Let's go back to seven days before the explosion.
The Bellwood power station was closed. All the station's employees were in the comfort of their homes, under the warmth of a sleep that only dawn could provide. Those present at the station at this moment opted for a sneak invasion and tried their best not to make any noise so not to attract the attention of the authorities.
Kevin's car was parked outside, waiting for Ben, Gwen, and its owner to investigate the report that a creature had been seen in the surroundings of the station.
The creature, on the other hand, chose to arrive in flight.
The silence was completely broken when Kevin was thrown and crashed into the west wall of the station. With the impact, a thunderous sound echoed through the area and a hole opened in the concrete wall. He was lucky that his skin at this moment was composed of the purest iron, otherwise at least two of his ribs would have broken.
"Give up, Albedo, you won't be able to escape," said Ben. "In truth, your plans never worked out. You should have learned by now."
A red-eyed Vaxasaurian stared at the teenager. The moonlight made the almost ten-foot-tall creature form a huge shadow on the ground. Its bestial breath turned to smoke as it came into contact with the cold night air. The alien replied in his thick voice:
"I am a scientist, Tennyson, failures are part of scientific experimentation."
"Oh, yeah?" Kevin came out from under the debris and went through the hole in the wall with an angry look on his face "So wait a minute and I'll give you a bunch of data to analyze when I smash your face!"
Kevin jumped up with his arms raised over his head and, with clenched hands, aimed a blow at the top of Albedo's head. The creature, in turn, turned its body with impressive speed for its size and hit Kevin in the air with its tail. The teenager flew away again, this time in the direction of an electrical tower.
"Kevin!" shouted Gwen. The girl moved her hands and threw a bundle of mana around the young man's waist, then pulled the energy rope and avoided a serious accident by a matter of inches.
"Thanks, Gwen!" Kevin looked up at the tower, relieved, as he walked away from the construction.
"Be more careful! Even you can't take a shock like that, especially with that iron skin of yours."
"It wasn't my fault, okay?" his feet touched the ground.
From the other side of the station Ben's voice was heard:
"Gwen, is Kevin hurt!?"
"Not yet, Tennyson!" replied Kevin
"That's too bad!" Ben said ironically, without taking his eyes off the creature in front of him. "Okay, Albedo, where were we?"
The Vaxasaurian half-closes his eyes at the provocation.
Ben presses the Omnitrix core on his wrist and it coats himself with a green light.
Albedo seizes the opportunity that the transformation has afforded him to flee. With heavy steps, he heads towards one of the exits of the station. Each step made the ground tremble above him.
As soon as the greenish glow fades, no sign of Ben or any alien can be seen on the scene.
Suddenly, the Vaxasaurian feels an icy wind across his chest, radiating a chill down his spine. Slowly, a blue image began to materialize from his chest and then float in front of him.
"But you're leaving already?" said Big Chill in a voice that bordered on a whisper "It's still early, at least stay for a cup of coffee..."
The villain grits his teeth and contracts the muscles of his left arm to attack, but his arm doesn't move. He then realizes that a thick layer of ice has spread from his chest and expands all over his body, mainly limiting the movement of his limbs.
"That's my fault, I admit," Big Chill smiles.
Albedo ignored the alien and began to force movements against the ice. Little by little, cracks began to form, echoing shattering sounds. The Vaxasaurian emitted a grunt with each effort.
The necrofriggian flew around, circling the creature.
Finally Albedo manages to free his left arm, lifting fragments of ice and mist into the air. With one mighty punch he destroys the thick icy layer that trapped his feet, and then leaves in the direction of the exit.
Two steps. That was all he managed to do before he felt his left leg no longer rise from the ground, trapped under another iceberg stuck in the ground. With another punch, he shattered the trap on his left limb, but before he could take another step, he felt the irritating chill run through his other leg. He was trapped again. The creature's patience was reaching its limit.
"What is it, Albedo? Can't you get out?" Big Chill flew around the villain, shooting more and more jets of pure blizzard at the creature's body. "I can do this all night long."
"Really, Tennyson?" Albedo destroys part of the ice that covered his chest and grabs Big Chill in mid-air. "And if I kill you right now?"
"I want to see you try," Big Chill smiled and slowly began to disappear.
As the image of the necrofiggian faded, another one filled Albedo's field of vision: Kevin was approaching, jumping over mana platforms to reach the creature's height and then launched himself into the air with a right hook prepared especially for the villain.
The clash between the Vaxasaurian's jaw and the Osmosian's iron hand resulted in a loud metallic noise that spread throughout the place. With the impact, the huge creature became unbalanced and fell backwards, shattering what was left of the ice and collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
"Add this to your research now, you sucker!" Kevin turned his back on the creature and continued walking toward his companions.
Gwen approaches him running, while Ben descends to the ground and covers himself with his wings, forming a beautiful blue hood.
"Now what do we do with it?" asked Kevin.
"We should warn Azmuth," said Gwen. "Everything concerning the Omnitrix must be passed on to him."
"Or we could send it to the null void," proposed Kevin.
"That's not a bad idea," said Ben.
"And it would be faster too."
"Azmuth hates the idea that a copy of his creation is wandering around," said Gwen. "Maybe he can turn off Albedo's clock and-"
"I know, Gwen," said Ben
"And you don't mind that someone with your face is walking around committing crimes?"
"It bothers me a lot, yes," Ben said "It's unfair that a pretty little face like mine is with a psychopath like him; but, Gwen, look at the time... I'm soo sleep. Azmuth catches Albedo inside the null void later"
"The null void is infinite, Ben," she said.
"Really?" Ben looked at Kevin "You knew thi-"
"Ben, look out!"
Gwen summons a spherical shield around the three youngs. A frightening claw mark is drawn on the defense behind Ben. Slowly the scar begins to fade on the surface of the shield, making way for the wild sight of the creature.
The heroes have fooled themselves into thinking that the villain would remain unconscious for long. Not only has he awakened, but he has changed form. At first, they thought they were being attacked by an appoplexian like Rath, but there was something very different about this new alien.
The musculature was more defined, especially in the back, causing the alien's body to curve forward. His coat was longer and wilder, especially his face that resembled a mane so long and sparse. On the back of his hands, two attached claws protruded instead of one like Rath's.
And above all, not even in Rath's worst days could one see so much hate and bloodlust in the eyes of a creature like this one...
Albedo advanced against the shield again, drawing countless sequential slashes with each attack. Each blow made the defense shaken and its members fear for their lives.
"The shield won't hold forever, thought Ben."
Ben flew up through the shield, trying to get the creature's attention. With one last attack from Albedo, the defense shattered and Kevin jumped toward Gwen to get her out of the alien's line of attack.
Big Chill fires an icy blast at the creature's back to get its attention. It slowly turns its body and stares at him with fury in its gaze. The necroffrigian throws himself through the air toward Albedo, and along the way, Big Chill becomes increasingly intangible until he disappears, seeking to take his opponent by surprise.
With a few inches to go, the creature moves its body quickly, as if sensing the approach of the attack, positioning itself with claws ready to strike.
"It dodged!"
Ben checked his own body to make sure it was invisible.
"This alien's senses are absurd!"
"What is wrong, Tennyson?" Said Albedo in a guttural voice like a roar. "Are you trying to understand how I managed to dodge his attack? It's easy!" He positioned a finger on the tip of its muzzle "I sensed a very strong smell of fear approaching me..."
Big Chill returned to his normal appearance. With his wings he hovered in the air.
"Have you looked in the mirror recently, Albedo? If you did, you would surely feel the 'smell' spreading around you immediately. That is, if the mirror remained whole long enough for you to appreciate your beautiful image." Big Chill crossed his arms "If you want, I can give you the phone number of my hairdresser, he can't work miracles, that's a fact."
"Don't you ever shut up?" said the creature.
"I tried it once, I didn't like it very much."
Big Chill sees Gwen and Kevin stealthily approaching the alien. Around the girl's hands, balls of energy grew and became increasingly dense, ready to be thrown. Kevin, in turn, twisted his hands into two heavy balls of iron spikes and ran towards the creature.
"But tell me," said Big Chill, "what kind of alien are you transformed into?"
"Don't you recognize it?" Albedo gives a wicked smile with teeth. "Try to guess. Meanwhile I'll finish off your annoying friends."
Without turning his body around, the creature takes one of his arms behind his back and trims Kevin's iron ball. It jams its claws into the sphere, so that the osmosian cannot escape, and then spins its body around. Two turns on his own axis and then Albedo launches Kevin toward Gwen. Gwen's two energy balls dissipate in the air the moment she is hit by her colleague's body. Both are then thrown and fall unconscious to the ground.
"Gwen! Kevin!" Ben couldn't believe his eyes.
Big Chill inflated what would have been his lungs and launched a huge glacial blast towards the villain. The creature brought its arms in front of its face and, ignoring the ice forming on its body, advanced at a slow pace toward Ben.
The necroffrigian fired relentlessly. At some points the villain even stopped for a moment, but then it started walking towards Ben again. He then saw from within the blizzard a gigantic paw protrude and grab his head.
There was no time to escape.
Albedo slammed the body of Big Chill three times on the ground. Dust and debris rose into the air with each impact. A small crater formed in the ground with each hit. It was a merciless wrath.
The creature lifted the half-decayed body of Big Chill. Holding it by the head like a trophy, it said:
"Ben Tennyson, you pathetic human..."
The boy didn't respond.
"You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment..."
Ben tried to maintain a minimum of consciousness in order not to faint completely. His body ached and throbbed.
Albedo brought his other paw up to the center of the thorax and clawed his claws around the Omnitrix symbol. The appendages of the back of his hand scratched the necroffrigian's throat.
"I can't stand your arrogance! I just hate it! For I know that if it weren't for the Omnitrix, you would be just another insignificant and disgusting being who contaminates this disgusting little planet..."
He moves his claws even deeper into the symbol, causing little green electric beams to radiate from inside the device. If for those looking from the outside it felt that these beams indicated danger, for Ben it meant pain. With the omnitrix intimately bound to all his molecules, each escaping electrical pulse was marked by a stabbing pain coursing through his body.
"Maybe if I pull it out of you..." The creature's face deformed into a demonic expression of rage and sadism. "If I destroy the omnitrix still trapped within you, perhaps I can get the level of suffering I dream of causing you!"
The greenish light of the Omnitrix flashed, with more and more electrical beams escaping from its fissures. Big Chill screamed, but his voice was muffled by the paw that held his head. Mist from the necroffrigian's screams could be seen escaping through the creature's fingers.
Suddenly Albedo stopped.
The creature let go of the symbol and stared at its hand. It trembled. As if discarding a small paper ball, Albedo threw Big Chill aside and turned his attention back to himself.
The necroffrigian hit the ground and undid the transformation. Ben rolled a few more feets before he stopped with his face on the ground. He was disoriented; but mostly he felt very painful. His body was vibrating and throbbing.
Gwen was the first to wake up and ran towards Ben.
"Ben, are you ok?"
"Ouch..." He tried to get up, but felt his arms weakened. "I've been worse. How are you? Where's Kevin?"
"He's okay. He grumbled a little when I tried to wake him up, but he's alive."
"Everybody!" shouted Kevin.
The two cousins looked up to find their friend. However, the figure of the creature with clear signs of distress caught their attention. It stood with both paws on its head and staring at the ground. It seemed to seek sanity. Only a guttural groan could be heard from the creature. Suddenly it raised its head and began to look quickly at its surroundings.
Kevin's voice echoed again, this time he was running towards his cousins:
"What are you guys doing standing there, it's going to get away!"
Said and done. The creature jumped and launched itself into the air, drawing a parabola in the sky. It was not possible to see where it landed, but from the trajectory, it was at least hundreds of feets away from the station.
"Gwen, Kevin, go to the car. I'll fly after him."
"Are you sure, Tennyson?" said Kevin "You don't look so good..."
"I am" he said seriously, trying to ignore his own pain. "He's too dangerous for us to let go."
"It's up to you, come on Gwen."
The girl hesitated for a moment before going to the car. The two of them went urgently towards the nearest exit to where the car was parked.
Ben, in turn, was preparing himself for the transformation. Before activating the omnitrix, he noticed that Albedo's claw marks were still on the surface of the disk, with small sparks coming out of them.
"You look great too, Omnitrix," he said wryly as he touched the watch's disk.
A hologram projected itself onto the device. Turning the disk, he went from one creature to another, thinking about which one to choose:
"Swampfire, Chromastone, Brainstorm, Jet-Ray. Yes, let's go with Jet-Ray!" And he pressed the disk.
A green light coats Ben, initiating the transformation.
The omnitrix sinks into the surface of Ben's skin like a parasite invading a body, tearing tissue and forcing the skin to regenerate itself over the watch structure.
Something was wrong.
From the point where the watch once stood, Ben felt as if something was running under his skin, bringing with it a stabbing pain that traveled up his arm until it reached his sternum. A bulge appeared in the center of his chest and tore through his skin to make room for the symbol of the omnitrix.
The young man almost fainted at the image he had just witnessed.
An excruciating pain coursed through his spine, bringing with it the sensation that his vertebrae were deforming and multiplying. A skinless tail began to project from his tailbone to the ground.
Ben screamed in agony.
His face began to pull, as if the muscles in his face were walking and shifting position. He felt the cartilage in his nose soften and pull on the skin until it disappeared into his face. The young man then found himself in further despair: he was no longer able to breathe. In intense distress, Ben tried to draw in air, but his airways were altering their anatomy and causing him to suffocate. Abruptly he felt the skin between one of his ribs tear and a searing pain pierce his soul. One by one, the spaces between his ribs began to break up and give way to black gelgas.
Tears streamed down his deformed face.
A cruel and distressing feeling radiated from his hands that caught his attention. The young man watched his fingers change their shape, fusing their carpal bones together and forming a three-fingered structure.
He roared and screamed in agony as each deformity, fracture and fusions penetrated his bones, muscles and organs. He cried out for help, but saw nothing and no one coming to him for support.
With his distorted hand, he struck the symbol on his chest, interrupting the transformation. The process began to reverse itself, bringing with it all the excruciating pain, suffering, and sensation of the cruelest torture, until it returned to its human body.
And then the green glow goes out.
Ben, standing up, sees Gwen and Kevin running towards him. There is panic in their gazes. His vision was beginning to blur.
"H-help..."