Chereads / Reincarnated In Ben 10 / Chapter 37 - Accomplice

Chapter 37 - Accomplice

Fred grew taller and slimmer, resembling Four Arms at first. But another pair of hands sprouted from his pelvis, his hands transformed into claws, and a single blue eye appeared at the center of his face. He was now a humanoid android alien with six arms, far from human in appearance. His robotic spine connected his pelvis to his abdomen, and his one blue eye locked onto Kevin with a menacing aura.

His top arms reached to his back from behind his head, his middle arms reached for his lower back, and the arms on his pelvis reached to his robotic thighs. He pulled out thirty-centimeter-long rods, which he flipped to project blue axes made of energy.

"You're not the only Osmosian here, brat," Fred said in a chilling robotic voice.

Kevin was taken aback, unable to believe his eyes. "S-So what?" he stammered. "I'll show you not to take me for granted," he declared, charging at Fred and shooting crystal shards.

Fred danced around the shards, dodging them with ease. Closing the distance, Kevin morphed his hands into diamond blades, attempting a slash. Fred's lowest hands caught Kevin's arms, the blades doing no harm. With his upper right arm, Fred swung his axe, striking between Kevin's neck and shoulder. The force crumbled the ground beneath them.

Fred followed with his middle left arm, hitting Kevin's abdomen and sending him flying. Kevin staggered to his feet, feeling the cracks in his crystalline body. Unyielding, he transformed into Four Arms and charged again.

Fred met his charge, their clash echoing with a loud impact and destroying more of the terrain. Despite appearances, Fred's form had enough strength to overpower Kevin. As their four arms locked together, Fred's two extra arms punched Kevin—a right hook to the side and an uppercut, sending him soaring.

Kevin, fuming, turned into Stinkfly, creating distance in the sky. "Come on, Kevin, don't make this hard for yourself," Fred muttered, leaping past him.

"Well, see about that," Kevin said, firing slime. Fred, transforming into Astrodactyl, used his jetpack to deflect the projectiles with a shock of energy. Diving towards Kevin, Fred reverted to his robot alien form. Kevin dodged, but Fred grabbed his stinger, dragging him to the ground with a thunderous crash.

"I... W-won't let... you..." Kevin muttered, barely conscious. Exhausted, he reverted to his human form but lost control, becoming an amalgamation of Ben's absorbed aliens.

"What! What is this? I can't change anymore. You!" Kevin glared at Fred. "Look what you did to me," he accused.

"That's on you. When untrained Osmosians absorb other species' DNA, they lose control," Fred explained.

"Cut the crap, you did this..." Kevin yelled, but Fred moved instantly. Using rocket boosters mixed with Heatblast's fire abilities, Fred propelled himself and slammed Kevin to the ground with two upper arms. Kevin turned intangible but was punched by Fred's red electric-infused lower left fist, sending him crashing.

Fred watched Kevin, waiting to see if he'd get up. Suddenly, a red beam struck Fred, sending him flying and creating a crater. "Did we get him?" a mysterious voice said.

"I think so," another replied. "Despite hiccups, the boy served us well," a figure remarked.

"Forever Knights. You manipulated a child to do your dirty work," Fred said, standing behind them as XLR8. The dust cleared, and the robot alien was gone.

"What!" the knights exclaimed, shocked.

"A tricky one, aren't you? We know all about you and your watch, boy," the leader said.

"Wait, do these bums think I'm Ben?" Fred thought. "Focus, Fred, there's limits," he pondered. Sighing, he made a portal, sending the knights to an empty pocket dimension. Approaching the unconscious Kevin, Fred heard the rust bucket arriving.

"You finally arrived," Fred said as XLR8.

"Fred!" Max exclaimed, seeing Kevin.

"Is that..." Gwen began.

"Yeah, it's Kevin. He lost control and turned into this," Fred replied.

"So what are you going to do with him?" Gwen asked.

"That guy you turned into was awesome," Ben said, curious.

"I was going to ask about that," Fred looked at Max.

Max thought for a moment. "Maybe you can send him to that Null Void place," Gwen suggested.

"I would like to avoid that if possible," Max said firmly. He turned to Fred with a determined look. "Firstly, can you turn him back to normal?"

Fred nodded and transformed into Clockwork. With a careful, deliberate motion, he reversed time on Kevin, turning him back into a human.

"Woah, what's that one?" Ben exclaimed, his eyes wide with wonder.

"I don't name them," Fred replied in his Clockwork accent. "I've turned back time on him to before he absorbed the Omnitrix's energy," he explained, reverting to his normal form.

"But this means he'll be less harmful," Gwen said, relief washing over her.

Throughout this moment, Max's thoughts were conflicted. He didn't want to punish Kevin harshly because of his father. Through research, Max had confirmed that one of his old coworkers was Kevin's father, which made him feel compassion for the troubled child.

"Come on, let's take him back to his parents," Max said, lifting Kevin gently.

"I did some research and found the location of his mother," he added as they headed to the rust bucket.

"Sorry guys, but our trip will be on pause until we sort this out," Max announced as they entered the vehicle.

"It's okay, Grandpa," Gwen said, understanding in her voice.

"I just hope this doesn't get complicated," Ben muttered, concern etched on his face.

Entering the rust bucket, Max pressed a button on the dashboard. The vehicle transformed slightly, its wheels folding as it began to hover. "Wait a minute, since when could the rust bucket fly?" Ben and Gwen exclaimed in unison, astonished.

"Hang on," Max said, pressing another button that cloaked the rust bucket. With a smooth motion, they took off, soaring through the sky.

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