“Kevin, stop!
He’s not Ben!” Gwen said, her voice sharp as her mind raced, trying to piece together the bizarre situation.
If he isn’t Ben, then who is he?
Why go through all the trouble of impersonating him?
And how did he manage to forge Ben’s exact mana signature on that piece of metal?
The questions swirled in her head like a tangle of threads she couldn’t untangle.
The teenager sitting on the sofa let out a low, amused laugh, taking another slow sip of his slushie before flashing a sly, mocking smile.
“Well, well.
Full marks for observation, Miss Tennyson.
Indeed, I am not your precious cousin.” He leaned back, crossing his legs as his eyes gleamed with cold amusement.
“Now, shall we play a little game?
No prizes, unfortunately, but do put those brilliant brains of yours to work.
Guess who I am.”
He spoke with total nonchalance, completely unbothered by being caught.
Gwen’s eyes narrowed as her mind operated like a high-speed processor, analyzing every detail—the voice, the subtle mannerisms, the sheer arrogance.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, a memory clicked into place.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“Albedo!” she gasped.
“You’re Albedo!”
Hearing his name, Albedo’s smile widened.
He snapped his fingers with a sharp clack and chuckled softly.
“Magnificent, Gwen!
Congratulations on solving the mystery.
Though, as I mentioned, there are no prizes for second place.” He offered her a playful, mocking wink.
With his identity exposed, Albedo saw no further need to keep up the charade.
He reached down, unzipped the iconic green jacket, and tossed it carelessly onto the sofa.
He picked up a cardboard box resting beside the couch and pulled out a sharp, dark red jacket lined with black accents, slipping it over his shoulders.
Next, he reached up to his eyes, deftly plucking out two thin green contact lenses, before reaching up to snatch off the brown wig covering his head.
With a light shake of his head, his true appearance was laid bare.
Spiky, stark-white hair fell over his forehead, framing a pale face that matched Ben Tennyson’s down to the bone structure.
But his eyes—shimmering with a cold, blood-red hue—were entirely his own.
Underneath them sat faint, barely noticeable dark circles, a lingering testament to endless, sleepless nights spent hunched over laboratory consoles.
“What are you doing here?
How did you escape a high-security Galvan prison?”
Albedo rolled his eyes, letting out a dismissive huff.
“That primitive lockup?
Please.
It was barely a inconvenience.
I am Albedo.
Did my temporary physical resemblance to Ben Tennyson make you forget that I possess one of the greatest scientific minds in the known universe?”
Gwen’s brow furrowed deeper.
“Then what do you want?
Why go through all this—”
Albedo raised a single pale hand, cutting her off.
“Enough, my dear.
Save your breath.
Before we continue this delightful Q&A session, allow me to introduce my associate.
I suspect you two are already quite familiar with him.”
Gwen’s mind raced.
An associate?
Who could Albedo possibly be working with?
She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
Heavy, thunderous footsteps echoed from the darkened corridor at the far end of the room.
Out from the shadows stepped a towering, emerald-green figure clad in dark, ominous armor, his broadsword strapped to his back and his octopus-like head twisting into a cruel sneer.
Gwen’s breath hitched.
Beside her, Kevin’s jaw dropped so low it nearly hit his chest, his eyes wide with utter disbelief.
Vilgax.
It made zero logical sense.
Both Albedo and Vilgax were obsessed with obtaining the Omnitrix.
Under normal circumstances, the two megalomaniacs would tear each other apart the second they crossed paths.
The idea of them standing side-by-side was a nightmare scenario neither of them had ever anticipated.
Kevin was the first to find his voice, breaking the stunned silence with a raspy growl.
“Okay, hold on.
You two are teaming up to steal the watch?
What are you going to do once you get it—cut it in half and share the gears?”
Vilgax let out a low, terrifying rumble of laughter.
“My concerns lie far beyond the mechanics of the device, boy,” Vilgax growled, his red optic glowing with pure malice.
“I am here for Ben Tennyson’s life.
Once he is eliminated, the Omnitrix will fall to whoever is truly worthy to wield it.
And with the two of you locked in my grasp, the boy will come running straight into the trap.”
Vilgax notably avoided explicitly naming Albedo as the recipient of the watch, but Albedo didn’t care in the slightest.
He didn’t need Vilgax’s permission, nor did he care about Ben’s prototype watch.
His customized Ultimatrix was already light-years ahead of the original Omnitrix in performance and stability.
To Albedo, this entire operation was simply an entertaining prelude—a way to manipulate the board and set his own long-term plans into motion.
Albedo clapped his hands together, the sharp sound echoing through the dusty vault.
“Alright, chat time is officially over,” Albedo announced cheerfully, tapping the red gauntlet on his left wrist.
“It’s time to set the stage for our hero’s grand arrival.
But before Tennyson gets here…
I think you two deserve a nice, long rest.”
Before Kevin or Gwen could react, Albedo slammed his hand down onto the Ultimatrix dial.
A blinding surge of crimson light engulfed his body.
When the light snapped back into the device, a tiny, soccer-ball-sized figure with fluttery wings hovered in the air—Pesky Dust.
Kevin blinked, his jaw dropping for the second time in five minutes.
“No way…
you can turn into a Nemuina?!”
Gwen looked between Kevin and the tiny fairy in confusion.
“A Nemuina?
What is that?
Is it dangerous?”
“Dangerous?” Kevin stammered, staring at the floating alien.
“Gwen, Nemuina are practically myth!
Their species is almost completely extinct—there are only supposed to be a tiny handful left on Nemuina 4!”
Albedo didn’t waste time indulging their biology lesson.
Hovering gracefully above the bound pair, he raised both gloved hands high into the air.
A dense, luminescent cloud of shimmering purple sleep dust poured from his palms, cascading over Kevin and Gwen like a glittering mist.
“Sleep tight, my friends,” Albedo’s high-pitched, ethereal voice echoed softly through the mist.
“Sweet dreams.”
Within seconds, both Kevin and Gwen’s eyes fluttered shut, their heads dropping as they sank instantly into a deep, unbroken slumber.