Chapter 1: Welcome to the new Vladat empire
"Ughhhh..." Ben moaned as he forced himself to wake up.
His head was aching, and so was his entire body. Gosh, what happened to him? It felt like he got hit by a train. His mind was a blur and he could hardly move his head.
As he tried to get up, he realized that in fact, he was already standing. He wasn't put up a wall or chained to it by shackles, he was standing upright.
Did he zone out in the middle of the night before going back to bed? No, that wasn't like him. Usually, he'd immediately fall asleep on his seat in the Proto-TRUK and Rook would have to wake him up or carry him to his house. He remembered the first time it happened, he woke up straight and in panic, he slammed the Omnitrix and almost crushed his partner as NRG before wiping the neighbor's fences out of existence. He still remembers all the complaining and lecture that ensued the morning after. Heh.
Now what was he doing? He still felt a bit sleepy but knew he should make a move. Feeling a tiny itching on his forehead, he rubbed it off. Or at least he tried, because he couldn't move a single muscle.
Fully awake by now, he forced his eyes open.
From what he could make, he was in a dark hallway, gray walls in sight, some ugly violet-red carpet at his feet. A weak pink light emanated from windows afar, hardly helping his vision getting any clearer. He felt cold, a shiver going down his spine without being able to express it.
Has he been there before? Why did this place feel familiar?
Focusing on the light, he saw two torches lit by purple flames, set in front of a wooden old door. Geez, was everything in this place as dusty, decrepit and ugly as everything he found around him? Who could even own or want all of that old junk in their houses anyway? Did he accidentally break into an antique store in his sleep?! That would explain why it felt so gloomy around here.
Progressively adjusting his eyesight, he saw pictures on the walls. Paintings framed in gold, the people shown on them having creepy faces. Weird, how they all had purple eyes. And were staring at him like in horror movies. And had weird things on them, like a mouth too big and too much hair, or bandages all over their heads, or gears coming out of their...
"I'm back on Anur Transyl!" Ben shouted.
'Come on, think! What happened over here?! And where am I exactly?'
He didn't exactly come here for tourism last time. Charmcaster had manipulated him to work for her while he was struggling with acne, and they ended up fighting a bunch of pumpkins. After that they got into a... castle?
He finally recognized where he found himself. He was in Zs'Castle Zs'Skayr again. Did he get kidnapped? He was fully clothed, which certainly meant he wasn't taken away from his house at night. He must've been out somewhere before ending up here. His muscles felt sore, as if he recently pulled an effort, which meant he was probably doing so before being put to sleep. But how? He didn't feel pain in a specific place on his head, and while he felt hurt, there was no hint that someone actually knocked him out. Did he get drugged? That would explain why he felt dizzy, yet at the same time looked as fine as he always was! (Somewhere else, Celestialsapiens were competing in a facepalming contest.)
"Okay, why would someone take me here again? Aside from Ghostfreak trying to possess me again of course. Hey, why didn't he already do that? I'm in his house, that's like, the perfect occasion to steal my body like he always wanted to!" he realized "This doesn't make any sense. He's definitely the one that got me here. But how did he get back on Earth? How could he-"
Wait, that made even less sense! If Zs'Skayr was the one taking him away, it couldn't possibly have happened on Earth. There's too many lights in there, and everyone knows about Zs'Skayr's weakness to sunlight and how harmless he can be when having a flashlight aimed at him. Even then, how could he get off Anur Transyl that easily? Either he found a way to travel off planet and come back with Ben, or Ben himself was on the planet.
Come to think of it, after Charmcaster's scheme, what happened when he left?
When he left?
When did he ever leave the planet? He tried to remember: he got a new look for Swampfire, beat Charmcaster (Hobble and Rook helped a bit, of course), got back on the Lovely Duck for another painful trip with Rad, then what?
Ben tried as hard as he could, but he felt like his memories of the mission were slipping away, as if he couldn't control what he or his body was doing anymore.
Suddenly, the door opened up, and Kuphulu, Crüjo and Zs'Skayr came out.
"Ben Tennyson, so nice of you to stay with us for the celebration" said Zs'Skayr, his throaty voice clearly betraying his satisfaction and glee.
"Sure, I couldn't leave my biggest fan hanging" sarcastically responded Ben "Mind telling me why I'm here?"
"Still as impatient as always, aren't you? Lord Transyl demanded that you stayed away from the laboratory while his slaves reorganize the throne room"
"Lord-Lord what?" Ben raised a brow "Who's that?" Did they have some sort of beauty (or in this case, ugliness) contest going on while he was out cold?
"Do not play anymore games with me, Tennyson. Your days of causing trouble are over. You two, carry him."
As the two henchmen got close, Ben was practically begging his legs to get running. If he could move, maybe he could get away from them, they looked weakened for some reason. Heck, if he could move, he'd turn into Four Arms and pound them to the ground without breaking a sweat! But he could do nothing, only watch as the mummy and the werewolf picked him by his arms and started dragging him to the door.
"I can walk, you know." he lied.
"If you could walk away from us, that would be nice. But right now, you can't even move" said Kuphulu, rolling his eyes
"How do you know that? Are you the ones who paralyzed me? Why are you even working for this guy, does he even pay you? And... what's that on your faces?" he asked as he noticed a small little object on their faces. A purple eye with tiny horns and bat wings was fixated on them.
"Would you quit twisting the knife in the wound?! We're already in a bad mood. If we could, we'd smash your skull and shut your smart mouth up." growled Crüjo.
Ben snorted, "I have a friend named Kai back on Earth, I'm sure you two would get along. She loves lapdogs like you" he teased.
Another angry growl from the bear-like alien improved Ben's mood. Maybe it wasn't all so dark in this monster town.
"We're here. Behave yourselves." said Zs'Skayr as they arrived in front of a bigger door. He pushed it, leading to a throne room. On a king size throne, a devilish looking man was eyeing Ben closely.
"Ah, you finally came back to me, my slave..." he said, a husky hissing voice escaping his dark lips.
"Your what now? Who are you?" Ben asked in confusion.
"It doesn't matter, Tennyson, because your Omnitrix is now mine!" declared Zs'Skayr, lunging at the young hero.
Before he could even react, Ben saw the Ectonurite going transparent, and penetrating his chest.
He felt an immense pain in his head and, without any warning, he fell down and clutched his head, squirming as he heard the Ectonurite's laughter.
Images filled his head. Him falling from the sky... the townspeople all gathered to get him... Hobble being scared (again)... His friends attacking him against their own will... A new alien appearing in the Omnitrix... and finally, Lord Transyl's triumphant expression as he put everyone under his control.
Heaving for breath, he kept struggling on the ground, feeling like his entire body was about to crack into pieces.
He heard a loud gasp emanating from his chest and, suddenly, Zs'Skayr came out of him in a hurry. The Ectolord seemed as bad in shape as he was when he first left the watch, wiggling on the ground like some kind of worm.
"W-What did you... do to me..." said Ben, clutching his chest in pain, not realizing he could move again.
"I should ask the same f-from you, Tennys- Agh!" croaked Zs'Skayr, a claw over his chest eye "How could you resist my control in a situation like this, you can't even use that damned Omnitrix of yours to turn the tables!"
A blink of realization and a smirk from Ben was all it took for Zs'Skayr to hear Lord Transyl tell him "Couldn't you have kept your mouth shut?!". Ben got up and reached for the faceplate. But as he chose his next alien, his hand stopped before he could fiddle with the Omnitrix any further.
"What?! Oh come on!" he whined as his body was once again paralyzed.
The core was up, Humungousaur was selected. All he needed to do was to push down the button and he'd be free. Why couldn't he move? Just two seconds ago he was fine, why didn't he have control over-
His left arm was seized from behind by a pale clawed hand.
"So this is the device that allows you to impersonate my people. Interesting." said Lord Transyl.
Ben gulped down as his enemy turned him around and put his hand on his shoulder. The vampire lord was eyeing Ben again, looking occasionally at the watch. Either this man had no sense of boundaries or he wanted to mess with Ben's mind again. Or both.
"What do you want from me, Nosferatu?" mocked Ben.
"Hmph, haven't heard of that rascal in a long time." he amusedly responded, "Tell me, why are you using all of this power needlessly? You have no idea where your loyalties should lie, do you?" he added as he took hold of Ben's chin, making him directly look at Lord Transyl's face.
Then his purple eyes started spiraling and Ben couldn't look away, not even able to close his eyes. His vision started getting a little blurry and it felt as if he was about to fall asleep again. Progressively feeling relaxed, he closely listened as Lord Transyl spoke.
"You aren't worthy of having this power, a mere child like you cannot comprehend how futile opposing me is. That power you have upon your wrist isn't made for the purpose you gave it, for you should be by my side as my slave. Cease your little games and give in to me, child."
Ben's breathing slowed down, and he no longer felt tense. The pressure he had earlier was gone, and he felt like he didn't have to fight anyone anymore.
He deeply looked at Lord Transyl's eyes, lost in thought... then promptly blinked out of hypnosis, looking away, before saying "hm, no" in the most uninterested tone the king before him has ever heard.
"What?!"
"Sorry, but I really, really don't fall for the whole mind slave thing, I already told you. I think." teased Ben.
Lord Transyl shook his head, snapping out his hypnosis. He kept observing Ben, still clutching the boy's cheek, analyzing the young hero. Why would the human not give in to him? He was Anur Transyl and Anur Vladias's first and last sovereign, he took down armies by himself before building his kingdom and even when he first came to rule, he was strong enough to take down rebels, rivals, enemies and traitors and to assert his control over them again. So why was this child not mesmerized like the others?
Could it be that bracelet of his? No, no one could resist him, his hypnosis and charms were unique, no machine from any era could possibly counter his powers or replicate them with the same efficiency as a true Vladat. Many Transylians by the past tried to give him a taste of his own medicine, but they all failed. His people couldn't hope to overthrow him by taking control of him, not even Ectonurites (until that idiotic fiend that resurrected him prevented him from feeding, letting his body vulnerable to a low-life to possess).
He was unstoppable! His mind was invincible and stronger than anyone's in the universe! Even the oldest Vladats couldn't hope to defeat him, they were all too weak for him! In fact, one of the many reasons he was able to be king was because no one could hope to fight him, no one was strong enough to take his power as King away from him, no one as determined enough to resist his temptations, no one-
He chuckled and started laughing as realization hit him. Ben raised a brow, wondering if it was another of those villain monologues people had in store for him. Though he had some shivers when Lord Transyl started caressing his cheek, putting his other hand under the boy's chin. He couldn't get his head away as the older alien stroke his face, a toothy grin still showing on his midnight black lips.
"What's so funny?"
"Hmm, tell me, human, haven't you wondered why I never lost my title years ago? Why so many of my enemies died or simply gave up and ended up as my slaves without ever succeeding in beating me?" he asked maliciously.
"I'm not really into politics, so I'd say... people were stuck-up, some tried keeping their honor by dying in battle, and others abandoned because they think submitting and sucking up to you is the best way to save their butts."
He felt a hard jab at the back of his head.
"Language, Tennyson! I didn't bring Lord Transyl back for you to lack him any respect!" shouted an angry Zs'Skayr.
"Yeah well I don't think being brought back to life by you does him any better" cockily responded Ben. Even in the most dangerous situation, he wasn't letting the ecto-jerk getting his mood down. Lord Transyl seemed amused by the exchange as he followed.
"What you certainly ignore is that Vladats can always get their ways. We possess the ability to exert control on weaklings by using their body and minds against them. Our hypnosis is the very first of its kind, as no one was able to counter it. Up until those pesky geared beings used what little they could achieve to betray their own Lord, of course." he seethed, his early delight dropping. "However, what most of my people couldn't completely possess, were strong-willed persons."
"Anyone with a strong will can fight back the mind spell we can inflict. That's what the Corrupturas are for, even if they end up vulnerable to anything stronger than a mere Ectonurite" he gave an aside glance to Zs'Skayr, who didn't understand that his new associate was still looking down on him. "My mind abilities, however, have been sufficient to build armies, legions, my entire empire! Simply because all were too weak to resist me. It's one of the many reasons my people were considered as the strongest beings in the universe."
'Ooooh, I wonder what's next? He'll probably tell me about his race being superior to all others and try and turn everyone into bat henchmen to eradicate all other species or some stuff like that. How original! Maybe I need Reiny on this one.'
"What do I have to do with this?" Ben asked.
"Now, aren't you wondering why you're not fully obeying me by now?" asked back Lord Transyl.
That startled Ben. Yes, the guy has been babbling all long about what he can do, but if he truly could manipulate anyone's mind, why didn't he do it yet? He kept talking and showing off, but either he was dumb enough to wait that long before gaining control of Ben, or...
Or he already tried.
"Wait, I didn't say yes when your eyes were turning in circle earlier. That means... I resisted you? And when you captured Whampire the other time, does that mean you didn't fail because of the Omnitrix... but me?" asked Ben, perplexed.
"Indeed, you truly are a wonder, Ben Tennyson" Lord Transyl nodded. "Nobody ever achieved the feat of rejecting my orders, until you. You are probably the first and last person in history to do so. I believed at first that mimicking a Vladat gave you a better resistance to my suggestions, but I must admit, it was all you. Congratulations, Ben Tennyson, your will was strong enough, you are worthy of opposing me."
"Well, that's what being Earth's hero takes! A strong personality for a strong guy like me!" bragged Ben, to which Zs'Skayr sighed and his henchmen groaned in annoyance (... again). When would this kid ever change in the face of danger? Lord Transyl chuckled at Ben's prideful remark.
He however wasn't finished.
"Yes, it was quite admirable. But that doesn't mean you'll get away from me anytime soon. Your determination will take time to destroy, bring down, just until I deem you able to serve, and I will take pleasure in molding you my way, child." he added, stroking Ben's face again. He grinned as the boy gave him a spiteful, angry look. Soon enough, those bright green eyes won't be so full of hope as they are now, but he will break the boy, slowly, in due time. "It was a pleasure meeting you", he took his grasp off the boy, "now run along and join your friends down the castle."
Yet all Ben did was standing there, angrily eyeing the villain for what he did. Lord Transyl raised a brow, before his eyes shone a purple light. It did nothing.
"You can't control me, you said it yourself. Let me outta here!" Ben angrily shouted.
"Quiet! It doesn't work like that. The Corrupturas affect the body, not the mind. Therefore, you shouldn't be able to... How peculiar." he said as he looked at Ben's forehead, touching the little critter stuck to it.
Ben realized the Corruptura he received earlier still must've been there. Yet, why did it paralyze him instead of making him move against his will? Lord Transyl clearly didn't order him to play statue, why would he stay stuck in this state that long, even after he was asked to move?
What he couldn't see was that his Corruptura seemed to behave differently from others. Its eyelid was half-closed and it looked as if it was struggling to stay open, as if anytime now it would fall down and break.
"Hmm, that's new. If what you said was true, then that 'Omnitrix' of yours was able to counter some of my power over you. It's not enough, but you're lucky that I can't make you do anything I want. For the moment." Ben raised a brow. "My Corruptura is strong enough to hold you down for now, but I made it when I was freshly revived. All it needs now is a bit of energy for you to do my bidding. Dr. Viktor!" he called.
The door opened, and an obviously regretful Dr. Viktor entered, holding a slimy chained alien in his big hands.
"Hobble!" Ben yelped.
"B-B-Ben! I-I'm sorry! W-W-When w-we were fighting in the lab, I couldn't stop the machines from reviving the other Vladats! I heard you ask for help but I got too scared! I couldn't move and then they got me when I started running away! I'm so sorry!" screamed the panicking, mumbling, crying Hobble. Ben gave him a sad smile.
"It's okay, Hobble, you did your best, we'll-" he was interrupted as Lord Transyl walked towards Viktor, both obviously disgusted by the other.
"Hmm, not really a good meal for a king, but that will do" he said as he dug his teeth onto Hobble's head.
A scream of pain could be heard inside the whole castle. Ben was horrified, and so were the three henchmen. They watched, helpless, as the poor Hobble was little by little losing color, his life energy being drained by the monster over him.
"Stop! I'll... I'll do whatever you want, just leave him alone!" Ben shouted.
But his pleas were ignored as Hobble was weakening, dropping on the ground.
"...Ben?" he asked, looking weakly as the teen, before his eyes shut, leaving his lifeless body resting on the cold floor.
No, he didn't want this. He wasn't supposed to let this happen. He was the galaxy's savior, he was supposed to help others. And now he failed. He let an innocent die. He let someone enslave a whole planet. He failed doing what he liked best. He failed being a hero. He failed everyone, he-
"And now, let's end this day quickly, shall we?" said Lord Transyl as he pulled off the tiny little alien's head. Wiping his mouth from a bad taste left, he went near Ben again and rested his lips upon Ben's forehead.
Ben winced a bit as he felt Lord Transyl's teeth touch his skin, then he felt energy flowing as his muscles finally moved again without any pain from staying motionless for that long. He stood more correctly before the king, his hands behind his back. He bowed after the 'kiss' he had ended, a disappointed, sad look on his face still showing.
"Much better, slave. You are dismissed. You," Lord Transyl said, addressing Viktor, Kuphulu and Crüjo, "accompany him to the dungeons, where the rest of you should be. It is time that Anur Transyl gets its Lord back."
Without saying a word, without talking back, without being able to disobey, Ben walked towards the exit, followed by the now unwilling trio. He felt guilty after everything that just happened. What kind of hero was he if he handed the world to someone on a silver platter like this? Some hero he was.
He knew he was being watched closely, but he ignored the glares of his companions in misfortune. Right now, he had other things in mind. The words he got told when he still thought he could save everyone seemed like a terrible truth as of now.
"You. Ever since you came, all you've brought is trouble."
Phew! This one was a toughie! To answer ParadoxicOrder8's review on why I chose Corrupturas instead of the hypnosis, I noticed Lord Transyl wasn't that much surprised when Ben fought it off, saying "Your will is strong, but your flesh is weak". Clearly, if that guy was king, surely people must've tried hypnotizing him too, so that means it's possible to fight it off when you're as stubborn as Ben, heheh.
I went for the Corrupturas because in canon, he seemed to think it would work if hypnosis wouldn't (also I think Corrupturas are cute and should definitely have a plush line with different palettes :3 )
Here it is for chapter 1. Hope you're enjoying this fic well and don't forget to review. Bye bye!
