By late afternoon, as the sun began its slow descent toward the horizon, Ben led Gwen and Blake down a secluded alleyway.
Noticing how suspiciously Ben was acting, Gwen was the first to speak up.
“Where exactly are we going, Detective Tennyson?”
Ben leaned back against the brick wall, scanning their surroundings in all directions before looking back at them.
“We’re going into the storm cellar door right next to those trash cans.”
Once she was absolutely sure the coast was clear, she gestured for them to follow, and the trio sprinted toward the metal cellar doors.
Meanwhile, in another alleyway not far away, three elderly residents were gathered, speaking in low, eerie tones.
“Is the livestock ready to be shipped up yet?”
“The pods are in the final stages of the digestion process.”
“What about those three brats?”
At that question, one of the seniors narrowed his eyes, a savage gleam reflecting in his gaze.
“They’re too tender.
We should let them age a bit more before we consume them.
They’ll taste much better.”
“All you ever think about is eating,” another hissed.
“That little girl is already far too suspicious.”
Back on the main street, Ben and the others emerged from the alley, passing right by two old men who were casually throwing a ball back and forth.
Everything seemed perfectly normal until the terrifying reality of the town struck again.
The moment the trio walked past, the two seniors spun around.
Baring rows of sharp, slime-green teeth, they let out guttural roars and violently hurled the heavy ball straight at them.
“Run!”
Ben yelled, and the three of them bolted around a sharp corner.
To their immense relief, they ran right into Grandpa Max.
Looking completely unbothered, Grandpa Max walked toward them, offering a calm smile.
“What’s going on, kids?”
“Grandpa!” Ben cried out in sheer terror.
“They’re everywhere!
The whole town is-”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Grandpa Max’s face contorted into a grotesque, mocking grin.
His arms suddenly elongated, stretching out across the pavement toward them.
“Come here, children.
Let Grandpa protect you.”
His jaw then unhinged to an impossible, cavernous width, as if he intended to swallow them whole.
“Run!”
They pivoted and bolted back into the main road, only to skedaddle to a halt.
Blocking their path ahead were four more possessed seniors, effortlessly hoisting a massive delivery truck over their heads, preparing to hurl it right at them.
Blake glanced back over his shoulder.
The horrifying, distorted version of Grandpa Max was closing in fast.
Without a second thought, his gaze dropped to the Omnitrix on his wrist.
(Looks like it’s time to play dirty.)
Blake rapidly spun the dial, lining up the silhouette of XLR8, and slammed the faceplate down.
In a brilliant flash of white light, he transformed.
Utilizing his godlike velocity, XLR8 blurred forward, scooping up both Ben and Gwen before the truck could crush them, and zipped back to the alleyway.
He reached the storm cellar doors in a fraction of a second.
Following Ben’s earlier instructions, he effortlessly shoved the heavy dumpster off the metal hatch.
Hearing the enraged roars of the possessed horde echoing close behind, Blake quickly yanked the cellar doors open, gathered the two girls in his arms, and leaped into the dark abyss.
After a brief sensation of freefall, they hit the floor of the underground tunnel.
Fortunately, Blake’s alien balance was flawless, allowing him to stick the landing perfectly without dropping anyone.
Above them, the horde of seniors swarmed the opening, scaling the walls like insects as they swarmed down into the cellar.
“Keep moving!” Gwen yelled.
Clutching both girls tightly, Blake bolted down the subterranean tunnels, skidding to a halt only when they reached a dark, cavernous crossroads.
Realizing they were temporarily safe in the shadows, Blake gently set Ben and Gwen down.
He reached for the Omnitrix dial on his chest, spinning it to calculate his next move.
Finding the perfect fit, he tapped the dial and shifted into Wildmutt.
Seeing Blake seamlessly chain-transform from one alien hero to another without any cooldown, Ben’s mouth fell open, her eyes sparkling with pure awe.
“Whoa!
How did you do that?!”
As Wildmutt, Blake couldn’t speak.
He merely offered a series of low, deep growls.
Before Ben could ask any more questions, an elongated arm shot out from the darkness, aiming straight for her throat.
Thanks to Wildmutt’s extraordinary sensory organs, Blake detected the attack instantly.
He lunged forward, locking his razor-sharp teeth onto the appendage and violently swinging the creature into the stone wall.
A chaotic brawl ensued.
Using his superior agility and brute strength, Blake systematically overwhelmed the alien parasite, ultimately bringing down a section of the tunnel to bury the creature under a heavy pile of rocks.
Knowing that staying in one place would only invite more monsters, Blake turned to the girls and let out a sequence of communicative grunts and barks.
He fully expected them to be completely bewildered.
After all, Blake himself didn’t even know what he was trying to say.
Yet, a surreal moment of profound understanding occurred.
Ben blinked, completely decoding his message, and immediately scrambled onto Wildmutt’s broad, fur-covered back.
“Hurry up, nerd!
Get on!” Ben urged, looking back at her cousin.
Gwen climbed up behind her, her face a mask of absolute disbelief.
“This is insane!
How do you actually understand what he’s saying?!”
Once the two girls were securely seated, Blake caught a highly distinct, pungent scent in the air.
Lowering his head, he surged down the tunnels at a ferocious pace, tracking the odor.
For the two girls on his back, the ride was anything but smooth.
Because Wildmutt ran on all fours at extreme speeds, they bounced wildly, struggling to keep their balance.
“You really should consider installing seatbelts on your back!” Gwen yelled over the wind.
Just as she finished complaining, the Omnitrix symbol on Blake’s chest began to flash a vibrant, urgent red.
Sensing his time was up, Blake executed a desperate, heavy body-slam against the upcoming wall, shattering the structural barrier just as the transformation wore off.
They tumbled into a massive underground chamber.
Gwen pushed herself up, brushing the dirt off her clothes as she glared at Blake.
“Ugh!
Do we look like crash-test dummies to you?”
Blake ignored the complaint, pulling himself up and walking forward.
“Follow me.
I smelled something really weird right through here.”
The trio stepped deeper into the cavern, revealing a staggering sight: the massive space was filled with hundreds of glowing green, translucent cocoons, each containing a trapped human being.
Gwen gasped, looking at the rows of pods.
“It looks like they’ve captured every single resident from the retirement community.”
Ben scanned the pods frantically until her eyes landed on a specific one.
“Grandpa!”
She sprinted over, gripping the slimy, organic material of the cocoon.
Utilizing pure, adrenaline-fueled strength, she violently ripped the pod open.
As the alien membrane tore apart, the real Grandpa Max spilled out onto the floor.
He rubbed his aching head, his voice groggy and disoriented.
“Ah…
I was…
taking a walk…
and then…
I don’t remember what happened…”
Gwen rushed forward to help her grandfather up, while Ben moved to tear open the adjacent cocoon.
“I strongly advise you to stop that,” a chilling voice boomed.
A group of alien parasites stepped out from the shadows, blocking their path.
Ben took a cautious step back, defiantly retorting, “Like I care what you think!”
As the extraterrestrial creatures advanced, forcing the group backward, Gwen’s hand accidentally brushed against a control console, triggering a manual override.
With a heavy mechanical hum, the bay doors of a massive hidden spacecraft slowly opened.
“Look at that!” Gwen pointed.
Grandpa Max looked up at the looming vessel.
Given his vast, classified background, he recognized it instantly.
“It’s a spacecraft.”
Realizing their secret operation was completely exposed, the lead alien’s expression turned murderous.
“They know too much.
Do not let them leave this chamber alive!”
Seeing the perfect opening, Ben looked down at her watch, spinning the dial until the flaming silhouette appeared.
She lifted her hand, a fierce determination in her eyes.
“Alright, freaks.
Now you’ve really ticked me off!”
She slammed the faceplate down, a burst of heat consuming her as she transformed into Heatblast.
“Time to teach you guys a lesson!”
Heatblast conjured a blazing fireball between her palms, unleashing a torrential wave of flame directly at the advancing aliens.
To her shock, the attack did absolutely nothing.
Instead, the smaller parasites began to merge together, fusing into one colossal, towering alien monstrosity.
“Whoever you are, you just sealed your own doom,” the giant alien bellowed, stepping directly into the fire.
“We Xenomorphs thrive in extreme heat!”
It was painfully clear that Heatblast’s flames were doing nothing more than giving the monster a comfortable warm bath.
“Why else do you think we chose a desert wasteland in the middle of summer?” the monster jeered.
The situation was rapidly deteriorating, and Blake’s Omnitrix was still locked in its recharge cycle.
Fortunately, a memory from the original show sparked in his mind.
(Right!
When I saved Ben earlier, I remembered the walking cane shattered the fire hydrant, and the water instantly terrified the creature.)
He pivoted toward Gwen, his voice urgent.
“The water gun!
Give it to me!
They’re weak against water!”
Without a second thought, Gwen handed the neon toy over.
Clutching the water gun, Blake sprinted toward one of the smaller stray aliens and pulled the trigger.
The moment the stream of water hit its skin, the creature let out a pained shriek and dissolved into nothingness.
Having confirmed his theory, Blake turned toward Heatblast and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Ben!
They’re weak against water!
Hit the pipes!”
Heatblast looked up, spotting a massive, high-pressure water main running along the ceiling.
“On it!”
She hurled a concentrated fireball upward, completely rupturing the main line.
The pipe burst open, creating a massive, torrential indoor downpour.
The freezing water drenched the giant alien monster, causing it to howl in agonizing pain as its body began to disintegrate under the deluge.
With the core monster destroyed, the automated alien spacecraft sealed its hatches and launched out of the cavern, escaping into deep space.
Silence returned to the cavern, leaving behind a sea of dissolving green cocoons and four completely drenched humans.
Grandpa Max looked around at the awakening townspeople, offering a practical solution.
“Let’s get them all back to their homes.
When they wake up, they won’t have any memory of what happened.”
Gwen slid down onto the stone floor, exhausted.
“But Grandpa, doing that will take hours!”
Blake offered a soft chuckle, walking up to Heatblast.
“With XLR8, it’ll only take a couple of minutes.”
Without waiting for her to respond, Blake reached out, adjusted the Omnitrix dial on her chest, and pressed it down.
A brilliant flash of green light erupted, and Heatblast instantly shifted into XLR8.
“Whoa!
Hey, how did you do that?!” Ben asked, completely baffled by his mastery over her watch.
Blake simply offered a mysterious, knowing smile.
“I’ll teach you when you’re older.”
## The Next Morning
The sun rose over the peaceful retirement community as Grandpa Max and the kids stood by the RV, saying their final goodbyes to Aunt Vera.
“Make sure to visit more often, alright?” Aunt Vera smiled.
“We will, Aunt Vera,” Max replied warmly.
Turning to Gwen, Aunt Vera kindly knelt down to her eye level.
“Oh, sweetie, I packed a little something for you to eat on the road.”
She produced a massive platter covered in the infamous, brown, gelatinous pureed pork chops and handed it to a horrified Gwen.
“Ben mentioned to me just how much you absolutely adored my cooking,” Aunt Vera added with a sweet smile.
Gwen looked over her shoulder to find Ben standing by the RV door, sporting a massive, mischievous grin.
Gwen instantly realized she had been framed.
“Uh…
thank you, Aunt Vera…” Gwen stammered, forcing a deeply strained, painful smile as she accepted the platter.
Next, Aunt Vera turned to Ben, a trace of guilt in her elderly eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Ben.
There really wasn’t anything fun for a young girl like you to do around here.
I hope you weren’t bored to tears.”
Recalling the absolute chaos of the previous night, Ben chuckled, stepping forward with a bright smile.
“Are you kidding?
It was way better than I ever expected!”
Relieved to hear it, Aunt Vera pulled Ben into a tight hug.
“I’m so glad.
Have a wonderful rest of your summer trip, dear.”
Finally, she turned her gaze toward Blake.
Though they weren’t related, Aunt Vera looked at him with an incredibly fond, motherly warmth.
“Blake, I’m trusting you to look after these two troublemakers for me.”
She leaned in slightly, adding in a clear voice, “Especially Ben.”
Hearing her own name brought up in a conversation between Aunt Vera and Blake, Ben quickly poked her head out from the RV door, covertly eavesdropping.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Vera.
I will,” Blake promised with a respectful nod, stepping forward to give her a polite goodbye hug.
As Blake turned and began walking into the RV, Aunt Vera caught sight of Ben’s head poking out of the doorway.
A knowing, incredibly mischievous glint flashed in the old lady’s eyes as she called out playfully, “Good luck, Ben!
Give it your best shot!”
Blake, entirely misinterpreting the comment, assumed Aunt Vera was simply telling Ben to study hard or do her best this summer, given her notorious reputation as a slacker in school.
Ben, however, understood the romantic implication instantly.
Her head snapped back into the RV, her entire face burning a furious shade of crimson as she buried her face in her hands, whispering in a panicked, embarrassed flurry, “Aunt Vera!
Are you…
are you teasing me…?!”
Outside, Aunt Vera didn’t say another word.
She merely giggled softly, waving a warm goodbye as the Rust Bucket fired up its engine and rolled out of the creepy town.