After going over Bruce's plan, Ben immediately commenced with his pursuit of A-Bomb. Having transformed into Jetray, the alien hero soared over the desert as he followed the Gamma Mutants trail. Which was not hard as similar to the Hulk, every time he landed after performing one of his long-distance leaps, he left a large crater where he landed. Though even without the crater trail, Jetray already had an idea where the Gamma Mutant was going. The smoking area from where the unknown projectile left a pretty big smoke signal that any being would be curious about. So an angry and confused Gamma Mutant would of course be drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
This theory was shown to be correct as Jetray saw the Blue Scaled Brute, leap once more into the sky and land with a thunderous crash a few meters away from the impact sight. The Scaled Gamma Mutant then walked towards the smoking crater, while Jetray held back for a moment to watch. Curious about the nature of this unknown meteor.
Just then A-Bomb stopped in his tracks as his body tensed up and he clenched his fists and growled exposing his fangs as he glared at the crater.
Suddenly a beam of yellow energy blasted forth from the smoke and hit A-Bomb in the chest, sending him flying back into the base of a rock formation, causing an avalanche that buried him. Jetray looked shocked as he looked back at the crater and saw something emerge from the crater. It was roughly 19 feet tall, with broad shoulders, wearing some kind of grey metallic armor on his shoulders and chest. He wore blue pants with metallic knee pads along with silver gauntlets on each wrist. His skin was grey and had a thick main of dark brown hair all around his head and face, giving him a slight resemblance to a lion. His eye and mouth both glowed with yellow energy as he stomped out of the crater into the light.
"If this is the best this world has to offer. Then I will have no trouble conquering this world for my own." The grey brute said, in a monstrous gritty voice.
Upon hearing that declaration, Jetray immediately dove into action. Helping Rick will have to wait. Right now, stopping a powerful alien warlord, takes priority.
"You want the best? Let's see how you handle this, Ugly!" Jetray called out, gaining the lion faced beings attention.
He then fired his neuroshock beams from his eyes at the Grey Brute, but the villain swiftly raise his hand, which was now glowing with yellow energy similar to his eyes and mouth and blocked the green beams as Jetray pulled up from his dive and flew past him.
"You dare to attack, Blastaar! I will tear you apart molecule by molecule!" The being known as Blastaar roared. He then proceeded to raise both his arms and fire two beams of yellow energy at the flying alien. But Jetray was able to dodge the beams easily, thanks to his superior speed.
"With the way you aim? Please. You couldn't tear apart a Turkey on Thanksgiving. Quit embarrassing yourself and just go back to whatever bridge you crawled out from under." Jetray taunted.
Blastaar roared in frustration as he then aimed his hands to the ground and fired another pair of energy beams, causing him to shoot forward like a rocket and fly right towards Jetray. He then stopped blasting, once he had gotten closer to the Alien Teen and then cocked his fist back to try and punch him. However Jetray, once again easily avoided him and managed to fly around the Alien Villain until he was right behind him and he fired a full powered neuroshock blast from his eyes and tail and struck Blastaar in the back, sending him hurtling into the ground hard. Creating another crater as he did so.
Jetray then flew down until he was hovering just a few feet above the ground near the crash site. His eyes narrowed as Blastaar stood back to his feet, with no sign of damage. Now Jetray was starting to get a feel for how tough this guy is. His neuroshock blasts were nothing to laugh at, when he pushes it, they can do some serious damage. But this guy shrugged them off like they were nothing.
"I have had enough of your games, creature." Blastaar said, his hands glowing with energy as he faced him. "You are little more than a pest to me. And like all pests, you shall be vaporised."
"Ya know, I would've gone with blasted." The Alien quipped back. "Cause then you could've said that I've been blasted by Blastaar."
Jetray then proceeded to laugh at his own joke, which only incurred more anger from the Grey Brute. Blastaar roared in anger and charged forward, preparing to take another swing at the Alien Hero. Jetray attempted to fly around the attack like before, but Blastaar seemed to have learned from his previous attempts and swiftly spun around and grabbed Jetray by his tail and yanked the alien back, causing him to yelp in surprised as Blastaar slammed the Flying Alien into the ground and used his glowing fist to punch Jetray several meters into the side of a cliff hard enough to dent it.
The Alien Avenger groaned as he rubbed his head in pain. It was now clear to the Young Hero that this guy was not just some dumb brute that just wanted to smash everything and push around those weaker than him. He was a warrior and knew how to fight. If he was gonna defeat him. He'll need a heavy hitter of his own. He reached up and tapped the Ultimatrix dial…
But nothing happened. Jetrays eyes widened in shock as he looked down at the dial and tried to tap it again. Just like before, the device was unresponsive.
"Oh no." Jetray gasped in a panicked tone. "This can't be happening. Not now."
He tapped the dial several more times in a desperate attempted to get it to responded. Mentally panicking and trying to work out why it was suddenly glitching on him.
Suddenly the dial started to spark, and green energy started the crackle around it.
"What's going on with this thing?" Jetray asked rhetorically as he taped the dial once more and spoke to it. "Ultimatrix, report. What's happening?"
"Error. Error. Unable to diagnose…. E-Errrrrrr…" The Ultimatrix's voice responded in a staticky tone.
The Alien Hero looked up to see Blastaar bearing down on him. If he didn't do something now, he'd be blasted to pieces. Acting on instinct, the flying alien took to the skies at high speed, putting some distance between himself and the Alien Brute.
However, as he did so, the Ultimatrix dial suddenly activated and in a flash of green light, Jetray transformed.
"CHAMALIEN!" the lizard alien shouted.
Upon the transformation's completion, ChamAlien looked down to see that he was now several meters in the air, as an alien that couldn't fly.
"I hate this stupid watch!" the Alien screamed as he plummeted back to the earth. He frantically waved his arms around as he spun out of control during his decent. As he got closer to the ground, he tried to transform, but the Ultimatrix started to glitch again.
Before he could try to figure out what was wrong, the hulking figure of Blastaar slammed into him and he grabbed onto him as they both crashed into the ground, kicking up a large dust cloud. Once it cleared, Blastaar could be seen grasping ChamAlien by the neck and held him above his head with one arm.
"You though you could defeat me? No one can defeat Blastaar!" The Alien being boasted as he held the wriggling Wielder of the Ultimatrix in his grasp.
In response, ChamAlien desperately tried to free himself from Blastaars grip, but the Grey Brute had an unbreakable vice on his neck. He tried to transform, but the device was unresponsive. All it could do was spark and glitch. This really confused the Alien Hero, why was the watch acting this way? It had never done anything like this before, and yet for some reason it was malfunctioning like a computer with a virus. It just didn't make any sense. It was working fine until Blastaar showed up.
This cause the Lizard Alien to wonder. Could Blastaar be the one causing the Ultimatrix's strange behaviour?
But ChamAlien did not have time to ponder that theory as Blastaar raised his free hand and charged up his energy to blast the Alien Teen to pieces. Reacting quickly, ChamAlien flexed his tail and a long sharp barb extended from the tip and he immediately stabbed it into Blastaar's arm. The bar sunk into the Alien's flesh like needle and immediately Blastaar roared in pain as he reflexively released ChamAlien, allowing him to scurry away, activating his camouflage ability and blended into the landscape, invisible to the naked eye, but also taking extra steps but sweeping away his tracks with his tail and hiding in the shade of a rock to avoid casting a shadow.
Blastaar quickly recovered from his initial shock and looked around for his opponent. Only to find he had vanished from sight.
"Coward!" Blastaar roared to the desert landscape. "Come back and face me! You cannot hide! I will annihilate every being on this world until I find you, Changeling!"
The Grey Warlord then blasted his energy into the ground and flew off into the air, landing a few miles away and started to blast the area, kicking up large dust clouds in his search.
Once he was gone ChamAlien decloaked and watched Blastaars rampage in the distance. Any moment the monster could make his way to a settlement and put so many lives in danger. The Alien Teen needed to figure a way to take him down, despite his Ultimatrix's malfunctioning problem.
In that moment the Ultimatrix dial started to beep. Indicating a call was coming it. ChamAlien reached up and pressed the dial to answer the call.
"Ben? What's happening out there? Seismic readings are going crazy in your area." Bruce's voice said from the speaker.
"Well Doc." The Alien Avenger started to explain. "Turns out the meteor that came out of the portal, turned out to be some alien lion man named Blastaar. Dudes, the standard alien invader MO, came to conquer, wipe out all opposition, enslave the population, yadda, yadda, yadda. And I can't seem to get near the guy without the Ultimatrix acting up."
From his end of the call, Bruce contemplated what the Alien Shapeshifter had said, and started to formulate a hypothesis.
"It's possible this Blastaar, is generating some form of energy field that is disrupting the Ultimatrix normal processing capability. Has something like this ever happened before?" Bruce asked.
ChamAlien thought for a moment. Trying to recall any moments from his past where the Ultimatrix would've encountered something that made it act odd.
But the Alien Teens current train of thought was interrupted by the sound of rubble shifting and he turned around to see A-Bomb emerge from his rock blanket and glare at the alien teen with burning rage.
"Oh man. I forgot about you." ChamAlien said exasperated.
"What's happening, Ben?" Bruce asked.
"Its Rick. He's here. And does not look very happy." The Alien Teen commented.
"Ben, listen. You need to focus on Rick right now. Betty and I are on our way, we have something here we think might be able to contain him. But you need to keep him there until we arrive." The Gamma Scientist instructed.
"But what about Blastaar? I can't just leave him unchecked. He could make his way into town and do who knows how much destruction." ChamAlien protested.
It was at this point he was starting to regret not letting Banner become the Hulk. He'd stretched himself too thin trying to help Rick and trying to deal with Blastaar. Doing the hero thing solo is way harder when you try to deal with everything at once.
"Ben listen to me." Bettys voice suddenly spoke on the communicator. "You can't take on everything at once. If your mind is everywhere, you can't make a logical decision and you'll makes mistakes. Focus on the task at hand and work till it's complete. And then move onto the next problem."
The Alien Teen then took a moment to let that sink in. She was right. Trying to do everything at once, is never a good idea. He should know, he tried it once using Echo Echo. He needed to focus on what was in front of him right now. Otherwise things will only get worse.
"Ok, Betty. I'll handle Rick. You guys give me a heads up when you're ready." ChamAlien said as he turned off the communicator.
He then turned and faced down the Blue Gamma Mutant. "Ok buddy. Time to knock some sense back into you." ChamAlien said determined as he started down his Mutated friend.
A-Bomb narrowed his eyes in anger at the Alien Teen as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. ChamAlien responded by getting into a fighting stance and waited for A-bomb to make the first move. He didn't have to wait very long as the rage fuelled Gamma Brute let out a loud roar and charged straight at the Chameleon Alien like a rhino. ChamAlien held his ground until the last possible moment and then as A-Bomb cocked back his fist to deliver the first blow, he immediately turned invisible and vanished from the Gamma Mutants sight.
The Mutated Teen skidded to a halt with a stunned look on his face. He looked around confused wondering how his opponent suddenly disappeared. When suddenly an invisible force slammed into his side knocking him off balance slightly. A-Bomb swung his arm out widely but hit nothing but air. He looked around trying to find whoever attacked him, when he was then struck in the joint behind his left knee. This caused his leg to immediately buckle as he dropped to the ground, catching himself on his hands. He raised his head to once again try to find his attacker, when he was then struck in the face, by an invisible fist.
As the Gamma Mutant became more enraged and swung wildly at the air. ChamAlien retreated back to a safe distance, still cloaked and rubbing his hands. The armored scales on A-Bombs body where impressive. Had it not been for his training with Black Panther to attack the joints and nerve points. He doubted he could've ever managed to knock Gamma Rick down with this form. But a few clever moves won't be enough to take him down.
He then tapped the Ultimatrix Dial and transformed.
"Rath!"
The Tiger Alien then charged at A-Bomb and punched him full force, sending him flying back several meters. The Gamma Teen got to his feet again and glared at the Alien Avenger.
Rath cracked the tendons in his neck and gave his opponent a primal growl. "Let me tell you something, A-Bomb formally known as Rath's new friend Rick Jones! Normally, Rath would beat you black and blue! But since you're already blue, RATH WILL YOU BEAT YOU BLUER!"
In response A-Bomb roared like a mindless animal and charged at Rath. The Transformed Teen grinned in anticipation for the coming fight and he ran straight at the Blue Mutant with his fist raised.
"A-Bomb SMASH!" The Gamma Mutant roared.
"Rath STRIKE!" The Transformed Teen responded
The two Brutes quickly closed the distance between them and sent their fists hurtling towards each other. Their punches collided, resulting in a shockwave that blew away any loose debris within several meters of them. This quickly escalated into an all-out brawl between the pair. Neither one of them backing down from their position as they stood their ground throw punch after punch, not even bothering to dodge or block. Rath sent a powerful haymaker into A-Bombs face, in response A-Bomb gave Rath an impressive right hook to his jaw. But neither one let up, in fact, Rath was loving every second of this fight. It wasn't too often that the Brawler Alien could go all out like this on an actual opponent. Sure, he vented a lot of built up stress in the training room, tearing apart training machines and equipment was nothing compared to an actual opponent that could go toe to toe with you in an actual fight. Usually Rath would face enemies that are either weaker than him, leading to the fight ending quickly, or opponents that are too powerful, in which case he's knocked out or forced to change. This was someone he could go all out on and could gave back as much as it could take. And Rath loved it.
Meanwhile back at the lab, Bruce and Betty where working tirelessly on some strange device, that could potentially be of help to Ben. As they worked, Betty couldn't help but feel disappointed. After so long, she had finally gotten a chance to spend time with Bruce without the fear of the Hulkbusters coming in to try and capture him. And yet even without that stress, it still didn't prevent some big calamity from happening that caused them back into the fearful existence.
She took a moment to glance over at the Gamma Scientist with a concerned expression. But to her surprise, she saw him smiling as he worked on his part of the project.
"Bruce? Is everything ok?" She asked curiously.
"Hmm?" Bruce replied looking over at her, before snapping out of his musings. "Oh yes. Of course, Betty. Why?"
"Well its just. You've got this one day to be yourself and now we have work in here to save the world. It's not really the day I wanted to have with you." Betty admitted, sadly.
Bruce walked over to Betty and took one hand in his and cupped her chin in his other hand to make her look at him as he gave her a gentle grin.
"I get to spend my day, working to make the world a better place, using my skills and working alongside You. How could that not be the perfect day." Bruce admitted.
Betty couldn't help but beam in return as Bruce then separated and put on a pair of safety goggles and handed a pair to her.
"Now come on. We need to finish this, if Ben has any chance to containing Rick." Bruce said as the two got back to work.
After a few more minutes of unrelenting attacks. Both Muscle bound combatants, finally took a step back from the fight, panting heavily. The Alien Tiger and Gamma Mutant, both were sporting minor cuts and bruises on their bodies. Had it not been for their advanced durability, they'd both have looked a lot worse and possibly need serious medical attention. But this momentary break would not last long. At any moment, they would both catch their second wind and go right back to it.
With his adrenaline rush depleted for this moment. The rational thinking part of Rath's mind was finally able to come forth. Despite how much Rath was enjoying this fight, the Alien Avenger was starting to become aware by how long he'd been in Alien form. He'd already transformed multiple times and his encounter with Blastaar might have affected the watches charge. Meaning he could run out of power at any moment and then he'd be at A-Bombs mercy. He needed to either fight smarter or end this fight now, before his opponent could recover.
But it seemed that in those few seconds of thought, Rath's irrational, violent train of thought came barrelling into the station and the Alien Shapeshifter immediately went for option B.
Sluggishly Rath took a step towards A-Bomb, clenching his right fist, preparing to give every ounce of remaining strength he had into this next punch to end the fight.
However, A-Bomb saw his opponent advancing and despite his primal thought patterns, the Mutated Teen knew that he wasn't ready to go another round with the Alien Tiger yet. So, in a surprising turn of events. The scales on A-Bomb's body began to change. The primary blue colour scheme of his armored hide, shifted to lighter, brownie shades, until the Gamma Mutant disappeared from view.
The Alien Teen was stunned at the display, the Gamma Mutant had camouflage capabilities on pair with ChamAlien. Did he mimic that power from him or did he always have that ability from the start?
Regardless of the reason, Rath had no idea where the Mutated Teen was. At least until he was suddenly slammed in the face, by A-Bombs, invisible fist. Since he was caught off guard and wasn't braced for the attack, Rath was knocked off his feet and sent flying back several meters, before landing on the ground, carving out a shallow trench.
The Alien Avenger shock his head to clear it. A fresh batch of adrenaline started to flow through him once again and Rath stood to his feet and clenched his fists.
"Let me tell you something A-Bomb, also called Rick Jones! Using camouflage is cheating! You wanna fight Rath, you fight so Rath can see you and punch you! Even if Rath used camouflage earlier. But that's allowed cause it was a different alien!" Rath rambled as he tried to find his invisible target.
Course with Rath's brutish mind, it did not occur to him to simply look for his opponents tracks or his shadow, and by the time he did notice it, A-Bomb had already closed the gap and sent another haymaker at Rath, carving out another trench for him.
This was starting to annoy Rath. He desperately wanted to pummel the Scaly Gamma Mutant. But he can't punch what he can't see, despite his best efforts to punch the air multiple times in the past. So he had no choice but to change into something that could see him.
Reaching up once more, the Alien Teen taped the Ultimatrix dial and transformed into Wildmutt. The Blind Dog Alien roared out his name in the Aliens usual animalistic language of grunts and growls and his radar senses immediately managed to locate the cloaked A-Bomb. Marching towards him, preparing for another sneak attack. However Wildmutt easily dodged the attack and leaped above A-Bomb landing on his back. The Dog Alien then bit the Gamma Mutants shoulder and racked his claws against his opponents back, all while A-Bomb desperately tried to shake him off and try to grab him.
However due to A-Bombs armored scales, Wildmutts teeth and claws had virtually no effect on them. The Dog Alien was just not strong enough to be an effective match against the Gamma Brute.
After shaking and jerking a few more times, A-Bomb eventually managed to grab onto Wildmutt by the scruff of his neck and yank the Alien Avenger off him and toss him away. Wildmutt rolled across the ground and groggily got to his feet and turned to face the Gamma Mutant. Growling and baring his fangs.
Frantically he tried to figure out a strategy. A-Bombs camouflage capability makes it hard for him for his stronger aliens to see him. And A-Bomb is too quick for them to use the shadow tracking method. But Wildmutt isn't strong enough to fight on par with him and he can't just continue to dodge and avoid him to let him recover his strength. He needed a form that could both see him and fight equally with him. Unfortunately, the Alien Teen had only one alien that could fit that category. He just only hoped Banner would be ready before he times out.
Reaching up for the final time. Wildmutt tapped the Ultimatrix dial and four spikes popped out of it. Immediately Wildmutt grew significantly larger and more muscular. His fur changed to a maroon-red colour. His spines shifted into four huge grey/white spikes running down his back that overlap. These spikes start out as a shark-like fin at the head and rises almost into an arc over the back, tapering near the rump. He also has a long tail whose tip has a curved horn, resembling a scorpion stinger.
"ULTIMATE WILDMUTT!" The Alien roared, now able to speak normally.
Through his radar senses Ultimate Wildmutt could see that A-Bomb was slightly taken aback by this sudden change. But he was not detoured and prepared to attack.
But Ultimate Wildmutt was more than ready for him now as he let out a loud and more powerful roar that his normal form and charged straight at the Gamma Mutant. The two combatants once again collided, and A-Bomb raised both of his fists above his head and brought them down at the Evolved Alien. But Ultimate Wildmutt raised his two powerful forelimbs and easily caught both arms by the wrists and stopped them dead in their tracks. The two combatants once again tried to outmuscle each other, with Ultimate Wildmutt strength actually managed to match A-Bombs.
The Evolved Alien pushed A-Bomb back, causing him to lose balance and take a few steps away to regain his footing. This allowed Ultimate Wildmutt to charge straight at A-Bomb, as he did, the spikes in his back began to rise and straighten, making them resemble a row of serrated horns running down his back. Ultimate Wildmutt then lowered his head like a charging rhino and rammed right into A-Bomb, sending the Gamma Mutant flying back several meters.
The Evolved Alien returned his spikes to their normal appearance and ran after he opponent. He then cautiously stalked closer in case A-Bomb as his enhanced senses could pick up the scent of blood. His radar vision picked up on that his spikes managed to cut A-Bombs armored skin, resulting in a nasty gash on the Gamma Mutants leg. The Evolved Alien couldn't help but feel bad for causing that injury. But he could already sense the wound closing and healing up, making enhanced healing to the list of powers the Mutated Teen possessed.
It didn't take long for A-Bomb to start to get up, once again causing Ultimate Wildmutt to get into a fighting stance. But his enhanced senses picked up on a noise that cause the Elvolved Alien to grin in relief.
A-Bomb roared and leaped towards the Alien Shapeshifter, only to collide into an energy field that suddenly materialised in front of him. The Gamma Mutant was knocked back from the impact and stood back up, slightly dizzy from the shock. A-Bomb looked around and saw that the energy field was a large dome that have completely surrounded him and looking around he was able to locate the source. A medium sized, box shaped device, with a tesla coil at the top that was projecting the field. Standing alongside it, with Ultimate Wildmutt casually walking over to join them, were Bruce Banner and Betty Ross, having just arrived on the site to set up their trap to contain the Rampaging Gamma Mutant.
The Mutated Teen roared in frustration and charged at the trio, sending his fist into the energy field of the dome. Only for it to bound straight off it. He then attempted to punch it over and over again with the same result, unable to have any effect on the energy field.
While the Gamma Mutant continued with his pointless endeavour, Ultimate Wildmutt took this break in the fight to turn back into Wildmutt, then back into Ben, who breathed a sigh of relief and stretch his back and limbs out from his intense fight.
"You sure that's gonna hold him, Bruce?" Ben asked as he watched A-Bomb continue to hammer the dome.
"Quite sure." Bruce responded. "It's a kinetic force field. The more Rick punches it, the stronger it will get."
"And from our scans of him. It seems that his gamma levels don't increase with his rage. So, he won't be getting stronger to be able to break it." Betty added.
Ben nodded in understanding.
"Now we'll have to be quick. The sooner we fix Rick. The sooner we can move onto stopping Blastaar." Bruce stated typing a few keys into his tablet.
"You will be able to cure him, right?" Ben asked, hopeful.
"We certainly will try." Betty stated, though slightly unsure. "His mutation is a lot different from Bruce's. The Gamma combined with that scale, gave him an entirely different genetic makeup from both Hulk and Abomination."
"We may not even be able to get a blood sample from him to analyse, due to his hide being so thick." Bruce continued, as he went over to the truck he and Betty came in and brought out some equipment. "If we could just calm him down and restore his human mind. We might be able to study him quicker."
Just then a thought came into Bens head.
"Maybe I can help with that?"
The two scientists gave the Young Hero a confused look.
"What do you mean, Ben?" Betty asked.
"What if I could restore Ricks mind. So, we can both, find a cure for him and he could help take down Blastaar? Having just thrown down with the guy, I can say with certainty that he's strong enough to do it." Ben suggested.
For a moment Bruce and Betty looked at each other and appeared to be having a psychic conversation. Guess being together for so long, they can tell exactly what the other is thinking without either of them having to say a word. It actually made Ben envious of them and hoped he and Carol could have that kind of connection one day.
After a few moments, the Scientists turned back to Ben.
"Are you sure about this, Ben?" Bruce asked.
Ben gave a nervous groan and nervously kicked the sand under his shoe. "It's a little risky. But with my watch acting up whenever I get close to that Hairy Beast. I'll need his help and you need him calm and in control. So, unless you guys have a better idea. That's our best bet."
Bruce and Betty took a moment to consider the implications. Really there was no better option. They couldn't just aim Rick, as he is, at Blastaar. His mind is too muddled and confused and he would end up running off or be ineffective against Blastaars superior fighting skills. Having Rick in control of his altered state was the best way to solve both problems.
"Ok, Ben. Do it." Betty told the Teen.
Ben nodded and activated the Ultimatrix, and slammed down the dial.
"Brainstorm!"
The Alien Crab then scuttled over to the energy dome and Bruce typed some keys into his tablet and the dome began to shrink. Getting smaller and smaller, leaving A-Bomb with less room to move in as he tried desperately to break the dome and free himself. Only for the dome to shrink so far that he had no room to move. He was completely restrained.
"Now my Gamma Infected Acquaintance. Let's us attempt to get those Neurons firing at the right capacity." Brainstorm said, as his skull plates opened, and a single beam of electricity fired out from his brain and struck A-Bombs forehead. The electrical stream continued to flow as Brainstorm used the electrical pathway to connect with A-bombs mind.
This was a tactic that Brainstorm had hardly ever used. Due to his inexperience with this side of this aliens powers and the fact that he was always afraid he would accidently fry someone's brain. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, with A-Bombs newly acquired healing factor, it's likely that even if the Alien Teen slipped up, he could recover from it. But that doesn't mean Brainstorm was gonna let himself get sloppy. He poured all his focus into restoring Ricks brain to its normal capacity. After some searching, Brainstorm eventually found what appeared to be a blocked pathway in Ricks frontal lobe. The brain was so overloaded with Gamma energy, that particular pathway got blocked in the process.
Brainstorm focused and sent electrical impulses into Rick brain that caused a chain reaction in the neurological pathways, stimulating them into action, causing them all to act as one, blasting through the blockage and causing everything to start flowing and returning to a normal stable level.
With his task complete, Brainstorm severed the connection to Ricks mind. Feeling slightly dizzy from the connection, but otherwise ok. He then turned back to normal as he, Bruce and Betty all looked up at A-Bomb, who was now looking dazed and weary. He groaned and shock his head and blinked his eyes open. Now looking more focused and slightly confused.
"W-What the?" Rick spoke, looking around the area and his current confinement, before looking down at the trio in front of him. "Dr B? Dr R? When did you guys get here? Why am I in this dome and…" It was at that point he noticed his three digited, scaly blue hand and the rest of his mutated form. "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO ME!"
"Easy Rick. Calm down. There was an accident." Ben tried to explain calmly.
"An Accident!?" Rick shouted as he contained to examine every inch of his new mutated body.
"Yes Rick." Bruce said, picking up the reigns. "You were exposed to a Gamma blast. It merged your DNA with the scale you wear around your neck. Causing you to mutate into this."
Bruce then bowed his head and started to tremble, causing Betty to walk over to him and wrapped her arms around him to comfort him.
"I am so sorry, Rick. I never should have brought you into this life. This is all my fault." Bruce said, tearing up.
Ben lowered his head in shame. He too felt responsible for Ricks fate. Now there's a chance Rick would have to live with this curse for the rest of his life.
Banner then recovered enough to turn off the Kinetic force field, allowing Rick to stand and fully examine his monstrous form. Bruce lowered his head, fully expecting Rick to hit him or yell at him for his current state. As far as he was concerned, he deserved it.
"This is…"Rick started to say. "This is…. AWESOME!"
That certainly wasn't the reaction either Bruce or Betty were expecting as they both looked up at the now beaming Mutated Rick Jones in utter shock. Ben however couldn't help but grin at the display.
"I can't believe it. I'm actually a hulk. No not a Hulk, or an Abomination. I'm something way cooler. I'm a.. Ah..?"
"Before, when you were all angry and crazy, you were calling yourself A-Bomb." Ben chimed in cheerfully.
"A-Bomb?" Rick responded, confused. Then resumed his excitement. "I like it. Gotta nice ring to it. A-Bomb, the new Gamma Bruiser. This is so Awesome!"
A-Bomb leaped into the air, his human mind finally being able to fully appreciate the new power he possessed. He landed and proceeded to run over to a boulder and easily lifted it off the ground and hurled it into the distance.
"Oh man. I am so strong. This is Incredible!" A-Bomb yelled out in pure joy.
Bruce however, was still routed to the spot. Still shocked by his young friend, complete lack of negativity towards his Mutated form.
"R-Rick? You're not upset by any of this?" He asked, confused.
A-Bomb then turned back to Banner and quickly ran over to him and picked him up with his massive hands.
"Are you kidding? Bruce, how could I not love this? Since the first day I saw the green guy in action, I've wanted to know what it's like to be a hulk. To be able to fight with you and not just be some dumb kid in the wrong place that you guys have to save. Now I can actually help people and do something about those super villain punks that push around the little guys." A-Bomb explained.
"But, Rick. This power could have many untold consequences. We don't know if the gamma in your system can coincide with your DNA without breaking down. You could be stuck in this form forever. How can you live a normal life like that?" Bruce asked concerned.
"Ah who wants to be normal?" A-Bomb responded nonchalantly. "Look Doc. I want this. I'll make it work. And if there is a problem that comes up. I'll deal with it. This is my choice, Doc. I hope you can be cool with that?"
He then put Bruce down and the scientist looked up at his young friend with concerned eyes.
But before he could say anything, and explosion was heard off in the distance. A large dust cloud blew into the air as the sound of an angry Blastaar roared across the land.
"What is that?" A-Bomb asked, excitedly.
Ben smirked and crossed his arms. "Oh, that's some evil Alien warlord that's come here to take over the world. You wanna team up with me and take him down?"
"Do I!" The Gamma Mutant said enthusiastically. "Heck yeah. My first super villain fight this is gonna be epic!"
"Hold your horses, Big Blue." Ben said, standing in front of that Mutated Teen. "I know you're excited. But you are new to this hero thing. You wanna do this. You need to follow my lead. Got it?"
"Yes Sir. Mr Ben 10, Sir." A-Bomb said, performing a salute, with a toothy grin.
Ben smiled in response. "OK well this guys got some weird energy that messes with my watch. So I won't be at my best out there and you'll have to pick up some of the slack. But I got a plan that just might work."
"Whatever it is. You two will have to be fast." Betty said as she looked at the tablet. "Our scans of the portal show that the gamma energy holding it open, will only last for a few more minutes. You need to get Blastaar back into the portal before it closes."
The two teens nodded as Ben activated his Ultimatrix. "We'll have to go over the plan on route." Ben explained to A-Bomb as he slammed down the dial. "It' Hero Time!"
Several miles away, a large rock formation that has probably been formed over millions of years from the Earths environmental changes, was suddenly struck at the base by a powerful impact and toppled like a tree. Out from the rubble, Blastaar emerged. Anger burning in his glowing eyes. It was very fortunate that the Alien Warlord had instead wandered away from any populated areas and continued to wander deeper and deeper into the open desert. But his encounter with the Shapeshifter has led him into an obsessive rampage as he attacked everything in his path to try and find and finish the battle they had started.
"I will not be denied my victory!" Blastaar yelled aloud. "I will never rest until our battle is completed, Changeling! Even if I must blanket this world with war and death!"
Just then a rumbling noise was heard in the distance. Blastaar turned to see something fall from the air and land several meters away from him, kicking up a dust cloud, while also creating a shallow crater.
From the dust cloud, emerged the cocky form of A-Bomb as he flexed his brawny arms and puffed out his chest as if to make himself look as tough and intimidating as possible.
However, Blastaar did not look fazed in the slightest. "You have returned for another match, mindless beast? I have no time to waste on such a pathetic exercise."
Upon the Warlords comment, A-Bomb blinked in surprise on how casually the villain just blew him off. Granted he didn't remember how easily Blastaar had blown him away before, but still he could have at least gotten a little something from his first real supervillain. The Gamma Mutants expression quickly changed into anger as he charged his fists and charged straight at the Beast like being.
"Oh, I'll show you pathetic, Cowardly Lion." He retorted as he threw a left hook at the Alien Villain.
However, Blastaar easily dodged the attack and shoved A-Bombs arm away leaving the Mutant Teen exposed, allowing Blastaar to charge up his fist with energy and ram it right into A-Bombs gut, blasting him away with ease.
Even with his durability, A-Bomb was slightly rattled by that impressive counter attack. He was not prepared for Blastaar to be able to avoid and take him down so easily. Then again, this was his first day in the hero business and he had yet to realise that strength and power aren't the only factors in a fight. A lesson that may have cost him, as he looked up to see Blastaar bearing down at him with both hands raised and glowing with yellow energy.
"If you insist on meeting your end on this day, Beast. I will be happy to grant that request." Blastaar stated, in a superior tone. He unleashed a powerful blast of energy as A-Bomb, reflexively closed his eyes and waited for the impact of the beam.
But the beam didn't hit, as the Gamma Mutant opened his eyes to see Chromastone standing in front of him, glowing with multicoloured energy after absorbing Blastaar's energy.
"Boy that's some messed up energy ya got there pal." The Crystal Alien commented with a hint of disgust in his tone. He turned back to A-Bomb. "What did I tell you about charging straight into a fight?"
"Hey he insulted me and didn't give the Bomb Man some respect." A-Bomb defended.
This caused Chromastone to role his eye and sight in frustration. "Rookies. He's a Bad Guy, Rick. He's gonna say anything and do anything possible to get a rise out of you so you'll charge in and make dumb choices. Which didn't take a lot to do, didn't it."
A-Bomb chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah ok, ya got me there." He admitted. "But I still wanna punch him, bad."
"Don't worry. You'll get your chance." Chromastone assured. "Just follow my lead."
The Alien Avenger then faced Blastaar, who noticed the strange symbol that was present on the Shapeshifters chest in all his other forms.
"Finally stopped hiding like a coward, Changeling?" Blastaar mocked as he got into a fighting stance.
"Oh I wasn't hiding from you." Chromastone shot back. "I was simply too entertained by the side of some big hairy moron that stomped around the yard like a crying baby cause he got spanked hard in the playground. Why don't you go home and cry to your Mommy, Blasty."
Blastaar gritted his teeth from the Alien Teens insults. "You dare speak to the mighty Blastaar that way!"
"It'll talk that way to anyone arrogant enough to talk in a third person. What's wrong, Daddy didn't spend enough time with you as a kid?" Chromastone continued to badger, pouring more salt on the wound.
At that point Blastaar snapped and let out a roar of rage and blasted the air behind himself, allowing him to rocket towards the Alien hero like a missile. Chromastone smirked as he flew to meet Blastaar head on. But before they could make contact. Chromastone unleashed a beam of energy as the ground underneath him and caused a small explosion of debris and dust to be kicked up, while also allowing the beam to push himself up and avoid Blastaar as he flew into the dust cloud, causing his vision to be obstructed.
"Now A-Bomb." Chromastone yelled. As Blastaar cleared the dust cloud and was met by the sight of A-Bomb sending a right hook into his face.
"A-Bombs Away!" The Gamma Teen shouted as his fist collided with Blastaars face, causing a shockwave that sent Blastaar flying back, hitting the ground hard.
Chromastone then flew back and landed next to A-Bomb with an amused smirk on his face.
"A-Bombs away? You just come up with that?" The Alien Teen asked.
"What I'm a hero now. I need a cool hero catch phrase. Hulks got 'Hulk Smash' you've got that 'It's Hero Time' line. I gotta have something that's got my own flare to it." A-Bomb explained enthusiastically.
The Alien Avenger couldn't help but chuckle at his new friends excitement. He remembered how excited he was the first day he became a hero. Everything seemed so easy at the start.
At that moment the Crystal Alien saw Blastaar rise to his feet again and glare at the Duo with hateful eyes.
"Jobs not over yet, Rookie. We got more work to do." Chromastone stated, getting into a fighting stance along with A-Bomb.
Blastaar roared and charged at the pair, with A-Bomb doing the same. Both combatants raised their fists and sent them forward, with their fists colliding and generating another shockwave. Though not as powerful as the one A-Bomb had made with Rath earlier. The two then locked into a brawl, while Blastaar may have the advantage in skill and versatile powers, A-Bomb had size and durability on his side. Allowing him to stand his ground against the Alien Warlord for a brief time.
This allowed Chromastone to easily make his way behind Blastaar and fire an ultraviolet beam of energy into the Warlord back. Injuring him and allowing A-Bomb an opening to punch the Villain in the face. But Blastaar quickly recovered from the attack and grabbed the Gamma Teen by the arm and tossed him over his head in Chromastone's direction.
The Alien Teen quickly moved to dodge his incoming friend. But Blastaar used that distraction to leap towards Chromastone and deliver an energy punch to the face. Catching him off guard and sending him flying. The Alien Hero rolled across the ground a few times, stunned from the attack. Being caught off guard, prevented Chromastone from being able to absorb the energy Blastaar was using. What ever that energy was, it was making Chromastone feel sick coming into contact with it. Even absorbing the stuff left a bad taste in the Aliens metaphorical mouth. Like blending mouldy bread and expired milk together and then drinking it. It was enough to make the Crystal Alien gag.
But he couldn't focus on that now as Blastaar charged straight for him, only for A-Bomb to try and take him on again. But Blastaar saw the Gamma Mutant coming and swiftly dodged his strike and blasted him down, causing him to land on top of Chromastone. Making the Alien Hero thankful, this form had enhanced durability.
"This isn't going well, Dude." A-Bomb groaned as he got up and helped his friend.
"Ya think." Chromastone responded sarcastically.
"Doc said that that portal wont last for much longer. How are we supposed to get him into the Portal. Don't you have something that can put him in there?" A-Bomb asked.
"No, the watch doesn't work when I'm close to this guy." Chromastone stated, looking down to the faceplate that blinked and sparked to prove his point. "We gotta use what we've got."
"Well I can't get close to the guy without him seeing me coming." Replied the Gamma Teen.
"Why don't you just turn invisible. You did it before when you fought me?" Chromastone asked.
A-Bomb looked at the Crystal Alien in shock. "I can turn invisible?"
At that point Chromastone mentally slapped himself. Of course, he didn't remember, his brain was too messed up to remember anything.
"Sweet. Let's give it a go." A-Bomb said excitedly. He then closed his eyes and tensed up as if trying really hard to focus. However, nothing happened. There was not change in the Gamma Mutant colour. Though he did turn a slightly darker shade of blue in the face. But that's probably due to how intensely he was trying to focus. Eventually the Gamma Teen gasped and unclenched.
"Anything?" He asked.
"No. And this isn't the best time to try and control your powers dude. Right now. We need to get him back through that portal." Chromastone stated in an urgent tone.
"Well how are we gonna get the guy to stand still long enough to throw him through it?" A-Bomb asked.
Chromastone looked over to Blastaar, who was slowly pacing towards them, charging his energy. He then looked up to the Portal, which was slowly closing as if the sky was stitching itself back together. An Idea then popped into his head, something he learned about during a sparring session he had with Wolverine.
"Throw me."
"Huh?" A-Bomb asked, confused.
"Throw me at him. Pick me up and give me your best fastball pitch." Chromastone explained.
A-Bomb gave the Alien Teen a quizzled look as he glanced over at Blastaar, then back to him. Then the wired in his head started to connect and he figured out what the Crystal Aliens plan is.
He reached down and grabbed Chromastone and the Alien Hero placed his feet in A-Bombs palm and curled up into a ball. A-Bomb reared back his arm and hurled Chromastone at Blastaar with as much strength he could muster. The Crystal Alien flew to his target like a bullet and slammed into his chest, with enough force to knock him off his feet and send him flying. Chromastone then uncurled and kept himself suspended in the air and blasted Blastaar with another powerful energy beam, sending him back into the ground hard.
A-Bomb jumped over to Chromastone as the pair looked over the area where Blastaar had landed. To their disappointment, the Alien Being began to rise again. Frustrating the Alien Avenger.
"Oh will you just Stop Moving!" He yelled as his charged his energy up once more and fired another beam of energy right into Blastaars chest. But instead of blasting him back like normal. Purple crystals began to spread all over Blastaars body. Stunning the Warlord, A-Bomb and Chromastone himself.
The crystals spread so quickly over the Alien Beings body that he couldn't even make one final declaration of vengeance against the pair. Instead the crystals encased him and froze his face in an expression of anger and hatred. The expression clearly sending the message he intended.
Once the crystal structure had contained Blastaar, Chromastone stopped the attack and looked down at his hands in shock.
"Woah. I didn't know you could do that." A-Bomb commented in amazement.
"Neither did I." Chromastone admitted. Clearly there were still many secrets this form still had.
Just then a crackled communication from Bruce started to speak from the malfunctioning Ultimatrix. While neither Teen could make out the words. They got the basic gist that the portal was on the verge of closing.
Chromastone looked at A-Bomb and smirked. "Got another Fastball in ya, Big Blue?"
A-Bomb returned the Alien Heroes smirk with equal enthusiasm. "Thought you'd never ask."
With that A-Bomb walked over to the crystallised Blastaar and hefted him off the ground and then lined up the shot with the portal and with a massive heave. He tossed Blastaar with enough force to send the Evil Warlord screaming through the air and through the portal, just as it closed off completely.
"Booyah! That's what I'm talking about!" A-Bomb cheered out in excitement. "Up top, Bro."
He raised his hand up to Chromastone, who was happy to oblige. However when A-Bomb moved to slap the Alien Teens hand. He forgot to take into account his strength and ended up High Fiving the Crystal Alien several miles away.
"Oops." A-Bomb muttered.
After a few minutes of scanning the area for any traces of the portal and finding nothing. The two avengers, civilian scientist and newly Mutated Teen, all headed back to the Gamma Base.
Despite everything Bruce concluded that this was a very successful day. He got to help save the day in his own way, finally get some time to conduct experiments and actually make something with his own two hands, and spend time with the Woman he cares so much about. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
"Thank you, Ben. For making this possible." Bruce thanked the Teen Hero as they walked back to the Quinjet.
"Don't mention it, Bruce. After everything you've done. You more than deserve it." Ben replied.
"I just hope, Rick can adjust to his new life. If only I had more time to see if his mutation is…"
"Hey guys check it out!" a familiar voice called out.
Bruce and Ben both turned to see, to the formers utter shock, Rick Jones, in human form.
"Rick? You're normal again?" Bruce gasped.
"Oh I'm better than normal Doc. Check it." Rick closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly his body began to grow, blue scales formed along his body and in a few short moments, A-Bomb was standing before them, grinning like an excited child.
"I can switch back a forth, any time I want. Don't even have to get angry." A-Bomb stated as he then started to shrink down back to his human form. Though Ben couldn't help but notice that his cloths had been completely shredded.
"Um dude?" Ben pointed out, looking away uncomfortably.
"Ahh, forgot about that." Rick said alarmed as he moved to cover himself.
"I told him not to do it. Be he insisted on showing you." Betty spoke up as she ran out of the base to catch up with Rick. Throwing a lab coat over his partially naked form, to cover him.
"So, I guess you'll be sticking around here to train?" Ben asked the Gamma Teen.
"Yep. There's a lot of space out here for me to practice without hurting anyone. And once I get this hero thing down pact. Maybe you and I can team up again?" Rick asked.
"I'm looking forward to it. A-Bomb." Ben replied cheerfully.
Just then Bruce reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the communicator that Ben had given Hulk when he left the team. The Gamma Scientist walked over to Rick and handed it to him.
"If you two are going to team up again. You'll need a way to contact each other." He said with a happy grin.
"Woah, Doc. Really?" Rick asked in awe.
Ben however gave Banner a confused look. As if asking why he'd give his communicator away like that.
"You gave that communicator to Hulk when he left the Avengers. But this time, he and I aren't going anywhere. We're Avengers now." The Scientist stated confidently.
Betty walked over to Bruce and took his hand in hers and the two gazed into each others eyes.
"Promise me you'll come back?" She asked.
"I promise. Nothing will keep me from coming back to you ever again." Bruce vowed. As he and Betty embraced, before she pulled him in and kissed him passionately.
"Ugh, PDA is the worst." Rick moaned looking away from the love struck Scientists.
"Don't have a girl in your life, Pal?" Ben replied.
Rick gave the hero a cocky smirk. "Come on, when they see the guns that the A-Bomb is sporting, the ladies will be lining up around the corner to get a piece of this."
The two Teens shared a laugh as the Scientist continued to embrace, for them nothing else mattered to them.
Later, it was time for the heroes to head back. Betty had elected to remain at the base with Rick for a while, to keep monitoring his condition. And while Bruce was sad to leave her behind. He did look a lot chipper than he was when the day began. For the first time in a very long time. The chance to regain his life was in his grasp. He had hope.
And there you have it folks. Phew that was a long one. Again, sorry for the long wait and Im sure itll be a longer one still for the next one. But you all know that I want to provide you with my best work and doing so takes time.
So like always if you have any questions, please PM me. Same with Story ideas.
And in honour of the Great Stan Lee, Id like for everyone to post what their favourite Stan Lee cameo is. Show as much love as you can for this wonderful man.
Until next time. CaptainRex75 out!