Ben 10 Returns: Part 2

Ben 10 Returns: Part 2 is the second episode of the first season of Ben 10: Alien Force, and the second episode overall.
==Synopsis==
After defeating the Forever Knights, Ben, Gwen and Kevin follow a lead that takes them to a secret base in the desert. There they hope to find their missing Grandpa but instead find a spaceship with a giant cannon. The Highbreed intend to use it to destroy a nearby city. The trio of heroes is able to stop the ship and afterward they decide to team up for good in order find the missing Grandpa Max and unveil the secret alien plot of the Highbreed.
==Plot==
Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Magister Labrid are on the run from the giant Mech Dragon, but they soon run into the Forever Knights. Kevin confronts them first by absorbing some of the rock from the walls and lifting up part of the floor and slamming it back down, sending a shock wave towards the Forever Knights and making them fall. The Forever Knights get back up again and start firing their laser lances at them, so Gwen puts up a magic shield to protect herself, Ben, Labrid, and Kevin. Ben sees the Mech Dragon trying to attack them again, so he uses the Omnitrix to transform into another new alien, Echo Echo. Echo Echo duplicates himself several times so he and his clones can destroy the dragon. 
Meanwhile, as Kevin finishes getting rid of some of the Forever Knights, one of them is about to shoot him from behind, but Labrid sees him and shoots his laser gun at him first. As a result, the Forever Knight's laser lance is damaged, and Labrid warns him not to use it. The Forever Knight ignores him and tries to use it anyway. It explodes due to the damage and ends up killing him. Labrid is able to push Kevin away from the explosion to save him. Kevin then says he owes him one for saving his life. Kevin, Gwen, and Labrid manage to defeat the remaining Forever Knights, but Echo Echo is unable to defeat the dragon, so he and his clones use their sonic screams to destroy it. Magister Labrid gathers up all laser lances in one huge pile so that Echo Echo can destroy them using his sonic blast and transforms back into Ben.
In addition to destroying the alien weapons, the sonic blast also damages Labrid's suit, causing a blue liquid to start leaking from it. Labrid falls to the floor in pain, and Ben, Gwen, and Kevin want to help him, but he says there's no time. Magister Labrid wants them to finish the mission and figure out where the Level 5 technology is coming from. Before he dies, Labrid tells them that if they solve the case, they may find out where Max is, as well as the alien conspiracy he was investigating. However, Ben says he doesn't know how to do it without Max, but Labrid tells him he's Ben Tennyson, so he can do anything. Labrid then dies, leaving just his empty suit. Motivated by Labrid's last words, Ben is determined to finish the mission and asks Kevin for his help. 
The three of them go outside, where Gwen uses her powers to levitate and trace the vibrations from the laser lance that Kevin kept as a souvenir back to the people who used to own it, while Ben and Kevin wait in the car. Soon, the laser lance starts moving forward, so Gwen tells Ben and Kevin to follow her. Kevin states that he would follow Gwen anywhere. They arrive at a mineshaft and hide from the security guard that's watching the entrance. Before Ben and Gwen can come up with a plan to get past the guard, Kevin has already punched him out so they can get in. Gwen thinks Kevin hit him too hard, but Kevin takes off the guard's mask, revealing its true identity as a DNAlien, and gives the mask to Ben. As they ride the elevator down to the mine below, they see several DNAliens working there and a large spaceship in a DNAlien hideout.
Ben is positive that Max is in that ship, so he decides to use the ID Mask they stole earlier to disguise himself as a DNAlien. Gwen grabs a mining cart so that they can all sneak past the DNAliens. Once they're away from the other DNAliens, Ben takes off the mask to return to normal and asks Gwen to use her magic to see if Max is inside the spaceship. She tells Ben that Max may have been there a couple weeks ago, but he's not there now. Kevin asks him if they should just leave, but Ben tells him they're not finished yet. He remembers the time when Max taught him how to ride a bike when he was a kid, so he wants to finish the mission first. As they walk inside the spaceship, Kevin finds an arsenal where all the laser lances are kept, so Gwen uses her powers to destroy them. However, the explosion made too much noise, for soon they're attacked by the DNAliens. Ben uses the Omnitrix once more and transforms into another new alien, Humungousaur, and he, along with Kevin and Gwen, begin attacking the DNAliens until they're all defeated. Now that the DNAliens have been defeated and the alien weapons have been destroyed, Gwen suggests that they should leave, and Humungousaur agrees. However, before they can leave, they are confronted by a Highbreed, who orders them to get off his ship. Kevin and Gwen try to defend themselves against the Highbreed, but he's too strong. Humungousaur tells them to escape while he keeps the Highbreed busy. Gwen wants to stay and help, but on Humungousaur's command, Kevin grabs her and takes her outside.
The Highbreed proves to be too strong and powerful for Humungousaur and tells him he's ruined all his plans and now has to move his ship, find a new hideout, and sterilize the area by destroying all life within five miles. The Highbreed ends up throwing Humungousaur off the ship, but before he hits the ground, Gwen catches him with her magic to soften the landing. He tells them that he's going to destroy the town somehow unless he's stopped. Afterwards, the spaceship prepares to launch, so Gwen creates a magic shield to protect themselves from the blast. Before the ship can take off, Humungousaur increases his size all the way to 60 feet and grabs onto the ship. As the ship reaches the city, the DNAliens controlling it inside and start firing the ship's large laser cannon, destroying everything in its path. Humungousaur sees that the cannon is headed towards a hospital, so he desperately tries to punch a hole in the side of the ship and rip out all the wires to disable the cannon. He's successful in disabling the cannon, but he ends up losing his grip on the ship and plummets to the ground below, creating a huge crater, and then transforms back into Ben. Due to the damage Humungousaur did, the spaceship crashes and explodes in an empty area nearby. Now that he's in his human form again, Ben realizes that the skinned knee he got while he was Humungousaur is still there in his human form, meaning any injuries he sustains while being an alien will be carried over to his human self.
Now that the DNAliens are gone, Ben wants to solve the case Max was working on so that they can find him. He thanks Kevin for all his help, but Kevin says he wants to continue helping them until the end, since he made a promise to Labrid. The three of them then form a team.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, a DNAlien contacts a Highbreed and tells him that Max has continued to evade them, as well as the fact that their supply ship was destroyed by Ben and that he has the Omnitrix. However, the Highbreed says that Ben has no idea what he's up against this time, as the camera pans out to reveal hundreds of DNAliens.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Magister Labrid dies in battle with the Forever Knights.
*Ben destroys a Highbreed cruiser that was planning on destroying a hospital and anything within five miles.
*Ben, Gwen, and Kevin decide to become a permanent team.
====Omnitrix Alien Debuts====
*Echo Echo
*Humungousaur
===Minor Events===
*It is revealed that the recalibrated Omnitrix has a weakness - whatever damage Ben takes in an alien form is carried over to his human form.
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson (flashback and present)
*Gwen Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
===Supporting Characters===
*Magister Labrid (death)
===Antagonists===
*Mech Dragon
*Forever Knights
*DNAliens
*Highbreed
===Other Characters===
*Max Tennyson (flashback)
==Aliens Used==
*Echo Echo (first appearance)
*Humungousaur (first appearance)
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Continuity==
*Ben recalls the encounters he had with Kevin during the Original Series while persuading Kevin to join him and Gwen to defeat the Highbreed.
==Allusions==
*The roar the Mech Dragon makes is Bowser's roar from Mario Kart 64.
==Errors==
*Humungousaur's hologram faces away from Ben. Furthermore, the core is popped up without Ben activating it.
*In several shots, Humungousaur has fangs.
*One of the DNAliens Gwen attacks has black tentacles for a frame.
*When the team meets the Highbreed, Gwen doesn't have her stockings.
*When Humungousaur is on the side of the Highbreed ship, the rim of the Omnitrix symbol is gold instead of silver.
*When Ben lies on the ground after reverting from Humungousaur, his jacket says "1" instead of "10".
*When Ben finds out that he has sustained injuries from when he was Humungousaur, his pant is shown to be torn due to the injury, but later when the team puts their hands together, his pant is shown to be intact. 
*Swampfire is listed in the end credits despite not appearing in the episode.
B10R2 (341).png|Popped up core/Hologram error
B10R2 (360).png|Teeth error
B10R2 (372).png|Black tentacles
B10R2 (400).png|No stockings
B10R2 (520).png|Golden rim
B10R2 (575).png|Jacket error
B10R2 (587).png|Torn pant
B10R2 (607).png|Pant is intact
B10R2 (622).png|Swampfire in the credits
==Trivia==
*The episode's title is listed as Ben 10 Returns Part Two within the episode itself, Ben 10 Returns: Pt. 2 on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 1 DVD, Ben 10 Returns Part 2 on the Cartoon Network website, Ben 10 Returns (Part 2) on Amazon Prime Video, and Ben 10 Returns, Pt. 2 on iTunes.
*In this episode, Gwen states that she had never performed a tracking spell before. This is retconned in Destroy All Aliens, as she is seen performing a tracking spell for the first time.
*Ben trusted Kevin enough to offer him a place on the team because he had a good feeling about him. Gwen had a better reason to trust him. Dwayne McDuffie claimed the story behind it would be revealed, but this did not turn out to be true.
==References==
===Crew Statements===
====T.J. Collins====
====Dwayne McDuffie====
===Cartoon Network===
===Ben 10 Planet===
es:Ben 10 regresa
fr:Ben 10 Le Retour, Partie 2
it:Il Ritorno di Ben 10 (Seconda parte)
pl:Ben 10 powraca: część 2
pt-br:O Retorno de Ben 10: Parte 2
ro:Ben 10 se întoarce: Partea 2
ru:Возвращение Бена: Часть 2
tr:Ben 10 Returns (Part 2)
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Season 1 Episodes
Category:Highbreed Wars
Category:Two Part Episode
Category:Episodes Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Category:Episodes Directed by Butch Lukic
Category:Episodes with Flashbacks