The last piece of the crystal dome crumbled to the ground and Max flew off, heading for the place where Albedo had fallen. He flew over the barren terrain consumed by the explosion, reached the pine forest and continued for a few more feet until he noticed a path of broken branches that ended in a hole through the trees.
He carefully lowered his height, keeping an eye on his viewfinder, his additional cameras and the danger sensors. He landed in the thickly wooded area, with the wind echoing a symphony of swaying leaves.
He approached where Albedo had been forced to land. A hole about thirty feet in diameter marked the spot, but there was no sign of the alien.
Could he have escaped? ― he thought.
Worse than an evident danger is the uncertainty of its presence. The Magistrate pressed a button on his arm and activated the scanner on his visor. He looked at the forest around him, but found no sign of heat. He raised his head towards the treetops, but no sign of life was detected. He focused on the crater in front of him, looking for genetic material, traces of odors or anything else that might indicate where the alien might have fled.
A small signal beeped on his screen. A zoom automatically focused on the subject: a small piece of organic matter. A fingernail perhaps?
Max slid down the soft earth sides of the hole and crouched down to pick up the organic sample.
A ball of fire enveloped Max, filled the opening and grew into the sky, burning the branches of the trees around the crater.
The armor's thrusters propelled him out of the flames to a safe distance. Alerts beeped frantically on the display. Max planted his feet on the ground and immediately dropped to one knee. He stared at the column of dark smoke rising from inside the crater.
A huge hand appeared and touched the edge of the hole. The horned head followed, with eyes as bright as fire and heavy, noisy breathing. The huge body of the evolved Vaxasaurian rose completely out of the ground.
Max felt his vision becoming blurred, perhaps it was the excessive blood loss, he couldn't quite tell. The fact is that he needed to react somehow, to get out of there. The creature's gaze made its purpose clear.
◇───────◇───────◇
Ben wrapped his arms around Gwen and Kevin's necks. He was really happy to see them there.
"Wait a minute, Ben," said Gwen, "what are you doing here?"
He pulled away from the hug and said:
"I've come to help you! Azmuth told me you were up against Albedo, so I figured you needed help." Ben, who was always bad with details, finally noticed the violet marks on his cousin's face and hair "Gwen, what was that?"
"Long story, Tennyson," said Kevin, "Now... would you like to explain to us what that is?" he pointed to the Omnitrix symbol on Ben's chest.
Ben looked down at the symbol and gave a confused expression. He turned to Azmuth and asked:
"Have I become an alien now?"
"You know that defining someone as an alien depends on the reference, right?" Azmuth said: "You can be defined as an alien by me."
"You understood me!"
"Close your eyes for a moment."
Ben obeyed.
"Now focus your attention on your right arm and try to imagine your limb as if it were the arm of a Pyronite."
"Whose?" said Ben, raising an eyebrow but not opening his eyes.
"Heatblast, you blockhead," said Kevin. "Seriously, how can a knucklehead like that, who barely knows the name of his own species, be responsible for a watch that - what the hell is that!?"
Ben opened his eyes and saw that his right arm was covered up to the elbow in magma rocks, with a small river of lava flowing between them. His fingers were like glowing stones. It wasn't such an unusual sight for Ben, but when he noticed that his other arm was as simple as a human's, he finally understood.
"That's really cool!" said Ben.
"Remember, avoid making big transformations, otherwise the anesthetic will be consumed much faster than expected," said Azmuth. "Master control is activated, but focus on aliens you already know. We're in no condition to keep experimenting with new species."
"But, Ben..." said Gwen. "What about the problem with the Omnitrix? Doesn't it hurt anymore when you transform? What was causing the problem? What guarantees that it won't come back?"
"Gwen..." Ben held his cousin by the arms and looked deep into her eyes. - "I'm fine."
The girl's breathing calmed down.
"I don't know the details of everything you've done for me, but I do know that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your help," Ben looked at his friend, "Kevin's," and continued to look at the others in the room, "Eunice and Charmcaster. Charmcaster!? - And he took a step back.
"Bu!" she said ironically.
"What is she doing here?"
"Believe it or not, she also helped you..." said Gwen.
"What?"
"And now she's going to help us beat Albedo."
"Do I need to?" said Enchantress "Didn't your old man already manage to defeat him?"
"What's she talking about?" Azmuth asked.
Eunice stepped between Gwen and Kevin and, moving closer to the scientist, said:
"We saw the body of an evolved crystalsapien hurtling through the sky and falling in the middle of the forest. We believe that the Magistrate may have defeated Albedo."
"I doubt it very much!" said Azmuth. "As long as the Superomnitrix isn't removed from his arm, he's still a threat. We need to get to him immediately!"
"Yes, Mr. Azmuth" Eunice sat down in the pilot's chair and began to start the ship's departure processes.
The plumbing spacecraft began to rise from the ground, kicking up dust and leaves. The sound of the engines propagated through the trees and the cloudless blue sky became more and more visible from the main window of the command bridge. Once the ship had passed the height of the trees, an explosion was seen in the landscape to the east, raising a column of dark smoke.
"The bastard's not dead yet!" shouted Kevin.
The ship moved towards the column of smoke. Until it reached the vicinity, three more explosions were observed in the area. Two trees fell over with the third explosion, opening up an area where the ground could be seen from the sky.
The spacecraft crew approached the window together, curious to see what was going on. The sight made them stomach turn...
"Grandpa!" Ben slammed both open hands on the window.
"How awful!" Eunice covered her mouth in horror.
Gwen's hair began to rise and her eyes began to glow violet.
"I'm going to kill this wretch!" Kevin shouted.
Ben turned his back to the window and shot towards the exit. Gwen and Kevin followed close behind. Eunice ran to her bag and shouted:
"Kevin, wait!"
He stopped suddenly and turned to her. Eunice grabbed his left arm and put something in his hand.
"Here, I couldn't give it to you before," said the girl.
Kevin looked at the ten rings in her hand. He picked up a thicker one in a shiny black color and looked at the details.
"These are rings made from rocks from the Calcùnete market. Unfortunately I won't be able to explain each one now, but at least this one I need to talk about" Eunice took out a yellow ring and showed it to Kevin "The main ore is inside this yellow coating. It can't be exposed to the air, so be careful."
"What happens?" Kevin asked.
"It explodes." Eunice handed him a folded piece of paper "I've written the ore in each of the rings here. If you have time, try reading it."
"Got it." Kevin began to put a ring on each finger and put the paper in his back pocket. "Thanks, blondie!"
Ben and Gwen were already at the door leading to the boarding ramp. As soon as the ramp started to descend, the wind invaded the spaceship.
"Don't you want us to land first?" shouted Eunice over the wind.
"No need," shouted Kevin, who ran past his friends and jumped out the door.
Gwen and Ben jumped after him.
Kevin was obviously the first to hit the ground. The impact of his landing opened up a small crater. His body was coated in a shiny black rock that resembled dark obsidian.
Gwen descended at high speed. With just a few feet to go, she slowed down, floating gently until she touched the ground. The violet strands of her hair glowed and the blemishes on her skin shone brightly.
With his four blue and black wings, Ben glided in a downward spiral in the air. A cold mist formed as he approached. He rebounded slightly upwards and let himself fall, planting both feet on the ground, bending his knees and body. As usual, his wings folded over him, covering him in a sinister cloak. Under the hood, his green eyes shone from within the shadow that covered his face.
Albedo carried a maniacal, toothy grin on his face. He held his arm high in the air, holding Grandpa Max's collapsed body by the head, proudly displaying the fruit of his hunt. The galvanic armor shattered at the mere sway of the forest wind. Below Max, a pool of blood was forming from where his right arm should have been.