"Approaching coordinates 2.5.14-10, destination: Earth" said the spacecraft's computer, "We will leave warp speed in sixty seconds."
"Great!" Said Grandpa Max, "Any more information about the explosion, Eunice?"
"Not yet, Magistrate" Eunice was standing by a multi-screen panel to the right of the command bridge, "I'm trying to get more data, but communication with the Bellwood Plumbers' headquarters is still lost."
"That's not a good sign," said Azmuth, who was still in his makeshift space, working on his ores.
"No, that's a very bad sign," said Max.
Max, meanwhile, was sitting in his pilot's chair, a holographic screen projected in front of him, with a map of Bellwood and a yellow circle that took up 10% of the territory, mainly involving the city's forest. Leaning on the arm of the chair, his Plumber's badge flickered in the light like a phone call waiting to be answered.
"There's been another explosion!" said a startled Eunice.
"What? But so fast!" Max got up from his chair and positioned himself next to Eunice.
"Unfortunately, yes" Eunice moved her fingers across the screens, pulling information windows from one side to the other, "But somehow, the area of the explosion isn't expanding..."
Max Tennyson's plumber's badge emitted a high-pitched sound that spread throughout the room. An uncomfortable feeling enveloped everyone at once, Azmuth and Eunice stopped what they were doing for a moment and both stared at the Magistrate.
"Not this..." said Max, reaching for his badge.
"What is it, Max?"
"It's Gwen!"
"Is she calling you?" Eunice asked.
"No, she's on the verge of losing control of her powers." Max sat back in his chair and said, "Computer, how long until we arrive?"
"But just like that?"
"No, Eunice" said Azmuth, "check your data, you'll understand."
Eunice turned to the screens and noticed that the information on the second explosion showed an exponential increase in the energy level, but remained relatively constant in the area of impact.
"S-she's holding the blast!?"
Max didn't reply, instead he shouted even louder:
"Computer!"
"Coming out of warp speed. We have reached the established coordinates: Earth."
A hollow click accompanied by a sudden vibration ran through the plumbing spacecraft and then Max, Eunice and Azmuth saw the huge image of planet Earth fill the front display.
"Now leave it to me, computer, switch to manual steering."
"Yes, Magistrate, autopilot deactivated."
"Eunice," said Max, "I need you to gather all the energy stones you can find."
"What are you planning, Max?" said Azmuth.
Max watched a beam of light rise from a point on the earth's surface, centrifugally pushing away the clouds in the atmosphere of that region.
"I'm sure Gwen will be able to hold off the explosion, but if afterwards we can't hold her off, we'll have two problems instead of one."
"What about Albedo?" Eunice asked.
Max's face contorted into a hard expression.
◇───────◇───────◇
Albedo laughed delightedly. His ultimate crystalsapien body glowed with energy, emitting bright beams through the dissipating smoke.
"That's it!" he said, "That's what I needed!"
The Ultimatrix insignia on his chest said in a robotic voice:
"Internal battery one hundred percent recharged."
"Excellent," replied Albedo. "What about the self-powered core?"
"Particles charged and vibrating at the appropriate frequency. Waiting for an energetic trigger to initiate a continuous fissio-fusion process."
Albedo raised his head and looked at his creation with pride. The tadenite crystal once located at the top of the machine now consisted of a formless plasma mass inside its container. It wiggled frantically as if it wanted to escape.
He opened his arms, preparing to emit a powerful beam of energy into the shapeless compound and finally complete the fission process; when suddenly he heard a sharp sound cut through the sky. He turned around and noticed that three spaceships were coming towards him.
"Haven't they taught you that it's rude to be late for other people's parties?" said the alien.
The middle spacecraft opened a compartment under its left wing and launched a missile towards the fission machine. Albedo aimed at a point on the ground, causing a crystal tip to project there; he raised his arm towards the missile and the crystal tip grew like a huge, thin violet pillar, hitting the projectile long before it reached its target.
The spaceships dodged the column and began firing laser beams at Albedo. The shots hit the earth like a bright green rain, raising dust and debris into the air. The alien positioned itself between the ships and the machine and grew a crystal barrier about fifteen feet wide and twenty feet high. The lasers that hit the shield were converted into a rainbow glow and traveled down the crystalline surface to the ground.
The ships divided their formation: two to the left and one to the right, circling the area of the machine. Albedo raised his right arm and launched energy beams towards the spaceships. None hit. The spaceships dodged, pirouetting through the air.
Albedo closed his right hand and stopped the attack from coming out. The glow from his hand traveled up his arm, down his body and sank into the ground through his feet.
One of the ships turned and positioned itself in front of the machine, opened the lower compartment of the right wing to launch a missile when a huge beam of energy hit it from behind and pulverized half the spacecraft in mid-air. The remaining pieces fell in a rain of debris.
The plumber pilot of the ship on the right turned towards the source of the beam and saw, about 250 yards away, previously shrouded in smoke, a crystal structure glowing at its tip. The pilot scanned his entire field of vision and counted six more pointed structures that emerged from the ground like claws.
"Watch out for the outlying towers," said the pilot into his communicator. "The last shot came from the one to the southeast. There are at least seven of them."
"Yes, sir."
Albedo heard new sounds cut through the air. A missile hit the crystal barrier at his back and sent him crashing into his machine. He stood up, resting his hand on the equipment and stroked it to see if anything had been damaged.
He turned his head slightly and looked behind him at the five other plumber ships filling the air in formation.
Another shot from Albedo's turrets hit the ship furthest to the right, forcing them to break formation. The spacecraft's shots began to intensify, every laser launched at the machine being blocked by a crystal shield or some part of the alien's body.
Albedo fired energy beams with his right hand and with his left he made columns of crystal appear. Two ships crashed when their wings were pierced by the pillars. A missile almost hit the machine, but was hit by an energy beam in mid-air. Two shots from the outer turrets intersected in a cross and pulverized two spaceships. There were still three left.
The alien fired several shots at a spacecraft, making it reduce its altitude more and more until finally five columns of crystal sprang from the earth at once and pierced the ship, turning it into a ball of fire.
Two missiles came towards it, one of which, however, began to veer off course in mid-flight towards the fission apparatus. Albedo, who was preparing to destroy both missiles at once, found himself unable to hit them both at the same time. He turned his back on the projectile coming towards him and fired at the second missile, causing it to explode in mid-air.
However, the first projectile hit him, throwing him away from his machine, face down.
The two remaining ships began firing lasers at the machine, causing pieces of it to break off. The amorphous material inside the container was beginning to lose its luster.
Albedo stood up furiously. He filled his chest with energy and let it flow down his body to the ground. The seven towers fired at the same time, emitting a strong glow as they crossed each other in the sky.
As soon as the glow dissipated, he noticed that there was no trace of the plumbers or their ships left.
"Useless insects," Albedo cursed. He walked over to his machine, which was still working.
He would need a good few minutes to release the amount of energy needed to finish fissioning the tadenite, but with the constant arrival of Plumbers, his goal could fail. He had an idea.
Albedo raised his arms towards two of the outlying crystal towers. He began to rotate his body clockwise. All seven towers began to tilt to the right and grow in size. He continued his methodical movement, waves of energy shining from his chest and flowing down his body. The tips of the columns began to approach each other's bases and continued to grow, climbing on top of each other. Little by little, the towers became a spiral dome. The luminosity there was being reduced more and more, down to an opening at the top that was also closing.
Albedo heard the sound of an explosion hitting the left side of the dome and smiled.
"It'll take more than that to destroy my crystals," he thought.
Suddenly a powerful impact appeared behind Albedo, causing the ground to vibrate and a huge cloud of dust and fire to arise. Something fell from the sky and hit his machine hard. Pieces of it flew past his face. He looked down at the ground at his feet and a bright green liquid was beginning to be absorbed into the earth. He lifted his head and saw a silhouette forming in the smoke.
"Who are you, you bastard!" said Albedo. "Do you know what you've done?"
The figure took a step forward and Albedo could see the galvanian mechamorph armor glowing in the light from the skylight.
"It can't be..." Albedo took a step back.
The armor's helmet opened, revealing the cold face of Max Tennyson.
"Ah, it's just you, cursed old man... I thought I'd killed you before, but all right, after what you've just done, I'll make sure you stay dead."