(General P.O.V)
High above Earth, the towering 8 foot Vilgax, fully restored through Cybernetic implants, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out at the curve of the planet. The stars reflected faintly off the metal of his armor as his ship maintained a steady orbit.
"Report," Vilgax ordered.
The ship's artificial intelligence paused.
That alone was unusual.
"…Clarify," Vilgax growled. "What is the status of SixSix, Tetrax Shard, and Kraab?"
Another pause.
The AI adjusted its phrasing. "Translating into simplified Earth terminology for clarity. The three mercenaries are, and I quote, getting their asses kicked."
Vilgax's fingers tightened.
"That is not a tactical assessment."
"It is the most accurate one available," the AI replied evenly. "Combat telemetry indicates an anomalous combatant operating alongside the Omnitrix wielder. Power output exceeds projected threat models. Species classification: unknown level 8."
Vilgax turned slowly. "Unknown… again."
On Earth, Slaterville, the abandoned mining town rang with the sound of explosions and shattered stone.
SixSix fired another burst of purple energy. Loth didn't dodge. He raised one hand and batted the beam aside, the energy folding harmlessly into a pink ripple that dispersed into the air.
"Purple?" Loth said mildly. "Really? Pink is objectively superior."
SixSix cursed in an alien language and fired again.
At his side, Kraab detached his massive metal crab hands, launching them forward like living projectiles. The claws spun through the air, homing in on Loth from both sides.
Loth didn't flinch.
"Wingardium Leviosa," he said calmly, wandless but precise.
His wrist flicked. Then swished.
The airborne claws froze, then abruptly changed direction. Instead of Loth, they slammed sideways into SixSix with enough force to crater the street wall behind him.
SixSix screamed as armor cracked.
Kraab's roar and mechanical body disaappeared as he drilled into the soil.
The ground beneath Loth ruptured as Kraab's limbless body burst upward, having drilled through solid earth for a surprise strike.
Loth turned his head.
"Bad idea."
He inhaled.
A bluish-white Incendio erupted directly from his mouth, not a cone but a focused blast of compressed heat and mystic fire. The flame engulfed Kraab mid-leap. Metal softened, then flowed. The alien merc hit the ground as a partially molten heap, still twitching before going still.
Silence fell.
Getting up, SixSix looked at the smoking puddle where Kraab had been.
"Nope," the Android merc said immediately. "Screw this."
Thrusters flared as he turned to flee.
Loth's eyes tracked him.
"Oh," Loth said, thoughtful. "That gives me an idea."
He raised his hand—not aggressively, but experimentally.
"I've never tried this without a wand," he admitted to no one in particular. "Let's see if intent is enough."
He focused. And chanted,
"Expecto Patronum!"
Light exploded outward from his hands.
A massive construct of pure white energy tore itself into existence above the town. Wings unfolded. A long, serpentine body coiled through the air as a white dragon formed—solid, radiant, and roaring with layered sound that shook the derelict buildings.
Loth stared, momentarily stunned.
"…Huh," he said. "Didn't know it'd be a dragon."
The Patronus surged forward.
SixSix barely had time to scream before the spectral dragon snapped its jaws shut and swallowed him whole. The construct dissolved a second later, dispersing into harmless motes of light that faded into the sky.
The street was quiet.
Back in orbit, warning indicators flared across Vilgax's command console.
The AI spoke again.
"Update: Two mercenaries neutralized. One… removed from detectable space."
Vilgax's eye narrowed.
"And Tetrax?"
A pause.
"Engaged with the Omnitrix wielder. Outcome pending."
Vilgax slowly bared his teeth.
"Prepare the ship for descent," he said. "It appears Earth has gained a new variable."
-0-
The protective barrier around the Rustbucket shimmered as Gwen held her stance, hands clenched and breathing controlled. Protego Maxima wasn't meant to be maintained this long, not by someone her age, or new at this, and she could feel the strain building behind her eyes. Still, she held it.
Through the translucent, water-like shield, she watched Loth fight.
The difference between him and Ben was impossible to ignore.
Ben's strength came from access—forms, powers, borrowed biology. Loth's strength was application. Control. Every action had intent behind it. Gwen swallowed, realizing that what she was seeing wasn't raw power, but mastery.
"This is… insane," she muttered under her breath.
Behind her, Grandpa Max slid out from under the RV, wiping grease from his hands. "That's it! Engine's good. Everybody move—now!"
Across town, a transformed Ben crashed through the front of an abandoned convenience store, Diamondhead skidding across the floor in a cloud of dust and ancient debris.
He groaned as he pushed himself up, crunching down on decades-old snack packets that burst into powder beneath him.
Tetrax landed lightly nearby, stepping off his hoverboard with practiced ease.
"You fight like a child," Tetrax said coldly. "You wear the form of my people, yet you don't understand it. You don't respect it."
Ben tried to respond, but the Omnitrix chimed.
The green light faded.
Diamondhead vanished.
Ben hit the floor as a human.
Tetrax's hand tightened around his weapon. "You are unworthy of the Omnitrix."
He raised his arm.
Then a white blur slammed into the mercernary from the side.
Tetrax was hurled through the store's remaining shelves, buried under splintered wood and concrete as the reformed Patronus dragon roared overhead before circling away.
Ben stared, jaws wide in disbelief.
"What—?"
Loth dropped from the dragon's back, landing between Ben and the wreckage. The Patronus dissolved behind him, fading into sparks of light.
"Good," Loth said, glancing back at Ben. "The Patronus can be guided not to attack allies."
The debris shifted.
Tetrax rose from the rubble, armor scorched, posture twisted in silent fury. "You interfere again," he growled, "and I will—"
"Ben," Loth said sharply, not looking away. "Run. The RV is ready."
Ben hesitated. "What? No, I can still—"
"Listen to me," Loth cut in, voice hard. "Just this once. Go."
Another second passed.
Then Ben nodded.
He bolted, sprinting past Loth toward the edge of town. As he passed, Loth reached out and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't stop," he repeated.
Ben didn't look back. Up until he burst into the revving vehicle.
The Rustbucket lurched into motion as Ben scrambled inside. "Drive! Grandpa, drive!"
"Seatbelts! And hold on!"
As Max hit the gas, Gwen turned and frowned. "Ben… your shirt."
Ben looked down.
The sleeves of his favorite T-shirt were ripped clean off.
"…Loth, that Jackass." Ben hissed in realization. "He did that on purpose."
"Language," Max said automatically.
Gwen smirked. "Relax dweeb. You've got, like, twelve more."
The RV sped out of Slaterville.
Behind them, the town erupted.
A massive explosion bloomed upward, fire and debris forming a rising mushroom of smoke that lit the horizon. The shockwave rattled the Rustbucket's windows as Max swore under his breath and pushed the engine harder.
Inside the RV, silence settled.
Gwen tightened her grip on her Lucky Girl mask. "Please be okay," she whispered.
Ben stared out the rear window, guilt heavy in his chest.
"Please," he echoed quietly.
(2 minutes before)
Loth stood in the ruined street, aura sense stretched outward until he felt the Rustbucket pull far enough away that its engine noise faded into the distance. Only then did he allow himself to exhale.
"Good," he muttered. "They're clear."
Tetrax shifted behind him, injured but upright, already recovering faster than most would. Loth turned and raised one hand.
"Hold on."
Before Tetrax could respond, a translucent pink bubble snapped into existence around both of them. The air inside went still. Gravity loosened its grip as the sphere lifted cleanly off the ground, rising above Slaterville.
Tetrax struggled once—then froze.
His limbs refused to respond. His hoverboard clattered uselessly against the inside of the barrier.
"What—did you do to me?" Tetrax demanded, voice strained.
"Localized spatial lockdown," Loth replied calmly. "Nothing permanent. If I wanted you dead, this conversation wouldn't be happening."
The bubble continued upward until the abandoned town lay fully beneath them—rotting buildings, empty streets, and the cratered scars of earlier fighting.
Loth rubbed his chin out of habit.
"…Still weird not having a beard," he murmured, then hummed thoughtfully.
Tetrax watched as Loth snapped his fingers.
A small, dense marble of energy, swirling pink and blue, appeared and dropped straight down.
It fell in silence.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then Slaterville ceased to exist.
The explosion was contained, precise, and total. Structures collapsed inward before erupting outward in a controlled detonation that reduced the town to ash, molten debris, and glassed earth.
Loth nodded once. "Tracks erased."
The bubble descended slightly, stabilizing as Tetrax's paralysis released. He staggered, catching himself against the barrier wall, visibly shaking.
"You… you wiped it out," Tetrax said quietly. "Vilgax will think—"
"That SixSix and Kraab died with you?" Loth finished. "Yes. That's the idea."
Tetrax swallowed. He stared at Loth with something between fear and disbelief.
"You're one of them," he said finally. "A Celestialsapien."
Loth was quiet.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly. Not humorously. Haunted, sharp laughter that ended just as suddenly as it began.
"Not even close," he said. "But maybe someday."
He turned fully toward Tetrax.
"In any case," Loth continued, voice leveling out, "aren't you curious why I spared you?"
Tetrax straightened, forcing his breathing under control. "Why?"
Loth's smile was slow and deliberate.
"Because you're going to help me trap Vilgax."
Tetrax stiffened.
"And," Loth added, glancing down at the hoverboard, "I'm taking that."
Tetrax's jaw tightened. "And if I refuse?"
Loth didn't raise his voice. He didn't move.
"Then you die," he said plainly. "Just like SixSix and Kraab. Just like the report Vilgax will receive."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Tetrax looked away.
"I have a family," he said. "And Vilgax doesn't pay enough to die for."
He looked back at Loth. "I choose life."
Loth nodded once.
"Good choice."
The bubble dissolved, leaving only open sky and the beginning of a very different alliance.