[Galvantula]

Venture Industries...

Alarms were blaring nonstop as the new foe dubbing himself "Super Vilgax" rampaged thoughtout the building that Rusty Venture called home. But apart from this new character in his life he wasn't totally worried. More like annoyed, as Dr. Orpheus was freaking out about this guy and he couldn't figure his ranting out. Some nonsense regarding the 'Black Zodiac' or some darn thing. Finally he reached his breaking point, but to be fair he has little patience for magical matters.

"Look, I know you're getting all upset over this weirdo in a bad Pirates of the Caribbean cosplay, but when does anything the Guild of Calamitous Intent make any sense? I mean, have you LOOKED at Phatom Limb lately? Just banish him to the Torrid Zone so I can get back to work." Rusty grumbled, as he really did not care for both Orpheus 'whining and Super Vilgax's howls of madness.

Dr. Orpheus was a master of the mystic arts and the leader of his team, The Order of the Triad, a trio of magic knowable heroes who deal with matters that neither OSI and S.P.H.I.N.X. were able to handle, which meant they were just fighting Torrid, a old foe of his.

That meant they were ill prepared for a being with such power and skill attacking their homebase. "Dr. Venture, I have the utmost respect for you and your skills, but your science alone cannot stop the wielder of the energies of Diagon, the Dark One and the Black Zodiac! I can only hope that these grim tidings grow still, as I fear these events are beyond my ability to handle alone." as sweat dripped from his brow.

Dr Venture knew of Diagon. Orpheus would not shut up about him when he found his name by accident and he was forced to listen to Dr. Orpheus 'powerpoint' on all things Diagon. Grabbing his colleague by the shoulders he shook him and shouted "I don't care about stupid Diagon and Super Whatever! Just make them go away so I can work in peace!"

Putting Venture's hands down he shook his head, letting him know that this was beyond his power. "We must call out to the ones who banished these demons, who can utilize the power of the Light Zodiac, the opposite of the Black Zodiac! Only strong and noble hearted warriors are able to cross over using my weakest travel spell. I must store my reserves for defending our fair home from these beasts of Lovecratian lore!" Dr, Orpheus dramatically cried out, as lightning crashed down all around them.

As if to answer his prays a mighty man ran towards the two doctors. He was a plumb fellow and quite friendly, but he was also trained in the military skills of the good ol' US of A, plus moderate skill in advanced hovercraft technologies. He was also a tad odd, but the pills the OSI has him on has kept him from being too friendly with people. He means no real harm, but he sometimes goes overboard with things. "Sgt. Venture, reporting for duty!" the man barked in a cheery tone.

"My good sir, please go and find the heroes of the other worlds! Our world is in dire peril and we cannot repel it alone! Now go and find our greatest hopes and dreams, noble sir!"

Dr Orpheus used his magic (it was originally OutRider's, but that didn't need to be known now. Perhaps later when things have calmed down somewhat) to summon a swirling orange portal leading to the world of heroes, magic, aliens and super technologies the likes of which have never been seen by mortal eyes in this realm.

Sgt. Venture was raring to go, but a important matter needed to dealt with before he left. "Um, this may be a bad time, but can I take my new hover tank with me? I haven't had time to install the weapon systems yet and besides, I don't wanna track in dog doo from some weirdo world, right?" as he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head to showcase his loss of nerve.

Pinching his nose's tissues together in frustration Dr Orpheus muttered "Yes. Just go already" and with that Sgt Venture was on his way.

Of course that left Dr. Venture without a bodyguard, as Brock was working with S.P.H.I.N.X. to hunt down the last of the Blackhearts and Hank and Dean were with them, as Dr Venture needed alone time (He just wanted them gone in case he wanted to call some friends over. Can't have the time of your life hanging out and watching the game with two needy boys hanging over you like the specter of death) and that fact made him break out in a cold sweat. "Oh dear sweet science, I'm going to die right here in my own home, like some a villian in a bad movie!" the former boy adventurer whimpered as his sweat dripped down his brow.

"Do not despair, my good fellow, for the heroes I am calling are noble, kind hearted and powerful beyond even your wildest dreams!" Dr Orpheus comforted his fellow doctor. Soon Super Vilgax would be thought the blast doors and whatever he wants to find he will find.

The two of them hoped and prayed Sgt Venture could find them in time. However, he only knew that he was going to be right by them. That was his only bit of info, as Dr Orpheus realized that and went "Oh Crud!"

This was going to be one of those months again.

Outside...

Vilgax was not doing quite as well as the doctors feared, thought he was close to breaking though to where they were. But they weren't his true targets.

Albedo, in his last attempt to kill Ben tried to use a Dream Eater parasite on him, but slipped and the evil creature fell on him, requiring immediate medical attention. Getting the blasted thing cost him his shape shifting powers and his pride, and the right to ever go back to Gavan Prime MK 2, the second world of the Gavan, after the first was ruined by the HighBreed.

This was too much for Azmuth to tolerate, so he had him banished to a world of failure, where he could stay in and think about his life until his final days.

But Vilgax was always one to see things that others were unable or unwilling to see. That's why when he asked Diagon where Albedo was during his "final attack" on Ben he wasn't too surprised to see he ended up here. He knew from the Old One's visions that the people of this world were...odd to put it politely.

Flanking him were a gaggle of Monarch henchmen, men with shinny bodies, yellow butterfly costumes and dart guns. They were as lame as I said they were. But Vilgax wasn't too picky about allies, not after he lost Zombozo, Will Harange (he didn't die, but the Gemini Switch brought out his darker side and it killed the "good part" of him, then it rejected Vilgax outright),Darkstar, Agreggor and Overlord to both Ben and his new allies, the Kamen Rider Club and Driscoll, Argit, Cash, Charm Caster, Psyphon (who only left him because he thought he was dead. Currently he's incarcerated with Laim, Fistina and Bubble Helmet after attacking Undertown, which was thwarted by Ben and Rook), J.T., and Emily defected from his side.

So Albedo's gonna have to do for now.

"If you're done pounding the doors like a grounded brat, then use the keycard!"

A shrill voice belonging to a thing man clad in butterfly themed armor, with a long goatee and eyebrows shouted over the loud pounding. He was the Monarch himself, the self proclaimed arch nemesis of Dr Venture. He was overly dramatic and his plans were not always fully thought though, but he has passion for his job and since the lost of Mol meant everyone else was busy trying to pick up the slack (paperwork, and all that)

The Sovereign gave him free reign to do as he saw fit. Which meant bugging Dr Venture with his new buddy. "I don't know why you call yourself "Super Vilgax" I mean, what the heck's a Vilgax and why use it as your totem? Can't you pick a better animal to use, like the fearsome Monarch butterfly?!" he questioned the alien ruler, arms raised in defiance of what fate had in store for him.

"Because, first off that's my name, and second, I am the embodiment of the Black Zodiac and Diagon's power, fool!" Vilgax snapped, swiping the card from Monarch and using it to open the blast doors. Dr Venture screamed like a little girl and ran behind Orpheus, who was standing, but rapidly losing his nerve.

"You shall never break down the dimensional walls and resurrect your master, foul best of the other world! We, the Order of the Triad, shall stand against your desires and prevent your dreams from coming true!" He wished he was as brave as he sounded, but his two teammates were a little unsure about having to fight Vilgax.

The Alchemist, a kind hearted man in a monk's robes, was the first to state his opinion on this matter. "Whoa, big fellow here. I can just see it now, we die and all our lives are pasted on the damned Internet, where everything we did is scrutinized! I am not a bad person, I just don't believe is trusting everything to the computers. What's wrong with reading something that's not on a screen once in a while?" he asked of no one in particular. Ever since his close friend betrayed on him and the whole ugly matter found its way to MySpace, he hated the Internet and everything that it stood for.

"Just remember, if it's a Blackula I get the teeth!" Jefferson Twilight ordered. His mother was killed by vampires and he made it his life mission to kill them all, thought that was hampered by his diabetes and low blood sugar. Still, he was quite good at his job and he looked the part, with a brown jacket, jeans, and comfortable shoes, he was always ready to tackle any and all vampire threats.

"I am more than you will ever know, as I shall rule over this world under your corpses!" Vilgax thundered at them, as Helper shot at him with the Walking Eye's laser. Turning around and giving the four men time to get to safety, Vilgax tore a piece of steel off and threw it at the hapless robot, destroying the Walking Eye and leaving only his head intact. Then he went back and chased after the Order and Dr Venture, as Monarch was running after them as well.

"Get your own rival!" he wheezed as he tried to keep up with the superpowered alien. Dr venture was his first and he's be damned if this octopus man monster took that away from him.

At least he thought he was a octopus man monster, with the tentacles and all that.

Bellwood, Mr. Bellman's market...

Ben and Mr. Bellman got along OK. It's just that when criminals attack the store, Ben tended to do more damage than they did, due to his clumsiness. Mr. Bellman loved Ben like a grandson and the attention he brought to the store, it's just that he wished Ben wasn't a force of destructive nature when he was fighting in here. Mr. Bellman was a plumb man with graying hair and a pink striped shirt, while Ben was a 17 year boy with a black shirt with green designs on it and a 10, brown cargo pants and the Omnitrix on his left wrist.

"Look, I said we'd fix things and well, here we are! The Guiding Stars are always ready to lend a helping hand!" Ben stated, a bright smile on his face. But he still had much pain in his heart, since he lost Julie, his girlfriend to Elena and Diagon's influence. But he had gained new friends as well, and they were always willing to help out. Well, most of the time.

Rook was Ben's new partner and he was intelligent, brave and armed with the Proto Tool, a device that shape shifts to whatever he needs, from a bow to a grappling hook. He also wore Proto Tech armor, which was state of the art and very purple.

But he was not from Earth, hailing from another world, where he was a wheat farmer and as such was a "donut hole" and very by the book, clumsily fumbling wisecracks and having trouble with Earth culture from time to time. But the two complemented each other well, Ben with his Omnitrix heroes and Rook with his tech. They were as close friends as well, which made working together a breeze! (Max, Ben's grandpa was not too pleased with Ben's previous ego troubles, and Rook was there to keep him humble, which worked perfectly!)

His other friends were farther from anywhere Ben knew in his universe. They hailed from another dimension, one of great heroes and technology like nothing he ever knew! Most wore the school outfits of Amanogawa High, with red skirts for the girls and grey pants for the boys.

Gentaro however, wore nothing like that at all, preferring to wear a black jacket with pink shirt, black pants and had his hair in a pompadour, making him look like one bad dude. He was nothing of the sort, being friendly and nearly always happy with life. He treasures his friends more than anything else and loved making new ones as well.

He was also Kamen Rider Fourze, the protector of his school, who fought against the Horoscopes and their Zodiart minions. But it was far more than that. The Horoscopes were a group founded by Gamou, the school founder, who was trying to reach the "Presenters" a outerworldly intelligence that called out to him during the Apollo Program in the late 1960s. He used the Core Switch, a gift left by them to create Zodiart Switches, which when used by a person, then on known as a "Switcher" mutated them into monsters that can survive in a vacuum and can travel though warp speeds without spaceships, though the second part was unproven, thanks to Fourze and his group.

The worst part was if a user was enraged enough at the world or if they had a strong enough connection to a Zodiac constellation, they were able to mutate further to Horoscopes, the leaders who had power far beyond normal Zodiarts. Out of all 12 members only 5 made it intact though Vilgax's endgame and they were with Ben, Rook and Gen now. They were the best of friends with Gen, and he was pleased to have them around. He deeply regretted leaving them alone with the other, evil members when he found out about Ben's Ego during a assignment and he took JK, his stylish friend with him to beat the tar out of Ben.

He found out that Ben was a true hero like himself, that he was no longer the brat he was (thought still dense from time to time) and that he was dying from Elana's handiwork, but thanks to Sir George he was able to beat that and defeat Vilgax once and for all, or so they all thought. Worst of all the people that he knew from school that weren't JK were captured and forced to become the final members, but Ben was able to save them with the help of Manny.

But before we get to our former Horoscopes I must speak of JK. With hair dyed, his tie loosely fitting and all sort of little niche nacks hanging on his person, you'd think he was a coward that is always on the know about everything there was to know. While he was still wise about matters like that and he was far from brave, he was no coward anymore. Now able to use the Powerdizer and having friends that truly trust and care for him, he was more than capable of helping out when needed.

Our first former Horoscope is a dear friend of Gen's, and the second of command of his group. With long black hair and a small, though pretty figure, Yuki Jojima was the sort of person that loves to help out and keep the good cheer in her friends, as well as being in the know about all matters regarding space and space travel. Also she loves to cook, and is a loving girl that due to being too fond of space at times, was not the most popular person at school. While she is excitable at times she has the potential to become a great leader. Her high energy levels and optimistic attitude made her a hit with people willing to get to know her better and by the time she was captured, she was able to make some good friends.

She was forced to become the Gemini Zodiart, a jester monster that looks like the stuff of nightmares (and she still does, as the form scares her a great deal) and was capable of attacking with cards that were able to blow up, and clone itself and have the clone blow up too. But due to her being a Gemini a side effect of the conversing was that she would have her darkside gain a body of its own and it would drain away everything that made her Yuki until one died, during which the survivor gains everything.

Vilgax wanted none of that, so he had Psyphon tweak her Switch so she was in complete control, though she lost her temper when she found out that Gen forgot a promise, during which her dark side (dubbed Dark Yuki) emerged and attacked, but Gen was able to stop it before any harm was done, although they had to work past their issues with each other, becoming boyriend and girlfriend by the time Vilgax's body, as Cyber Vilgax and Elana were destroyed by Fourze's Super Cosmic States form.

Next up was the man who was one of the first Horoscopes, Emoto. He was a dear friend to those that knew him, but after being left jealous of the others, betrayed them and worked with Gamou to bring about the Dark Nebula, a warpgate with enough power to level Japan.

But after he killed his best friend, he repented and founded the M.B.U.S. and built a good chunk of the KRC's arsenal, the Meteor Driver and Switches being his masterpieces.

He's friendly and damn smart, but woe be to anyone that gets on his bad side. Then he becomes a harsher person, a taskmaster who is not afraid to bust the chops of anyone who gets in his way. Thanks to the KRC though, he regained faith in friendship and was back to being his clumsy, but intelligent and helpful nature, though the darkside, which he uses as "Tachibana" still remains. His form was Virgo, a angel wielding portal powers, wings that could attack with much force and a halberd he used to defend against his foes, now friends.

Third was the loud rocker known as Tojiro Goto, a boy with a harido that looked like a bad attempt at mimicking Frankstein's bride, the former Lyra Zodiart and Capricorn member. Having a big appetite and a fondness of rock, metal and everything in between he wanted to become a world famous musician with JK, his friend from middle school, though they were not good during that time frame.

Being impatience and wanting to give people good music, the shrew, but good natured boy gained a Switch to become Lyra and then evolving past the Last One state to mutate to Capricorn Zodiarts, a goatman that was able to brainwash people with his powers, though he was quite bad at attacking. After losing to Ben and Gen's group he returned to being a person that bears no ill will towards anyone and was not willing to work on improving himself, though he was still manipulative at times, but he generally did this to help his friends. Most of the time.

Erin was a girl from America, with red hair and looks that people, mostly boys, loved. But she wanted more than anything was to go into space and become a astronaut, like her father nearly was. She loved space almost as much as Yuki does, and is always wanting to help out with things that people needed to get done.

But she has a horrible temper on her and was bitter towards happy go lucky people, as one was picked against her father, who wasn't as charismatic. Yuki wasn't her favorite person when she transferred over, but she was able to win her over with her good cheer and their shared love of space. They were the best of friends, Yuki helping Erin with her temper and Erin working with Yuki on connecting with people better. Erin was once the Aquarius Zodiart, a amazon with healing powers and her whip, Neater hurt a lot! Not one to allow screwing around when work needed to be done, she was also the one who was the first to run off and have fun when it was called for.

Finally was Ran, the youngest of the group, with black hair in a ponytail and skilled in swimming and Aikido. Trust is not easily won with her, as all the bulling she suffered and the torment her best friend Haru endured made her close her heart to the world, lashing out at older student and babying Haru until he could take no more and rampaged as the Musca Zodiart.

Thanks to the KRC, she was now more willing to trust others and made many new friends as well, as gaining a stronger bond with Haru. A quirk she has is she doesn't like to be touched, throwing or worse when someone touches Ran. But other than that she believes in justice and get angry when she sees that things aren't as fair as she would like to see, and having a deep understanding of matters far beyond her age. She was forced to be the Pisces Zodiart, a scaly fish warrior woman that swam in ground as easily as water and had a water cutter attack that sliced though stone with frightening ease.

But all that was in the past now, as thanks to Azmuth they were human again, freed from the oversaturation of negative Cosmic Energy they soaked up crossing over with Diagon's power.

Now they were having the time of their lives, hanging with Ben and enjoying the sights and sounds (the smells, not so much. Good luck getting Stinkfly's oils out of a good pair of white pants, as Gwen and JK found out the hard way) and eating the homemade mac and cheese that Rook made (a attempt to wean Ben out smoothies, as the last time he had one he dropped it on Kevin by accident, earning him another beating, which the KRC gave back to Kevin in spades)when something came out of a portal driving a tank. That hovered in the air(that surprised no one there. Hover crafts are well known in both Ben and Gen's universes) and looked rather out of place.

With a red, white and blue color scene, flashing lights at the sides, and a barrel shaped like a star, its looks either like a corny carnival ride or a jingoistic parody of a real tank. Whatever your mind's eye is seeing Sgt Venture's tanks as.

Soon Sgt Venture himself came out and begged of the group "Look, I know that this is sudden and I'm interrupting your lunch, but we need your help! Vilgax is attacking our" He stopped to look over the notes Orpheus wrote for him in case things like this happened and went back to facing the group. "Dimension and without the OSI and S.P.H.I.N.X. to get our bacon out of the fryer, we need all the help we can get, Ben 10 and..um...Kamen...Rider Club" he asked, stumbling with the last part. These were the heroes Dr Orpheus asked for? He might as well call King Gorilla for help, and he's a jerk. As well as dead.

Everyone was stunned to hear that Vilgax was back, but how? No sooner than that thought entered their minds Azmuth showed up. Wearing his green rode and with his arms crossed behind his back, he looked like a very wise being and he WAS wise indeed.

"I know what our tattooed friend is saying is quite strange, but he is telling the truth. Paradox warned me ahead of time that two more attacks with Diagon's power are going to happen, so I took the time to get something ready in this case" he explained, pointing out the blue V on his face (and not the potbelly that he was still fighting to get rid of. Why did he still had that with all the work he was doing, even he didn't know) "Ben, you know as well as anyone I hate Albedo's Ultimatrix. Now although I'm still not fond of it, the feature is needed once again, this time with more power and safety, and a catch" as Azmuth wiped some dust off his sleeve. "You will be able to tap into the power of the Light Zodiac and regain your Ultimate Forms" That made everyone go bug eyed and Ben himself to drop his jaw.

"I shall explain everything in a matter that you can understand, though overly simplistic as it may be for a Gavan" the creator of the Omnitrix answered the silent question being asked by everyone there.

Mr. Bellman took the time to close early for his lunch as he muttered "At least Ben will not be wreaking my store any time soon"

Venture Industries...

Albedo was angry more than anything else. Having loss favor to the human he shared DNA with (not by choice, mind you) he was not in a great mood. His white hair was shaved down to fuzz, his right eye was now discolored purple, with a long scar over the area that it was, from brow to just above the chin, and a more muscled tone to his body that he'd liked (Gavans disliked doing hard labor and having to do just that was too much to bear, as he attacked Brock Samson and lost spectacularly to him, earning the scar as a "tally mark")

He now wore a red vest, a mesh t-shirt and black jeans with combat boots. In short he no longer looked like Ben, which suited him just fine. He hated the quirks of this body, though he did grow to love chill fries. Having loss his shape shifting powers to the treatments needed to get the Dream Eater off, he was desperate for any chance to regain his power.

So imagine his surprise when the Prototype Omnitrix was dropped by his feet and he knew who it was: The last person to use it.

"Your tardiness is frustrating, thought given the circumstances of our location right now, that is forgivable" Albedo replied, not bothering to look higher up to see Vilgax. What interested him was the P. Omnitrix, now seen as a gauntlet with claws, The Guild symbol where the peace sign was, a vermillion, black and gold color scheme and a appearance like that of a evil knight's armor. But where would his arm fit in there? There seems to be no room for slipping his hand in.

"I was able to fully repair the Prototype Omnitrix with the aid of a friend of mine" Vilgax remarked, referring to Henry Kissanger, the man who was helping Vilgax in his mad quest. "But although it now wields the power of the Black Zodiac, the tech of this world is...lacking. Some modifications are going to be needed" Vilgax snarled with a evil grin, as he grabbed Albedo's right arm and dragged him inside a room, shutting it closed to block out any interference.

Before Albedo could protest such barbaric work conditions, Vilgax began his horrible work, as his wails of pain were ignored by the unconscious forms of Dr Venture, Dr Orpheus, the Alchemist and Jefferson Twilight, deep in slumber.

Outside Helper's head laid on the grass looking helplessly at the statue of Dr Venture Sr, the founder of this place. Then his systems panicked themselves into shutdown...

Next time:

Find out how the new Ultimate system works and how does it tie in with the Light Zodiac!

Albedo is back and more powerful than ever before! Having been 'enhanced' by Vilgax, he is a man with nothing left to lose, and that makes him deadly than ever before!

Will anyone learn that you don't mess with Brock Samson if you can't stand up to him?

See ya next time!