[Philiadelphia, Pennsylvania] The Night Shift (Invite Only)

Leslie looked a bit surprised that she was being partnered up with Robot. Oh right... the interference or whatever? She really hoped that she wouldn't get sapped of her juice, it wasn't a pleasant feeling. "Sure thing boss, just let me know if you need me to charge your batteries or something." Leslie jested. She then saw Ben turn into the red four armed dude. "Heh... why would you pick that guy? And not uh..." She scraped her brain, not remembering all of the details from the conspiracy forum thread. "The blue speedy lizard man?" She said, unsure if she was talking out of her butt.

Robot said nothing as Ben, Ghost-Spider and Volcana took off for the museum rooftop. He waited a few seconds, then started to make his own approach. He crouched low, moving... actually extremely quietly for someone who was made entirely of metal. Even his bright green eyes dimmed, dampening his presence on the environment. You wouldn't even know that Robot's chassis was a rusty orange-brown.

"The Omnitrix is unstable. Ben cannot choose which alien he takes the form of." Robot's voice buzzed from Livewire's communicator. Robot moved slowly, and true to his word, otherwise kept silent. The museum building ahead loomed large. It was not necessarily menacing, but it was one of the larger facilities that could have been targeted in the city. There was a lot of room inside for the culprit to use to their advantage. Robot paid no mind to Livewire as to whether she was still following him, but he was making his way towards the front entrance. It did not appear to be barred or destroyed.

The museum was a broad, square-like building, with scores of windows and roof awnings that could serve as a way inside. It would be up to the infiltration team to decide how loud they wanted to be with their entrance, and where. They hadn’t had time to procure the building’s floor plan to give them an idea of what was where… for Ben and Gwen, at least. Volcana’s entrance was precise and quiet, the din of her flames no louder than a deep breath as she burned through an external ventilation shaft. It was large enough for her figure to squeeze through - but only just. Inside, Volcana would not see anything out of the ordinary... yet.

Gwen gave Ben a thumbs up as he suggested the idea.

"Absolutely! Good plan, I can hold onto you from up here and drag you back if things go south!"

It seemed ridiculous to insinuate a sleight thing like Ghost-Spider could hold the weight of the large, muscular red alien, but to Gwen it was a normal statement to make. She knew her own abilities, and she had a strong certainty that she could pull this plan off without a hitch.

Without a word, she shot out two webs from her wrist-slingers, one on each of Ben's shoulder blade. Gwen found a suitable spot to brace herself, feet against a ridge in the roof, and gave him a firm nod. Why wait around? Whoever or whatever waited them inside sure wouldn't.

"Go get 'em, Big Red!"

The museum exterior offered no obstacles to Ghost Spider's webs nor to Four-Arms' physique. If there were locks, Ben didn't find any. It was rather easy for someone of his strength to push the window open. It hardly made a noise, opening a way for the two of them to get inside. The issue was that this was a standard-sized window. It would take some finesse for Four-Arms' massive frame to get through, but it was possible, if time-consuming. There was little visibility inside. It appeared to be a nondescript corridor, with inactive light fixtures and other furnishings along the walls.

---

"Ben 10 is very resourceful with his 'inconvenience'. I would not underestimate him." Robot's response over the line was a little terse. His attention was on the front door. Nothing appeared to be off about it. He raised a hand to Livewire, prompting her to hold. Robot gingerly approached the door, looking for any traps or hidden surprises. He didn't find any. With that, he slowly reached for the door handle, turned... and opened the door. It wasn't locked?

Well now... he had not accounted to the size of the window. And he was currently Four-Arms. This was a bit of a predicament, now wasn't it? But, he would not give up! Giving a double thumbs-up at Ghost-Spider as he felt the web tie around him, he'd proceed to slowly push and squeeze his way through the window-frame, grunting a bit as the frame slightly buckled from his immense size and density, but finally he'd push through with a huff. Being rappelled down by Gwen, it was hard to see at first, but then Volcana's fire orb would illuminate his surroundings, and he'd give a quick thumbs up to her, before he decided to look around.

Nothing around him so far. Seems like the coast was clear. He'd allow himself to be lowered down to the floor where he'd tilt himself to land feet-first, before giving a few firm, but gentle tugs on the web, to tell Gwen that the coast seemed clear.

(Suppose its time for some action.)

Nothing met Robot and Livewire as they came inside from the unlocked main entrance, but they did notice a lack of alarms or nightlights. If anything, the air itself seemed oppressively dark.



As Ben was lowered into the museum, the hall below was shrouded in darkness, the light from Volcana creating long, distorted shadows. One particularly enormous shadow was the museum's pride and joy, a tyrannosaurus skeleton positioned in the middle of the hall. Several other dinosaurs, replicas and skeletons were spread around the Dinosaur Hall.

It was quiet...

Then came the hands...

Massive shadow hands appeared from the darkness, attacking the young heroes inside the library. They aimed to capture them, not harm them. There were many, and they were fast and seemed to mean business. Whatever might be the case, captured or not, a figure would detach itself from the shadows beneath the T-rex, a dapper gentleman in an old-fashioned suit with a tophat, cane and black sunglasses. He looked like he might have stepped out of a Charles Dickens story or one of those old-time photographs.

Some might recognize him; others might not...

It was Richard Swift, more commonly known as The Shade...



"Isn't it a little late for a field trip to the museum?" The Shade asked, with a tone one might use in more of a casual setting, raising his cane to nudge the tophat. "I was wondering what the noise was, but I have to say, for such a large frame, you sure can squeeze into places, my big alien friend." There were the slightest smiles as the man twirled his cane, the question naturally aimed at the many-armed Ben.

If Robot could frown, he would have. In the moment, he froze. It took him approximately 0.78 seconds to calculate a response. He continued opening the door, allowing the two of them to enter the darkness. It was indeed oppressive... more than natural darkness. Robot raised a hand, presumably to prompt Livewire's silence while he scanned the foyer to the museum. Negative.

Robot pivoted his head in Livewire's direction. There were two green pinpricks of light poking out. He turned those lights ahead, moving carefully across the dimly illuminated space that Livewire had shown. Whatever was generating this unseemly void had to be further inside.