The Omnitrix beeped before there was a flash of red, and Ben was back to himself. Another night, another victory.

He just stopped a pair of robbers, as Stinkfly, from getting away with a big amount of jewels. Some part of him wanted to test out his other aliens, the ones he unlocked without Max and Gwen knowing, but he felt like going with the classics worked while he was still with them.

Beside him stood his guards, who had sabotaged the helicopters from afar, avoiding detection. Ben was tempted to ask them to join their team at that rate, they've helped him with the hero stuff a lot.

More than Max did at least.

"This is almost getting too easy." he cockily declared while watching the thugs get caught like rats. "Is there a villain out there that can give me a challenge?"

His pride and arrogance as he stood on the building, towering over the rest of the town, could remind some of the legendary warlord from outer space who was meant to raise him. Ben was getting used to this kind of power and attitude, he loved the feeling this boundless confidence gave him.

He knew the end of summer was getting near, he would have to make a choice soon.

Ben felt Max already used up all of his chances, he gave him the rest of the summer weeks they'll have together to fess up. And Ben was also expecting an answer from Carl and Sandra.

These guys pretended to be his parents. And while they did act like it... why didn't they tell him sooner he was adopted? This wasn't a matter of being related to them or not, but what bothered Ben is that if they cared, they should've spoken up.

He spent his entire childhood following their rules, trying to understand their morals without becoming like Gwen and acting like a people pleaser. He could not stand the fact they lied for so long after the way they raised him, this was going against their own word.

Would they like it if Ben hid the Omnitrix from them? If Ben suddenly gave away all of the Plumbers' secrets to the rest of the Tennyson family who wasn't in the know? It'd be worth a try, too bad it didn't look like they were going near any Plumber base sooner.

And it didn't look like he, Sixsix or Kraab noticed the robotic figure looking at them from above.

On a nearby rooftop, an armored red robot, with the Forever Knight logo on its right shoulder pad, was spying on them, its singular eye focusing on Ben. It had to annihilate the child soon, for its purpose was to protect its liege and get rid of any annoyance.

And with the plans Driscoll had in mind for the impostor human, it would soon be allowed to kill the child.

..............................................................................................................................

"Hi, guys." said Max, opening the RV's door to let the young boy in. "This is Cooper, the grandson of an old Plumber buddy of mine. And a-"

"Doofus! Give me it! You're wasting time!"

Max and Cooper turned to see Gwen, trying to take the phone from Ben's hand, who was already putting his ear close to it.

"You snooze, you lose." said Ben, smirking as the radio spoke up.

"Okay, it's time to pick the winning caller! To the premiere of Space Pirates 4: The Revenge of Lor, and, meet the cast at a special VIP party, after the movie."

Ben immediately dialed the number, with Gwen looking intently. Cooper sent Max a confused look, to which Max rolled his eyes. Nothing had changed while he went to grab Cooper from summer camp.

"Hello, you're the lucky caller number 10!" said the announcer from the radio, his voice also coming out of the phone.

Gwen tried to grab the device but Ben simply put his hand on her face, preventing her from getting near. Three months ago, it would've been the other way around, or maybe it'd be a tie between the two of them. Ben grew stronger, more aware of what she could do, he wasn't gonna let her have the upper hand this time either.

"Hello yes? I'm Ben." he said.

"Well, Ben, I'm glad to tell you you've been chosen as our lucky winner! You will be receiving a ticket to the premiere of Space Pirates 4 very soon! Just give us your location and be ready to meet your idols!"

Gwen groaned in defeat as she sat back on the table while Ben was giving some info to the radio announcer. Ben beat her to it this time, it wasn't fair! He always called the shots recently, and it felt really annoying.

Ben was being really bossy lately, even if he hadn't done anything against her openly. He was acting pretty entitled whenever they went anywhere. When they went at the beach and he unlocked Ditto, before going to the wedding, all of his clones started going after her and Max when they got tired of playing on their own... together (clone stuff was hard).

They refused to give her and Max a break and predictably, when the Dittos were forced to work together, they didn't bother listening to Gwen and Max's input. In fact, when they acted out, the Dittos had the situation pretty much under control.

Each clone knew what to do to retrieve the lost clone back, and while they operated, they acted as if they didn't need help. And while she and Max went to aid him anyway, he seemed to have the situation under control before timing out.

The Dittos also built a sandcastle together, though if someone asked her, she'd say it looked more like a mixture of a ship and a giant tuning fork instead. She didn't know why, but the shape of it seemed familiar. Had she seen it somewhere before?

She also wondered what they were up to when she came near and they suddenly started digging a lot of sand to make a small dune on the beach. The way they hurriedly did it when they saw her, it almost felt as if Ben was hiding something or burying someone under the sand. They didn't have anything coming back at them, so she guessed it was probably nothing.

Then when the Rustbucket broke down, Ben turned into a red, devilish alien he said he used when Xylene came, to fix the Rustbucket before, a few minutes later, going Wildmutt on a group of bandits on the road and savagely bit down on all of their gear on his own, like a beast out of control.

He even recently dealt with a pair of thugs using a new alien he called Eye Guy, a freaky one with many, many eyes and eye beams.

He seriously needed to tone down the 'I'm the best, I rule, I'm the hero in charge' act, otherwise it'd bite him back sooner or later.

"Ahem." said Max.

Both kids turned to him as Ben hung up. "Sorry, grandpa."

"As I was saying," he waved to Cooper, "Cooper's grandfather used to work with me and we'll be driving him back home."

"Your grandpa's a Plumber too?" asked Gwen.

"Uh, yeah. My parents couldn't drive me back from summer camp, so they asked my grandpa for help, and since he knows your grandpa..."

Ben looked at Cooper intently. This was another Plumber's grandchild. Could Cooper have something done to him as well?

He wouldn't put it past them to do something to a child, they kidnapped him themselves after all, hence why Vilgax was still after them. If they were ready to get themselves a galactic overlord after them, he didn't see why they couldn't do anything to a kid like Cooper.

"So, Cooper. You've been in the Plumber business too?" asked Ben.

"Uh, not really." said Cooper. "But I got something cool I can do with technology!"

Alarmed, Ben knew what he had to do. "Tell me about it! Um, ever heard of Space Pirates?"

As he walked over to the table to talk with Cooper, Gwen was curious about Ben's sudden change of mood.

Maybe he was trying to make friends with another person who has Plumbers in their family? Ben wasn't really that good at making friends unless it meant beating up someone first. Though he seemed a bit touchy whenever they mentioned anything Plumber-related lately...

And why was he mentioning Space Pirates to Cooper?

..............................................................................................................................

"So you can control about anything with technology? Like a Galvanic Mechamorph?"

"Uh, the correct term would be 'technopath'." said Cooper.

Ben was interested in Cooper's strange powers. The young blonde had power over electronics and machinery, and could manipulate absolutely anything from it. It made Ben wonder if he could possibly enable Master Control by asking for his help.

"Did you ever work with alien tech before?"

"Sort of, but not much. I'm a bit of a tech genius, and thanks to my mutant powers, I've been able to work on a few stuff with a level above what you find on Earth."

The word 'mutant' brought Kevin to mind, though him and Cooper were worlds apart.

"You've always had your powers?"

"Ever since I was born. Unlike you guys, I didn't find a spellbook or a watch from outer space."

"Huh, so Grandpa Max told you?" asked Ben. "I guess it's not really that big of a deal, but if someone ever asks, you should never, ever talk about the Omnitrix."

"Got it." said Cooper. "You sound more responsible than your Grandpa told me, I heard you play around with that thing a lot."

"Ah, that..." Ben hated how Max got the occasion to gossip about the way he uses his aliens. At least he didn't know about the things he did with Juryrigg or Rath. Or even Ditto recently. He still apologized to Sixsix and Kraab after they had to get all that sand out of their armors and circuits, after he had to literally bury them in sand when Gwen almost saw them. "I do, but I also know how to be useful with it. Or how to avoid tricks from others."

"Like what, getting a cheap music player at a rigged game festival?"

'I'm never telling Grandpa or Gwen about anything I do from now on.'

"Haha, very funny. Gwen has one of those newfangled computers, an xt900 with satellite uplink." said Ben. "I almost thought I broke it the other day, so I used Grey Matter to figure it out. Turns out she used a fingerprint scanner so only she could use it."

"That's... kinda smart." said Cooper, impressed.

"Thanks! I learned there was a wrestling match nearby, and I went to watch it." he lied. "Did you know there's actually alien hybrids on our planet?"

"That's... interesting." said Cooper, not listening.

"I know, I can't believe it either. Some guys in there were actually brothers, a porcupine guy and an alligator man." said Ben. "I thought it was shady how some of the fighters had powers like me, so I went to investigate. They were blackmailed to by a gang to get money in these matches, otherwise their mom would suffer from it."

"Uhuh."

"I got rid of those goons with an alien called Ditto, who can replicate himself into many aliens. They didn't see it coming! Too bad you weren't there, you'd see some real hero action." bragged Ben.

"So cute."

Ben blinked, realizing Cooper wasn't listening at all. He snapped his finger a few times as he saw the blonde kid was ogling Gwen.

"Hey! You in there?"

"Ah!" said Cooper. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Ben smirked evilly. Oh, he knew it wasn't gonna get old soon.

"You like Gwen, don't you?"

Cooper blinked. "No, what makes you say that?"

"You looked like you were paying attention until you heard about Gwen. You're a nerd, I get it, she's your type."

"N-No! That's, that's not what's going on!" Cooper blushed.

"Suuuuuuure." said Ben, grinning.

Gwen wanted to know what their chat was all about, hearing them mentioning her name, but she figured she'd seem nosy about it. She wondered what made Ben want to talk to him so quick, even though they never met before.

"Kids, get up here!" called Max. Both cousins raised a brow as they came by Max's seat. He was pointing to a screen, showing a footage. "Take a look at this, I just picked this up from one of the security cameras at Fort Knox."

There was no doubt on it, the Circus Freaks were back in business, entering from what looked like a safe opening. The footage was abruptly shut as Acid Breath breathed a quite visible stench at the camera. Even with Zombozo and Zs'Skayr gone, they weren't done stealing.

"So what's up with those freaks on the video?" asked Cooper.

"They're pulling a robbery on one of the most secure banks on the planet." answered Ben.

"Ben!" scolded Gwen. "Don't take it seriously, Cooper. Ben's a doofus, this is just a... uh, trailer! For the new incoming movie! Uhhh, Psycho Circus Freaks!"

"Gwen, he knows." deadpanned Ben.

"You told him?!"

"No? Cooper's grandpa is an old friend of Grandpa Max, Grandpa's the one who told him."

She gave Max a look, both out of annoyance he still gave them no warning about this Plumber stuff, and because she really wasn't liking being made a fool of, to which Max shrugged.

"So, what's up with the freaks in the video?" asked Cooper.

..............................................................................................................................

"Maybe Cooper should stay in here." said Max as they arrived to Fort Knox.

"I'll keep an eye on him, Grandpa." said Ben. "He probably wants to see the Omnitrix in action anyway." 'And I wouldn't let him stay with your Plumber stuff, he doesn't need to be used like me.'

Gwen gave him a look, he was showing off again. Though it was still weird he wanted to befriend Cooper so fast.

"There's gonna be a lot of fighting and beating up, so be careful when it gets violent." advised Gwen.

"Um, okay." said Cooper, looking away embarrassed. "I don't really fight a lot, but I can be of help. By the way, did you guys hear about the weird tiger wrestler guy that was on the news the other day?"

Ben gulped when he felt he was busted.

"No...?"

"It's like those Circus Freaks, something straight out of an action movie, like that Space Pirates thing Ben told me about." Gwen glared at Ben again for winning this round. "Some guy looking like a walking tiger was part of the participants, and he acted like a real professional wrestler. Kept getting the crowd to make noise, wiped the floor with his opponents, and he was so boisterous."

Ben realized going there as Rath to relax might've been a bad idea, he simply hoped Gwen and Max wouldn't bother look it up.

"He won the big prize, but no one ever heard about him ever again. Kind of like a war hero. But his costume looked too real, think he might be one of the guys you're after? His name was Wrath or something."

"Doubt it." said Gwen. "This doesn't sound like Animo's doing and we haven't met any tiger alien before. Right, Ben?"

"Y-Yeah! If I kicked tiger butt, I'd remember so!" said Ben. He did remember kicking alligator and porcupine butt though. "Like I said, tons of other aliens on the planet, it's as if they're at home here."

"Don't think aliens could live here, that's not where most creatures from out of space belong. Sorry to burst that bubble, Ben. They always prefer living where they come from over the Earth, aliens are just like that. Most do like to come to cause trouble though." said Max, picking his stuff up.

Sixsix and Kraab felt a murderous aura emanating from the vehicle for some reason.

..............................................................................................................................

"I'm tellin' ya! This guy's brain pan is empty!" complained Acid Breath, holding the item they went through so much trouble to find. "Look at this stupid piece o' junk!"

A lasso seized the metallic object, bringing it to the Forever Ninja's hand. The robotic soldier then went down and, going on its knees to hand it over to its creator.

"Was there a problem?" asked Driscoll.

"Yeah! Bad enough you send us on our own to beat those guards, but then we pull off the heist of the century, and don't even have a gold tooth to show for it!" complained the circus freak.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing, Mr. Breath. As for the difficulty to complete that task, it was out of my control. That Tennyson fiend fried one of our potential recruits using an electric alien. It would've certainly been much easier if Mr. Sublimino wasn't currently hospitalized. From now on, may I call you Acid?"

"From now on, you can call me boss! Because I'm taking over this operation!"

"Since only one of us can have that honor, allow me to cast my vote."

The Forever Ninja jumped towards the Circus Freaks, dodging Frightwig's attempt at catching it. Instead, she ended up tangling Acid Breath in her bangs, knocking him with the ball tips of her hair. The robot then kicked her several meters away, sending her flying towards wooden boxes.

It took less than three seconds for Thumbskull, who stupidly thought he had a chance, to receive the same treatment after trying to lunge at the Forever Ninja. It was useless, he was more advanced than these pathetic circus freaks.

"Now that that's settled," said Driscoll, "let's get back to the business at hand, shall we?"

..............................................................................................................................

Ben crossed his hands, looking at the steering wheel functioning on its own.

"Grandpa, is Cooper the one driving?"

"Not exactly, it's autopilot." he answered while digging through his stuff. "Cooper rigged it up, real work saver."

"Grandpa says that my brain must look like the inside of a computer." said Cooper while working on something. "Still, it kinda felt scary that we had to run away before the cops arrived. I feel like we were the ones breaking in."

"Sorry about that, buddy. The hero job can be pretty scary sometimes." Ben pat his back.

It was sorta concerning that Gwen and Max saw Cooper use his powers at Fort Knox, he could be taken advantage of. Ben had to make sure this wouldn't happen, no matter the cost. Plumbers couldn't keep using kids with superpowers to do their dirty job.

A panel appeared, showing a map of the united states. "These dots represent all the closed Plumber facilities." explained Max.

"Hey, why is the one in Seattle, Washington flashing?" asked Gwen.

"It's an alarm, that can't be a coincidence."

"Let's go kick some Circus Freak butt! Cooper, you in?" asked Ben.

"Sure."

Gwen raised a brow. Was Cooper Ben's new best friend forever now?

"Unfortunately, even in turbo mode, it's doubt for we could get there in time to stop them."

"XLR8 can deal with it quick then." huffed Ben.

"Ben, this is serious. The Circus Freaks stole something important and are taking over a Plumber base, you can't go there on your own. This could be a trap."

"Like I haven't dealt with those idiots before."

"It's not as easy as you think, doofus!" scolded Gwen. "Just because you've been on a winning streak lately doesn't necessarily mean you're invincible."

"I'm still good enough at fighting to stop them. They're dumb without Zombozo or Zs'-erm, Ghostfreak to show them how to fight, I don't need your brains or experience to take care of them."

"Ben!" said Max. "You can't do everything on your own, this could be more dangerous than you know!"

"Oh come on, Grandpa. We don't need all that Plumber training stuff. We can take on 'em!"

"Oh come on, Maxwell. We don't need all that Plumber training stuff, we can take on them!"

Ben and Gwen looked weirdly at Max, who suddenly went mute.

This wasn't Ben's best comeback yet, how did that surprise him? He looked as if he saw a ghost.

"Uhh," said Cooper, interrupting the argument, "I did mess