"Ever, we need you as a tie breaker, not another one to argue with," Zea said, her tone calm but firm, clearly trying to keep things from turning into a full loop of back-and-forth.
"Zea, I am trying to reason with you both," Evan replied, not raising his voice, but not backing off either. He shifted his stance slightly, still relaxed, but more focused now. "So I'm going to ask this properly. What I said, based on everything we've already agreed on, is it true or not?"
The question hung there for a moment.
Ark didn't answer immediately. Zea didn't either.
They both already knew the answer, which was exactly why neither of them wanted to be the first to say it.
"…True," Zea admitted first.
Ark's expression tightened, but after a brief pause, he gave the same answer. "…True."
Evan gave a small nod, like that was all he needed.
"Then that means both of you agree with me," he said. "And if all three of us agree, then that settles it."
Neither of them denied it.
Ark didn't like it, that much was obvious, but he couldn't argue without contradicting himself. Zea, on the other hand, seemed more interested in where Evan was taking this than in stopping him.
…
Back outside, things were a lot less calm.
With Evan stuck inside Alien X's unmoving form, Ben was left dealing with Kevin alone.
Diamondhead was sent flying after Kevin slammed into him, crashing straight into one of the windmills. The impact rattled the entire structure, blades creaking as he hit it hard before dropping back down.
Kevin hovered in the air, wings buzzing lightly behind him as he looked down.
"You are one sorry sight, Rockhead!" he called out.
"That's Diamondhead to you, punk," Diamondhead shot back, pushing himself up and brushing off the impact like it didn't matter.
He glanced at Kevin, taking in the twisted mix of forms.
"And speaking of sorry sights, have you actually looked at yourself lately?"
Kevin's expression twisted immediately.
"It's payback time for you, Benji! You turned me into this!"
"You were already a freak, Kevin," Diamondhead replied flatly. "Now it just shows."
Kevin let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Say whatever you want. I'm still better than you," he said. "I've got all your powers, plus mine. I'm Kevin Eleven."
He raised his arm and fired a volley of crystals straight at Ben.
Diamondhead didn't move much. He raised one hand, letting the shards hit him head-on. They shattered on contact, breaking apart against his body without leaving a mark. One bounced off and he caught it cleanly.
He looked at it for a second, then crushed it in his hand.
"Too bad each one of those is only a tenth as strong as mine," he said, stepping forward.
Kevin didn't stop. He opened his mouth and fired a stream of slime. Diamondhead reacted instantly, expanding crystal from his arm into a shield and blocking it completely.
Then Kevin moved. He shot forward, not toward Ben, but toward Alien X.
"Oh no, you don't!" Diamondhead snapped, immediately firing a spread of crystal shards to intercept him.
Kevin didn't bother dodging properly, just pushed through it, taking the hits as he flew straight toward Alien X's frozen form. His hand reached out, aiming directly for the Another Omnitrix.
"I win!" His hand made contact.
And nothing happened. Kevin blinked, his expression shifting from confidence to confusion.
"What the?"
He didn't get to finish.
Diamondhead closed the distance and struck him across the side of the head, sending him tumbling across the ground. Kevin rolled, then pushed himself back up quickly, still trying to process what just happened.
What they didn't realize was that Alien X was still protected.
The concept of infinity that Evan had set up earlier hadn't gone anywhere. Even with his consciousness tied up inside, the barrier remained active, constant, and untouchable.
"Give it up, Kevin," Diamondhead said, stepping between him and Alien X without hesitation. "You're not getting anywhere near him. Not now, not ever."
Ben didn't need to be told twice what was at stake.
He had seen what happened earlier. He saw Evan's arm get torn off, saw him drop like it was over, only for something else to kick in and drag him back from it. Then he saw how powerful Alien X was.
This was already the second time Evan had given his life to protect him and his family.
Ben wasn't letting there be a third.
Kevin growled and charged again. This time, he didn't go for Alien X first. He went straight for Diamondhead, grabbing him mid-charge and lifting him up with his wings before slamming him into another windmill.
The structure groaned under the force.
Diamondhead dropped, then immediately grabbed one of the broken blades, tore it free, and threw it back at Kevin.
The blade spun through the air and struck Kevin in the chest, knocking him off balance and sending him crashing down.
Before he could recover, Diamondhead slammed his fist into the ground. Large crystals burst upward in a line, racing toward Kevin and hitting him directly, launching him back again.
Kevin got up, slower this time, but still standing.
They locked eyes.
No talking this time. They both moved at once.
But before either of them could land the next hit, a red beam of light dropped over both of them.
In an instant, they were gone.
The battlefield went quiet.
A few seconds later, Gwen and Max stumbled out from behind the Rust Bucket, both holding their heads slightly like they were shaking off something that didn't feel right.
"Ben? Evan?" Gwen called out, looking around.
"Look," Max said, pointing.
They both turned toward the only thing still there.
Alien X. Still floating and unmoving.
Gwen tensed immediately, ready for something, before she paused, noticing the details.
"There's only one Omnitrix…" she said, narrowing her eyes. "And it's gold."
"That's Evan," Max said quietly, scanning the area again. "So where did the other one go?"
"Maybe he won?" Gwen suggested, though she didn't sound completely convinced.
There wasn't much else to go on.
With Ben missing and no sign of Kevin or that alien that attacked them. Max decides to set up camp here.
Getting Alien X into the Rust Bucket wasn't as easy as getting the Rust Bucket to flip back properly.
There was some kind of invisible force stopping them from even touching him. After some difficulty, they were able to drag him inside the RV.
Neither of them said much after that. They just waited. Hoping Ben would come back, or that Evan would finally move again.
After a full day of waiting, the windmill farm had gone from tense to quiet in a way that didn't feel right. The blades kept turning, the sky stayed clear, but nothing changed where it mattered.
Then, without warning, something finally did.
An escape pod tore through the sky and dropped into the field, kicking up dirt as it hit the ground not far from the Rust Bucket. The hatch popped open a second later, and Ben stumbled out, unsteady on his feet.
"Ben!" Max called out immediately, already moving before Ben had fully stepped away from the pod. "Are you alright? We've been looking all over for you three. Where have you been?"
"Long story," Ben said, rubbing the back of his head like he wasn't even sure where to start. "And I'm pretty sure you're not going to believe me anyway."
"Try me," Max replied, not missing a beat.
Gwen stepped closer, arms crossed at first, but the concern on her face didn't match the posture.
"Are you okay, cuz?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Ben said quickly, then glanced at her. "You?"
"I'll live," Gwen said with a small shrug. "But what happened to Kevin? And that alien that attacked us?"
Ben exhaled through his nose and looked up at the sky for a moment before answering.
"Kevin's… not really our problem right now," he said. "He found someone else to pick a fight with."
That wasn't reassuring, but it was enough for now.
Ben's expression shifted as he looked back at them.
"What about Evan?" he asked. "Last time I saw him, he was stuck in that form he called... Alien X."
"Alien X..." Gwen murmurs recalling how Evan once mention the name.
Max nodded slightly and motioned toward the RV.
"We moved him inside," he said. "Figured it was better than leaving him out here."
The three of them walked back together, the earlier urgency settling into something heavier as they stepped inside the Rust Bucket.
Ben stopped the moment he saw him.
Alien X stood exactly where they had left him, unmoving, silent, like nothing had changed at all.
"Evan…" Ben called out, stepping closer. "Can you hear me?"
But there was no response.
Ben stood there a second longer, waiting like something might happen if he just gave it a bit more time.
But nothing did.
Behind him, Gwen and Max stayed quiet, watching.
Ben's shoulders dropped slightly, and he looked away for a second, blinking harder than he needed to as he rubbed his eyes.
"Come on…" he muttered under his breath. "Stop messing around... Evan..."
The next few days didn't get any better.
If anything, they got worse.
They tried everything they could think of. Talking to him. Moving him. Even just sitting there and waiting in case it was something that needed time.
Nothing worked.
At some point, Ben told them everything, about the future version of himself, who attacked them. The conversation he heard from Alien X and his future self. He didn't leave anything out, even the parts he clearly didn't want to say.
Gwen listened without interrupting, but by the end of it, she wasn't looking at him the same way. Not in a bad way, just… more aware.
Max didn't say much at first, but the next morning, he was already making calls.
By the end of the day, he had officially stepped out of retirement again, pulling what contacts he still had to access old Plumber records, trying to find anything about what Alien X actually was.
But there was nothing, as he couldn't found what kind of species Alien X was and his condition.
Meanwhile, Gwen and Ben took turns staying near Evan.
Sometimes they talked, even though he didn't answer. Sometimes they just sat there.
Ben leaned against the wall one night, staring at Alien X longer than he meant to.
"This is my fault," he said quietly.
Gwen, who had been sitting nearby, looked up immediately.
"Don't start with that," she said.
"It is," Ben insisted, not even looking at her. "If I didn't mess things up with Kevin, none of this would've happened. Evan wouldn't have had to step in. He wouldn't be stuck like this."
"You don't know that," Gwen shot back, standing up now. "You don't get to decide how everything would've gone."
"I saw it, Gwen!" Ben snapped, louder than he meant to. "I saw what happens if I mess up! And now look at this, he's the one paying for it!"
"That's not how this works!" Gwen fired back. "Evan made his own choice, just like you did! He didn't jump in because you forced him to, he did it because he wanted to protect us!"
Ben finally looked at her, frustration clear on his face.
"And now he's stuck because of it!"
Gwen didn't answer right away.
When she did, her voice wasn't as sharp.
"…And you think blaming yourself is going to fix that?" she asked.
Ben didn't respond.
Gwen's expression softened, but her eyes were already starting to water.
"He's still here, Ben," she said, quieter now. "Whatever's going on, he didn't disappear. So instead of acting like you already lost him, maybe try being here when he comes back."
That hit harder than anything else she said.
Ben looked away again, jaw tightening, but this time he didn't argue.
A few minutes later, Gwen wiped her eyes quickly, clearly annoyed at herself for it.
"Besides," she added, trying to steady her voice, "if he wakes up and sees you like this, he's just going to make fun of you for it."
"…Yeah," Ben muttered. "Probably."
Max stepped in not long after, having heard enough to get the idea. He placed a hand on both of their shoulders, pulling them in just enough to get their attention.
"He's going to be alright," Max said firmly. "Evan's tougher than this. You both know that."
They didn't argue with him. They just nodded.
Then, without warning, a soft female voice echoed through the RV from the golden Omnitrix dial.
[New DNA sample acquired.]
A golden light suddenly burst outward, filling the Rust Bucket and forcing all three of them to shield their eyes.
When it faded, Alien X was gone, and Evan stood in his place.
Back in human form, feet planted where the unmoving figure had been, his eyes already open as he straightened up slightly, like he had just finished thinking rather than waking up. He looked around, taking in the inside of the RV, then shifted his gaze toward the three of them.
They were all staring at him with relief, shaken, and clearly not as composed as they were trying to be. Gwen's eyes were still wet, Ben looked like he had been holding himself together for too long, and Max, while calmer, didn't hide the tension that had been sitting on him for days.
Evan blinked, not expecting those reactions. "What? Did something happ-"
He didn't get to finish as Ben and Gwen rushed him at the same time, both grabbing onto him in a tight hug that nearly knocked him back a step.
Evan froze for a second, caught off guard, as he didn't even know what to do with it. He slowly narrowed his gaze, still trying to process this.
Max stepped in a moment later, placing a hand firmly on Evan's shoulder before pulling him into the same hug, completing it in a way that made it clear this wasn't optional.
Now Evan was fully confused.
He has just been arguing with Ark and Zea, trying to push his way into control and work around their rules. It hadn't exactly gone the way he wanted, but it also didn't feel like much time had passed.
"Did I miss something?" Evan asked, still stuck between them.
"You were out for days," Ben said, his voice tighter than usual. "You just… stopped moving. You didn't even respond to us."
Gwen pulled back slightly, looking at him like she was double-checking he was actually there.
"We thought you were stuck like that," she added. "Or worse... That you never come back..."
Evan paused at that, the casual look on his face fading just a bit as he finally understood the gap.
"I see...," he said quietly. "That long, huh?"
Max gave a small nod.
"Long enough," he replied.
There was a short silence after that before they all finally let go, though none of them moved too far away, like they weren't fully ready to treat things as normal again.
Eventually, things settled.
The Rust Bucket started moving again, the engine humming as they left the windmill farm behind.
Inside, the tension didn't disappear completely, but it shifted into something more manageable.
Gwen was the first to break the silence.
"So… what actually happens when you turn into that form?" she asked, her voice steadier now, though the curiosity was still mixed with concern.
"That's Alien X," Evan said, leaning back slightly as he answered. "Right now, he's the strongest transformation I've got. I can basically do anything when I'm him... but there's a catch."
The three all pay close attention to his next words.
"I don't act alone," Evan continued. "There are two other personalities inside Alien X. Every action needs all three of us to agree before anything happens."
Ben frowned slightly.
"Then how were you moving before?" he asked. "You were actually fighting using him."
"That first time was different," Evan said. "Call it a free trial. I had full control for a bit, probably because it was the first activation. After that, it went back to how it's supposed to work."
Gwen crossed her arms, thinking it through.
"So basically, your strongest alien is only usable after you finish arguing for him to do something?"
"…That's one way to put it," Evan replied.
Ben let out a short breath.
"Man, that sounds annoying," he muttered, then looked back at Evan. "So what are you going to do with it now?"
He still remembered exactly how overwhelming that form was. Even as a spectator, he saw how powerful Alien X was, so he was somewhat interested, despite the clear backlash.
Evan didn't answer right away.
He looked down at his Another Omnitrix, his expression remain netural, then slowly he raised his wrist.
"Omnitrix," he said, his tone clear, "store Alien X's DNA in a new playlist. Code name: Powerhouse."
A soft female voice responded instantly.
[Affirmative. Celestialsapien DNA will now be stored in Playlist: Powerhouse.]
A faint glow passed over the device before fading.
"There," Evan said, lowering his arm.
Ben stared at him for a second.
"…Your Omnitrix can do that?" he asked, clearly impressed. He immediately looked down at his own and lifted his wrist. "Uh… hello? Omnitrix? You hear me? Hello?"
Nothing happened. He started to tap it, trying to communicate with it.
Evan didn't comment, just watched for a moment before shifting his attention back to his own device. He activated it, the dial rising slightly as he began turning it, scanning through his options.
Two new forms stood out immediately.
Before everything that had happened, he had already acquired a new DNA sample. Then the future version of Ben showed up, things escalated, and Alien X got unlocked as a last resort just to survive.
After that, he had been stuck for days. Until his Another Omnitrix forced him to de-transform after gaining a new DNA.
For once, he didn't get annoyed by this small feature.