Tag: water

After Megumi called us, it took a full four weeks to get my plan into action, on account of getting us to work together. Did I mention how dim the Dinobots can be? In any event, I got us into different teams. Dinobot and the Dinobots were in position. “All right,” I whispered. “On my signal. Wait. Wait! NOW!” The dinosaur based bots charged through the wall and started creating havoc.

“MAXIMIZE!” announced Dinobot as he leapt into the air. He landed on Starscream and started slashing with his sword.

“Argh! You again?!” screeched Starscream. He tried to shake Dinobot off, but to no avail.

“I shall enjoy ripping that mutant spark of yours out of your spark chamber!” snarled Dinobot. While that was going on, the Dinobots were tearing into the Combatmen. This was the first time they were told to squish humans. Vilgax showed up.

“What is going on?!” he roared.

“Lacey! Now!” I shouted. Lacey and her classmates and teachers surrounded Vilgax. He started laughing.

“Pitiful fools!” he said. “What can YOU hope to accomplish?”

“Henshin!” announced Lacey and her associates. They entered their suits. Death had a navy undersuit with black armor, a skeletal motif, a black cowl, and scythe blades on the forearms. Pestilence had green armor with jagged teeth and some sort of barrel on the legs. Famine’s armor was yellow with a hinged jaw. Lacey’s armor looked like a mix with Famine’s helmet with a brown hat, War’s left leg, Pestilence’s right leg, and Death’s arms. Her classmates wore the same armor of black coloration, a featureless helmet, and carried a short sword. They managed to keep Vilgax busy.

“That’s our cue!” I called. We made our way to the genetics lab to find Ben and his friends tied up, unconscious. “Okay, let’s go!” I declared.

“No touchy!” drawled a voice. It was Heather, in all her pig-tailed, torn, denim shorts, sunflower yellow blouse wearing “glory”, accompanied by Megatron. Ursula was NOT kidding when she said he was an unholy fusion of flesh and steel. He was in T-Rex mode, complete with wires and circuits woven into the purple scales, a Techno-organic Evil Barney.

“Megatron?” I asked. “What did you do to yourself?”

“Even organics find my current shape appalling,” muttered Megatron. “Since Primal threw us into the techno-organic core of Cybertron…”

“You’re to blame as well!” snapped Richard.

“It was Optimus’ folly, and his alone!” growled Megatron. “And now, the flesh I abhor keeps me alive! I can never obtain the purity I deserve, nor can I spread that purity through the universe! I have become a walking contradiction!”

“What you’ve become is a common low-life! Same level as her!” I roared as I pointed to Heather. “You! Hillbilly Heather! Start talking!”

“It’s…just…Heather!” hissed Heather. “After your mother got me put away for years by calling my crusade of racial purity ‘unholy’, I thought up exotic ways to get out! Yet, the guards wouldn’t let me resume my crusade! For a while, I was content to rot, until a rift opened for little ol’ me. The thought of escaping was stampeding through my mind and I jumped at the opportunity. I ended up in Lord Vortech’s realm with an offer to make a pure universe. Given that I needed purity, how could I refuse? I was sent to obtain something called a Foundation Element and ended up in Plumber HQ. The scanner I was given was going crazy when I faced Ben Darling here, so I decided to get the watch from him. As you can see, I had the tech to do so and now have it on my person.” She held up the Omnitrix, a square watch face and simple band. “Now, let’s see, something that will let me control my anger,” muttered Heather as she brought up a holographic selection ring. She stopped on one and slid back the faceplate to reveal a cylinder with the Omnitrix symbol on top. “Ice Moth seems like a good one,” mused Heather. She pressed the core down and morphed into a blue, humanoid, moth-like alien. “Ice Moth!” she whispered.

“You mean Big Chill!” I called.

“Like I said, my Omnitrix, my naming rights,” hissed Heather.

“We need to get that off her!” declared Richard.

“Ready!” I called. We got our i.d tags out.

“Henshin!” we announced. As we transformed, Megatron got between us and Heather.

“No, not this time!” roared Megatron. “I will NOT be denied perfection!”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news for you,” I replied, “but that’s the ultimate evolution for Transformers.”

“Nonsense!” roared Megatron.

“It’s true! I looked it up!” I insisted.

“I believe the popular phrase flying around is ‘check your facts’,” growled Megatron.

“We’re not worried about you,” boasted Clash. “I heard a thing or two about bots like you from Guard here. You need to find your balance between beast and machine to assume your bipedal robot mode.”

“And you hate your current organic half outright,” I continued. “So, I don’t see you transforming any time soon.”

“Oh, but, you see, I CAN transform, yeeesss!” countered Megatron. “I’ve found my balance. My organic half loathes me and wants me out of beast mode. My technological half sees no reason to argue. And, because of nostalgia, I feel the need to use my old activation code. Megatron, TERRORIZE!” Glowing rings of light then appeared around his neck, beast mode shoulders and hips, and tail. They traveled down the ligaments to change the form. The beast head shrunk to become a head we were familiar with, the arms grew and gained extra fingers on the hands, thumbs too, and the feet became more humanoid…as humanoid as dino feet could get. He retrieved a sword from his subspace with the guard looking like a T-Rex head spitting the sword out. “Time to be turned to ash, organics, yeeesss!” declared Megatron.

“En Garde,” I challenged. I turned to the team. “Get the Omnitrix off Heather!”

“Will do!” replied Richard. Megatron guffawed.

“Sending your flunkies away to fight me alone?” he laughed as the team attacked Heather as best they could, given that her current form, a Necrofriggian, can exhale ice generating gas and can turn intangible, allowing her to turn an object she phased through into ice if she so desired. “How gutless!” continued Megatron.

“How is taking care of you gutless?” I asked.

“Because suicide is the coward’s way out!” roared Megatron. That struck a nerve with me.

“Don’t talk to me about a coward’s way out,” I hissed. “I nearly went down that path!” Megatron and I clashed. I decided to whack one of his nerves. “Be honest, who’s the bigger threat in your eyes?”

“I am, of course!” boasted Megatron. I knew it! I started laughing. “What are you laughing at?! Unicron take you, why are you laughing?!”

“Of all the egos I met, you just topped Miss Purity over there,” I laughed. “I’m taking care of a minor annoyance while my team takes care of a big threat.”

“…What?” hissed Megatron.

“Do you honestly believe YOU’RE a major threat?” I asked. I shoved Megatron away. “Vilgax, he’s deadlier than you. One of my allies, Ursula, she’s deadlier than you. Hell, even Starscream’s deadlier than you! You simply want to turn organic life into ash, replace it with machine life, and remove individuality, neat-o. What happens after that?”

“I will replace individuality with a single, elegant machine,” declared Megatron. “The future will have one single guiding intelligence!”

“After that, what will that intelligence, that is YOU, do?” I asked.

“I will rule my universe! I shall become the very definition of perfection!” boomed Megatron.

“Okay, after that?” I quizzed.

“I…don’t understand…” faltered Megatron.

“What will you do to pass the time?” I elaborated. “Will you create new life? Not likely since it’s different from you and will most likely be destroyed. You won’t just be a superior being in the universe, you will be the only being in the universe. Who can you talk to? Not your drones since they’re just extensions of your will. So, again, I ask you, what will you do when you’ve achieved your goals?” At this point, Megatron dropped his blade. He started clutching his head as if my question were giving him a headache.

“Techno…technological purity is…is…important…!” he got out.

“Yes,” I replied, “but why do you WANT that goal?” I cancelled my transformation as I heard Heather say, in a burbly voice, “MUCK!”

“GOOP, YOU MEAN!” roared Guard. Megatron didn’t hear. He was too busy trying to explain himself.

“Everything should…and must…be metal!” he strained.

“And when you fulfill that purpose,” I said in a louder tone, “what will your purpose be?!” Megatron was twitching as if Energon Field Build-up was relevant to him. “What will be your next achievement when you made the ultimate achievement? Is having a purely technological body just an end? Well, that can’t be right because you had that during the Beast Wars, even before then!” I started circling him. “So, go ahead and make your kingdom of the pure! Let Megatron be everything! The machine, the reality! Become everything there is down to the tiniest atom so that you are, literally, the universe itself! In the end, you will still have the same problem, no challenge! That’s what you fear, change and competition! Evolution and life! And, with no competition, there’s no Heaven to aspire to, nor Hell to avoid! You will live forever, alone as everything, and your universe will be your prison! All experiences will be a part of you, all possibilities considered and completed! Every life-form, molecule, every should and never should, and it will all be done. Everything will be you and everything will be meaningless! My own universe is going through such a crisis right now. The two main powers of my country are afraid of the change that technology brought. They claim that what they do will be for my country’s own good, but, in the end, when we’re all red or blue, elephants or donkeys, Republicans or Democrats, and one side has done away with the other, there will be no challenge, no future to look forward to! Well, as a human, I’ve long accepted the one, single truth of the multiverse, only through chaos can change happen! Only through an ugly thing will beauty flourish! So, when you DO become your universe, when the definition of your universe’s existence equals Megatron, former Predacon Commander and rogue, you will scream your final ‘NO’ and let it vibrate along the totality of your being, when the lie of your ridiculous crusade of purity is laid bare, because there is simply nothing else for you to DO!!”

“Yoooouuu…are coooonnnnnfuuuuussssinnng…mmeee!” strained Megatron as he tried to speak through vocal components that were directing their energies to his brain. “Yooouuu arrree…aaaatttemmmppttiing…aaaa…deccceeeppption!”

“Me?” I hissed as I stopped circling to face him. “Deceive a descendant of the Decepticons? Lie to a guy that may prove as powerful as his namesake? I don’t have the capacity to do so!”

“You…you…IIIII musssst…cooontinnuuuuue!” slurred Megatron. “Aaallll lllliiifffeee…muuustt…bbbbeeee…!”

“Technological in origin with you as the guiding hand!” I interrupted. “Except that there is no point! In the end, you’ll still be there, alone in the darkness of mere being! FOREVER! What it all boils down to is that you’re no more significant that a single atom in your body!”

“SILENCE!!” roared Megatron.

“HEY!” burbled Heather in her Polymorph form. Polymorphs are a unicellular species that can take any shape at will, mainly a humanoid one with two eyes. In Earth’s gravity, they need a special Anti-Gravity projector to maintain their form. Without it, they’re an immobile blob of usually green goo. Zhànshì was holding the deactivated Anti-Gravity Projector belonging to Heather’s Polymorph form. Heather tried to move, but I grabbed the Omnitrix symbol and pulled it off her viscous form. It turned back from a single disc to the watch while the Anti-Gravity Projector vanished as Heather turned back. The instant she did, she leapt on me. “THAT’S MINE!” she shouted as she tried to pry it from my hands.

“Don’t be absurd!” I argued. “You don’t even like other people! That’s another failing of you ‘purists’! You only use others until their usefulness is fulfilled, even your fellow purists! Why do you, of all beings, want to have racial purity?!”

“Because having mutts like you outlive me is an affront to my existence!” roared Heather. “An affront to what God intended!”

“You and I clearly worship a different God,” I hissed. “My God would want diversity in his creations!” I managed to get her off me. “Someone check on Ben!”

“Still out cold!” reported Clash.

“Looks like I’ll have to use it until Ben wakes up!” I declared. I put it on my arm and the band locked itself around my wrist. It automatically adjusted to allow me to use it. Heather punched me in the mouth. I spat out a couple of tooth chips. “You’ll pay for that, literally!” I snarled. “Do you know how expensive dental work is?!” I turned to the Omnitrix and activated the selection ring. “Okay, I need something to give me the edge over her! I need Four Arms! Or Humungousaur! Or NRG!” I was distracted by a flying kick from Heather and selected the alien. I felt another set of arms sprout and another set of eyes open beneath my original ones. My clothes were swapped out for a leotard, Omnitrix must have its clothing function fixed. I then noticed that I felt something from my tail-bone. My jaws then started going outward and I realized I was taking a four-armed simian form, not a four-armed humanoid form. Something took control of my vocal cords as I shouted my new form’s name. “SPIDERMONKEY!” The alien I turned into was called an Arachnichimp, a blue-furred simian species that could spin webs from their tails. The fur on my cheeks looked more like spider mandibles. I sighed. “I asked for a Tetramand, you give me an Arachnichimp,” I moaned at the Omnitrix symbol located below my sternum. “Oh well, I can work with this.” I pointed my tail at Heather and shot a web at her, sticking her to a wall. I then ran up to her and started punching rapidly. I stopped for a second. “Okay, talk. What’s this universe’s Foundation Element and where is it?!”

“Ain’t you gonna read me my rights?!” snarked Heather. I punched her again.

“I’m not a police officer!” I snarled. “Talk!”

“I plead the fifth!” hissed Heather. I punched her again.

“Talk!” I demanded.

“I don’t know on either count!” answered Heather.

“Really?” I asked. “I don’t believe that.”

“It’s the truth!” begged Heather.

“She’s not lying!” called Guard as he and the rest of the team cancelled their transformations. “I’ve used my belt to detect any attempt to lie. She doesn’t know! Now, let her go. She doesn’t deserve death!” I considered for a while, then slapped the Omnitrix symbol, returning to the human body I’m familiar with.

“Then we need to find it before the enemy does!” I declared.

“Can’t the Omnitrix find it?” asked Haitao. “It IS a Foundation Element.”

“How can we know how to use it to find another?” quizzed Livia. I then got an idea.

“Maybe the Omnitrix itself can’t,” I explained, “but one of the aliens can!” I went through the selection ring and selected the alien I wanted. After pushing the core down, I felt my eyes sink in until my vision went black. I knew that this was the alien I wanted. My posture became ape-like in that my hands were supporting the bulk of my new body while my legs redesigned themselves for jumping. Claws came out of my fingers and a harness appeared in place of my usual outfit with the Omnitrix symbol on my belly. Three gills appeared on each side of my neck, allowing me to use heat visioning and echolocation as well as smell. I roared my name, my current form lacking vocal cords, as someone shouted what I tried to say.

“WILDMUTT!” I got an image of Richard with his hands in a bullhorn fashion. We all gave him a look. “Well, Vulpimancers can’t talk!” replied Richard. I shrugged, then sniffed the Omnitrix symbol, Ben’s wrist, and Heather’s wrist to confirm the scent. I had it! Livia stayed behind to get Ben and his team back into working order. I led the rest of us to a building that was too near the Dinobots and made it inside. I sniffed around and stopped by the statue of Dr. John Hammond, the guy who started Jurassic Park. I sniffed the statue and got a match on the cane! I started growling and pointed excitedly at the cane.

“That’s the Foundation Element?!” asked Irina.

“Right under the enemy’s nose the entire time!” cheered Mikhail.

“And we led them right to it,” gulped Michael. I slapped down on the Omnitrix symbol and returned to being Emily Saunders.

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Because Vilgax is right here!” replied Michael. Vilgax was at the doorway.

“How?!” I yelped. “I mean, Death and the others…”

“Were nothing!” boasted Vilgax. He flung them into the building, battered, but alive. War snarled.

“Your species is not known for warfare!” she snarled. “You bring shame to them!”

“And yet, I lead them,” chuckled Vilgax.

“Vilgax, back away and surrender!” I roared.

“Wha? And leave the Omnitrix in an ape’s grasp?” snarled Vilgax. “I think not. You ARE right, there is no victory in purity. Megatron and Heather are living proof of that. However, Heather is a bit like the Atasians.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“They once called themselves the Highbreed,” explained Vilgax. “Lately, after Ben Tennyson saved the galaxy from them, they’ve been trying to wean away from that and call themselves by their original names. The work goes slowly, as work like that does.”

“Wait, you said Heather was like the High…Atasians,” I recalled. “How so?”

“She cannot breed,” elaborated Vilgax. “She was born without…ovaries, I believe is the word for the organs I’m thinking of.”

“So, she’s not attacking because she’s the most powerful, she’s attacking because she’s the last of her family!” I realized.

“And you will not live to see her die,” snarled Vilgax as he picked up his sword. I scrolled through the selection ring, not looking, and pressed on the core. My body changed. It felt like my bones were vanishing while muscle was maintaining my form. My nose sunk in as my hair became extensions on my head. My pinkies shrunk into my hands while my toes became two on each foot. My vocal cords were seized again.

“CHIMERA SUI GENERIS!” I announced. I examined myself. “Vilgax’s species?” I muttered. “When did this get added to the Omnitrix?”

“You chose the wrong form!” boasted Vilgax. “My people are not warriors!”

“Your people may not,” I mused, “but it’s not the brain of your people in this thing!” I decked Vilgax right in the schnoz! As he massaged that area, I grabbed one of the tentacles that made up his beard.

“Release me, Vermin!” he roared. Too late. I did to him what the Hulk did to Loki and smashed him to the floor repeatedly. I checked him for life signs when I finished. He was alive, just not in a responsive state.

“Puny warlord,” I rumbled in my best Hulk impression. I then heard something. “Hm? What is that? Screaming?” Ursula landed on me! The Omnitrix timed out, making me shrink down into Emily Saunders again. “GET OFF ME!” I shouted as I shoved her off, taking considerable effort. Her octopus legs make her weigh a ton! “What’s the idea?!” I snapped as Ursula righted herself up.

“While I was getting local allies,” she began when two men flew through the air. They landed near me. “…Those two,” continued Ursula, “were engaged in a fight against someone named Kamen Rider Talon.”

“Not her!” I moaned.

“Emily!” called a voice. I turned to see Livia with Ben and his team fully awake.

“Oh good!” I cheered. “Omnitrix, return to Ben Tennyson.”

“Unable to comply,” replied the Omnitrix with a robotic version of my voice.

“What?!” I yelped. “Hey! Ben!”

“Hey yeah?” asked Ben as he looked around. “Someone call the hero of the universe?”

“Quit patting yourself on the back on that score and help me get your watch off my wrist!” I snapped.

“Okay, okay, I got this,” assured Ben with that stupid cocky grin of his. “Omnitrix, release host and return to Ben Tennyson.”

“User recognized, however, Omnitrix is unable to comply until threat is over,” answered the Omnitrix.

“What?!” snapped Ben. “That’s just stupid!”

“Technical difficulties?” asked a voice. Talon then flew in as the two men she was fighting stirred.

“See, Mr. Grady,” moaned one of the men, wearing heavy body armor and a large stick that sparked, “this is why a stun rod is less effective than the rifle you have!”

“Star-Lord?!” I asked. The second man turned.

“…Nnnnooo…Owen Grady,” replied the man.

“Sorry!” I yelped. “You just look like someone from a…well, this is awkward.”

“Not as awkward as you have made my mission,” hissed Talon as she cancelled her transformation. I noticed something on her left arm.

“New toy?” I quizzed, pointing to the device.

“Something from Galvan Mark II,” explained Igura.

“Swiped from Azmuth’s lab, no doubt,” muttered Max Tennyson. Ben and Gwen’s grandfather.

“Why, yes, I DID swipe it from the Galvan’s First Thinker,” confirmed Igura.

“Well, I don’t see a need to use it when you’re in your suit,” I hissed as I drew my i.d tag. “Speaking of, Henshin!” I inserted the i.d tag, but no circle with my suit’s silhouette came up. After a few seconds, my belt spat out the i.d tag. “What the?” I yelped. “Henshin!” I tried again, but the i.d tag came out quicker. “Henshin!” Same results. “COME! ON! HEN! SHIN!” Not a chance.

“I was right, technical difficulties,” smirked Igura.

“WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH YOU!?” I shouted. Then I resigned myself. “Okay, fine! Have it your way! You want me to use the Omnitrix? You got it!” I selected an alien and slapped on the core. I felt my pinkies shrink into my hands again, but my body mass got thicker as I grew. I felt my skin harden and my teeth get sharper. I felt a tail grow again as my feet became more trunk like. My transformation was complete. “HUMUNGOUSAUR!” I shouted. I looked myself over to see the cavewoman outfit I was wearing. “Okay, truth be told, this is apropos.”

“I can agree with that,” called a voice. I turned to see another female Vaxasaurian grinning. She had the Omnitrix symbol as well as some sort of torso armor surrounding it.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“It’s me, Igura,” said the Vaxasaurian. I blinked, then guessed why she called herself Igura. In all honesty, it was the accent. I never heard a Japanese accent from a Vaxasaurian.

“So, what, that thing you stole from Azmuth is a knock-off Omnitrix?” I asked.

“It’s not a knock-off,” assured Igura. “Want to see it in action?” She turned a grey rectangle below the Omnitrix symbol like a key and the symbol popped up on a cylinder. I realized what the rig was.

“No way!” I breathed. “It’s not possible! Albedo had the only one!”

“Come now, you didn’t think Azmuth wouldn’t complete his own?” asked Igura. “My new toy is synced with the Omnitrix; thus, I turn into an alien whenever you do. But, with this new gadget, not only do I turn into any shape you take, but I can put the DNA through millions of years of worse case scenarios to bring those creatures to their full combative potential.”

“In other words?” asked Kevin, a ruffian teen, hoping he heard wrong.

“She’s got an Ultimatrix,” translated Gwen, Ben’s red-headed cousin. Igura then slapped the Omnitrix symbol down. Four spikes appeared around it and she was bathed in a green light. As it traveled over her current form, the changes were apparent. She grew up to 20 feet. Her skin went green while an Ankylosaur shell appeared on her back. A helmet in the same style appeared on her head. Her chest was plated in dark blue armor and a mace appeared at the tip of her tail. Her knuckles sported silver barrels and her nails extended into claws. She became more buff.

“Oh, great,” muttered Ben. “It’s Humungousaur vs. Ultimate Humungousaur again!”

“What’s going on here?!” snarled a voice I loathed.

“Heather, scram!” I warned as I turned to see her and Megatron. Heather wasn’t listening. She thought shouting at Igura would be a better use of her time.

“You stupid, squinty-eyed dunce!” she roared. “Now, you’ve gone made me mad!” She grabbed Igura’s tail. “You give me that now or I’ll…!”

“Unhand me, you bug-eyed VERMIN!” Igura roared back as she swatted Heather aside. Megatron ducked as Igura sailed into a building, hard. I winced.

“I swear I heard bones break,” I muttered.

“You should be more worried about yours!” snarled Igura. She morphed her right hand into a four-barreled missile launcher.

“Not this time!” I called as I dodged. I weaved between the volley of missiles and kicked her arm upward, towards Starscream. They hit him in his jets. He transformed as he fell.

“MY FEET!” he shrieked. He was plummeting towards the Dinobots! Swoop gave a warning and the Dinobots ran while Starscream hit the pavement of Main Street, squishing several Combatmen. Grimlock caught Dinobot on his back.

“My thanks,” reciprocated Dinobot.

“You tough like us,” mused Grimlock. “Me Grimlock consider you part of team. Mind a name change though? Siege?”

“Siege,” muttered Dinobot, “I quite like the sound of that! Siege, it is!” While that was going on, I managed to score a punch to Igura’s face. While she was disoriented, I knocked her down and started rapidly punching.

“Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!” I begged the multiverse. All of a sudden, I heard beeping. I looked down to see my Omnitrix symbol flashing red. I resumed the attack for a while until the beeping slowed and the Omnitrix timed out. Igura and I went back to our human forms. I got off of her to see her condition. She wasn’t moving, but she was alive. I then removed the Ultimatrix rig from her arm. “Omnitrix, is the threat over?” I quizzed

“Perceived threat is over,” reported the Omnitrix. It disconnected from me. I sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness,” I sighed. “Ben, I believe these are yours.” I handed over the Omnitrix and Ultimatrix rig to Ben.

“Sweet! I got the Ultimates back!” cheered Ben. He reached for them, but a clawed hand snatched them up. “HEY!” protested Ben. He turned the thief, smirking and chuckling. It was Megatron!

“I must thank you, Emily Saunders, yeeesss!” he called.

“For what?” I asked.

“For clearing out my optics!” explained Megatron. “You are quite right; it was individuality that sparked the Decepticon movement! It was individuality that made me break away from the Tripredacus Council! And it was individuality that allowed me to decode my namesake’s message in the Golden Disc. I was a fool to forget that! You are correct, there IS an advantage in individuality and chaos. However, I submit a question to you.”

“Ask away,” I said, cautiously.

“Can change not be a detriment as well as a valuable ally?” asked Megatron.

“What are you planning?!” hissed Vilgax’s voice. “We had a deal! You don’t need Tennyson’s Omnitrix!”

“True, I don’t,” conceded Megatron. “But, your Bioids do.” An army of humanoid robots with a featureless sphere for a head came up.

“Where did you get them?!” demanded Vilgax.

“I took the liberty of interrogating Psyphon for the blueprints,” elaborated Megatron. “Now, with the evolutionary function established, the Bioids are more powerful than ever before! Want to see?” Megatron selected an alien and the Bioids changed into the same creature. They were bipedal robots, about 17 feet tall, heavily-built, and wore parts of an armored van. The front of the van was their chest while the sides served as arms and the rear served as wheeled feet. The Omnitrix symbol was on their chest, above a human’s sternum.

“GEAR-SHIFT!” shouted the army.

“Come on! No fair using a new form before me!” wailed Ben.

“You scanned a Transformer already?!” I yelped.

“And gave it its current alt-mode,” confirmed Ben. “I scanned old Screamer over there.”

“MY NAME IS STARSCREAM!” shouted Starscream.

“And Ben was not able to use it before Heather took the Omnitrix from him,” continued Rook, a cat-like humanoid.

“Now that I have it,” jeered Megatron, “I can have a drone army as well as a Predacon one!” I blinked. “Come now, the Maximals weren’t the only sparks I robbed! There are techno-organic Predacons running on Cybertron now! And I will command them!” He then turned the key on the Ultimatrix rig and made a new selection ring. He selected the alien and the army changed into techno-organic tigers, in robot mode.

“ULTIMATE GEAR-SHIFT!” announced the army. The Ultimatrix rig and Omnitrix symbol were located on their torsos.

“SLAY THEM ALL!” roared Megatron as he went into beast mode. The rig adapted to his T-Rex arm and the army charged. My belt was working this time, so all of us riders donned our suits. We clashed with the Ultimate Gear-Shift army and nearly tore the park apart. Ben then got an idea. As he dodged the fire coming from all directions, he latched onto Megatron’s beast arm. Megatron tried to get him off. “Release me!” he roared.

“Omnitrix, command function override! Code 10!” ordered Ben.

“Override accepted,” replied the Omnitrix in Ben’s voice. “Voice command activated.”

“What are you doing?!” yelped Megatron.

“Omnitrix, self-destruct in 30 seconds!” commanded Ben “Command Code 0-0-0-Destruct-0!”

“Destruct sequence completed and engaged,” confirmed the Omnitrix. “Detonation in T-Minus…”

“Omnitrix, command function override! Code 10!” boomed Megatron.

“Override accepted,” reported the Omnitrix in Megatron’s voice.

“Omnitrix, abort self-destruct! Code 10!” demanded Megatron.

“Self-destruct sequence aborted,” called the Omnitrix.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t study the Omnitrix’s voice commands?!” snarled Megatron as he went into robot mode. He got Ben off and punched him in the gut. “You are an idiot! I am Megatron, lord of Cybertron! With the Predacons and Bioids at my disposal, I shall succeed where my namesake failed! You are but the footnote in history! And, when they build statues of me triumphing over the Maximals, you will be displayed with all of your…!”

“Current host too volatile,” reported the Omnitrix in Ben’s voice. “Returning to Benjamin Kirby Tennyson.”

“WHAT?!” roared Megatron. The Omnitrix and Ultimatrix rig came off of Megatron and flew to Ben. The whole rig went onto Ben’s arm and the Omnitrix adjusted the wristband to fit Ben.

“Back in business!” cheered Ben as he scrolled through the selection ring and selected an alien. A flash of green later, and Ben was in his Appoplexian form, wearing pants. He shouted the name. “rrrRRAAAAAATTHH!” Male Appoplexians are bulkier in the upper regions than the females.

“Angry enough?” asked Rook, the cat-like humanoid that works as Ben’s Plumber partner.

“Well, he DID have the Omnitrix off for a while and someone was about to abuse it,” I mused. “I’d say Ben’s right in using Rath.”

“You shall pay for this embarrassment!” snarled Megatron.

“LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’ MEGATRON, FORMER LORD OF CYBERTRON!” roared Rath. “YOU WANNA MAKE RATH PAY? YOU’LL FIND THAT RATH IS TOO EXPENSIVE TO CASH VICTORY IN ON!!” Megatron laughed.

“Mixing metaphors, are we?” he asked. Rath tackled Megatron and the two clashed. The Bioids were back to their blank state but were still fighting.

“This is absurd!” I hissed. “Lacey, do it!” Apocalypse nodded and floated into the air. “Get to higher ground!” I called.

“COME ON!” protested Rath. “I WAS JUST GETTING WARMED UP!”

“Ben! Now!” snapped Max. Rath grudgingly complied. As we got higher, the clouds got darker. Lightning flashed as Gwen cast a shield over us.

“Here we go!” I yelled. The rain then started hammering the whole island. It was hitting the ground to hard that a flash flood hit the park. The enemy was washed out to the entrance. A rift opened near Igura, Vilgax, Starscream, and Megatron.

“YOU IDIOTS HAVE FAILED ME!” roared Lord Vortech as his hand scooped them up. At that point, Apocalypse called off the storm. She floated down into the water and cancelled her transformation. The water was up to her topmost skirt. The sun peeked through the clouds as we got down. All Riders cancelled our transformations and Rath went back to Ben.

“That was more excitement than any of us bargained for,” sighed Richard as he held Dr. Hammond’s cane.

“I didn’t see Heather in Vortech’s hand,” observed Flora. “Do you think…?” she turned to Death.

“No,” whispered Death. “Her time hasn’t come. Speaking of, I have work to do.” She summoned her scythe and headed to the enemy forces, swinging her weapon and releasing the souls of the dead. “And now, for good news,” whispered Death once she finished. “Lacey, we have something for you, dear.” She handed Lacey a card. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you as head of the Technology Department and as head of House Apocalypse. You may choose your house’s colors at your leisure.”

“You mean, I passed?!” cheered Lacey. All horsemen nodded. “YAY!” she called. “Kamen Rider Apocalypse is here!”

“Now, all we need is Kamen Rider Vortex,” grunted War.

“Give it a week,” whispered Death. “In the meantime, we need food to celebrate.”

“Good luck with that,” muttered Haitao. “There’s probably nothing to eat but Energon.”

“Not good idea for humans,” rumbled Grimlock.

“Great,” I sighed. “We’ll starve before we get back.”

“You sure?” asked Richard as he held up an apple. He then pointed to a whole trail of apples leading to a building. We followed the apples, collecting them as we went, and saw the biggest storeroom for food ever!

“We could feast for weeks!” I breathed.

“Think we should share with Heather?” asked Richard. I considered. For a moment, I felt pity for her since she was the last of her bloodline. I then shook my head.

“I’m sure her fridge is stocked up,” I replied. “In the meantime, we feast!”