Ben 2020

Lt. Steel's order came just in time as the alien behemoth rampaging through the San Francisco Bay began spraying high-pressure beams of radioactive blood through four slits on its chest, slamming into the section of the Golden Gate Bridge he and his crew were situated on with enough pressure to slice through dozens of the metal support wires.

The sudden loss of support cause the bridge to buckle a bit, sending several vehicles sliding towards the edge. While most of the soldiers manning the vehicles were able to evacuate, one tank had had its latching mechanism bent shut after taking damage from a previous attack, trapping several personnel inside. Right as it was about to topple from the bridge into a watery grave below, four massive red hands suddenly grabbed it and hauled it to safety.

"Hey, Lieutenant Steel, need a hand?" Four Arms commented as he casually ripped the hatch of the tank off, allowing the crew inside to escape. "'Cuz I've got several!"

"Wasn't expecting to see you here, Tennyson," Lt. Steel said. "Not that I'm complaining. Seems like nothing good ever happens on this bridge."

"I'm just in town to pick up Rook from the spaceport." Four Arms replied, walking over to him with the tank hatch still in-hand. "Noticed Godzilla here causing a stink from across town and figured I should get involved." He took a moment to wind up and then tossed the tank hatch at the rampaging alien's head as hard as he could, nailing it right in the forehead and sending it stumbling back a bit. "So what is this thing, anyway? Looks like a Way Bad crawled out of a heavy metal album cover."

"Dispatch says it's a Leviathan that's been evolved a couple times." Lt. Steel replied. "We're still not sure who's using it or why."

"A Levia-what?" Four Arms blinked. "And what do you mean "using it"? Is it like a giant robot or-"

Four Arms was interrupted as the Leviathan suddenly targeted him with a blast of atomic blood. He was durable enough to just get knocked back by it instead of being chopped in half, but the impact still injured him enough that he was forcibly detransformed.

"Oh, and it can one-hit Four Arms, that's just... that's just great." Ben groaned as he climbed to his feet. "Seriously, though, what are we talking about here?"

"It's an Evolvyrn." Lt. Steel said, leaving it at that until Ben's blank stare prompted him to continue. "An artificially modified alien transformation meant for use in the industrial sector. Have you not been keeping up with the news?"

"I think you've known me long enough to know I haven't." Ben said.

"Fair point." Lt. Steel grunted. "A year or two ago, some moron scientist figured out how to make a rudimentary transformation system and engineered a bunch of modified alien DNA samples to go with it. They're called "Evolvyrns" because they've got an unstable genome that allows them to evolve on an individual level with repeated use. You with me so far?"

"Think so."

"They're only supposed to be rented out for commercial use to individuals that pass a background check, but lately it's been proving way too easy for random punks with a chip on their shoulder to get a hold on them one way or another." The lieutenant elaborated. "That's how crap like *this* happens." He gestured at the evolved Leviathan, which had begun to close the gap between them by walking through the bay.

"Random punks turning into aliens, huh?" Ben cracked his knuckles and pulled up the Omnitrix, starting to scroll through aliens. "Too bad for this guy, he's about to face the *OG* random punk who can turn into aliens."

Ben took off towards the side of the bridge facing the approaching giant and jumped off.

"Alright, Omnitrix, time to get big." He slammed down on the dial. "*Way Big!*"

There was a massive flash of green light that faded to reveal Ben had indeed transformed into Way Big. He wasted no time in winding up a fist that he delivered right into the Leviathan's jaw, sending it flying with a vicious uppercut.

"Not so easy picking on someone your own size, is it?" Way Big tsked as his opponent landed in the water on their back, creating a massive splash as they made impact.

The evolved Leviathan's response once it pushed itself to its feet was a massive beam of atomic energy blasted directly from the glowing crystalline orb in the center of its chest. Way Big crossed his arms in front of himself just in time to counter with his own beam of cosmic energy, locking the two in a stalemate as their respective beams clashed against each other in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.

"Tennyson!" Lt. Steel shouted at him with a megaphone he retrieved out of one of the remaining military vans. "That beam it's firing is radioactive! The atomic blood is something our cleanup crews can deal with, but if it keeps firing that energy for too long, the whole bay area's going to end up covered in radioactive fallout!"

"Man, I was *joking* when I called you "Godzilla"!" Way Big grunted at the Leviathan. "What's your problem, anyway?! SoCal's toxic enough without you causing a nuclear incident!"

"What would you know, Ben Tennyson?!" The Leviathan spat, speaking up for the first time. "You with your perfect little celebrity life!"

"That doesn't tell me anything!"

"I don't *owe* you anything!"

"Yeah, well as long as you're out here trying to hurt innocent people, I owe you a butt-whooping!"

Way Big tilted the angle of his beam attack downward, knocking the Leviathan off its feet at the cost of allowing the remainder of its atomic attack to hit him at full blast. Before it could deal enough damage to force him out of his transformation, he snatched at the Omnitrix dial and twisted it sideways, transforming in another green flash. The atomic energy buffering him suddenly began whirling around a single point as if it were being poured down a drain, with enough of it eventually being sucked away to reveal Ben as Atomix in the center of the spiral absorbing the radioactive attack.

"***Atomic Suck**!*" Atomix posed as he named his move, only to stop and reconsider it a second later. "You know what, never mind, I gotta workshop that one."

After shaking his head out for a moment and refocusing his attention on the Leviathan, he flew over to it as it was trying to get up and slammed his fist into the orb on its chest, planting a large crack in it as several small crystalline chunks went flying.

"Nucleaaaaaar..." Atomix dragged out the word in a manner that sounded very dramatic but was really just being used to buy him some time to think through the second half of the technique's name in order to avoid any more weird connotations. "...Transfer!"

Not the most creative name, but it worked.

Atomix began pulling out the Leviathan's atomic energy and transferring it into himself. The process took a few seconds on account of the evolved Leviathan essentially being a hyper efficient walking nuclear generator, but years of training with Atomix done to try and avoid blowing up another city had given Ben an impressive amount of control over nuclear forces, allowing him to safely absorb all of the alien's energy before it had the chance to stop him.

Drained of even the energy needed to keep its body functioning, Leviathan forcibly detransformed, reverting to human several hundred feet above the water. Ben quickly transformed from Atomix to Jetray and swooped down just in time to save the former alien from meeting a messy end face-first at sea.

Jetray flew back to the Golden Gate Bridge and dropped the culprit in front of Lt. Steel, who was already standing them up and slapping them in handcuffs by the time he landed and reverted to human. He turned to look at the culprit, only for his eyes to widen as he finally noticed who they were.

"You..." Ben stammered, pointing at them. "You're just some kid!"

Indeed, the person that had been causing havoc as the Leviathan did appear to be some random red-haired teenager in oversized androgynous clothing with a sour look on their face.

"I ain't just "some kid", man, the name's *Rufio!*" The teenager snapped. "You better remember it, 'cuz it's gonna be all over this city someday!"

"Rufio?" Ben repeated with a confused look. "Like the guy in Hook?"

"No, the punk rock band." Rufio rolled their eyes.

"Really?"

"No, not really!" Rufio spat. "It's a *normal name!* Why does everyone act like everything has to be a pop culture reference?!"

"Alright, alright, geez, I'm sorry." Ben huffed, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Rufio, right?" Lt. Steel interjected. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not supposed to have an EvoLock, just take it already and spare me the speech." Rufio grumbled.

"The heck is an EvoLock?" Only at this point did Ben notice that Rufio had been holding onto something the entire time, though he couldn't tell exactly what it was due to their hands being cuffed behind their back.

"*This* is an EvoLock." Lt. Steel grabbed what Rufio had been holding and held it up for Ben to see, revealing a sinister-looking red padlock and an equally menacing red key to match. "The key is an EvoKey. It's what's used to transform into an Evolvyrn."

"Uh... the lock or the key?" Ben pointed between the two, confused.

"The lock is the transformation device, the key just holds the DNA sample used to transform." Lt. Steel explained.

"So you have to carry around keys and stick them into a chunky padlock to turn into an Evolvyrn?" Ben scratched his head. "Seems kinda inconvenient."

"Like I said, it's rudimentary transformation technology." Lt. Steel replied. "Granted, I guess *any* kind of transformation technology is going to look rudimentary next to the Omnitrix. As for *you*," He turned his attention back to the handcuffed Rufio. "Possessing restricted tech is the least of your problems. You are *incredibly* lucky nobody was injured during this rampage of yours. What on Earth were you thinking?"

"I... I don't know, I wasn't thinking anything!" Rufio huffed. "I was just trying to scare off some tourists when you people came in and started shooting at me! What did you think would happen, huh?!"

"We tried negotiating with you, but you refused to stand down!" Lt. Steel rebutted. "Why would you use a walking nuclear reactor for something as childish as that in the first place?"

"What do you mean, "a walking nuclear reactor"?" Rufio growled, making air quotes behind their back. "It's just a big lizard guy that shoots blood and laser beams, right?"

"*Both of which are radioactive.*" Lt. Steel explained sternly. "Your poor attempt at a prank could have given thousands of people a slow and painful death."

Rufio went silent for a moment. The expression on their face seemed to indicate that this was new info to them.

"But..." They mumbled. "No way. The guy who gave it to me never told me that."

"Hang on, someone *gave* you that Evo-whatever?" Ben asked.

"Tennyson, did you seriously think this fourteen-year-old kid managed to buy one on their own?" Lt. Steel grunted.

"I'm *fifteen*, not fourteen!" Rufio protested.

"Really not the issue here, kid." Lt. Steel said. "Look, we're gonna have to take you into custody until we can get all this sorted out. I'll need to get in touch with your parents so they know what's going on."

"Well, they're not in the picture, so... good luck with that." Rufio muttered, staring daggers into the ground.

"Guess I shouldn't have assumed." Lt. Steel sighed. "Well, whoever your guardian is-"

"*I don't have one!*" Rufio snapped. "I'm homeless, okay?! It's just me, myself, and I, so back off!"

"...Well, that simplifies some things and complicates others." Lt. Steel tsked.

"You're homeless?" Ben paused for a moment. "Oh, that's why you wanted to get back at the tourists, right?"

Lt. Steel raised an eyebrow at this assumption, but Rufio responded with a nod.

"They treat us like dirt, even more than the people who actually live here." Rufio muttered. "To them, we're just human debris messing up their picture-perfect vacation hotspots. I wanted to show them what a bad vacation would *really* look like."

"Alright, let's put that on hold for now," Lt. Steel began herding Rufio into the back of a transport van that had just arrived at the scene. "You can vent out your frustrations later; we've all got places to be."

"Hang on a sec!" Ben ran up after them and turned his attention to Rufio. "Hey, I don't really know how this is all gonna work out legally, but if you need a place to go after you get out of jail or whatever, the Plumbers could really use some new recruits."

"...Huh?" Rufio gave Ben a questioning look.

"We've been spread pretty thin on Earth lately 'cuz of all the aliens and alien tech moving in." Ben explained. "Was this your first time turning into an alien?"

Rufio nodded.

"You managed to hold me off when I was *Way Big*; he's, like, my last resort one-hit-kill guy!" Ben continued. "I know you were a super powerful alien, but that's still not easy to do. It took me *years* to master Way Big's cosmic ray, and you were able to counter it with your own beam right off the bat!"

"That's not a good thing." Lt. Steel remarked.

"Well, yeah, not in this scenario, but my point is that they've got *skill!*" Ben told him before turning back to Rufio. "Why not use that to help people instead?"

"...I'll..." Rufio hesitated for a moment before responding. "...Think about it."

With that, they walked into the back of the van on their own, allowing Lt. Steel to close and lock the door behind them.

"What was that about, Tennyson?" He turned to look at Ben with his arms crossed. "This kid tries to kill you and you turn around and offer them a job?"

"Hey, some of the best people I've ever worked with have tried to kill me." Ben shrugged.

"...It's still questionable, but I can't really argue with that." Lt. Steel sighed. "On a related note, I'd like to know how you managed to figure out their motivation so fast."

"Well, it's not exactly the same, but as a shortsighted, immature teen who's had to deal with entitled tourists myself, I know what it feels like to just wanna slap some sense into them."

"You're not a teen, you're twenty-four." Lt. Steel pointed out flatly.

"But I *was* a teen," Ben tapped the side of his head. "And I'm not a boring old guy yet, so I still remember what it was like. Plus I'm *definitely* still shortsighted and immature; just ask Rook."

The Omnitrix suddenly let out a couple of beeps and whistles as if it was trying to remind Ben of something.

"Eh, Rook said his flight was delayed, I'm sure we have plenty of time." Ben shrugged. "Still, I guess I should get going." He reached out and shook Lt. Steel's hand. "Been good seein' ya, man! Glad you and SACT are still goin' strong!"

"I appreciate it, Tennyson, but technically SACT isn't around anymore." Lt. Steel tapped the badge pinned to the armored vest he was wearing. "It's all just the GP now."

"The whozawhatsit now?" Ben's expression twisted with confusion as he leaned in for a better look at Lt. Steel's badge.

"The GP; Global Police." Lt. Steel explained. "Not everyone is happy with the idea of an alien organization being in charge on Earth, so as a compromise, the UN teamed up with the Plumbers a few years back to unite all of Earth's native alien enforcement agencies under one umbrella to handle "smaller" cases. Alien-backed, human-made."

"Woah, really?" Ben blinked. "Cool!"

"Might sound "cool" on paper, but if you ask me, the whole thing's a house of cards." Lt. Steel tsked. "Don't get me wrong, the short-term benefits have been great- access to better tech, more reinforcements, and a global network of information- but the whole thing relies on the premise that every country involved voluntarily respects the jurisdiction of a "foreign" authority." He sighed. "The current chief's been pretty good at holding things together, but she's seriously overworking herself to do it. Even if she somehow manages to keep it up forever, I don't think an organization that's relying on the United States and North Korea to peacefully cooperate is destined for longevity."

"Well, I don't really follow politics, so I'll take your word for it." Ben shrugged.

Lt. Steel gave him a stern yet somewhat concerned look.

"These are things you need to learn and form opinions about yourself, Tennyson." Lt. Steel said. "I'm not someone who misses the forest for the trees, and I'm fully aware that you do good work, but your ignorance of current events is... concerning. Not knowing about Evolvyrns is a bit odd for someone in your position, but understandable seeing as they're still fairly niche; not knowing about the Global Police, on the other hand... it's a Plumber-backed operation, Ben. You can't keep track of what your own organization is doing?"

"Eh, that's Rook's job, not mine." Ben shrugged. "We've got a great thing going. I punch hard, he thinks hard. We're like peanut butter and chocolate if peanut butter and chocolate could whoop alien butt!"

"You won't be able to rely on your partner forever." Lt. Steel said as he walked over to the van's driver's door and threw it open. "He's got his own life, doesn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but even when he's not around, I can still call up my cousin or my grandpa for advice." Ben said. "I've always had someone smarter than me to fall back on ever since I was a kid. I've learned that I can't do everything on my own, like, a million times!"

"It's true that you can't do everything alone, but using that as an excuse not to improve yourself is just tempting fate." Lt. Steel grunted as he climbed into the driver's seat. "You have to be adaptable."

"What do you mean?" Ben tilted his head curiously.

"People come and go all the time, and even if the same person sticks around for a while, what they need from you can change depending on where they are in life." Lt. Steel closed the door behind him and rolled down the window to continue talking. "If you can't change with them... they might have to leave you behind."

Ben's only response was silence.

"I'm not trying to put you down here." Lt. Steel continued. "You did a good job today. From what I know, you do a good job most days. You're a real, bona-fide superhero, for crying out loud. I just think you're a bit too comfortable being static."

Still no response from Ben. Lt. Steel turned and gave him one last look as he began to drive away.

"The world's changing fast, Tennyson," He stated. "Are you?"

With that, the Lieutenant drove away, leaving Ben alone in the road as wind began to blow across the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Yo, what's up, Rook?!" Ben threw an arm around the Revonnahgander's shoulder. "'Been a while!"

"Ben, you just spoke with me yesterday." Rook pointed out.

"Uh, yeah, on video call," Ben rolled his eyes. "That doesn't count."

After expertly repressing the emotional turmoil he experienced on the Golden Gate Bridge, Ben had continued to the San Francisco spaceport with Rook's Proto-TRUK. The vehicle had undergone several changes in the years since its reassembly thanks to the combined efforts of Rook and Kevin, and was now sophisticated enough that even Ben hadn't been able to screw up the autopilot Rook had sent instructions to ahead of time.

"I was only gone for a few weeks." Rook mentioned as the two of them climbed into the Proto-TRUK.

"Yeah, but hero-ing without anyone there to appreciate my quips is boring." Ben sighed. "Feels like bad guys these days are all business. How am I supposed to go through the same routine of kicking their butts over and over again without any banter? Makes the whole thing feel more like a day job than heroism."

"Technically speaking, it *is* your day job." Rook reminded him. "That said, I understand your concerns. Humans are rather susceptible to burnout."

"Are you not?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Any species will eventually experience negative effects from prolonged periods of stress, but humans seem to get hit harder and faster by said effects than the average non-human." Rook elaborated. "Whether the cause is cultural or biological is difficult to say; there is not much research on the subject and I am hardly qualified to evaluate the situation."

"Huh. Weird." Ben's eyes glazed over a bit as he stared silently out the window for a few minutes, mindlessly watching cars pass by on the crowded San Francisco roads until the Proto-TRUK took a corner that slapped his gaze right onto the Golden Gate Bridge. He snapped out of his daze for a moment and turned his head to look at Rook. "So, uh... why did you decide to fly into San-Fran instead of Bellwood?"

"The flight times lined up better with my schedule." Rook explained. "This way I was able to spend a few extra hours with my family before leaving."

"Still don't understand why you didn't just use a Plumber ship or something." Ben said. "Wouldn't have had to worry about any of this stuff."

"I do not think you fully appreciate how momentous it is that there is now a spaceport on Revonnah." Rook replied. "It is a great leap in welcoming interplanetary relations that I could only have dreamed of when I was growing up. It would not feel right to bypass it entirely for the sake of my own convenience."

"Y'know what, fair enough." Ben yawned. "I don't really *get* being that principled, but I can respect it."

"You seem unusually tired for this time of day." Rook noted. "Did your last sleep cycle not go well?"

"It went fine, I think;" Ben shrugged as another yawn overtook him. "I dunno, I was asleep. I'm probably just wiped from taking a nuke to the face."

"As someone who has experienced that, I can confirm that it is indeed tiring." Rook stated flatly. "But what are you talking about? Did you fight a criminal with radiation-related abilities today?"

"Well... yes and no." Ben hmmed. "Yeah they had radioactive powers, but I dunno how much I can call them a criminal."

"Did they break the law?" Rook asked.

"Um... yeah, probably."

"Then they are a criminal," Rook concluded pointedly. "Even if only in technical terms."

"Yeah, but not, like, a *Criminal* criminal, more like... a lowercase 'c' criminal, y'feel me?" Ben said. "Just seemed like a lost kid getting into something they didn't understand."

"I see." Rook nodded before pausing to think for a moment. "...Still, it is unusual to hear you express sympathy for your opponent's circumstances."

"Hey, I'm self-centered, not heartless." Ben huffed. "One thing still bugs me about them, though."

"Which would be?"

"Who gave them that thing in the first place?" Ben crossed his arms in front of him with a puzzled look. "I mean, it didn't seem like they were working for anyone, but who would just hand an Evolvyrn to a random homeless kid without even telling them the full truth about their powers?"

"They were using an Evolvyrn?" Rook's expression grew serious. "In that case, it may be more important to reach our destination than we thought."

"Uh, yeah, speaking of our destination... what is it, exactly?" Ben asked. "We missed the turnoff for Bellwood a while ago."

"We went over this yesterday, Ben." Rook sighed. "We are not going to Bellwood right away. We are going to Salt Lake City."

"Wait, really?" Ben blinked. "I don't remember planning a skiing trip."

"We are not going there to ski." Rook corrected him. "We are going there to investigate rumors of a local scientist attempting to create their own Omnitrix."

"Whoa, geez, okay, *that's* a way bigger deal than I was expecting." Ben suddenly sat up straight and looked at Rook. "But how does this relate to the Evolvyrn thing?"

"The scientist we are investigating is one Dr. Emilia Krauze, a biochemist known for her work with alien DNA." Rook explained. "Most of her work seems to be well-received, but she has become somewhat infamous lately due to her creation of the Evolvyrns and corresponding EvoLock systems."

"Wait, so the person who made the *Evolvyrns* is building an *Omnitrix?!*" Ben exclaimed.

"She is *allegedly attempting* to create an Omnitrix, yes." Rook said. "We do not yet know for certain. Our assignment is to investigate these rumors and ascertain her intentions if they prove to be correct."

"*And* to find out what she knows about the kid I fought today, right?" Ben added.

"That was not part of the assignment's description." Rook left this statement hanging for a moment before shooting Ben a knowing grin. "But it does not go *against* the description either."

"Now you're speaking my language." Ben shot him a grin right back and cracked his knuckles. "Let's go wrangle us a mad scientist."

### Deleted Scenes

"Say, uh, where are we going again?"

"We just went over this yesterday, Ben."

"C'mon, man, you know I have the memory of a goldfish, help me out here." Ben huffed.

"We are going to Salt Lake City." Rook sighed. "There have been rumors of a scientist there attempting to create their own Omnitrix."

"Create their own Omnitrix?" Ben repeated. "So we're gonna kick their butt, right?"

"Not necessarily." Rook said. "As I said, so far these are just rumors, and even if they are true, we do not know what their intentions with the device might be."

"I get what you're saying, but come on, when have we ever met anyone trying to make their own Omnitrix for *good* reasons?" Ben replied. "Albedo, Dr. Psychobos, um..." Ben started counting on his fingers. "...Okay, those are the only two examples I have off the top of my head, but you get the idea."

"Personally, I agree, but as Plumbers, we must uphold the standard of "innocent until proven guilty"." Rook stated. "Acting rashly based on presumptions is exactly what corrupted groups like the Rooters."

"Alright, alright, I get the point." Ben huffed. "Still gonna say "told ya so" when they start trying to kill us, though."

## Episode 2

### **Lehi, UT, 1/11/20**

Ben and Rook's road trip to Utah had been fairly uneventful, save for that one thing Ben did in Vegas that we aren't going to talk about.

Their otherwise swift pace gradually slowed down as the interstate took them from the warmer climate of the American Southwest into the cold, snowy winter weather of Northern Utah.

"Come on Rook, can't you go any faster?" Ben complained as the Proto-TRUK's speed declined even further thanks to a heavy blizzard raging outside. "This thing can go into space but it can't handle snow?"

"The Proto-TRUK is designed to transverse any sort of terrain without issue," Rook stated, "But Earth vehicles are not. Maintaining a slower speed reduces our chance of being hit by another driver."

"Would getting in a crash even dent the custom paneling you and Kevin put on this thing?" Ben tapped the passenger side window while looking over at Rook.

"No." Rook said. "We would be perfectly safe; it is just that the other driver would bear the full force of the impact themselves and I do not feel like pureeing other commuters today."

Their conversation was cut off as a large orange and black cabover truck suddenly cut in front of them, forcing Rook to slam on the brakes; only after the Proto-TRUK slowed down did the truck speed up, vanishing into the blizzard so quickly that Ben was only barely able to catch sight of a stylized skull decal on the truck's rear window.

"Dude, I think we just got brake-checked by Fistrick!" Ben exclaimed.

"I find that unlikely." Rook said. "Utah's arms-dealing market collapsed several years ago. Fistrick would have difficulty making a profit in this area."

"Come on, Rook, who else would drive a truck painted up like that and try to hit us with it?!" Ben huffed.

"Utah is known for having some of the most aggressive drivers in the nation." Rook said. "In weather like this it would be more anomalous for us *not* to experience a near-collision with another driver."

"Yeah, well, in that case, I've got an alien that can control the weather." Ben tapped on the Omnitrix. "I mean, probably. How about I just stop the blizzard so we can catch up and see if it really is Fistrick?"

"You do have a Wethosovorian unlocked, yes, but do you even remember what playlist it is in?" Rook asked.

"Uh, no," Ben said, "But how long could it take to look through 259 aliens?"

"359." Rook corrected him. "Regardless, I would not recommend it. From what I understand, Northern Utah may have plentiful plant life, but it is still largely a desert, so interrupting the natural precipitation cycle may have more severe consequences than it would in less arid regions."

"Well that bites." Ben huffed, sinking down in his seat a bit. "How do you know all this junk about *Utah* of all places anyway?"

"A perfunctory internet search is capable of providing quite a bit of information regarding Earth destinations." Rook stated. "Why do *you* not know it? I was under the impression geography was commonly taught in educational programs."

"Uh, yeah, but *my* "educational program" was the *US public school system*." Ben pointed out. "You're lucky if the average American can even *name* all 50 states, let alone analyze their climate."

"It seems as though every new fact I learn about your education system explains more and more about your personality." Rook hmmed.

Ben nodded silently for a moment as his brain slowly processed what Rook was saying.

"...Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!"

Around 45 minutes later, the Proto-TRUK pulled into the driveway of a house in the affluent northern suburbs of Salt Lake City. This driveway of this house in particular stood out from the rest of the neighborhood in that there was no hint of snow buildup despite the ongoing blizzard.

"Okay, Rook, what's going on here?" Ben asked, pointing at the concrete beneath them as they stepped out of the vehicle. "Alien technology? Witch magic?"

"Heated driveway." Rook answered flatly.

"...Witch magic." Ben slowly nodded to himself.

Rook decided trying to explain to Ben the concept of placing what was essentially a glorified radiator underneath a layer of concrete would not be worth the time investment at the moment and the two simply approached the front door of the house without further conversation. Ben went to knock, only for the door to swing open a bit when he tapped it, having evidently been left ajar.

"Who leaves their door open in the middle of a blizzard?" Ben exchanged a suspicious look with Rook before gently pushing the door open further and calling into the house. "Hello? Doctor Who? Anyone home?"

"Dr. *Krauze*." Rook reminded him. ""Doctor Who"?"

"I couldn't remember her exact name so I defaulted to the first doctor that came to mind, okay?" Ben huffed. "I can barely speak *English*, you *really* want to hear me butcher Polish too?"

Hearing no response, the two of them cautiously entered the house. Rook silently gestured for Ben to go left and investigate the kitchen while he went right to investigate the living room. Ben nodded and quietly crept into the kitchen, only to bolt up almost immediately as he caught sight of someone's body lying prone on the ceramic tiled floor.

"Rook, dead person at ten o'clock!"

Rook quickly ran into the room and knelt down next to the body while equipping a scanner.

"Not dead, unconscious." Rook noted as the scanner registered their vital signs. "I am not registering any injuries."

Rook gently flipped the unconscious person onto their back in order to reveal their face, which seemed to be that of a woman in her late 20s. There were dark bags underneath her eyes that indicated a serious case of sleep deprivation.

"Okay, random lady knocked out in the middle of some crazy scientist's house." Ben's eyes narrowed as he took a moment to survey the area. "Totally not an ominous sign or anything."

"Actually, Ben, this *is* the "crazy scientist"." Rook stated, putting away his scanner.

"...Wait, really?" Ben looked the woman up and down, taking note of her rather plain attire. "Most mad scientists I meet are *way* less subtle with their aesthetic."

"It is entirely possible for a scientist to be unethical without necessarily being unstable." Rook said.

"Uh, yeah, but most of *those* guys get dealt with by *ethics committees*, not *superheroes*."

"Well, we are currently operating as investigators, not superheroes." Rook pointed out. "Either way, she needs to be conscious for us to speak with her, and if all this has not been enough to wake her up, we may need your Topofyr transformation."

"My what?" Ben blinked.

Rook paused for a moment as he tried to remember something.

"...I believe you referred to it as "Recharge" when you first used it." He eventually stated.

"Oh, *that* guy!" Ben pulled up the Omnitrix and started scrolling through his playlists. "Why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

"You rarely use it, so the species name was easier for me to recall." Rook explained.

"Man, you and I are from two different worlds, buddy." Ben eventually landed on the alien he was looking for and pressed down on the dial, transforming in a green flash. "And I ain't talking about us being from different planets."

Recharge Infocard

"I have said this before, but many of your regional sayings seem unnecessarily obtuse." Rook stood back as Recharge walked over and placed his palms on Dr. Krauze's arm.

"Yep, English gets pretty messy sometimes." Recharge said. "Why do you think I'm so bad at it?"

Recharge began funneling energy into the unconscious scientist, his eyes glowing slightly as he did so. Dr. Krauze began to stir slightly as the bags under her eyes disappeared, and it wasn't long before her eyes suddenly flew open and she sat up with a jolt.

"Whoa!" She shook her head out and blinked rapidly for a moment. "That must've been one *heck* of a nap!" She paused as she finally took notice of Rook and Recharge standing off to the side. "...Did I leave my door open again?"

"Yeah, but that ain't exactly the issue here." Recharge said.

"We're from the Plumbers." Rook extended a hand and helped Dr. Krauze to her feet. "Can you tell us what happened to you?"

"Oh, nothing really "happened", I just haven't slept for a couple weeks and I guess it must've caught up to me." Dr. Krauze chuckled. "Guess I gotta start drinking something with more caffeine than tea."

"I feel like you're really brushing over the whole "not sleeping for two weeks" thing." Recharge said.

"Well, I just-" Dr. Krauze paused again as she took a moment to fully process the situation. "Wait, why are you two here in the first place? Am I in trouble with the Plumbers?"

"That is what we are here to find out." Rook said. "There have been rumors that-"

"Word on the street is that *you're* making an Omnitrix." Recharge reverted to Ben and pointed a finger at the scientist accusingly. "In my experience, nobody but Azmuth ever does that for *good* reasons."

"Wha- *Ben Tennyson?!*" Dr. Krauze's eyes lit up as what he had just said seemed to fly right over her head. "Oh man, this is *perfect!* You gotta see this!"

Before either of them could reacted, the doctor grabbed Ben's wrist and started dragging him towards a set of stairs leading into her basement. Something like this not usually being a good sign, Rook followed close behind with his arm tensed up and ready to grab the Proto-Tool at any time.

After leading them into the basement, Dr. Krauze let go of Ben and flipped on a light switch, illuminating a surprisingly large laboratory that nevertheless felt cramped due to an abundance of parts and paperwork scattered haphazardly all over the place. On top of a particularly messy desk near the back of the room sat a desktop computer hooked up to a blue, gauntlet-like electronic device that bore a passing resemblance to the Ultimatrix.

"*This* is what's been keeping me up all night working for the past two weeks!" Dr. Krauze declared proudly, gesturing to the gauntlet-like device. "Meet the *CrossTrix!*"

"So you *have* been trying to make an Omnitrix." Rook noted. "For what purpose?"

"Yeah, you trying to take over the world or something?" Ben squinted. "What's your deal?"

"Take over the-" Dr. Krauze blinked. "What? Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't know, why *do* you?" Ben raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"I'm not." Dr. Krauze's arms fell to her sides as she seemed to deflate a bit, giving Ben a confused look. "I'm a bioengineer. I'm not cut out for politics."

"In less dramatic terms, what are you planning on using this Omnitrix for?" Rook interjected. "Your creation of the Evolvyrns has given your inventions a rather unfavorable reputation."

"...Oh." Dr. Krauze stared blankly at the wall for a few seconds. "Well, I... I don't really *know* what I'm gonna do with it, to be honest."

"Are you telling me that you created a device as powerful as an *Omnitrix* for *no reason?*" Rook said incredulously.

"W-well, it's not *actually* as powerful as an Omnitrix." Dr. Krauze stammered. "It's built on the same tech I used for my transformation locks, so it's more like an extension of those. It's nowhere near the actual Omnitrix in terms of technology level."

"*That does not make it better.*"

"And for another thing, I didn't just make it for "no reason"," Dr. Krauze continued, seemingly ignoring Rook's interjection. "I was trying to test my limits! Reach new heights in technological achievement! Is self-improvement a crime?!"

"It is when it begins to unnecessarily endanger others." Rook stated. "Your handling of the Evolvyrns has already proven that you lack either the foresight or the ability to keep your own inventions in check."

"I made the Evolvyrns to help people in industrial fields!" Dr. Krauze protested. "That's still mostly what they're used for! How is it *my* fault if some people decide to use them wrong?!"

"It may not directly be your fault, but it was a foreseeable risk that you failed to address." Rook elaborated. "Even a simple kill switch would have sufficed."

"I... can't really argue that point." Dr. Krauze sighed defeatedly. "Well, look, just because I messed up with the Evolvyrns doesn't mean I'm gonna mess up with the CrossTrix, alright? It's a one-off invention, so it's not like just anybody is gonna be able to get their hands on i- sorry, what is he doing?"

Dr. Krauze pointed at Ben, who had lost interest in the conversation and wandered over to the CrossTrix, currently occupying himself by fiddling with the wheels of a combination lock-like mechanism on its back.

"I've never seen one of these on an Omnitrix before." Ben hmmed as he continued randomly scrolling through different number combinations. "What's it do?"

"Oh, it just cycles through different modes." Dr. Krauze explained. "MP3 player, internet browser, GPS,-"

"Why would you include any of those functions on an Omnitrix?" Rook gave the doctor a strange look.

"I get sidetracked easily." Dr. Krauze shrugged.

"Man, I wish *my* Omnitrix had an MP3 player." Ben said, only to receive several offended-sounding beeps from his Omnitrix in response. "Uh, because it's cool?" He replied, drawing out more upset beeping. "I'm not saying you're not cool, I'm just saying-" He was interrupted by more beeping. "Okay, okay, sheesh!"

"Oh, is your Omnitrix sentient too?" Dr. Krauze asked.

"Well, I don't think it was at first, but-" Ben paused. "Wait, "too"?"

"Come on CROSS, say hi!"

The screen on the CrossTrix's dial flickered to life, displaying an aquamarine "X" symbol on its face.

"Do I have to?" An exasperated voice sounded from the device's speakers.

"Whoa, you're alive?!" Ben jumped a bit, quickly taking his hand off the CrossTrix's rear wheel dials. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"It sounded like the doc was getting into more drama and I really didn't want any part in that." The CrossTrix beeped.

"Alright, understandable." Ben nodded his head thoughtfully.

"A sentient AI?" Rook looked at Dr. Krauze.

"Yep!" The doctor responded proudly. "The Cell Reconfiguration Operating System-Sentient, or CROSS for short."

"Do you realize the implications of this?" Rook asked. "You have essentially created artificial life, and you decided to use it as an *operating system?*"

"Hey, CROSS can be transferred out of the CrossTrix if he wants to be, it's just his preferred body." Dr. Krauze put up her hands defensively. "Besides, it's not like I *meant* to do it."

"...Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I was just trying to develop a normal OS for the CrossTrix, and it just kinda... came to life one day!" Dr. Krauze said. "Crazy, right?"

Rook's only response was to quietly equip his scanner and look at her with it.

"...The fact that you are telling the truth has somehow made this situation more unsettling." Rook sighed, putting away the scanner. "This... complicates things."

"It's just Frosty the Snowman logic, man, it's not *that* complicated." Ben said.

"That is not what I am referring to." Rook shook his head. "Normally we would have to confiscate and register a device like this, but the fact that it is the body for a sentient organism means it has the same rights as any other sapient being under Plumber jurisdiction."

"I mean, that doesn't seem that complicated either." Ben shrugged. "Turns out it's a person, so we treat it like a person. Big deal."

"It *is* a big deal because it is still an Omnitrix." Rook pointed out. "It would still be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands."

"Oh, that's not a problem." Dr. Krauze interjected. "CROSS can attach and detach to whoever he wants."

The CrossTrix suddenly began to hover above its pedestal and flew over to attach itself to Ben's right arm.

"Whoa, two Omnitrixes!" Ben whistled as he held his arms up in front of him. "What do you think would happen if I tried using both at the same time?"

"A horrific error, probably." The CrossTrix promptly detached from Ben and flew back to its pedestal. "I'm made of Earth tech, remember? No way your Omnitrix and I are intrinsically compatible." CROSS stopped talking for a moment as the Omnitrix piped in with a few beeps of its own. "Yeah, what they said."

"Aw, man." Ben pouted.

"So, if you do not mind me asking, is your Omnitrix named the CrossTrix because of CROSS?" Rook asked Dr. Krauze.

"No, actually, I came up with the acronym to match the name of the device." Dr. Krauze said. "It's named the CrossTrix because it uses Cross-Fusion."

"The heck is Cross-Fusion?" Ben asked, tilting his head sideways a bit.

"It's a new method of hybridization I invented." Dr. Krauze explained. "The abilities of most alien fusions are only a fraction as powerful as the abilities of the original forms, but with Cross-Fusion, the abilities stack instead of divide, making each ability just as powerful as it would be with the original transformation."

"I'm gonna pretend I understood what you just said and say that's pretty cool." Ben said, making finger guns.

"Stronger fusions." Rook summarized.

"Oh, hey, that actually *is* pretty cool." Ben snapped his fingers. "Gonna file that info away for later in case I decide to go down the fusion gimmick route."

"So... am I in the clear, or...?" Dr. Krauze asked.

"One more thing." Rook said. "Yesterday, San Francisco was attacked by a Leviathan Evolvyrn. The user was a homeless teenager that was unable to confirm the identity of the person who gave them the transformation equipment. Do you have any information about that?"

"A Leviathan?" Dr. Krauze's brow furrowed. "Was it a regular Leviathan, or did it look different than usual?"

"Well, I don't know what a regular one looks like, but Lieutenant Steel mentioned something about it having been evolved a couple of times." Ben said. "Why?"

"A few months ago, the military contracted out a shipment of EvoLocks and EvoKeys from the company that owns the distribution rights." Dr. Krauze said. "They were only supposed to be used for training purposes, but of course they ended up breaching contract and evolving the Evolvyrns for field use. The company tried to take them back, but the shipment was stolen mid-transit."

"Guess the army *really* didn't want to give the stuff back, huh?" Ben said.

"That's what I assumed too until some of the stolen items started showing up on the black market." Dr. Krauze sighed. "Now we're back to square one on whodunnit. The GP's been investigating, but they're just as stumped as anyone else."

"I dunno, I feel like if you can build an Omnitrix, you're a little too smart to be "stumped"." Ben pointed at her. "Even if you don't have any real leads, do you have any gut feelings as to who might be responsible?"

"I mean... *yeah*, but you can't just go around accusing people of stuff based on "gut feelings"."

"Sure you can." Ben shrugged. "I just accused you of trying to take over the world based on a gut feeling. Like yeah, I was wrong, but I still did it, and it got us into a conversation where you were able to clarify things. If you're so afraid of taking a wrong turn that you don't even start the car, you'll never get to Mr. Smoothy."

"...What?"

"I believe he is saying that it is more productive to follow an incorrect lead and be corrected than it is to not follow any leads at all." Rook explained. "As much as I am against making rash decisions, I am inclined to agree with him in this instance. With so little information on the culprit to work with, even investigating an innocent party may prove useful, if only to rule them out as a suspect."

"Alright, that makes sense." Dr. Krauze nodded. "In that case, who I think may have been involved was-"

Her statement was interrupted by the sound of a sudden explosion from outside the house strong enough to shake the whole foundation. The three of them rushed upstairs and out the front door to find the truck that had cut Ben and Rook off in traffic earlier parked across the street with its front windows rolled down. Sitting in the driver's seat was Fistrick holding a recently-fired AT4 launcher.

"Okay bro, you're gonna have to tell me where you got that paneling, because this puppy did not leave a *dent* on your ride." Fistrick whistled.

Rook responded by taking out the Proto-Tool and aiming it at him in net-launching mode.

"It is custom."

Rook fired, only for Fistrick to toss the spent AT4 into the net and jump out the window on the other side of his truck. Ben rolled his eyes and transformed into an armored shark-like alien with two holes on its chest and a funnel-like fin on its head.

Steambriner Infocard

"Y'know, Fistrick, if you wanted to go back to jail so bad, you could've just turned yourself in locally instead of tracking us all the way to another state." Steambriner tsked. "How'd you know we were gonna be here, anyway?"

"Wouldja believe I just so happened to be here to ski?" Fistrick replied.

"You look me in the eye and tell me *you* do cardio."

"Eh, got me there." Fistrick chuckled. "Truth is that some guy tipped me off as to where you bozos were headed."

"And who was that?" Rook questioned.

"The same guy that gave me *these*."

Fistrick stepped out from behind the truck, holding up an EvoLock in his left hand and an EvoKey in his right. Before they could stop him, he slammed the key into the lock and twisted it, transforming into a twelve-foot-tall blue-skinned humanoid alien with four arms, four black spikes on the sides of its head, a third eye in the center of its forehead, and a garland adorned with skulls of varying sizes wrapped around its chest.

Kalaratri Infocard

"Wha- you made a Four Arms Evolvyrn?!" Steambriner whipped around to look at Dr. Krauze.

"Uh..."

"Tetramand." Rook translated for her.

"Oh, no, that's Kālarātri, the Hakaino Tsuyosa Evolvyrn." She explained. "H. Tsuyosa are similar to Tetramands in appearance, but it's a result of convergent evolution as opposed to-"

Her explanation was interrupted by Kālarātri hoisting up his truck and tossing it at them. Steambriner intercepted it with a blast of boiling brine from his portholes that sent it flying back at Kālarātri while creating a huge cloud of steam. With his opponent obscured from view, Steambriner was caught off-guard as four blue-skinned hands reached through the steam and grabbed him, tossing him into the air before Kālarātri jumped up and hit him over the head with a four-fisted punch that sent him slamming into the ground.

"Urgh..." Steambriner groaned as he pulled himself out of the hole his body had put into the road. "I don't think Steambriner's gonna work for this one. Doc, you made this thing, you mind telling me how to fight it?"

"You don't." Dr. Krauze shook her head. "Hakaino Tsuyosa are quite literally powered by violence. The more you physically fight him, the stronger he's gonna get."

"Why would you make something like that?!"

"I didn't, that's how the species is normally!" Dr. Krauze protested.

"Well, if *that's* not what you changed, then what is?!"

Steambriner's question was swiftly answered as the five skulls attached to Kālarātri's body suddenly detached from the Evolvyrn's chest and started flying towards him.

"Okay, *what?!*" Steambriner transformed into Terraspin, who quickly withdrew into his shell and began spinning in his fan form, creating a strong wind that pushed back the skulls as they approached. "I thought those were part of his outfit!"

"Actually, they're organic bone outcroppings that the outfit was made to fit around." Dr. Krauze explained. "Normal Hakaino Tsuyosa only have the one big one in the center of their chest and it doesn't detach, but when you look at their DNA, there are actually inactive gene sequences that code for multiple detachable skulls, so I went ahead and reintegrated them into their active DNA while I was engineering the Evolvyrn. It's actually really fascinating because it strongly indicates that they share a much closer common ancestor with other species on their planet that have that exact ability than we previously-"

"I'm sure it's fascinating if you're into that kind of thing but *this is not useful information at the moment!*"

"Um, right, sorry, aim for his third eye!" Dr. Krauze tapped the corresponding spot on her forehead. "It's the organ that lets him control his drones and speed up time!"

"Control his drones and *wha-*"

Terraspin was interrupted as Kālarātri abruptly ran up to him, moving way faster than anything his size should, and punched him into the ground with a blow too fast for the eye to see.

"How many abilities does one alien need?!" Terraspin wheezed.

"The species comes from a rough planet." Dr. Krauze shrugged. "Each of their powers actually has a really interesting evolutionary history behind them that explains-"

"*NEVERMIND!*"

Kālarātri continued whaling on Terraspin, hitting him repeatedly with enough force that his incredibly dense shell actually began to crack in several places. Rook fired an energy net at Kālarātri's hands, whose rapid movements quickly resulted in them getting thoroughly entangled in the netting. Terraspin took the opportunity to transform into a roughly humanoid alien with a red translucent body and two distinct barbels extending from the sides of his head.

Rebide Infocard

"Betcha think you're a real clever guy for that one." Kālarātri growled, turning his attention to Rook as he threw his arms out to the side, tearing through the netting covering them with ease. "Hate to break it to you, Bro, but that little stunt just got you a one-way ticket to becoming a real clever *stain on the pavement!*"

Kālarātri directed his four smaller skull drones to launch themselves at Rook, who swiftly activated the Proto-Tool's shield mode and began deflecting them as best he could. His defense was ultimately broken as the large center skull joined the fray and slammed into the Proto-Tool like a wrecking ball, shattering the energy shield it projected with enough force to send Rook flying back a good few meters. He landed on his feet, but his attempts to reactivate the Proto-Tool's shield were met only with urgent beeps indicating damage to the device's energy projector. Right as the team of skull drones began flying in for the kill, Rebide stepped in front of him, spreading his arms out wide to act as a living shield.

"Ha! It's over, Tennyson!" Kālarātri laughed as the flying skulls slammed into Rebide's body with a collective force equivalent to several tons of TNT. "Time to-"

He paused as he took notice of what the skulls' devastating attack had done to Rebide's body.

More specifically, nothing.

"...Die?"

"Sorry I took so long getting over to ya, Rook." Rebide said, ignoring his opponent's wasted gloating. "This guy's got really stubby legs. He don't move too good."

"Well, it will not be winning any races any time soon, but using it here was actually a good strategic choice. Are you feeling alright?" Rook said with a facetious grin.

"Pfft, what strategy?" Rebide waved him off. "I just wanted to see what would happen if an unstoppable force..."

Rebide turned his attention back to Kālarātri, who was at this point- with his raised body temperature amid the thick snowfall- quite literally steaming with rage.

"...Met an unmovable object."

"Unmovable, huh?" Kālarātri cracked his knuckles. "Let's see if that checks out!"

Kālarātri dashed forward and began slamming his fists into Rebide at such high speeds that each punch created a miniature sonic boom, forcing Rook and Dr. Krauze to cover their ears. Rebide, meanwhile, kept on absorbing the blows like they were nothing, and proceeded to make several increasingly exaggerated yawning motions to drive the point home.

"STOP DOING THAT!" Kālarātri screamed, his punches becoming faster and stronger as he grew more and more enraged. "*YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A MOUTH!*"

"Hey, uh, not to backseat bad guy or anything, but you should probably stop!" Dr. Krauze yelled at him. "Tennyson's a Kirixian! You've already fed him enough kinetic energy to-"

"I SWEAR TO GOD, LADY, YOU START RAMBLING ABOUT SOME STUPID CRAP *ONE MORE TIME* AND I WILL *CRUSH YOUR HEAD LIKE A GRAPE!*" Kālarātri roared. "I DON'T CARE IF HE'S A KIKILIKI OR A KOOROOLOOKOO OR WHATEVER! *I AM GOING TO BURY TENNYSON ONCE AND FOR ALL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!*"

He turned his attention back to Rebide, only to find him shaping a ball of yellow energy in front of him using his barbels.

Rebide looked him in the eye.

"It is."

With that, the yellow ball of energy surged forward into a massive beam, sending Kālarātri skidding down the road a ways before he found his footing. Unfortunately for him, his durability proved to be well below his strength, and instead of being held back by Kālarātri standing firm, it simply blasted a hole through its chest and continued on its way, turning skywards just in time to avoid blowing a chunk off of one the valley's surrounding mountains.

Rebide ceased fire and transformed back into Ben as Kālarātri stumbled backwards for a moment before reverting to Fistrick in a red flash, who fell to the ground groaning. The lock and key he had used to transform clattered to the ground next to him, but just as he reached out to grab them, Rook walked over and kicked them to the side.

"Fistrick, you are under arrest for assault, battery, attempted murder, and illegal possession and use of restricted technology." Rook pulled out a set of handcuffs and slapped them onto Fistrick. "So, the usual, I suppose."

"Screw off, cat man." Fistrick growled as Rook pulled him to his feet.

"Feliform, not Felid." Rook corrected him. "There is a difference."

"Do you honestly think I care?"

"No, but I do feel obligated to point it out anyway."

"Nice job, Rook." Ben said as he walked over. He looked up at where he had almost hit the mountainside and started rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, definitely need more practice with that guy. Don't think Fistrick is a big enough threat for me to get away with causing a rock slide."

"Hold up, bro, what is *that* supposed to mean?!" Fistrick snapped.

"What do you *think* it means, "bro"?" Ben made a questioning gesture with his hand. "You're a human dudebro arms dealer. You're not exactly Vilgax-level."

"Oh, please, give me some prep time and some good tech and I could turn that oversized squid into calamari no problem!" Fistrick boasted.

"Alright, I'll be sure to tell him you said that." Ben shrugged.

"...Please don't."

"Hey, I'm pretty sure this was one of the stolen EvoLock sets." Dr. Krauze piped in, picking up the EvoLock and EvoKey. "Bet Lucius'll be happy to have these back in stock."

"*Lucius?*" Ben looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, he's the owner of the company that rents out the EvoLocks." Dr. Krauze explained.

"...And that doesn't raise *any* red flags for you?"

"Eh, it threw me off at first, but he's a pretty reliable guy." Dr. Krauze shrugged. "Just not a good people person."

"I have called in our encounter with Fistrick." Rook said. "A Global Police unit should arrive soon to pick him up."

"Not the Plumbers?" Ben asked.

"Crimes involving native Earth technology fall under the Global Police's jurisdiction." Rook explained. "Granted, since the Global Police is a Plumber offshoot organization, you could technically argue that he is being handed over to the Plumbers either way."

"Yeah, I don't really care enough to do that." Ben said.

"You were about to tell us who you think might be involved with the EvoLock theft." Rook clarified.

"Oh, right!" Dr. Krauze snapped her fingers. "Joshua Messias!"

"Who?" Ben tilted his head.

"A billionaire roboticist who basically has a monopoly on cybernetics manufacturing in this company." Dr. Krauze explained. "The man hates... well, just about everything if we're being honest, but he *especially* hates aliens, and he's been pretty vocal about how much he despises the idea of the EvoLock system."

"So what you're saying is he stole all those EvoLocks and started handing them out to criminals to make them look bad, huh?" Ben hmmed. "Classic villain move."

"I'm saying I *think* that he *might* have been involved." Dr. Krauze replied pointedly. "You asked me to give you my best guess, so I did. I don't have any actual proof he did anything."

"Still, "evil xenophobic billionaire with a plausible motive" is the best lead we've gotten so far." Ben said. "I'd say it's worth looking into."

#### Deleted Scenes

"Hang on, she's human?" Ben looked confused. "Since when can a human build an Omnitrix?"

"She's known for her work with rudimentary transformation devices." Rook gave him an odd look. "Did you not read any of the files I recommended you look over before I arrived?"

"Rook, look me in the eyes and tell me you genuinely thought I was going to read those."

"I suppose that is on me." Rook sighed as he stood back up, followed by taking a quick glance around the kitchen. "I do not see any signs of a struggle, and she appears to be uninjured; I am not sure what could have caused her current condition."

"Do you think there's an alien involved?" Ben asked. "Either way, we should probably get her to the hospital."

"*N-no...*" An unexpected voice groaned. "*I'm fine*..."

Ben and Rook looked down in surprise as Dr. Krauze began to stir to life, slowly pushing herself to her feet and leaning against the countertop for support, eyes still closed.

"I've just been... really busy." She slowly mumbled out. "Came upstairs to make some tea... might've overdone it."

"Overdone what?" Ben asked before suddenly noticing the dark circles under her eyes. "Geez, when was the last time you slept?"

"That... is a good question." The doctor muttered. "Doesn't matter, I can sleep later. Can't stop now that I'm so close..."

"Close to what?" Rook asked.

"Finishing... the... CrossTrix."

Dr. Krauze collapsed again, prompting Rook to swoop in and grab her before she hit the ground.

"Did she just say "CrossTrix"?" Ben scratched his head. "I guess that confirms she's working on an Omnitrix, but what kind of name is that?"

"We will have to ask her when she wakes up." Rook nodded his head toward the Omnitrix. "You have access to a Remotion transformation now, correct?"

"Rook, I've got like 300 aliens at this point, I don't know all of their species names." Ben rubbed his temples in frustration.

"You have 359 transformations, to be exact." Rook sighed. "I believe you called it "Rollback"?"

"Oh, Rollback!" Ben snapped his fingers. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"I was not entirely certain I was remembering the name correctly." Rook said. "You rarely ever use it."

"Eh, fair."

Ben pulled up the Omnitrix and scrolled for a bit before slamming down on the dial, transforming into a roughly human-sized alien with green skin, two beetle-like horns, and an eye with a slit pupil on the palm of each hand.

"Rewind time!"

The eyes on Rewind's palms began glowing, creating a small field of green energy around his hands as he reached out and tapped Dr. Krauze on the forehead. Almost immediately, the dirt and grime covering her began to disappear as the heavy bags that had been under her eyes started to fade. Her eyes abruptly snapped open and she scrambled to her feet, patting herself up and down.

"Whoa, what the-" She paused as she caught sight of Ben's current form. "Oh, of course! You used the Remotion's Chronological Rollback ability to restore my body to a previous state! Genius!"

"Yep, I sure did do... whatever it is you just said I did." Rollback attempted to dust his hands off to accentuate the sentence and promptly learned why attempting to do that when you have eyes on your palms is a bad idea.

"Dr. Krauze, before you passed out, you mentioned something about a "CrossTrix"." Rook interjected as Rollback shook his hands out with a wince. "We would appreciate it if you elaborated on what that is."

"Oh, the CrossTrix?" The scientist's eyes suddenly lit up. "You wanna see it?"

Dr. Krauze led Ben and Rook downstairs into a lab area filled with scattered papers and electronic parts. Placed against the wall was a desk with a computer on it, and sitting on top of the computer, plugged into it with what looked like a standard USB cable, was a gauntlet-shaped device strongly resembling an Omnitrix.

"I've been so focused on getting this thing running that I haven't slept in weeks!" Krauze said excitedly as she walked over to the desk and held up the gauntlet for Ben and Rook to see. "That's, uh... why you found me zonked out on the floor like that." She coughed sheepishly.

"So you *are* building an Omnitrix." Rook said. "For what purpose?"

"Just trying to push myself, mostly." Dr. Krauze shrugged. "Figured it'd be really cool if I could do it, so I did!"

Ben and Rook exchanged a look before replying.

"That is-" Rook started.

"Totally valid." Ben said.

"-*Wildly irresponsible*." Rook finished his statement. "What could possibly make you think this was a good idea?"

## Episode ?

"So, yeah, basically I need a gimmick to help me stand out." Ben summarized. "Any ideas?"

"Is there any reason at all for you to be asking me about this instead of- oh, I don't know- someone who can tolerate you?" Albedo scowled.

"Well, everyone else tells me that I don't really need a gimmick to stand out, and that just being myself is okay." Ben sighed. "Problem being I don't really know who "myself" is right now. I figured that as someone who hates my guts, you'd probably have a pretty definitive take on that."

"That's not the worst logic I've ever heard," Albedo tsked, "Which is surprising coming from you. That said, I still don't understand how a "gimmick' of all things is supposed to relate to this."

"Having a unique gimmick would give me an identity, duh!" Ben said. "It would make me less redundant in the Omniverse!"

"If you want to be unique, get a tattoo or something." Albedo growled. "This isn't even close to being worth wasting my time over."

"Anyone can get a tattoo, Albedo." Ben rolled his eyes. "I'm talking something that makes me uniquely stand out as this version of me."

"The Omniverse is infinite, Tennyson, no gimmick that is even mildly useful is going to be unique on its own." Albedo grunted exasperatedly. "As usual, everyone except you is correct; you don't need a gimmick in order to be stand out, not because you're some sort of uniquely special individual who has no need for one, but because a gimmick can't make you stand out. You need an identity in order to make an effective gimmick, not the other way around."

## VS Forever Emperor

"Can't you see what's happening in front of your own eyes?!" The Forever Emperor yelled. "More and more aliens coming to Earth, more and more of our land and our culture being swallowed up by foreign invaders! If this continues, humanity will be destroyed, *and I refuse to let that happen!*"

The emperor punctuated his last point by tearing a stone pillar out of the ground and hurling it at Ben, who was able to phase through it via a quick transformation into Ghostfreak.

"They're not being swallowed up, they're being *shared!*" Ben transformed into Fasttrack and weaved between various blows thrown by the Forever Emperor, looking for an opening. "Aliens and humans are living and working side-by-side, helping each other grow! I'm no good at math, but even I know adding one plus one doesn't destroy the original one!"

Fasttrack finally found a gap in the emperor's defenses and took advantage of it to throw himself up and launch a barrage of lightning-fast punches into his opponent's helmet. The emperor eventually managed to catch one of Fasttrack's arms mid-punch and tossed him off to the side, stumbling backwards a bit as he reeled from the repeated concussions.

"I've got a lot of experience being a human and an alien!" Fasttrack quickly sprang to his feet. "I think I know what I'm talking about!"

"You don't know a damn thing, Tennyson!" The Forever Emperor growled as he finally regained his balance. "Humans who rely on becoming aliens to obtain power..." The emperor slammed a fist into the ground, creating a shockwave that blasted Fasttrack into the side of the mountain. "*Might as well be aliens themselves!*"

Expecting to see a beaten Fasttrack lying prone on the ground when the dust cleared, the emperor was caught a bit off-guard as a blast of flames melted and scorched away the particles of dirt floating in the air to reveal a very much standing Heatblast.

"Like I'm gonna take that seriously coming from a *Forever Knight*." Heatblast cracked his knuckles. "Your whole operation runs on alien tech."

"Using your enemy's own weapons against them has been a strategy since time immemorial." The Forever Emperor's fists began to shake with rage. "But transforming into them... giving up your humanity over and over again..." His furious glare was obvious even hidden behind his visor. "You are an inhuman beast, Tennyson, and for the sake of all mankind, I shall follow in Sir George's footsteps..." The emperor reached into his scabbard and finally drew Ascalon. "And slay you here and now!"

The emperor charged at Heatblast and swung for a killing blow, only for his target to dodge the attack and blast off into the air just beyond his reach.

"Y'know, I actually met Old George." Heatblast tsked. "We didn't exactly see eye-to-eye, but I could respect him a bit. He lived with honor and dignity. He was a *knight*. But *you*..."

Heatblast rather pointedly jabbed a finger at the emperor.

"You're just a high-tech cosplayer aping his brand." He said. "You're no Sir George. You're an *embarrassment*."