Everyone gathered at the Monster Island base and things were explained. “Not exactly how I wanted to time travel,” remarked Peter.
“This is incredible!” said Ray. “The amount of energy needed to send someone through time-!”
“It’s dangerous,” replied Egon. “Doctor, you said we’re in the future?”
“2026,” confirmed the Doctor.
“Then how can we be assured that we won’t accidentally bring something from this time back to the 1980’s?”
“The fact that you’re asking says you know already but just want confirmation. Let’s just say the Time Lords have set a law upon themselves that history cannot be changed in any way, otherwise it would cause damage to all of time and space.”
“…So no asking for lottery numbers,” grumbled Peter.
“Peter, that thing’s a scam anyways,” retorted Winston.
“Now, obviously you gentlemen need to go back to your proper time,” said the Doctor, “but we need to find the last Grouping Victim. They came from 2012, I know that much.”
“Then we gotta find them before Albedo does,” said Ben. The Doctor blinked.
“Who’s Albedo?” she asked.
“That’s what I wanted to tell you,” explained Dr. Sato. “Galvan Mark II told us that one of its renegades, a former Galvan scientist called Albedo, escaped incarceration and rebuilt something called the Ultimatrix.”
“Ultimatrix?” asked the Doctor. “Sounds like a knock-off of the Omnitrix.”
“The Omnitrix is a myth,” scoffed Sty.
“No it’s not,” said Ben as he showed off his watch. “This thing is why I was Ghostfreak when the Ghostbusters were shooting at me.” Sty blinked in surprise. “And to answer your question, Doctor, it is. Though Albedo had an Omnitrix originally.”
“Um…AN Omnitrix?” asked the Doctor. “I thought Azmuth only made one and you had the prototype for a while until Azmuth gave you the final product.”
“He did, but Albedo made another one, not realizing my own DNA would be the default.”
“Well, that makes sense. I mean, you ARE the bearer of the Omnitrix.”
“So what happened to make Albedo become an enemy of yours?” asked Tysar.
“Well, after he made his Omnitrix, he became stuck looking like me,” replied Ben. “We fought, then he turned into an albino version of me and lost his Omnitrix, then he created something called the Ultimatrix that could turn someone into aliens, but also had an evolutionary function, putting the DNA through millions of years of worst-case scenario situations.”
“That’s just begging for trouble,” said the Doctor. “Besides, if you want to make an evolutionary device, why not put the DNA through millions of years of best-case scenarios?”
“Well, I took the Ultimatrix and the transformations just felt wrong,” continued Ben, “so he was still stuck looking like me. After that, he made a device that let him change his DNA at will, but my DNA was still the default. Then he created a stabilizer and added an evolutionary function to that, effectively recreating the Ultimatrix. After a fight, he then was stuck looking like an albino 11-year-old me, then he lost his Ultimatrix and was stuck looking like me forever.”
“So he blames you for his condition?” guessed the Doctor.
“And he’s probably trying to rebuild the Ultimatrix,” replied Ben.
“Right, well, we’d better take care of him before-.” The alarms interrupted the Doctor’s declaration. “What the-?!”
“Intruder alert!” realized Dr. Sato. “Someone just broke into the base!”
“Can we get footage?!” asked Ben.
“One second!” Dr. Sato then pulled up the security footage to see a blue-furred primate with four arms, two legs, three fingers on each hand, three toes on each foot, two pairs of black orbs for eyes with a red tint, and a tail with stripes near the tip. Ben and the Doctor saw the red Omnitrix symbol.
“That must be Albedo,” guessed the Doctor. “But why an Arachnachimp?”
“Probably needs Spidermonkey’s agility to dodge the soldiers,” replied Ben.
“…Spidermonkey’s a bit on the nose, don’t you think?” snarked the Doctor.
“Oh, come on! Spidermonkey fits!”
“Activating Arachnachimp Transformation,” said the Omnitrix.
“What?! WAIT! I DIDN’T SAY TO TURN ME INTO-!” protested Ben. Too late. A green light surrounded him and he became an Arachnachimp. “…Spidermonkey!” grumbled Ben, now Spidermonkey. Unlike Albedo, his eyes and Omnitrix stayed green.
“Well, looks like we have the means to counter Albedo,” said Sty.
“Hold on a minute,” said Egon as he checked his PKE meter. “There’s something hot going on at the island’s northern shores, just on the other side of Godzilla’s cave.”
“Drat, two problems at once,” muttered the Doctor. “Right, we’ll just need to split up. Sty, you’re with Ben and Dr. Sato. Tysar, you go with me and the Ghostbusters to the north.”
“What if it’s big?” asked Spidermonkey.
“Godzilla’s not far,” replied the Doctor. “He’ll be grumpy, but he’ll help. Besides, you know Albedo better than any of us.”
“All right, fine,” muttered Spidermonkey.
“…And there’s one other thing,” said the Doctor. She then whispered in Spidermonkey’s ear. A look of horror flashed across his face as he looked at Sty. Sty guessed why Spidermonkey had that look.
“…I promise, Doctor,” said Spidermonkey. He then turned to Sty and Dr. Sato. “Come on, you two! Let’s go stop Albedo!”
Albedo as Negative Spidermonkey was causing chaos for the soldiers shooting at him. He fired webs from his tail and decked the soldiers with all four of his arms. “HEY! ALBEDO!” came another voice.
“Tennyson!” snarled Negative Spidermonkey. He turned to see Spidermonkey in a tree branch. “So, the unworthy bearer of the Omnitrix challenges me!”
“I dunno,” replied Spidermonkey, “I’m still doing a better job with this thing than you! How did you escape, anyways?”
“Believe me, I had numerous plans of escape. …Though I was forced to resort to plan 27, faking illness.”
“No way would Azmuth fall for that!”
“For all his genius,” retorted Negative Spidermonkey, “he doesn’t fully study the life-forms he’s catalogued. Taking advantage of his ignorance of pre-adolescent human biology was a simple matter!”
“Then how did you get here?” asked Spidermonkey. “I mean, if you’re supposed to be stuck as a kid-.”
“I took the parts needed to make an Omnitrix,” replied Negative Spidermonkey. “But I needed transport off, as I’m sure your feeble mind can guess! I managed to sneak into a Plumber cargo container and hide there for the trip to Earth. Not exactly ideal as I risked making noise when getting food, but it served its purpose. I then found my way from the Plumber base to this island as I heard there was Xilien tech to be scavenged!”
“…And a Xilien is…?” asked Spidermonkey.
“Be patient. You may see my Xilien partner. …Or maybe not! In any event, the isolation was all I needed to recreate the Ultimatrix! Once I kill you, I’ll take your Omnitrix and cure myself of the disgusting human form!” Negative Spidermonkey then slapped the symbol on his chest and he grew into a six-armed gorilla with pale-purple skin, yellow spider fangs on each side of his mouth, a split in the middle of the lower jaw, and three pairs of red eyes.
“…And that’s Ultimate Spidermonkey,” remarked Spidermonkey. “Hey, as long as you’re still willing to talk, how about you answer one question.”
“Speak!” replied Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey.
“How come, when I had the original Ultimatrix, my Ultimate Spidermonkey was just a normal gorilla with retractable spider legs at the waist?!” Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey blinked.
“…That WOULD explain a flaw in the simulations of the original Ultimatrix,” he muttered.
“HA! Azmuth was right! The original Ultimatrix was just pathetic workmanship! No wonder it always felt weird every time I went Ultimate!” Spidermonkey’s cackling made Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey snarl.
“It was still a vast improvement over the original!” he declared. “As my own is superior to the current Omnitrix!” His lower jaw split and he spat out a giant web. Spidermonkey grabbed Sty and Dr. Sato and leapt into the branches.
“One spider against another, then!” declared Sty as she activated her PAK’s legs.
“Wait, you guys have robot legs?!” yelped Spidermonkey. Sty leapt of the branch and landed on Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey’s back.
“GET OFF!” roared Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey. Sty leapt off and Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey tried to swat her. Spidermonkey took the opportunity to shoot webbing from his tail right at Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey’s face. Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey swung wildly and tried to get the beastly stuff out of his eyes. Spidermonkey and Sty stood their ground as Negative Ultimate Spidermonkey slapped the Ultimatrix Dial on his chest. He then turned into an orange-furred creature with no eyes, three gills on each side of its neck, and long, thick arms.
“And now he’s Wildmutt,” said Spidermonkey.
“I’d hardly call a Vulpimancer a mutt,” remarked Sty. Spidermonkey slapped the Omnitrix Dial on his chest and turned into Wildmutt. Negative Wildmutt grinned before he slapped the Ultimatrix Dial. His fur then turned maroon, he grew a long tail with a stinger, dorsal spikes on his back, and sharper claws.
“So what did you call this form, Tennyson? Ultimate Wildmutt?” asked Negative Ultimate Wildmutt. Wildmutt snarled and growled. “…You’re lucky I could still understand you, at least, as much as I can understand human babble!” Negative Ultimate Wildmutt roared and charged at Wildmutt. The two wrestled and tried to bite one another. Sty tried to sneak around, but Negative Ultimate Wildmutt caught her and slammed her to the ground. “Did you seriously try to sneak up on me, you pathetic Irken?! My senses are heightened and-!” Wildmutt then slammed his fist right into the Ultimatrix Dial and turned Negative Ultimate Wildmutt back into Albedo. Albedo shook his head to clear the dizziness. “…Clearly, I need to reinforce the interface!” he grumbled. He then took off into the forest!
“HEY! COME BACK HERE!” shouted Sty. Wildmutt charged after Albedo. “Come on!” Sty grabbed Dr. Sato and followed Ben.
“H-How can-?!” stammered Dr. Sato.
“Vulpimancers perceive the world through their other senses,” explained Sty, “giving them a 360-degree awareness of their surroundings. Ben’s on the trail now!”