Back in the Rust Bucket, the engine roared as Max pushed it harder than usual, weaving through the crowded streets of New York City with a level of focus that made it clear he wasn't in the mood for anything else. His hands stayed tight on the wheel, his eyes locked on the road ahead, and the frustration from earlier hadn't gone anywhere.
Gwen sat in the passenger seat, glancing between the road and Max, clearly worried.
"Of all the stunts Ben's pulled," Max said, his voice low but sharp, "this is the worst. When I find him…"
He didn't finish that sentence, but he didn't need to.
Gwen shifted slightly in her seat, trying to ease the tension in her own way. She reached over and turned on the radio, hoping for some kind of distraction, even if it was just background noise.
"I should really be enjoying this…" she muttered to herself. "So why aren't I?"
The radio crackled for a moment before a news report came through.
"…and in other news, authorities are responding to reports of a large unidentified creature causing widespread disturbances across the city. Witnesses describe it as a massive bug-like entity, and both local police and federal agents are currently attempting to contain the situation…"
Gwen froze, Max's grip on the wheel tightened slightly.
"…citizens are advised to avoid the area and report any unusual sightings immediately…"
Evan, sitting in the back, didn't look up right away.
"Could've easily gotten a hundred bucks," he murmured under his breath.
He tapped his Another Omnitrix, bringing up a yellow hologram once again. The image of his newly acquired alien flickered above the device.
The radio continued.
"…and expect delays on the subway line near 34th Street. There have been multiple reports of fires spreading throughout the tunnels, and emergency crews are struggling to contain the damage…"
Gwen turned toward Max immediately. "Grandpa?"
"I know," Max said, already reacting.
He turned the wheel sharply, making a quick U-turn that forced the Rust Bucket back in the direction of the subway line. The vehicle swerved slightly before stabilizing, the engine pushing harder as they redirected.
Max glanced briefly in the rearview mirror.
"Evan, can-" he started, then paused, adjusting his tone slightly. "-are you willing to help? I understand if you don't want to. You've got every right to be upset with Ben."
Evan finally looked up. His eyes narrowed slightly, not in confusion, but in thought. For a second, it looked like he might refuse.
Then he sat up straighter and tapped his Omnitrix again, cycling through options.
"I'll go," he said simply.
He still wasn't happy about what Ben did, and it showed, but Max had been nothing but kind to him since they met. That counted for something.
The Rust Bucket sped toward the scene.
A moment later, the side door slid open slightly despite the speed, wind rushing in as the vehicle moved. A golden flash burst out from the back.
Flame Wingman emerged from the light.
He launched himself upward in a clean motion, flipping once before landing firmly on top of the Rust Bucket, his taloned feet gripping the surface with ease even as it continued moving.
Ahead, the subway line came into view.
The train was already in motion.
Max steered alongside the elevated track, carefully avoiding other cars while keeping pace. It didn't take long to spot Ben clinging onto the side of the moving train, clearly struggling to hold on as it sped forward.
Flame Wingman didn't hesitate. He crouched slightly, then leapt.
The wind rushed hard against him as he crossed the gap, landing directly on top of the moving train. His claws dug into the metal roof, anchoring him in place as the train continued forward at full speed.
Up ahead, the warning lights on the tracks came into view, coming closer and closer toward Ben.
Flame Wingman moved immediately, running forward despite the strong resistance of the wind, his body staying low and supported by his sharp taloned feet and claw. In a quick motion, he reached Ben and grabbed him firmly by the back of his shirt.
"Got you."
Without slowing down, he pushed off the train.
His single wing spread wide, catching the air as he angled his descent.
He landed cleanly on top of the Rust Bucket, the impact controlled as his claws secured his footing once again.
Ben dangled slightly from his grip, clinging on tightly to his muscular arm.
Gwen leaned out the window, relief clear on her face.
"Nice one!"
Flame Wingman didn't respond right away, still holding Ben in place as the RV sped forward.
...
"Are you ever planning on listening to me?" Max scolded as the Rust Bucket was now parked.
Ben sat there, head lower not daring to talk back like before.
Max stood in front of him, his expression more serious than it had been all day.
"Maybe I was a bad grandfather," he said, his tone angry as he tried to keep it under control, but no less heavy. "Maybe I should've been stricter with you. Maybe I should've put my foot down more instead of letting things slide, Benjamin."
Ben lowered his head further, the corner of his eyes catching the shadow of Evan sitting on his hoverboard, and grew even more guilty.
"Because right now," Max continued, "you've gotten used to doing whatever you want, whenever you want, without thinking about what comes after."
There was a pause.
"None of this would have happened if you had just obeyed me from the beginning. It's all about trust."
Max's voice tightened slightly again.
"I trusted you to do the right thing with that watch. Evan trusted you to live up to what you said about helping people. And this is where that trust got us."
Ben, completely defeated and realizing just how much of a mess that he cause finally mustered up the courage to look up at his grandfather.
"Then trust me when I say Kevin's probably out there misusing Heatblast's power right now," he said.
Max didn't respond immediately.
Gwen stepped in, her tone more urgent than before. "Grandpa, Ben's right. We don't know what Kevin's going to do with that kind of power."
Max exhaled slowly, forcing himself to push his frustration aside.
"Alright," he said. "So where is he?"
Ben didn't hesitate this time. "I think I've got a good idea."
Not long after, the Rust Bucket was back on the road, heading toward the 39th Street Bridge.
Unfortunately, so was everyone else. Traffic had built up into a near standstill, cars packed tightly together with no clear way through.
Max leaned on the horn, trying to get any kind of movement.
"Come on! Move it!"
Ben looked ahead, then down at his Omnitrix.
"Going Stinkfly," he said quickly. "See you at the 39th Street Bridge."
He slammed the core down.
Green light flashed, then Four Arms stood in his place.
He looked down at himself, already annoyed.
"…Great. Now I turn into Four Arms."
He didn't waste time complaining beyond that. Instead, he stepped out of the Rust Bucket, his large frame immediately drawing attention as nearby drivers started reacting.
"Hey, watch it!" someone shouted as Four Arms pushed a car slightly to the side to clear space.
"Sorry!" he called back, not really slowing down.
With a quick bend of his legs, he jumped up onto the roof of a nearby vehicle, then another, using the tops of cars and buses as stepping stones to move forward faster than traffic would ever allow.
A tour bus rolled slowly ahead.
Four Arms leapt onto it, the metal creaking slightly under his weight as he kept moving, covering ground with long, powerful strides.
Back in the Rust Bucket, Gwen turned back to face Evan, seeing that he didn't bother to help now.
"Well… at least he's trying to fix it now." She said weakly.
Evan didn't answer right away; his eyes shifted back to his Another Omnitrix.
"Trying is one thing, succeeding is another." Evan said, before closing his eyes and lying back on the RV couch.
Gwen sighed in defeat; she knew Evan was still mad at Ben.
...
At the 39th Street Bridge, the scene was already a mess. Twisted metal beams had collapsed across part of the roadway, trapping a group of the same bullies underneath as they struggled to get free. Smoke drifted through the air, and small sparks flickered from damaged wiring nearby.
Kevin walked toward them slowly, a smug grin on his face as he looked down at their situation.
"Ha! So much for your gang!" he said, clearly enjoying himself.
But just as he raised his hand, the fiery glow along parts of his body suddenly flickered and faded. The Heatblast energy he had absorbed earlier started to disappear, leaving him blinking in confusion as he looked at his own hands.
"What's going on?" he muttered.
A heavy thud sounded behind him.
Four Arms landed on the bridge, the impact cracking the pavement slightly beneath his feet.
"Your power's gone," he said, stepping forward.
Kevin turned, then slowly grinned again, like that detail didn't bother him nearly as much as it should have.
"Looks like you're about to give me some more, Ben."
"No!" Four Arms shot back immediately.
Kevin didn't stop moving.
"You don't have a choice."
He raised his hands, sparks of leftover energy crackling weakly between them as he turned back toward the trapped bullies.
"I've still got enough juice to fry these guys."
As he prepared to fire, Four Arms lunged forward and grabbed him from behind, pulling him off balance. The energy blasts fired wildly, missing their targets and scattering sparks across the broken bridge.
Kevin twisted in his grip, then reached out and made contact.
The moment he touched Four Arms, everything changed.
Kevin's body reacted instantly, his skin shifting into a deeper red as his muscles expanded. The spiked bracelets on his wrists snapped apart under the sudden growth, clattering to the ground. He let out a manic laugh as his form continued to mutate, another muscular arm forcing its way out from his upper left side.
Four Arms' eyes widened.
Kevin's transformation didn't stop there. His left side twisted further, developing extra features that mirrored Four Arms, including a second set of eyes and sharp fangs forming along his jaw. Then another arm burst out from the opposite side, followed by two more beneath his original pair, turning him into a massive, uneven fusion of stolen power.
Kevin flexed slightly, clearly enjoying it.
"This is gonna be real fun!"
Before Four Arms could react, Kevin stepped in and landed a heavy punch that sent him skidding backward across the bridge. Four Arms caught himself with one hand, digging into the ground to stop his momentum.
"Tell me about it," he replied, pushing himself back up.
He charged forward again, and the two clashed, their hands locking together as they pushed against each other with equal force, the ground beneath them cracking from the pressure.
"I'm taking all of your alien powers!" Kevin growled.
With a sudden shift, Kevin overpowered him, throwing Four Arms hard into the side of a nearby structure. The impact left a dent as debris fell around him. Kevin followed up immediately, grabbing him by the shirt, slamming him over his knee, and tossing him aside again like he weighed nothing.
As the fight continued, the Rust Bucket finally reached the bridge.
Max brought it to a stop as Gwen and Evan looked out, taking in the situation.
"There they are!" Gwen said, spotting Ben.
Max's attention shifted briefly to the trapped bullies under the fallen beam. Without hesitation, he rushed over and lifted the heavy metal enough to free them.
"Moving day. Get out!" he ordered.
The bullies didn't argue. They scrambled away as fast as they could.
Nearby, Four Arms was slammed into another wall, leaving a visible crater as the Omnitrix on his chest began to beep rapidly.
"No," he muttered under his breath.
Time was running out.
He pushed forward one last time, charging at Kevin and throwing a series of rapid punches, forcing him back step by step. With a final hit, he sent Kevin flying through a cluster of broken beams, crashing into a pile of debris as loose rubble collapsed on top of him.
The Omnitrix timed out. Red light flashed.
Ben stood there again, breathing heavily.
Kevin groaned from beneath the rubble, then slowly pushed himself up, his expression shifting into something almost pitiful despite how monstrous he still looked.
"Hey, come on! I give, I give! I'm sorry!" he said quickly. "Just lighten up."
Ben wiped his face slightly. "I just did. By about 300 pounds."
Kevin glanced down at himself, his tone shifting.
"I guess I just went too wild with the power," he admitted. "I don't really have anyone else to help me."
Ben hesitated for a second, then stepped forward.
"We could still be partners," he said. "Just… you know, doing good stuff instead of whatever this is. You could hang with us."
Kevin looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly. "What's in it for me?"
"For starters, people might actually like you," Ben said, extending his hand.
For a split second, it almost seemed like Kevin was considering it.
Then he smirked.
In one quick motion, he grabbed Ben by the wrist, lifting him off the ground while his other hand locked onto the Omnitrix.
"Ben!" Max and Gwen shouted.
"Heh?" Evan, standing a short distance away, blinked once, clearly caught off guard by Ben's stupidity of reach out to an armed opponent.
Kevin laughed. "Man, you are so dim. Did your mom drop you on your head or something?"
Max rushed forward, but Kevin shoved him back without even looking.
"Now give me that watch!"
"You're the one who's dim! I told you, I can't!" Ben shot back.
Before anything else could happen, the Omnitrix reacted.
A surge of green energy exploded outward, filling the entire area with a bright flash.
The force blasted both of them apart.
Max moved just in time to catch Ben as he fell, steadying him before he hit the ground. Kevin, on the other hand, was launched across the canal, smashing through the remaining structure of the bridge and sending the already weakened beams collapsing even further.
The impact shook the area, forcing the Rust Bucket to jolt forward slightly as debris fell into the water below.
After a moment, Kevin pulled himself up from the wreckage on the other side. He looked down at his hands again, seeing that his power was gone.
"No!" he shouted in frustration.
He looked back once, then turned and ran, disappearing into the distance.
...
Back on the highway the next morning, the Rust Bucket rolled along at a steady pace, the city slowly fading behind them as traffic thinned out.
The mood inside was quiet, not tense like before, but not exactly relaxed either. Everyone looked a little worn out after everything that had happened.
Gwen sat by the window, half-awake as she watched the road pass by, while Max kept both hands on the wheel, focused but clearly tired. In the back, Evan stood on his hoverboard, keeping his balance as it hovered a few inches above the floor. He shifted his weight slightly, getting used to the feel of it as it adjusted under him, the faint hum of the device filling the silence.
Ben sat opposite from Gwen, leaning forward on his hands. He glanced between Max and Evan a few times before finally speaking.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa. For everything," he said, his voice more serious than usual. Then he hesitated for a second before looking toward the back. "And… I'm sorry, Evan, for everything…"
Max didn't look away from the road, but his expression softened just a little.
"I know you are," he replied. "You're my grandson, and nothing is ever going to change that. But my trust is something you're going to have to earn back."
Ben smiled slightly, taking that in without arguing for once.
Evan didn't answer right away. He steadied himself on the hoverboard, letting it drift a little before stopping it with a small shift of his foot. For a moment, it seemed like he might just ignore it completely, but he eventually looked over at Ben.
Their eyes met briefly.
Then Evan looked away again, guiding the hoverboard back toward the center of the RV as if that was all the response he was going to give.
The silence lingered, but it wasn't as heavy as before.