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03-16-2013, 03:45 PM | #11 |
Neon Blade Outlaw
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Californa
Posts: 2,725
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Being Dark Gemini did nothing to change the hate Will felt towards Ben. To think that a such a dangerous child would get a weapon of mass destruction and be a role model for children the world over! Will hated that no matter what he did Ben got off scott free. But after he destroyed the London Bridge he got an idea. He needed Overlord or rather Dark Pisces's help but the two of them got along well. If this works he may get rid of Ben 10 yet.
Early morning, Bellwood Manny was quite pleased with himself. Having the idea that everyone would switch out doing chores was a stroke of genius on his part. After having meatless breakfasts for the last week he was now able to do the meal he wanted. "Breakfast is served! It's full of meaty goodness!" he beamed as the aroma drifted to his nose. On each plate was a few strips of candied bacon, toast, honey ham slices, breakfast sausages and pancetta. It was his ideal breakfast meal, but to the others it wasn't all that great. While Erin was a American be birth she never enjoyed bacon all that much. Just the smell of it made her ill and here was a good size portion of it on her plate. "Couldn't you added some fruit instead of the bacon? I don't think I can eat this" she stated, not bothering to hide her disgust with Manny's cooking. JK tried a slice of candied bacon and wanted to spit it out. But the sight of the Tetramand told him to be polite and swallow it, albeit not by his complete choice. "It's delicious, Manny-san. You really outdid yourself today" he outright lied to him. Manny brought it however to JK's relief and he reluctantly ate some more of the meal. Ran, Tojiro and Julie were trying to eat this meal with insentient but their faces were saying a different tune. Manny can cook very well but his foods of choice were not ones they themselves enjoyed all that much and in Julie's case outright hated. Yuki and Gentaro noticed that if they ate faster then they would be able to leave that much faster. But this was far from the Japanese breakfasts they enjoyed back home but it was against their customs to just throw it away. Yuki was about ready to barf due to all the greasy meats she had to eat. Motioning to Gen that she had to go to a bathroom he honored her request. "Yuki-chan wishes to use the bathroom. Is that OK with you, Manny-san?" Gentaro asked politely. "It's no thing at all! You shouldn't even have to ask! After all we're young adults here!" Manny cheerfully answered. But his good mood was ended by Yuki ralphing on the floor, the food too much for her delicate stomach to take. "I guess you don't like bacon as much as I do" he nervously chuckled as he wiped up the mess with a washcloth. Yuki thanked him for cleaning up her sick then when to the bathroom to freshen up. Ben was still in bed after his busy day. He wasn't feeling good, but for once it wasn't just his cellular breakdown causing his illness. He felt horrible about killing Zombozo yesterday even though he had a warrant for his death and it was obvious that he would never be redeemed. Still he wasn't feeling hungry and Manny's bacon was just making it worse. As he pulled the covers over his head Yuki went in to check in on the sick Plumber. "I heard about what happened with Zombozo. Nobody blames you for what you had to do, but he was so far gone I doubt anyone would have been able to reach him" she comforted the young hero. "T-'cough'_Thanks, Yuki" Ben got out with some difficultly. Yuki may be overly fond of space at times but she was one of the nicest people you can ever meet. She smiled warmly at him as Julie went to check on her boyfriend, her face a bit green from Manny's cooking. "Ben, I talked with your parents about yesterday and they don't blame you for what happened out there. Your mom told her that they wanted to let you know that they love you no matter what and that you'll get better soon. Although they don't know about how bad things really are for you" she choked out the last sentence with extreme emotional pain as so far no Earthlings other than Max, Gwen, Kevin and herself knew about Ben's terminal illness. Julie then couldn't hold in her sadness anymore and broke down crying as Yuki hugged her, upset that she could do nothing to help out Ben. Gentaro went up to check up on the trio and seeing how bad things were in there broke his heart. As he rubbed Yuki's head to comfort her he told Ben "We won't let you die like this. It's the code of the Kamen Rider to do anything to save the lives of the innocent. Plus now I know that you're a good friend. The way you treat your buddies is something that warms my heart. You have the soul of a Rider and I should have never had tried to hurt you" he quietly told him. Ben however was happy to hear that from him. "It's no biggie. I think we both messed up and now we're going to work past that. Because that's what friends do for each other" he answered. Their hearts full of emotion Gentaro and Yuki hugged the ill Plumber and soon bygones were finally bygones. "Now that we have this out of our hair we should have some fun. I don't wanna just lay on my bed and die! We should totally hit the arcade and just rock out!" After Ben had said what they were going to do everyone was on their merry way. Perhaps Tojiro was the happiest of all since Ben told him that there were plenty of guitar games there and he knew that if given the chance he can be a great musician. Hearing that from Ben made Tojiro quite pleased and he was ready to get his rock on! But what he saw made his heart sink: on the doors was a sign that said "CLOSED DUE TO NATIONAL EMERGENCY" in bright red letters. "AW c'mon! You'd think that with all the alien bullshit that goes on here they'd be open more often!" Tojiro raged. JK tried to calm him down but the rocker was in a state of anger that was upsetting Julie. Ran however just grabbed his arm and twisted it, bringing him back down to a calm state of mind. "Try to keep in mind that these people haven't seen Zodiarts before. So try to think about others before you run your stupid mouth off" Ran scolded. Tojiro was not pleased with being told off by a younger student but knew deep down that she was right. However they were no Zodiarts in sight. "Perhaps there could be a gas leak or something else we don't know about" Erin calmly inquired about their odd situation. But what she said caused Yuki to freak out a little bit, worried that she might be in danger from the gas that might be very real and very deadly. Holding onto her fellow student gently she told Yuki that "If there is anything wrong I'm sure we can fix it. After all we're friends, right?" Yuki calmed down and the two girls hugged, knowing that they're safe as long as they believe in each other and their friendship. But a sharp sound broke the tranquil moment they were sharing with each other. The voice on the other end was one that Ben knew all too well: Will Harange! "For some time now I warned you all about Ben Tennyson being a danger to everyone around him. But even I never would have guessed he's destroy both the London Bridge and the life of Zombozo so easily and without any remorse. Due to the seriousness of this situation I ask that everyone remain in their homes while we run checks on the general populace for any contamination from Ben. We ask that you remain calm and do as you're asked in a prompt and orderly manner. That is all." Ben was furious! Will was a bigger threat to the people of Bellwood and he knew it! Who in their right mind would create a killer robot that attacked whoever it pleases just for ratings? The guests from another world were worried too, as Julie filled them in on how unstable Harange really was. JK was the first to speak up about this grim bit of news. "I think we should look around and see if there's anyone out right now. The more people we ask, the more likely we can solve this without insentient." Gentaro liked that idea a good deal. JK wasn't the bravest person he knew but he was one of the more social aware KRC members. Soon all of them nodded their approval of his plan and were about to set off in search of any info that may be useful. But a scream of terror cut that hunt short. "That came from our high school!" Julie cried out with worry. A few minutes later... Cash and JT were stunned at he sight before them both. Here was both Will Harange, a total jerkstore reporter and Captain Nemesis, the disgraced former hero, working together with Psyphon of all people! Not only that but they were forcing their fellow classmates to try and turn on these weird looking 'Switches' to become...Zodiacs or some darn thing. So far they had no luck and it was showing on Psyphon's face. "Is it bad enough that these children have no potential to evolve past their humanity AND be eternal thorns in my side as well?" he bemoaned, fists clenched by his sides in frustration. So far every one that tried to switch on a Horoscopes Switch was lying down in pain or knocked out cold. Thankfully no one was killed but since there were so few students left that haven't tried yet that may soon change. However before he could hand a Switch to JT Psyphon was attacked by ArmorDrillo. Dodging his drill punch he jumped back and scowled at the alien form that Ben was. "Must you ruin everything that my master plans?!" Psyphon cursed at ArmorDrillo as the others approached. "Yet, pretty much" ArmorDrillo quipped, paying no mind to Psyphon's anger. "But I can make things work out, am I right?" he said at no one in particular. Emily, who was in the group with Cash and JT flipped Ben the finger. "I'll take that as a no" Ben said with some disappointment. Ran stomped over to where Will was standing and was going to give this man a piece of her mind. "Do you think you can order students around because you're older?" she raged at reporter. To her disgust he told her "Yes I do. Young people like you have no will of your own to make enlightened decisions for yourselves. But we are only doing this for your own good and when Ben's dead and buried then you can live your lives however you want to" In fury Ran struck Will in the face, knocking out a tooth and sending him down. Ran didn't care that he was a reporter, as she hated when older people felt the need to lord over and bully those they feel weaker than themselves. That was part of how Haru became the Musca Zodiarts and nearly brought their friendship to an end. Ran didn't want these people to suffer the fate that almost befell them both. Will was furious at this girl for striking him down. Dusting himself off he shouted at Overlord to transform and deal with these intruders. Now in the form of Dark Gemini Will threw cards at Ran, trying to kill her but ArmorDrillo blocked them off, but not without some pain on his end. Gentaro was already Fourze and listening to Yuki's advice to transform early was paying off as Dark Pisces was attempting to gore him with Eros. his harpoon. But Gen was able to dodge with the Wheel and Stealth Modules, causing the monster form of Overlord to fall over and hit the ground hard. "If you wish to challenge someone then fight with someone who can defend himself!" Fourze barked at D. Pisces. Overlord then kneeled down and tried to use his water cutter to decapitate the Rider but Fourze dodge rolled from the attack as it hit the wall, phasing out without a fuss. Switching Rocket for the Fire Switch Gentaro changed to Fire States and shot fireballs at Dark Pisces, burning his Zodiart hide. On Ben's side things weren't looking so good. Dark Gemini kept spawning clones with his Supernova and having them attack Ben, then when they were all over him blew up, causing his yellow armor to sizzle. Thinking that Ben was dead Will approached the limp form of ArmorDrillo but was caught off guard when Ben went into the form of Echo Echo. Before he could counterattack Ben screamed at him, damaging his form and hurting his ears. Over to the side Julie could not help but feel sick and it wasn't because of Manny's cooking. Echo Echo was the form that nearly ruined their relationship together and every time he saw this form she felt like something would go wrong at just the wrong time. This was noticed by Erin as she wanted to know why Julie was acting this way around a form of Ben's "It's because there's some bad memories involved with Echo Echo. I don't really care for this alien all that much anyway" Julie stated to Erin. But deep down Julie knew that wasn't the total truth. She was so hellbent on making Ben stay and watch her first professional game over stopping the Forever Knights that he did what he did. Granted he should have been honest about seeing the Sumo Slammers movies first and foremost but she knew that it was partly her fault that happened. She was stubborn and headstrong and she was willing to admit that she can be rather selfish at times. But she was working on improving herself and trying to better herself. Sure it was hard but everything worthwhile is that way. Meanwhile Ben and Gen's battles weren't going over so well for them. Dark Gemini's cards and clones kept Echo Echo's clones and sonic wails at bay and Dark Pisces' water form and attack were easily countering Fire States' every move. As the two boys rolled over to each other Ben got an idea. " I was thinking we should switch dance partners, what do you say about that chum?" he asked. Gentaro nodded his approval to the plan and went after the other's opponent. "Do you think that attacking another foe will do you any good, you foolish child?" Dark Pisces mocked Ben as he screamed at him with his sonic voice. But the Dark Horoscope was caught off guard by the fact that there nothing physical to counter, rendering his water power useless against Echo Echo. Trying to escape he turned into his liquid form and leapt into a nearly pond. Ben wasn't a straight-A student but he knew that sound travels better in liquids than air and Overlord made a HUGE tactical error on his part. Cloning himself until there was around 20 Echo Echoes they all placed their heads underwater and screamed. The sonic bombardment was too much for Overlord as he resolidifiled in pain, leaving him open to a finishing blow from the boy that believed he was a true hero. Recombining and changing to AmpFibian Ben grabbed onto Dark Pisces and shocked him until he was back to human form. As Overlord ejected his damaged armor he tried to run away but Ran body slammed him down, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Soon AmpFibian was shadowing him and the jellyfish-like form made him nervous. "Just why did you do this, Nesmith? I thought you were going to get clean for Jennifer but here I find you working for Vilgax and harming my fellow students?! Were you ever a real hero or was it all for fame?!" he snapped at Overlord, causing him to flinch out of reflex. But soon he regained his bearings and stood up to talk to Ben. Breathing in some air he answered "There was a time that I really wanted to do good for the world. Just seeing people safe and happy was enough for me. But time and age catches up to all of us and soon my heart grew cold. I was willing to send Computron after the people I saved just to try and regain my fame. I drove Jennifer Nocturne to Stockholm syndrome and killed because I was so far gone that every face was a blur to me. But something happened that I never planned for: she truly fell in love with me and I returned those feelings. So where she got hurt during our last battle I couldn't stand to see her like this. So I took full responsibility for my actions and went back to jail, but I was still angry at you after all that happened. Hated blinds even the wisest men and when Vilgax offered me power I was foolish and accepted, not caring who I was hurting. But perhaps there may be peace for me yet." As Ben and Ran looked on they saw that the body of Carl Nesmith AKA Captain Nemesis AKA Overlord AKA Dark Pisces was crumbling to stardust. But he looked totally at peace with himself. Ran however was on the verge of tears. "Please, let us save you! The Plumbers can help you stop this! You can be free of this!" she sobbed. But Carl just looked at her and stroked her hair. While Ran normally doesn't like older people touching her without her consent she was willing to let this slide. "I am free now. Tell Jennifer that she deserves better that some old fool." He turned to Ben and for the first time since that fateful tug-of-war game that started all this nonsense in their lives they were willing to be civil with each other. "Ben, I'm sorry. You're more of a hero than I'll ever be. Please keep protecting the people of Earth, the planet we both love" With his final words the stardust that was once Ben's childhood hero drifted away into the wind. Ran was sobbing into Erin's arms as Ben went back to his human form and saluted the fallen hero. Just a short while back Dark Gemini was having a fit with Fourze Fire States. His damned flamethrower kept his card attack from hitting and his clones were shot down by the Launcher and Gattling Modules. Plus when he tried to punch Fourze he kept striking the Shield Module, causing his knuckles to bleed under his Zodiart form. 'How can this child be smarter and stronger than me?', he thought to himself. As if Gen could read minds he answered, "Because I believe in the youths of this day. Sure we may screw up and do stupid things but that why we have older people to look after us and help make us into better people. It is my hope that I can make friends with everyone and better all of our lives! Because we are stronger when we cover our weaknesses and improve our strengths instead of doing things alone. When we have friends that love and support us then we can make our dreams reach out into space itself!" he proudly exclaimed as the other Kamen Rider Club member cheered him on. Cash booed him as he thought what Gentaro believes is corny but Emily and JT punched him in the gut to shut him up. Will was dumbstruck! To think that some teenager was the better man than himself, a respected reporter and journalist! "How dare you insult me, you bastard?! I'll kill you for your insolence!" Yuki tried to warn him about letting his anger get the better of him but the blood pounding in his ear blocked out all sound from reaching his brain. As Dark Gemini charged toward Fourze, not aware of the change going on in his body Fourze prepped a attack that can reach though whatever Will can dish out. "Claw on!" "Chainsaw on! A small mob of Dark Gemini clones was now by Will's side, each roaring madly like wild dogs. But Gen wasn't worried at all. "Spike on!" "Scissors on" "Limit Break!" "Rider Buzzsaw Spinner!" With four of his most painful Modules at his side Gentaro began to spin around like the buzzsaws of the attack's namesake and tore through all the clones before hitting the real Dark Gemini, causing everyone present to winch at how painful that must of hurt. But the aftermath was something that no one expected, least of all Will himself. Before him was another Will Harange, only with a eerily white mask on his face. As he looked on in fear he wondered if perhaps Vilgax played them all for something that they didn't know as the clone ran out to parts unknown. Gentaro powered down and hugged Yuki, who was in a state of shock from this happening again. If Gen didn't defeat the first Gemini when he did then the darkside that came out would drain away everything that make her Yuki Jojima until one of them was dead. Thankfully Gentaro stopped Dark Yuki from rampaging and returned all of her lifeforce to her, but she was worried about Will. What fate befell the corrupt man now that the darkness that was himself is now out in the world for all to see? But Will wasn't worried at all. Every one of the Kamen Rider Club shouted that he needed to stop his darkside before it took everything from him but he just sneered at them and walked off, not caring about what they wanted to tell him. "Gen-chan, I'm worried about Will. Do you think we can save him?" she asked, fear pregnant in her voice. But Ben stepped in and answered her question for her. "I don't think we can save Will from himself. Trust me, I tried" he told her sadly. As all of the group looked on at the man walking away they wondered if he knew that he was in laymen's terms, a dead man walking in both senses of the meaning. Cash and JT were confused about all of this but figured they can ask Ben later when things have cooled down. 24 hours later... It was quite a shock for the young couple to find a body with a ghastly white mask just by the spot they were making out by, paying no mind to the note he held in his dead hand. Please help me! He took my face and now he wishes to have my life! He gave away my Switch to Vilgax so I couldn't stop this! If anyone is reading this please help me! But no one would ever read that depredate note that the real Will Harange wrote in his final hour of life. To the general public it was some homeless man's mad rambling. Because they were watching the latest news report from Will Harange now. "I must apologize for the attacks on the student body caused by some madman thinking he was me. I hope that a issue like this will never happen again and I hope to regain you trust. I sadly must report that Captain Nemesis has passed away yesterday from causes unknown to modern science, but we will have more on this story as we gain more info on this" When it was time for a commercial 'Will' stepped out for some fresh air. He was pleased that the body of the Will Harange he was trapped in was dead and he was now free. As he looked on at the night sky he wondered now that he gave away his Switch to Vilgax what will he do with his life now. Perhaps rethink his plan of attack on Ben Tennyson. After all now that his 'good side' is gone he could really cause some damage! But first he always wanted to go to Bora Bora. He heard it was quite lovely this time of year... |
03-16-2013, 08:40 PM | #12 |
Knight of Persona
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Lafayette,La
Posts: 1,142
|
Well this is awesome
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03-17-2013, 11:30 AM | #13 |
Neon Blade Outlaw
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Californa
Posts: 2,725
|
Thanks for your kind words towards my second fanfic. After Nightmaranger went nowhere I decided to try my hand at a crossover.
It's certainly showing its age with me. Is there anything that needs to be fixed here? |
03-17-2013, 01:39 PM | #14 |
Knight of Persona
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Lafayette,La
Posts: 1,142
|
Give me some time to think and I'll get back to you on that.
__________________
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03-17-2013, 03:35 PM | #15 |
Neon Blade Outlaw
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Californa
Posts: 2,725
|
It was late at night and the moon was full. It casted its beautiful light over everything it touched as it shone in the night sky. But two people couldn't care less about the moon tonight.
Emoto hated the moon. It reminded him of his folly over siding with Gamou over using the safer Fourze system as well as the fact that in a sense he was the Moon to Utahoshi's Earth and Gamou's Sun, paling to them both but reflecting the light off of the Sun. Even though he was no longer the dreaded Virgo Zodiarts he was still Tachibana, the man who fought against the evils of the Horoscopes to give humanity the freedom to live life as it saw fit. Being in a whole other universe would never change that fact and Ryusei was long overdue for a check-in. As he tweaked the monitor Azmuth gave him he tried to tune in the frequency of his home dimension but was having little to no luck with the endeavor. 'It seems technology is the same no matter where you go: You can't live without it but it never works when you need it too' he mused to himself. But he was patient and soon enough he was about to make contact. Donning a new Tachibana helmet he menially readied himself for the upcoming trasmission... The universe of the Kamen Riders, Super Sentai and Metal Heroes... Ryusei was at a viewing screen in the Rabbit Hutch, with only a sleeping Tomoko at his side. It had been over three weeks since Gen, Yuki and the others have vanished and while Zodiart attacks were rarely happening now that the Horoscopes were gone he still can't help but wonder what the point was of all of this. Soon his Meteor Switch buzzed with news of a transmission from Tachibana. Tomoko purred contently, the noise not bothering her in the slightest. To think that this was the woman who would be his girlfriend or so she thought. Truth be told Ryu wasn't ready for that to happen, at least not yet. Placing the Switch in a slot he was greeted by the cold steel gaze of Tachibana. "It's good to see you Ryusei. But I can't help but wonder if you have lost your focus" he mocked the fighter as he saw that he was letting Tomoko rest her head on his lap. Normally Ryusei would be ready to say that he was focused on the mission at hand, but his mission had been finished a while ago. He found the Switcher of Aries and saved his friend, but lost so much during that time. To think that he was tricked into killing Gentaro and almost letting Aries kill the rest of the Kamen Rider Club. But as if by some miracle Gen came back to life and defeated Aries, saving not only everyone there that fateful day but Ryusei's soul as well. "I wasn't aware that I still had a mission" he retorted, angry that Tachibana doubted him still. Still he had a valid point as Ryusei often lets his emotions get the better of him at times. But now wasn't the time to argue with his employer. "Is there anything I should know about?" Ryusei asked. "Yes. All 12 Horoscope Switchers have been found. A unknown factor calling himself 'Vilgax' came to this dimension and captured the remaining members. We then crossed over to his home dimension when they were forced to battle his nemesis, Ben. But apart from one fatality all captives are safe. But they are unable to come back until the threat is neutralized" Tachibana stated matter of factly. "Can you identify the Switchers?" Ryu questioned his employer. Soon a list of names was brought up for his 'viewing pleasure'. TATSUMORI YAMADA: ARIES. STATIS: COMATOSE YUTA SUGIURA: TAURUS. STATIS: DECEASED YUKI JOJIMA: GEMINI. STATIS: RETURNED TO HUMAN STATE NATSUJI KIJIMA: CANCER. STATIS: DECEASED KOU TATSUGAMI: LEO. STATIS: DECEASED KURITERU EMOTO/TACHIBANA: VIRGO. STATIS: RETURNED TO HUMAN STATE KOUHEI HAYAMI: LIBRA. STATIS: DECEASED SARINA SONODA: SCORPION. STATIS: DECEASED MITUAKI GAMOU: SAGITARRIUS. STATIS: DECEASED TOJIRO GOTO: CAPRICORN: STATIS: RETURNED TO HUMAN STATE ERIN SUDA: AQUARIUS. STATIS: RETURNED TO HUMAN STATE RAN KUROKI: PISCES. STATIS: RETURNED TO HUMAN STATE. Ryusei was in total disbelief. School facility were the first Horoscopes and that they needed his fellow students to evolve the Switches to reach a 'Dark Nebula 'and that the one he heard about was just the ? What hit harder still was the fact that Yuki and Ran, his fellow Club members were forced to mutating into the very monsters they swore to fight against. But when the fact that Tachibana outright lied to him Ryusei was a man possessed by rage. But he would remain civil even if he was enraged right now. "Why help me if you were Virgo, the right man of Sagittarius?" he choked out, trying to not wake up his reluctant girlfriend. To his surprise Tachibana took off his helmet and the face of the kindly Emoto was facing him now. "Because I was the one who stated all of this. I let my anger at being overshadowed overrule my better judgment and killed my best friend and let Gamou harm others while I was taking part in all of this. But I soon began to regret my part in all this. So during any free time I had I created your Meteor arsenal as well as the Gate Switch for assisting Kengo. The truth of the matter is I wanted to stop Gamou as much as any of you but as he was my friend I was forced to keep my cover until Vilgax played his hand and killed half of the members. Thankfully I was able to gain some allies and was able to cure the remaining members, although I doubt the Aries Switcher will survive." Emoto took a deep breath and continued, with Ryu watching silently. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm too far gone for that. But I do must ask of you to keep the others safe and I promise you I will bring them home." With that Emoto ended the conversation. Ryu was a state of shock. Not only were the missing students mostly safe but as it turns out Tachibana wasn't a total asshole. As Tomoko stirred, the emotionally news hitting her rather hard he wondered how in the hell he would break the news to the remaining KRC members. The universe of Ben 10, a world thought of only as a fictional world...until now. As she sat on a swing and watched the moon as she swung back and forth Hope thought back to a time when she wasn't Charmcaster, the woman that killed 600,000 to bring back the father she missed so dearly. But those times weren't coming back and she knew it. Holding the Dark Virgo Switch she remembered how much her father loved the moon and how much it broke his heart that he wasn't able to see his daughter off as he spending his last moments fighting... she couldn't even think of his name, it upsets her too much! "I'm so sorry daddy. I guess I'm not your little girl anymore. Just another tyrant that the Plumbers have to deal with" she sobbed. The pain that went with being a ruler that everyone feared was too much for her to bear so she left without so much as a word. "I know you can't forgive me and I know that from the bottom of my heart. But please don't hate me for what I am forced to do for Vilgax" Hope croaked out, the very thought of fighting for Vilgax making her sick to her stomach. But the only thing she thought she had left was her rivalry with Ben, but over the years it became something more. She was in love in with now and despite the fact that she was three years older than him that never mattered to her. To think it happened that fast, to have those feeling brought before her. About five years ago... The people were running in absolute terror from Charmcaster but she didn't care. Hex needed the money so they could buy a home of their own, but given their criminal records that was something easily said than done. So she was forced to rob and harm the innocent, the very things she told her father she'd never do. Funny how life on the lab changes you, even if you don't want to. But she wanted to be a great magician and if you want to be that you needed to give a show and give a show she did. "Aw ha ha ha ha! Flee from the might of magic!" she boasted without really meaning it. The truth was, all she wanted was friends. But what came out from far from that. It was Ben. "Give it up you ugly witch! Ya know you can't beat the best!" the child gloated. Hope's face grew hot from her anger at the boy's rudeness and if his family wouldn't teach him manners then it would fall upon her to do so. In anger she blasted a bolt of power from her hands but Ben was ready to counter her attack. Slapping down his Omnitrix he became something she never saw before and when you're not from anywhere other than the birthplace of mana, that's saying a lot. "Feedback!" The jester looking thing caught her shot in his hand and fired it off back at her, only to hit a shield she made out of stone and terror. As the alien ran towards her Hope saw her life flashing before her eyes. She didn't want to die, not like this! But Ben was not going to even harm her. He just drained away the energy that was by her feet, stopping her protection spell, but she didn't think he would show her mercy. "Please, Ben, no" she whimpered. But Feedback just said this to her "I don't understand magic all that much but you have a real talent for it. Maybe if you keep your nose clean you have a future away from all this nonsense. Maybe even be a Plumber and fight the bad guys instead of being a bad guy!" Hope was quite pleased to hear that. Not having Gwen around made things easier to deal with and she felt something in her heart. Could had it been love? She didn't know it at the time as she caused more destruction than she intended. The ceiling was about to fall on a family that was caught in the crossfire and she could do nothing to stop it. She wasn't strong enough back then. Feedback ran over to them and tried to hold on while they escaped, not bothering to look back at the young mage. Just when they were out the ceiling fell onto Ben as a green light flashed to Hope's horror. She was so frightened that she even wanted Gwen to be there, even though she hated her guts. But nothing was stirring in that pile of rocks and plaster and she thought that she killed the great hero Ben Tennyson. Falling to her knees she looked on at the site, not sure on what to do for Ben. But when things were looking their darkest something happened. To her crying eyes she saw something moving, but what? Right before her the form of Fourarms arose triumphantly from the wreckage, arms flexed in a winner's pose. 'Sure Ben was riddled with ego problems but you have to admit he was a true hero' Hope thought to herself. But she had enough excitement for one day and with a common smoke bomb fled the scene of the crime, cash in tow. Back to the present day... Darkstar couldn't help himself. The moonlight shining on her silver hair, the smell of her, just the very thought that they were working together was quite pleasing to DarkStar. She was beautiful and more importantly to him his meal ticket. Despite having been raised around heroic Plumbers his whole life he always craved power over all else and he never though much of women as he firmly believed in the "Mother/Whore" mentality that disgusted nearly everyone he knew. But he couldn't care less. Now he had access to mana and the means to kill Ben and his new, if strange as all get out, friends. He could picture it now, his face and health restored and with all those he considered fools worshipping him like the god he saw himself as. But he was willing to wait until the morning, when people were at their weakest. Sure it was unsporting, but he cared nothing about honor nor the feelings of those he hurt. Perhaps when Ben is dead he will go after Gwen and Kevin next as they flew to where Ben and the others were just about to start a brand new day... Later... Manny loved getting up early in the morning. Not having Ben's new touchy feely friends awake was something that he needed. Yuki and Erin were alright, but when space is brought up they go wild over every little tidbit they can find. Erin is more level headed, if she did have a temper on her, while Yuki is creative and fun loving, though she panics way too easily. Not to mention Ran and Tojiro. Ran is loving and a great fighter from seeing her practice but she does not liked to be touched unless she tells you it's OK, which is rather hard sometimes and Tojiro, while friendly and carefree was LOUD. "Awwww! The best part of waking up is no one in my-" but his sentence was cut short by Gentaro's greeting. Out of all of them he was the loudest but he was a friendly guy who makes time for his pals. Still this was Manny time, not KRC time and he wanted Gen to know that. "Yo man, don't you get enough of me during the day? I kinda need my Me time, buddy" Manny gritted though his teeth. But Gen would have none of that. "I don't know when we will have to part ways. So we shall stay together as long as we can so we'll have wonderful memories to look back on" Gentaro somberly answered. So he polity gestured Manny back to the house when it was now a hotbed of activity. Inside... Tojiro and JK were hard at work making a new song. It wasn't for fame, but for the first time in a long time just for fun. It had a good beat to it, Manny thought, but it needed a good bit of work done before it would be a great song. But the two of them didn't care about that at all. "Ha HA! Nice to see that my fiery passion is growing hotter with my increasing skills! We're going to be a couple of badasses my friend!" Tojiro boomed to JK, thoughts of girls all over him present in his mind. But he was thoughtful of other's feelings, more so after JK taught him a few tricks about vocal control he learned from Miu. Surprising how much a cheerleader needed her voice but her help was much appreciated. "I'm glad that we're not as sucky anymore. I guess we needed our muses" JK stated as he looked at Erin, watching space footage with Yuki. The older transfer student was quite happy to help out the two rockers as she grew up listening to this sort of music and her advice was doing wonders for their music's quality. Erin was thrilled that space travel was possible in this world. "If only my father could see me now. I'm going to make him proud of me! Just think of the new worlds we'll see, Yuki-chan! To think that our dreams are coming true!" she excitedly shouted as she jumped out of her chair in joy. "I know, right? My parents love learning about other cultures and if we could bring this technology back with us then we can help people all over our world! There are other people out there and if we put our minds together then we're stronger than we are apart! Maybe I can see my friends in space that talked to me during my childhood" Yuki cheerfully added. Erin was not totally sure that Yuki's "space voices" are real but given that they met all sorts of odd characters in Ben's world anything's possible at this point. "Plus I think our families are going to get along so well! We'll be like sisters!" the space otaku happily told Erin as the both of them hugged each other. Theirs would be a friendship that lasts a lifetime. But as they were happily going about their business Hope watched from outside sadly. She so desperately wanted to see her father again but she knew that was never going to happen. As Ran and Julie went to finish breakfast, talking about things that they like to do, namely sports and spending time with their friends, Hop couldn't hold back a few tears from falling down. But she could not help but wonder where Ben was at time hour. As if the universe itself wanted her to know Ben walked right behind her, tired from his morning jog. But when Charmcaster turned around to see just who it was she was a tad startled. However Darkstar was ready for Ben. "You kept me from my Lovely Gwen, Ben. You denied me power and fame while you partiality swam in it. Well no more will I suffer your stupidity and your need to butt in everywhere I go!" As Darkstar changed to Dark Aquarius and tried to drown Ben his water blasts were blocked by something he knew all too well: Manny's hulking form. "We don't need a powerwash today, thanks!" the Tetramand snarked. Dark Aquarius was besides himself as he was able to survive his power draining waters. Perhaps if he could separate Ben from the others then this might go better. He would have so such luck as Fourze rolled into battle with his "Uchuu Kitta" battle cry. "A little help here would be splendid dear" D. Aquarius whined. No way was he fighting two opponents at once. "You always need more than a 'little' help" Charmcaster muttered under her breath as she mutated to the form of Dark Virgo. The Zodiart form was clad in blue dominatrix gear with two horns on her head. Gold chains were on her biceps and thighs and over her stomach and the Virgo constellation on her choker. Completing the look was a pair of black angel wings with a sad eggshell white face with black lipstick on the lips and a harsher looking halberd than the one Emoto wielded. "I look...not like myself anymore" as the fact that she used Diagon's power was setting in. "Whine about it later. Ben must die and I can't do the deed by myself, now can I?!"Michael snapped at Hope. Soon both Horoscopes were on top of Fourze as everyone looked on in shock. They were fighting viciously and Gen may not live without some aid. Aid that Ben is happy to provide. Turning to Swampfire he threw two fireballs apiece at D. Virgo and D. Aquarius, knocking them away from Fourze. "Thanks, Ben. I don't think I could have gotten them off myself" Fourze thanked the Plumber. "It's no biggie. Now then we have a job to do!" Dark Virgo slashed energy waves from her halberd at Fourze but he dodged them with a little trouble. Charmcaster was not as mellow as his normal foes and Gen needed to stay on his toes. But Charmcaster was always a quick study and soon she teleported behind him and broke his arm with a judo grab. "Gen-chan!" Yuki cried out in horror. "How dare you hurt him! He did nothing to you and you just want to fight, no matter who you hurt" Her words cut deeper than Yuki realized as Dark Virgo turned to her direction, staring her in the face. Yuki was shaking in terror as she wasn't sure what Charmcaster would do to her. But D. Virgo just wanted to talk. "I know from the Intel I got from the old Horoscopes that your friend is a good person and I don't wish to harm him further. But I have no home to go back to. My people will never want me back as I was such a tyrant to them. My life here is not much better but at least I have my pride left!" But Hope was feeling sadder than she was letting on and Yuki knew it. "Then why still with Vilgax? Perhaps we can help you get back on your feet? Is there someone who you care about? I'm sure that they must be worried about you right now" Yuki comforted the older girl. Hope was feeling batter and the person she cared about more than anything was right there. She didn't care what people thought about that anymore. She had to get it out! "The person I care about is BEN!" D. Virgo declaimed as she pointed to Swampfire, a look of confusion on his face. "Ben, I know this is sudden but ever since that day when I robbed that store I felt something growing in my heart. Now I know it's love and it's for you" Her words were a total shock to everyone there but poor Julie was just blindsided by the news! One of Ben's enemies...LOVED HIM? It was too much for her to take in as she ran back inside to think about what went down. Dark Aquarius was stunned by this as well. "I thought I was your greatest lover!" he protested. But Hope's mind was made up and Gwen has proven that Michael could not be trusted at all. "You were a horrible lover. Especially in bed" she bitterly admitted to Dark Aquarius. That was too much for his bloated ego to take as he grabbed onto her forcibly and began to drain away her power. "You were always such a brat, laughing like a crazy old woman! Hell, you LOOK like a old woman too! I don't think you deserve such gifts, you wreathed COW!" Soon Hope was human again, her skin pale as death. But Darkstar could care less about her condition. "HA HA HA! Now I am more than I was before! I have reached the final level of power, SUPERNOVA!" His body began to contort into a demonic state with sharp claws and jagged horns on his skull-like face. He then spun around like a sprinkler, spraying passerby with his dark waters, causing their life force to go into him body, increasing his power even more . Luckily the KRC knew to go inside when he was mutating, taking the limp form of Hope with them to so they were safe. The people he got his dark waters on, no such luck. Ben was angrier than ever by what he saw. The people he got with his Dark Waters were nothing but husks now, never to rise again. Going to his Benwolf form he slashed at Dark Aquarius to no avail. "You can't do it alone! Let me help you!" Fourze cried out as he switched to Magnet States, firing off attack after attack of magnetic power from his railguns. Seeing as that was not really helping Ben he leapt from a claw swipe from D. Aquarius with Hopping while blasting him with Launcher. Again, no effect. Ben howled at his mutated foe and ran towards Fourze. "I don' think we're doing all that great out there. Darkstar's just too strong for us!" Fourze sadly nodded his admittance to his doubts on stopping Darkstar. Benwolf gritted his teeth as he was helpless before his onslaught and he could do nothing about it! But then something happened. The love Yuki was feeling for Gen as well as the bonds of friendship they all share brought new life to a Switch Fourze thought he's never use again! The Cosmic Switch was back online! Thanking his friends silently as he placed it into the Fourze Driver he turned it on and all the other Switchs aside from Shin-Chan and Super-1 went into his suit, turning it electric blue with more armor to it as well as arming him with a sword that looked like a rocket. Yuki and JK were pleased to see that their friendship was now stronger than ever! Cosmic States was back and there was going to be trouble for Dark Aquarius! The form of Cosmic States was truly a sight to behold. Cyan blue was its main color with a black chest piece with four different parts, each devoted to a set of Modules. As it shone in the morning sunlight Dark Aquarius could not help but say this: "I take it you have no shame whatsoever. A pity you will never learn your place in this world or any other" as he swung his claw down over Fourze. But Gen was ready for that as he touched the parts of the Switching Lung that gave him Shield and Parachute, making the chutes harder than steel. Not surprisingly his claw was unable to penetrate his defenses. "What is this power?!" he exclaimed. "It is friendship's true power, the power to overcome any obstacles" Fourze answered from the very bottom of his heart. While it was a corny response everyone but D. Aquarius was touched by what he said. Equipping Chain Array he then combined it with Fire's power, causing the ball at the end of it to come ablaze. Benwolf was impressed with the abilities of Cosmic States. "Whoa! Why didn't you bust that out earlier, man? That is seriously cool!" From the safety of the window JK filled Ben in on Cosmic States' rundown. "From what Kengo-san told us Switch 40 is an embodiment of Cosmic Energy and friendship. While it allows the user to combine the powers of all 40 Switches it needs the user to have strong bonds of friendship. If any of the bonds that made up the Switch are broken then it's rendered useless" JK answered. "I was not being a good friend to you nor Yuki-chan" Gen admitted as he bashed Darkstar with the blazing Chain Array. "I lost sight of what truly matters but thanks to Ben I saw myself in him. We both wish to fight for our friends and befriend everyone in the universe!" With his heart's desire out for all to see Gen then did a jumping dive kick with the Drill Module, harming D. Aquarius and giving Ben an opening. Ben did not waste the chance he was given and went for NRG, grabbing onto the hulking Dark Aquarius and punching him with red hot fists as he blasted his face with energy, burning him. Yuki was quite touched by what Gen said. To think that they both felt the same way about each other! As their eyes met they couldn't help but be amazed by how much they meant to both the Club and each other. "Gen-chan..." she blissfully said as she was lost in the sight of her best friend, back in top form and with his bond with her stronger than ever before. Gen gave her a thumbs-up then when back to the battle. He wanted to hold her in his arms, to take in her warmth and enjoy her company, but the duties of a Kamen Rider come first. As he roared into D. Aquarius with Wheel he summoned the Barizan Sword, placing the Fire Switch into its hilt. Pressing the button for Flash the sword then burst to life with blinding flame as he stuck Darkstar with it four times, causing smoldering slash marks to form on his Zodiart body. Before his mind could fully register the pain he was now in Ben turned into Armordrillo and uppercutted his chin with a drill. As he staggered back he blasted them both with dark water, draining their strength and adding it to his own! To the horror of everyone there Gen and Ben fell down, too tired to fight back as Dark Aquarius then knocked them both into the air and kept them there with repeated attacks, causing them both much harm. Soon Ben was back to being human again, unable to fight on anymore, leaving Gentaro on his own. Julie and the KRC knew not what they could do to help them! They were only human and Manny was still recovering from Darkstar's earlier attack. As they were forced to watch helplessly Julie turned to Charmcaster's slumbering form. "I'll admit I'm still a little possessive of Ben. But I'm working on bettering myself so I can a better friend to him as well as other people. If you truly care about him, then help US!" she begged the mage. Charmcaster woke up to Julie's relief but she still looked uneasy about whenever she could even do anything to stop Dark Aquarius' rampage. "I'm not sure if he even can be stopped now. He drains power from everything his waters touch and I doubt even Vilgax could stop him now. It's best to accept death as it's hopeless" she sighed. Charmcaster couldn't get out of her funk and while Julie was normally willing to help people out gently, now wasn't the time to sulk around and wait until she died. Furiously slapping Charmcaster she yelled, "What do you mean there's no hope left?! There's always a chance if you just fight on! But you lost sight of everything good in your life because you got greedy! You were someone's hope once! I just know it!" Hearing that brought life back to Charmcaster's eyes. To Julie's surprise she hugged her and thanked her. "You're right. I was my father's Hope once. It's time I became that again, for all of our sakes" As Dark Aquarius closed in on the limping form of Fourze he prepared to crush the very life out of the Rider. But then he was tackled by stone beasts. He knew where they were from, but he was shocked that SHE would set them loose on him! Her former boyfriend! "CHARMCASTER! How dare you do this to meee?! I was to be your king!" he howled, giving up on attacking Fourze for the time being. "What do you think? For using me and harming Legerdomain! But if you can remember my true name, then I MIGHT be merciful." Charmcaster vemomly spat out, her glare colder then ice. "You only get one more chance Michael" Annoyed, Darkstar angrily answered, "Fine. But you do owe me a hint!" Calming down a bit Charmcaster stated this riddle: "It's something Ben gives to the people. It's something you cannot touch but be gained and taken away. It's one of the most important things to everyone and it starts with a H. One word." Like a hyper kid Fourze wanted to answer as he guessed correctly what Charamcaster's real name was, but she shushed him. She wanted to see if Mike could remember. Darkstar thought long and hard about this. When seven minutes have passed he answered her question. It was not what she was wanting. "It's headaches! What else could the answer be?!" Charmcaster was livid. She could stand no more of Dark Aquarius and his arrogance. "IT'S HOPE, YOU BASTARD! " she roared as she casted a lighting spell to hit him over and over while he was held in place with Turbo. "I can't believe I fell for you! I was so stupid that I was even able to let you sleep with me!" During her raging Ben woke up. "Uggghhh. I never want to drink water without it being purified again for as long as I live" as he rubbed his head groggily. Seeing that Dark Aquarius was on the rope he shouted at Gen "I think he wants to get away, but he really needs to chill out!" "You're right. I think I have a idea" as he saw the note Yuki made out to him, suggesting combining two Modules' powers for this occasion. Summoning the Freeze Switch and setting it into the Fourze Driver he then pressed the button for Sheath on the Switching Lung. With those two powers combined a invisible gust of freezing air came out of the Freeze Module, though Darkstar didn't realize what their plan was until it was too late. "Uggh-Uh-AAAGGHHHH! I'm stuck!" To his frustration his lower half was covered in thick ice."But it's not something my watery wings can't fix!" he boasted. As he flapped his wings the ice grew colder and harder and no matter what he tried he was stuck as Dante's version of Satan. He was finally helpless before the hands of justice. "Thank you Hope. I gotta admit it's a pretty name you have there" Ben complemented her, causing her to blush, while Julie looked a little uncomfortable with what was going on right now. But Gen was ready to finish the job. Thanking Yuki and the others for their help he closed the Barizan Sword to its Rocket Mode, opening a warp drive behind Dark Aquarius. He could do nothing but flail his arms around as he was forced into the portal and into outer space. As he looked around he was scared out of his wits. "What is this power you wield? How can it be greater than my own?!" as he whined and pleated with Fourze. But Gentaro was in no mood for this. Taking out the Cosmic Switch and plugging it into the Barizan Sword he then set up his Limit Break with said weapon. Soon he reopened the sword and slashed him with its full power. As his body began to fall apart Darkstar was still unsure just why he lost to Fourze. "Tell me... the secret of your greatness" Fourze answered "It's the hopes and dreams of all my friends. When we work together there's nothing we cannot do! It's the belief I treasure most dearly!" he proudly shouted at D. Aquarius before he blew up and from out of the destroyed Zodiart body came the dying Darkstar. With his last breath he tried to return to monster form but he soon crumbed to stardust before he had a chance to do so. Fourze looked on sadly as his remains drifted away in the solar winds, wondering if he had gotten here sooner he could have been saved. Later... It took a long time but all the bodies were cleaned up by sanitation. It was heartbreaking to the KRC, having to watch helplessly as Darkstar killed them. As they sat down and discussed what they needed to do with their lives Emoto stopped by, looking a bit worn out. It was still hard to believe that this kind hearted, if eccentric man was Virgo of the Horoscopes. "I've heard what happened during my drive here. I'm truly sorry you all had to deal with that" Emoto then took a deep breath as this next thing he wished to say was important. "I was able to contact the Rabbit Hatch back home and told everyone that apart from Yuta you were all safe. But we cannot go home just yet" "Why can't we go back just yet? I'm worried about Haru-chan and I know he's worried sick about me too" Ran interjected. Haru was like a younger brother to her and she missed him dearly. "When we crossed over to Ben's dimension the Horoscope Switched were overloaded for lack of a better term. They are filled to the brim with negative Cosmic Energy so if a person is struck with a Limit Break while in Horoscope form then there is a chance that they will crumble into stardust. This applies to very strong blows as well. Thankfully if the Switcher is not a evil person then they will just be reverted to human form, though as you all know they will need to get the energy drained from their bodies or there will be side effects." "So that's why some of these 'Dark Horoscopes' are falling apart after Ben and Gen-chan battled them" Erin mused. "Correct. But so far there's only 6 of these left. The Switchers for Dark Leo, Dark Sagittarius and Dark Scorpio have been found but I think they'll be safe for now. But there's still the matter of dealing with Dark Cancer, Dark Capricorn and Dark Libra." Emoto's words rung true in the ears of everyone present. Something must be done. "We have been thinking this over for a long time now. We want to help out the people here and make things better for everyone!" Gentaro and Tojiro enthusiastically told Emoto. Yuki, JK, Ran and Erin nodded to let him know they felt the same way they did. "We even thought of a name for our group! We'll be the Guiding Stars! We can do odd jobs for people so they can live happier lives!" Yuki cheerfully added. " I'm so excited about this" as she jumped up and down, looking like a kid in a candy store. Erin gently smiled at her enthusiasm as Gen wrapped his arms around her. "We shall do great things here. We will make friends with everyone here!" Gentaro declared as Yuki rested her head on his chest, looking content. "I'm glad to hear that. But I have something I need to give to Manny and then I have to go back to work." Emoto told the Kamen Rider Club. Sure enough Manny popped his head out from the living room. "I take it you have a gift for me?" he asked innocently. Emoto smiled and opened a box and inside was a red hand. "Dude, no way! How'd you know I wanted something better than this crappy clamp?" "I could see it on your face. I figured you deserved something more fitting to your personally" Emoto admitted. It took about five minutes to replace the clamp with the new hand. To Manny's joy it worked perfectly! "Thanks man! Stupid Dr. Animo had a Null Guardian bite off my hand! It's great to have a hand again!" Manny was close to tears as the KRC hugged him. Emoto smiled at the heart warming scene. Still he couldn't help but wonder where Ben, Julie and Hope were. Outside... Hope had changed to a leather outfit holding a purple helmet. To her right were Ben and Julie looking at her and wanting to know her future plans. "I'm sorry about freaking out about your crush on Ben. It's just I love him so much and every though I know other people love him I'm still learning to share him with the world. Can you ever forgive me?" Julie sadly asked. "Don't sweat it too much. Your devotion to Ben is remarkable and to be honest I'm still learning to forgive myself. It's going to take a long time but I'm glad I have friends like you" Hope told them, a gentle smile on her face. "Just so we're clear I'm touched that you feel that way about me, but I'm happy with Julie. Is that going to be OK with you, Hope?" Ben was worried his question would set her off but she was handling it rahter well. "Of course I'm happy for the both of you! You saved me from things I was so close to becoming. I'll always be happy for you both! As for me, I'm going to go where the winds take me" Hope then placed the helmet on her head but took some time to shake Ben and Julie's hands goodbye. A new dawn was now in sight for the former princess and she plans on seizing the day and hopefully her future as well. "Wait!" It was Gentaro, and he wanted to make sure she was a friend of the Kamen Rider Club as well. Soon they both shook hands then fist bumped and surely enough their friendship was set! "Thanks for everything. But I have a lot to make up for and not a lot of time to do so. You only get one life and I don't want to waste any more of mine doing crime." Hope's motorcycle roared to life as she was about to head out. "Oh Ben! I fixed your car for you! It's not much but it's a start!" as she drove on, a new chapter in her life was just about to begin. Two minutes later... While everyone was out getting lunch Ben went to the garage where his car was. Now it was no longer wreaked and green. Now it was good as new. Better than new even! Instead of a green and black paintjob it was now white where the black was and where the green was there was now pink with sugar pink hearts on those parts. "Thanks Hope. I hope that you find what you're looking for" as he got in, the insides now having pink and white upholstery as he got in and was about to drive to Mr. Smoothy. Surely enough life was starting to get a little better. But his cellular breakdown caused him sharp and sudden pain before he could even get the key in the ignition. Trying to calm down Ben wondered if HE could be saved... |
03-17-2013, 03:36 PM | #16 |
Neon Blade Outlaw
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Californa
Posts: 2,725
|
Vilgax's lair deep in underground Bellwood...
As the former ruler sat in his custom made chair he pondered about his future. Granted he had much time to mull about that when his first attempt at the Omnitrix left him with next to nothing for a body, but this time was something special. Now thanks to Diagon or rather his power he had one final gambit left to go after Ben: The Dark Horoscope Switches! 'It seems that while I've lost power, I have gained something greater than that' he thought as Pysphon entered the room with the uncousoius bodies of Cash, JT and Emily. 'A chance to make Ben suffer as I did when he nonchalantly told me that my world was in ruins. But should I go ahead with this or risk losing Dark Cancer or Dark Capricorn by having them attack Ben and his friends to soften them up for the new recruits?' As if he was saying these things vocally Pysphon answered his master. "Perhaps it is wise to have the two of them, as well as myself weaken Ben while you work on getting our guest ready for their next mission in life." Vilgax nodded his approval, a sick grin forming on his face. "I'm impressed that your Dark Libra powers allow you to read minds. But perhaps the true power of this form is its special abilty to become more than it normally does for short periods of time. With Argit and Aggregor working alongside you I'll have plenty of time to ready these children for our needs." As Pysphon went to go get his two other partners Vilgax stopped him with these words: "I must admit that your loyalty is remarkable. Not many beings can say that they will follow a leader until death and be truthful about it. I must take the time to thank you for your effects in our plans and I wish to see you improve your skills as time goes on" Pysphon thanked his master as he changed to the form of Dark Libra and it was a horrid sight to behold! Whereas Kouhei's Libra was like a cockroach Pysphon's was inclined more like a mantis. Sharp and jagged blades were on his elbows and shoulders. His helmet had two red eyes as opposed to Kouhei's one. Apart from those differences and the form being more green with mantis wings it was about the same as the first Libra. "I shall serve you until I am no longer able to, Lord Vilgax" as Dark Libra bowed to his master. He then when to get Argit and Aggregor to start this new plan. Vilgax was quite pleased to this indeed. Downtown Bellwood... Sure it was a rocky start but the Guiding Stars have gained steady clientele and are about to start their second week of business! Ben was quite pleased with this as while the Plumbers did pay him for his line of work it couldn't cover both himself and his guests. He was thankful that they were willing to help out with his bills. Now as he drove to a customer's house with Julie, Gen and JK in his car Ben wondered if things will get better as time goes on. Starting a new business was always stressful and he didn't want to think about how much he'd have to give up to pay for everything should this go south. But as he pulled up he put those thoughts aside and got out of the car, ready to face the new day. "Good morning my good sir! We heard that you were in need of housework done! Well then let the Guiding Stars do the work so you don't have to!" Ben announced in a somewhat overly cheerfully tone. The man, who was a bit heavyset looked at the group with a inquisitive eye, not totally sure if they can do the job he had planned for them. "Where's ta rest of ya?!" he barked, getting spit over Ben's face to his disgust. "I ain't got all day!" Just as the words left his mouth Kevin's lavender car pulled up in the driveway and Yuki, Tojiro, Erin and Ran got out to greet the grumpy fellow. "Sorry about getting here as late as we did, old dude. Traffic is terrible this time of day" Tojiro told the pudgy man. He gave the rocker a look and then gave a sort of half smile, letting them all know they can do the work he had planned for them. "OK, so here's ta thing. I gots to watch over this mansion here and it gets dirty faster than ya would think. Can ya cleans it all up for me?" he wheezed lazily. Ben told him that his group would be able to do it, but truthfully he was not paying full attention to Ben as he was gawking at the girls, making them uncomfortable. "OK then! Ya got until sundown to finish this job or I'm gonna blacklist the lot of ya! I got things ta do so try to do your best job!" as he entered his old truck and drove off, leaving the GS to their deeds. "Oooookkk then. Now then I want all of us to do the best job we can because we're.." Ben left the sentence hang for the others to answer but Manny crashed down by them, making them wobble as the earth shook from under them. When things have calmed down all eyes were on the Tetramand. "Hey, jumping is the only way I can get to the places we need to be. In case none of you have noticed I'm not the lightest person in our group and do you think I can fit into Ben's car, let alone Kevin's?" Manny retorted. While none of them were mad at him Manny never felt truly comfortable in his own skin. Whenever he asked girls on dates they generally end with the human girls getting weirded out or the Tetramand girls saying he's not really their type. He thought he had a thing with Helen, but after Pierce's death she had no time for anything Manny wanted to do, least of all romance. "No one here was blaming you. It's just you startled us a bit, but we're OK" Ran told him. She did care for Manny like everyone else but after being looked at by a overweight pervert she answered him with a sharper tone than she'd like to. But Manny was relaxed by what she said to him nonetheless. "Thanks Ran. Y'know, for a first year you got a good head on your shoulders" as he rubbed her hair in a friendly way, although she was a little freaked out by this. But she was both thankful he stopped as soon as he started and a little sad, as she wanted to be more open to people but it was a slow process for her. Erin cleared her throat and stated the plan of attack: "If we begin on the top floor then keep working down we'll have more energy to do the harder work first and save time by not loading and unloading our supplies all the time. Besides how bad can one man be at getting a three story mansion dirty?" She soon learned the hard way that their customer was quite good at making messes. The floor was literally covered in pizza boxes, rotting and moldy foodstuffs, old clothes that were too ripped up to ever use again and various liquors in pools on the ground below, making it impossible to tell what color the rug was before the current occupant took residence here. The walls were soaked in odd stains in every color you can find food in and there was piles of porn EVERYWHERE. Plus the aforementioned items were covered in a thick layer of dust and keep in mind this is only the first floor! To make matters worse the bathroom was flooded with toilet water, about a foot or so, but Erin found that out the hard way as she opened the door and it rushed all over her shoes. Erin was never a person to handle stressful things all that well and this was one of the worst things she has ever seen before. Screaming at the top of her lungs, scaring Yuki and JK in the process Erin then sat down in a old chair and cried in frustration. "HOW CAN ONE MAN DO ALL OF THIS?! WE NEED A HAZMAT TEAM TO CLEAN THIS OUT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO EVEN RENT ONE! HE SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO LIVE HERE, HE'S MORE LIKE A PIG THAN A MAN!" As Yuki tried to calm her friend down, Ben looked over the carnage that was this man's house. Clearly he didn't deserve to live in such a nice place, but he figured that they were all thinking that by now. Selecting Terraspin Ben then blew the garbage out onto the yard to the amazement of everyone there. Erin calmed down enough to see Ben's handiwork and she was very pleased indeed. "Bugoi. Ben, you're amazing! I wish I had a Omnitrix like yours! While it would make my job easier I plan on becoming an astronaut under my own skills." as she ran up to Ben or rather Terraspin and hugged him out of gratitude as did Yuki. "Thank you so much Ben-san" both girls told him as they buried their faces on his shell, making Julie a little jealous. "O-OK girls, it's time to let go now" Terraspin pleaded to no avail as both girls were snuggling his turtle chest as they were glad Ben was being such a big help and the fact that they both think Terraspin is cute. "But you can hold on for a little while longer. I'm cool with this" as he blushed a darker green. Truthfully Ben did like having two hot girls fawning over him and wished they would do so in his normal human form. But Tojiro was getting impatient with all this. "C'mon guys, we're burin' daylight here and the less I see of this pigsty the better", holding his nose to block off the horrid smell of years of neglect. Erin and Yuki let go of the turtle reluctantly and everyone got back to work. 11:49 A.M., standard time... It was more work than they thought but soon the first floor was spotless. Granted Gen and Ben did most of the work, with Gentaro using his Fourze powers to reach arenas that the others couldn't get to and Ben power washing the walls with Water Hazard, lifting heavy items with Fourarms and eating things that couldn't be thrown away nor recycled with Eatle, but everyone else did more than enough work cleaning the mansion floor and making sure that everything was looking spic and span. But soon the reality of having to do the other two higher floors sank in and everyone was worried that this job wouldn't get done by the time they client got back. JK was exhausted by all of this, more so than the others. "Can we PLEASE stop for lunch? I don't wanna do anymore work on a empty stomach" he whined, his stomach grumbling with hunger.. "I agree with JK. We should have a relaxing lunch so we can unwind and be able to focus on the rest of the day without too much stress" Gentaro cheerfully told the group. The girls nodded happily about having a chance to stop doing this dirty work and relax with a good meal, while Manny pointed to Ben who was still Eatle. "Yo Ben, you hungry or what?!" he shouted at Eatle blasted the garbage into smaller chucks with his laser powers. When he was finished he turned to Manny and walked over to him. "Yeah, I guess I'm still a little hungry. Even with Eatle's powers I'm still workin' up a sweat here" as Ben reverted to human form, rubbing his stomach. "Then if we're all in agreement let the lunch break begin!" Yuki declared with passionate zeal, her face aglow with happiness. Meanwhile, just five block away from where our heroes are now... Argit and Dark Libra were under the streets of Bellwood, going over the plan to weaken Ben. But so far Argit was having some difficulties with understanding this plan of attack. "Ok, so let me get this straight. We're just going to rough him up a bit, right" he asked as Dark Libra rubbed his face in annoyed disbelief. "It's far more than that, you simpleton. We need to drain Tennyson of his power so that when Vilgax gets the others ready then Ben will be crushed utterly!" Dark Libra explained, slamming his fist down into his open hand for dramatic effect as Argit finally got it. He wished that he understood sooner, but better late than never, as the humans are so often fond of saying. Aggregor was already in his Dark Capricorn form. It had leather pants, spiked boots and belts, black armguards and a leather duster over a demonic goatman body. He wore a chestplate with the Capricorn constellation on it. However that didn't change his overall personally at all. "At least you now understand what our duty is" he hissed though his teeth. To think that he must now work for Vilgax, of all people! 'Maybe I shouldn't have blown up my ship, now that I have had time to think that over' he thought. "Yup! I'm raring to go here! Just say the word and I'm already there! But I have to ask you somethin', if that's OK with ya" Argit asked Dark Capricorn, not totally sure if he would even want to answer his question. "You may speak to me" D. Capricorn told the rat alien, a hint of malice in his voice. "You really gotta get those growths on your head check out, Kevin. You might have something going on in the ol membrane that you REALLY don't want in there" Argit admitted to Aggregor, causing him to raise a eyebrow in annoyance. How Argit can tell one Osmosian from another, but keep confusing him with the hatchling Kevin, he would never know. "Enough chatter, the both of you! We're approaching Ben and his little play group, so keep your mouths shut" Dark Libra snapped, causing Argit to clam up instantly and Dark Capricorn to glare at him for ordering him around, but no more than that. "Soon Ben will fall before our might and Vilgax shall rule this universe and perhaps all others as well!" Noon... Ben had to admit the lunches of the KRC members looked really good. All sorts of sushis, ,meat dishes, rices, vegetables and deserts looked good enough to eat. Their lunches made his peanut butter and tofu sandwiches look feebly by comparison. As he sipped his apple juice from his thermos he regretted not taking the time to make a better meal for himself. Granted he was dying from cellular breakdown and he was doing a lot of work with Gwen, Kevin and Grandpa Max offworld, but at least he should have made time to make something better than, well, PB and Tofu sandwiches! Gentaro walked up to Ben and had something to say to Ben. "I noticed that you were rushing to get out the door this morning. So I thought I would let you have some of mine to help you out, Ben-san" as he offered Ben his octopus sushi and natto. The smell alone was too much for Ben, even though he knew Stinkfly's odor was far worse. Still he couldn't just snub Gentaro away, not after he was nice enough to offer part of his meal. "Thanks man, but I'll manage" he politely declined. Gentaro looked a little sad that Ben was going to eat a small and rather unappetizing lunch, but he was willing to respect his wishes and headed back to where JK and Tojiro were eating. Since they finished early Erin and Yuki wanted to show the group their idea for their mascot. In Erin's hands was a odd animal with eight legs and a weird looking snout, but she was holding it as if it were the cutest thing ever. "This is a Tardigrade, or as it's better known as, the Waterbear" Erin explained to the group. "So far they are the only animals to survive the vacuum of outer space. Plus they're cute as can be!" as she snuggles with the plush toy. Yuki was admiring the toy as well, but Ben was a bit grossed out by their choice of mascot. He had a good number of aliens that can survive in space, Upgrade being the first to prove that, but he doubted that everyone wanted him to be the mascot. "Of course Erin-chan as well as myself think it's rather cruel to force innocent animals out into space for experimentation. We think that by choosing this animal as our mascot we have a strong totem to draw strength from in times of need" Yuki bubbly told the group as she smiled one of her cute smiles. Gentaro loved seeing her happy and he would always be willing to support her in her dreams of space. After all she did invite everyone of her friends to join her plus he always wanted to go out into space and make friends with all sorts of beings! But he was a little bothered by their choice of totem animal, but he was polite and kept quiet as they presented their ideas to the group. JK however was not thrilled by the odd looking plushy and the effects it was having on his appetite. Yuki was his club chairman and he did love her as a dear friend, but sometimes she finds the weirdest thing to talk about. Normally he'd just go with it but he was wanting to eat and he couldn't with that thing in his line of sight. Manners be damned, that thing had to go away! "Yuki, put that ugly thing away! It's grossing me out!" he bellowed, hurting both Yuki and Erin's feelings, causing Yuki to sob and Erin to tear up a bit. Ran was not pleased by what he did. "How rude! I wasn't too happy about it myself, but you could at least shown a little tact JK-kun! They worked hard on that and you were rather blunt about how you felt about it!" her voice shaking from anger. JK started to feel bad about what he did to the older girls. Sure he didn't share their love of space but they were polite in listening to him and Tojiro talk about rock and roll without complaining one little bit. "I think you owe them both a apology JK-kun" Ran growled at the older boy. " I won't tolerate bullies, not even if they're my fellow club members" JK swallowed hard and tried to work up the nerve to tell Yuki and Erin he didn't mean to hurt their feelings, but he was too nervous to do so. Gentaro, normally a person to see the best people no matter what, was looking at JK as if he was Sudodeath himself. It was not a look JK liked seeing from Gen, even more so when it was directed to himself. Admitting defeat he was about to tell them he was sorry about what he told them about the waterbear, but before he could get a word in to the girls Dark Libra and Dark Capricorn busted in from the sewers, with Argit hot on their heels. "Greeting Ben Tennyson, savior of the universe, hero of the Highbreed invasion and legend to all" Dark Libra mocked the Omnitrix bearer. Ben had to roll his eyes at the odd scene before him, as Pysphon was always a drama queen and his new form of Dark Libra would perhaps never change that fact. "C'mon Pysphon, surely you of all people know by now that I outgrew that part of my life. But since you came all this way you do deserve a treat: knuckle sandwiches for all Horoscope members!" as he slapped down the dial and became a one-eye form. But it was not the right one. "Ah, c'mon! Wildvine! I wanted Chromastone!" Ben just shrugged it off. "It's cool. I can work with this. I've dealt with Omnitrix malfunctions before. This time is no different" as he threw seed bombs at Dark Libra, who swatted them away with DIKE, knocking them back to Wildvine, who tunnled below ground to escape the blasts. "No givebacks!" was his response. During Ben's battle with D. Libra Argit was now facing the Plumber known as Manny Armstrong. Even Argit, dumb as he was, knew he needed a edge against a Tetramand warrior and the Dark Cancer Switch was all the edge he needed. "Check this out, you big lummox!" as he clicked the Switch to life and became the titular Dark Cancer himself. He was a blue crab humanoid with white pecs and claws that can change into strong claws when he willed them to. On his chest was the Cancer constellation. Doing a roundhouse kick to Manny's head he was able to knock the wind out of his lungs and stagger him. Argit wasted no time and jumped onto Manny, punching him over and over with his claws, cutting into his flesh. "Ha ha! Who's the big guy now, huh? Hey Kevin, check me out! I'm kickin' butt out here!" But the man who Argit thinks is Kevin was paying him no mind. As Dark Capricorn and Fourze clashed Gen was still worried about Yuki and Erin. But the both of them were able to put JK's harsh words out of their minds, helping people out of the crossfire along with the others. Still JK needed to tell them he was sorry later. That moment when he wasn't focusing on the fight left him open to a sharp jab from Dark Capricorn. "Are you even a warrior, boy? If you do not wish to fight then die right here and now!" as Aggregor tried to kick Fourze's head off, but he blocked it with the Shield Module. He was then open to counter attack by the Gattling Module, damaging his form and setting him square on his back. Gen then used the Brush Module to wrap up Dark Capricorn in ink wrappings. "I'd fight with you some more but it seems you're a little wrapped up right now" he joked and Wildvine gave him a thumbs up to show his approval. But so far the heroes were not gaining any ground in this battle. "They're too strong for us! We gotta fall back" as Manny threw Dark Cancer off and rubbed some blood off his face. "Hey Ben, you got any other aliens that can help out a little more? Wildvine's not cutting it against these jokers!" Turning the dial Ben went to Eatle and bit down on the Dike, breaking it. As Dark Libra snarled at him Ben contently chewed on the broken staff and swallowed it. Burping loudly he gave the opinion that it "Needed salt" Pysphon was so angry that he went Supernova, changing to a big black dog with teeth sharper than saw blades. As Eatle went wideyed at Dark Libra's new form he quipped "I get that you see yourself as Vilgax's loyal hound, but what does that have to do with Libra?" Drooling Dark Libra roared out "This is the power of the BLACK ZODIAC! You bore witness to its powers before, but I have mastered all my abilities! Now DIIEEE!" as he tackled Ben to the ground, trying to bite his head off but Benn wouldn't hold still long enough to give him that window of opportunity. Fourze was shocked by Dark Libra's form. Surely normal Horoscopes couldn't do that. When he turned around he saw that Dark Capricorn was in Supernova form too, his being a nasty looking fish headed man with suckers on his hands. "What's going on here?" the Rider wondered, but Dark Capricorn would give him no quarters. shoulder ramming Fourze and grabbed onto his head, draining away his energy. "GEN! BEN! Hold on guys I'm coming- AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" as Dark Cancer in his snake Supernova Form started to crush the very life out of him. "Ah ,Argit. Pick a animal and stick with it!" but his pleads were ignored by the hissing Dark Horoscope as he continued his dark deed. Things were looking bad for the three and as much as the rest of them wanted to help they knew they would only get in the way. 'If only Ship were here then I could save them. But Kevin can't keep his spaceship in one piece even if his life mattered so Ship had to take them while his was getting repaired. Of all the times for this to happen' Julie thought as her face was one of absolute worry. But the matter on her mind that worried her more was just was this Black Zodiac that they're talking about? Could Jimmy know about all this? Eatle was having the best luck out of the three, but given that he was still fighting for his life that wasn't saying all that much. Gen and Manny were dying and he couldn't do a damn thing about that! Soon everyone would be in danger and he was powerless to stop it! If only Azmuth left the Ultimate function on the new Omnitrix, then things would be different, that's for sure! But that's not going to happen. If he wanted to turn the tide then he had to think his way out of this. No more can he fall back on going Ultimate. "Ready to die?" Dark Libra growled at drool dripped onto Eatle, making the beetle a tad ill. But Ben didn't want to die, not from overuse of the Ultimatrix and certainly not from becoming Psyphon's chew toy! Just a block or two from where the battle was... Prof. Emoto was just wanting to see how their new business was doing. But it seems n matter where you go there will always be those who seek to harm the innocent. Luckily he was able to finish something that may turn things around. He just hoped he got there in time. Back to where we were before... Fourze's vision was growing dimmer as his life force was drained away. No matter how much the others pleaded Dark Capricorn kept taking away his life force."When I'm done with this foolish boy I shall see to it you will never interfere with my plans again" he hissed, causing the KRC to step back in fear. But soon he was struck by a flash of light from...Meteor? No it wasn't Ryusei. It was Emoto holding a laser that held a spare Meteor Switch in its butt. "Forgive my lateness, everyone" Emoto chuckled nervously. He then turned to Dark Capricorn, who was reeling from the blast, anger in his eyes. "You will not kill this boy. He believes in friendship more than most of us and it would do this world and mine no good if he was taken away from us again." as Dark Capricorn was staring at him. Deep down in his soul Aggregor was stunned that a human could give off such a glare. "Gentaro, use this" as Emoto threw both the spare Meteor Switch as well as a purple Switch with a globe on it. Not missing a beat he answered "I don't fully trust Ryusei with the Meteor system. That's why I have a spare on hand in case the worst happened." as his features softened. "Who would trust Ryu?!" JK shot out. He was still upset that Gentaro forgave him so easily, seeing as he was the one to kill Gentaro. But Gen, being who he was, understood that he did it to save his friend and was able to get the others to understand why he did that. Granted JK will never trust Ryusei fully again after the students of Subaruboshi High were forced to kill the Kamen Rider Club after Gen's death. That was a memory that would stay will the youth for the rest of his life and he has been wanting to say this for some time now. "Ryusei sucks!" But even at death's door Gentaro was willing to believe in his fellow Rider. "Ryu-san was only trying to save his friends. He deserves our trust and surport" But even saying that was hard as he was drained of almost all his power. Emoto however wasn't too worried. "Use the Switches I gave you Gentaro! You will have power beyond what you thought possible." Listening to his advice Gen placed the Meteor Switch in the Circle slot and the Fusion Switch in the Square slot and brought them both to life. "Meteor ON!" "Fusion ON!" Soon Fourze was fully restored as he now wore a purple suit with gold shoulder pads. On his arm he wore the Meteor Galaxy and in his free hand he held the Barizun Sword. "Behold...Fusion States" Emoto told the group before him. "Now Fourze has the power of both himself and Meteor" "Yata! Thank you, Emoto-sensei!" Fourze thanked the professor as he kicked Dark Capricorn away with his newfound mastery of Jeet Kune Do. "I feel closer than ever to Ryusei-kun. Our hearts must be as one at this moment." Emoto nodded happily at this. "I'm glad you feel that way Gentaro. Now end this battle before anyone gets hurt" With his advice in his heart Gentaro fired off a salvo of missiles from the Launcher Module, which thanks to the Fusion Switch, were stronger than normally. They hit D. Capricorn hard as the explosions rocked him up into the air. Before Aggregor could react Fourze prepped a Limit Break just for him. Setting both the Drill and Meteor Switches to full Power Gen then leapt into the air and began to come down hard, the Drill Module glowing with the power of Meteor Storm. "Rider Meteor Drill Kick!" The attack hit Dark Capricorn dead in the heart, sending Aggregor back to his normal form. He soon crumbled to stardust, never to darken the doorsteps of the Plumbers again. "KEVIN! NOOO!" Dark Cancer was shocked by what he saw. He reverted to his normal form and fired off acidic bubbles at Manny. Manny however was thankful he let go as his bubble were easy to dodge. "I am not a guy to hug other people but in your case I'll make an exception!" as he grabbed onto the crab Zodiarts and jumped about 30 feet into the air before crashing down with a Pile Driver...over the mansion he thought was abandoned. The force of his final strike utterly ruined the old dwelling, causing it to implode on itself. But Manny popped up as happy as can be. But he wondering why the rest of the group was glaring at him. "What?" Knocked out of Dark Cancer form Argit crawled out of the wreckage and sat down. "Aw man, poor Kevin. How am I going to break this to Gwen? He would never have to worry about that as he was soon beamed up by a Plumber ship piloted by Gwen and Kevin themselves. "Kevin! Oh man, I thought I lost ya, buddy!" as he hugged his former partner. "Glad to hear it, but you still have jail time for all the crimes you pulled. But still thanks for getting rid of Aggregor for us. We're heading back to Plumber base so you can relax before I chuck you into the Null Void" Kevin stated as Argit gulped out of fear. Turning back to the Earth before he rocketed out he solemnly said this to Ben, although he didn't hear it. "I'm kicking you ass for painting my car all girly like" as Gwen protested his reaction to the car's new paintjob. As the both of them quarreled Argit knew it was going to be a long flight back... With Dark Libra not focusing on biting him right now Eatle was just about ready to end this. But he needed a little pick me up. Which Erin was happy to give in the form of a bag of moss. As Eatle downed the whole bag Erin did a sort of sea chantey, the in-joke lost on everyone but Julie and Manny. With his horn at full power Ben blasted a beam of energy at the mad dog Zodiart, sending him on his back. Then with his horn glowing with power Eatle gored Dark Libra and threw him up in the air, after which he crash down and demutated to Pysphon. "Perhaps this wasn't the smartest of ideas Vilgax has had. If you live long enough you will learn to fear the power of Psyphon!" Pysphon then turned tail and ran out of there as fast as his legs would carry him. Ben wanted to give chase but the Omnitrix powered down, and his cellular breakdown was causing him great pain. Everyone went over to Ben, worried that he might not survive before he gave a weak thumbs up to show he was alright...for now. Later in the day... Everyone was bummed out about the mansion being destroyed. Manny tried to apologize but no one wanted to even speak to him right now. "AW, C'mon! That house was a health hazard and you all knew it! We should be celebrating the fact that it's gone!" No response. Manny sighed in defeat and turned to walk back home, when. "I'm glad I was able to catch up with you kids! As it would turn out the owner and the client you took the job from was a notorious drug runner, as well as one of America's worst crime lords. We caught up to him around noon when he was trying to buy some cocaine. There was a horrible shootout but we were able to shoot him down, although we wanted him to stand trial. Also don't worry about cleaning up his dump, it was where he made his poisons down in the cellar." The police officer saw that the mansion was totally smashed from the earlier battle. "My mistake! Since you kids were nice enough to tear down that old, condemned pigsty here's half a million for your troubles." He then drove off after giving Ben the money, leaving everyone there in a state of disbelief. "I guess all's well that end well" JK cracked wise, trying to lighten the awkward mood. But then everyone remembered that he insulted Yuki and Erin during their lunch break. JK then quailed away in shame as he knew he was in big trouble. "When we get back you have a lot to apologize for" Gentaro demanded of JK as they drove back to the house, money in tow. Later, at Vilgax's base... "Forgive me master. I tried to kill Ben but Emoto made some odd Switches that ruined everything! Aggregor is dead and Argit is in Plumber custody!" Psyphon begged Vilgax to understand that what happened wasn't his fault. Not totally true, but he hope his master would see his viewpoint. "I understand. We have lost most of our members, but that no longer matters! I was able to corrupt Ben's friends into our final members! Soon they will fear the power of Dark Sagittarius, Dark Leo and Dark Scorpio!" as he laughed his evil laugh, the three Dark Horoscopes standing to the back of him. Psyphon bowed out of gratitude and walked away, thankful that Vilgax was finally getting his way. But perhaps he should start planning ahead, in case this plan of his master's backfires. Touching a comlink on his wrist guard he contacted three shadowy figures. "If Vilgax dies then I may have a job for you three" as two of the trio smiled evilly and the third just clucked his approval. He then turned the device off and went on to do his duties for Vilgax... |
03-17-2013, 03:39 PM | #17 |
Neon Blade Outlaw
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Californa
Posts: 2,725
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During the Guiding Star' first job and before the Dark Capricorn/Libra/Cancer battle...
"OK, first off, why in the hell should we even trust you?" Cash lashed out, the same question first and foremost on the minds of Emily and JT as well. "You're not exactly Mr. Congeniality, now are you?" "It is true that I have had...issues with your world in the past" Vilgax half admitted. "But I was hoping you would be willing to help me out with a problem our universe is having right now. It's name is Ben Tennyson. He has grown arrogant and foolhardy with the power he has received from Azmuth. I take it you know him best, correct?" as he tried to sweet-talk them into joining his army. "I know that he was monstrous ego problems. I'm amazed Gwen even puts up with him" Emily bitterly recalled the day Ben webbed her to a building as Spidermonkey. It was not the best way to end their date and even since that day she hated him with all her heart. "If you have anything on Ben that we need to know, now's the time" as she rolled towards him, a doubtful look in her eyes. Vilgax turned on a viewscreen and to their eyes was a scene of absolute horror: The ruins of Vilgaxia were right there in front of them all. JT was too frightened to look away, as Cash and Emily watched on in terror. There was no life left on the planet at all, the buildings having fallen over and the streets were littered with the bodies of the people that once called Vilgax emperor. The sky was a mix of orange and midnight grey, as dark clouds of smoke burrowed up into the air, as fires raged on unchecked. The scene was too much for even Vilgax to take as he turned it off, tears almost forming in his eyes. "When Ben stole the Ultimatrix and left me for dead, my people panicked over my believed passing. Tensions were rising until civil war broke out and my people destroyed one another. So far I am the only one of my species left. Later when Ben visited the Flame Keeper's Circle he told me with a cheerful look on his face that my empire, MY WORLD, was gone!" He then showed the three the security footage of Ben saying this to Vilgax while he was trapped in the tank. Soon the looks of horror turned to anger, with Emily barely able to contain her rage. "I knew it. Ben always was a selfish, egotistic brat, but this is too far, even for him" Emily whispered in a hateful tone. She then looked up at Vilgax as her features softened, unsure what to do now. "We'll help you with Ben, but I don't know how I can do anything that'll matter" She hated being stuck in a wheelchair, not being able to run, swim, even go outside on some days. It was like a prison to Emily and she wanted to be free of it, no matter what the cost. Tears were falling down her gentle checks as she recalled the day that she fell ill and was forced into this wheelchair. No matter how much pity or understanding she got from her classmates, she never truly felt like she belonged there with them. "I don't wish to see you like this" Vilgax soothingly told her as he wiped away the tears to the best of his ability. "I think I may be able to help you with our problem child" as he opened a case with the last three unclaimed Dark Horoscope Switches. "Just how are we going to use these to stop Ben?" JT wondered. Vilgax then took the time to show them how to use the powers that these Switches gave them. Not much later... Vilgax was quite pleased indeed! Now he had all 12 Switches empowered by the dark emotions of their Switchers! As the three new Zodiarts walked up to him he was as happy as he could possibly right then and there. Now he had all the Switches of the Dark Horoscopes under HIS power! But the children wouldn't learn that until it was too late for them.. Cash was the first to master his new powers. His Dark Leo form was gold and brown as opposed to Kou's more silvery white, but there was a world of difference between the two. His mane hung freely on his head, his teeth were inside his mouth but much sharper, the eyes were jet black, and he wore black jeans with black armor on his shins, chest and forearms, with the Leo constellation on his abs. He shared the bulk of his powers with the first Leo, but his Supernova was not the same as Kou's. When he activated it a ten foot tall statue of a evil-looking warrior woman came out of his chest to attack his enemies. Needless to say he was pleased with his new abilities. JT was the second to fully learn his. His Dark Scorpio form was more of a brass-copper look than Sarina's, and it was much bulkily than hers, with a golden scorpion on his head. His Supernova was able to turn his lower half into a scorpion-like form, with a demonic stinger at the tail's end, and his lower arms became scorpion claws. His face changes into a more evil form, with razor sharp teeth, a smaller tail on the back of his head, and his eyes could fire acid from them in this form. JT was the most effected by what Vilgax told them, but he never felt comfortable with Ben's attitude before Diagon's attack. More than ever he wanted to put Ben in his place. Emily was a quick study, but having to relearn how to walk, as well as learning about her new powers made her the last to master her abilities. As Dark Sagittarius she wore black pants, spiked armored boots, a armored chestplate with shoulder pads, a bow on each arm, and a helmet that covered all but her mouth and chin, which was covered in a grey mask. On her abs she wore a griddle that had the Sagittarius constellation on it. The overall look was black with purple and lavender highlights, with purple wings to complete the look. Her Supernova lets her control a whirlwind that she can use as she sees fits. Vilgax was pleased by how fast they learned their new forms' uses! Plus, since they were Ben's friends, or in Emily's case his ex-girlfriend he would not be able to fully fight back, giving them the edge. But little did he know a young boy was watching him right this moment. When he had recorded enough Jimmy Jones ran out as fast as his little legs could carry him. 'Ben is not going to be happy about this' as horrible thought ran along with his internal monolog. Later in the evening... JK was able to dodge a bullet that day during the three on three battle that ended in their favor, but he wasn't sure the next ones would be looking up for them. Ben was on his last legs, with noticeable bags under his eyes, paler skin and greasy hair. Plus his jacket, shirt, jeans and shoes have seen better days, as they were on the verge of falling apart, with large holes in them all and in the cases of the shirt and jeans bloodstained as well. As Ben limped to the dinner table JK felt quite bad for the Plumber. "Hey, Ben-san, are you sure you're able to keep fighting on like this? You look worse every day and we're all worried about you" JK's words held more truth than Ben would like to admit. He didn't like the fact that the KRC was tending to each and every little mishap he got into. It wasn't something Ben was used to, as he kept expecting Gwen and Kevin to rip on him for being careless, stupid, that sort of thing. But deep down he was grateful for their help. "I'm cool. It's not like Vilgax is going to give up that easily. I'm always on call when it's hero time!" His response was more a croak than a heroic declaration and he knew that he was on his final hours of life. The mood was somber indeed as everyone was crying about the cruel fate that Ben was handed. Still JK needed to do something important and while now wasn't the best time, it had to be said. "I'm sorry about insulting your hard work, Yuki-san, Erin-san. I should have been more thoughtful of your feelings on the matter. Can you ever forgive me?" he asked, his voice cracking from both his guilt and the stress of Ben dying right in forth of them. "Of course we do! To be honest we weren't too sure about using the waterbear anyway" Yuki admitted to her younger friend. "I wanted to use a bunny rabbit as out mascot, but Erin wasn't sure that Manny would like that idea" She had to stop as she fought back tears, the thought of this poor boy dying before his time was too much for the normally happy-go-lucky teenage girl. Erin stood up to finish what Yuki wanted to say. With her blessing she continued. " We both want you to know while we admittedly overreacted to your words, you were a tad harsh about our hard work. But friendship is something that, thanks to Gentaro-san, a thing of true beauty and we are lucky that we all had this brave boy to not only both bring us closer together, but bring to light our faults and help us work on them so that we may become better people. I hope we'll always be friends" as Erin and Yuki hugged their friend, which made JK happy for two reasons: One, because he got to be hugged by two cuter older girls and the more important reason was that despite all that happened during the month their friendship was stronger than ever before and he was forgiven for snapping at them, although he never intended to hurt their feelings. He then hugged them back as the emotions came flooding out. As the three sat down Manny dinged a spoon against a glass to get everyone's attention. "Since I'm not sure Ben's gonna make it past the week I felt we should let him know just how much he means to us all" His tone was somber and serious, a far cry from his normal rowdy behavior. "Gen, I'll let you go first, since you grew closest to Ben" Gentaro got up from his chair and began to give his speech. "Ben-san, I gotta admit I was acting like a ass when I got here. After seeing how you were before I was so blinded by my anger that I was willing to let my friends get hurt. But after seeing how much you've grown and continue to do so, you became a friend to not only me, but my friends as well." He then swallowed hard, trying to moisten his dry throat and continued. "But although you're not doing well you still wish to help out others and have made all of us welcome in your world. You truly have the soul of a Kamen Rider" By now Gen was crying his eyes out, the final part about to begin. "Saying goodbyes are like fractures of the soul; it hurts for a while, but once it's back together it's stronger than ever before. We're...we're friends. Forever...no matter what" Ben was touched by Gen's word's and finally he felt like they were friends. The both of them got up and did Gentaro's special handshake to show to everyone that now they were more than partners. They were best friends. Yuki was up next. Batting a lock of hair out of her face she began her part. "Ben-san, when I first came here I was not myself. But after you saved me you took the time to let me heal, both mentally and spiritually as well. You were always willing to help out anyone in need, and you always loved to listen to us when we wish to share our dreams, never judging us and giving us hope that we can make them come true." Yuki was by now having trouble reading as her tears were clouding her vision, but she kept on going. "In fact you still are that kind, loving boy we met that day ago. On behalf of all of us I wish to thank you for saving not only us, but our friendships as well." When she finished Yuki gave Ben a salute of thanks to Ben as did JK and the other former Switchers. Soon Yuki was crying up a storm, as Gentaro stroked her head to try and comfort her. She was thankful she has such wonderful friends, but the fact that one of them was dying was too much for her to take. Erin, Ran, Tojiro and JK were crying as well, the emotional pain being too much for them. Julie did the final part of their speech. "Ben, when we met during that fateful day I knew you were more that other boys your age. Sure we had some bumps on the way here, but we worked our way though them and grew stronger because of that. I think I speak for everyone here that you have grown up a lot during this time. I wish we had more time together, because I...I...I LOVE YOU! Oh Ben, it hurts too much to think about what's happening to you! Why must it be you and not Albedo?!" She couldn't handle it anymore and tore out of the room in tears, as she fell onto the couch and sobbed. Ben wanted to go to her, to tell her that things will pick up and that they will have a wonderful future together. But he knew that might never happen now, not with the handywork of Albedo's shoddy work killing him slowly and painfully. As Yuki and Ran went over to try and lift Julie's spirits he got a call from a person he hadn't heard from for some time now. "Y'ello, this is Ben Tennyson speaking. May I ask who's calling?" with a somewhat curt tone in his voice. Soon the caller answered him. "Ben, it's me, Jimmy! I know you don't like being called during dinner, but I found out something super scary about Vilgax! Come to the computer right away and I'll fill you in on what I found out!" his voice full of panic. Ben knew that Jimmy was trustworthy so he excused himself and went to his room and soon he was on FaceTime with Jimmy. About ten minutes later... "OK, so let me get this straight. Vilgax is trying to get people to Switch on these Dark Switches he made from the Horoscope Switches so he can draw upon this...what did you say it was again" Ben loved Jimmy like a little brother, but since he was the one that blabbed about his secret identity he never fully trusted him. Sure he was a big help during that space plant attack, but still what he did was illegal, although he never intended for Ben's life to fall apart like it did. "I'm telling you, it's really bad! He's trying to gain all the power of the Black Zodiac, the tortured shadowy side of the Light Zodiac!" as he tried to calm himself down, but the words came out faster than Jimmy would have liked. "You're thinking that Vilgax just gave these Switches to random people, but there's a pattern to his madness this time! Each Zodiac sign has a Black Zodiac counterpart. Somehow Vilgax used the last vertices of Diagon's power to empower the Horoscopes Switches so he can get each user to draw upon these dark energies and store them into the Switches, although he never told any of them other than Pysphon. I was able to sneak in from time to time as his base is not too far from where I live, although he knows someone was spying on him by now." Ben was furious and Jimmy knew it. "You snuck in by YOURSELF?! How stupid are you?! You have no idea how lucky you are right now! Vilgax is dangerous, Jimmy! Please tell me you'll never, EVER, do something like this again!" Ben raged at the younger boy. Jimmy was more than a bit shaken by Ben's outburst, but he knew he had a valid point. "Sorry Ben. So, here's the info I was able to find on the Black Zodiac: Aries's BZ version is The Selfish King. People who have this sign are greedy and prone to arrogance. It's represented by Marduk. The selfish king rules in order to receive all victories for himself. Driscoll was the best suited to be Dark Aries as he embodies these traits. Taurus' is The Slain Demon. People who have this BZ sign are filled with malice and tend to be braggarts. It's represented by Kingu, who was slain by Marduk according to Babylonian myth used his blood to make the first humans. The Slain Demon inflates the truth to gain the upper hand. That fits Zombozo to a tee. Gemini's is The Viper. They tend to kill with words as well as venom. They're sociopaths and love watching people die slow, painful deaths. That can only be one person: Will Harange! Cancer has The Snake as its BZ sign. Deceit and treachery are its calling cards. While often underestimated the belly crawling snake takes advantage of others, then during their weakest moments crushes the life from them. Argit fits the profile of the Snake quite well. Leo is The Lady of Battle. It's represented by the Queen of Satan herself, Lakhamu, warrior goddess of evil! If provoked they can be murderous and they tend to be rather prideful of themselves. Cash is the one best suited to be Dark Leo. I'm sorry, Ben. Virgo is The Whirlwind. Their fury is directed at all who stand in their way. They destroy out of ignorant will towards all who stand in their way. They also suffer from aggravation and tend to be hypocritical. Charmcaster is a Whirlwind or from what you IM me about, was. Libra is The Ravening Dog, who represents 666 itself. Accusative as well as insane they attack first and ask questions later or not at all. Psyphon's totally that way. Scorpio is The Scorpion Man. Suspicious and deadly, their sting can cause a tortuous death. Sinful and abusive they like to attack at the weakest moments they can find and hold grudges like you wouldn't believe! JT is the one who best embodies the Scorpion Man. Sagittarius has The Hurricane as its Black Zodiac sign. Will Withhold their emotions until they erupt, then they will blindly destroy everything around them! Their hearts are filled with hated toward those they fell wronged them in the past and they're destructive and lacking moral conscience of their darker actions. Be careful Ben, Emily's the Hurricane we're after. Capricorn has The Fish Man for its BZ counterpart. They draw power from others and their cunning allows them to get close enough to do so at will. They're dangerously powerful and cunning and have leeches as their representative. Aggregor is our Fish Man, or was since he bit the big one. Aquarius is The Horned Beast. The Horned Beast is abusive and controlling to those dear to him. The horned beast only shows the side of his personality to gain complete control of his minion. Multiple personalities used to manipulate. They're manipulative and confusing like you wouldn't believe! I'd say Darkstar's the best suited for the Horned Best, right? Finally, Pisces is The Weapon! Blinded by anger, they will attack when their way no longer works. They're narrow-minded and suffer from impulsiveness. Overlord was the best Weapon Vilgax could ask for" Ben was stunned. Here they all thought Vilgax was picking people at random, but there's a pattern now! Worse Emily, Cash and JT are in terrible danger right now! He had to get the others and save them, both from Vilgax as well as themselves! "Jimmy, stay here. We're on our way over so don't go out until-" Ben never got to finish his order. A explosion rocked Jimmy's side and then the screen went black. Ben hollered at Jimmy to answer, but in his heart he knew the truth: Vilgax had found out about his little outings and had silenced him with extreme prejudice. Ben buried his face in his hands and sobbed. It's bad enough that Vilgax was killing off his old foes, but Jimmy and his apartment as well? This was too much, a nightmare he wished he could wake from and start a new day. But Ben knew that Vilgax had gone too far gone to even bother to save. Soon a though went into his mind and although it did frighten him he knew it had to be done. He must kill Vilgax once and for all. It was times like this Ben wished Jetray was a little faster. He had no idea what fate befell Jimmy and just the thought of something bad happening to him was too much for Ben. Tearing though the night sky he saw a sight that would be burned into his memory forever. Jimmy's apartment complex was nothing more than a smoldering wreak, body bags and emergency vehicles were all over the place. As Jetray landed he ran to where a small body bag was. To his horror the tag on the foot read: Jimmy Jones. The manta ray alien cried out in sorrow, into the cold night sky. Later, when all of the chaos had subsided...somewhat... Ben sat down and cried for who knows how long. Jimmy was innocent of all of this and Vilgax went too far, even for his standards. Soon Manny landed by Ben, and he stopped shedding tears to see his largest friend. "I never thought one of my enemies would go this far for revenge. Because of the fact I was the one to stop him over and over again, everyone in that building is dead. All because of me" The words Ben said were of a profound sadness, something Manny never thought possible from the Omnitrix wielder. "I was so ready to have things calm down after Diagon's death. To have life be simple, fun and exciting, not this chaotic scramble. If only I could go back to that simpler time..." A month ago, when Ben gained the True Omnitrix... Azmuth was going over all the new features of his greatest work ever, with Ben being all ears. But soon after all the other things were said and done Azmuth had one more thing in store. "As you are aware of, when you first gained the Prototype Omnitrix it changed you clothing to better suit your alien forms. However this feature was locked when it recalibrated, leaving you with the default forms. This carried over to the Ultimatrix, which has proven to a utter failure! Albedo is nothing but a fool for tampering with forces beyond even my understanding and now you're paying the price for his idiocy!"Azmuth calmed down after a calm speech about the Omnitrix went to his issues with Albedo. Clearing his throat he continued on. "Forgive me, Ben. My behavior was unprofessional. Now then, since my Omnitrix has a customization feature I wanted to know if there was anything you wish to change about the appearance of your alien forms" Ben was thrilled! "Dude, of course I wanna try it out! Gotta go hero in style, right?" as he fidgeted from his excitement. Soon the two were on at their work, making the new Omnitrix as much a part of Ben as his heroic soul. Ben kept Wildmutt, Stinkfly, Grey Matter, Ripjaws, Ghostfreak, Cannonbolt, Wildvine, UpChuck, Ditto, Way Big, Swampfire, Jetray, Big Chill, Chromastone, Goop, Rath, Water Hazard, Ampfibian, Armordrillo, Terraspin, NRG, Fasttrack, Clockwork, ChamAlien, Eatle, Spitter, Buzzshock and Articguana the same. However there were a few changes to the others, apart from Alien X who couldn't be changed. Heatblast was now more muscular with raised shoulder armor. Diamondhead was no longer was formed from the purple stones that Chromastone shared with him, as he was now wearing a green striped black shirt with black pants and a belt that was formed from the Omnitrix. XLR8 was muscular and all the white parts were now green. Fourarms now wore a green striped black workman's shirt, with the Omnitrix making a belt, with black pants that went around his ankles and he had spikes on his upper arms and head, with a handlebar mustache. Upgrade now was a mix of black, green and jungle green. Benwolf was redubbed Fangwolf and the outfit he wore was no longer white with black highlights, but black with green highlights. BenMummy was now Wrap Star, and the Omnitrix symbol now was on his belt, freeing up his chest for more attack opinions. BenVictor's name was changed to MagnoStein, the Omnitrix was now on his belt, and his pants now had green where there was dull silver before. Eye Guy had the Omnitrix placed back onto his belt, and his pants were now a more greenish-black. Humungousaur was now wearing black shorts with a sash made from the Omnitrix. Echo Echo had green highlights on his headphones, backpack, hands and feet. Spidermonkey wore a harness made from the Omnitrix. Brainstorm had a loincloth on him and his neckbrace was now more high tech and greener, with black and green stripes on his head. Lodestar gained a mouth that opened and closed when he talks. Nanomech became more tech-based in his design. Shocksquatch had changed a lot, as since Ben was near adulthood he had grown to his adlut form as well, being more slim and taller, with yellow fur and more muscle definition, with black shorts held up by the Omnitrix as a belt. Jury Rigg now wore a aviator suit with goggles. Needless to say Ben was quite pleased with the changes, as was Azmuth. Present time... But that was in the past now. Ben had no idea what do now and Manny didn't know how to help him, when Vilgax landed right in front of their shocked faces. "Such a pity about these people. Some hero you claim to be, Tennyson" he mocked the dying hero, a cruel smile forming on his lips. "Oh, and don't worry about your friends Emily, JT and Cash. They will be my responsibility from now on. I won't worry too much about that. You should be more worried about yourself!" as Dark Sagittarius, Dark Leo and Dark Scorpio walked up to Ben, spoiling for a fight. "AH! my dear friends have come to greet me. But it seems that they no longer like you, Ben. I'd be more mindful of what I would say during my next life, but I doubt what I said would have a chance to sink in. Farewell, Ben 10." As Ben was puzzled by his words Vilgax flew out, leaving both him as well as Manny at the mercy of the final three Dark Horoscopes. "What did he mean by that? What did he do to you?" Ben begged of them to answer him, that Vilgax only changed their bodies and not their minds. But as with a lot of Vilgax's schemes he would have no such luck this time as when he walked to Emily she punched him right in the eye, sending him onto his butt. "Save it. We know about the cruel thing you're said about the people of Vilgaxia. You always were so full of yourself, too damn proud to admit you're a utter failure as a human being. Now it's time for you to die." Emily stated, her tone a mix of bitterness, sorrow, and anger. Ben was upset that his friends now wanted to kill him! Not joke about it, as Kevin tends to do, but actually do it! He barely had time to find cover before Dark Sagittarius unleashed a storm of Cosmic Energy arrows at his direction. While the rumble did offer some cover the heat of the arrows burned his jacket, setting it ablaze. Ben was forced to rip it off before it burned more that his back as he selected Swampfire, but before he could counterattack JT struck him with a roundhouse kick, making the alien land on the back of his head. "I wished it weren't true, that you were the hero everyone believes you to be. But the signs were there, clear as day. I can't let you leave here alive, Ben" Dark Scorpio whispered as he tried to sting Ben, but the enhanced reflexes of Swampfire allowed him to roll away, making the stinger strike the ground instead. "You always were a coward! You never wanted to face your problems by yourself and you're still the same way! I'm sick of it!" Ben never heard JT lose his temper like that before. It frightened him so see such a good friend lash out like this. "It won't do you any good to beg for mercy. Now we know that Vilgax is the true hero" Dark Leo snarled as he brought his sword over his head, but he was kept from killing Ben by a Big Clap from Manny. "WHY DO YOU INSIST ON HELPING THIS FOOL?! HE IS AS MUCH YOUR ENEMY AS HE IS OURS!" he raged at the four armed Plumber's Kid, but Manny replied by firing all four of his laser guns at the Dark Horoscopes, burning them and forcing them to fall back. Manny then turned to Ben as he reverted to normal form. "I hate Vilgax as much as the next guy, but C'mon, man! That was cold, telling the poor bastard his world was wreaked like that!" he snapped at Ben, causing him to winch from how loud his voice was. Manny chuckled as he didn't mean to hurt Ben like that. "Sorry, Ben. I know you've been workin' hard on bettering yourself, but I have a terrible time controlling my temper. To be honest I've been acting like a ass too. After Piece died Helen was a total wreak. I should have helped her, but it got to be too much for me" He then hung his head in shame as he told Ben the story of how things fell apart between him and Helen. Two months ago... "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU NEVER GAVE HIM THE IDEA TO USE A ID MASK TO GO ON A DATE THEN HE'D STILL BE ALIVE!" Helen exploded at her partner, he features contorted from all her rage. It was just two weeks since Pierce died and even since then things have been quite bad for Manny and Helen. Lately it seemed that they would fight all the time about everything and Manny was getting sick and tired of it all. "Look Helen! Pierce wanted a life outside of Plumber business and you know it! How was I to know the Forever Knights would attack him like that? You can't lord over him forever, you know!" Manny retorted, causing Helen to fume at the Tetramand. "I know that he wanted a life outside of what we do, but even if he survived it would have never worked out between those two! But you were always too stubborn to say you're wrong and he paid the price for YOUR stupidity with his life! He was my brother and you just as much killed him as the Knights!" she sobbed. Manny could stand no more of this. He would regret it later, but in anger he slapped Helen to the ground, causing a bruise to form on her left cheek. "SHUT UP! YOU KNOW I CARED FOR HIM TOO, BUT YOU WERE ALWAYS TOO DAMN BLIND TO SEE THAT! HE WAS LIKE A BROTHER TO ME AND I KNOW AS MUCH AS HE LOVED YOU, HE WANTED TO LIVE HIS LIFE TO ITS FULLEST! NOW I KNOW THAT THE FOREVER KNIGHT THING HAS US ON EDGE, BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FOLLOW MY ORDERS, THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!" Manny then caught himself as he finished screaming at the female raptor alien, and he felt horrible about what he did to her. "Look Helen, I didn't mean that. It's just losing Pierce was just so painful to me as well. Please find it in your heart to forgive me, Helen" But his apology fell on deaf ears. "Just go. I can't even stand to look at you. Go away and never darken my doorstep again, you monster" Helen's words were filled with venom and it hurt Manny to hear that coming from the girl he loved. Turning away as he was about to leave she snarled "I HATE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!" and then sobbed as he left her alone to her thoughts. Now... "Wow. That was pretty harsh, dude. So all this time you were avoiding Helen because you couldn't take the pain those memories were causing you. When all of this is over you have to go to her. She needs you more that she lets on. You don't want to do something you'll regret you whole life like I did" Ben calmly told Manny. He was pleased to hear a comforting opinion on his matters with his partner. He would do that for her, IF they can survive the attack from the three Dark Horoscopes. As they closed in on them Manny started to panic, but Ben was calmer than he normally would be. He welcomed death if it would save his planet from Vilgax's wraith. But to their shock someone knocked them back, giving Ben and Manny breathing room, as the form of Fourze rocketed towards them. "You didn't think you'd get away that easily. That green flash you when you transform did make it easy for Yuki-chan to track you. We're all sorry about your lost, but you can't do this alone. You need us as much as we need you!" Fourze shot at Ben. Ben was touched that his new friends were always willing to help him out, no matter when and where. Nodding to show he was alright Fourze gave him the thumb's up to show that he would always be his friend, as would the others. "I gotta admit you guys are smarter than you let on" Ben admitted to the Kamen Rider Club. Ran walked up to where he was and said this to him. "Age is only part of what makes us wise. It also takes experience and study to make us truly wise in this world. That's what my Aikido teacher taught me. It's also something I wished more people understood" Ran responded. Ben was quite pleased to hear something so kind for this girl. She had been so distant from him he was worried that she hated him. But as it turned out she just needed the time to get to know him better. JK laughed at the reaction Ben had to what Ran said. "Our Ran's a textbook tsundere, all right" as he placed a arm over her shoulders. To his surprise however she didn't throw him as she normally does. In fact she was quite OK with this. " It's not the most flattering statement about me, but it is accurate, JK-san" as she gently removed his arm from her person. "Thank you for willing to learn more about me before judging me. It's been so long since I was able to trust an older student like this. You all are truly kind people" When she finished she smiled her brightest smile, which made the group quite happy. "Our goal is to make sure everyone can be friends. So that we can all trust and love one another and make this world a better place for all" Fourze happily interjected to Ran's earlier statement. But the good cheer would not last as Ben went onto a knee suddenly as he coughed up more blood. "Ben-san! Hold on, we're on our way" Yuki cried out as she ran towards the prone form of Ben. He tried to tell her he was doing fine, but his body was telling them the truth: Ben didn't have long to live. "Oh, Gen-chan, what are we going to do? I don't want him to die. Please save him" as she did her puppy dog face. Fourze wasted no time and brought up the Medical Switch, using its power to summon the Medical Module. But no matter what he tried Ben showed no sign of improving. Yuki then started to cry, as Fourze held onto her as rocked her gently as she sobbed. "He's been so kind to us. He doesn't deserve to die",Yuki cried, as Fourze hugged her. Erin and Tojiro were upset too, as Benn had proven himself over and over about how serious he is about his hero duties. As she looked up into the night sky she pleated, "If there's anyone out there who can help Ben, please, save him!" as she looked up at the star above in hopes that something will save their friend, as did Tojio, JK, Ran and Yuki. It hurt Fourze to see his friends like this. He wished that there was something he could do for Ben. But there was nothing he can do. Meanwhile, in Earth's orbit... A purple streak of light tore though the atmospheric layer of Earth. It's only thought was this: 'Hang on Ben. I'm on my way' Back on Earth... The KRC wished that the Zodiarts would leave them alone so they could help Ben. But the Dark Horoscopes would give no quarter to the troubled heroes. "If you're done whining about that brat Ben, then get out of our way!" Dark Sagittarius snapped at them, sending them back to reality. "Tell us why he is so important to you all. He's the reason the people of Vilgaxia are dead! Their blood is on his hands!" as she swung her arms out to the sides in fury. Gentaro could take no more of this. "Vilgax abandoned his people in their time of need. He has killed countless innocent lives in his pursuit of power! He is not your friend at all!" he rebutted. "Friends should care about one another and support their friendship with trust, love, loyalty and understanding. Ben understands that better than anyone. He knows now that what he said was hurtful, but he's willing to make things right. If you can't see that, then you're not his friends at all!" Fourze was close to tears himself. He wasn't sure if his words reached them. But they did. Emily was taken aback by what Fourze said to them and took a moment to think about what they were about to do. Then she replied, "You're right. Vilgax did attack Earth so many times and Ben always defended it, and he almost never asked for anything in return. I'll admit I always felt like a odd one out due to my disability, so I was desperate to gain any chance to walk again. I hope you can accept out apology, Mr. Fourze" as she extended her hand to shake his. But Vilgax would have none of that. "How is it you can befriend people so easily?! No matter, I took the time to make sure these Dark Horoscope Zodiarts follow my orders, even until death!" Vilgax then pressed a button on his armored gantlet, sending radio signals that only Emily, Cash and JT could hear. Soon they were in utter pain as Vilgax brainwashed them into becoming berserkers, to the horror of everyone present. "You are a total bastard! I can't believe you would do this to human beings!" Tojiro shouted in a uproar. " What gives you the right to hurt us like this?" "EVERYTHING!" Vilgax exploded. "Ben took every chance I had to gain ultimate power. He defeated me over and over, plus he left me for dead. I had to suffer the idiocy of the Flame Keepers, and being a slave to their stupid god, Diagon! I earned the right to this, child! You have no right to tell me otherwise!" JK went in to defend his friend. "Tojiro-kun has every right to say these things. You claim to be a great ruler, but you're more of a coward than I am" as he flashed him a somewhat cocky smile. That sent Vilgax over the edge. "KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!" It took only these words from Vilgax to spring the Dark Horoscopes to action, D. Sagittarius fighting Ben, D. Leo battling Manny and D. Scorpio taking on Fourze. "Emily, snap out of it! I know you're a good person!" But Ben's pleads were ignored by the rampaging Dark Sagittarius, as she fired off arrow after arrow of Cosmic Energy power fire. Ben went Heatblast to absorb the fiery arrows, but so far she had the advantage over him. She leapt up onto the buildings nearby and wall jumped up towards the rooftops, with Ben following her as they traded blows on the way there, both badly burning the other. But when they got up she gained the upper hand and heelkicked Heatblast down onto a roof, causing him to skid to a painful halt on his back. Manny was having no better luck with Dark Leo. "You'd think you would learn your lesson from the last time you played with alien tech, Cash!" But his retort was not answered as Dark Leo slashed into his flesh, while making sure he could not counterattack. But Manny would not give up and slammed all four hands onto Cash's head. The blow did little damage to the lion Zodiart as he fired back with a lion's roar shockwave, making him crash into a building. Fourze had just enough time to gesture the other Kamen Rider Club members to get to safety. Just when they were able to get inside, they saw that they were lucky enough to dodge Dark Sagittarius's arrow storm. Before she could fire off a second one Heatblast tackled her down and they continued their fight .Fourze breathed in a sigh of relief, but Dark Scorpio was soon upon him, lashing out madly with his clawed hands and tail. Gen placed the Fire Switch into the Driver to become Fire States, but JT was able to jump away from his flamethrower blasts like they were nothing. Dark Scorpio then tried to dive bomb Fourze with his claws, trying to gore the Rider, but his attack failed thanks to the Areo Switch, as the Module it summons allowed Fourze to high jump his way out of the attack's way, causing JT to become stuck on the ground below. As he fought to free himself JT grunted and groaned like a animal. Soon he was free and angry enough to become his dreadful Supernova form, knocking Fourze away like a ping pong ball. As Fourze tried to get up Dark Scorpio lash out like a wild animal, bringing both his claws and Stinger down in a mad attempt to kill the Kamen Rider, who could do nothing but roll away from him, the attack just baring missing him. Of course Vilgax knew that the others were helpless without the aid of their friends, so he took the time to knock down the door that kept them from the battle and closed in on them. Yuki recoiled in fear as he walked towards them, as Ran and Tojiro looked at him with hate in their eyes. Erin was the only one able to speak at that moment, since JK was curled into a ball in fear at that moment. "What part of 'We're not part of your insane quest anymore' did you not understand?" she crisply asked of the alien warlord. Vilgax just smiled and open a box with the Dark Horoscope Switches for Gemini, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. "Is anyone ever not a part of my plans? I know you all missed the power you had from these Switches. Swear undying loyalty to me, rejoin my army and perhaps I will spare your friend's lives" But the answers he got was not the ones he was expecting. Yuki was first to answer Vilgax. As she swallowed hard she told him this:"It's true that I love space so much. Going to space has been my dream even since I heard these voices calling out to me. I want to go with my friends to greet them kindly, and to share our love with the difference aliens out there. But I want them to be proud of me and what I can do on my own, not with being forced to become a monster to prove my point. I want everyone to see the real me" as she brought her hands together. "I wish to remain myself and become friends with everyone! That's the lesson Gentaro-chan taught all of us!" Tojiro came up next. "I always loved rock and roll. Ever since I could hold onto a guitar I wanted to share my love of music with everyone. But your Switch forced out a dark side of myself I didn't want to know about. I became willing to hurt others, just so I can get people to love the things I do. But thanks to my good friends I saw the light. Now I know I have to work hard and always strive to better myself, as that's the only way I can share my love of music with the world without hurting anyone. I don't need your 'gifts' now or ever! I'm goin' to be a damn fine rocker and you can't stop me! ROCK N ROLL FOREVER, MAN!" Erin was the third to share her thoughts with Vilgax. "I was lucky to have a astronaut as a father, even though he never went into space. He is a kind man, with much talent in his field. But he never got to go into space since they thought someone more charismatic would be better suited to go. Ever since that day I never thought much of those who were always so cheerful and joking around all the time. That why went I met Yuki-chan I didn't really like her all that much. But soon I got to know that she shared my passion for space and then we got to know each other better. She also taught me a important lesson that I needed to know. It's not just talent that gets you your dreams. You must be kind and understanding and have a sense of humor, so that when things go wrong you can bounce back from them and become a stronger person for it, something my father never really learned to do." She then placed Yuki's hand in hers as she closed them together in friendship, then turning her face back to Vilgax. "That is why I cannot take back the Switch in good reason. I wish to achieve my goal fairly and without your help" she boldly told him with a stony look in her face. Ran was the last to go. " I never cared for bullies all that much. After my upper classmen tormented Haru so much that he was so sad, I closed my heart to everyone else and began to hate my older classmates. But I was smothering Haru with my need to protect him and I made him feel weak, perhaps more so than the bullies themselves. But thanks to the Kamen Rider Club I learned to reopen my heart to others and I was able to save my friend from himself. Soon after I made many new friends and gain a stronger bond with Haru-kun. Then when you kidnapped us and turned us into monsters my heart sank. I was being forced to become something I hated: a bully. But once again the Kamen Rider Club saved me as well as my friends as well." Soon after she said these things to Vilgax she pointed at him with a angry glare. "I wish to stay as I am, a human who loves and cherishes her friendships! I doubt you even know about that or cared about friendship at all, for that matter" she declared. Their word brought new courage to JK, as he uncurled himself and joined them in their defiance of Vilgax and his false promises of power. "We will never join you, squid face! The Kamen Rider Club stays together, no matter what happens!" JK shouted at Vilgax. Then all five of them did the "Uchuu Kita" pose and catchphrase that Gentaro loves so dearly. This was too much for Vilgax to tolerate. "SPACE IS ALWAYS HERE, YOU STUPID HUMANS! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SERVE ME, THEN YOU CAN DIE BY MY MIGHTY HAND!" as he fired off a Ruby Ray at them. The poor KRC was too scared to move away from the blast, as they feared the worst was going to happen to them. But the laser never reached them at all. Something blocked the killing blow from reaching them. "What is this? Who dares to defy the rule of Vilgax?" he angrily demanded. To the shock of everyone there a woman of about 60-ish stood in Vilgax's way. She wore a purple business suit and had her hair in a short style that hung freely in the wind. But the odd thing about her was she held up a purple energy shield like it was nothing at all. "Who are you and what connects you to Ben Tennyson?!" Vilgax demanded of the odd woman. She just smiled and shook her head at his childish outburst. "You don't need to know my name, but you do need to know this" Her eyes grew harsh and gained a purplish-pink glow to them. "Stay away from my grandson, you damn monster" A few seconds later... The night's calm was shattered by the howls of Vilgax, as he soared though the air in pain, as his body burned with mystical fire, the nine other Dark Horoscope Switches following close by, burning as well. Soon he flew out of Bellwood and out of sight as he crashed into the ruins of Los Soledad. A few more seconds later... Everyone was stunned by the power this woman wielded. They were shocked that she held more power than even a Kamen Rider, perhaps more than Kuuga! Soon she turned to the frightened group as her eyes returned to normal. "Don't worry, kiddos. I won't hurt you. It's just I could see that Vilgax is playing around with things he shouldn't be. Diagon's power being the main thing. I couldn't just leave this planet to fall under the Dark One's rule again, so I came back. I'm glad you were able to become friends with my grandson so quickly. But this thing about him dying is something you don't quite understand all that well" she told the group in a gentle tone, with a whimsical undertone to her statement. The KRC wasn't sure just what this woman was going on about. But she knew ahead of time that they wouldn't know. After all they are guests here in this dimension. "I know you're not from around here. You can't fool a fully trained Anodite that easily. I can sense your mana is not the same as everyone else's. But don't worry, I won't hurt any of you." She then placed her hands on her hips and continued on. "Now then you're all wondering why I know about Ben's little problem right now. It's simple really" Her face faulted as this was not a memory she wanted to recall. "It's because I've dealt with this before" Back at the house Ben and the others are staying in... Julie was worried sick about the others. Ben flew off in a utter panic over Jimmy and the KRC went after him as well, although Gen did call Emoto over so he can watch over the house with Julie. Truth be told, she wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but with Ship with Gwen and Kevin offworld, what choice did she had? Soon Emoto pulled into the driveway and stumbled out of the car, out of his usual clumsiness. "Forgive my coming at this late hour, but I have those test results you wanted on Ben" he said as he pulled out a disc with Ben's latest medical history. Julie soon placed it into her laptop and was stunned by what she saw. In Ben's blood were these things that look like little landmines. "Who on Earth could have done this?" she gasped as she covered her mouth in fear. These machines look like something out of a nightmare and there they were, as clear as day in front of their eyes! Emoto wiped his glasses as he went over the data. "So far all I was able to prove is that these are not from your universe, nor mine as well. But judging by how they're reacting to Ben's DNA they may not be compatible with Ben's genetic coding. It would seem that they react violently every time he changes form, more so when he went 'Ultimate'. I would imagine that after trying to 'correct' Ben for so long their programming has been irreversibly corrupted and are now breaking down his DNA to its base level. Ben was never meant to have these in him at all" he stated, but his face held the same look of horror as Julie's. "Now they are on their final stage. I doubt Ben will live throughout the night. I'm terribly sorry for your lost, Miss Yamamoto" Julie then broke down completely and sobbed uncontrollably on the table. As he sighed out of frustration out of this hopeless situation he told Julie, " But there's one factor I hadn't counted on. There's alien DNA in Ben's coding, but I have no idea where it came from" as he wiped the sweat off his brow. 'Just what are you, Ben Tennyson?' he thought as he sat by the sorrowing girl. The Ruins of Jimmy Jones' apartment... "Wait a minute, you're telling us that Ben's your Grandson? Then why doesn't he have your powers?!" Tojiro exclaimed to the alien woman. The older woman chuckled and went on to explain what was going on. "First off, I should have told you my name. It's Verdona Tennyson. I'm Max's ex-wife, if that's the answer you needed to hear first. Second, I'm a Anodite, a creature of pure mana. We're capable of reproducing with just about any alien species in this universe, although the chances of the offspring getting our powers is painfully slim. So far only my Granddaughter Gwen has the 'spark' to use these powers, but she needs much more training to use them to their full potential" she monologued in a cheery tone of voice. However that still left one thing needed to be addressed and again, Tojiro was the one to interject. "If Ben's part alien from birth, then why's he dying now? It that because he lacks this spark?" he asked Verdona in a blind panic. Again, Verdona had the answer. "No, even if a Anodite's offspring lack the spark they still live full lives. There must be an unknown factor at work here that's causing Ben this much pain, but since we Tennysons don't like to share much about ourselves his condition has been misdiagnosed all this time. But I have no idea what it is that's doing this to my Ben" she choked out, letting them know that she loves her grandson and wishes as much as they do what's causing him this much pain. Then Julie called Yuki on her cellphone and she did not have good new regarding Ben. "Guys! Professor Emoto found these creepy nanobots in Ben's bloodstream! We think it may be the cause of his problems, but we were able to find only one way to cure him of this." Julie half-screamed into the phone out of panic, but Yuki was able to get the idea of what she was saying. "What is it then? I hope it's something that doesn't hurt Ben too badly" Yuki whimpered. Julie sighed out of sadness. "It's far worse than that. We have to kill Ben to purge his system of these things. I hate the idea too, but if they're allowed to simmer in Ben any longer then they'll expel out of Ben and infect everyone on Earth, including you!" Julie then started to cry again, as did Yuki. "I wish there was another way, but there isn't. I know Ben would hate himself forever if he was causing people so much pain and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. He would want it this way." Before Yuki could reply she hung up and began to cry hard, as Emoto was left with no idea on how to help her. Back to where the KRC was, Yuki was sobbing too. But she still had a job to do. "Julie-chan says he have to kill Ben to stop these nanomachines from taking over every living thing on Earth. Oh Verdona-sama, I'm so sorry about this" as she buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry too, kiddo. But Ben is too much like his grandfather at times, always willing to give up his life in the greater good. That's part of why I left him. Knowing that he would die for this universe was too much for me to take. But I'm glad Ben has such great friends like you" as she hugged Yuki. "I hope Ben is able to save his friends before his time comes" Back with Ben... Heatblast was losing his battle with Emily, AKA Dark Sagittarius. To think that all this time such a sweet, caring girl had such ANGER in her heart. As he frantically tried to dodge her arrows, a few managing to hit him dead on, he never gave up on trying to reach the girl that he once loved. "EM! It's me, Ben! Try and fight the hold Vilgax has on you! This Zodiart thing you are, it isn't really you!" he called out, but she was blinded by sheer hated, Vilgax's brainwashing submerging all other parts of her psyche. It didn't help things at all when the Omnitrix timed out, leaving Ben helpless before the wraith of Emily. Ben frowned at the piece of alien tech he wore on his wrist. "I guess I pissed off Azmuth more than I thought" he thought outloud. Soon he was on the run, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, hoping to stay at least one step ahead of this opponent. Fourze's side of the battle... Fire States was doing a good job keeping JT away from the populace, but other than that, it wasn't really helping Gentaro. Dark Scorpio was too wild for Gentaro's tastes, as he wouldn't give him a slight break to switch to another form. Cosmic would be Sugoi right about now. "JT-san, I don't know you all that well, but you are not a savage beast. You're Ben's friend, and deep down you know it too" Gentaro never liked hurting people at all, preferring to settle things peacefully. But Zodiart Switches bring out the worst behavior in their Switchers, leaving him little choice. While he knew the other Kamen Rider Club member hated seeing their classmates get hurt too, he often worried about the odd chance a dear friend would be tempted by a Switch's power, like Tomoko nearly was. That fear came true when Vilgax came to his world and forced not only his new friends Tojiro, Erin and Ran to become mutant monsters, but he strong-armed Yuki, the girl of his dreams into being a Horoscope as well. Worst of all, only Yuki, Emoto-san, Tojiro, Erin and Ran survived the experience. If only JT could see the light of friendship once again, then he could settle things with Vilgax once and for all. JT, as the brainwashed Dark Scorpio, kept lashing out in his Supernova form, missing due to the simple fact that since he could no longer think for himself he really can't plan his attacks out. To make things worse than they already were, he was in danger of self destructing from overuse of his Supernova powers. Though Vilgax failed to inform JT of that factoid, and so he kept at his dark duty, trying to kill Kamen Rider Fourze. A strong tail whip knocked Fourze out of Rider form and back to being Gentaro Kisaragi, the boy who wishes to make friends with everyone at school. Though he was human now, his fighting spirit was the same as always as he charged right at the monster that was JT, willing to continue the fight. Manny's side of the battle... Manny however was doing quite well on his side. Dark Leo missed a killing strike on his head, letting the Plumber's Kid get some good hits on Cash. With a steady stream of jabs, uppercuts, body blows and haymakers he forced the Dark Horoscope back against a wall. Taking advantage of this development he held Dark Leo's arms with his lower arms and kept punching D. Leo's face with his upper ones. "Aw yeah, who's the big cat now, huh?" as he went about punching Dark Leo's face more. He was so engrossed in this that he failed to pay any mind to a giant finger tapping his shoulder. Turning around to see who it was when it got to be too much for him he shouted "WHAT?!" but soon turned pale when he saw the giant form of a evil warrior amazon. Swallowing hard he meeped out "Crap" as the Supernova power of Cash threw him down into the sewers. Now that he was free, Dark Leo went about attacking Manny, this time flanked by his Supernova's ability to summon a energy based statue of the Queen of Satan herself, Lahamu. Manny was angry that his energy pistols had overheated, leaving him no long ranged attack to level the playing field. He didn't like running away from a fight, but he knew when he would lose a fight and turned tail and retreated until his guns cooled down. As his heart beat against his chest he cursed the fact that Dark Leo and his crummy statue were able to keep up with him. So he ran for his life with all he could still muster, but he knew he couldn't run forever. Whining out "CCCcccrrrraaaapppppp!" he sprinted as fast as he could, the two monsters clipping at his heels. Back to Ben's side... It was times like this that Ben admitted to himself that he HATED Gwen and Kevin at times. Sure they always were looking out for him and they can be nice at times, but they were more often than not critical of his choices. Plus they weren't very focused on hero duties as he was some of the time, preferring to kiss and cuddle. How he wished for a better partner that those two! The Kamen Rider Club was a great help, but they weren't able to fight the things Ben has to battle with. Julie was a good fighter, but that was in part of Ship's powers allowing him to form a suit of armor for his girlfriend and he was offworld with Gwen and Kevin. As was it tended to be with his luck the Omnitrix recharged just when he ran out of rooftop to go to. As Dark Sagittarius closed in he tried to dial in Magnostein, but with his vision clouding he selected something new. It looked like a gorilla made of building blocks, its colors being red, yellow and blue. Looking at his hands he muttered "OF all the times to shake down a new guy!" Ben shrugged it off and went into a fighting pose as he boomed out "All right, Emily. Let's see you play with Blox." Emily fired off two arrows at Blox but while parts of him were knocked off he felt no pain as he regenerated the damaged parts. Smiling about the world of possibility he had with this new alien, Ben quipped "What's the matta? Don't wanna play with Blox?" Emily tried to punch Blox in the face, but he reformed into a crude rug of sort as he shifted her up into the air then twirled around in a mock tornado of sort with his shape shifting ability, then when he over her he went back to his default form and with a two handed punch sent her back down to the cold concrete below. Turning the Omnitrix off to recharge Ben smiled at how awesome Blox turned out to be! "I am so going to write Azmuth another thank you note! This is perhaps the best Omnitrix ever!" he sing-songed in jubilation. Of course being the hero he is he called up the KRC to see how they were holding on so far. Kamen Rider Club, ground level... Yuki's phone rang loudly with the offvocal version of her popular song "Hayabusa-kun". Since they were in hiding right now she answered right away. "I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now. Could you call again at a better time?" she polity asked of the unknown caller. "Yuki, it's me, Ben. I was able to get Emily off my back. How are you guys doing?" Ben asked, wheezing as he was out of breath at the moment. Even just talking on the phone was taxing on his already frail body. "We're doing OK, I guess. Someone saying she's your grandma is here with us. To be honest she kinda scares us" the space otaku whimpered. There was something a bit odd about this woman and it frightens the Kamen Rider Club to no end. Still Yuki was able to hand Verdona the phone. Instantly her mood improved as Ben was her second favorite grandchild and it's been so long since she talked to him. "Heya kiddo! I really wish I could call you at a better time. From what Julie told your friends we have to kill you to get rid of these nasty little buggers in your bloodstream" Verdona sighed sadly about this horrid news. It's never easy when you know you'll outlive your grandchild and Verdona knew that well. She collected herself and asked Ben a important question. "Just where did these nanites come from, Ben?" her tone being inquisitive. Ben went on about how Alpha Nanite attacked Ben's home dimension and how both of them were sucked into Alpha's homeworld during their fight. Soon Ben met with Rex, a former agent of Providence, a taskforce assigned to contain or kill harmful EVOs, creatures formed from faulty nanites. Ben continued on about how Rex could cure these mutants, turning them back to normal. While their first meeting was rocky they soon hit it off and were able to contain Alpha once again in the Null Void. What Ben didn't count on what how angry she got over this latest news bit. "You mean to tell me that these people made nanites that they couldn't fully control? And that you were infected by them during your stay? How dare they be so foolish to fool with things beyond their ability to understand!" her voice shaking from her barely contained anger about this injustice. "I'm going over to Rex's dimension and settle their hash!" as she crushed the phone and teleported to Rex's world, leaving the Kamen Rider Club at the mercy of Dark Scorpio, who had managed to give Fourze the slip. As the giant monster that was once JT approached the terrified club members they were all wondering one thing and that thing only: Is Gentaro alright? On the rooftops... Ben didn't like that Verdona left the KRC undefended and that she was going to attack Rex for something that was beyond his control. But he soon had more pressing matters as he heard the bloodcurdling howl of Dark Sagittarius as she activated her Supernova, rocketing upwards in a dark hurricane at Ben. Panicking he dialed up Terraspin and flew as fast as the turtle could fly. Ben could only just stay away from Emily as her hurricane threw debris at the Geochelone Aerio, as he weaved in and out of openings in the cityscape, trying his darnest not to get hit by any of the objects Emily was not hurling at him out of sheer malice due to Vilgax's brainwashing. He couldn't counter her attacks, as that would mean that he would have to stop to blow the items away, giving Dark Sagittarius the chance to knock him out of the sky and to his death. 'This is gettin' me nowhere. I gotta land and think of a better plan than play tag with Emily' Terraspin thought to himself. Taking a sharp turn downwards he swerved back and forth as he went to land on the ground, hopefully getting a edge against the Horoscope Zodiart. Dark Sagittarius kept on attacking in a blind rage, her voice nothing more than wild shrieks and roars as she forced the hurricane to propel her feet first into Terrspin's kick hit him dead on, as he landed hard onto the ground by the unconscious Fourze. Bringing his head up he saw that Gentaro was unable to battle right now, leaving him alone to deal with Dark Sagittarius. "Aw man! Can't a turtle catch a break here?" but neither Fourze nor Emily payed any mind to his complaints. Soon she would approach the two and blow them away. Ben would not allow that to happen. Twisting the dial of the Omnitrix he went with an old favorite: XLR8. Clicking his visor into place he sped circles around Emily's hurricane, trying to dispel the dark force. As he ran around and around the twirling winds began to wobble from the strain Ben was placing on them, as Emily fought to stay upright in the increasingly violent storm. At first XLR8 thought nothing would happen, as the hurricane kept its steady pace despite his effects to hinder it. His hard work began to pay off as it started to break apart...into two side eddies. "Aw Dammit!" the Kineceleran swore as he now had TWO hurricanes to deal with! While both were not heading toward Fourze they were causing more damage that the singular hurricane was doing on its own, as one went left and the other right, ripping vehicles, windows, litter and puddles of water into the air as the cocktails of fury span nonstop. 'The media is going to have a field day with this' XLR8 bemoaned in his mind. Dark Sagittarius was having trouble keeping track of both hurricanes at once. Her mind ached from the mental strain of trying to control two hurricanes at the same time. Her anger getting the best of her she tried to call them back but the feedback from doing so was too much for her to take, knocking her on her back and on the ground. Spewing a feral battle cry she fired off Cosmic Energy arrows at XLR8, but he dodged them with a awkward ease as he jumped up and bicycle kicked Dark Sagittarius, staggering her backwards. Before the Omnitrix could time out he changed to Jetray, grabbed her in his tail and flew up into the sky, then rocketing towards the ground below. Before he could hit the earth he stopped, let go of Dark Sagittarius and blasted her with both his eye lasers and tail laser, making her hit the ground hard enough to make a crater as her Zodiart from blew up from all the damage it took during her fight with Ben. As the Omnitrix timed out as he landed, Ben ran to where Emily was laying. Trying to get to where she was by sliding downwards but falling down near the end of his descent, Ben scrambled to get up as he fought to get by her side. "EMILY! Hold on, I'm coming to get you out of there!" the Wielder of the Omnitrix hollered in absolute terror, hoping that he didn't hurt her too badly. Thankfully she began to stir from her short slumber as she saw Ben knelling by her side, holding her hand as tears streamed from his eyes. Emily awoken, her eyes fluttering as she got up on her feet to Ben's pleasant surprise. "Muti-tasking was never my strong point" she groaned as she held her head in one hand, Ben holding the other to support her as they got out of the crater. Emily wasn't too pleased with herself as Ben let her sit down by Fourze's sleeping form. "Oh Ben, I'm so sorry about all of this. I should have never have let Vilgax trick me like that! What'll Gwen think of me now?" as hot tears of shame flowed from her tired eyes. Ben placed his arms around her and allowed her to get all the pain out. "I'm sure she'll still see you as her best friend. What Vilgax did will never change how she feels about you, Em. Plus I acted like a jerk back there so you do have a valid point about me" as Emily hugged him back. "I take it you still hate me. I'm OK with that. After the way I acted I can see your point" Emily just smiled and kissed his forehead, leaving Ben quite stunned by her actions. "I wasn't truly being a good friend myself. Let's just be friends from now on, OK?" a bright smile forming on her face as Ben did Gentaro's special handshake to cement their newfound trust in one another. Soon after she kissed him on the lips and whispered, "Godspeed, Ben" in his ear. Now that the Omnitrix recharged AGAIN Ben did something Emily wasn't expecting. "You wanna pick my next guy? Think of it as a way of saying I trust you" he beamed. Emily got a goofy grin on her face. "Anything but Spidermonkey, Kay?" she giggled as she selected Humungousaur. Ben gave her a enthusiastic thumb's up as he went underground, looking for Dark Leo, who he guessed went into the sewers last time he saw him. "Good luck, Ben" Emily wished but Ben was long gone by the time she said that. The sewers of Bellwood... Manny was furious! His pistols still have not cooled down enough and both Dark Leo and his Supernova 'girlfriend' were pissing him off like nothing else! "You both are workin' my last nerve! Can't ya lay off for one measly minute?" he begged, but both parts of Dark Leo kept on attacking him with nonstop fury. Manny thought this was his end, dying alone and unloved. He welcomed it as he didn't want to face Helen's wraith again. Ben however ran up and decked the giant amazon right in the face as he roared out "Humungousaur!" Not stopping there he punched the giant in the stomach twice, then uppercutted her into the air and before she could land Ben grasped both hands together and slammed Cash's Supernova ability into the water, dispelling it to Dark Leo's utter outrage. D. Leo's roars echoed across the old chambers of Bellwood's sewer system as he tried to decapitate Humungousar, but as the Forever found out he was very agile for his size, ducking into a tunnel then kicking him in the butt, sending him down on his face. "Consider this payback for kicking my ass with Techadon powers!" Ben laughed as Dark Leo leapt up and tried again. This time Humungousaur caught his claws in each hand and broke them like they were chocolate bars. Of course chocolate bars don't scream in pain when you break them. Ben wasted no time and kicked him away from him then pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Nothing happened. "Oh, right. I can't go Ultimate anymore" he nervously laughed as he dusted his hands off. "Guess old habits die hard" then stomped hard onto Dark Leo, blowing up his Zodiart form and knocking Ben out of Humungousar from. Ben landed on his back, his clothes torn up even more now from the blast. His shirt was now without a left sleeve and his jeans' pockets were no longer usable. "BEN! You alright there, buddy?" as Manny leapt to where Ben was right now. Ben was in a bad state, blood flowing from his nose and bruises everywhere on his body. "Ben, please let me finish off the last of the Dark Horoscopes! You're going to die if you keep this up any longer!" he ordered. Ben would have none of that as he got up and assented the ladder back onto street level. "I'm going to die either way. Might as well go out with a bang! Keep a eye on Cash for me, will ya?" Ben asked as he pried open the manhole cover and went off to where the Kamen Rider Club members were at the moment. Manny crossed his arms and huffed out "Leave it to Ben to make a Tetramand babysit some punkass loser" But he smiled as Ben went off to die a hero's death. He wished he had his bravery. "Go give Dark Scorpio Hell!" he wished. Where our KRC heroes are now... So far Dark Scorpio was just standing there, in his Supernova form, swinging his tail back and forth. Nethertheless it freaked the KRC members out a lot! As JT hissed at them, hoping one of them would be willing to stand against him, Yuki prayed for help. Her wish did come true, but it did not come in the form of Gentaro. It came in the shape of Rath. "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN, JT! RATH DON'T LIKE STUPID SCORPIONS TRYIN' TO HURT HIS FRIENDS! IF YOU WANNA TANGO WITH SOMEONE, THEN TANGO WITH THE RATHO!" knowing full well that did not rhyme at all. But as Rath, Ben couldn't care less as he grabbed Dark Scorpio's tail and threw him out of sight, and away from the Club members. "Thanks, Ben! But where's Gentaro-san?" Erin asked of the tiger alien. "Um, Rath doesn't know where Gentaro Keystotheferrari is right now. But he's with one of Rath's buds, so we're cool, right?" His wording was odd to say the least, but his meaning was clear as crystal. "Ben-san, are you alright? Please don't overwork yourself too hard" Ran begged of Rath, but he just shrugged. Yuki went over to where the tigerman was and looked at him with pleading eyes, hands held over her heart. "Ben, someday we will find a way to help you. I hope that when we do go into space you'll join us there! Because you're more than a friend to us. You're a dear friend to all, not only us but all of Bellwood. Thank you Ben-san" she happily stated to Ben, as Ran and JK nodded their approval, Tojiro gave his thumb's up and Erin grinned cheerfully at Ben. Rath was moved to tears by their fondness of him, as well as their commitment to bettering the lives of all they know. Dark Scorpio took the time Rath was busy with the KRC to stab him in the back with his tail, but that only made Rath angry. Grabbing his tail and ripping it off Rath roared "Stinging me. Is. Not. Cool. At. ALL! Let's see how you like getting you tuscus whooped, Dark Scorpio!" as he jabbed both claws into his chest, destroying the form of Dark Scorpio and returning him to being JT. "That's what ya get for messin' with Rath!" he spat at the trembling JT. JT tried to run, but he ran right into Manny, who was holding Cash on his shoulder. "I think you both need a time out!" as Manny grabbed JY, placed him over his free shoulder and walked off to parts unknown. As the KRC cheered Ben as he returned to being the boy they knew and loved, he felt better than he did in a long time. Not only did he have new friends that rock out loud and supported him, unlike Gwen and Kevin, he had a better relationship with Julie as well. Things were starting to look up for the Omnitrix holder. But the good cheer was shattered by a evil laugh that pieced the night. Floating above them was Vilgax himself. But he was in a bad state, with his upper armor utterly destroyed, leaving his arms and chest bare, his sword broken beyond repair as it hung by his side and his pants were looking threadbare. His body was covered in oozing sores and his right eye was gone, the hole that held it sealed tight by his Ruby Ray, leaving a terrible burn scar on his face. But he looked like a kid in a candy store, as Yuki, Erin, JK and Ran recoiled at the sight of him. "Aw, good! You know to fear me, like good children! But It's too late for all of you! For now I hold the ULTIMATE POWER! Behold all 12 Dark Horoscope Switches!" as he indeed had all 12 floating in a circle around him, glowing purple in the black winter night sky. "Soon I will rule over all with Diagon's power!" he proclaimed as he opened the Dark Nebula over his head. "EVERYONE, GET BACK INSIDE AND FIND COVER! I'll deal with Vilgax!" Ben shouted at them. They didn't need to be told twice as they went to find cover as Ben activated his last transformation. Soon Way Big was on the scene as he charged right at Vilgax, but he was repelled by his dark power. Vilgax chuckled and turned into his true form, a giant alien octopus. But now it was about Way Big's size and in each tentacle it had a Dark Horoscope Switch embedded in it. "Time to die, grandson of Max!" he snarled as he whipped Way Big with mindless anger. Way Big fought back with all his might, punching, kicking and slashing at Vilgax, but he was losing this fight and he knew it. Soon he was able to get the upper hand when Vilgax missed his head with a tentacle, letting him get some distance away from the former ruler. Vilgax wrapped four tentacles around Way Big's arms, but he was able to fire off a cosmic blast, sending Vilgax recoiling in pain and freeing himself. But Way Big was not strong enough to take on the Black Zodiac empowered Vilgax. He was able to slash some bits and pieces from Vilgax, but overall Vilgax held the upper hand as he whipped Way Big with no mercy nor remorse. As a tentacle coiled on his throat, crushing his windpipe Way Big tried to call for help, but he was only able to moan in pain, unable to form a word nor a sentence. Vilgax smiled evilly and prepped a killing blow as his eye glowed a ominous purple. "Don't be so sad, Ben. Soon you'll be with your friends, The Galactic Enforcers. I killed them without even breaking a sweat" he taunted the To' Kostar. But his word awoke a fire that he should not have unleashed. Five years ago... "Do you think I'll ever be as big a hero as you guys?" young Ben asked Ultimos, looking at his heroes with childhood awe. They were nice enough to visit Ben during his summer vacation and Ben was quite pleased to have them around. "Of course, young man! You have a hero's heart beating in your chest! You'll do us proud!" Ultimos stated as he rubbed Ben's hair. "If only Tetramands has your willpower, Ben" Tiny admitted to Ben as her boyfriend Synaptak floated nearby. Ben was on cloud nine at that moment. He would always treasure this memory. Present day... The fact that Vilgax killed the Galactic Enforcers, but also brag about it was too much for Ben to take, as he regained his strength and tore the offending tentacle off of Vilgax, leaving him howling in pain. Way Big was too enraged to even think straight as he punched the dark ruler with the force of a earthquake with each blow, trying to stop his greatest foe once and for all. Stopping to catch his breath he thundered "This is for everyone you ever hurt!" as he went about starting his sure kill attack. Vilgax lashed out with utter rage as Way Big swatted his tentacles away. Knowing that this was his last chance at killing Ben he floated over his head and twisted his tentacles into a drill, trying to gore Way Big. But his last attack came out too late for Vilgax as Way Big fired off a mighty beam of energy from his arms, crossed in a X over his chest as the powerful light poured out of them, hitting Vilgax and engulfing his body in the light of Ben's final attack. He was forced far away from Bellwood as he exploded in the night sky. Way Big roared in triumph as his victory shout set off every car alarm in the city and upset just about every dog there as well. Soon after... Fourze groggily got up to see Emily's face looking at him. As he sat up with some difficulty he murmured "Is Ben-san OK? Dark Scorpio was tougher than my Scorpio ever was" as he stood up, his legs buckling. Emily got up and help Fourze steady himself. "I don't know. I heard screaming coming from a few blocks ahead, but it would take some time to get there on foot" she huffed. Fourze for once thought ahead and activated the Water Switch in his Driver. "Water on!" A stream of water flowed from the Water Module, making a makeshift river of sorts. Removing the Water Switch he placed Board in and brought its Module to life. "Board on!" Emily was impressed with Fourze's gear. "Do you mind if I tag along, Mr. Fourze?" she squeaked out of pure joy. Fourze nodded and she jumped into his arms, as he surfed his way over to where the action was. But something was on her mind. "I wonder where Cash and JT went off too?" she pondered as she furrowed her brow. Bellwood Youth Center... A small mob of teenage girls was assembled before the auditorium. As Manny tapped his microphone he said "OK, I bet you're all wondering just who's to blame for helping Vilgax. As it just so happens I have the two with me now" as Cash and JT went on stage wearing diapers and bibs. As he smiled at their misfortune he asked of them "Can you tell these cuties just what you are?" "WE'RE POO-POO BABIES!" Cash and JT sobbed as they danced around in their diapers as the cute girls there all laughed at them. "That's what ya get for letting Vilgax trick you so easily, boys!" the Tetramand laughed as he crossed all four of his arms. Around the same time as Manny is mocking the two former Dark Horoscopes... The final battle between Ben and Vilgax shook the city like Hell itself wanted to come up. Thankfully no further damage was done, though everyone but Erin was spooked by the mock earthquake. As she dusted her skirt off she wondered just why her friends were still shaking in fear. "C'mon guys, it wasn't as bad as we first thought it would be!" she grinned, hands on her hips. Yuki regained her composure and went over to Erin. "The buildings in America aren't up to code on earthquake safety as other counties! We're lucky that we weren't crushed" Yuki scolded as her hair flew freely in the wind. Nearby Ran and Tojiro were helping JK find a bathroom, as all the fighting scared him enough to pee his pants. Erin shook her head at Yuki and looked her in the eyes. "Look, I know the buildings in America aren't like the buildings elsewhere, but they can't be that bad, right?" as she flashed a unsure grin. Surely enough Way Big stomped his way towards the group, causing plaster to fall down in dust clouds. Erin gromped Yuki in fear as she mewed "Gomen" in apology "It's OK. We're just not used to this kind of architecture, Erin-san" as she stroked her hair, hoping Erin will calm down. Although that won't happen soon as the KRC saw Way big smiling down on all of them. Ran was the first to see the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and recognized him as another form of Ben. "Ben-san, I can't believe you're a Ultraman! How impressive!" as she grasped her hands together out of happiness. Yuki and Erin were ecstatic about this. "Ben's an Ultraman! Ben's a Ultraman!" they screamed in total fangirl mode, jumping up and down happily while holding hands. The two love space and they both know Ultramen were known as great protectors of the universe back home. While Way Big wasn't a true Ultraman he looked close enough that he could pass as one, given that one pays no mind to his Omnitrix symbol. Tojiro and JK were looking at him in total awe, too starstuck to say anything, but their faces were looking quite pleased with this new bit of info. Way Big chuckled and powered down as Fourze and Emily approached them and Emoto parked his car, getting out with Julie. "I get that a lot when I go Way Big" he admitted to his friends, as Julie hugged him close, sobbing. "I'm sorry too, Julie. I wanted to live my life for you, but all I was able to do die for you. Some boyfriend I turned out to be" he bitterly remarked about his impending doom. Emoto walked over to the two and gave them words of comfort. "Ben, you did more in your life than most men do with theirs. You are indeed the hero Mt Ohsugi says you are" Ben was happy to hear that, though he had no idea who this person was. Fourze placed Emily back on her feet and powered down, crying. Running towards Ben he hugged him and broke down completely. "I wanted to help you, but in the end I couldn't do anything at all for you. I need to improve as a Kamen Rider. I also need to say how sorry I am for trying to hurt you" Ben hugged him back and said this to him. "Don't stress over that. We both needed to work on improving ourselves" as they fistbumped, being the greatest of friends as Julie and the Kamen Rider Club cheered them on. But that happiness was not going to last as soon after Ben fell to the ground, dead, as the nanites leaked out of him in a silvery cloud, though they crumbled to dust soon after, the strain of trying to keep up with Ben being too much for the tech that made them up. As the entire group was horrified by this terrible news, they were unable to pay attention to a black cockroach looking machine as it crawled out of a gash in Ben's chest, heading out to parts unknown, Until now, that is... Vilgax was never going to walk again. He knew that deep down in his heart. Pieces of his arms and chest were gone, his skin was burned with second and third degree burns and his legs were shattered. But his spirit was as strong as ever. As he laid on the ground by Los Soledad, the broken Horoscope Switches laying all around him, he pondered what to do with his life now. His last eye caught a glimpse of a black bug combining with a mass of others into a beautiful Latina girl, a cruel smile on her face as she held George's sword. "Lord Diagon was not pleased with how much you begged of him to share his power. He knew that you planed on killing him, so when he extended his reach over this world he placed a spell that would split his power into three equal parts. One for you, one for me and the last one went to Julie Yamamoto, though no one else is the wiser about that" as she kicked Vilgax in the head. "Still you don't deserve to live in that shattered husk of a body and I, as the Hivemind of the Nanochips, NEED a stronger body to take my, no, our revenge on both Ben and Julie" she growled as a wicked smile formed on her lips. "It was easy for the Decoy Queen to place a sleeper agent in Ben during our first attack, and when Ben broke our heart we activated his body's self-destruct function, though neither the Plumbers, nor these dimension hoppers were the wiser, plus thanks to Alpha Nanite throwing a hissy fit over Ceaser, Verdona will destroy Rex's world, leaving Ben with no allies strong enough to stop Diagon's revenge from beyond the grave. But you will not be here to see that" she purred as she somehow was able to open the Dark Nebula with the shattered Horoscope Switches and with dark magic casted Vilgax's soul into its depths, not caring where the Hell it ended up. Soon she combined with his ruined body, as the thought stuck her like lightning. As a new eye formed in the eye socket she realized the truth. "Ben Tennyson is DEAD" as she smiled. It was going to take some time to get Vilgax's body up and running again, but she had that time and soon, time would run out for everyone on Earth... |
03-17-2013, 03:42 PM | #18 |
Neon Blade Outlaw
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Californa
Posts: 2,725
|
The thrilling conclusion of Fourze/ Ben 10: Clash of the Two Heroes!
Not far from Los Soloedad... "Keep firing men!" It was not the most thought plan in the history of Bellwood, but something had to be done. As the army of Bellwood attacks the form of Vilgax they wonder just where in the Hell is Ben Tennyson? Ben did scare the adults of Bellwood enough to force the mayor to make a secret task in case Ben were rouge, but it also was to stop any of Ben's enemies from attacking the general populace. The general was not pleased that Vilgax kept at a steady pace, no matter how much machine gun fire hit him. As Vilgax got closer to his line of sight he gasped "What in the world are you?", as the former ruler had changed a great deal. No longer was the soul of Vilgax in his own body. Now Elana or rather the Hive Queen, was the body's owner. Though she was never going to be herself again, as the nanotech in Vilgax's bloodstream reacted violently with hers, forcibly fusing the two together into a nightmarish cybernetic beast. Now there was no Elana, nor Vilgax. There was only Cyber Vilgax now. His body was a patchwork of flesh, dark magic and technology. His left forearm was a razor sharp gauntlet that he could fire off at will, with the Ruby Ray embedded into its back. His entire right arm was robotic, with a built in laser gun in its forearm, a powerful clawed hand with a taser in its palm. On its upper right arm was a missile launcher that can fire off homing, guided and dumb rockets. The eye that Verdona destroyed was now a glowing scanner, the flesh covering it previously now a metal face mask that covered his entire left side, as powerful hearing devices made up his new earholes. His remaining organic eye now glowed the same purple as his cyborg one, and his teeth were sharper than before. His upper chest was now almost entirely cybernetic, with a red orb near where his heart was. Now it was his new heart, as it was surrounded by a silver circle that has the Zodiac symbols engraved and painted black . On his back was a jetpack with a cable connecting it to his robotic arm by a port in his elbow. What one could mistake as a belt was now a system that allows him to disconnect his upper body from his lower one, letting him attack two places at once should the need arise. His left foot and shin was a robotic boot that has a acid sprayer in his shin. His right leg was now cybernetic up to the upper thigh, with the ability to change its foot into a sawblade. He wore a black suit that covered his lower body and lower chest, leaving his arms, head and cyborg parts exposed. Said parts are purple with some bronze, silver being used in a few places, like the circle that held his new glowing heart. It's safe to say Cyber Vilgax is far stronger than the Vilgax Max and Ben fought years ago. Now more machine than Vilgaxian the cyborg fired off lasers from his eyes, burning everything in their path. Some tanks and weaponry were destroyed, but so far no loss of life...yet. "I would advise you surrender peacefully, or face the wrath of Diagon's heir" he droned in a robotic monolog. Of course no one wanted to give up and charged right at the monster, but he was able to kill them all with frightening ease. Soon only the general was left standing as the cyber beast came over to where he was. He was ashamed of the fact that his legs were buckling and his uniform was soaked in fear sweat. Nevertheless he boldly ordered the monster to do one thing: "Halt! You are attacking United States military property! If you do not surrender then we will be forced to kill you!" Cyber Vilgax laughed that off like it meant nothing, which it really did in this case. "There will be no surrender, nor remorse for the people of this backwater planet. If you believe in a God, then make peace with it now" as his hands went over to the general's head. He paid no mind to the screams of terror as he ended his life there, with only the flies as witnesses to his deed. Not stopping to wash his hands of blood, he went on to Bellwood to end it and from there the world. 'All of Earth will die for Master Diagon' he thought as he flew towards his first target: Mr. Smoothy. Ben's temporary house... It was a somber mood over where the Kamen Rider Club was. Ben's body was being preserved in cryogenic storage and everyone was in a glum mood. Gentaro was the first to speak: "Ben was a person that one could see as a brat, but he was always a hero to those who needed a hero. He not only retaught me about friendship he never gave up, even when his battle was within. Now he's gone and someone must take on his mantle" He took time to wipe his eyes of the tears that were forming, but they kept on going no matter what he did. As he placed his Fourze Driver down he made a bold statement that shook his friends to their cores "As I am no longer fit to be a Kamen Rider I will now take over Ben's duties as protector of this Earth" He was never as serious as he was now as he clicked the Omnitrix onto his left wrist, the device humming to life once again. "Gentaro, this is a huge step for you, as it is for all of us. I must take the time to thank you for doing this, since I doubt Vilgax has died after Ben's last battle" Emoto comforted the now ex-Rider, placing a hand on his shoulder. " I for one wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors" as he nodded to make his point more clearly made. JK was sitting down and tearing up like a frightened child. "We don't know how this weirdo alien watch is going to affect you, man. Plus who's going to be Fourze now that you're taking over Ben's gig?" He wished he could stop rocking back and forth as he made his point, but his fear got the best of him. Gentaro gave his friend a kind smile that put most of his fears at rest. No matter what form he took, he will always be one of the kindest people you will ever met. "Gen-chan, I wish you the best on this new chapter of your life. I hope you will make many new friends here and the bonds you made will continue to grow strong and healthy." She was sad, but Yuki was always the one who fought the hardest to keep the cheer in the Club's heart in its darkest times, like now for instance. "Promise me you'll try your hardest to make things better for everyone and make their spirits soar again, like the rockets we love so dearly. They're like mighty gods to me and they will always-" "Yuki, remember our talk" Erin scolded her fellow classmate, though her tone was like a mother's, gentle yet firm. Yuki apologized for falling into a bad habit of thinking rockets were deities. She was working on that, but there were times when she would relapse into that old way of thinking. Erin was sympathetic about her friend's little quirk. Yuki is a kind person and intelligent as well, but she prided herself on her vast knowledge of space and was not shy about sharing it at a moment's notice. This habit unfortunately labeled her as a otaku and left her with little friends until Gentaro reentered her life. Erin was about the same way Yuki was, sharing her lore of space trivia even when people didn't want to hear it. She was willing to admit they balanced each other out quite nicely, Yuki helping Erin curb her horrid temper and Erin calming Yuki down when she got too excited. Erin hugged Gen and wished him good luck, then sat down by Yuki as they both held each other in support. Tojiro didn't have much to say, but he wanted to add on the points the others have made. "Kamen Rider or not, you always gotta keep rockin' on, Gen-san! Kick evil's ass for all of us!" his fist raised in pride as he shouted his encouraging words to Gentaro. Ran was last, but that was fine with her. Standing up she placed her hands behind her and went about saying what she needed to say. "You were the one who helped me trust others again and open both my heart and Haru's as well to the larger world out there. You never give up on the people who trust you, even when they are harsh towards you for reason" as she wiped a tear from her eye, as the painful memory of trying to save Haru from being the Musca Zodiarts forever was not a very happy one. Sniffling she went on, as the others listened to what she had to say. "If you need any help, please let us know. You are such a huge help to us and we all feel that we need to help out more in your life. I'm always open to teach you some Aikido moves. You kinda need them, as I'm taking some classes from Ms. Utsugi" a bright smile forming on her face. Gen was pleased to see Ran be more cheerful, as everyone thought she has such a beautiful smile, plus although he didn't like to admit it to himself, he needed to learn how to fight better. Shotaro was not too pleased with how bad Fourze fought at times, but Eiji and Philip were more understanding of his plight. "Thank you, everyone. I will try to live up to your expectations and fight against evil until the day I am unable to do so!" Everyone but Emoto cheered happily about what Gen said, though he did give a grin of mature understanding of Gen's new life plans. 'Ben, if you're watching, please forgive me for my foolishness' Gen prayed in his mind. Ben's room. Well, his temporary room at least... Kevin was not the kindest person Julie knew, plus he smells badly at times. Still he would never hurt her and any way, and he was nice enough to improve her computer so she can access the 'Extranet', the universe's version of Earth's internet. She wanted to know how people were dealing with Ben's death and unfortunately for her she picked the one planet that hated Ben more than anything else in this universe. Probity's planet... While other worlds were in deep sorrow over Ben's passing the people on this world were celebrating his death! Now that they no longer have to fear him coming back, they stopped making weapons to kill him. There were interviews with the people there, and how happy they were that after Ben wreaked their statue of their beloved leader (which was a accident, as Gwen and Kevin told her, though they were a tad too harsh on Ben about that. Sometimes she wondered if part of the reason Ben acted out as much as he did during the time he held the Ultimatrix was because they weren't supporting him as much as they should have) about how humorously ironic it was that the high and mighty Ben died from hemotoxicity caused by alien nano machines, how his death will make everyone's lives better. It hurt Julie so much to hear these people talk about Ben and his death like it was a simple party! But the worst part was coming up as little Probity came up to give her words about this. It went on for hours, but it can be summed up in this sentence, said by Probity herself: "With Ben dead we can finally have a REAL hero that's not a total screw up and isn't from some backwater toilet world!" In some crowd shots one could easily see Vucanus holding up a sign that says "Be glad Ben 10 is dead!" Well, there was a dirty word that started with "F" on that sign, but Julie knew better that repeat his dirty language. All of this, plus the horrible things Probity said were too much for the gentle girl to take. Logging out of the Extranet she screamed out of pure rage and punched a wall, making a good size dent in it. As her breathes became more hagged and since she told the KRC she needed some time to herself no one was the wiser about the odd purple light coming out of her eyes at that time. But soon... The body of Ben began to glow a calming green and then it was as it was before, but no one saw the odd sight. A land Ben had never seen before... Ben was shocked by how peaceful this place was! One moment he was with his best friends and now he was in a world of soothing white light and bubbles that held windows of sorts into other worlds. Being as curious as always Ben peeked into three of them. One had Ben with black hair and a metal lock on the wrist that held the Omnitrix, which he recognized as the second form of the Prototype he had until he loss it during his fight with Albedo and Vilgax. His right eye was a deeper shade of green, and his left was ocean blue. Plus cute girls were by his side, one with a cross on her neck, one with bat wings, another had a witch hat on, and the last was sucking a lollipop. The next world he glimpsed in was weirder still. He was on a spacecraft that was not of any make he knew, as a older woman with a eyepatch ordered him to battle alien fighters in a city that looked like it was in the 1930s. Ben in that world was wearing a grey uniform and had a buzzcut, with the Prototype Omnitrix on his wrist. The last one was just him and Gwen and they were...Ben screamed in terror as they were doing things to each other that were, well, of a private matter and the sort of thing people made tapes of, but shouldn't have in the first place. Ben kept walking in this strange land, hoping to find at least Paradox, but instead found Sir George himself. But he was relaxing in a comfortable green button-up shirt and tan slacks, with nice shoes to go with the look. Plus he had a full head of blonde hair. He was the founder of the Forever Knights, but he was a honorable man, and one of Ben's greatest allies. He turned to Ben and addressed him like so: "Dear Ben, you have proven yourself a hero over and over again. But it's not your time yet, lad. Although Elana died saving you from the Hivemind, the Queen took on a dark version of her personally and tricked you. Even worse she placed a nanite in you during your first battle with the clone of her father. When you rejecting her dark love she triggered a cellular breakdown with a potent hexotoxin, though your Ultimatrix was able to keep it in check, as did your superior Omnitrix. But the nanites you gained from Rex's world interfered with the healing process most part-Anadites go though" Ben went slacked jawed at this bit of news. "If you're wondering how I know all of this, death tends to open worlds of wisdom for a few" as he showed Ben a memory of the past... Back when Carl and Frank were about Ben's age, give or take. Max and Verdona knew that the boys weren't able to gain the spark, though there was always the chance a child of their could gain it from them. They were feverish for about a month or so, then they were as fine as rain. Luckily Max is very understanding of different aliens and Verdona was grateful for that. Back to where we were before... "Oh, so that's what happens when a child with Anadite DNA doesn't get the spark" Ben mouthed as George nodded. "So if I'm dead, then who's going to go hero when the rest of my villains come knocking on Bellwood's door?" "Ben, you fought so hard for this universe and beyond that thanks to Spellbinder, you were able to gain a second chance at life. But you must deal with your issues before it can be given to you, young master Tennyson" Having told Ben all he could, George faded away, with Ben having no idea what to do now. "Well, it was nice of Spellbinder to give me another chance at life. But how am I gonna get that chance?" No sooner than he asked himself that soft footsteps started as a figure came into his line of sight. It was someone he thought he's never see again: a small boy with green cargo pants, black sneakers and a white shirt with black striping. With the Prototype Omnitrix on his arm, it could be no other than Ben Tennyson himself, age 10. And he was not happy to see the older version of himself. "WOW. I knew you were a total loser, but even after EVERYONE busted your chops about your ego problems you still wouldn't improve. Now it's my turn to go hero, and you can just sit here in the dark forever!" with a rude tone of voice as he rolled his eyes at older Ben. 17 year old Ben wasn't going to let a younger Ben take his place. He fought too damn hard against the Dark versions of Taurus, Leo,Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius, as well as both versions of Aries, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces! No way was he just going to lose this battle! Both Ben activated their Omntrixes and went into battle against each other, 17-year Ben with Shocksquash and 10-year Ben with Magnostein, their first blows causing a flash of light to burst out from the impact. Back in Ben's universe... After smashing Mr. Smoothy, AGAIN, Cyber Vilgax was finally in the neighborhood that Ben was staying at. It didn't take long for everyone there to realize that a cyber monster was attacking, well, everything that went into his line of sight! After the first screams Gentaro was right there, face to face with the beast himself! Well, technically he was face to belly button, but you get the idea. As he tried to get a alien that could stand to Cyber Vilgax Gen proudly declared to C. Vilgax this: "You harmed both my friends and the girl of my dreams! You killed so many people and yet no one was able to stop you from doing as you wished!" As he selected a alien and pressed down on the dial he shouted his classic line: "Uchuu Kita!" as he changed to Goop. But his version was a brownish green, with brown eyes and a brighter silver UFO hovering over his head. But being a cute alien wasn't going to dampen his fighting spirit as he proudly pointed at C. Vilgax and boomed out "Let's settle this once and for all!" " Gladly" Cyber Vilgax monologued as he unleashed a burst of acid, but it did not hurt Goop at all. It fact it caused him to giggle a little bit, although that was embarrassing to Gentaro. He didn't mind doing that doing his off hours, but not during a fight! After regaining his composure Goop squirted C. Vilgax with two strong gushes of acid at his chest, burning him slightly, but not enough to really matter. While he doing this Cyber Vilgax ran to his spot and tried to crush his UFO, but Goop was able to liquify his body and rush out of the way. C. Vilgax tried again and again to crush him but Goop kept getting away with his oozing powers as he taunted "Nah, Nah, Na nah naaaaa!" Cyber Vilgax got tired of chasing him and fired a Ruby Ray blast at Goop, knocking him down and before he could get up Cyber Vilgax ripped a piece of street up and smashed him with it. Turning around he failed to see Gentaro switching to a new form: That of Fourarms, an old favorite of Ben's. Chucking the piece of concrete at Cyber Vilgax he jumped up into the air and went down on his head, his face falling into a car's sunroof. Fourarms now wore a button up vest that was black with pink button, black pants and a green belt with the Omnitrix on it. "Ready to give up yet, rapeface?" both mocking him and making light of tentacle porn, the Tetramand DNA making Gentaro more bold than he normally was. Cyber Vilgax got back on his feet and thundered, "NEVER!", as he fired off both his laser gun and laser vision at Fourarms, forcing him onto his back in pain. "Perhaps I came at a bad time for you, but this world needs to die" as he attempted to punch Fourarms in the face, though he was able to catch it with all four arms. It was taking all of his great strength to keep his fist away and the strain was starting to show on Fourarms' face. With his veins bulging and sweat pouring down from his brow he forced Cyber Vilgax away and went with the form of Rath, who now wore a black karate outfit with a belt made of the Omnitrix, with pink highlights on the uniform itself. "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', VILGAX! YOU SUCK!" Rath roared as he smashed the ground out from under them both, sending them down into the sewers below. Though that didin't faze Rath at all. "When I get my mitts on ya I'm gonna kick your butt so hard your life's gonna be a intellectual challenge, cause it's gonna come out your mouth!" That made no sense whatsoever but Rath is too dumb to ever care about that. Soon after... Manny was having way too much fun parading Cash and JT in their diapers when he felt the earth shake from Gan and Cyber Vilgax's battle. Telling the both of them to stay there he jumped into the hole to help out the tigerman. Landing with a loud thud he shoved Cyber Vilgax away so he could talk to Gen. "I got the E-mail about what happened to Ben.I can't believe he's gone. I hope you're up to the challenge, dude. Ben's guys don't screw around!" Manny admitted to Gen/Rath. "Rath's gonna try his best to live up to Ben's standards. Thought it's gonna be hard" as he frowned, the fact that Ben was still dead hitting him hard. Cyber Vilgax took the time they were talking to recover and chokehold the both of them into the sewer walls, trying to crush the life from them. But a storm of crystals stuck C. Vilgax in his organic eye, tearing it out as he was forced to let go of Manny and Rath to seal the hole. Looking up they saw the KRC with some of Ben's friends: Tetrax, Allen Albright, Sugilite and Reiny. "You don't know where to quit, do you?!" Tertax bellowed as Yuki stood by his side. "I think you owe these people a apology note, for starters!" he thundered as Yuki glared at Cyber Vilgax. "Not to mention the pain you caused the peoples of the universe. You have much to answer for, in this life and the realms beyond" Sugilite stated as Erin did the Akanbe pose at C. Vilgax. "Ben was my friend! You're going to pay for what you did to him!" Allen flared in his Pryonite form, with JK clenched his fists by his sides, hoping that Manny and Gen can win their fight with the dark ruler. "The Highbreed will have your head for your crimes against BenBen Tennyson, if others don't get to you first!" Reiny snarled, Tojiro by his side, ready to help out in any way he could. Emoto was with Ran as he said this to Cyber Vilgax: "We all must face what we did in our lives at the time of our deaths. I doubt your passing will be kind to you, nor your legacy" Ran just flumed at the cyber monster. Gentaro returned to human form and was quite touched by how much Ben meant to everyone here, on Earth and beyond! "I have much to learn about friendship" he sighed sadly, hanging his head in shame. To his surprise Yuki vouched for him. "Gen-chan, you have many strengths to your credit. But you're always so hard on yourself. You're not perfect, but then again no one is. But you're always willing to improve and see the good in everything. The time I spent apart from you only made the love in my heart grow stronger. I wish to spend more time with you, as more than a friend!" she declared, the love in her voice ringing true and proud. "I love you too, Yuki-chan" Gen told her as both the KRC and Ben's friends were pleased to hear. Cyber Vilgax however couldn't care less as a new eye formed from the old, as mechanical as the one in the socket flanked by metal. "Idiots. Vilgax is dead. Now there is only Elana in this body. But she is no longer herself. Now there is only Cyber Vilgax. Diagon hated how much Vilgax lusted over his power, so he contacted the Hivemind and gave it part of his power. But we needed more that that to take revenge. So we showed Vilgax the world of heroes and fooled him into making the last of the Horoscopes Switches. Then he was tricked into placing his share of the power into them, empowering them with the power of the Black Zodiac. We knew that they would lose, but when they did the Switches would go to Vilgax, giving him that power. Then when he lost against Ben he casted his soul into the Dark Nebula and took over his body and remade it in OUR image. You were all pawns of the great Diagon, helping us reach levels of power we never thought possible before. We also played a part in killing Ben, as he was nothing more than a thorn in our side. Dooming Rex's world to death was a added bonus" as a cruel smile twisted his face into something even more hideous. His words were disgusting to everyone there, but since Gentaro knew not on how to fully use the Omnitrix, things were looking quite bad for our heroes. Around the same time as what going on right now in Ben's universe... Both Bens would give no quarter and ask for none, both wanting to live life again. Older Ben had much riding on this fight and if he failed then all is doomed. Plus Rex was going to be PISSED about having to deal with his grandma. But right now he had to defeat HIMSELF, as a 10 year old. "Aw man! Look, I'll admit I was a terrible friend. I hurt everyone close to me and broke Julie's heart. I let fame go to my head and ruin my reputation. What more do you want to know?" 17 yr old Ben demanded, as he did a fire stream attack as Swampfire. "All I want to for you to admit I am the batter Ben. People want a hero that honest, kind and not going to attack people with his powers just because they're hogging his space! Plus saying that magic and cryptids are really alien things is just going to tick people off!" 10 yr old Ben snapped back as Heatblast absorbed the fire blast and countered with a powerful fireball, which Swampfire barely had time to dodge. Still, younger Ben had valid points. Saying that a lot of things were really alien of origin is really annoying admittedly, plus he had abused his powers to get people off his back, to torment his friends, Hell, he was willing to become a universal overlord due to Vilgax's goading! He had failed BIG TIME and he knew it. But he had to save his friends and his girlfriend. No, he thought. He had to save everything and that meant maturing a lot. Gwen and Kevin were not the nicest people he knew, but they kept his head straight and his mind focused on the matters at hand. Still they could have been a little more tactful of his feelings. Then like lightning the realization stuck him. Months ago... Gwen and Kevin had to help Ben out of a tree he had somehow managed to get struck in. Granted it wasn't his fault, as Dr Animo's stupid frog threw him there while he was saving lives. Still they weren't too pleased after Animo was dragged off back to prison. "Ben, I think sometimes you like screwing around because you don't to do any work!" Gwen grumbled darkly as she used her mana powers to free Ben from said tree. "You're always going to be a brat, are you?! " as Ben recoiled from her harsh tone. "She kinda has a point there, Benny. You had a good run during the Highbreed invasion, but maybe you just suck at being a hero" Kevin bluntly stated to Ben. Their opinions of him were rather hurtful and this had been going on for some time now. Ben wanted to cry, to say that he was trying as hard as he can, but both the stress of dealing with his unwanted fame, his damaged love life and these Flame Keepers, was getting to be too much for the boy to handle. So instead to trying to fight he ran off to his room, locked the door and sobbed. He had NEVER had any friends that wanted to help him, both with things around Bellwood and beyond and well BEYOND Earth, and with making Ben become a more rounded person. But so far he had only Gwen and Kevin's input on his faults and that was more blunt than he'd like. He wanted both a honest opinion about himself and the support he needed to become a more loving and understanding person. That was part of why he kept acting out like this, because they weren't giving him the love and support he so desperately craved. Back to Ben and Ben... But he had friends now that were both helpful and understanding of his problem areas. The KRC was not as helpful in a fight, but they always kept cheering both Gen and Ben, as well as Manny when he joined the team, on during even the toughest fights and they took the time to get people to safety. Plus, they helped Ben smooth out his rough personality not by being harsh, but by giving him supporting words and helpful advice. He now knew what it meant to truly have friends! "You're right. I didn't know about having friends, so I acted like a tool. But I can't give up on the ones I have now, not yet and not ever AGAIN!" as he switched to Big Chill, unfurling his wings. Heatblast tried to tackle the moth, but he jumped up and on the peak of his jump shot icicles downward at Heatblast, cooling him down and returning him to being 10 yr old Ben. To Big Chill' shock he smiled back and faded away, the lesson Ben needed to learn he now already knew. That Friendship is a two way street and he had helped the Kamen Rider Club get used to his oddball world, plus he cover their living expenses and helped them make new friends as well. He was finally able to understand friendship and all its glory! "The lesson has been taught" Spellbinder's voice echoed from the sky as a portal opened by Ben's feet. Thanking Hope's father for all his help he jumped in... Ben's corpse... A bright life poured from out of Ben's body as life returned to it once again. Soon he kicked the door open and stepped out, stronger than he was in a long time. He now wore a black shirt with green striping in the sleeve ends, collar and a green stripe down the middle with a black and white 10 in the middle of that. His jeans were replaced with brown cargo pants and his sneakers were now green. His body had changed as well, with brighter green eyes and bushier hair. Grabbing the Fourze Driver he ran off to where the action was. Back to where we left our heroes last time... Cyber Vilgax had just finished his taunting when Ben himself ran towards Gentaro. He was too dumbstruck to even say a single word about this. Humans don't come back from the dead! Do they? "You're more like me that I thought before" Gentaro laughed as he gave Ben back his Omnitrix and clicked his Driver onto his waist. Placing Cosmic, Freeze, Drill and Shield into their slots he flicked the Transwtiches down and pressed the lever to start his transformation to Fourze. "3" "2" "1" "Henshin!" he called out as the Cosmic States armor formed around him. When it finished forming the KRC did their "Uchuu Kita" pose and cheer as Fourze did his important catchphrase. "Kamen Rider Fourze! Let's settle this once and for all!" The other members joined him on his cheer. Seeing how much they supported each other made Ben a little jealous that he didn't share that kind of friendship with Gwen and Kevin. If there was time for that he would work on improving the teamwork between them. Taking the time to look at the Fourze Driver Ben was thankfully he didn't even try to fiddle with the Driver. His Omnitrix was hard enough to use! Selecting Fourarms they both tackled Cyber Vilgax into a portal opened by the Barizen Sword to a world that was full of horror. Diagon's home... Ancient buildings were destroyed from the last time Ben was here, as the sky above was a odd minty green. Rolling to soften the impact the two boys were ready to stop Cyber Vilgax once and for all! Soon they were charging straight at the cyber monster as he did the same, all wanting to finish this battle and get back to their lives. "Your effects are futile. Give up and I may spare your worthless world" Of course Ben and Gen would not give up, not to Cyber Vilgax! Soon the final fight will start and only one side will live though this. Meanwhile... Cash was ticked off as both he and JT were forced to wear diapers and bib and nothing else in PUBLIC! They were thinking maybe if they broke into Ben's house and scared him to make up for this they would be even. While the other 40 Astro Switches were with Fourze, as were both Rocket Super-1 and Fusion, the Shin-Chan Switch was there for the taking. "Let's see them use their toys now" he grimaced as he tried to pocked the Switch, thought diapers don't have pockets, as they would soon be reminded of. The Shin-Chan Switch fell onto a Plumber teleported that was set to transport things into the Sun of Pyros, where it disintegrated from both the impact and the intense heat and flames of Heatblast's homeworld! "AW CRAP!" the diapered boys cried out! The KRC was going to be so ticked at them as was Ben! But their anger was nothing compared to Julie's when she found them and found out just what they did to the Shin-Chin Switch. As they both whimpered in fear as she closed in she angrily shot out: "What have you done?! The Kamen Rider Club needed that to get home and you broke it with both Pryos and a Plumber teleporter? You both as in so much trouble!" as Emily got behind them both angry as well. As the two girls walked towards them JT whined "Why is it we never can catch a break?" Still a darkness was growing from within Julie and yet no one knew about that. Soon the part of Diagon in her would awaken and bring the apocalypse to Bellwood. Diagon's world... Cyber Vilgax wasted no time in getting the first strike against our heroes, as his body split apart to attack the two boy, his upper half firing off a rocket punch at Fourarms and the lower half kicking Fourze in the chest, knocking the two down. "Why do you persist on this meaningless battle? You know that I shall be victorious and you will be nothing but dust, your ideals ultimately having no effect on the stage of history" His words were insulting, his tone even more , Fourarms and Fourze were not people to give up that easily. "Go jump in a lake, Vilgy! I wasn't scared of you when I was 10 and I'm still not afraid of you now! Because I have a Hell of a lot more to fight for than you'll ever know!" Fourarms remarked, his voice bold and proud, like the heroes of the comics he used to love. Jumping up, he then punched C. Vilgax in the face then when he landed grabbed him by the waist and threw him up into the air, leaping up to follow him there. When they met in midair Fourarms grabbed Cyber Vilgax, but he was blasted away by a shot from CV's Ruby Ray, sending him crashing into a building (It was the Hall of Justice to the Flame Keepers, but it's doubtful Diagon even cared about justice, let alone fair trail) Fourze stepped up to give Ben time to recover, blasting Cyber Vilgax with missies from the Launcher Module, enhanced with the powers of the Freeze Switch, deep freezing the cyborg. "Friendship is the most important thing in the universe to me. I hope to better the lives of everyone I meet to make them smile and bring joy to the lives of others. But how can ensure that my friends will be safe when there's people like you, who enjoy harming the innocent as if it's a game?" His temper got the better of him as he crouched down and with his voice at full volume he yelled out "I'm really mad this time!" and sprinted over to Cyber Vilgax, striking him with the Hammer Module three times in the face before his buzzsaw leg clipped his thigh, making him recoil in pain. Placing his hand over Fourze's head Cyber Vilgax lifted him up and punched him in the stomach for a good minute before Ben entered the scene as UpChuck, barfing up a few pieces of the building he crashed into earlier as explosive slime balls at the cyborg, startling him enough to drop Fourze down as he used his tongues to get him away from the dark ruler before he could kill him. "Man, it's like even when he's dead Vilgax is a royal pain. He was being a buzz kill no matter where he was, and that was when he didn't know better to parade himself around in a woman's leotard" UpChuck joked, trying to lighten the mood, but Fourze wasn't getting the joke. Shrugging he suggested that they go back to fighting C. Vilgax, but getting closer to him was harder than they first thought, as Cyber Vilgax summoned a legion of Flamer Keepers to his side, stunning them both. Fourze was furious! "You're willing to let these people die for you? What kind of a monster are you?!" as he swung his arm back to show he was not pleased with this at all. "A evil monster, DUH!" UpChuck snarked, although he was wondering why these Flame Keepers still had their powers and awful costumes. Flame printed masks and half skirts were NOT a good look on anyone and as fashion challenged as Ben was at times, he knew that the FKC looked stupid and acted stupider that the Veedle Bros at times. "Though you cured those that Diagon claimed by force, they are those that willingly joined his side and kept their powers, despite your best efforts, Ben Tennyson. But there's something more to my body that you realize, boy. Witness the birth of the NEW Dark Horoscopes!" With his venomous speech out in the air the fully repaired Dark Horoscope Switched bled from his body and forced their way into a Flame Keeper's body, mutating them into new versions of Dark Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. UpChuck gulped loudly in fear, as having to deal with Cyber Vilgax, the 12 Dark Horoscope Zodiarts and a thousand Flame Keepers was a tad too much for him! "Awwww! C'mon, Vilgax! Play fair or I'm telling you mother on you!" the froglike alien scolded the cyborg, but Cyber Vilgax just snorted at his half hearted threat. "Ok then, if you won't listen to reason then have a earful of the sounds of Echo Echo" twisting the dial as he tried to find the alien that single handily damaged his relationship with Julie, but he overturned it and got something else instead. Ben tried to protest but Wildmutt could not speak English or any other human language, leaving Fourze in the dark about what he wanted. Frustrated, but not out Wildmutt grunted as he pointed at the Flame Keepers, and Fourze knew that he wanted them out of the way so the others will be easier to deal with in the long run. It wasn't going to be easy, but Gentaro always loved a challenge. After all, no one that gave up that easily wouldn't have been friends with Kengo and Miu, two people that worked hard at what they do and expected others to do their best as well, though sometimes they could be a tad forceful with wanting their way. Howling, Wildmutt attacked the Flame Keepers head on, biting and punching them with all his might, but since this form is without eyes, he had to use his radar sense, though it lacked the use of eyes at times, as he found out the hard way during his first battle with Vilgax's drones. Without visual aid he could not tell when they would teleport in and out of the arena, as they dogpiled onto the orange dog alien, beating him to within a inch of his life. Ben tried to get them off, but they were persistent buggers, a few taking the time to blast him with energy balls. It soon got to be too much for Wildmutt to handle, Ben attempted to switch to Heatblast, but a Flamer Keeper's hand brushed against the Omnitrix dial, as he turned it without knowing what happened. When he clicked it he was something new: a giant of a alien, made of stone and metal, with black and green shorts and the Omnitrix in his head. "WHOA! Didn't know about this one! Let's see what this baby can do" as Ben span around, spending the Flame Keepers away as they regrouped and fired off energy attacks at him, though they did little harm to this new form. Seeing some debris the idea stuck him as he activated his gravity powers, a glow appearing on his hand as he lifted the arm that had said glow, making some stones float in midair. Before the FKC could figure out what it was Ben is doing he brought his arm down, sending the stones down on their fool heads, burying them deep. Smirking at a job well done he dubbed this form Gravattack, and he knew he wanted to learn more about what he could do. But Fourze was having problems of his own. The Flame Keepers' teleporting power was getting to be too much for Gentaro to handle. The Fourze system was never meant for heavy combat and there were times Gen wished for more powerful Switches he could use. Water was one that annoyed even him, and he was a pretty lenient guy. Why Kengo made the faucet point downwards he may never know. Perhaps it was payback for making the Rabbit Hatch his homebase back home, but still, there was a limit as to how odd a Switch could be! Plus add in the fact that they were firing energy balls at him and fighting with the intent to kill him was making him homesick. The Shield Module was doing the best job it can do, given its small size, but with the new Dark Horoscopes closing in he NEEDED a edge against them or he was going home dead...again. Ben changed from Gravattack to Brainstorm and shocked as many Flame Keepers as he was able to, but they were overwhelming in their number and ruthlessness. "Uncurtious brutes, please reframe from your mindless roughhousing and reiterate what you wish to say in a more courteous manner. It would be splendid if you took the time to think about how your actions are defiling the experience our kind guest has of our home" Brainstorm's wishes were met with dumbfounded stares from all present, including Fourze himself. Giving it sometime to think over the Flame Keeper decided to attack Brainstrom with newfound fury, whacking at his shell as he attempted to calm them down. Key word being "attempted" Rushing to Brainstrom's defense with the Wheel Module Fourze fought back with both Pen and Chain array, smacking them away from the crab alien and giving him some breathing room. "Good show, Gentaro, my kind sir. However, if we do not have a better plan to deal with the Flame Keepers, then I fear we shall be overcome with their sheer brute force before we could deal with Cyber Vilgax's brutish tidings for our universes. I may have a idea, but if this is to work I must ask of you this question. Can you use your Magnet Modules in this form? he enquired. What he said largely went well over what Gentaro could understand, but he nodded to let Brainstorm know he was able to do what he asked of him. Using NRG Ben began to heat his armor up as Fourze selected the N Magnet and S Magnet Modules with the Switching Lung, attracting the oven like alien towards him. When NRG was close to touching Fourze pressed the buttons for Fire and Gryo then propelled NRG forward in a fiery tornado, incinerating all the Flame Keepers to their deaths. Ben and Gen wished there was another way than this, but Cyber Vilgax is too powerful to deal with any other way. Crashing down with a metallic thud, NRG rolled to show Gen his faceplate as he shouted "Nice job! You really have a knack with your system there, Gentaro! But I doubt we have the power to stop Cyber Vilgax", breathing in a sad breath as he was worried that he would have to die to keep this cyber beast from killing everyone near and dear to them both. "I think I know what you're thinking and I don't like the idea any more than you do, Ben-san. But before we die I want to say it's been a honor to fight and live along side you" the Kamen Rider complemented Ben on his hard work over the last month or so. If this be their curtain call, then the two will give it their all for both Earths and beyond! But Gentaro was wondering something important regarding the Dark Horoscopes. "If these Dark Horoscopes are the embodiment of darkness, shouldn't a light based counter work on destroying the Switches for good?" he wondered outloud. Ben wasn't totally sure that Gen's theory will work, but he needed to keep his spirits up, as his friends the Kamen Rider Club weren't here to help out. "Newton has a law of motion that states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you were able to use Switches that can embody the opposite tracts of the Black Zodiac then we could destroy them for good!" NRG informed Gen of his idea. Now that they had a plan of attack all they needed were Switches to use. Diagon was not going to have anything that the two can use, so they were out of luck on that idea. "If you are done with your childish wishing then lay down and die" Cyber Vilgax ordered, ready to burn the flesh out their bones with the Ruby Ray, the 12 Dark Zodiarts flanking his sides at every angle. As the Omnitrix timed out Ben wished for something to help them out of this jam. As if by some magical force 12 new Astro Switches fell from a portal that opened over Ben's head, all of them crashing down on his noggin. As he rubbed his sore temples he found out something ODD about these Switches: All of them had a face on them. Each had the eyes of the Kamen Riders and Ben knew that Gentaro could use these to turn the tide of battle, but he had something to ask Gen. "First off, who are these guys? Second, and this is a valid point, who sent these to us and why?" Gentaro was all to happy to fill Ben on what these represent to him. "These Switches are proof of the legacy of the Kamen Riders. All 12 have come before me and I had made the Kamen Rider Club to honor those before me and protect my school." Furrowing his brow under the Cosmic States helmet he had to wonder "When did these come from, anyway?" Gen's universe... A girl adored with Goth makeup and a black to go with her school uniform was standing outside with a young man wearing the male version of the uniform. Ever since their friends disappeared Tomoko was worried sick about them. It didn't take her long to figure out that since the Horoscopes active and defeated had vanished those captured were forced to fill in the blanks in their membership. It horrified her club members as much as it did her, but they quickly realized that they were still good people despite becoming Switchers, a slang term for those who can use Zodiart Switches to mutate to Zodiarts, creatures that draw their power from constellations, the most powerful being the Horoscopes who draw their abilities from the Zodiac constellations. Still the news was painful for Tomoko, almost to her breaking point. Yuki, who she correctly guessed had been forced to become Gemini, was like a older sister to her, as both are intelligent, creative and fun loving, though their passions made them outcasts before Gentaro transferred to their school. The fact that somewhere Yuki was doing things she would never wish to do was heartbreaking, and she wished that everyone could go home and be safe again. Granted, as thanks to Vilgax and his endless lust for power, only Yuki, Tojiro, Erin, Ran and Emoto were the only survivors of the Horoscopes, but the Kamen Rider Club would not find that out until later today. Tomoko has a power that lets her guess what the future may hold and although the Fourze Driver and Astro Switches were in another dimension she could still feel that they were being used to combat the Black Zodiac. When she found that out she begged Kengo, who was with her now, to make new Switches that used copies of previous Riders's powers. There was only time to make 12 when she felt the birth of Cyber Vilgax from a dream she had. Luckily there was enough energy of the Shin-Chin Switch to send them to Fourze, no matter where he was now. Kengo was never too thrilled about trusting her powers, but since she right most of the time he learned to place his faith in her, as the others did. He would have words with Gentaro when he got back, but now was not the time to do so. As the gifts were sent on their way, Tomoko has something she wanted to say. So she threw a note in with the Rider Switches in paper airplane form as the portal closed. It was all up to Fourze now... Diagon's home... Seeing the note on the ground Ben picked it and read it aloud to Gen. This is what was written: Gentaro-san, We were able to find out about what fate befell the others. Though their bodies had changed, we know that they are still the same good friends we know and care about. Please, if you find this letter, tell them that we miss them and will always care about their well being, no matter what the Horoscopes do to their bodies. Tell Yuki-chan that I miss her dearly and that her position as chairwoman is still hers. Ryusei was able to stop any Zodiart attacks while you were gone, but he admits that without the Horoscopes there was little action to have. (He should be thankful that we only had three attacks overall, but I worry about his bloodlust at times. I love him with all my heart, but he needs to be reminded on what truly matters in this life.) We all want to thank you for making everyone's lives better and that you will all come back to us in due time. Your friend, Nozoma Tomoko. Gen was moved to tears by the letter. Now he had proof that their friends still thought kindly of them, which they desperately needed. He was quite pleased that their friendship had survived both this tragedy and his absence. He would thank them all with a BIG party when they got home. But now wasn't the time to plan out party activities. Powering down he handed all 40 default Switches to Ben. Ben had his mouth open in shock, but Gen was ready for that reaction. "My friends believe in both me and our bonds of friendship. I must honor their wishes and use the powers they gave me to combat this evil and end it once and for all!" Placing the Stronger, Kuuga, Kiva and OOO Switches, and setting the Amazon, Den-O,#2, Kabuto,#1, Double, Riderman and Agito Switches with Ben, (who wasn't too pleased to be holding onto so many Switches, but understood his wishes) Gen transformed back to Fourze and charged to battle against the Dark Horoscopes for the last time. Thankfully Cyber Vilgax made a fatal error and only allowed one Dark Horoscope to attack at a time, which was good for Gentaro. Dark Aries was up first as he powered on his new OOO Switch. "OOO ON!" On his left arm was now the OOO Module, a giant robotic glove with the Taka Head on it. Dark Aries tried to stab Fourze with his Jason Sword, but Fourze was able to catch it in his OOO Module, breaking it with no problem at all. D. Aries wanted to heatbutt the Rider, but he slapped him silly with the red glove on his person, embarrassing the ram Zodiart to no end. Running out of patience with this he punched Fourze in the gut, then went for his Supernova ability, as his horns grew to fire off multiple energy blasts at the hero. To his shock the OOO Module changed the balls of light to Cell Medals and sucked them up into itself, then they were fired back at their original sender, damaging him quite badly. While he was on unsteady footing he set up a new Limit Break, just for the Selfish King. "OOO ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Giga Spinner!" With that cry Cell Medals pooled into the Taka Head on the OOO Module and soon it was ablaze with fire, as a large fireball came out and utterly destroyed the Zodiart and his Dark Aries Switch. Taking out the OOO Switch he plugged in the Amazon Switch as Dark Taurus came up to bat. Summoning a few dead Flame Keepers with his Supernova he was sure that Fourze was going to die. But Fourze was quite ready for this as he brought the Amazon Switch to life. "Amazon ON!" A FK zombie tried to jump onto Fourze, but he was caught in the maw of the Amazon Module, as he was then crushed and throw at the rest of the zombies, crumbling them all to dust. Dark Taurus ran into Fourze, knocking the wind out of his lungs, as D. Taurus went for a chokehold. Fourze, in a panic, used the Amazon Modula to blind the Zodiart, sending him into a fit of pain and rage as he recovered enough to start a Limit Break. "Amazon ON! "Limit Break!" "Rider Jaw Crush!" With the maw of the Amazon Module glowing he picked up Dark Taurus and with a thought two LARGE jaws came out of the device and crushed both Zodiart and Switch into nothing but dust. Dark Gemini was the thrid to try as Fourze turned off the Amazon Switch and set up Kuuga's for battle. "Kuuga ON!" On his right leg was now the Kuuga Module, a black boot with Kuuga's face on the shin. With a sharp movement Fourze used it to kick the Zodiart in the face, the pinchers on his foot causing much damage to the monster. With his leg still up he did a spinkick that would make Meteor proud onto Dark Gemini's chest, knocking him down. He wanted the Dark Gemini Switch gone as soon as possible, as he wanted Yuki to be happy as she was before all of this happened, as he started his Limit Break with the Kuuga Module. "Kuuga ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Mighty Kick!" With a flipping jump Fourze forced energy into the Kuuga Module and stuck Dark Gemini with its full power, sending him far, far away as he blew up with much force, ending the terror of the Dark Gemini Switch and its new Switcher once and for all. Turning off the Kuuga Switch as Dark Cancer stomped into the fight he brought the Stronger Switch to life. "Stronger ON!" Now with the Stronger Module, Fourze punched Dark Cancer down hard, as its body was shocked by its power. Turning to Supernova mode to try and escape, it slithered all over the place, then when Fourze wasn't looking he lunged at him. Fourze wasn't sure this would work, but he powered the Stronger Switch for its Limit Break. "Stronger ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Lightning Punch!" With one thunderous blow both Dark Cancer and its Switch were reduced to dust. Ben was amazed by how rich the history of the Kamen Riders was! "Dude, these guys rock! However, I'm kinda wondering why you don't make jokes during your battles" the Omnitrix wielder inquired. "Kamen Riders don't joke around when there's battles to be won. When my friends are safe, that's when I joke around" Fourze declared as he switched Stronger with Den-O, as Dark Leo was next. "Den-O ON!" Armed with the Den-O Module, which was equipped with the face of Den-O's Sword Form, Fourze stuck Dark Leo with two punches, not letting him even get the chance to even think about using Supernova. Dark Leo got a hit in, but Fourze took the opportunity to strike him in his head with the Module, then while he was reeling set up a Limit Break. "Den-O ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Denlinner Puch!" Summoning the power of the Denlinner, Fourze punched Dark Leo with all his might, reducing both him and his Switch to dust. Unplugging Amazon he then replaced it with #2, since Dark Virgo wanted to fight him now. "#2 ON!" Now with the red glove and #2 helmeted #2 Module Fourze charged right into the thick of it, its power cutting through D. Virgo's Supernova winds and drawing even more power from them, to its shock. Taking a small leap Fourze prepped a Limit Break to use its full power. "#2 ON!" "LIMIT BREAK!" "Rider Punch V2!" With a punch enhanced by the power of #2, Dark Virgo was brought down once again, this time the Switch that gave it form falling apart into dust. Dark Libra was the seventh to take on the Rider. Clicking the Kiva Switch to life Fourze was ready to take on the mad dog of this team. "Kiva ON!" On his left leg was the Kiva Module, a boot with red bat wings and the face of Kiva's default form on its shin. Lifting his leg up he kicked Dark Libra in his face, the power stunning him as Fourze followed up with a step up using his chest and starting the Limit Break with Kiva's power. "Kiva ON!" "Limit break!" "Rider Wake Up Fever!" Divekicking D. Libra in his face, he was rendered nothing but dust with his Switch, a crater shaped like bat wings all that was left of his existence. Dark Scorpio ran up to Fourze, as the Rider placed the Kabuto Switch into the Triangle slot, setting the Kiva Switch with Ben (why does he need all these, the green shirted boy wondered) and turned it on. "Kabuto ON!" On his left leg was the Kabuto Module, a boot with Kabuto's face on the shin. Doing a spinning roundhouse he caught Dark Scorpio's jaw with it, and then started a Limit Break. "Kabuto ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Clock Up Kick!" At first Dark Scorpio was stunned by the fact that it was moving slower than it was before, but just as it realized that Fourze dive kicked it and the Dark Scorpio Switch to dust with Kabuto's power. Dodging Dark Sagittarius and its arrow attacks Fourze took out Kuuga and replaced it with the #1 Switch, fliping it down to bring it to life. "#1 ON!" The #1 Module was powerful indeed, as it had both designs that looked like the face and belt of the first Rider to stand up to evil in the Showa era, as Fourze leapt high into the skies as he set up a Limit Break "#1 ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider KICK!" Screaming downwards at D. Sagittarius at high speeds Fourze brought both it and the switch that made it up to a end, as the power of #1 made them both dust. Dark Capricorn stepped up, as Fourze removed the #2 Switch and put in the Double Switch, clicking it on. "Double ON!" On his arm was a glove with the face of CycloneJoker, Double's default form. With one simple move the Rider blasted D. Capricorn down with a gust of wind from it, then as it tried to get up Fourze had already finished setting up its Limit Break. "Double ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Maximum Drive!" A solid hologram of Double's Joker Extreme fired out of the Double Module and stuck the goatman down and out, as both its Switch and itself were rendered nothing but dust. Dark Aquarius was next to last, as Fourze placed the Den-O Switch to the side and put in the Riderman Switch. Soon it was brought to life as well. "Riderman ON!" Its Module was blue with a cable and the face of Riderman himself on it, as the cable coiled around the Zodiart's leg and slammed it down with a good amount of force to it. Since it was tied up at the moment Fourze set up its Limit Break as well. "Riderman ON!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Swing!" Spinning the monster at break neck speeds he then threw it at a wall, the impact destroying both it and the Dark Aquarius Switch. Finally was the Dark Pisces Zodiarts, as Fourze removed the Kabuto Switch and placed in the Agito Switch, and brought it to life as well. "Agito On!" The Agito Module was a boot with Agito's face on it as Fourze jump kicked Dark Pisces in its face. Then wanting to finish this battle set up its Limit Break. "Agito On!" "Limit Break!" "Rider Shining Kick!" With the Module glowing with Shining Form's power Fourze did a Rider Kick at Dark Pisces' chest, crumbing it and the last Switch of the Dark Horoscopes to dust. But that power he had to call up was taking its toll on Fourze, as he was forced to power down, leaving him at Cyber Vilgax's mercy. Of which he had none. "Such a waste that all that power goes to you, boy" C. Vilgax rumbled, each syllable dripping with venom. "You truly do not care for your friends, as you destroyed aspects of themselves along with Tennyson. To think that you force others to become what YOU wish of them to be. You even destroyed a part of your dear girlfriend without so much as a doubt. You are the greater monster, not me" Fourze was profoundly stunned by Cyber Vilgax's words! He did destroy one part of Yuki without even stopping to think about that, as well as the fact he was hurting the others as well during their stay as Zodiarts. Falling to his knees, he was too ashamed to even fight back, as Cyber Vilgax shot his Ruby Ray at the fallen Rider, a cruel smirk forming on his lips. Ben got in the laser's way and something happened that was unexpected to say the least. His Omnitrix glowed with power, as the omnidirectinal forcefield fired up and reflected his attack back at him, vaporizing most of his left arm, but Cyber Vilgax felt no pain from that. The nerve endings that read pain were removed as unnecessary a long time ago. Ben was badly hurt but he will recover with time, though he paid a price for his heroic deed. The Omnitrix read out a grim prognostic and it was quite bad indeed. Conductoid DNA locked Citrakayah DNA locked Aerophibian DNA locked. Ben moaned in frustration, as his stunt cost him Fasttrack, Jetray and Feedback. Those were three of his best guys! Still, other than the energy locking away those three, it was undamaged. "Azmuth really outdid himself! I'm never going back to the Ultimatrix!" He was happy about his Omnitrix being made of sterner stuff, but he had to get Gen's will to fight back, before they both died. "Hey, doofus! Get moving here! This is Vilgax we're fighting here, not a fluffy bunny!" He kept shouting at Fourze, but he was too disappointed in himself to even get up, as tears welled in his eyes. Ben groaned in anger as Cyber Vilgax laughed at they both, Gentaro too upset to fight and Ben too injured to defend himself. Just then a light shined down from the skies as the voice of Paradox gently called out to the two boys. "Hello down there, Ben and Gen! I see you're in a bit of a pickle here. Forgive my lateness, as I was busy fixing the damage Diagon did to the dimensional walls, though I have quite a bit of work left to do. If you're wondering where I am, I'm in Gen's universe, on my way to explain what's been happening over the past month of so. Though I should insist that Shun go to the bathroom first, as the parts with Cyber Vilgax may be too upsetting for the I go I must speak with Gentaro" Fourze lifted his head up to hear what Paradox had to say to him. "The glow of the constellations in your friends, they're not completely bad things to have. With some time they'll learn to utilize them for the greater good. Also about that thing with Dark Yuki, don't worry about that. There are rare occasions when a person with the potential to use Gemini's power has a evil, weaker soul that tries to take control, given the chance. You did the right thing freeing her from that dreadful fate. I believe in the both of you. Well then I shall see you later or earlier. Time is tricky to keep track of, even for one who walks in eternity such as myself. But before I go I must sugest that sometimes it's good to truly mix things up" With that, the portal closed and Ben got a idea. He was too injured to fight now, but Gentaro was back to fighting prime, Paradox's words soothing his soul and letting him know he helped Yuki and the others with their problems. Looking at Ben with a heroic fire in his eyes he waited for Ben to give his idea. "You know how your Cosmic Switch fuses your powers together and Fusion both fuses and enhances them by four times. I wonder what would happen if you used both at the same time?" Ben's question was making Gen go bugged eyed. "I never really thought about what could happen should I try that. If this doesn't work then we're out of luck, Ben-kun", sighing tiredly. "But it's worth a shot!" as he placed Cosmic and Fusion into the Driver and powered them both on, causing a bright purple light to shine from the Fourze Driver, as the rest of the 40 main Switches and the Super-1 Rocket Switch fused into his body, giving him even greater power than before. Ben shielded his eyes from the light during his transformation sequence. When it died down Fourze was now in a new form. It was like Cosmic States, but the cyan blue was now metallic lavender, the yellow lines on the mask were now tangerine color and on the Switching Lung were new buttons for Super-1 and Fusion. Now he was Super Cosmic States, a being of ultimate power and the greatest embodiment of friendship this world has even seen. "Ben went wide eyed at how cool this looked, Fourze flexing a arm to test his new power. Cyber Vilgax was not impressed with this as he charged headon into Fourze. With a swing of the Hammer Module, enhanced with Shield's power Fourze slammed C. Vilgax to a wall and fired at him with Drill-enhanced bullets with Gattling. Cyber Vilgax howled in total rage as he shot back with his lasers, causing Fourze pain as he fell down. Using Rocket to escape he latched onto Cyber Vilgax with Winch, as he dragged the beast though all manner of debris, causing Ben to laugh at his misfortune. Cyber Vilgax grunted and used his sawblade foot to ground himself, knocking Fourze down as he punched the Rider and began to crush his windpipe. "You fool! All who serve the Flame Keeper willingly are forever Diagon's! Why do you still think I'll be your freind, cur?" "Be..cause I was told...that my friends will save me...when the time comes" Fourze gasped out as his answer. Cyber Vilgax took that as a insult and squeezed harder, hoping to silence the Rider. 'I hope someone in our group has a plan to stop this!' Ben panicked, his thoughts all falling to what he wished for right now. Ben's house... Julie and Emily were scolding Cash and JT for breaking the Shin-Chan Switch and standing the Kamen Rider Club in this dimension, when Julie felt a burning sensation in her eyes. Without so much as a word she teleported away, leaving the three alone, as they looked on in horror. Diagon's home... Even with Super Cosmic, Fourze was not doing so well right now. Cyber Vilgax was almost ready to land his killing blow and there was NOTHING the two heroes could do to stop that! Soon a purple beam sliced off Cyber Vilgax's arm, freeing the Kamen Rider as he jumped up and kicked the beast in the chest. But he didn't know if he had a weakpoint to hit as he looked at his foe with worry. "Dude! I think that red bulb on his chest may be his weak spot! Try hitting it with a attack that hits both inside and out!" Ben's idea gave Fourze inspiration for a Limit Break like no other! Setting the Stamper Switch in he activated Super-1 and infused it with Cosmic's energies and Stamper with Hopping's ability to, well, hop. "Rocket, SUPER ON!" "Stamper ON!" "Limit Break!" "RIDER COSMIC ROCKET HOPPING STAMPER KICK!" With all his might and a extra press of the lever that connected to the Fourze Driver, Gen did a extraordinary Rider Kick with Stamper right into the glowing orb on Cyber Vilgax's person, placing a blue stamp on there, ready to finish him off. "Consider that the Kamen Rider Club stamp of DISAPPROVAL!" Ben shouted as both he and Gen hotfooted it to a opening that was thankfully still there the last time Ben was in this hellish place. When they were on the other side Ben turned into Clockwork and blasted the rocks there with a deaging ray, sealing the outside world from Diagon's dark realm. "I didn't think this would work!" Clockwork admitted as Fourze powered down and fainted, the strain of battle finally catching up to him. So far he'd only use Clockwork to age things and use his time powers to use as a one alien CSI unit, but rewinding time works wonders too. Turning his to Fourze he snipped at the Rider "You were a big help, but you cost me three of my best guys. You owe me big for this" as he went back to his work. Cyber Vilgax was fuming as he tried to break on though to the other side, but Clockwork was doing a fine job at keeping him there...forever hopefully. But it would take just a few more minutes to fully seal Diagon's world away and C. Vilgax was not going out with a whimper, but with a bang. "If I die, then you all will die will me!" he grimaced, his tone no longer robotic anymore as he slashed away at the door, threading to undo Ben's hard work. A bright purple beam stuck him down for good as Clockwork saw with horror that its wielder was someone near and dear to him: Julie Yamamoto. "I'm sorry Ben" Clockwork watched on in terror as the door sealed shunt and Cyber Vilgax succumbed to the Limit Break, blowing up with a good amount of force. Falling to his knees Clockwork was devastated by this news. The words he heard about those joining Diagon by will being his forever was true after all. 'I saved the Earth and the universe, but lost my world' he mourned inwardly. Picking up Fourze and all his Switches Clcokwork walked outside to share the news. Both Cyber Vilgax and Julie were dead. A price was paid this day and he doubt it could get any worst for him. Later... The Kamen Rider Club was waiting for the two to come back, as the old quarry that once held a mob of Forever Knights and Flame Keepers was rather drafty, but surely enough Clockwork made his way to them. Yuki ran up to the golden alien and quite worried about the duo. "Are you OK? Is it over?" she pleaded with a concerned look on her face. "We FINALLY got rid of that blasted Diagon, but Julie was corrupted by his dark magic. We were forced to leave her behind"Clockwork quietly told her. Yuki and the others looked down in mourning. "But at least Vilgax is gone for good, thanks to Gentaro. He'll never hurt anyone ever again" "That's all well and good, but Cash and JT broke the Shin-Chin Switch! We're stuck here!" Tojiro panicked as Erin went over to calm him down. Putting her hands on his shoulders she calmly told him that "We may be struck here for a while, but at least we're with friends" The Kamen Rider Club smiled at the two, as did Ben. Gen,(who just woken up and feeling rightfully sore) and Ben's friends. "I think Ben can keep you guys safe. I have to go back to Helen and make things right by her. I lost one good friend to Diagon. I can't lose her too" With that Manny Armstrong was on his way back to the woman he knew. Ran was able to catch up to the Tetramand and give him a goodbye hug. "Friendship is a two way street. You have to both protect and understand the feelings of others so it can grow to be strong. We all wish you the best of luck, Manny-san" she wished, as the giant warrior hugged her back and was on his way to fix what he had broken. "I think that though we lost a few things today we should have a party to celebrate our victory over the Horoscopes!" JK cheered. No one wanted to party right now,and he respected their wishes. Clockwork turned back into Ben and stated what needed to be done. "First we have to have a service for Julie, and then figure out how you're all are going to stay. The Guiding Stars business is our best opinion, but do you all think that's the best idea?" "You just answered your own question, Ben!" Erin interjected for the Club. Ben was pleased to hear that. Lighting a candle and with Reiny's help, teleported it out to sea Yuki watched as the Club and Ben gain a stronger bond as Gentaro went over to her side. "Gentaro-chan, are you happy about staying with Ben just a little bit longer?" His bright smile gave her the answer she admittedly wanted to hear. "Ben's world needs some cheering up and the Kamen Rider Club are the people to do that!" Yuki was so happy about that! Not only did she get to go on a space station, she was happy that she was closer with her friends and was closer than ever before with Gentaro. The two did their special handshake to commemorate this day, the day Vilgax was brought down...for GOOD. "I guess life is like a good song. You know what you're getting, but there's always something new to learn about it and makes it better than it was before" Tojiro added as he wrapped a arm around Gen and Yuki, a smile on his face. "Things are going to rock so hard from now on!" Ran polity giggled at the scene, but she and Erin were feeling the same way as those three. "So, what should we do for starters? I know there's a lot of cleanup to do and there's always the matter of those little odd jobs that pop up every now and then" Erin was always one to take on a challenge. "We're doing everything that comes our way. It would do wonders for the reputation of both the Kamen Riders and our Club" she proudly told Ran, hands on her hips as she was ready to face the future that held such exciting promises for them all. JK could not wait any more, as he fidgeted about. "You may speak freely, as you are among friends here"Sugilite kindly allowed the younger boy to say what was on his mind. He did not wait any longer. "Can we go now? I'm freezing in here" he admitted, as he wrapped his arms around himself for warmth. Reiny was getting cold as well, so with that Ben's friends went home and the KRC and Ben headed home. "So, Ben-san, about your alien heroes that you lost today. I'm sorry about their passing" Gentaro was feeling quite guilty about what happened, but Ben wasn't mad at him. "Don't stress over that. They have just been relocked. Nothing new about that for me. Plus I have new guys to field test: Shocksqauash, Blox and Gravattack. Plus I like having you guys to help on. Wait, scratch that. I love having you arond as you've become like family to me" hearing that made the KRC very happy! "So, who's up for pizza? I'm buying!" As the teens walked to the nearly pizza shop Ben had to wonder something important: "Julie, if you're out there, please be safe" Also what happened to Rex? Hopefully that matter with his grandma will settle out nicely. Besides, how much harm can happen to Rex? He's more than capable of handling himself in a fight, right? Rex's universe... or what was left of it... Verdona was in utter shock by what she saw: There was no life left in this world even before she got there! 'Who could have done this?' she thought. As if the heavens themselves wanted her to know a small figure walked up to her. "OH! It's just you dear" she breathed out as it was only Julie. Wait a darn minute...JULIE? Before the thought could come up she was hit with a freezing spell, as the Diagon Empowered Julie walked off in search of a way back to her world. This world died all too easily and the Diagon that controlled her wanted more of a challenge. Perhaps the next world she just found out about will give her the fight she so craves. omewhere not too far from Bellwood... Helen was shocked by the fact that Manny had come back to her. But she was pleased that he came back after all. "Look, what I've said was hurtful and I know that Pierce would have never wanted that to happen to us. sigh What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry about before. Are we still partners, Manny?" as a pleating look was on her face. Manny was happy to be back in both her company and good graces. "It was a bad time for both of us, but thanks to some good friends of Ben's I was able to work past that. We're Plumbers, Helen. Nothing is ever gonna change that" With things back to normal somewhat the two were looking forward to a fresh start and a better life. Pizza Galaxy... Ben was still sad about what happened, but you must admit having the Kamen Rider Club with you is going to make your day brighter, as it was a life mission for them to better everyone's lives. "I'm glad we're doing OK, but since we lost both Manny and Julie to events beyond our control we're going to need a extra set of hands" as he sipped his soda. Gentaro was happily chewing his slice of mango-mushroom pizza, but he was able to tear away from that to inject something that he really wanted to add. "You are one of the best people we have ever met in any universe, Ben-san! We're going to make so many new friends here and someday I hope that you'll get a chance to visit our world too! I know Eiji, Shotaro and Philip would love to meet you!" Yuki was explaining the physics of satellites to a group of eager children, happy that they loved space too. When her talk was done she went over and draped her arms around her quirky, yet kindhearted and loving boyfriend. " You're so lucky that you have so many adventures in space, Ben-kun! Plus you're so kind and heroic as well. I know my family would love to meet you, as we love learning about new cultures and you'd fit right in with us!" as she snuggled with Gentaro, then letting go and sitting down by him as she kissed him on the cheek. Erin was eating her meat lover's pizza as she gave the two lovebirds her approval. "I'll admit Ben's world is odd and I'm still working on my temper. But I'm happy that I got to meet and live with all of you. When I do become a astronaut I'd love for all of you to come and visit me during one of my trips. I know Yuki would love to see how much fun it is to experience zero gravity!" Yuki was giddy about Erin's promise as Erin was wanting to do that too. They'd had to bug Ben to let them play with Gravattack when they got home. JK sipped his lemonade and replied " I was such a coward when I first came to school. Now I'm more willing to fight for what's right, plus I'm always willing to learn about new things going on anywhere. I pride myself in staying in the know", a bright smile forming on his face. "Let's hope you're not charging those ridiculous prices you were asking for back in middle school. People have needs themselves and if we don't get money, then we can't eat, bro. I gotta get my grub on when I get the need to feed!" as Tojiro did a air guitar to make his point. He was loving all the new foods there were to enjoy here and he wanted to get some recipes down before he went home. Ran was nibbling her vegetarian pizza, deep in thought. When she stopped she was wondering about something and hoped the others were thinking about it too. "I would love to have a new friend help out with our jobs, but who's willing to put up with the danger that we have to fight against on a daily basis?" No sooner than she asked that a young man in purple armor walked up to them and placed a bag of chill fries by Ben. Tojiro wanted to eat them, but Erin smacked his hand away from it, as what he wanted to do was rude. "You're going to have to wait until our guest makes his point" she giggled, as the rocker rubbed his hand. "I am Rook Blonko. Magister Tennyson has assigned me as your new partner, Ben" Ben knew that he was getting a new partner and that Gwen and Kevin were heading off to live their lives, Gwen starting college early and Kevin getting a new job to stay closer to her. He had also heard much about Rook, and while he knew that he was a great Plumber and a kind hearted fellow, he was new to Earth and had much to learn, both on Earth and beyond. "I hope my offering of chili fries is to your liking, Ben Dude" He was very pleased that is was, as Ben and Tojiro tore into the cheesy, meaty goodness that was the chili fries. "I'm glad to have met all of you and hope to learn more about all of you later. A friend of Ben's is here to say goodbye and address a point he has been wising to make for some time" A muscled teen walked up to Ben with a sour look on his face. As he cracked his knuckles he told Ben the one thing he's been dying to say ever since he got that E-mail, all that time ago. "Remember when you repainted my car that girly color and added all those happy faces to it? Well I hate your taste in color schemes and both my folks and my neighborhood like it so much that I can't change it back! Well, I think you'll remember how I handle things you change about me without my asking" Ben got up and tried to run away, but Kevin was able to tackle him to the ground and punch him in the face, as Ben was forced to raise his arms up to block his blows. As the KRC and Rook were trying to force Kevin off, a sharp voice snapped, "So not cool, Kevin! You really don't handle change well, do you?" But Kevin was lost in his own little world, as Gwen huffed and went in to try and make peace between her two teammates...AGAIN. Special thanks to both Shotaro Ishinomori and Man of Action for creating the Kamen Rider and Ben 10 series, respectfully. Your works have brought joy to fans everywhere for years and I must take the time to address that fact. You guys rock! |
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