Hidden inheritance

Chapter 3: Confrontation

Ben chuckled. Out of all people he'd have to depend on, he hardly imagined it would be his dweeb of a cousin. He looked at her eyes. They were the exact same shade as his, which always confused him because only his mo-... only Sandra had them, and she wasn't related to Aunt Natalie. Could Gwen also be...?

Nah, not possible. She was the most down-to-earth person he ever knew. Even if at times, they hardly considered each other to be from the same species (which now sounded more ironic) because of their differences, it would be all too funny if she turned out to be an alien too. At least having the same eye color must've helped his cover as Gwen's cousin, back when he didn't know he had a cover.

Ben looked back sadly at the hole in the wall, looking at the shadow of his father's body. Maybe he had a life on another planet, waiting for him after Vilgax found him. But it wouldn't be like he wanted it to be, especially if he saw the person giving it to him die before they got the chance to know each other. He sighed, sadly observing Vilgax's lifeless corpse.

Said corpse lively rose back from the dead, and a quite unharmed Vilgax, not even a scratch on his armor, stood up, his red eyes focusing on both children.

"Uh oh..."

"He's alive..." Ben whispered.

"Grandpa!"

"You're alive!" Ben exclaimed.

"Hmph!" huffed the warlord. "It will certainly take more than that puny excuse of a weapon to make me, the Great Vilgax the Conqueror, ever reach my end!"

Ben could barely hide his relief and contentment as he saw the man in good shape. Gwen however didn't seem to share that feeling, as she tugged on his shirt to make him leave. As Vilgax showed himself, Max went out of the Rustbucket, his weapon still in hand, aiming back at the ruler.

"Tennyson! You are the thorn in my side!" cursed the ruler.

"How? How could you survive this?" asked Max, shock clearly present in his eyes.

"Your weapon won't help, Max Tennyson. As you can see, I'm much stronger than in our last encounter. And I fully intend to show you what happens when you take what is mine." threatened Vilgax.

His combat drones suddenly gathered around the Tennysons, surrounding them.

"Neither Ben nor the Omnitrix belong to you, creepface!" Gwen claimed, startling Ben as she dragged him far from the alien. Not even the robots around could make her flinch. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"Oh but you have every reason to be, child." said Vilgax, unamused by her protectiveness over his son. "Stay back with your grandfather or you might regret it."

"If you touch one hair on my grandchildren's head, I swear I'll-" Max's were cut short as the alarm on the ship became redder and louder. "This place is going to explode soon! Vilgax, let my grandson go!"

"Your grandson..." seethed Vilgax, making Max uncomfortable with the implication he knew how wrong that statement was.

"This isn't the time to discuss! If we don't do anything, you will go down, Ben will go down, and the Omnitrix with him!"

While both adults were arguing, Ben finally snapped back to his senses. Shaking his head, he stood back up and started fiddling with the dial. Ben could see that Vilgax and Max were at each other's throat right now (despite Max trying to be reasonable), they would probably want him away and safe rather than attempting to stop the timer. If he didn't intervene while there was still time, Vilgax would be gone for good, and the Tennyson family along with him.

He selected Grey Matter, deciding that the little alien's brain could be of use when manipulating a computer belonging to alien technology he never interacted with before. He slammed the dial and, as usual, felt his body transform in a big flash of green light. He felt his muscles melt, his head ache a tiny bit, his eyes changing shape, his arms and legs stretching until...