RECAP: Last time on Ben 10: Generations, Ken Tennyson celebrated his 18th birthday, and with it, received his father's old Omnitrix. Throughout the party, we were introduced to our two central characters: Ben and Kenny. In addition, we were introduced to a couple other main characters, and some individuals that will play an integral part in the plot moving forward. After the celebration, Kenny made his way to the spaceship so that he could depart for the Plumbers Academy and begin his training.

Back in Plumber Headquarters, Ben, Kai, and Max were still gathered. The three were still talking about Kenny when an alarm interrupted them, roaring throughout the headquarters.

"What's happening?" Ben shouted to his Grandpa, who was already at the security monitor.

"Reports of an explosion at Billions tower. Witnesses saw two masked men enter about a half an hour ago. Expect them to be armed and dangerous," Max responded urgently.

Kai gave Ben a quick kiss on the lips, "Please be careful. I'll be here when you get back."

Ben returned the kiss, and followed it with a firm nod. "I'll be careful," he promised. Ben then crossed his arms in front of him, shouting the name "Jetray" before undergoing a transformation of his own. Like his son, he was swallowed by a flash of light, before being replaced by a completely new creature. Standing in front of Kai and Max was a walking manta ray. Red in coloration, the creature had three digits on each hand and each foot. Attached to his arms were sleek, orange wings that looked able to withstand extreme forces. He also had a skinny, red tail, and sharp, golden horns.

Jetray took off, soaring upwards toward an airlock made specifically for Ben's flying transformations. Years ago, he had realized that making a path out specifically for these transformations would be the most efficient, and so he had this airlock installed. With Jetray being able to breathe in the vacuum of space, flying out this way presented zero issues.

In a matter of seconds, Jetray had already pierced through the Earth's atmosphere, and was headed straight for Billions tower. Ben resented having to save Billy Billions (he always felt like the biggest 'jerks' required the most saving, unfortunately). But as a hero, it was his job nonetheless.

Flying over Bellwood, Jetray's eyes immediately locked onto Billions Tower. Billions Tower – the tallest building in Bellwood – was intentionally built next to what was formerly the largest building in Bellwood (that being Captain Nemesis' Tower). The massive golden building easily dwarfed the surrounding area, appearing not unlike a To'kustar next to a Galvan. At the top of the tower were four large, golden circles with a "B" (presumably for "Billions") in the center. And while the tower only looked like gold, these statues were actually constructed from pure gold.

Circling the building, Jetray failed to notice any outward structural damage from the reported explosion, inferring that the explosion must have either been weak enough to not cause significant damage, or high-tech enough to be contained. Without warning, Jetray was surrounded by light as Ben sought the help of a new alien species. Replacing Jetray was a black and white ghost with a long, slender tail. It's hands each featured five dagger-like claws that, when examined more closely, seemed to radiate with heat. Fire erupted from the ghostly alien's back. It's head looked like an upside down skull with a single eye, and was encircled by blue flames. This alien appeared to be the Biomnitrix's fusion of a Heatblast and Ghostfreak – a Pyronite and Ectonurite respectively. "Ghostfire!" Ben called out, despite no one being around to hear him.

Like all of Ben's fusions, Ghostfire excelled because it combined the strengths of two transformations while mitigating the glaring weaknesses. While Pyronites would naturally be extremely weak to water, the protective skin that Ectonurites possess allows Ghostfire to withstand some amounts of water. Meanwhile, Ectonurites' primary method of attack is to possess their target, which can be severely limiting in combat. This is remedied by Pyronite flames. All of Ben's fusion aliens function similarly – by filling a niche that neither of the individual aliens can perfectly accomplish.

Back to the action, Ghostfire was launching flamethrowers from his palms to propel himself through the air. Headfirst, he flew through the sky toward the roof of Billions Tower, showing no signs of slowing down as he grew closer and closer. As if he had done it a million times, Ghostfire turned intangible a split second before he would have rammed face first into Billions Tower, reappearing inside the tower. "I… wonder…" he hissed, as Ghostfire adapted Ghostfreak's hushed vocals, "where is everybody?"

Figuring that Billy's ego would warrant him existing almost entirely on the top floor, Ben began a sweep of the entire floor. Ghostfire quickly passed through room after room, and hallway after hallway. Billions Tower was like a maze. When Ben thought he was headed somewhere new, he ended up back where he started. When Ben thought he was headed in circles, he ended up at a dead end. It didn't help that every room looked the same; stocked to the brim with valuable alien technology. The hallways were no different – filled with portraits of Billy Billions himself, along with many other expensive pieces (unlike the portraits, however, these were museum-worthy).

"Where is Billy? And where are these thieves?" Ghostfire queried. "I've looked this place over who knows how many times," he continued, wondering how much time had actually passed, and how many times he had actually searched the top floor. Gaining an idea, he continued thinking aloud, "Maybe that's the problem… I'm looking, when I should really be tracking," he finished, before flashing green and transforming once more.

Ben's next alien form was an enormous orange canine. Each appendage bulged with powerful muscles, and each paw had dangerously sharp claws. The creatures teeth were equally as sharp, as it looked ready to devour whatever stood in it's way. Incredibly enough, however, the alien canine had no visible eyes. Instead, it relied on it's sense of smell and sense of hearing to track prey, rather than visually following. The species, formally called a Vulpimancer, is referred to by Ben as "Wildmutt." The beast directed its head upwards, searching for a scent to track. Picking something up quickly, Wildmutt tore off down the hall.

Wildmutt came to a halt at the end of a long hallway. The walls on either side were, like the previous halls, decorated with expensive paintings and artifacts. Directly in front of Wildmutt was a door. With a deep growl, Widmutt turned around so that he was facing away from the door. Using his hind legs, he kicked the door straight off the hinges, sending it flying into the back wall of the now-opened room.

Wildmutt was swallowed by a glowing green light, as Ben chose to revert back to his normal state. Now that he was able to see again, Ben took in the room around him. He was standing outside a small supply closet. On the left wall was a rack filled with empty boxes, rolls of packing tape, and other such packaging supplies. On the right wall was cleaning supplies: sprays, rags, soaps, buckets, etc.. The rack on the farthest wall had partially collapsed, thanks to Wildmutt's door kicking. Half covered by the detached door appeared to be an assorted collection of tools. Hammers, screwdrivers, drills, and more. Against normal crooks, something in the closet could probably be used as a weapon. However, it was likely that these were not "normal crooks," and instead possessed some form of alien technology – or perhaps they themselves were aliens. Either possibility would limit the effectivity of using a hammer as a self defense mechanism.

"Wildmutt's nose is never wrong… what am I missing?" Ben wondered, second guessing his alien's tracking, and stepping forward into the room. Now in the center of the closet, Ben took another look around. Spinning on his spot, he scanned the closet once more. "Packaging equipment? No. Tools? That's not it either. Trapdoor in the corner? Nah. Cleaning su– wait! Why's there a trapdoor in the corner of the closet?"

Ben took a couple steps toward the trapdoor. "Whoever's in there, walk out slowly, with your hands above your head. I'm warning you," he threatened.

"I'm coming out, just please don't hurt me. I'm too smart to die," an unknown voice called from beneath the trapdoor.

Unsure of who – or what – could be below the trapdoor, Ben readied his Biomnitrix and prepared for the worst.

*Somewhere in outer space*

Kenny and Pulu had been in transit for a few hours, and had spent the time conversing nonstop. The boys shared more personal information – their families, friends, embarrassing stories – as well as more practical information, such as Kenny's very recent receival of the Omnitrix.

Kenny thought for a moment, before looking at Pulu and asking: "What made you want to become a Plumber?"

"To be honest, lots of reasons," the Methanosian replied. "I think the biggest reason is that I want to go out and explore. Meet lots of new people… especially the ladies," he finished with a sly grin, to which Kenny rolled his eyes. "In all seriousness though, I love learning about the culture of other species. I've visited a few other planets across a couple different systems in the past few years, and I've enjoyed learning about their traditions and learning their customs."

"So you're like a translator? An encyclopedia for alien traditions?" Kenny laughed.

"You could say that," Pulu said, oblivious to Kenny's laughter. "Say… what kinds of people do you think we'll meet at the academy?"

"Whoever they are, I hope that they're cool. I hope they know how to have a good time. Some of the people on this ship are probably headed to the Academy as well."

"Do you think there's any hotties on the ship?" Pulu asked. Before Kenny could respond, the living plant had unbuckled his seatbelt, and taken off.

Kenny shook his head, chuckling inwardly at his companion's single-tracked mind. With Pulu occupied, Kenny's mind began to wander. Staring out the window as they zipped through the stars, Kenny wondered what his father was up to in his absence.

Back in Billions Tower, Ben eyed the corner of the supply closet carefully as the trapdoor slowly creaked open. Prepared for the worst, Ben was rather surprised to see what appeared to be an 11 year old boy climb out of the trapdoor. The boy was short, with darker colored skin. He had a very large forehead, and dark black hair that was gelled up to form a devil horn on either side. He wore an expensive looking maroon suit with black shorts and matching shoes. Despite his appearance, the "boy" was actually a man the same age as Ben.

"Billy Billions? You own a tower filled with alien tech, and yet you're hiding in a closet?" Ben laughed.

"Shut up, Tennyson," Billy retorted angrily. "These guys mean business. I had to protect my valuable self. All my money can replace the tech here… it can't replace this incredible brainpower."

"Keep telling yourself that," Ben said, rolling his eyes. "What are they after?"

"I'm not entirely sure. They came in and start blowing the place up and I came here."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Follow me," Billy ordered, confidently taking off down the hall.

"He really is like a little kid," Ben chuckled, out of Billy's earshot.

After trailing Billy for about a minute, the two had arrived at a vault with a large hole blown into the side wall. The walls – those left standing, anyway – were massive, their metallic coloring glimmering from the expensive lighting. Inside the vault were piles of golden bars, coins, jewelry, and trophies. Mixed in with the golden riches were various pieces of alien tech. These ranged from blasters, to relics, to foreign currencies, to sophisticated devices that Ben had never seen before. The treasures piled so high that the floor was impossible to see. Gold had spilled out of the hole blown by the intruders. On the far side of the vault, two masked men were using a small, pen-like device to hack a coded lock. Having failed to notice Ben and Billy, they continued working to break the lock.

"The darn lock won't open," the first of the masked men grunted.

"Don't worry. The little runt who owns this place ran and hid. Nobody will be coming for us anytime soon," the second man said, silencing the first.

"Hey!" Billy Billions shouted angrily, alerting the masked men of his and Ben's presence, "who are you calling little?!"

"Who's there?!" masked man number two shouted, turning around quickly and pointing his blaster at Billy. Able to spare a more thorough look at the man, Ben observed that this man (and presumably his comrade as well) was wearing worn-out combat armor. On the chestplate was a smudged word that was hardly distinguishable. Beneath his armor, the man bulged with muscles. Whoever this criminal was, Ben decided he wouldn't want to risk hand-to-hand combat without transforming first. In his hands appeared to be a heavily modified plasma rifle. Technology too advanced for Earth, Ben noted.

After looking over the man that had threatened Billy, Ben stepped out of the shadows. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he suggested with a gesture toward the man's blaster. "Now, we can do this the easy way… or the hard way. Your choice," he finished, cracking his knuckles.

Without a response, the man began firing wildly at Ben (Billy had once again retreated behind cover), not bothering to aim. Without skipping a beat, Ben crossed his arms, disappearing into a flash of green light. Where Ben once stood was now a small, blue monkey. Unlike a normal monkey, however, this one possessed six eyes, as well as an extra pair of arms, almost like a spider. Instead of fur, the monkey seemed to be armored in a natural layer of stone. Four large crystals jutted out of the monkey's back (two on each side), with one larger crystal emerging from it's forehead, almost like a horn. "Chromomonkey!" it squealed. This alien was a fusion of Ben's Arachnichimp and Crystalsapien forms.

The man continued firing – although now he was attempting to aim more toward Chromomonkey – while his partner continued working the lock. Chromomonkey sprang forward, knocking the man's blaster out of his hands. Then, using his tail, he shot webbing at the blaster, sending it flying into the wall on the opposite side of the room, and causing it to crack on impact.

"Gah! My blaster! Nevermind… I don't need that to take on an overgrown spider," the man growled, frustration evident in his voice.

"I'm not a spider! I'm a monkey! It's in the na – ah!" Chromomonkey's quip was interrupted when the second man (one of an equally muscular build) turned around and shot Chromomonkey with his blaster. Catching Chromomonkey off guard, the alien failed to absorb any of the energy fired by the plasma rifle. Instead, Chromomonkey felt a wave of energy pass through his body, before doubling over in pain.

"Forget about him," the second of the two men commanded. "We've got what we came for," he added, showing his comrade a sealed metallic briefcase, the contents unknown. The man then reached into his pocket, pulling out a handheld communicator. "We've got it. This should be enough to power Prime. Ad victoriam." When the man finished, he powered off the communicator and replaced it in his pocket. Without warning, the two men suddenly vanished, having teleported out of Billions Tower.

With the intruders having left, Ben reverted back to his normal form, and began speaking with Billy. "What was in there?" Ben demanded.

"I swear! I don't know!" Billy answered fearfully.

"For your sake, I hope you figure that out."

Without another word, Ben turned away from Billy, transforming back into Ghostfire as he did so and began floating out of Billions Tower, and back to Plumber Headquarters.

"What do you mean he doesn't know what they took?!" Kai shouted in frustration. "How could he not know what he locked in a safe inside a vault?!"

Ben and Kai were stood in front of the security monitors on the main floor of the Plumber Headquarters. The couple was anxiously trying to infer what the assailants could have stolen, but to no avail. It was hard to imagine that a party had been thrown in this same room a mere hours earlier, as all of the life had been sucked out of it.

"You said that they were both masked and armored too, didn't you? Kai asked, seeking confirmation.

"Correct. Nothing distinguishable about them," Ben concluded with a sigh, before slamming his fist on the desk in front of him in frustration.

"Relax, Ben. We'll figure out what they're doing. We'll stop them," Kai said reassuringly, flashing her husband a confident smile.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter two is in the books! We've seen some action from Ben 10K, with some old aliens, as well as some new fusions. We also saw a little bit more conversation from Kenny and Pulu, as we learned that Pulu is a man of culture, yet also easily infatuated by the ladies. In addition, we were introduced to some new enemies… Could these guys play a major role in the future? Or did they just get lucky? These guys were inspired by one of my favorite video games… let me know if any of you are able to recognize it (I didn't do a great job of hiding it) by leaving it in your reviews.

Next time, we're going to be shifting our focus back onto Kenny and Pulu as they arrive at the Plumber Academy… I wonder what could be in store for them there?