Fight or flight

We are back at the Bellwood Power Station. Ben, Gwen and Kevin surround the bizarre apopplexian-Albedo.

"There's no escape, Albedo!" said Ben, who was still human.

The villain gritted his teeth as he looked for a way to escape the encirclement. His tense muscles signaled that he would strike at any moment.

"We are going to send you to Null void where you belong!" shouted Kevin.

"We had agreed to warn Azmuth before, Kevin," said Gwen.

Albedo tried to advance to Kevin's right, but was stopped by a Gwen shield formed at the last moment. He then retreated and returned to the center of the siege. His gaze emanated bloodlust.

"We're not going to let you get away!" said Ben.

"That's right, Albedo!" Kevin continued, "You're going to tell us what you did to Ben, and you're going to tell us right now!"

His friend's words took Ben by surprise.

"What!?"

Ben looked at Albedo and realized that the villain's form was strange. He was no longer the Appoplexian. It was smaller. It was weirder. More human. It was... It was himself!

He looked at his surroundings and realized that he was now the one in the middle of the siege. Kevin, Gwen and one other person were making sure that Ben did not leave where he was. He was dangerous.

He stared at the third person in the circle and again saw his own image. A 15-year-old human with the usual green jacket! But how could he be in two places at once!

He then felt a pain go through his body. As he looked at what must have been his hands, he saw two misshapen and deformed extremities moving in an attempt to form something.

Ben screamed.

He screamed again when he woke up in bed.

He was in his room. His jacket rested on a nearby chair. His usual mess remained in the same place as always. He was safe. At least that's what he thought, and in that way he tried to convince his pounding heart.

With fear, he looked at his hands. They were normal. In his left fist, the Omnitrix rested with its green light. It was fully charged, and there was no longer any sign of Albedo's attack on the disk.

"Beeeen!" his mother shouted from the kitchen "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Mom!"

"Then come and have your breakfast and take it to your grandfather!"

The teenager got up and went toward the window. Grandpa's trailer was still parked outside the house.

Could Grandpa Max have got the power back on? He thought.

Then he grabbed the TV remote and turned on the Sumo Fighters - Advanced Generations.

Yes, he did.

But without knowing why, he didn't want to watch it at the moment. Maybe his still racing heart could be one of the explanations. He thought it was more prudent to go see his grandfather, who knows, maybe he got a solution to the other problem too?

"Grandpa Max? Ben was standing in front of the door of Rust Bucket" Mom asked me to bring you some breakfast."

"Yes, Ben, I am. Come on in."

The young man closed the door of the trailer as soon as he entered and left the plate on the table. His grandfather was near the steering wheel, talking to a hologram of Gwen projected onto the dashboard, similar to a car ornament.

"Got it, Gwen, I'll tell him. And be careful. Any new information let me know." And she hung up the communication.

"Was that Gwen, Grandpa? Did she find Albedo?"

"No, Ben. But it seems they've found other people who are after him too."

"Really? Who are they?"

"Your cousin can't tell yet. At the moment she and Kevin are hiding in the abandoned military area of Los Soledad. They are making sure that they are not being followed before they find us again."

"And why?"

"Somehow those individuals they met can track the Omnitrix energy, and because they found small traces of energy in Kevin and Gwen, they ended up chasing them all night long."

"And why didn't they come after me?"

"I believe the blackout this evening also erased traces of the Omnitrix in the area."

Ben pressed buttons throughout the trailer, causing monitors to pop up in unusual places in the room. Then he said:

"There aren't any records of these people in the Plumbers' archive? What do they look like?"

"Gwen sent some pictures in a file over the Extranet. I think you should-"

"Here, I've got it" Ben says, clicking on a file on his computer.

Max smiles. He admires how easy it is for young people today to deal with technology. He remembers his time and how much a huge intercommunication network was needed in the missions. He turns in the driver's seat and goes back to fiddling with devices on the trailer's dashboard:

"While you're looking, Ben, I'll call the Plumbers to inform them of the situation."

As soon as the connection is established with the Plumbers' headquarters, a voice begins to speak, even before any identification.

"Magistrate Tennyson, thanks to Rhaveh, I was just about to contact you this instant!"

"What's wrong, soldier?"

"We are having problems in the East Power Plumbing Sector, sir. There are reports of trespassing and we have already lost communication with several of our men there."

"Any information about the invaders?"

"There seems to be only one, Magistrate, but with enough force to breach all our defenses."

Grandfather Max looked at Ben, who reciprocated with a worried expression. Then he returned to his communicator.

"I'm going. Keep an eye out for any calls for reinforcements."

"Will you be going alone, Magistrate?"

"Don't worry," answered the boy, "Ben Tennyson will also answer the call."

"Very well then, Ben Tennyson, we'll be waiting for you. Good luck to you both!"

Grandpa Max turned off the communicator and turned to his grandson, saying:

"Ben, you're not going."

"What!? Why!?"

"We still don't know what's wrong with you and the Omnitrix. I can't let you use the watch."

"Come on, Grandpa!? Kevin and Gwen already left me out of the Albedo search, now you too?"

"Ben, don't you understand-"

"Yes, I do! Okay, I'm not going to use the Omnitrix."

Max sighs, because he knew this discussion would take too long.

"Ben..."

"I'm serious, Grandpa. I promise not to use the watch no matter what."

"And how did you-"

"I am a Plumber too, Grandpa. I can use the Plumber's equipment..." Ben turned the drawer handle, and as he opened the drawer, where once there was silverware, there were now laser guns and energy grenades. "Like this! Come on, Grandpa, you know I can do it."

Max scratched his head and finally gave in. Time is a precious thing at the moment.

"Come on, sit down there," he pointed to the passenger seat, "and buckle up. We've already wasted too much time so I'm going to have to speed up."

Ben jumped into the passenger seat and, like a child who had just found out that he was going to Disney, he could barely contain his excitement. An adventure would make him forget the dream he had, he thought.

His heart kept racing. He couldn't tell if this time it was because of the possibility of an adventure that was approaching. In truth, it didn't matter.

Would it?