It was not in his plans to activate the supertransformation. In fact, he wanted to avoid it at all costs. He just wanted to go in, get what he was looking for, and leave. Of course there would be resistance, he already knew that, but this damned plumber had no right to humiliate him like that! Who does this old man think he is?
Albedo was walking down the corridor towards Max Tennyson.
He was Albedo, a Galvanian famous for his intellectual capacity. One of the main scientists of the Azmuth project. The only one who was able to see the real potential of the Omnitrix and, for this reason, was dismissed after defending its ideals. But things were about to change. All that was about to change. And it wasn't some pathetic smart-mouthed human who was going to put it all to waste.
Max was still unable to discern what the approaching creature was. Was it some other alien from Albedo? If so, which one? Since his vision was impaired by the darkness, once again the Magistrate valued his other senses to assess the situation. The warehouse smelled of dust and metal. Deep breathing could be heard coming from the direction of the creature, but no footsteps. This caught Max's attention. How could a creature that size make no sound when it walked? Not even the ground vibrated with its approach...
"Albedo, by the Plumber's code of law I order you to surrender yourself." said the Magistrate. "Don't make this situation even worse for you!"
There was no response.
There was no complaint, no disagreement, and no ironic speech from the creature.
Albedo just kept walking.
"Albedo, don't make me shoot."
Nothing.
Max pointed the pistol toward the ground, in a place he thought would be near the creature's feet, and fired a warning shot.
"Grandpa? Are you all right?" asked Ben.
"Stay there, Ben!" Max kept an eye on the creature coming through the darkness. "I'm warning you, Albedo."
The creature stopped.
For a few seconds, the silence in the place was thicker than the darkness itself.
And then Albedo moved forward.
The creature moved at great speed in the direction of the Magistrate. Max, in turn, began to fire successive shots at the creature, while trying to move away without taking his eyes off the approaching monster. The shots hit Albedo's fur, but seemed to do no damage.
Suddenly, Max noticed that his left foot was no longer able to leave the ground. He then saw that not only his left, but both feet were caught in a large mass of webbing, sticking them to the ground. He looked up, the creature was still approaching. He took out his rifle from behind him and without really defining what he was aiming at, he fired a laser projectile in the direction of the creature.
From the weapon, a luminous ball came out and traveled down the hallway illuminating the shelves, the floor, and even the villain when it hit him in the middle of his chest, pushing him a few feet.
Max finally managed to catch a glimpse of the creature Albedo had transformed into. It was something like a huge blue gorilla with gigantic spider legs that kept its huge body in the air.
Ben also noticed all the brightness that came on in the hallway in front of him. He couldn't see the creature clearly, but he could tell that his grandfather needed help: Albedo had transformed into something too big for his grandfather to handle alone.
"Grandpa! I'm coming!"
"No, Ben, stay there!"
Max saw the creature advancing toward him again. He readied his gun again, but the high impact projectile resulted in a slower rate of fire as well. With his aim ready he fired again, but this time the creature deflected and kept moving forward. Another shot? There was no time. Max dropped the gun, which was hanging from his belt, and with his arms crossed in front of his face he waited for the impact.
And it came.
Ben was walking towards the beginning of the corridor when something passed by his side and hit the wall behind him.
The boy turned and saw his grandfather slide down the wall and fall unconscious to the floor. The blood dripping down Max's face showed that his injuries were severe.
"G-Grandpa?"
Ben didn't know how to react. What should he do? Run to Grandpa? Call for help? The Plumbers could help! But what about Albedo? He could escape and... Albedo... He is responsible for all of this!
The teenager looks in direction of the dark corridor and observes the image of the spider gorilla slowly coming out of the darkness. There was a wry smile on the creature's face. He still had the audacity to laugh!
Ben touches the disc of the watch making a hologram appear. No matter which alien it was, he was going to finish off Albedo's kind. Then he pressed the disk.
A green light covered Ben indicating that the transformation was beginning.
The Omnitrix once again drilled through the tissues of Ben's arm, spreading a stabbing pain, and sank beneath the skin like a parasite, only to emerge again in the middle of his chest.
Not again! he thought.
Ben began to feel a very strong headache. An enormous pressure was spreading throughout his brain, causing his vision to blur and a great desire to vomit to arise. The young man put his hands to his head and felt something strange. As he looked at his hands he saw brown tufts of... what were this? Hair? His hair?
The boy squirmed as the vertebrae of his spine began to deform, causing his chest and abdomen to compress like a soda can being crushed. His skin folded and some ribs cracked in the process.
His hands began to deform, with his fingers merging into a huge claw. In his legs, two parallel lines ran down his thighs to his feet, splitting skin, muscles and bones, and making each limb become three. In the end, they formed six thin legs that rested on the tips of his feet.
Already entirely hairless, Ben felt as if his head was going to explode! His jaw clamped onto his skull and he was now no longer able to move his mouth, so that his cries were either guttural moans or thoughts of deep pain.
His body began to take on an orange tint and his skin hardened with the deposition of chitin, forming an articulated exoskeleton covering Ben's entire surface.
His skull grew larger and larger, until the instant the space between the parietal bones broke open, opening like closet doors and exposing a gigantic open brain. Unable to scream, his pain and agony was now being projected to the surroundings through his telepathy.
Hi.
Excuse me.
Sorry to interrupt your reading, but I need to point something out before we continue.
There is a rumor in fiction that says that we humans are not able to use 100% of our brain. This is a lie. Our brain is incredibly organized and uses every part of it as needed. If we need to move our leg, a part in the center is active. If we need to see, the region of the occipital lobe activates. And so it goes on working. There is no need to use it all at once. There is only one situation in which we use 100% of our brain: when we are having a convulsion. Like the one the Brainstorm is having right now.
As soon as the light of the transformation went out, the equipment warehouse was immersed in complete pandemonium. The Brainstorm's telekinesis lifted racks, crates, equipment, and everything else that could be found in the place and began to spin and hurl in all directions. Psionic rays coming from the alien's extremely evolved brain were shooting out in a thousand directions, like a huge storm.
Albedo planted his paws on the warehouse floor and tried not to be dragged by the whirlwind of objects and telekinetic waves emanating from Ben Tennyson. With his arms he tried to protect himself from a motor or crate that hit him from all directions. He felt that at any moment he might lose consciousness, because the telepathic pressure on his brain was unbearable, he could not think clearly. At some moments, he even felt that his body no longer obeyed him, as if a new order was imposed on his neurons.
Albedo could not understand what was happening. He could see the cerebrocrustacean at the epicenter of the maelstrom, with his paws stretched out and his claws folded over his thorax, his skull cap open, clearly not in control of his powers. Was he unconscious? That didn't matter, it wasn't his problem. He needed to get out of there.
The villain searched for a way to get to the exit, but had no idea how to get past the Tennyson who stood between him and the door. Each attempt at a step became more impossible with the waves pushing him further and further. Suddenly, a huge rack came toward him, hitting him and maintaining its trajectory until it hit the concrete wall of the warehouse.
Albedo's gorilliform body went through the wall of the warehouse and crashed into one of the plumbers' trucks that were parked in the back of the Energy Sector. Even with a sturdy body like his, the impact was painful enough to force him to untransform.
Disoriented and with a sore body, Albedo, in his human form, climbed out of the debris of the truck and tried to hide until he found a way to escape. Transforming again would not be possible. Not so soon. All he could do was wait and hope that Tennyson's lack of control was contained within the warehouse.
Inside, the situation tended to get even worse. The walls and columns that made up the structure of the building began to crack. In some places, parts of the roof began to fall and join in the whirlwind that levitated, spun, destroyed and threw everything within the Arthropod's reach.
Ben was like an empty shell of destruction. In the center of the hurricane, the only thing he was capable of doing was suffering.
Pain
Agony
Fear
Regret
Pain
Fear
Pain
Pain
Pain
A bright projectile hits the cerebrocrustacean, forcing Ben back into his human form and bringing an end to the chaos. Objects previously in the air begin to fall by gravity, forming a rain of debris.
By the door, Max lowers his rifle.
A tear cuts his face.