(He gave out a massive blast of golden energy, knocking Ben back as Jen groaned and saw her brother get blasted back.)
Jen: "Ben... no..."
(Kevin ran forwards and absorbed the floor with a glare.)
Kevin: "Get away from them, you jerk!"
(Mike only blasted out the energy, stronger than before as he ran forwards and blasted him back, dissolving his armor.)
(Ben activated his Omnitrix and transformed into...)
Jetray: "Jetray!"
(He flew forwards to Mike, avoiding his golden blasts and firing his green energy blasts from his eyes and tail, which Mike only blocked effortlessly.)
Mike: "Go away! They're mine now!"
(He blasted Jetray with his strongest blast yet, knocking him back and causing him to change back, unconscious.)
(Jen groaned as she tried to reach her Omnitrix and she groaned outwards as her hand fell down and she drew a sharp breath.)
Kevin: "Hey!"
(Kevin shouted as he ran forwards and smashed him into the floor.)
(He then gave a sharp punch aimed at Mike's face, but he avoided it by simply moving his head to the side.)
(Mike then leaped forward and flew through the air, dragging Kevin's face across the ground and he tossed him away.)
(Kevin gave out a few punches that Mike simply avoided by moving his body to the side.)
(He punched Kevin in the face with a right hook and then thrust his hands out, giving a powerful blast of white-hot golden energy outwards, ripping Kevin's armor apart and he groaned and fell to the ground, unconscious.)
Gwen: "No..."
(Gwen groaned weakly.)
Mike: "You're all out of your league."
Jen: "Mike... please."
(Jen groaned on the floor, all of her energy gone.)
Jen: "Do what you want with us... just don't hurt them."
Mike: "Oh, Jenny."
(he said, brushing her chin.)
Mike: "Why use your powers to help people when you can use them to take whatever you want?"
(He spread his arms out, revealing the rest of the zombie girls behind him, moving forwards.)
(That was when he gestured to see Becky and Allison move in from the entrance as well, all of their energy gone and moving like zombies as well.)
Mike: "All I ever wanted was power, and then you brought me these two energy sponges here. I guess I should thank you guys. And I know the perfect thing."
(He looked upwards and saw the air conditioner in the air ducts and aimed his hands to blast it down to crush the boys, only for his energy to start draining once Jen and Gwen moved upwards and grabbed his arms with all of the strength they had, starting to absorb their energy back along with some of his own their features returning.)
Mike: "What are you doing?"
Gwen: "Coming to our senses."
(Gwen said.)
(Jen then weakly dialed in her Omnitrix and slammed the core down, transforming her into...)
Crystagirl: "Crystagirl!"
(she shouted, her energy instantly restored and the markings vanishing from her arms as she gave a sharp kick to his face before giving out a strong blast of pink energy with a shout as Mike was blasted into the wall behind him before she created large pink crystals beneath her feet and then ran upwards, the golden skin breaking away from Mike as Gwen shouted out, her tattoos and eyes glowing white and she gave out a massive blast of magenta fire outwards, blasting him into the wall as he glowed white and the energy flowed out of him and back into the girls as Jen transformed back.)
Gwen: "Ben, Kevin!"
(Gwen said as they created energy platforms beneath their feet and ran down to help their friends as the other girls, including Allison and Becky all crowded around Mike, his skin now grey and devoid of their energy.)
Mike: "Girls... come here to me. Give me your power. Help me. Feed me!"
(The girls all crowded around Mike angrily and swarmed him.)
Mike: "What? No! Ah!"
(He glowed yellow and the energy blasted back, sending the girls all now looking back to normal, as they slammed into the ground before standing up and looking at their former master.)
Allison: "Glad that's over."
(Allison said, brushing herself off and shuddering at the memory of how she felt about him.)
Allison: "I've never felt so disgusted in my life."
(Becky then walked over to Mike, now looking rather like a zombie himself and took the badge from his belt and pocketed it herself.)
Becky: "You don't deserve this. Get some help."
(Mike groaned outwards and then the team walked away back to Kevin's car.)
(As Kevin's car moved out back to Bellwood with Allison on her motorcycle beside him.)
Ben: "Listen, guys."
(Ben said.)
Ben: "I'm sorry that I took Morningstar's side over yours. And more importantly, Jen, I'm sorry that I wasn't watching your back. I was a pretty lousy brother today, wasn't I?"
Jen: "Yeah."
(Jen said.)
Jen: "But it wasn't your fault. He manipulated all of us."
Gwen: "I guess Morningstar had some kind of control over us."
(Gwen said.)
Ben: "No, guys. It was my fault. I was in such a hurry to build our team that I ignored the danger that came along with it. If the two of us are going to be good leaders, I need to show better judgment of who I trust."
Kevin: "If you're gonna be a good leader, you're gonna need to stop sounding like such a jerk, Benji."
(Kevin said as Allison nodded from her bike.)
Becky: "Kevin!"
(Becky said.)
Ben: "No. He's right."
(Ben said.)
Ben: "I'm a jerk."
Jen: "It'll be alright. Tomorrow's another day."
(Jen said.)
Jen: "We led this team for almost two years before. We can do it again. But that means we have to trust our teammates and each other."
Allison: "Yes you will."
(Allison said.)
Jen: "So, Kevin?"
(Jen asked, raising an eyebrow.)
Jen: "When exactly do you plan to ask Gwen out?"
Kevin: "Um, uh-"
(Kevin sputtered as everyone laughed out loud as they went back home.)
[To Be Continued...]