Omnitranyl (Ben 10 Alien Force)

After the impact, the Vreedles' vehicle landed awkwardly on the ground, its wheels sliding on the earth as it tried to brake. It made a left turn and only stopped when the right side of the van hit a tree.

Rhomboid kept his jaw locked and his chest heaving. Octagon, his eyes bulging, held onto the roof support above the passenger window with both hands. Argit, for his part, dug his nails as deep as he could into the seat cushion. He tried to turn his head to look out of the window, but the desperation of a few seconds ago made his spines bristle and pinned his head and back to the back of the seat. The only thing left to do was peek out of the corner of her eye.

Outside the vehicle, the teenagers looked from the creature to the van and from the van to the creature.

"But what was that?" Gwen asked.

"Who are these crazy people?" said Ben.

"Man, I think that's the most painful blow we've been able to deal that miserable bastard" Kevin grinned at the corner of his mouth.

"What do you mean?" said Gwen, slightly offended because just a few minutes ago she had managed to lift the alien off the ground with a single magic punch.

"For someone as arrogant as Albedo," Kevin explained, trying to hold back his laughter, "that was a huge blow to his ego."

"That's right!" Ben added "and we have to make sure he never forgets it!"

"I just wish it had been effective enough for him to de-transform," said Gwen.

Albedo lay face down in the dirt. Green lights flickered on a few points of his body, such as his arms, ankles and the right side of his torso, but nothing that would cover him completely and undo his Vaxasaurian form.

Ben stared at the few wounds on the creature and the luminous beams emanating from within them.

"He's resisting the de-tranformation..."

"How?"

"Here, look" Ben pointed at the lights "The Ultimatrix is trying to deactivate it and he's not letting it."

Kevin raised his right arm, deforming it into a glassy yellow blade, and said:

"So let's give it one final blow and help the watch finish it off!"

The van's passenger side door opened noisily and out stepped Argit, followed by Octagon and Rhomboid. Argit was wearing a diagonal leather belt with grenades attached. At his waist was a holster with two laser pistols. The Vreedle brothers were each holding a photon cannon. Argit began to speak aloud:

"What is this bizarre thing lying on the ground? Don't tell me that's Albedo... Although I wouldn't be surprised if it were." He closed his eyes and continued to gesture arrogantly: "The guy has a fetish for transforming himself into bizarre things. He reminds me a lot of an acquaintance of mine who has the same bad habit. Speaking of him, Ben Tennyson, my man..." Argit opened his eyes and turned his face towards Ben. "Wait, what are you going to do?"

What Argit saw was Ben running towards him at high speed, his legs were black and blue like a kineceleran's and his arms were thick, with the orange fur of an Appoplexian. His expression carried an enormous sense of urgency. With only a few meters to go, Ben jumped out and grabbed Argit and the Vreedle in a single embrace and threw them aside towards the ground.

The van exploded into pieces as if it had been hit by a train. Albedo had advanced at extreme speed against the vehicle and was now violently punching through what remained of the fittings. Each blow was accompanied by a ferocious roar.

Ben de-transformed and said quietly to Argit and the Vreedles:

"Let's get out of here!"

Argit didn't take a second to obey Ben's orders and crawled off into the forest. The Vreedles, on the other hand, stood up and positioned their photon cannons aimed at Albedo.

"That bastard!" said Octagon

"That van was a gift from Mom, you bastard!" said Rhomboid, there was a bit of a whine in his thin voice.

"Guys, what are you doing?" said Ben.

The Vreedle fired. A powerful beam of light was emitted from each weapons, hitting Albedo's left arm and torso. The creature lurched slightly to the right, but quickly recovered and faced them.

"Oh, no..." Ben stepped between the brothers and lifted Diamondhead's right leg. As soon as he planted his foot on the ground, he shouted to the Vreedles "Run now!"

A wall of greenish crystal rose from the ground and expanded in seconds. But just as suddenly as it was created, it was also suddenly destroyed by Albedo's shoulder thrust.

With a semi-circular movement of his arm, the Vaxasaurian struck both Vreedles with the back of his hand, knocking them into the trees. Ben, who had gone under Albedo's arm, tried to run, but was then grabbed by the creature.

He was lifted up by the alien to eye level. The moment Ben faced the creature, he immediately realized that Albedo had lost his sanity completely. They were the same eyes as when he tried to rip the Omnitrix from his chest. Fear filled him. He began to tremble. He felt the creature's hand squeeze him until it almost broke his bones, but he couldn't do anything.

The vaxasaurian opened its mouth. Ben felt huge, hot, fetid breath hit his face. He stared at the creature's teeth and only one thought repeated itself over and over in his mind:

I'm going to die...

I'm going to die...

I'm going to die...

The huge mouth approached his head.

I'm going to die...

The cavern of teeth suddenly closed moments before it hit him. Kevin's greenish metal body punching the creature in the face flashed across his field of vision.

A thin violet film covered Ben's entire body in the almost non-existent space between his skin and the Vaxasaurian's hand. Suddenly the film expanded into a huge sphere and forced the creature to open its left hand.

Gwen moved her arms as if to grab the air in front of her and pulled it towards her. Immediately the sphere floated in her direction.

Albedo planted his right foot on the ground to avoid falling off balance and quickly straightened his body, clenched his right fist and struck Kevin while he was still in the air. The teenager cut through the sky at high speed and smashed through the thick trunk of a pine tree, causing the top to topple forward.

The alien raised his eyes towards the violet sphere and set off at a thirsty run. It wanted more than ever to destroy the sphere and its contents. He raised his arm to catch it when he felt a strong impact on his abdomen that reversed the distance he had traveled and threw him backwards against two trees. He rested his hand on his abdomen and grunted as he faced the one who had hit him.

Vulkanus raised his huge sledgehammer with a tadenite base, resting it on his left shoulder, then said:

"You have no idea how much I've been waiting for this..."

Gwen supported Ben on the ground and undid the sphere. With one arm resting on his shoulder, she questioned and checked that her cousin was all right.

Albedo brought his arm back and grabbed one of the trees. In a single movement, he plucked it from the ground and threw it towards Vulkanus. A beam of black mana hit the tree in midair and shattered it into several dry, rotting fragments.

Ben and Gwen shielded their faces with their arms. With their eyes covered, they didn't see the approach of the owner of an arrogant, muffled voice saying:

"Hello, Gwen!" Said Michael Morningstar, the Darkstar, "still as charming as ever."

The cousins stared at the dark-clothed figure and the metal mask that hid his grotesque appearance.

"You're still great too, Michael," said Gwen frivolously.

A few meters away, Octagon and Rhomboid were still intent on avenging the destruction of their van. With cries of fury that, whether they meant to or not, were more comical than frightening, the brothers fired their cannons at Albedo, who was protecting himself with his forearms.

Taking advantage of the low guard, a giant mutant rat came out from behind the trees and smashed its huge front teeth into the Vaxasaurian's neck. Albedo roared in pain and raised his arms over his shoulder, grabbing the mutant creature. With difficulty, he released it from his grasp and threw it onto its right side.

The rat emitted a horrible squeal as it struggled in the air. About to hit a thorny trunk, two strong, grayish arms grabbed the animal in mid-air. Thumbskull, with his hair resembling a huge fingernail on his forehead, placed the mutant creature on the ground as it fled into the forest.

A laugh was heard, followed by:

"Na-ah, Albedo, don't you know you can't mistreat animals for fun anymore?" Zomboso came out from behind Thumbskull accompanied by Frightwig and Acid Breath.

Albedo moved his head quickly, facing one opponent after another. His breathing became more ragged with each new individual that appeared on the edge of the clearing.

Next to Ben, Rojo, wearing her armor made from stolen alien technology, appeared, making the final adjustments to her gauntlets. A unison shout of "Yes, My Lord" made people turn towards the Forever Knights emerging from the left side of the forest. A high-pitched sound drew attention to the skies where a mutant bird flew over the treetops accompanied by Plumbing spaceships.

Ben and Gwen looked at each other with a confused expression. Kevin approached them and, observing the new visitors, said:

"Finally, guys, I thought you'd chicken out" and smiled debauchedly.

◇───────◇───────◇

Earlier, when Gwen was out of control of her powers, Charmcaster had received a call. Since she was busy trying to stop Gwen, the sorceress assigned Kevin to take the call and threw her cell phone at him.

Kevin didn't recognize the number, put the cell phone to his ear and said a suspicious hello. He heard a naughty voice answer:

"That voice... Kev, buddy, it's been so long!"

"Argit! But how are you managing to make a call?"

"I thought I'd called the sorceress's phone, did I dial the wrong one?"

"No, you called right, this is the Charmcaster's cell phone."

"And what are you doing with her cell phone, Kevin? Don't tell me you've dumped the pretty redhead. Please don't say that, I was rooting for you guys so much..."

"Argit, shut up and tell me, how are you managing to make calls? The electromagnetic pulse from the bomb should have knocked out the power to the whole city!"

"My friend, I present to you the Infranet, a connection network built with the best knowledge of the underworld, used only in extreme emergency situations!"

"And why am I only finding out about this now?"

"You know, Kevin. After you decided to go over to the good guys' side, we couldn't risk this information falling into the hands of the Plumbers."

"And yet you made a point of telling him at the first opportunity," said a third voice.

"Argit, who was that who spoke now?" Kevin asked.

"So, we're on a group call. It's important for you to know that Infranet was only possible thanks to the efforts of everyone here. Take a step back from the screen and activate the camera."

Kevin obeyed and as soon as he activated it, the faces of various villains began to appear on the screen: Dr. Animo, Zomboso, Vulkanus, Darkstar, Forever Knights, Rojo, Vreedles and, of course, Argit.

"The Infranet is a mixture of human technology, aliens, magic and a lot of other things that I don't really understand," said Argit. "As much as everyone here hates each other, this communication channel is used for situations in which we suspect that the planet Earth or Bellwood could be at great risk. After all, this is where we live and if there's anything we can do in a situation of imminent destruction, we put our disagreements aside and communicate."

"To stop the danger?" Kevin asked.

"Of course not!" said Argit smiling, accompanied by several other villains with similar phrases.

"Then what for?"

"So we can escape, of course!"

"I can't believe it..."

"If we know in advance that something might happen, we can organize ourselves and secure our business elsewhere."

Kevin wipes his hands over his face in disbelief, then Argit continues:

"You have to agree that the idea is brilliant."

"I'm not even going to answer you... Actually, I'm going to ask you: why did you call now?"

"I don't know if you heard, but there were two explosions in Bellwood."

"I heard some rumors..." said Kevin, his leg throbbing from the cut made by the neotadenite.

"Since the sorceress had lost the lottery, she had to go and check to see what had happened, if it was one of those risky situations. By the way, buddy, do you have any idea what caused the explosions?"

"Yes," she said, stretching the letter 'e' a little.

"And is it?"

"Albedo."

At that exact moment, all the villains looked away from the screen and displayed an expression of restrained fury. Kevin continued:

"The bastard built some kind of atomic bomb to recharge his copy of the Omnitrix."

Everyone decided to speak at once. A lot of swearing and insults all the way up to the fifth generation of the Albedo family.

"I know, I know, guys," Kevin tried to mediate, "he's everything you've said and more. It's just that we're trying to stop him right now, so if you can help us, we'll be able to avoid him destroying Bellwood and you won't have to leave."

The faces that had been filled with anger a few seconds ago were now mixed with expressions of fear and concern. The silent seconds that followed seemed like an eternity. Argit finally said:

"Sorry, Kevin, but I don't think it's going to happen."

"Why not?"

Silence again. The young man exploded:

"I can't believe you're scared of Albedo!"

"Shut up, you scum!" Roared the Forever Knight. Kevin already knew him, he was the archer.

"Oh, go to hell! And I've already told you to stop calling me scum, you bastard... And if it's not fear you're in right now, then what is it?"

"We've already faced him, brat, and we failed," said Vulkanus. "Why would we do the stupid thing of trying again?"

"I know most of you got your asses kicked by him. I saw with my own eyes all the humiliation he put you through."

"Kid, watch your words..."

"But now it's different" Kevin smiled evilly. "He faced each of you alone before, but if we all get together and beat the shit out of him at the same time, there's no way he can win."

At that moment, Kevin noticed that each of the faces began to stare at the screen, reflecting the proposal and seeking agreement from their peers. Light nodding movements became silent communication. To secure their selfish desires, they had come together to create the Infranet, now for the common goal of revenge, perhaps they could once again put their disagreements aside.

"I know you're dying to break that bastard's face!" Kevin urged even more. "He's one, we're many!"

When their expressions aligned with a common desire for vengeance, Rhomboid's thin voice echoed:

"Let's destroy this bastard!"

Followed by a unison roar of agreement.

Kevin quickly explained their location. He said that it might be a little difficult to find if there wasn't a huge cloud of smoke rising into the sky at that very moment signaling the location. Everything settled, Kevin hung up.

He took a deep breath and said to himself:

"If this goes wrong, Gwen will kill me... Although..." And he stared at the fight between Charmcaster and Gwen that was taking place a few meters away. "Maybe it wouldn't have to go wrong for that to happen..."

He picked up his cell phone again and began to dial the Plumbers' number. Was he going to reveal the existence of the Infranet to the Plumbers? Yes. After all, if everything goes wrong, Infranet will be destroyed anyway. He put the phone to his ear and waited. When he heard the voice answer in the same confused tone as when he saw a cell phone with no signal receive a call, he answered:

"Magistrate Patelliday, it's me, Kevin Levin."