A few days later, a green sports car roared through the vast, uninhabited area outside Bell City. Behind the wheel sat the black-haired young man, Kevin, focused on navigating the rough terrain.
In the passenger seat, the orange-haired girl, Gwen, had a laptop open, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
"Gwen, have you found out where this place is?" Kevin asked.
"Almost… got it!" Gwen replied, her eyes scanning the screen. "I found the information on the location where Ben's distress signal originated."
Over an hour earlier, they had received a sudden distress signal from Ben Tennyson—a shaky video showing him hiding in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Dust coated his face, and dim light made him look disheveled.
"Hi—Gwen, Kevin, can you hear me?" Ben's voice crackled through the video. "I seem to have a small problem. The Omnitrix is down again… I can't transform!"
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed in the video, kicking up smoke and debris around Ben. "Uh-oh… he's here again. Gwen, Kevin, I need help!" The video ended abruptly, replaced by a set of coordinates on Gwen's laptop.
Without hesitation, they sped toward the indicated location. Gwen scanned the coordinates and cross-referenced them with maps and satellite images. Her brows furrowed in concern.
"This is… strange. The location is an old, abandoned factory complex. Why would Ben appear here? And he didn't say a word before going in," she said, suspicion lacing her voice.
Kevin, sitting calmly, shrugged. "Why overthink it? Ben's got his own reasons. He always turns danger into opportunity and gets through anything."
Not long after, they reached the perimeter of the abandoned factory. The car stopped, and they stepped out, taking in the scene. Collapsed buildings and broken machinery hinted at a violent encounter, likely with some enormous creature.
As they approached the factory, Kevin paused and touched his face. With a smooth motion, he removed a metallic mask, revealing that his body had transformed. Pieces of metal shifted and merged into new forms, giving him a bizarre, alien-like appearance.
This was the result of his and Ben's earlier attempt to unlock the Omnitrix's master control mode. The Omnitrix had exploded, reshaping Kevin's body into its current hybrid form.
Kevin extended one of his metallic arms, transforming it into a sharp blade. With it, he cut through the metal fencing and entered the factory.
"Kevin, let's split up. We need to find Ben fast," Gwen instructed.
Kevin gave a curt nod, heading in one direction while Gwen went another.
Inside the factory, Gwen's footsteps echoed through the empty halls. Using her Celestial Energy, she illuminated the dark space with a soft pink glow. "Ben! Ben, are you here?" she called. Silence answered her.
Suddenly, the sound of something falling echoed ahead. Gwen moved cautiously toward it. The debris revealed no Ben—only a scattered piece of machinery radiating faint Celestial Energy. It matched Ben's energy signature, confirming he was nearby.
What Gwen didn't notice was a small, soccer-sized figure silently approaching from behind. The creature had delicate, butterfly-like wings.
In the dim light, it could have seemed cute—but here, it felt eerie.
Gwen stepped back, preparing to defend herself—but the creature acted first. Its tiny hands released a shimmering cloud of powder. The spores enveloped Gwen, and as she inhaled them, drowsiness overcame her. Her limbs weakened, and her consciousness slipped.
Just before losing consciousness, Gwen glimpsed the symbol on the creature's chest—an unmistakable Ultimatrix symbol. She tried to call out, "Ben!?" before darkness claimed her.
The creature hovered in a circle, then landed, speaking softly to itself in a girlish tone:
"One down. To capture both without harm, only Dust Fairy will do."
Indeed, this was Albedo in his Nemuina form, a fairy-like disguise. The energy Gwen had sensed was deceiving—thanks to Albedo's identical DNA to Ben Tennyson, even Celestial Energy detection had been tricked.
(Nemuina is a DNA sample transformation form of Albedo. She appears as a small fairy with blue skin, purple hair, and butterfly-like wings, wearing a leaf-like dress with white gloves and blush-like spots. In Albedo's version, she has black hair, a red dress, black gloves, and the Ultimatrix symbol on her chest. Nemuina can release Sleep Dust that quickly induces unconsciousness and allows control and observation of dreams. The dust works on nearly all living creatures, except some mechanical life forms and extremely powerful entities.)