[Galvantula]

It was days like this that made Tojiro wonder if doing this whole 'Horoscope' thing was worth it. He hadn't slept well in days, Virgo was hounding him about keeping a low profile, something the hard rocking youth wasn't used to doing and he'd do ANYTHING for some good Gyoza! Bellwood is not the place to go for good Japanese food. Sitting down on a old bench he ran his hands over his oddly shaped hair as Virgo walked over to where he was sitting. Between these 'Dark Horoscopes' and Vilgax himself he didn't really want to be Capricorn anymore."I'm out man. I wanted to share my love of rock and roll with the others, not fight to the death" he bemoaned to the angelic Zodiart. It seemed like nothing fazed the winged one as 'she' (he wasn't totally sure Virgo even HAD a gender) never got into raging fits of anger.

Deep within the Virgo Emoto was about worn out. If Gamou's latest plans didn't convince him that betraying his friend was a bad idea then this would be like a alarm, blaring loudly "EMOTO! You didn't focus hard enough and now innocent people are getting killed because you wanted power all those years ago!" Sighing sadly as he powered down to Tojiro's shock as he sat down his thoughts went to how the Core Child, Kengo and the young man he took under his wing, Ryusei are holding up in his absence. He wanted the later of the two boys to keep his identity as Meteor a secret but he tended to be far too hot headed for his good sometimes. While he knew Aries was to blame for his lapse in judgment he couldn't really blame the two of them for what they did. Ultimately both the injuries of Ryusei's friend and the corruption of the kind-hearted boy who would better be known as Aries was his fault and he knew it. But youth tends to want the fastest, most interesting way of getting things done, even if said faster ways are dangerous beyond belief. He was swayed by the promise of the power he craved and turned his back on Utahoshi and chosen the Zodiart Switches over the safer Fourze System on the grounds that none of them would be able to fully use it when it was done...seventeen years from when they found the Core Switch.

Tojiro was finally able to get over his shock and bluttered out "Holy crap! You're Professor Emoto! How did you become a commander? I thought you were one of the highest esteemed minds of Japan and would be the last person to use a Switch" Emoto silently nodded to answer the hotheaded boy and told him everything he needed to know, about how he foolish choose power over friendship, how he was responsible for the death of his closest friend and how that made him hate the Moon and how his short time here in quiet little Bellwood, in a universe that was never real to them until a short time ago, retaught him about how much friendship really mattered. When he was done Tojiro was speechless. To think that such a happy-go lucky, if somewhat clumsy guy was the executioner for these 'Horoscopes' and that he fell into Gamou's power trap as he did. But little he know that Ben was watching them both, transformed into Chamalien and invisible. Using a Plumber radio he relayed what the two of them had said and there was much shock to be had about this latest tidbit of news.

"Emoto-sensei is Virgo? I thought he was our friend but he really a apostle? Could that really be true?" Gentaro was very upset about finding out that Emoto, the man he thought he could trust the safety of his friends too was the dreaded Virgo Zodiarts and that he may have played a part in what had transpired to Yuki, Erin, Ran, Tojiro and the late Yuta, although they wouldn't find out about his passing until later. The young Rider was unhappy that he thought Emoto was helping our the monsters that threatened the student body and that he was now just sitting there, as if he had no care in the world.

JK however was both pleased and angry at Tojiro. Running up to where he was sitting he cried out" Yo Tojiro-kun! Is this how you wish to fulfill our dreams? By using dark powers to force people into liking you? I've learned from a good friend that people shouldn't hurt others to live their hopes and dreams." But Tojiro would not listen to reason as the negative Cosmic Energy had warped his mind. With a glare he mutated into his Capricorn form and cried out "Rock N Roll, Yeah!" as he attacked his former bandmate with his sound attacks. Ben was annoyed that JK ruined any element of surprise but he still had to save the poor boy. Fading back to being visible he tackled the vibrantly dressed student out of harm's way. "Thank you. I know you might not believe me but Tojiro was once a good friend of mine. All that energy he absorbed is driving him mad. Please, you gotta save him!" he pleaded to Chamalien.

Ben did believe him however. After dealing with Kevin's energy-based insanity twice he readily knew that he can save Tojiro from the Horoscopes and himself. But if sound was his forte then he'd have to use a form he really didn't like to use but given the circumstances he had no choice to bring out this form. With a twist and a click Ben was now Benwolf. With a howl he slashed at the Capricorn Zodiarts with his claws as Tojiro tried to regain his bearings. 'I don't think he really knows how to fight at all. He's just lashing out and using his powers to distance himself from anything that may harm him.' Ben thought to himself. But Ben was hard pressed to end this as soon as he could as Benwolf, while far more controllable than Rath tended to follow his basic instincts more than he should, like hunger. As Tojiro strummed his guitar Uruk to attack Benwolf with a sonic attack Ben counter-attacked with his supersonic howl, knocking the Capricorn Zodiarts down. As Benwolf walked to where he laid Emoto turned into Virgo and bashed him in the back of his head with his Rhodia's blunt side, getting him away from the cocky youth as he forcibly picked him up.

" Baka. It would help the both of us if you didn't run right into things you do not understand. Perhaps we should regroup at a more con-" But Virgo's scolding was cut short by Benwolf's angry snarls, the sudden attack rendering Ben unable to discern friend from foe. Now a animalistic berserker Benwolf rampaged towards the two Horoscopes, caring not for anyone who would be in his way. JK was never the bravest people around but even he knew that he couldn't even think to fight off Benwolf.

Luckily for JK Gentaro was on it. Trapping the crazed Benwolf with the Net Module he then proclaimed that once again he was coming to space with Yuki, Erin and Ran joining in on his cheer. As Benwolf calmed down he shook his head to clear his thoughts and went for Brainstorm. One of these days he's going to learn how to get Benwolf to do things without those freakouts of his. As Virgo turned to where Fourze was he slowly walked towards the Rider as Fourze got into a fighting pose. "You hurt my friends once, Emoto. I will not allow you to do that again. My friends are my universe and if you're thinking of forcing them back to being your slaves, then you're sadly mistaken!" Before Emoto could tell him the truth Fourze tried to kick him with the professor forced to defend himself from the annoyed Kamen Rider. Trying to fly away so he gain some distance between him and Gen his attempts were stopped by the Winch Module dragging him down to Earth. But Virgo was able to slash the Rider with his halberd, setting him free from Fourze as he then fired off energy balls at Fourze. Forced to block them with the Shield Module Gentaro knew that he needed a edge but with his friendship with Yuki a bit uneasy right now Cosmic was out of the question. Whipping out the MS Magphone he pulled it into the Fourze Driver as well was Launcher and Gattiling. Soon his suit was silver and bulkier with two railguns on his shoulders and he now wore a bigger helmet to help with balancing that extra weight. Activating all four Switches at once for a Limit Break he thought Virgo would go down, simple as that. But life is never that simple as he would find out soon enough. Virgo had opened a portal to redirect his attack at him and it hit him deadon, flipping him onto his back painfully to the worried cries of his friends.

"Do not interfere with me child. I have important matters to discuss with your friends regarding their unfortunate experiences. It is best you stay down for now for if you decide to interfere with me before I am done then I will show you no mercy" he declared to Gentaro as he then walked over to where Yuki and the others were at. Yuki was shaking in fear as she thought he was trying to take them back to Gamou as they tried to run away from the powerful Zodiarts. But Virgo teleported right in forth of them to their horror as Ran readied herself for combat against this old foe.

Tojiro meanwhile was having trouble breaking Brainstorm's forcefeild to no avail. "Perhaps you would find it more advantageous to reconsider a more meaningful attack plan, my good fellow" Brainstorm said in his British accent. But Tojiro was at wit's end with the crab alien as he tried to brainwash some bystanders to charge at Ben. Brainstorm knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat Capricorn soon enough if he managed to get innocent people caught up in this. Switching to XLR8 Ben tackled Tojiro to the ground and before Tojiro could get up Ben struck him hard with two tornados he formed by spinning his arms full speed, blasting the young rocker a good distance away from the others. As Capricorn got to one knee Ben changed to FourArms and punched him with all four of his namesake arms, knocking him both down and back to human form.

Ran didn't want to have to fight as her Aikido teachers told her that it's better to defend yourself than to just attack blindly but Virgo was leaving her no choice in the matter. "When will you learn that we don't want to be monsters like you?! We wish to live as humans and better both our lives and those of others around us as well" she proudly and truthfully told Virgo. To her shock he changed back to being Emoto, looking as calm as ever. "W-Wh-Why Emoto-sensei? Just what is it you really want from us?" Ran sanpped at the man as he placed his Switch in a coat pocket.

"To save you. It's that simple, Ran-chan" he calmly told them all. "Vilgax has proven to be unstable as he has slain the other members. I tried to save Yuta but he was regrettably beyond my help by the time I got to him. But there's more to what has happened to you and it is of dire importance that you know about-"Emoto was cut off by a strong gust of wind blowing him down and knocking away his Virgo Switch. When the dust cleared everyone was stunned to see Vilgax himself holding the Capricorn and Virgo Switches and placing them into a strange machine that placed dark energy into them, changing their color schemes to Emoto's horror. With a heavy sigh he said "I'm too late to stop your madness from coming to fruition. But I beg of you, please have mercy on these poor students!" he pleaded to the dark ruler but Vilgax laughed it off as if it was nothing. "Perhaps you didn't meet with Sugilite, a old friend of mine. He knows better than anyone that I don't know of mercy. But that is no concern for you now .Prepare to die, knowing that you lived a life of utter shame!" Raising his sword overhead he planned on ending his life there and now but Fourze recovered fast enough to hold his killing blow in place with Magnet States' powers, giving everyone the chance to flee. Howling in rage Vilgax tried to blast Fourze with his Ruby Ray but someone absorbed the blast: The Codon Stream's sample of Sugilite. Chromastone

"Here's a message to your from the people of Petopia! You stink at making friends!" as Chromastone retaliated with a laser blast, hitting Vilgax in his face. Fourze was quite pleased indeed as Ben is proving to be far more than he first thought. Perhaps he may be his friend afterall. Wrapping Vilgax up with a net from the Net Module Fourze then used the Wheel Module to speed away with the injured Emoto as Ben froze Vilgax with Big Chill's icy breath, giving everyone time to evaculate.

By the time everyone was gone Vilgax finally broke free from his bounds. He wasn't able to kill Ben but now he had all the pieces he needed for his final revenge. 'Soon, I shall be victorious once again and the name of Vilgax will cast dread over the universe once more!' he thought to himself.

A hour or so later

Julie and Manny were looking over at the old wallpaper than was over every wall of their temporality loggings. It was a faded grey and it was peeling BADLY plus it smelled to high Heaven. It needed to be replaced and soon. Luckily the owner of the building agreed with them and gave them the money to replace the old wallpaper with new paint. During breakfast everyone thought that a coral blue would work out the best. But they never expected the others to bring over both Tojiro and Emoto over. It took a good long while but everyone was caught up on the fact that Emoto was indeed their ally. He told them of how he tried to stop Gamou's plans from the inside by providing Ryusei with his Meteor arsenal as well as teleporting injured members of the Horoscopes to his satellite the to heal and hopfully detox them of the negative Cosmic Energy.

Yuki was quite thrilled to hear that Emoto was a secret ally of theirs, plus he had a space station he could call his own. Erin was pleased as well as she always wanted to go on a space station too. Needless to say both girls were on cloud nine with this news. As Tojiro and JK caught up on the latest goings on Ben wanted to ask him if he was doing any better. As Ben himself knew from bitter experience Vilgax never pulled his punches and right now he was in no shape to deal with the ruler of Vilgaxia right now. Yuki provided Ben with a soft chair to sit down on while Ran gave him a tissue so he can cough into it. To everyone's horror Ben was coughing up blood. Erin cleaned up Ben's face as Julie called the Plumbers to let them know Ben's condition has gotten much, much worse. Gentaro looked on wondering if the Medical Switch could help but Emoto shook his head sadly.

"I doubt that the Fourze System can help Ben now. His condition is beyond anything that Terran science knows about. We'll have to trust in Julie's decision and see if the Plumbers can help him out." he somberly told Gentaro. However Erin had a idea and it worried Emoto very much.

"If I remember correctly my Aquarius form has healing powers. If I can regain my Switch then I could help Ben" she happily said.

"Plus I think the Pisces form I had may be able to purify the toxins in his bloodstream. It's worth a shot at least right?" Ran innocently asked of Emoto, his face growing graver with he was hearing.

"Plus if I can use Gemini's duplicating powers then we can have a extra set of hands to help Ben!" Yuki cheerfully answered to the joy of everyone but Ben and Emoto.

"I was afraid of this happening. Going into the warp gate has saturated your bodies with negative Cosmic Energy. I fear you have a addiction to the dark powers plus if you try to use the Switches altered by Vilgax then you would not survive" he grimly told them. To drive his point home he picked up a mirror and showed Yuki, Erin, Ran and Tojiro to their utter terror something that was very wrong indeed.

Their eyes were glowing with red light. As Emoto's did the same he gave them the news of what needed to be done immediately.

"We have to detox all the negative energy from our bodies or they will break down from the strain of the mutation brought about by Switch usage." As Yuki and Ran broke down in tears Gen and JK looked at the dying form of Ben Tennyson and wondered if he even could be saved.