===Disclaimer: The Ben 10 series is still not my intellectual property. No matter how fancy I say it.===
Chapter 26: Revenge
Running out of town, Jen was in a hurry to get somewhere far away from any civilians. She was afraid that Zykan'nok was coming for her with the Omnitrix on his wrist, and she wanted to make sure that nobody else would get hurt. Matt and Kelly ran behind her, not wanting to leave her to fight alone. Though Jen would rather not risk them becoming injured either, she knew that they would never change their minds. Ben and the others stayed in town, going around to warn people to take shelter, since that would likely be the first place the mercenary would check for Jen.
"Jen, stop!" Matt yelled up to her from way back. Jen stopped and turned to her friends.
"What is it?" Jen asked impatiently. "We have to get away from town." The other two caught up to her.
"We are away from town," Matt pointed out. Jen looked around the open, empty field. "But are you really sure you want to do this? You only barely beat him while you had the Omnitrix. With it in his control, you won't stand a chance."
"I know," she said sadly, "but other people will just get hurt otherwise. He'll only want to fight me, since I'm the only one who's beaten him before, like Azmuth said."
"But, Jen, he'll kill you!" Kelly was incredibly concerned for her friend, on the verge of tears. "Please, there has to be another way."
Jen closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't think there is..."
"I think we're going to have to take you three with us for a little while." A group of SACT troops stood around Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. "You have been involved with alien activity in this area recently and we need you to answer some questions."
"Look, we need to get outta here!" Kevin argued with the armed men. "There's gonna be a really dangerous guy showing up here soon, and we need to warn people! Why are you guys even here still??" The men did not move.
"Please, you have to let us go," Gwen pleaded. "People could get seriously hurt."
"We cannot allow you three to go," the leader of the group simply responded. "We've matched you all to our files, and you have been around more alien activity than just this. If you will not come quietly, we will need to use force." The other men all drew firearms.
"We'll answer your questions or whatever later," Ben let out, "but we seriously need to go now."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." The leader made a quick motion with his hand and the rest raised their weapons to fire. As they did, though, the leader fell to the ground. Behind where he just was stood a man wearing a large black coat. The others all looked at him, then Kevin took the opportunity to remove his I.D. mask and knock the rest of the soldiers down. When Gwen gave him a look, he just shrugged.
"Thanks," Ben said to the mystery man, "but who are you?" The man looked at each of the teens.
"I'm an acquaintance of Jen's," the man explained to them. "Do you three know where she is right now?" Ben and the others looked at him suspiciously.
"Why would you tell us that, and assume we know who and where she is?" Gwen asked the strange man. He glared at her and laughed quietly.
"Not my smartest move, I suppose," he said, mostly to himself. He then opened the front of his coat, revealing the symbol of the Omnitrix on his chest. The symbol flashed and the man changed into the alien warrior Zykan'nok. Kevin's hands morphed to prepare for battle while a purple glow surrounded Gwen's. "Now, if you would be so kind as to answer my question..."
"Here's an answer for you!" Kevin lunged forward and swung his spiked fist at the alien. A green flash changed him into a blue, insect-like alien humanoid – Big Chill, as they recognized it. Kevin's arm went right through Zykan'nok's body and ice formed on it. Kevin jumped back and slammed his hand on the ground to shatter the ice.
"Don't waste my time," Zykan'nok spoke calmly in a deep, raspy voice. "Tell me where she is and I will be on my way."
"Not going to happen," Ben said to him.
"Fine then," the alien responded, changing to his normal self again, "I can find her on my own." He now transformed into a big alien worm creature and burrowed into the street. The others tried to stop him, but he was too fast. They quickly exchanged glances, then hurried off to meet up with Jen.
Jen stood in the field while her friends sat nearby. They had given up trying to persuade her to not go through with it; she wouldn't listen to them. Kelly stood up to stretch.
"This is taking forever," she groaned. "Maybe he doesn't want revenge after all. Maybe he's just fine with it and is already sending the watch back." As she finished saying this, however, Ben and the others came toward them in a hurry. Matt stood up as well and Jen turned to see what was going on. When they got to them, the three teens stopped to catch their breath.
"Jen... Zykan'nok... coming... with Omnitrix," Ben said through deep gasps for air. Kelly's optimism vanished at that moment. "He should be getting here any moment."
"He said he'd be able to find you on his own," Gwen explained. Jen realized that he would use one of the aliens, probably Werefang or Glowform, to track her down.
As the others spoke a bit more, something caught Matt's eye. Looking over at Kelly, he spotted a small metal cylinder sticking out of her back pocket. Curious, he decided to ask her what it was.
"Hey, Kelly?" She turned to face him. "What's that thing in your pocket?" Kelly had a confused look for a moment, then felt around her pockets. When her hand came to the object he was referring to, she pulled it out and looked at it.
"I don't know," she admitted. "I've never seen it before." Kevin walked over and snatched it from her hand. Kelly shuddered a little as she recognized his appearance from the other day. Kevin inspected the item closely.
"Looks like it might be a rough version of a mass energy disrupter rod. Kinda like the one that hunter used." He hit a button on the side of the rod and it extended and began to glow at the end. "Yep, looks like it should work well enough. Might even be able to pull the Omnitrix off of him again, if we get the chance. Where did you guys get this? These things cost a whole lotta dough and can't be made easily."
"It must've been Cirrhon," Matt concluded. Now Kevin and the two cousins looked confused. Matt realized that they never really spoke of him much before. "We'll explain later," he said. Jen reached over and grabbed the rod from Kevin. She looked it over and began to think about some things.
"This will work just fine," she said to herself. Just then, a loud roar echoed from across the field. Everyone immediately looked to the source of the sound – a large, orange, canine-feline alien running toward them at a fast speed. The Omnitrix symbol could be seen on its eyeless face as it drew closer. The six teens prepared themselves to fight. Gwen started by firing a volley of energy balls into the field at their enemy. He jumped over them all and changed into an octopus-looking alien with his brain-like head encased in a glass helmet. Bolts of energy shot from his head at them. They managed to avoid his attacks, but he had gotten much closer.
"Step away from her and allow me my revenge," he said to the others in a mechanical voice. Matt sent a gust of wind at him, shaking him around slightly, but accomplishing nothing else. "So be it." Kevin then lunged at him and swung his hands, shaped like spiked balls again, at the mercenary's head.
"I'm gonna crack that jar head of yours right open!" Zykan'nok glowed and became a purple muck monster. Kevin's attack had no impact and he was easily grabbed and tossed away. Another green flash changed the warrior into a pale blue creature with long, rope-like arms. He jumped into the middle of all the teens and began to spin rapidly. Everyone was sent flying away by the force of the whirlwind he created.
"Ungh!" Ben swiftly got up and started to warn the others. "Guys, he must have unlocked the master control!" Gwen knew that was a very bad thing and Matt also had an idea of what that meant. Ben then got an idea. "Oh man," he said in an exaggerated way, "I really hope he doesn't use Alien X against us. With that kind of power, he could destroy the whole planet!"
"Dude!!!" Kevin yelled at him.
"Don't tell him how to beat us!" Jen added. Ben winked quickly, and Jen realized there was a reason he said that. She turned to watch what Zykan'nok would do.
"Alien X...," he pondered.
"Yeah," Ben said helpfully, "pitch black with white stars on his body... power to control time and space... Alien X." Kevin slapped his head, but Gwen was starting to catch on too.
"Interesting," Zykan'nok said in a sinister tone. A green flash changed his appearance once more into the alien Ben had described. But he did not move after that. The rest got up and kept a close eye on their opponent. Still, he did not make any movement.
"What happened?" Kelly asked as she looked at the still figure.
"Let's just say Alien X has a few debates that need to be worked out first." Kelly shrugged, but didn't complain. Jen walked over to Ben and handed him the energy rod.
"Here. You can get the Omnitrix back now." Ben accepted the device and nodded. He stepped up to the unmoving alien and readied the rod. As he did, though, the symbol lit up again, and Zykan'nok stood in front of Ben in his original form.
"A very humorous trick, boy..." Ben looked up at him in a mix of fear, anger, and shock. The larger being grabbed the rod from Ben's hand and threw it far into the field. He then proceeded to knee Ben in the gut and kick him away. Gwen instantly reacted by wrapping a strand of energy around Zykan'nok's body and dragging him to the ground. Cirrhon took control of Kelly's body and jumped at the vulnerable enemy, aiming to slam into his head dead on. As he landed, another flash occurred, and Cirrhon found himself on only ground. He looked up and saw that his target had become the same sort of alien species as Azmuth. Once free, he transformed again, into a giant biological machine creature. A simple smack of his metal arm sent Cirrhon a fair distance away.
"Matt!" Ben quietly shouted from the ground as the rest continued to fight. Matt slipped over to see what he wanted. Ben reached into his jacket and pulled out one of the metal spikes that had held Jen down in the cave. Matt understood what to do and took the spike. While Jen, Gwen, and Kevin kept the enemy's attention on them, Matt built up a strong wind around himself. When he had amassed enough power, he threw the spike forward, straight as an arrow, and shot his wind gust behind it. Carried by the gale, the spike zoomed through the air, until it buried itself in Zykan'nok's robotic chest. He glared at Matt for a moment, then his body jolted as the energy coursed directly into him.
Jen took advantage of the moment to rush over to the dropped rod and back to the paralyzed warrior. She jammed the end of the rod onto the Omnitrix symbol on his shoulder, and pulled hard. A large surge of energy came from the Omnitrix symbol. Zykan'nok reverted to his true form, the spike still impaled in his chest. Then Jen stood over him, the rod sparking in her hand with the Omnitrix held on the end.
"It's over," she said to him before turning to walk away. But the sound of laughter caught her ear. It grew louder and more hysterical. She turned again to see Zykan'nok getting to his feet once more. Kevin moved in to finish him off, but he was easily shoved away, much to everyone's surprise. They all tensed for battle again.
"I know I will not last much longer now," he said in a wavering voice, glancing down at the dark green fluid that trickled down his torso, "but I can make sure that you die with me!" He yanked the spike from his chest and thrust it at Jen. One of Gwen's energy balls knocked his hand aside as he did, causing him to miss. He drew his gun from his belt and quickly shot a blast at her, catching her off guard and knocking her unconscious.
"Gwen!!!" Ben and Kelly ran to her side to make sure she was alright. Kevin got up and yelled angrily. Jen jumped out of Zykan'nok's reach and started to run from him. He soon took pursuit, with Matt and Kevin following behind him. Jen kept running, fearing for her life and trying to keep the Omnitrix from becoming his again. Her foot got caught in a small gopher hole and she fell down. She turned her head back just in time to see the crazed alien lunge at her with the spike again. She rolled to her side and the spike pierced right through the energy rod. The rod sparked even more, and then exploded, leaving it in many tiny pieces. The Omnitrix was launched a short distance away. Both of them looked to it, and Jen started crawling towards it, unable to stand up in her panicked state. Zykan'nok moved to attack her again, but a wind burst caused him to reel on his shaky legs.
"Jen! Hurry!" Matt yelled, as he and Kevin tried to hold the strong enemy back. He effortlessly knocked both of them to the ground before turning his attention back to Jen. She reached the Omnitrix and grabbed it from the ground. She could hear Zykan'nok's footsteps behind her.
"Now it is time to die," he said with a calm voice. He lowered the spike toward her prone form. A voice sounding like Jen's could just barely be heard saying something, then a green light flashed, and the spike was deflected and sent flying through the air, landing in the grass a few feet away. Zykan'nok stared in disbelief through his blurred vision at the figure standing in front of him – a spiked head and arms like blades on a thin body was the last he saw before he slipped into darkness.
Now it was over.