He chuckled, the mallets returning to normal hands, "You are very smart, Benjamin. I'm surprised you figured it out so quickly." I frowned, "Then you should've kept your big mouth shut." We began circling each other, "So this was your doing?" I asked. He nodded, "Glorious, isn't it? The virus I found while traveling is very impressive when used on humans." I glanced back at Zeke. There were hardly any marks on the stem and I could tell she was getting annoyed. Addex/Kevin laughed. His hands formed into giant blades and he ran at me, swinging wildly. I jumped around him, barely avoiding the sharp blades. At one point, I got close to the fungi on his face. I slapped him on the cheek with the ring in my hand, "Puny being! You dare slap me?" He slammed his elbow into my stomach and sent me back, unaware that the ninja ring was stuck in the fungi on his face. I fell back and against Zeke's legs, causing her to stumble forward, "Uh… Now what?" I asked. She looked back at Addex/Kevin then grinned. The ring glowed bright red then exploded, releasing dark red flames. I stared in shock. Zeke swung the sword straight through the stem, "Alright, let's go!" She helped me stand and we ran into the flower.

For some reason, the flower was hollow on the inside. We walked around, "Really?" Zeke asked, "This is all Addex's fault?" I nodded, "Though I don't know why." We walked up a flight of root stairs to the actual flower. I turned on the Omnitrix, "Which alien do you think I should use to take this thing down?" Zeke didn't answer. I looked at her. Her eyes were dull and she stumbled back, a head on her head. I grabbed her arm before she could fall, "Ze? Are you okay?" She nodded weakly, "I just…need to sit down…" She coughed violently, her eyes squeezed shut. My blood froze, "No… Zeke…" I grabbed her other arm and looked her dead in the eyes, "Fight it, okay? Just hold on a little longer, we're almost done." The red of her suit glowed faintly and I saw the suit begin to rip away. She looked up at me, "You've got this… Just take it down and there you go." Her suit was gone now and I could see unnaturally large clusters of fungi on her arm and neck. These clusters were bigger than Kevin's or Julie's. Then it hit me- "You were fighting it the entire time."

"Was I..?"

I watched as her green eyes turned black. I let her go and switched through the transformations, "Goop will finish this." I slammed down on the dial, "GOOOP!"

I oozed all over the inside of the flower, melting everything I touched. Suddenly, something grabbed my Anti-Gravity Projector, stopping me, "I am quite impressed, Benjamin," Addex said as Zeke, "I never would have guessed that someone like you would last this long."

"Wow. I'm offended."

Addex/Zeke tightened their grip on the Anti-Gravity Projector, "You'll get over it." It sparked and cracked. They released it and its pieces sunk into the goo that was me. They could have taken the Omnitrix from me; it was just sitting there. Instead, they turned away. Zeke let out a faint cry and went limp, falling in a heap beside me. A shadow straightened in the place she had just been, "Ah, I was afraid this might happen."

"What?" I asked, my voice cracking as it emanated from the broken Projector. The shadow turned to look down at me. I could see red eyes, "The virus defeated the Ninja. I thought I'd be the one to destroy them." I rolled my eyes, "Mind telling me why you infected Bellwood?" He sighed, "It was just an experiment."

"You didn't want anything?"

"No, nothing."

"Then cure everyone!"

He laughed, "Why would I do that? It'd be nice to have a planet that's inhabitants existence isn't completely pointless."

"How come I haven't been infected yet?"

"Your aliens have different immune systems. In your alien forms, you were able to fight off the virus."

While I had been focused on Addex's shadow, I didn't notice the black strands that wrapped around Zeke's right arm, lifting it, and reached for the Projector.

I burst up in a wave of green goo and burned through the shadow. Addex screamed loudly and I continued melting everything. The flower shook and began to collapse inwards. "No! You ruin everything! Without the flower…"

"Everyone will be cured?"

He roared in anger and a wave of black shot straight up, breaking through the top of the flower. I looked around at the crumbling flower, "We gotta go." I formed a ball around Zeke and bounced right out of there just as it collapsed completely. I bounced towards Kevin's car. Both Kevin and Gwen were waiting for us. I took a normal form, holding Zeke in my arms, "How are you guys feeling?" Kevin closed an eye and rubbed his head, "I've got a killer headache." Gwen smiled, "I knew you guys could do it." She paused when she saw Zeke, "Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be okay." I stopped and looked around, turning human, "Where's everyone?" Kevin smirked, "Just before they were able to make sense of things, Gwen and I got them out of the area so that they don't ask questions or freak out when they saw the flower." I smiled, "Wow. Nice job, guys."

"Do you know what caused this?" Gwen asked. I frowned, "More like who. Addex." Kevin raised an eyebrow, "That weird guy with the black goo that wants Zeke dead?"

"Bingo."

"Well, isn't that a big surprise."

"Sarcasm?"

"Duh. Get with the program, Tennyson."

Zeke began to stir in my arms, forcing her eyes open, "Ugh… Why does my head hurt so much..?" I smirked and set her down, "Probably because you were thinking about how much my month's supply of smoothies is gonna cost." She raised an eyebrow and held my arm as she tried to stay upright, "Did you get hurt against Addex?"

"He broke Goop's Anti-Gravity Projector!"

"And did you get hurt?"

"He elbowed me as Kevin! Kevin hits hard either way!"

"I'm flattered," Kevin commented, climbing into his car. Zeke smirked, "I'll buy you smoothies for a week. Deal?" We walked towards Kevin's car and she continued to hold my arm while we discussed my smoothie reward.


Ah, yes. Smoothies are the best form of reward for anything and everything :3

I hope you guys are enjoying my Ben 10 Alien Force fanfiction series as much as I am. If you are, and if you aren't, I'd appreciate some feedback.

WELP!

I will see you all later!

-ShockScythe