Chapter 23 – Future Found

After the enlightening speech Ben gave during the award ceremony addressing the White House and subsequent Government corruption that had been plaguing aliens and super-humans alike for decades. This led to internal affairs launching a full-scale investigation into the President which uncovered massive unsanctioned facilities housing alien prisoners beneath the Pentagon, all treated with cruel and inhumane conditions. An overhaul in leadership took place over the course of the passing eight or nine months when, in a landslide, a new President won the election by the name of Susan Braydan, the first female President of the United States of America.

Shaking hands with Ben in the Oval Office during her first day, they had a long discussion about the immigration of aliens and how treating them with hostile intent could provoke action from otherwise peaceful species'. He also explained that he wasn't the only vigilante out around the country trying to do good on their own terms and follow in the example of the heroes that saved them. Through a long night of negotiations and agreements, Susan agreed to disband the Anti-Vigilante Legislation as well as dismissing the warrant out for violating said act, also placing amendments on immigration laws to make room for alien refugees. She also proposed that they continue planning for a brighter future by breathing life into the idea he proposed during his speech. An entire city dedicated to the inclusion of any race, gender, or species that chooses to live peacefully on Earth, but only on the condition that he become the head City Architect to ensure that someone with alien experience could accommodate for the needs of the many.

After turning eighteen and gaining access to his inheritance, he began making plans to begin the project he agreed to lead. The most difficult part was brokering deals with Galvan-Prime to import construction tools and advanced building materials, teleporting them across the Galaxy to site outside of Mount Rushmore. The town of Keystone, South Dakota was only three miles away from the massive Plumber Base, making it the perfect site for this massive construction project. Being quite the small-town Ben simply purchased the whole thing for a single lump-sum, which didn't even scratch his bank account.

Over the next few years, Ben had thoroughly showed President Braydan that he was more than serious about this idea, approving the funds to begin construction of the new city. Once the ball was rolling, it was only a matter of time, the first thing Ben did was use a combination of XLR8 and Greymatter to fully construct his base of operations exactly as he remembered it in the future. Moving at the speed of light and being able to instantly change into the smartest species in the Galaxy at any time allowed him to complete construction of Tennyson Tower within four days. For this project, he spent his own money so that he could focused the whole amount funded to him by the President would go to the city's construction.

Ben Ten Thousand became a beacon of peace throughout the surrounding Galaxies, attracting more alien tourists and even residents than ever before, also bringing in mountains of revenue and jobs to be filled. In 2015, the President signed an official decree reinstating Plumber Officers into public active duty, agreeing to allow transports to an already existing training station just outside of Jupiter's orbit. Adding Earth to Plumber jurisdiction, it wasn't long before Ben Ten Thousand and Lucky Girl were both officially indoctrinated and given badges that allowed them authority over extra-terrestrial crime scenes and altercations, as well as enforcing the Galactic Code of Conduct, though neither of the cousins read the enormous book. The entire population in Keystone, being a miniscule four-hundred people, were well compensated and peacefully left their residence in time for the construction to begin on schedule.

Gwendolyn started an early admission to Princeton University in 2013, starting her classes majoring in Historical Linguistics and minoring in Advanced Code Programming at first, after receiving her Graduates and Masters degree she went for her PhD in Historical Linguistics. Advancing through her scholastic ranks at an unprecedented rate, she was now beginning classes for a Doctorate in Applied Sciences. Tackling so many fields at once left her with little spare time to be the hero she was during the Highbreed invasion, though she did enjoy finally being able to move out of her parents refurbished house.

While Natalie and Carl were a tad more understanding of the situation their kids were in, being in a relationship together, they still couldn't bring themselves to reach out to their kids. Though they made more of an effort than Frank or Saundra, both of which hadn't spoken to their individual children sine they moved away when they turned eighteen. Ben kept in touch with his father for the first year or so but, it didn't last; they couldn't bring themselves to see each other, even during holidays. Though, this Christmas was on the horizon very soon, and they would have to make the decision on whether it's been enough time for them to be able to let the past be the past.

With the construction of this new city nearly completed thanks to the extra-terrestrial hardware and technology imported from other worlds, the leading architect decided to name give it a name that represented intergalactic peace. He named it Omnitrix City, quickly expanding Keystones borders bit by bit, by the beginning of the following year it would rival Miami in size.

6 Years Later

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 20th, 2017; 4:48PM

"No, it's due on Thursday, I asked the professor last night," Gwendolyn spoke over her slick new cellphone with a book open on her lap and her free hand rested on the armrest of the couch she was sitting on, "So, you want me to do all the work? As if Trent, I'm not falling for that again," suddenly the glass of water she had placed on the glass coffee table in front of her shook, clattering a bit against the surface. Gwen noticed it and stood up, glancing around the massive living room area, another shaking caught her attention as she approached the massive bay-windows facing the street twenty-stories below on the ground floor. "I've already got my portion of the assignment finished, just finish at least half and I'll take care of the rest," Gwendolyn narrowed her eyes down at the streets littered with smoke as she could tell Fourarms was engaged in some sort of battle outside the tower's main entrance. "Yea, you're welcome," she answered frustratedly, hanging up the phone, and folding her arms.

She didn't usually, nor was she expected to, show up to lend him a hand but, she couldn't help but feel bad watching him fight on his own against whatever creature was attacking. Against her better judgement, Gwendolyn turned around and lifted her arms up as she walked, snapping her fingers up in the air as a glittery blue fog drifted down over her body. Materializing a slightly updated version of her navy-blue kevlar suit with its turquois cloak and cape; it seemed mostly the same only the six Charms of Bezel weren't emblazoned on her sleeve anymore, they were embedded into silver gauntlets, three on each one on either forearm. In the center of her suit's torso, just above her breasts sat the Alpha Rune imbued with the ancient power of Bezel.

Her long hair tied itself into a ponytail as the blue mana materialized her suit across her person, leaving a slight remnant of her bangs hanging over her eyes but not quite obscuring them. The Alpha Rune allowed her to perform many feats and abilities that she never would have been able to achieve otherwise, being able to passively absorb energy, teleport short or long distances, super-charge any of her individual spells, and it also renders her stamina nigh infinite as it draws mana directly from Ledger Domain directly. She flipped her hood up, mostly for the aesthetic as her secrete identity had long since been abandoned, floating off her feet she focused her energy as her eyes flashed bright blue.

Dematerializing from the room, she reappeared ten feet above ground as Fourarms was engaged in battle with a mutated rhinoceros creature, enhanced genetically and mechanically, as the Tetramand pushed against the weaponized horn he sported, the creature dug its feet into the concrete as he attempted to ram into Tennyson tower behind Ben. An explosion of green light blinded him for a second as a grotesque rotund creature with a large mouth took Fourarms' place, opening its gapping mouth and projectile vomiting slime with enough pressure to knock the six-hundred-pound monstrosity off its unbalanced feet, landing on its back.

Gwendolyn cringed a bit as Spitter was one of the alien transformations he'd begun using which grossed her out the most, however; she still floated down next to him. "Need any help?" she asked as he turned and glanced up spite not having any visible eyes.

He quickly glanced around at the crowds of people standing on the sidelines even as this creature dropped to all fours and prepared to fire the crimson energy weapon glowing within his horn. Spitter transformed and took a few steps forwards as Diamondhead, "Try to make sure none of these people get hurt!" he shouted as he pounded his fist into the ground, summoning a large, serrated crystal from the ground to block the familiar energy beam that struck his defense.

It exploded but, Lucky Girl clapped her hands as the telekinetic Charm on her right gauntlet illuminated, being amped to an even higher degree by the Rune giving her immense power. She was able to clap her hands together, stopping the large chunks of crystal debris in midair, letting them drop harmlessly onto the street. "This isn't exactly a safe place everybody, get a move on!" she shouted down at the people who started making their way away from the tower.

While Diamondhead was still trying to see through the cloud of crystal dust the explosion created, the enemy turned and took aim elsewhere, "Give it up, Exo-Skull! About ten years from now I'll still be kicking your butt!" he recalled just how easily his future-self dispatched with this particular villain as just XLR8, let alone his heavy hitters. While boasting and still distracted, he missed how Exo-Skull turned his aim upward, firing up at Gwendolyn being struck in the back with a familiar concussive blast.

The panic ensued as she fell fifty feet to the ground, the blast had seared a large hole in the back of her suit as well as peeling a large patch of skin, the scene wasn't very pretty; however, it wouldn't last long. The Charm of Death and Luck began to glow with bright white light, healing her wounds completely in a matter of seconds as her skin reformed new tissue. Her new suit also repaired itself reweaving the kevlar fabric with nanotechnology that allowed her suit to withstand impressive damage. Exo-Skull fired another beam of red-bubbling energy at Lucky Girl who was on all fours, trying to regain her composure, forming a glowing yellow dome with a simple gesture, deflecting the blast.

Exo-Skull prepared for another attack when suddenly Diamondhead transformed into a fifteen-foot-tall bipedal loosely humanoid alien made entirely of liquid water, its only physical attribute being a white wooden mask floating where the head would be, and the Omnitrix symbol also floating around within the torso. Ben had dubbed this alien Overflow, allowing him total manipulation over water, even being able to merge with other bodies of water to grow larger and stronger. The mutant beast turned his attention this time, firing another beam only, it passed right through Overflow's liquid body hitting, and shattering, the front doors to Tennyson Tower. An explosion of fire and smoke drifted upwards into the air as the fire alarm within went off, setting off the indoor sprinklers.

"Hey!" Overflow shouted, sounding as though he were speaking underwater, he extended his arm fifty feet easily closing the distance between them and wrapping the beasts' body up to its neck in an aquatic arm, "Those doors were just installed two months ago!" Overflow used his ability to phase shift the water he controlled into ice, trapping him in a large block that kept him totally subdued.

"Let go of me!" Exo-Skull shouted as Overflow flew through the air as a bodiless mass of liquids, hitting the ground in front of him, and reforming into his previous form.

"Maybe I'll give you better accommodations, if you tell me who sent you here," Exo-Skull wasn't the brightest of Animo's mutated animals gone rogue but, he had to be useful for something, "Talk! Who sent you?"

Exo-Skull snorted steam from his nose just below the mechanical horn, "I-I wasn't supposed to say!" he shook his head, snarling as Gwendolyn approached him.

"Its okay, we just needed to know that you knew," Her eyes illuminated bright blue, the pupils being encompassed by light completely as she seemed to be looking somewhere else. She searched his thoughts for a name, but found psychic programming lying dormant in his head. As her eyes still shun, she placed her hands on her individual temples, trying to attain more concentration, "Someone's already been in his head, he literally cant tell us but, maybe if I access his memories I can-" as soon as searched through his assorted memories, he found horrors she couldn't imagine of torturing experiments and brainwashing. It shocked her out of his head, sending her reeling back and Exo-Skull into a confused stupor, drooling over the ice that encased his body.

Overflow floated off the ground, slithering through the air as a sentient tendril of water with its mask leading the way towards Gwendolyn, pooling himself together and transforming back into his human form. "Are you okay? What did you see?" he helped her up by her shoulders, looking into her eyes as they returned to their emerald complexion.

"He's hanted by Animo's experiments and it was a bit overwhelming all at once but, I have the person who sent him here after we took down Animo last two months ago… does the name Prometheus mean anything to you?" Gwendolyn asked as a shot in the dark, not thinking it would have any direct correlation, though she had to be sure since she'd been generally out of the hero game for a while, only pitching in when she happens to be around.

This brought Ben back to the night before the ceremony six years prior, where the leader of a small criminal group named a single person, "Animo? V-Vilgax?" He chuckled louder once more, putting emphasis on how ridiculous that sounded, "You've got so much worse coming, and you don't even know it, he calls himself Prometheus, and he's gonna end you…" the hysterical laughter of the criminal that echoed through the parking garage still made his skin crawl.

"Hello?!" Gwendolyn snapped in Ben's face trying to catch his attention as he stared off in pensive thought, "Earth to dweeb, you in there?" she giggled a bit as he perked up.

"Right… yea, no, the name doesn't ring any bells sorry," if this Prometheus character was standing on the sidelines planning things like this for five years, that made him even more dangerous and since she decided to put hero work to the side for the time being, he didn't wanna worry her. Ben instead blew it off, turning towards Exo-Skull and inspecting the temporary holding cell he created, "That should hold you until the Plumber's show up," he quickly transformed back with a simple explosion of emerald light, as the few spectators that hadn't evacuated cheered him on from the sidelines.

Gwendolyn pulled her hood back as she stood, approached by Ben, she could only smile at a job well done; "Well, at least now we know how Animo created this guy," she suggested as he wrapped an arm around her midriff, pulling her in close for a moment. "I guess you'll have to find all of those giant creatures that escaped after all or this Prometheus whoever guy is gonna start sending a giant toad after us, and I hate those things," she expressed disgust for the massive twelve-foot frog creatures they'd been dealing with since they were ten.

"Yea, let's just add that to my to-do list…" Ben reached up and scratched the thin beard that had formed over the last few years, "You know, I thought after I figured out how to get XLR8 to move faster than light, this whole 'building a city' thing would be a lot less complicated," they both turned their heads, looking out at the crowd consisting of humans and aliens alike lining the sidewalk watching them, and the giant advanced buildings that had been constructed with the technology imported from Galvan-Prime. Holographic billboards and bright neon signs were being installed as the future never seemed so close before.

"Hard work is hard work but," as the sun slowly approached the horizon and an orange-purple pigment flooded the sky above them, Gwen couldn't help but put her hand on his chest while admiring what the life they were building together looked like, "It was definitely worth it."

After a few seconds of simple standing around to ensure the frozen prisoner wouldn't pull an escaping act before the three white and green Plumber tanks pulled in along with a transport vehicle. Wes Green, who was reinstated into the Plumbers on Ben and Kai's request, needing a leader they trusted to start the Earth division of Plumbers off in the right direction. Unbelievably, Kevin actually offered to be his partner after Kai convinced him of that too, she could be quite persuasive when she wanted to be. Speaking of which, the two had already been dating for nearly three years now though, they've mostly stayed out of the hero business until recently.

Kevin and Wes exited the armored truck that was called in to contain Exo-Skull before he thaws out, "Hello again, Mr. Ten Thousand," Wes joked as he shook Ben's hand, having known the boy since he was ten made shaking his hand as an adult all the more surreal, "And to you too Gwendolyn," he finished by signaling his men from within the truck to exit and begin loading the massive chunk of ice that was already melting with icy fog drifting from the block into the secured truck.

Kevin approached the two in complete Plumber armor, with a pearl white suit and black trim giving each of them his gloved fist, as they proceeded to bump it with their own as though it was something they'd been doing for some time, "How's it been, rich boy?" he snarked.

Ben chuckled and folded his arms, "Hey, I've saved most of Max's money… all of what you see around you is Government paid peaceful allocation of taxpayer funds, just like any other city…" he gestured around him at the line of a few dozen buildings that were beginning to look quite alien and advanced already.

Kevin scoffed, "Even that one," he pointed back at the tower he built with a coy smile, moving to fold his arms.

"Pfft, so what? I spent fifty or sixty out of an eight-hundred-million-dollar inheritance, Tennyson Tower is more than just a place to sleep though…" He tried to defend himself as best as possible, "It's got Cooper's advanced crime scene analysis stuff and the Danger Alert which covers the entire planet by the way!"

Kevin turned and approached Exo-Skull's frozen body, turning his back on the Tennyson boy as he ensured the rookies loaded the villain up properly, "Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, hero," he chuckled to himself as they secured the block of ice into the armored transport.

Wes took a few steps forward for a proper greeting, "How've you been, need a hand escorting him into Base?" Ben jabbed his thumb behind him where stood his tower but, behind that was the massive monument of Mount Rushmore which had been retrofitted into an entire Plumber Base that could not only handle the mission logistics but, also hold the enhanced prisoners that no ordinary jail could contain. It already most of the framework done decades ago, all it needed was a massive technological update, and thanks to Brainstorm and Cooper, it was cake to turn it into the most sophisticated facility on the Planet.

Wes chuckled with a hand up, "No, it's not a bother, its only a few miles away… besides, your birthdays are next week, you two should celebrate by taking it easy," he gave him a wink as Gwendolyn blushed just a bit, hoping he wasn't referring to them two in that way.

"Well," Ben began as he glanced back at the truck that was now being shuttered up and locked, "We still have to analyze the energy weapons we've been collecting over the years, powerful energy source but, we cant seem to find out where they're coming from," he placed his hands on his hips in frustration, blowing hot air out in a huff.

Gwendolyn approached from behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Speaking of which, we were going to bring some of the weapons we've been confiscating from criminals into the lab upstairs. Cooper was going to meet me here any minute to see if he can't figure out whose making them," she got a call just at that moment, patting Ben on the back once before turning away to answer.

She plugged one ear to block out the Plumbers who talked amongst themselves as they did their job, "Yea, just park around the corner of the main entrance, I'll meet you there…" she walked away, clearly talking to Cooper who must have been arriving at that moment.

"Is she gone?" Wes asked glancing over where she had walked off to, looking to make sure she was out of sight.

Ben nodded, "Think so."

He chuckled and brought the young man over by his shoulder, "You have to show it to me," he insisted impatiently almost like a child, though he was forty years older. Over the past few years beginning to lead the new Plumbers initiate, Wes had become like a second father to him especially considering his real father couldn't put his own feelings aside long enough to call.

"Okay, okay, relax!" Ben giggled a bit as he pulled a burgundy velvet box out of his pocket, turning his head over his shoulder one last time to ensure she hasn't returned, he slowly opened the box which split horizontally. Within was a sparkling bright-blue five carat ring on a gleaming band, inscribed within were their initials, 'B+G' etched into the very gold. He had gotten the idea from Tetrax and his parents, both of which found use in having inscriptions within a gift. "Is it too much? Her favorite color since we were kids has been blue but, the blue ones are more expensive for some reason, so-I-got-this-one-but-then-I-got-it inscribed-which-seems-like-a-bit-much-or-" he was so nervous that his insecurity drove him off the edge, until Wes grabbed his shoulder.

"Is it coming from your heart, son?" he interrupted first and foremost.

Ben didn't hesitate to nod up at the man with a bright smile before he responded, "Than it can't possibly be too much," he responded finally smiling down at the changeling, "Where do you plan to pop the question? When?" he finally asked.

Ben hadn't given that part much thought, they'd been everywhere in the world at least once, there didn't seem like many places were left for them to experience for the first time, "I'm not completely sure yet, I'll figure it out as I go along… I mean that's how I got through high school."

Wes chuckled turning around and approaching the door to the armored van he arrived in, swinging it open, "Just be sure not to wait too long, you two have been together for nearly ten years, I'm sure she won't want to sit on her hands forever…" he winked one last time before hopping back into the driver's seat and closing the door.

Ben took that into consideration, looking down at the sparkling gemstone radiating blue light from sun falling into deep though, they had been dating now for over seven years. Wes was right that he needed to move fast if he wanted to make sure she didn't come to the conclusion that he wasn't interested in marriage, "Thanks for the advice, Mr. Green, It was nice to see you again, take it easy and tell Kai to stop by sometime!" Ben shouted over his shoulder as he followed his girlfriend towards the main entrance, waving his hand in the air for Wes to see as he departed.

…

Cooper, Gwendolyn, and Ben all gathered on the fiftieth floor of Tennyson Tower designated as the mission room where a large roundtable with six seats around it were installed. This was no ordinary table, having a highly advanced holo-deck surface that could project hard light constructs of blueprints, buildings, crime scenes, weapons, etc. for more detailed analysis. They brought him eight of the weapons they confiscated from gang criminals, each one using the same crimson energy source. Cooper's eyes flashed blue as his pupils connected like circuits to his brain with neon trim in his retina, they each floated up in front of him in a straight line obeying his will.

"There's nothing special about the material, its just a regular steel composite with tungsten to maintain dangerous levels of heat," Coop swung his arms apart, willing the weapons to intricately disconnect in seconds finding a battery of sorts the size of a ping-pong ball. "This is what you should be looking for," it floated out in front of them as he scanned it with his abilities, it wasn't organic and definitely had technology running through it, "It's a casing of some kind for some kind of intense raw energy source, it almost reminds me of-" he stopped himself, turning to face Ben, slowly glancing down to the Omnitrix on his forearm.

"What? Reminds you of what?" he asked bluntly.

Cooper turned to face him, placing the casing back in its holster within the weapon, putting everything down atop the holodeck, "When you sent that genetic recombination wave through the jump gate altering the Highbreed five years ago, this has the same energy signature, or at least similar enough to raise suspicion." As Ben held his forearm up to look at his own Omnitrix for a brief second, he noticed Coop holding his hand out. "May I?" he asked.

"Yea, sure," Cooper took his arm, looking deeply into the Omnitrix dial as he used his technopathy to access its mainframe although its security firewalls were some of the most advanced he'd ever encountered, it still only took seconds to hack through them. The dial popped out from the gauntlet for the first time since it transformed during the invasion, illuminating the room in an emerald glow as the core shun around them.

"Fascinating," Cooper exclaimed, scanning the energy signatures being released by the core of his watch, letting go of his arm the dial slipped back into the gauntlet, "Whatever this energy they're using is, it can be tracked as long I can run a data comparison on the two power sources, than all I have to do is construct an algorithm to extrapolate a location for the highest usage of that energy."

Ben nodded as he pretended to understand at all what he was talking about, stroking his thin beard with a serious expression, "Of course, that was my first instinct too…"

Gwendolyn scoffed and moved passed him, approaching Cooper and the holodeck, "How long do you think it'll take?" she asked with a more sincere tone before glancing down at the screens around the room, including the holodeck running programs that she recognized and some she didn't. "A-Are you already doing it?"

He nodded, yawning, and leaning back in the chair assigned to him the day they established this base for their rag tag team, still two people missing considering it didn't seem as though Charmcaster or Albedo would ever rejoin. His eyes still shun with energy clearly seeing a myriad of data and analyzing it all in microseconds, processing the useful and discarding the otherwise useless information. Within two or three minutes, Coop waved his hand over the holodeck, bringing up a detailed projection of Omnitrix City or at least the portion that had finished construction. With small red pins scattered across the map, there was one dot much larger than the others, "That should be where they've at least got a lot of those weapons stockpiled, maybe they're even constructing them there, and if you're lucky…"

"We'll find this Prometheus character there too," Ben muttered almost under his breath, hoping this new player wouldn't become his next Vilgax, considering five years is quite the amount of time to be patient.

Gwendolyn narrowed her eyes at the map, turning her head at the highlighted building as she tried to remember what part of town that was, "Where is that?" she asked with a confused tone.

Cooper glanced over at the map, blinking for only two or three seconds, before answering quickly, "An abandoned warehouse, I just did a logistical search, and it was owned by a shell company that went under well before Ben purchased Keystone. It's supposed to be torn down next month to build the next block of infrastructure," Ben narrowed his scowl at the map and turned around, ready to put this looming threat behind him once and for all.

"Let's bump up the demolition date," Ben noted as he walked passed Gwendolyn who grabbed his arm, pulling him back gently as she stepped up next to him.

She pleaded with him as she ran her hand down his shirt, "Take a sec, breathe, this could be some kind of trap or something, don't you think it was a bit easy, even for Cooper?" Gwen placed her hand back on his chest as he reached up and grabbed her wrist softly.

"It's possible… come with me then," yanking a bit closer, it would give him much peace of mind to have her there with him, "I know you'll watch my back," He flattered her, and he knew she'd do anything for him either way, "Pleaaase?" he practically begged like a child but, it was how they'd been operating since they were kids, and it always seemed to work.

Gwendolyn stomped her foot and pulled her wrist away from his grasp, passing him towards the exit as Ben's expression lightened up, knowing Cooper was best suited to keep Overwatch on the mission, "I'll be on coms, make sure the omni-cam is on!" he shouted out at them, referencing a feature he was able to install into the Omnitrix that records its encounters during missions much like a police-officer's bodycam.

…

Omnitrix City; Former Warehouse District; December 20th, 2017; 6:08PM

XLR8 dashed through the city at hypersonic speeds, dodging between people on hover boards and cargo-trucks carrying materials for construction, through the grid of alleyways and into the warehouse district. Gwendolyn didn't need to be rushed in by a speedster but, even after all these years she still enjoyed being cradled by him as the windshear rushed over her. She could still hear the faint thump of his rapid Kineceleran heart going pitter-patter. Leaving a trail of dirt up through his wheeled feet as he stopped on a dime in front of the warehouse Cooper indicated for them, swinging his tail around as he used his visor to scan the building itself. Coop also integrated nanobots into the Omnitrix's core, increasing the practicality of each of his transformations, in this case XLR8's visor was now a transparent scanner capable of shifting through different spectrums of light as well as analyze his surroundings. "I'm not picking up any heat signatures other than the energy source we're here for… we're going in," Ben instantly shifted his form into Diamondhead, the emerald flash being the only source of light once they kicked in the door, the sun had nearly set.

Gwendolyn threw her hood up, pulling her mask over her nose and mouth, walking in just behind Diamondhead as the seven-foot crystal man walked casually through the dark but, before she could throw up an illumination spell, he accidently stepped into a trip wire. "That doesn't sound good," clanking came from the darkness as a chain reaction lit torches along the walls spontaneously at the same time, a perfectly timed spark on the ground led across the concrete floor forming flames in the shape of words. Traced in a flammable liquid like hydrochloric acid, keeping the words spelled out long enough for them to be read.

"What's it say?" Gwendolyn put a hand on his shoulder, walking out in front of him to read it aloud, "So it begins? So, what begins?" Diamondhead looked passed it at a crimson energy battery four or five times the size of the one they pulled out of the weapons earlier. It was rattling and shaking as it seemed like a charge was building up somehow.

He stepped through the flaming words not feeling anything through his durable skin, approaching the battery he noticed a timer plugged into it as it began beeping loudly. However, he noticed far too late. Before he could say anything, the battery went critical and exploded with the force of a small hydrogen bomb, eradicating the warehouse and three surrounding buildings lucky also being under construction meant they weren't populated. Diamondhead stood in the flames in the center of the crater that was formed around the origin of the blast, he was standing with his eyes closed unphased by the blast force.

Slowly opening his eyes, he turned around and noticed Gwendolyn wasn't so lucky having not seen it coming, her body was fried down to a partial skeleton. Most of her was still intact aside from half of her face and neck, through the Charms didn't even sustain a scratch and managed to do their best to protect their wielder, it couldn't protect from everything. He knew not to worry excessively as this had happened at least once before as the Death and Luck talismans activated once again regenerating the damage to her mangled body.

Diamondhead glanced away as she reformed, not necessarily enjoying the gore of seeing her in such a horrible condition, she huffed finally taking a few deep breaths as the tissue over her face reformed without so much as a scar. It took her a minute to run her hands through her newly grown hair, reassuring herself it was all still there, "Phew, thanks for the warning…" she chided sarcastically at him, not realizing how it looked from the outside. The Charm of Death gave her an unbelievable pain tolerance, she couldn't feel most injuries and when she did, it was just a fleeting moment until the wound regenerated. She neglected to consider what it must be like to see that happen to someone you care about.

He turned around finally to face her but, his crystal features were still somber, "I know the charms saved your life but, I really hate seeing you get killed like that…" Diamondhead took a step or two forwards, wrapping his large right hand around her lower back, almost able to wrap it entirely around her petite hips, "Watching you… reform scares the crap out of me, makes me feel like one of these days you'll just lie there and wont wake up…" he expressed a legitimate concern that any spouse would logically have, though it was a necessary evil.

Gwendolyn sighed, realizing that he was right and as happy as she was to have these abilities that helped keep her alive, she should've been more careful. She was only a bit rusty but, not so rusty that she would have been taken by surprise like that five years ago, "I'm sorry, I need to get back to training, I didn't mean to scare you…" she wrapped her arms as far around his abdomen as she could, even feeling the cold-crystal skin felt warm to her just knowing it was him, placing her face against the black nanomesh manifested by the Omnitrix to clothe his transformations.

"Don't apologize, you were right, this was a trap, and I should've listened… I should have cased my surroundings before going in blind like that," Diamondhead tapped the emerald dial on his chest, sounding a high-pitched beep that slowly illuminated the room in waves, using a scene-wide modified biosonic frequency field to take a hard-light holographic image of every inch of the blast sight. "Even though most of it was incinerated, maybe we'll find something hidden between the lines, for now," the Omnitrix ceased its scan and double-beeped symbolizing the completion. Diamondhead exploded in a radiant shine of light that left him as a speedster velociraptor, already having her in his arms, he scooped her up rather easily and zipped back through the streets of his city towards Tennyson tower.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 20th, 2017; 6:26PM

XLR8 dashed through the tower up to the mission room where he vibrated his molecules through the walls with Gwendolyn, setting her down as they approached Cooper who was still reclining in his chair with his feet up on the holodeck when they arrived, "And so it begins, huh?" he quoted the words inscribed in fire on the ground of the warehouse, having seen it all through the omni-cam.

Transforming back into Ben Tennyson, he approached the holodeck and looked over the warehouse blueprint data that Cooper pulled up earlier, "I took a biometric scan of the place after the blast, run through that for me when you get the chance, in the meantime," directing his next line of questioning towards the boy genius who could move through technology like people move through air, "You said some company owned that warehouse before it went under, I need to know who owned the shell company."

Cooper cracked his knuckles, raising his fingers over the holodeck as he began tapping keys one after the other rapidly as he was seeing multiple screens of data at once, "It looks like there's a maze of these smaller shell companies hiding the real owner, like one of those Russian doll things, but at the end of the rainbow there's always a pot of gold," his eyes darted across the holographic screens that projected the data he was searching for.

"Pretty sure Leprechauns are Scottish, not Russian," Ben noted as he glanced toward Gwendolyn who he knew would have the right answer.

"They're Irish and you have the attention span of a goldfish…" Gwen gave a coy smile, leaning her arm on her taller boyfriend's shoulder for support as Cooper cleared his throat.

"Ahem, they all lead to a subsidiary of a company called Hunt International," bringing up images of Adam Hunt being the CEO and the contact Grandpa Max had in the Forever Knights years ago. Before they abandoned New York.

"I recognize him," Ben muttered as he narrowed his eyes at the images on the screen, looking down at Gwen who took her arm off his shoulder and glanced into his eyes, knowing she wouldn't have been proud if she found out how he handled the man without telling her, "Grandpa Max once asked me to interrogate him for an encrypted phone, the one I used for a little while, remember? He was connected to the Forever Knights somehow," he turned his attention back to Cooper who sat idly as they spoke. "Is there any way you can track him down now?"

"Nope," without even searching the data, he responded without doubt or hesitation, having already seen the files when searching for the company with ownership of the warehouse, "Dude's dead as a doorknob, he went missing a few weeks before the invasion battle, nobody was ever recovered but he was presumed deceased…" Cooper spun around lazily in the chair bolted to the ground in front of the holodeck, looking over the many holographic screens that surrounded him in a one-eighty degree half circle.

Gwendolyn stepped forwards, folding her arms across her chest, changing her expression to a more serious one, giving her best suggestion, "Why don't you try tracking where he was seen last before disappearing? That way we have a lead to work on."

Cooper nodded in return as he began tapping away, "Your wish is my command," he spoke in a sarcastic accent, throwing more holographic screens up in front of them as he zoned into the traffic camera networks from Keystone to Bellwood, nearly across half the country. Combing through every router, telephone service, text messaging chain, street cameras, and closed-circuit business surveillance footage from placed he'd used his debit card at that night.

Running complex facial recognition algorithms for Adam Hunt during the allotted slot of time he went missing, it took nearly a full five minutes as the program finally caught a match the night before he was first reported missing. "Got him, he was at a motel just outside of Brooklyn, pretty shady place, he stepped out into an alley to take a phone call and told his security to stay behind," he paused to choke down the lump in his throat, "They never saw him again."

Gwendolyn exhaled folding her arms across her chest and leaning in to read some of the police reports that were recorded, statements given to officers on the scene as well, "Hack into the CCTV cameras for the motel perimeter, see if we cant get a good angle on what happened?" Cooper did as he was instructed, taking only a few seconds to bypass the cities security feed and access a network of cameras linked to the coordinates he specified.

"Here we go," Coop tapped the spacebar button on the hard-light keyboard playing a black and white recording from a low-quality camera about a hundred or so feet from the scene looking down on the parking lot. The recording started with Adam exiting the building and stepping out into the alleyway, looking around for someone, he answered his phone which he pulled out of his jacket pocket. Hunt seemed to be screaming at the phone, until there was a static disruption in the feed, it was almost instantaneous that now on screen there was a man in a dark armored suit with brightly lit energy coursing through it. They couldn't tell if it was the same energy that they were investigating now with the weapons they captured due to it all being in black and white. Adam was shocked as he slowly turned around before dropping his phone and scattering to his rear as he fell into a puddle, shuffling back as the man stepped forwards slowly. Hunt appeared to be begging for his life but, he received no mercy from the killer who ominously pulled a black titanium arrow from a quiver strapped to his back along with a sheathed blade. Simultaneously grabbing a device from his belt which quickly and swiftly extended into a mechanized professional compound bow, crossing the two items, and pulling back on the drawstring. The arrow was loosed on Adam who was struck in the chest, quickly pulling out another projectile, pulling back and firing twice more in succession leaving three arrows pultruding from his chest.

Ben narrowed his eyes at the screen as Adam Hunt's body collapsed into a heap sprawled out on the wet asphalt, leaving a small trail of blood that would be washed away by the puddle he landed in. The most shocking part of the footage being that after pressing down on a button collapsing his bow back into a handheld device he strapped to his belt, an explosion of light suddenly encompassed him instantly changing his form. Ben's eyes went wide as he almost stepped back in confusion as the flash left a familiar creature in his place. It looked almost like XLR8 but, with green plated armored and a bit bulkier too, not ever seeing anything quite like its razor-sharp tail that swung behind it. It dashed through the area far too fast for the cameras shutter-speed to pick it up, vanishing with the body what appeared to be instantly gone.

"So, that was him then?" Gwendolyn asked as she narrowed her eyes, the recording paused and Ben stepped forward again, looking down on the screen as he processed the information. Another watch wielding shapeshifter, he was beginning to think he should start suing for copyright infringement.

Ben narrowed his eyes with a suspicious expression, "Prometheus has an Omnitrix… how could he have possibly gotten one?" he announced which was more obvious once said out loud, the video clearly displayed abilities identical to Ben's after all.

Cooper shrugged and folded his arms, seeing only one obvious suspect, "I dunno, elaborate traps? Omnitrix? Crimson energy?!" he blinked as though what he was implying was quite obvious but, neither of them really understood what he was implying, "Hello, it has to be your evil twin!" reminding them of Albedo once again, it did seem likely that he could hypothetically pull this type of thing off, specially since Azmuth fixed the mental glitches in his watch, however; something wasn't right about that theory.

Ben shook his head, "There's no motive, when Azmuth adjusted his copied Omnitrix, it restored his mind to its original state, he's still limited by a human brain but, he isn't insane anymore," he recalled how they left on good terms all those years ago, going on some adventure with Charmcaster who knows where.

Gwendolyn gestured at Ben reaffirming his theory, "Yea, didn't he walk off into the sunset with Charmcaster? I can try to see if I can contact her through the mana field but, if this isn't Albedo how could he have gotten a watch?" they all glanced back at the frozen image on screen of Prometheus as a speedster just before he vanished, there was definitely a symbol on his chest as he stood idly for nearly a whole single frame but, it was too low quality to identify anything from it.

"Is there anyway to enhance the image? I want to see what the badge on his chest is, it'll confirm our suspicions," Ben narrowed his eyes as Cooper nodded used his hands to widen the holographic projection for them all to see clearly. Going through a few editing algorithms, he cleaned up the quality as best he could, considering its origin.

He sighed and leaned back a bit admiring his work, "This is the best I could do," he muttered as he placed his hands behind his head, resting it on them as they examined the unique half hourglass design, identical to Ben's only cut down the middle which ruled out Albedo as a suspect. Especially considering this strange version of XLR8 doesn't match his Negative forms, usually being exact copies of his own forms, not modified armored versions.

"That's definitely not Albedo," Gwen noted out loud, having zoomed in on the image, it was apparent they were dealing with an entirely new threat. All three of them narrowing their eyes at the screen as they each slipped into a pensive stare, combing through personal suspicions on who the killer could be.

…

Omnitrix City; Apartment Complex; December 21st, 2017; 12:26AM

Kai didn't much like the winter weather in South Dakota, having grown up in New Mexico made her far more resilient to heat than the cold. Still, she made the extra effort to follow her boyfriend across the country for his new job as a Magister in the Plumbers with her Grandfather who took up the mantel of Magistratus. Both moving to the be within driving range of the new Plumber Base in Mount Rushmore, since they had first moved here six months ago, they had gotten used to meeting each other on a rooftop for sparring sessions. Since it was usually a completely secluded area atop an even more secluded roof of an abandoned building, they didn't mind perhaps getting carried away in the heat of the moment to counter the cold weather. Though Kevin was never fond of going all the way out in public spite there not being a soul around for miles.

They were staying in an apartment nearby set up for them by the owner of the city himself, quite lavish spite being still under construction, but Ben felt bad for them having to uproot their lives to bring back the Plumbers. Kai huffed as she watched her breath billow out into the cool air, it was under fifty-degrees, so she grabbed the ends of her peach cotton jacket pulling it closed over her torso.

Suddenly, she heard a pair of boots stepping across the gravel behind her, crunching against the rocks as she assumed it had to be Kevin's Plumber combat-boots. "Took you long enough," she said out loud, taking her time to turn around as she swung her sheathed sword over her shoulder casually. Taking her by surprise, she found herself faced not with her Osmosian boyfriend but, with a menacing figure in a hooded kevlar black suit, holding a bow and arrow already pulled back on the drawstring. In a single motion, Kai used her thumb to flick open the latch that kept her sheath fastened, quickly pulling on the handle with all of her strength to get it out in front of her in time.

As the clouds started to collect across the sky, raining down glistening fractals of snow around them, releasing his hold on the drawstring sent a billow of fractals out around him reflecting the moon light raining down on him. The serrated arrow flew out at two-hundred miles-per-hour, only being intercepted with the benefit of aim-dodge advantage. Having seen him already targeting her, she was able to swing upwards quick enough to dice the projectile in two.

"Who the hell are you?!" Kai shouted with a long huff, the adrenaline spiking in her blood, a small drop of sweat starting to form over her brow. Prometheus didn't need to speak to intimidate her, and she didn't need to know his name, she wouldn't be a problem much longer.

His masked head only tilted at her like a confused dog, using the menacing crimson glare of the eyes illuminated beneath the black mask to keep her frozen in fear. He lowered his bow, not reaching for another arrow yet as he practically baited her, giving her the time to advance towards him. Kai sprinted forwards with a powerful downward swing which only cut through the air and into the gravel as he side stepped it with ease, quickly spinning around and using the momentum to pull her broadsword into a rightward slash. Prometheus simply used the base of his steel-compound bow to stop the blade short of its target, parrying it away slightly prompted her to swing again. He allowed her to continue for a moment as he finally stepped in to finish the fight, blocking her next swing with the bow, he stepped forward forcing her back. He swung his bow at her but, she deflected it with her blade still almost tripping backwards, she had only advanced so far from the ledge, so she had to use the space she had left wisely.

Prometheus took her misstep as an opportunity to swing his bow across her face, cutting her lip and sending a splatter of blood over the white gravel rooftop. Grabbing her by the hair while she was stunned, he nailed her with an uppercut to her face with such strength it sent her half an inch off the ground. Dropping her blade, Kai only barely managed to stay on her feet, holding her head with a disorienting expression, this was over. He still wanted to finish this battle his way, readjusting his bow at level with his target, he retrieved another black steel arrow from the quiver on his back.

Kai shook her head and attempted to regain her senses, watching as he fired another arrow only this time she couldn't deflect it, screaming as her jaw tightened shut when it pierced through her left shoulder. He was shocked when she still didn't go down, pulling out another arrow as she huffed, spitting blood into the thin layer of snow over the roof. He unleashed the arrow not anticipating her to let loose a warrior's battle cry, likely realizing she wasn't going to make it out of this alive, she charged at Prometheus allowing her to dodge his second arrow. Though he still fired a third one into her opposing shoulder blade, blood seeped out from her clothes as her knees still didn't buckle under the weight of the pain pinning her down. Instead of firing another, he collapsed his compound bow and attached it to his belt, approaching with a frustrated strut and gripping her by the throat.

This time it was clear Prometheus had some sort of enhanced strength, lifting her up with one hand by the neck and walking her out over the ledge which led down fifty feet to a set of old dumpsters. Kai's adrenaline rushed kicked in one last time as she choked on blood, sputtering it out of her lips as she reached out to claw at him, "W-Who the h-ell a-are y-" only managing to grab hold of his mask. Feeling the most miniscule of victories turned out to be bittersweet as she felt pride in finally getting a hold of him in some way but, the face she saw staring back at her when she tore it off his head scarred her to her very core.

"You were more resilient than I expected you to be, where I come from, you were much weaker…" Prometheus gave a sinister grin she could now see clearly in the moonlight, as someone she'd known for years reached behind them, and pulled out a katana. "Don't be afraid, my friend, death comes for us all… we can only evade it for so long," he punctuated his sentence by driving his blade through her heart, slicking it with her blood nearly down to the hilt, keeping her held up by the throat, Kai looked into the eyes of a friend that were tainted with crimson energy as the life drained out of her own in his hands. Pulling the blade out, he waited until he was sure she was dead, before yanking the mask from her cold fingers, letting go of his grip, and letting her fall back first through the snowy air.

Kevin had pulled up in the lot behind their rendezvous spot, getting out of the driver's seat after a long day, he grazed his fingers over the sleek tungsten black steel of his hood before shutting the door and stretching his back. Lazily making his way through the alley, it was only a few flights up a fire escape to see her, though he didn't bother looking up, part of him wish he had. As he was about to grab hold of the ladder that extended down from the fire escape, a hundred- and sixty-pound woman rained down hitting the lid of a closed off dumpster hard enough that her body bounced ever so slightly. Rolling off the massive aluminum can, lying sprawled out with two arrows jammed in her shoulders and a massive bleeding wound in her abdomen.

"Kai? Kai?!" Kevin quickly sprinted over, leaning next to her on the asphalt as he checked her pulse, finding there to be nothing left to resuscitate. "No… No-No-No-NO!" he began shouting as the tears started to stream down his cheeks, he glanced up at the rooftop where Prometheus stared down on them, now wearing his mask again, and with moonlight flashing down obscuring his vision of the figure, he couldn't bring himself to care about a fight. He simply crouched over her body, crying into her shirt trying his best not to get her blood on his face, he couldn't shake the horrific look in her eyes as she stared out into the darkened sky.

…