Gwendolyn Tennyson gasped as she was grabbed roughly by a titanium-clad hand.

The sorceress whipped her head around and thrashed violently against the many appendages that held her, meeting Sixsix's gaze with a deathly glare. Their old adversary simply snarled ferociously and slammed her into the ground, using his foot to grind her into the foreign dirt of whatever planet they happened upon. Her emerald orbs widened in agony as she screamed, earning a growl from her Osmosian boyfriend.

"Let her go!" the boy roared.

Gwendolyn lifted her head up with much effort, only to see Kevin taking cover from the barrage of attacks from the bounty hunters before them. He was coated head to toe in the chromium from their ship. The Osmosian hung his head in exhaustion before rolling out of the way of an oncoming grenade. He morphed his fists into large hammers and swung blindly, hoping to hit one of the many bounty hunters that had finally managed to catch up to them.

He successfully clocked Vulkanus and Sevenseven hard enough to make them bleed, before finally falling to Sunder and Eighteight.

That left the dynamic duo.

Ben 10, the Hero of Heroes.

Rook Blonko, the Youngest Magister.

The Hero, with his ever-so-cocky smirk, shared a look with the Magister, who nodded. The partners stared down the squad of supervillains before them. Ben, as always, was ready for a fight. Rook, as always, was ready to defend.

Gwendolyn found herself feeling the same exasperated pride she always felt for her heroic cousin, who time and time again managed to save the day through sheer force of will. She had no doubt in her mind that he would save them and that they would be able to continue their road trip through the universe.

Key word; had.

As she and Kevin waited pensively for someone to make the first move, she noticed something behind Sunder's back. A paper with scribbles on it.

Scribbles of the combination used to lock Ben's Omnitrix. Very similar to the sequence Vilgax used all those years ago.

Gwendolyn wanted to scream.

Suddenly, Ben moved first. His hand met the interface of his watch and activated it, causing the holographic dial to pop up. The boy scrolled through his arsenal quickly before settling upon a familiar face. Just as Eighteight was about to shoot at them, his palm pressed down.

Green light brighter than the sun burst from the boy as his DNA twisted and turned into something entirely different. Something new. Something alien.

When the light died down, Heatblast stood with a confident sneer, igniting the flames that threatened to spew from his hands. Beside him, Rook unsheathed his Proto-Tool and swung it out, switching it into its sword form. The bounty hunters were less than impressed.

"Heatblast!" the Pyronite shouted, wasting no time in forming a large ball of flames to throw at his enemies.

Meanwhile, Rook was already engaged in combat with Sunder and Sevenseven. The Magister-ranked Plumber was holding his own surprisingly well for a... well, rookie. He swung his sword at Sunder, who parried the attack with his scythe. Beside him, the female Sotoraggian rushed forward and grabbed the Magister's wrist, twisting it in a painful snap.

The Revonnahgander cried out and dropped his weapon, earning a swift punch to the head. Stumbling back, he ducked and narrowly missed another jab before Sunder's scythe was brought down upon him.

Gwendolyn shielded her eyes and Kevin continued to yell at them in fury.

The Revonnahgader groaned in pain as he lied in the crater the formed around him from the impact, his armor cracked and chipped. He was down for the count. That only left the Hero of Heroes.

Smiling sadistically, Sunder brought his attention to Heatblast, who was closing in on Vulkanus as he increased the intensity of the flames he was dishing out at the Detrovite.

"Sometimes, you guys really make my blood boil." the Pyronite quipped, thrusting one arm out to shoot another stream of flames at Sunder.

However, the Retriever was ready.

Sunder nodded at Vulkanus, who lunged at the Hero and pinned him down. Despite the increasing temperature of the sparks that were coming from him, Ben could do nothing but struggle against the men as Sunder tapped the sequence into his chest, deactivating and disabling the Omnitrix.

Leaving normal, seventeen year old Ben Tennyson.

The boy, with his neon eyes, glanced up at the men who held him. He looked around and saw his friends, fallen and held by his enemies. He brought his gaze down to his Omnitrix, timed out and useless.

And yet, still he wouldn't show fear. Sometimes, Gwendolyn wanted to smack that attitude right out of him.

"Let them go." Ben growled, earning a backhand to the face.

Gwendolyn breathed shakily and desperately wanted to reach out to him.

"You aren't in a position to make demands, hero." Sunder jeered, kneeling before the fallen boy.

Ben met the Retriever's deathly smile with a hardened glare, making that smile grow even wider.

"What do you want with me?" he finally asked. At this, Sunder chuckled.

"Us? Nothing," he began, "We're just paid to bring you back. Alive."

Suddenly, he reeled back. Gwendolyn screeched and Kevin's struggles increased tenfold.

"But they didn't say awake."

As the fist collided with her cousin, jolts of electricity were sent coursing throughout her entire body. She groaned and turned to Kevin with much effort. The Osmosian was down before she could see his raven hair.

The last thing she remembered was her cousin, slung over Sevenseven's shoulder like a limp rag doll.