The underground chamber was massive, far larger than anyone could have expected.
When Four Arms punched through the street, creating that enormous crater, he'd inadvertently connected the surface to this hidden space below. Kevin had fallen straight through, plummeting into the darkness of an active subway tunnel.
And down there, echoing through the cavern, came the unmistakable roar of an engine starting up.
Four Arms understood immediately what lay beneath them.
"It's the subway!" he realized with a growl of frustration.
"Damn it! If he catches that train, we'll never track him down!" The massive red alien stomped his foot against the edge of the crater, his expression twisted with annoyance. "I should've been more careful. The ground here is like paper, I punched right through it without even trying."
Of course, there was another possible outcome for Kevin. He could have been crushed by the speeding subway train. But that result was too horrific to dwell on, and Four Arms had no desire to be responsible for such a gruesome death, even for someone like Kevin.
"Asher, where did Kevin go?"
Max and the others jogged over from down the street, looking around in confusion at the destruction and the conspicuous absence of their enemy.
"Down there." Four Arms pointed toward the gaping hole and the subway tunnel visible below. His voice carried a note of grim resignation. "I don't know exactly what happened to him after he fell."
"If I went after him right now, I could probably catch him," Four Arms continued, his four arms flexing with barely restrained power. "But I'd almost certainly get trapped down there myself. The tunnel system is a maze, and I'd lose track of which way leads out."
Compared to his own safety, pursuing Kevin simply wasn't worth the risk. The kid was dangerous, yes, but not that dangerous.
"He must be in terrible shape," Ben said, his face scrunched up in disgust as he tried to imagine Kevin's current condition. The mental image wasn't pretty.
"Over there! There are aliens over there!"
"And there's some kind of robot too! The aliens and robots were fighting! It sounds like a movie plot, but it actually happened!"
Voices suddenly erupted from further down the street. A crowd of curious onlookers was approaching, accompanied by the heavy thud of armored boots. Those footsteps were far too loud to belong to ordinary civilians, these had to be law enforcement or military personnel in full tactical gear.
Four Arms had no interest in dealing with media attention or official interrogation. He didn't want to become some kind of public spectacle or urban legend plastered across every news channel. Privacy was still possible, and he intended to keep it that way.
"Come on, Grandpa. Ben, you too, we can't waste time here," Four Arms said urgently.
Each of his four massive arms stretched out. Two hands scooped up Ben and Gwen simultaneously, while the remaining pair carefully shielded Max as Four Arms crouched down and launched himself into the air.
One leap carried them nearly thirty feet. Within seconds, they'd vanished from the alley, leaving nothing behind but confused witnesses and a scene of destruction.
Inside the hotel.
Four Arms took Max and the others to the rear entrance of their hotel, setting everyone down gently in the secluded back area. The transformation timer had just reached its limit, and with a flash of green light, the massive alien form dissolved. Asher returned to his human appearance, stretching his normal-sized arms with relief.
"Alright, Asher, there are still some things I need you to explain," Max said, his tone taking on that serious, no-nonsense quality that meant he wasn't going to accept evasions. "The conversation you had with Kevin didn't sound casual at all. I want the full story."
As expected, nothing got past Grandpa Max. His Plumber training and years of experience made him far too observant to miss the subtext of what had happened.
Asher sighed internally but nodded. He recounted yesterday's events in detail, how he'd encountered Kevin, the nature of their confrontation, and the suspicious circumstances surrounding the whole situation. He also presented his theory: Kevin must have found Vilgax's alien technology last night and somehow integrated it into his own body, which explained how his powers had returned so dramatically.
"If none of this had happened, I might have thought your suspicions were just paranoid speculation and that you'd misjudged Kevin," Max said thoughtfully, his weathered face showing both concern and approval. "However, after seeing the harm Kevin inflicted on so many innocent people today, I can say with certainty that you did the right thing, Asher."
Max reached out and gripped Asher's shoulder firmly, his expression warm with understanding.
"You made a difficult call in a complicated situation. I don't blame you for keeping quiet yesterday. You were smart about it. If you'd told me your suspicions back then without any proof, we would have had to confront Kevin directly, and that might have pushed him over the edge even sooner." Max's eyes crinkled with something like pride. "Looking at how things turned out, your approach was exactly right. You showed real tactical thinking."
"Asher, I still don't understand something," Ben said, holding his chin thoughtfully. "How did you figure out Kevin's intentions so quickly? What tipped you off that he was dangerous?"
"I've always been good at reading people," Asher replied with a slight, mysterious smile. "Let's just say I have a talent for seeing through facades."
He wasn't about to explain his meta-knowledge of the Ben 10 universe. Some secrets were better kept.
"So Kevin got hit by that punch and fell onto the subway tracks," Gwen said, her voice carrying a nervous edge despite her attempt at calm. "What do you think happened to him? Is he... you know..."
"Even if he got lucky and avoided being hit by the train directly, my punch completely shattered his armor," Asher said matter-of-factly, his tone casual but his words carrying weight. "Taking a hit like that from Four Arms means his technological coating collapsed completely. He's back to being just a regular human underneath all that wreckage."
As for Kevin's ultimate fate, Asher deliberately left that question hanging. No need to speculate further. Some mysteries solved themselves.
Let Kevin fend for himself now.
The four of them didn't linger at the hotel's back entrance. Soon enough, they headed inside and returned to their vacation activities, swimming, playing games, and enjoying the amenities. They were determined not to let one criminal ruin their entire summer trip.
On the subway.
Kevin's broken body lay collapsed across the floor of a speeding train car. His expression was a mask of agony and despair.
He looked like a shattered mannequin, sprawled out helplessly with his limbs splayed at unnatural angles. The slightest movement sent waves of tearing pain through every nerve in his body. Even breathing hurts.
The armor that had made him feel invincible was gone, completely destroyed, just as Four Arms had predicted. It had crumbled away like dried clay, leaving him exposed and vulnerable.
"I never thought... I would end up dying... in a place like this," Kevin whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the train's rhythmic clatter. "I still wanted to steal so much money. I had so many plans. So many things I was going to do..."
His vision was starting to blur at the edges. Whether from pain, blood loss, or simple exhaustion, he couldn't tell anymore.
That single punch had been his undoing. That one devastating attack had reduced him from a powerful threat to a dying kid sprawled on a dirty subway floor.
Now, death felt inevitable.
Time seemed to stretch and distort around him as the high-speed train continued its journey through the tunnels. The constant wind generated by the train's movement battered his broken body, making every second more agonizing than the last. His consciousness was beginning to fade, slipping away like sand through his fingers.
So this is how it ends, he thought distantly. Not in some big dramatic battle. Just... here. Alone.
Then something changed.
Kevin noticed a red light approaching rapidly from the darkness ahead. His expression grew confused, almost delirious.
Is that... the light people talk about? The one you see when you're dying?
I guess death really has come for me.
The red glow suddenly expanded, growing larger and brighter as it closed the distance at incredible speed. Gradually, the light resolved into a recognizable shape, a small flying robot, its chassis painted in a deep crimson that matched perfectly with the color of Kevin's destroyed armor.
"What... what is that?" Kevin's mind struggled to process what he was seeing. His confusion deepened when he realized something astonishing: the electronic components still embedded in his body were picking up a signal from the approaching robot. They were on the same frequency, compatible technology trying to establish a connection.
VRRRRM!
The Mechadroid exceeded the subway train's speed, catching up to Kevin in moments. Its mechanical limbs extended smoothly, grasping Kevin's broken form and lifting him carefully from the train car floor.
The sudden transition from passive high-speed movement left Kevin's body in a state of weightless disorientation. His sense of balance completely failed him, making the world spin sickeningly.
"I remember you," Kevin gasped, recognition cutting through his pain-fogged mind. "You're the robot that Asher destroyed last night! How... How did you come to save me? Why?"
"Priority directive: transport this subject to a secure location immediately," a voice emanated from the robot's internal communication system. "Secondary directive: message delivery to subject from primary operator."
The voice that followed made Kevin's blood run cold despite his injuries. It was deep, commanding, and filled with barely restrained violence, the voice of a predator, a lone wolf meeting a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
No, that comparison wasn't right either. This was something far more dangerous.
This was the voice of a conqueror.
WHIRR.
The Mechadroid adjusted its grip on Kevin's body, moving carefully toward a maintenance platform beside the tracks. It set Kevin down with surprising gentleness, propping him against the tunnel wall.
"Ngh... who... who are you?" Kevin managed to rasp out, fighting through waves of pain to form the question. "Why did you save me? What's going on with this robot? What do you want?"
His mind raced with possibilities, none of them good. People didn't save someone like him out of kindness. There was always a price.
"Hehehehe... Don't worry, friend. I'll explain everything from the very beginning," the voice said, carrying an undertone of dark amusement. "The story I have to tell you starts with a watch that fell to Earth from the stars."
Vilgax began to speak, slowly and methodically describing his history with Asher, the Omnitrix, and everything that had led to this moment. His words painted a picture of cosmic power, ancient technology, and bitter rivalry.
And as Kevin listened, broken, desperate, and utterly without options, a terrible seed of possibility began to take root in his mind.
Perhaps this wasn't the end of his story after all.
Perhaps it was just the beginning of something far darker.
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