Upgrade emerged from Ben's game console in a burst of light, appearing in the middle of the Rust Bucket. He slid past Max and Gold Ship, unfolded his body, and released Ben, Gwen, and Orfevre back into the real world.
Then Upgrade tapped the Omnitrix dial on his chest. A flash of light followed, and he transformed back into human form.
Their clothes, their gear, even the small scratches and dust they had picked up inside the game world were gone. Everything had returned to normal, as if the entire ordeal had only been a bad dream that had finally ended.
Gwen let out a long breath and pressed a hand to her chest. "Thank goodness. I honestly thought we were going to be trapped inside that game forever."
"Yeah," Ben said, checking the Omnitrix on his wrist. The alien icons were all where they should be, each one restored and ready. "Hopefully there won't be a next time."
Orfevre clicked her tongue and glanced down at herself, her expression souring almost immediately. "Tch. Well, at least it was fun while it lasted."
The words were dry, but her tone made it clear she was far from pleased. She checked over her body, then frowned even harder when she realized what she had lost.
"All my Devil Arms are gone," she muttered. "And my half-devil power too."
Evan lifted a brow at that, then raised his Another Omnitrix. A moment later, he summoned the Yamato.
"Actually," he said, holding the sword with an air of mild pride, "Using a loophole called dimensional pocket. I was able to take them back out into the real world."
He glanced at the blade in his hand, then it disappeared, only to be replaced by the Rebellion.
Orfevre stared at it for a moment, then let out a sharp scoff. "Tch. Well, aren't you convenient?"
Even so, there was no hiding the faint sting of jealousy in her voice. She looked at the enormous sword that had once belonged to her, now far too large and heavy for her to lift properly, and her expression twisted into one of annoyance.
Evan only smiled back at her. "While I was using Upgrade, I also cheated the other weapons out and stored them inside my Another Omnitrix too."
As if to prove it, he kept tapping into the device, summoning weapon after weapon into his hands. Ebony & Ivory appeared first, followed by Cerberus, then Dr. Faust, and finally Force Edge. Each one flashed into view before disappearing again as he cycled through them with ease.
"Although they all lost their special effect..." he added, a bit disappointed, but that didn't matter too much.
Azmuth a Galvan can create a Reality Warping Sword known as Ascalon. If he puts in enough effort and has the right resources and materials, he can easily recreate his Devil Arms into real weapons.
Orfevre sighed, though the look on her face softened slightly as she looked down at her own hand.
Then she blinked as her eyes widened slightly.
She felt her Aura was now much easier to move through her body, like it had become a part of her in a way it hadn't been before.
After spending so much time as Dante and fully merging with the youngest son of Sparda, she had learned how to handle demonic energy with far more control than she'd had from the start. And because Aura and demonic power were both forms of energy, that experience had clearly carried over.
In other words, her control over her Aura had improved.
A small, sharp smile tugged at her mouth. Then she drew back her leg and sent a kick cover with Aura forward.
The impact sent Evan flying straight through the Rust Bucket's window. Glass shattered outward, and the entire RV shook from the force.
Ben and Gwen stared after him for a second, both of them silently processing what had just happened. Max simply sighed as he had gotten too used to this, while Gold Ship simply chuckled.
Then, a golden flash lit up the outside of the RV. Noir sprang back through the broken frame and tackled Orfevre, the two of them crashing through yet another window before rolling out onto the ground outside.
The sound of their usual fighting continued almost immediately.
Ben exhaled through his nose. "Well, there they go again."
Gwen crossed her arms and looked toward the broken window with a tired expression. "Why is it always like this with them?"
Max, who had been watching the whole thing with the calm patience of a man far too used to strange chaos, looked up toward the sky instead. The rain had finally stopped. Clouds still hung overhead, but sunlight was beginning to push through them, spilling across the road in pale, warm streaks.
"Well," he said, "since it stopped raining. How about you kids get some fresh air?"
Ben straightened a little and grinned. "I could use a little real world right about now."
"Me too," Gwen said, already heading for the door. "I'm kind of tired of video games."
The two of them stepped outside, and Gold Ship immediately ran after them, clearly more interested in watching her siblings fight than anything else. Not that anyone seemed surprised by that anymore.
Max shook his head and settled back into his seat once they were gone. "I thought they'd never leave."
He picked up the controller and went right back to playing Devil May Cry, tongue sticking out slightly in concentration as though the chaos around him had never happened at all.
Later that night... The Rust Bucket was quiet.
After everything that had happened throughout the day, everyone had finally settled down. Gwen had already gone to sleep on her bunk. While Ben currently sprawled across one of the seats.
Gold Ship had somehow exhausted herself and was now hugging Orfevre, drooling onto her older sister's stomach while they slept on their bunk.
"Can I have my laptop back?" Evan stood beside the table as he looked toward his grandfather.
Max didn't even glance at him. "Not now, Evan."
The old man was completely focused on the screen in front of him. His fingers rapidly pressed buttons while Dante dashed across the battlefield.
"This Nelo Angelo fight on Dante Must Die difficulty is pretty hard. I need to concentrate."
Evan: "..."
Max continued playing before adding. "For some reason, I can't help but feel like this new boss is a bit familiar..."
Evan was both amused and a bit regretful about letting his Grandfather play the game now.
"Damn it!" Max immediately leaned forward. "I missed the dodge."
Evan slowly gave up. There was no point arguing with someone who had entered full gamer mode.
Letting out a tired sigh, Evan turned away from the table. His gaze shifted toward the driver's window before walking toward it.
He then took out the copy of Stay Gold's ID card given to him by his father, he simply stared at the card.
Then he slipped it back into his pocket before sitting down in the driver's seat, and put on the seatbelt before starting the RV.
...
Early in the morning, Ben was already in a foul mood.
The television inside the Rust Bucket was showing a commercial for a children's cartoon called Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures, and to Ben's absolute horror, the so-called "heroes" on screen were obvious knockoff versions of his aliens. The designs were exaggerated, the voices were ridiculous, and the whole thing looked like it had been made by someone who had only heard secondhand descriptions of what Ben's transformations were supposed to be.
Ben stared at the screen with a growing sense of outrage.
"Ben?" Gwen asked, barely able to keep a straight face. She was clearly trying not to laugh. "Is it just me, or are those super lame versions of your alien heroes?"
From beside her, Gold Ship grinned and shoved a little harder, adding fuel to the fire. "Wow, I didn't know you were making a side living behind our back."
Ben's eye twitched as his face darkened.
"Someone is going to pay for this," he said through clenched teeth. "Big time."
...
Not long after that, they were standing outside Planetary Studios, where Ben was already halfway to exploding.
He had ripped one of the promotional posters off the wall and was in the middle of tearing it apart with both hands, fury written all over his face. Bits of paper fluttered to the ground as he snarled at the cartoon version of himself.
"This is already bad enough that they ripped me off," Ben growled, ripping another poster in half. "But why did they have to make me look like a total dweeb?!"
"Because you already are one," Gwen said immediately, not even bothering to hide her smug expression as she adjusted the strap of her backpack.
Ben shot her a glare.
Gold Ship, who had been watching the whole thing with growing curiosity, tilted her head and folded her arms. "Isn't it weird that Big Bro's alien didn't get ripped off?"
That made everyone pause.
She does have a point.
The show only seemed to use Ben's aliens, not Evan's.
The group turned toward Evan almost at once, clearly expecting him to have some kind of answer.
"What?" Evan blinked at them.
He looked just as confused as they were.
Truthfully, he didn't really care too much about this to begin with. Unlike Ben, who usually stayed around long enough for people to get a clear look at his aliens, Evan had a habit of disappearing before anyone could even pull out a camera. He was always in motion, always slipping away before people had time to really remember him.
Ben, on the other hand, practically left behind a trail of public heroism everywhere he went.
That made him a far easier target for a cartoon adaptation.
Then Max walked up with a rag in one hand, having returned from checking the Rust Bucket's rear section. He gave the others a quick glance, then looked past them toward the RV with a calm expression.
"Just as I thought," he said. "It's the distributor. I saw a garage a few blocks back. Let me see if I can get another one."
Evan immediately stepped forward. "I'll help."
He wasn't especially interested in going to Planetary Studios with Ben and Gwen, and fixing the Rust Bucket sounded a lot more useful than standing around getting annoyed at a studio full of people who clearly had no idea what they were doing.
Orfevre lifted her head. "I'll come too."
She sounded more curious than eager, but there was interest there all the same. Learning how to fix part of a car at least seemed more worthwhile than wasting time at some cartoon studio.
"Count Golshi in too!" Gold Ship said, bouncing excitedly beside them.
The Gold siblings had never really had much of a father figure around, so moments like this mattered to them more than anyone else would probably understand. Helping Max, following him around, watching what he did, learning from him, it all felt better than wasting the morning at a studio just because some people decided Ben's aliens made good children's entertainment.
Max's expression softened almost immediately.
"Sure," he said with a smile. "I don't mind."
He genuinely seemed to enjoy spending time with them, and that alone made Gold Ship beam with pride.
Ben looked between Max and the others, then back toward the studio, still clearly irritated by the poster incident. "So what about Planetary Studios?"
Max gave a quiet chuckle. "Ah, right. Ben's been bugging me all summer to take them to see Kangaroo Commando."
Ben straightened a little. "True, but that's not the point."
"It kind of is," Gwen said.
Max ignored the bickering with the ease of someone used to it. "You two start without us. We'll meet back here at four."
Ben huffed, still annoyed, but it was obvious the answer wasn't changing.
Gwen sighed and adjusted her backpack again. "Fine. Let's go, Ben."
Ben gave one last glare at the ruined poster, then crossed his arms and looked toward the studio entrance as if it had personally offended him.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Let's go see what kind of genius thought ripping me off was a good idea."
And with that, the group split up, one heading off toward the studio while the others prepared to fix the Rust Bucket and make the most of the morning.
Evan walked alongside his sisters and grandfather toward the nearby garage, taking in the quiet clatter of tools and the low murmur of mechanics at work. Orfevre had Gold Ship held back by the back of her collar, clearly trying to keep her from wandering off and stirring up trouble, while Max was already chatting with the people inside as if he had known them for years.
Evan, meanwhile, let his gaze drift over the shelves, the toolboxes, and the scattered parts piled around the garage. He was half-listening, half-searching for anything that might catch his attention, though he could not have said exactly what he was looking for. He just likes to look around to see if something around might be worth taking.
Then, without warning, a deafening explosion rang out from across the street.
The entire group turned at once.
Gold Ship, who had been just about ready to squirm free of Orfevre's grip, froze mid-motion. "Did Ben cause trouble again?"
"Better hope he didn't," Orfevre muttered, already walking with Evan toward the sound.
When they looked across the street, the source of the commotion became obvious immediately.
A massive humanoid creature made of living concrete and brick was stomping through the area, its heavy body shaking the pavement with every step. In its huge hands were several oversized sacks stuffed with cash, which it was carrying away from a bank it had clearly just robbed.
Gold Ship joked. "So is that Ben's new transformation?"
"I don't know why," Orfevre said flatly, "but seeing that thing rob a bank feels a little redundant."
Evan crossed his arms and watched the creature for a moment, then gave a small shake of his head. "Yeah. Even if it gets away, how is a giant cinderblock supposed to spend the money without getting the police called on it?"
As if to prove that neither of them were taking the situation seriously enough, Max suddenly coughed into his fist in a very deliberate way.
The three of them looked back at him.
Max pointed toward the street with a calm expression that made his meaning obvious without him even needing to say it.
"I believe those people could use some help."
Evan met his grandfather's gaze for a second, understood the hint immediately, and nodded once.
Then, using the Gold Family Secret Technique, he quietly slipped into the background and vanished from sight. His sisters turned back toward the robbery as if nothing had happened.
A moment later, golden light burst from the alleyway behind the garage.
From within that glow stepped a tall alien form, its body covered in a black exoskeleton with a gleaming golden underside. Web-like patterns of gold ran across parts of the armor, and from its back extended a massive spider-like shell with eight long limbs curling from his spine to his chest. Glowing golden eyes shone beneath a monstrous mouth lined with six fangs, while a silky web scarf draped around his neck. At the center of his chest, the Omnitrix dial glowed with a golden light of its own.
The alien looked down at his clawed hands, flexing them once as the spines along his black exoskeleton caught the light.
"Spiderthing." With that, he sprang forward.
He leaped up the brick wall of the alley as if gravity was little more than a suggestion, then pushed off the roof and landed on the edge of a nearby building. After rolling his shoulders once, he crouched low and launched himself forward again.
A web shot from his wrist and latched onto the building across the street.
The next moment, Spiderthing swung out into the open air.
The sight of a black and golden humanoid creature swinging across the street immediately drew the attention of the civilians and police below, all of them looking up in surprise as he closed the distance toward the stone giant.
"Hey, Block Head!" Spiderthing called out.
Before the monster could fully react, Spiderthing twisted midair and drove a hard kick straight into the side of its head.
The impact cracked the stone along the creature's face and forced it to stumble backward several steps. Spiderthing landed a short distance away in a low stance, facing the villain head-on.
"Did your mother never teach you it's not nice to steal?"
The concrete monster answered with a furious roar before charging toward him.
Spiderthing reacted instantly. He jumped forward, firing a web at the metal ring of a sewer lid and yanking it loose with a sharp pull. The lid came free just in time for him to keep moving, and in one smooth motion, he spun around, the sewer cover swinging at the end of the web like a heavy blunt weapon.
The metal disk slammed directly into the side of the concrete villain's head with a heavy crack, sending chips of stone flying.