Omnitranyl (Ben 10 Alien Force)

Kevin felt horrible.

But this was a good sign: only people who are alive are capable of feeling horrible.

Slowly his consciousness returned to his body. It felt as if his head weighed a few hundred pounds. He heard a voice calling his name from afar...

Wait, maybe not from so far away...

Now it was quite close...

"Kevin!" shouted Gwen "Come on, Kevin, wake up!"

The teenager opened his eyes. Slowly he turned his head to the side and tried to look at the face of the girl to his right. Why is she upside down?

"You're finally awake!"

"I..."

"Don't move, I don't know if you've hurt anything serious," the girl began to crawl on all fours out of his field of vision.

It wasn't Gwen who was upside down, it was him. In fact, it was the whole car. The boy looked at the shattered windshield in front of him and could only see dirt, leaves, and tree roots.

"Gwen, where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm here, don't worry, I'm just looking for a way to get you out of there." Gwen crouched down and put her head back into the car. "By the way, what's your name?"

"What?"

"Your full name, what is it?"

"Kevin Ethan Levin."

"Age."

"Sixteen years old."

"What do you remember?"

"We were behind the Albedo, when the electromagnetic pulse turned off my car and the impact of the explosion hit us."

"Okay, the memory is normal."

"Of course it is," Kevin began shifting in his seat, looking for his seat belt buckle, "Now get me out of here."

"Wait a minute, is there any part of your body that feels strange?"

"Yes, my patience. I feel it slipping away more and more. Now help me get out of here, please?"

"Hunf, you look great..." Gwen dragged herself out of the car.

"Of course I am," he said, almost shouting, "I protected us with Arburian rubber, it would take a lot more than that to-"

Suddenly two giant pink hand projections rested their fingers on the sides of the passenger door.

"Gwen! W-what do you think you're going to do with my ca-"

The two hands moved one to each side, opening the interior of the car like a book. The sound of twisting metal and iron filled the forest air. Kevin, still restrained in the driver's seat by his seat belt, with his legs hanging in the air and an expression of disbelief said:

"B-but why?"

Gwen pointed her index finger toward Kevin's seat belt and fired a beam of energy. The belt snapped and the young man fell awkwardly on all fours against the ground.

"Because we don't have time and you're almost out of patience," said the girl.

The teenager stood up and shook the earth and leaves from his clothes. He looked at the two halves of his vehicle lying beside him. Kevin then faced Gwen and pointing his index finger at her, said:

"You owe me a car!"

"Go demand it from Albedo," Gwen turned her back on the young man and walked through the trees.

"Albedo didn't open my car in the middle!" Kevin followed right behind.

The two of them walked through the forest on a sloping terrain leaning on the trees, up towards the road. They found several thick broken branches along the way, probable victims of a green car that had been launched flying that way. Before long they reached the asphalt road.

"What the hell?" said Kevin.

Gwen for her part remained silent, focusing her energy on her gasping breath from the trek through the forest. However, her mind was filled with rage at the scene she was witnessing.

Several cars and trucks lay overturned on the road or dumped on trees in the surrounding area. Some clothes had escaped from the trunk of a popular car that was now wedged under a van. There were oil and blood stains all over the road. Screams and calls for help were heard everywhere. Those who managed to get out from inside their vehicles were desperately trying to help each other.

Gwen looked down and saw a small stuffed monkey near her feet. She crouched down, picked up the toy, and saw blood stains on the little monkey's clothing. The girl stood up suddenly and, with steady steps, walked towards a sedan that was turned sideways when she felt someone holding her arm.

The girl turned and faced Kevin with a look that said "let me go!"

"There is no way the police and fire department could have missed the explosion...." Kevin took the plush from the girl's hands and stared at the object with a downcast face.

Kevin crouched down and put the little monkey on the ground. Gwen looked at the boy with anger and frustration. He spoke again:

"If we don't stop Albedo, even those who are calling for help now won't survive."

Gwen turned her face away and bit her lower lip. He was right and she knew it. Without raising her head, she said:

"Where should we go then?"

He pointed with his thumb over her right shoulder. The girl turned her face and stared into the white smoke with green lightning that rose up through the trees.

◇───────◇───────◇

Inside the forest, a circular clearing of almost a mile in length was forcibly opened. From the edges of the circumference to the epicenter was a gradient of destruction: on the outside, there were centrifugally inclined trees with their roots sticking out of the ground; in the center, there was not the slightest trace of plant life.

The area was covered by a dense, white smoke that rose into the sky and allowed, little by little, the deformed shapes of the objects and the creature present in the clearing to be identified.

Seven structures of violet-green crystals like fluorite rocks sprang up from beneath the earth and were positioned in a circular pattern halfway around the radius of the circumference. The nearly thirty foot long structures curved toward the epicenter like fingers on a hand. From the tips of the crystals, a rainbow energy surged and traveled across their surfaces to their bases buried in the dark earthen soil.

In the center of the clearing, a shabby structure of alien metal and violet-green crystals held a cylindrical receptacle on a platform composed of spacecraft parts and plumbers' equipment. Inside the receptacle, a greenish-crystal gooey liquid moved frantically as if dancing and, at the same time, struggling to escape from there. The entire structure was approaching ten feet in height.

Next to the device was a bipedal creature with its hands suspended in the air in front of the trunk, as if embracing an invisible being. The alien was concentrating, directing pulsing beams of rainbow energy up its legs to the center of its sternum, where a disk with the emblem of intergalactic peace was located. The symbol on its chest reacted to the incoming energy, releasing green lightning bolts into the atmosphere.

"That's it," the creature said with satisfaction, "It's working!"

At the edge of the clearing, Gwen and Kevin approached cautiously, hiding behind a huge tree that lay parallel to the ground.

"There's the bastard!" said Kevin "What's he turned into this time?"

"I don't know. We have to get closer."

Kevin found a heavy rock stuck in the ground and absorbed its matter before continuing to advance. Gwen, in turn, coated her hands and forearms with mana, and with a simple movement of her fingers, platforms appeared on the way, allowing the youngsters to jump over branches and trunks that had been destroyed in the area.

At first, Albedo resembled a crystalsapien by the rocky, purple aspect that made up most of its anatomy. But there were differences, starting with the absence of the pink horn on top of its head. Around its torso, structures resembling ribs made of violet-green crystal protruded from its back and advanced along its sides until they met at the symbol of the Ultimatrix. From his back, four crystal protrusions, two large and two smaller, projected outward from his body symmetrically.

The forearms and hands of a crystalsapien are usually thin and pink, but not those of this alien: he had something like large, thick gloves of violet-green crystal. Down his stony, purple thighs grew small, crystal-like pustules up to the level of his knees. From there, a column of crystal grew and widened to the ground, so that the division between legs and feet could not be distinguished, the ankles being absent.

Gwen and Kevin were already approaching the seven-column cage, when the girl suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Gwen?" Kevin said softly, interrupting his advance and turning to the girl.

Gwen raised her hand in front of her face, allowing Kevin to see what had caught his attention. The pink mana that coated her hands began to slip out of his control and floated toward the nearest crystal column.

"That's how he's converting the energy from the explosion," Gwen said, "Crystals have the same energy absorption ability as the Chromatic."

"No doubt then that we are dealing with a crystalsapien?"

"Everything leads to believe so..."

The pink mana continued its path through the air and touched the crystal's surface. It converted into a seven-color burst of energy and traveled towards the base of the crystalline column. At the same instant a bright red spotlight turned toward the two young men through the white mist that covered the place.

"It saw us!" said Kevin.

Gwen looked away from Albedo to the silhouette of the nearest crystal column, then said:

"If we destroy the crystals, maybe we can stop him!"

"What are we waiting for then?"

Kevin changed the shape of his hand into a rocky ball of thorns and advanced towards the nearest column.

"Galeus zipuctus!" summoned Gwen, causing a strong gust of wind to blow away the smoke that covered them, and making its way to the nearest crystal.

The gust of wind spread through the area until finally they could see the alien's face: a violet-green crystal mask, with three projections on its chin and a rectangular opening at eye level that allowed a red glow to travel back and forth in the darkness of the opening.

Albedo raised his left arm and pointed his open hand toward the youth. Energy concentrated in his palm.

"Kevin, he's going to throw something!"

The young man prepared to punch the crystal, but with the new information of the shot, he turned his body and positioned his back against the crystal's surface to protect himself.

Gwen invoked a shield to defend herself against the shot, but then realized that the energy concentrated in the alien's palm was no longer there.

He's given up shooting! ― thought Gwen.

The girl turned towards Kevin, hiding behind the crystal column that sprang up from the ground, and it was then that she understood.

Damnit!

Gwen ran towards Kevin. The young Osmosian kept glancing at the alien from behind the column and didn't even notice her approach until she jumped on him.

He was off balance, with Gwen clinging to his torso, and fell to the side at the same instant that a crystal spear emerged from the surface of the column at the exact spot where, a millisecond before, his back had been resting.

The two fell to the dark dusty ground and quickly got to their feet, fearing some more sprouting.

"What the hell was that?" said Kevin.

"It was obvious that this could happen!" said Gwen. "How do you think these columns came about?"

Kevin didn't answer. He didn't need to.

"But I think I understand something about him," said Gwen.

"Spit it out."

"He can't get out of where he is now, and I think this cage," Gwen pointed with her chin, "is the farthest he can produce crystals."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because he hasn't moved since the time we arrived."

"Albedo is arrogant, he probably doesn't think we're worth standing up to, have you thought about that?"

"Yes," said Gwen. "But look at the crystals again, all the energy is going from the ends to the base. Now look at his feet."

Kevin stared at Albedo's legs, which looked more like two thick stalagmites. Then he said:

"They're going from the bottom up."

"Exactly. Also, there was only one moment when the energy changed direction."

"Let me guess," Kevin gave a slight sarcastic smile, "when he wanted to scratch my back."

"Exactly right."

Suddenly, the crystal-green liquid inside the receptacle began to emit a pulsating glow. Albedo looked away from the youth and turned to his fission machine. The tadenite, now liquid, had accumulated enough energy for another attempt.

"We have to stop him!" said Kevin running towards the cage.

Gwen even raised her hand in a vain attempt to stop her friend, but he was right, regardless of the plan, something had to be done. The girl moved her arms gathering energy in her hands, interlaced her fingers in a strange way, with her arms stretched out in front of her body and pointing them at the alien, she said:

"Vürkthera!"

A powerful beam of energy shot out of his hands, passed next to Kevin, and hit the side of Albedo's body. The alien bowed slightly from the impact, but soon returned to his natural position, preparing the machine in front of him for the next explosion.

Kevin advanced beyond the crystal columns, and the very instant he stepped into the inner circle, several crystal pillars began to emerge from the ground, forcing him to dodge to avoid being impaled alive.

Gwen's spell in turn acted like an after-lunch dessert, for as soon as it touched the surface of the alien's body, it was converted into rainbow luminosity and absorbed.

"Gwen, what are you doing!?" Kevin jumped to the left to dodge two crystalline stalagmites that sprang up from the ground. "Just put on a nice bow and give your energy away at once!"

"Shut up, Kevin!" Unlike him, she had a plan. Gwen uncrossed her fingers, but still held the energy beam towards Albedo. Her eyes took on a strong violet glow, and then she said "Adfishio Potentia!"

The energy beam that reached Albedo's body split like the solid tentacles of an octopus and wrapped around his torso, arms and legs. He was immobilized!

Albedo stared at the girl with an overbearing look on his face. Then he said:

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Taking you off this pedestal of arrogance of yours!" Gwen pulled the tentacles and pulled the alien's body towards her, throwing him off balance and making him take his feet off the ground.

The young man ran as fast as his body would allow. His right hand was already turning into a huge block of stone.

"No!" shouted Albedo, as he fell.

Kevin jumped toward the receptacle and pulled his right arm back, preparing for the final blow against the machine.

Albedo forced his limbs against the tentacles and spun his body in mid-air, trying to break his fall with his feet against the ground. The tentacle holding his left arm shattered, and the alien pointed his palm toward the young Osmosian.

A beam of rainbow energy cut through the air and struck the right side of Kevin's body, deflecting the young man's trajectory and preventing him from hitting his target.

Albedo's feet finally touched the ground, allowing him to brake and giving him the strength he needed to finish shattering the tentacles holding him down. The alien lifted his body and faced Gwen. The red glow of its eye burned with fury.

The young anodite felt her hands trembling, her heart pounding in her ears, but her attention did not waver for a second from the villain.

Kevin fell violently against the ground and spun a few times before stopping with his left hand resting on the opposite side of his torso. The rocky skin was deeply cracked.

Albedo raised his arm toward Gwen. A glow was concentrated in his open palm.

Gwen opened her arms in front of her body and invoked a thick rectangular shield, preparing for the energy beam.

"Gwen, behind you!" shouted Kevin.

The girl tried to turn her head, but it was too late. A thin crystal spear emerged from beneath the ground and pierced Gwen's body.