Even after seeing the remains of the spacecraft they had just been inside not long ago, Max still forced himself to stay focused on the mission. He turned the small ship back toward the satellite and kept moving forward.
"Grandpa! What about Big Bro?" Gold Ship cried, grabbing onto Max's arm. "Is he-"
"You don't need to worry about him," Max said firmly, keeping his eyes on the path ahead. "Evan is a lot tougher than he looks. He is not getting killed that easily."
"Yeah," Ben added with a confident grin. "He was in alien form. There is no way he went down from something like that."
"But-" Orfevre started to say.
Then she stopped.
A giant rocket thruster suddenly flew past them, and Dr. Viktor was standing right on top of it.
"We need to hurry!" Max said, immediately refocusing on the task at hand. He gripped the controls and pushed the ship forward. "Have some faith in your brother. You both trust him, right? Believe that he will come back safely."
Just then, a beeping sound came from inside Max's pocket.
He reached in and pulled out his tracker. The screen showed a blinking dot moving closer to them.
"That's strange," Max muttered. "The scanner says the corrodium inside that ship is moving."
"Huh? How did the ship suddenly get evil space rock?" Gold Ship asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Gwen's eyes widened.
"Unless..."
Before she could finish, bandages suddenly shot out from behind them and wrapped around all of them, yanking them backward.
"It's inside the mummy!" Orfevre realized at once.
Aura flared around her body. She kicked off hard and launched herself straight toward the mummy.
At the same time, she slammed her right hand down onto one of the open gauntlets attached to her belt.
With a sharp click, the metal locked into place around her hand and formed a gauntlet with long crimson claws.
Her aura flowed into it immediately.
She swung her arm and sliced through the bandages, freeing everyone at once. The mummy widened its eyes in alarm as its bandages were cut apart and burned away.
"Go! I'll handle it!" Orfevre said, her crimson claws glowing brighter as heat rolled off them.
She turned fully toward the alien mummy, locking her eyes on it.
She was still worried about her brother, of course. But right now, she had to deal with the problem in front of her first.
"Big Sis kicked its ass!" Gold Ship cheered from behind Ben.
Orfevre closed the distance before the mummy could recover.
The alien snapped back by throwing out more bandages, but Orfevre caught them, yanked hard, and pulled it closer.
Then she slashed again.
The heated crimson claws tore through the bandages like they were nothing, even exposing some of the corrodium hidden inside the mummy's chest.
But with the Plumber-issued hazard suit protecting her, Orfevre no longer had to worry about being mutated by it.
With one of its main attacks rendered useless, the mummy tried a different tactic. It wrapped its bandages around her body, hoping to restrain and suffocate her.
It did not work.
Every time it tried to get close, Orfevre simply pulled it in and tore through another layer of bandages with her aura-covered claws.
That left the mummy with almost nothing else to rely on. Now, getting close to her only meant getting ripped apart. The alien mummy seemed genuinely thrown off by that.
Most of its human victims had been terrified of it. They had frozen, unable to fight back.
But the girl standing in front of it showed no real fear. If anything, she looked like she wanted to tear it apart.
Just like her brother, who had changed so suddenly and started standing up to protect his siblings the moment he found out they were being bullied or picked on, Orfevre had now placed herself in his shoes.
She was standing up for her family with everything she had.
So even though she could not completely hide the nervousness and fear she felt deep down when facing an alien mummy like this, she pushed it all down and focused on what mattered most.
Max glanced over his shoulder and saw Orfevre holding off the alien mummy all by herself. He watched for a moment before shifting his attention back toward the front as their ship continued closing in on the satellite.
Ben looked down at his Omnitrix.
He wanted to transform and help Orfevre, but they were already approaching the satellite, and there was a good chance they would have to deal with Dr. Viktor once they got inside.
It would be better to save his transformation for later.
The alien mummy suddenly tore open one of the ventilation seals and quickly slipped inside, crawling away from Orfevre.
"Hey!" Orfevre shouted, moving toward the opening.
She stopped when she saw how narrow the ventilation shaft was.
There was no way she could properly fight inside something that cramped.
"Coward!"
With no other choice, Orfevre turned around and followed the others.
As their ship finally attached itself to the satellite, the Tennysons quickly made their way inside.
They moved through the empty corridors, searching for the alien mummy while also keeping an eye out for Dr. Viktor.
They didn't have to search for long.
A sealed door suddenly burst open. Dr. Viktor's hand shot out and slammed into Ben's side, sending him flying across the hallway and crashing into Max and Gwen.
"Ben!"
Before they could recover, Dr. Viktor raised his hand and fired a blast of purple lightning toward them.
Orfevre immediately moved in front of them and raised her metal gauntlet to block the attack.
The purple lightning struck the gauntlet.
Electricity surged across the metal, frying its components and turning the surface black. The force of the attack sent Orfevre flying backward.
She quickly pressed the release button. The damaged gauntlet unlocked and fell from her hand.
"Gahh!" Orfevre grabbed her right hand, hissing as she felt the leftover heat burning against her hand.
"You will pay for your insolence, children!" Dr. Viktor shouted.
He slammed both fists into the ground. Purple lightning spread across the floor and raced toward Orfevre.
Suddenly, a bucket came flying from the side. Gold Ship had thrown it directly into the path of the lightning.
The bucket was immediately blasted apart, but it gave Orfevre just enough time to react. She kicked off the wall and pushed herself away from the attack, using the satellite's zero-gravity environment to drift farther away.
Dr. Viktor fired another blast.
This time, green light suddenly erupted between them.
A massive figure made entirely of blue electricity and floating chunks of deepslate rock appeared in front of the attack. The purple lightning struck his body and was absorbed without causing him any harm.
"You guys go on," Shock Rock said, positioning himself between Dr. Viktor and the others. "I'll handle Dr. Freak over here."
Shock Rock clenched his fists and charged forward.
His fist slammed directly into Dr. Viktor's face, sending the scientist crashing into the wall.
Dr. Viktor quickly recovered and charged back.
Realizing that his lightning was completely useless against Shock Rock, he abandoned his ranged attacks and engaged him in a direct fistfight instead.
The two immediately began exchanging blows.
...
Elsewhere inside the satellite, the alien mummy floated through the zero-gravity corridor.
It extended one of its bandages and pressed a button.
A glass door opened. The mummy reached into its chest and pulled out the corrodium it had been carrying before placing it inside the reactor.
The moment the corrodium touched the machinery, sparks flew.
The reactor suddenly came to life. Purple energy surged through the machine before flowing into the pipes above, causing them to glow brightly.
Outside, the satellite's main dish slowly rotated until it aligned directly with Earth.
"Target in range," the station's AI announced.
The mummy adjusted the controls.
"Beginning transmission in five... four... three... two-"
"I don't think so!"
Max suddenly flew into the room and kicked the mummy directly in the head.
The alien was sent flying, crashing into the control panel before bouncing off and floating through the air.
With no one controlling the machine, the corrodium beam immediately powered down.
The mummy quickly recovered and clenched its fist. It flew toward Max and punched him, sending him crashing backward.
Before it could follow up, a powerful energy repulsion blast slammed into its body and sent it crashing against a large metal door.
Smoke drifted from the energy core in the center of Orfevre's different gauntlet.
Nearby, Gold Ship floated over to the control panel beside the airlock and began pressing several buttons.
The airlock opened; the two sisters looked at each other. Neither of them needed to say anything. Orfevre raised her gauntlet and fired another energy repulsion blast.
The mummy was sent flying straight into the airlock.
"Bye-bye!" Gold Ship poked her head into the doorway and cheerfully waved at the mummy before pressing the button.
The airlock door slammed shut.
"Nice teamwork!" Max said with a smile.
"Hehehe! It's all going according to Golshi's prediction!" Gold Ship said smugly, placing her hands on her hips.
Because of the zero-gravity environment, she was actually standing upside down.
Orfevre ignored her little celebration and looked down at her gauntlet.
The metal was overheating. She could feel the heat building up inside it, and the equipment probably wouldn't survive another attack.
Still, it had enough power left for one more blast. That was good enough for what her brother said to be one-time-use items.
To think he was able to build something like this in a spacecraft scrap yard with a bunch of leftover scraps.
Suddenly, Shock Rock and Dr. Viktor came rolling into the hallway from around the corner.
The two were still locked in close combat, floating through the zero-gravity corridor as they continued exchanging blows.
Gwen quickly noticed where they were. Her eyes shifted toward the airlock. She floated over and pressed the button beside it.
The metal door opened.
"Ben! The airlock!" Gwen shouted.
Shock Rock immediately understood. He kicked Dr. Viktor away from him. Before the scientist could recover, another energy repulsion blast flew through the air.
It struck Dr. Viktor directly in the chest and sent him flying backward into the open airlock.
"Now!"
Gwen slammed her fist against the button. The metal door immediately closed.
Orfevre pressed the release button on her gauntlet, letting the overheated equipment fall away from her hand.
Her gaze shifted toward the belt around her waist; only one gauntlet remained.
Red light erupted from Shock Rock, and Ben returned to his human form.
That was when a beeping sound suddenly reached their ears.
"Wait," Max said, his expression tightening. "Something's not right."
Outside, the beam began charging up again.
"Target reacquired."
"What?" Gwen asked.
At that moment, the moving joystick shifted and faded from view, revealing Zs'Skayr as he slowly came into focus.
"It's that creepy ghost alien again!" Gold Ship gasped, raising both hands to her helmet cheeks.
"Ghostfreak?" Ben asked in disbelief. "But how?"
"You really think I would just stay there and get blown up with Ever Gold?" Zs'Skayr replied, turning to face him.
"We've stopped you before. We can stop you again," Ben said, trying to sound confident even with his Omnitrix still on cooldown.
"We?" Zs'Skayr chuckled darkly. "Don't make me laugh. Without Evan here to save you, you're already too late."
A purple beam fired from the station's satellite and shot straight down toward Earth, heading for the homemade transceiver in New Mexico.
But before the energy beam could even strike, a humanoid figure made of black stone and purple crystal flew down to intercept it.
Purple crystal jutted from his body in sharp, jagged edges. His head was covered in dark stone, with a single golden eye glowing from the center, and a horn-like crystal rising from the top like a unicorn's.
The golden Omnitrix symbol sat in the center of his chest.
The beam slammed into his back.
Instead of being destroyed, the alien calmly absorbed the energy while staring down at the werewolf below him.
"Yo, fido," Chromastone said with a smirk, raising both hands.
The next second, glowing rainbow-colored energy poured down from above. The werewolf reacted immediately, ducking and moving on all fours to dodge the attack. The blasts crashed into the transceiver instead, blowing it apart in a massive explosion.
Sometime ago, Big Chill was thrown backward by the blast and temporarily knocked unconscious as he hurtled toward Earth. As he fell through the atmosphere, the heat of reentry woke him up.
His hand moved on instinct, touching the Omnitrix dial.
Golden light burst outward.
"Chromastone!"
Using the Crystalsapien's ability to fly, he stopped himself before he could crash into the ground. Then he turned back upward and flew into the sky again, intending to return to his family. He knew they were still fighting, and he could not afford to waste time.
But just as he broke back into Earth's atmosphere, a purple energy beam shot past him.
For a brief moment, the image of the Death Star firing its superlaser flashed through his mind. Without thinking, he immediately turned back and flew down to intercept it.
He threw his body in the beam's path and relied on Chromastone's ability to absorb energy to drain the attack before it could reach its target.
Only then did his single eye shift toward the alien werewolf, who was standing beside a machine and looking up at him.
Evan still did not know what the other side was planning. But even if he did not understand their goal yet, he still knew to destroy it before they could use it.
"What!? Why isn't it working!?" Zs'Skayr hissed, his voice filled with confusion and frustration.
Max immediately moved toward the controls, hoping he could figure out what was wrong and shut the machine down.
But before he could reach them, Zs'Skayr turned toward the airlock and opened it.
The door slid apart. The alien mummy immediately floated out, its bandages shooting forward and wrapping around the group.
Max, Gwen, Ben, Orfevre, and Gold Ship all grunted as the bandages tightened around them, pulling their arms against their bodies and leaving them struggling to break free.
"Now," Zs'Skayr said, turning toward them. "How shall I dispose of the five of you?"
"Oh, whatever you do, don't toss us out into space!" Gwen quickly pleaded.
Zs'Skayr smiled. "Excellent idea."
His single eye shifted toward the mummy.
"Remove their suits."
The mummy immediately obeyed.
Its bandages wrapped around Gwen's hazmat suit, then moved toward the badge on her chest, then did the same to Max, Ben, Orfevre, and Gold Ship, before pulling them away and taking off the hazmat suits.
"Wow," Gold Ship said sarcastically. "Such a big-brain move. Even Golshi couldn't have thought of that."
"You seriously have to say something like that right now?" Orfevre asked, clearly annoyed.
"Why don't you just hand him my watch while you're at it?!" Ben added.
Gwen ignored the three and focused on the mummy.
"I can handle this."
Her spellbook floated up in front of her, pages flipping rapidly as she pointed toward the mummy.
"Appendaga Regoria!"
A burst of magical energy struck the mummy. The alien was thrown backward as its bandages suddenly loosened and untangled themselves from around the group. The mummy steadied itself in midair and froze like a statue.
"You've learned some new tricks since we last met, child!" Zs'Skayr said, narrowing his single eye back on them.
"She isn't the only one!" Ben replied.
He looked down at his Omnitrix.
Dr. Viktor had crashed into him earlier, causing the Omnitrix to register the new alien DNA. Now that the transformation was available, Ben quickly dialed through the options before stopping on the newest addition.
A grin spread across his face.
"Let's see what this guy can do."
He slammed the Omnitrix down.
Green light erupted around him.
When it faded, Ben had transformed into a muscular humanoid alien with dark greyish-yellow skin and a human-like nose. His black mullet had brown coloring toward the ends, with matching sideburns framing his face.
Two large, tower-like conductor coils extended from his back.
He wore black pants with several lines running across them and a glowing green triangular symbol in the center. Brown gloves covered his hands, leaving his fingers exposed.
Stitch-like markings ran along his arms, while three black-and-green bolts were embedded across his chest and another bolt sat on each side of his neck. Thin green lines ran through all of them.
White lines stretched around his waist and connected to the Omnitrix dial, making it resemble a belt clasp.
The alien, later named Frankenstrike, looked down at his new body and flexed his fingers.
"Electromagnetic body?" Frankenstrike said, looking over himself.
He grinned.
"Sweet."