Everyone, it's Space Hero Time!

Author: Green Phantom Queen

Rated: T

Summary: That fateful three-day weekend where Humans, Serpents, Kamen Riders and Zodiarts ran loose has passed and a slow, almost mundane week is coming to a crawl. Unfortunately, the recent battles have caught the attention of many unsavory characters who would like to harness the Cosmic Energy that was left in the battlefield. Enter Ben Tennyson, who decides to go investigate the madness alongside his partner Rook, and also bringing in more trouble than absolutely necessary. Is it possible for Amanogawa High to contain the power of the savior of the universe? One should hope so.

Notes: Takes place after the Kyoto Arc and after the end of "Month of Sundays" and there shall be references to both stories. As for Ben 10: Omniverse, this story takes place after the two-parter "Frogs of War".

I: Hello Goodbye

"Hello from above our magnificent planet Earth."

-Laurel Clark

Life in Amanogawa High was supposed to be like any other High School in the world. There were the teachers who taught the lessons, the students sometimes being too bored to care about them, and the faculty making sure things ran smoothly.

Unfortunately, the past week at Amanogawa High could've been a contender for "Most Undesired Week in High School History" considering what transpired.

Mari Yamamoto was one of those students. She watched her homeroom teacher, Haruka Utsugi, take role call for the day with a look that screamed "I'm so tired." Just that past weekend, she and many other students of Amanogawa High journeyed to Futo, met up with other Kamen Riders, fought against other students who gained powers of ancient star monsters, traversed through a demented serpent's personal playground, and ended destroying an evil organization that went by the name of Foundation X. Most of that stuff couldn't have been possible in a month of sundays, but it happened (and it was an amazing story too).

She looked to her right, seeing Miura Toshiya, drawing in his notebook. She smiled—Miura was no longer bound to the cruel grip of the Horoscopes and can be his normal self. Well, as normal as one now called a 'Symbiosi Zodiarts' at any rate. This meant that Miura could actively call his powers as the second Aries Zodiarts without any ill side-effects (or at least, any that have been chroniclized, as of late). Miura wanted to do his best to stop the madness that he unintentionally created and to ensure that Mari was safe from harm. After all that Mari endured in order to free him, it was the least he could do.

Turning around, Mari also found Rumi Egawa hard at work, her vaulting pole resting against the window. Rumi's arm was still bandaged from sticking it in the fire to free everyone else, but thanks to Mari healing her, much of the damage was minimalized. However, it didn't affect the fact that the six Switchers vanished during that last battle. Wherever they were, no one knew.

"Yamamoto, Mari," said Haruka, calling out the photographer's name. Mari raised her hand to signal that she was there before lowering it. She didn't know what happened to her homeroom teacher that fateful Friday when Haruka hopped onto the DenLiner to Kyoto, but she did notice the katana hiding in its scabbard near her desk. Most likely, it was to ensure that if another attack happened at school, she would be ready to defend herself. Most of the school wasn't in the knowhow of what was going on, but Mari knew exactly what was going on:

First, Gentaro Kisaragi died by the hands of Ryusei Sakuta, but he was revived by a Serpent known as Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus planned on gathering other people to become vessels to serpents. Gentaro was Ophiuchus's Serpent-bearer because he was a descendant of Asclepius. Ryusei Sakuta had gone insane by some strange unconventional needs, and there was still no proof of whoever gave him the ability to become Kamen Rider Meteor in the first place.

Second, due to Ophiuchus's arrival, other Serpents have appeared making contracts with other humans. There had been five notified: Damballa, Rainbow Serpent, Quetzalcoatl, Vasuki and Renenutet. Each of them had their own alliance and reason to have Serpent-bearers, but none of them were working for Ophiuchus (As much as Mari knew),

Third was that the chairman of Amanogawa High, Mitsuaki Gamou, was the man behind the Zodiarts. He wanted to find the vessels to become the Horoscope Generals so that he could invoke the "Day of Awakening" if Mari recalled. Aside from Miura being Aries and the principle being the Sagittarius Zodiarts, there were also Virgo, Leo, Libra, Scorpio, Cancer, Aquarius and Gemini. This left only three other Horoscope Generals: Taurus, Capricorn and Pisces.

Fourth, anyone who was a former Zodiarts was forced to have Cosmic Energy injections (barring a few exceptions). Cosmic Energy, the energy that was responsible for creating both the Zodiarts and Kamen Rider Fourze, would then mutate them to bring forth their original Zodiarts powers. Six former Zodiarts—Jin, Ritsuko, Makise, Tamae, Nitta and Nonomura—were brainwashed to become foot soldiers for Gamou. Teruhiko was also one of them, but escaped before the mind control could be placed on him.

Fifth, the Kamen Rider Club, Gentaro's establishment of friends who worked on fighting the Zodiarts, had gained allies in the course of a few days. They had met up with Owner and his allies in the DenLiner and other students of Amanogawa were ready to become Kamen Riders. The group fought in the city of Kyoto, but they barely made a scratch on what was Ophiuchus's true plan. They were lucky enough to make it out alive.

Sixth, Mari's group, the Cosmic Hunting Dogs, was made to investigate the kidnapping of the previous Zodiarts that were taken to Futo. There, the Cosmic Hunting Dogs met up with other Kamen Riders—OOO, Wizard, Accel, Joker and Skull—alongside other allies willing to fight with them. They destroyed Foundation X, but they knew that the upcoming War of the Stars was about to commence.

Last but not least, the War of the Stars was a battle against the Serpents and what were presumably the original Horoscopes. Ophiuchus was once the thirteenth member of their council, but he was betrayed and the Horoscopes slaughtered many of the Serpents and Ouroboros was sent into hiding. Many of the Serpents fell to Earth and became many deities in mythology. Why the war happened was something that needed to be explained.

Mari sighed as Haruka began the lecture for today. That fateful weekend was long gone, and right now she had to be a normal student instead of the Serpent-bearer for the Rainbow Serpent. Still, she knew that this uneasy peace wasn't going to last long. The only question on her mind was, "What was going to happen next?" It was bad enough that she had to explain what happened to her to her own parents (who were flabbergasted and were just seconds away from sending her into a mental institution), but to get involved in another crisis so soon was suicide.

She looked at the clock ticking away the seconds before staring at the whiteboard. Right now, it was time for English.

0-0-0-0-0-

Yuki Jojima gazed out the window, hoping for the bright sunny sky to ease her aching soul. That dreadful weekend in Kyoto spiraled downhill for her, and to have every day at school with two of her former friends—Kengo Utahoshi and Ryusei Sakuta—made her feel even worse. Fortunately, both Kengo and Ryusei were too 'chivalrous' to attack her during school hours, but it still made her feel uneasy because she didn't know what they were planning.

She took a glance at Kengo, who began drumming his fingers. Having learned that Kengo was brainwashed by her own best friend, and also having a name known as Apep, was sickening. Kengo was her only friend in Amanogawa High before Gentaro came, and to lose someone like him made her feel sick to her stomach. That was why she told him back in Kyoto that she would kill him—because she could not prevent Gentaro's death, she wanted to end Kengo's suffering by her own hands.

Behind Kengo was Ryusei Sakuta, the one who started the whole mess. Ryusei must've had an innocent motive to revive his best friend, but the price to ensure that Jiro Inseki was healed brought upon every single problem that was going on. Yuki wanted to blame herself for not going to Gentaro in time (all she did was yell "Stop!"), but what would that do? The only thing that was possible now was to stop Ophiuchus and to kill Gentaro. To kill Gentaro was the last thing that she wanted to do, but what choice was there? If Ophiuchus was destroyed, Gentaro would be free and he could rest in the afterlife without worry about what he created.

"Jojima," said Chuta Ohsugi. "Jojima!"

"Yes, sensei!" said Yuki, staring at her homeroom teacher. She looked around nervously and added, "I'm s-sorry."

"Please pay more attention," said Ohsugi. "We don't want you failing classes, do we?"

As if I don't have anything else to fail...Yuki replied, staring at her left wrist. Branded on the back of her wrist was a Roman Number for 2 with curved lines on the top and bottom. This was a constant reminder that she was no longer human—she was now the Gemini Zodiarts, and therefore the enemy of the Kamen Rider Club. After having her own words being repeated ad infinitum by the likes of Misa Torizaki and Yukina Takamura, she knew that she had to fight back. She had to keep moving forward to ease the guilt in her conscience. That was all she had left now.

Resisting the urge to cry, Yuki forced herself to see her homeroom teacher beginning his lecture, trying her best to focus on the present. It was the most difficult challenge she ever had to face.

0-0-0-0-0-0-

In the city of Bellwood, there had been no time for rest after the recent alien invasion that just took place. People and aliens alike were rebuilding the roads and buildings that were obliterated by the Incursean Empire just weeks ago and the world had become a little bit quiet.

A little too quiet for some people.

Ben Tennyson was currently at his favorite Mr. Smoothy, letting out a big sigh as he slammed the sixth smoothie he had finished for the day onto the table. With no aliens to fight, the past few days were slowly passing by. The Underground needed some more time to be rebuilt and he was already on Spring Break. While it was nice for Gwen and Kevin to visit every now and then, there was just something missing in his life—it was that spark of excitement that would make him jump to his feet and run off faster than you could say "It's Hero Time!" Where that spark was now, he couldn't figure it out.

"Things have been quite cheerful these past couple days." asked Rook. "It was as if the Incursean war never happened."

"I know," Ben replied glumly. "I almost wish for something exciting to happen right now. I mean, where's the bad guy coming around to say 'Ben Tennyson! Today you shall be defeated by my hands!' or 'The world shall be mine to rule!' Ugh, I feel like I'm getting too old for this."

"But you are only sixteen-years-old."

"I've been doing this heroing thing for the past six years, Rook." Ben pulled out his cellphone and began searching through something online. "And sometimes, I just expect things to come to me after all that's said and done. Yet...hmm, what's this?"

"Did you find something?"

"Check this out," Ben showed Rook his cellphone. On the screen was a forum titled "Giant Snakes Appearing in Broad Daylight: The Sign of the Apocalypse?"

"What is so special about a regular forum?" asked Rook. "People use it to talk to one another about matters important to them. I see no importance to this one."

"It's what they're discussing in this forum is what interests me," Ben answered, scrolling down his cellphone. "According to eyewitnesses, there's been strange extraterrestrial activity by these things called Serpents-"

"Snakes?"

"Well the forums stated that these Serpents are ancient beings from the stars. There's also information regarding an organization called Foundation X, and something called 'Kamen Riders'." A grin crept onto his lips. "Say Rook..."

"Oh no," said Rook, placing his hands in defense. "Magister Tennyson would not want you to leave Bellwood under short notice. What if another alien attack comes while we are away?"

"Nine times out of ten, the attacks are meant for me and not the city. They'll probably just find me in wherever we're at and we'll just kick their butts before calling in a Plumber ship to send them far, far away. Now," Ben clapped his hands and carried his smoothie cups into the trash. "Let's get going. We have no time to waste."

"If you say so," Rook replied, standing up. "I just hope everything is fine in Japan."

"It'll be fine. Japan's gone through tsunamis, earthquakes and the traditional giant lizard that rampages through Tokyo on a daily basis." Ben hopped into the truck and placed his seatbelt on. "I'm sure that everything is going to be better once I get on the scene."

0-0-0-0-0

At lunch time, Mari sat herself down with the other members of the Cosmic Hunting Dogs. Aside from herself, Miura and Rumi, there were also Abe, Taira, Ibuki, Jun and Teruhiko. The seven were quiet, trying to act as if they were amongst the multitude of normal high school students who didn't go on a two day trip to fight off against Zodiarts and deranged Serpents just one week ago.

"Mari-chan!" said Jun, seeing Mari sit down. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, if a bit exhausted," Mari replied, scooping a spoonful of curry rice into her mouth. "I can't imagine how Gentaro manages to fight back against those Zodiarts on a day-to-day basis."

"Technically it's not a day-to-day basis," said Teruhiko. "It just depends on whether or not the person giving those switches can find someone worthy enough to become a Zodiarts. Still, he does have to train and hone his fighting skills if he ever wants to ensure that the next time a Zodiarts comes to kick his ass, he'll kick theirs ten times as hard."

"And with what happened in Futo, we're going to need to train a hundred times as hard," Taira noted. He took a bite out of his tonkatsu before speaking. "Unlike the Kamen Rider Club, we don't have those upgrades and power-ups that would help us in a pinch."

"Maybe we don't need all of that fancy stuff," said Ibuki. "Bruce Lee once stated, 'I don't fear the man who has mastered ten thousand kicks one time. I fear the man who has mastered one kick ten thousand times.' We're pretty much fine the way we are."

"But there's also another saying," said Abe. "'Jack of all trades, master of none. 'Tis better than being a master of one.' We need to not only hone what we're good at, but we also need to work on other skills that could be used should we be ambushed once more."

"This is so frustrating!" Rumi groaned. "The fact that we had all of those Kamen Riders and other allies was the reason we actually are here right now. We can't even fight a Zodiarts head on, let alone one of those giant serpent things! What are we going to do?"

"Well, we always have one Kamen Rider and a serpent on standby," said Jun, rummaging into her bag. "Look at this!"

The Cosmic Hunting Dogs turned to see Jun pull out a piece of paper covered in smears of paint. Ibuki took it into his hands.

"Um, it's nice," he said. "But I highly doubt it's to the level that Motoyama usually makes."

"I didn't make it, though," said Jun. "Quetzie did. See? It's him, Ankh and I all holding hands under a pretty rainbow!"

The Cosmic Hunting Dogs peered closer. Above the figures was a large smeary rainbow and surrounding the paintings of Ankh, Quetzie and Jun were butterflies. Then, realization hit.

"Quetzie?!" Abe hissed. "You mean that serpent who tried to kidnap you and stuff your face with cake and tea like some demented Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland or that giant feast with the Chess Queens in Through the Looking Glass: And What Alice Found There? What have you been hiding from us?"

"Well…" Jun darted her eyes back and forth. "I've sort of…adopted him and Ankh into the Shigeno family. My mom and older brother know what happened during that fateful weekend and they actually like the two around the house. In fact, my mom enrolled Quetzie into the Hoshinoko Elementary School under the name of 'Junji Shigeno' and Ankh currently goes by the name 'Taka Shigeno'. Cool, huh?"

"Jun," said Miura. "Those two are not like some abandoned puppy that you find in the rain. One is a serpent and another is some sort of golem-thing that isn't considered…human, in a sense."

"I had to take responsibility for what happened back then. It's the least I could do," Jun placed a strawberry lollipop into her mouth. "And after this, I need lots of baking soda toothpaste."

"Jun," Mari whispered. "Whatever happened there isn't your fault. Also, shouldn't your grudge over Miu be over soon? I mean, with all the stuff that happened in Kyoto, I'd be surprise that her cellphone survive all of that damage from the constant attacks."

"I just can't get myself to trust her again," Jun replied, stirring her drink with a straw. "We had so much information to give them and it would've helped her and the Kamen Rider Club out. Yet, every single time I want to talk, it's like Miu's about to be mauled or killed to death by Monster A or Demon B. On the bright side, Ankh's actually around campus and he's keeping an eye on any and all Zodiarts and Serpent sightings."

"Where is he?" asked Abe.

"Up in a tree with a bunch of those ice candies he likes so much!" Jun giggled. "He's got me on cellphone should anything happen and..." Her cellphone began to ring. She looked at the caller ID before placing it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Bad news," Ankh replied. "I got a psychic call from Quetzie and you're not going to like what's happened."

"What's going on?" asked Miura. "Zodiarts attack? Foundation X members?"

"It's fuzzy. All he's saying is 'some evil man in a mask wants to eat me!' He says that the masked man's at the Hoshinoko Elementary School building though, but I don't know how long this is going to last."

"We're on our way," said Rumi, picking up her vaulting pole. "Meet us at the front gates of the campus and we'll run to Hoshinoko posthaste."

"Tch. Don't be giving me orders just because I fight alongside you guys now."

"We wouldn't have it any other way," said Mari. "See you in a while."

"Whatever."

Jun hung up and grabbed her bag. "What's the plan?" she asked.

"Ibuki," said Mari, pulling out a notepad. "Prepare any of those smoke bombs you have and see if you can pin him down for the count. Teruhiko, you, Abe and Taira get on the offensive. Teruhiko, follow Ibuki's lead. Taira, wear him out with the axe. Abe, see if you can trap him. Rumi, you're with me in helping the kids out before getting back onto the field. Jun, get to Ankh and Quetzie's side and help them out. Miura, think you can knock the masked man's lights out?"

"Do you even have to ask?" said Miura, pulling back his left sleeve. Tattooed on the back of his wrist was the Astrological sign of Aries, the mark that made him a Symbiosi Zodiarts. "For you, Mari, I'll do anything."

"Let's go!" said Jun, tossing her lollipop to the trash. "We have no time to waste!"

0-0-0-0-0-0-

Quetzalcoatl, or Quetzie for short, shivered in fear. The day in Hoshinoko Elementary was exciting. The teacher was preparing a story about stars and serpents—which didn't have anything to do with the War of the Stars, but it was still something he wanted to hear about—when a man in purple and wearing an iron helmet burst in, wanting to 'eat him alive'. Why the masked man wanted to, Quetzie knew why...

It was to take his energies and to kill him, like what happened to his parents before.

Now the masked man had him held hostage, and the teacher and the other students were in the corner of the school, afraid to move a muscle or else the masked man would kill Quetzie on sight. Quetzie swallowed a lump in his throat, trying his hardest not to scream.

"Shh," said a small voice. Quetzie looked down at his coat pocket. A doll popped his head out, dressed in a black vest, purple shirt, and black fedora. "Everything will be all right."

"Shotaro Doll is right," said another voice. Quetzie turned to his other pocket and saw another doll pop out. This one had light brown hair, a black jacket and red shirt. "Jun and Ankh will come, and so will their friends."

"Be brave," said a third voice, popping from behind Quetzie's coat. This one had a rainbow-colored poncho and brown hair. "That is the spell your mother and father told you after all. And-"

"What is this?" said the masked man, lifting the dolls with an aura of black magic. Quetzie gasped as his beloved dolls were wiggling their arms and legs in a futile attempt to escape.

"Give them back!" Quetzie screamed. "They're mine! Grandpa gave them to me!"

"And what if I don't want to?" The masked man laughed. "I sense so much energy in these three. These shall be enough to fill my quota for energy. And then, my next step will be eating you alive! I, Darkstar, guarantee that!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

One of the windows shattered as Darkstar turned to see who appeared. He felt a boot kick him in the face, and he fell to the ground, his spell holding the dolls in mid-air causing them drop onto the ground. They were caught by a red clawed hand.

"Ankh!" Quetzie exclaimed, hugging Ankh's leg. "You came!"

"Yeah," Ankh replied, placing the dolls into Quetzie's hands. "I'm not the only one who came."

"What do you mean?"

"Ahem," said Ankh, clearing his throat. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"

Darkstar slowly sat up as a black egg fell toward his feet. In less than a second, the whole building was covered in smoke. When it cleared, Darkstar was met with an axe ready to cleave him in half. He blocked it with a well placed kick, but then had to attend with some sort of red powder blinding him in the face. As he staggered back, two long chains appeared, wrapping around his arms.

"Everyone!" said Rumi, entering through the broken window. She turned to the frightened teacher and students. "Come outside if you want to live!"

"That's such a clichéd line, Rumi!" said Abe, unsheathing his tanto blade. "But still, if it gets the job done..."

"Come on!" said Mari, opening the door. "We'll take care of you!"

"Everyone!" said the teacher to her students. "Let's go in an orderly fashion. Stay calm, little ones."

The young boys and girls followed their teacher's word as Mari nodded her head, glad that the plan was going smoothly. Teruhiko and Ibuki chained Darkstar's arms, while Taira and Abe prepared their weapons to knock him unconscious. Things were proceeding as planned. Unfortunately, the happy feeling vanished as Darkstar let out a powerful roar, knocking the four boys down to the ground.

"Ow," Taira noted simply.

"You fools," Darkstar snarled, standing up. His hands became wrapped in tendrils of dark energy as he lifted them both into the air. "Do you think a bunch of kiddy kids like you can stop me?"

"We stopped an evil organization from turning other 'kiddy kids' into aliens," Abe noted.

"We made an evil white serpent who likes turning people into dolls change his ways," Ibuki added.

"We fought said 'kiddy kids' when they had mutant powers," said Teruhiko. "And I did that without getting any sleep for more than 24 freaking hours!"

"These kids can pretty much go toe to toe with you and they wouldn't even have to kill you," said Ankh. "I should know that first hand."

"We're more than a match for you," said Jun, placing a lollipop into her mouth. "You don't underestimate the Cosmic Hunting Dogs unless you want to suffer a humiliating defeat."

"The Cosmic Hunting Dogs?" Darkstar repeated. "AHAHAHA! That was so funny I forgot to laugh! And now, I think it's...it's time to..."

A cloud of golden dust surrounded his head, causing him to wobble back and forth. Darkstar looked up, seeing a boy with golden ram horns and a blue cape lined with wool draping his shoulders. In his hand was a scepter with a large rolling cylinder decorated with runes.

"Miura," said Mari. "How long do you think that sleeping spell will last?"

"Who knows?" Miura replied. "Hopefully, it'll be enough to AGH!"

Darkstar chuckled as he fired a beam of black magic that pinned the Aries Symbiosi to the wall. Tendrils of darkness began to absorb Miura's energy, causing Darkstar's aura to slowly glow gold.

"I sense this energy...it's so pure!" he said. "At last, I won't have to worry about a limited resource to feed on. This is what I need!"

"Mari!" said Rumi, entering the school building. "Everyone's safe. What do we do?"

"We fight," Mari replied. "Iris! I summon your power once more! Bind me to the Rainbow Serpent!"

Emerging from her back was a large red serpent who wrapped around her body, transforming her school uniform into a multicolored robe, and dyeing her hair white. Mari opened her eyes as a rain-stick emerged in her hands.

"Quetzie," said Ankh, pulling his jacket off to reveal a golden belt marked with the Eye of Horus. "Are you ready?"

"Ready!" Quetzie replied.

"I'm ready too," said Jun. She crossed her wrists over her face as the feathered bracelets on her arms transformed into a pair of ceremonial daggers. "Let's get this going."

Ankh pulled out a golden cartouche marked with an image of a falcon. He inserted it into the slot in the Eye of Horus while a golden falcon appeared on the back of his left hand.

"Henshin!" Ankh exclaimed, crossing his hands over the belt.

Horus! King of the Gods!

A golden glyph of the falcon materialized in front of Ankh before he stepped through it, his body covered in a suit of armor decorated with red and gold feathers. On top of the falcom-shaped helm was the crown of the Pharaohs—a large red wedge and white pear marked with a myriad of hieroglyphs. When he raised his hands into the air, a pair of large wings emerged from his back. In his hand was a kopesh sword.

"And who are you supposed to be?" asked Darkstar.

"Kamen Rider Helios," Ankh replied from his bird-like helm. "It's time for you to bow down to the power of the gods."

Miura slowly stood up, a hand close to his heart. He turned his gaze to Mari, as if to silently say "I'll be all right." Mari nodded her head and stared at the eyes of her fellow Cosmic Hunting Dogs. Their journey in Futo was over, but the war against evil had just begun.

"Everyone!" she exclaimed, pointing her rain-stick at Darkstar. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"

0-0-0-0-0-

"This is most peculiar," said Rook, looking at a device at hand. "I am picking up residual energy around this area."

"Really?" asked Ben, looking down from their spaceship. "I don't see anything."

"There is a humongous spike down in that small building," Rook pointed down below. "And I do not believe that is the only thing that is there."

"Well, I'm not going to wait if there's people in danger," said Ben, seeing a woman and many children outside. He pressed a button on the Omnitrix, seeing a ring of different alien forms for him to choose from. He unbuckled himself and opened the door. "Cover for me, Rook."

"Will do."

"It's Hero Time!" Ben replied, jumping off of the spaceship, slamming onto the Omnitrix. He was soon bathed in green light as he began to descend toward Earth.

And so a glorious new chapter in this Horseshoes-grenade verse begins. Ben Tennyson begins to show Japan just what he's made of, but he won't be the only one involved in the ongoing battles of Serpents, Zodiarts and megalomaniacs going after power. Darkstar is going to be a taste of what is to come.

To be continued in, II-"Hungry Like the Wolf"