Kangaroo Commando pulled out a clear plastic bag and carefully placed the white glove inside.
"Anyone wearing protective gloves like this has to be an animator."
"Dean!"
Kangaroo Commando and Four Arms said it at the same time.
Gwen raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "And he just happened to find the glove too?"
That was way too convenient. It felt almost staged.
"Because he's a genius at fighting crime," Four Arms said in Kangaroo Commando's defense.
...
"Hey, why would I blow up your stupid roller coaster?"
Outside Dean's studio, Dean was confronting a whole group of people.
Holding up the glove he had picked up at the accident scene, Kangaroo Commando said righteously, "So Planetary Studios would tear it down and build your very own roller coaster instead!"
As he spoke, Kangaroo Commando shoved Dean aside, swept the curtain away, and forced his way into the studio.
The studio was dimly lit. Several comic posters hung on the walls, and a few wooden crates were stacked in the corner.
North and several security guards stepped forward and opened the crates.
Inside were huge amounts of TNT explosives.
"Wait. Those aren't mine!" Dean's face turned pale. "The comics are mine, but the explosives definitely aren't!"
He couldn't understand how explosives had suddenly appeared in his studio out of nowhere.
Kangaroo Commando curled his lips into a smug smile. "Guys, I'd say this time we caught him red-handed."
Then, ignoring Dean's protests, the group moved to drag him off to the police station.
Just then, the trio arrived.
Lucian looked at the white glove in Kangaroo Commando's hand, and suddenly seemed to realize something. "Wait. Dean is definitely not the culprit."
"Cuz, what's going on?" Ben couldn't understand why Lucian was helping a jerk like Dean.
"I told you it wasn't that simple, didn't I?" Gwen said, spreading her hands.
Hearing that, Kangaroo Commando turned to the expressionless Lucian and said coldly, "What makes you so sure he's not the culprit? Unless you're his accomplice too?"
Lucian glanced at Kangaroo Commando. The icy killing intent in that look sent a chill straight down Kangaroo Commando's spine, and he nearly lost his composure.
"The glove you found is for the right hand. But not long ago, at the signing event, I saw Dean drawing with his left hand."
"You're not about to tell me an animator can switch his dominant hand in under an hour, are you?"
"Or do you think an animator would be careless enough to leave behind the tool he used?"
"Isn't all of this a little too convenient?"
Faced with Lucian's questioning, Kangaroo Commando opened his mouth, but had nothing to say.
"That proves nothing! Dean is the culprit anyway. The evidence is conclusive!" In the end, humiliated and furious, Kangaroo Commando turned the accusation right back on Dean.
Dean shot back, "Even the third-rate villains from your washed-up show are better at framing people than you are!"
The moment Ben heard that, he got mad and jumped right in. "Oh, you want to talk about third-rate villains?"
"The Bowling Ball Bandit? The Poop Cat Burglar?"
"Please, that dumb cat can't even meow!"
"That's enough!" Dean was furious. He reached out and shoved North.
Kangaroo Commando obviously wasn't about to just stand there and take it, so he immediately shoved back.
The people around them hurried to break it up, and the scene quickly descended into chaos.
"Ben, we still don't know who the culprit is. Don't just pick a side," Gwen said, trying to talk sense into him.
"But the evidence is all there. Dean's the culprit," Ben said innocently.
"Didn't North say he made the gear and special effects himself? Did that include the explosives too?" Gwen asked with a faint smile as she looked at Ben.
"Kangaroo Commando couldn't have blown up his own ride, right?!" Ben still refused to let it go, or maybe he just didn't want to.
"He isn't Kangaroo Commando," Lucian said, shaking his head. "He's just an actor trying to save his washed-up show."
"Cuz is right. We need to keep a close eye on him," Gwen suggested.
...
A little over ten minutes later, Stinkfly carried Lucian and Gwen through the sky as they tailed Kangaroo Commando North all the way to a room outside his residence.
North pushed the door open and shut it tightly behind him.
The three of them leaned by the window and listened to the sounds inside.
Lucian had considered turning into Ghostfreak and sneaking in to watch North directly, but after thinking it over, he decided against it. Better to save that for when it really mattered.
"The situation is getting out of control. Stop right now before someone gets hurt!" North's voice came from inside.
"You're in no position to order me around," another voice replied.
"Who's he talking to?" Ben whispered.
"Himself?" Gwen looked just as confused.
"No. The voice sounds different," Lucian said, shaking his head.
"Who's there?!"
A shout suddenly came from behind them.
Ben turned around and saw that it was a security guard.
But in the very next second, the guard dropped to the ground as if he had simply fallen asleep.
"What happened?" Ben froze for a moment.
Then a pale ghostly face appeared in midair.
"It's Ghostfreak!" Gwen was so startled she nearly screamed.
Had Ghostfreak come back to life?!!
"It's me. Don't be scared." Ghostfreak pointed at the Omnitrix on his chest, then looked at the unconscious guard. "I just made him take a nap. The people inside noticed the commotion too, so we need to go."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ghostfreak pressed the Omnitrix and turned into Snare-Oh.
Before Ben and Gwen could say a word, Snare-Oh shot out soft white bandages and wrapped them both up. Then his whole body snapped upward like a slingshot, launching toward the rooftop and vanishing among the high-rises.
By the time the people inside came out, there was nothing left around them except the unconscious security guard on the ground...
...
After leaving North's residence, the group continued wandering around Planetary Studios and enjoying themselves.
Ben and Gwen bickered the whole way.
"That North guy is definitely hiding something. Do you think he's got some kind of split personality?" Gwen said.
"Hey, nerd, I think the heat's gone to your head. Maybe Kangaroo Commando was just rehearsing lines!" Ben shot back indignantly.
Suddenly, the surrounding speakers and screens blared to life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Planetary Studios is proud to present the world's very first premiere of..."
Before the announcement even finished, the cartoon on the screen switched to a live broadcast.
In the live feed, Kangaroo Commando North was hanging upside down over a cauldron of boiling chemicals.
The sight terrified the visitors all across the park.
"Kangaroo Commando's in danger!" Ben said as he moved to transform.
"Ben, wait." Lucian narrowed his eyes. "This isn't that simple."
By all logic, Kangaroo Commando was supposed to be the mastermind. So why was he hanging over a boiling vat now?
"Help!"
Dean's cry for help suddenly rang out from the street.
Kangaroo Commando rode in on wooden skis, exploding with astonishing jumping power. He snatched up the fleeing Dean in one grab and vanished from everyone's sight in an instant.
Gwen's eyes widened. "Why is Kangaroo Commando showing up in two places at once?"
"Follow him and we'll find out." Lucian pressed the Omnitrix, transformed into XLR8, and took off after him.
"Cuz, wait for me!" Ben slammed the Omnitrix, trying to turn into XLR8.
Bang.
A flash of green light went off, and Ripjaws was out...