Chapter 116: You're Actually Siding With Her?
The Rustbucket lay in a pathetic heap of scattered parts and twisted metal. Since the beloved RV had been thoroughly dismantled during the recent chaos, the group had no choice but to start the grueling process of putting it back together.
Ben, currently transformed into Diamondhead, grunted as he hoisted two massive steel plates, clumsily attempting to jam them into place. Metal scraped against metal in a harsh, grating screech as he tried to force the mismatched pieces together.
Xylene watched his crude attempts with a critical eye. She crossed her arms, her alien features pinching in exasperation. "If you actually want to be helpful," she retorted, her tone sharp, "transforming into a Galvanic Mechamorph would be far more efficient."
Diamondhead paused, the heavy steel plates slipping slightly in his crystalline grip. He blinked, completely bewildered by the technical term.
Grandpa Max caught the boy's blank stare and offered a gentle translation. "She means Upgrade, Ben."
"I knew that!" Diamondhead shot back, his defensive tone fooling absolutely no one.
He turned his sharp, angular head back to Xylene, glaring at her. "Besides, I don't take orders from you!"
"You are being completely unreasonable!" Xylene snapped back, her patience with the stubborn Earth child wearing dangerously thin.
"Now, don't be like that, Ben," Grandpa Max interjected, raising his hands in a placating gesture. He tried to keep his tone mild and diplomatic. "Xylene really does know a great deal about the Omnitrix's internal capabilities. It might do you some good to listen to her advice."
Logically speaking, Max was right. Xylene's suggestion was the most practical approach to fixing the RV. But to Diamondhead's ears, it sounded like the ultimate betrayal.
"You're actually siding with her?!" he demanded, his crystalline voice cracking with indignation.
It was a bitter pill to swallow. The dynamic felt absurdly like a scorned wife arguing with a new mistress over a man's affection—only for the man to publicly defend the mistress. And in this bizarre, humiliating scenario, Ben was somehow the scorned wife.
"I've had enough of this!" In a spectacular fit of pique, Diamondhead hurled the heavy steel plates to the dirt with a resounding crash. He spun on his heel and stormed off into the dark tree line.
"Uh... I'll go talk to him," Gwen muttered, breaking the awkward silence.
She jogged after her cousin, leaving the adults behind. Deep in the woods, the green flash of the Omnitrix illuminated the canopy for a brief second. By the time Gwen caught up, Ben was back to his normal, human self. He sat huddled on the damp grass, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees as he stared up at the bright, mocking moon.
Gwen sighed softly, walking over to plop down right beside him in the dirt.
"She wants Grandpa to leave with her," Ben mumbled, his chin resting on his knees. "Just like before. Only this time, he doesn't have any reason to stay."
In Ben's mind, Max defending Xylene wasn't about fixing a broken RV. It was a clear sign that his grandfather was getting ready to pack up and vanish into the stars with his alien ex-girlfriend.
Gwen frowned. She hadn't considered that angle. Hearing Ben lay it out so bluntly made a cold knot of worry tighten in her own chest. She had marched out here fully intending to comfort her sulking cousin, but his gloomy logic had completely infected her instead. Now, the two kids simply sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the quiet forest, sadly gazing up at the lunar glow. Two small, lonely silhouettes bracing themselves for the loss of their grandfather.
Back at the wreckage of the Rustbucket, the atmosphere remained strained. Xylene, whose species operated on a strict 'you're on your own the second you hatch' philosophy, completely failed to grasp the emotional turmoil she had just caused the Earth boy.
Even so, she recognized the heavy sigh escaping Max's lips. She stepped forward, offering a stiff but genuine apology for upsetting his grandson.
Before Max could wave off her concern, a sinister crimson glow pierced the shadows. The optical sensors of the giant mechanical drone—the very same monster they had partially dismantled—suddenly flared back to life.
High above in orbit, Vilgax sat in his command chair, a cruel sneer twisting his tentacles. He had been biding his time, waiting for the perfect opening. The moment the Omnitrix wielder and the Anodite girl wandered off into the woods, he struck. His command echoed through the drone's neural link: Capture Max Tennyson.
Metal shrieked as the massive drone rapidly reconfigured its damaged chassis. It hauled its hulking frame upright, instantly launching a brutal assault on the two adults.
"It's still active?!" Xylene shouted. Reacting on pure combat instinct, she shoved Max hard in the chest, pushing him out of the path of a sweeping metallic claw. The blow caught her instead, sending her flying backward into the dirt.
"Xylene!" Max yelled.
Panic for her safety overrode his usual tactical caution. He rushed toward where she had fallen, leaving his flank entirely exposed.
It was exactly the opening Vilgax had calculated. At his master's silent command, the drone shot forward. Several thick, segmented tentacles whipped through the air, wrapping tightly around Max's high-tech Plumber suit. The metal coils locked into place, completely immobilizing him.
Without a second's hesitation, the mechanical beast hoisted the veteran Plumber into the air and blasted off into the night sky.
Vilgax leaned back in his throne, his red eyes gleaming. As long as he held Max Tennyson hostage, the boy would bring the Omnitrix straight to him.
Deep in the woods, the sudden crash of rending metal and roaring thrusters shattered the quiet. Ben and Gwen scrambled to their feet, sprinting back toward the campsite as fast as their legs could carry them.
They burst through the tree line, panting heavily, only to find Xylene groggily pushing herself up from the dirt. Max was nowhere to be seen.
"It took Grandpa?!" Ben yelled. His eyes darted frantically around the clearing. The massive pile of scrapped drone parts was completely gone. The realization hit him like a physical blow.
"But why?" Gwen asked, her brow furrowing in deep confusion. "That drone was programmed to hunt the Omnitrix. Why would it kidnap Grandpa?"
"Because it knows I'll come after him!" Ben's fists clenched at his sides. "This is a trap."
He knew exactly who was pulling the strings. That drone belonged to Vilgax, and Ben was all too familiar with the warlord's ruthless tactics.
Xylene dusted off her uniform, nodding grimly. "The boy is correct. Vilgax is using him as bait. Therefore..."
"Let me guess!" Ben interrupted, crossing his arms with a fierce scowl. "You're going to give me another speech about how the Omnitrix is more important than anything else, right?"
"Precisely. The device must be protected at all—"
"I don't care what you say!" Ben shouted, cutting her off a second time. "I am going to save my Grandpa! And honestly? I'd rather trust my cousin when he says he can just build another Omnitrix than listen to you!"
It was a massive bluff, of course. Ben wasn't entirely convinced Klein could actually pull off building a Level 20 piece of cosmic hardware, but it sounded great in an argument.
Xylene, having been interrupted one too many times by an arrogant human child, finally snapped. Her eyes flared with psychic energy. A wave of invisible telekinetic force seized Ben, lifting him off the ground and slamming him flat against the nearest oak tree, pinning him there in a rigid, comical posture.
As for his ridiculous claim about his cousin 'recreating' the Omnitrix? Xylene found it utterly laughable. The Omnitrix was the pinnacle of Level 20 technology. In her mind, Azmuth was the only being in the entire universe capable of forging such a masterpiece. The very idea that the First Thinker's intellect could be matched by some random Earth teenager was nothing short of delusional.
"Regardless of your delusions," Xylene said, her tone cooling slightly as she released her psychic grip, letting Ben drop back to the dirt. "I am just as worried about Max as you are. But if we are going to rescue him, we must cooperate."
Gwen stepped between them, nodding firmly in agreement. Ben rubbed his bruised back, his anger simmering down enough to see reason. He didn't argue.
"Fine," Ben muttered. "That drone took a lot of damage. It's going to need to scavenge for raw materials to repair and upgrade itself. Where around here has enough heavy machinery for it to steal?"
Xylene glanced around the dark woods, completely unfamiliar with Earth's geography. She looked to the kids for an answer.
Gwen tapped her chin, mentally pulling up the map they had been following. "We're right outside St. Louis. It's the largest river port city in this entire region."
Ben's eyes lit up with sudden realization. "The shipping docks!"
With their target locked in, the unlikely trio immediately set off toward the city, hashing out a battle plan as they ran.
Barely a few minutes after they vanished into the trees, a brilliant flash of blue-white energy erupted in the center of the abandoned campsite.
"Max Tennyson! Get out here right now, you and that old hag!" Verdona's furious voice echoed through the clearing, crackling with raw Anodite power.
A tiny, buzzing figure flew to her side, scanning the wrecked perimeter. With a quiet hum of blue light, the miniature alien shifted, expanding and melting away to reveal Klein. He dusted off his jacket, looking around the empty, ruined campsite. "Looks like we missed the party. Where did they go?"
Verdona took in the chaotic scene. Her glowing purple eyes swept over the deep craters in the dirt and the mangled, dismantled remains of the Rustbucket. The fiery jealousy that had brought her here instantly cooled, replaced by a sharp spike of genuine concern. She was suddenly very worried about Max, not to mention the two grandchildren Klein had told her about.
Though, deep down, she still harbored a petty hope that the alien 'mistress' had met a gruesome end.
Floating gracefully over to the ruined RV, Verdona closed her eyes. She reached out with her Mana, letting the pinkish-purple aura bleed into the metal, searching for Max's unique energy signature.
A moment later, her eyes snapped open, glowing with intense power. "Found him," she declared. She glanced back over her shoulder. "Klein, can you keep up?"
It was a genuine question, offering him a ride on her Mana constructs if he needed it.
Klein smirked, casually tapping the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix. "Don't worry about me, Grandma. You can doubt Grandpa's taste all you want, but you can never doubt my speed."
In a flash of crimson light, Klein's body morphed, expanding into the sleek, aerodynamic form of Jetray.
Verdona paused, her glowing brow furrowing dangerously. This eldest grandson of hers really had no filter! What exactly did he mean by 'you can doubt Grandpa's taste'?! If Max's taste was terrible, and he had chosen her to marry, didn't that imply she was...
Klein, currently hovering a few feet off the ground, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He had genuinely been referring to Max's horrific culinary experiments with alien bugs and sheep intestines. He hadn't meant it as an insult to her at all!
But the damage was done. He could practically see the mental black mark Verdona just placed next to his name.
Back when they first met, Verdona couldn't do much to discipline him because, frankly, he was too overpowered for her to beat. But times had changed. Armed with the absolute, unquestionable authority of an Asian Grandmother, Verdona was fully prepared to suppress this cheeky brat with a single hand!
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