Meanwhile, Ben was being relentlessly pursued by the combat droid.
She scrambled through the darkness until she finally heard the beautiful, high-pitched chime of the Omnitrix completing its recharge cycle.
Seeing the faceplate pop up, Ben grinned.
She raised her left wrist, preparing to slam her palm down.
“Awesome!
With this watch active, I’m not afraid of anything!”
“No!
Ben, stop!
Don’t take the bait!” Grandpa Max yelled, trying to hold her back.
But Ben completely ignored the warning and slammed her hand down without a second thought.
In a brilliant flash, she transformed into Diamondhead, leaping clean out of the runaway mine cart to engage the combat droid in a regular old-fashioned brawl.
Unfortunately, even as Diamondhead, she was no match for a seasoned extraterrestrial bounty hunter.
Her lack of combat experience caught up with her immediately, and she was quickly pushed into a corner, struggling to defend herself.
Fortunately, the black-armored bounty hunter intervened just in time.
With a series of precise, overwhelming strikes, he completely incapacitated the attacking droid, scooped Ben up, and retreated.
He carried her back to the tracks, unceremoniously dumping her back into the moving mine cart before voicing his utter exasperation.
“There are billions of humans living on this planet.” He shook his head, staring at her.
“How the Omnitrix managed to pick a little bonehead like you is completely beyond me.”
Ben pushed herself up, glaring at him.
“Hey, I already told your buddy back there that this thing doesn’t come off.
Trust me, I’ve tried.”
The armored warrior turned away, his voice remaining cool and methodical.
“Of course it doesn’t come off.
It utilizes dynamic alien DNA binding.
The moment it latched onto you, it fused seamlessly with your genetic structure.” He glanced back over his shoulder.
“It is not something you can simply remove like a hat.”
Frustrated by his condescending tone, Ben lunged forward, attempting to catch him off guard with a sudden strike.
But the warrior anticipated her movement effortlessly.
He sidestepped the attack with fluid grace, delivering a swift, sweeping counter that sent Diamondhead crashing back onto the floorboards.
“You choose your forms strictly based on raw physical power,” he lectured, looking down at her.
“There is absolutely no tactical awareness or strategic depth to your actions.
Have you ever actually paused to think about how to mathematically secure a victory?”
Ben pushed herself up, thoroughly offended.
She pointed a crystalline finger at him, her voice defiant.
“Hey!
I’ve smashed more alien freaks this summer than I can even count!”
The warrior didn’t miss a beat to shoot her down.
“You mean like the one that currently has you running for your life inside an abandoned mine shaft?”
Infuriated, Ben threw another heavy punch, but the armored fighter predicted every single trajectory.
He dodged her strikes with minimal effort, utilizing her own momentum to redirect her into the dirt, delivering a painful lesson with every counter-move.
“A single, miscalculated mistake out here will cost you your life,” he warned, his voice hardening.
“And you will lose the Omnitrix.”
With a powerful, decisive strike, he swept her legs out from under her, sending her crashing flat on her back.
He stepped closer, staring down at the defeated hero.
“The Omnitrix is not a novel little toy meant to provide you with daily entertainment.
It is the most formidable weapon in the entire galaxy.
It is the definitive turning point in an epic, interstellar war between absolute good and absolute evil.”
Hearing him ramble on with an intense, dramatic speech, Ben rolled her eyes and sat up.
“Okay, serious question , whose side are you even on?”
“You’re still breathing, aren’t you?” the warrior countered.
Ben blinked, her jaw dropping slightly in sheer realization.
“Wait…
you’re a good guy?”
Finally laying his cards on the table, the black-armored warrior pointed a heavy finger directly at the green-and-black symbol on her chest.
“My explicit mission was to retrieve the Omnitrix at all costs.
But since it has permanently bonded to your genetic matrix, I have no choice but to escort you back with me to have it professionally extracted.”
Hearing that he intended to drag her away from Earth, a fierce surge of anger flared within her.
She violently slapped his hand away, yelling, “No way!
I am not going anywhere with you!”
In that moment of pure panic, Ben didn’t even notice the deeper emotions slipping through her defensive words.
It was an unexplainable, protective instinct – as if there was someone on this journey she simply couldn’t bear to leave behind.
“You do not have a choice in the matter,” the warrior stated firmly.
Realizing that talking was completely useless, Ben lowered her center of gravity and threw her entire weight into a tackle, slamming into the armored figure.
“Now I do!”
But the warrior caught her effortlessly, throwing her back onto the ground with a frustrated sigh.
“You possess absolutely zero understanding of this form’s inherent strengths and structural vulnerabilities.
Watching you fight is genuinely infuriating.
You aren’t utilizing even a fraction of this alien’s true combat parameters.”
Ben scoffed, crossing her arms defiantly.
“Oh, yeah?
And what exactly makes you such a high and mighty expert?”
The warrior didn’t say a word.
Instead, he reached up to his helmet, pressing a manual release.
The sleek obsidian armor split down the center, folding back to reveal the crystalline, pale-blue form of a mature Petrosapien.
Ben stared at the identical alien features, her mind short-circuiting.
“You’re…
me?”
The older Petrosapien shook his head, pointing a sharp finger at her chest.
“Incorrect.
I am a disciplined, noble warrior.
You, on the other hand, are merely an annoying, undisciplined child.”
Right as he finished his sentence, the Omnitrix timed out with a loud beep, and a flash of red light reverted Ben right back into an ordinary human girl.
Seeing that her alien defense was gone, the Petrosapien didn’t waste any more words.
He reached down, effortlessly hoisting Ben up by the collar of her shirt with one hand.
“We have wasted far too much time already.”
“Hey!
Let me go!
Put me down!” Ben thrashed wildly.
However, before the warrior could summon his hoverboard to initiate their departure, he discovered a major complication.
The third alien bounty hunter had ambushed their position, hijacking his hoverboard and taking Grandpa Max and Gwen hostage.
Forced into a tactical retreat, the Petrosapien dragged Ben into a nearby cluster of structural ruins, depositing her safely behind a collapsed stone pillar.
“What are you just standing there for?!” Ben yelled, her voice laced with panic.
“Go rescue them!
Those are my family members!”
The Petrosapien remained entirely detached, his priority fixed solely on securing the Omnitrix wielder.
“You cannot save them.
An uncalculated rescue attempt will only result in your swift defeat and capture.
The most logical tactical parameter right now is for me to reclaim my hoverboard so we can safely evacuate this sector.”
With that, the warrior slipped out of the ruins, drawing his weapon to engage the hostage-taker.
Left behind in the shadows, Ben felt a deep wave of helplessness wash over her—until the distinct, cheerful chime of a fully charged Omnitrix echoed through the stone chamber, reigniting her hope.
She pressed the activation button, watching the dial snap up.
As she looked at the silhouettes, the echoes of her grandfather’s lectures and Blake’s constant reminders suddenly resonated in her mind.
*(Remember to think before you leap, Ben…
Don’t just rely on raw power.
Brute force is rarely the best solution.)*
For the first time all summer, Ben didn’t just pick the biggest, toughest alien on the dial.
She systematically spun the wheel, her eyes locked firmly on the tiny, big-brained silhouette of Grey Matter.
With a brilliant flash of green light, she transformed into the miniature Galvan.
Moving with stealthy, calculated agility, she utilized the ongoing chaotic firefight outside to slip past the defenses, executing a precise leap straight onto the back of the enemy bounty hunter’s mechanical armor.
“Let’s see what happens if I pull this little wire right here!” Ben squeaked, shoving her tiny hands into an exposed maintenance hatch.
With a chaotic flurry of deliberate sabotage, she ripped through the core wiring harness.
The bounty hunter’s high-tech armor sparked violently, short-circuiting entirely and rendering him completely inert.
But her triumphant moment was cut short.
The explosive firefight had structurally compromised the foundations above them, and a massive, heavy water tower began to collapse, hurling thousands of pounds of steel and wood straight down toward her position.
“Oh…
man, this is gonna hurt…” Ben squeaked, closing her eyes.
Just as she braced to be crushed into a literal pancake, a sudden blur of motion tore through the dust.
A powerful pair of arms scooped her tiny form up, whisking her out of the impact zone at impossible speeds.
The velocity was so extreme that a massive cloud of dust whipped up around them, obscuring the battlefield.
As the air finally cleared, Ben opened her eyes to find herself cradled safely in the arms of XLR8.
She looked up, recognizing the distinct green-and-black patterns on his chest armor.
“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Blake’s voice echoed smoothly from beneath the visor.
At that exact second, Ben’s watch ran out of power, reverting her back to her human form.
Seeing that Blake had genuinely made it back to her safely, a powerful wave of relief washed over her.
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and before she could even think about hiding her emotions, she threw her arms tightly around his neck.
“You’re okay…
I was so worried about you!”
Feeling her small form trembling as she clung to him so fiercely, Blake froze, a wave of profound awkwardness washing over him.
He cleared his throat softly, whispering, “Uh…
I mean, I made it back in one piece…
right?”
Before Ben could fully process how tightly she was embracing him, a dry, deliberate cough shattered the intimate moment.
“Ahem.”
The older Petrosapien stepped into the clearing, gesturing toward a sleek piece of technology resting on the ground.
“I deeply apologize for interrupting whatever this is, but I believe you might find this useful.”
Ben’s face exploded into a furious, burning blush.
She instantly broke the embrace, stepping back and frantically slapping her own cheeks to cool her face down before turning around to meet the alien warrior’s gaze.
Looking down, she realized he had recovered his advanced hoverboard, holding it out toward her.
She took it with trembling hands, blinking in confusion.
“Wait…
are you serious?”
She looked up at the massive warrior.
“Hold on, didn’t you say you explicitly needed this tech to leave the planet?”
“A minor tactical deception,” the Petrosapien replied smoothly, a rare, faint smirk touching his features.
“Huh?” Ben blinked, entirely lost.
Standing nearby, Gwen rolled her eyes at her cousin’s complete obliviousness.
“He played you like a fiddle, bonehead.
It was a test.”
Blake, who had returned to his human form, watched the exchange with a grin.
He looked at the veteran warrior and teased, “Hey, what about me?
Don’t I get a cool space souvenir?”
The Petrosapien offered a quiet, respectful chuckle.
He stepped into the glowing column of his ship’s extraction beam, turning back to look at the two young heroes one last time.
“You do not require one.
I am thoroughly at peace knowing that these devices have found exceptional wielders.”
With a flash of light, the noble warrior dissolved into the sky, returning to the stars.
Blake tapped the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, relaxing his posture as he walked over to the group.
Gwen, however, couldn’t help but sigh dramatically, looking between Blake and Ben.
“Ugh, why is it that you two always get the incredibly cool alien technology, and I’m left with absolutely nothing?”
Hearing her cousin’s complaint, Ben puffed out what little chest she had, a triumphant, proud grin returning to her face.
“Because it looks completely awesome on us, obviously!”
“Right.
Well, I have a little gift for you too,” Gwen muttered sweetly.
Before Ben could react, Gwen whipped out the punctured bottle of sunscreen she had been hiding behind her back, squeezing a massive dollop of thick white lotion directly onto Ben’s head.
“Hey!
What is your problem?!
What did you do that for?!” Ben yelled, frantically trying to wipe the goo out of her hair.
Gwen pointed a finger at her, deadpanning, “Just making sure that massive, swollen ego of yours doesn’t catch a severe sunburn out here.”
Far above the atmosphere, inside a specialized medical stasis chamber, a heavily scarred Vilgax slowly opened his cybernetic eyes, glaring down at the blue planet below with absolute malice.
“No one…
will stand in my way!” he roared through his respirator.
Later that evening, the Rust Bucket pulled up alongside a clear, flowing river.
Ben was kneeling by the bank, thoroughly frustrated as she washed her hair; her long, silken locks had gotten completely tangled with dirt and alien slime during the battle, making her incredibly uncomfortable.
A few feet away, Blake was lying flat on his back on a smooth patch of grass, soaking in the fading warmth of the afternoon sun, looking entirely at peace.
Having finished rinsing her hair, Ben stood up and gave her head a violent, dramatic shake, intentionally spraying a massive shower of cold water droplets directly across Blake’s face and chest.
“Hey!
What are you doing?!” Blake gasped, snapping awake and sitting up abruptly.
He wiped the water from his eyes, only to see Ben standing over him, her damp hair clinging to her shoulders as she continued to toss her head back and forth.
Hearing his complaint, Ben stopped, looking down at him as if he had asked a completely stupid question.
“I’m trying to get my hair dry faster, obviously.
What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Can’t you just use a hair dryer?” Blake muttered, brushing the grass off his shirt.
“We’re in the middle of a forest, genius.
There are no hair dryers out here.”
“….”
Blake stared at her damp, messy hair for a long moment before an idea clicked.
“Hold on a second.
Stay right there.”
He stood up, spinning the dial of his Omnitrix as he ran through his options.
With a soft click, he pressed the faceplate down, a burst of energy shifting his body into the green-and-black insectoid form of Stinkfly.
Ben blinked, watching him hover in place.
“What are you doing?”
“Stand still,” Blake’s buzzy, dual-toned voice echoed.
He soared a few feet into the air, positioning himself right in front of her.
Utilizing his massive, muscular wings, he began to beat them at a precise, rapid frequency.
Instead of unleashing his signature slime, he channeled the movement to create a focused, incredibly powerful torrent of warm air.
Within a couple of minutes, the high-velocity wind had completely dried her hair, leaving it soft and flowing.
Satisfied with his work, Blake tapped his chest, reverting to his human form and sliding down to sit comfortably on the grass beside her.
Ben ran her fingers through her freshly dried hair, staring at him with a mix of awe and lingering curiosity.
“Hey…
seriously, how do you keep doing that?
Why won’t you just teach me how to bypass the cooldowns?”
It wasn’t the first time she had pressed him for his secrets, so Blake offered his usual, perfectly calm response.
“I already told you, Ben.
I can’t teach you this.
You’ll understand how to do it when you’re older.”
If anyone else had given her such a dismissive answer, Ben would have pestered and annoyed them until they cracked.
But because the words came from Blake, she simply pouted, letting the matter drop , though she fully intended to ask again the next time he did it.
The two sat in a comfortable, peaceful silence, watching the orange and purple hues of the sunset melt into the horizon, waiting for Grandpa Max to call them in for dinner.
As the quiet moments stretched, the memories of everything they had been through this summer flashed through Ben’s mind.
She looked down at her lap, her voice dropping into a soft, uncharacteristically tender whisper.
“Hey, Blake…
thanks.
Honestly, it’s really great having you around.”
Hearing the sudden emotional weight in her voice, Blake turned his head in surprise.
He hadn’t expected the usually brash, tomboyish girl to say something so incredibly sweet.
Because he turned so quickly, his eyes locked squarely with hers.
The two found themselves staring directly into each other’s eyes beneath the glowing crimson canopy of the sunset.
A strange, unfamiliar warmth began to simmer in the air between them, heavy with an unspoken tension that made both of their hearts skip a beat.
Realizing how intensely they were staring at one another, Ben’s brain kicked back into overdrive.
A fierce blush stained her cheeks, and she violently ripped her gaze away, frantically waving her hands as she stammered, “I-I-I mean!
I just meant…
you’ve been looking out for me a lot this whole trip, and I felt a little bad about it…
so…
yeah!”
By the time she finished her clumsy explanation, her face was burning so hot it looked like it might catch fire.
Hearing her words, Blake blinked, completely buying into her excuse.
(Ah, so she’s just being polite.) A soft, affectionate smile graced his features, and he looked at her with a gentle, comforting gaze.
“Don’t worry about it, Ben.
What are friends for, right?”
Yet, the moment the word *friends* left his mouth, a sudden, inexplicable wave of cold disappointment crashed over Ben.
The lingering warmth in her chest vanished, replaced by a sharp, sudden irritation.
She snapped her head back around, glaring at him with a gaze laced with pure, unadulterated annoyance.
“You literal bonehead!” she barked.
Without waiting another second, she scrambled to her feet and stormed off toward the RV, refusing to look back at him for even a fraction of a moment.
Blake sat frozen on the grass, entirely bewildered.
It was the first time Ben had ever genuinely snapped at him like that.
A wave of nervous anxiety washed over him as he muttered to the empty air, “Wait…
did I…
did I say something wrong?”
“I don’t think I did?
That’s so weird…”
Scratching his head in complete confusion, Blake slowly stood up and trudged back toward the Rust Bucket, heading toward the campsite where his *friends* were waiting.
When he reached the dining table, he tried to sit across from Ben, but she deliberately looked away, letting out a sharp, dramatic huff every time his eyes drifted into her direction.
Watching her treat him like he was entirely invisible, Blake came to a terrifying conclusion.
(Oh no…
does she genuinely hate me now?
If I managed to get the main character to completely despise me, aren’t I totally screwed for the rest of this universe?!)