A BEN FAN benlie fan and Known Unknown– Thank you both very much. I'm glad you like it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since we don't know Captain Nemesis's real name in the series I decided to invent one for him.
A pair of cars, both green and black drove up and came to a halt in front of a small army of robots resembling giant cockroaches. The robots were busily demolishing buildings with mechanical jaws that crushed concrete with ease.
"Okay let's get to work" said Kevin as he put his hand on top of his car and absorbed the green-painted metal.
Before they could attack there was a whooshing sound and an armoured form landed in front of them. Ben started to speak but then did a double-take as he noted the monstrous mask and clawed gauntlets. Also the figure in front of them was smaller and thinner than his former idol had been.
"Captain Nemesis?"
"Not quite. Call me Nemesis 2." Although distorted slightly by the mask the voice was clearly female.
Ben dialled the Ultimatrix and transformed. "Fourarms!"
Fourarms rushed forwards and seized Nemesis 2 but she responded with a surprisingly powerful counter-grip and then fired her boot jets, sending them both up into the air.
"Ben!" Gwen yelled.
One of the robo-roaches fired a laser at her and she hurriedly blocked it with an energy shield. Kevin charged the one that had fired at her and hit it with a series of powerful punches. The robot reeled back but its armour held up well. Kevin finally resorted to lifting it and throwing it at one of its fellows.
"Ben can take care of himself" he said. "Right now we have our own problems."
Gwen nodded and blocked a volley of lasers with another shield.
In the sky above Fourarms and Nemesis 2 were still grappling, having been carried several blocks away from Gwen and Kevin by her boot jets. Determining that they were far enough away from Tennyson's allies and that the robo-roaches would be able to keep them busy long enough, she let go of Fourarms and slashed him viciously across the stomach. He cried out in pain
Surprised he let go and plummeted to the ground. The road shattered under the force of his impact. A little stunned he stood up and grimaced as he looked down at the bleeding wound. It wasn't deep enough to be serious but it stung.
Nemesis 2 landed in front of him and blasted him with an energy beam from her gauntlets. The blast sent him flying backwards to smash through a brick wall. He emerged from the hole to see Nemesis 2 flying at him, claws raised to strike.
Immediately he transformed into Jetray and soared up into the air. Nemesis 2 flew up after him.
"And here we are" said Max as he brought up the owner of the car on-screen.
Julie peered over his shoulder at the picture. "That's the girl I saw."
"Her name is Fiona Richards. She's an engineering student" said Max. "A very good one too by the looks of things. Let's see what else we can find."
Just a few minutes later he said "I don't believe it. Take a look at this. Her father is named Hannibal Richards. Here's his picture." He tapped a key and an image appeared on the computer.
Julie stared in shock. "That's Captain Nemesis!"
"That's not all." Max tapped the keyboard again and the image changed to a newspaper article. They read it with growing concern.
A short time later Julie left, thanking Max for his help. As she drove her motor scooter past a parked car the music coming from the car's radio was interrupted by a news bulletin.
"This is an urgent announcement. The teenage superhero Ben Tennyson is currently battling an armoured opponent believed to be the murderer of Jennifer Nocturne outside Bellwood Foundry. All citizens are advised to stay indoors…"
"Ben."
She increased her speed. From what she'd just found out Ben was in more danger than any of them had realised.
Fortunately her house wasn't far. She hurried inside and found Ship milling around the living room. Sensing her distress her pet bounded over to her. "Ship Ship."
"Ship, there's trouble" said Julie. She turned and pointed at her back. "Hop on."
Understanding what she wanted Ship sprang up and morphed into a backpack. A few moments later she was back on her scooter and speeding towards the foundry.
Nemesis 2 fired another energy blast but Jetray dodged it and countered with a neuro-shock blast that stunned his enemy. As he was about to press the attack he noticed that the blast he'd dodged had hit the foundry wall which was now starting to fall onto two men both of whom were frozen with fear.
Without hesitation Jetray zipped down and pushed both foundry workers out of the way just in time. "Run! Get out of here."
They immediately ran off. Jetray spun around as Nemesis 2 touched down and fired at him again. He transformed into Cannonbolt and rolled into a ball. The blast hit his armour without effect. Cannonbolt immediately rolled forwards in attack.
Nemesis 2 took aim and a series of yellow energy bands shot from her gauntlet. As the bands fell on Cannonbolt he floated up into the air. "Hey what gives?" he exclaimed as he stopped rolling and unfurled to see what was happening.
The bands colour changed from yellow to blue and he slammed into the ground on his back before he could roll up again. He struggled but found himself pinned to the ground.
"Gravity modifier" explained Nemesis 2. She slowly began to tighten her fingers. "Now I'm going to increase the gravity until it crushes you to pulp."
Cannonbolt continued to struggle but it was no good. He felt a pressure pushing down on his body that was already starting to increase.
"Stop!"